And Here Come More Gray Hairs...

I should have never left Luke home with his daddy this morning.

I had to run to Target to grab a few things and came home to find this:



Nate. And Luke. On the roof. Putting up Christmas lights.

My heart almost stopped. Then I ran in to grab the camera.

He was soooo proud of himself, he exclaimed, "Wook, Mama, I on the roof! I helpin' Daddy!"







Between the dirtbike on Thanksgiving and now the roof today, I'm going to have a head full of gray hair by the time I'm 30.

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We spent the day down in Emmett with the Stroder family. Nate and I got to have a leisurly morning, however; because Luke was already in Emmett! His Daddy Matt came by after work on Wednesday and took him down to have a sleepover with Nana, some of his aunts and uncles, and his cousin Kennett. He had a blast, but it sure was heartwarming to see him bouncing up and down in excitement once Nate and I got there. (Love this kid!!)

The highlight of Luke's day was riding a dirtbike with his daddy. I threw all caution to the wind and let Nate take Luke on a spin around the pasture. Make that three spins. He LOVED it and did not want to get off. Something tells me I'm going to get a lot of gray hairs as this boy of ours grows up.

Lily and Daisy chasing their boys.


Such a happy boy!


It's a little blurry, but there is nothing but joy on my boy's face.


Let's go again, Daddy!


He's mad at this point because Nate is slowing down to a stop...and he didn't want to stop!


Another highlight to Luke's day was playing with his cousins. It was so funny watching him run after Hayden, Karlee & Kennett all day. He was always about 10 steps behind them, but he did everything he could to keep up. Here they are playing on the mule together:







Nate's sister Sarah asked me to take some engagement pictures of her fiance Jake and her while we were down. It was so much fun taking their pics. They had such imagination for poses and I loved being able to capture their personalities as well as their love for each other. I took over 200 pictures, but here are just a sampling of my favorite ones.

Riding the Carousel

Every time we go to the mall, Luke begs to ride the carousel that is located by the food court. And every time, I don't have any cash so I don't let him ride it. (Bad mommy!) Well my friend Michelle told me about a coupon that comes in the mail every month for a FREE carousel ride, so she and I met up there on Tuesday to let our kiddos ride.

Luke LOVED it. Absolutely loved every minute of it. As the carousel started moving, he exclaimed in delight, "I go up and down! I go round and round!" So cute. I was standing next to him most of the time, until he ordered, "Mama ride, too!" so I got to ride as well.

The only bad part about the whole experience was getting him OFF the carousel. I had to promise that we would come back again very soon!

Sunday School Potluck Dinner

We are so blessed to be a part of a wonderful Sunday school class at church. We joined the class less than a year ago, but we feel like we've found "our place" and we're making wonderful friends.

Last Sunday, our class had a Thanksgiving Potluck dinner. There were eight families in attendance and it was so much fun - and SO YUMMY. I loved eating Thanksgiving food twice in a week. I hope we'll be able to do it again next year!

Some pictures:

Hide & Seek

Luke has a new favorite hiding place.





I think he's gotten in the dryer at least once a day for the last week. Silly boy.

"Don't Freak Out, I've Got You"

So my kid is obsessed with balloons. We found out that the grocery store gives a free one to kids if you ask, so last week and this week Luke has gotten a balloon. He carries it around with him almost all the time and it makes him so happy.

What does not make him happy is when he lets it go. And it floats up to the ceiling. And we have really tall ceilings in our house.

The first time it happened, he cried and cried. It was too tall for me to reach, so we had to wait for Daddy to get home. The moment Nate walked through the door, Luke ran to him, asking for him to rescue his balloon.

Instead of getting a step stool and getting it down, Nate picked up Luke and held him up high so Luke could reach it himself.

This did not go over well at first. Luke was panicked being lifted up so high. Nate kept telling him, "Don't freak out, I've got you. I'm not going to let you go." Finally, after a lot of coaxing, Luke found the courage to reach up and grab the balloon string. It was a triumphant moment.

Watching all of this got me thinking. That is exactly how it is with God. God probably says to us on a daily basis, "don't freak out, I've got you. I'm not going to let you go." But we don't always hear Him and we don't always have the courage to reach up and grab the balloon string. But no matter what, He is holding onto us. He's not going to let anything bad happen to us. "For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

I don't usually make that kind of connection. But I know God put in my heart for a reason. As with the Romans 8:28 verse; I read that in my devotional yesterday morning and it was the perfect verse for that particular day.

For those who don't know, I have lost two babies this year. One in March, and one in September. Last Thursday, November 12, was actually the due date of my first pregnancy this year. After my second miscarriage, my OB referred us to a Reproductive Endocrinologist to see if we could get some answers. The RE recommended we run some tests, and we went back yesterday to find out the results.

Nate found out that he is totally normal. I, however, am not. I have what is called a balanced translocation. Basically what this means is two of my chromosomes are swapped. Everyone has 46 chromosomes and "normal" people have two "sticks" for each chromosome. My #2 and #16 are switched where instead of having two #2 sticks and two #16 sticks, I have one #2 and one #16 where #2 should be and vice versa. (Confused yet?) So basically when we conceived Luke, he was given the correct #2 chromosome and correct #16 chromosome. But it's most likely that the babies we lost were given the incorrect chromosomes. We won't ever know that 100%, but the RE said it was the strongest possibility.

So now we have an answer. I know that our miscarriages where not MY fault. They were not a result of anything I did. God made me this way, and everything that happens is His doing. There is a chance that if we get pregnant again, everything will line up correctly, just like with Luke. Or we may miscarry again, or we may have a baby with a genetic disorder (don't know what the possibilities are, though). Whatever happens, I know that this is in God's hands. So I really am okay with this diagnosis. It's all going to be okay, one way or another.

First Fire in the Fireplace

We've been really spoiled by beautiful weather so far this November. The highs have been in the 70's and we've had so much fun playing outside.

That all changed on Monday when our first major cold front blew through. It was windy and cold (you know cold for us is like high 40's/low 50's!) I made chili and cornbread for dinner Monday night (yum!!!). Nate and Luke built our first fire of the season.

Luke helped carry in some wood and put it in the fireplace.



Watching Daddy light the fire.



So excited!

Playtime at the Park

On Saturday, we took Luke and the dogs to one of our favorite parks in town. There is a huge area where we could let Lily fetch and run off some steam. There were a ton of people there so Luke didn't have much interest in the playground. Instead he had a blast walking Daisy.









Luke insisted on taking one of his golf clubs and golf balls with us to the park. After we let the dogs run, we went back to the truck and got the golf stuff out so Luke could play a little.

Relaxing in Daddy's Chair

Last Tuesday Luke came down with a 24 hour stomach bug. It hit him Tuesday evening and all he wanted to do was just lay around before bedtime. He climbed up in his Daddy's recliner and just chilled out until we finally took pity on him and put him to bed.





He was back to his wild self by Wednesday afternoon. Thankfully it was only 24 hours for him - I got the same thing and was sick for four days!

The Balloon

Last week we stopped into Tom Thumb to grab a few things. There were balloons EVERYWHERE for decorations and Luke was spazzing out the entire time, telling me he wanted a balloon. He just did not understand that those balloons were not for him.

As we were checking out, he said (for the millionth time) that he wanted a balloon. The cashier heard him and told me that they give free balloons to kids in the floral department. As soon as we finished paying, we booked it to the floral department and Luke picked out his red balloon.

He was so excited! He had it with him all evening - it even had to "eat dinner" next to the table. He told it "night night" before he went to bed...and was so excited to see that it was still flying the next morning. He grabbed it as soon as he woke up and kept it with him until it started to lose its height.



This week we had to go back to Tom Thumb. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, he started yelling, "Mommy! Tom Tum! I get a bawooon?!?!?!" This kid and his memory!

Additions to "Luke's Lingo" and More Teeth!

A few more phrases that Luke is saying lately...

Let's do it, let's do it!!! Not sure where he got this one, but it's so funny. He says it really quickly, the words all jumbled together, and jumps up and down. Whenever he says it, you know it is something he is really excited about.

No doing that. He says this whenever we're doing something that he doesn't want us to do. (insert eye roll here).

Sun not see us. He says this whenever we're in the shade. Again not sure where it came from, but it's funny.

***

I noticed Sunday night that Luke final two molars have partially broken through the gums. His top left two-year molar is about halfway in and his top right two-year molar has two points sticking through. We still have a little bit to go until both teeth are all the way in. By all the way in, I mean all four points through the gums. This is a big moment for us because these are Luke's FINAL teeth until he's six-ish!! I can no longer blame everything on teething!! :)

Going Swimming

When Luke confiscated my water glass from dinner, I had no idea it would turn into a pool for his Little Einstein figurines.

All the Little Einsteins took a dip.


So proud of his imagination.


Quincy takes a dip. Luke insisted he was swimming, not drowning.


Love that expression!

First Bad Dream

Well here's a first that I haven't been looking forward to, and didn't expect to happen so soon.

Yesterday Luke woke up an hour into his nap, crying. Since this is not a regular occurence in our house, I ran into his room right away. His big brown eyes were wider than normal, and filled with crocodile tears. He clung to me and cried. As I held him, hoping that my embrace would calm whatever his fear was, I asked him what happened.

He choked out, in between sobs, "They take you, Mommy. They take you. I scary."

It was so sad. And a bit freaky that my child's first bad dream (or at least the first one that he told me about) was of someone taking me away from him. Needless to say, he did not stay in that bed alone after that. He was taken straight to my bed, where we snuggled for a bit and then watched Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. By the time MMC came on, he held up his Mickey stuffed animal and said, "Look, Hot Dog Dance, it's you!" And that's when I knew he was fine! :)

Fort Worth Zoo

Wednesday was the perfect day for an excursion to the Fort Worth Zoo. Not only is it half-price Wednesdays (and Luke is still free until he turns three), but the weather was absolutely gorgeous!!

We went with Jamie, Joshie and Reese. Obviously we weren't the only ones with the brilliant idea to go to the zoo that day because it was packed. But we had fun anyway!

When we got there I realized that my camera battery was dead. Oops. But it was actually a blessing because I didn't spend all my time trying to get the perfect picture of Luke with the animals...instead I got to spend my time watching Luke's reaction to the animals! That was priceless. The best part was when we got to the zebras and he yelled, "Hi, Marty!" Almost every kid there was yelling the same thing. The poor zebras probably don't know what happened that caused them to be referred to as Marty!

Another great part was the lion and the lionesses having a roaring match with each other. Luke thought it was so funny. He also got a kick out of the bear, and the parrot who was "talking" to him.

Two days later and he is still talking about the zoo. Although he loved seeing the animals, I think his most favorite part was riding the train. He tells anyone who will listen about going through the tunnel on the train. It was just a little train that goes from one side of the zoo to the other, and it was a frustrating train for Jamie and me that day but that's a whole 'nother story, but it was the highlight of Luke's trip to the zoo.

Happy Boy

One of the many delights in Luke's life is blowing bubbles. He LOVES it!

Not wanting to let go

Luke insisted on taking his pumpkin to bed with him last night. He made both of us tell the pumpkin "night night". He even warned the pumpkin "Daddy go to work tomorrow", which is what Nate tells Luke every Sunday night.

When I checked on Luke before I went to bed, this is what I found.