Welcome Home, Luke!

Eli and Micah were waiting outside when we pulled up. They were the first to welcome Luke home.

Eli wanted a turn to hold Luke right away.

Micah wanted a turn, too.

When Joshua woke from his nap, he was thrilled to see "Baby Luke" at our house.

During his first week at home, Luke continued to be a good sleeper and we all enjoyed holding him.

Luke's brothers thought he should try out the playmat right away. Joshua joined Luke for quite a while!

I got a lot of help when we gave Luke his first bath at home.

Grandpa and Grandma were a big help when we came home--cooking and cleaning, but also entertaining Eli, Micah and Joshua. Grandpa taught Eli (on the couch) and Micah (on the stool) how to play Connect 4. They all had a great time!

Welcome to our family, Luke!

Luke joined our family about a week before we had scheduled for him to arrive. On Friday, November 8, Paul was downtown at a science teacher's conference dissecting a pig. I was home with our three boys, timing contractions. When I first talked to Paul, the contractions were 20 minutes apart. By the time he checked in with me again, the contractions were about 10 minutes apart. Since we had a c-section scheduled, I called my Dr. to see what he wanted me to do and if he wanted to see me again. (I had just had a Dr's appointment with an ultrasound the day before.) My Dr. said he was heading to the hospital and he would meet me there. By the time I got to the hospital, my contractions were about 7 minutes apart and we discovered my water had broken. The nurses prepped me for surgery--we were having a baby!

My first picture with my sweet Luke!

Paul got to hold Luke shortly after and walk him to our room.

After getting cleaned up and dressed, Luke got to hang out under the warm lights for a while.

Later that evening, Grandma and Grandpa Cheney brought Eli, Micah and Joshua to meet their little brother. They were all excited to see him and were in wonder about every part of him.

G'ma and G'pa loved meeting Luke, too!

The next morning, Eli (in blue), Joshua and Micah (in yellow) all came back wanting to hold "Baby Luke."

We had a lot of rest time in the hospital as Luke is such a good sleeper. We had plenty of time to hold him and enjoy our sweet new blessing. Welcome to our family, Luke!

Wearing the shirt my big boys gave me for my birthday (as I had promised!), we were ready to go home!

Happy Halloween!

Our little trick-or treaters:

Elephant-Joshua, Anakin Skywalker-Micah, and Yoda-Eli

Eli and Micah had been talking about carving pumpkins at school and were excited to carve some at home too. I had them help me scoop out the seeds and pulp,

which Joshua was excited to play with!

And Paul carved the boys' pumpkins!

The boys' school had a "Let's Pretend Parade" on Halloween, so we invited G'ma and G'pa to join us. The boys were so excited to have G'ma and G'pa at school!

Then...Daddy surprised them! (Micah doesn't look happy here, but they were all thrilled to see him.)

Fall Fun!

Rumor had it that Angry Birds were going to be at a local Chick-Fil-A, so the boys and I headed out after dinner for a little snack and to meet the Angry Birds. It turns out, only the red Angry Bird was there, but Eli and Micah didn't mind!

Eli and Micah thought the cow was funny, too!

Joshua didn't like the bird or cow, but he LOVED the french fries.

On one particularly warm day, we took our "babies" outside for a "bath" in the water table. All of the boys really enjoyed this activity. It kept them busy for almost an hour!

I had been craving good apple butter, so my grandma shared with me her recipe for apple butter in the crock pot. The boys loved helping me get everything ready. It was so yummy, we made two batches!

When we put the baby bed up in our room, Joshua started climbing in and out of it....then he started trying to climb his as well! Paul took off Joshua's front rail and gave him a toddler bed instead of a crib. He really loves it and doing a great job staying in his room for naps and bedtime.

For the second year, the boys celebrated the end of Paul's Cross Country season with a little backyard camp out. They were supposed to go to a friend's pond to camp, but the rainstorms earlier in the week flooded her pond. When an unexpected rain shower showed up at our house about 9pm, I was glad they were all at home and could sleep in their own beds for the rest of the night.

Everyone enjoyed their s'mores...

especially Joshua!