Luke is 2 months old!!

At two months old, this little man is growing like a weed!

13.1 Lbs
23 3/4 Inches Long
Eats 5-6 Oz every 2.5 hours during the day

Luke has rolled over 3 times from his back to his stomach (once in fron of his doctor)
He smiles and coos all the time and is a very happy baby!  Giving me on average a 5 hour streach of sleep at night, which is much appreciated!  He is my mellow child, just goes with the flow, doesnt really cry, and LOVES food! HAHA

We all love him very much, and are so lucky to have such a sweet little one!!

Enjoying our New Free Time

I am not going to lie, since Luke has been brought into our lives, everything has changed, and going from splitting my time between work and being a mom, to being a full time mom with two has had its challenges, and I finally realized that I have been a little hard on myself.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to keep the house clean, have dinner on the table when Kyle comes home, getting all the day to day stuff done so that the house runs smoothly, and trying to be perfect.  Life's imperfections is what makes everything so special, and I see that now.  Yes, my goal is to keep the house clean and get dinner on the table at a decent hour,  but I know now that I haven't failed if it doesn't happen.

I broke down the other day because I felt like there just wasn't enough hours in the day to do everything that I THOUGHT I needed to do, and my amazing husband said to me...Jes, I don't know how you do it, and I don't think that I could do everything that you do in a day... those simple words of praise and gratitude made me see something in myself that I hadn't seen before.  This life we have chosen, although, very challenging with an infant and a very busy almost 3 year old, is the most rewarding path I have ever taken.  I am home with my boys...loving them every day, and giving them all that I have.  That means that sometimes I wear my yoga pants all day, and never do my makeup... (I don't even know if I have makeup anymore) but we play, and when Kyle gets home, and we aren't rushing to do laundry and pick up the house like we did before when I worked.  We get to play, and spend time together, and to me, that is worth all the days when I am exhausted and worn out.  Dinner is actually made instead of throwing a frozen pizza in the oven, or stopping to pick something up on the way home (I still do this occasionally, but not nearly as often)

I know now that it is not about having a super set schedule about days that I have to do laundry, and days when I have to vacuum, but more about enjoying my children, and helping them become whoever they are going to be.  Although nap times and feedings are very scheduled, (I will never compromise on that for my own sanity) I have learned now, not to beat myself up if I didn't get to folding that last load of laundry for the day.  I will always keep a tidy house, that is just who I am because you never know when someone will just stop by, but now I know I can give myself a little slack. 

This is what enjoying the free time that we have now looks like...

With Uncle Mitchy!

Kyle's new toy...faster lawn mowing gives him more time with the family HAHA... That was his reason for needing the John Deer Green!!

Yes, we had to get Blake one too... they mow together!

Peaceful Boys.

My Busy Boy... all this while I was changing Luke not 15 feet away.

Always room on Grandma's lap!

Picked Mama flowers...roots and all!

Poor Man Cookies

Today, we made poor man cookies!  I got the recipe off of pinterest and it was so easy and super fun for Blake.  You take any box of cake mix (I just so happened to have lemon) 1 stick of butter, 1 egg and a tsp of water.  Bake at 350 for 5-8 minutes, and there you have it!  We finished ours off with frosting and sprinkles! 

Blake has been becoming my little helper more and more... getting lunch ready, Putting the folded laundry away (droping it on the floor), feeding Lucy, and the list goes on, but I am glad that he is learning to participate, even if it isn't the most fun thing to do, but somehow we seem to make it all enjoyable, so far :)  Them mom gets to clean up the "helpers" mess! :)

Blake was trying to pinch me with the tongs every time I walked by...little turd!

Luke was just hanging out in his bouncy chair... someday he will be able to eat them too!!

Weeks in Review

I haven't posted much in the past month, but I have been super busy.  I finally feel like I am starting to get a handle on things.  Blake is doing much better accepting Luke as part of the family instead of an object that he asks me to take back to the store, and I feel like we are really starting to get into a good rhythm.  I am starting to actually get some things done during the day, and I am starting to feel accomplished. 

So much has happened that it is no wonder I haven't had a chance to blog...but it is my goal to do better with blogging.  That is why I started this blog in the first place!

Kyle turned 27 on June 3rd... We were talking about how we are now closer to 30 then 20 and it is amazing where the time has gone... we have our 10 year High School reunion next year...YIKES...Better start running the Lakeland hill!

Kyle is going to hate that I posted this picture!!

Kyle's youngest brother, Tyler, Graduated High School.  WOW... I have known him since he was 8... what an amazing young man he has grown up to be!

My aunt Dawn announced that after very hard core fight with Pancreatic Cancer, and becoming cancer free in November of 2011... it has now returned.  My heart has just sunk and it is breaking all over again.  She is one tough cookie though, and I would bet every cent I have that she will be in that 5% that win against this nasty cancer.

My brother and his girlfriend Erin both got JOBS...YAY!!!  They have both been unemployed since the end of 2011 and they both started jobs on the same day.  God has blessed them in so many ways, and he has done it again!!  Maybe now, he will have enough $$ to buy something that would make her a permanent fixture of the family...if you catch my drift??

We had our house and tile roof painted... Now, obviously if we had it painted, then we didn't do any of the work, BUT, Blake is super scared of Spanish men for some reason, and he thought that the "scary man" was going to come and get him and that he was going to come though his window.  After a couple days of that... we decided that it was just better to get out of the house.  So, we go to Grandma's, and they are having their house sided... HAHA  more Spanish men.  It was a rough week for the little guy :)

So, you can see that there has been a lot going on, and as always, it will only get more hectic as the summer approaches, but  am just getting excited for some warmer weather like we had yesterday.  We even brought out the little pool for Blake to splash around in!!

Happy Monday everyone!!

Two Kids on Two different Schedules

This is turning out to be just as hard as I thought it would be... good thing that I never glamorized it!  Although, taking care of your children every day is extremely rewarding, and I am so thankful to be able to stay home and be with them, it also has an "adjustment period".  I am beginning to wonder if its always going to be an adjustment now because my kids are always changing?  I am not sure, but for right now, having two kids on two different schedules, I can honestly say that by the end of the day, I am so ready to fall asleep that I don't think that I hardly say goodnight to Kyle anymore.  Luke wakes up every 3 hours or so, and he is in our room in his bassinet so that I can get to him quickly because I am so worried that his cries will wake up Blake, and then it becomes a completely different situation.  All and all, this are going well, just exhausting, but every parent with a new child thinks that...its just the way it goes, but it is so fully that somehow god helps you to forget your exhaustion during this time when you decide to have another child HAHA...I hope writing it down helps me to not forget :)

Blake is getting better with Luke... he gives him kisses every night before bed, and he is there to "help" when I change Luke's diaper, or need to feed him.  He still asks me several times throughout the day to "put baby Luke down and hold me"  He never asked me to "hold him" before Luke was born, but I can understand why he wants me to hold him now that he sees that I hold Luke all the time.  I just tell Blake that I have two arms to hold the two most wonderful boys I know, and I have a lap for an extra special boy.  So I usually sit on the couch and watch Little Bear with Luke laying over my shoulder and Blake sitting in my lap... sometimes I even start to doze off!


Blake is wanting to help all the time now... On a side note...I started pumping instead of breast feeding because Luke was not drinking enough milk before he would fall asleep, so I was feeding every hour to make sure that he has enough food since he had a slight case of jaundice, and we needed to flush out his system.  I still nurse him sometimes at night if I need too... but most of the time he is bottle fed breast milk, and that way Daddy gets to help too :) Anyways, back to my point... Blake is such a BIG help, that he thinks that he can even pump milk for Luke... this will be one of those pictures that I hold back until his senior year, and then somehow slip it into the yearbook!!

Brotherly Love

Although Blake is having a hard time adjusting to having a little brother, I can see that he still loves him very much and is becoming a wonderful helper.  Sometimes, just to be defiant, he will yell NO when I ask for his help, and that is when I know that he has had enough for a while.  I am trying to include him as much as I can to make him feel as special as possible, but sometimes, he just wants to be left out of it completely, so then I will turn on Little Bear or Curious George to give him some time to himself.  I am anxious for this weather to get better so that we can get outside and go for walks and play, but it looks like its starting to shape up, so hopefully soon Blake will be able to go outside and run off some energy. 

But, for now, I am enjoying the time inside, in my pajama's with my boys... I have "kids" now, not just a "child".  It feels weird to say "the kids" or "my boys", but I am loving getting used to it :)

Welcome Lucas Raymond

Luke is finally here... after months of anticipation, I get to hold my youngest son, and what a blessing he is.  Kyle and I kept waiting for something to go wrong because of everything that happened with Blake, but it was all perfect.  At exactly 6:00 PM on Saturday May 12th, 2012 Lucas Raymond Rogers came into this world weighing 7 Lbs 10 Oz, and 20.5 Inches long.  He is just perfect, and we are so excited to add another member to the family.

My dream is for Blake and Luke to grow up and be the best of friends... to have secrets with each other and to also fight like brothers do.  Blake Loves his little brother, but I can already sense some major jealously.  We are really trying to make Blake feel special and to make him understand that just because Luke is here, it don't mean that we love him any less... easier said then done, but I know that this is normal, and it will just be something that we need to work through as a family. 

Welcome to the world Baby Luke...We love you!!