Thursday, June 23, 2011

Landon Brennan is 2 Months Old

(Disclaimer: Life is INSANE right now! I am trying to pack life from over the past two years up to ship to Florida. Is is taking quite the toll of me both emotionally and physically. Physically it feels impossible to actually move all of this stuff and be carrying everything down three flights of stairs. Not to mention I have to do this while the boys are both asleep at the same time. I have to pile everything outside out door, lock it, and then make many trips up and down the flights of stairs. Ryder is an amazing UNpacker. He unpacks boxes much quicker then I can pack them! Emotionally it is crushing me to be giving away, consigning, and throwing away so much of our life. Even though we've always considered this stuff our "baseball home" it is still ours and very hard to part with. Because we are shipping our stuff we are only keeping what we absolutley can't part with due to the cost. My mom gets in Friday night to help me finalize things out here, and Sunday morning the Lutz Family will officially be moved out of the state of Arizona... Praise the Lord!!!! I may be missing from the blog while we adjust, but will be back soon with lots of updates. For everyone asking, Derrik is doing great. He's pitched in two games and feels amazing!! Now he just said he needs to feel comfortable out there again. He needs to get his head back in the game after not playing baseball for 25 months. This could be the hardest part of the rehab process... becoming a baseball player again. Hoping this comes to him natually soon :) Sorry if Landon's two month post and pictures aren't up to par. I wanted to get it written down before we went to Florida and his whole schedule changes. I want to remember his second month before I forget because he keeps changing so quick! Thank you so much to everyone for checking in on us recently... we truly appreciate all the phone calls, texts, and e-mails.)


Landon Brennan - 2 Months

Stats:

12 pounds 12 ounces
23 inches
75th percentile for both


Your brother was 13 pounds 8 ounces and 23 1/2 inches long at this age.


You had your first shots at your two month check up and cried for a few seconds. You stopped before the nurse could get your band-aids on. We gave you Tylonel just in case, but you didn't seem affected by your shots at all.


Dr. Cwik gave you a clean bill of health :)


Diapers: You went through two small packs of size 1 diapers before you quickly jumped to the size 2 diapers. You pee through diapers like crazy! We have to switch jammies almost every night, and if I don't change you about every hour during the day you will get your clothes wet. It kind of makes me crazy! We also have lots of blow outs... thanks for that.


Clothes: ALL 3 months. Mommy only bought you clothes through 3 months because I had a feeling we'd be moving around this time. Your 3 month clothes fit great so please don't grow anymore because we have NO 6 month clothes to grow into yet! Ryder's 6 month winter clothes won't be working since it was winter Cape Cod when he was that size.
Sleep: I need some please! This isn't really your fault. Last week you slept 7 hours, 6 hours, and 9 hours three consecutive nights (thanks for the six hours last night after I typed this, but your brother was up crying so lets try to do it again). Those nights your daddy was sick and your brother was having growing pains in his legs. I didn't get to enjoy them so lets try again :) Ever since Daddy left you've been up at 12:30, 3:30, and 5. Getting up at night doesn't really bother me, it's getting up at 6 with Ryder to start the day that does. When you do get up at night to eat you always are back down sleeping within about 15-20 minutes. After your five o'clock feed you wake again at 7. When I feed you at this 7 o'clock feed you are so full of smiles. I'll glance down to see why you aren't eating and you'll just be smiling away at me. You can't contain yourself... you are literally just bursting with smiles. I love it and take a picture of it every morning I think. You tend to fall asleep around 8:30-9:00 and take your longest nap of the day until about 11. You lay down again around 12:30 and nap about 2ish hours then as well. Once you wake up from this nap you only take a few cat naps 20ish minutes at a time until bed time. I lay you down anywhere between 8 and 9 depending on how demanding Ryder is of my time that night and how easy you are willing to go to sleep. The only time you ever fight going down is at bed time. I just keep popping you your pacifier and eventually you doze off. We got rid of the swaddle right after your first month. I need to get you off the sleep positioner, but it keeps you on your side which I like. I am terrified of your head getting flat like your brothers.

Eating: We are still going strong with the breastfeeding. You only take bottles when we are out in public, and only have formula if we are out longer then expected. We've used about a 1/4 of a can of formula I think. You don't care if you are getting the breast, the bottle, breast milk, or formula... if you're hungry you eat. I tend to feed you on demand. Mainly just whenever you wake up from your naps, but the afternoons you do shorter feeds more often. I'm thinking you will get more scheduled in Florida when we aren't just sitting at home all the time, and I can't just feed you whenever I want. I am curious to see if we stick with the breastfeeding in Florida. We tend to be more on the go when we are with Grammy and you aunties. I don't know if it'll become more of a pain then a convenience. We'll see :)



Personality: You light up when someone talks to you. You love to show off your smiles and stare at us. I love how quicky you curl up into me and flash me that smile when you are upset and not getting the attention you want. I can not wait to share that smile with everyone when we get to Florida!


Little Brother/Big Brother: I am loving the bond that is forming between you two. Ryder still shows no jealousy towards you. If you are upset and i'm trying to finish something he tends to take things into his own hands. He will cover you with blankets, give you a paci, restart your mobile on your swing, and try talking to you. If he is in bed at night and you are crying he will call me into his room and ask for his Landon (the baby doll). I think he is upset he can't comfort you and this makes him feel like he's taking care of you.


We had our first accident this week. You were laying in the middle of our bed and were upset. Ryder was giving you your paci and it wasn't calming you down. Just as I was turning to come get you I heard a thud. Your brother was trying to pick you up and pulled you off the bed. He was SO upset he hurt you. Luckily we just have a mattress and a box spring so it was only about a 12 inches off the floor. I know to be more careful now, but Ryder had never made any attempt to ever move you. I'm pretty sure after that he never will again. We all recovered and all learned a lesson.


Your Skin: UGHHHHH It's awful :( You are a very dry and flaky baby. You have awful dandruff as well. After conulting with the doctor we have found a good regimen to keep you some what moisturized. At bath time we rub you down head to toe (minus your face) in baby oil. I let it soak while I use a soft brush to loosen up your dandruff. After we let it sit for about ten minutes I wash you with Aveeno baby wash and your hair with Head and Shoulders. After bath we coat your whole body in Aquaphor. You are a greasy mess from it afterwards, but it really helps! I think this process continuously is starting to help because it is starting to get gradually better.

Your Hair: You didn't lose it big boy! The top thinned out, but you got grew in short short and kept a little bit of the longer stuff which stays in the cutest mohawk all the time. Around the back you never lost it, but are starting to show a wear long along the back of you head shown below. I just started noticing it this week so we'll see if it gets worse.

Landon -


We love you so much! Thank you so much for being such an easy, sweet, happy baby. Sorry you never get a full feeding without interruption, that you have to be startled from naps by you big brother. A big thank you for always dozing back off and not letting it upset you. Thank you for making my heart grow twice as big. I love you and absolutley can not wait to get to Florida in three days to show you off! I've loved having you all to myself, but I think it's time to share :) I hope you are ready for your 1st move. At least you made it two months before a move unlike your brother who only made it a week. We love you tons!!!


And some random snap shots:

Loves his tummy time

He cries like he is dying when you change his diaper!

I think he would appreciate a wipe warmer

This was Ryder being a great big brother giving Landon his paci.

About a minute later was when we had our accident :(

I just love this picture for some reason...


Flashing me a smile while big brother was on the slides at Pump It Up

Chillin' in your diaper one morning after you peed through yet another set of jammies

Our Good Luck pictures to Daddy the night of his first game


And a really quick recap on this sweetie....

He is missing his Daddy.

We Skype with him just about every day.

He knows Daddy is bye-bye working, and asked Daddy every day "How's work?" It's too cute

He is VERY excited to get to Grammy and Mack's to go swimming in their pool.

He has been such a trooper with me turning out house upside down.

Whoever said cartoons are bad is crazy... he is becoming SO smart from UmiZoomi, Bubble Guppies, and the Backyardigans. He's finally counting, doing colors, shapes, and is constantly showing off what he knows.

He is an AMAZING big brother!

He's still very a very stubborn, bull headed, terrible-two year old, BUT we love him!

AND.... he is still NOT potty trained... simply because he LIKES his diapers... I give up!


I can't believe I just wasted an hour of my packing time typing this up!! Just had to get it written down because I know they change so quick during moves when everything is new to them. We are so anxious to start this new phase of our life!!! Next time I blog we won't be Arizona residents any more! Thank God!!!!! :)

Monday, June 20, 2011

A Great Sight

First Team Photo in TWO YEARS!


He is OFFICIALLY ACTIVE on the Billings Mustangs roster!


This puts a HUGEEEE smile on my face,


and makes missing him all worth it to know he'll be pitching under the lights again


and in front of fans :)


First pitch is @ 9:05 Eastern Time tonight!




Good Luck Babe

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Missing Daddy on Father's Day

Oh Father's Day... just another reminder how much we miss our Daddy around here. Derrik is officially in Montana. He says it's gorgeous... overcast, slightly chilly, and raining today. He loves that kind of weather and has really missed it while in Arizona. They were put up in a hotel last night. He is currently at the field meeting the staff, having practice if the rain holds out, and meeting the host family he is assigned to. Their first game is tomorrow. I feel like I sent my husband off to college or something. I miss him terribly and am constantly worried about his well being. He of course is doing fine, but i'm a worrier at heart. I think he enjoyed his full nights sleep last night :) He also got a room to himself because they have an odd amount of players, and he is by far the oldest guy on the team. The team is full of guys that just got drafted from seniors just out of high school and the oldest being juniors in college. Seniority has got to pay off somewhere right?!

Ryder has asked quite a few times when Daddy is coming home. I keep trying to explain to him that he's never coming back to this home, and we are moving somewhere that Daddy isn't at in the best way possible. Thank God for Skype :) He already misses him and it's only day two without him!

I am so anxious to see how Derrik feels throwing in the days to come. I'm not sure how much I mentioned, but Derrik was really sick this week. After officiating a game on Sunday he came home absolutley exhausted from the heat. He was more pale then after his surgeries and that is saying a lot. I thought he was going to pass out. Wednesday he came home telling me he didn't feel good with the same symptoms. His body was on fire, and although our thermometer is broken I know he without a doubt had a high fever. The following day he was sent home from the field and in the middle of the night was so cold he couldn't stop shaking. It scared the crap out of me how much his body temperature was fluctuating. Needless to say he didn't do anything at the field on Friday either. I truly think he had heat exhaustion being out in the sun so much recently. So he hasn't done any baseball since his game last Tuesday. I'm hoping it was an amazing break that his body needed before he gets started in these games again :)

Derrik -

Thank you so much for all you do for us. I knew the day I married you that you would be an amazing husband, and hoped you would be just as amazing of a father. You have far surpassed anything I could ever ask for. Ryder absolutely worships the ground you walk on. I know Landon will follow suit in the years to come. I can tell already by the way he smiles at you when he sees you! Life is going to be sad with your absence these next two and a half months, but we will be sure to make up for it this fall. Enjoy doing your thing! You deserve to go be one of the guys on the team again! Enjoy it and know we are cheering you on every step of the way! We are your biggest fans!!!




























We also want to wish a very Happy Father's Day to the other Father's in our life!


Happy Father's Day Mack, Papi, and Poppy!!!

Friday, June 17, 2011

And He's Back in the Game!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah you read that right!!! Derrik got a text yesterday afternoon, exactly one week before the second anniversary of his first Tommy John Surgery, saying that he would be heading with a team! As assumed, it was nothing we were expecting. I have said many times he would probably go to Low A Ball Dayton OH, High A Ball Bakersfield CA (this is the equivilent of the Sarasota team he played for... they have just relocted), or AA Ball Zebulon NC. NC is where he left off, and we knew that was a long shot. Anyhow... we always know we are completely thrown off every single time so we should have seen this as an option :) Mack, the pitching coordinator, thought he threw great on Tuesday. After a meeting between the two of them they both agreed he's ready to get the ball rolling. Typically rehab players start off at a lower level then they were working there way back up through the system at a fairly quick (hopefully!) pace. As our luck would have it, all of the teams we had thought he would go with are on an All-Star break this week. Mack wanted to get him out of here ASAP so that only left one option... Billings, Montana. Never mentioned that one huh? Billings, Montana is the High Rookie Ball team. We've always joked about how when Derrik signed with the Reds he got to skip this level. We always get the "You guys never went to Billings?! It's so gorgeous there!" So I am kind of jealous that Derrik gets to go check it out. This teams always starts up after the draft so the team is flying up there on Saturday morning. Derrik will fly on the team flight up there and (hopefully) make a few appearances. We have no clue how long he will be there. They will literally call him one day and tell him he's moving on the next day. I'll keep you posted!

Please keep us in your prayers. I was proud of myself for being happy before I cried yesterday. When I called my dad to tell him the news he was like "Are you crying?!" He was totally confused. YES this is what we've waited for for two years, BUT it also means Derrik has to go travel on his own while we live at my parents without him for two and a half months. I think that warrants a few tears. Also say a prayer for poor Derrik. He has been so sick the last two days with cold sweats and then so cold he can't stop shaking. It's pretty pitiful :( So hoping I don't get that when i'm on my own with the two boys!!!

So... Derrik leaves on a flight for Billings, Montana tomorrow morning. My mom flies in next Friday to help me finish the apartment off. My mom, the boys, the dog, and I will fly out next Sunday morning to Florida... See ya later Arizona!!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

One of a few reason we will miss AZ

The list of reasons we will miss Arizona is pretty short and sweet. I have to say #1 on the list though will be missing some of our best friends we have made out here. Luckily we will have spring traing to bring us back to them every year (if they don't move as well).


The boys waiting for their friends to get to our house this morning

The big kids were being too quiet for their own good....

Found them in bed together lol
The Little Cutie Pies
Logen and Landon

And we made an attempt at a picture of the four of them

How cute are they?

I told them to kiss their little brothers.

Immediately after this Ryder proceeding to reach his hand out to grab Page and kiss her... my camera of course messed up and missed it.

Enjoying their reward of Pez candy for taking pictures

Page-

I have loved watching you grow up sweetie! I couldn't have asked for a sweeter girl to be Ryder's best friend!!! We will miss you!!!

Tricia-


Thanks for always being there for me on my good days and bad ones out here :) I would have been lost without you and still plan on texting you each and every day!!! I'm going to miss you sooo much!!!


Monday, June 13, 2011

Sun Splash

With the idea of our family being separated in the near future for a couple months we've been trying to spend some quality time together. Derrik and I have been talking about taking Ryder to a water park since probably January. Of course it never happened, now we have a newborn, and soon we won't be together. On Friday we decided to wing it. We ignored the forty minute drive, the high temps, and the fact that we have a newborn and just went with it. I was so glad we did! We had such a great time. With the shaded areas and mister it wasn't hot at all so Landon was fine, and Ryder was in heaven. We took Landon into the Lazy River, and it was a huge fail. I got the worst Mom in the world award when I had the screaming tiny baby in the cold water. In the end it made him nice and cool, and we recovered quickly :)Ryder didn't shy away from anything and had the best time! The big huge water slides were his favorite. We took turns holding Landon relaxing in a lawn chair at the end of the slide and going down with Ryder. Great family time :)


Daddy and his boys

Our attempt at a family picture.... we need some serious help!

Landon sporting a swim suit for the first time


Relaxing on Mommy while Daddy and Ryder were on the water slides


The boys after they got off the water slide

"Did the boys ditch us again Mom?"



Enjoying some Daddy and Ryder time in the lazy river

Some video of Ryder in he kiddie section





Proceed With Caution

Kind of the phrase we are living by at the moment. More on that in a moment though....


Nope that isn't Derrik in the umpire gear...

He would be the one PITCHING on the mound in a game!!! WooHoo

Landon is doing A LOT of this lately! Trying hard to get some better photos of it.

I might need to do a full post on him before he's two months because he's a whole new baby since the one month post :)












There is another one :)













Four eyes looking at the lens... Check

Ryder smiling... Check

Landon not crying... Check
In PJs... Fail

Oh well... we'll take it :)

And our baseball update: I am SO sorry for not keeping everyone more updated. I didn't realize how long it had been. Judging by the texts i've been getting i'm clearly not keeping the blog updated with sufficient info :)Derrik pitched in games the last two weeks and has done great. He's been pitching well, had no elbow pain, and his velocity was up to 89 the other day (he's in the low 90s when healthy). His only issue at this point is he is having some shoulder tightness while he is warming up. It's causing him to have to warm up longer to get loose which isn't going to work with him coming out of the bull pen in games without much notice. I asked Derrik if he thinks it's something he can still play with. He said of course that he would just throw before the game some, play catch with outfield guys from the bull pen in between innings, and be loosened up about when he could get called to go into the game. This of course is his opinion, and we are hoping those making the call to get him back with a team will feel the same way.


The game plan... The pitching coordinator who decides where/when Derrik goes will be out here this week. He is watching Derrik pitch in games on Tuesday and Thursday. We have no way of predicting what will come of this, but he SHOULD be ready to get out of here immediately. Baseball is a crazy sport, with crazy decisions, and crazy politics. We have no control over how or when things go down and just have to roll with it when things happen. We refuse to truly plan anything because whenever we think we have a plan for any option that could possibly happen we can be guaranteed something completely different will happen that we didn't even think could ever happen (example: Tommy John surgery #2 last year). We are proceeding with caution. We have to be pro-active with the idea we could be moving this week. I am decluttering our stuff, packing stuff we don't use only a daily basis, making attempts to get our big furniture sold, getting ads up to sell Derrik's car, trying to use up any food we have in the house, and spend as much quality time together that we can. I hate I never have answers for anyone, but seriouly Derrik could come home one day this week with a plane ticket for the next day to head off with a team or we could be here for a while... I promise as soon as we get info on what is going on i'll post :)