Pumpkin Patchin it Up

Saturday morning in Dallas was a beautiful day and we headed to a fabulous pumpkin patch not far from my sister's house. Landrum had her first experience in a bounce house - she was not sure exactly what to do once inside, fortunately it was not super crowded and she was not trampled! She also got to ride a 'train' with daddy, shout at the horses and explore the pumpkins - she loved it!

Trick or Treat Texas Style

This past weekend we went to Dallas to see my sister and her family. Landrum needed some cousin time and everyone wanted to meet Luke. We had such a fun weekend. I laughed and called it Jared's "Man-Sports" weekend as he had a fun filled time. He played golf with an old friend on Friday at a very nice course and had a great round although he has not picked up his clubs in a year and a half! (we are a little busy around here). Then Sunday he and Luke, my brother in law, trucked on over to the new Cowboys stadium with 60,000+ other fans, and experienced the Cowboys beating the Seahawks. Of course we could only afford standing room tickets since all other tickets are so outrageous because they have to pay for that monstrocity! Anyway - he had a GREAT time doing all his 'man' activities. We all had a great time too playing with cousins and trying to do a little shopping (although it is very difficult to accomplish much with 4 kids 3 and under!). Saturday night everyone dressed up and we headed out to trick our treat. This was Landrum's first experience with trick or treating and she loved it! She was a little overwhelmed by all the costumes and got somewhat sidetracked. She kept swing her pumpkin bucket so hard that we lost a good bit of the candy we collected! She really did not care about the candy though. She was one dang cute Pink Poodle!

Fall is Here

Well, atleast technically fall is here. In Mississippi we don't actually have much of a 'real fall' but when the temps are in the 70's I declare it is fall! We went to the pumpkin patch with my parents on Saturday and had such a fun time. It is actually much more than just a pumpkin patch, there is a hayride with lots of stops a long the way to look at various animals - including a Zedonk - yes a zebra donkey mix - really one of a kind! There were performing goats and giant catfish as well as your run of the mill cows, donkeys, chickens and pigs. We all got to pick out our own pumpkins which Landrum loved! I carried Luke in the sling the whole time and he did great!

The Babies

We had a sweet friend come and take some pictures of the kids. She is just starting her own photography business and needed some new born photos so it worked out perfectly. We had fun and the children cooperated for the most part. Here are some of my favorites from that day!

Update

We are alive! Things are starting to settle into some sort of routine around here. I am at home on my own with the children during the day now.. while I will be honest by about 2:30 we are staring at the clock waiting for Jared to walk through the door!

We took Luke to his 2 week check up with our pediatrician yesterday and had a great visit. He is 6lbs on the dot - we were thrilled! He has really done well with his weight gain and the doctor was very pleased.. all this to say he is still only in the 5th percentile for his weight!! Developmentally he is right on track and looks great! We will have to go back each week for a weight check between now and his 2 month check up, just to make sure he is continuing to gain on track. He does have some problems with reflux that have kept us up during the night, in fact he and i spend most of our night on the couch together.. we started some medicine today and we are hoping that is going to clear up some of our problems..

I will put some more pictures up soon - promise!

This Week

Well, we knew the transition from one to two was going to be both challenging and exciting... but I am not sure we were quite prepared.. and I suppose it really would not be that bad except that Jared has been sick since we have been home. Turns out, we are pretty sure he has a stomach ulcer. It is terrible - he is so uncomfortable and not able to really do much at all. He feels terrible and I feel terrible for him. On top of him not feeling well, I am of course recovering from surgery, we are trying to tend to a newborn, and attempting to help sweet Landrum transition from being an 'only' to a big sister - a role she is a little unsure of I might add! Really, Landrum seems to like Luke okay - she is always anxious to see 'baby' as she calls him and to know what he is doing. She likes to help give him the pacifier, which usually ends up smashed in his eye, she likes to give lots of kisses, and pats and pull his hat off. If he is in the bouncy seat, she loves to help 'rock, rock' the baby.. we had to nip that in the bud pretty quickly lest he go catapulting across the room from the love of his sister!

Luke is eating well and sleeping most all the time. He is doing okay at night and I am starting to feel like we are getting into somewhat of a norm. He is such a good eater and I am so pleased as we are trying to fatten him up a little! He is so so tiny! We did get a good report when we went back to the hospital for his weight check, he was back at his birth weight (5lb 9oz) at less than a week old - they were pleased and we were thrilled!
Jared has seen a doctor and is taking some medicine, however, the pain seems to come and go. He will seem to be better and then take a turn for the worse and be out for the count. It has been a trial for sure.
I managed to get some sweet pictures of Landrum and Luke today when she got home from church - she went with her grandparents. Thank goodness my parents live here as they have been lifesavers for us throughout this experience.

More Pics of Baby Luke

We are still in the hospital as Jayme and Luke needed an extra day of care. Luke woke with a low temp this morning and Jayme fought a spinal headache all night so each of their respected Drs recommended them getting one more night of hospital care. Both of them are having a good day - Jayme got her headache taken care of and Luke is wrapped in 18 blankets with the room temp at 80 degrees so if he is still cold, the only solution is more meat on his bones. So as long as things are normal in the morning, we will all get to go home tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers during this up and down, but joyous occasion. Here's some more pics of Luke's friends and family.

Luke Hamilton Yates

Luke is here! He was born on Friday, September 4th at 12:56 pm. As many of you know we were expecting to have a planned c-section on September 9th, however, that was not the Lord's plan I guess! Last week I (Jayme) started having higher blood pressure readings and so they were keeping an eye on those. Thursday evening, she started having some regular contractions and those combined with high blood pressure found us in the doctors office Friday morning checking things out. The doctor on call decided that it was probably best for us to go ahead and deliver Friday afternoon. We had a wonderful experience with our c-section and both Luke and I came through beautifully. Luke weighed in at 5lb 9oz and was 19 1/2 inches long, very tiny! He had some difficulty transitioning into the world over the next 12-24 hours or so but since then has been doing great. He has been eating well, is eager to look all around and check out his surroundings and loves to be held! We don't have tons of pictures to post yet as we were not able to see him that much at first - but we'll get plenty more in the coming days.

Landrum and Luke had a wonderful first meeting. She was curious and attempted plenty of poking and prodding to see if he was real or a doll. Going home with an addition to the family will be an adjustment to all of us but I am sure she will enjoy her role as the big sister. Thanks for continuing to lift us up in prayer during this joyous time and we look forward to introducing Luke to you soon.