The Payne Family

Too Late for Happy New Year?

2012-02-11T13:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Twenty Twelve!!!! Hahaha! Yep, we are over two months in to 2012 and I am just now blogging since well before Thanksgiving! Oh well, that's the way it goes, I guess. We have been super busy and I just haven't felt like putting forth the effort, but after some urging from Jeremy, I will TRY to put some pics up semi-regularly ;) Lots of fun things have been going on and I would like to say that I will go back and recap, Thanksgiving, Christmas, NOLA/BCS championship, and everything in between, but for now... I much get back to living this crazy little life of ours!

Blessings!

2011-11-23T14:31:00.000-08:00

This year more than ever before I have been counting my blessings both big and small! I have so very many things to be thankful for: two healthy children who bring me more joy than I have ever felt before, a hard working husband who loves me through all my faults!, family and friends both near and far who support me, a great part time job where I get to work with my sweet old people, a church where I feel loved and accepted, and most importantly a God whom I love and give thanks for it all!

Happy Fall and hope that everyone has a wonderful Day of Giving Thanks for blessings both big and small!

Our Little Indian!

2011-11-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

SHBC had their annual Thanksgiving Program this morning! Luke has been singing the songs and quoting the poems for two weeks now! He loves to sing the songs, especially at night during bath time. Last year Luke was a Pilgrim, but this year he is four and he got to be an Indian...MUCH for fitting for him! :)

He did a GREAT job and was much more into it than he was last year. No stage fright in sight for him! Ha!

Great Grandmother Marion was there!

As well as, Great grandmother Betty and Great granddaddy Jack!

Mimi wouldn't miss it either!

Luke has already learned so much this year and his teacher, Miss Dana, has been WONDERFUL! She is the cutest, sweetest thing and Luke LOVES her!

It's little moments like these that make the everyday, extraordinary! We are so proud of our growing boy! Looking forward to Turkey Day!!!

BOO!

2011-11-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

Who says you can't go to the pumpkin patch on Halloween day?! Sure the pumpkins were picked over, but at least me made it for our annual pumpkin pictures!

I still have not perfected taking the perfect picture involving two kids! This was the best one out of a ton.

Happiest baby in the world meets her very first pumpkin!

We got an oversized pumpkin especially so we could fit Lucy inside. I had so much fun with it this year. I am so sad that I didn't know to do this when Luke was tiny! Thanks again to Annie for making our pumpkin hats! Lucy was a trooper and would have stayed in the pumpkin for hours. LIke I said before, happiest baby on the planet!

I can't decide which I like better, Lucy in the pumpkin hat or with her Halloween bow....you decide.....

And after the pumpkin pictures, it was time for the real costumes! Can you tell these two LOVE each other like crazy! I am not sure who loves who more?

Lucy the Lady bug!

Luke the pirate! Daddy thought to draw on the mustache and I think it MADE the costume! Good job, daddy!

Then it was time to meet up with cousin Collin who was Big AL!!! You know what's harder than getting an almost 8 month old and an almost 12 month old to both look and smile at the camera?.....

adding a 4 and a half year old to the mix! hahahah... so much for the "perfect" picture!

And just like that Halloween 2011 is in the books!

Friday night Fun!

2011-10-22T09:31:00.001-07:00

Our bit soccer super star looking so grown up....haha, with a small touch that he is still my baby boy with his "baby," Bear Bear.

A pep talk from Dad and Lucy before the game!

Mommy, Daddy, and Lucy.....Luke's BIGGEST fans!!!

Luke and his friend from church, Maddox, doing some practice runs before the game!

Practice dribbling and shooting drills before the game!

Passing the ball to a team mate!.....

Who am I kidding???.... THIS is what the game looks like 99% of the time!....MASS CHAOS with a big wad of kids from both teams chasing after the ball, kids tackling other kids like they are playing football instead of soccer, not to mention parents from the side lines having to yell at their kids to "stay on the field" "don't hit the other players" "stop crying.".....

But this guy takes it all in stride and although he has actually kicked the ball a few times during the game, his favorite part is getting to RUN!

Have a great weekend! Love the sweetest, happiest, cutest little drooly baby in the world!

PS: Thanks to our great friend for making Lucy's pumpkin hat! It got many comments at the game! She also made Luke a matching one and has a blog withlovebyannie.blogspot.com.

Seward Farms

2011-10-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

Oh what a gem Seward farms is and how is it that I have not know about this place sooner! Our church had a family night at Seward Farms this past Saturday night and it was SO. MUCH. FUN!!!

We went in to the corn maze with a couple of Luke's friends from church and he had an absolute blast! Later that night when we were asking his favorite part he said "It was in the corn field with Daniel and Maddox."

The funny thing was that we only got to marker number 4 out of 10 because we kept getting lost. We actually had to get escorted out by one of the maze attendants! Ha!

Luke loved the jumpy and feeding the donkeys and baby cows!

It was a beautiful fall night for a cookout on the fire pits! Hot dogs and S'mores....what could be better?

There were also hayrides and a cow train!

Of course, we had to do a photo shoot of the kids. Lucy is such a sweet, happy baby and is proving to be just a social as her brother. She flashes her smile to anyone who looks her way!

OH, and check out Lucy's new trick....I didn't think she'd ever do it, but she's finally sitting up all by her big self! I LOVE the fall!!!

SOCCER!!!!

2011-10-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Luke is beside himself excited to be playing soccer at the YMCA this year. He was so excited after we bought his soccer gear that he wore it every night the week before it started!

The very first night was "practice" and then they play a game every week for 6 weeks! GB and GJ came out for his first practice.

Luke is so proud of his jersey! Go team GALAXY!

He has had two games so far and it is pretty much mass chaos! Haha, but it's all in good fun, right? At least Luke is having a BLAST! Get it? blast...team galaxy? Ok, it's so it's been a while since I posted! More updates soon! PROMISE!

Is it just me?.......

2011-08-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or are Luke and Lucy looking more alike??? I never thought they did until recently, but they are looking more and more alike to me!

Normal Day

2011-08-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

I read this quote on a blog that I frequent and I absolutely love it! It sums up perfectly the way I have been feeling lately!....

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."

Toes in the Sand!

2011-07-25T20:05:00.001-07:00

The Murphy-Payne-Saunder's clan had our annual family beach trip in Perdido Key this year. It felt so good to get our toes in the sand for the first time this summer! This year we had two new members of the family to introduce to the beach and they LOVED it. It was great to all be together, but someone always seemed to have "baby" duty. It was nice to have so many hands around so that we could all enjoy the beach.

Lucy looks like she is going to be another beach baby! We took her down a few days at dusk to feel the sand in her toes.

Luke loved playing in the sand this year and was a little more comfortable in the Gulf, but his favorite place to be was in the pool.

It was wild and crazy having two kids under 8 months (one 4.5 months and the other 7.5 months)! There was a lot of "sharing" of toys and slobber, which might explain why all three kids ended up with stuffy, runny noses by the time we got home!

Here's to another beach vay-cay in the books! We can't wait until next year!!!

Alive and Well

2011-07-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, Blog-o-sphere! The Payne's are, in fact, alive and well. It has been a whirlwind of a summer so far and has no signs of slowing down anytime in the near future. I have gone back to work in the mornings from 7:30am-12:30pm, Lucy has started part time day care while I am at work, and Lucy had her first ear infection last week-complete with a round of antibiotics which she HATED. Jeremy has had A LOT of overtime lately and has been working on weekends. So needless to say, the blog, along with so many other things, have gone by the way side. This is just a glimpse into what we have been up to and hopefully will be a trend into making more blog posts. I have so much to say and updates to give about little Luce, but it will have to wait for another day.

What is this nasty pink stuff???

I am finally big enough to sit in the bumbo, but I HATE this yogurt. I know Dr. Hall wanted me to eat it to get the probiotics since I am taking antibiotics, but YUCK!

After a rough few days, I think I am finally feeling better!.....

And P.S. My big brother is as CRAZY as ever!!!!

Swim Lessons 2011

2011-06-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

Luke wasn't so sure about swim lessons the first few days and he had seemed to have forgotten all he had learned last summer. But as you can see, after 5 short lessons something just seemed to click and he is already starting to swim like a fish!

Memorial Day weekend in GA!

2011-06-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

Luke was so excited to go to GA to see our family! He asked every day for a week whenever he woke up if today was the day we were going to GA! Luke was doubly excited because this was Lucy's first road trip to meet everyone up there. Lucy was a perfect angel on the way up. She slept the entire time and only had to eat once when we stopped in Prattville for dinner.

Mamaw and Papaw were so excited to meet me! Mommy told me that their front porch swing is her favorite part of the house!

I could tell Papaw was in love with me the minute he got down and laid beside me on the floor. He made all kinds of goo goo sounds to me and I goo gooed right back!

I also got to meet my two aunts and all of my cousins. Madi and Jared loved holding me, but Emily was a little scared of me and decided not to get too close. She said she may hold me when she gets big like Jared and Madison. I also got to meet my Great Aunt Carolyn and Great Uncle Luke.

We got to do a little pre-birthday celebrating with Aunt Christy at the Mexican restaurant. HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY, Aunt Christy!

Mommy asked Aunt Christy to take some family shots at the railroad tracks! Thanks to her and cousin Madison for getting some great shots!

We had a great visit with the fam and Luke was in hog heaven getting to play with his cousins all weekend long. We spent a lot of time at all of the wonderful parks around town so the big kids could run off some of their abounding energy. Mommy was able to take the day on Saturday and steal away to Birmingham to attend a memorial service for one of her best friends baby who passed away. Mommy was so glad she was able to be there to support her dear friend. Daddy held down the fort with Lukie and me. Mommy and Daddy couldn't believe how grown up Madison had become since our last visit. Jared, Emily, and Luke had so much fun playing, eating popsicles, chasing cicadas, shooting nerf guns--just plain old fashioned cousin fun! I can't wait until I get big enough to run around with my big brother and GA cousins!

Baby Dedication!

2011-05-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, Lucy was dedicated at our church along with 17 other babies. What made the day even more special was the fact that Lucy and her cousin Collin were dedicated on the same day! Lucy is 2 and a half months old and Collin is almost 6 months old

Having a girl to dress up is so much fun, so I had to take a million pictures. Here are a few of my favorites. I love that her dress and bonnet were adorned with pearls and that she had a pearl bracelet to match!

Lucy with her beautiful Mimi!

Luke is still the sweetest big brother and had to get in on the mini photo shoot!

Jeremy and I thank God every day for these two little blessings in our lives!

Fantastic Fourth!!!

2011-05-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

On Monday, my "baby" turned FOUR!!! Where has the time gone? Sometimes when I go to check on him after he's gone to sleep, I just sit and stare at this growing boy and want to freeze time! But, I digress....back to Monday...

He chose a Diego theme and we went with it.... Since the park is one of his favorite places to be, we decided to do another low key birthday party. However, this was the first year that we actually invited friends, like friends from school. All others have been family birthdays (aside from his two year party a few weeks before we left NY, where we invited a lot of our friends who had become our family away from home, so like I said family birthdays! And, yes, Annie, this clarification is for you since you are probably the only "family" from NY who read my blog) but, again, I digress... We ended up having 18 out of the 24 kids we invited!

Can't have a party with kids ranging in age from 2 to 4 with out goldfish!....

And Cup cakes to match!... Luke had to have an orange, make that TWO orange ones!

We could not have asked for a prettier day for a party in the park...it was beautiful! A nice breezy day and more importantly, NO rain!

Another wonderful happenstance was the fact that we virtually had the park ALL to ourselves. With the weather so gorgeous and because this park is normally packed, I was sure today would be no different. But to my surprise it was pretty much empty! There were only about 3 maybe 4 other kids there that weren't part of the party. It was awesome!

My Mimi and my "bear bear" who is never far from Luke's side these days!

Even Uncle Kyle and cousin Collin made an appearance!

I was so happy all of my GREATS made it too!

Luke's choice for dinner that night was, big surprise, "Chick A Way!" And would you believe this growing boy can now eat a 12 pack of nuggets in one sitting?! Well, he can!!!

After a long and glorious day, we headed home to open the gifts from his friends! It was such a fun and successful and pretty , low stress for mom,birthday if I do say so myself! Here's to a wonderful 4 years with one of the greatest things in our lives, our precious "baby" boy.

I'm FOUR!!

2011-05-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

Yep, I turned 4 today and had such a great birthday! More pictures to come, but Mommy is beat!

Happy Mother's Day 2011 and Randoms

2011-05-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day 2011!

Luke's new name should be Luke "Sweet Tooth" Payne! He is such a sweets guy. This is one of my favorite pictures of him of all time. His favorites are skittles, brownies, and rice krispy treats, but pretty much anything sweet will do. His new favorite thing is to lick the bowl!

He is still the sweetest big brother and is all about showing her off to everyone he meets. At church on Wednesday night, he was strolling her and wanted to show everyone what he calls "his baby." I caught him explaining how to shoot his toy to her in the picture above.

Luce Pooce, as Luke calls her, had her 2 month check up this past Wednesday. She had to get her first shots which she absolutely HATED.... She cried real tears after getting them. She now weighs 10 pounds 10 ounces (50th percentile) and 23.25 inches long (75th percentile). She still has the walking reflex (we got it on video and hope to get it posted soon).

She is giving away smiles like crazy now and has started cooing. I love it when we have our little conversations and her smiles make the night feedings and lack of sleep all worth it.

Blue Eyes

2011-05-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

It looks like we've got another blue eyed baby on our hands!!!

Lazy Saturday

2011-04-16T09:49:00.001-07:00

As I sit here typing, on this beautiful lazy Saturday morning still in my pajamas at 12:15 pm, watching my soon to be 4 year old play intently with his cars by his 5 week old sister in her swing, I feel so blessed! This week has been full of sleepless nights and frightening news about a friend and her family with days spent in prayer for them. It is always so humbling and puts things into perspective when things don't go as planned for you or for someone you love. As always, I am comforted by the fact that God is in control and I can place my worries in His hands.

Lucy is now 5 weeks old and she gave me a little present last night....she slept from 12:15am to 5:15am--a FIVE hour stretch!!! When I rolled over and looked at the clock this morning and saw it had been five hours, I have to admit that I jumped up and ran over to the bassinet to make sure she was still breathing! It was SO refreshing to get that much sleep at one time!

Jeremy is working some overtime again this weekend, so me and the kids (it's still totally weird to be writing kids, plural- I have said this before and have got to get used to it sometime) are just hanging out. Luke has been AMAZINGLY relaxed and low key today, which is a nice change from his typically rowdy antics. Thankfully, she takes everything in stride and is even able to sleep when he is playing "cars" right next to her. We haven't been using the swing a lot, but she seems to be loving it today, as she has been sleeping away in it for almost two hours now.

Logging off for now and who knows when I will put up another post, as I am soaking up all of my maternity leave and am reminded of this quote on a picture in my mom's laundry room:

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow.....for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow....so quiet down cobwebs...dust go to sleep....I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep!"

The Older sibling

2011-03-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

I have been a total blog slacker and hope to get caught up SOME day! I just can't get over the fact that we now have kids, plural! After all of my worrying about how Luke was going to react to having a baby in the house, he has truly exceeded all of my expectations. He is the perfect balance of being interested in Lucy, but not hovering all the time, he helps with bringing diapers when we need it, he gives her kisses and is learning to be 'gentle', he talks to her like she understands every word, and has been super understanding about all of the time I have to spend breast feeding. I am amazed and relieved at how well he has adjusted!

P.S. Yes, that is a cast on Luke's arm and Yes, he did that AFTER Lucy was born, but that is another story for another day!

One week old today!

2011-03-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since my last post! Miss Lucy Claire decided to make her grand appearance two and half weeks early and came on March 9, 2011 at 3:38 pm, weighing 6 pounds, and 20 inches long! Much more fun things to post, but I am off to get her bilirubin checked and then I am sure it will be feeing time, again!

SURPRISE!

2011-03-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday, my mom and sister threw us a family baby shower at the Spot of Tea. I thought it was a little weird that my parents and Grandmother Betty weren't at church, but really didn't think about it. Jeremy was in on the surprise and suggested we go to the Spot of Tea, since it was such a beautiful day. I was bummed they didn't have an outside table, but little did I know everyone was waiting for us in the back room!

I can't believe this family of three will soon be a family of four!

This pic is just to give you an idea of how HUGE the belly really is!!!!

We got some super nice things, some practical things like diapers, a diaper caddy and a sound machine, some monogrammed things like burp cloths and bibs, and some frilly girly things like a pearl bracelet (Lucy's first bling!), the most precious little bonnet, and a beautiful smocked pink dress. Even Luke got a few things for being the soon-to-be brand new big brother. He especially loved his light up big brother pin. He has worn it everyday since!

What baby shower would be complete without some petite fours?

I did a horrible job of taking pictures and didn't get any of the rest of the family! Here's a picture of some of the loot. Nursery is done! More pictures to come.....

Obsession

2011-02-18T10:07:00.000-08:00

My latest pregnancy craving, bordering on obsession, is peppermint ice cream by Blue Bell! I don't have it EVERY night, but close to it! 34 and a half week check up today went great! Thankfully, I only gained 1 pound in two weeks, considering my almost nightly date with peppermint ;) this is a miracle! Baby is doing great and despite waking up 3-4 times a night and the swelling in my legs/feet I am doing good. One last ultrasound on the 28th and then I will be going every week! Wow, I really am in the home stretch and am counting down the weeks!

Cheers to babies and ICE CREAM!

Happy Friday!

Happy Valentine's Day 2011

2011-02-14T07:32:00.000-08:00

I hope Luke has as much fun handing out his Valentines at school today, as I had making them!

Happy V day to all our family and friends, both near and far!

XOXO

The Payne Boys!

2011-01-17T08:24:00.000-08:00

The Payne boys all dressed up for Church! I love the picture of Luke looking up at Jeremy! Luke LOVES his daddy!

As I've said before, Luke is SUCH a big helper! The most recent Payne boy chore: fix the broken hand rail! Good job guys!

Christmas Vacation

2011-01-05T14:10:00.000-08:00

Wow, I have to say that I was surprised at how much down time there was to fill in when Luke was off from school. His Christmas vacation lasted 2 weeks and I have to say that I am so happy that we are getting back into our schedule again. He is a handful on a normal day, so school has been a good release for him. Here are a few ways we kept our busy body busy:

PAINTING:
Luke loves to paint and I love to do any kind of painting project that involves hand prints. We got caught up and did some handprint turkeys for Luke's Thanksgiving scrapbook page and we did a cool finger print on mini canvas ornament.

CHORES:
Luke's new favorite chore is to put the silverware up! It is so funny to hear him name each one, "spoon, knife, fork, spoon!"

OUT DOORS:
One day we went to Gran Jack and Gran Betty's house to pick oranges from his two gigantic orange trees. They were delish!

MAKING COOKIES:
I decided to be a good mom and we made home made cookies for santa this year. Luke had a blast rolling out the dough and cutting out the shapes. His favorite was the teddy bear.

NEW COUSIN:
Although Baby Collin can't technically "play" yet, we still had fun getting this cousin shot for Mimi's birthday.

PLAY DATES:
One of my oldest friends came by for a visit to meet Baby Collin and it was very interesting to see how Luke and Thomas "played" since this was the first time Luke has had someone over to play with his toys! It went as well as it could for a three year old and a 14 month old. I can't believe we all have kids now and that MMGK and I have another on the way. Luke predicted that MMGK was having a girl and we will see in a few weeks is he is right!

CHICK-FIL-A
No vacation would be complete without a few visits to Luke's favorite lunch place!

ORGANIZING:
I don't know if it's too early for nesting but Jeremy and I have been on clean up and clean out mode! We are gearing up for a huge multi-family yard sale in the spring before the new baby arrives, so we are cleaning out closets and our storage building. Luke loves to put the items the "yard sale/ giveaway/ trash boxes.

FIREWORKS:
Uncle Kyle bought some fireworks to ring in the new year, but Luke only likes the "quiet" ones. If any of them that made too much noise, he ran inside to hide!

Here's to a healthy, happy, and simplified new year!

Full circle....

2010-12-29T07:46:00.001-08:00

Santa brought some brand new bedding for Luke's big boy bed. So, Monday after Jeremy got off work, Luke helped Jeremy take his beloved crib down! Luke is such a big helper these days. We were excited that Mom kept Uncle Paddy's old bunk beds and that the bottom "bunk" was the perfect size for Luke's first big boy bed!

Luke was so excited about his bed that he couldn't resist trying it out before it was completely made up! (And yes, that is my 6 month pregnancy belly, and yes, i have 3 more months to go, and yes, i am as HUGE as a house already!)

As soon as we had it made, he jumped in the bed and got in this pose all by himself and said "Now THIS is a big boy bed!" He is such a ham for the camera!

He FINALLY did it!!!.....

2010-12-15T13:03:00.000-08:00

Last Monday morning, it FINALLY happened..... I was awoken at 7:45am to the sound of Luke saying "I did it!" and it WASN'T from the monitor... Luke was standing right beside my side of the bed. He said "Mommy, I was calling you! I climbed out and I didn't bump my head!" Up until this point he would never even try to climb out because he didn't want to 'fall and hit his head' (not sure where he got this, but we were happy to keep him in his crib as long as it lasted.) He has been asking about a big boy bed for a few weeks and we had already decided to move him to a BIG BOY bed after Christmas, so timing couldn't be more perfect. He has done amazingly well with his new found night time freedom and only had one night in two weeks where he kept getting up. Just one more milestone to mark off his list and it's always bittersweet :)

MeeMaw and Papaw's Visit

2010-12-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

MeeMaw and Papaw came to visit us from GA this weekend, so they could come to the This is Christmas presentations at our church. I was so excited when they pulled up in the drive way!

Since it was so close to Christmas they came bearing all of the Christmas gifts from that side of the family! On Friday night, we went to the mall and I got to pick out a $15 dollar toy from Granny Plank. I decided to get a Cars plush Lightening McQueen and have slept with it every night since. On Saturday morning before we headed up to church, we had the Payne side Christmas. I got a cool new kitchen like my cousin Emily has!

I was also totally excited about my Cars themed underwear!

Aunt Alyssa, and my cousins, Madison, Jared, and Emily got a huge goodie bag. I LOVED the snoopy clock and silly bands, and my Cars hat and gloves. I also got a Cars chalk board and crayons and Snoopy kleenex!

My Aunt Christy also got me a goodie bag! I was excited about my new dinosaurs and my Snoopy lamp! I had my mommy set up the lamp in my room as soon as I opened it!

I was so happy to spend some time with Meemaw and Papaw and I was especially glad they (along with GM) were able to take me to the first This is Christmas performance so I could see my Mommy, Daddy, Mimi, and Doc sing! Even though the performance was over an hour and a half, I was a perfect angel the whole time!

Another one of the highlights of the weekend was watching Home Alone for the first time! As you can see, Mommy didn't know who was enjoying it more, Papaw or Me!

Thanks to all of my family for the wonderful gifts and getting Christmas started off right!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-03T14:31:00.000-08:00

I didn't take nearly as many pictures for Thanksgiving this year! It was our year to celebrate Turkey day up in GA and Luke was super excited to see his cousins and Mamaw and Papaw!

Here's the whole Thanksgiving gang!

Luke REALLY enjoyed playing with his cousins all weekend long. They had SO MUCH FUN!

Emily and Luke were two peas in pod!

Luke and Jared were TOTAL BOYS! Luke was big enough this year to "rough house" and a couple of times I had to look the other way, take a deep breath and remember they are B-O-Y-S!

The weekend flew by and as we were pulling in the drive way after our 6.5 hour drive Luke said "Let's go back to Mamaw and Papaw's!!!!" I replied "When?" Luke said "RIGHT NOW!" :) Guess we will be planning another trip up there SOON :)

Collin is HERE!!!

2010-11-24T09:50:00.000-08:00

Collin McDaniel Saunders was born on 11/23/10 at 5:42pm, 6 pounds 9 ounces, 20 inches long! He is a beautiful baby and I am so glad that he is here and that both Mom and baby are happy and healthy! I didn't get many pictures because I was much more interested in checking on my sis and oooo-ing and ah-ing over that precious baby! In case you can't tell, we all are in LOVE!!!

Double Belly Shot!

2010-11-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

Today was the last chance for a double belly shot, since my baby sister was admitted to the hospital tonight so she can be induced at 6 am tomorrow morning. She is due Nov. 28th and I am due March 28th. Sending her and Kyle and baby Collin lots of good thoughts and prayers tonight and tomorrow. I can't wait to meet the newest member of the family!!!

Our Little Pilgrim!!!

2010-11-20T07:29:00.000-08:00

Friday morning the 3 and 4 years olds had their annual Thanksgiving Program! I was super excited about it and Luke was, too! He has been practicing his songs for weeks now... He loves music class with Ms. Lori! The three years olds were Pilgrims and the 4 year olds were Indians! Mimi, Jeremy and I were there, of course, but I was so happy that all of the great grandparents, Mae Mae, Gran Jack and Gran Betty, could be there, as well!

I was so impressed by how well all of the kids processed in!

The program was precious! I was amazed by how many songs they sang! Most of the songs had hand motions and sign language with them and you could really tell how hard they have been practicing! (Luke is on the middle row, the third one in from the right.)

I was SO proud of my little man and I could tell he enjoyed it as much as we did.

After the program, it was time to head back to his school room for a Thanksgiving feast!

TGI (almost) F!

2010-11-18T19:40:00.000-08:00

HOORAY! It's almost Friday! I am super excited that tomorrow is Friday because Luke's class will be performing their Thanksgiving program! He has been singing his songs for weeks now and I can hardly wait see it!

We're having a baby......

2010-11-07T05:59:00.000-08:00

GIRL!!!!!! Luke is getting a baby SISTER!!!! Needless to say, we are beyond excited! Luke had said all along that the baby was a girl, so it was no surprise to him. I, on the other hand, thought that it might be a girl because my pregnancy has been so different from Luke's, but at the same time just thought it would be another boy. Luke went to the ultrasound with us and was excited to see the baby on the "TV's." The only thing he was interested in was seeing her eyes, which as you can tell, we can't see all that great on the ultrasounds, but he was great. I was also relieved to hear that all of her organs, heart, liver, brain, etc. all look normal and she is healthy. We are truly blessed! I thank God every day for Luke and this little miracle growing inside me!

(saw this on a fellow blogger's site and couldn't resist putting a little bow on her head!)
Also, it's a little hard to see on this scanned picture, but I love that she looks like she is going to put her thumb in her mouth!

Announcement....

2010-11-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON!.... But I literally haven't had time to up load pictures. Hope to have some time this weekend......

In the mean time, enjoy these little snap shots into these gems of conversations between Luke and I this week:

Conversation 1:

Let me set the mental picture for you. Picture Liz and Mom sitting at the table. I, the frazzled mom, am cleaning up the FULL cup of sticky coke that Luke just spilled. Luke has been banished back to his seat (no high chair, so he has freedom of movement and boy is he moving Up, down, out of his chair, in his chair...a WILD man...got the picture...)

So, me in my frenzy, look straight at Luke from the sink and say in my "mom means business" voice say "LUKE! If you don't sit down in that chair, I' am going to whip your TAIL!"

Luke replies in his sweet little angel voice "But, But, I don't have a tail???"

Needless to say, Mom and Liz BUST a GUT laughing and I, in turn, start howling, too!

Conversation 2:

Later that same night after we had all calmed down, out of the blue it went like this:

Luke: Ears hear.
Me: Yes, they do! What do eyes do?
Luke: They see!
Me: What does your nose do?
Luke: It blows boogers out!!!

These are just a snippet of what comes out of this clowns mouth. I am loving his crazy little 3 year old self!!! Happy Friday!

Whirlwind Weekend....

2010-10-30T08:09:00.000-07:00

Friday tipped off a crazy whirlwind of a weekend....

8-11:15am- I worked at Rotary and was super excited to get off a few minutes early!

11:30-12:30- ate a leisurely lunch by myself at the Atlanta Bread Company and got a had a nice chat with MMGK and talk to Liz who could literally have that baby at any moment (Things are happening and she has TOTALLY dropped!) I can hardly stand the wait!

12:30- pick Lukie up from school where they had a full day of fun Halloween festivities, complete with costumes, pizza, crafts and apparently a LOT of candy. Luke was bouncing off the walls!

12:45-2:00- nice long outing to Lavretta park to burn off some of Luke's sugar rush energy!

2:30-3:00- put back on the pumpkin suit to visit daddy at work! He was still wound up even after the park and we had to make a pretty quick visit. No sugar rush crash for this guy!

3:00-4:00- killing time at target to pick up a few last minute costume things for a Saturday night party!

4:00-4:30- met Jeremy at the Pumpkin patch to get our yearly "pumpkin patch" pictures. Luke ran around like a mad man yelling "PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS, PUMPKINS!" He did settle down long enough so we could get some decent pictures! He did NOT want to leave the patch. The only thing that got him away was the promise of carving the pumpkin as soon as we got home!

4:45-5:30- the carving of the Pumpkin began! Luke was a little interested at first but quickly lost interest. He want to make a "scary" pumpkin and I wanted a cute/happy one, so we compromised and made a smiling pumpkin with scary teeth!

5:30-6:30- I got ready for a bridal shower while the boys (mainly Jeremy) continued to carve.

6:30-11:00- Mom, Liz, and I went to a shower for our soon to be sister in law, Alan (Alan is the one between Liz and I and her sister, Louise is sitting next to me). It was such a great party and she got so many nice things! Man, I wish I had another one of those delicious brownie bites!

11:30pm-Crash in the bed! What a fun filled crazy day, and the fun doesn't end here. Saturday and Sunday are just as busy! More fun weekend festivities to come!

My first Show and Tell!

2010-10-22T07:29:00.000-07:00

Today is my very first show and tell! We were supposed to dress up like a community helper and I decided to be a train conductor! Thanks to Mamaw and Papaw and Aunt Christy's Christmas gifts last year, I had all of the things I needed! What made it even better is that I will get to tell my class that my Papaw used to work on trains!

It was so much fun to see what my other friends dressed up like! This has already been such a fun day!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

Luke 2 weeks old:

Luke 3 years old:

Luke has literally slept like this all his life! So funny!

Girl or Boy?

2010-10-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

It has been fun thinking/dreaming about if this new little one will be a boy or a girl. Luke seems to grasp that he will be getting a new brother or sister as well as a 3 year old can. Just the other day I was leaving the house and he ran over to me saying "I want to give the baby a kiss!" and sweetly kissed my belly! He also likes to "talk" to her as you can see in the pic.

I think understanding this whole baby thing has been a little easier for him since my sister is having her first baby at the end of November! Luke has seen her growing belly and said from early on that she was having a BOY! And he was RIGHT!

Here's to hoping Luke will be two for two because he has said for months now what I am having a GIRL. Only time will tell and I just hope and pray that this baby is perfectly healthy! Oh, and the day that Luke told us that it was a GIRL when we asked him what we should name her, he said "TRUCK" and then Jeremy said what will her full name be? and he said "DUMP TRUCK PAYNE!" And he as called 'her' TRUCK ever since! Ha!

Happy Wednesday!

Pledge of Allegiance

2010-10-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

Check out what Luke learned at school! We were driving in the car one day and he just busted out with the WHOLE pledge. I was blown away and didn't even know they had been learning it! He has learned SO much since school started and his teacher told us last week that he wasn't getting "challenged" enough in his age group, so during what she calls the "academic" part of the day he is going up to the next age group level! Part of his homework today was to look through a magazine and cut out pictures of words that started with the letter S and the letter D. Is he REALLY this old? Are we already at this point? Just yesterday he was my little baby boy and now he can say the pledge. Time puh-leaze s-l-o-w down! Enjoy the video (and please ignore the mess that is our desk in the back ground)!

Jess' Top TEN

2010-09-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

Top TEN reasons for my lack of blogging!!!!

10. I have been spending many an afternoon watching Cars, over and over and over again because this is Luke’s new favorite movie!

9. I have been eating pineapple like it is my job, why pineapple, you ask?....who knows? It just sounds good to me.

8. For the past few weeks,/months I have been motivated to do absolutely NOTHING.

7. I am too busy drinking gallons and gallons of V8 juice.

6. Instead of doing anything productive in the afternoons, my new favorite pastime has been taking naps. It seems that Luke has decided to give them up and I have taken them up!

5. I have been too busy trying to think up yummy creative meals that DO NOT include chicken, since the thought of eating chicken makes me want to gag.

4. I spend the afternoons that I am not at work in Luke’s castle (which at the moment is his red tent) trying to hide from the dragons!

3. I have been eating about every two hours, to try and get this ever constant nauseous feeling to go away. It gets some better, but never really quite goes away. It’s been awesome. Just last week, I had to pull the car over and got sick on the side of the road. I don’t who was more mortified by it, me or Luke?

2. I can’t seem to get any thing done because I have been running to use to the restroom every 5 seconds!

1. And the number ONE reason, for being a blogging slacker in case you haven’t figured it out already: WE ARE PREGNANT! We are super excited and baby #2 is due on March 28th! I am already coming out of the 1st trimester, so, thankfully, some of the yucky feelings have subsided! And maybe, just maybe, the blogging will pick back up!

Homework for 3 year olds?!?!

2010-09-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Monday was a momentous day because this was the first day Luke has ever come home with HOMEWORK! I was shocked! Since when did THREE year olds get homework? They are learning to write their names and so this was a trace- the- letters practice sheet that took all of about 4 minutes. He was SO proud to take his homework folder in to his teacher the next day. He ran up to her and said "Wook Miss Carwa! ( thats "Look Miss Carla" for those of you who don't speak 3 year old)!". Then he ran over to his friends and showed them! It was precious. Hope he stays this enthusiastic about homework since this is only the beginning!

Last Beach weekend of the Summer!

2010-09-15T07:40:00.000-07:00

Jeremy had an OT conference over in Orange Beach last weekend and since he had an all expense paid weekend at the beach, Luke and I decided to tag along! We had beautiful weather and the beaches were pristine! All in all it was a nice and relaxing weekend!

On Saturday afternoon, we ventured down to the beach where we stayed all of about 30 minutes. Luke turned around to us and said "I'm done with the beach!" We headed straight to the pool where we stayed a good long while. We ordered pizza in that night so we could watch the AL v Penn St game.

Luke's favorite part of the weekend was getting to play on the condos built in bunk beds. He absolutely adored them! Do I see bunk beds in our future?

We stopped by the Souvenir City to see the big shark on our way out of town! Bye Bye Beach, until next year!

This is ALABAMA football....

2010-09-12T16:53:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, Mimi, Jeremy, Luke and I headed up to Tuscaloosa for THE opening game! This year was special for many reasons:
#1- We didn't have to take a stroller. Luke loved being able to walk like a big boy! He did great!
#2- We didn't have to take a diaper bag!!! Since Luke is now, dare I say it out loud, potty trained, we would head out to the game without a diaper bag! I can't believe he is such a BIG boy!
And #3- Mom and Dad got four tickets in the brand new South end Zone. This was SUPER nice because we had really nice seats with arm rests and cup holders AND because they have an air conditioned area with a decked out all you can eat buffet!...They had stadium dogs, nachos, salad bar, fruit and veggies, chips, popcorn, ice cream, sandwich bar, hamburgers, chicken. Pretty much you name it, they had it!

Luke loved sitting at these bar seats! It was great because we got to watch the team warm up and EAT!

Once Luke got used to the crowd noise, he could cheer with the best of them! He kept yelling ROLL TIDE!!!! Everyone around us kept looking back and smiling. Aside from a busted lip (don't ask, his face met the seat) and scraped legs (falling UP the steps on the way out---only MY child could fall UP steps!), Luke was totally into the game!

On the way back to the car, we had to pay tribute to the "Bear" statue! We can't wait until our next game!

Random Happenings....

2010-08-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

The other morning I heard Luke playing before I got him out of bed and when I went into his room he said "LOOK! We are having circle time just like at school!!!" He had arranged all of his sleeping buddies into a circle and was singing songs to them just like his teacher does. It was pretty darn cute!

I am SO EXCITED that Luke is now old enough to be in 3 year old choir! We had the kick off for Music and Missions this past Wednesday and it was wear your silliest shoes night. Check out who got to lead the parade down through the dining hall!....He was so proud!

Luke got to pick out his very first lego set at Target a few weeks ago for going to the potty like a big boy two days in a row. Jeremy is super excited that they can "play" with legos now! I love Luke's concentration face!

I love how Luke is looking up a Jeremy! I think Luke could tell that Daddy likes legos A LOT! Haha!

By George, I think we Got it!!! Luke's new teacher, Miss Christie, has a treasure chest that you get to pick a toy out of if you go number two at school and guess what?.....Luke got a toy last Friday! More about the potty training in another post, but all I can say is WHEW! I am glad he finally GOT it!

Beach weekend!

2010-08-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

The whole Murphy clan spent a long weekend at the Turquoise resort in Orange Beach. When we were driving down, Luke kept saying "I wanna go to the yellow beach!, where is the yellow beach?" and I kept telling him I didn't know anything about a yellow beach and then it dawned on my that he was meaning to say "orange beach." It was TOO funny! One of the many things Luke loved was the zero entry pool! He swam to his little hearts content.

We all enjoyed the Lazy River or as Luke called it the noisy river.

Some of us enjoyed some pool volley ball while others of us enjoyed watching! (I'll let you guess who was in which camp!)

I was amazed at how beautiful the sand and water were! The sand was a white as ever and the water was a clear as I have ever seen it! We could see sting rays, schools of fish, and sharks from our balcony.

We only ate out one night over the weekend and the rest of the time we took it easy and cooked dinners and lunches @ the condo! It made life with a 3 year old much easier!

Everyone enjoyed our private jacuzzi on our balcony, but no one more than Luke.

This was the view from our room! I wish we were still there!!!

I wuv dis!

2010-08-11T08:13:00.000-07:00

Luke had such a great time at the beach this past weekend! He especially loved the in door water slide. You can hear him say the second time down the slide "I wuv dis! So much fun!" Check out his crazy swimming skills, too!

Break from blogging...

2010-08-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

SO much is going on around here that I have been a bad bad blogger. And with Luke fighting a mystery stomach bug since last Saturday, the blog has been all but abandoned. Hoping a long weekend at the beach will cure us all and that I will back to blogging as normal next week!

The Beauty of Imagination!

2010-07-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Just this morning, this green laundry basket has been a boat, an airplane, and a car. Luke even "drove" to the grocery store to get us some milk since we ran out last night. I love watching him play!

Luke's 2nd Home....

2010-07-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

is the POOL! Ever since the beginning of the summer, it has been his favorite place to be. He took swim lessons at the beginning of June and he will finish up his second round of lessons today! He has learned so much and we can barely pry him away from being in the pool. He truly is a little fish!

It's GOGGLE time! We FINALLY convinced him to put on his goggles and once he realized that he could see so much better underwater, he didn't want to take them off. Unfortunately, we convinced him a little too late b/c by the time we got out, his eyes were still SO blood shot from the chlorine.

Here he is practicing his kicking like they do at swim lessons.

Last week He learned how to use BOTH arms! I was SO proud!

READY!

SET!

JUMP!!!

Happy Friday!

2010-07-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

I am loving that Luke is such a Momma's Boy these days! (I know it hurts Jeremy's feeling sometimes, but I try to tell him that it's just a stage.) Now on to Luke's swim lessons, then I've gotta work a few hours, then it's pool time at Mimi and Doc's with Daddy! Happy weekend everyone!

Fourth of July Fun!

2010-07-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

We spent the holiday weekend in GA with Mamaw and Papaw Payne! We got in at 8pm on Friday night. Luke and Emily, who are 3 months apart, became instant friends!

Saturday was the traditional 4th of July BBQ!

Luke helped Papaw plant some corn in his garden!

Then he got to help Papaw pick cucumbers. He was SO proud of his basket full of veggies!

No visit to GA would be complete without riding in the wagon!

Ever heard of kissing cousins?.....Luke and Emily were SO cute together all weekend. By the time we left, Emily was calling Luke her brother!

This was Luke BEFORE fireworks....

And this was Luke during fireworks.... He did NOT enjoy them. He buried his head and wanted me to cover his ears because they were "TOO loud mommy!"

Mamaw spent a lot her time cooking for all of us, but we all tried to pitch in and Jeremy helped her peel the potatoes for Sunday dinner! Thanks for all the great food Mamaw!

There is nothing better than eating a piece of watermelon by the pool on a hot summer afternoon!

Look how much Luke's tree has grown!

Check out what was in one of Papaw's holly bush...the cutest little baby birds ever! As soon as your touched any tree branch, the little birds would open their mouth's looking for food!

We had such a great time with the fam. Luke especially loved hanging out with his cousins! They were so sweet to him and even gave his some silly bands. He hasn't taken them off since! A good time was had by all!

What's for dinner?.....Luke's cooking!!!

2010-07-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

Any guess's as to what this tasty treat is?.......Figured it out yet?......

It's an EXTREMELY over cooked pancake in the microwave!

Let me set the stage. Last night about 4:45pm, I was sitting at the computer checking e-mail etc. and Luke was playing. He ran into what I thought was the play room up stairs and came back and told me "I'm making pancakes!" I said back "Oh honey, that's great. I can't wait to have them!" just thinking he was making me some from his "play" kitchen. It was around 5:15pm and time to get ready to go to church, so I rounded Luke up and we headed downstairs. I got to the kitchen and heard this weird noise and looked over at the microwave, saw it was ticking down from 95 minutes, and realized the inside covered with smoke. Yep, you guessed it! When Luke had told me he was making pancakes, he was LITERALLY making pancakes! I am surprised he didn't burn the whole house down. I was shocked that he had been able to open the freezer, get out a frozen pancake, get the stool over to the microwave, open the microwave, and start it. I certainly won't assume he is playing make believe next time. And yes, the kitchen STILL smells like burnt pancake!

Our little fish Nemo.....

2010-06-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

Luke learned this new swimming trick today! He is jumping into the pool off the diving board and absolutely LOVES it! He truly is a little fish these days and would stay in the pool ALL day if I let him!

Meet our little fish Nemo..... Why call him Nemo you ask? You know in the movie Finding Nemo, how little Nemo is attacked when he is just a little egg and subsequently grows up with one normal fin and a tiny little fin....well Luke has come up with a swim technique where he reaches with his left arm and "paddles" behind his body with his right arm resulting in what I have now named his Nemo Swim. Check it out and see for yourself. He does it almost every time and it cracks me up!

Birthday/Father's Day weekend!

2010-06-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY:
Jeremy and I had a much needed date night and since we were also celebrating Jeremy's birthday, it was his choice and since it's been months since we've been to a movie, that's what we did. We went to the A team and I have to say that I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the movie, too. I looked over at him at least 3 times and commented how awesome the movie was.

Busy SATURDAY:
We had a play date with Lucy and her parents planned for Sat. and decided to take the kids to both of their first movie's: Toy Story 3! They were both SUPER good it being their first movie and all!

The pop corn was bigger than Luke! Haha!

The thing that they were most excited about was the free puzzle they got!

After the movie, it was time for some relaxing in the pool! Ahhh!

Mae Mae came over to stay with Luke while the rest of us went out to dinner. Luke is always so happy for his Mae Mae to visit!

It was birthday boy's choice and so Ruth's Chris it was! Dinner was great! Happy Early birthday, Paynie!

SUNDAY: Father's Day!

Luke made the cutest "tie" Father's Day card at school and he was so excited to give it to Jeremy on Sunday morning.

We ended the day with a dinner at Steele wood! What a good looking group of guys!

Look Mom, No cavities!

2010-06-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

Today was Luke's first visit to the dentist (I learned today that this may have been a year or two late, but hey, better late than never)! Luke was most impressed by the little door that was JUST his size.

Since this was his first time, he got to go in and meet Dr. Wells, who happened to be an old high school/ church friend of mine growing up. I was totally nervous about the cleaning part, but thankfully, Luke did great. He sat in the chair in my lap and let Dr. Wells brush his teeth. He even got his teeth cleaned with the electric brush which I didn't think would go over at all.

Look at my new clean teeth!

Happy Father's Day 2010

2010-06-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to the most wonderful father and husband any family could ask for. Thank you for being such a blessing to our family! We love you! Love, Jessica and Luke

Swim Video

2010-06-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

This is Luke after two weeks of swimming lessons at the Club. If we let him, he would swim from me to the steps and then back again, literally ALL day long. On Friday, we were in the pool for over 3 hours that morning and an hour in the afternoon. I can't believe how far he's come!

Silly Dance!

2010-06-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

Luke has rediscovered his Mickey Mouse piano that he got at Christmas time. It plays a series of songs, but his favorite (and by favorite, I mean that we get the pleasure of hearing it over and over and over again) is the 10 little indians song. At least we get the see his new silly dance that goes with it!

"I'm so proud of you!"

2010-06-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

Luke was coloring in the kitchen when I overheard the following conversation between him and his Bear Bear:

"Hey Bear Bear, you wanna color?"
Oh, you want the blue one.
OK!
Aw Bear bear, you colorin'!
I'm so proud of you!"

I thought I would die from his cuteness. It made me smile and reminded me once again how much he mirrors what we do and say to him! In case it isn't obvious, I love this kid!

Swim Lessons!

2010-06-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

A busy start to our summer: Luke started swim lessons AND his summer session of Mother's Day Out on June 1st. MDO is from 9-1 and we got the latest swim lesson we could at 12pm. The swim lessons are from 12:00 to 12:30pm for two straight weeks. Therefore, for these first two weeks of school, we have been picking him up early from school in order to get him to swim lessons. Because of my crazy work schedule and Luke's MDO, it has been a joint effort (a combo of Me, Mom, and Jeremy) to get him to his lessons. Of course, he has been a little trooper and takes in all in stride. The first few sessions, he cried the entire time saying "I want my mommy, I want my mommy." All of the coaches have been great and have made Luke stick with it. Although he was unhappy those few sessions, he still managed to do what they said---it was just a little under duress. Flash foward to Monday and he is like a different kid. Although there were a FEW wimpers at the beginning, there is NO MORE CRYING. What a sigh of relief! It was actually fun watching him yesterday instead of wondering if I could stand "torturing" my kid a second longer! He has learned SO much and the coaches continue to be so patient with him--even on his worst days :)

They use these swim noodles to let them practice kicking! I love the fact the lessons are one on one, so he can go at his own pace!

Luke LOVES to blow bubbles!

They have practiced kicking, blowing bubbles, holding their breath, pushing off the side of the pool, swimming to the side of the pool. The only thing Luke is not doing yet is jumping off the side of the pool, but we've got a few more days! Here's hoping for another wonderful swim lesson this afternoon!

More weekend fun....

2010-06-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we got up and headed downtown for the 2nd annual Gumbo cook off fund raiser for the Red Cross that Aunt Liz organized. It was tons of fun but H-O-T! Luke loved the chicken and sausage gumbo that Uncle Kyle cooked! They had a jumpy castle where Luke and Connor spent most of their time and Michelle and I spent most of our time getting our prizes from the raffle tent. As soon as we walked in we each bought some raffle tickets (I got 6 and she got 24). Out of the 24 prizes, we ended up getting 4 of them! Jeremy and I won a $30 gift certificate to Pollman's bakers and a $300 six person catered meal! Mark and Michelle won a sheet cake from Butter Cream Dreams and a neck and back massage! It was pretty awesome.

To get out the heat for a minute, we walked down to Three George's for some ice cream, but since Luke doesn't really care for ice cream, jelly beans did the trick!

After the cook off, it was back to Mimi and Docs for more pool time and sprinkler time.

We ended Sat. night with a cookout at home. Good food. Good times!

Sunday we packed up our AWESOME mini-van and headed to the beach. We decided to go to pensacola, fl in hopes that the beaches would be tar ball free! We ate at a place called Flounders which was on the bay side. It was a beautiful day and they had some great seafood. Luke and Connor loved playing on the play ground which was just a few tables down from us.

We had both boys in the way back on the way down and they did great, however, by the end of the day they had the infamous "He's touching my seat" sibling spat, so we had to separate them. Wow, maybe we aren't ready for two!

The beaches were BEAUTIFUL! Not a tar ball in sight! It was a little windy, but the water was clear and totally swimmable. Luke like the wave ok, but loved the sand. Mark and Michelle were amazed at the sea shells. They said they don't have shells like that at the beaches.

Luke and Connor had such a great time playing together all weekend. They were best buds. It was so cute watching them interact and actually play. Luke was so wound up, he didn't even nap during the days. (Thankfully, he is back on schedule and taking a nice long nap this afternoon!)

On our way back we saw the "Hot Doughnuts Now" sign and had to get a dozen doughnuts for the Russell's. The big boys had just as much fun as the little boys!

We had such a good visit with our friends and will have to plan a visit up north soon!

Yankees visit Mobile!!!

2010-06-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

The Russell's came to visit us this past weekend and we had a blast! It was great to see them and get to catch up! We were next wall neighbors for the first year we were living in NY. We borrowed Pat's car, but after about an hour of driving around like this.... we decided to rent a mini-van!

Connor, who will be 3 in August, and Luke became fast friends and whatever one was doing the other HAD to do. Here they are playing "drums" with straws at the Dew Drop.

After they settled in, it was time for a swim in Mimi and Doc's pool!

Getting a good shot of this group was pretty much impossible, but you get the idea. It was a gorgeous night out on the patio at the Club and we got to introduce the Northerners to fried crab claws! Yum!

Super Busy!

2010-06-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

We have been super busy getting ready for our good friends from NY to visit this weekend. We can't WAIT to see them! At least I got a a picture in this post...

Vegetable Garden!

2010-05-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

While we were out and about this afternoon, we stopped by Gran Betty and Gran Jack's to see GJ's awesome vegetable garden. I got to pick a few of his rattlesnake green beens! He is also growing cucumbers and tomatoes, and has an orange tree and a fig tree. I can't wait to go back when there's more to pick!

I helped GB shell the beans that GJ had picked earlier. We had a nice long visit this afternoon (even if I did break one of GB's snow globes--sorry again GB!) Besides checking out the garden, I got to hear their clock chime and 2 and 3pm and I also enjoyed a delicious piece of watermelon! Thanks for a nice afternoon! Let's do it again soon!

Handprint Tradition

2010-05-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

Every year around Luke's birthday, we put Luke's handprint on canvas. It is one of my favorite "projects." I get the canvas for $1 at Michael's, paint it a base color and then pick out a coordinating color for the hand print. This year went much smoother than last year and Luke even helped pick out the colors. It is so much fun to see how much his little hand has grown! I always make a few extra hand prints on card stock so that I can use them on other projects down the road. You never know when you might need a hand print or two and one always goes on his Birthday scrapbook. (I have to give credit for this idea to www.beckyhiggins.com So happy I heard about it before Luke turned one, so now we have one for each year!)

Since we had the paints out already, I decided to make this fun flower. The footprints at the bottom were a little more difficult to do, but it was well worth it! Go out and get some paint today! :)

50th Percentile!

2010-05-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

Today we went for Luke's 3 year old check up! Luke decided that bear bear should go and get a check up, too! Luke did great and we found out that he weighs 33 pounds and is 38 inches tall. Now these stats may not be as exciting to you fellow blog readers, but I was ecstatic when I found out that these numbers put him in the 50th percentile! (I know, I know, it doesn't take much to make me happy.) This is pretty significant considering that up until now, Luke has always been at or below the 25th percentile! So happy to get a good report and NO shots. Luke won't need any shots until he turns 5! We celebrated by meeting Daddy at Newk's for lunch! Happy Monday!

Last Day of the Beach...

2010-05-19T12:24:00.001-07:00

Since Saturday was our last full day, we spent most of the day hanging out on the beach. Luke loved collecting sand shells and we even took a long walk on the beach. Jeremy and I were amazed at how much more he enjoyed the beach this year.

We took a break from the beach at lunch time and since the Flora-Bama was just two condos down from our, we decided to walk. This was the boys first time to the Flora-Bama, but I am sure it won't be their last. Can I just say....Mmmmm, bush wackers!

After lunch it was back to the beach and the water was crystal clear. As soon as Jeremy said he spotted a crab, I was bound and determined to catch one so Luke could see it close up. After a few near misses, I grabbed one up with only a small pinch to my pointer finger. Luckily Luke had been playing with a stick, so we let Mr. Crab hold on to that while we checked him out. It was super fun and I was so proud that I caught him with my bear hands!

After the boys went to bed, we finally got to play some games! BT and MMGK brought their dominos and taught us how to play mexican train! We are hooked and can't wait to play again.

The next morning Luke and I played with Thomas while the Kelley's packed up. We sang Happy Birthday to Luke and then it was time to head home. We had such a blast, the only down side was that it went by WAY too fast! I am ready to make plans for next year!

More Beach fun: Day 2

2010-05-18T12:48:00.001-07:00

We woke up and all headed out to the beach first thing Friday morning. Baby T didn't last too long, but Luke played in the sand for hours, playing in the surf, building sand castles, chasing periwinkles in the sand, throwing sand, laying in the sand, are you getting the picture? When he tired of the beach, we headed inside to the indoor pool and the hot tub. After a quick run to Al's 5&10 for a new hat (he had grown out of his one from last year), it was time for a quick nap and then dinner. Since Baby T goes to bed by 7pm, we beat the crowds and ate an early dinner. Mmmm....we love fried seafood! We met up with a childhood friend, Dorothy, and her husband Dan who came back to the condo to hang out. It was so good to catch up with everyone and it felt like old times. Here are a few pictures to highlight the day:

3rd Birthday party

2010-05-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated my 3rd birthday with the family at Mimi and Doc's house. The menu was fruit and Papa John's pizza, two of my favorite things!

Out of all the "themes" out there, I picked Thomas the Train!

Playing with balloons before I opened my gifts!

Mimi and Doc gave me some really cool things, including this toy story bouncy ball. I can't wait until I get the hang of this thing!

Mae Mae gave me some much needed pj's and also some gift cards to my favorite place to eat. As soon as I saw the logo, I yelled "CHICK-FIL-A! What a great gift!

Check out this cool roller coaster car that Gran Betty and Gran Jack gave me. As soon as I saw it, I jumped right on and started riding it!

Uncle Paddy gave me this ultra cool tool box full of toys. As soon as Uncle Paddy opened it, I took some toys and ran to the door and said "I gotta go fix my car!" I spent the rest of the night trying to open my presents with the various tools. I LOVED this gift!

Thanks Aunt Liz and Uncle Kyle for the awesome Fishing game and extra set of basket/soccer/footballs! As you can see, I was using my saw from my new toy set to help "open" the gift! I can't wait to "fish" in the pool!

Check out my cool train cake!

Who needs a fork when your hand works just as well? I ate two HUGE pieces! Mmmmm!

After I opened all of my gifts, it was time to play outside with some of my new toys before it got totally dark! I LOVE chasing bubbles! Thanks Mimi and Doc!

And to end the night, I had to take a dip in my new elephant pool that Mommy and Daddy got me! I had a wonderful day! I can't wait to play with all of my stash tomorrow! Happy to Me!

Beach Trip:Day 1

2010-05-17T07:35:00.001-07:00

We have had our beach trip with the Kelley family planned for over 4 months and have been counting down the days. When the oil spill happened, we were still determined to have a great time and as you can see, the beaches were pristine. We had beautiful weather and the beach was just as I remembered it!

We got to our condo, the Phoenix 9, just after lunch time on Thursday. MMGK and I headed to Publix for groceries and as soon as we got back we all headed to the beach! Luke was super excited.

One of Luke's favorite things to do was making sand castles with his daddy, but he really only liked "smashing" them.

The out door pool was a little cold, but it didn't stop our little swimmer from getting in. The only problem he had was the monster at the deep end (it was actually a mosaic of a phoenix, but he insisted it was a monster.) When we weren't on the beach we spent most of the time at the indoor pool.

I'm not sure what baby Thomas thought about Luke. They played as well as an almost 3 year old and 7 month old could, I guess.

Sacked out in the chair before dinner. Such a great day and it was only Thursday!
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-nqb_oV5A0E/S_FVdGXkbJI/AAAAAAAADwk/OIQpFrCucsg/s1600/DSC08724.JPG">

Happy 3rd Birthday!

2010-05-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

Our little boy turned 3 today! I can't believe he's THREE! Where does the time go? Luke is the joy of our lives! He keeps us on our toes and is quite the hand full, but he makes everyday a new and wonderful adventure! I am so happy God put him in our lives. We spent the weekend at the beach to celebrate (more pics to come) and will have a family birthday bash tomorrow! Happy Birthday! Mommy and Daddy love you!

Happy Mother's Day 2010!

2010-05-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

After waking up to breakfast in bed, we headed to church. It was a nice service and when we picked Luke up from Sunday school, they told us we had an escape artist on our hands. Apparently, he had opened the window of his class room and was trying to get out. Luckily, the class rooms windows are on the ground floor. After church, we met the whole family at Cafe 615 downtown for Sunday brunch. The lunch was great and it was nice to get to spend time with everyone. After lunch, we came back to Mimi and Doc's for an afternoon swim. Before heading out to the pool, we watched the sweetest DVD Jeremy had made me of our three years with Luke. It brought tears to my eyes.

As I reflect on the love that I have for Luke, it makes me realize just how much my Mom has done for me over the years. I now appreciate just how much she loved and continues to love me and has sacrificed for me through the years. I am so glad she is in my life. I love you, Mom! Happy Mother's day!

Thomas the Train

2010-05-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

To kick off Luke's birthday week, we took him to see Thomas the Train in Silverhill, AL. It was a beautiful day complete with periods of sunshine and a nice breeze, if you stayed in the shade.

The 25 minute train ride was so much fun and Luke had a blast! We even had a train car all to ourselves.

There were all kinds of things to see along the way, we even got to see some of Luke's favorite things: back hoes!

We also got a picture with Sir Topham hat.

They also had another miniature coal burning steam engine that we got to ride. The whole day was super fun! We have tons more pictures to share---we took 275 to be exact---will post some more favorites soon!

2 date nights in 1 week....WHAT?

2010-05-07T13:17:00.001-07:00

Date night #1: On Monday night, Mimi and Doc baby sat, so we could go to the Straight No Chaser concert at the Saenger Theater. We have had tickets for this concert since before Christmas and we haven't had a date night since January, so to say that I was excited was a HUGE under statement! We went to Hopjacks for some drinks and french fries cooked in duck fat---sounds TOTALLY disgusting, but they are the absolute most delicious things you have ever put in your mouth! The concert was completely entertaining and this acapella group reminded me of the Bakers Dozen that used to come to St. Paul's. So much fun!

Date night #2: Mae Mae came to baby sit Thursday night so the whole fam could go see Norah Jones in concert. We went to the Bike Shop at around 6pm thinking we had plenty of time for dinner and I guess EVERYONE in Mobile thought this would be a good idea.... our food finally came at 7:50pm and the concert started at 8pm. We scarfed down our food and headed straight to the Saenger. After rushing to the theater, she didn't even start singing until 9pm, so we really didn't even have to rush. Anyway, the concert was pretty good. She was so cute and she sounded great, but there just seemed to be something missing from it somehow. Don't get me wrong, it was a ton of fun, I just wish she would have connected to the audience a bit more. My favorite songs of the night were the song about "Dauphin Island" and the one about Manhattan. Any song about NY makes me realize how much I miss our NY and appreciate our time up there all over again.

Our new favorite place....

2010-05-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

Before I begin let me set the stage. Luke has always had a head full of hair and it grows SUPER fast. He had his last hair cut a few days before Easter and his hair has been looking a little shaggy for over a week now, but I have been DREADING getting his hair cut since his last one. It was a nightmare. We went to super cuts for a simple trim and he did OK while the lady cut it, but when she brought out the electric razor, it was over...by then end he was screaming, I was holding him down, the lady looked like she had been through a hurricane, and we all were sweating. It was A-W-F-U-L!

Thankfully, during a street party this past weekend, one of Jeremy's co-worker told us about Smiles and Styles. She said her almost two year old twin boys LOVED it. I was a little skeptical at first, but as soon as we walked in the doors, I KNEW we had hit the jack pot.... Toys galore, cars for chairs, and even flat screen TV's showing cartoons. As soon as Luke sat in the car, he was glued to the TV and got his hair cut with only a few "sit still honey" from the hair dresser. He even let her use the electric razor. Needless to say, this place was totally worth the extra $4! As we were leaving, he even said "Hey, I wanna get my hair cut again!" These people are geniuses. Why didn't I think of this?

Living in the moment...

2010-05-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

The other afternoon just before nap time, I was going to let Luke watch something on TV before he went to sleep. He crawled up into my bed, pulled the quilt up , and said "Hey Mommy, you wanna snuggle wif me?" I looked over at his sweet face and even though I had a million and two things to do, I climbed up next to him, snuggled in, and watched Mickey's Clubhouse. I was in complete and utter heaven!

Happy Birthday Mamaw and Papaw!

2010-05-03T07:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Mamaw and Papaw,

Happy Birthday to my GRANDS up in Georgia. Sure wish I could have seen you on your real birthdays! Hope y'all had a safe trip back from North Carolina. Let's video chat soon!

Love, Luke

P.S. Mommy and Daddy say Hi.
P.P.S This is for you Papaw: "HEY BOY!"

Picnic in the Park

2010-04-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

Luke and I had an impromptu picnic in the park on this beautiful Monday morning. We were finally getting out of the house to run errands at about 11:45 and I knew we would both be starving if we waited to eat lunch, so we took what we had in the fridge and headed to the park. It was so much fun!

After lunch, Luke had a great time playing at the park before we had to finish up the rest of the errands. Our picnic made an ordinary Monday into an extraordinary one! (I know it's Cheesy, but it's so true!)

I dig dinos!

2010-04-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to get downtown to see the Dinosaurs since they opened in January, and we FINALLY got to go the weekend before they left! I was all about it when we got to the museum. I couldn't wait.....

But, when we actually got outside, and I saw these HUGE creatures and heard their roars, it was a different story. I will admit I was a little scared at first.

When Mommy, Daddy, and I got to ride one of them, I was feeling a bit better about the whole Dinosaur thing.....

Mimi and Gran Betty enjoyed watching me "play" with the dinos!

My favorite one was the dino that spit water! It made me laugh.

By the end of the day, I had no fear. It's official, I LOVE dinos! (Too bad I didn't have on the t-shirt that Mamaw and Papaw sent me that says "I DIG Dinos!")

Happy Birthday Doc!

2010-04-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

I am SO behind on blogging. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I just haven't been into it for a few weeks. It has seemed more like a chore than anything else. Hope, my creative blogging juices kick in soon. In the mean time, I am going to try to put up a few posts to feel somewhat "caught up."

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Doc's 60th birthday!!! He didn't want a big fuss, so on his real birthday we went to eat Mexican and the Sunday after the real day we had a cookout with the fam at Mimi and Docs. And yes, we put 60 candles on his Strawberry cake. It was awesome. We love you to pieces Doc! Welcome to your 60's!

I a Big Boy!

2010-04-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we were all getting dressed and Luke got a hold of Jeremy's deodorant and as he was trying to put it on, he said "Hey Mommy, I a BIG boy!"

No, It Pine Cones!

2010-04-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

(My son the know-it-all)

Luke: "Hey Mommy!"
Me: "Yes, Lukie."
Luke: Look at my pine cones!
Me: I respond "Those are actually called traffic cones" as I am holding back a laugh!
Luke: "No, it not traffic cones, it PINE cones!"

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter 2010!

2010-04-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

Since we sing in the choir and our church does two services on Sunday morning, we were at church from 7:45am-12:00pm! It was a great day to be in church... the songs, the sermon, and the hand bells were fabulous! Up from the grave He arose!

After church, we headed to Mimi and Doc's to do Easter baskets, since the Easter bunny brought Luke's basket during church. Luke got a bouncy ball that claims to bounce over 75 feet, a bubble gun, a Curious George movie, and a few eggs filled with candy from the bunny! Mimi and Doc got Luke some Thomas the trains, and a Zhu Zhu pet car. We had just enough time to rest a few minutes and open baskets and then it was on to lunch!

We met the rest of the family at the Club for their Sunday brunch buffet. The food was great, but it was just so nice to be with the extended family.

Luke's favorite part of the day was seeing the Easter Bunny at the Club. He would run up to him and hug him and say "Hi, Bunny!" We had to go back and see him about 50 times before we got done with lunch. Happy Easter!

Night and Day

2010-04-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

Comparing Thursday to Friday, it's like night and day. At 1:45am on Thursday morning, I awoke to Luke screaming out in pain and heard some gurlgling sounds and I knew something terrible had happened. Luke had thrown up his entire dinner and it was EVERY where. Now there is nothing worse than the smell/ sight of throw up and especially in the middle of the night when you were dead asleep. He would continue to do so every hour for the rest of the night. He finally stopped at 6am on Thursday morning. Since he and I had gotten so sleep the entire night, I called in sick on Thursday. He was pretty pitiful all day long and we spent the entire day watching Sprout. We were slugs and we didn't care.

Flash forward to Thursday night/ Friday, and he was a new kid and totally back to normal! His favorite "game" all week has been to hide and find Easter eggs. So glad to have my happy little man back!

The Annual Easter Egg Dye

2010-03-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

Since we have something to do literally every night for the rest of the week, we decided to go ahead and dye Easter eggs tonight!

"Seriously, Mom! It's not ALWAYS about the pictures. I am trying the concentrate!"

The hardest part was waiting on the eggs to get their color!

"Hooray! They're ready!"

"Dada, I need a little help, please!"

Even Aunt Liz came over to get in on the action!

"Check it out! I colored my hand, too! Awesome!" (Mama couldn't believe my white shirt stayed white!" Happy Easter Week!

Egg Hunt on the Hill

2010-03-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

Today was our church's annual "Egg Hunt on the Hill." This was my very first time to get to go and it was such a blast! They had so much to do and see!

There were eggs galore and I quickly filled up my basket and then traded them in for a prize!

I got to see a bunch of my church and school friends and we even got to ride the train with Luci and her mom, who happened to be there, too!

I got a bunny rabbit painted on my face to match the rabbits on my outfit! Mommy didn't know I could sit that still!

I had no qualms about getting on the pony. The only problem was that he wouldn't go fast enough! I kept saying "Giddy Up, Horsie, Giddy UP!!!"

I actually got a hole in one on the golf game and check out the super cool hat the balloon lady made me! I am stylin' now!

Thankfully, they had some refreshments so I could sit and recharge! They had cotton candy and my FAVORITE snack, popcorn! Mmmmm!

They had to drag me out of the jumpy house! I was in LOVE!

I don't know what I liked most, the jumpy house or the bubble machine! I could have chased bubbles for hours. Maybe there will be a bubble machine in my Easter basket???

Weekend Recap!

2010-03-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

THURSDAY: We made/hung up signs for our joint yard sale @ Liz and Kyle's house.

FRIDAY: Right after Daddy got off work, we headed straight to the park to play. We stayed until it got dark and then went to our storage building to get a few more things to sell in the yard sale.

SATURDAY: Yahooo!!! We did pretty well at the yard sale. (Made all the hard work worth it.) We even decided to to do it again next year!

SUNDAY: After church, we picked up Aunt Liz and headed to Fairhope for the Arts and Crafts Fair. It turned out to be a gorgeous day--even if it was a little windy. I got to feed into my LOVE of Fire Trucks and "drive" two of them.

We ended the weekend at the Mellow Mushroom, where Daddy played a set with Hank Becker. It was so much fun to see him play. I stood right up next to him and danced, clapped, and even took a bow or two after songs. I was in heaven. When we were leaving, this was the conversation between Mommy and Me:
Mommy: "Did you have fun?"
Me: "Uh Huh!"
Mommy: " Did you like the music?"
Me: "Uh Huh!"
Mommy: " Are you going to play guitar like your Daddy?"
Me: "Uh Huh! I gonna ROCK!"

Happy Monday everyone! Time to tackle another week!

A day at Steelwood...

2010-03-13T12:09:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Mimi took Mommy, Granddaddy Jack, Grandmother Betty, and me to Steelwood to see the annual FISH SHOCK. This was the first time she had been to one and it was a great adventure. Her friends, Mrs. Laura and Mr. Roe, have a house there so they met us up at the Club House to check this whole fish shocking thing out.

Hey guys! Enough with the rocking chairs! I thought we came over here to see some FISH!?!?

Fish! WHERE are you?.....

Still waiting!......

Man! Are you SURE there are fish in this lake?

All right! Now we're talking! This is more like it!..... Mr. Fred drove Steelwood's party boat over to the boat that was shocking the fish. We rode behind it to see if we could see any fish! I helped "drive" the boat with this round cup holder contraption.

The shock boat had two long rods out in front and when they sent the currents into the water, it stuned the fish for a few minutes, so they can assess and weigh the fish in the lake.

YIPPEE!!! I FINALLY got to see some fish!!! They would float up to the top of the water like this for a few minutes and then when the shock wore off, they would swim away like nothing had ever happened. Pretty cool!

After all of the shocking was over, I got to watch the men weigh and measure the fish. I was mesmerized!....

They even let me TOUCH one! It was slimy, and smelly, and gross and I LOVED it!

Do I look at home on a boat or what?

After lunch at the Club House, we went over to the play ground. I loved the slide!....

AND this really cool tractor! Have I mentioned how well I can pedal now?

They also have a FIRE truck! It was so much fun to get to "ride" on it.

What a perfect end to a perfect day! Steelwood is now one of my favorite places to go. When are we coming back!?!?

My Mae Mae!

2010-03-13T12:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks again to my Mae Mae who came over to babysit AGAIN while Doc and Mimi took the "kids" out to dinner for Uncle Paddy's girlfriend's birthday. We got to watch my favorite movie, Toy Story! Love you!

Luke's a Local Celebrity!

2010-03-11T14:57:00.000-08:00

Luke's picture was on the front page of the Metro section of the Mobile Press Register today! Go to this link to check it out: http://www.al.com/press-register/pageone/thursday1c.pdf

Sunday Hugs!!!

2010-03-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about Sundays are the hugs that Luke gets after church on Sundays from his Great Grandparents. Almost every Sunday the timing works out perfectly that just as we are coming out of the nursery, Grandmother Betty and Granddaddy Jack are making their way out of the sanctuary into the parking lot. As soon as Luke gets sight of either one of them, he runs as fast as he can to get his hugs. It is so precious and what I love seeing the most are the looks on all of their faces. I was so happy that I had my camera with me this past Sunday to capture the love!

Busy, Busy, Busy!...

2010-03-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

I have been slacking on the blogging front because we have been SO busy, but I know that some of you are having Lukie withdrawals. Here are a few pics to hold you over until I can add more:

A small sampling of what I've been up to:

1. Checking out my patients with my doctor kit. I like to say that your heart says "Boom Boom Boom!"

2. Playing in my fort in the den.

3. Cooking with Mommy. It is my new favorite thing.

4. Baby Showering. (Well, Mommy, Mimi, and Aunt Liz threw the baby shower, while Daddy and I went to the park and to Chick-fil-A.)

5. Celebrating GREAT Granddaddy's Birthday!

Flashback Friday!

2010-02-26T14:55:00.000-08:00

2007

2008

2009

2010

Where oh where did this B-I-G boy come from???

Cute Children's Books!

2010-02-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

Dr. Calvin Miller was the guest speaker at our church on Sunday and he was SO funny. He selected to interpret a few of his Children's poem from the pulpit and had everyone laughing! After the service, we were able to purchase them and have them signed. The reason I love them is because, it takes stories from the Bible and puts them in easy to understand fun poems that rhyme (think Dr. Seuss)! Another reason I love them is because I can remember my children's choir director, Debbie Rice, reading excepts from them when I was a little girl. I can't wait to continue the tradition with Luke!

Who said guys don't cook?

2010-02-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

What is old is new again! Especially at Mimi's house. Some of you know that Mimi hardly ever throws anything out and in this case we are glad she didn't. Her attic is FULL of our old toys. We dusted this gem off, gave it a good cleaning, and it is as good as new. This was Aunt Liz's old kitchen and it brings back such fun memories. Mimi even had all of the accessories that goes with it!

Luke LOVES to "cook" all kinds of things on it, but he especially likes to make eggs, waffles, coffee for Mimi, and hot dogs.

He even takes special orders! Here he is putting whip cream on my waffle!

He also takes "to go" orders over the phone! This "old" toy has already been a source of hours of entertainment!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

2010-02-16T19:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Fat Tuesday! Mardi Gras is over for another year and we celebrated by staying in our PJ's half of the day and watched the parades on TV. Mommy made it extra special by making a funny face on my pancakes this morning.

Music Man

2010-02-15T15:11:00.000-08:00

I am taking after my Daddy because I LOVE music. My favorite thing to do lately is to "sing" into the mic while daddy is playing.