The Easter Bunny stopped by our house a day early and left Easter eggs and little presents around the backyard for the kids to find. They had so much fun looking for the eggs. Some had candy and some had money!! He also left some books, games, and toys. 
Kissing bandit - Jaden loves to give Luke kisses! It's funny - he tries so hard to kiss him on the lips. Luke wiggles around but Jaden doesn't give up. He does that with other people too. When he tries to give someone a kiss they sometimes try to turn their cheek toward him. That just won't fly with him - he's got to plant one on you right on the mouth!
I think Anna has made Easter eggs with Grandma every year that she has been actually interested in making them. It's been a nice tradition - I hope we'll be able to keep it up! This year Aunt Megan got in on the action. She and Anna came up with some really creative eggs.
Every year my grandmother would make special bunny cakes for Easter. My mom and Aunt Clarice have continued the tradition. Anna really looks forward to making the bunny cakes. Somehow they seem even more delicious when she helps!Then when it comes to eating them she wants to eat the head first then the butt - I'm not sure what that says about her...
Today we took a ride to Galveston, TX to see the beach and get something to eat. For an added treat, after supper we took a ride around town in a horse and carriage. We learned a little about the great flood of 1900. It was pretty neat. By the time we made it down to the beach it was chilly. That didn't stop Anna from getting her feet wet in the water! 
Luke had his first visit to the doctor today. He weighed 8 lbs. even and was 20 inches long. The doctor said that he was "perfect". Personally, I think all babies are perfect but more than that the doctor's report reassured me that everything was okay. With Anna we had to go to the doctor nearly every day for bilirubin checks and she had to spend her first week of life under special lights because of her jaundice. Our little Jaden came too early and had to spend his first month in the hospital. When he came home we were so nervous about how well he was eating, if he was breathing, we were desperate to keep him from getting sick. It took us a long time to be able to just relax and enjoy our babies. This time has been very different. I'm not used to this. Luke let us know he was here with big, loud cries (Anna never made a sound and I think Jaden may have cried once), he was able to go right back to my room and never had to leave (Jaden went straight to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and I had to look at Anna in an isolette under bili-lights from my bed), we came home after just 2 days and didn't have to go to the doctor for a whole week (Anna had blood checks about everyday and we had to visit Jaden in the hospital every day)! We were very blessed that even though he has the same blood type as Anna he didn't have the problem with jaundice that she did. She was soooo yellow! Anna had something called an ABO incompatibility since we have different blood types. This results in a more aggressive type of jaundice. Luke has type A blood but for some reason he did not need any treatment. God has truely blessed me and I thank him often for it! He's eating well, pooping and peeing well, sleeping well, and just being a very, sweet baby. He has fit in very nicely so far with our little family. We are all really enjoying him! Our little surprise has turned out to be just what we needed.
We finally got to sing Happy Birthday to Chris and have some cake. He wanted to make sure he shared it with his newest birthday present.
Anna had asked to hold Luke. It must have been very relaxing because she fell right asleep!
Everyday he looks different. It's so hard to tell who he looks like. At first, he reminded us a lot of Jaden, then he seemed to look like Anna but he doesn't look like either anymore. I guess we'll have to wait and see if he resembles anyone. But as I was reminded about something the kids' late Papa Jack would say, "Luke will look like Luke".
I have to say that I was nervous about Jaden coming to the hospital. I had originally thought I would stay a little longer at the hospital to let my body recover a bit longer before going home to Jaden. I love him all the world but he just doesn't understand the pain associated with having just had a cesarean section and I figured he would just want his "Momma". Since I couldn't hold him or pick him up I thought he would be really upset. But, I was getting a little bored in the hospital and decided I would rather take my chances at home. 
He looks so tiny in the car seat. I needed more blankets to prop up around him. He just looks so fragile.
We made it home! Thank goodness we got that minivan just in time. It would have been a tight squeeze to fit everyone in our Accord.
Our neighbor and life saver Laura. Laura lives just a street over from us and is a new transplant to Clute as well. Both she and her husband moved here in April and are adjusting to life in Texas along with us. While we are all at the hospital waiting for Luke to be born Laura stayed with Anna and Jaden. It was nice to not have to worry about them because I knew they were in good hands!
Anna was a little shy about meeting Luke for the first time. She kept a distance at first but slowly started to move closer and closer.
In no time she was holding him and feeding him a bottle. It's funny one of her first observations was about his hair. She said, "He doesn't have any qurls". (That's what she calls Jaden's curls).
I have to say that the third time must be the charm. Despite my overwhelming anxiety at times (because of Jaden's prematurity) this was the most "normal" pregnancy and delivery that I've had. And believe me, I thank God for it every free moment that I have!Here we are before leaving for the hospital. We didn't have to be there until 9:30 so, we had a relaxing morning. It was a little harder for me because I couldn't have anything to eat from 12:30 the night before.
Here is the final measurement of my belly - just about 44 inches around!
When we got to the hospital the hooked me up to the monitors to watch the baby and monitor contractions. It turned out that I was in early labor. I had been having contractions from the day before that had started to become more regular through the night. They told me that I would have had the baby today even if the c-section hadn't been scheduled. It was nice to know that he would have come today anyway. Today was the day afterall!
At 12:30, right on time, they came to take me to the operating room.
Chris, my Mom, and my sister-in-law Kelli were allowed to be in my room and wait for the baby to come back. Chris and my Mom were allowed to come in to the OR to see the baby being born. I had thought they would be in there the whole time but they were only allowed to come in as they were taking him out and then left with the baby. I was very, very nervous. I tried to talk the Anastesiologist into knocking me out and just waking me up when the baby was here. She and the nurses were very kind and reassuring but she wouldn't do it. It turned out to be a little better than I thought - not that I want to do it again! 
