Gigi is 60!!!

On Tuesday September 27th my mom officially turned 60! My sister and I decided about a month ago that, although it was not the best timing, we could not let this milestone birthday pass by without a celebration. We sent out invites and booked a room at a local favorite restaurant and surprised the heck out of OLD Gigi the Saturday before her actual birthday.

These are the only pics we have, courtesy of my sweet husband, who filled in for me - I've been a little busy ;) 

A surprised Gigi! 

I know there are more pictures taken by some of her friends- hopefully I can get a hold of them soon. I think she had a nice time and was very surprised that we remembered her birthday in the middle of having Luke!

Luke is 2 weeks old!

Hard to believe we are already going on 3 weeks as a family of 4- I am so blessed and greatful for these beautiful boys of ours!

Luke 1 week old

Luke 2 weeks

Brothers- Any Resemblance???

Here are Jack and Luke, each on their way home from the hospital.

Jack in Dec. of 2008 on the left and Luke in Sept. 2011 on right. I think we have to claim them both. Both with Sapphire blue eyes and red hair at birth. Let's see if Luke keeps his, we certainly know big brothers hair has not changed much. My two favorite little red heads!

9-14-2011 Happy Birthday Luke

 Luke Benjamin Fralin

Born September 14, 2011 at 10:12 am

8 lbs. 13 oz. ~ 20 3/4 inches

Here I am Tuesday night, settling into my ever-so-comfy, L&D bed.

We got to the floor, admitted about 8:30 pm and to bed I went. I was already about 4 cm dilated and 50% effaced prior to being admitted. The nurses got me all settled and then about midnight they administered the Cytotec. The Cytotec had begun to work pretty well by the time 4 am rolled around and I was beginning to hurt. I decided that I would go ahead and have my epidural placed, knowing that at 5 am the nurse would start the Pitocin. After the epidural was placed (don't even get me started- 4 sticks to properly place an epidural catheter is beyond unacceptable!) I began to feel some relief.  By the time the epidural was placed and we were re-settled, the day shift nurses were on and upon her assessment I was dilated to a 6 by about 9 am. At around 9:30 she checked me again on her way to another room for an epidural. I was still about a 6 and I turned on my side. A few minutes after turning, I had three fairly big contractions and was very quickly hitting the call button- it was time to push! She came back to check and sure enough, I had dilated from a 6 to a 10 in just a few minutes.She said, please DON'T PUSH, Dr. F needs a minute to get over here! Dr. F arrived asap and little Luke made his debut after only three pushes at 10:12am.

And here we are Wed morning after all of the excitement! I'm not sure if Jack was more excited to push the remote buttons on my call bell or meet baby brother.

Me and my boys

Our first pictures as a family of 4

 And here we are on Friday, ready to get the heck outta here!! Jack's first opportunity to hold Luke- I think he did pretty well ;) 

Twas the Night Before Baby

Twas the night before the baby

And all through the house

Mama was stirring and

Having an internal freak-out!

She felt as though nothing was done,

Nothing put away.

So much left to do but,

Instead, she decided to play!

I guess it's the constant feelings of being a mom, but I always feel as though I should be doing more. The laundry should be folded or I need to finish cleaning up the kitchen better than I do. And being pregnant and hotter than anyone should be allowed, I really felt like I'd fallen down on the job as of lately.  Well, I finally realized Tuesday night before we were to go to the hospital was not the best time to finish my honey-do's. So, I tried to take our last night of being a family of three and relax as best I could. Don't get me wrong- it was still nuts, but I wanted Jack to feel as calm as possible since we had to go in at 8 and we needed to leave before his bed time.

He went to school as usual that day and I made sure that our bags were packed and in the car while he was napping -I didn't want him to see us wheeling our suitcases to the car (too bad I forgot the pillows, we paid for that one later!). I hit up Rosa's drive thru for dinner and we had a quiet dinner for three before Gigi came to watch Jack. We had a present for him after dinner and he got a new book about "What Brother's Do Best" and a few toy cars to tide him over before he came to see us the next morning.

Gigi took a few preggo pics of me, then some of us three and we were on our way!
Me (and Luke) at 39 weeks 

My last pictures of our little family of three.

I could never get enough of my sweet boys and those smiles!

Gigi, Jack and me

(and the red pillows on the chair that I forgot to pack- we VERY much missed those pillows Tuesday night!) 

We have a new Yard Man...

Daddy has been doing a great job keeping Jack busy for a very pregnant Mommy. They have frequented the front yard in the last few weeks, since its been a brisk 90-something degrees instead of our usual 100+. On Saturday Brian though he'd let Jack watch as he mowed the yard and if you know my child- he does not "watch"- he INSISTS on TAKING OVER!

So Dad let him take over...

Introducing, Yard Man Jack! He did this entire side of the yard with a little help from Dad on the turns.

Daddy was so proud. Busy telling Jack what a good job he did. I believe they have another date this Saturday. I just LOVE them to pieces!!!

First Day of CDO 2011

Here is my sweet little Jack ready for his first day of school! I still cannot believe what a big boy he is becoming. He wasn't so sure about going back to school, but once we got there he knew right where he was going and headed into his new classroom like a champ. No crying!!!

I almost forgot! There's a baby on the way...

Took me a while, but little Luke's room is FINALLY ready. I feel like this poor child has been somewhat "forgotten" all along. I never realized how much I  had ready and prepared for Jack before he was born, until now. Seems as though we've been so busy with it being summer and Jack in general, that baby stuff has been put on the back burner. In addition to the fact that I couldn't decide what to do with his room- I felt like I used all my good ideas on Jack's room!

The clothes are ready -thank God for not having to buy a ton of new clothes! The closets are organized and the boys bath is ready as well. I never really worked on the bathroom until now- I was afraid I would get it all done for Jack and then we would have a little girl second, and I would be re-doing the bath again!

A BIG thanks to Marina for monogramming the boys towels- they look great :) Getting excited for Luke Benjamin to come and join our family!



A Room Fit for a BIG BOY!

After much back and forth about what to do with Jack's room, we decided on the below bed option, which I am very pleased with :). It is a full bed that he can use (hopefully) for years to come. He has a trundle for his pals to come and spend the night later on and since it goes against the wall he feels somewhat like he's still in a little boy bed. Took us a few days, but he is used to the new set-up and loves his big boy bed.

Mommy loves that his books are all in one spot. Occasionally we find him trying to read, but with no light above his bed to turn on (removed that very quickly), it's working out very well!

Jack is 2 1/2!

I do not even know where to begin....I cannot believe how much this sweet little "angel" has grown and changed our lives in the last two and a half years. I quote "angel" because when I truly stop and think - he is an angel that God placed in our lives at exactly the right moment, who brings us an immeasurable amount of joy on a daily basis. On the other hand I quote "angel", because in the last 6 months he can be anything but an angel when he wants- we have hit our terrible twos!

Jack absolutely ADORES his Daddy and Momma is pretty awesome too. The only time Dad is not so much fun is when he is in trouble- somehow Brian has "the look" that lets Jack know he's in major trouble..... cue the water works and running to Momma for protection!

He continues his love for reading and I would say we "read" no less that 5-6 books a day. He is beginning to "read" to me...mostly from memory, but he knows several of his favorites by heart and can recite some in their entirety. At the least he is more than willing to point out that I have missed/skipped a page or that I said it wrong. He loves to recite his alphabet, loves to point out shapes (even the shapes he makes while eating a sandwich), loves to play learning games on my iPad and has an infatuation with football, soccer and fixing things. He would be out front or in the field across from our house playing ball with dad all day, every day if he could. He is constantly going to get his tools, turning over his coupe and letting us know that the axle or the motor needs to be fixed. NO, I have no idea where he heard it, but I will say it is definitely in his genes! He is our "backseat driver" reminding us that we need to "hold on to our seat belts", making sure we see that stop sign two blocks ahead and letting us know that we need to be careful so that we don't have an accident.

I had no idea the memory of a two year old.  He pointed out to us that we should have received red and green chips the other day at Freebirds World Burrito- the last and only other time we were in the restaurant before last week was sometime in May (and I'm guessing the chips were colored for Cinco de Mayo?). He asked last night if he could have a flamingo cookie- flamingo cookie? Took me a few to remember that was almost a month ago at a birthday party that he had a flamingo cookie- are you kidding? He is constantly reminding us of things we have said weeks or months ago- we have our very own parrot who lives two doors down.

He has settled into his big boy bed and room like a champ! And EVEN BETTER- he has agreed to "share" his baby bed with his new little brother. Thanks goodness! He is also a champ at STAYING in bed until at least 8 am like mommy asks, courtesy of his new nightlight which deserves it's own post!

I know there are several things I am forgetting, either way- this little guys AMAZES us on a daily basis,constantly keeping us on our toes.

These pictures were taken in late July and I CANNOT believe how much he has changed in the last year. Turning in to such a little man.