Just Ducky

Brady is almost 6 weeks old and things are just ducky! :) btw, this outfit was given to him at our shower by Auntie Monica and Uncle Satish. I've heard from some moms that 6 weeks can be a turning point where things get better. Well, that's cool b/c things are pretty good right now! I'm still very much enjoying being Brady's mom and staying home (despite Brett's insistence that I must return to work some day...boo!). I have been pumping since last weekend (when Brady turned one month old) so now Brett is able to feed him from a bottle once or twice a night as well. That's giving me a little more continuous sleep and giving Daddy some more bonding time with his son.

It's Saturday...and Brady has a date with an "older woman"

Basil, Soma, and Kadyn came over for a visit (and brought us dinner- thank you!!!) this afternoon. Kadyn is almost 8 months old. We're looking forward to having her teach Brady all she knows. Soma has already been tutoring me in the ways of motherhood and Kadyn's blog is one of the most helpful "baby books" that I consult. It's our way of keeping up with the Kalbs, but it's also an excellent resource for us. Brett and I read posts of when Kadyn was Brady's age and it really helps us out. Again, we are blessed to have such wonderful friends...and that makes Brady blessed to have wonderful friends in their children.

Friday Night at the Luhrings

Yup, this is what Friday night @ 8:30 looks like at our house. :)

Dear Makers of the Soothie Pacifier,

I heart you! You are to new mothers what the anesthesiologist is to pregnant women in labor...their new best friends! Sure, they make my kid look like a little blowfish, but he's happy so I'm happy!

These specific types of pacifiers are generally used in hospitals. For some reason, Loudoun Hospital did not have them. I recently bought some at Target. These things are like baby crack! They are Awesome! They are the latest addition to our "Soothing Brady Bag 'O Tricks." Other tricks in this bag include the Swaddle Me blanket, holding Brady high on your shoulder, turning him over your knee, jiggling him, the "shh" noise, running the vacuum cleaner (even though I know this one is calming b/c it mimics the white noise sound from the womb, I like to think that my son is just like his mama and likes things Clean- so naturally he loves the vacuum!), :) doing laps around the house while chugging like a choo-choo train, singing, and a combination of all these things. Man, being a parent is fun! It's too bad babies don't remember these moments...I imagine they are even more fun for them!

27 Dresses and 6 Moms

It's Mom's Movie Wednesday at the new theaters in Brambleton. Too cool! They show a matinée and babies (and any associated crying, diapering, feeding, etc.) are welcome. Brady and I along with Amanda (+ Jackson), Danisa (+ Kellen), Nichole (+ Avani), Keisha (+ Israel), and Iris (+ Carys) went to see 27 Dresses. It was really neat to see all these moms and their strollers or car seats in the theater. Brady's first movie in the theater turned out to be a pretty good chick flick and I enjoyed it. Brady mostly watched the backs of his eyelids...and that was just fine.

I forgot to take a picture of all of us until we were walking out of the theater. Rather than stop everyone, I just took a quick shot from the back.

1 month old

Happy Birthday Brady! I really cannot believe it's been a month since he was born! Brett says he can because he feels more than a month's worth of exhaustion. ;) I have felt tired, but not in a bad way. Sure, I've had my moments but honestly this past month has flown by and it has really been wonderful. I'm told it only gets better. *sigh* Life is good.

btw, little man is wearing one of our Old Navy steals. I love it! He looks like a mini grown-up and it only cost us $2! :)

Update: Brady had his 1 month wellness visit on Monday.

Weight: 10 lbs. 8 oz. (75th percentile)
Height: 23 inches (95th percentile)

Whoa! He's gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks! He's a good little eater. Brett is pleased with his height. We've heard that these early stats are not necessarily forecasts of the future. But still, the weigh-ins and height measurements are the highlight of his doctor's visits and really make them fun. (They're sort of like hearing the heartbeat @ prenatal appointments...very exciting!)

Who wears the pants around here?

Brady does of course!

Brady's umbilical cord stump is finally completely gone. The majority of it fell off at about the 2 week mark, but there was still a little bit leftover. This past week during a diaper change we noticed a beautiful clean and clear belly button! So now little man is able to wear pants. Today was his first time wearing them. This cute little Dino outfit is from great Aunt Carol, one of Meemaw's closest friends. Thank you!!!

Fun Friday

Brady and I had a super fun lunch date today with Veronica, Courtney, Joshua (who is almost 4), and Bailey (who is 2). When we arrive (late, of course!) we are greeted by the happy faces of Joshua and Bailey. It is so cute to see little people get excited about a baby. Bailey carries her little baby doll everywhere. Her smile was TOO cute when in response to her "I have a baby!" proclamation, I said, "I do too!"

I had posted previously about the great parenting in our neighborhood being evidenced in the happy children we are surrounded by. Here's documentation of that. I wish the picture could have captured Joshua and Bailey's squeals of delight and laughter that put a smile on everyone's face!
To see more great pictures of these happy kids (and their older sister Rebekah too), visit Courtney's blog. You'll also get to read about their adventures...I guarantee you will laugh out loud (these kids are adorable and SO funny)...I sure do! Enjoy!

Upon seeing my camera, Joshua and Bailey informed me that they knew how to take pictures too and asked if they could. Joshua took this one of Courtney, Veronica, and me all by himself!

Bailey took this one of her brother almost by herself (I only provided minimal assistance...she chose the distance and pressed the button). We reviewed the picture afterwards and she goes, "oh good!" I definitely agree!

This evening Brady and I picked Brett up at the bus station. Then we all headed to Moby Dick's for kabobs. It was our first family dinner "out." Brady cried a bit. But the restaurant was loud enough that it wasn't too bad. Brett took a picture of Brady's pouty face. (Note how Brett and Bailey have similar photographic talents!)

Some fun picts

Today is the first snow since Brady's arrival. We've spent the day all toasty warm inside the house watching this beautiful winter day evolve. Below are two picts I took of little man today that make me LOL:

"Oh it's snowing outside! What's that?"
"Yikes! Daddy's out driving in this stuff?"

Meeting Brady's New Friends

Today we met up with some of the members of my "Expectant Moms Group." 5 of the 9 of us have evolved to the New Moms Group. Nichole's daughter Avani and Brady share their Dec. 20th birthday and Christin's son Oliver was born the day before! We had joked while pregnant saying, "Wouldn't it be funny if we were all at the Birthing Inn at the same time?" ha ha! Well we were!!! Kiasha's son Israel and Danisa's son Kellen were born a month earlier in November.Nichole (and Avani), me (and Brady), Danisa (and Kellen), Keisha (and Israel), Christin (and Oliver)

Out and About

Today was a BIG day!!! Following prompting from our friend Veronica and assistance from our friend Amanda (and her 3 month old son Jackson), Brady and I went out for the first time without Daddy. Amanda and Jackson came over to our house to help me get ready. Man! You'd think we were going away for a week! I was all sorts of paranoid about forgetting something. Amanda was patient and calm and helped me pack the diaper bag and put Brady in his car seat. Then she supervised me putting the car seat in the car and assured me that she and Jackson would be following in her car right behind me and if I was freaking out to just pull over and she'd be right there. The trip to the mall is about 7 miles (lol!). But for all of those miles, every muscle in my body was tensed up. Brady squeaked a few times, but all was well. It was SUCH a FUN day!!!

I had a little trouble getting the car seat out of the car, but Amanda coached me through it. :)
Victory! (I had Amanda document our success.)

Here we are in Old Navy...where we found a ton of deals and steals (my favs!!!) in the clearance section. We finally decided we'd better head to the checkout when the pile I had accumulated looked as if it was going to topple on Brady. We got 11 baby items (onesies, pants, and shirts) for Brady, 2 tops that I can use for nursing, a pair of sweatpants, 2 zippered sweatshirts (I live in fleece these days!), and a sweatshirt and t-shirt for Brett...all for $52!!! whoo hoo! As if I wasn't already having a great day! Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE bargain shopping...this definitely classifies as not just a deal, but a Steal!

The boys were hungry by then. So we decided to find the cleanest bathroom and let them have lunch. We hit the jackpot at Nordstrom's. WOW! The bathrooms and "women's lounge" in there are Awesome! We took pictures in the lounge:

and also took some of the boys together. TOO CUTE!

"Hi Pal!"
"Dude, we're almost the same length.
But you've totally got me beat on head circumference."
"This is how we roll."

The four of us spent over an hour there just hanging out! :) Neither Amanda nor I shop at Nordstom's and we got a kick out of looking at the price tags of some of the outfits...we were LOL at the realization that a zippered hoodie (like the one I had just bought for $4) was $88 here! But hey, they've gotta pay for those nice bathrooms (and the live piano player) somehow!

3 weeks old

Happy Birthday Brady! :) He doesn't look so happy about it in this picture, does he?

This week was somewhat of a busy one. It's all relative these days..."busy" now means something completely different than it did just one month ago. Daddy returned to work on Monday. That was an adjustment for us all. I was a little worried about having to do things on my own. But we had a good week: Brady did great and is beginning to sleep by himself in his pack-n-play bassinet or in his crib. Sandy and Romey are adjusting and realizing that there are just times that I cannot take them outside. Also, I think I finally have the bug Brett's been battling for the past three weeks. Luckily it doesn't seem to be affecting Brady. He sometimes sounds a little congested, but we figure some of that is still his "baby dust." I'm hoping that I'm passing some of my antibodies to him and making him strong.

Brady also made his public debut this week. I know, I'm totally paranoid but I haven't permitted the little man to be out in public (other than his doctor's appointments) until now. On Wednesday, we went to Babies R Us, Target, and Pet Smart (if that doesn't give you a glimpse of how exciting we are, what does? I love it though and wouldn't change our lives for anything!). I still haven't gone anywhere with him by myself though. I'm such a wimp!

2 weeks old

Happy Birthday Brady! I promise we'll stop being silly parents and switch over to months soon! But it still cracks me up to measure human life in weeks. :)

Stats from his 2 week doctor appointment:

Weight: 8 lbs. 10 oz. (50th percentile)
Height: 22 1/8 inches (90th percentile)

Let's Go Hokies!

Daddy and Brady watched the Orange Bowl today. Earlier in the day, Brady took a nap and dreamed pleasantly of a Hokie win:
Then he enjoyed a visit with fellow Hokie Auntie Monica:
Then he posed gangsta style for a photo (thanks to Auntie Jen for the Hokie gear!). His baby Hokie paci was one of his (and Daddy's) Christmas presents.Touchdown Hokies!
Boo! Brady shows his displeasure at the loss to KU. :(

Happy New Year!

Brady was the only one partying in the new year. Already the kid is cooler than his parents! ;) But hey, we take sleep when we can get it. Happy 2008!