Piece of Heaven

Things I Love!!!

Since I have had Luke I have been opened up to a whole new world of products. There are a few that I absolutely love that now get me through the day!

 

The Itzbeen timer

I live by this timer since I seem to have lost my memory during the pregnancy. I use it mostly for feedings but it has buttons for diaper changes, feedings, naps and an extra button which I use to time the feedings (great if you are breast feeding). It also has a clock and a flash light!

The Moby Wrap

I did not start using this until a couple of weeks ago but it is awesome for hands free! Luke will easily take a 3 hour nap in it. Wish I had been using it all along. There are about a 100 different ways you can tie it. I have actually had people stop me and tell me how stylish it looks! That is my kind of product.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC8iQI50E_k

The Infantino Boogie Woogie Bug Gym

This is a great way to entertain and stimulate a newborn. I bought it because I wasn't sure what to do with him while he was awake. Luke LOVES this gym and has played with it since he was about 3 weeks old. It's been fun to watch him progress from just looking at the toys to playing with them. Luke is also loving all of the little soft toys made by Infantino. The toys are soft and have velcro so they attach to infant seats, wrists etc.

Mobile by First Years

My mom bought this for Luke last week. He loves it! We had a ball watching him smile and coo in the crib. This also gives me a few minutes here and there to complete some tasks around the house. It plays 3 songs and has outside noises. And, that is a remote in the left corner.

Chaperone Infant Seat and B-Ready Stroller by Britax

I love multipurpose products and LOVE this car seat stroller travel system.  Britax is one of the best car seat companies. I feel secure that he is safe in his seat. This system will take me into the next kid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfG2IfKyKtc

These are my favorite products right now. I am sure this will change as he grows but this is all great for a newborn.

How My Life Has Changed In 6 Short Weeks

Then: A good lunch was lunch at a trendy restaurant with the girls.
Now: Just eating a lunch, sitting or standing in one sitting. (10 minutes is good)

Then: I had great table manners.
Now: What ever I can cram in my mouth in the shortest time possible, and if it doesn't look pretty then "so sorry".

Then: Any kind of gas was undignified and bowel movements should not be discussed.
Now: I do a cheer when I hear a good burp and also feel the need to let other babies know when they had a "good one". I also now see the purpose in discussing a bowel movement from time to time.

Then: Would not have left the house without a good once over in the mirror.
Now: I don't always remember to look in the mirror and completely understand those cartoons or humorous pictures of a new mom looking worn out with a roller still in her hair, wearing a robe and one shoe.

Then: Let's just say I was very disapproving of the topless.
Now: I have embraced a semi-topless lifestyle.

Then: I would not have considered cleaning up anyone's throw up.
Now: I wear it as an accessory.

All of this just to see a happy little boy.

Luke II's First Halloween!

As I mentioned before Luke was a month old this past week and I just couldn't let his first Halloween go by and not dress him up. We got him all dressed up and decided to make the rounds (2 houses). First we took him to my grandparents house only to find that they were locked up tight and not seeing any trick or treaters. But they happily opened the door for this little lion.

Then we took him over to my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Al's so he could see his great aunt and uncle, cousin Kelly and other great grandfather.
He did not particularly enjoy the hat and since it was true Houston weather the suit was a little hot so after the last stop the costume came off but we did enjoy our Halloween.

Luke II's First Ranch Trip

Luke was a month old this past week! I can't believe it's been a month, I feel like I just had him! Big Luke has been dying to take Luke II to the ranch so off we went. We took mule rides (see explanation below), walks and had lots of play time.  It's going to be fun to watch him grow up here.

 Packed up and headed out at 8PM!

 My favorite guys at my favorite place, the creek.

 Luke II on his first mule ride. For those of you who don't know, a mule is kind of like an off road golf cart.

 A tired little future hunter/ fisher on the way home.

Football Fever

I have to give daddy Luke credit. For the last couple of years he was super committed to the MBA program. He studied hard every day, attended and worked hard at all his group meetings and attended every single class. All of this added up to absolutely NO football watching of any kind during the program.
This year I think he is trying to make up for all of the football he missed. At one point this summer he told me all he wanted to do was watch football and hold his son. He is holding to that.

This is what I often find:

Luke II's First Photo Shoot

After baby Luke was born the next thing on our agenda was pictures and birth announcements. There was really only one person to call. Erin Golan is a friend of Luke's from collage. She now lives out here in Sugar Land with her family and is an amazing photographer. She does the most beautiful newborn pictures! The minute I found out I was pregnant I couldn't wait to call her and set up my appointment for our soon to be baby. We took these pictures when he was 8 days old.
Here is a link to her blog with our sneak peak pictures. If you love baby pictures you will also enjoy her other entries. I added her blog to my list of favorites on the right. I love to look at her photos every now and then just to see all those sweet babies!

http://eringolanphotography.typepad.com/erin_golan_photography/2010/10/sneak-peek-baby-luke-sugar-land-newborn-baby-photography.html

Welcome to the world sweet James 'Luke' Patterson II!

After a full 40 weeks we finally got to meet our baby Luke! Our due date of September 25th came and went along with the 26th. I couldn't believe it! All along I thought he would be a little early!

At my last doctor's appointment Dr. Schoeder and I discussed when we should induce labor. I was concerned about letting him "cook" too long since I was 8 lbs at birth and his daddy was about 9 1/2 lbs at birth. She said she would be willing to induce him as early as the 27th if we wanted to. She thought the latest she would go was Sunday October 3rd. She told me to go home and think about it over night and let her know if I wanted to be put on the induction list. She did warn me that inducing would raise my chances of a c-section. I had said all along I had no problem with a c-section (the dignified part of me actually preferred it) but I had spent 9 months mentally preparing myself for child birth, all of a sudden the thought of a c-section really scared me. I have had several friends who had a c-section, some of them chose to have one, and I knew it would be fine but I still hadn't prepared myself for a major surgery. What else could we do, we went to prayer along with countless friends, family and a great Sunday school class. I was so thankful for all of the support.

On a side note: We are in a great Sunday school class where about 90% of the couples are pregnant or have just had a a baby and most of them are on their second or third child. These girls have such a wealth of knowledge and experience to share. So by the time they had all emailed me and shared their experiences with me I was feeling a little better.

The day after my doctor's appointment I received a phone call from a nurse in Dr. Schroeder's office. She told me that they had gone ahead and put me on the induction list for Monday because her schedule was starting to get hectic that week. Luke and I took that as an answer to prayers.

On  Monday September 27 at 11AM we got the phone call to go ahead and come in for induction and off we went. When we got there they immediately started me on Pitosen. At that point it was just a waiting game. For most of the day I didn't progress much. Then around 9PM it began to move quickly. The delivery went so smoothly and quickly, I couldn't believe it. We were not quite prepared for our surprise.

Another side note: I couldn't believe how great Luke was! He is not one to want to watch all the "action" (and the dignified part of me was good with that). At some point Dr. Schroeder was able to coax him into just taking a look. Luke got really excited and was able to watch his son being born. Much to my surprise, even the dignified part of me was really happy about that. It was a really special moment that I am glad he didn't miss. I have since learned that there is no such thing as bodily modesty in a marriage after child birth, if you have managed to keep yours thus far.

At 1:20AM on September 28th baby Luke made his grand entrance! The whole room was completely shocked when he came out... 9 pounds 5 ounces and 21 1/4 inches!!!! He was completely healthy. Luke and I knew all the prayers had been answered. I have no idea where that kid was hiding his size in there! Even Dr. Schroeder was surprised. Daddy could not wait to go out and tell the grandparents and show them the huge foot prints (as proof of size).

We are so proud of him. As we have already noticed, he changes a little every day.We are enjoying every moment.

He is such a special gift and we can't wait to see what God has in store for him!

What Little Boys Are Made Of

I was out one day a few months ago looking at baby clothes, just for fun. I had not purchased one thing for him yet when I came across this sweet little book. I immeadiately fell in love with it and bought it. It was everything a parent could want for their little boy. I couldn't have said it better myself! The book then became the theme that I wanted to decorate the nursery around.
On an outing one day I showed it to my close friend Claudine, who has 2 little boys of her own, and she fell in love too. Knowing my plan to make this book the center piece of the room, she sweetly made me an art piece out of the book that was the gift from all of the hostesses that gave my baby shower.
It was such a touching gift. It is our favorite piece in the room.

If you are having a boy, don't be surprised if you get this book from me as part of your baby gift!

The Finished Nursery

It took some work but baby Luke's room is all ready. Right now it's our favorite room in the house. It's calming and quiet and has the best chair in the whole house!

                                                                                  

 

These are the letters we ordered to go on the shelf in the photo above.  

JPLII

This is what the "going to the hospital" pile currently looks like.









I know I will continue to add little accents as I find things I love but for now this is it!

While We Wait...

We pretty much have everything ready. Now we are just waiting on our little guy. I had intended to stop working at the beginning of August, which then became the beginning of September, which has now become
"how many more jobs can I squeeze in before he is born?". I have to say, if I had had 2 months to sit around with nothing to do but wait I might have gone crazy. August, September and October are some of my busiest months of the year so when clients call I have little will power to say no because I love my job (most of the time). I took a few behind the scenes pics with my cell at a couple of the shoots I have been working on. Just thought I would post them for fun.

A fall accessories shoot:
Givenchy and Philip Treacy and YSL OH MY!

This purple Fendi heel with this fur DVF bag was a hit!











Test shoot for a model: