Old friends, new friends!

This week after a lot of planning, I was able to get together with two high school friends, Stephanie and Andrea.  It was so much fun seeing all of our babies together! 

Here is "Little Stephanie", miss Taygen, holding Ella, Andrea's daughter. 

Taygen was anxious to hold both the babies, and Jace didn't seem to mind!

And here's all three of them!

Taygen is going to be the best little helper when her baby sister arrives in August!  She was very helpful giving Ella her bottle, and she kept an eye on Jace, and she didn't even complain when Jace cried most of the way home!  The only thing she says she won't help with?  Dirty diapers!

Another graduation!

Tonight Jennifer, my mom and I took the kids and went to our cousin's graduation party in Winchester.  Cheyenne graduated from the 8th grade, while wearing a CAMO and blaze orange dress!  Wish I had a picture, but I was a little busy trying to keep Jace happy!

Kyler didn't sleep very much at all on the ride there, and she was very sociable at the party!

Jace, on the other hand, slept the entire car ride, and was fussy from the moment we got there until the moment we left.  In his defense, he did get his shots today, so it has been a rough day on him!

I was pulling out all the stops on the way down to keep Colton from going to sleep.  Here he is playing with my phone--playing "Tumbling Dice" game.  Not much of a game, just some dice that roll when you shake the phone.  It lasted for, um, 5 minutes?  After that we went through all the animal sounds that he knew, took off his shoes, and finally watched part of a movie.  On the way home though he totally amazed me!  Jace started crying when we were coming through Atchison, and pretty much cried the rest of the way home.  As I was trying to talk to Jace to calm him down, I hear Colton saying some things that he must have heard Jennifer or me saying to the  babies: "It's alright Jace"  "You're sleepy Jace" "It's okay".....Colton is such a good little helper!!!

Tough Guy...

Jace had his 2-month check up today, and his first round of shots!!!  He was a trooper for the most part.  Of course by the time they were ready to give him his shots he was almost asleep in my arms, so that was a rude awakening, but it didn't phase him TOO much!  He even got some cool Taz band-aids! 

Jace is 11.9 lbs, 23 inches, and his head is 16 inches....growing just like he is supposed to! 

Hobbies...

It has certainly been a busy week! Jace is now 8 weeks old!  Last weekend we attended graduation parties, and Tuesday night Jace and I went to the TMS graduation.  It is always great to see the kids all dressed up and ready to go to high school!

Jace has picked up a couple new hobbies.  He is really into sucking on, or drooling on his hand, wrist, my hand, whatever is close to his mouth.  He isn't very interested in a pacifier, but likes his own fingers!

Jace has also become a fan of staring out the window.  Not much to look at lately, besides cloudy skies and rain, but he seems to like the view!

You can see from the pictures he is getting really good at holding his head up too!

My favorite time of TODAY.

Today I went back to work.  Dang.  Lucky for me, there are now only 7 more days until school is out for summer, so it won't be so bad. 

Jace had a great day at Grandma Janie's!  Also lucky for us, it wasn't hard to find a babysitter for these 8 days between two Grandma's, and a couple of Aunt's that are busily trying to finish up finals at K-State this week.  In fact, here's a video of Aunt Jena and Aunt Melissa studying hard at the library last night with a few friends:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWE7UqnSqLU&feature=related

My favorite time of today?  Rocking him as he went to sleep this evening.

Happy Mother's Day!

We had lunch with my parents to celebrate Mother's Day today.

Melissa and Colton play a competitive game of Mario Kart on the Wii.  Even though Colton wasn't looking at the screen, I think he came in 12th, and Melissa came in 11th on this race.

Colton decided to put Jed's boots on.  Looks like he has some growing to do!  After he put them on he walked around telling us all, "I'm BIG!"

Finally got all the grandkids in one picture without anyone crying, or making a funny face!

Colton was pretty cooperative, considering that it was past time for his nap!

Happy Mother's Day!

Welcome home Dad!

So, Jed comes home from work, and reaches to get Jace out of his swing to play with him.  How does Jace greet him?  Well, next thing I know, Jed is headed to the bathroom to wash his hands.  Why?  I guess you could call it a FULL diaper.

It was bound to happen sooner or later!  Luckily, he was having a bath last night anyway!  Here he is, looking so sweet and innocent, awaiting bathtime.

Trying to catch a smile...

is getting a little easier.  Jace is starting to smile a little more for us.  Here's a recent attempt at catching his smile in action:

His infamous pouty lip:

He looks a lot like his dad in this picture:

There's his smile!

Jayger Bryce Luedke

Our friends, Blaine and Tarin Luedke welcomed their new baby boy on Monday.  They already have two girls, Taylea and Brynna.

Jayger Bryce Luedke

May 3, 2010

12:04 a.m.

7 lbs, 4 oz.

21 inches

(I might not have all that exactly right, but I think it's close)

Here is proud mama Tarin with baby Jayger:

A little comparison: 

Big sister Taylea, with Jace and Jayger.  Jayger has some catching up to do!  I was just excited that Jace didn't try to hit Jayger when we laid them next to each other!

A day at school...

Jace and I took a trip to the middle school today to see the students. 

Here we are with some of the 7th graders:

More 7th graders:

And the 8th graders:

More 8th graders:

If you can't tell from the pictures, Jace slept almost the entire time we were there.  It was great to see my students and the other teachers in the middle school though, they don't have much school left!

Happy Birthday Grandma Janie!

Today is Grandma Janie's (Jed's mom) Birthday.  We celebrated with her over the weekend, and I only got a few photos...someone (JACE) was a little fussy that evening!

Jena helps Janie open some gifts.

Jed and Jena spend quality time together.

Grandpa Jerry helping Jace to catch a little shut-eye.

Different swing, same position for little Jace.

A new blog!  My sister, Jennifer Luedke has started a blog to chronicle the adventures of the Luedke household!  Check it out at theluedkehouse.blogspot.com

The shirt says it all....

It has become quite a chore to get Colton to hold still for a picture.  Here are some of the failed attempts when I tried to get a picture of his "My parents are exhausted" shirt.

No Colton, you can't play in the trash can.

Have a popsicle...No Colton, you can't take it in the living room.

No Colton, you can't play with the fan, or the china cabinet.

No Colton, you can't turn the TV on and off 50 times.  By the way, where'd you put your popsicle?

Ahh!  Movie time!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, there is tons of excitement going on.  TWO babies, both awake, neither one crying, or eating, or trying to hit each other!

And last but not least, another milestone for Jace.

First time in CAMO!