Thanksgiving 2011

This Thanksgiving we spent the day at home with my parents and my little sister and her family. I made the turkey...the first time in a long time...and I must say it turned out pretty well. Of course, we made too much food...but it was a nice day to spend with family and to have the cousins play together. Here are the highlights!

Our cutie!

The kids table. Luke was taking a much need nap!

Adult table...

Kiddos playing outside after a nice Thanksgiving lunch! Soccer was on the agenda!

Family picture on the backyard swing.

Family Day at the Zoo!

Today Kirk's company had a family day at the zoo. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to get out of the house and do something different. At the zoo we were set up in a pavillion, provided with lunch, facepainting, and an "animal experience." We had a great time. It was also Boo at the Zoo...so you could walk around and also collect candy. It doesn't get better than that for kids! Here are some pics.





Luke went with us...but I don't think I got a single picture of him! Bad Momma!

Pre-Crawling...

I thought this picture was worthy of documenting in the online family journal. Here is Luke practicing to crawl. Isn't he a cutie!!!

Luke is 8 months!

Yay!!! Baby Luke is now 8 months old! He is definitely getting big really fast! I have missed a few months of updates...so here is what little Luke is up to lately...

-He is trying to crawl. He is not there yet...but as soon as he develops a little more arm strength...he will be there.
-He is eating more solid foods. He loves tiny little pieces of bread!
-He had his first double ear infection. So sad...but he's recovering nicely.
-Luke went on his first road trip to San Antonio and had a wonderful time.
-He is now wearing a range of cloths sizes from 9 months-18 months!

Here is the latest and greatest picture of Baby Luke...as Buzz Lightyear. This is, of course, his Halloween costume. Enjoy!

Master manipulator

Grant usually goes to bed pretty easily in his own room, but lately if he hears the baby start to cry in his crib in the next room...Grant will start crying too. Either Kirk or I will go to his room to comfort him and he says that baby Lukey is scaring him.

Today, he started to cry for momma about 30 minutes after we left him in his bed. Luke wasn't crying...so I asked him what was wrong. He said he was scared, but when I asked him what he was scared of he said he just wanted to sing more primary songs before bed.

Ugh!...but cute!

New family pictures....with a new addition!

Well, when Luke took his newborn pictures at a few days old...I didn't really feel like putting make-up on and getting dressed decently to take pictures with him (regret this now), so up to this point I didn't have any pictures with Luke and the family except for the ones that we take around the house occasionally. Those are usually poor quality for one reason or another. So for his six month mark, I decided now was a good time. Here are some of the highlights from our family photo shoot in August...notice all pictures are indoors since it was 100+ outside almost all August.

I am a litle behind on the family happenings...but I am getting to the family vacation in San Antonio next!!!
Kirk and his twin Grant! Grant is a total daddy's boy! Brothers and best friends!Not exactly a smile...but this picture is so Luke. He is so curious and is always reaching for something.I love this picture of Grant! It is so much of what he is into right now. He loves that blanket!

I pledge allegiance...

Grant has been learning a lot about his country and state in daycare lately. I have been pretty impressed of what he has actually retained and talked about at home. He now recites the pledge of allegiance almost perfectly, can tell you who the President is, can tell you the differences in the Texas flag and US flag...and that is only what I remember right now off the top of my head. I pick up his art work at the end of the week and this time I found these masterpieces. Doesn't he make a handsome lady liberty?

Gooooooooo Oilers!!!

Kirk and Grant dressed and ready to see the state champion Pearland Oiler football team!!! (I stayed home with the baby...since it is still too hot outside for Luke.) Anyway...don't they look cute? I had to bribe Grant with a lollipop to put the visor on. And yes...this picture was taken in our bathroom. I was giving Luke his bath at the same time.

Brotherly Love

Crafty moment

Well...for those that know me well...they know that I am not too crafty. It's not that I don't want to be...but I guess I find it a little intimidating. It's kind of like me and cooking (though I am getting better.) I am not completely inept, though. I have taken a few classes, so I can figure a few things out.
Earlier in the week, I went to a store that sells custom baby items. I saw these really cute bibs, and then I looked at the price...$13. I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for something I knew I could make if I just tried. Well...I went to the store and picked up my materials and here is the finished product.
Bad picture...but what do you think of the cute bib?

5 month update

It is amazing that Luke is already 5 months old... In some ways he seems like he has been a part of our family forever and in other ways I feel like we are just getting to know his sweet little personality and discovering who he is. In this past month, I really feel like Luke has changed so much. Everyday he is doing something new or getting better at new skills. It is amazing to see how he is starting to learn new things and discover the world around him. Well...here are some of the things he has accomplished in the past month.

-Luke is now sleeping in his own room in his crib. Yay!!!
-He is sleeping consistently 9 hours before waking up. His favorite time to wake up is 5:30 AM. Ouch! (Could be worse!)
-He is grabbing whatever he can and bringing it to his mouth.
-Two days ago, his bottom two teeth popped out! So cute!
-He is now eating all types of cereal and carrots and green beans. We might start peas today. Yummy! He has really made progress in eating. Still messy...but a lot better than the first week.
-Still wearing 6-9 month. (Not really an accomplishment...just keeping track of stuff so I can put it in the baby book later.)
-He has dropped one of his naps and is only napping twice a day now.
-He can roll both directions quite easily now and somehow he can move pretty well by moving his legs around. Basically his is crawling on his face. Hopefully, he will build up his strength soon so he can hold up his top half and really crawl.

Well, that is pretty much all that I remember right now. Enjoy some of the new pictures!

Organized chaos!

This summer, we decided to put Grant into an organized sport. Since he is only 3 there were limited options, but we settled on soccer as a good sport to try first. All I can really say about this experience is that it's pretty funny to watch a bunch 3-4 year olds running around trying to kick the ball in any direction...let alone trying to make a goal. Grant started out a little apprehensive about the new coach (Grant is a pretty shy kiddo)...but now he is ready to get in there and chase the ball around. Here are a few pictures from his first game. It lasted 15 minutes.

Warming up playing "Red light, Green light".
Doing some drills.
Game time!

Luke at 4 months

Well, I'm behind again on my updates for Luke...but here is what he has been up to lately.
-He likes to stand up on his feet and he can sit pretty well when he's supported.
-He also likes to nibble on his feet (adorable picture below).
-He is starting to laugh and giggle a lot more.
-We tried feeding him some cereal..but he spit it all out. I guess we will try again later.
-Luke went to the swimming pool for the first time. He really enjoyed it!
-I believe he is teething since he is going through some fussy periods that he didn't really have before. Yay!
-He is also growing like a weed and is looking more and more like Grant every day.
Here are some new pics.
-He is now solidly wearing 6-9 month clothes.

Also at his 4 month check-up he weighted in at 17 lbs and 26 inches...83 and 80 percentile respectively.

And I don't want to leave Grant out... Now...if I can only remember to transfer this information into Luke's baby book.

Luke at 3 months

Okay...I am a little late on this 3 month update, but life has been pretty busy lately. So here are the facts on Luke...
-He is now smiling a lot.
-He enjoys his days with my mother and father...since I have returned to work.
Thanks Mimi and Papo!
-He is still wearing 3-6 month clothes...but probably not for long.
-He is cooing a lot and loves to talk to anyone who will talk to him.
-He loves to be held...especially by his grandfather.
-and he is still a pretty easy baby!
-He still sleeps through the night, eat well, and will usually stop crying if he is being held or is taken outside. Here are a few of the latest pictures:

Today at the Zoo!

Today we decided to take a quick trip to the zoo. Since we've had Luke we really haven't gone anywhere or done anything together...the four of us. It is usually one parent with one kid and the other parent with the other. So, it was nice for the family to go on a little adventure together. We even convinced Mimi to come with us for back up if we needed any assistance. Thank you Mimi! It was a short trip, but it was nice to do something different and get out of the house. The day was cloudy and it wasn't too hot...so all in all the trip was a success!