Dear Shortstop,

I am so amazed by you every single day.  I always knew you were sweet but the way you have fallen in love with your brother astounds me.  There has been no jealousy, no frustration and just genuine and deep love and concern.

You want to be near him all the time and have even asked me to leave so it can just be you two.  You check on him faster than I can get in there if he cries out or fusses.  

Every morning you ask where "baby yukie" is and the minute you see him you smile and run over to hug and kiss him.  You like to tell him stories and sing to him and love when he opens his eyes and looks at you.  You love the squeaks he makes and the random movements his arms and legs make and giggle so hard if he touches you or tries to eat your face.  He is such a lucky little brother.

You have become protective and even make sure it is ok for you to touch his head or hug him.  You are so soft and so tender...I really did not realize a two year old could be that way with a baby.

Your love for dad and I has become even more apparent too.  Not a day goes by you don't tell me I am the best mom ever, you love me so much or that I am your hero.  For dad you tell him he is the best dad ever and that he is your best friend.  Your hugs and kisses and cuddles have become more frequent, you want to hold our hands more and ask to be held more so you can hug us.  Every time before quiet time or bedtime I say "love, love, love" and you smile and say it back to me in your sweet voice.  Melts my heart each time.  

Lately you have begun to clean and pick up things without me asking.  You put your books away so well and even clear your plate and cup after every meal to put it in the sink.  I have NEVER asked you to do that but you have seen me and just want to be a big help.  You say thank you and you're welcome with everything that happens.  Such good manners!

I love how smart you are and how much you amaze people every day.  I think you might be close to reading as you recognize words all over town as you spell them and say them.  Your memory is awesome and you can recite entire books or sing songs you have only heard once or twice.  The other night for family home evening we picked Away in the Manger to sing since we were learning about the birth of Jesus.  We have never sung that before in our home and you knew all the words and some hand signs.  (Thank you nursery!)  Dad and I got choked up listening to you bear your testimony in your own way singing about the Savior. 

Basketball games are a very frequent outing that just you and dad get to go to.  You sit through the whole thing each time and LOVE it.  You cheer and eat your popcorn and water and love talking dad's ear off.  Dad gets a kick out of people's reactions around you two as you blow them away with your smarts.  You recognize songs and artists and get excited to tell dad who is being played over the loud speaker.  Like one night a song came on you knew and you said "Dad, that is Rock you by Queen."  Dad's friends almost passed out they were so impressed.  You love to start sentences with "Remember yesterday..." and then finish with something we have done.  So recently it is "Remember yesterday we went to the hostible to pick up baby yuke?  That was nice."

Christmas has been so great this year thus far.  You love the songs, the decorations, playing with the Little People Manger we got this year and just the all around feel in the air.  Our elves on the shelves, Jingle and Bell, have been a lot of fun for you.  Each morning you ask where they are as you look for them.  Sometimes you smile at what they are doing (playing hungry hungry hippos with other decorations) and sometimes you are disgusted (trying to eat your Mickey vites) and once you were pretty upset (laying in Fullback's papisan "No Jingle and Bell...that is for baby yuke!")
You love learning about baby Jesus and think he is "so cute" in the manger scenes.  We have not played in the snow much but I have an excuse what with a new baby and all.  Maybe next year we will make some snowmen and snow angels.  

Sharing toys

Teaching him the fight song...a necessity in this house

You like to pretend to give him cookies and snacks. 

Singing "Jesus said love everyone"

I love you son.  I cannot begin to ever help you know how much.  But I try so hard and will for the rest of my life.  You bring so much love and happiness and such a strong spirit into our home and family and basically everywhere you go.  Thank you for coming to our family.  

First bath

Fullback was not a huge fan of his first bath immersed.  I was surprised since he loved getting his hair washed and the sponge baths we have given him but then I realized...he was starving!  Every bath since then has been great so I feel bad his first experience was negative and it was my fault.  But what are you gonna do?
Of course we took a few pictures to document the momentous occasion.

 Not so sure about this mom...

 I am hungry and cold and naked and all you can do is take pictures dad!?

 Loves having his hair washed

 Feed me!!

My sister gave us this tub and he LOVES it.  I don't have to hold his head the whole time and he can just chill.  He is happy although he looks grumpy...it's an Elkington thing.

First week home

Well, Fullback turned one week yesterday.  And I know I will say this with every milestone but it is already going too fast!  It has been a great week though.
We came home on Wednesday the 5th and my mom was still here.  She stayed for a week which was awesome!  It was hard to have her leave on Sunday but I get to go home in a couple of weeks for Christmas so that is nice.
Coming home was great.  Shortstop was so excited to have his brother home finally and has been nothing but sweet and loving and even protective.  If he cries, Shortstop giggles while rubbing his head saying "It's ok baby yuke."  And in the mornings he wants to see him right away and usually kisses him and follows it up with "Goochie goochie goo yukie!"  I love it.  I was so nervous about him acting out or feeling neglected but none of that has happened.  He helps me by getting diapers or wipes or keeping Fullback company.  He has genuine love and affection for his brother and wants to be around him all the time.  And everything Fullback does is "so cute mom!"
The day we came home we gave Shortstop another book from his little brother, a Mercer Mayer one called Just Me and My Little Brother.  I made the mistake of taking Shortstop in his room while Grandma held Fullback and reading it to him.  I bawled through the whole book!  Love those post labor emotions!
We have taken it easy around here and I have laid low.  Mark had to go to a work Christmas party one night and then took Shortstop to a BYU basketball game another night which was great.  I have had a lot of alone time with my newborn and have neglected dishes and other household chores to just sit and cuddle.  And I don't even feel bad about it!
Friday I had to take Fullback in for a follow up jaundice test.  Yuck!  Trying to get a vial of blood from two heel pricks was not fun for him and I felt so sad.  But we made it through and he does not have jaundice.  Thank heavens!
We also had my sister Paula in town to do newborn pictures...I am so excited to see how they turned out!  We did a football theme with them like we did a baseball theme with Shortstop.  We love sports around here.
Fullback is a great eater and amazing sleeper.  The first night was rough but we realized he did not like the bassinet.  So once we put him in the pack n play crib he sleeps 4 to 5 hour stretches at night and still sleeps throughout the day.  When he is awake he is happy and content to just be cuddled with and talked to.  Perfect child!  As far as feeding him, Shortstop asked one day what I was doing.  I told him "Feeding Luke mommy's milk."  He said ok and has since asked if he can feed him "Jack's milk".   Made me laugh!
One day as I rocked Fullback, Shortstop asked if I would hold him too.  So he climbed in my lap, laid on my shoulder, patted Fullback's head and sang nursery songs.  I could have melted right there into a puddle of tears and love.
So other than having more love in this house and the cuteness factor going up, not much has changed.  We are so excited for Christmas and I am just slowly learning how to do the mom of two thing.  Mark is so in love with his boys and has been amazing.  He does anything and everything around the house I can't do as I recover and still gives each of us the needed attention.  I wish I could pay him back but when I say that he just points to his sons and says "Enough said."

So I realize I have been taking a lot of pictures with my phone but not my camera.  And my phone is awful so I don't know how to download them so I can blog.  But now that I know that...I will keep my camera next to me at all times too! :)

 Gave him a sponge bath and washed that hair.  It looks so dark by the end of the day from us, especially Shortstop, rubbing his head all the time

 Just had to add this one...cute little Shortstop just being cute!

Welcome Luke Vaughn

Here it is, the post you have all been waiting for.  Ok, maybe not really but it is an exciting post for me!  Our Fullback was due to come in the world on November 30rd.  My doctor offered to induce me early but I really wanted to wait to be induced until I was late.  So we picked Monday December 3rd to be induced if he did not come over the weekend.  And he didn't.  The night before I was so nervous!  More so than with Shortstop.  I was excited and anxious and happy and emotional and anything else you can think of.  My mom came into town to watch Shortstop so it was nice to have her here to talk to plus Mark's mom came into town for Mark's sisters' dance performance so she would also get to see baby.  It was nice to have a lot of support and love.

In the evening of the 2nd, Mark, Shortstop and I spent some time together just being the three of us.  It was so surreal that is was all about to change.  Then with tears in his eyes Mark said "We have had a good run, just the three of us, haven't we."  Of course that started the tears but then I realized the obvious...I wasn't taking something away from our little family, I was adding to it.  And as much as I worried about how Shortstop would be and would he feel forgotten or left out, I knew that having a brother would be the coolest thing ever for him.

We went to bed and tried to sleep and then got the call at 6:00 am to come on in to the hospital or as Shortstop says the "hostible".  He asked for weeks before this when we could go pick up baby Luke from the "hostible".  Too cute!  Mark and I got up and ready and headed out.  It was a rainy morning, much like the morning Shortstop was born and our wedding day so we took that as a good sign.

They checked us in, hooked me up to IV's and then my doctor came in at 8:30 am to check on how things were going.  We decided to break my water and get things going.  I had gone back and forth on being induced versus not but once I decided to, I decided I might as well get things moving.  The pitocin started and Mark and I just watched movies and visited and hung out.  Contractions were not too bad for the first little while.  My brother, who works at the hospital, came in to say hi for a minute and then we were alone again.  Contractions started getting stronger and faster.  It was pretty intense and I tried to hold off the epidural as long as I could.  Mark helped me relax and stand up to held ease the tension of each contraction.  I was doing well but with the pitocin they were one on top of the other and I couldn't catch my breath so with a tearful admission, I got the epidural.  I am not at all against epidurals but I was terrified having had a bad experience with Shortstop's epidural.

Mark held my hand and told me it would be ok, that he loved me and was proud of me.  He said he supported everything I was deciding and that helped a lot.  When the anesthesiologist came in, he actually listened to my concerns and fears and what happened the last time.  And he did a GREAT job!  He did not give me as a high a dose because I said I did not want to feel dead from the waist down.  It was amazing.  I could move my toes, my legs and still feel the pressure.  I was so happy.

My sister Melanie came into town so she also came in to say hi.  It meant a lot to have her there for a minute and when I started to get nauseous she just patted my hand and said she would leave me and to call her when I wanted.  She is awesome!  The nausea passed and then it was a waiting game.
I got the epidural at almost a 6 and a little while later I was still a 6.  A bit frustrating but again, nothing to complain about.  Things were going smoothly so just a waiting game.

At 1:30, the nurse came in to check me, still a 6, and said the doctor had called wanting to know my progress.  About 15-20 minutes later I felt such a strong urge to push.  It was overwhelming!  I called the nurse in and told her and she said she would check again if I wanted.  I told her I just really wanted to push and to go ahead and see what was going on.  She checked and her eyes got wide as she said "Ok then...you are complete and it is go time.  Let me quickly call your doctor back."

While we waited the LONG ten minutes for the doctor to come back, Mark distracted me from pushing by keeping me laughing.  The nurse kept saying "Don't push...really...just don't".  So I focused on Mark and was so relieved when Dr. Savage walked in.  She smiled and said "I knew this would happen...I knew it would be fast."

They got everything ready and she finally said I could push.  I did through one contraction and she said "Alright, next contraction and you are going to have a baby."  I looked at Mark, he looked at me and we just laughed.  That went fast!  Next contraction and at 2:02 pm Luke Vaughn Elkington entered the world.  I cried, Mark cried and Luke cried.  It was awesome!  Mark and I held hands while they cleaned him on my chest and just counted his fingers and toes.  He was here and he was blond!  Kind of surprising.  Then they weighed him and when the nurse said "8, 5" I said "What is 8, 5?"  I could not believe he was 8 lbs 5 oz!!  And most of that is in his cheeks.  That is also when Mark said "We have our Shortstop and now we have our Fullback."

So they cleaned him up more in the corner while Mark stood next to him and that was that.  Everyone left and I got to do skin to skin.  Melanie was still in the hospital so I invited her up for a minute.  It was cool to have her there so soon after he was born.  When she left the nurse let us have an hour together before taking us down.  It was so amazing to have so much skin to skin time.  Then the three of us got to go to the nursery together and I dropped off my boys.  The nurse settled me in to recovery, 45 minutes later Mark and Luke returned and we were left alone.  Mark said Fullback loved getting his hair washed and passed all his initial tests!

That evening Shortstop got to meet Fullback and could not have been sweeter.  He was nervous about me being in the bed but he loved his brother.  When Mark and Shortstop walked in he said "Mom, that's baby yuke at the hostible!"  He kissed him and hugged him and loved the book Luke got for him, Wreck it Ralph.  We also had my mom, my brother and his wife and Mark's mom and sister come to visit.  It was unanimous.  They were all in love!

I stayed for two nights, Mark going home at night to be with Shortstop but coming back for hours at a time during the day to be with me.  He also stayed late each night which I loved.  We would cuddle in the bed holding our Fullback and just marveling at how wonderful life was.  Wednesday morning I had the whole morning with just me and my newborn, no visitors and no schedule.  I was waiting on the doctor to release me and she came around noon so that whole morning I just got ready, packed and spent time with my baby.  Mark came to pick us up and we came home around 1:30 that afternoon.  And that was that.  Our life began as a family of four.

Picture purge!

 A few days before Fullback was born

 Contemplating life

 Mmmm...tiger's blood ice chips

 Big boy!

 What a cruel thing to enter the cold world from where he was

 Doctor handing him off to dad

 Proud dad moment

 I need to do some side by side pictures because there is one of Shortstop and Mark just like this

 Not a huge fan of the sponge bath...

 but loved getting his hair washed

 So sweet!

 Meeting his little brother for the first time

 Shortstop loves rubbing Fullback's head and does it all the time throughout the day

 Thanks for the present little brother!

 Grandma Morgan

 Aunt Ashley

 Uncle Ej

 Nana

 Aunt Allis

 I think they are fans

 Me and my boy

 Family of four.  Shortstop REFUSED to look at the camera but we got him in the shot by turning on the tv

 My three boys

 So handsome...he is why I have good looking babies!

 Round little big cheeks

 Feet and hands

 Going home outfit.  There is a football on the bum

So tired!  

I am so happy and so grateful to have my three boys.  I look at my Fullback and cannot imagine life without him.  What a difference one little 8 lb thing can make in so many lives!  And I get him forever!!  So excited to see what the future brings but ok if it takes a long time to get here.  No need to rush him growing up!

Days before Baby #2

The days leading up to our second baby boy joining our family were semi relaxing and at the same time hectic.  I never did a Thanksgiving post but we had a great time.  Obviously I was too far along to go anywhere so Mark's family came down from Seattle. Even though dinner was at my house, I did not have to do a thing!  My in laws bought, cooked and prepared everything.  Mark made sure I relaxed as much as I could...I have a hard time sitting when I am technically the hostess but I tried so my feet would not swell too much.  It was so nice to spend time with them and eat great food.  We were hoping for an early arrival of the baby but no such luck.  But that's ok.  He wasn't ready and neither was I really.  But I will get to that in the next post.  I only took a few pictures of Thanksgiving...whoops.  Guess my mind was a little preoccupied. :)

Tearing apart bread with Nana and Grandpa for stuffing

At the request of his little sister, Mark and his family playing Mariokart

Shortstop has been falling asleep more and in weird places lately.  I don't know if it is a growth spurt or life has just worn him out but I cannot resist sleeping pictures.

Shortstop has really gotten into pretend play and here he is eating with Buddy.  So cute!

We have dubbed Luke our Fullback so now we have Shortstop and Fullback.  Before he was born we had time to clean the house, go shopping, spend time as a family of three and just get ready for everything.  It was nice and weird at the same time.  Before he was born I was very emotional about it all...loving my family of three and sad to see that end but so thrilled to have another baby.  Now that he is here, I cannot imagine our lives without him.  But again...that will be in the next post!