The Lucas Halloween Crew

In our Halloween clothes! Waiting for the big event! Holding her head up like a champ!

Yeah, she's a cutie!!! Check out the eyelashes!
We captured the rare creature, "The wild sock-monkey". Wouldn't Grandma Ann be so proud! She made us a sock monkey every time we went to see her. (it seemed!)

Jason's costume. Yeah, I know....I married him!

I was a sock-monkey holding beer wench!This would have been a perfect picture if Jason's Ostrich wasn't butting in on the pic!!! hahaha

The lonely ostrich cowboy! Despite good effort, we had NO trick or treaters. One car pulled up, took one look at Jason pretending to ride the ostrich, turned around in our carport, and left....yes they had trick or treaters in the car....and we live in the city.....sad, very sad!

Happy Halloweeeeeeennnn!!!!!

The "Demon Baby" picture! Our "Little Pumpkin". Don't worry folks, this was Daddy's idea!

In true farm girl spirit:

This isn't our costume! Just a costume-like outfit! Pictures of the costume are forthcoming!

Counting our blessings

So, I went to the mall yesterday with my girlfriends to see "The Secret Lives of Bees". (insert sniff, sniff, weep, weep) It is only the 2nd time away from my little peanut. Well, I was waiting at the theatre entrance when I saw a 30 something mom with 2 beautiful little strawberry blonde girls to her side and an infant in her arms with the same strawberry blonde hair. She was getting ready to go into the movies. The baby was not much older than Sophie (5 months). When I looked at her, I was drawn to her. The way she nuzzled her mommy under the chin, lying calmly cuddling and holding on... I thought to myself, "she's just like Sophie would be if she was sleepy." Her little expression, her tiny body and new baby look. Well, before I could stop myself ( I literally felt propelled towards this mom), I walked up to her and said, "Hi, I hope you don't mind, but how does your little one handle the movie theatre? It's my first time away from my baby and I'm curious how you manage? I'd like to try it sometime!" I also said how beautiful her little one was.

The mom was kind and very relaxed. She said, "Well, to be honest....my little one is blind due to a condition that wasn't discovered until 2 months of age. She is pretty calm in general, so I don't usually have a problem. She usually sleeps right through it." I was caught off guard, but stumbled through saying, "Well, I understand the condition situation. You see, my daughter had brain surgery at one month for fluid build up on her brain...."Hydrocephalus???" she blurts out. I say, Yes!!! She says, "That's what my daughter has. She had a VP shunt put in at 2 months...when they discovered the pressure. The pressure effected her eyesight." I said, wow! What are the odds of us running into eachother? We had a moment of acknowledgement and then said our awkward goodbye's and went to our separate movies.

What amazes me about this whole situation is that first off, I was missing Sophie pretty bad and something about this mother and baby pulled me in. I couldn't keep my eyes off of them, and seeing this mom with her baby warmed my heart. It made me have good thoughts about my little one when I was missing her the most. Secondly, I was feeling a bit of the "feeling sorry for myself" woes because having this kiddo has not been what I expected motherhood to be like, or pregnancy for that matter. I didn't get to "enjoy" the experience and I was feeling bad about that. Then, this kind stranger strolls into the movie theatre and gives me a whole new perspective on the situation.

Here is this woman.... she has her baby with her, along with 2 siblings who were chatting about how "awesome" High School Musical was going to be. I can barely get out the door with Sophie! I feel exhausted by all the preparation and hauling of stuff!

This mother's actions reminded me to enjoy my time with Sophie. She also reminded me, that no matter how hard it was to know about Sophie's condition before her birth, it was better to be informed of our situation early on. That way Sophie had her "best case scenerio" play out. It also reminded me that, if things don't go as planned in the past, present, or future, I can still handle it and enjoy life's day to day adventures. That lady might not ever realize what a blessing she gave me yesterday.

Hi everyone! Some new shots of the kiddo! Part 1

We are working on motor skills, with help from "Mr. Sunshine". Sophie coos and "talks" to us everyday now! Smiles are plentiful, along with crying spurts!

Our big girl, pushing herself up! This a new and very rarely done skill! She's NOT into belly time!

Some of her exercises are better than others....Guitar Hero, Sophie and Daddy style.Here's our lopsided head. Shunt on the right! Flatspot on the left. Crazy hair everywhere!! So......WE WEAR HATS!!!!

"Hey!!! I know you!!!!" Sophie's God-mother Lisa! Mommy and Sophie on the front porch! Enjoying the fall weather.

Our farm girl! Part 2 of pics!

Pumpkins, big and small! Ours looks a little "peeved" to be in the bumbo chair! MOOO! Our cow coat! Too funny!

On a walk to the Lucas farm from our house. We stopped at the local elementary school to snap some fall shots! Sophie and daddy.

Sophie and mommy!

The walk home from the farm!

FINALLY! A happy girl!

So, like father like daughter I suppose. We take her to her dad's favorite store, "Wal-mart", he makes one silly little face, and WHAMO! Happy baby! Nevermind that feedbag of a mommy! I've only been trying to get her to laugh and smile everyday for, let's see, SINCE THE DAY SHE WAS BORN! Hahahaaha. Now I know where the phrase, "I brought you into this world and I can take you out!" originated from. Some crazed mom who, after a long day's work taking care of her child, had the kid giggle delightfully at her DADDY, who happened to walk in the door 5 minutes ago!

In all seriousness, she's an equal opportunity smiler, but she does think daddy is much funnier than mommy is. Sometimes just looking at her dad makes her giggle. My guess is she thinks he's funny lookin'! We seriously don't care what makes her smile...as long as she keeps on smilin'. I think this video, shot in the kid's section of wallyworld, is particularly funny at the end. Jason is a head rubber!

Some more smile shots!

So, this is in contrast with the above shots. This snake is a "timber rattler" that Jason's dad killed near their camp. They called animal control and were told they did the right thing. This snake could have really hurt someone if caught off guard. Finally, a medical update:

Sophie is still on track developmentally. She is having a couple of small things we have to work on with therapy. First, she has "plagiocephaly", which means "flat head". Rather than her head being round, it is more cone shaped with a large flat spot. This can be contributed to the shunt placement and laying on her back. She couldn't roll her head over the lump the shunt caused and due to the acid reflux, she doesn't do well with "tummy time". We are hoping we can work on correcting this a bit now that she is feeling better. If we can't get it to mold properly, she will probably be fitted with a special helmit that helps with shaping. Lots of babies who have hydrocephalus end up with this as a "side effect". Secondly, she has another diagnosis called "tordicollis". This is a tilting of the head. It's caused by positioning in the womb and also acid reflux babies get this because they are trying to relieve their discomfort from the burning. She tilts her head to the right and rotates it to the left. This is her position of comfort. We are stretching and working her neck muscles to help her hold her head at midline. If you look back through the pictures, you can see the tilt and rotation. We do photograph "selectively" so it is not too obvious!

So, we have some work to do, but this is a small price to pay for the precious gift she has been for us so far.

I LOVE our new camera!

This is my new favorite pic, thanks to the new fabulous camera.

Buggies and Babes and Fun Times, Oh my!

Sophie and I have been attending a GREAT mommy meet up group. It's called "Buggies and Babes". Note the sweat trickling down my cheek! Basically, mommies with babies meet at the rail trail with a fantastic trainer and exercise. No whimpy stuff!! Real, heartrate raising, cardio interval, kick your butt stuff. Very fun! Stuff you feel good doing (and feel it for a day or two afterwords). Thanks for the great pic Tama!!! Another day when we were getting ready for our first class. Too cute in our matchy clothes!
They're cousins!
Daddy and Sophie. Isn't he a great dad with the Baby Bjorn?
Another pic taken at Buggies and Babes.

I live in small town, USA

So, if you know me, you know my life has changed DRASTICALLY in the last few years. I sometimes miss my "past life" of being single, living in a college town, and doing whatever I please whenever I please. I, once in a while, even feel sad that I have moved to such a small place in the world. I'm used to entertainment/shopping/necessities being a 5 minute drive, not a 4o minute one!

Well, here's my positive realization. There is something to be said about living in "Small Town, USA". Today, I needed to go and register to vote in my new home town. I drove the whopping, 30 seconds to the main street of Grafton. I parked right on the UN-METERED street in front of the City Courthouse, hopped up the stairs, and preceded to walk in. The building was old and made of beautiful wood and marble. I walked in the office and announced that I needed to register, with daughter in hand. All the old ladies in the office ooohed and ahhhed at Sophie, leaving their desks to see her. "What is your name, Honey?" the clerk asked. I told her my name and she said, "Oh, which Lucas are you married to?" "Jason, I said." "So, this is Jason's daughter!!! How beautiful!" "So this is David Senior's Great Grandaughter!". You see, Sophie's great grandpa was the sheriff for some time many years ago.

I did my business and left. As I was leaving, an elderly man, holding his hat in his hand and also pushing an oxygen tank, opened the door for us. "You sure have a sweet little load there, miss!" Through the door we went! "Thanks, sir!" I said. We began driving the 2 blocks of main street to get back home. We passed the one and only coffee shop that just opened (I have to check it out!) and then were stopped, not by a light mind you (there is no stop light in the center of town), but by a flag man who was directing traffic for some street construction/beautification. He waved at us, even before he realized he was our next door neighbor, "Willie". Then he smiled a great big grin when he recognized us. As we sat there, a man said hello to Willie and I realized it was Sophie's Great Uncle Tom. He was just taking a stroll down the street. We beeped and waved and kept on our way. We then passed the man who was selling fresh apples from the farms in Romney, WV, for 3 dollars a dozen. I looked back at the block in the rear view mirror and realized the street was covered with American flags and signs of appreciation to our veterans.

So, I have to drive 20 minutes to get to a Sam's Club.......such is life! and what a beautiful and peaceful life it is!

random pictures and family thoughts

My cousin Mandi just won an emmy(documentary category)...FOR REAL!! How cool is that??? I forwarded the news and preceded to receive MANY responses saying we look alike. What do YOU think??? Baby girl is sleeping in her swing
With our friend/auntie MK! We love her!
Daddy's idea of being funny!
Sophie and great grandma Norma. What a cute pic!