Lawrence is 1 Month Old!!! (May 17, 2012)

Lawrence, Mommy & Daddy cannot believe that you are already one month old!! That time went so fast, and you are such an amazing blessing to our family...we can't even remember what our family was like without you in it!!

At one month old, you:

****weigh 10 lbs 4 ounces and are 22.5 inches long

****are breastfeeding so well!!! You love to eat, and are eating about every 2-3 hours. You have gained exactly 2 pounds from your birth weight. When you're done eating, you always do a BIG stretch and make a really cute little pouty face where you pucker your lips.

****you are still wearing 0-3 month or 3 month clothes, and are wearing Pampers size newborn diapers

****are still making lots of noise with everything you do, whether it's eating, sleeping, looking around, or tummy time, we can always hear you:) Mommy loves all your little sounds!!

****are starting to smile more often and Mommy's heart just melts when I see it!

We love you sooooooo much little cutie!

Preschool (May 15, 2012): Beach/Shells

Today was Mommy's first day back to preschool with you after I took three weeks off after I had Lawrence.  I was so happy to be back with you and we brought Lawrence with us for his first visit to your preschool. You were so excited to have him there and wanted to show him everything you did!!

Mommy was able to take a few pictures of you today. Here are some pictures of you having so much fun painting with green foam paint. You were just supposed to paint on the paper with it, but you thought it was so much more fun to play with it and put it all over your hands and arms and shirt:

You really enjoyed exploring the different shells and then Mommy read you the shell books.

Playing with blue beach play doh:

And Mommy's favorite pictures from today...Baby Lawrence woke up and started crying and you immediately ran over to him and said "It's okay Baby Lawrence. It's okay!" You were so sweet and he did stop crying when he heard your voice!!:

Your Visit with Nanna & PopPop

Your Nanna and PopPop came to San Diego for three whole weeks to meet Lawrence, help Mommy out, and especially spend time with you, Briana!!! They were so excited to see you again after three long months!

The first thing they did with us was go to Lawrence's newborn photo shoot and that is when they met Lawrence for the first time. They fell in love with Lawrence right away and were so excited to see him and hold him! They also congratulated you on becoming a big sister!! Here are some of the pictures they're in:

Nanna and PopPop couldn't believe what a big girl you'd become! Now there were even more fun things they could do with you! Nanna and PopPop went to preschool with you, PopPop took you to your swimming lessons, Nanna asked you to help her cook several times and you made cookies together, they took you grocery shopping many times, and to Pizza Hut, PopPop painted your new room such a pretty blue color, Nanna played a lot with you and made up one of your favorite new games, which is playing post office. (Mommy is very impressed with your ability to pretend and role play already...it is so fun to see you pretend!) You also went to Home Depot with Nanna and helped her pick out some pots and flowers and soil and you planted your first real flowers with her! Mommy didn't get too many pictures during this visit because I was so busy taking care of Lawrence, but here are a few:

At Preschool

Cooking with Nanna

Your New Blue Walls

Planting Flowers with Nanna

You had such a wonderful time with your Nanna and PopPop! Thank you so much for coming to visit!

Briana is a Great Big Sister!!!

Briana, Lawrence is so lucky to have such a wonderful big sister!!!!

Here are two pictures of when you met your baby brother for the first time! You had made him a really pretty picture and were so excited to give it to him and finally meet the little boy Mommy & Daddy had been talking about for so long!

You are so incredibly sweet to him and get a big smile whenever you talk to him! You talk to him in a really high voice and try to get as close as possible to his face so he can see you. You love to say, "Hi, Lawrence Lawrence. I'm your big sister Briana and you are my little baby brother". Also, whenever he starts crying you tell Mommy right away and then you go over and try to comfort him and say over and over "It's okay Lawrence! It's okay!"

Here are several pictures of you and Lawrence that were taken when Lawrence was only five days old. It is so obvious how much you love him!

And this is Mommy's favorite picture of the two of you so far!:

We are so proud of you for being such a great big sister! We love you so much!!!!

Lawrence is Born!!! (April 17, 2012)

Dear Lawrence,

Today, on April 17, 2012, you were born at 5:43 am!!!!!!!! You weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and were 21 inches long. When the nurses put you in my arms and I looked at you for the first time, Mommy started crying because I was just so happy to see you and you were just so beautiful and perfect!!!! 

Ever since Mommy found out I was pregnant with you on August 14, 2011, I was SO EXCITED!

Mommy looks a little tired because I got up really early to check if I was pregnant, and I was!!!

Mommy had a pretty easy pregnancy with you and didn't get too many crazy cravings...I just ate a lot of Panera sandwiches and Trail Mix throughout. As Mommy's belly started to get bigger, we were able to explain to your big sister Briana that Mommy would soon have another baby, and she was so excited! After we found out you were going to be a boy, we decided to name you after your Daddy, so your name was going to be Godfrey Lawrence Duke IV but Mommy insisted that we would call you Lawrence, at least until you were old enough to decide what name you wanted to be called. 

Here are a few pictures of Mommy when I was pregnant with you:

 16 Weeks

24 Weeks

We announced that we were pregnant with you to our family and friends by sending out this picture of Briana...she is wearing a shirt that says she is going to be a big sister!

Your due date was April 21, 2012 and Briana was 10 days early, so Mommy thought you might come early too. On April 16th, Mommy went to see the nurse and she checked to see how you were doing, and there wasn't enough umbilical fluid, so she recommended that we go to the hospital and get you out as soon as possible. Mommy was so excited that I would soon get to meet you!!!!! Mommy and Daddy got all our hospital bags from the house and dropped off Briana at Allison and Keira's house, and then we went to the hospital. 

39 Weeks and 3 Days

Mommy's body wasn't ready to have you yet, so the doctor's gave Mommy some medicine so that I could have you sooner. 

Finally after many hours, they told me I could push, and you were born at 5:43am the next morning! We had you on a Tuesday morning and we stayed at the hospital with you until Wednesday afternoon. 

The doctors and nurses all told us how healthy and cute you were, and one nurse called you a "noisy baby" because you would make little baby noises all the time, even when you were asleep.

Here are several pictures we took at the hospital!

And here is the first picture you had taken with your Grammie:

Mommy's really close friends, Allison and Roni, also came to the hospital to meet you!

 Allison & Mommy

Roni

We are so incredibly thankful to God for giving us you!! We are so excited to be your parents!!!!!!!! 

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Briana, Mommy also wanted to document what you were doing while Mommy & Daddy were in the hospital. You got to spend two days and nights at Keira's house!!! Allison said you and Keira had so much fun together!! At night, you slept in your tent. Allison sent Mommy several pictures of the two of you together:

You look so tired because you didn't take a nap that day.

Thank you so much Allison and Keira!!!!!!!!!