Luke Austin Windels

The Farris Family came to visit us in Chicago, and they brought along some warmer weather with them. The snow melted as temperatures got into the 50s for one nice day. Of course, Gary Jr. and Steven were quick to point out that one day of 50 degree temperatures does not constitute warm weather. Gary and Teri, who will be Grandpa and Nana to Luke, came to bond with their first grandson and give Kasey and Dan some baby-holding relief. While in town, the family hit up some Chicago favorites, including a visit to Wrigley Field, a trip on the “L,” a visit to the Magnificent Mile, and even a taste of Chicago-style hot dogs and Chicago-Style deep dish pizza.

Taking advantage of the warmer weather, we take Luke for a walk in Roscoe Village. He sleeps through it.

Uncle Steven talks to Luke about what kinds of clothes all the cool kids are wearing. Luke sleeps through it.

Luke wakes up to hear Uncle Gary give him the highlights of the College Football Bowl Season.

The Farris Family awaits their first trip on the “L.”

Gary, a Yankees Fan, reluctantly agrees to take a picture in front of Wrigley Field.

Grandpa finds the most sure fire way to grab Luke’s attention… He feeds him.

Nana had the magic touch with Luke. She just left this morning and he’s already missing her.

Luke was officially introduced to our college football obsession last night with Oregon’s victory in the Holiday Bowl over Oklahoma State. Fortunately for us, Luke didn’t seem to mind our cheering, shouting, or occasional screaming at the TV as Oregon proved once again that dollar-for-dollar they’re the best ticket in college football (translation – the outcome of an Oregon game is always in doubt until the final play). Over the next week Luke will get a full dose of “school spirit” as he models new outfits for both LSU’s and Texas’ Bowl Games.

Dan & Luke celebrate Oregon’s last minute win.

Dan tries to harness Luke’s screaming for more productive uses…like Duck calls.

Luke rests up for today’s game….Geaux Tigers!

Luke heard people were complaining that he hadn’t posted new pictures in a few days, so he insisted we post these pictures of him.

For our first family road trip we packed up the Jetta with Dan, Kasey, Luke, & Abby and headed up to Madison to spend Christmas with the Windels family. Good thing our trip is only three days long since every corner of the Jetta was packed to the rim. Yes, most of it was Luke’s. While Dan had the front seat to himself, Kasey, Luke, & Abby got cozy in the back for the 2 1/2 hour trip up from Chicago. Today was a beautiful clear winter day, and the record December snowfall has made Madison look like the North Pole (complete with – 10 degree temps in the morning).

Kasey, Luke, & Dan enjoy Christmas Wisconsin style…cold.

Luke “hangs ten” on a snow bank.

While Dan has fun in the snow, Luke and Abby look for an escape route.

Abby is “King of the World!!!”

Completely embarrassed, Luke attempts to sleep through his snow suit experience.

The proud Mom.

Merry Christmas from Kasey, Dan, & Luke.

While Luke spends the vast majority of his day sleeping (or crying), he occasionally opens his eyes to check out the world around him. While these moments don’t happen that often, we’re always close at hand to capture them with our camera since he looks so cute.

Dan’s Dad, step mom, & step sister came down from Madison to not only see Luke, but also to celebrate Dan’s birthday. They were brave souls for making the trip since temps. in the Chicago area topped out around 0 degrees today with wind chills in the – 30 f range. Knowing how busy we were with Luke, they also brought us some incredible homemade soup for lunch, and a birthday cheesecake. Of course their biggest help was showering Luke with endless attention throughout the day (Luke of course had no problem with this).

Dan, Bill, and Luke in their first father-son-father-son picture.

Luke makes a fuss over the apparent shortage of candles on his Dad’s birthday cake.

Karen holds Luke for the first time.

Katherine puts Luke through his arm calisthenics. Luke’s response…sleep.

Luke looking his cutest while modeling his new Target outfit.

Not to be outdone, Abby reminds us that dogs can be cute too!

Today Luke did what he does best, sleep. Despite a solid 8 hours of only once interrupted sleep last night, Luke decided that Thurs. Dec. 18th was a day best spent resting. Of course Kasey and I think he’s mocking us with his record setting zzzz’s since he knows how little sleep we’ve been getting as of late. Either way he’s incredibly cute while napping so we don’t mind.

Luke at 8:00 a.m.

Luke at 9:00 a.m.

Luke at 11:00 a.m.

Kelly does her best to keep Luke awake in between his power naps by playing Patty Cake, Patty Cake.

Dan keeps Luke awake by showing him some slow dance moves with Abby in tow.

Of course the surest way to get anyone’s attention in our family appears to be food.

Luke is adjusting well to life at home. He has been keeping us all busy for the past couple of days. He eats like crazy. At first, we thought that a cry could mean “change me,” “hold me,” “feed me” or “rock me to sleep.” Now, we pretty much assume that a cry means “feed me,” since that seems to be the thing that calms him down 90% of the time.

Luke snuggles on the Boppy after a big meal.

Abby and Luke practice their tummy time to build muscles and coordination.

Luke sends hugs to everyone!

Geaux Tigers!

Luke dressed up in his warm bear suit to head to his first doctor’s appointment. He’s a healthy boy. His birth weight was in the 99th percentile. Wowzahs!

Yesterday morning we finally got the green light from our doctors to bring Luke home. We spent the day packing, signing paperwork, and asking lots and lots of “how to” questions from just about every medical person we ran into. True to form, getting discharged from the hospital took forever. We started the process at 8:30 a.m., and we finally got discharged at 4:45 p.m. We came home to a house that smelled like a home-cooked meal! Casey, Lauren and Riley came over and helped Kelly get groceries for the week, cook dinner (Bella’s famous hamburger steaks and mashed potatoes), sterilize bottles, and prepare for Luke. We were so happy to visit with everyone. Plus, Luke participated in his first video conference with Cappy (Keith), where all of Keith and Kelly’s neighbors were able to check out his giant feet via webcam. All in all, it was a good first day home.

The view from our room in Prentice Women’s Hospital overlooked Lake Michigan. We received lovely flowers from Gary, Teri, Gary and Steven. Plus, Dan bought Kasey some LSU themed flowers.

Kasey and Luke sit in the lobby and prepare for Luke’s first car ride.

Luke arrives in style to his new home.

Abby says she’s going to work on her tricks to keep up with Luke.

Cousin Rylie checks out Luke and decides she wants to steal his socks. Luke’s response was, “What’s a sock?”

After 72 hours at the hospital, we are home at last!

Today is Luke’s first official 24/7 sleep-over with mom and dad. He’s in our hospital room full time now so we’re getting a crash course in learning all his behaviors. So far he’s been fairly predictable, but then again it’s only been 48 hours since he was born so his needs are pretty limited. The biggest thing we learned today is that Luke is surprisingly strong. He already has control over his neck muscles and he can bust through even the tightest wrapped swaddling blanket. So far, Kasey has been able to play good cop, offering feedings and hugs, while Dan has played bad cop, changing diapers and wrapping swaddling blankets. We’ve also learned that his crying means one of four things: I’m hungry, I need to be changed, I’m tired, or hold me. His loudest cry…? You guessed it, “hold me.”

Luke all wrapped up and napping.

Kelly feeding Luke in our room at Prentice Hospital.

Dan teaches Luke about his middle name.