Happy Birthday Luke!

Happy Birthday Sweet Luke! I have a lot to say about this day but for now I am just going to say Happy Birthday and I love you more than words could even begin to describe.

Love you ALWAYS.

Mama

The Evolution of (Luke) Man.

Rolling at 4 months

Crawling at 7.5 months

Walking at 10.5 months

Please make time stop, I can't take all this growing up.

Halloween!

I know I am way behind from Halloween but here are so pictures of the cutest Lion in all the Jungle.

SERIOUSLY!!!!

We spent the day in Cypress at a Halloween event my Mom was having, There were tons of people and even more dogs, there were diving dogs and dancing dogs and frisbee dogs, and a dog costume parade. It was really fun and Luke loved seeing all the dogs.

Some of our favorite people!

Cowboy was...well a cowboy!

We didn't really go trick or treating because 1. Luke doesn't eat candy and his Mom doesn't need to and 2. I was pooped from the day. We just handed out candy and then called it a night. It was such a fun day and I can't wait for next year.

Mommy was exhausted. Luke not so much.

In other news....WE HAVE A WALKER!!!!!I am trying to upload video of it but no such luck yet. When I get it worked out I will put it up. I love the little Frankenstein walk, you know the one, arms out, legs straight, never bending the knees. SOO funny!

I love this time of year...80 degrees and all.

This has been a fun month around The Square.

We went to the Brazoria County Fair. We ate corn dogs and tornado fries, we drank lemonade and played carney or NOT carney. We looked at pigs and goats, chicks and cows. We had a great time despite the fact that a clown came and sat down right next to Luke and I as we were getting our picture taken. I was not pleased, I don't think Luke was too thrilled either.

The next weekend we went to Tyler to see Uncle Josh and had a lot of fun shopping around town and hanging out with him. We also enjoyed the fact the The Aggies Beat the Hell Outta Texas Tech!!! Before we left for Tyler I took some photos of Luke on his new push/ride toy at Mimi and Abo's. Needless to say he loves it!

Whoop!!!

This week we made a trip to the Pumpkin Patch. I have driven by this place countless time and dreamed about the day i would get to take my own child there. I was so excited I think I could have cried but I didn't because...well Tommy was with me and he would have been all, "are you crying?" and I would be all, "NO! I think the rain blew something in, my allergies are killing me." I would rather avoid that whole situation so told myself I was going to get some good photos of me and my monkey man and if I cried I would ruin my makeup. Needless to say I was not disappointed.

I love my little man!

Getting so big.

Melt my heart.

Check out his belt.

Well that about covers our month, I decided to leave out all the riveting details of laundry and dishes and diapers. If you are interested in those stories give me a call, I have more than a few we can talk about.

Happy Fall Y'all!!

Really?

I mean, seriously son. If you want to play with the toy on the other side all you have to do is ask and I will move it away from the wall so you can get to it.

BUSTED!!

And then just a few just because he is so darn cute.

This can't be my child. My child is small and chubby and is not able to get onto his knees like such a big boy.

9 months old. Really??!!?

Luke, you turned 9 months old last Thursday and I can not even believe you will 1 in 3 short months. We went to the doctor for your check up and everything is great, you are in the 75th percentile for both height and weight, no big surprise there.

So here are the 9 month stats.

Height: 29 inches

Weight: 22.2 lbs, WHOA!

Legs: CHUNKY!!

~You are such a joy to everyone around you.

~You smile at everyone, sometimes you stare and smile until they smile back.

~You crawl really fast and you pull up on everything.

~You can stand alone for a little while before falling back down.

~You are still a great eater, and you have started getting some table food.

~You sleep from about 8:30 at night to about 7 in the morning, and you nap twice a day.

~You have learned to pout, if we tell you no you turn around fuss at us and then move on. It's funny but I can only imagine what the terrible 2s will be like.

~We had to find you a cell phone to play with and you drag it around everywhere.

~You love to stand in the window and talk to the dogs.

~We taught you a trick. When I say, "How big are you?" you put your hands over your head and I say "SOOOO big!"

~You do this funny little squeal, your daddy calls it your dolphin call.

~You talk ALL THE TIME.

~You make your Daddy and I happier than we have ever been and we love you more than you can imagine.

Happy 9 months little dude!

Back by Popular Demand.

More grunting, I tried to cut out most of my voice but the laugh is in full force. Enjoy!

How could I forget!!?!

I can't believe I forgot to include this in the monster post. For some reason Luke started doing this funny grunt thing, the phase didn't last for long but it was so funny. Here is some video of it, please excuse my smokers laugh, I don't know why it happens since I don't smoke so just pretend you don't hear it. Same goes for my annoying voice.

It's a Miracle!

Well since so many people have been asking about the blog, I will update. So this is dedicated to all of my faithful non commenting readers…all 3 of you.

Pimp LT

Not a lot has been going on here around the square. We have been running the roads a lot lately. We made trips to Cypress and Silsbee, we also made the journey up north, you know Ft. Worth and Center. But more on that later.

Let’s pick back up where we last left off…July.

In July, me and the little man took swimming lessons with our friends the Gilberts. By lessons I mean we got in the water with other children and splashed around. We “learned” how to float on our back while mommy holds you up, and how to let mommy pull you around in the water while you gawk at all the little girls in swimsuits paying no attention to your freestyle technique, and we also learned how not to scream and punch mommy while she tries to hold you like the unnamed child who was about 4 times your age. Luke actually DID learn how to be dunked in the water without making the gasping “I’m drowning face” and how to sit on the side and push his Buddha belly out so the he would fall into the water. He was the youngest in our class and he did so well. I would post some pictures of the classes but they are not some of HIS best angles so I won’t embarrass him by putting them up for the world wide 3 of you to see.

We spent some time trying to teach Luke how to use his arms while crawling. He had gotten very good at getting up on his knees but then he would just belly flop forward. I know what you are picturing but let me tell you, it was NOT an army crawl. It was a projectile crawl. He would get up on all fours and rock back and forth building up momentum and then BOOM shoot forward and land on his belly. It was so funny to watch but we thought maybe he just needed a little extra practice, so Tommy would hold up his legs and try to play wheel barrow around the living room. The practice paid off because shortly after the arm tutorials started we had a bona fide crawler on our hands. And as not to be labeled a slacker by anyone, the child decided that two days of crawling was enough to get the hang out it so he moved right onto pulling up…ON EVERYTHING. So if you’re within arms reach and wearing an elastic waist “hold on to yer britches” cause Luke is going to try to crawl up them. No rest for the weary, right?

Please don't call CPS on us.

One of his favorite places to stand (pretend like the window is clean)

We spent time in the Johnny Jump up but that was short lived when the crawling advanced to warp speed and we spent some time reading books with Daddy.

Is this the cutest thing ever? I think it is.

The last days of July were spent hanging out with the family before Josh packed up and made the big move to Tyler.

I know it looks high but... well...it was high.

In August we took Luke for his first trip to the Zoo. It was a blistering hot day but we had a great time. We turned it into a family event when Heather brought Zack and Kaye Ellen, Justin, Mandy, Nana and Big Daddy rounded out the group. It was so hot that Zack took refuge in a zoo sprinkler that was spraying what I am positive was fresh clean water, clean enough to drink and surely not some zoo water from a questionable source. Well if it is good enough for their monkeys I’m sure it is good enough for ours.

Josh moved to Tyler on August 11th and just for your peace of mind…Cindy is still alive. She made it through the amputation I mean move just fine and got him all settled and was even able to catch a few practices before heading back home. I was able to do my part in the process by providing one very unorganized closet for her to come clean out and organize. There is something to say about having a mom who relieves stress by cleaning and organizing. I’ll try to keep these therapy sessions available and I’m working on a doozy of a garage clean out for when things get really hairy in Tyler, maybe around exam time.

We made the trip to see the Dallas/ Ft. Worth contingent at the end of the month and as usual had a great time. We ate our way through our trip. As usual. Babes may have been visited and the electricity might have gone out while certain patrons were waiting on food. Most people would have just gone home, you know a little bummed but whatev. Can you imagine what you would think if said unnamed patrons waited in the dark with an 8 month old for the wonder that is fried chicken, crack in a bowl (cream corn), green bean greatness, mashed marvels and biscuits only to proceed to eat in the dark with the only light coming from cell phones and birthday candles lit in biscuits. I mean seriously, who would do that. Luke charmed his way through the trip as usual.

We rounded out the trip with a stop in Center Texas to see Granny and Papa. She greeted us with chicken and dumpling, truly one of my favorite ways to say I love you. It was great to see them even though the trip was so quick. After eating our weight in chicken and dumpling we made it home.

Mom and Steven celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary on the 15th and Tena, also know as Nana celebrated her… 25th birthday on the 21st. There are no people I know who deserve more happiness than these people so I hope they were great.

Somewhere along the way Luke got fangs. His two top teeth beside the front ones came in first. Envision a vampire that is what he looked like. So funny but I was relieved when the front ones finally peeked through.

If you look closely you can see the fangs!

How did I get such and funny and happy kid?

I think that covers everything, well I’m sure that’s not everything but that is all I can remember. I really should get better about updating this blog so that I can remember it all as it happens. Oh well there is always next month.

Miracle

I am brewing up a miracle. You know, also know as a post in my world.

Check back for more details and precious pics of my pumpkin!

OK people, I am a no good, very bad blog slacker. Now that it’s out in the open let’s acknowledge it and move on. Deal?

Since it has been like 4 months-ish since my last post I feel like the most effective way of tackling this daunting time span is a bullet list. If you are not interested in long bulleted lists featuring one ADORABLE little boy and his sometimes wacky parents then slowly back away from the computer and resume your normal day. If you are still reading (Hi MiMi and Aunt Rhonda) then go grab yourself a cold glass of sweet tea and maybe some granola for strength, find a comfy chair and proceed. By the way you have been fore warned.

· March was pretty uneventful, but on March 22nd Aunt Stephanie turned 21 years old. Seriously, is that possible? We love you Aunt Steph!

· On April 9th Tommy and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary. I love him more today than I would have ever thought possible. Thanks for everything babe.

· We went to Dallas for Easter to introduce Luke to the rest of that side of the family and we had a blast. The little cousins were so cute with him, they loved on him and rubbed his head and held him. We also went to Babe’s Chicken House to celebrate Josh’s birthday (he is 19… really?) which in case you haven’t been, this is the most mouthwatering place in the world. If I had to choose a last meal this would be it. I think I may have an unhealthy love for Babe’s.

· On April 25th someone started rolling over. I was so proud of him for having the strength to get those thunder thighs of his over and if you have seen him you know what I am talking about. It is so cute to go in his room in the morning to get him up and he is just laying on his belly looking up at me.

Morning Mom!

Towards the end of April Luke also started sitting up by himself, he was still pretty wobbly but he could do it. Now he throws his arms in the air taunting me with how big he is getting. With the last two developments I may have shed a few tears, everyone says it goes so fast but I guess I didn’t think they would be talking about my little guy.

· To start off May we finished a shut down and rewarded ourselves with prizes. I got a new fancy camera and Tommy got a new bow as in bow and arrows not hair bow, just in case that wasn’t clear.

· We spent some time in Silsbee boiling crawfish and playing in the rain. A good time was had by all.

· Luke started eating cereal and fruits, and loving every bite.

Please can I have some cereal?

Wow, this is soooo good.

Thanks mom, that rocked!

· On May14th Aunt Erin graduated from A&M.

· On that same day I got a new boss and customer service supervisor. Both are really cute and I love working for them.

· On May 18th this Mama turned 28. Do you know how much I LOVE my birthday? We went to Pearland and had lunch with Mimi and Abo, Aunt Steph and Uncle Josh.

· Then on the next day Grandpa Jackson came to visit. We played golf and fished at the beach and cooked out and had a great time.

This is how Luke tended the flag.

· Then we had the whirlwind of Josh’s graduation party and ceremony. I can’t believe that my baby brother is old enough to be in high school must less finishing high school and about to start college. Wasn’t he just that sweet little boy with cute red curls just yesterday?

· Somewhere along the way the little man got two teeth and yes, before you even ask I wrote it down. I just don’t have his book in front of me so a round about time frame is going to have to suffice.

· Finally, we make it to June. We just got back from a week long vacation to visit friends. We went to Virginia to see Andy J and Allison. While we were there we went to vineyards and did wine tasting, all of the places were so ugly that I almost refused to get out of the car. I mean this place is seriously lacking in the beauty department. The boys went hiking and fishing and we toured Monticello. We laughed a lot and had so much fun. We love just those two.

Seriously? How cute is he?

This place is UGLY.

The Granny Nanny at work.

Next we headed to Baltimore to see Angie, John and Emily. They took us out on jet skis and to eat on the Chesapeake Bay. We also devoured some crab with Angie’s parents, it was so delicious. Her dad showed me the ropes and then I was off. We also played a game of uno that might have been the highlight of the visit, it has been a long time since I laughed so hard that I thought I might …well you know.

My favorite boys!

Show me your muscles.

Next we were off to Washington D.C., it was such a fun trip. We saw monuments and went to the Smithsonian and National Archives. We took a boat tour to Mount Vernon and while we were there got POURED on. Tommy came back with a list of new historical books to start reading. We also got to see Kat and Clif, Clay, Evy, and soon to be baby #3. They are such a cute family and my time with Kat is never long enough. We were lucky enough to drag Tommy’s mom along with us as what we took to calling The Granny Nanny. She was so much help (especially on what turned out to be a 10 hour flight going) and we were even able to have real grown up time while she watched Luke. It was a great trip with fantastic friends and we can’t wait to do it again.

· So, now we are sitting here on Tommy’s first Father’s Day. He had to work today and I spent the day making some food for Luke. But don’t worry he is not being neglected he is sitting right here reading his new Presidents book after a big spaghetti dinner and Southern Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream, trust me that stuff is Heaven in a Blue Bell carton.

Hope all the Dad’s had a great day and if you are still with me Bless your Sweet Heart (love you Mom). And for making it to the end I will reward you with general cuteness.

It is scary how much this reminds me of...me.