Happy 8 Months:)

My sweet sweet baby,

Eight months ago today you entered into this world and forever changed ours. The time has flown by. I forget at times that you don't stay in one spot anymore, you are crawling everywhere and even pulling up on things. I love the way you smile at me after going a whole day without seeing me. You begin Daddy's day by giving him the smile that melts our hearts. Already you are showing a love for animals (little vet in the making?). It's amazing how quickly and completely you changed everyone's life. I can't imagine having a sweeter, happier baby and we are so thankful you are ours. I can't wait to watch you grow and at the same time would like you to stay just how you are. Happy 8 months baby boy.

With all my love forever,
Mommy

Zoo House

Roxie

Pirate Cat

Big Leo

Baby Luke

Baby Leo

Quite often I look around and realize that I am living in a zoo. I have a little boy who needs constant watching because he is into everything...and still have to manage caring for 3 dogs and a cat. Ty-ty is our 10 year old pirate cat. He has one eye and no tail as a result from a close call with a car (cats must have 9 lives) and he keeps the dogs in check, often taking on all them at one time. We have a 1 year old rottweiler named Leo who is our baby..he is the sweetest, most loveable dog who adores the baby. We have an almost two year old lab mix named Roxie who surprisingly looks like a mini-rott making her and Leo look like siblings. Roxie is by far our most difficult pet. She comes from a shelter and I am almost sure at one point in her life she was abused, she pees if you move in her direction too quickly, she destroys things if you leave her alone, and she barks obsessively. Then comes our newest addition...Koda. Oh Koda. We found this little rascal on the side of the road and felt we had no choice but to keep her. When we found her she was only a little puffball of fur (the vet said her grandparents were probably mutts). We are quite certain that we picked up a little wolf puppy. Our baby absolutely loves animals and it is his heaven to watch them all and if possible grab their fur... more pics to come:)

New Playroom

Sorry for the overload of pictures but I thought they were all so cute so I couldn't choose! My husband and I decided to make our guest bedroom into a playroom for Luke and can you say success! He didn't know what to do with himself there was so much to play with!


Guess he doesn't know he is supposed to be inside the jumperoo.

Just one side of his new playroom...going to have to do something about those corners on the storage unit

Playing inside his new tunnel


"Mommy what is this?"

"Yay! Daddy came to play!"



Oh here we go...standing already.

Hot deodorant

Warning- do not leave deodorant in car. I got a surprise when I opened up my Secret deodorant after it had been sitting in my car. It splattered on me in liquid form and as soon as it hit me it hardened. Yeah...I didn't even know that was possible.

Update

Comparing to when he was born, Luke has far surpassed not only my expectations but those of his doctor's too. They did the experimental treatment to prevent any possible brain damage, and not only did it work but he is incredibly smart and strong for his age. He is currently 7 1/2 months old and I am watching him trying to buckle his own carseat that is sitting on the floor. Last week he went from army crawling (which he has been doing forever) to normal crawling, to pulling up, and now he is "cruising". He may be ready for all of this but I am most certainly not. Aren't they supposed to do all of these things spread out? My baby is growing up much too fast. I have to look back at the pictures like the one above, to remind myself of how small he was and how close to losing him we were.

Luke's Birth Story

I posted this on my one and only post so far on the bump but here goes again...

My due date was November 2, 2008. As we became closer to that date my blood pressure soared to dangerous levels. I was told I had preeclampsia and was put on bedrest to attempt to bring my blood pressure down. At my next appointment on October 29, it was clear that just wasn't going to happen. Not wanting to wait any longer my doctor, a sweet older man that delivered me, scheduled me for induction the following morning. I checked into the hospital that night and received the medicines that would get me ready for induction the next morning. That night at around 9:00 pm while me and my husband were settling into the room for the night, I began to feel discomfort in my lower back. Asking the nurse about it, she told me the medicine could cause labor like symptoms. However, the pain began to intensify throughout the night. At 3:00 am still not able to sleep, I was sobbing (let me also say I have an extremly high tolerance for pain) and the nurse tried to give me some Ambien to help me sleep. However this did nothing to help me sleep. The nurse gave me Ambien a couple more times and all this did was make me loopy, and the pain was still horrible. After a string of nice nurses this particular nurse was horrible, rude, and very rough. At around 8:00 a.m. I finally got her to check me only to here what I knew all along "Congratulations your 7 centimeters dilated." Well this would have been good news at 3:00 a.m. when I could have gotten my epidural. At this time it was angering news and the nurse must have known and someone else came to take her spot. The rest passed in a blur, my doctor came in smiling telling me how "lucky" I was to go into labor on my own at a hospital. I didn't feel all that lucky. Someone came in and gave me my epidural and it didn't take, at this point it was too late. Against my will I was doing this withought any pain medication. A little while later I felt an intense need to push and after being told to hold off while they got everything ready, I was finally given the go ahead. After pushing for barely any time I felt the baby's head. Then everything went wrong. It was like things were moving in slow motion then all of a sudden everything sped up. The doctor yelled "c-section" and nurses started running. They didn't have time to explain what was happening all I knew was fear. I was wheeled down the hall past all my worried family, and my husband was left scared to death in the room. In the operating room there were too many people and my husband wasn't allowed in. The worst part was it was such an emergency they didn't have time to knock me out before they started cutting. However, I remember feeling the pain at the time but I don't remember what it felt like now. That is why childbirth continues to happen...we were blessed with being able to forget the pain. As much as I went through I feel worse for my husband having to deal with all of the emotional pain. I found out later I ruptured (which means the placenta came apart from the uterus walls) and the baby was stuck in a position he couldn't breathe. October 30, 2008 Lucas Michael came into the world at 6 pounds 2 ounces and 21 inches long. He was wheeled of the NICU which leads to his first horrible days of life..
My husband and I signed up the papers for Luke to be treated with a "cooling blanket" which induces hypothermia, this is a new and extremly risky treatment. They woke me up out of anesthia to have me sign the papers, and had I been more aware I might have not been so sure about signing them. But how do you say no when a doctor is telling you it might prevent brain damage? They made me stay 8 hours in a recovery room before I was able to see my little boy. My husband was able to take our family members up one by one to meet him. He came back and told me how beautiful he was and how he made eye contact with him right away. Finally, after a slow 8 hours which I refused to sleep because I childishly thought no one would wake me when it was time to see him, I was wheeled to meet him. It was the most beautiful and terrifying sight I had ever seen. My adorable baby boy was cold and shivering on a green "cooling" blanket. They explained to me that by cooling his body temperature down it gave his brain an other organs time to recuperate from the hard delivery. He was on the blanket for 72 hours, and they estimated him to be in the NICU for a minimum of three weeks, and every day and most nights I was by his side, his little fist clutching my finger. The day finally came where they slowly warmed him up, and as they did wonderful things happened. His little eyes opened and found me, he started moving around, and he cried! It was the best sound I had ever heard after he had been silent for three days. That night my husband and I got to give him his first bath, which he is just now beginning to warm up to, feed him, and change diapers which even that was amazing to us. Three days after he got off the cooling blanket he was given a clean bill of health to go home. His brain activity was normal, his hearing perfect, and he took to eating easier than most babies do. I had talked them into letting me stay in a room until he was ready to go home. I came in with a baby and I was going to go home with one. Six days after his birth we loaded up in the car and left for home. Those six days were an emotional roller coaster for us, and it made me and my husband so much stronger. Luke is now seven months old and advanced for his age. He figured out how to crawl, he pulls up on everything, he has the sweetest laugh, and he already has a little attitude.

Why I am starting

Well I realize it is a little late in the game...I didn't even realize this world of blogging existed until recently...but I like the idea of having an outlit more for myself than anyone. The name of my blog "House of Love" is most likely a common one but for my family it fits more than most. It is our last name so I could see no other name more fitting. I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful baby boy who is currently 7 and a half months old, 3 crazy dogs, and an old cat that keeps them all in check. I guess I need somewhere to keep my sanity and writing has always been my preferred method. I don't know if it will even be read much less entertaining but we shall see.