What Are We Up To?

So I can't figure out how to get my pics to move, so they aren't where I want them, but enjoy anyway!






Well nothing really exciting is going on in our lives right now. We are getting ready to have Matt's brother's family visit and then we are off to Idaho for a long visit. Luke keeps growing. He had his two month check up and weighs 13 lbs. 13 oz and is 24.5 inches long. He is in the 95 percentile for both. He is huge but can't hold his head up at all so he still just flops around. He is starting to smile and make noises which I love! Marc loves Luke and is very helpful and so I have to keep an eye on Luke always. I feel bad for Luke because I never take pictures of him, but here are a few.

Marc just keeps growing and getting cuter. He colored with markers for the first time ever and I think there was more marking on his hands then on the paper, but he had fun. He is starting to talk more and more, and I can even understand some of it! We have to be so careful with what we say. Marc heard Matt say crap and said it and hasn't stopped. He was standing on a wipes container and fell off and what did he say? Crap. We must be terrible parents, please forgive us. He is so busy and keeps us going constantly, that is until he crashes. We are loving life right now and love our little boys.

Hospital Again

On Monday night Luke hadn't woken up to eat which is very unusual so I decided to get him up to feed him and realized he had a temperature. Given his history we decided to take him to the ER. He was admitted and went through all the tests that he went through 3 weeks ago. This time they found an urinary tract infection again and investigated further. He has reflux which means his ureters and kidneys have excess fluid in them because his ureters are not closing off properly and fluid from his bladder backs up into them. This is sometimes caused by immature ureters and will fix it's self, but Luke's case is pretty bad so it might mean surgery. We have an appointment on Monday with a urologist and then hopefully we will know more. We are going home tomorrow (Sunday) and I am so glad. I can't wait to sleep in a real bed and eat real food.

Luke is doing great now and will be on antibiotic so he shouldn't get any more infections. He is growing like crazy and weighs 11 pounds now. I think half the weight is in his head which just flops around because he can't hold it up. He is a cute little boy and we love him and are glad he is getting the help he needs.
Marc came for a quick visit to see his little brother. He didn't last long because there were so many neat things to play with. He loves his little brother and kept saying Luke, sick. I am sure he will be grateful to get back to normal life, but will miss being able to play with different people every day. Thanks to all those who have helped watch him. You helped make this whole thing so much easier.

Blessing Day and Family

We blessed Luke on Sunday. Matt's parents and brother were able to be there with us. It was a wonderful day and we are grateful to have Luke in our family.




Marc loves shoes and loved that Grandma's almost fit so he could wear them around.
Grandma was great to take care of the boys so I could get some extra sleep. Marc loved playing with her and we loved having her with us.

While Matt's family was in Spokane we went to several parks and had a fun time together. We rode a carousel and at first Marc liked the horses, but as it started to speed up he hated it and started to scream. Matt and I had fun though.
I love my boys!!!

Idaho

Marc loved being in Idaho. He had lots of attention and lots of room to play. He loved being outside, and would constantly grab someone's finger and pull them out the door so they would play with him. He gather (and broke) eggs, fed baby calves, play with kittens, rode the four-wheeler, jumped on the trampoline, and weeded the garden. I know it will be a hard adjustment being home where we have no yard, and it is raining, but we will be back in Idaho in 8 weeks and have a fun summer planned until then. Here are a few pics from the week.

Two Weeks Old

When I started this post Luke was two weeks old. He is older than that now, but we will just pretend I finished the post when I started it. Luke had a crazy first two weeks of life. Being born, meeting his new family, traveling to Idaho, lots of doctor visits and a trip to the hospital. Sorry this is a long story and probably boring, but here it goes.

Friday night Matt and I were talking about the upcoming week. Matt had the week off from school and told me he was going to go crazy being home all week. Then he told me the things he wanted to do during the week: move to a house with a yard, build shelves, and tear something apart. For my sanity I suggested that we could go to Idaho and he immediately accepted. We discussed the craziness of taking a newborn on a trip, but he was doing great at his checkup so we decided to go for it. We had a very late night and a very early morning, but we left on Saturday. A few hours into the drive I noticed that Luke had a goopy eye and once again asked Matt if it was smart to be leaving the state (our insurance only covers in state doctors) he told me it was too late and we weren't turning back. So we continued on our journey. Both boys did great and the trip was very easy.

Well Luke's eye didn't get better so on Sunday we were going to ask a doctor from my parent's ward to look at it. Well neither doctor was at church, so we decided to just take him to an urgent care place. So a doctor visit and $85 eye drops later we were set, we thought. Monday I kept thinking he had a temperature and then it would go away, but by night time he didn't look good at all. His coloring was really bad and he just laid on the couch and kinda moaned, so we took him to a doctor in the ward. He suggested that we take him to an urgent care place and get some blood work done. So once again we went into town and checked into the doctors. Well when they checked him out his coloring was just fine and his temp was normal so they sent us home thinking we were crazy I am sure.

So Tuesday we had an appointment with another doctor to have Luke circumcised (another long story but I will spare you all the details). So we get there and they check him all out and he had a temperature of 101.2. The doctor was concerned and wanted to do tests, we were okay with it, but we were a little concerned because of our insurance situation. I called the insurance company and found out that they would cover an emergency room visit, so the doctor sent us over to the hospital. We were so glad to hear that it would all be covered and felt much better about the whole situation.

When they took his temp at the hospital it was 102.8 and they were really worried. They took lots of blood, did chest x-rays, and did a lumbar tap. I couldn't handle hearing Luke cry or watching them draw blood so I sat in the waiting room and Matt took care of everything. They also started him on an IV and antibiotics. After being in the emergency room for a few hours they admitted us into the hospital. They kept him so they could monitor him and give him antibiotics while they waited for the blood cultures. So I watched TV and tried to sleep for 3 days in the hospital, not what I imagined our vacation would be like.

In the end they found that he had a Urinary tract infection and strep. He is doing so much better now and I am so glad that we were able to figure it all out and get him feeling better. There is nothing worse than watching your child suffer and not being able to do anything about it. We are now back home in Spokane and adjusting back to normal life.

Big Brother Meets Little Brother

Marc was very cute with Luke and wanted to give him kisses. We haven't had any real bad attacks on Luke, just a few accidental bumps trying to give kisses and finding his nose. This morning Marc kept asking for baby so that is a good sign. Hopefully he gets used to the idea of a little competition. It's amazing how tiny Luke is compared to Marc, they certainly don't stay small for very long. We are adjusting well and are excited for all the fun times having two boys will bring.
Discovering brother's toes.


Kisses for everyone! I think Marc was very glad to have mom and dad back.

How do you teach a one year old to not head bang his brother?

Luke Matthew Harris

Luke arrived at 1:06 this afternoon. Everything went very well and we are all doing great. He weighed 8 lbs 13 oz and was 20.75 inches long. I am so glad that he was 3 weeks early. Even being a week earlier than Marc he is still bigger. He is a healthy little boy with chubby cheeks and a very loud cry! I keep calling him Marc, and have to remind myself this is not Marc, it's a new little addition to our family!

He wasn't getting fed like he wanted, so he found his thumb!


Proud Daddy!