Too. Much. Stuff.

After this past weekend and the influx of new toys I decided today was the day to downsize.  I went through the mounds of toys in our ever so small living room and separated the "baby" toys from the "big boy" toys.  Luke probably had no clue what I was saying but I explained it to him anyway.  Every baby toy I put in the "leaving the living room" pile Luke suddenly was interested in.  Seriously Luke, you haven't touched them in months.

Eventually I put them in a bag, which apparently I didn't tie tight enough because Luke got some of them out again, and now they are sitting in a basket with another toy that we borrowed and are going to return.  I also dismantled his exersaucer and it is in a big sad pile on the floor.  What the heck do I do with this stuff now though?

In the next few days I'm going to look for a reasonably sized basket/container to keep his big boy toys in and have some sort of hope of gaining part of the living room back.  And hopefully give Luke some actual room to play.

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, here are a few pictures from ours.

What?  Santa is coming?? Tonight!?!?

Ooohh, presents!

One of my childs new favorite things - licking windows.  This is what it looks like from the outside :)

First family Christmas photo.

Christmas morning!

This was about the most unwrapping he did, next year!

Traditions

Some reasons I love Christmas are the traditions that go with it.  Two of my favorites - yummy breakfasts after opening presents and stockings!  I'm still a sucker for stockings - I'm getting excited already just typing this.  Anyway, I'm going to start some of these same things for Luke.  He won't remember anything about his first Christmas, but I'm sure I won't forget it.

When I lived at home my mom would always make awesome breakfasts on Christmas morning, we would sit around in our pjs and just hang out, eat, and have fun.  This was usually the calm before the storm of visiting every relative possible that day.  I haven't lived at home for a long time now but I still have never cooked breakfast on Christmas.  We always did our thing here, got ready, and went to somoene elses house for food.  This year I'm cooking for my own little family. 

So I searched all over for a yummy recipe for Christmas morning.  I decided on a french toast casserole from Paula Deen - it will be jam packed with fat and oh so delicious.  And the house will smell delicious, another one of my favorite things about Christmas morning.  After our breakfast we'll head out to visit everyone, but this will be our part of the day just for us, I can't wait.  

And oh yeah, we'll open stockings! Woot!

Most Wonderful Time...

I watch Ellen some afternoons after work.  She's doing her 12 days of give-a-ways and they play this song over and over again.  So I end up singing it over and over and over.  Luke probably knows the words by heart now even though he can't talk, and I'm sure he loves my singing too.  Anyway, I'm getting so excited for Christmas.

This past weekend I baked cookies.  I love to bake.  It's kind of hard to find the time sometimes, so I did take some short cuts and use some recipes that "helped me out" so I could make more than one kind while Luke was napping.  They turned out delicious!  I even think my candy cane cookies look just as good as the pictures from the recipe.  That never happens, but I'm pretty darn proud of these. 

I finally finished all of my Christmas cards, I'm just about finished shopping, and I even started wrapping presents last night.  Luke got his very own stocking hung up this weekend, so we're all set! 

On top of all that Luke has been busy.  Last night he took a few steps, all on his own!  I'm so excited for him, he's really on the move now.  Crawling up the stairs, cruising all over the place, standing unassisted for longer periods of time, and getting daring enough to take a few steps.

Here's one of my new favorite pictures from this weekend. 

And now after a long day at work, Zach's holiday party, some awkward office chatter, and a few glasses of wine, I'm off to bed.  Later!

Santa!

We took Luke out to the mall tonight to meet Santa.  Santa was on his dinner break until 6 so we got in line, watched the happenings for a while, and then....it started to snow!  For real, Park City goes all out.  When Santa was about to return they had fake snow flying through the air, Luke loved it!  I was getting so excited, more so than him I think.  As we waited some more we got to see Rudolph, Sam the Snowman, the Abominable Snow Monster - not all real but they have a cool display out of all of those characters.  Finally Santa arrived!  Luke was getting restless from waiting so I got him all ready, we got up to front of the line, and BAM - there was Santa! Yay! 

This adorable little girl was in front of us, she was sitting on Santas lap, smiling, loving it.  Luke was totally in to her getting her picture taken and all the toys they used to make her smile, so I thought this will be great.

I put Luke on Santas lap and all of the sudden the happy, cheery Luke was dazed and confused.  He was a deer caught in the headlights, didn't know what I just did to him.  So I pulled out all my "mommy tricks" to get him to smile, acting like a major fool for all to see, and nothing.  Not even a smirk.  The lady taking the pictures was really nice and tried hard to get a good one of Luke.  

He looks so concerned.  Of course as I was paying for this picture he smiled like crazy at the lady working there - what a little flirt.  Merry Christmas!

This and That

Luke will be 10 months next week, whoa!  I was reading this one message board site and people were starting to plan their kids first birthday party, say what?  Maybe I should get on the ball but I'm thinking its way too early for that.  Anyway, a correction from the last post - Luke is no longer toothless! Last week he starting cutting his first tooth, this was probably the cause of all of our recent sleep problems but he seems to be doing a little better. 

We've solved our Christmas tree dilema.  I'll be honest, I'm not too excited about our solution but I do agree that it is probably best for this year, and it looks really good now that its done.  I ended up setting up my 4 ft fake tree on top of the end table in the corner of our living room.  It fits nicely since we are pretty tight on space here, it's out of Lukes reach for the most part, and it's in the living room so we can enjoy it more often.  Our house is all set for the holidays.  Now its on to mailing Christmas cards, wrapping presents, and baking goodies! Yay!

I've finally entered the 21st century with phones.  I no longer have the crappy old phone that never rang, never delievered text messages, and never told me when I had voicemail and I've moved onto a smart phone! ooooohhhhh, aaaaahhhhh!  My phone finally has Internet access and I've joined the cool kids club, ok, not really but a girl can dream.  What a year though, DVR and Internet access on my phone, all within 12 months!  How did I ever survive before?!?! ;)

Lets Talk Sleep

Before I became a mom I was a sleeper.  I napped whenever possible, stayed up late but slept in on the weekends.  I am such a serious napper I laid on all the couches I looked at for the living room before actually buying one.  I had to find one that was comfy, long, and wide enough to take a quality nap on.  I loved to sleep.

When Luke was first born I expected not to sleep much.  He was up every 2 hours to eat which meant I was up every 2 hours.  He was a slow eater and then it would take him forever to go back to sleep.  He cried a lot and I thought all of this was normal.  Well after 2 months of my normal I talked to the doctors and realized his trouble eating and especially going back to sleep were not normal.  He was put on medicine for reflux issues and life changed - again.  He was calm, he was sleeping without being held, and most of all I was sleeping, well at least a little more than before.

By 3 months Luke was actually sleeping about 6-7 hours straight at night.  It was heavenly.  The summer hit, and with the exception of a few bad spells, he was a good sleeper.  Going almost 8-9 hours at a time.  I was so happy to find that I had a sleep lover just like myself.  I was soaking it all in, life was good.

Around 6 months we had a little bump in the road.  Right when I started to back to work actually, which may have been part of the problem.  Everyone told me it was teeth - well he's 9 months and still no teeth, so I think not.  Anyway after a few bad weeks of barely any sleep things went back to his summer normal.  Yay.

Since then there has been no normal.  There was a month of fighting like a maniac at bedtime but after almost an hour each night he would give in and go to sleep.  After we got him down then he was out for the night. Whew.

Then came the "I'll go to sleep fast but I'll wake up 10 times during the night."  That's where we are now.  Bedtime is easy (I'm biting my tounge - well fingers - as I type this), we do diaper, lotion, pjs, bottle, rock, and into the crib he goes.  Sounds good, right?  Well its the next part that gets crazy.

About 3-4 hours after he goes down, he's back up, then every 1-2 hours after that, up again, and again, and again.  And when I say up I mean up.  Crying or screaming, not calming down unless he gets picked up.  I know, I know - everyone says just soothe them and don't pick them up.  Well it doesn't work for my little guy, believe me I have tried. 

Now that he can stand and pull himself up - thats how I find him sometimes in the middle of the night.  Maybe he's confused - it's not time to play, it's not time to eat, it's time to sleep.  

Is self soothing something they can be taught or something they have to learn naturally?

Luke is toothless and self-soothing-less.  I'm sure we'll get back to "normal" eventually.  I guess I was just spoiled for a few months but boy did I love it. 

Say Cheese

I'm starting to get in to the holiday spirit.  One of the things on my list was to take a picture of Luke for cards this year.  I'm hoping I'm not too late and I can still order, receive, and mail them back out in time, we'll see.  Anyway Luke's been a bit off this weekend, maybe too much fun on Thanksgiving, not sure.  So attempting a picture was a bit risky.  Out of the 50+ we took we got one we think we will use.  Here's how the afternoon went though.

Zach got everything all set up, even Knuckles was set.  If only we could have snapped a good picture here, how cute would that have been?  Knuckles had very little patience but maybe someday :)

We thought a stocking might be good in the picture, then Luke thought it might taste good.

Then he decided he was done with pictures and tried to crawl off the couch. 

Then we changed outfits, gave him some toys, and had a bit more success. 

None of these are actually "the one" though. 

Things that make you go hmm...

Christmas is only a month away.  It's Luke's first Christmas.  I'm starting to get excited.  I wonder if he'll be interested in opening presents?  Or maybe he'll just want the goodies inside without ripping off the paper?  Or maybe he'll have no interest at all?  Or most likely he'll just want to play with the paper.  But either way, I'm looking forward to it.

The thing that is really making me think though is the Christmas tree.  I really want to get a tree since it's his first Christmas.  I really want to get a real one since last year I skipped on that.  And I really want to put it up in the living room where we can actually enjoy it.  There's a few problems though:

1.  Our living room is small and has been overtaken by baby toys, gadgets, cribs, chairs, etc.  Even the cats are getting pushed out.

2.  Luke grabs EVERYTHING.  I can only imagine what he would do to a tree if it was in his reach.  I mean, I could always put ornaments up high, we used to anyway because of the cats.  I can keep all the breakables away, but I can imagine him using the tree to stand up and then ka-boom.  Him and the tree, down. 

So how can we make this work?  It's going to take some serious consideration on our part but don't worry, it'll happen.  Plus, we've still got time. 

When Daddy's Away....

Mommy and Luke will play take an afternoon nap. 

Zach left this morning to head to Maryland for a football game and bachelor party night.  Doesn't seem so exciting to me, but I don't really like football, its cold outside now, and I don't drink beer.  But hopefully he has fun.

Luke and I had lunch plans that fell through because one of my friends had the flu.  So our day opened up and I wondered what we could do.  Christmas shopping crossed my mind but I still have no idea what I'm buying a lot of our family.  I felt like baking and making the house smell all yummy but I didn't have what I needed and didn't want to go to the grocery store, again.  Some times I feel like the grocery store is my second home and I wasn't feeling it today. 

So instead, Luke and I played, I cleaned a little, and then we both took an afternoon nap!  Wonderful!!  I love naps, like seriously love them, and it had been such a long time since I had the time to actually take one. 

After our naps we did do a little shopping and went to my in-laws for homemade pizza and some more play time. Now Luke is fast asleep, I just enjoyed a delicious cupcake, and I'm thinking a glass of wine and DVR are on the agenda for the rest of this evening.  I love the weekends!

We did it!

Wuss no more.  We cut Luke's hair.

Yesterday we sat him down and were going to give him a haircut but ended up only trimming around his ears.  So we kind of wussed out.  It was so frightening to me to try and cut his hair with just scissors and not make it look completely messed up.  And Luke wasn't really feeling the haircut, there were tears, and we just decided trimming around the ears was enough. 

He looked cute but he still had the crazy long pieces all over his head.

So today went and bought a pair of hair clippers.  I read all the directions, got everything all ready to go, picked the #4 and we were off.  Well apparently I cut hair too slowly and hesitantly.  So Zach took over.

The #4 said it was for 1/2 inch cut.  I thought that seemed good.  Not too long, not too short.  Zach went to town and let's just say a lot of hair is gone.  It turned out to be much shorter than I thought, but still looks really cute.  Luke looks even more like Zach now, if that was even possible. 

Luke did okay with it at first, then was rubbing hair all over, maybe even ate some hair, not too sure.  So we had tubby time a little early tonight, cleaned him all up, put on his pj's and now he is happily playing in the living room. 

Take a look at this weekend's progression: 

Yesterday after just trimming around his ears.  Not really much of a difference at all.  He seems to feel the same way.

Today after his haircut.  "What?  They cut my hair?  Oh nooo!"

"Just playing, I love it!"

My Week in One Word

Sucky. 

I don't even think thats an actual word but its all I can think of right now.  I'm sick, I'm tired, and I've spent entirely too much time at work. 

I used to dislike conferences before I was a mom but now I really dislike conferences.  We only get a few hours break in between afternoon and evening conferences and I didn't see Luke awake and in "play mode" since Tuesday.  Sucky.  I was counting down the hours today to go home so I could see my little man.  I know it was only two days but I really did miss him a bunch.

Since Tuesday he's fine tuned his crawling and moves pretty good now.  All in 2 days!  No more stumbling.  This boy is on the move.  Looks like we have a weekend of baby proofing ahead of us.  And lots of family time too, woo!

Two Things

1.  Whoever invented daylight savings time didn't have a baby.  It royally messes with their schedules.  Saturday we gave Luke 3 naps instead of 2, kept him up an hour later than normal, and kept our fingers crossed that he would sleep in on Sunday.  Not!  He was wide awake and ready to go at 6 am.  No extra hour of sleep in our household.  I'm wondering how long it will take to get Luke back on track.  His sleeping habits already stunk lately but this didn't help.  On the bright side, it is really really nice to be able to drive to work in daylight.  So you win some you lose some.

2.  Luke kept his belly up tonight and began to crawl across the floor instead of his crazy army crawl!  Of course, as soon as I got the video camera out all he wanted to do was roll around and make raspberry noises.  But it really did happen.  It wasn't smooth or natural at all but he went about 5 or 6 movements before he bellied out so I say it counts :)  Way to go bud!

I'm a Wuss

Luke needs a haircut.  It's getting a bit ridiculous.  I've actually been thinking he needs a haircut for a few months now.  I've tried to persuade Zach several times to let me trim it.  No luck.

Anyway, this morning all the hair around his ears was really bugging me.  So we sat him down, got a toy to keep him occupied, had Zach hold him as still as we could, got the scissors, and.....I wussed out.  Blah.

I was too afraid to cut him or poke him or mess up his hair completely.  But I'm sure tons of parents trim their little ones hair all the time.  Zach keeps telling me otherwise and that theres no way we'll get him to sit still long enough.  Even though that will be a tough task, I'm sure its doable.  I don't really want to give in and take him somewhere because I know he won't sit still for a stranger either.  So I just need to suck it up, get some guts, and cut Luke's hair.

Send happy, confident, good looking thoughts my way.

November?

I think everyone is confused, it's only November - only the 6th day of November to be exact.  Not December, not even winter yet...

I took a solo trip to the mall today - it was awesome by the way.  I wanted to look for a new pair of jeans.  I usually dread this task but today I was just happy to be out and about so off to Park City I went.  I pull into the parking lot and it's packed....like every row, every spot, the entire lot.  I didn't think everyone would be out shopping today but it reminded me of how it gets right before Christmas.  Inside it was even worse - I heard carols over the loud speakers, saw holiday deals and signs, the only thing missing was Santa Claus himself.  I like Christmas and all but I'm kinda looking forward to Thanksgiving first.

I haven't even started a list of what to buy everyone for Christmas. I feel like I could buy Luke a million things but he doesn't really need a million things.  I almost bought him a cute little Thanksgiving bib today - it's so hard to resist so much cute baby stuff.  Anyway, I did find a pair of jeans, a sweater, and a few things for Luke.  So it was successful but I'm not sure I'm ready for the whole holiday season yet.  

So yea, don't forget, they'll be plenty of time for holiday tunes, decorations, candy canes, and Christmas trees next month but its only November.

Happy Halloween

Central PA is weird.  They don't actually trick or treat on Halloween night.  What's up with that?  It's not actually Halloween unless you trick or treat...THAT day. 

Anyway, we have a ton of kids down the street from us but never get any trick or treaters.  A few years ago I stocked up on the candy, decorated the house a little bit, and anxiously awaited by the door for the kids in the costumes.  Three hours later, one small group of kids had stopped by, the night was over, and we had a TON of candy.  Needless to say, we don't turn our light on anymore.  This is the first halloween in a long time I had no candy whatsoever and it's all good.  Last year pregnant me ate more than my share. :)

Luke got all dressed up for some of his grandparents this weekend and managed to survive yet another "photo shoot" so we could send pictures to everyone else he couldn't see.  Next year when he's a little older we'll participate in more of the Halloween traditions.

Fall Fun

We're not doing the whole carving of pumpkins this year and we were too lazy to wait in the loooong line to take the hayride out to the pumpkin patch (instead we bought these delicious homemade cookies - totally worth the trip just for that), but we did give Luke his pumpkin to have some fun with.  He used it more as a drum than anything else but he was happy. 

Can't wait to dress him up in his Halloween costume this weekend!  Tonight was a big night for our little man, he got up on all fours, rocked a bunch, and then moved both his left hand and leg forward before flopping back down to his belly.  It's a start!  Go Luke Go!

Let the Games Begin

I was under the impression that I'm pretty good at diapers by now.  I mean I changed hundreds and seen all sorts of things.  Before Luke was born I had very little experience but now I feel like its one of the areas of being a mom that I've actually learned to do quickly and efficiently.   

Not so much. 

Luke loves to roll, sit, and rock.  It doesn't matter if you're giving him a bath, playing with him on the floor, getting him dressed, or changing his diaper. 

Here's kind of how it goes nowadays.  I lay him down on the changing table - all is good.  I get the new diaper ready, a wipe, some cream....I'm armed and ready to go.  He's still just laying there.  I undo the diaper and BAM the Olympic games start.  It's like he hears that noise and thinks "play time!"  He rolls over, gets things all messy, starts grabbing things, knocks stuff off of the changing table, gets up on all fours.  Geez kid!  

I've resorted to changing many diapers on the floor now and letting him roll around for a while diaper free - risky I know.  I'm also learning how to put the diaper back on with him stomach down on the floor, I should get extra points for that. 

Fun times.

8 Months

Luke turned 8 months yesterday.  Is it weird that I look forward to every month?  I know people don't count by months forever but I was still excited for his 8 month 'birthday'. 

Anyway, Luke really wants to move but hasn't quite figured out how to do it.  He has just about no interest in crawling.  He can roll himself from one side of the room to the other and can turn himself while laying on his belly.  But he's not even really rocking on all fours.  I mean, he does it every so often but its not intentional and definitely not leading anywhere yet. 

Instead he wants you to hold him up so he's standing.  All. of. the. time.  He loves to stand.  He can hold himself up when holding onto the couch or something else at the appropriate height.  He loves to dance as you hold his hands up and moves his feet around.  Sometimes he moves them the right way and 'walks' with you. 

He's my little wiggle worm.  Sitting is cool but standing is better.  If you won't help him, he'll wiggle and squirm and push around as much as possible until you help him stand some more.  Once this kiddo learns to move on his own there won't be anything or anyone stopping him.  It's exciting and scary all at the same time. 

Luke still won't eat cereal!  I know, I know, everyone likes cereal and babies need cereal but it is a fight.  It always ends with him gagging, making the most awful (but still somehow cute) faces, and the food coming back out towards me.  Fun?  Not so much.  He loves his cereal-free fruits and veggies though.  Finger foods are next, but I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous about that step. 

Finally, who needs to buy toys?  My son likes to play with the mail and cereal bar wrappers just as much, if not more, than all of the super wonderful toys he has.  But whatever, he's happy!

We Love Columbus!

3 day weekends rock! Luke and I thoroughly enjoyed the extra day together. We started by hanging out extra long in our pj's.

Ate some lunch.  I attempted to give him oatmeal mixed with fruit again, which was a complete failure.  But he eventually ate some bananas.

We played outside for a while.

Napped of course.  Then played inside with Zach when he got home.

"Nooooo, don't say it!  Does Mommy really have to go back to work tomorrow?!?"

And after a long day he was completely exhausted and went to bed a little earlier than normal.  Let's hope he sleeps through the night!

MAMA!

Luke said it, MAMA! 

Now let me clarify a bit, it was in no way him calling me it, he still has no clue that is my name, and he only said it after I said it to him first.  But does this mama care, NOPE!  He still said it!

For the past month or so he was working hard on the "ma" sound.  And he would just babble on and on with mamamamamama just because he could and usually only when he was tired or upset.  Last night he said it just twice though!  Like the real word. Yay!  I quickly ran downstairs with him so Daddy could witness it too.  Good times :)

And here's a picture of how we spent our day today, relaxing and playing.

Smokey

We've had a visitor lately.  Zach named him Smokey.  The cats hate him, Luke has no idea he exists, and I feel so bad for him. 

Smokey is a cat that keeps coming around.  He's grey and white, kind of small, very cute.  It's been about a month.  He spends a lot of time on our deck terrorizing the cats as he sunbathes on the chairs.  Scooter gets very upset, Knuckles gets jealous that he's allowed to be outside. 

When Luke and I go out back he comes around, not right up to us, but definitely makes his presence known.  We come home and he's in our front bushes or the yard, almost like he's waiting for us.  It's so sad. 

For the past week we hadn't seen him so we thought he found a home, but tonight in the rain he was back.  On the deck and sneaked into the garage while Zach was taking out the trash.  My heart sank.  BUT we can't take in another cat.  Our house is already packed - two cats and a baby.  Come on now, its really not an option. 

He doesn't look skinny, so someone is feeding him, but I still don't think he has an owner.  Poor Smokey.

Target

I love Target.  Especially on Sunday mornings.  Apparently they open at 8 on Sundays and I'm always up early nowadays, so off I went.  All by myself!  It was glorious.  I not only enjoyed my time there wandering aimlessly, buying things I probably didn't need and loving every minute of it.  But I also enjoyed my car ride....I blasted the music on the way there, sang completely out of tune to the radio, and there was no traffic on 30 at that hour of the day.  Score! 

Luke is really the one who made out from my trip this morning.  I found him a cute winter jacket and some new socks.  I perused the women's section with no luck but bought a few other things we needed around the house.  The store kind of sucks you in, so much to look at and so much to buy. 

After my success there I headed to the grocery store which wasn't as glorious but still good.  I'm weird because I actually don't mind grocery shopping.  I always have a list and usually only come home with one or two things not on the list.  Today it was mac and cheese, it just sounded so good when I went down that aisle.  So there's one dinner we'll be having later this week. Mmm! 

We also bought Luke a Halloween costume this weekend, I just can't wait for Halloween now!!  Until then though, here's a picture of the little man from yesterday. 

Beautiful Day!

What an awesome day!  Currently Luke is napping, Zach is out watching the game, and I'm relaxing on the couch watching the Phils, love it!

This weekend overall has been great.  Friday night was very low key, just hanging out at home, which was the perfect way to end a somewhat crazy week.  Yesterday I attacked the back yard, yes I did say attacked.  I finally got all the weeds out, again.  I thought once a year was enough to pull weeds but apparently not.  Now my yard is back up to par and hopefully my neighbors don't hate us. 

There were crazy yard sales all over town yesterday but we decided to stay away from all the nonsense and played around the house.  Last night we dropped Luke off at my in-laws and Zach and I headed to the mall do some shopping.  We came back empty handed but Luke is all set for fall.  After shopping we met up with some friends for dinner.  It was great to have a nice night out but I think we're staying away from that restaurant from now on. 

Today I did some grocery shopping, some laundry, and a little bit of cleaning.  Luke and I went to the park earlier to enjoy the awesome weather.  And tonight we're headed to visit some family.  Hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend too! 

My Little Onion is All Grown Up

Well not really but he's no onion anymore! 

About a year ago at this time I was blogging about my little onion, who is now 7 months old!  Luke was in a crazy mood tonight, happy and full of all these weird sounds.  Maybe it was his version of Happy 7 Months....(which is what I sing to him each month to the tune of Happy Birthday of course :))

Life has been fast but slow lately.  I mean family time like nights and weekends go by so quickly but we haven't really had a ton of plans.  All of the little stuff does keep you on your toes though.  With all of that I have found myself in the rut of not working out.  I miss breastfeeding.  Not the actual feeding really (and definitely not the pumping) but the fact that I was continuing to lose weight slowly without having to do extra workouts.  Since I've stopped I've put back on some pounds.  I have zero motivation or energy by the end of the day to workout.  I need a serious kick in the pants here. 

Some excitement from the weekend is that I got Luke to eat oatmeal!  Score!  He wasn't eating it at all.  Not mixed with fruit, not oatmeal made with fruit, not by itself.  I made a nasty mushy version of oatmeal with his formula and mixed that into his fruit.  To me it sounds and looked gross but he ate it.  Now don't get me wrong he didn't love it by any means but there was no gagging and spitting it back so I'd say it was a win.  As I said before, its the little things. 

Now that Luke is 7 months, well he's just like he was yesterday, hah.  He isn't crawling yet but he has a way of making it across the carpet with a mixture of rolling and pushing himself face first on the floor.  Not the most efficient method but it works and more importantly he's happy doing it.  No teeth but lots of ear tugging, gnawing on anything he can get his hands on, and drool everywhere.  Everyone keeps telling me teeth are coming but I'll believe it when I see it.  The doctor told us this a month ago and still nothing.  Not that I'm rushing it, teeth can wait, I'm good with that. 

Finally, I've learned that something is wrong with me this weekend.  After months of having to get up every time Luke did in order to feed him and not sleeping in any day of the week let alone weekends for 6 months or so I now get the opportunity once a weekend to sleep in.  Sounds heavenly to me except I can't do it.  Even though Zach gets up now, feeds Luke his breakfast and plays with him downstairs I'm still laying in bed wide awake.  What is my dysfunction?  I really need to learn to sleep in again. 

Have a good week all!

Our Week

Today Luke got to take his first ride in his new car seat!  He seemed to love it, fits him a lot better and he can see out the window better so he was a happy camper. 

Last night we took the sling out of his bathtub so he could sit up in the tub and he was a splashing maniac!  He's starting to play with a few bath toys but mostly just likes make noise and smash his hands and arms against the water.  Unfortunately I don't have pictures of these two events but heres some others from the past week. 

"Jumping" in the Johnny Jump Up....he hasn't quite learned what to do in this thing, but likes it anyway.

Peek-a-boo!

Playtime with Daddy

Being a Mom is a tough job...

Luke got this toy a while back that plays all sorts of different songs.  Well just the music to these songs.  16 in all.  It plays about 10-15 seconds of each.  He's finally at the age that he can mostly sit on the floor and play with it so we got it out, put some batteries in, and started to play.  He was semi-interested because it lights up when the music plays but besides that he just wasn't feeling it.  I on the other hand couldn't stop hitting the button because I was bugged that I couldn't figure out what the song was.  Zach was much better at this game than me but we still can't figure them all out.  A few we do know for sure are Old Susanna, Farmer in the Dell, London Bridges, If you're happy and you know it.  I feel like we figured out more than that but it was tough work.  Then you finally figure out what the tune is and then I have to remember the words, geez!  So there's a little peek at how we have been spending our evenings :)

Takin' a Ride

In the cart at the grocery store.  Luke can sit up all on his own now!

Watching Daddy pick out some chips for his new hobby - making salsa.

"How much longer is this going to take???"

Friiiiiday, where are you?

Today is one of those days that really feels like Friday.  Everything about it.  Too bad its only Thursday.

This week has been much better than last.  Still working, went to a Barnstormers game the other night - gotta love Lancaster baseball, had an extra long parent-filled work day yesterday, and doing a little grocery shopping with the family later tonight.  Sounds exciting, huh?  Lukester has been getting way better at putting his feet in his mouth, doing a little better sitting up, rocking back and forth on the floor with his head in the carpet trying to get rug burn on his face, and laughing like crazy when you do the dumbest stuff to him.  Zach is feeling a little better each day, we head back to the doctors in a week and a half.  The cats are still being cats.  So yeah, that's about it.  Not too much exciting but still an improvement from last.  Time to eat!

What a week!

The past week has been nuts.  Between family, work, and play I can barely remember which way is up.

Last weekend Zach and I went to a friends wedding.  Zach was all dressed up in a tux, he was in the wedding and was looking good.  He didn't feel so good but we still had a good time seeing a bunch of college friends.  Congrats Tim and Kristen!

Sunday was the most dreaded day of the summer because it was the last day before work started.  I tried to get a million things done but the many glasses of wine from the night before kind of put a damper on that.  Either way I got done enough of what I needed, spent some time with Luke, and tried to help Zach who still wasn't feeling good.

Work was, well work.  I'm not going to get into work things on here but let's just say it wasn't my best first week of school.  I should have known this week would be interesting though, it was a full moon as I was driving to school...

Anyway, Zach was feeling worse, way worse, and we ended up in the ER Monday night.  After a sleepless night of tests and waiting they put him on some meds and sent us home.  They told us to follow up with his other doctor to get some more things done, which is easier said than done.  After some phone calls he was scheduled for the doctors again on Thursday.  One week of craziness, many trips to the doctors, pharmacy, and lots of just plain old stress and he is still on some meds and still in pain but they think they know whats going with him.

Friday Zach finally started to feel slightly better and I actually cooked a real dinner - I'm pretty sure that was the first time all week.  It was wonderful!  I think him and I just want things to be back to normal and that was a small first step.  So none of this story is actually done.  It was a emotionally and physically draining week but we all survived and there's always next week, right.  Luke is an awesome baby though and has been a gem this week, along with all of our family that has stepped in to help us out with him during all of the craziness.  Thank you!

So thats a quick run down of why I've been MIA this week. Later!

Oh No!

We made it through all of the cereals, veggies, and fruits and no allergies.  So now comes the fun part, we can mix it up and actually give Luke a variety of foods.  Yum right?  Well now that he's tasted the wonderfulness that is fruits and all of their natural delicious sugars he hates oatmeal.  And I'm not saying like he makes a really bad face but eats it anyway.  Oh no, that would be okay.  Instead this kiddo is playing games.  He's eating it, doing who knows what with it in his mouth, and spitting it back out at me.  I talked to him about this and he laughed at me - I think he's mocking me already.  Sigh.  The more I tried the more he fought me and was gagging on the awfulness of the oatmeal.  What am I suppose to do?  If only I had a video of this mornings events - it was quite the adventure. 

Take Your 6 Month Old to Work Day - fail.

Well not completely a fail, Luke did actually go to work with me and came home with me.  But in between nothing else really got accomplished.  He was like bubblegum on my shoe - unless he could physically see me or I was holding him he was upset.  So my grand idea of packing a bijillion toys for him and a blanket to play on while Mommy worked in her room being super productive (well at least semi-productive) was not so good.  He couldn't see me when I walked to the other side of the room and got upset each time.  So I did as much as I could while holding him and then I did get him to take a nap but realized all the things I needed to do were loud and would wake him up.  So bottom line - 6 month old and work don't mix.  Instead of taking him back in Wednesday I updated all of my photos with new pictures of the little man, that'll have to do!

6 Months!

Luke celebrated his half birthday Friday!  Seriously, where did the time go.  The little man is now 17 lb 10 oz and a whopping 27 inches tall.  Doctor says his bottom teeth are close to coming in which may explain the bouts of fussiness and trouble sleeping we've been experiencing.  Who knows but if thats the case then I'm going to completely wean asap, I'm not messing with teeth! 

Nowadays Luke likes to roll over, bite/chew on everything, tries to sit up, flirts with all the ladies, watches Knuckles like a hawk, makes a variety of noises, still doing raspberries, and loves his solid foods. 

Happy Half Birthday Kiddo!

The End is Near

Excuse me while I have my own little pity party....

Summer is just about over.  I've actually been to work already but it officially starts in about a week and a half.  I'm sad to say goodbye to all the good parts of summer.  I got in a panic mode on Sunday thinking of all the things I should do before I officially start work.  The list was kinda long and all I've really done since then was clean some.  I still need to do some more of that before work but instead of running around like a maniac I'm just going to enjoy the last few days of summer with Luke, try to squeeze in a nap or two, relax, and take care of my guys.  Oh summer, I'll miss you!

Masters - Check!

I finished my masters degree this week!  I'm super excited to be done and it made me start to think about all the different graduations I've had.

Kindergarten - I don't really remember much about this but I know at the end of the year we went on this really fun picnic somewhere - couldn't tell you much more than that.  But I do have pictures! (Honestly I do have girly hair, it's just pulled back in a ponytail....I know from this picture it doesn't appear that way :))

Fifth Grade - This one was more exciting, I mean heck, next I got to go to Middle School!  Woohoo!  If I only knew I'd be spending the rest of my life in middle school I'm not sure I would have been that excited, hah.  I do remember being sad that I was going to be split up from my friends....there were only 2 of us within walking distance of the closest middle school and we were a walker only building.  So I had to start branching out, yikes! I'm all the way to the left in the blue dress with the ruffles...I'm stylin'!

Eighth Grade - This is when you really thought you were cool, like really cool and could rule the world cool.  Unfortunately, in reality I'm sure I wasn't that cool at all.  But just like every other 13-14 year old I felt on top of the world.....until I became a freshman...dun dun dun!

High School Graduation - This was the big one.  I was so happy to be done, so excited to get off to college, but so sad that I would have to move away from my friends.  It's true what they say, there are a lot of people I haven't seen since I graduated and probably never will again.  The good friends of course I still talk to to this day and that's what really counts. 

College - WHOA!  This one hits you like a ton of bricks.  I grew so close to people in college, loved the freedom, and loved having everyone and everything so close all the time.  Let's just say there were some really fun times.  Anyway, when you graduate you instantly have to become a real adult.  Jobs, bills, more responsibility.  In the end it was all good, but at the time it was a bit emotional.

And now college again...  This time it's not daunting or crazy.  I'm super excited to be done but this one doesn't really change my life in a drastic way like the ones before.  I'm proud I did it, I knew I kind of had to do it though to keep my teaching certificate valid, and I know there will be more courses in the future.  No parties, no sad goodbyes, no new stuff its moving me on to, and even no walking to get my diploma.  I mean I could but just send me my diploma and I'll be happy.  I think to celebrate this time I'll just enjoy a margarita or two with my husband...it's been 15 months since I've had one!  This could get interesting ;)

Can't Sleep?

Me neither - here's what I'm wasting the night away doing....
 
Watching crap on TV. Oh wait!  DVR has changed my life - catching up on crap I've taped!  Right now I'm watching Big Brother - drama, drama, drama!

Logging on to facebook and see what everyone else is doing.

Checking my email.

Going to thebump.com, thefightins.com, yahoo.com, cnn.com, weather.com.

Checking out other blogs I follow.

Talking to the cats.

Thinking about how the rest of the house is sleeping.

Drinking a glass of milk.

And hoping to eventually get back to sleep. 

Night!

Allllmost...

I had a lot of goals for today: working on my paper, doing laundry, getting some errands done.  But instead we've spent this cloudy Monday hanging out and having some quality Mommy - Luke time.  It all stems from him not wanting to nap today, but its all good!  So I decided to try and catch a glimpse of him sitting - which is pretty hard to do when its just you and a baby.  Check him out!

Mommy wasn't fast enough - caught him in the process of falling over.

Gotcha!  But I was kind of close....

As I moved back to get a better shot - ut oh, he's going down.

And kaaa-boooom!  He's down, but happy!

We practiced for a while but got tired, so we decided it was time for some more supported play!  (And Mommy hopes for a nap soon too!)

Happy Monday Everyone!

The time has come

I've finally decided that today is the day.  I started weaning Luke today.  My original plan was to start at the beginning of August and be good to go back to work but things have changed, I need to be away from Luke before then, so I thought I would start this week.  Monday - didn't happen.  Tuesday and Wednesday - I was extremely sleep deprived and didn't want to bother with it.  Thursday - I had plans and used that as my excuse.  Let's be honest here though, I'm just really having a hard time starting the weaning process.  

What the heck is going on?  In February and March I thought this day would never come.  I kind of made my goal 6 months because I'd be heading back to work again right around this time.  Breastfeeding wasn't my favorite thing.  I know it's just not for some people and I thought I was one of those people.  So why can't I seem to break it now?!?  I was dreaming of this day, it's here, and I'm kind of upset.  My hormones can't still be all whacked out, can they?  Maybe this just shows how truly weird I am.  Oh well. 

Rolling = Sleep Regression, huh?

Why didn't anyone warn me about this?!?!  Luke has been successfully rolling over for about a week and a half now and has been waking me up every 2-3 hours each night for the past week.  What gives?  I feel like we're back to square one with sleep.  Even his naps are sucky, he fights so hard to go down and just when I think he's out.....time to roll over and cry!  aaaaah!  Last night was the worst night we've had in a loooong time.  I won't go into details but someone please reassure me that this too will pass.  I'm getting kind of grumpy from it all, shocker I know.  His main issue is he rolls over like a pro onto his stomach, then puts his head face down into the mattress, then cries.  Just turn your head to side kiddo and it would all be okay OR...wait for it...roll back over!  Okay, well I do feel a bit better after my rolling rant.  Time to start the bedtime routine and hopefully get a nice nights sleep. 

I ♥ Baseball!

Even though Zach got his wisdom teeth out Friday and even though it was 100 degrees or more on Saturday, we love baseball and went to the Phillies game Saturday afternoon!  It was definitely the hottest game ever but we had awesome seats (thanks Dad and Julie!) in the Hall of Fame club so we could cool off in the AC every so often.  It was an afternoon filled with winning baseball, baby free adult time, a cheese steak, some water ice, almost a foul ball, and a 'little bit' of sweat.  I can't wait until Luke is old enough to go with us.  I saw people there with babies his age and even younger and I thought "what the heck were you thinking!?!?"  It was waaaay too hot for a baby out there, he would have been miserable.  Instead he got to spend some time with MomMom and PopPop so everybody won.  We didn't take any pictures, thank goodness because we were both a hot mess - literally, so here's a picture from last year when I was secretly pregnant! :) 

Things were a bit rough for a while but I'm still hopeful for the playoffs.  Let's go Phils!