So I don't know how

to potty train.

After nearly 2 hours of Blue's Clues and stereo time, Luke still hasn't peed in his potty. At least he did a pretty good job of staying put.

Welcome Party...and why I'm an idiot

Yesterday was the 2nd annual welcome party for all the LDS William & Mary students in the Jamestown and Williamsburg wards. Jared and I (well, really just I) put it together last year and had such a good time that we did it again this year. Last year, we asked for donations to help pay for everything, but this year (BONUS!) Jared had the great idea of asking the J. Reuben Clark Law Society to sponsor it. So while I still took charge of booking everything, shopping, and organizing, we didn't have to pay for anything. Score!

It turned out so well, and I am kicking myself that I didn't get pictures. That's why I'm an idiot. I always forget my camera! Almost all the students came-- I think only 1 or 2 families couldn't make it. We had the party at the clubhouse in our apartment complex and the rental of the clubhouse included the pool. So after our brunch potluck lots of us went swimming. I didn't really get to swim because right outside the chain link fence surrounding the pool is Luke's very favorite air conditioner. So I got to sit in the hot sun making sure Luke didn't fall off the table he was using to get a better view of the air conditioner. "It's spinning! It's on!" Thank you, Heather for coming to talk to me in the hot, HOT sun so I could hear something besides that prattle.

It was fun to meet the rest of the students/ student wives that I hadn't met yet and catch up with some of the people that I hadn't seen over the summer. I'm excited for this year. We've got a great group and will have lots of fun together. Can't wait for our first girls night!

The worst day of my life...

was when Luke discovered stereos. CD players to be exact. Sunday was a NIGHTMARE! He wouldn't stop talking about the stereo for the entire 2 hours before we got into the gym. He has basically been banned from the stereo at home because he's figured out how to get the "child proof" socket covers out of the socket and plug in/ unplug (over and over) the stereo.

Now today I went to Parcel Pros (for the 3rd time this week--but that's another story) and Luke discovered a stereo on a counter. Since there were no chairs around, he tried pushing packages over to stand on so he could see the stereo. So the entire time I'm just trying to get my package sent off I have to keep dragging Luke away from the stereo.

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!

I am so glad it is nap time!

The Boy Next Door-- or almost

We are so lucky that our good friends, the Taylors, live right here in our complex just a few buildings away. During the summer Luke has gotten to play with Caleb several times almost every week. We have play dates at one of our apartments or go to the pool or the beach. Sometimes we meet up at the library. Luke and Caleb play well together, and it's nice for him to have a good friend practically next door.

And I love having Keegan so close. We swap baby-sitting a lot, but mostly it's nice to get some adult conversation during the day while Jared is at work. We bounce ideas off each other too-- about discipline, etc. Keegan's loaned me some sign language books that have helped me a lot to encourage Luke's signing. And it's good to have a friend that you can call up anytime. Yesterday Luke was on a roll--into one thing after another. Then our downstairs neighbor came up to complain about noise, and I felt like I would scream. I called Keegan and invited myself over. After 5 minutes in her house (eating her yummy trail mix) I felt so much better!

Big Boy Bed

Around the middle of July we moved Luke to his big boy bed. Wow! It was an adjustment. Luke does not do well with change, and he's had some (in his mind) BIG changes. First, the binky. Then the big boy bed. When we first changed him, he acted terrified to be alone in his room. He would do a high pitched cry that sounded so frightened and broke my heart. We tried to keep him in his room by putting a child lock on the inside of his door, but he would come crying to the door and stick his little fingers out through the crack under the door. I couldn't leave him in there crying like that all alone. So for the first couple of weeks we took turns sitting in his room until he fell asleep.

We decided that was encouraging another bad habit though, so Jared put his foot down and said Luke needed to go to sleep on his own. We prayed for Luke's comfort and Jared started putting him to bed. He did a lot better when Jared was the last one to leave. By now he still cries a little when we leave, but he settles down fast. Every few nights he has a hard time staying in his bed-- he keeps getting up to play and we have to go reprimand him to get him to stay in bed, but overall I think he's adjusted.

If moving to a big boy bed was that much of a struggle, I wonder how he'll adjust to being a big brother???

It's Spinnin'

You have all read too many posts about Luke's obsessions with air conditioners and fans. He LOVES to see things "spinnin'. " His NEW thing is CD players. 2 weeks ago the senior nursery leaders had a CD player with children's hymns going in the gym when we got in there to play. This CD player has a see-through top, and Luke was SOOOOO happy to discover that he could stand there and watch the CD go around and around. He seriously stood on a chair watching the CD player yelling, "It's spinnin' " over and over for at least 30 straight minutes. Near the end of the hour one of the other kids walked over and unplugged the CD player, so after that we put it away. Luke freaked out. He was crying and yelling "Stereo! Stereo!" We finally got him to say goodbye to it and move on (a little).

So yesterday was Sunday, so we were off to church. I expected Luke to beeline for the air conditioner units outside. That's typical. But what I wasn't expecting was for him to remember the stereo. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot he started talking about it. He cried through the first 5-10 minutes of sacrament meeting for "stereo, stereo." When that didn't work, he kept telling us he had poo poos to try to get us to take him out. (He didn't have poo poos, and when I told him that his response was to cry and chant stereo some more). Jared had to take him out. Luke does NOT have fun when Jared takes him out. When he came back, he was a little better, but by singing time in the first hour of nursery (we switch to the gym for the 3rd hour), he was spastically whining for the stereo again. And when we FINALLY (in Luke's time frame) got to the gym, he stood on a chair and watched the CD player for the ENTIRE hour. And ever since then he's taken to carrying around my little stereo for hours during the past 2 days. Our CD player doesn't have an opaque top, though, so Luke can't watch the CD spin. Instead, for an hour this morning, he sat and spun an old CD with his fingers inside the stereo (no sound, of course) saying, "It's spinnin'. " And that's also what he's doing while I write this post.

What a crazy kid!

It's Jared's Fault

I was really liking my long hair. Mostly I liked that I could throw it up into a ponytail and avoid the heat on my neck. I think maybe it's because I'm pregnant, but this summer seems incredibly hot to me. However, on Friday I hacked off my hair and it's all Jared's fault.

Awhile ago I put my hair up into a bun-ish type do. Jared told me it looked good, but it would look better if he evened out my hairline in the back (the right side of my hairline was farther down than my left). In a moment of weakness I consented to let him use the clippers and "even out" my hairline. The problem was that after that it looked TERRIBLE when it would start to grow back in, so I had to keep having him do it. Then, while Amber was here, he tried to even out BOTH sides and it got shorter and shorter. The look on Amber's face told me just how bad it was. So now I was facing hair doom. I ignored it for awhile, but after 2 months, it was DISGUSTING in the back. It looked so bad that I was embarrassed to wear my hair up, so I wasn't benefitting from a good ponytail anyway. The only way to fix this was to cut my hair really short and let the hairline grow out together. It took me 2 years to grow my hair out from the last time I cut it this short (which was right before we moved to Williamsburg), so by the time Jared graduates, I should have a good ponytail again.

Progress

Today Luke answered his first yes/no question. When he got from his nap, he said, "Playdoh. Playdoh." I asked, "Do you want to play playdoh?" and he said "YEAH!" I was soooo happy! I hope he keeps answering questions. It will make my life much easier.

Luke's Signs

Luke was sick a few weeks ago, and we spent 2 or 3 days hanging around the house and watching a LOT of Baby Einstein. Luke's new favorite video is Baby's 1st signs. He's picked up on quite a lot and LOVES making signs. I've taught him a few more that I remembered from my ASL classes at BYU, and I also borrowed some sign books from my friend Keegan.

Naughty Potty

This morning Luke had some serious "potty" naughtiness. For the first thing: Jared and I were up late last night with some friends and this morning neither of us was ready to get up when Luke did. I got him some milk and a roll, turned on Blue's Clues and headed back to bed. When I dragged myself out of bed an hour later I came out and sat down on the couch. Luke was standing in front of the couch holding his cup of milk. I looked down and noticed a HUGE wet spot on the couch. I thought Luke must have spilled his milk. Then I saw that he needed a nose wipe and just lifted up his shirt for a quick swipe when I saw that he didn't have any pants on. No diaper either. There in front of the tv were his shorts and diaper. That meant the big spot on the couch had to be...OH, MAN!!! So my first real act this morning was to pull the cushions off the couch and do some serious scrubbing.

The second thing: While I was putting on my make-up and doing my hair Luke came into the bathroom to keep me company. I wasn't paying much attention to what he was doing, but I should have been. He pulled up the seat of the toilet and was sitting on the bowl when he tipped backwards. So right when it was time to leave for church Jared had to change his clothes again since his pants were now soaking wet. GRRRR.

'29' and Spoiled Rotten

For my birthday this year I got everything I wanted and more than I deserve.

I've been complaining about how lame our knives are for over a year now. Jared really came through and bought me the romantic present of some new and very NICE knives. Luckily they didn't cost any "real" money because Jared was able to use the money he got from selling back text books.

Then my best friend Jennifer gave me a gift card to Target with the instruction that I had to spend it on myself. I should probably have ignored that order and gotten things for the baby, but instead I bought myself a book.

I went to a girl's night at my friend Amber's a few weeks ago, and people were raving about "The Hunger Games", and then I read about it again on my cousin Valerie's blog, so when I saw it at Target I had to get it. I was going to save the rest of the gift card for something responsible. But 2 days later-- as soon as I finished "The Hunger Games", I went back and spent the rest of it on the second book in the trilogy. I could not put these books down! Can't wait for the third!

My parents sent me money. They had no instructions about using the money on myself, and they are the type of people who would applaud responsibility. But I wasn't responsible. I took Jared and myself on a fun date. We saw Toy Story 3.
And the next day we went to lunch at my favorite restaurant in town. It serves THE BEST carrot cake in the entire world.
Mom and Dad Herrera sent money again with the order that I spend it on myself. I mostly followed this order. I got myself this calendar for the kitchen that I have been wanting for a long time.
Then I made this bulletin board for Luke's room to display his lovely artwork. I didn't actually make it. I just painted it red.

And finally I got something pretty to put over the sink so I'm not just staring at a blank wall while I do dishes. Jared made fun of this purchase because he said it was a waste of money. Maybe it was, but I look at them and feel happy every time I'm doing dishes.

I've been slowly using money from Mom and Dad Wilkerson to treat Luke and I while Jared is at work. We went to Chick fil' A one day for lunch. We stopped and had a slushy at Target another day. It's nice to have a treat and not feel guilty about it. Although... when I think about the upcoming diapers I do feel a bit guilty. But the slushy tastes to good I block out the guilt and think, "I deserve this, don't I?"

So thank you to everyone who made 29 a great birthday! I love you all.