It's A(nother) Boy!

Last week we had our 20-week Ultrasound and had a chance to see sweet Moser Baby #2 kicking around like crazy. It's no wonder I've felt this sweet miracle moving so much earlier than I felt Luke. My mom and sister came to Madison for the Ultrasound and were with us when we found out we were having another BOY! We are so excited and cannot wait to greet this new family member in early Spring 2014. We've already selected a name and plan to share with our family next week at Thanksgiving.

When I was pregnant with Luke, I had a sort of "mommy guilt" for not feeling super bonded to my unborn baby boy. I think this was partially because I was overwhelmed with the thought of having a boy (coming from a family of girls, I knew very little about boys, and especially about teeny boys). We hadn't finalized a name until just a few weeks before Luke was born, and I was still nervous about being a mommy. This time, however, I feel such an instant bond with Baby #2. We're already calling him by his name and I'm excited, rather than excited-nervous, to meet him when the time comes.

Here are two (terrible quality) pictures from our 20-week Ultrasound. (I took pictures with my iPhone of the pictures they printed for us.)

 Sweet profile picture of our second little boy.

Baby toes. I've been feeling these kicking around a lot!

Mommy's Little Helper

Luke's favorite thing is to follow me around the house and "help" me. While sometimes it's not always safe to have a helper under my feet (like when I'm cooking and he wants to check out the hot stove), I actually love having his help. Yes, we're going through so much more soap, paper towel, napkins and wipes, and the washing machine starts when the door is still open and there isn't any laundry loaded, but he's learning to have a servant's heart.

Yesterday, Luke found a small piece of something on the floor in the living room. He picked it up (I still don't know what it was...), took it to the kitchen, opened the drawer to the trash can, threw it away, and closed the door. I was amazed he did all this on his own without prompting.

Daily he wants to help me wipe the table, feed the dog, let the dog outside, etc. Putting away toys is still a challenge, but we're getting there.

I can't help but brag. He is sweet, thoughtful and helpful. I am so privileged to help foster these qualities in our son.

Luke's Words

Luke has been quite the talker his entire life. He's loved making noises! But it wasn't until recently that we started actually understanding a little bit of Luke's babbling. Here is a small list of words we've heard out of him (as of 8/24/13):

Hi
Thank you
Here you go
Iggs (translation = Briggs, our dog. This was certainly his first word.)
Hello
Go
Mom
Dada
Yellow
Cow
Woof, woof (barking like a dog)
Yum
Whoa
Yeah
More
Mon (translation = c'mon)
Hi guys
Elmo

Luke 18 Months

Luke is one week shy of hitting 18 months! I cannot believe how much he's grown since his birthday in February (or March... depending on if you round up or down). Here's what he's been up to lately: 

• Luke took his first steps on June 29. I should highlight the word steps because he went straight to walking 3-6 steps in a row. None of that single-step business for our little guy! I was beginning to worry about Luke, so much so that I had him evaluated by our Birth-Age 3 program. Luke was officially 16 months before he took his first steps, and I haven't been able to hold him back ever since! He's running, bending, standing from a sitting position, and all in all, catching up so fast to his peers. I guess he's just one of those kids who observes and then takes off running (ahem... literally!) when he decides to get involved. We're so proud of him. 
• In the evaluation with our Birth-Age 3 program, it was determined that Luke was 25% behind his peers in both gross-motor skills (because he wasn't walking at the time) and also speech skills. Because of this, Luke is currently enrolled in speech therapy. He's starting to say so many words, though I'm not totally convinced it's because of speech. I'm more of the opinion that he was concentrating so long on crawling and walking, that he's just recently started to get more interested in communicating verbally. Yesterday he started barking like a dog, which is as cute as can be! 
• Luke loves "walking" Briggs. He brings me the leash and I clip it to Briggs so he can drag him around the house. Poor dog. 
• Our little man is a water bug! He loves splashing in the pool and bathtub. I wouldn't be surprised if he's starting to swim next summer. 
• Luke's favorite song is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and his favorite book is "Goodnight, Gorilla" and "Five Little Monkeys". Luke lets me know he wants to sing "Itsy Bitsy" by doing the spider walk with his hands. He's started to sing along with me, with Sesame Street or with the radio in the car. I love to hear him sing! It's hilarious. 
• Our newest "hobby" is watching Sesame Street. He loves Elmo with a passion. While I'm not crazy about kids watching TV, at least it's educational and it gives me a chance to cook dinner while Luke remains safe. His other new hobby is opening the oven, the drawer under the oven and any other unlocked drawer and cabinet in the kitchen. 
• Daily you can find us at home from 11:30 until 3 or so. Most days Luke takes a 3-hour nap. Today he napped for 4.5 hours (which is not usual... we were at the pool this morning and I think he was so worn out from all that activity). Most mornings we're out and about with friends and activities. Luke and I both like to remain social. When we're cooped up too long, we start snapping at each other. 
• I'm so proud of my little risk-taker. As a first born, I've always been a little shy and hesitant to take risks. I wanted Luke to be confident and social, yet still have the responsibility and empathy that first borns are known for. I'm proud to say that so far my little boy is so sweet-natured, but isn't afraid to try new things and take risks. 
• Luke is definitely attached to Mommy. He's always afraid that when we're going bye-bye, I'm leaving him. (We're usually a packaged deal, so rarely do I leave without him.) But, he's also super attached to Daddy and hates to see him leave for work. 
• Luke's special blanket (his "Lovey") is never too far away. We take that blanket with us everywhere we go. He won't go to sleep without it at night. It's so sweet, but naturally I'm concerned that it will always be with him. I dread the day that we have to take that icky white and blue blanket from his clenched hands. But, I'll save that for another time. For now, I'm glad he's able to take comfort in it. 

Luke, 18 months. Photo credit to Raspberry Lane Photography.

Christmas 2012

Yes, it's February. I'm a tad behind on my blogging. Oops! The days just fly by. Here is a short blog post about our first Christmas with Luke, as well as some of my favorite snapshots.

December 2011, I was (very) pregnant with Luke. I cannot begin to explain what it's like to be pregnant with a little boy on Christmas. I began to understand Mary's story in a totally new way. Christmas carols took on a new meaning for me. Singing about our Lord Jesus as an infant brought on so many emotions I don't remember having prior to my pregnancy.

Fast forward to December 2012! Luke is almost a year old (!) and this Christmas was even more emotional and exciting. I now understand loving a child unconditionally. I'm so thankful that Luke was old enough this Christmas to truly celebrate the season. We danced to Christmas carols, attended church together and sent out our Christmas cards. (Some of our cards were a little crinkly this year... I hoped you would think it was the post office that did the damage, but I now confess that it may have been my little helper.)

I'm looking so forward to our next Christmas together. I already purchased a child's nativity set and can't wait to start talking to Luke about Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

We were so fortunate this year to get to spend Christmas in Indiana with family. Many years Nick's work schedule conflicts with holidays and we're working around his schedule to celebrate - but this year, we were able to be in Indiana for nearly a week! It was the best.

The first weekend of December the Moser family gathered for our Christmas celebration. It didn't work out this year with so many different work schedules to get together on Christmas day, but we found a way to spend an entire weekend together. It was so wonderful seeing Luke with his Grandpa and Grandma Moser, aunts, uncles and sweet cousins. Luke was able to meet Santa Claus for the first time... but since Luke is generally afraid of men with facial hair, he wasn't quite sure of good, ol' St. Nick.

We found time at the Moser's for a quick snapshot, which ended up being this year's Christmas card.

First presents from his stocking from Grandma and Grandpa Moser. 

Luke, meet Santa. (You'll thank us later!)

Luke with his awesome big cousins. They helped with the Santa experience.

On Christmas Eve we were able to celebrate with the extended Moser family - grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins! It's quite the tradition and quite the crowd. I was so thankful our little man slept lots in the car that day and was able to stay awake and meet so many family members.

Merry Christmas, Great-Grandma Moser.

Giving Great-Grandpa Moser a high five.

Christmas morning Santa followed us to Indiana. Luke received the Little People barn and tractor. He loves opening the barn doors and finding the animals hidden in the silo. He played with his farm the entire week; Santa was so pleased that this gift got so much love and playtime.

 Thank you, Santa! (Sleepy Luke waking up to great presents. This year, Mommy and Daddy were more excited about Santa's visit than Luke. I have a feeling this will change next year.)

First Christmas Cookie... yum! Thanks Grandpa Keller!

Leanne and Mikey were able to join us the weekend before New Year's for our Keller family Christmas celebration. Thank you all for the lovely presents!

Mother and daughter, Luke's Grandma Keller and Great-Grandma Able.

One of this year's favorite gifts. Nick's Keurig gets lots of use.

For Grandpa's basement.

Luke got a rocking chair that's just his size from Grandma and Grandpa Keller.

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas season! Love was shared, Christmas cookies were consumed and we'll have lots of memories of our first Christmas with our little man.