Like Father, Like Son

Ever since we pulled Luke's bouncy seat out of storage, he's been obsessed with playing with it. The annoying part is the little frog on the toy part makes this clicking sound that rivals nails on a chalkboard. So Nate took it apart last week and fixed the clicking sound. Luke, being the little sponge that he is, watched Nate's every move while he worked. Since then, his favorite thing to do is "fix" his toys with his own toy screwdriver. It is so cute to watch him! He "fixes" everything - the bouncy seat, the zebra, his activity table, the floor...anything he can get his hands on! I guess my son will be Mr. Fix-It like my husband. At least he should be since his dad can teach him everything he knows!

Goldfish!

It was so funny the other day when Luke saw the package of Goldfish on the table and he tried SO hard to reach them. I guess he just needed a little snack!

We are Texas Rangers fans...

...through the best of times and the worst of times. And right now, I would consider this the worst of times.

I honestly do not remember seeing a Rangers team ever play this badly. Usually there's one thing missing - pitching, hitting, or defense. But never all three. Except now. They lead the AL in errors, only one starting pitcher has more than 2 wins, and they have continued to fail to hit in clutch situations. They have hitters with streaks of 10+ games (Milton Bradley did, Michael Young just extended his to 12 games) but they cannot seem to get the hit with runners in scoring position. It's very frustrating to watch as a fab, but I'm sure it's even more frustrating to the guys who can't seem to get the job done.

The season started out semi-promising. On April 10 the record was 5-4, the earliest they've had a winning record since 2004. But then the bottom fell out and they have won 4 out of their last 17 games. Including a 5 game and a 7 game losing streak and being swept by Toronto, Los Angeles, Boston, and Detroit. Just when you think it can't get ANY worse, it seems to.

Now, I realize that it's only April 27. There are still over 5 months to play in the season. And everyone on this team has talent, they just don't seem to ever reach their potential! The pitchers we have aren't horrible. They could be really good...they just aren't. Our defense could be solid..it just isn't. And the hitting should be there...but it's not. I don't know why.

I know that one day the Rangers will be awesome. I really believe that. I'm fairly certain it won't be while Tom Hicks owns them, no matter who the president (Nolan Ryan), GM (Jon Daniels) or manager (Ron Washington) is. As long as Hicks is making money from the team, he will never make the investments he needs to make to turn this team into a winner. I'm not sitting here claiming I know what the trick is, but I do know that Hicks won't find it...he doesn't seem to want to find it. It's sad to be a fan and come to that realization, but it has allowed me to stop expecting so much from my favorite team in the entire world. With lower expectations, I can actually enjoy watching them play whether they win or lose.

Last night was our first game of the season. It was a lot to ask of my little man, who is usually in bed asleep by 8pm at the latest, to make it through a baseball game that started at 7pm. But he was, as usual, a trooper. We did a lot of walking around the Ballpark, but it was fun anyway. Since Nate is at the deer lease this weekend, my mom and dad came to the game with me. We left in the bottom of the 7th inning. The Rangers blew a 5-2 lead and lost 12-6. But at least I got to watch some Rangers baseball in person!

Softball

One of our favorite things to do is go with Nate to his softball games. He plays on two teams - one through work and one through our church. Tonight was a work game, which is fun because Luke gets to watch his Daddy and his Daddy Matt play! And the best part - they came from behind to win 24-17!


Hanging out with Daddy...


and Daddy Matt!




Where's Luke?


There he is!


Watching the game...

Bed Head!

I think he slept on his head or something...

Beth's Bridal Shower!

My little sister's bridal shower was yesterday. I guess she really is getting married. I don't know why it weirds me out so much - I mean she's only 19 months younger than me and I've been married for almost 4 years. I guess in my mind she'll always be the little girl who played Barbie and My Little Pony with me; who pretended to be Gretel from The Sound of Music with me and we climbed backwards up the deck stairs, re-enacting So Long, Farewell; who wanted to be like me...even though now most days I want to be like her. She has known what she has wanted to since she was that little girl I envision, and nothing has gotten in her way. She's always wanted to be a veterinarian, and now she's about to finish her second year at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine. God led her down this specific path in life, and now I know one of the reasons - so she could meet Justin, who is a second year as well. "They" say that you marry someone like your dad, and it is true for Beth (and for me but that's another story!) Justin is her perfect match in every way (even though he is a Red Raider at heart), and the two of them are going to be so happy together for the rest of their lives.

Okay..wow I usually don't get this sappy! Anyway, here are some pictures from Beth's shower. It was my first bridal shower to help host, and I must say that we did a great job!












The bride-to-be with her shower hostesses/bridesmaids:
Ashley, Amanda, Beth, Becky, Mandy

Hail Storm 2008

Well last night certainly was interesting! The news had been reporting big storms headed for Dallas/Fort Worth - containing high winds and hail. I laughed at this because the news always seems to make it sound worse than it is. But we still prepared for a hail storm. Nate moved stuff around so the 4Runner could fit in the garage (it's been banished the past few weeks because he's building blinds for the deer lease), and he put carpet over the top of the truck since it won't even fit in the garage when the garage is completely empty! It's a good thing we took those precautions because we got hammered with hail...for a good 20 minutes or so! The wind was blowing like crazy, which made the hail beat against the windows and front door of the house. I really don't know how Luke stayed asleep through it all because it was very loud in his room.

Here's a view of our back porch during the rain:




It poured so much that our backyard flooded, our street flooded, and we had two "rivers" going on either side of our house. It was crazy! When it was all said and done, Nate and I went out to take pictures of everything.

This is a view of the front yard, looking from the garage...



Our poor flower buckets that we just planted this past Saturday...



You can see that that the hail was marble-sized...



A blanket of hail covered the front yard...



It's a good thing Nate covered the truck...



Here are some pieces of hail...



The back porch when it was all said and done...




Nate went out back to check on the boat and it started raining again...




And now...the aftermath of the storm.



Our side fence blew over. The fence posts literally snapped in half...



Our flowers are completely demolished...



The trees are very bare; most of the leaves are on the lawn...



And we got about 3 inches of rain...

Luke's latest accomplishments...

Everyday more light bulbs go off in Luke's growing little mind! It's so much fun to watch. Here's what Luke's been doing lately...

*Clapping. For himself and anyone else around him. When I sing "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!", Luke claps without any prompting from me. He also starts clapping when he hears "Pat-a-cake".

*Pointing. This just started today. I went to get him up for the day and he was standing in his crib pointing to his paci that he'd thrown in the floor.

*Waving. He used to wave to people by sticking his arm up in the air. Now he flaps his wrist, too. It's the cutest thing. He waves to everything. He's not particular! This morning he waved to me, his stuffed animals, and to the fence outside his room when we opened the blinds.

*Where's Luke? For the past month or so, Luke has started taking a blanket over his head. He waits for me to say, "Where's Luke?" and then he'll bring the blanket down so fast and I'll squeal, "There he is!" and he flashes me the biggest grin ever. He loves it.

*Hide and seek. I call it this for lack of a better term. We have a trunk at the foot of the bed in mine & Nate's room. Luke's favorite new room to play in is Mommy & Daddy's room (since I finally got it baby-proofed last week!) He will crouch down on one end of the trunk and "hide". I'll pretend like I can't find him, and then he'll pop up like "here I am!" It's so much fun and it will entertain him for at least 10 minutes!

*New sounds. He's started making the "ni" sound. He'll go "ni ni ni ni". I think he's trying to say "night night" because he does it when we walk into his room. But who knows?

*Signing "please". I'd been working with Luke to say "please" in sign language for weeks. To sign please, you rub your hand over your chest in a circular motion. Well, Nate thought it would be hilarious to teach him to sign please by patting himself on the head. Guess what Luke does. He pats himself on the head! Until recently, he would do it when we patted our own heads and prompted him to say please. Now all we have to do is "Say please!" and he pats his head. Sometimes he does it without our prompting!

Operation: Get in Shape!

Operation: Get in Shape! has started. It's time for me to get the rest of this baby weight off and tone up for the summer. Plus I have Beth's wedding in July and our vacation to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, in September. Good motivators, I think!

Since the weather has been perfect lately, I decided to take Daisy and Luke on a walk yesterday. We walked up to the Big League Dreams and back, which is about 2.5 miles. Luke loved it, he chatted with himself the entire way (but what else is new?) Daisy, on the other hand, didn't quite make it. We were walking back and all of a sudden, she just stopped. I figured she was going to the bathroom, but no! She had laid down in the shade. She was panting like crazy and she gave me a look that clearly said "I'm not moving!" So I picked her up and put her in the basket of the stroller! I expected her to be insulted, but she actually looked relieved! So she rode in the stroller for awhile, but then she jumped out and walked with me again. Fast forward about 5 minutes and she's had enough again. Repeat previous actions. I was laughing so hard about this - my little out of shape dachshund dog!

I guess there will be two of us trying to get in shape for the summer!

The Lip

Isn't this the saddest little face you have ever seen?

Playtime in the Backyard!

So...Nate mowed the backyard over the weekend, and I cleaned up all the clutter that was on the porch. What does this mean? Luke could go play out back! He loved exploring uncharted territory since he hasn't spent too much time out there since he became mobile. I brought his Tow Mater car and a ball out there, but really he had the most fun exploring.

The flower barrel is the perfect height to pull up on...


Being under the jumperoo is more fun than being in it!


Venturing off the back porch with Mater...


Wreck!


Oh, cool, a tree...


A plane flew overhead and captured both of our attention...


Luke discovered the shed Daddy built...


Now it's back to the porch to find Daisy!

10 Months Old!

Luke has hit the double digits! He is 10 months old today!

This past month has flown by - even faster than the previous months! That comes with spring, I guess; it always feels like this time of year goes by in an instant. We've loved the warmer weather because we can spend as much time as possible outside. In case you didn't know - Luke LOVES it outside. He gets all excited whenever we get near any of the doors in our house that lead outdoors. We also celebrated Luke's first Easter this month, which was fun. Nate's softball has started up as well, so we've enjoyed watching him play. Luke gets excited when he sees his daddy come up to bat.

Luke's still crawling like a maniac. He is SO fast! He has stood by himself for a few seconds at a time, but he really isn't interested in walking yet. And that is FINE by me - when he starts walking, I will never sit still. Ever again.

As usual it was VERY difficult to get Luke to sit still for his pictures. Today was so busy that we didn't try to get the customary pictures until tonight...here's what we got:

Playing with my camera!

I love my new Nikon D40 camera! It is the greatest birthday present ever! I feel like an impostor with it, though, since I really know nothing about photography. But I am going to take some classes, which I am very excited about!

Here are a few pics from today...it's so much fun to play with this camera!

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my 25th birthday!



Here is our day in pictures...

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so special!

Luke & the Zebra

Not a real zebra, sillies! The Baby Gymnastics Bounce & Spin Zebra!

Once again, Luke having four older cousins has paid off! Karlee is letting Luke borrow this new toy. He played with it for the first time at Kennett's birthday party this past Saturday and loved it, so we brought it home. Within a day, Luke has learned how to dismount! What a genius!

I just love riding on this fun zebra!

But I'm ready to get down! I think I can, I think I can!
Almost there...

Catch ya later, zebra!