Luke's love language...

is Toy Story toys. Ever since we went to see Toy Story 3 this summer Luke has been OBSESSED with all things Toy Story.

We've definitely used it to our advantage as we finally got him to poop on the potty consistently with a bribe of Toy Story toys, he was given a whole set of them for being a ring bearer in Lisa and Daniel's wedding, and he's received numerous others for being a new big brother!

Needless to say we have a plethora of TS3 memorabilia over here and Luke decided he wanted to share them with Langley yesterday while I was putting the dishes away. :) I'm pretty sure this means "I love you ALOT" in Luke language. (Notice the toy in her hand) Hah!

Changing

She's changing every day, therefore must post more pictures for the family. :)

keeping 'em coming

Since we are so far from our family I have had requests for more pictures. I'll just try to keep 'em coming.

The eyes, grandmas, and tomatoes

I realized 99% of the pictures I've posted of Langley have been with her eyes closed. She really is quite an alert baby and has definite long periods of awake time already. See?

We are still doing really well, just enjoying and getting to know our newest family member. Nana (Michael's mom) is here this week and has already been an AWESOME help! Don't know how I would have survived this transition period without help from the best grandmas in the world! :)

Oh, and if you live in the area and want some tomatoes come on over. We have them coming out of our ears! Nana and Luke are doing our nightly harvest here.

Just cute

We have TWO kids!

I don't know if it's completely sunk in yet, but I kind of love having two kids. Things have been going really well around here but my mom has been here for the week keeping our heads above water. :) She left today (not without tears from me and Luke) so we will have a couple of days on our own until Michael's mom comes on Friday. We can't wait for Nana to meet Langley Grace!

We've been keeping busy doing lots of firsts. First sponge bath, walk to the park, tummy time, trip to the Dr. etc. Langley is eating like a champion while sleeping at night is not one of our strong suits just yet. :) We had her one-week check up this morning and while she was 6lb10oz when we left the hospital on Friday, today she weighed in at a whopping 7lb5oz! Her Dr. gave us both a gold star for awesome growing/feeding. She really is so sweet and I am loving all the PINK!

Luke is still loving his baby sister although he told my mom he wanted Langley Grace to go on the airplane to Texas with her. Sorry buddy, she's here to stay. :)

I took this picture of Langley Grace this afternoon and was reminded of this picture of Luke. You can definitely tell they are siblings. :)

We're Home

We made it home yesterday around lunch time and boy does it feel good to be with our little family of four (plus DeeDee and Billy). Luke was very enthusiastic about us being home and we've gotten lots of cute video footage that I'll have to put up soon. We had a "Big Brother" party last night to celebrate Luke being a great big brother. He thought it was pretty cool. :) My mom has been here since Wednesday and has been making Luke feel very special and my dad made it here today to meet little Langley. I think it's safe to say we are all pretty smitten with the little missy.

Here some more pictures from the rest of our stay in the hospital. We both got a clean bill of health and came home yesterday! She's doing great eating and sleeping is as to be expected. :) We just can't get enough of her.

So in love!

Without further ado I introduce you to Langley Grace Merrick. She made her grand entrance into the world at 1:12 PM on Wednesday, Aug. 11th weighing in at 7lbs even and was 19 in long. She's got TONS of dark hair and is absolutely perfect! We could not be more thankful for such an awesome gift. Big Brother Luke thinks she is "a pretty cute wittle baby," and seemed to take everything really well. I'll fill in the details later but for now here are some pictures of our little girl! :)

"Every good and perfect gift is from above." James 1:17

Harvest time

It is harvest time in the Merrick household in more ways than one. It's high time to harvest this little baby in my belly. Still no news. And, it's harvest time for a lot of our veggies out back.

Last summer we tried our hand at a little garden with mostly tomatoes, watermelon, and pumpkin, but this summer Michael decided to get a little brave and try a whole bunch of veggies. We have TONS of tomatoes, corn, green beans, green peppers, green onions, yellow onions, basil, carrots, broccoli, and lettuce. I never would have guessed my husband had such the green thumb. He's a man of many talents for sure. :) I have to admit it is quite satisfying to put food on the table straight from the backyard.

No news..

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Some of you are probably wondering if it's because we're busy with a newborn. Not the case unfortunately. She's still cooking despite the false alarm last week and the frustrating contractions that fail to produce a baby. Oh well. I'm still feeling pretty good but sleep is hard to come by and I am definitely just feeling ready. We'll keep ya posted.

The pictures above are from the rest of our time with Michael's family here. Although it was a big disappointment to not be able to go up North with them, the fact that we got to see them all on both ends of the trip made up for it a little. I was really looking forward to getting to spend time with my new sister in law, Lauren, but we had tons of fun while they stayed with us for a couple days before and after the trip.

She is such a trooper and was up for anything. Michael and Matthew even convinced her to go shooting at Michael's gun club. I think she kind of liked it too. :) I am so excited to have another girl in the family and can totally tell Matthew found his perfect match!