Just to Embarrass Jared

My Current Loves!!!

It goes without say that I love my boys.

We went to Chick Fil'A tonight for kids' night. We thought, "Hey, Luke likes chicken nuggets, and we like free. Why not?" Luke wasn't so into his chicken nugget, but Jared got to eat the extras.

A couple of weeks ago, I went over to my friend Hayley's house to help her out with sick kids. While I was there, we ate a highly nutritious lunch of 5 layer dip, cheesecake, and frozen pizza. While that one meal was in and of itself incredibly unhealthy, it has given birth to a new constant obsession: cheesecake. I can't get enough. In trying a few brands and styles (well, really only 2 cakes, but one was a variety pack), I have decided that I definitely like the traditional firmer style in plain or fruity flavors.

Have I awakened a craving in you?

And then, a few days after the cheesecake obsession began, I went over to Hayley's again to stay with Emiline while they took their son Oliver to the ER (just a fever, he's okay), I had 4 hours to kill with nothing to do since Emiline slept the whole time. I rooted around their movie collection and found season 1 of the Gilmore Girls.

(Okay, this is not Season 1, but it's the right people). I got hooked that night and borrowed the season from Hayley. Then, for the next few days, I spent way too much time watching TV and only partially paying attention to my son. On the upside, it helped me get through some much detested ironing. And last week while at a play date at my friend Erica's, I discovered that she has season 2. I know what I'll be watching this week. This time, however, I'll limit it to after Luke goes to bed. See? I am a responsible mother.

My family has an online book club. We take turns choosing a book and then we discuss the book through email. It's fun because I've read all kinds of books that I've never heard of or tried before.

For August, my sister Megan chose And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander. I loved it! This book was literally hard/ almost impossible for me to put down. And rarely when I read does a book get me looking things up on Wikipedia or checking out other books from the library, but this book totally did. It is set in Victorian England (Is that right? Anyway, the late 1800's). The heroine's name is Emily Ashton, one of England's high society who becomes involved in a mystery. She is also part of an intellectual awakening (if you could even call it that) for women which moves her to study Greek and the Greek myths. Romance is also included. While reading this book, I checked out books on the Odyssey and Greek Gods. I searched wikipedia to find out about rules of entailment and classes and titles. I was captivated. And I have since read 2 sequels (and against my better judgment) just ordered the 4th in the series from Amazon. It also got me interested in mysteries in general, a genre I have up to this summer basically ignored. If you are looking for a good read, I strongly recommend this book.

This summer, I fell in love with Kohls department store. My mom loves it, and my adopted mom, Debbi, also loves it. I went with them and saw the beauty of this store. Anyway, our money came from the airline this month, so I could finish replacing things. Most of the stuff was originally bought at Kohls, so I've been back a few times hunting for the things that were lost. Sadly, seasons change, so I couldn't replace the summer stuff but found other things that I love. I don't know what it is about the store, really, that I like so much. I mean, it's clean and organized, and fairly priced, but there's just something about it that makes me want to go there every time I need something.

But I just discovered something absolutely exciting. While searching for a picture to add to this post, I went to Google and typed in Kohls and a drop down bar comes up with things like "kohls department store" and one of the things said "kohls coupons"! Of course I clicked on it, and wanted to scream in bliss.

Click here for Kohl's coupons

If you are a Kohls shopper, you must go to this site before you go to the store.

New Words

New words: sky, cat, duck, quack, cow, moo, up, light (sounds really funny, but you can tell that's what he's saying), whee, oval (said when he actually picked up an oval!), star (when he picks up a star), circle (for every other shape including a circle), and bus. He uses the word bus for everything that isn't a car, but he definitely associates it with a school bus. When he hears the school bus in the morning, he screams and runs to the window. If the blinds aren't already up, he jerks them up so he can see. Then he stands at the window yelling Bus! Bus!

Reading his book, Luke is saying "cat"

Favorite words: yay!, yuck, yum

Luke likes to say Yuck so much that he puts things in his mouth that he KNOWS he shouldn't just so he can say yuck. He does it over and over, and it drives me crazy!

Our Little Genius

After the Bath

As soon as Luke is out of the tub, he rips off his towel and runs straight for his blanket.

He curls up in a ball on top of it and laughs his evil laugh. Then, he'll carry Blankie around on some frantic naked (neck-ed!) playing. He really is MUCH more hyper when he doesn't have any clothes on. If only he were sitting on a piano...

Can I get in trouble for posting this? I've heard of stories like that, but I figure if David can hold his slingshot wearing only his birthday suit (in all it's glory) in the LOUVE for crying out loud I should be able to splash Luke's bum on the internet.

Of course I can't leave him without his diaper for too long. So while he does scream and run away, I eventually catch him and put it on. He is somewhat placated when I let him play with the baby powder or lotion.

Luke falling in love with his baby powder

A brand new bottle, I might add, because the last time he played with a bottle (bigger size), he managed to get the top off and dump it all over his face. I thought about taking a picture before I cleaned it up, but he was clearly gagging on the cornstarch that filled his mouth. So I decided it was more important to keep him from dying.

Luke tasting his new bottle-- Yum!

How I Learned That Luke Could Lock the Door

You see this innocent face? Well, truthfully he is innocent, but he's also too observant for his own good. Apparently he has watched me lock the door enough times to know how to do it himself. This morning I ran down to the car to put the jogging stroller inside, and when I ran back up (about 1 minute later), I couldn't open the door. Luke had locked it behind me.

I didn't have a phone or a key, and I just panicked. I banged on our neighbors door until he let me in (wearing some shorts and his face covered in shaving cream) and let me in to borrow his phone. Jared didn't answer though, so no help there. Then I remembered that I know where one of the maintenance men lives. On my way to his house, I saw another one on the street. I flagged him down (crying and making a fool of myself in from of about 6 moms waving to their kids who were getting on the bus) and asked him to let me into the house. He was really nice about it. Even though the whole escapade took less than 10 minutes, it was very frightening and stressful. Needless to say I will ALWAYS take a key with me when I shut that door. And Jared and I have started using the chain on the door at all times. Because it's only a matter of time until Luke learns how to unlock the door...

He Ate WHAT?!

Jared has a history of eating some interesting things. Until Sunday, the most notable was his weird plethora of pancake toppings. But Sunday he set a new world record of disgusting cuisine inventions when he made...

A meatloaf sandwich.

Just that name itself is enough to make me start gagging, and when he announced he was making it, I did. Gag. But then I saw his toppings and sides and I really wanted to spew.

In fact, it kind of looked like spew. On one slice of the bread, he put the rest of the chipotle pepper hummus. Very good on broccoli, but on meatloaf??!! And on the other slice of bread (bun, actually) he put POTATO SALAD.

Lettuce, meat, and a side of week old Southwestern style corn, and you've got a meal.

He seemed to like it.

But after that satisfying meal, his need to feed the Nasty Monster in his stomach was not done. NO. It was screaming for dessert. Did he give it a Vicodin and tell it to shut up? NO he gave in to the ramping and raging and fit throwing which all the child experts say you should NEVER do, and fed it...

Leftover pancakes dipped in yogurt.

Ah! What a meal.

Some New Things

This post has no pictures (sadly) but it does have a few updates on our lives.

Luke said 4 new words last week: cat, duck, sun, yay! The exclamation point is for that word only. Luke not only claps for himself now. He also yells yah! Only it sounds more like jay! I think it's pretty cute. He also said MaMa again this week. I was freaking our for a few days because Luke had stopped saying some words that he used to say a lot. But he said most of those "forgotten" words again this week.

Most of you know that Luke is a really picky eater. He only eats a few foods well, but this week he ate some new things. He had meatloaf, pb&j, and Gogurt. Any guesses as to what was his favorite? He also ate a whole banana and a pancake. For Luke that is a ton of food for one sitting, so we were proud of him. We're trying to include Luke in our meals more, and give him the food that we're eating.

A big exciting point of last week for me was that our check came from US Airways. We got the whole amount that we asked for. Which makes sense since we sent pictures and only asked for what the items were actually worth. (No claiming that my wardrobe was all Gucci and Armani). It was so stressful at the time, but now that time has passed, it was actually nice that about 1/4 of that stuff was ruined. The bras that were ruined, for example, were actually too big since I've lost some of my weight. So I could replace them with ones that fit better. My swimsuit and flats that were ruined were already old and messed up, so instead of replacing them (because I had already gotten new flats and a swimsuit in July), I got some boots that I've wanted for a while. And Luke was outgrowing his pajamas that got ruined, so I could replace them with the next size up. Some things still make me really sad though. Lots of the things that were ruined were gifts from friends and family. And even if I can find something almost exactly like it, it doesn't have the same value.

Another great thing that happened last week was that the Harrisons came for a visit. Jared and Adam talked football and jobs. Luke and Samuel played so well together. They had a blast pulling his clothes out of his dresser and then putting them back, throwing blocks around, and babbling to each other. At one point, Samuel was sitting in Luke's car basket, reaching into the block basket and throwing the blocks to Luke who would immediately chuck them one by one under his crib. Nora and I stood in the doorway watching and laughing. Nora and I were so happy to catch up on each other's lives. I've really missed her!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Even though Luke has 2 board books of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, he is always (always!) taking this book of of his shelf. He loves to look through it and point out the sun. He actually said that word (and also cat) for the first time this week.

But this was so cute! I went into his room to see what he was doing, and (surprise!) he was looking at The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but the cute part was that he had gotten his stuffed caterpillar from his animal shelf and had put it right by the book. I feel so excited when he makes connections like that.

What a smart boy!

A Visit from the Wilkerson Side

Leonard, Amber, Jack, Nohl, and Eli stopped by to see us on their way to Germany. We had a nice visit for a few days. They came last Sunday and left on Tuesday afternoon. We had a lot of fun despite the fact that it was pretty rainy most of the time they were here. Jack and Nohl were VERY disappointed that we couldn't go to the pool. We did go to a few fun places however.

This is a log over a little creek that runs through CW. The boys (including Luke) loved playing in the creek.

Jack and Nohl loved the huge tree on Nicholson street. They climbed around like monkeys for a good 10 minutes. I didn't know they could climb so well! That's Luke's future for sure.

We went to Yorktown to do the driving battlegrounds tour, and afterwards we walked along the beach.

Jack and Nohl found a dead jellyfish that they were really fascinated by. Leonard and Amber kept reminding them not to touch it.

Luke went into the waves for the very first time. He usually keeps a safe distance. Although...

He didn't seem to like it too much.

The Shape Bucket

Our Pretty House

I'm finally getting around to posting the pretty things I made in Texas. Mostly because we just got around to hanging them up. Finally.

Bedroom curtains.

Luke's window valence

My mom made the crib skirt. I made the pillow case (bigger pillow) and the little pillow-- complete with cording. Up above the crib is the picture that my mom drew and painted and the cowboy sign that I made by cutting rope and gluing it on.

Living room valences. I think it pulls the room together. I love them!

I am by no means Martha Stewart. I've never been to jail for one thing. And I don't have my own line at K-mart. But I feel so homemakey and crafty anyway. Walking around my house has a new appeal. I love our new additions. And I feel so proud that I did it. Thanks for your help, Mom.

When Luke is sick...

Luke woke up with a cold Friday morning. Actually it started in the middle of the night on Thursday, so Jared and I have had quite a few nights of lame-o sleep. When Luke coughs or gets too stuffed up, he wakes up crying and has a hard time getting back to sleep. Since he's been overtired on top of feeling crummy, he has been in a baaaaad mood the last few days. Only a few things have made him feel better.

1. Teletubbies (I think he's been watching 3-4 hours a day, and since we only have 1 DVD....)

2. The bathroom sink. Why? I don't know. But he takes my hand and pulls me to the bathroom and whines until I put him in the sink. So I've spent quite a bit of time sitting on the toilet with the lid down and reading my book while Luke does this:

3. The vacuum. I pulled this out and just let Luke pull, push, or whatever he wanted to do with it as long as he wasn't crying.

4. The washing machine. Luke wanted to stand in the washing machine again. He would just bang on the lid and laugh. Then he'd want me to lift him out and immediately lift him back in again.

I hope he gets better soon!