Luke and I have officially entered the life of hanging out together every day while Jared is in school.  It's not bad when we have other people to play with too.  "Real" law school classes start on Monday, and I think Jared is mostly excited.  I am too actually.  Mostly we're both excited to find out what it's going to be like and how much we can plan on seeing each other.  Big things this week:

Luke:  Luke can take a few crawls up on his knees now before he starts slithering on his stomach again, so he should be real crawling really soon.  He also learned to pull himself up using the couch and other objects.  He stands up to look at his little CD player a lot--the problem: he can't get back down.  Luke loves his CD player.  He has found the pause button (but doesn't know to push it again to get the music to come back) and the volume control.  Luke also decided that the pool is pretty fun.  He's started splashing and smiling in the water instead of just zoning out while we walk around with him.  I think he likes sitting on the steps of the pool the best (always with me keeping a hand on him--don't worry, mom!)  Luke also went to sleep BY HIMSELF several times this week.  When I say by himself, I mean that I put him down, tucked him in, and he went to sleep without screaming and without having to be rocked. Go Luke!!!  On Tuesday, there was an ice cream social at the nursing home where Luke and I volunteer, so Luke got to demonstrate to every body what a little pig he is when it comes to ice cream.  (See pictures to left and below)  Luke's major damage this week: I let him chew on the remote control, and he bit the reset button.  That screwed up everything so that the television wouldn't do anything (not even play DVD's) because it kept scanning for channels trying to reset settings.  Well, we don't have cable and we hadn't bought an antennae, so we had NO channels which meant that the tv just kept scanning and scanning.  We had to buy an antennae just so the tv would stop scanning and Luke could watch his baby einstein again.  On the upside, we got to watch a few very FUZZY olympic events.  Luke had lots of fun with Papa yesterday.  Dad, Luke, and I went to Colonial Williamsburg to walk around for a little bit.  We'll probably go back on Sunday.

Stacy:  The biggest thing this week for me was something that I'm still not sure about.  In fact, I'm a little bit embarrassed.  I decided that I would get the started kit from Mary Kay to see if I would like selling.  If I was dedicated and a good saleswoman, I could make quite a bit of money.  The problem is that I'm not sure how dedicated I am and I may just have a box full of lots of base with nothing to do with it.  Of course, I could find out that I love it, so...anybody want to order Mary Kay??  Two really fun things happened for me this week.  On Tuesday night, Nora came over and brought paints and canvases.  We painted and talked.  I made a blue abstract painting that is really more than streaks on canvas, but I really like it and I had lots of fun making it.  I hung it in the living room over my computer so that I can look at it and feel happy.  Dad coming was my other big highlight.  It is so fun to show off our new apartment and get to talk to him in person.  I am also really excited to have one year of Amber's CDs.  Jared is going to be even more excited when I download them all onto his computer, but I don't have a choice because I can only add the songs onto my ipod from his computer.  So hopefully Jared will enjoy Michelle Branch, right?

Jared: I went through "law camp" this week. Basically it's a mix of orientation and classes. So, we get to meet other students (lots of cool kids here) and professors, eat ice cream, etc. We also got to learn in a classroom setting where professors sometimes used the Socratic Method. We even had homework and had to write a memo to our mock senior partner. One of the best parts of the week came Wednesday night when my "law firm" (about 15 of us under the senior partner) went to the senior partner's (his name is Rick Moschel) house for a pizza party. Aside from getting to chat with my fellow junior associates, I got to see what a successful lawyer's  house looks like. Dang.

Real classes are starting on Monday, so I am doing the readings today. Most of the professors here are world-renowned in their fields, so it is great to study under them. 

I learned yesterday that I will be working (as one of 76 graduate research fellows) at the law library (at the reference desk) and at Disability Services on the main campus. That second job worries me a little, because my supervisor there assumed I was an expert on disability law, which I am not. In fact, she seemed to assume that I had professional experience with disability law BEFORE coming to law school. She said that she wants me to write policy for the Disability Services Department for the University...gulp, gasp. In short, I haven't a clue what to do, but I'm optimistic that after reading the Americans with Disabilities Act a few times I'll get my feet under me. Riiiiight.

 

Jared started law school orientation today.  There was a special meeting for spouses and significant others this evening at which I found out that law school orientation is more like an extra week of classes for students.  

Luke had a hard day because I dragged him to Wal-mart and to Cosco.  Luke doesn't like shopping because it means he can't roll around and play.  Luke is so good at his little army crawl.  He kind of struggles knowing when to stop though, so he has a lot of bumps on his head from crawling into things.  We've had to barricade all the corners in the living room so that Luke won't be able to play with the lamp cords.  However, it's just impossible to baby proof everything.  Luke gets stuck under chairs a lot, and really, what can I do about that?  Get rid of all our chairs?

I have lost one pound!  Woo hoo!  Not a lot, I know, but if I can loose 1 pound every week, I can be skinny in a couple of months.  I've gotten to where I can run for about 40 minutes without stopping.  I think that's the longest I've ever gone.  I know I was supposed to run at least that long during junior high track practice, but I always ran just far enough that the coach couldn't see me, and then I would swing on the swings at Lieder Elementary.  Now you know why I never won a race.  Other fun events: On Friday night I went with a friend to hang out with some girls from church.  We made out own slip and slide.  My best technique was to slide on my knees.  I could go pretty far.  It was really fun.

Okay, not to be completely negative, but I've found some new pet peeves.  1: I bought a book shelf at Wal-mart today, and the picture on the box shows about 15 books spread out on a 5 shelf bookshelf.  Hello.  It's called a bookshelf.  It is not a vase shelf or a woven basket shelf.  They need a new picture.  2:  Bathrooms without changing stations.  Next time I go to a store or a restaurant without one, I want to just go back into the hallway (or the table) and change him right there.  3:  People who don't vote on my blog.  Only one person has voted: me!

We had a great week at the Wilkerson home.  Here's the scoop on what's going on:

Luke-  Luke learned to sit up on his own this week!  Jared and I somehow miss the transition between his army crawl and his sitting position every time.  We'll look at the tv for a second or leave the room for just a moment and come back to find him sitting.  The only bad side is that he can't get from the sitting position back to crawling position as well.  He fell pretty hard yesterday and hit his head.  I had left the room for about 10 seconds when he fell.  I felt really, really bad.  Luke also made a new best friend.  His name is Samuel, and he's the son of Jared's and my friends Nora and Samuel.  They crawl all over each other, steal binkies, and poke each other in the eyes, laughing the entire time.  Luke saw the beach for the first time this week- he was scared of the water.  I'm typing this with Luke on my lap, and he wants a turn.  Here it is, Luke's message to all y'all:                                              iunjjujujujupllll                   tm,,,

Jared-  Jared found a bike trail finally!  Actually, he found the trail a week or two ago, but he has gone everyday this week.  He says it's the best trail he's ever been on.  It has a lot of jumps and tricks.  Well, I'll let him explain it.  Jared also went to the library at the law school to study one day (don't worry.  he didn't just study one day.  he studies EVERY day but usually in his office at home)  He finally met some of the other guys going to law school.  Jared borrowed the Office season 1 and 2 from friends and has found a new favorite show!  He is in avid anticipation waiting for Jim and Pam to hook up.  

Stacy-  I started Breaking Dawn- the fouth book in the Twilight series.  Not as good as the first three in my opinion, but I'm hooked all the same.  What can say?  I have to finish it, yack about with other people, and gossip about someone else's love life because my love life is great but lacking drama.  I'm not quite done, so no one spill the beans about the ending.  Actually, last Friday I went to the release party for the book with my friend Leslie that lives right downstairs, and I met some really fun girls whose husbands are also going to law school.  I invited everybody over for chili and swimming the next day.  It was really fun.  We got to get to know two new great families better: the Harrison, Adam and Nora and their son Samuel, and the Crawfords, Kelly and Chris and their sons Sam and Liam.  Since Saturday, I've hung out with Nora almost every day.  We went to Colonial Williamsburg to walk around and have a picnic, and she came with me on Thursday night to call Bingo at the retirement/ nursing home where I volunteer.  It's been so fun!  We also met a new couple, the Leavitts at church on Sunday.  Tristan is starting law school next week with Jared, and his wife Brittany is really fun.  They have a son named Benson.  We had them over for dinner on Sunday and went to Virginia beach with them on Wednesday.  Brittany sells Mary Kay and is finishing up some requirements to become a director.  She needed 12 people to try a product by tonight.  She didn't really know anybody, so I hosted a Mary Kay party last night.  It was so much fun.  We ate and did incredibly girly stuff.  Jared hid in his office.  Also, I started a more rigorous exercise and diet program really determined to get this baby belly off.  I went swimming yesterday and did 70 laps in our apartment pool.  That's the most I've ever done and it felt great.

We miss everybody and hope you had a great week.  Gotta go-- we're going hiking with the Harrisons today!