The John Deere man...

or as we refer to him, Mr. Scott, came to our house on Tuesday to take a few pictures and interview B because

they are all amazed that his wife had a nearly 11 POUND child!

he is the John Deere customer of the month.

We are so proud of you daddy and appreciate all your hard work!! Congratulations on being named John Deere's Customer of the Month!!

Mr. Scott thought Raegen was just too much with his John Deere boots and constant chatter about tractors. He told him countless times that he was going to get him a tractor to play with and lo and behold if daddy didn't bring this home on Wednesday...

a great big tractor from Mr. Scott!!

Raegen fell in love immediately...and then noticed it had a hitch for a trailer! ha You can guess what we've been hearing the past few days. Needless to say, daddy's job is now to get a trailer for Raegen's tractor! ;)

The Government Can

Stole this from my buddy Holly...hope it makes you laugh too.

Good Aim...or is it bad?

Nana seems to have left a few items behind from her recent stay with us. Sadly, they were left within reach of the little king and he made quick work of them.

It could be worse, right? :)

Lynden Rucker - Two Weeks

Lynden Rucker,

you are now TWO weeks old!

I am feeding on demand, but you have developed your own routine. Most days you average 2-3 hours between feedings. In the evening you generally feed around 10:30PM and then again around 4AM. Momma is very happy for that long stretch of sleep! Your next feeding is usually at 7AM and we start our day from there. :)

You have had so many visitors this week. Everyone is still trying to get by and see our little man. Mammie was able to come help me on Monday which I was very grateful for. She took big brother Raegen home with her that evening so it was just you and me all day Tuesday! We survived just fine. ;) That evening we had your newborn portraits taken.

I told Raegen that when he came home from Mimi and Grandaddy's, we were going to take you to have your picture taken. He said,

"At Walmart?"

Talk about a bad parent! ha I had just taken him the Friday before you arrived to have his three year portraits taken at Walmart!! I informed him I took him to Walmart, but we were going to a nice lady's house in Little Rock for your newborn pics. He didn't seem to mind. ;)

{of course she took pics of him too!!}

You are such an easy baby, and so long as all your burps are out, you rarely fuss. You are already holding your head up for a few seconds at a time and are very strong.

Nana came on Wednesday to help us and we were very happy to see her arrive. She cooked, cleaned, and just took care of us! She took me to get my haircut on Wednesday and everyone at the shop was shocked at your size. They thought you were adorable. On Thursday she took me to the chiropractor because I was STILL having TERRIBLE headaches. This time I got to see Dr. C {my doc} again, and she manually adjusted my neck. OH my! Talk about immediate relief! My headache was instantly gone and thankfully hasn't returned!

On Friday Nana took big brother Raegen to playgroup at the local play place. Then they met up with Aunt Amber and Ashlyn for lunch.

She headed out that afternoon to visit Grandpapaw, Mawmaw Buelah, and Grandma. I'm sure we'll be seeing them all soon...what a roadtrip that will be for you!

Mimi came to help again when she got off work that afternoon.

Raegen just loves to see "baby Lynden". He is very gentle with you and insists on giving you kisses and "petting" your head, back, and face whenever he's near. It's soooo sweet!

Mimi kept you and Raegen on Saturday afternoon while daddy and I went to Uncle Frank's ordination service. It was nice to get dressed up and go somewhere.

We also introduced the swing and bouncy seat this week. You're a fan of both and when baby's happy, momma's happy!!

Baby Buys: Edition 6 - It's the little things...

Here are a few of my favorite "small" baby products that just make life simpler.

Medela Quick Clean Micro-Steam Bags

These are great to sterilize pacifiers, bottles, cups, breast pump accessories- sheilds, tubing, etc. The bags are reusable and work in just three minutes. The steam cleaning kills 99.9% of most harmful bacteria and germs. Each bag can be used up to 20 times. These are a must in my household. If you don't have a microwave though, these won't work for you! ;) In your case, it's the 'ol tried and true stove-top boil method. I am still using my bags from when Raegen was a baby, but I know they can be purchased at Target. You can also visit Medela's website for a complete list of where to find Medela products near you.

Munchkin Arm & Hammer Fresh Totes

The fresh totes are little bags {approx. 3"x3"} filled with odor-eliminating baking soda and scented with lavender. They are great to fresh and deodorize diaper bags, closets, changing tables, and in my case-- diaper pails!! I hang them at the top of my diaper pails and it wards of unwanted odors. They come in the cutest patterns and colors too. It is suggested to replace the totes every 90 days or when they lose their effectiveness. My sister has used these for a few years now and now I'm a loyal customer too! I just love the way they smell...so fresh. I purchased mine at Target, but they are available at a number of stores. You can check Munchkin's website for a complete list of where they can be purchased.

Get in my belly!: Smothered Meatballs

Smothered Meatballs

You may remember from this post that my friend Treena brought us a hot cooked meal when I was suffering from "cankles". :) I promised to share the recipe, and here it is:

Meatballs
2lb. ground beef
1/3c. chopped bell peppers
1/3c. onion
1 can sliced mushrooms
2 eggs
1 1/2c. Italian style bread crumbs
½ t. salt
¼ t. black pepper

Thoroughly mix all ingredients together. Shape into 1 ½ in. balls. Place on a foil lined and greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375* for 20-30 min. or until browned. While meatballs cook, make gravy.

Gravy
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1c. sliced fresh or 1 can sliced mushrooms
1c. sour cream
½ c. milk
1T. browning sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a soup pot. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add cooked meatballs. Move bottom meatballs to top until all are well coated. Serve!

Bon Appetit!

Raegen Ramblings: My child said what?

While out running errands with my mother over the weekend, Raegen spotted his Wednesday night teacher from church. He quickly said, "Hello, Mrs. Paula!" Followed by,

"I LOVE your purse!"

Mom said in his defense it was quite colorful. :)

{the boys enjoying storytime with Grandaddy}

While exiting Target on the same day, Raegen swung around the light pole, looked up at Mammie, and said,

"Take my picture!"

He was aghast when she revealed she didn't have a camera! Of course his reponse was,

"Why not?"

Recently Raegen planted a bean during one of his classes at church. To be honest we didn't think it would survive long as he was allowed to "water" it himself and when we left church with it it resembled a spit cup more than a recently planted bean! ha!

He was less than thrilled to see it sprouting and thought it was "yucky". I think he thought it was a worm or some other creepy crawly creature.

Now he is excited to see his plants growing and asks to view them almost daily. His Aunt Jenn brought him some other seeds to plant {strawberries and tomatoes I believe} and we are hoping to get some soil and plant those this week!

Knock, knock.

We've had a revolving door since we returned home last Monday with our newest bundle of joy.

We are very thankful for wonderful friends and family that have stopped by to drop off food, help where needed, or just come by to visit.

We have had so much good food the past week. A few of the ladies have delivered their dishes with the recipe and I plan on posting those in the coming weeks.

If those severely PAINFUL contractions weren't still fresh on my mind, I'd consider having another sooner than later just for the food! haha But like I said, I still remember what it's like to be "in labor"! :) I certainly wouldn't change a thing, I'd do it all exactly the same, but there's a reason it's called "labor" and there's nothing EASY about it! Whew. I better stop talking about it or I'm going to mentally put myself back in that hospital room in labor!

Feel free to stop on by and see us and our little linebacker

{unless of course you have a cold, under the weather, etc.,

but I'm sure you all expected that! ;)}.

I'm prepared with an XL bottle of GermX. ;)

Tuesday's Tour: Where the Boys Are

This was Raegen's nursery.

When we had some remodeling done over the summer we had all the walls painted new colors and even gave a few rooms new purpose.

This is a glimpse of what the boy's room was:

{our former guest room}

It's come a long way since last May, when we didn't know we would have an addition to the fam!, and is no longer the guest bedroom. You can go here to see my post I linked to Kelly's "Show Us Where You Live: Guest Bedroom Edition" last May.

This is what it looks like now:

I transitioned Raegen from a crib to this toddler bed when we were potty training. I wanted something he could easily get out of in the middle of the night or during naps. It has worked out great and I really like how small it is. I had contemplated getting him a twin, but I'm glad I went with this toddler bed. It allows him to have more floor space to play, it's easy to move around to vacuum under and I didn't have to purchase new sheets because he's still sleeping on his crib mattress. I found the bed at Walmart. It's also available at their online store, though it's priced a smidge higher online. It is available in oak, cherry, or white.

I think I've mentioned before that his bedding is from the "College '09" collection at Target. It was a Twin size I cut down and stitched to accomodate his toddler bed.
I found these great shelves to place above the boy's beds at "crack for crafters"...yes, I'm speaking of HobLob. ;) I don't remember what I paid,

but they were definitely HALF OFF!! :)

Never pay full price for ANYTHING at HobLob! Trust me, it will go on sale. :)

When we got new living room furniture recently, we moved my recliner to the boys room. It works perfectly for me to sit in and Raegen sit on his storage ottoman while I get him dressed. And yes, that is Fievel. Do ya'll know who Fievel is? :) I'm showing my age, huh? haha

Here is Lynden's crib. It's actually a "mini-crib". Have you ever seen one? I hadn't until my friend Kibs showed me hers for Jonathan. I think they're WONDERFUL! Just perfect for baby AND toddler! Again, it doesn't take up much space, it's a comparable size to a pack'n'play, AND it will transition to a toddler daybed AND a twin. Raegen never outgrew his crib and he still sleeps in pack'n'play's when we travel so it really couldn't be more perfect. It has three different levels-- it's on the highest level now. I found it online at Babies"R"Us, but was able to purchase it in their store. It also comes in a variety of colors.

You'll notice I don't have a crib bumper. I debated back and forth on this and finally concluded I just feel safer to NOT have a crib bumper. They just make me nervous that Lynden could get trapped between the bumper and the crib.

Eventually we will add some of Lynden's things to his shelf.

The bitty white booties that are directly in front of the train engine are from Grandma Bonnie. They might actually fit for a week or so! ;)

Here's my finished product with the boy's letters. You can read step-by-step instructions on how to make them yourself, here.

I purchased the changing table at a local consignment sale for $87.50...money well spent! It provides great storage and the low drawers are easily accessible for Raegen so he can put away his clothes.

The hand painted canvases with the boy's names were a gift from one of the teen girls at church. I'm amazed at her talent. If I tried to freehand something like that it would look like chicken scratch! She was able to match the colors perfectly to the boys bedding.

I

LOVE

this storage cube!!

I scored it at Big Lots for a steal of a deal...on clearance for $50!!!

And the four storage baskets I found for $11 {for all four!!} at a local consignment sale. I just love having things organized...makes life simpler!

I made tags for all the baskets: Toys, Books, Raegen, & Lynden. It's great to have things labeled so Raegen and visitors know what goes where. Raegen's basket houses his shoes. He knows when he comes inside that he is to go put his boots in his basket. We do have to remind him, but he knows exactly where they go and he puts them away himself. Just one less thing for momma! :) And he's learning some responsibility too.

This frame atop the storage cube was a birthday gift to Raegen from Tim, Angela, and Hayden. It's so perfect for their room. I'm very anxious to fill it with a picture!

Angela added the "BROTHERS" letters herself! Isn't that genius?! She did such a great job and took this frame from chic to chic UNIQUE!!

**My goal is to show you a different room each Tuesday, but with a newborn here I'm not making any promises! ;) I had taken all these pics BEFORE Lynden's arrival. :) I'm just so happy that after five years, our house is finally coming together. We've taken our time and I'm glad because I'm very happy with what we've achieved. Had we rushed in and changed everything, not that we had the money to do it! ha, I would probably be wanting to change everything again!! ha**

Lynden Rucker - One Week

Lynden Rucker,

you are now one week old. You were born last Sunday, March 14 at 11:46PM. Your pediatrician made morning rounds at 9AM on Monday and released you to go at noon. Your Aunt Stacy says it's because all the other babies in the nursery were scared of you. ;) She's just teasing...you never went to the nursery.

You have had quite a busy week. We left the hospital just before 5PM on Monday {would have been sooner, but my "fill-in" doc was slow at his rounds ;)}. By the time we reached home, you had a houseful to greet you. Your Pawpaw and Nana Stain stayed with us Monday evening and your Grandaddy Richardson came on Tuesday to stay the rest of the week.

On Wednesday, Grandaddy, Raegen, and Mommy took your to your first pediatric appointment.

Your stats for the day:

Weight: Your weight was down from your birthweight of 10lb 12 POINT TWO!! ;) oz to 10lb 1.5oz. That's right at normal {7% loss} for a breastfed baby.

Height: 22 1/4"

Head: 15"

Your pediatrician thought you looked great and said your weight was in the 98.8%, height 97%, and head 88%.

Wednesday was also the day we started with cloth diapers. We came home with a package of newborn diapers from the hospital and I wasn't sure you wouldn't outgrow them before we ran out! ha. I was even nervous the newborn cloth dipes we have would be too small. :) Thankfully they're working...for this week anyhow.

On Thursday we all went to the chiropractor. Mommy got adjusted and so did you! Dr. C placed you on a soft blanket on your back and then ever so gently used her hands to put you back in alignment. It looked like she was giving you a very soft massage. You didn't cry at all, but your big brother Raegen did. He thought we were hurting you! He's very protective. There was another newborn in the office as well. He was six weeks old and weighed 7lbs...his mommy and daddy misunderstood me and thought you were 3 weeks old, not 3 days!! :) Your size seems to shock everyone.

On Friday we all drove down to Arkansas Children's Hospital for your PKU screening. We declined it in the hospital because it is more accurate to test during days 3-5. Your weight was already back up to 10lb 9oz and you were only FOUR days old!

Mimi Richardson and Aunt Kristen came to visit that afternoon. Thankfully, your Aunt Kristen noticed your cord clamp and pointed out that you should NOT have one!
It's been three full years since we brought your brother home and I completely forgot it's something they remove before being released. I knew it looked awfully big, and just assumed your brother's was a smaller clamp and less bothersome. We all just felt terrible for you. I called your pediatrican and they were about to close, but told us we could take you to the local hospital. I called to make sure and they refused to clip it off or offer me the special scissors to do it myself. {just another reason I'm glad we didn't go their for your birth! :)}

Soooo....down south we went to your hospital, they clipped the clamp, and we were back home by 8PM. We just couldn't believe you had seen two pediatricians and a whole slew of nurses throughout the week and no one mentioned a thing. I'm so thankful your Aunt Kristen noticed. It was all very embarrassing and heartbreaking for me. I hated that you had been in pain all week. In fact, your brother told us ALLLLLL week, "that hurts him!" and we would say, "no, it doesn't" and he would always respond, "Yes, it do!"

We should have listened to Big Brother!! :)

Your Grandaddy went home that evening and Mimi stayed to help me. I'm really glad she did because all the drama of the cord clamp and the week of going here and there for doctors appointments had really taken a toll on me. I was EXHAUSTED! :) On Saturday Mimi
took us back to the chiropractor because Mommy had a headache that just wouldn't go away. Then we came home and rested allllll day. It was very nice to just sit and rest, finally. Late afternoon Raegen returned from his trip with Aunt Amber, Uncle Marc, and Ashlyn. They had been to NWA for cousin Annelise's 2nd birthday party. He was so excited to see you again.

It's hard to believe you're a week old already. You have already outgrown ALL your newborn clothes...thankfully we didn't have many. :) I'm not sure how long the 0-3 month clothes will last as most "fit" NOW! :) I can't imagine you wearing them for three MORE months!

We only have one doctor's appointment and a portrait session for this coming week so hopefully it will go by sloooooowly and we can really cherish our time at home with you.

Because I had to post SOMETHING!

Don't have much time, but I wanted to post something. ;)

I created this collage on Sunday afternoon {3/14} before I laid down for my nap that turned into labor!!

The picture on the left is me on "Induction Day" with Raegen,
41w 1d, 2/20/07.

The picture on the right was taken Sunday,
41w 6d, 3/14/10.

I was really thinking I might go into labor on Monday so I wanted a similar picture to what was taken the morning I was induced with Raegen. I really didn't think that 10 hours later I would be holding my new baby boy!!

I'll be posting more pics of baby Lynden soon...for now, I'm off to enjoy a nap on my BELLY!! :)