G4: Allen, Sarah, Luke and Lacey

2012-01-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

4 Months Old!

Our Lacey Lou is 4 months old! She is much less of a motionless blob these days, and much more of an interactive little baby. Her colic is totally gone and we have been working on a sleeping/eating schedule over the last month. Our girl has become a happy, loving little one. She can still go from 0 to 60, but her overall demeanor is fairly happy.

I was so hoping this child would be my good sleeper, but not so much. Her night sleep is not terrible; she has slept through the night a handful of times, but typically still wakes up once or twice to eat. It's her day sleep that has been the latest issue. She likes to take 20-30 minute naps, but that's it. Sometimes we'll get a longer bonus nap, but most are too short. Our pediatrician seems to think that once we get the night sleep in line, the naps will follow suit. I'm skeptical, but we'll see. We're working on some night sleep training this weekend, so I'll provide an update soon...

Here are her 4 month updates:

Weighs 14 lbs, 10 oz (75th percentile), length is 24.5 inches (50th percentile), head circumference is 41 cm (50th percentile)
Wears some 3 month, but mostly 3-6 month sizes, and some 6 month sleepers; still in size 2 diapers
Has discovered her hands. Loves to hold them together and bring them to her mouth
Kicks her legs up and down, up and down. Can turn herself around 90 degrees when lying on her back by kicking. Enjoys her play gym and will kick at her toys at look around for almost half an hour sometimes!
Tolerates sitting in her bouncy seat for longer periods as long as she has something/someone to watch to entertain her.
Can reach for and hold toys and bring them to her mouth.
Has taken up a paci for sleepy times, which she really did not utilize previously
Laughs!
Wakes around 7 am and tends to want to only be awake for about 1 hr 15 min to 2 hours at most before the next nap. Been working on an every 3 hour eating schedule.
LOVES her nighttime bath which we usually do about 6 pm so she can get to sleep by 6:30ish, sometimes closer to 7 pm.
Tolerates the car seat better and finds it more soothing, often falling asleep in the car
Still enjoys the swing
Very observant. Many people comment on this about her, just how closely and intently she watches things going on near her.

Our 4 month growth shot in the car seat.

Lacey and Mommy went for a walk on a beautiful (and rare!) 70 degree January day.

Happy girl with her toy

Sleeping with the blankie Grammie made just like big brother Luke's.

Really, Mom? More pictures?

In mid-talk with Mommy. This girl talks and talks and talks....I see future notes home from the teacher.... :)

Bath time! She looks absolutely HUGE in this picture, but she's not really that big. Just an average 4 month old size.

Is she a little bundle of deliciousness or what?!

Our babies bring us such joy!

It melts my heart to see this little girl smile at me.
She is sunshine herself!

2012-01-07T06:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2011

2011 was our first Christmas in our new house and my first holiday season without work, which is huge. The end of the year is my busy time due to companies looking for new policies effective Jan 1st, so I relished the time at home with my little ones.

This post will pretty much be a barrage of pictures documenting our month, so I'll get to it.

We had breakfast with Santa at the Botanic Gardens early in the month so he was sure to know what to leave at out house. (I was a bit worried that Lacey was going to fall right out of his arm...)

The Littles watching one of our gazillion Christmas movies. Notice Luke is perusing a toy catalog to point out all the things he "needs" for Santa to bring him. Lacey is tolerating her seated position for probably all of 3 seconds.

Daddy stringing lights on our teeny little tree and Luke attempting to chop it down with his axe.

He then switched to using his trimmer.

Decorating the little tree he and Lacey got to share in the playroom.

And then attempting to use his trimmer on it the way he saw the guys do to our tree when we got it.

Surprise SNOW!

We no longer live on the lake, but there is an old winery behind our house that's no longer serving the public, so it's very peaceful. I love this picture with the big trees covered in snow.

FOUR stockings on the mantel this year!

Luke's school art work. :)

Some of my favorite ornaments from this year:

Luke made this one during a playdate at a friend's house.

I'm still missing Lacey's 1st Christmas ornament...it has not arrived yet...

Christmas shopping tuckered this one right out!

I've been good, I promise!

Luke's school program. He's 3rd from the left in the front row. They were all adorable!

Snowy nights at Memphis Botanic Gardens.

This was so creative. They basically made a giant Light Brite. The kids thought it was great!

Lacey was snuggled warm and cuddly with Mommy.

Santa came and left sweet Lacey with a few things.

Lukers got a train table.

And a pizza cutter. He decided on Christmas Eve that he wanted Santa to bring him a pizza cutter because he had seen Daddy using one earlier in the day. Thank goodness that Santa was well prepared and just so happened to have this Melissa and Doug pizza set in his bag!

Another favorite gift was this scooter from Auntie Kate.

Luke made sure to show me that Santa had eaten the cookies he left for him. :)

My attempt to get a pic of my kids in their Christmas PJs. Luke was too hyped up to cooperate with a normal picture. Oh well. We captured the moment, I suppose.

We actually had our Christmas on Christmas Eve day. Santa knew we had other plans and so he stopped by our house a day early. We left early Christmas day to head to Texas where the rest of Allen's family was waiting for us. It was cuh-razy! The boys had a blast.

Granny Dot gave Lacey her first Madame Alexander doll. Such a sweet and beautiful gift! (Um, doll not pictured. That's Lacey that I am holding.)

We had to bribe Luke to get this picture. Pretty sure it involved chocolate of some kind.

Whenever we're in TX we always block out some time to visit with our friend Kelli and her family. The boys were so silly in the jump house!

When we got back from Texas we had Christmas at Allen's parents' house. Leslie, Allen's mom, wanted everyone to come in their Christmas PJs.

Lacey and cousin Eden with Nanna.

Luke and cousins Caden and Corban with GranPa.

All the cousins

Nanna and GranPa gave Luke tools, which he loves. This set had a jigsaw, just like GranPa's!

Our holiday season was quite full, as you can tell! Certainly different from our days in SoCal of having no family close by. As our Christmas card declares, we feel incredibly blessed by all the Lord has given us-- our sweet babies and loving family.

Merry Christmas from the Gillespies!
We wish you health, happiness and peace in the new year!

2011-12-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

3 Months Old!

The best update for this post is that Lacey's evening colic seems to have dissipated. Hallelujah! What started at 4 weeks seemed to have lasted forever, but really just 6 weeks. Six long, tired weeks. Praise God we are past that! But it's always something, right? Now she has decided not to take good daytime naps, making her overtired and difficult to put down at night. Sigh... My goal over the next week or so is to now work at getting her on a schedule. We'll see how well this goes!

Lacey's 3 month updates:

Weighs 13 lbs, 1 oz, is 23.5 inches long
Wears 3 month and 3-6 month sizes
Just moved up to size 2 diapers
Happy girl! Smiles easily and often and loves attention.
Has recently discovered her hands and been putting them in her mouth more and more.
Likes to "stand" on your lap while you talk to her.
Still hates being in the car seat.
Will tolerate lying on her back under her play gym longer, will sit in her bouncy seat longer before deciding she needs attention.
Started to notice toys in the last few weeks and loves mirrors.
Holds her head up well and can sit in the Bumbo seat for short periods of time
Was sleeping from 11 pm to about 5 or 6 am, but I recently began an earlier bedtime routine now that the colic has ceased. I give her a bath between 6 pm and 7 pm, then feed her and put her down. She usually wakes a couple times within the first hour of going down, but then will sleep until about 3:30 or 4 am. Up for good between 7:30-8:30 am. (Of course all this will be in constant flex, and probably change tomorrow now that I've written it down.)

Here are the latest pictures:

This is what much of the last month and a half consisted of....

we love her, but man, colic is tough!

We moved Luke to his room at 3 weeks because it was a short distance down the hall from us at our house in CA. Lacey did not sleep in her own room until 10 weeks because it is upstairs and ours is downstairs and I was too nervous to have her that far away until she was sleeping longer stretches.

I was getting ready to re-swaddle her and noticed that she is as long as the crib is wide, so took a pic to capture that. :)

My growing girl is ready for the Bumbo seat!

Early morning conversation with Mommy.

Grammie with her first granddaughter.

Ok, enough with the pictures, Mom.

Her most successful daytime naps are still in the swing. I'm working to switch her over to her bed, which she sleeps in without problems at night, but for some reason does not like as well during the day. She is still a cuddlebug, which is probably why she likes the snuggle the swing offers.

Tummy time!

And finally our 3 month growth picture in the car seat!

I love the increased interaction this age brings!

Watching my babies grow and change is one of my life's best blessings.

2011-12-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving 2011

I love that our family is now mostly in one place so we don't have to travel much for the holidays with little ones. This year my sister, Katie, and her husband, Chad, flew out to stay for a week and enjoy Thanksgiving with the rest of us. It has been so nice that my maternity leave has coordinated with the holidays! I was able to just hang with them all week.

Our Thanksgiving was low key and flexible with the kids schedules. We planned to prepare a meal at my mom's house and also attend the Gillespie Thanksgiving meal held at his parents house. I think it's so awesome that the entire Gillespie clan gets together every year for Thanksgiving. We did not stay to eat, but were able to visit and introduce Lacey to Granny.

Here are some highlights:

Allen started preparing the turkey a couple days in advance. Thanksgiving day he was up early to beginning the long, 8 hour smoking process. He did an awesome job!

Luke, our little sous chef, was right in on the cooking action with "Tee", short for Auntie.

Beautiful apple pie masterpiece!

I'd love to say I put this cute apron to good use and was a busy cooking bee, but the truth is that I was on kid duty all day so others could cook. Advantages and disadvantages to that!

Lacey's first Thanksgiving!

Check out my adorable turkey bow!

Granny meets Lacey.

Four generations of Gillespies!

Tee and Lacey

Mommy and Lacey.

All the girls!
(Not our best picture, but it's the only one I had. Sorry girls.)

Oh, Luke...this was his Thanksgiving plate. Since Mr. Picky Pants would not eat most of what was made, he got a legless turkey shaped PB&J, which he loved.

It was a long, tiring day, but good to be with so much family all in the same day!

2011-11-26T14:17:00.000-08:00

Girls Road Trip!

For my mom's 60th birthday we decided to take a girls road trip to Nashville. The only Nordstrom in TN had recently opened at the Green Hills Mall in Nashville. I would have been there for the opening weekend, but Lacey was only 2 weeks old and it was not going to happen. So we decided to make a special trip for Mom's birthday. It might help understand our love for all things Nordstrom if you knew that, aside from shopping there from the time we were small, both Annie and I worked there. I started out on the Fashion Board my senior year in high school and worked off and on throughout college over summers and holiday breaks. To say that I'm sad there is no local Nordstrom is putting it lightly. I don't even need to buy anything to enjoy myself. Just give me a spiced chai latte (NO one makes it like they do) and sit me in the shoe dept near the piano player. Sigh....

Anyway, we made a quick, fun trip to Nashville a few weekends ago. We dropped Luke off with Aunt April and Corban until Daddy could pick him up and headed out on a Friday morning. Most of our afternoon was spent at Nordstrom, of course, but we also enjoyed exploring a few other stores not in Memphis.

Lacey had a great time cozied up next to Miss Prada, Miss Tory Burch and Mr. Jimmy Choo. ;)

So fun to be silly and enjoy my girl!

Auntie Annie (known as "T" to Luke, short for Auntie)

with Miss Lacey

Ready to shop!

We had a yummy dinner at CPK, another great place NOT in Memphis, then headed to our hotel. It killed me that we were in Nashville the SAME week as the CMAs and yet not there for the actual show or to see any of the country artists. One year I will be!

I have no pics of our stop at Trader Joe's the next morning, but we filled 2 carts full of yummy TJ's sweet and savory goodness.

It was a fantastic trip and we hope to have another one before too long!

2011-11-13T20:16:00.000-08:00

Fall Fun 2011

Our trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Lacey stayed snuggled in the Moby Wrap through the hay ride and while Luke ran around the pumpkins and rode the train. She is my cuddle bug. Luke is my crazy boy.

Luke decided he wanted to climb this tree in our backyard. Off to a good start. Unfortunately (or fortunately for Mommy) he won't make it much higher any time soon.

The Roller Racer, second generation!!

He LOVES it!

We went to the Zoo with April, Corban and Eden. The boys were being silly with the pumpkins and kept dropping them. We had to hurry to get the pictures we wanted before one of those pumpkins actually broke open when dropped. I guess this is what being a mom of a boy is all about.

Super yummy homemade chocolate and toasted almond covered caramel apples! A Fall tradition for Annie and I. This one was for Luke's teacher.

Luke's Pumpkin Party!

Reading a Pumpkin poem and talking about pumpkins.

Snack time!

Mommy and Lacey came to read a Pumpkin story to his little class and help with the craft.

Halloween 2011

Luke was an awesome looking firefighter! He carried an axe, small fire extinguisher, and walkie talkie in his pocket that he called his hockey tockey. We did trunk or treat at our church the night before Halloween where our church hosted 800-1000 people. We only hit a few houses on Halloween night of people we knew. Lacey looked adorable in her little Halloween tutu dress. :)

Luke had so much fun with his cousins at trunk or treat! They made a great magician and Buzz Lightyear!

Our front door all ready for trick-or-treaters!

Playing outside is one of Luke's favorite things, especially with the crunchy leaves on the ground to run through!

Luke and his weed eater.

Okay, Mommy, I'm cold now.

We are so looking forward to enjoying the holidays with TWO kiddos!

2011-11-13T17:32:00.000-08:00

2 Months Old!

Baby Lacey is 2 months old! I finally feel like I am really getting my feet under me. The first 6 weeks were tough, balancing a toddler and a newborn on little sleep. Thank God for my mom who conveniently lives next door. Allen has so many evening and weekend events that her help has been quite valuable.

I love how babies really start to develop their own little look around 2-3 months. It's a good thing we find her so adorable because this girl is a fussy one! She hates to be put down, wants to be held all the time. She has a sit time in the bouncy seat of maybe 2 minutes, with the exception of the 45-ish minute stretch she goes back to sleep in the morning that I use to take a shower and get ready for the day. Lacey does love her swing, though, and will usually take a good 3 hour nap in the swing either morning or afternoon. Don't mistake that statement to indicate she likes to be in the swing at any time; she will sleep in it when she is very tired. She will not idle away awake time in the swing. I have recently started to let her play on her back under her play gym and she actually likes that for sometimes even up to, like, 7 minutes. Car rides are a no go, too. Both she and Luke were not fans of the infant seat. All that to say that the girl is held much of the day. I have gotten very good at doing things with one hand, and rush to get my list of to-dos done during her naps.

The fussy days are not that terrible, though. The worst is her colicky evenings. Although it seems to be improving now that she is 10 weeks old as I write this, from the day she turned 4 weeks she began to scream every night from about 6 or 7 pm to 11 pm. And I do mean scream. I have massaged her tummy, changed her diaper frequently (she does not at all like a wet or dirty diaper), used gas drops, gripe water, etc. My pediatrician suggested we give her Tylenol, too. He said it was hormone related, that she was born with the hormone level of an adult female since she was connected to me, and the first 3-4 months all babies go through a process of stabilizing to their own hormone levels. Heaven help us if this is any sign of the teenage hormonal years to come! But like I said, at 10 weeks she seems to be improving. Since her napping and other needs are beginning to develop a pattern, I have started a regular bedtime routine with her that seems to have helped with the colic. She gets a bath, which she loves, then jammies, swaddle her up, nurse her, and she goes to sleep. Of course she wakes up 10 minutes later, but her fussy time is not as severe the remainder of the evening and she does seem to be improving every night (though I hold my breath as I write this to see what tonight will bring!).

Miss Lacey is healthy, though, and we praise God for that. She also sleeps SO much better than Luke did at night. Once she goes down at 11 pm, she often sleeps until 5 or 6 am (probably because all that crying wears her out!). The last few nights she has been going down a little earlier and waking about 4 am, but then not again until about 7-7:30 am.

Her 2 month stats:

Weighs 11 lbs, 11 oz (75th percentile), is 22.5 inches long (50th percentile), and has head circumference of 38 cm (25th percentile). Both her head and her feet are on the smaller side.
Wears size 1 diapers
Wears size 0-3 month and 3 month clothes
Began to social smile the day she turned 6 weeks
Began cooing the day she turned 7 weeks
Kicks her legs and flails her arms around quite a bit, can wiggle her arms out of a tight swaddle

Here is our 2 month car seat picture for size updates.

Adorable in her Halloween tutu dress!

Sweet smiles!

Another cute tutu dress! I do love dressing a girl!

Under her play gym.

She looks so much like Luke at this age!

You'd think she was out for good in this one....but, nope. Just one of her 10 minute catnaps.

Luke has been so sweet and gentle with her. I really am proud of him. He's still a little boy, though, and likes to stop right in front her swing when she sleeps and share his loudest toy on purpose. He gets a time out because he knows not to do this, but I am pretty sure he thinks it's worth it. Oh, the sibling rivalry to come!

2011-11-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

Lacey's Newborn Photos

Our regular photographer was in early stages of pregnancy and very sick and so Allen decided to do Lacey's newborn photos himself in order to ensure we actually got her in the newborn stage. He did an awesome job! Both his photography and his video skills have gotten quite good! (I'll have to post Harding Academy's commercial one of these days.)

Our Precious Girl

LOVE this little bundle of sweetness!

2011-10-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

One Month Old!

Our little one is already one month old! The first month has been a bit of a blur due to sleep deprivation and we are so glad to have helping hands close by this time around. Lacey is a good baby, eating and sleeping as a newborn should. I had bragged a little too much about her 3-4 hour stretches of sleep the first couple weeks, so she decided to change that up for me and go into standard newborn 2 hour stretches for a while. We're just hoping this one turns into a better sleeper than Luke was.

Here is her 1 month update:

Weighs 9 lbs, 3 oz, 21 in. She was 6 lbs, 14 oz, 19.5 in at birth and 7 lbs, 8 oz, 20 in at 2 weeks, so quite a bit of growth!
Wears some newborn sizes and graduating into 0-3 mo sizes
Wore newborn diapers until a couple days after she turned 1 month and we got our first diaper leaks. Moved up to Size 1.
Lost her cord at 3 weeks, 2 days.
Has cried with real tears from the beginning :(
Could lift and turn her head from side to side at 2 weeks old.
Rolled from her back to her side around the one month mark.
Lots of smiles and little giggles, but still involuntary. Excited for those social smiles to begin over the next month!

Only a few days old and newborn sleepers were still too big!

The picture on top is Luke, the one below is Lacey.

She is looking more and more like him.

The carseat offers a good way to show her growth as the months go by.

Here she is at 1 month!

We did not plan to take Lacey to church until she was 1 month old, but our church happened to be having the baby blessing when she was 2 weeks old, so we came just for the blessing, then left.

All the family was invited from both sides, so I thought we'd have a little brunch reception after church. Nothing too extravagant since I was still a zombie from lack of sleep, but it was fun to get the family together.

Lacey's first day to church, wearing the same dress I wore my first time to church.

Allen has really honed his photography skills and captured some great newborn photos. I'll add those in a separate post.

Life with a toddler and a newborn is a definite adjustment. Luke is very good with her, likes to give hugs and kisses and talk to her. He also wants his attention, though, and I think that's the hardest part because it seems like I am always holding/feeding/changing/pacifying Lacey. I have to plan out times to sit down and play just with Luke when someone else can tend to Lacey. He's a great sport about it most of the time. Maybe that's an advantage of a slightly older big brother. (Not that I don't know how quickly that can change!)

Looking forward to the upcoming months to see how little Lacey grows into her own "look" and also for her to start sleeping through the night! This mama can't wait to sleep again!

2011-09-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome Miss Lacey Elizabeth

Labor Day will forever mean something different for our family. I had a feeling labor had started the night before because I was having some lower back pain, which is how Luke's labor began. Early the next morning, around 4 am, contractions started. By 5 am, they were about 15 minutes apart, so I got up and put my stuff in the car, waiting for them to get closer together. They did not get any closer, so I decided to do some laundry, vacuum, sweep and mop the floor, etc. About 10 am, contractions seemed to stop altogether, only coming about once or twice an hour. However, about 1:30 pm they came back with a vengeance. By 2 pm they were getting too intense to handle at home, and about 7 minutes apart, so we headed to the hospital while my mom stayed with Luke. I was surprised my water did not break on its own this time. By the time we got to the hospital at 3 pm, contractions were intense and about 2-3 minutes apart. I was at 6 cm and fully effaced. Two hours later (and only 9 minutes of pushing), our little girl was here!

Lacey Elizabeth Gillespie

Born 9-5-11, 5:08 pm

6 lbs, 13.7 oz, 19.5 inches

The grandparents were eagerly awaiting their chance to meet Miss Lacey and enjoyed some cuddle time with the newest grandchild.

My mom brought Luke with her and we greeted him with some presents from new sister Lacey to make sure he felt special.

Lacey's name was one that came to me before I was even pregnant, but not because I was ever considering naming my child that name. However, throughout the entire pregnancy, it was the only name in my head. Nothing else seemed right. I decided that if this was going to possibly be her name, I wanted to research its meaning. I knew it could mean "lace" but another meaning is "delicate fabric". As soon as I read that, I knew this was her name. I did not know I was pregnant because she was a little surprise. "Delicate fabric" immediately made me think of Psalm 139 and the Lord "knitting [her] together in my womb" before I even knew she was there. Psalm 139 has always been special to me and it was like God told me this was to be her name. Elizabeth is my middle name and I have always loved it. Since Luke has Allen's middle name, we did the same with Lacey and she got mine.

I worked with an Etsy designer to make a wall decal with a portion of Psalm 139 for her room.

As soon as we learned it was a girl, I knew I wanted to go with a shabby chic room theme. Here are some more pictures of her precious room:

We are overjoyed at the arrival of our daughter and are celebrating life as a family of 4! I'll share more about life with two kiddos in her 1 month post due soon. :)

2011-09-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

Waiting for Baby.....

I was blessed to get a couple of showers to celebrate our sweet girl. My office gave me a surprise shower (which I sort of figured out!) and some sweet friends from church also gave me a shower. The pics I have from my office shower were sent to me in PDFs, so I'll just share some of the church shower pics.

With the hostesses

And we did a maternity shoot at 36 weeks.

I have been blessed to have 2 fairly easy pregnancies.

Praising God for healthy mama and healthy babies!

2011-09-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

2 and 1/2!

I have been remiss in keeping up with Luke's blog posts, but certainly could not let the 2 and 1/2 milestone go by without acknowledgement! I didn't see a huge difference when Luke turned 2, but in the months since there has been so much growth! Physically, he probably grew another inch, weighs about 33 lbs, and his shoe size increased to 10. He wears size 5 diapers, size 6 overnights. Shirts are 3T, soon to be 4T, and shorts/pants are 2T. The kid is TALL. He has the stature of a 3 to 3.5 year old and is often mistaken for an older child.

A lot of his friends are potty training, but we had been waiting until Lacey was born before we began. Everything I have read and all I have heard points to regression once a sibling comes along, so I figured I'd just wait and start fresh once she's here. Plus, our Pediatrician is big on not pushing potty training at all. Now that Lacey's here and we're adjusting, potty training will be right around the corner. I'm not looking forward to it; hopefully it goes better than expected.

Luke remains obsessed with firetrucks. He watches a show on the Sprout channel called Fireman Sam, a silly little computed animated/claymation show about a firefighter that he loves. In fact, a few weeks ago when I was putting Lacey's bedding in her crib, he was climbing on the crib and would call out, "Help, I'm stuck! Call Fireman Sam!" Too funny. He also turns anything and everything into either a fire hose or a fire pole. The latest fire hoses have been Daddy's ties, but he can make just about anything into a fire hose. Mommy's arm is another one he likes to use. As for the fire poles-- mommy's and daddy's legs (which he will literally slide down), furniture legs, the edge of his bed, anything he thinks he can slide down becomes a fire pole.

One of his other obsessions relates to all things yard-related: lawn mowing, weed-eating, leaf blowing, trimming hedges, etc. Everywhere we go he keeps a lookout for landscaping trucks that might have several yard tools in the back or for anyone out doing yard work. My mom just found him a "leas blowder" (his words) yesterday and it was the first thing he wanted when he got up in the morning and the first thing he went for after his nap. He now has a full collection of toy versions of all yard tools.

His favorite TV shows include Barney, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Caillou, Fireman Sam and Little Einsteins.

He has started singing frequently! He started singing much later, but the story was similar with his language skills. He vocabulary just exploded one day and similarly, he started singing all of a sudden. A lot of the songs he sings are the ones he and Daddy sing together or the ones he hears almost every day on the shows he likes. He's also very particular about what we listen to in the car, typically requesting nothing but "Luke's songs", a few kid CDs we keep in the changer in my car.

Luke is a rough and tumble boy! He's loud, aggressive, busy, and fearless. He loves to wrestle and play chase. The classes we recently did together at The Little Gym were great. He could run and jump on/off of everything. I stopped for now because I wasn't sure what I could handle with a newborn, but we'll likely begin again at some point in the near future. This kid needs an outlet!

Pretending is one of his favorite games, which shows good cognititive development. He talks to himself when he pretends, whether it's cooking at his little kitchen or helping one of his little people into/out of the firetruck ("You ok, Man?" "Come on, Man, let's go!") and loves to make whatever noises are associated with the toy. He has a good grasp on his colors, shapes, opposites (big vs little/small, tall vs short, in vs out, near vs far, etc. etc.) can count to 14, and even count backwards from 10. Some of these skills he will not perform on demand, but at random times, confirming he does know a LOT. Luke has learned a ton from school and from some of his educational shows.

He's also one of the most social kids I know and LOVES to be the center of attention. With Allen as his daddy, that's no shock to anyone. He'll work to get your attention if he doesn't have it already. :)

Life with all toddlers is tough, but Luke gives us a run for our money, that's for sure. He's stubborn and defiant, opinionated and willful. Conversely, he is happy and well-adjusted and loves to give/get hugs and kisses. His school report has good news just about every day he's there with few exceptions.

The plan for now is for him to continue attending Highland Day School, the nursery school at our church, 2 days/week from 9am -2pm. We were thinking to start him at Harding this year, but decided that the addition of a new baby was already going to throw him for a loop and, since he has trouble with change, at least for this semester we should keep his school the same.

Here are some pictures from the start of the new school year:

And here are some pics of Luke's big boy room. We went with a transportation theme.

GranPa re-finished Mommy's old dresser for him and made tires for the little drawer pulls. Super cute.

He loves to pretend like he's going to work or coming home from work. He usually grabs whatever bag is nearby and tells us he's off. On this day, Auntie Annie was over and her keys and purse worked perfectly for his escape to work on his ABC train. Hysterical, this boy!

WE LOVE OUR 2.5 YEAR OLD!!!

2011-08-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

Late Spring/Summer 2011

Our Spring and Summer has been busy, but what's new, right?! We've been in our new home for a good couple months, but this post starts at the old house.

Luke LOVES to be outside, which has become increasingly tougher as the heat has intensified. The Spring was wonderful, though, and we took advantage of it.

Watching the frog we found. Can you find the jumping blur?

(Obviously not using the better camera on this day.)

Grammie bought him a lawn mower and he has mowed up and down, up and down, day after day...

Hanging with Auntie in the hammock.

On the rainy days, we have to bring the activities indoors. A favorite pastime is racing around the kitchen/living room on his little plasmacar. Notice the cupholder he created. Smart boy!

Daddy bought a slip-n-slide for the new house and Luke had a blast playing in the water.

We also started him in swim lessons this summer. He did a few Saturdays with Daddy in a parent/tot class at our YMCA.

Then Luke and Mommy did another parent-tot class through private group lessons. Luke did very well and took to the water with little fear, much like everything else. Between both classes, he learned to blow bubbles in the water, to go underwater, swim on a kickboard, swim on a noodle, kick his legs, use his "ice cream scoops" (arms) to paddle, jump off on the side, and climb out of the pool, among other things. Can't wait for next summer's classes when he really starts to learn more!

And yes, there's a bit of a baby bump in the last pic. :)

The boy still LOVES to cook and uses his own little kitchen regularly.

Helping Mommy make pancakes in the morning.

Back to playing outside.

I was going to get him a sandbox, but haven't gotten around to it. This is the makeshift one Grammie made for him. It was great, just needs to be a bit bigger to keep the sand inside the box most of the time.

He did get a super cool pirate ship water table, though, with a cannon that he calls his "telescope". He told my mom one day that he was using it to "see far". Smart boy, good imagination!

Some serious bike riding.

We are still working on the concept of pedaling. He'll try it for a minute, then go back to moving his bike with his feet. A big boy bike just might be on his Christmas list....

And, of course, life here in the South would not be complete for the Gillespie family if Luke was not a lover of Chick-fil-A. Lucky for us, he is. He told Grammie when they were out the other day that he needed some chicken-fil-a with chick fries and nemnade (lemonade).

He has also become quite the little helper, obsessed with tools.

Helping Daddy put his water table together. He and his drill have been super helpers with all the little projects we've had moving into a new home, as you might imagine.

The kid is totally taken with lawnmowers/weedeaters/leaf blowers. He watches them on YouTube, and flips when he sees them in real life. So obviously there is no chance of Daddy doing yard work alone.

Our latest little fun time has been at The Little Gym. We have been going on Friday mornings when I could run over from work for an hour to do the parent-tot class with him. Given his love of rough-and-tumble boy things and his lack of fear, it was a great choice.

As I said before, it's been a busy summer! Between the move, the general settling-in with a new home, and preparations for a new baby, I'm looking forward to maternity leave and finally having some down time. And oh yeah, Allen and I celebrate our 10 year anniversary in a couple weeks! What an adventure we've been on!

2011-06-09T19:21:00.000-07:00

The latest.

I haven't shared much since we announced baby #2. Life has been insane, in a word. We are so blessed that this little girl (that's right, I said GIRL!) is healthy and all is going well because the rest of life has been a whirlwind. Maybe it just seems that way when you work full time and have the pregnancy exhaustion to add to caring for a crazy toddler as well. There are so many days where I feel like I must be the world's busiest woman. Of course that can't be true, there must be someone who's got me beat somewhere....

And then to add to it, we moved. Recall my post from a year ago where I documented our move from CA and how much I hate moving. Same feelings. We are excited to have planted down in the same neighborhood where we were renting, and to score a new construction home with one for mom next door. Yep, next door. It's actually working out really well. We fenced in one big backyard between the 2 houses for the kids to roam. We're no longer right on the lake, but still enjoy the neighborhood nonetheless. I refuse to post pics until we get settled, though, and at this rate, it will be a couple months before I'm ready for that. Sigh....

But, we are super excited for baby girl! We recently bought our double stroller (Baby Jogger City Select) and a new diaper bag (another Ju-Ju-Be, which I love), making the arrival of #2 seem more real. Her room is full of baby junk and no where near ready, but I love looking in there as I go into Luke's room and imagining her in there very soon!

Life is so busy, but full of blessings, and I try to remind myself of that as often as I can.

2011-06-09T18:53:00.000-07:00

Easter 2011

This was our first Easter in Memphis, and the first Easter we would have more family with which to enjoy the day and celebrate Christ. It was a fun weekend filled with Easter egg hunts, yummy food, and celebration.

On Saturday our church hosted an Easter egg hunt for the community. Several of the FIT families (Families in Transition, homeless women and their children, an Agape program) were transported in to enjoy with us. Volunteer families were partnered with a FIT mom and her kids of similar ages to their own. It was a great way to engage with the moms and kids. We were partnered with Denise who had 2 little ones ages 2 and barely 1.

The church hid over 1,000 eggs because we expected a large crowd. There were sections by age, and the little kids were too funny. Parents were supposed to help them only collect so many, then sit down in the grass to ensure others had the same amount before getting the go ahead to get more. I couldn't get Luke to stop! For the first time I started seeing a competitive little one in him. Hmm...might be another trait like his mama...

Here are some pictures from Saturday:

Check out the serious face. "Did I miss one?"

Stealing from his friend, Peyton.

"Let me go, Mom! I see more!"

The Easter Bunny left a little basket for Luke early Sunday morning. Funny that our Easter Bunny likes to leave toys, books, and goodies like bunny grahams and yogurt drops vs chocolate and candy. Mommy and the Easter Bunny have an understanding. ;)

Quick family pic, then off to church!

A few of Annie's friends live in the area with no family, so we decided to host an Easter lunch at our house for all to join, including Allen's sister and her family.

Some of the goodies. Yum!

One of the tables.

After lunch, Luke and his cousins headed to our backyard for another egg hunt.

Corbin was a pro.

Who saw it first?!

Luke took a break to reenact the triumphal entry. :)

But then it was back to business!

Caden showing off the money he found hidden in an egg!

Silly boys.

It was a busy, blessed and fun-filled weekend.

He is risen!

2011-03-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

Baby News!

That's right! We are expecting baby #2! Official due date is September 12th, but Luke was 2 1/2 weeks early, so I am reserving all of early to mid September as possible D-Dates.

The first trimester was tough. I work full time with a demanding job but didn't want my boss to know (he'll actually find out later this week). I have a toddler who expects my complete attention the minute I get home, and I was sick-- the kind of sick where you think throwing up might make it better, but then you never do. Ugh. Praise God I am on to the second trimester! For some reason when I think back to my pregnancy with Luke, I recall loving everything about pregnancy, probably because the majority of it was so easy for me. It all came rushing back to me though: those first yucky months, counting the days until I (hopefully) would turn a corner. I'm in much better shape now and ready to embrace the rest of it.

We'll find out boy or girl around Easter, so stay tuned!

2011-03-05T19:20:00.000-08:00

Luke's 2 Year Update

Have we really arrived at TWO years old? Wow! We are learning just truly how much vigilance parenting requires with a toddler. You can't relax for a minute. It seems every one is a teachable moment and we have one spunky, willful kid. But I must say, he is FUN kid. He's the one everyone wants to play with in the nursery at church and at school. He loves to be silly and the center of attention and has already mastered the idea of class clown. Sounds like a Gillespie. :)

Our 2 year updates:

Weight 30 lbs, 4 oz, 75th percentile.
Height 36 inches, 90th percentile. Our Ped said that since he has been in the 90th % since 18 months he will likely be 6'1 or 6'2. Wow! I have mixed feelings about this because it makes me fast forward to a grown-up Luke, and I am not at all ready for that!
Wears size 5 diapers, 24 month-2T pants, 2T-3T shirts
Talks in 2, 3 and 4 word phrases and sentences
Has a great sense of humor and loves to be silly and laugh. Laughs out loud at things he finds funny on TV or computer.
Sleeps under a crib tent. He started trying to climb out of his crib at 22 months (way later than I expected) and would get nervous at the top and basically get stuck, then scream for mom and dad. Rather than risk him falling from that perch and breaking an arm, enter the crib tent. He was unsure at first, but he quickly grew to love his little tent bed.
Will often ask to go to bed for a nap or bedtime. He's a lot like I was as a toddler in that way.
Is beginning to understand and accept deductive reasoning like first...then... I use this a lot with food, "First, 3 more bites, then you can play."
Is the pickiest, most difficult child to feed that I know. Seriously, it kills me. And he would rather not eat than eat something he doesn't like, except that he then gets grouchy. This is going to be a LONG battle of wills, I know. Thankfully, some of his favorites include most fruit, hummus and pretzels, Annie's organic mac and cheese, peanut butter, eggs, oatmeal, etc. However, he has also discovered more of the sweets world than I would like, and the kid has his daddy's sweet tooth. He loves ice cream, cookies, cake, and chocolate. A good deal of our "first...,then..." has to do with lunch or dinner before any sweets.

With his growing independence, I wanted him to have a little table all his own. I love this one and he does, too. He eats most of his meals at it.

We went to Barney Live the weekend of his birthday and this failed to make the birthday post. It was so much fun to watch him register the fact that Barney existed outside of TV. He loved it, but wasn't quite ready to sit still through the entire show. We took a few breaks to explore the lobby.

The iPhone and iTouch have become our lifesavers. I didn't want to be one of those parents whose kid was always glued to a TV/DVD screen, but seriously, there are times and places where this is such a must for us.

Showing off some of his silliness. I let him "cook" some Cherrios in a mixing bowl with measuring cups and a big spoon to keep him occupied while I cooked, and he now refuses to eat Cheerios in any other bowl. He also demands his measuring cups and a big spoon.

See, showing off his big spoon. Crazy kid.

I may not post Luke updates quite as regularly as we launch into year THREE, but I will definitely continue to share the fun times in our lives as they come and go. This blog is as much a journal for me as it is for those of you family and friends who enjoy keeping up with us!

2011-02-19T19:24:00.000-08:00

2 Years Old!

Luke has been obsessed with firetrucks ever since one came to his school in the Fall. I decided a few months back that it would make a great second birthday theme. This year's party was just a little family get-together, but since we now live close to so much extended family, it was a great little celebration.

I made this 3D firetruck cake for something fun. Not my best work, but Luke liked it and it was fine for a 2 year old's party.

We met April, Brett, the boys and Nanna at the local fire station for a tour. The firemen were very nice and gave the boys hats and badges to wear. We all thought the trucks were pretty cool and were amazed by how gigantic a couple of them truly are. We were dwarfed next to them.

The hose was heavy! Luke and Corban gave Caden a hand with it.

These are some BIG boots, Mom!

From the fire station, we headed back to the Gillespie Fire House where the boys colored in firetruck coloring books and watched Elmo Visits the Fire House while lunch finished cooking.

The boys had macaroni and cheese while the adults had 2-alarm chili and cornbread.

They thought their firetruck sippers were so cool!

Cake time! Luke tried to blow out candles on his own with very small breath, so he got a little help. :)

It's best if you really get your face down into it so you don't miss anything...

Daddy helped open presents.

Allen calls this shot "The After Party".

We had a GREAT time and were so thrilled to spend a birthday with Allen's side of the family since that was not possible last year.

On to Year 3!

2011-01-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

Our Winter Wonderland

We were warned last weekend that a storm was coming, one that would likely bring snow, but we'd had dustings of snow previously this year and so didn't expect too much. We awoke to this view outside our kitchen window Monday morning. Needless to say, school and work were closed!

Doesn't Luke look like the kid from A Christmas Story who can't put his arms down? Cracked us up.

We headed over to a side of the lake that has this huge hill. I think our entire neighborhood was there, too, there were so many people. Everyone was so giddy and excited to be out of school and work. It does snow in Memphis, but not like this very often, so it was a big deal.

Mommy and Luke getting ready to head down the hill! Just in case, I bought Luke some snow pants Sunday afternoon because he had nothing else to wear if it did snow. So glad I did! Should have bought myself some snow boots while I was at it...

Of course Annie was in on the fun, too!

Luke was beside himself over the snow. He loved it. Loved throwing it, stomping through it, eating it, loved it. He cried when I made him go inside and take off the snow bib. He tried to put it back on himself.

And here are the red cheeks warming up inside!

I wonder if we'll get another snow fall this year? Maybe not quite like this. How cool it is after so many years in CA to live in a place where it actually snows at your house and they cancel school/work because of it! May not be a big deal to some, but we loved it!

2011-01-14T19:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010

This year marked our very first Christmas without any kind of travel. In fact, Katie and Chad actually flew out here to be with us. It was awesome and so much less stressed. With a house full of family, our mantel was full of stockings!

Daddy's, Mommy's & Luke's

I love our Christmas Eve tradition: we have BBQ ribs and all the fixins. It started back when my family lived in Memphis years ago. There was a storm one Christmas Eve that knocked out the power and so we went looking for a place to eat dinner. Memphis BBQ it was and it stuck. I don't recall the year that started, but it has been kept up at least 20 years. Of course the BBQ was hit and miss in CA, mostly Tony Roma's, etc., but we did our best!

Luke is not one to make it through an entire meal, so to keep him occupied while we finished licking our fingers, he got to open a present early. I picked the right one. He opened this electric toy drill from Grammie and was drilling things all night. I seriously thought we'd be replacing the batteries the next day.

Christmas Eve and all ready!

This kitchen is awesome. If you have kept up with my blog posts, you know Luke loves to cook, whether real or pretend. I found this great kitchen that was not full of girly colors and knew he'd love it. The appliances have buttons that make noises as they "run" and it has under cabinet lighting. Super cool! Allen lovingly put this together, so excited to get to do so for our boy!

An assortment of homemade cookies left for Santa!

Christmas morning I made the mistake of showing him the kitchen first. It didn't matter that he had other presents to open. He was not interested in anything else after that.

But then this firetruck captured his attention.

At about 9:30 we made out way over to Allen's parents' house where April, Brett and their boys met us. It was great fun to be all together for the first Christmas with kids. Brett and April were missionaries in Africa and so had not been state-side for Christmas in a few years. Nanna and Grandpa spoiled the boys and really fixed them up!

Apparently Luke liked Corban's guitar and wanted it for himself...yes, we are becoming more and more of a 2 year old...

Playing outside with Uncle Brett. Isn't Luke just getting so big?!

Christmas #3 at Allen's Aunt and Uncle's house where the entire extended Gillespie family got together for Christmas dinner. Luke loved rides from Grandpa on this little, old, wooden tractor.

Allen comes from a very musical and talented family. Me, not so much. They enjoyed singing Christmas Carols after dinner. I say "they" because we had to leave right about then. If you've ever spent extended amounts of time chasing a toddler in someone else's home, you know it's exhausting. You are constantly afraid they are going to break something or cause some kind of disaster. Luke is Mr. Energy and Mr. Curiosity which = exhausting combination for Mom and Dad.

Luke sporting his new fire fighter rain boots.

We were blessed to get to spend time with Granny Dot and Grand Dad who came to visit from Texas.

Granny Dot contributed to one of Luke's best presents. I asked Rick (Allen's dad) to make Luke a step stool for his bathroom since we regularly brush teeth, etc these days. I wanted one just like the Pottery Barn Kids one, without the price. :) He's an awesome woodworker, and made a perfect match to PBK. I had picked out the green paint, but to my surprise when we received it on Christmas, it was already personalized! Granny Dot is the family artist and she was in cahoots with Rick to paint this monkey on the stool to match his monkey-themed bathroom. How adorable is that?!

Luke is obsessed with our laptops and thinks they are mostly for him to watch all sorts of different things on YouTube. My sister, Katie, got him My Own Laptop, which is just for him. So here he is, chilling with his computer games.

Ok, this thing is awesome. My Dad sent this to Luke. It's called a Plasma Car. You wiggle the steering wheel back and forth to propel the car, but since our house is full of hardwood floors, you can really just push yourself off the walls, etc and whoosh around the house. It holds something crazy like 250 lbs, so we have all been taking our turns. :)

What an amazing Christmas 2010 was for us!

Excited for the New Year!

2010-12-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

22 Months

At 22 months Luke is a precocious, but loving, little guy. He loves to test his limits and will look you right in the face, do something he knows not to do, and laugh. The child is in timeout about 20 times a day. We have a no tolerance policy for this behavior. He sits in his timeout chair until the timer goes off (30 secs) and then we talk about what he did wrong. My mom always thought I deserved a run for my money just as I gave her and I think her wish came true. Only problem with that wish is that it affects her, too, since she watches him while I work. Ha!

Here are our 22 month updates:

Weight ~30 lbs; wears size 24 mo-2T, size 8-8 1/2 shoe; size 5 diaper
Is tall! He was in the 95th percentile for height at 18 mos and has not slowed down. There is a ledge on a kitchen counter that sticks out like a breakfast bar; 6 months ago when we moved here, he cleared it easily by a good 3-4 inches. He now hits his head on it unexpectantly because he has become too tall! That's a lot of growing in 6 months.
Getting better at puzzles, matches shapes and colors
Can count to 3, but loves counting everything "one, two" and pointing out any time he sees two of something-- "oh, two!"
Loves the letter B. Not quite sure why.
Talks constantly. Speaks in phrases and very short sentences. Has a word for most things, but does not always choose to use it. For instance, he can say "thank you" and uses it when he really wants something, "cookie, pease? ank you." but only when he wants to use it. He has started adding "Ma" to the end of his questions to me: "more, Ma?" "Book, Ma?" "Fi-truck, Ma?". Also often calls for "Mama!" to come get him from his crib in the morning when he wakes up vs crying.
Has become more interested in books and actually sits with Mommy to read them, but still prefers his picture books vs a full story. He loves to point out the pictures and tell me what they are and what noise they make.
Loves animals and trucks and wants to see them in books, on DVDs and especially on YouTube. He brings the laptop to you and says, "truck? truck?" and we navigate from trucks to lions roaring to cows mooing back to firetrucks, etc. The boy is especially obsessed with firetrucks. There are a couple places on our way to nursery school or church where he knows he will see trucks or school buses and he looks for them each time, knowing they will be there. It amazes me that he knows our driving route!
LOVES to help cook and pretend to cook. My mom is great with him. He pushes his helper stool over to the counter, grabs a bowl and spoon and helps Grammie or Mommy cook. Sometimes he's a little more help than we might like. ;)
P-i-c-k-y eater. Drives me crazy. Even though he has the stature of an older two-year-old, he does not eat much. I try to make sure that what he does eat is healthier for that reason. However, he often refuses what is put in front of him, even when given a choice of things to eat before it's made. Sigh.... I do no intend to be a short order cook in the future, but I don't feel like I can just refuse him food now if he chooses not to eat what he's given. Something to work on....
Still LOVES Barney and has now added Caillou to the list. Can sit through most of an episode now, whereas before he had a 10 minute sitting-still limit.
Loves to play any game that involves sequencing: ready-set-go. He repeats "set, go" over and over.
Will tell me "I kay" when he falls before I can even ask him. So funny.
Is getting much closer to a true little boy walk/run vs the toddle. Sad for me. No longer climbs up the stairs on hands and knees, but walks up by holding onto the rail. Will even take a few steps holding onto nothing at all!

Here are the latest pictures:

I came home from shopping one Saturday when Daddy was babysitting and found this. Apparently he realized too late Luke had a onesie on following a diaper change and settled for snapping it outside his pajama pants.

The way he sleeps cracks me up: always up against the side of his crib, legs through the bars. He refuses covers, hates them, but it gets so cold here. I found a big kid sized sleep sack with feet holes and it has been perfect.

Playing outside on a chilly day.

He loves Grammie's snowman. It sings and dances and he thinks it's so funny.

Holding the step stool for Auntie as she puts the garland around the door.

Until he heard a firetruck and the whole world had to halt to a stop for a minute...

Tell me this face is not precious?!

We went to visit Granny recently, Allen's 95-year-old grandmother. Luke did not want to held still for a picture. There were so many cool things to touch (read: attempt to destroy).

He loved playing with Granny's phone. She didn't mind, but he kept pressing the nurse call button. Oops.

We have graduated to a booster chair. Not permanently, we still go back and forth with the highchair, but a big move!

I sold the M. Zoo as an account recently and they were telling me all about Zoo Lights, their holiday zoo attraction. We decided to check it out. It was COLD and Luke was really not happy to be both cold, tired, and restricted in a stroller. Not one of our better outings...

He wore the cute bear hat Grammie bought to support girls in India who make these hats as a means to earn income. Appropriate for the zoo, right?

Luke's nursery school program. Our first little program of his to watch! What a fun parent moment. Of course, most of his class just sat in their chairs without participating. But hey, we were so proud he sat there without running amuck instead!

Luke's Christmas Program from R.A. Gillespie on Vimeo.

I was class mom in charge of organizing the Christmas party. So cute and fun!

The cute little craft another mom prepared for the kids to make.

Play time!

Wow--our next post will be Luke's 2 year post! Can't wait!

2010-12-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving 2010

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year for 27 people-- a first for us! Most of the Gillespie family lives in the Memphis area and their long-standing tradition has always been to get together for one big Thanksgiving meal. Though typically hosted by Aunt Beverly and Uncle David, our house is well designed for entertaining and so we offered to give it a go. She was all too happy to have someone else host this year and we enjoyed getting it all together.

I love the Fall. It is my favorite time of year. This beautiful tree (1 of 2 beautiful trees, actually) made for a gorgeous front yard on Thanksgiving day.

The day before was a busy one-- decorating, folding napkins, preparing our tablescapes...

And baking! Our family loves to bake and Luke was sure to get in on the action.

He has a special helper stool with high sides so that all his "help" in the kitchen does not result in injury. This kid loves to cook and it became clear quite quickly that we needed something more secure than a simple table chair for him to stand on. Enter the helper stool. It's awesome.

Allen got a new smoker a couple months ago and had been looking forward to smoking our turkey ever since, with high hopes of getting somewhat close to our friend, Jeremy's, amazing turkey. In order to feed so many people, we had to get a 22 lb bird AND a large turkey breast. Apparently you have to smoke the turkey 1/2 hour for every pound. That meant Allen was up at 2 am the night before Thanksgiving to get the fire hot and the turkey in, checking on it every so often, and in off & on rain! What a labor of love! He did an awesome job! (JJ, you would have been proud of him!)

Break time!

And for the tables:

This table sat 10.

This table sat 8.

This one sat 5.

And this one sat 4. Whew!

The buffet begins! Allen's dad, Rick, with his mom, Granny, who is 95.

Auntie helping Luke chow down. Or in his case, pick at things until he found something he liked, and proceed to only eat that, nothing else.

This was so funny. Allen's cousins were chilling on the couch and Luke walked right up to them and sat down in between them. It was as if he was like, "hey, those are the cool guys and I'm going to be one of them."

He then proceeded to bring them a couple of his favorite books so they could all enjoy them together.

Luke caught site of Mommy with the camera and wanted his picture taken. :)

Again with Luke's crazy "cheese" face (see prior post).

It was a lot of work to host Thanksgiving for a big crowd, but fun to be with so much family!

Will we do it again next year????

2010-11-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

Laura Bush and ME!

Today was the 9th annual Methodist Healthcare Foundation's Cancer Center Luncheon. My company partners with the Methodist hospital system and was a Silver sponsor of the event. Former First Lady Laura Bush was the featured speaker. I love Laura Bush. She is so classy and poised. I was thrilled to death and giddy as a school girl to meet her. You see celebrities often in LA, so it's not like I've never seen famous people. But this was a super famous person, and one whom I respect.

My co-worker and I had not anticipated arriving early enough to attend the reception beforehand, but it turned out that we had some extra time. Our names were not on the list for the reception, so we thought it would be a long shot to get in because it was private. But I've done this before. :) It's all in your confidence. I simply told the check point that we were with C---- and named a others from our team who were there without giving a shadow of doubt that we should have been on the list, too. They let us right in. I was shocked that security was so lax. There were Secret Service everywhere, but no security line, no bag checks, etc. (I asked Secret Service about that later and they explained that the hotel had not made proper arrangements and the SS was very unhappy.) We went into this little room and there she was. Just milling about from person to person smiling, talking, taking pictures. My co-worker and I were seriously like little schoolgirls. We walked right up near her and she saw us and started talking to us and offered to take a picture with us. Laura Bush is beautiful in person. I mean really. Possible work done, maybe a little botox, but beautiful. Picture with Laura B., and my day was made. :)

As the featured speaker, she was great: funny, charming, sweet, and so NORMAL. She shared about her family, her life outside the white house and her current projects. The room was absolutely silent as she shared where she was and how she learned about the towers going down on 9/11. It was incredible to hear her describe that awful event from the perspective of the one who would command its response. She seriously seems like a completely normal woman who happens to live an extra-ordinary life.

Once in a lifetime experience possibly, and I reveled in every minute!

2010-11-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

Fall Fun 2010!

October was such a busy month for us! Here is some of our fun:

A visit to Priddy Farms pumpkin patch

Driving the tractor is so much fun!

Getting ready for the hay ride!

The little blonde head in the last train barrel is our little pumpkin!

Annie and I got to go to Carrie Underwood at the FedEx Forum!

Heading down Beale Street....

Pre-concert dinner on Beale

Billy Currington opened for Carrie.

We had awesome seats and loved the show!

This picture does not do this part justice. I actually have a video I might post instead. She gets in this truck that hangs from the ceiling and runs on a track in a big circle. It was so cool. She was literally right above and in front of us when it came our direction.

Heartlight 2010.

Agape's big fundraising dinner at Autozone Park.

Girls' night out for my mom's birthday!

Yummy dinner at The Melting Pot.

Followed by WICKED at The Orpheum! I had seen it in LA, but neither Mom nor Annie had seen it. It was a traveling show only in town for 2 weeks. Not the same cast as LA, but still amazing!

Sweet little boy playing with his ball in our backyard.

He learned to smile when they say "cheese" at school. I asked him to do "cheese" for Mommy, and he stopped to give me this face. Too funny.

We love to bake and make all sorts of yummy goodness in the fall. This is year 2 for our caramel apples. We dipped them in caramel, then chocolate, then rolled them in toasted almonds. Heavenly! This one was a gift for Luke's teacher.

Playing with the pumpkins and hay bale in our front yard. It was the first really cold day-- only about 45 degrees!

Luke has this little duck he loves to push everywhere. It plays the most annoying music as it rolls, but he loves it.

The most adorable little lion was at our house on Halloween. It was quite a feat getting him to wear his costume. He would not touch it for weeks. Allen put on his Barney Halloween DVD the day before Halloween and Luke realized the kids wore costumes. He went to get his and had Allen put it on him. To ensure continued enthusiasm and guarantee he would wear it again, we let him watch the DVD a couple times on Halloween day. :) I didn't want to push my luck, so no black nose or whiskers were added, but would have been so cute. Oh well. At least he didn't have to just wear the Halloween t-shirt I bought as a back-up in case the costume was a no-go.

Is this one my pumpkin?

Trick-or-treating at Nanna's house!

Luke loves the ducks at our lake. Every time he hears the ducks or geese he makes sure we heard them, too. He wants to visit them almost every day. We also have a couple beavers. The other day Luke and I were walking around the lake and a huge crane was standing in the water right in front of us. Although temporary, what a cool place to live for now.

Got this shot today. Beautiful (and chilly!) fall day.

Can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas in the South!

2010-10-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

20 Months Old!

On October 11th, Luke turned 20 months old. We now formally have a "2" in front of his age, even if it is still just 20 months. So it turns out that, at least with our guy, most of what you hear about the "2's" is true: tantrums, stomping feet, strong will, desire for independence and testing boundaries. Not like I didn't expect it given that Allen and I are his parents. :) But really, despite the typical behavior associated with toddlerhood, he remains a loving, happy little boy.

20 month updates:

Weighs about 28 lbs; wears 18-24 mo pants and 18-24 or 2T shirts; still in size 4 diaper (size 5 overnights)
Loves to pretend-- will "cook" and stir something in a pot, then give you the spoon to taste. Likes to sit on daddy's lap in the car and "drive" with the steering wheel.
Plays with the toy swords daddy bought him and makes the appropriate "yah" sounds as he swishes the sword around
Loves to wear grown-up shoes! He puts on any shoes left out and shuffles around with the biggest grin on his face. Mommy's Uggs are some of his favorites.
Instead of simply pointing where he wants to go, he now takes your hand and pulls you wherever it is he wants to go.
Ever increasing vocabulary with too many words to note and even a few phrases of 2-3 words, but among the new constant phrases: "shuc" (truck) and "sha" (Shelby, the name of the dog next door). A firetruck came to Luke's school a couple weeks ago and he has since become o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d with trucks, but firetrucks in particular. We made the mistake of letting him watch some on youtube, and now cannot avoid having to watch them a gazillion times a day. The boy also loves, loves, loves dogs. Shelby is the neighbor's golden retreiver and we have to visit her at least once a day through the fence. Pretty sure a family dog is in our future, but not just yet.
Started school! He goes 2 mornings a week to encourage socialization and give Grammie a little break. His teacher, Miss Jean, says that he is the only one to clean up at the end of the day!
Still doing Kindermusik and enjoying it!

Fun pictures from the last couple months:

We went to the fair over Labor Day and Luke's favorite part by far was the petting zoo.

He thought it was the craziest and funniest thing when the animals ate from his little cup of feed.

His first pony ride!

Bubbles were a fun summer obesession. We could not pass through the garage without "Bub?, Bub?"

Playing with the hose in his little wading pool or running through sprinklers were a couple more favorite summer activites.

Our little monkey swinging on the ledge of the kitchen shelf.

School days!

Loves to hang out and eat snacks with Auntie...

especially when Auntie has ice cream!!

Family outing to My Big Backyard at the Memphis Botanical Gardens! Crossing the rope bridge like a big boy!

Playing in the thunderstorm as it "rains" from the pergola.

And since he was already wet, he jumped right into the little river.

At the Memphis Heart Walk with Team "C" (I don't spell out the full name of my employer for various reasons) for the American Heart Association. Doing the pre-walk warm-up dance. :)

Allen likes this picture because he was able to capture the Memphis bridge, Mud Island, a river boat and the Pyramid (and his fam!) all in one shot. :)

Love this boy.

Happiness and sunshine.

Luke, you are turning into a little boy before our very eyes!

2010-08-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

Clarification on Allen's last post: he is not on the Harding Academy football team; he both filmed and arranged those videos. That is what he was sharing. He recently got an amazing camera, taught himself how to use it, and has become this awesome videographer in a matter of, like, a month. How talented is my husband?!

2010-08-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

Here is what Allen

has been up to

2010-08-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

ONE and a HALF!

We have a 1 1/2 year old! While a lot changes physically in the first year, it is amazing to see the growth in year 2. Luke is constantly learning, developing and growing. He has become such a fun, sweet little boy. He loves to be the center of attention and performs for company. He is also starting to test his limits and his parents' patience. Stubborn and strong-willed this one. So begins a life-long effort to smooth the edges of this will without stifling his God-given brazen personality.

I will apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I use this blog as my way to journal, so I like to get in all the details.

18 month updates:

Weight 27.3 lbs (75th percentile); height 34.5 inches (90th percentile, he is a tall boy); head circumference 50th percentile
Wears mostly 12-18 month and 18 month sizes; size 6.5-7 shoe (W or XW)
Still in a size 4 diaper (finally able to move away from the organic diapers, allergy cured!); size 5 overnight diapers
Has several words, but must say "uh-oh" and "no" or "no-no-no-no" a million times a day. Other words include "bye" with a cute wave, "hello", "ba" (bath), "bar" (Barney), "buh" (bubbles), "doggie", "cracker" and more.
His walking skills have progressed to include the toddler run, which is adorable. Still likes to walk on his toes.
Loves songs with hand motions and, for this reason, the kid L-O-V-E-S Barney. I mean loves him. I'm talking the old Barney made in the 90s. They play several episodes a day on the Sprout channel and we have our DVR record them all so we can play them at our convenience. He still has a short attention span, so he never really watches for more then 5-10 minutes at a time, but he will bring you the remote and say "Bar" so you will turn it on for him. This happens probably 5 times a day. He is not into any other show, just Barney. He dances with the kids and even ran to get one of his hats the other day when the show featured a little segment where they all wore hats. I love that it is so educational and fun for him at the same time. The kids are little weird, but he doesn't have to know that yet.
Finally, at 16 months, he started fully sleeping through the night. By that I mean no more wakings in the 5:00 hour for milk. He was fully sleeping and waking regularly in the 6:00 hour, sometimes later.
Just got another tooth, bringing the grand total to I think maybe 5 on the bottom, and at least 10 on top. He now thinks he is invincible and can eat anything. He adores fruit and likes to put entire strawberries in his mouth. Made me nervous at first, but he chomps right away at them and, if he bit off more than he could chew (ha! pardon the pun) he will spit it out.
Regular meals include any of the following: apple sweet potato pancakes, scrambled eggs (sometimes with cheese and cauliflower puree), yogurt, carrot/zucchini muffins, applesauce, applesauce mixed with pureed veggies to sweeten the veggies a bit but still get them in him, special mac and cheese with pureed cauliflower, grilled cheese (sometimes regular, sometimes with veggie puree mixed with the cheese), peanut butter and strawberry jelly, ravioli, chicken meatballs, brown rice, spaghetti, pesto pasta, chicken burgers with spinach and aged cheddar, and sloppy joe meat with veggie puree. The kid loves sweet things and savors the rare little bites of chocolate, cookie, or ice cream. Solid veggies are still not so popular. We sneak in a few green beans when we can, but he usually won't touch veggies, thus my effors to get them in other ways. Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook has become a popular one at our house. Say what you will, but I am determined to get this kid on the right nutrition track.
Loves to play in the bath and pool. We recently got a baby pool and he splashed up a storm! As soon as I mention "bath" at the end of the day, he goes running back to his bathroom and starts pulling at his clothes. Tonight he said "on" as he pulled as his shirt. Wrong word, Buddy, but close!
Loves to push buttons, turn lights on and off. I recently got him a few Melissa and Doug puzzles with the big handles and also some that make noise to see if his love for touching everything will translate to puzzles.
Makes kissy faces and sounds and will put his lips together and lean in when you ask for a kiss. Love this! Also gives great little hugs, but only when he is not too busy.
Climbs on everything: chair, couch, ottoman, our bed, and soon (I am afraid) out of his crib. He has not yet mastered the latter. But he has been caught with one leg stuck at the top of his crib as if he was about to attempt escape, but realized his legs were too short to make it happen, and had to cry out for help.
Getting better at communicating. Still likes to point at everything and just squeal or mostly say "uh" or "dis" (this), but we're working to change this. Has a few baby signs, but has decided the "more" sign is for universal use whenever he wants anything. Makes it difficult to decipher exactly what he wants sometimes, but at least he is not just whining about wanting something (though this happens, too!).
Still attached to the paci and blankie and takes milk from a bottle. Our pediatrician told us not to worry about it. He has a large paci basket that all kids contribute to at their 2 year check-up if they still have pacis at that point. They get to exchange all their pacis for suckers. He also said it was no big deal to allow him to continue with the bottle because it ensured he still got the milk his body needs at this age.
Loves to play in mommy's stuff: purse, make-up (and writes all over his face with my eyeliner), shoes, etc. Everything is fun and fascinating to him. He also loves to put bags and purses on his arm and walk around. We know he has excellent fine motor skills because he easily unscrews the lids on my moisturizer jars and can put the mascara wand back in the tube with little effort. I know all this sounds like questionable behavior, but come on, he's a baby, and a curious one at that! He would also go to town in daddy's stuff if only he could get his hands on that camera bag....

Recent pictures:

Luke LOVES to play with my old pots/pans and mixing bowls that I have set aside just for him. He will pretend to pour things in the bowls, then stir them. The other day he put his blankie in a bowl and stirred it around with his spoon. He also makes what my mom calls "potions" with his food by pouring one thing into another, then stirring and mixing, but never eating. Hmm...

The kid is so silly. He loves to climb into an empty laundry basket or even fill it with random things and push it all around the floor.

The crazy boy also thinks it is hilarious to walk around with this bucket on his head!

And to push Grammie's vacuum around the room. He seriously did laps with it! It was hysterical!

The child loves to play outside. I recently bought him this little push trike that he loves. The long handle comes off so that Luke can ride it later as a real trike, and mommy and daddy won't have to look like such dorks pushing him around. The things we do for a happy boy!

He was playing on the hammock and then...flipped out and hit his head on the metal bar below. I even had my hand on him the entire time! He screamed, of course, and Allen ran to get some ice cream to both attempt to calm him down and also allow us to better assess the injury. We called the pediatrician (who has awesome after hours services!) and were just advised to keep ice on it. His first black eye! :(

We tried to get the black eye on camera, but it went away quickly. Pic below was a day or 2 later.

We decided that the only way Mommy and Daddy could play with the boy outside was if there was a way to cool down. Allen found this fun baby pool at Target. Luke loves the water slide and the sprinkler that comes out of the elephant trunk.

Intently watching Barney while cuddling with his puppy.

Granny Dot and Grand Dad wanted to take the grandboys to Chuck E Cheese when they were here for a visit. Luke had a ball.

With Aunt April and Nanna.

How precious is this? He loves to talk on the phone, and even uses hand gestures! Just today he brought Grammie the phone and said "Ma-Ma", so they called me. I love talking to him during the work day!

His silly face.

His "aren't I cute?" face.

His sweet face.

The kid is non-stop action, so we recently enrolled him in Kindermusik. We definitely had the ADD child in the bunch, but he was also the youngest (18 mos - 3 yrs), so that was part of it. The class encourages children to just be kids and have fun, so his running amuck was fine.

Here he is jumping high!

And this would be his "look at me, everybody!" pose.

In order to encourage socialization, we are looking to enroll Luke in a little Mother's Day Out program a couple days a week starting in September. I got him the cutest little backpack and lunch box for "school" and can't wait to put up pictures for our next post!

We continued to feel beyond blessed by God's goodness in entrusting this sweet package to us.

It brings us such joy to watch him grow.

2010-08-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

A few pictures to add

Luke at Harding Academy Pep Rally

HDR photo of the lake behind our house.

2010-08-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Enjoy Luke's new video
share it with a friend who needs a smile

Sit still from R.A. Gillespie on Vimeo.

2010-08-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

A few more photos

2010-08-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

~Our New Home~

We have moved across the country now 3 times: from CA to TX, TX back to CA, and now CA to TN. I hate moving. I hate packing. I hate unpacking. I hate how long it takes for a new place to feel like home, and I hate leaving behind cherished friendships.

This move was a little different. Not because I enjoyed packing this time; in fact, I was worthless. Totally worthless. I seriously wandered from room to room trying to figure out what to do, but then wouldn't do anything. Part of the problem was that my packing skills were not up to par for a cross-country moved. I can pack for a cross-town move, but don't do so well when it comes to bullet proofing our stuff to ensure a safe (and whole) arrival. Thank God for Allen. He basically packed our entire house single-handedly while I did my room to room wandering. I did handle all the service cancellations, mail forwarding, address changes, etc. and that was a lot of work. So it's not like I did nothing. This move was stressful, but it was different; this time we were headed to our "promised land".

Our promised land turns out to be one of amazing thunderstorms, suffocating heat, comfort food, and sweet Southern people. Although it boasts no Trader Joe's (sniff, sniff), I do love how affordable everything is: housing, gas, groceries, etc. And, best of all, we are close to family. Much of Allen's extended family is in Memphis including his parents, sis and bro-in-law and their boys. If that weren't awesome enough, my mom retired from teaching to move with us and take care of Luke while we work. My sister, Annie, decided she wanted to be with her family, so she moved as well! How blessed we are to have so much family so close! My other sister and her husband elected to stay in Nor-Cal. Boo. We'll lure her here, yet!

In order to accommodate everyone, we decided to rent one, big house and go commune-style until we all adjust and decide where to plant down. Rick (Allen's dad) found us a beautiful home on a lake. The view is so peaceful and we finally have a backyard (not that you want to go out there, it's so dang hot)!

Here are a few pictures of our sanctuary:

Backyard and lake, screened-in porch on the left

Jogging/biking trail around the lake

Backyard view of our abode

Canadian geese and ducks hang around the lake every day.

Clouds rollin' in...thunderstorm on the way!

We both have very busy jobs, so we feel blessed to have a peaceful home base. Allen was offered the position of Director of Advancement/Development for Harding Academy, the private school he grew up attending. Right at the same time I was trying to figure out what I was going to do, the only sales rep for my business segment in Memphis decided to stay home with her kids and a position became available. Hello? Definitely a God-thing. So I was able to transfer with "C" and transition into a role as New Business Manager.

And Luke. Well, he did have a tough time transitioning. I don't even want to talk about our plane trip out here (Think Luke and Mommy alone with stroller, car seat, and carry-ons, switching planes, and a late night arrival with a cranky baby. I shudder and move on.) He has made wonderful progress with the transition, though, as do all kids in their resiliency. I cannot say enough how grateful I am to have family caring for him-- people who will follow our "rules" while loving him like their own.

B-L-E-S-S-E-D.

While there is so much about this move that we find wonderful, we are sad to have left CA and that friends and family were left behind. Please pray for us in this continued transition, that we will adjust, that we will make dear friends again, and that we will bond with a new church family.

Let the new adventure begin!

2010-06-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

16 Months!

Another couple months has gone by and Luke is learning and growing so much so fast! These toddler months are so interesting. He is a little sponge. His expressive vocabulary is less developed than his receptive vocabulary, so I often find myself thinking he doesn't know what I am saying, but then am surprised and excited to see him respond correctly. He babbles on and on with hand gestures, tone and inflection and what sounds like sentences, but without real words. He does have some words that he uses regularly, but the baby babble cracks me up. He looks at us with palms up and shoulders shrugged like, "Come on, Mom, you know what I mean!"

He finds the craziest things to play with. We got one of those little lightweight strollers free with a purchase at Babies R Us that we planned to give away because we have one already, so it's just been sitting in the garage. Luke found it and drug it all over the alley by our condo in CA.

He also is at the age where he loves to push/pull/drag anything and everything. He is actually pulling a real toy in this picture, but one of his faves to push/pull around is the laundry basket. He pushes it all over the floor and stops to pick up random things and throw them inside, then moves on to the next thing. It's hysterical!

I know boys are boys: they like to play in the dirt and just get dirty in general, much to my dismay. This kid is no different. He loves to play in the dirt and the sandbox is his absolute favorite place at the park. Sigh.... He's still my super cute little sweetie, even dirty.

Here are a few other updates:

Weight 25 lbs, 7 oz, 32 inches long
Wears 12-18 month and 18 month sizes
Starting to get shy around new people and has become extremely attached to mommy. He was already attached to mommy, but the move has made him even more so, and he hates it when I leave him. Also hates the doctor. Cries the whole time.
Decided at 15 months to become a paci baby and now wants the paci ALL the time. And of course, he only wants the newborn Soothie paci, no others. I am pretty confident this is a coping thing, and the doctor said it was normal and to possibly expect some regression with a move like ours. I have not really seen much regression, but the attachment to the paci, blankie and mommy speaks for itself.
LOVES to dance. I mean loves it. He goes into our room and turns on my alarm clock so he can dance to the music. Or he'll dance whenever any of his toys start to play music. Adorable!
Makes car noises as he plays with his cars or trucks and pushes them across the floor. So cute!
Seems to like most foods, but still not the veggies. I have found some awesome organic and other alternative options I am going to try soon (like broccoli fries, a combo of baked broccoli and potato). We'll see how it goes. Some foods he loves so much I have to spell them rather than say the word outloud because he knows exactly what I am talking about like "c-h-e-e-s-e".
LOVES to hug. Will run from person to person giving hugs, especially when we have company over. He was never a cuddler, and still won't just sit in your lap and cuddle, but wants to give and receive hugs and kisses all day long!
Shows anger! When he gets mad he makes little screaming noises and throws things. The other day he got mad that I would not let him have something so he took the alphabet magnets on our fridge and starting throwing them on the ground, one by one. I think this little Will of his will need some shaping....
Loves to play with balls, kicking and throwing them all over the house. Won't be long before we'll have to teach him that those are outside-only activities!
Might turn out to be my little helper-- he likes to take towels or napkins and wipe the floor, or his highchair tray.
Seems to be a bit particular about things: he usually puts his cup in the little cup holder space in his highchair tray and will move it there if I put it somewhere else. Likes to close doors left open, etc.
Insists on feeding himself with a spoon. This makes for quite a mess for mommy and daddy, but he wants to do it all himself. Only thing he still wants mommy to do is feed him a bottle. I have not forced him to get rid f the bottle just yet because our Ped says he still needs the milk and he won't take it cold and/or from a cup and that was not something to push right now given all our other transitions.
Real words used regularly: "ma-ma", "da-da", "dis" (this), "all done", "uh-oh", "shoes". Just started saying "Elmo", "hi" and "Nana"
Loves to play "I'm gonna get you!", whether that means us chasing him, or him chasing us. So fun!
Loves to sing song with hand motions. One of his favorites is The Itsy Bitsy Spider. He puts his fingers together to try to make the spider climb and it is just too cute!

We'll do a separate move post soon, but here are some pics of Luke enjoying some of the chaos.

We put him in a box and pulled him around. He loved it so much that he kept trying to climb in all the boxes around to catch another ride.

Walking across the threshold of our new home!

Playing in all the packing paper.

We kept one of the large wardrobe boxes for him to play and hide in.

It's still entertaining him a couple weeks later. :)

Be on the lookout for our "Big Move" post whenever we get to it!

The next Luke update, he'll be a year and a half! Wow!

2010-06-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

California Bucket List

This post is way overdue, but life has been moving at hyperspeed and I just haven't had a chance to sit down and blog. (For those who follow us, but not closely, we've moved to TN!) Once we got the "go" on both jobs, everything moved so quickly, that we had to really decide what "bucket list" items were most important to complete before moving away from CA. The "must" was Disneyland, both because it is one of Allen's favorite places and because we had not yet taken Luke. We also have always wanted to stay at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, so this was our chance. We spent Mother's Day afternoon and the following day at Disneyland, with a nice evening to ourselves next to the lounge fireplace (thanks to a jimmy-rigged 2-way cell phone baby monitor!). All in all, a nice break amidst the craziness.

Luke going through the gate!

We met our good friends, the Goldman Family, and enjoyed some time with them.

On the carousel.

Oh no you didn't, Mommy!

I guess the happy atmosphere got to me. I gave the kid a little sugar.

To our complete surprise and shock, he actually fell asleep in the stroller, something he NEVER does!
Made it nice for us to stay a little longer.

At the hotel.
He pulled out as many tissues as he could before Mommy stopped him!

Fun times in Toon Town.

Wearing his Pirate shirt. Appropriate, if you know Allen. :)

He loved all the colors and music in It's a Small World!

Our little monster. He had fun and so did we!

(Pay no attention to the food crusted on his nose!)

2010-05-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

Swagger Wagon

Though we are devout non-minivan people, this video almost makes us want one. I gotta admit, minivans are totally built for family ease and I see some appeal now that I didn't use to see. And if we got to make a cool video like this one with our family, we'd strongly consider it. :)

2010-04-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

14 Months

I decided to make updates every other month in year 2, so this is our first post for year 2! It amazes me how quickly Luke went from baby to little boy. He is such a joy! So happy, so smiley, loves people.

Here are some updates:

Weight ~24 lbs
Wears 12 months and 12-18 month sizes; size 4 diapers, but I think I will soon move him to size 5 because I like them to sit higher on his waist and the 4s don't do that so well any more
Was sick the first 3 weeks after he turned one (after I bragged that he had not really been sick at all his whole first year!) and ever since he got well has a huge appetite and naps have improved to typically 2 hours morning and afternoon. Weird. Liking the nap improvements, though.
Finally has a pretty solid schedule: up at 7:00 am, naps at 10:00 and 2:00, lunch at 11:30, dinner at 5:30, bedtime at 7:00 pm, all give or take 1/2 hour in either direction. It only took about a year to get there!
Pretty good about going down for naps and bedtime. I ask if he is ready for "night-night" and he drops what he is doing and comes to me with outstretched arms. Still goes to bed with his lullabies, fan on, and blankie. Talks to himself for a few minutes after his milk, then he's out. What a long way we've come!
Favorite foods: all fruit (esp bananas, blueberries, strawberries, applesauce, raisins), beans, turkey meatloaf, pesto chicken, waffles, pancakes, eggs, noodles, cheese, peas (but still gets all other veggies in pureed form because he won't eat them diced), fruit and veggie Puffs, yogurt drops.
Walking everywhere
Loves to dance
Thinks it is so fun to turn light switches on/off and watch the lights
Enjoys brushing his teeth, even when it's not time
Puts his arms out with palms up to indicate "all done"
First words are "uh-oh" and "wow". Just starting to correctly use "da" for Daddy and "ma-ma".
Blows kisses
Can "high 5"
Favorite toys by far are cell phones and iPods
Likes to put his diapers in the diaper pail and dirty clothes in the hamper. Then he tries to pull them back out.
Knows exactly which button on my alarm clock turns the music on and loves to turn it on and off. Sometimes he will turn it on, then hold onto the side of my nightstand and dance. Too funny!
Likes to roll trucks along the floor and make "car" noises
Knows which cabinets he can play in and which he is not supposed to be in. Goes in and finds the box of teething biscuits, will take one out and bring it to us to take out of the plastic for him. Amazing!
Adapts very well to new people and new places, for which we are very blessed, especially since we are 2 working parents.

We recently made a trip to Memphis and Luke got to meet his cousins for the first time, who have been living as missionaries in Africa. Nanna gave them all shirts that said, "Here comes trouble!"

Cutie and a half. Seriously, in his little shorts, ankle socks and shoes, I just want to eat him up! Loving the shirt Auntie Kate gave him!

Playing in the court at Grammie's house. All the neighborhood boys were out playing basketball and Luke wanted to join them.

Sweet Mommy and son moment. :)

I taught Luke how to help me water the plants. Now he always wants to water the plants. In fact, I have to keep the watering can empty because he will spill it everywhere! He found a watering can at Grammie's house and was so excited! Luckily, it was empty. Didn't stop him from "watering" everything, though!

So happy!

Ok, this is just the first of many, I know. I gave him the jar of oregano while I was cooking, thinking it was safe because the lid was screwed on. I failed to recall that it also had a flip top. I turned around to find oregano all over the floor, and Luke joyfully spreading it all about, so proud of himself!

We cannot wait to watch him soak it all up and learn more and more new things in Year 2!

2010-04-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

Luke's 2nd Easter

Our baby's 1st Easter last year was accompanied by 2 still very sleep-deprived parents. This Easter was much more fun. We were so excited to see Luke in his adorable Easter clothes and for his little toddler class at church where he is actually starting to learn what Easter is all about.

With girlfriend #1, Kiley Haye. (He has a few.)

Playing on stage by the "living cross". Kids were invited up during the service to cover the cross with flowers and create a "living" cross to remind us that Jesus is still alive today.

Sweet Audrey Charles with her daddy, Robert.

How precious is this picture?? Does he not look like a little man in his hat, coat, and jeans?

He loves Belle, our friends' dog, and follows her everywhere! Made for a cute pic from behind. This boy definitely needs a dog, but not just yet.

A fun treat for our Easter dinner at the Charles' house. Aren't these little Easter eggs cute?

2010-04-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

More Fun Firsts!

I love that even though Luke has passed the 1 year mark, there are still plenty of fun "firsts" still coming. A few weeks ago we took Luke to get his first real shoe fitting and his first haircut. Stride Rite was very conveniently located right next door to First Cut, a fun salon for kids where they do a great job handling the first haircut on little ones.

I do think it's a bit ridiculous how much good kids shoes cost, especially given that they say at Luke's age their feet grow every 2-3 months. But they also do a good job of making you feel like a bad parent for sticking your child in shoes that are not designed to foster little feet's growth and comfort.

We got suckered into 2 pairs.

Just chillin' at the mall in his new shoes.

The hair cut was the main event. It's hard to tell from pictures because his hair is so light, but he had these wings coming out over his ears and no shape.

It was time.

First Cut had these adorable little planes for the kids to sit in while they get their hair cut. Luke loved it!

He was getting a bit wiggly, so he finished the cut in Daddy's lap.

What a handsome boy! :)

2010-03-05T14:53:00.000-08:00

Luke's 1st Birthday Party!

What an incredible blessing as a parent to get to plan an event as huge and as fun as your first child's first birthday party! We had such a blast putting it all together and celebrating with our friends and family. The theme was the number "1" and we had all sorts of fun "1" things around the house. While I would have preferred to have the party at the park nearby, February in SoCal is the rainy season and the last thing I wanted was to have to go to Plan B the day of, so I just planned it inside from the get-go. Upon the advice of a friend, the party was simple, no longer than an hour and a half, and that was perfect.

You cannot really tell the size of the O-N-E from the picture, but my sister made these large cut-outs to cover one of our walls, complete with some of our favorite pictures from the past 12 months. Aren't they awesome? There is a definite benefit to having teachers in the family...

Yes, I made this "1" cake and decorated it myself. By no means am I ready for "Cake Boss", but I was pretty proud. Hopefully I get a little better each year. :)

We had so much fun with all who came to celebrate with us!

Eating his first bite of sugar was like no big deal. We put the cake in front of him and he poked at it until my mom put some of it in his mouth. He then proceeded to pick up the entire piece and put what he could in his mouth very gently. No big messes, just a fun, new experience. Just the way mommy preferred!

Favors for the guests: a homemade "1" cookie.

Such a fun (and exhausting) day!

2010-02-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

Our ONE year old!

It truly takes my breath away to think about my baby as a ONE year old and to reflect on all the change in just a year's time. We had no baby and led easy lives, then we had a baby and everything got complicated and wonderful. Luke is such a joy. He continues to be a very happy, social boy, smiling ALL the time. His sweet personality is complemented by his stubborn will. I said from the beginning he wants what he wants when he wants it and that has not changed. It will now be our job to smooth the edges without stifling the spirit. Piece of cake, right? Oh, boy....what a huge task! I am overwhelmed by the fact that the God of all creation chose us to parent this special little one.

Here are our 12 month updates:

Weight: 23 lbs, 4 oz, 60th percentile (that's right, he's skinnied down a bit)
Height: 30 1/4 inches, 55th percentile
Head Circumference: 50th percentile
Wears 12 month and 12-18 mo sizes
Still in size 4 Huggies organic diapers
Very light blonde hair, hazel eyes
Right handed
4 teeth and a 5th almost through
ALMOST fully walking. Takes up to 5 steps before falling!
Can climb into and over things
Favorite play things: pots and pans, anything in the kitchen or bathroom cabinets, his Fisher Price Laugh 'n Learn house, blocks, Alphabet riding train, V-Tech Learning Walker, this toy where you drop balls in the top and watch them spiral down to the bottom, his little workbench and hammer
A bit of a picky eater. I try to be creative to ensure he gets a variety of veggies and meats. Loves all fruits pureed, but has a texture issue and doesn't always like them diced. Same with carrots -- loves them pureed, but not diced. Hoping this phase passes soon. But he LOVES blueberries and cheese. Loves them. Could eat them all day. Also enjoys bananas, strawberry applesauce, black/pinto beans, whole wheat waffles, whole wheat pancakes and scrambled eggs. So I say he is picky, but I think we are making progress, too.
A new development is his sudden awareness of his surroundings. The child who used to be happy with anyone anywhere has started to realize that new surroundings and new people are a bit unsettling at first. He cried all during our 12 mo check-up and he has never done that before.
Most definitely a toddler now and not a baby. This one is a mixed blessing. He is SO much fun to play with, but will never completely fit in my arms again. I love my toddler, but I miss my baby!

Peek-a-boo is probably his favorite game.

Banging pots and pans is a close second!

Happy boy!

Banging on the chair is so much fun!

Our handsome ONE YEAR OLD!

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of this sweet child!

On to Year Two!

2010-01-21T02:51:00.000-08:00

Luke and I are very lucky boys!

From Sharing

I made this video before Christmas, but decided to update it a little.

2010-01-11T21:29:00.000-08:00

11 Months Old!

Our active boy is 11 months old today! His personality is really starting to show and I think he has quite a bit of both of us in him: stubborn, happy, social, busy, curious, strong-willed, active, and very loving.

Here's the latest:

Weight still ~22 lbs (will get formal stats at our 12 month check up)
Wears size 12 month clothes
In size 4 Huggies; still having to do the organic, fragrance-free diapers to keep diaper rash at bay
Has 3 teeth!
Very skilled crawler, pulls up and gets down with ease
"Cruises" along the couch or while holding onto surfaces, likes to walk with his push toy, but no steps on his own yet. The steps he does take are still on his toes.
Refuses most baby food at this point, insists on eating "big boy" food. Some his favorites include cheese (he could seriously eat cheese all day if I would let him), grilled cheese sandwich, cheerios, freeze-dried apples, angel hair pasta/spaghetti, pears, peaches, applesauce (ok, this is still sort of baby food), puffs, bananas (loves bananas!) yogurt drops, chicken, beans (black/pinto) and most bread. Notice the veggies did not make this list. He will still eat a peas and carrots blend of baby food, but won't eat diced carrots. He was a fan of green beans last night, but not at lunch time today. We tried peas and he put each one in his mouth, then spit them out. We have some work to do.
Lifts his arms up and opens and closes his hands to be picked up
Can "high 5"
Talks CONSTANTLY. Talks while he plays, while he eats, while he gets dressed. Ladies at church were talking about how low is voice is already. He is definitely his Daddy's child. His sounds are not yet words, but are progressing past the one syllable babbles. I swear he said, "ok" to me the other day. He also recognizes some words, most notably "up", "down" and "more". I wish he did a better job of recognizing, "No!"
Such a busy body. My mom says he is like a little flea-- he just flits from one place to another. He is not content to play by himself if you are nearby and busy doing something. He races over and pulls at your leg until you pick him up so he can see what's going on.
Loves to get into every drawer and cupboard and pull out the treasures he finds inside

Some of our favorite pictures from the past month:

Notice the 3 teeth in this one!

NO, he is not always happy and smiley!

Guess who learned to climb stairs??

Still not so good at coming down stairs (wants to go head first!) and has no regard for danger.

Makes for super vigilant parents!

Hello, Messy! He likes to rub his food-filled hands through his hair. Fun times for Mom.

So much more fun to dump out the entire basket of toys and view all your choices.

We are super excited about Luke's 1st birthday and can't wait for next month's post!

2010-01-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2009

We were lucky enough to spend Christmas with both families this year! My mom came down as soon as she was out of school and she and Annie were my childcare for the week as I had to work up to the 24th. We celebrated Christmas at our house, complete with the Henderson tradition of BBQ ribs for Christmas Eve dinner that began years ago when we lived in Memphis. On the 26th, we flew to Dallas to be with Allen's family. We stayed with his parents at his grandparents' house and also visited with his Uncle, Aunt and cousins.

What a treat it was to get to have Christmas with both families, especially for Luke!

Unwrapping his first gift and having no clue what is going on. Much more interested in the crinkly paper than anything else.

First Christmas as a family of 3 and so happy!

Exploring his first sit-n-stand toy.

He loves pushing it around and developing those walking skills!

I love the way he is sitting in this picture, just curiously looking at his new toys and not sure why he is getting them...

Playing with Grammie and his new barnyard.

Enjoying his Auntie and Auntie enjoying him! He is wearing this little onesie with a happy Christmas tree that says, "I love presents!" and "Present Snatcher" at the bottom. I bought this the Christmas before he was born because it was too cute. Seeing him actually wear it brought back fond memories of that time of anticipation. Still makes me smile even now. :)

Christmas in Dallas!

Granny Dot and Nanna fixed him up, especially with some great books, which were high on our list!

Is this not sweet? Great-Granny Dot showing Luke his reflection. It is the reflection of the 2 of them that I find most dear. We will cherish this picture!

What a wonderful and restful Christmas we had (after finally arriving in Dallas -- THAT is another story!)

Can't wait for next Christmas when April, Brett and the boys will be home on furlough and we all get to be together. It's been too long!

~Merry Christmas and Happy 2010~

2009-12-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

Ready for Santa

2009-12-16T22:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas Card Video

Sorry Mom and April if you see this before your Christmas card.

From Sharing