Sweet Sunshine!

We had a little pool party yesterday because the weather was BEAUTIFUL!  85 and sunny. The kids had a blast and so did the mommas!

 Now if I had a fruity drink in my hand, I would be in heaven!

Showing off

The Mouse is 1 Month Old!

Brooks, our little mouse as we affectionately call him (but don't let that nickname fool you; he sometimes turns into a RAT with his screams!!) turned a month old on Easter Sunday. It's hard to believe that a month has passed since he was born.  He is getting so big, so fast.  I feel like he has lost most of his little newborn look, which makes me sad.  While I wish for the sleep deprivation from the 2-3 hour feeding schedules to pass quickly, I really do love the newborn phase.  They are so stinking cuddly and smell delicious.  But you can't stop time.  He was less than thrilled at the time of these photos, so forgive that scrunched up angry face.  He really is a sweet boy.

ONE month! 

Brooks with his Easter bunny (thank you GiGi and Grandpa)

Eggs!

Our Easter was pretty low-key.  The morning started at 4:30am when baby Brooks decided it was time to start his day.  He was impatient for his 1st Easter to begin!  Silly little boy. Harrison was excited to open his baskets, but was most interested in the grass and empty eggs! Check out all that loot!  Our neighbor friends (aka our Alabama family) had us over for a delicious brunch, complete with a little egg hunt for the kiddos.  The day was beautiful!  And it was even better after both boys napped at the same time, allowing momma and daddy to sneak a snooze in as well! 

Spoiled boy

Egg Scavenger

Easter egg hunt on Saturday.  I forgot to pack his basket

so he had to collect his eggs in a diaper waste

bag! Poor kid.

Checking out the goods. I found it odd that the candy that was 

in the eggs was Fireballs, gum, and peppermints.

Harrison couldn't eat any of it. More for momma!

Harrison and his girlfriends, Charlotte and Addie

They were all wearing seer-sucker stripes! Love it! And 

totally not planned.  They just have moms with great

fashion sense!

Adorable in April!

I know I'm a little biased, but I think I may just have the cutest kids ever.  

Happy Easter, friends!! 

Brooks wasn't the most cooperative little guy 

in my picture taking escapade

... and clearly wasn't a fan of Harrison's kisses

Wordless Wednesday

Week 3

So our sweet little mouse Brooks has quite the set of lungs.  He is still getting belly aches that leave him crying for hours, oftentimes from the hours of 1am-3am.  His belly just gurgles and growls.  Aside from stopping nursing altogether, we have tried almost every remedy (Mylicon, Gripe water, swaddling, the swing, etc...) He is now following in his brother's footsteps and has started on Zantac.  We'll see how that works...  The remainder of the day he sleeps like a little angel.  He loves to be snuggled close and have his little bootie patted.  He still is rocking the yellow jaundice, but it's starting to fade (finally!)  

Peaceful Brooks

Hanging out in the bouncer

Here in the South, when someone has a baby

they put a giant pink or blue ribbon on your mailbox to

let your neighbors know that they baby is here! I love it!

Auntie Keri came to visit! Harrison loved all the extra

attention and playtime!

Harrison apparently called 'dibs' on this bouncer way back when

he actually fit in it. He tries to push Brooks out of the 

way so he can get in! 

The Boys

My adorable little men

Harrison showing off his "Big Brother"

tee

Baby Brooks

Not a great pic since Brooks' head can't be seen,

but look at those cute baby toes!

Two Weeks (already!)

Our little mouse is already 15 days old, which is hard to believe.  Time flies when you're sleep deprived! We headed to the pedi today for his 2 week check-up and here are the new stats:

Weight- 8 pounds 9.5 ounces 

Head circumference- 14 inches

Length- 21 inches

He is still a little jaundiced but his bilirubin level has finally dropped.  He is sleeping well, but occasionally has some bad nights.  We are trying to figure out if it is reflux or just something I ate that didn't agree with his tummy.  The pedi suggested giving up my ONE Coke a day and moderating my chocolate and dairy consumption.  He apparently doesn't know how much I pink puffy heart LOVE my Coke.  We'll see if it's the dairy... :) 

My boys!

(PS this was prior to bathtime. Harrison doesn't usually

run around shirtless)

Brooks was fussing, so Harrison was trying

to 'share' his blocks with him

Brooks' 2 week obligatory photo

STRETCH!

Harrison and GiGi

Harrison has had a blast hanging out with his GiGi (and Momma has very much appreciated having GiGi here!) They have been hanging out playing games, puzzles, reading books, coloring and cooking in the kitchen.  What will we do when GiGi leaves?  

GiGi and her boys

Playing baseball

Weee...

Playing with chalk

Wordless Wednesday

Puddles!

Harrison found a puddle in the backyard and had an 

absolute ball jumping in it.

It kept him entertained for quite some time--until he fell into 

the puddle, completely drenching his clothes. 

Brooks is such a sweet baby and loves to be snuggled.

We have nicknamed him "mouse" because

he makes the sweetest little squeaks.

New Beginnings

While my momma is entertaining Harrison in the backyard with bubbles, balls and sidewalk chalk, I thought I would take a minute to throw some new pictures on our little blog.  We are adjusting to life with two little men (and I foresee we will be adjusting for months to come!) but it's a wonderful feeling to look at Harrison and Brooks and know they are mine.  Excuse my postpartum hormones, they are slightly out of control. :)

Brooks in his adorable bear hat

...so in love

Harrison showing baby Brooks his belly

And getting his nose

But it's not all poking and prodding, he actually liked

giving him some snuggles

Announcing...

Brooks Campbell Ludwig

March 4 at 1018 pm

7 pounds 15 ounces

21 inches long

Well our little man didn't want to wait for the C-section scheduled for next Thursday.  He had a different plan, indeed.  All day yesterday I was feeling pretty crummy, but I definitely wasn't having timeable contractions, so I thought it was no biggie.  Towards evening, I started having a few sporadic, but uncomfortable contractions.  I called the on-call doc, who wanted me to head into OB triage just to get checked out.  Brian and I thought that for sure it was nothing, so we headed to the hospital, Harrison in tow! 

After less than two hours of being on the monitors, it became quite apparent that this was the real deal.  The contractions were coming regularly. I was miserable with discomfort. And then there was that whole dilating thing. So off we went to the OR, where our little man made his big debut, bootie first, of course!  

He is absolutely gorgeous and doing wonderfully! In some ways, he looks a lot like Harrison, but I tend to think he looks more like Brian.  I am feeling OK and recuperating from surgery well.  It looks like we will be here at the hospital for a few more days. 

Now on to the pictures! 

Harrison met Brooks briefly yesterday and truly had ZERO interest in him.  He was more interested in the cables and cords in the room, the giant picture windows, and the nurse call light.  We'll see how he does visiting today...

Rain and Crank=Pure Mess

Harrison is OBSESSED with playing outdoors, which is fine when there's decent weather.We spend hours outside.  But today was one of those yucky days where the weather was less than cooperative for outdoor play.  So instead of staying cooped up inside, I thought we would head over to the local library for some stories and playtime with friends.  He had a blast and I was looking forward to naptime as we pulled in the driveway.  

I literally had to drag him inside while he is wailing at the top of his lungs because he wanted to play in the backyard.  I pulled out all the stops and was so desperate for the prolonged tantrum to stop that I did the unthinkable... I offered for him to play in the sink.  Parenting moment:FAIL. While it did stop the tears, it created the biggest mess.  Water, water everywhere! 

Blooms!

22 days until Spring begins! 

And although this has been the "coldest winter Alabama has seen in a long time" there are still many signs that Spring is around the corner.  Last weekend, our little Ludwig family spent the days outdoors, playing in the backyard, going for long walks, and grilling out.  It's February! And just the other day, look what I spied from my living room?!

13 days until Baby's arrival! 

That's less than two weeks, people! I have finally reached that 'magical' point in pregnancy where everything hurts, nothing fits, and I am just plain whiney.  By this time in my pregnancy with Harrison, he was born, so venturing past 37 weeks is unchartered territory for me!  I see my OB again on Monday, where they will do yet another ultrasound to ensure his head is still poking in my ribs (I can assure them this without an ultrasound!)  And then only one more appointment after that... who is counting?! 

We are ready to meet this little person, who Brian and I both fear will be near 10 pounds!  Even though our sweet little Harrison is not that old, I miss that squishy baby feeling.  

This will probably be my last belly picture, as I haven't found a photo editing program to decrease facial chunk or thigh chub (instead I blur the edges, hoping you won't notice!)  

My Two Boys

Is this picture not the cutest?  Maybe I am just a little partial to the two dudes in it?! 

Total studs!