10 weeks old!!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Luke had a great 10th week of life!! He is still sleeping through the night, and he loves to get out of the house and shop--just like his mom and dad.

This past weekend, we had fun with some of our friends. Rhonda and Will have a 5 month old little girl named Madeline. Shannon and Ryan are 26 weeks pregnant; they were in town from Mobile. Our wonderful single friend, Mary Rita came over too. We had fun playing with Luke and Madeline and catching up.

We took Luke shopping the day after Christmas. He is so funny watching people.

Marc's good friend, Jordan, moved to North Carolina, so he came by to tell us good bye and to see Luke. We also had dinner with the Earharts on Saturday night.

Marc's brother Ricco and his family (Tracy, Lydia, Chloe, Tate and Baby Riley) are in town from Kentucky. We saw them last night. I will post some cute pictures of Luke with his Tumminello cousins soon. Tomorrow, we are going to the alligator farm, and then we have lots of fun planned for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I will have lots of pictures to post at the end of the week.

Happy New Year,

Wendi, Marc, and Luke

A conversation with Luke

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Luke has a story to tell from this weekend. Play the slideshow to read his story.

We did buy some very cute sunglasses for him this weekend. Marc and I laughed so hard we cried when he had them on. We will take some pictures of that soon and post them.

Luke had a check up last week. He was 10# and 11 oz. 22.5 inches. He just keeps on growing!! He has been sleeping through the night for the past week. It is so wonderful. His personality just keeps on coming out too. He is smiling and sticking his tongue out at us when we're talking to him. It makes him laugh when we stick our tongue back out at him.

We miss everyone,

Wendi, Marc and Luke

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

We had a great time in Huntsville over Thanksgiving. Luke and I stayed there for an extra week while Marc came home and did some wonderful projects around the house. We all met up in Mississippi the next weekend so Luke and I could come home. We were able to see mom and dad and Kelli and Ben, and it was so wonderful. Luke was held almost constantly!! It did take us a few days to adjust once we got back home. We were very glad to see Marc; we missed him that week.

Enjoy the pictures; I will post some snow pictures soon. Yes, it snowed about 5 inches at our house in South Louisiana last Thursday. It was crazy.

Lots of fun

Make a Smilebox photobook

As you can see from the pictures, we had a great time visiting with Marc's grandfather and Aunts and Uncles in Diamondhead this past weekend. Luke is doing a little bit of smiling from time to time. He smiled at his Aunt Gail and Aunt Cecilia this weekend. Uncle Terry and Aunt Cecilia were in town from Rhode Island. It was great to see everyone.

Luke had a doctor's appointment last week. He is now 8lbs. and 9 ounces. He is also 21.5 inches long. He gained over 2 pounds and 2 inches in just a few weeks. He is really growing great!!

We are all excited about seeing other family members this weekend. We will have some new pictures to post soon.

Love,

Wendi

Make a Smilebox photobook

We truly have so much to be thankful for. I tried a different slide show program this time; I'm branching out. I hope you guys like it. Aunt Gail gave him the cute elephant towel he's wrapped up in on one of the pages. Luke has his 1 month check up tomorrow, and we'll find out how much he weighs. It's very exciting. We are looking forward to going to grandmama and grandpa's house next week. Luke will get to meet a lot of his family.

1 month old

I cannot believe my precious little boy is one month old on Saturday. He is so special to Marc and I. We are enjoying every minute with him. You can probably tell by all of the pictures we have taken just how proud of him we are. We are looking forward to another fun weekend with Luke. We have several things planned again. I love the picture in the slide show where he is holding onto the flower pen. He just grabbed it when I was playing with him, and he held on tight. I think he was trying to write a letter to someone. I'll let you guys fight over who he was trying to write. I have a feeling it was his grandma!!

Love, Wendi, Marc and Luke

Luke's post

Wow, What a weekend!! I went to my first high school basketball game, Sam's Club, my first wedding, church, Lowe's, and my friend Josiah's house. It's been very busy. My mom and dad say I did very well. I also seem to be getting on a little bit of a schedule, and I'm sleeping much better at night. I am starting to interact a little bit with my toys which is very fun. I especially love my toy giraffe that my cousin Jenny and Don gave me, and I really like to play on my tummy. Mom said she will try to get some pictures of me playing really soon.

I love you guys,
Luke

Luke "Skywalker" Tumminello

Today was the first day at home without grandma!! We somehow survived, but it was very different. Luke and I had a good day; I have to learn how to sleep better when he is sleeping.

My dad came back down this weekend (the third weekend in a row), and this time he took my mom home with him. Luke had several firsts this weekend. He went to the grocery store for the first time, and he went to his first restaurant. He did great at both, and has no idea that he was even at the restaurant.

As you can see from the pictures, my dad gave Luke Daniel "Skywalker" Tumminello his first light saber. He told Luke that any young Jedi in training should have their own light saber. Of course, it is bigger than he is right now, but he will grow into it. I have been taking pictures like crazy, and there are so many more expressions he has that I wish I could capture. Luke has quite the personality already.

This video took awhile for me to figure out how to upload it, but I finally got it. It's a few days old, and I know my voice on it is probably annoying. I will try not to talk as much on future videos. There are a few older videos we took as well. I will get those uploaded in the next few days and take some more recent stuff too.

Luke is a very, very sweet boy!! We love him so much. He slept so good last night and didn't even get fussy at all. Marc and I both got a good night's sleep. It was wonderful.

My mom is still in town, but she is leaving after this weekend. I know she will be glad to get back home with dad and Olivia, but I will miss her so much. She has done so much for us here. Marc and I have been spoiled. I am sure she will be glad to have a break when she gets home. Marc says he'll never forget that his mother in law scooped the litter box for us while she was here!!

Wendi, Marc and Luke

I'm getting big!!

This week, I gained 7 whole ounces!! I now weigh 6lbs and 10.5oz. I love walking around the block (in my stroller), playing in my swing and my papasan chair, and especially snuggling up with my daddy at night!!

I am learning that bath time isn't so terrible, but bedtime stinks!! I love my grandma, and I will miss her next week when she has to go home. I guess my grandpa misses her. I can't wait to meet some more of my family at Thanksgiving in Huntsville.

I love you guys, Luke

Visitors

Aunt Kelli and Grandpa came down to see Luke this weekend. Luke enjoyed watching football on Saturday with his grandpa. We also spent some time with him outside which he seemed to really enjoy.

One week old

Today Luke is one week old!! That is so hard to believe. He gained 1.5oz this week, and 1/2 of an inch. I already can't imagine life without him. Last night Marc spent some daddy time giving him a bath and then feeding him for the first time. Thanks to modern technology I can collect milk and Marc can feed it from a bottle. Marc did great!!

Tomorrow Marc is working from home, so he will get to see Luke more awake during the day. Luke is usually very sleepy by the time Marc gets home, and there isn't a lot of interaction time before Marc goes to bed. Then of course I'm awake during the night feeding and changing him while Marc is sleeping since he has to go to work. Tomorrow, and then the weekend will be great.

Dad and Kelli are coming down for the weekend too. It will be great to finally introduce him to his Aunt Kelli. We have been able to get onto Skype and have a teleconference over the computer with dad, so he has seen Luke in real time a little bit this week.

Enjoy the slide show.

Luke's arrival

I hope you guys enjoyed the pictures. We are sorry it took so long (2 whole days) to get some pictures up online. I guess you guys can see they were worth the wait. Isn't he the cutest little boy you've ever seen.

Here is his vital info:

It's a boy!!!
Luke Daniel Tumminello born Oct. 15, 2008 at 12:03pm
He weighed 6lbs. 7oz and was 19 inches long.

We plan to call him Luke.
He was born 13 days earlier than our predicted due date. Thank goodness for my cousin Mandy I had my bags packed for the hospital, and we really had most everything set up at home.

Marc and I are exhausted. We had our first night at home last night, and we were both awake most of the night. Luke has some jaundice because he and I are different blood types. To treat the jaundice, I have to feed him every 2 to 3 hours and we have a special blanket called a wallaby blanket that we wrap him up in while he sleeps. The blanket produces a special wavelength of light that helps him break down the bilirubin. It seems to be working, and we should be able to stop using the blanket by Monday. He doesn't seem to mind the blanket; I think it helps to keep him warm. He looks like a little glow worm when he's swaddled up with the blanket.

Today, I enjoyed a nice nap as did Marc while my mom watched the baby and went grocery shopping. I am so glad my mom is here; otherwise, Marc and I might starve!!

I will post some more pictures soon.

Wendi and Marc

Another slide show

I thought you guys would be interested in updated pictues of the baby's room and a couple of belly shots of my pregnant belly. Marc and I worked in the nursery today. We put up a hot air balloon mobile that Marc found in New Orleans on Thursday. We had been looking for something with hot air balloons, and we finally found this mobile. We also put up a little wall saying over the baby's bed that says: Sweet dreams, sleep tight, we love you and good night. You can see we surrounded it with little butterflies. Then, we hung up some picture frames that will soon contain pictues of Baby Tumminello. Marc also put a swing together for the baby.

I also think we have finally settled on a boy's name. The girl's name isn't quite there yet. For anyone that we have discussed names with, the boy's name is different from anything we have talked about. I guess we'll just keep everyone hanging about the names until the baby arrives!! Sorry, but it shouldn't be too much longer at least.

We love you guys

37 week check up

We are getting very excited now!! I went to the doctor today for an ultrasound. According to the ultrasound, the baby is 6lbs. 14oz. That puts me right on track for a 7.5 to 8 pound baby. The heart beat looks great, and the head is down. I am far enough along that if I go into labor, I can go to the hospital and have the baby.

I plan on packing my hospital bag tomorrow just to be prepared. The doctor says not to expect anything to happen this week, but that it could. The full moon is next Tuesday, so you never know. Apparently Kelli and I were both born on full moons.

I hope you guys enjoy the slide show. I am so excited that Mandy taught me how to do this. Thanks Mandy!!
As you can see, we had a great baby shower last weekend. Angela put together a great shower for the Tumminello friends and family. We have been so blessed by everyone's generosity. This week, I had my 36 week check up. Everything looks great. Dr. Guillory ordered an ultrasound for this coming Wednesday to try to determine the size of the baby. That will be fun.

Marc's office threw him a suprise baby shower last Friday. I was able to go too and suprise him even more. They bought him his favorite chocolate doberge cake. For those of you that aren't from Louisiana, a doberge cake is a New Orleans style cake that has lots of thin layers separated by pudding. It's very, very good!! They gave us a gift card to Target.

This weekend, we bought the few remaining items we needed to complete the baby's room using our gift cards. We really just had to buy a crib mattress and a lamp. We are so thankful for everyone's love and generosity. We also put together our pack 'n' play and installed the car seat bases into our cars. I packed a bag for the baby and started thinking about my own stuff. Marc also painted some shelves for me for the baby's closet and he worked hard in the back yard planting some irises my mom brought and some ginger he got from his grandfather's property.

My knee is healing great; it's getting stronger every day. I can definitely feel the difference in my pregnancy this last month. It's getting harder to sleep at night and to get comfortable. By the end of each day I am very tired and my feet hurt. Everything else is going well, and we are really too excited to complain too much.

Birthday party and Baby shower

This is a picture from our nephew Sam's 2nd birthday party. Notice the pregnant woman with a giant splint on her leg in the back ground--that's me!! When we got to the party, I sat down in the very comfortable love seat only to realize that it was almost impossible for me to get out of it without help.

We had a busy weekend including the birthday party, and a baby shower given by several of my friends from church. The baby shower was beautiful. It was a tea, and we were very blessed with lots of wonderful baby things. Marc was blessed with a big piece of cake to take home.

Marc has been very busy this weekend too. He hung some new shades, and a new light fixture in the baby's room. He also fixed the door to the baby's room so that it opens and closes more smoothly now, and he cleaned out the garage so the dogs can once again go in there if necessary.

My knee is healing great. Thanks for everyone's prayers!! I can put quite a bit of weight on it and keep it bent more comfortably now. When I'm at home, I've been walking around without my crutches a lot; I just can't use it to go up and down stairs, or bear weight on it when it's bent. The hardest thing is standing up when I sit down, but I think a lot of that is due to the enlarging belly that I have as well. Mom is here helping through the end of the week. I haven't attempted to drive myself yet, so I'm being driven around and pampered a lot by her and Marc.

This week, I am 35 weeks pregnant!! My next OB appointment is Wednesday, and I'll give another update then.

Here are a few pictures from the shower. Notice I didn't wear my splint in my party dress!!

Update

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am doing well; a little frustrated about relying on everyone else, but overall I am doing well. Mom is so wonderful!! She has driven me all over, and helped me all around the house. We have worked in the baby's room, and I've had some down time to work on my pregnancy scrap book.

Marc has also been great, and he really appreciates my mom's help too.

The swelling in my knee has improved. I can put some weight on my knee without the splint, and I can even take a few steps on it without the crutches. It only hurts if I try to bend it while putting weight on it, or if I try to pivot on it. It feels really strange if I bend it at more than a 90 degree angle too; I guess that's still the swelling in the joint. I have to rest a lot, but I guess part of that is the pregnancy as well as my knee.

My friends, Joy, Mary Rita, and Chris are throwing me a baby shower tea this Sunday for people from church. I'm very excited about that. On Saturday, we are going to a 2nd birthday party for our nephew, Sam (Gino and Amanda's little boy). It should be a fun weekend.

Doctor's appointment--good news

I went to the doctor this afternoon, and I got a favorable report!!
I tore the tendons on the inside of my left knee that hold the knee cap in place. It's good that it happened as a trauma because the liklihood of it happening again once it's healed is low (unless I had another similar trauma). Right now, I'm supposed to take it easy until the swelling and pain go down. Then, I can gradually put more and more weight on it with the immobilizer and crutches and then without the immobilizer and crutches until it feels stable again. He told me to go at my own pace and listen to how stable my knee feels. It may take a few weeks. I will just need to be careful about twisting my knee or pivoting on that leg for awhile.

He gave me some exercises to keep my quadriceps strong. Building up my quadricep muscles will help keep my patella in place in the future. He wants me to really start exercising that leg once the baby is born. I guess that's another good reason to hit the gym as soon as possible.

Please pray that my knee as strong before I go into labor, and that it heals quickly.
Marc will be taking a picture of me with the splint and crutches and posting it soon I'm sure!!

My mom is coming into town today and planning on staying for about 10 days until my knee is stronger. That will help a lot because there are a lot of every day things that I can't do with the crutches.

Wendi

My what a difference a day makes!!

Today has been one of those crazy days!! Last night, I gave Olivia (one of my labs) a prednisone tablet because her allergies were flaring up. I know better than to do that at night because it makes her have to go to the bathroom, but I did it anyway. Of course we woke up to a puddle on the floor in front of the back door. So, I was cleaning everything this morning including the large dog bed that we have in our den. The dog bed is really big so I stuffed it into the washer; I'd done it before and it was fine.

While the washer was going I had my ipod on, so I didn't hear that it was having any problems. Our washer and dryer are in our garage. I vacuumed and mopped, and then went out to check the washer. The washer hose had come loose, and water was all over the garage floor. I went to pull the dog bed out of the washing machine, and I had to pull pretty hard. I already had the dryer door open behind me. Somehow, when I pulled I lost my balance on the wet cement and fell backwards. I guess I fell at a weird angle, and my left knee cap popped out of place and then back in place. ( A traumatic lateral patella luxation is what we call it in vet med). I continued to fall backwards and landed on my right hip on the concrete. It all happened very quickly.

Marc was at church helping with the kids, so I was home by myself laying on the floor of the garage with my head almost under my car crying and wondering how in the world I would make it to my cell phone in our kitchen. (Do you feel sorry for me yet?) I pulled myself together, somehow stood up on my good leg and hopped into the house. Then, my phone started to ring. I didn't make it in time to grab the home phone, but I did grab my cell when it rang next. It was my mom!!!

Perfect timing for mom to call so I could cry and tell her what happened and she could tell me what to do!! Marc came home from church and took me to the emergency room. Of course things like this happen on the weekends. The ER sent me to the labor and delivery department where they hooked me up to a monitor and did a non stress test. Everything looked great with the baby which was the main thing I was worried about.

Then, I went back to the ER to have my knee checked. They did x-rays and nothing was broken. I've sprained ligaments in my left knee, and I can't put any weight on it right now. They put it in an immobilizing bandage and gave me crutches. I have to make an appointment with an orthopedist this week--just to make sure I didn't tear my ACL or something crazy like that. I'm not sure how long I have to wear the splint or keep weight off of my leg. Right now, I have to ice it, keep it elevated, and stay off of it as much as possible. You can imagine the sight of an 8 month pregnant woman on crutches!! My arm muscles and my right leg are going to be really strong when all of this is over.

Marc is taking such great care of me. He is at the grocery store right now, and he has made the sofa in the den into a hospital bed for me. We live in a 2 story house, so we are going to have to get into a routine for all of this. The animals were terrified of my splint and the crutches when I first came home.

I will let you guys know what the orthopedist says. Hopefully, I will not be on the crutches for very long. Please send me an email if you have time; I'll have a lot of down time over the next couple of weeks I'm sure.

Wendi*/

September 13, 2008

Today I had a wonderful baby shower given by my coworkers. It was actually a double baby shower for myself and one of our internists, Dr. Jessica. Dr. Jessica is due 3 days before me. Our vet clinic is definitely a fertility hotspot. At this very moment there are 4 women pregnant who work there. That is pretty typical for us.

The baby shower was awesome. I'm posting some pictures.

Notice the really awesome cake that Dr. Laura made. She is so talented, and she is an ER doctor with me. The head board, foot board, rails, baby bottle and pillow are all rice crispy treats covered in icing. The cake itself is white with a lemon filling and a very cool "bed spread" icing. It was so cool.

One of our other ER doctors, Donna made us each a diaper cake and crocheted a blanket for each of us. I work with such multitalented women!! We played a lot of games which were fun because we all know each other so well. They also decorated onesies with fabric paint for us. I am including pictures of all the fun.

Wendi