Catching Up: A Visit From Uncle Kirk and Aunt Shannon

My parents called the evening of Thursday, August 27 to tell us they were coming over to see Luke. We went out to meet them when they drove up and were surprised to see two other people in the back seat. It turned out that my brother Kirk and his wife Shannon had flown in from Texas to surprise us and meet their new nephew. It happened to be the weekend my good friend Hillary from Arizona had planned to come and visit us, so we all spent the weekend hanging out and catching up. We had such a fun weekend!

Here's Luke with his Uncle Kirk when we were waiting to have dinner at an Italian restaurant. Sorry for the low pic quality- apparently the restaurant had mood lighting. :-)

We spent Saturday afternoon at Oak Glen, a cute touristy applely town. Here's Shannon shopping while Luke's napping.

Hillary holding Luke.

Kirk, Shannon and Luke at my parents' house.


What a great surprise! We all had a great weekend together. Our only complaint was that it was too short!

Catching Up: A Night at the Fair

So much has happened since I last posted! On Wednesday, September 9, we went to the LA County Fair with my parents and Russell & Katie Kinser and their kids Madylin, Morgan and Nathan. We spent the evening visiting with farm animals, enjoying the entertainment and eating far out food (we can all now say we've tried chocolate covered bacon- the girls loved it).

Luke slept for the first hour or so, so we got lots of photos of him sleeping in front of various farm animals. Here he is napping near the cows.

Ben and Russell strolling their way to the dog diving competition.

Luke arches his back and looks up when he's checking things out. It looks awkward to the rest of us but he loves it. Here he is with my mom in front of the train.

Nathan was kind enough to share his stroller with Luke when he wanted to lay down. Here they are keeping warm.

Here we are with the Kinsers at the end of the night in the Children's Hall.

What a fun night! Luke was completely tuckered out. He slept very well that night. :-)

Photo Shoot

When Luke was 19 days old, the amazing Jen Gagliardi came to our home to take photos of him. It was a wonderful afternoon- she was here for over two hours taking photo after photo of Luke as he slept, wiggled and yawned. Here are some of my favorites.



















If you'd like to see more of Jen's work (including beautiful photos of my nieces Riley and Hailey), check out her blog.

Oh Boy!!!

I am so sorry for taking so long to post about our newest addition. I'm so excited to share the details. :-)

Luke joined our family Sunday, July 26. My water broke the evening before at about 4:00 and I was admitted to the hospital about two hours later. I wasn't having any contractions, so they induced me. After about 18 hours of labor and an hour and half of pushing, we met our sweet baby boy. Everyone was surprised by what a big boy he was- 9 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches long. My doctor had predicted he would be about 2 lbs lighter than that. They gave him to me almost immediately and we had some time to bond before he and Ben went off to the nursery. He had an almost full head of brownish hair, and big adorable cheeks.


A few minutes old.

Luke and I were in the hospital for two days. He was nice and healthy, but we did find out that he was tongue tied, which means his tongue was attached to the very tip, which made nursing tricky. We got it clipped the day he left the hospital. Thankfully, it took just a second, there was hardly any blood and Luke didn't even cry. Now he eats like a pro. :-)

Luke is a little over a month old now, and we are completely smitten with him. Here's some details about him:

Name: Lucas Benjamin Fisher
Aliases: Luke, Little Man, Handsome, Buddy
Likes: Eating, taking supervised naps on his tummy, being swaddled, basking in the sun by the window, snuggling (I hope this one lasts), did I mention eating?
Dislikes: His carseat (it's always hot), sponge baths, waiting to eat

Quirks: He gets the hiccups all the time, sleeps with his arms and legs completely spread out when he's not swaddled, and is a very noisy eater.
Nursery: Jungle themed with lots of green
Mom's favorite features: His long fingers and feet
Mom's favorite expression: When he randomly puckers his lips and makes a fishy face

Luke and his proud papa.


Taking a stroll.


Catching some rays.


Sleeping in his favorite position.


Smiling for Mom and Dad.

So far, Luke follows objects with his eyes, is gaining some major head control, has rolled from belly to back (on accident- he was more surprised than anyone), and is perfecting his smile and showing it off for everyone. I look forward to sharing more info and pictures soon. :-)

Web Site of the Week #12: Amazon Gold Box

Although I don’t often buy online, when I do, it’s usually from Amazon. I love their comments, (usually) free shipping, and ease of checking out. Although I think most people know about Amazon, I don’t think everyone knows about Amazon Gold Box. Every day, Amazon Gold Box offers deals that are just available for a few hours, or until they sell out. It also offers an all day deal, and another list of sales Amazon is having that day. Amazon Gold Box has deals on everything from workout equipment to electronics to jewelry.

So I've now posted a dozen Web sites of the Week as promised. I won't be posting Web site recommendations weekly in the future, but I'll definitely let you know when I find other amazing Web sites I want to share.

Web Site of the Week #11: Diet Facts

As someone who likes to know how fattening food at my favorite restaurants is, I find dietfacts.com very useful. You can search alphabetically by restaurant, and then alphabetically by item. Some restaurant’s nutrition info isn’t available because they’ve chosen not to release it. However, if a restaurant has ever released their nutrition info, this Web site will have it. I admit that I’m not a fan of the Web site’s layout and navigation, however, other Web sites actually charge people for this information, so I love that this Web site free and up to date.

Web Site of the Week #10: Baby Cheapskate

My deal-seeking friends with babies say that when they are looking for the best deals on diapers and other baby items, babycheapskate.blogspot is the first place they look. This blog provides weekly listings of the best diaper (and other) deals available in stores, info about online toy and baby clothes sales, and links to valuable coupons and other deals. This blog is updated frequently, and provides tips on how to get the most for your dollar when buying for babies. If you have kids but not a boatload of money, you’ll love this blog.