Halloween - Then and Now

Luke the penguin at almost five months:


Luke the dragon at almost seventeen months:

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween is almost over and I am too hyped up on sugar to sleep so I figured I would show off more pictures of my little dragon and tell you all about our Halloween night.

It was so much fun! We cooked out with our neighbors, friends and family and then a big group of us went trick or treating. I think we had six little ones under the age of three and three big ones over the age of eight. I'm not sure what was wrong with Luke at first - he was SO clingy and if anyone other than Nate or I even looked at him he would burst into tears. Crazy kid. Thankfully he was better after he ate dinner or else I don't know what I would have done! I pulled him around the neighborhood in the wagon, which he really enjoyed. He caught on quick to the whole trick or treating thing. At first he panicked - the whole seeing a person he didn't know was too much for him - but he got over it for the most part. He liked to carry his jack-o-lantern bucket and walk up to the door, but the minute someone would come outside he would walk backwards as fast as he could away. We didn't go up to every house that was handing out candy, but his bucket is full! He had more fun playing with the pieces and I didn't even give him a bite. I'm such a mean mommy! I, on the other hand, have already eaten two fun size bags of Skittles. :)

I don't have great pictures because it was hard to take pictures while pulling him in the wagon or holding his hand and of course Nate did not go with us. For those who don't know, he hates Halloween and is the biggest Halloween grinch you will ever meet. It's amazing that he even let me dress Luke up, much less take him trick or treating. Oh, well. His loss because Luke was so cute!!

Anyway - here are the pictures:

Luke the Magic Dragon:


Sitting in the wagon, holding his bucket like a good boy:


The best shot I could get of him walking around, holding his bucket:


At some point, Luke ditched the wagon and got in the car. Here he is with our neighbor Michael:


Some of the crew - Luke, Joshie, Joshie's cousin Cole, and Michael:

In the Fields

One good thing about where we live is right on the other side of our neighborhood is a big open field. This is probably only a good thing to us because it is a perfect place for us to run the dogs and for Nate to work with Lily on hunting. Luke loves running around in the field, too, and he tries his hardest to keep up with the dogs.

I took the camera with us yesterday and here are some pictures I took. I did a remix because I didn't feel like resizing everything in Photobucket!

Luke's First Girlfriend!

Luke's first girlfriend is my neighbor Jamie's daughter, Reese. She is exactly six months younger than Luke. They flirt with each other all the time, and he calls her "eese". It's pretty cute.

We were outside tonight and Luke fished his snack trap filled with Kix out of his stroller. Reese was very interested in the Kix (she takes after Luke in the fact that both of them love their food!) It took some convincing, but eventually Luke shared his Kix with Reese. It was so sweet.

You want me to do what, Mom?!


Okay...here you go, Reese:


Isn't she a doll?!

Oh, For the Love of Cats

I've said before that Luke is crazy about my parent's cat, Oreo. He calls him "Oh Oh" and just loves him to pieces. Back in April, after Luke first "met" Oreo, he was reading from his Pinocchio book and saw a picture of Figaro, Jeppetto the puppet maker's cat. He thought it was Oreo since Figaro is a black and white cat and since then he only really looks at that page in his book. And he still gets very excited whenever he sees the picture of Figaro - about as excited as he gets when he sees a picture of Oreo.

A few weeks ago, my mom and dad went to Florida and stopped in at Downtown Disney. Guess what they found - a stuffed Figaro! They brought it back for Luke and he just loves it. I can't keep it in his crib because he will play with it instead of taking a nap! But he carries it around the house and gives it hugs. It is so cute!






All I have to say is he better enjoy Figaro because that's the closest he'll get to having a cat in my house!

Fall Festival

Mansfield's Fall Festival was this past Saturday, October 25th. It was our first time to go and we've lived here almost four years! Once again, it's something that will be more fun when Luke is a little older and can do more things. They had bounce houses, petting zoo, hayrides, and different booths set up for kids to go trick-or-treating. Unfortunately it was SO croweded and we had the jogging stroller so it was next to impossible to manuever through all the people. Therefore, Luke didn't get to trick-or-treat. Oh well, he's only 16 months old and he wouldn't get to eat the candy anyway! (I was a little bummed, though, because that meant I didn't get any candy!!!)

But Luke did get to wear his costume! He is a dragon this year (thanks to my neighbor Jamie). And he is an adorable litte dragon, too! He did very well in the costume, he even wore the headpiece a lot longer than I expected. I was so proud of him!

Here he is, ready to go! The poor thing had to sit on his tail in the stroller so I can't imagine he was very comfortable:


Here's the Coy the penguin:


Reese was Minnie Mouse and Joshie was a pirate:


Luke and Daddy walking around the festival, looking for the booth that was handing out the balloons:


Luke was the happiest running around in the open area:


Reese is just starting to stand on her own and I got it on camera:

Daddy to the rescue...

Nate decided that Luke couldn't wait until Christmas to get a basketball goal so he took matters into his own hands. He took the backboard off of our goal and attached it to the brick column on our back porch. So now Luke can play ba-ball whenever he is in the backyard!

It's a major hit, too. Luke is not particular about what ball goes through the hoop - he rotates between the basketball, the soccer ball, and the dog's tennis balls. All morning he has been going over to the window and pointing outside and saying, "ba-ball!"

What Luke Loves About Sunday...

watching football with Daddy

Bird Dog!

Lily is a natural!

Basketball!

I know I have said on here before that Luke loves sports. His favorites are baseball and football, but lately he has been obsessed with basketball. He calls it "ba-ball" and he always points out the hoop across the street at our neighbor's house. Nate and I have discussed getting him a small hoop for Christmas (or maybe Santa will bring him one!)

Well apparently he decided he can't wait that long for a ba-ball hoop his size so he decided to improvise with our rarely used hoop and a soccer ball:

Luke Funny of the Day

Luke was carrying around his V-Tech Move 'n Crawl ball and he dropped it. When it hit the floor, it started playing music. He looked at me and went, "Aww" - like "aw, man" and I started laughing. Then he laughed, too, and started dancing to the music.

I wish I had a video camera on him every day because he is just so funny.

Copy Cat!

Luke is such a little copy cat these days! He tries to repeat anything we say (so I have to be very careful!) and do anything we do. This morning when we got home from our run, I started to do my cool down stretches. I was doing my wall stretches when I looked down found this:

I guess he needed to stretch out, too. Sitting in the jogging stroller is hard work, you know!

The Road Trip, the Football Game, and the Visit to the ER

Well, this has been a weekend I will never forget...even though there are some things I wish I could forget.

Nate left on Friday to go dove/deer hunting. I do not like to stay home by myself so I decided to drive down to College Station to visit Beth and Justin. It was my first road trip by myself with a toddler and two dogs and, while I survived, I am in no hurry to do it again.

We left Friday and got to College Station about 5 pm. I had hoped that Luke would sleep most of the way, but he only gave me 40 minutes of peace out of a 3 hour drive. Oh, well! That night I headed up to Academy to find some Aggie apparel for him and hit the jackpot. Doesn't he look SO CUTE in this football jersey?

What am I wearing?


I look good in this shirt!


Saturday was a big day for Luke. It was his first visit to the Texas A&M campus! He's been to College Station three other times but we've never made it up to campus before. There was a home game this weekend, though, so we went up to experience all the pre-game festivities. It was so much fun showing him around campus!

Showing off all of his goodies...


We met up with some of Beth's friends at their family tailgate. It was in the parking lot right next to Kyle Field. Perfect photo opportunities!





Luke showed off his moves at the tailgate party...







While at the tailgate, Luke and I were offered free tickets to the game! It was so random, this man walked by and asked if anyone wanted two free tickets. I was wary at first, but he said he just wanted them to go to use...so I took them! The game started at 1 pm and Luke hadn't had a nap, but I figured even if we were there five minutes at least I wouldn't be out any money!

Guess what...Luke LOVED every minute of it. He thought he was big stuff walking up the ramps to the third deck, even though he didn't walk nearly enough...hauling a 27 pound toddler and diaper bag up the ramps was not an easy task. We had great seats, - alumae side so we could sit down, third row of the third deck, 50 yard line! We got to the seats right before the football team ran out on the field. Luke immediately started saying "buh ball", pointing at the field, and yelling "ta-DOWN!". Everyone around us thought he was an adorable Little Aggie and he had a great time showing off for all of them.

We ended up staying the whole first half. Luke was amazing the entire time. I could tell that he was really enjoying it. He just sat in my lap and watched the game. He would dance every time the band played and he would clap for the Aggies whenever he thought it was necessary. At one point, he joined in with the crowd and yelled, "AAAAAA" when the Aggies were on defense. He yelled "ta-DOWN" a lot, unfortunately it was usually because Kansas State was scoring.

I think his favorite part, though, was halftime. We stayed to watch the Aggie Band, which is incredible. He was mesmerized. When he wasn't staring at the field and pointing at the band, he was dancing. It was so cute! I decided to call it a day after the band performed. By then it was 2:45 and he hadn't had a nap so we made our way down, got something to eat, walked back to the car and headed back to Beth and Justin's.

I was so proud of how well-behaved Luke was at the game and I was so glad I got to experience an Aggie football game with him.

Here are some pictures from the game...it was kind of hard to hold him and take pictures of him at the same time so they aren't the greatest...

the student section - Home of the 12th Man!


taking it all in...


watching the game


my one attempt at a picture of the two of us...


a tired little boy watching the band


Look at that, Mom!




sideways aTm formation



Okay, on to the part I would like to forget...

Last night, after we had eaten dinner, I was getting ready to get Luke in the bath and put him to bed. Justin and Luke were playing in the living room while I drew his bath. Justin was cracking Luke up by sliding across the laminate floors in his socks. He would run after Justin as fast as he could, laughing his head off. Well, he hasn't mastered the whole running thing yet and he slipped and faceplanted into the floor. He started screaming and I grabbed him and could see that he was bleeding in his mouth. He was crying so hard and I was trying to get him to calm down while I walked into the kitchen for some ice. When I got in the kitchen I realized that he had passed out. His lips were blue and his eyes were rolled in the back of his head. Now I am not proud of this, but I panicked. I did not know what to do. Beth took him and I ran around looking for my cell phone to call the nurse line at Luke's pediatrician. He came to while Beth was holding him and started crying harder than he's ever cried before in his life. It was horrible.

The nurse instructed us to take him to the ER to make sure everything was okay. So all four of us headed to the College Station Medical Center. They confirmed that he was fine, which is what my instinct was telling me but I didn't want to take a chance. I wanted a medical professional to tell me he was fine. We were there three and a half hours and Luke finally got to go to sleep at midnight. I checked on him every two hours to make sure that he was in fact alright and today he's as good as new - except he is very cranky from so little sleep this weekend!

So there you have our intense weekend...I am so worn out from it all. But we made it home safely, even though Luke only slept an hour during the drive. Nate just got home and I have never been so glad to see him in my entire life. It was very hard to go through all of that last night without his support. I'm thankful that Beth and Justin were there for me, but it's just not the same as my husband.

Warm Clothes, Luke, and Lily

Today is the first day this fall that has been chilly enough for warm clothes! It's a dreary, overcast day so I decided to dress Luke in some of his new threads. I think he looks even older now!

The future Troy Aikman...can you see his tongue sticking out? This is a new thing for him:


A close up of his tongue:


Playing with Lily; she likes to sit down on top of us when we lay in the floor:




Luke kept putting his feet in her face:


And he wouldn't listen to me tell him to stop. Until this happened:



In case anyone is wondering why I never have pictures of Luke and Daisy, it isn't because I am neglecting her. It's because she still runs away whenever Luke gets near her. So no pictures of Daisy!

16 Months Old!

Today is Luke's 16 month birthday. Once again, another month has flown by. I know I say that every month, but gosh! Could time just slow down a little bit? Please?

Some things that Luke is doing that I love:

1. When he sees or does something cool, he'll let out a little gasp.

2. His "eh?" sound has many different meanings. It's all in the way he says it. It could mean, "what's that?", "how'd you do that", "I want that!" or anything else.

3. He will belly laugh at the most random things. For example, it is hilarious when I do a cartwheel.

4. He has to help give the dogs bones when we leave the house. He runs to the laundry room, I'll hand him a bone, and then he runs after the dogs to their kennels in our bedroom. He always gives Daisy her bone because Lily is not patient enough yet.

5. Whenever we scold Lily, he chimes in with "Yee Yee no No NO!" The no no no part gets progressively louder.

6. When he wakes up for the day or from a nap, he points to his sailboat lamp and then asks where Daddy, Daisy, and Lily are.

7. He can differentiate between the airplanes and the train now. When he hears/sees an airplane, he points at the sky and gets very excited. Sometimes he waves at the planes. When he hears the train, he points in the direction of the tracks and says, "Tain".

8. He dances whenever he hears music, no matter where we are or what kind of music is playing.

9. He points out the moon and the stars. But he hasn't grasped the concept of the sun and the moon yet so he calls the sun "mon", too.

10. He cannot contain his excitement when Daddy gets home from work. He really looks like he will bust at the seams; he gets THAT excited.

***I know he does more things that I love, but that is all I can think of right now!***

Celebrating Big Papi's Birthday

My dad turned 62 on September 24, but we didn't get to celebrate his birthday as a family until this past Saturday, October 4. Beth and Justin were up from College Station and it was their first time to see Luke since August 1! It was also their first time to meet Lily, and Lily's first time to meet Jewels, Heidi, and Molly (the family dogs).

Poor Lily was so overwhelmed at first and she kept hiding under Beth's legs. Jewels was panicking at the thought of another puppy, but she calmed down once she realized that Lily wasn't staying. Molly didn't really care what was going on, as long as she had a ball to fetch and someone to throw it for her. Heidi, on the other hand, loved Lily and wanted to play with her so badly. If dogs could talk, I'm pretty sure she would have said, "A little Mini Me!" She kept trying to get Lily to play with her, but Lily would only lay down and show her belly. Silly dog.









Luke was in heaven at Grammie and Big Papi's...the kid thrives on being the center of attention. When we were in the backyard, Big Papi gave him a windsock thingy (I'm not sure what to call it!) to play with...it made me very nervous but thankfully nothing disastrous happened and Luke had a blast.





Grammie showed him a new book she bought for him. It's a touch and feel book to learn numbers. He loved reading it with "Mammie". He actually started calling her a cross between "Mammie" and "Mimi" so I'm not sure what will stick.





And finally, we had presents for Big Papi! Beth and Justin gave him a brush to wash cars with, but Luke thought it was really something for him to play with and kept pushing it around the room like a vaccum cleaner.




It was such a fun day at Grammie and Big Papi's and everyone - parents, kid, and dogs - where exhausted when we left!