This is a guest post written by my husband, Mike:

Maybe you have witnessed the Lions commercials that ask “Do you believe in now?”. I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker. I believed in the Lions. I thought they had a chance to finish above .500. I thought they had a chance to make the playoffs. Who knows, maybe this was the year they would win their second playoff game in my lifetime (I’m 31 years old).

After watching parts of todays game (the parts in between my two naps) I realize I have been duped again. Every year I say “I think the Lions have a shot at doing something this year”. Well, I said it again this year. What an idiot I am.

I’m kind of torn on what to do with Luke. I don’t want to raise him to be a fair weather fan (also known as a typical Michigan fan), but I also don’t want to subject him to the yearly heartache of being a Lions fan. One of my great, great uncles played for the Packers. Maybe that gives me a valid excuse to teach Luke to root for another team. Could teaching Luke to be a Lions fan be considered child abuse?

Oh well, at least I still have Call of Duty 4.

I have a new nephew!

Zion Alexander
Born 7/3/08, 8 lb. 11 oz.

I can’t believe my little brother, Josh, is a daddy now. He’s only 17 years young. He’s had a rough go of it for the last few years, but I’m hoping this will mark a new chapter in his life. You can see in this picture how proud he is of his little boy. I pray that God will use Zion to breathe a new sense of hope into Josh’s life.

Psalm 50:2 - “From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.”

I used to be one of those people who was afraid to talk to strangers. Then I got pregnant. People love talking to pregnant women. They all ask the same questions: When are you due? Is it a boy or a girl? Is this your first? Have you decided on a name yet? Mike and I joked about getting a t-shirt that had all the answers printed on it so I could stop having to answer them myself. To this day I still have to fight the urge to interrogate strangers about their pregnancies, because though I remember how annoying it was for me, I still want to KNOW, you know?

The thing about it is, it really broke me of my anxiety around strangers. I knew there was no way for me to avoid them, so I decided to have fun with it. I found I actually enjoyed making chit-chat with the bank tellers and the grocery store cashiers, and I still do it today. It was somewhat gratifying to be able to make them smile by telling a stupid joke about pregnancy or by asking them about their own children. As it turns out, strangers aren’t so scary. Most of them are actually nice, normal people! (It’s sad that it took me 30 years to learn this.)

I thought strangers would stop talking to me after I had the baby, but they have not. Only now they do it to Mike too. They do it to whoever has the boy. I know every parent thinks their baby is the cutest, and we have not been shy about feeling the same way about Luke, but this kid draws a crowd. We can’t take him anywhere! He’s always flashing that flirtatious grin and people just eat it up. We were at Wally-World the other day and the cashier was drooling over him. Then on the walk to the car we passed a group of young girls and as we passed they said to each other “Did you see that baby? He’s so cute!”. Then as we were loading the car the woman next to us started cooing at him and asking us how old he was. This kind of stuff happens all the time. You should see him at our neighborhood grocery store. He’s famous now. Every time Mike brings him in I think the cashiers send out a page that says “Mike’s here with his little boy! Gather ’round!”. It’s crazy.

I’m just worried about this next baby, cuz you know the second child is always compared to the first, and at this point Baby #2 doesn’t stand a chance.

I just got this message from Luke that totally made my day. He doesn’t have teeth yet and can only say one word (Da-Da) but he can type 3 words per minute.

Hi Momma,

I just wanted to let you know how things are going so far.  I know you are concerned with dad being in charge all day.  It’s going great.  I ate breakfast from about 7:20-8:00 (bananas, bottle), played from 8:00-8:40, ate more breakfast (oatmeal), napped from 9:10-10:45 (dad made stinky, took a shower, and played xbox).  We walked to the store from 11:10-12:30.  Dad fed me a bottle (I only had three ounces), two hot dogs (Kogel Viennas, dad cut the skin off because he said it was like a grape times 30), and I had the pear/grape stuff for dessert.  I’m currently chillin’ in the high chair drinking some juice out of my sippy cup.

I love you,
Luke

Deanna over at The Open Door, who is now pregnant (yay!) after 4 years of agonizing infertility, recently confessed that she has already fallen into the consumer parent trap. Don’t worry Deanna, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

I got to thinkin’ about all the baby stuff we’ve bought or received or been told we needed. Everything can be categorized into three… um… categories.

Category A: Sometimes Helpful But Not Necessary

• Back/Front Carrier or Sling - I had one of each. I used the front carrier once to walk around South Haven when Luke was only a few weeks old. He slept in it the whole time. It was great but I haven’t used it since because it’s awkward and difficult and he hates being put in it. The sling was nice when I could remember how to put it on. I used that a couple times. I kind of wish I hadn’t given it back to Kari because I could use it on those days Luke just wants to be held.
• Changing Pad Cover - Every time we put a clean one on the changing pad Luke pees all over it. It’s a one time use kind of thing, so we usually leave it off.
• Ginormous Stroller - I hate this thing. It’s bulky and a pain to transport. We’ve maybe used it 6 times. I prefer the cheap umbrella stroller. It’s lightweight and fits in the backseat of my car. I leave it there and that way it’s always available when I need it. **Edited to add: Okay, hate is a strong word. When the stroller is in use I actually love it. It’s comfy for Luke, it has a sun shade, and the tires enable you to do some really awesome off-roading. I just get frustrated with it’s size because I’m little and not so strong. Also, I don’t have a place to store it and that kind of thing will always urk me.** 

Category B: Not Worth It If You Ask Me

• Bottle Sterilizer - If you’re ultra-concerned about germs, go for it. I am not.
• Wipe Warmer - This is purely a luxury, in my opinion. If the wipes are really too cold I just rub one between my hands, Mr. Miagi-style. Luke doesn’t seem to mind.
• Ear Thermometer - This is an item I registered for but I was seriously disappointed. You can use it three times in a row and get three different readings. I’m told the forehead one works the best. The pacifier kind give an accurate reading as long as you can keep your baby sucking on it long enough.
• 50 Million Receiving Blankets - For some reason this a popular baby shower item. I know I’ve given a ton of them to expecting mothers. We received a ton and I think we only used 10% of them. If you get a lot of receiving blankets or burp rags at your baby shower, be sure to keep them in the packaging, that way you can return what you don’t need for more useful stuff.

Category C: I Couldn’t Live Without This

• Boppy Pillow - I had a C-section and I breastfed. Holding Luke would have been nearly impossible without the boppy pillow. Also, because of it’s genius shape and firmness, it allowed me to feed him anywhere. No need for special chairs.
• Storage Bins - For all the different sizes they grow through that first year, it’s handy to have them organized in bins and labeled.
• Breast Pump - I went back to work when Luke was 7 weeks old and I continued to breastfeed him until he was 5 months old. Obviously, I couldn’t have done that without a pump. I used the Purely Yours Breast Pump by Ameda and I loved it (about as much as you can love being milked by a machine). It was lightweight, compact, worked terrific, and was almost half the cost of that other pump.

**Edited to add: By the way, I am extremely thankful for everything that was given to us. We have been enormously blessed by our friends and family. In fact, we were so blessed that we received all that we need and more. This is all I’m saying.**

Luke took some of his first steps last night! There were no fireworks. No hooting and hollering or applause. We didn’t even get a picture. He was standing in front of me at the couch and wanted to move over to where Mike was sitting. Normally he would use his hands to support himself and side step to where he wanted to be, but this time he was holding the television remote with both hands. He didn’t even think about it, he just walked right over. It was maybe only three steps and I don’t think he realized what he had done. It happened so quickly that Mike and I had to look at each other to make sure we had both witnessed the same thing.

To be honest, I think the whole “first steps” thing is a bit overrated. While it was nice to see him take those first steps on his own, what I’ve enjoyed more is watching him learn along the way. I loved watching the process as he figured out how to lift his body and move one arm after the other to crawl and I loved watching his determination in learning to straighten his legs to stand. I think in life we need to always look forward to the destination, but not be afraid to enjoy the journey. I’m really enjoying the journey.

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I am so glad I didn’t have class tonight (we skipped a week for spring break) because that way I got to be home to see my son take his first steps! We’ve been saying it would happen any day now because he’s been doing so well at standing and he can scoot around as long as he’s holding on to something. Well he finally took the plunge and we got it all on video! I’ll post it here as soon as I can but uploading to YouTube takes a little while and I have to go finish making dinner and get Luke ready for bed!

*Update* Okay, so we didn’t get it on video. And he didn’t really take any steps yet. It’s April Fool’s Day, y’all! Oh I know, I’m not nearly as funny as I think I am.

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Allow me to introduce you to my nephew, Aydan:

Isn’t he sweet?

My sister, Kari, had a beautiful baby boy yesterday! Ayden is just a tiny thing, 6 lb. 15 oz. He was born at 4:23 pm on February 26. I was really hoping he would hold out for a couple more days until my birthday but oh well :) 

I haven’t had the privilege to meet my new nephew yet but I can tell from the pictures he is definitely a Selleck! Go check it out! http://kariunrath.blogspot.com.

Congratulations, Kari and Mark!

Luke is having a blast walking with his dump truck:

He’s still learning to balance. We’ve lost count of how many times he’s bonked his head on the hardwood floors. He’s a tough guy, doesn’t usually cry too much.

Luke has been growing up so fast. He’s eating more and more foods, and a lot of times he just eats what we are eating, which is great. He learned to wave bye-bye a few weeks ago. Of course he won’t do it on command, so we can’t get a video of it. Trust me, it’s cute.

He still has no teeth, even though I swear he’s been teething for the last five months. He’s had the stuffy nose, the drooling, the crying at night (somewhat), but still no teeth. Not even swollen gums. We’re pretty sure he’ll be walking before he cuts his first tooth.

He is still the laid back baby he’s always been, and he smiles and laughs constantly. Believe me, we are enjoying every second of it and taking none of it for granted!