Baby Lucas is here

Actually, baby Lucas has been here for about two weeks now. It's just taken me a while to get the blog updated. For some reason having two kids is a lot of work. Who knew?

Lucas's birth story isn't quite as dramatic as Levi's (for a refresher course, you can read Levi's story here). Courtney was due on May 15th. Levi was born 4 days early so we were expecting Lucas to arrive early as well. But May 15th came and went, and still no Lucas. Courtney had a doctor appointment in the afternoon on May 17th. After the appointment (around 4:30) she started having contractions. Her mom came over after the appointment and they went for a walk around the block. I arrived home late from work and no one was home. After they got back Carla left and we started eating dinner. By this time Courtney was really starting to feel the contractions so she decided to go and lay down. We didn't want to go to the hospital if this wasn't the real thing, so we waited it out for a little while. But when I saw the look of anguish on Courtney's face when the contractions came, I had a sneaking suspicion that this was the real thing. So we called Courtney's parents and they arrived faster than Winston Wolfe* to get Levi. We packed up and headed for the hospital, where we arrived around 8:30.

* This Pulp Fiction reference would be even better if Terry had said to us on the phone, "Your house is 30 minutes away? We'll be there in 10.".

We waited in triage for a while before I had to finally go and get a nurse. The nurse checked Courtney and she was dilated to 8. This was the real thing. We moved to a delivery room. Courtney "labored" for a little while, her water broke a little after 10, and Lucas was born at 10:29. So from start to finish the labor/delivery took a little under 6 hours. He weighed in at 7 pounds (just like Levi) and was 20.5 inches long.

Welcome, Baby Lucas.

That whole story seemed a lot more exciting and interesting when it was actually happening. But now it just seems pretty blah. I wish I had something more exciting for you, I really do.

Since the story is a little boring, here is GOB to spice things up a bit.

Seriously, even though the story isn't all that exciting we're very thankful that little Lucas arrived safely and without any complications.

The last two weeks we have been adjusting to life with two kids. Lucas has been an incredible baby so far so he is making life a lot easier for us. He eats great, sleeps great, and doesn't cry a whole lot. He does poop all the time though, so him and I have something in common (I know, that was gross, sorry). We're still trying to figure out who Lucas looks like. He doesn't look like Levi did when he was born, or me, or Courtney.

Lucas is pondering what long-lost relative he might resemble.

So far Levi is loving being a big brother. He wants to shower Lucas with hugs and kisses all the time. We do have to remind him to be gentle as he can be a bit smothering. We were actually able to get Levi to come inside without crying today by telling him he'll be able to see his brother Lucas. And trust me, there is nothing* that gets this kid inside without crying. It was a minor miracle.

*The other day after dinner we asked Levi if he wanted dessert, and he said "No, outside.". We offered him popsicles, ice cream, cookies...and for each one he said "No, outside". That is the first time he's ever refused dessert. The kid really loves being outside.

Our two boys.

I've been home for the last couple of weeks but I'm heading back to work on Wednesday. I've thoroughly enjoyed being home and spending quality time with Courtney, Levi, and Lucas. It'll be an adjustment for everyone when I head back, but we'll make it work. I am very blessed to have a wonderful family. Hard to believe we're parents of two now!!

Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks for you. Thanks for reading!

Papa Freed with his new grandson.

Grandma Carla.

Grandma Chapin and Aunt Mindy.

You have two grandsons now Dad, looks like its time to build that baseball diamond.

The new and improved Chapin family.

Getting ready to head home from the hospital.

Levi getting ready to spray Prince.

My favorite part about having a newborn? Lots of naps.

Levi doing his best Matt Scott impersonation*.
*Matt Scott is one of my best friends from college who is infamous for, among other things, having 1 sock on and 1 sock off.

Auntie Marnie and cousin Maya.

Papa Chapin having a heart to heart with Levi.

If I slept like this my neck would hurt for a month.

Mommy, Papa Freed, Lucas, and my Pepsi.

Lucas enjoying the outdoors.

Levi and Maya playing in his pool.

Baby Welcoming Committee

Prince and Levi (07.20.08).

Prince and Lucas (05.19.10).

The Final Countdown

This post is brought to you by the 80's band Europe. And their awesome hair.

We are now 2 weeks away from baby Lucas's due date. We're making preparations and trying to get as ready as we can before he is born. We now have Levi transitioned into his new bedroom, Lucas's room is ready to go, our flowers are planted and landscaping is done...and now, we wait. We're getting excited to meet the new addition to our family. We'll keep everyone posted. Until then, enjoy some of our recent pictures.

Even on his birthday Prince can't get away from Levi.

Enjoying some ice cream.

Prince is really excited for another baby to torment him.

Levi giving his brother "Gucas Chapin" a big hug.

Big Boy Bed

We are now less than 1 month away from Baby Lucas's due date. We've been working hard on getting Levi's new bedroom set up before Lucas arrives so that way he's not getting kicked out of his bedroom as soon as his brother shows up. We finally got everything squared away (for the most part) this weekend, and tonight Levi is sleeping in his "big boy bed" for the first time. How is it going? Well, its after 10 and he's still awake, so that's not a good start to the evening. He has been giving a running commentary on what appears to be an imaginary basketball game between him and papa though so at least its been entertaining.

Here are some pictures of Levi's new bedroom. Enjoy!!

Levi's new bed.

His baseball beanbag and bookshelf (that's a lot of B's).

His dresser, mini-table, and stools.

Reading a book in his beanbag.

In bed with all his friends.

Good night buddy!

Easter Pictures

Three posts in a four day span. Consider this my blogging comeback. Well, at least until baseball season starts tomorrow.

Levi looks like he's wearing a toupee the wrong way.

Two good-looking Chapin men.

Mama, Levi, and baby Lucas.

And the name (really) is...

For those of you who read yesterday's blog post and wondered if we had lost our minds, we wanted to let you know that the post was an April Fool's Day joke. We are not naming our son Ernie. For those of you who really liked the name Ernie and thought it would be perfect for our son, we apologize. I'm sure it would be a great name, but I prefer it for a muppet more then I prefer it for my child. For those of you who were scared that we were naming our son after a Sesame Street character and were considering having us committed, no need to fear because we really haven't lost our minds. At least, not yet...wait until baby #2 is born and then get back to us.

Pictured: Two people who have lost their minds.

In all seriousness, we have decided on the name. It was a more difficult this time around and it took us longer to come to a mutual agreement. And we're reserving the right to call an audible once he is born in case we decide he doesn't look like the name we chose*. But for now, the name of baby #2 will be Lucas William Chapin.

* Seriously, what does that even mean? How can a baby look like a certain name? After Levi was born, many people said "He looks like a Levi". Huh? So a Levi looks like a 7 pound baby with tons of black hair? What if we had named him Albert, or Magglio, or even Bosephus? Would he still have looked like a Levi? Or is is just our brains subconsciously telling us he looks like whatever the chosen name was?

I've always liked the name Lucas. It's a bit more popular than we were hoping, as it seems to be trending upwards on the list of most popular boys names (going from 71st to 9th over the last 5 years). So he might end up like me and have 30 other classmates with the same name. He also might end up going by Luke which would be ok with us also. Between me (my middle name is John) and him we'd have 3/4 of the gospels covered. That can't be such a bad thing, right?

On second thought...

The middle name William is the name of Courtney's grandfather who passed away in 2005. For those who don't know, Levi's middle name is Joseph and that was my grandfather's name (he passed away in 1983). We have decided to honor our grandfathers in this manner because of the profound impact they had on us and our families. Of course, if we have any more boys the next two grandfathers were/are named Donald and Overton, so we're hoping if we have any more kids that they're girls.

Anyway, sorry for the joke, and we hope all 4 people who read it had a good laugh.

And the name is...

As many of you know, we kept Levi's name a closely guarded secret until he was born. After putting our families through that torture, we promised them that this time around we would tell them when we decided on a name. We had a small list of names that we had been whittling down, and we finally reached an agreement a couple of weeks ago. We even told a few family members and close friends the name. Well, as it turns out, some very close friends of ours already had a son by the same name and we didn't think it would be a big deal to use the name. It was a big deal. In fact, those friends asked us to please consider other names. We decided to respect their wishes and went back to the drawing board. Courtney and I could not come to an agreement on a name we both liked, so we decided to let Levi assist us. We asked him multiple times what he wanted his brother's name to be and he kept saying the same name. Those of you who know Levi know that he can say a ton of words, so the fact he kept saying the same name meant a lot to us. So we have decided to go with what Levi wants, and Chapin baby #2 will be named Ernie William Chapin.

Although we hope our Ernie doesn't come out looking so orange.

We love the name because it works on many different levels. I loved Sesame Street as a kid, and Bert and Ernie were my favorite characters. Levi loves Sesame Street as well. We know Levi can say the name so it will be easy for him. Heck, when he was born, I told Courtney he looked like a purple Ernie. So if little Ernie looks anything like Levi did, the name will be very fitting.

Only 6 more weeks until little Ernie is due! We are eagerly anticipating his arrival.



Thanks for reading our blog post. Hope you had a great day!