GA Aquarium

Our 6 month baby is growing up!

Saturday morning we had our usual photo shoot. Lucas is almost crawling! He really wants to, but his big belly keeps getting in his way!









On Sunday we went to the Georgia Aquarium. Of course we already had our tickets and of course it would be snowing like crazy! It was beautiful to see the snow all over Atlanta.









While we were there, we got to see the Titanic display at the Aquarium. We all had such a good time viewing the old artifacts. It was a little too boring and quiet for Lucas so he decided to fall asleep while Pops was holding him.





Lucas did such a great job walking around the rest of the aquarium! We all really liked the tunnel with the fish swimming around us. When they started to feed the sharks and everyone gathered in the tunnel, Lucas became a little overstimulated with all the children screaming and the cameras going off. Once we left and went to a different place to watch, he calmed down.



























Lucas and Ben were hypnotized by the waves above us! They look exactly alike here!









Lucas' favorite part of the aquarium was the tropical fish display. He was amazed at all of the colorful fish.



















Before we left, we had to get a picture of the family in front of the Deemo display (yeah, just like Nemo).







After the aquarium we all went to Red Lobster for some yummy crab! Lucas enjoyed playing with Pop's hat at the table and his squishy ball, which he likes to suck on!


After such a busy weekend, AND Lucas sleeping through the night again, we had a great evening at home. Ben started playing with a squishy ball and one of our dogs, Dippy, and for some reason Lucas found this HYSTERICAL! Watch the video below...

Hard to believe he is 6 months!

It is so hard to believe that Lucas is actually 6 months today!!! I've put together a list of some of the things we are doing and what Lucas is up to at this 6 month mark.

Unfortunately, he is still suffering from his ear infections and is feeling pretty lousy. It really is funny to see him get an energy burst from his Motrin. Last night he was so hyper I don't think he knew what to do. It was 9:00 p.m. and he was still screaming and playing around.

Lucas has recently become VERY opinionated at what he does and watches. His favorite morning activity is to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He LOVES it when they all dance and sing the "Hot Dog Dance". Lucas also really likes Sesame Street, mainly Elmo. Our all-time favorite things to watch are the Baby Einstein videos. His favorite 3 are: Baby Sign, Baby Mozart, and Get Up and Go! I know some people might not believe us when we say that Lucas is really starting to understand the sign language, but all you have to do is watch him when we sign and you will be a believer! The ones we know he understands are: mommy, daddy, ball, kiss, sleep, eat, drink, and more.

Lucas is now eating oatmeal, bananas, apples, sweet potatoes and pears. He favorite seems to be the pears and his least favorite is the oatmeal. He also really loves it when you mix any of the above together! It has been super easy making his food and I love that I am giving him the very best that I can without all of the preservatives and the unknown of where the food comes from. A struggle we are having is that Lucas refuses to take a bottle. He never struggled with this before, but all of a sudden, he will fight you till the end! Someone did remind me that when babies have an ear infection it hurts more to take a bottle. So, the struggle continues until we just can't take it anymore!

NO, Lucas is not sleeping through the night! I am really struggling with this and wish I knew why he wasn't sleeping. He is barely taking his naps during the day anymore either, ugh! First, it was his teeth. Then, it was the ears. Now, I just don't know. There is nothing that makes you angrier than when another mom says that her baby is sleeping through the night! It's just not fair!!! We have plans to really work on this throughout the weekend. Wish us luck!

Lucas is so active right now. He is almost crawling! We are really scared about this stage, because I don't think you could ever baby-proof a house enough. He can get up on all fours and can inch his way around, but he mainly just goes backwards right now. If he can't get to a toy, he just rolls his way over to it (or yells at us until we get it for him!)

He is also at the stage where he likes to throw things and wait for us to pick them up. He throws his spoon, sippy cup, ball, and any toys on his exersaucer. Lucas is also doing this really cute thing where when he wants you to pick him up, he raises his arms up to you. One of his not so cute actions in the middle of the night is when he rolls around and moves so much that it is hard to put a diaper on him. Speaking of diapers, we just bought his first box of size 3! It is crazy how much he is growing.

Some of his favorite toys are his rolling duckies, his baby laptop, his big and little balls, his baby blackberry, and all of his musical instruments.

Lucas is getting better at traveling around town with us now. He does not mind his car seat so much anymore. During the days we usually go to either the Chiropractor, up to Pop's office, and to Daddy's office. We have a shopping cart cover that is finally getting some use. At first he is not so sure about riding around in the cart and he really prefers to turn himself around to see where he is going.

Tonight we will be celebrating his 6 month birthday at Provinos. We will also be having some family and friends over tomorrow for dinner. If you are able, stop by! Sunday, we are taking him to the Georgia Aquarium. I'll post more pictures of all the events at the end of the weekend.

Have a great day, we will!

Baby Dedication

I know it has been awhile since I last posted anything and that is pretty much due to the exhaustion around our house! Lucas is not handling teething very well and is up A LOT of the night! He sleeps for a few hours and then wakes up in so much pain. We both feel so sorry for him when he screams and shoves his hands in his mouth. I have been getting him back to sleep, after about an hour of screaming, by laying in the spare bedroom with him and letting him fall asleep chewing on my finger. We have tried everything-teethers, Tylenol, homeopathic drops, wet washcloth, EVERYTHING! When I checked his gums last night I found that Tooth #2 has finally made an appearance. Hopefully, he will start managing the pain better. Until then, we will be praying for sleep!
Lucas began eating sweet potatoes this week. He is not too fond of it by itself, but when I mix in a little applesauce, he chows away. I can tell that laundry stains are just going to get worse because that sweet potato is very difficult to get out. Last night he ate shirtless and I could tell he thought that we had lost our minds! Today I made him some pears and he absolutely LOVES them. I read that it takes between 15-21 tastings of a food in order for a baby to establish a true like/dislike for them, but I know that this is his favorite food so far. It has been so much fun making his food and watching him try all of these new flavors.

We had such a memorable weekend around The Wheeler House! Saturday we spent some time hanging out around the house and then headed up to the Outlet Mall for some shopping. Lucas thinks he is such a big boy cruising around the mall sitting up in his stroller and wearing his "cool-dude" sunglasses. We went to a few of our regular stores: Ralph Lauren, Charlotte Russe, and Le Gourmet Chef. We didn't get to play around too much, because I was on a search for an outfit for Lucas' Dedication ceremony at church the next day.

After the outlet mall, we headed to The Ridge to eat dinner with our close friends, Shawn and Dylan. Dinner was great and Lucas did such an amazing job sitting in the restaurant's high chair for the first time. Lucas did get covered in sweet potato though (if you look closely, it is up his nose!)










After dinner, they came over to our house and hung out (Dylan and I had to drag them off of the computers and out of Ben's office!) We don't get to hang out too late anymore, but we really enjoy hanging out with them.

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early so that all 3 of us could get showered and dressed up for Luke's Dedication ceremony at church.










We had the service at GiGi's church, Sandy Springs Christian Church. The lovely Linda performed the dedication and Lucas could not have been more adorable!!! He was so good throughout the service.
We had all of our family there for this special occasion (Grandma, Pop-Pop and Uncle Taylor and Mimi, Pops, and Aunt Brooke and even our closest family friend "adopted" Aunt Kathy.)









At the start of the service, they had the entire family come up where we all accepted to help guide Lucas through his life as a Christian. Then, Mrs. Linda walked Lucas around the church to meet his new church family. Ben and I were presented with a rose and Lucas' Certificate of Dedication when it was complete. During the sermon, Lucas fell asleep while Ben was holding him. He woke up to the choir singing at the end. After the service the members of the church had the opportunity to meet the smiling and ever-so-happy Lucas. I'm not kidding, he was perfect and we could not have been more proud!


















After church, the entire family (Kathy and Linda included) went to Chicago's for lunch. When we got there Lucas of course had to flirt with the hostess. On a side note, I will never understand why people think it is ok for them to touch and put their fingers in a baby's mouth. I mean seriously, we don't know a thing about that hostess, yet she seemed to think it was ok to put her fingers in MY baby's mouth to feel his teeth- COME ON! Think about it, a stranger, that touches menus all day which go into several people's hands, and then back around to the hostess, is NOT clean. We don't even allow our family to do that unless they have washed their hands. I know I am a germ freak and that Lucas needs to be exposed to a certain number of germs in order to develop his immune system (which people still feel the need to tell me all the time), but seriously, let's not spoon feed him a disease. Ok, I'm done venting, but that is such a pet peeve of mine!

Back to lunch, which was sooo delicious!! It was such a special day and I am so fortunate to have family around to celebrate with. Aunt Brooke bought Lucas a new music toy, which he LOVES! MiMi and Pops bought be a new beautiful charm to go on my Pandora bracelet. I will always treasure that bracelet because Pops bought it for me when Lucas was born and they have added charms to it since.

After such an exciting day, Lucas took a long nap on the way home. He then ate some yummy sweet potatoes for dinner and enjoyed pooring water down his chest. After dinner we gave him a bath, yes the germs again, but he was just touched and kissed by so many people. We love giving Lucas a bath and he loves it too, but my favorite part of a clean baby is that oh-so-sweet smell. I could just breathe in his smell all day!









This week Lucas and I will hopefully be going to see Keri and Baby Ana Scot. Friday, Lucas will be 6 months! I just cannot believe how fast he is growing! Check back soon for more updates!