He Speaks!!

Wow, it really seems like all I'm talking about lately is Luke. Don't get me wrong, the girls are not lacking in interesting things, there are just less milestones at their ages...at least remarkable ones. They're of course doing awesome thing...and are just all around awesome children. I promise I'll dedicate a post to each of them in the VERY near future. They're at Papa and Grandmas house now though...so it's just been me and Luke and it's been kinda nice...well, kinda.
I took Luke to the doctor today because he has been SO fussy and funky. He's got an ear infection. Today I could tell that he was starting to feel better though...he was doing his signature "spin like a maniac on your tummy" maneuver so I knew he had to be doing better. Yesterday he actually took a nap ON me. I don't think he's ever done that...and if he has, it was when he was TINY. He was so fussy about 45 minutes after he woke up for the day, and I couldn't handle it...so I thought I'd try rocking him. He fell asleep and slept nicely on me. It was pretty sweet...and I figured I'd take advantage of the fact that the girls aren't here and just enjoy his sweet babyness. It was nice. So, on his birthday he said very clearly, "MAMA". He's said it a couple more times...but not super obvious that he's referring to me unless he's really upset, then it's definitely a "MAAAA-MAAAA" cry for me. Did I mention he LOVES his mama?? He's kinda attached to me. It's pretty sweet though, I don't mind having a Mama's boy!! As long as he's plenty manly when he gets older! :)
But the word he is saying clearly and very intentionally is, "HI". It's so cute. The phone rings and he says, "HI"...Jeremy walked into the room yesterday and he said, "HI". Awwwwhhhh...I love baby talk.
Okay, I've got a date with Jeremy to play Wii, I had better go.

Happy Birthday to Luke!

My sweet little man turned 1 today! I know it sounds so cliche, but honestly, the time has flown by. It seems like yesterday that I was pregnant--well, maybe not that I was pregnant, but that he was just a little 'un, it really does not feel like it's been a full year! Luke has been a little under the weather for the past few days...he had a tummy bug and then started getting better and then on Easter was hit with some sniffles and then last night had a fever. Poor guy. So last night was pretty much the worst night since he's been born...I guess he didn't want me to remember what the night before he was born was like for everyone I woke up needlessly! So neither of us slept well and he was very cranky. Then we had to drive all the way home from Papa and Grandmas house. He didn't have the happiest of birthday's--thank God this is just the first and he doesn't know better yet! The girls stayed up at Papa's house, so when they all come down this weekend, we'll have an actual party for him with cake and all (photos to come!).
One year ago at this time I was probably getting my MUCH needed epidural and just getting ready to push. What a magical evening that was! Having babies is the most wonderful experience! Luke was just getting ready to enter the world and we were anxiously awaiting his arrival...wondering what he would look like, sound like, be like. Oh we had no idea the blessing we were in for. Luke is such a precious little gift. When I found out I was pregnant with him, I prayed and prayed that the Lord would bless us with a baby who wouldn't disrupt our lives too much. All babies disrupt to some extent, but after my experiences with my girls, I was praying for someone a bit easier this time! Oh my did the Lord answer my prayers. Luke is that baby I prayed for. So far in this first year I haven't felt sleep-deprived once--even on nights like last night when the sleep just doesn't come, it doesn't feel so bad because I've been so well rested all of the other nights. Luke is an absolute joy--he smiles, laughs, interacts. He loves his sisters, his daddy and of course his mommy! He's so ticklish that I have to remind myself NOT to tickle him too much because it's so tempting to hear that sweet, soft baby laugh. Luke was even one of those babies I had heard about that sleep thru the night at 8 weeks. I never thought I'd get one of those--ever! But God is gracious and He knew what this mommy needed to maintain her sanity.
So, at one year old Luke crawls like a normal baby (not always though--he still does the army crawl plenty--I've discovered why he likes it so much...he can have something in one hand and STILL get from point A to point B very quickly!), he cruises (holds on to furniture and walks along a bit), he still has no teeth. He says "Hi" and "Mama". In fact, he said "Mama" VERY clearly today! Yay Luke!!! He also said it the other day when he was upset, he kinda whined, "Maaaa-Maaaa" and then cried. He used to say "da-da-da-da" when he was babbling, but now he says "Na-na-na". I know more words will follow soon, at least I hope because who can resist baby talk?? What else? Luke helps me empty the dishwasher and he, surprisingly, isn't into everything--yet! He stays out of stuff he's not supposed to get into (except the computer keyboard and mouse--those are some of his favorite toys!). He's still not the worlds greatest eater, but I guess with no teeth, that doesn't help! I'm working on getting him to all milk--we were doing really good until he got this tummy bug and I didn't want to stress his tummy out anymore, so I went to just formula for a few days. He's still taking bottles (I know, I know...if this were the girls that would NEVER have been allowed...but you know what?? Who cares?? He's my baby, it's easy and that's that.). He gets one first thing in the morning, one at naptime, one when he wakes up (4oz) and then one at bedtime. He eats 3 meals a day...usually cereal or eggs for breakfast, yogurt for lunch and then whatever we're having for dinner--if he can eat it--otherwise I'll give him a jar of baby food which he does NOT love. He loves to grab my hand and try to see how far he can fling the food if he doesn't like what he's getting. He's now sitting facing forward in his big boy carseat--how fun!! And the other day I made a discovery that is a HUGE turning point in my opinion--I could hand him snacks in the car to keep him quiet--or to avoid having to pull over to feed him! He's not a big snacker though, so we'll have to work on that. I know the time will come quickly enough, if this first year went this fast, I can't imagine how quickly the next one will go.
Well I'm going to wrap this up. Happy Birthday precious little one. You are such a blessing, such a special gift from God. We are SO happy to have you in our family. You are the PERFECT addition we were hoping for. You are the sweetest little boy I have ever seen. I never thought I would love having a baby boy so very much, but I have to say, you've got my heart in your soft, squishy, chubby little baby hands. I love you so much Midder Snake (that's your current pet-name). Speaking of pet names real quick...the other day Savannah called Luke Lu Lu Jolly-Boy. Lu Lu is already one of his nicknames from Papa and Savannah added the Jolly-Boy part on because he's always so smiley and sweet. Uncle Erik said that's probably not a name he's going to want to hang on to...but I thought it was cute...and just shows how much Savannah loves her little brother. Yes, the girls are in love too. It's kinda hard not to fall completely head-over-heels for Luke. Happy Birthday Precious!!

Lukes new trick...

Well Luke is at it again. I tell ya, at this age they just learn things so quickly. As I posted before, Luke has been waving and saying, "Hi, Hi", well the other night I was holding him and blowing kisses to the girls as I do every night as part of our bedtime routine...and Luke put his hand to his mouth and blew kisses too!! Awwwwhhhh!! Now he's doing it all the time. Sometimes though he just has to lean over and get me with a nice, wet, slimy smacker-roo!! He's a sweet kisser!! And to date he STILL has no teeth!!

Speaking of teeth...Savannah's grown-up tooth is getting so close to being all the way in! I'll have to take a picture of it tomorrow and post it! She's just getting so grown up!

Sadly, that's all I've got for now. Jeremy is working late, Luke wouldn't go right to sleep tonight and I didn't sleep well last night...so I'm off to take a shower and hit the hay! I'll update again soon, of course...hopefully my brain will work and I can find some stuff to write about! Not that there's ever a lack of content...just a lack of brainpower to turn the "stuff" into readable prose.

A Funny Abby-ism.

My dad is constantly lamenting the fact that the girls never seem to have time for him. They're busy kids, and talking on the phone is not their forte. Give Papa to them in person and they're on him like velcro, but the phone is different. They have to focus and not play. So yesterday Abby is talking to my dad on the phone and she gets distracted...she looks at the phone and says to herself, "Hmmmm....where's the Pause button?" Like she's just going to put my dad on PAUSE while she continues doing what she's doing. Silly girl. Wouldn't it be nice if life worked like that though? I'd love the opportunity to put everything on pause for a good week...get caught up, organized, rested. *Sigh* I guess "pause" is retirement...the time will come one day...when I'm not so needy for it anymore! Isn't that just the way it works? I was thinking about that the other day...our church has so many WOMEN'S programs. Yes, they're fine and dandy, but many of them don't have childcare. What do we ladies with small children do? We don't go. And we're the most needy at this point in our lives. I do have to praise God for the chaotic life of early mommy-hood though, because what better way to truly appreciate time (or lack thereof) and how quickly it slips through our fingers...and how non-essential it really is to have a SPARKLING clean home...or complete sanity for that matter. If we weren't half insane, perhaps we'd just be housework drones who were no fun to our kids...who said partial insanity is all that bad? It just helps me to keep it real...to focus on the simple pleasures in life.

A conversation with Savannah...

S: Do martians say, "Beep, beep, beep?"
M: There are no such things as martians.
S: Yes there are.
M: Does the Bible say anything about God creating martians?
S: God created everything.
M: Yes He did, but does the Bible say anything about Him creating martians?
S: Yes.
M: I don't know what version you're reading, but my Bible doesn't say that.
S: I'm reading the ESV...you get it at the public library. It says "God created the heavens and the earth and a big moon, covered with martians.
Hahahahaha...oh my goodness...what in the world?? She is too funny...and the fact that she said you get it at the PUBLIC library. I just about died laughing!!

The other day the girls were discussing who they were going to marry. Abby said she's going to marry Jared (a boy down the street we really have little contact with. I asked her why and she said, "I don't know, I just am." Savannah chimes in with, "I'm going to marry Ethan" (another boy down the street who she plays with regularly) I asked her why and she says, "Well, he's the only Christian boy around." Wow...let's hope she keeps that up...although I hope she marrys a Christian boy--for LOVE, not just because he's the only one left...you never know though, with the way our world is going it may come down to that. Let's pray not!

Boys vs. Girls

It's so strange the things that are just written into our genetic codes. My girls are definitely girls, emotional, whiny, like to cook and do other domestic things. I have a good friend who has a little girl who got for her first birthday a little baby doll. My friend thought she was WAY too young for such a thing, but that little one took hold of the doll and started carrying it around, giving it hugs and acting like a little mommy. It's amazing! Luke isn't even one yet...and he naturally gravitates towards cars and the like. He loves his cars and is always so curious how things work. He even, at his young age, already makes brrrrm, brrrm noises!! It's SO cute...and SOOOO boy-like. I just love it. God is awesome and the way He designed us to be so different yet so complementary as male and female is astounding.