I have not forgotten...

Hi, I know it's been a long time and this blog has been weighing on my mind. So here we go! A lot has happened in the last 4 months..... We have been to Orange County 3 times! And all for weddings... soon Michael and I won't have any un-wed cousins left! In May, Heather and Trevor got married, in July it was Skipper and Christina and in August, Jessica and Dan got married. Then my friends Em and Erin got pregnant and both are due in the beginning of April! We are very excited for them both and Lucius can't wait to meet his new friends (I know, I'm projecting!! ). And finally, my friend Stacey and Michael's friend Laura both had beautiful baby boys! Did I leave anything out?? Maybe a few things here and there but nothing important (like my 30th birthday). But here are some photos of the precious baby. He's now got 2 teeth! Too Cute! and he's a crawling machine. Before we know it, he'll be running all over the place!
~mama jen

Stacey and Greg and my Dad!

3 generations of Acker Men

Lucas JD Lowe 6/21/2008

Babaloo and Grampy!

He's just a happy baby! (you can see his teeth beginning to pop out of his lower gums.

Grammy and Big Luke!

Trevor on his wedding day

Family close up

Heather and Trevor!

I have more photos that I need to upload from my camera... after the battery charges up! Mom, I know you are dying to see more photos... especially the one's with you in them. I'll have them up soon!

xoxo Jen

Gilroy Gardens

Just a short drive down south, about 1 1/2 hours away, is a theme park called Gilroy Gardens. It has whats called 'circus trees.' These are trees and shrubs that the shape into geometric shapes. They also have some rides. We took Lucius there to see the botanical gardens and to ride his first ride! Michael and him rode the Strawberry Sundae. There's a video of it, but beware.... it could get you sick. Oh well. I tried to document this monumental event the best I could. I was a very hot day but Lucius fared it like a champ. However, he did not like the train ride. I think the whistle was too loud for him!!!
~Mami Jen

Hangin' with Papi

Lucius' first ride!

Michael had to win Lucius a Spongebob!

One of the famous "circus trees"

Standing in front of a fun ride

5 Month Update

How is it that Lucius gets more beautiful everyday?? The BIG kid is now 5 months old and lovin' it! Here are a few new pictures of him. His godparents, Emily and Eric, just moved from Minnesota to Sacramento last week and we are more than stoked to be sooooooo much closer to them. We spent a few days in Sac and even went to dinner while Eric's Mom and Brother watched Lucius. Very cool. Also, had a quick visit with mom. She's as proud as ever and couldn't keep her hands off the boy. He sure misses his Halmoni!! Hopefully it will put a bug in her butt to visit soon!!
~Mami Jen

Happy Baby

5 Months old and still rockin'

Auntie Em is packin'

Out sans baby

Happy Halmoni

Good Looks Run In The Family!!

Talky Talky

Lucius is one of the funniest babies I know! I just put a camera in front of him and he can't stop talking, what a ham!! Here's some great footage of the beautiful baby:




When his Grammy was here last month, she bought him this jumper. Needless to say, he love love loves it! He bounces all the time now, even when he's not in the jumper!! Check it out! (thanks Grammy!!)




As of his 4 month check up, Lucius is now 18 lbs 12 oz and 27 1/2 inches long! Thats our boy!
~Mami Jen

Grammy's Visit!!

Michael's Mom visited us last week and we had a great time. We rode the ferry to San Francisco and went to the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building, we went shopping, and had an overall awesome time. My favorite was watching Lucius and his Grammy laugh at each other! Oh my, too cute! I've been trying to re-create the scenario but it seems I am not as funny as his Grammy!! Oh well, I can get him to giggle if I eat his belly!! Mmmmm, baby belly!

Things are going okay for us here. I am returning to work on Thursday and dreading it! I think we are going to start slowly, only a few shifts a week, to try and ease my way back into it. Poo! I keep on trying to win Publishers Clearing House, but it's not working!

Lucius and Grammy

At San Francisco

My First Ferry Ride

We stopped in at Rose Pistola and the bartender couldn't resist the cute baby photo opp. Papi and Lucius sized beers (Michael took the liberty of helping Lucius finish his!)

A baby sized brew!

My Dad turned 51 on the12th and we took him out for dinner at a Seafood Buffet in Daly City. It was a lot of food and a lot of fun!

Grampy's 51st Birthday

He found his thumb!

It's just the cutest thing ever!!! He found his thumb! Now I know, thumb sucking can lead to blah blah blah, but you don't understand. His whole (all be it short) life, he used his hands to scratch or hit his face and clench a fist, so this is kinda cool. He is using his thumb with a purpose! I think it's adorable!!




And is it just me or is he the CUTEST baby EVER????? I mean come on folks, just look at him:

happy happy!

That's my Baby!!

Lucius and I belong to a mommy group that just ended today. It was a weekly meeting where we talked about problems, triumphs and over all Q&A about being a new mommy. The formal meetings have come to a end but we still meet up for coffee and what not. I was invited to join the group because Lucius was in the NICU. We had a lot of resources available to us because of that . The mommy group is run by a program that is funded by a tobacco tax (thanks smokers!!), and since the group ended we needed to document the occasion with baby pictures!! We met every Wednesday for 8 weeks. I met a lot of very cool ladies and some extremely cute babies. Here is the Picture of the Kids!

Circle 'O Cute!!

Babies!!

Lucius and Finn

Last Sunday, we went back to Rose Pistola and got 4 babies together. Here is a cool pic of them. You got (from right to left) Lucius, Eden, Nathan, and Miles.

The 4 Parents

And I don't know if any of you know, but Lucius is betrothed to Eden, my friend Erin's baby. They are in love and are gonna get married and have babies of their own!! They are inseparable, and spend like all of their time together or talking on the phone. Too cute!

Ahh Amore!

Matching Outfits!!

What can I say.... Good times showing off the kid!
~mami jen

Mami Brain!

Duh! Lucius is 2 months old and 15 lbs and 26 inches, not ONE month old!! How silly of me. He's not a crazy huge baby, he's doing just right! I just got the two mixed up with the one. Anyone can make that mistake. You know, they say sleep deprivation is cumulative ;) On that note, we are doing well on the sleep front. Lucius usually goes down around 9pm and will sleep until 3 to 4 am. Then after a 1/2 hour feeding, he's back to sleep till 7 to 8 am. Then after being awake and hanging out for an hour and half, he's out for his first nap which, if I'm lucky, will last an 2 hours (but it's more like 30 min). He takes 2 more naps throughout the day and by 9pm, we're ready to start all over again. I think we got a great system going. But as soon as work starts up for me, the whole routine will get shaken up again! Good times! However, the only problem is getting to bed when he does so I can get that full 6 to 7 hour stretch..... it's just too hard to resist the free time to check email, wash dishes, read a book, clean, update the blog..... you get the gist. So yeah, you'd be amazed on how little sleep you can (or can't) function on.
~mami jen

2 Months Old!!

Well, our Lucius is growing bigger and more beautiful each day. We went to the pediatricians the other day and he is officially 15 lbs and 25 3/4 in. BIG BOY!! The only down side to the visit was his first set of shots :( Poor baby, didn't even know what was coming. However, he faired well and was just extra sleepy for the next two days. What a champ! Unfortunately Lucius is growing too fast and will soon grow out of his pack-n-play that's next to the bed and will have to be moved into his crib in his own room! Poo! I am not looking forward to that. He may be big, but he's still real little. Just a baby, my baby.... Ahh well, I guess he has to grow up, it just seems like it's whizzing by.

We ventured to Rose Pistola last Sunday and had lunch with a few of the other Pistola Babies: Nathan and Eden (Lucius' Love). It was great to bring the babies together and to hang out with Michael and Gwen, and Erin and Grant. We monopolized the back of the restaurant with bottles, diaper changes, and photo ops. Good Times.

I am planning on returning to work around the middle of March, so there's still a month left of my maternity leave. Grammy Patricia will be visiting us in a few weeks and we're looking forward to that. The weather has been beautiful up here. Walks have been integrated into our daily routine. Hopefully it will be just as nice when Grammy's here.

Hey, check out the new slide shows!

Mami Jen

Two Months Old!

Gwen and Nathan

Auntie Grace and Lucius

Uncle Grant and Lucius

The Three babies!

Good Times

Hi All, it seems like ages since I have posted on here and I apologize. This baby thing really tires you out! Lucius flew on an airplane for the first time. We all went to Orange County for 11 days to visit the fam. It was the first time Lucius met both of his great grandmas and his great grand pa. We all stayed at Michaels' moms house. It was fun to see her dote over Lucius. We made it down to My great Aunt Polly's house for a gathering and got to see her daughters Lucy and Debbie . My Great Uncle Larry and Aunt Terry were there also. We bbq'd burgers and dogs and had a great time showing off the baby. My two aunts, Vickie and Tracie, were the winners of "who gets to hold Lucius the most" contest. It was fun.
After leaving Polly's, Michael, Lucius and I drove to San Diego to visit with Marty and Laura. They are expecting their first baby in the summer and we are very excited for them.

Unfortunately, Michaels sister Patti got sick as well as his aunt Susie, so we got to spend a lot of down time at Grammy Patricia's house. It was the first vacation we had that we didn't come home exhausted! Grandma and Grandpa Callahan were on a cruise for the week and only got to see them on the last few days we were down there. Definitely not enough time together, but they might come up here to visit us before I go back to work. Patricia is also planning a visit up here soon. It'll be great to see them. We should of had a baby sooner!

I am in the process of adding photos to a slide show. That'll take a few days to complete, but in the mean time, here's a few pictures from the trip!

~mommy jen

Flying is fun!

Grammy Patricia, Great Grandma Teresa and Lucius

Great Grandpa Santa and Lucius

Great Grandma Gretchen and Great Aunt Tracie

In front of Grammy's house

We're on Vacation!

Hi all!
Just to let you know that we are on vacation visiting family down in the O.C. and will be home on Sunday the 27th. By then we will have accrued about one million photos and will post them for you all to see. So check back next week! It'll be GRRRRRRREAT!
~Mommy Jen

4 Weeks Old

Today Lucius is 4 weeks old and boy have we been busy! My Mom left on the 29th, a few days after Emily and Eric arrived. They stayed during New Years and left a few days ago. We had a great time visiting and hanging out (aka nursing, diaper changes and naps!). I really miss having my Mom around. She was an amazing help and a great cook, but what I miss the most is just having her near. It's funny how my perspective has changed now that I am a mother. She always would tell me "just wait 'till you're a mom, then you'll know." And you think, yeah, I know Mom. But you really don't know. I apologized for all the turmoil I put her through as if it will lessen the blow that Lucius will lay on me. What goes around comes around? I hope not.

Anyways, we took Lucius out on New Years Eve to Sushi House for his very first outing. He did amazingly well and as it turns out, he loves wasabi! He also had his first bath. Auntie Em took pictures of that (and hopefully she'll send them to me!). My friend Liz stenciled some onesies for him and I finally put him in them to take a few pictures. They are awesome, however Lucius decided that today was not a good day for his close-up and thus ended the photo shoot. But I did manage to get a few good shots in.

I put all of these pictures in a slide show off to the right. There are a few Christmas pictures as well. Lucius is sleeping and I am going to join him! Hopefully I'll get an hour in before he wakes.
~Mommy Jen

10 Days Old!!

Well, here we are, a few days over a week and boy oh boy are we getting big! A nurse stopped by the house on Monday and checked out Lucius and I. Its a common procedure for NICU babies. When we left the hospital on Thursday, he weighed 8lb 12oz. when the nurse weighed him, he was 9lb 3oz. NOW, just two days later, we went to the pediatricians today, he weighed in a whopping 9lb 8oz!!!! He's almost 6 feet tall too!! So we are moving into a barn soon just to accommodate our giant of a baby :)

Today was probably the worst day of little Lucius' life. He got circumcised today. It was awful :(
He cried so much and so loud that he wore himself out and has been sleeping for most of the day. It was very hard on Mommy and Papi too. Papi stayed in the room with Lucius while Mommy waited outside crying! I'm just glad that it's over. We are hoping for a girl next time!!

Here are a few new pictures of him with his Harmoni and his Grandpa. Also, theres a picture of Lucius with his Papi.... his Papi takes pictures of him all the time. I think he gets it from his Mommy! It's too cute.

I am also adding a video of Lucius getting burped by his Harmoni. She really gets into it, but he doesn't seem to mind!

~Mommy JenGrandpa & Lucius

Proud Papi taking photo's

Harmoni & Big Baby

You lookin' at me??

Mommy & Baby holding hands!

Burpin' Baby