20 months

We're in the twenties! In my mind, I know we're so much closer to 2 than we were before. There's something about saying, "He's twenty months", that did it.

Luke is pretty much doing the same as last month, but there are a couple of updates.

• He's starting to put words together more and more. He'll speak in very small sentences. He'll say things like 'mama car' or 'dada byebye car'.
• He also understands soooo much. It's amazing to me how I'll ask him to do something like go pick up the wooden spoons from the couch and put them back in teh dishwasher, and he'll do it! It was a long directive, and he totally got it. Crazy! Communication with him is just getting better and better.
• He likes to do more chores and help me around the house. He carries laundry to the washing machine, helps unload the dishwasher, uses the lint roller to remove cat hair from the couch, picks things up, close doors, etc. He's going to come in handy with a baby!
• He continues to pick up words left and right. He attempts to say more and gets it right more and more of the time.
• He can take stairs and steps so much better! It used to take him a bit to get down because he'd hold on and be very careful, but the other day he took a step down without holding onto anything. And at the playground, for example, he'd always go backwards down steps, but lately he's been taking them like a regular person- he'll just still hold onto a rail.

I think that's about it for the new things. Otherwise, he just continues to do what he's done, and he's still the happy, easy going kid he's always been. He's a special one!

PS Again, sorry for no pics. Lauren gave me a good idea about how to remedy this, but I have yet to actually do what I need to do to fix that. I'll try and get it done by the next month's update.

25 weeks

As my pregnancy app told me yesterday, this baby is 2/3rds of the way done!

I can't believe it!

This pregnancy is going by so fast. In about 3 months, we'll meet our newest little man.

Here how things are:

• He's measuring right where he needs to be right now which is great.
• He moves A LOT. I don't know if I just don't remember it with Luke, but I definitely feel this baby is on the move a lot more. I've felt that way since the very beginning of feeling him. As he's gotten bigger, it's definitely settling down more, but he was crazy there for a bit.
• He's been sitting a lot right under my right rib which isn't all that comfortable.
• I've been feeling really good. I finally don't feel tired all of the time which is nice. It took me until about week 22 or so to start feeling that way. 
• My hunger is also much better. I don't have to carry snacks around with me all of the time any longer.
• It seems that my body gains weight right away with babies and then barely gains anything later. I gained a good 10-12 pounds just in the first trimester, but since then I've only gained about five more which makes my weight pretty much no problem!
• My back just started hurting a little bit, but I think that's more due to picking up Luke and carrying him around, as well.
• Otherwise, I'm just starting to make lists of things that need to be done/ bought before the baby arrives. I'm not really stressed about it, but I'm starting to prepare which is nuts!

Well, between the time I wrote this and posted it, I did have one meltdown about getting Luke into an extra day of mother's day out each week. I figured it out, but I feel my mental/ emotional state is definitely more stressed than my physical state!

Also, blogger won't let me post pics anymore without paying, so I've got to figure out how to make this work. For now, no pics :( But I hope to figure it out soon :)

19 months

I feel like as time goes on, I am getting later and later in the month for these posts. It seems that it's hard to find the time to get this done! But this has become my 'baby book' in a way, so if anything I keep doing it to remember these little times. It doesn't have to be exact, I guess :)

Little Man is doing great these days! 

• We had our first bad illness last week. RSV. No fun. It's a really bad cold that involved lots of mucous :( We had to do breathing treatments and lots of saline with suctioning. But we are all better now! Too bad he also got his first double ear infection at the end of this, so we have yet another doctor follow up tomorrow.
• This kid is demanding. He knows what he wants, and he wants it now! There's a lot of small tempertantrums just because he wants something he can't have or wants it faster than I can do it.  He's also pretty stubborn (who does he get that from?!?), so that can make these little melt downs even more fun.
• He still LOVES cars, trucks, bikes, buses, etc. basically anything transportation. He can now say 'big truck'- getting descriptive!
• He loves to throw things- even things that shouldn't be thrown. We're constantly having to make sure he's not hurting anyone or being too destructive with that arm of his.
• The biggest word he can say is 'umbrella'. Pretty impressive! 
• He still loves to be around other people. He is definitely a little politician. He's got everyone around him convinced he's perfect at all times :) I don't try and steer them wrong, but it's kind of funny.
• Daylight savings time messed us up a bit (why oh why do we do that?!?), but Luke is a great night time sleeper. Down by 7:30 and will sleep until 6:30/7 in the morning. He naps after lunch which can be anytime from 11:15-1, just depends on what we're doing, and he usually sleeps for about 1.5 hours.
•  He is a very good helper. He likes to help do laundry, put up dishes, or just fetch things from around the house. He enjoys sweeping, but I wish he was better at it.
• He always wants 'up'. On the bed, on the couch, on the counter- wherever he can get a better view.
• He loves a walk in his stroller. We have a nice 45 minute route we do.
• He still loves school! He sleeps well and is always happy to go and when I pick him up. His teachers are very sweet, as well. That's been a very good experience.
• Everyday there's a new word- I can't even think of what they are to list here. But his vocabulary continues to grow, and it's slowly getting easier to communicate with him.
• We have had an issue with him throwing his food at dinner (only meal he does this-odd), so he did spend his first minute in time out. I don't think he got it, so I'm trying other things right now, and last night there were only 3 carrots on the floor!
 

This kid is really just overall very happy and laid back. He's just fun to be around :)

Halloween

This year, halloween was very fun! We're not totally there to completely go all in with the holiday, but we made huge strides this year for sure :)

First off was Trunk or Treat at the church. People decorate their trunks and the kids go around the parking lot 'trick or treating'. They also had hot dogs, cotton candy, bounce houses, cake walks, and a hay maze. 

This particular evening, we tried to get Luke to put on his costume, but he threw a huge tantrum and basically tried to tear it off his body. So.. we went with plan B. Trey's parents had given Luke some overalls before he was even born, and we hadn't had a chance to pull them out yet, so we figured we'd put those on him and he could be a rancher. He was much happier in normal clothes, and we had a great time at the event.

About to hit up the vehicles. I think I'm more excited than he is.

Luke's very first time to trick or treat. He did a great job! Notice how we had him take his horse- made his costume a little more believable, don't you think?

After getting his candy, he sat right down to see what he had. We had to prompt him to keep going :)

Cutest little rancher out there.

Luke and Daddy. The bounce houses had a 30 minute line. No thank you.

Oh yes! There was also a fire engine there. Luke would have sat there all day if we let him.

 

 

Then actual Halloween came around, and I wasn't very excited because he'd had melt down #1 about his costume on Saturday and then melt down #2 about the overalls on Monday for a playgroup Halloween party. At this point, I was over Halloween and just ready to throw in the towel.

But, then our sweet neighbor told me she had something special for Luke that night, so we did what any good parent would do- we bribed him. Yep, we gave Luke chocolate to get into his original costume and go next door to get his treat. It worked and he ended up having a great time!

Isn't he the cutest cow?!? I'm so glad he finally put the costume on :)

Walking over to Rosie's

We knocked and then he pretty much invited himself in.

Leaving with his loot- animal crackers and a puppy dog.

Just a cow and his dog.

Since he was doing so great, we walked across the street to the Bell's to show off his cuteness!

Luke with Grandma and Grandad.

Luke with mom and dad.

Even though Halloween started off a little questionable, it turned out really well. It turned into a week long affair: Trunk or treat, Moms group Halloween party, trick or treating, and a trip with our square one play group to the arboretum to cap off the Halloween season.

It was a great time, and I can't wait for next year!

My Baby, Baby Boy

The verdict is in:

We're having a boy!

Luke is going to have a little brother!

Here are some shots from the sonogram. He measured average in pretty much every category which is what we want. He moved around quite a bit, and I do think this little guy is more of a mover and shaker than Luke was. Luke would find a spot and just sit, but this one I feel a lot more consistently and more often.

For the most part, this has been a pretty good pregnancy. I really can't complain. And the best news is, I'm over half way through! I do feel more ready not to be pregnant anymore than last time. It's going so fast, so I know it'll be over and he'll be here before I know it!

This is actually the confirmation of pregnancy sonogram. This shows you just how far he's come!

This was our confirmation that it's another boy.

The best profile we got of this little guy. He's a mover and a shaker and wouldn't stay still to get anything better.

Another profile, but I don't think it's quite as good as the other.

You can see his leg and hang really good here.

This is a foot, or at least that's what the technician said. Looks like an awkward foot if you ask me.

 So.. now we can let the planning begin! I won't need to get much new because their both boys and born in the same season. It is kind of nice to know we won't have to spend a lot.
Now, if we'd ever sell our house, I could actually start planning a nursery....

State Fair of Texas

We took Luke to the State Fair for the first time this year!

I think he had a blast! 

What more could he want: animals, shovels, cars, trucks, pizza, lemonade, and funnel cake!

In the children's barn- you think he was intently watching the animals, but he probably had his eye on a shovel.

Yep, little man ran up to every shovel he saw.

Close encounter with a sheep!

Such a big boy here!

Cars!! He loves Jeeps :)

He has a few years to fit into this one.

We were making people wait to get in the Corvette while we took pictures of our 18 month old. Luckily, they were patient people.

Big Tex used to be right here. RIP Big Tex, but thanks for giving us a nice view of the Cotton Bowl!

Can you tell it's very hard these days to get him to look at the camera?

After dinner, we let Luke run off his pizza in the grass near the Children's Aquarium.

We considered our trip a huge success. Not too crowded, good food (Trey and I also enjoyed a corny dog and a bananarito), and a happy baby! What more could you want?

18 months old!

Someone is a year and a half old! It's weird to think that we're on our way to two!

• Luke has finally made his back into the 25th %iles in both height and weight. It only took a year....  He was 22 lbs 7 oz and 30 3/4 inches. We're back to where we started!
• This child now runs everywhere which led to his first scraped head. He tripped on the sidewalk and laid himself out on the sidewalk. His head hit and he got a scrape and a bruise which, now, due to the magical healing powers of being a toddler, is mostly gone. He also, later that day, cut his mouth somehow. So we got first bleeding mouth and scraped head all done in one day. Not too shabby.
• He talks alot! It's true- 18 months is some weird age where all the stars and the moon align just perfectly, and they really do start saying a new word pretty much every day. Granted, we haven't gotten the random word we never use- it's pretty much the stuff we've said to him a bazillion times up until now, he's just choosing to actually say it. The big break throughs have been truck, push, bus, trash, and kitty cat (not just cat) a few more that I can't remember.
• Luke is still a pretty good baby. I had a lady tell me at the car dealership the other day that he was zen-like. I guess I have myself a zen-like child- how nice :)
• He continues to LOVE cars, trucks, trains, boats. Pretty much any mode of transportation. Completely something he's just decided he likes. Again, yet another reason why boys and girls are very different. He fills baby strollers with rocks and cars- loves to push those bad boys around but could care less about the actual baby. There truly is a hard wiring difference.
• We bought him a cozy coupe for his 18th month birthday. Not really, but it just happened to work. We don't buy him a lot of big toys or really any toys. But since he's so into cars, we decided we would go ahead and do the cozy coupe and wait for other things (like a play kitchen) for Christmas. He loves it. In fact, he's sitting in it right now while I write this. He can't use his feet to go forward, but he can go backwards. Don't start to push him around in it unless you want to devote the next hour of your life to it, but he will love you for it!
• He still eats pretty well. He doesn't like things mixed up very much, so I still have trouble just feeding him what we're eating. I'm cooking him only one thing, though, and if he doesn't eat it, that's it. He does get a lot of chicken nuggets, grilled cheese and things like that, though. Which isn't a huge deal because they take all of 30 seconds to fix.
• We moved up to size 4 diapers. Go Luke! Such a big boy :) And he's wearing 18-24 month clothes but can still easily fit into 12 month pants.
• He goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 and sleeps until somewhere between 6 and 7. He naps around noon until 1:30 or if I'm lucky, 2 or 2:30.

That's about it! We're having fun!

To try and get this up, no pics right now, but I'll add some this week. He looks about the same as the post before :)

And Another One makes Four

Luke is going to be a big brother!

It's hard to believe, and I'm not sure what I've goten myself into, but we're still very excited!
Some days I'm very excited about having another baby, but then otherdays I feel more along the lines of anxious and overwhelmed about having another kid. I'm sure it will be fine; people do it all the time, but it's still hard to picture. But I do know that having another little baby to love and watch grow will be a glorious thing!

I will also say that being pregnant again is different than the first time. There are some things that are nice about it, but it's just not as exciting the second time around. I know I'll still love this baby as much as I love Luke, but pregnancy has lost a lot of its glow. Maybe it'll be more exciting when I can feel the baby move more and we know what the sex is, but for now, I find myself tired and cranky way more than I ever was with Luke. sigh....

But I am extremely lucky in the fact that it hasn't been a bad pregnancy. I really wasn't sick my first trimester, just extremely hungry all of the time. It was pretty bad and kind of annoying. I couldn't leave the house without an arsenal of things for me to eat. Now, that's under control and things have become pretty good. I do try and take a nap every day, and I just can't do too much or I'm utterly exhausted.

We'll find out the sex of this baby October 24th, so I'm really looking forward to that! I'm hoping we have smooth sailing!!

This at 15 weeks. Definitely bigger earlier this time around.

He will be an amazing brother!

I love this pic.

Fall Festival at the Arboretum

Today, Luke and I went to the arboretum with our MOPS group. They currently have all the pumpkins out for the Fall Festival. We went last year, and Luke was barely sitting up. Now, I can't get him to stay still. The arboretum was beautiful, as usual. It's nice on a normal day, but they have a lot out there for the fall festival. They do all of these elaborate set ups involving all sorts of different pumpkins and other squash varieties. They also do crafts, face painting, story time, musical presenatations, petting zoo, and more for kids during this time. 

Luke and I took part in the petting zoo. He got to pet his first sheep and goat. He was very good at being gentle.

He also had an excellent time running! He ran all over the pumpkin village. It's amazing the difference a year makes.

Here are the photos I got from our morning adventure.

Luke checking out the white pumpkins by one of the set ups. All the little girls were fascinated by the carriage.

He called this a ball and continued to throw it many times.

He would stand like this for a few seconds....

... and then he was off to find another place for the pumpkin.

He ran all around this pumpkin house.

He took a little break.

I caught him in front of one of the Chihuly exhibits. Beautiful!

Video Catch Up

There are a lot of videos we've taken that I've been really lazy about uploading. I'm going to spend some time getting those updated on here, but it won't happen all at once. Hopefully, one every few days.

This was taken 4/25/12. It shows off two of his awesome skills. Enjoy!

This one was taken 8/21/12, and he does an even more awesome trick. Love it :)

17 months

Well, honestly, Luke's growing and changing, BUT it's hard to document all the little things. He's mostly just funny now and does random things. I feel like I think of things to put on there and then when I sit down to write it, it all goes 'poof'. I'll do my best!

• I'm pretty sure he just went through a growth spurt. For one, he slept until after 7 for four days in a row which is a true miracle. Now, his 12 month shirts are way too short for him and don't quite go over his head unless you give them a good tug. He's in 16 month shirts, but he still fits fine in 12 month pants. The pants do have to be pretty generous on elastic, but they're not too tight to work. I have a feeling we'll still be in the bottom percentiles at his doctor's appointment at the end of this month, but that's the story of all of our lives.
• He's also still in size 3 diapers. I think he could move to 4's, but why push it? 
• He knows the sounds that a cow, cat, duck, sheep, and a dog. But he just grunts when you ask him what a dog says; he's consistent, but I'm not sure that's totally correct. He also calls most animals a cat. Except for owls and ducks, he knows what they are.
• He also things any mode of transportation is a car. When we go for a walk he will point out every single vehicle you see and say 'car!' So I think he literally says that word on average of 75 times a day. No lie.
• He does love boats, though. He does not confuse boats with anything else at all. He also loves to ride in boats with the wind in his hair. And he totally hates the life jacket, so we'll see how that works out next summer. For now, it wasn't pushed. He will literally squeel with delight and do his happy dance (stomping his feet) when you got for a boat ride. He LOVES it! I can't wait to stick him on a tube out behind the boat! I hope that rocks his world.
• He now loves to run. I asked him, "Do you like to run?" And he nodded his head. He must love it because he runs a lot. He runs more than he walks at this point.
• He also likes to kick balls. He'll run all around a gym kicking a ball. Maybe he'll enjoy soccer- we'll see.
• His favorite books now are ones where there are just pictures and he points to them and you tell him what he sees. We can do this for hours on end. I'm still waiting to see the payoff.
• He learned to use the slide all by himself. He can climb up the ladder and slide down feet first. The only problem is he's not that careful or balanced yet, so he's fallen off the top of the slide 3 times now. The slide has been temporarily removed. We'll revisit it in about a month or two when maybe he's learned to be more careful- or not. I'm just tired of picking up a crying baby off the floor right now.
• He just got another haircut. I think he's had 5 now.
• He's still an organizer. He closes doors, he moves things to where they belong, he puts things back- it's amazing. I don't consider myself a neat person, so maybe I can just count on him to pick things up for me. Awesome. He also doesn't like for his hands to be dirty. He asks for them to be brushed off regularly. He also doesn't like dirt between his toes. He will sit down and clean his toes about 5 times a day, maybe more. It's a little weird, but oh well.
• All in all, he's still a happy kid.  He's very entertaining on a daily basis. He is a kid who loves to say hi and bye to everyone he sees. He regularly leaves the grocery store and says, "bye", to everyone we pass. It's pretty funny. He is complemented all of the time about his wonderful personality and how laid back he is which is very true. We're pretty lucky to have such a fun, cute baby.

The pictures below are from his first day of Mother's Day Out which just happened to be a few days after his 17 month birthday. He's only been once, but he did great! He even took an hour and 15 minute nap which is nothing short of a miracle! His MDO is at our church, First Methodist. His teachers are Becky and Judy. There's 7 other babies in his class. I think he'll enjoy being there! I know I will....

Shaggy hair dude

Blurry but cute- loves his bear :)

Always reaching for a book

Loves to read

Sweet face

Best pic I got with his backpack. He moves too quickly and too much

Trying to lift his heavy backpack

 

16 months

Luke is becoming a little boy, and it's so very fun to be a part of. He's the sweetest, most caring, non-moving child. I will say that as his personality and ability to do things grows, this is all becoming more fun. It's nice to think about a baby who will just sit so you can watch tv, but it's also not that interesting. Life these days is nothing but interesting, and I like it!

• He's crazy. He's insane. He's almost 1.5, and very much all boy.
• He loves balls! He walks around looking for balls to play with and repeatedly says 'ba-ball'. He will point out anything that remotely looks like a ball and want to play with it.
• He's saying a whole bunch and picking up words all over the place. He can say- byebye, hi, night night, thank you, more, yum yum, owl, cat, ball, this, mama, dada, uh oh (but he says it uh-ho)
• He never stops moving. He will literally run around in a circle until you stop him. He just constantly goes from one thing to the next, to the next, to the next.
• He loves to use his slide even though he would rather climb up it than figure out how to use the ladder.
• We spend as much time as we can outside. It's been a little hard lately because it's been sooo hot, but we'll still go for a walk in the morning or brave it out there for just 5 minutes. He's the happiest when he can run around in the grass and just be.
• He will bring the little stool from his room into the living room and sit on it to watch TV or do whatever. It's pretty funny.
• He can build with his legos. The other day he made his first tree with a jungle set all by himself. He can also build a tower really well- he gets them pretty high.
• He learned how to use a fork. It makes eating much more fun for him which is great!
• We've learned that he's allergic to peanuts and cats and dogs. We're seeing an allergist in a couple of weeks to talk about what we need to do. I don't think the cat/ dog one is too bad, though, because he's lived with KC since birth and I've never noticed an adverse effect. The peanut one could be worse, and I've seen what it can do to him. I'm really more interested in how to manage that one. We'll see...
• Luke loves to laugh. It's great when you hear his little giggle. He's also pretty ticklish which makes him laugh a lot!
• He does funny things with his tongue and lips. He sticks his lips out like he's making a duck face. He'll move his tongue from side to side while a little piece is sticking out. He does this when he's concentrating. It's really cute.
• Luke continues to be a good sleeper for the most part. He goes to bed about 7, and he's been sleeping until 6-6:30ish. He takes one nap a day from 11:30ish to 1:30ish. 
• He's starting giving kisses. When you ask for a kiss, he usually just leans his head up to your lips, but now he'll put his lips up to yours. He deoesn't really make a kissy face, but you know.
• He's starting making the fish face with his lips. So cute!
• He loves sitting on our fireplace. I think the step is just his size, so he prefers to sit there and drink from his sippy or eat his snack.
• Luke's eating has also improved so much! He's not real adventurous but he does eat good meals most of the time. He still loves fruit. He also loves sausage now. A couple of weekends ago he had a breakfast taco which he thoroughly enjoyed.
• Luke has definitely developed an opinion. When he gets mad, he'll bang his head on the floor. The tantrums have definitely started. They're not too often and they happen more when he's tired, but we get them for sure. 
• He can also be super whiny at times. We've had many mornings when I get frustrated with him because he will not let me do something simple like brush my teeth without whining and wanting me to hold him. I'm hoping this is just a stage for right now.
• One of the best things he does is when he wants something he'll say more while signing it and then nod his head yes, like you're going to do it, right?

We just continue to enjoy being with our little man. He's very fun and just has a great personality. He's so laid-back and such a people person; he's just easy to be around! I'm looking forward to the months to come as he reveals himself even more to us :)

Pictures!

His month pictures (the first 2 below) didn't turn out great so there are some others of things we should be doing. Enjoy!

LOVES his books!

Best way to enjoy grapes- pantless in your booster that supports breast cancer(!) while watching the tube.

He just needs a beach and a roasting pig.

Well, hello Luke 'Harry Potter' Jackson!

Favorite seat in the house

My favorite pic of him right now. How grown up does he look?!?

Also love with his CUTE smile!