It's almost time! It's almost time!

Christmas time is here, and I just remembered we put our blog address on our Christmas cards, and I haven't blogged since September!

Well....since then, Luke has learned to roll over at rapid speed, sit up on his own, eat baby food, started saying  "mama, and dada (mostly dada)....and CRAWL! He has also gotten those two little bottom teeth which make him even more adorable! Although he is talented child, he has still not mastered the art of sleeping all night! Ha! Hopefully by the time we make it to a year he will have that one down. I actually think that should be his New Year's resolution.  He has turned into little Mr.Personality and is full of smiles and giggles.  And not to mention, he loves the camera!

We love spending every moment with him and can't wait until Tuesday to see his little eyes light up when he see's his presents!  He loves the Christmas tree and every present with a bow on it! We can't seem to keep him away, so we know he is going to really enjoy his 1st Christmas!

 We will be spending Christmas with my family through 1/2 Christmas day and then heading to Houston to spend time with John Paul's family.  This is the longest trip we've made with him, so we're hoping for it to be smooth sailing and can't wait to see everyone!

And he's still growing and at rapid speed!

 5 months - started spitting...a lot, learned to eat his feet and can roll over, and got RSV :(

 

6 months - First Halloween, started eating baby food (and not picky like his momma), got pink eye and constant ear infections :(, 1st tooth appears, & 1st Thanksgiving

7 months - 2nd tooth arrives, and 1st Christmas!

~Halloween 2012~

 1st Halloween - Luke the Lobster! - Luke actually won 3rd place in a Cutest Halloween Costume Contest!

 Mommy and Daddy had to get in on it too!

The dynamic duo - Cayden & Rylan! 

~Thanksgiving 2012~

1st Thanksgiving! 

Luke decided that he had to have 6 month pictures taken, so of course we caved! lol

Merry Christmas from the Salazar Family!

~Christmas 2012~

 Luke's 1st Christmas - He knows something is up! 

Sitting on Santa's Lap - Not too happy,  but not screaming either...so I'd say it's a win! 

 All smiles as usual!

 He's got his Christmas gear on!

 

 Luke, Cayden & Rylan - best cousins! 

The boys with Grandma & Papa!

Luke is growing.....way too fast!

After four months of not blogging due to sleepless nights, exhaustion, and spending every day with our little  amazing gift, I've finally had time to sit down and update my blog.

Luke has been growing so fast.....way too fast! I know having a baby is such an amazing blessing, but it's also extremely exhausting.....but DEFINITELY worth every minute! Luke is about 4 1/2 months now and watching him discover new things each day makes my heart so happy! From the first day he discovered the mobile above his swing, to rolling over, and moving around in his walker, John Paul and I have enjoyed every minute! He's such a happy boy with lots of love to give everyone. He's definitely got his Daddy's heart and good looks, and his mommy's busy body personality.  I definitely see a multi-tasker in my future! 

I never knew I could love something as much as I love this little boy of mine!  I might be biased, but he's the most beautiful  little boy I've every seen!! 

Already such a big boy....he needed no help sitting on his little bench!

 Swimming with Daddy and his cousins!

 This is how Batman sleeps! ha

 

 Fun with Cayden & Daddy!

 Our long legged child! He's grown 6 1/2 inches in 4 months!

 

 Seriously.....I didn't pose him like this! Our little model! 

Our morning photo shoot! Happy baby!

 Watching tv with Daddy.

 Luke loves spending time with his cousins Cayden & Rylan!

This is how we roll!

 Cayden & Bayluke...as he calls him!

 Luke's Baptism - 7.15.12

 Loving on Mommy before work!

Rylan loves giving Luke kisses!

Baby Luke has arrived!

After getting home from work one evening, I told John Paul, "my shoes feel so tight".  Being so proud of not swelling this whole pregnancy, I was in for a surprise.  As I took off my shoes, I discovered that my days of no swelling were over! My feet and ankles had grown twice their size.  We ran to CVS to check my blood pressure and it was a bit high, but not dangerous, so with both of our mother's advice, I decided to lay in bed with my feet up.  To my surprise, when I woke up in the morning, the swelling had gone down quite a bit.  We went to work that morning, and I had the school nurse check my blood pressure.  It was still up a little, so even though I was working, I made a call to the doctor.  They suggested I come in as soon as I could just to check everything out.  Little did I know, that was my last day of work.  I called John Paul and we headed off to the doctor.  As I left my classroom I told my kiddos "I'll be back Monday!"

We arrived at the doctor's office and my blood pressure had gone up higher and my swelling was back. I was sent over to the hospital to have my blood pressure and the baby monitored for a few hours.  We got the okay from the doctor and were sent home.  Unfortunately, I was put on bed rest, so wasn't able to say goodbye to my students. 

Our 39 week appointment was the following Wednesday. After a boring 5 days on bed rest, I was ready to get out of the house.  We arrived at the doctor's office and waited. As we were in the exam room, John Paul says "I'm ready for him to come, so I'm hoping she's going to say..."Let's have a baby today!".  When Dr. Behnia came in she examined me and then said those words that made John Paul's eyes light up.  "Ya'll are having a baby tomorrow!".  She gave us instructions to come back to the hospital that night so I could be induced.  After she told me we were having a baby, I was extremely nervous....but very excited to meet my little boy! 

That evening we made sure everything was packed and took one last picture before leaving.  39w,1d

We headed the hospital.  I had bought my own labor gown, which my mom thought was so silly.  Actually, all of the nurses and even Dr. Behnia thought it was so cute! After being checked in the week before for a few hours and wearing that ugly hospital gown, I was so glad I had my own that fit me.  It wasn't a silly idea to me.  I'm sure John Paul was thinking "Anything to keep her happy."

After getting hooked up to everything imaginable, they started the pitocin about 12:00.  I wasn't feeling any contractions yet, so all was good.  About 4 am, the anesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural.  It really wasn't that bad.  I was feeling pretty good and not really feeling much of the contractions.  After a couple of hours, they increased my pitocin and the contractions got harder.  I was in so much pain, and I told John Paul "If this is as good as the epidural gets, it wasn't worth it." The nurse had the doctor come back to check and not knowing exactly what was supposed to happen with an epidural, I assumed everything was normal. He increased my meds, but I was still feeling everything.  The contractions were so strong that they were making my toes curl! The nurse called for the doctor again, and he was already gone.  Another anesthesiologist came in and said that if I could feel everything, something wasn't working correctly.  We decided to take it out and redo it.  Finally! I was in heaven.  If I wouldn't have kept on complaining, I would have definitely known what natural child birth felt like!

After 5 hours of labor, Baby Luke made his appearance! He was so beautiful, and John Paul was so amazing.  We had been joking about for months about how he might pass out. He was so amazed by the whole thing and couldn't take his eyes off everything!  I was so proud of him!

Luke Paul Salazar

5/10/12   11:43 AM

19 1/2 in.    7lb. 5.5oz.

We stayed at the hospital for 3 long days because Luke had a little jaundice that they wanted to monitor him.  We were all definitely ready to go to home when it was time.  Little did we know how good we had it at the hospital being waited on hand and foot! We had a great experience at the hospital though and loved our doctor!

Time to go home!

When Luke was 8 days old, we had his newborn pics taken, courtesy of Lauren's Pictures.  She did a great job and we love everyone of them! Enjoy!