OWL OWL OWL

Yesterday at around 2:00 in the afternoon I heard Blowfish hooting outside the living room window. I went onto the deck to see if I could spot them outside. Last year with the camera in the nest box we were able to determine the different sounds they would make. When he would hoot she would make a cooing sound from the nest to let him know she was ready for food. Well, when he was hooting yesterday she was cooing from the nest. At that point Dave decided there would be no repairing the camera.

Today I was walking down the driveway and looking for them in the trees. I was not really paying attention to the nest box. I turned around and started walking back toward the house and caught sight of Hootie sitting in the box. I ran back to the house got the camera and took some pictures.

This is her taking a little snooze and taking in the sun. I like how the branches are above her head.

She didn't seem to mind the fact that I was standing just 50 feet away from her. Dave came home from work while I was filming her and she sat for awhile. I tried to call Dave down and just then she flew from the box to the tree. I thought I would try to video her. Here it is....I didn't have a tripod so it is a little shaky!!! Enjoy we will keep you informed.

Visiting Lukas

Tuesday I went to Jesse and Amy's. I went down to spend the night and allow them to go out for the evening. I also considered that it was the perfect opportunity to kidnap Lukas. Hey, who can blame me!!?? But, I behaved myself . Here are mommy and Lukas cuddling for the camera. Lukas's onesie says he is Rad like Dad on it.

Jesse is trying to teach Lukas to have a appreciation for music. Now I am not sure about the kind of music Jesse might expose him to in the future, but for now it was OK. Here he is having a Jam session with Lukas. I love this picture because it looks like they are singing together.
I knew it was going to be hard for Amy to leave Lukas for the evening. Lots of little hugs and kisses before they head out. He was such a good boy for grandma. We had lots of good conversation, and a few tears. My biggest concern was that he not be fussing when mom and dad came home. He co-operated fully, and made sure he was happy and sleeping when they walked in.

The next morning my friend and old boss Tana came for a visit to meet Lukas. I warned her that she was going to make the blog one way or another!!! You can try to run but you cannot hide. She brought them a really cute outfit for Lukas and a big plate of the world's best rice krispie treats. She has tried to teach me the secret, but I think there is something she is hiding from me, because mine never turned out like hers
Look at this face..... he has to be the sweetest baby on earth. I know I am biased and someone might feel differently, but come on!!!

And if that picture wasn't proof enough look at this one!! I swear to you it is like looking back in time at Jesse. I promise this is a picture of Lukas I am not trying to trick anyone!! OMG how cute is he. Sick of me yet?

Here is a little video of Lukas trying to wake up. This is especially for those far away and can't see him in person. It is hard to believe that today he is 4 weeks old. Like Jesse and Amy say they can't imagine or remember what life was like without him. None of us can!! What a precious gift.

Little of both

It was a busy weekend at the Ward's. Lukas came for his first visit to Grandma and Grandpa's. Here he is toasty and warm in his car seat.

It was Valentine weekend and even though he was sound asleep Grandpa had a present for him. He will have to grow into it but both mom and dad loved it. Remember we are preparing for the 2034 Tour de' France.


Aunt Sarah said she saw these and just could not resist. As long as Lukas was sleeping he didn't seem to mind. She tried them on later when he was awake and I am not sure he was that fond of them!! Aunt Ann Hahn was holding him and took care of the hand signs for him.

Here is Lukas in what Jesse and Amy call his grandpa Dave shirt. That is because ,as we all know Dave doesn't wear anything but polo shirts and they have to be striped. I am styling now aren't I grandpa!!!

Mom decided it was tummy time and so she and Aunt Sarah put me down on the floor. As you can see it was not my favorite thing right then. You would think they would have some compassion........

But NOOOOOOO, instead they mocked me!! The whole time grandma was trying to rescue me.

I was much happier being held and fed. This was also the day that I broke in both Grandma and Grandpa. Which one do you think handled it better??? I will tell you that everyone and I do mean everyone was brought to tears, they were laughing so hard when it happened to Grandpa!!! All in all it was a great visit. Grandma tried to steal me but dad and mom insisted that I be returned.

Now for a little owl update.
Monday I was out doing some owl hunting. I walked the driveway and looked in the woods around the east side of the house. I sort of pride myself in being able to spot them in the trees, even though they are hard to see. I saw no sign of them. Then I was at the kitchen window a few minutes later and spotted Hootie in the tree near the box. Can you see it?? Just a little above the middle of the shot sitting near the tunk of the tree.

Zoom in a little closer...now can you see it?

OK ,so if you can't see it now!?!?! you would never spot it in the yard.

I could zoom it more but I am pretty sure you can see Hootie now. I was standing in the same spot for all the pictures so you could get a sense of where they are. Dave and I are a little bummed because we are now sure we can not get to the box to fix the camera. When I took the pictures she was in a tree about 20 feet from the box and just above it. I suggested that Dave could wear his bike helmet, and a lot of padding and still make an effort to fix the camera, but he declined. So it looks like I will just have to watch the box more closely from the outside.

This morning when Dave was leaving for work both Hootie and Blowfish were " monkey chattering " just outside the garage. It sounds just like what you would hear in a old Tarzan movie. This is definitely mating season. I am a little better at the tecno stuff now so even though I don't have the camera in the box I do have a lot of video and pictures from the past that I will try to fill in with this year.

Owls

We had another snowfall last night and once again the ground is covered in white. Sarah came over for a visit and we went looking for the owls. Hootie has been sitting quite regularly in the tree across the driveway from the nest box. I assume because it is close to mating time and she is making sure the box remains available. Here is Sarah checking her out.She used to sit in another tree , next to the one she is frequenting this year and she was a little easier to see. Even with the white snow on the branches she blended into the trunk if the tree.

Even though Sarah and I were standing right under her and ,we were not being quiet ,she stayed right there . She even took a little snooze. A couple of times she would look down on us and occasionally she glanced up but, for the most part she ignored us.

Dave checked the connections to the video camera in the box and we were hopeful that would fix the problem. Alas, that was not the case. We are assuming the problem is at the box. Dave is afraid that when we were cleaning the box out in the fall we may have pinched, or pulled a wire. I am not sure with how close she is watching the box that he will want to climb up there. We shall see what we can do. I know I will be disappointed if I can't count the eggs this year. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Changes

I am sure if Jesse were writing this he would be the first to admit...what a difference 2 weeks can make in your life. It has been fun for me to watch Jesse with Lukas. First at the hospital when they wrapped him and handed Lukas to Jesse. To witness that moment was a joy for a mother to see.

I was able to capture part of that moment on video.

My few minutes to hold Lukas came next and then Amy's parents got their turn. After that they took him to clean ,weigh and measure him. Jesse kept a close watch.

Once you bring the little bundle home, reality starts to set in. Although at the hospital now, you get to spend more time with your baby, it is still a different feeling. You are now the only ones he has to rely on. At least by now the diaper changes are no longer a surprise.

Part of the joy is never putting him down. I have gotten to watch Jesse as he looks at his son with so much love.

Here are the 2 men in Amy's life enjoying a hockey game. Go Wings! You can never start them out to young you know! He is so small in Jesse's hands, the hands that will always protect Lukas.

Jesse and Amy make the perfect picture holding Lukas. A beautiful new family ready for whatever comes along.

Well, what a difference 14 days can make in your life. The responsibility, the joy, the lack of sleep, and the incredible love. Love for another human that you never thought you could feel. You my son have just begun and amazing journey, one that I hope you take the time to enjoy. One minute they are so small and you turn around and they are grown and starting a family of their own.
Enjoy these moments, take them all in. Remember them all!

Lukasitis

OK, I admit it I have the sickness. You can call it Lukusitis or grandmaitis.. you pick the name. You can ask anyone and they will tell you I have it BAD. It is infectious....how can it not be when you see this little face!

We went to visit Jesse, Amy , and Lukas yesterday. Aunt Sarah was suffering from some withdrawal symptoms and she needed to hold Lukas. They had a little conversation. I am not sure what they were discussing, but they were intense.

The conversation went well, and you can see Sarah was feeling much better. It is amazing how just holding him can make the symptoms go away.

Grandma was being very generous and let Sarah hold him first, but then it was my turn. He was very sleepy and I know it doesn't look comfy .......but......within a few minutes

He was more than content and fell right to sleep.

He stayed asleep right through lunch. You know, it must be love when you don't even care that you have your picture taken with your granny chin showing. Not only that but you let someone take the picture ,and then you post it for all to see.

Someone was feeling a little left out. While we we taking pictures Schaffer was resting his head on Amy's foot.

Proud and Happy parents. Most nights Lukas's is sleeping for a few hours, and giving them some much needed rest. I am sure it is hard for them to imagine ,what life was like not having this little joy in their lives. They really could not be happier!

The proud Aunt and Grandparents. I tried to convince Sarah and Dave to distract Jess and Amy while I snuck Lukas out the door, but they would not cooperate.

Lukas really loves his Grandpa. Here he is sound asleep in Dave's arms
I love looking at the two of them together, especially when Dave doesn't know your watching them. Don't you just love this picture?

I told you being with Lukas is infectious. We drove home, we walked in the door, Dave hit the chair and before I walked from one room to the other this is what I found. We all know who is getting older!!

We all could visit with Lukas and his parents everyday. Dave asked Jesse and Amy how old Lukas would have to be before we could take him for 5 weeks traveling? Now you have to remember that we let Sarah and Jesse go with there grandma and grandpa Ward for that long when they were, 9 and 6. I think Jesse said HMMMMMM, and Amy indicated it may be after he is 30. We shall see!!

On another note Hootie and Blowfish are back and making their presence known. Last night at around 5 o'clock they were right outside our bedroom window having a very loud conversation. We have had a couple of beautiful weather days and with the snow melting I finally found the cable connection to the video camera. We still need to find out the problem but, at least we are making progress. I wouldn't let Dave climb to the box on Saturday because it was too windy. Last thing we need is another broken bone. I am getting a little antsy though as I know they will be using the box soon.

Trial Run

Well, we decided to try the video feature on the blog. You will have to let us know if it worked. We thought this was so cute with his little bubble blowing.

Another visit with Lukas

Today Lukas got the meet his great-grandma Stark. Great-grandpa was going to make the trip but couldn't make it. Lukas was happy to meet the family.

Great-aunt Nancy was able to come along and couldn't wait to get her hands on him. We really wanted great-aunt Janet to come along but she has a really bad cold. That's ok because it just gives Grandma a excuse to make another trip down, not that she needs one!!!

I think Aunt Nancy thought he was awesome. She is convinced that he liked her best!!! I think she may have a fight on her hands...hehe.

We settled in for a visit and a game of pass the baby...everyone needed their turn. While Great G-ma was holding him he decided to leave her a gift.

That brought mom into the game. As you can see Lukas was not to happy about what was going on.

Once he realized that mom was going to put him in his little hoot-hoot outfit he calmed right down!? Ok, so maybe it wasn't the outfit.

I was going to turn this picture but , decided you could all just turn your monitors instead. Hey I can't be doing all the work here!!!
After the big change Grandma got her chance. Looks like a pretty comfortable napping spot. As you can see Schaffer kept watch.

The biggest problem I have is letting him go and leaving. I told Jesse and Amy the other day that we were going to have to sell our house and move across the street. Actually his aunt Becky suggested we just move their house up here. :)

Not to be left out. On Friday Dave and I were out shoveling the driveway...AGAIN! when I heard the owl hooting. We have only seen them once earlier this winter so I was surprised. I went down the drive and there she was sitting in the pine tree . I say she came to congratulate us on our new Grand baby.

I am sorry that Great grandpa and Aunt Janet couldn't make it this time. We will make the trip soon and as always I will have the camera at the ready. Amy thinks Lukas may see spots for the rest of his life!