Happy First Birthday, Luke!

Luke turned 1 yesterday and we had a small family party for him.  His four grandparents and one great-grandmother came in for the festivities.  It was quiet and low-key, a nice change.  We did things a little backwards: opened gifts, had cake, then ate pizza.  He got a rocking horse from me and Ron.  Even though it was Luke's gift we found Sam playing on it the most.  The rest of the crew gave him some cute new outfits which is fortunate for him since he ends up wearing Sam's hand-me-downs.

Grandee bought this birthday hat for him.  It has extra candles to add throughout the years, so I have a feeling this will be a common sight in birthday pictures for years to come.  Cute...

Some of y'all may remember attending Sam's first birthday party and seeing him break out in a rash after digging in to the cake.  I obviously didn't want to relive that.  Sam got blue icing all over him, so we assumed he was allergic to the food coloring.  So Luke's little individual cake was plain white.  The ladies at the bakery baulked at me for just wanting a white cake, but I promised them it was for the best...  Wouldn't you know that all my efforts to avoid "the rash" didn't pay off.  Within 2 or 3 minutes Luke started breaking out with a red, itchy rash all over his face and neck.  What's the deal?  Ron and I make babies that are allergic to icing?  That's so random!  Fortunately we had some Benadryl liquid and anti-itch cream to give him.  He was all cleared up within 30 minutes or so.  So we're already thinking ahead to Newbie's first birthday.  Do we go the safe route and get a cookie cake?  Or do we let him/her enjoy their first birthday in all it's icing-glory with a dose of Benadryl at our side just in case we need it?  Give us your thoughts...

Pops and B worked hard to get a picture of Luke with his balloons.  He was all over the place playing with him.  They finally managed to get one of him looking cute and sitting still.

It was a wonderful time with family celebrating Luke.  He is such a joy and so entertaining.  We love you Luke!

hanging out on the back porch

36 week update

it's funny that just yesterday i posted about not inducing.  after today's appointment it may not matter.

it looks like Newbie has decided to hang out sideways in utero.  the doctor is getting an ultra sound next week to see if he/she is head down.  if not, chances are slim that it will be in position for a normal birth.  from what i can tell from my research, things start getting too cramped in there around 37 weeks for the baby to move.  so we'll have to consider ECV (a version) to move the baby or a scheduled c-section.

please pray alongside us that the baby will quit being stubborn and move into position by next week's appointment.  ☺  

Nothing exciting is going on here... 

I caught a small amount of sweetness in this picture.  Sam helped Luke play on the computer instead of batting his hand away.  We are trying hard to teach Sam to be kind to Luke, although most days we spend more time disciplining him for hitting or pushing.  He'll get it one of these days.

Luke's newest "move" is looking at me upside-down.  He just started doing this today, but has done it a ton already.  He sticks his head on the floor like he's about to do a head-stand then looks at me through his legs.  It's precious...

I took Luke to the doctor this morning just to make sure he's getting better.  His cough is better, although he seems to be crying out in pain a lot.  I get there and as the doctor is inspecting him we notice his top molars have started coming in.  How did I not notice this before?  That explains a lot!  Good news is that he doesn't have an ear infection; his new teeth are just hurting him.

I've got 4 weeks left until Newbie arrives.  I'm ready to meet this little one... Hopefully I won't have to wait the full four weeks.  I had thought seriously about going in a little early for an induction, but after some research have opted against that.  So we'll just have to see when he/she decides to join us...

gotta' go?

this is too funny.  my friend just mentioned it on her blog, and i thought it was too good not to pass on.  so for those of you who can never sit through an entire movie without going to the bathroom, there's a website to tell you the best time to "go" during your movie. runpee.com 

10:00 on a Friday night...

It's 10:20 right now and Ron and Luke are at the E.R.  But Ron says they'll be finishing up within the hour and heading home.  I just got a text from him that Luke has the virus Croup.  (I originally posted that he had Pertussis, but that was an error.)  Praise the Lord he'll be home soon! Luke started having a crackly cough 2 days ago.  Tonight, all of a sudden, it got so bad he was having a hard time breathing.  We had some friends over for dinner and they offered to watch Sam so we could go to the hospital.  Before getting out of the neighborhood, Ron encouraged me to stay home while he took Luke.  Being 8 months pregnant and an emotional wreck, he didn't think a trip to the E.R. would be good for me.  He's right...  So Luke got some steroids and will be coming home soon.  I can't wait to have him in my arms again.  Ron sent me this picture from his phone; Luke doesn't seem bothered by this at all.  Those of you who prayed for him, thank you!  From the bottom of my heart I love you and appreciate your prayers...

the new bicycle trainer

Our new toy...  I think all 3 of the boys love it.  ☺

Sam's cap

Ron came back from the Memphis in May Triathlon with a little gift for Sam: one of those flimsy caps you wear under your helmet.  Here's Sam showing it off; doesn't he look tough in this picture?

While Ron read to him last night they both wore their caps.  There's some father - son bonding for you...

what luke's doing...

i realize i haven't blogged about luke's vocabulary yet.  he can say 6 words, 7 depending on who you ask.  i picked him up from the church nursery today and they said he learned a new word: moo.  he heard some kids say it while playing with a toy and the ladies said he worked on it the rest of the time in there...  ron says moo isn't a word as much as it is a sound.  i don't know; i'm just happy he learned something new.

he's been saying baby for about 6 weeks now.  whenever we pass by a mirror and he notices himself he says it.  he also says uh-oh, bye bye, and hey without much urging.  i guess he knows their context.  the words momma and dadda are different.  he only says those when we BEG him to...and even then he doesn't comply often.

he also got a couple of new teeth 2 weeks ago.  on the top, he got the tooth to the right of the middle.  on the bottom, he got the tooth to the left of the middle.  so he has 3 on top and 3 on bottom opposite of each other.  it's the cutest!

my boys

tons of thanks to ashley for these adorable shots!

Reading time

Sam wanted Ron to read Lazarus' story last night from his little Bible.  Ron couldn't find it for a minute and when he asked me if I knew where it was Sam answered "I think it's on the left-right page Daddy".  We just got tickled.  He was trying to help but had no idea what he was saying...

Sam kept himself entertained with his Thomas the Train catalog until Ron found the story.

Sam and Luke's first bath together

The boys bathed together last night for the first time and had so much fun.  Luke kept that little person in his mouth the whole time...

Baba Dee with Sam and Luke a few weeks ago.

What am I doing?

What have I gotten myself in to?

Somehow I've ended up on the 5-person board in our neighborhood.  I'm getting emails left and right with subject lines like "for your eyes only".  I'm also on the Architectural Control Committee.  No one stepped up, so I volunteered to draft a letter to one of the homeowners letting him know he can't extend his driveway for the sole purpose of parking his boat.  Oh my...what am I doing?  I'm in over my head.

On another subject, I extremely enjoyed Denise's post on things you put on the blog that normally wouldn't leave your "inner circle".  Denise, just so you don't feel alone, I'll share something from yesterday that I normally wouldn't post about...  I'm outside with Sam and Luke playing and Sam needs to go potty.  Instead of taking the time to clean off and head inside I told Sam to go outside.  Little did I know he would have so much fun!  He shot it so far he adorned our house then yelled while giggling crazily "Mommy, I peed on the house.  I got the house dirty!"  He's too much sometimes...

My kind of Mother's Day

Mother's Day celebration actually started for me on Thursday as my kids headed off to Birmingham.  It's kind of funny that I started the Mother's Day weekend without children and enjoyed it.  I guess that's what happens after you have 2 kids and are 8 months pregnant with the 3rd.  A temporary break is nice...

I have a to do list of 40 things I want to get done before Newbie gets here.  I accomplished 18 of them from Thursday night to Saturday morning while Sam and Luke were with their grandparents.  The list includes things from dusting and mopping all the way to making bedside tables (yes, I am a handy-woman) and finishing my Blurb book.

My Mother's Day was nice.  Sam gave me some flowers and Ron gave me a card with a Diet Coke and Twix Candy Bar.  He knows just what makes me happy.  ☺  He even made cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  We had pizza delivered for lunch and went to Santa Fe for dinner.  It was nice being together as a family... 

  

Sam and Luke returned from Birmingham yesterday to find their new playset in the back yard.  I can already tell it will bring lots of enjoyment over the coming years.

Luke belly-laughed every time I gave him a big push.
And Sam really enjoyed steering the wheel and peering through the telescope.
Here's an added bonus: Luke at bath time.  I taught him to make a pouty face last week and he does it all the time now...

Sam's MDO Music Program

Yesterday was Sam's music program at Mother's Day Out.  This was his first program and we were so thrilled to be there.  Pappy and B each came up to watch our little star sing and dance.  He did awesome!!  He sang every song and did all the motions.  When he was walking on stage with his friends he caught a glimpse of us in the audience and yelled with such excitement "There's my Mommy and my Daddy and my B and my Pappy" pointing us out one by one.  

His class had an ice-cream and cookie party afterward.  What a fun morning...

Amy and Sophie's shower

Last night I had yet another opportunity to spend some time with my dear friends.  We threw a shower for Amy and her newly adopted daughter Sophie.  A lot of women from church showed up and gave the sweetest gifts.  I'll be honest, I've witnessed my friends open gifts for their daughters over the last few weeks and it tugs at my heart.  Whether a boy or girl, I can't wait 'til Newbie gets here!

I made these Garden Vegetable Snackers.  I saw them in a magazine two years ago and finally had an excuse to make them.  Thanks to Ashley and her brilliant photography, this picture makes them look just as good as they did in the magazine.  And they tasted yummy too!  ☺

I was so tired by the end of it...and it was only 7:45!  Denise and I found ourselves resting on the couch trying to take a breather.

time to party...

Sam's friend, Daniel was having his birthday party today right after they got out of MDO.  Sam was excited about it.  But before I post those pictures I'll show you how Luke started the day.  Now that he can crawl up on Sam's red chair it's his favorite place to be.  He climbed up, got comfortable, and watched about 30 seconds of TV before he was ready to move on to other things.

Sam and his best friend Thomas

Sam's first time on a see-saw... he wasn't crazy about it

A candid picture of me and Luke

Luke had a blast biting on Dominos while the big kids opened gifts

Sam, Daniel and Thomas posing for the camera

Sam didn't know I was taking the picture.  Here he is "practicing" how he's going to smile.  He kept nodding his head saying cheese as if he was trying to get the right pose.  And Luke obviously has other plans.

We had a great Sunday... unfortunately church was cancelled due to Swine Flu.  Our church meets at an elementary school and it's been closed for cleaning; just to be safe they wouldn't even let us enter the building.

We enjoyed breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, playing together as a family, and accomplishing a few tasks.  Ron and I each spent some time away from the kids to get a few things done like cleaning the garage and laundry room.  I think my nesting stage of the pregnancy has begun.

But while I was playing with Luke I got this picture of him.  I have almost the same picture of Sam in this tunnel when he was this age...brings back memories.

the park

Yesterday we headed to the local playground for a bit.  It was a little overcast but the rain held off.  Not today.  It's pouring down as I type.  And as Sam has pointed out several times already, there's lots of lightning and "funder".  ☺