Here are some great pictures (thanks mccall) from lukeys first 1st birthday party.
And here are pics from your second first birthday party...
Thursday, October 29, 2009
364 days, 24 hours and 8 minutes
Dear Luke,
As I sit here contemplating what I want to express to you in this letter, I am completely overwhelmed with emotion. When I think about what our lives were like 365 days ago, and how much I thought I loved you then....it blows my mind to see how far we have come.
You have grown and learned so much - it amazes me every day. From the little things like learning how to play peek-a-boo by yourself, from learning to walk and go up and down stairs...it all seems like so much.
It has brought so much happiness into our lives to be able to watch you learn and grow every day. I can still remember the first time you smiled at me, the first time you recognized me and got excited to see me walk into the room. I remember the first time you reached out to me, and the first time you saw a basketball and almost exploded with excitement.
I want you to know how much we have enjoyed the last year with you being a part of our lives. It has been a great time, full of fun and happiness. We are so excited to see what the next year is going to hold.
We love you very much Luke. I hope you never forget that, and that someday, when you are 17 and hating us thinking we are the worst parents in the world, that you will able to look back on these letters and realize how much love we have for you. No matter what.
You have helped/transformed me into a much stronger, patient and loving person. You have had more of an effect on my life than I ever could have imagined, and more than you will ever know. You have brought friends back into our lives, and built bonds with them that can now never be broken. I am so grateful for that - it's something I guess I will always owe you for.
You are growing up to be an incredibly little boy, who is full of energy and curiosity. We love you very much.
Love,
Mom & Dad
Monday, October 12, 2009
Nothing but the Truth
Here are ten truths about me.
1. I don't like animals. I really have no desire to ever have a pet. It's a real problem because Luke already loves them. Ugh.
2. I have a certain order I follow when I do laundry - which only takes place on Tuesdays, might I add. I always have to wash whites first. no matter what. and I have to keep doing loads until everything I own, but the clothes I am wearing, is clean. And put away. For some reason, if the clothes don't get put away on Tuesday, I end up doing more laundry during the week.
3. Luke and I have dance parties every day. I can't tell if he enjoys it as much as I do.
4. I secretly really enjoy watching Handy Manny with Luke every day. I learn new spanish words all the time!
5. I have great ankles and calves - thanks mom. I think that makes up for the butt you passed on.....I think.
6. I can only name about 15 of my cousins. I think I have over 90 total.
7. I have to floss my teeth every day.
8. I have to clean my ears out after I shower every day. They bother me all day if I don't.
9. I have no desire to ever be pregnant again. I did not enjoy it and wish I never had to do it again. I can just adopt right?
10. I wish I could do something crafty every day. I don't know where this desire came from, but it is somewhat overwhelming.
And there you have it....10 things you never knew, or never cared to know, about me. Now whoever reads this....you're it.
you better do it too.
1. I don't like animals. I really have no desire to ever have a pet. It's a real problem because Luke already loves them. Ugh.
2. I have a certain order I follow when I do laundry - which only takes place on Tuesdays, might I add. I always have to wash whites first. no matter what. and I have to keep doing loads until everything I own, but the clothes I am wearing, is clean. And put away. For some reason, if the clothes don't get put away on Tuesday, I end up doing more laundry during the week.
3. Luke and I have dance parties every day. I can't tell if he enjoys it as much as I do.
4. I secretly really enjoy watching Handy Manny with Luke every day. I learn new spanish words all the time!
5. I have great ankles and calves - thanks mom. I think that makes up for the butt you passed on.....I think.
6. I can only name about 15 of my cousins. I think I have over 90 total.
7. I have to floss my teeth every day.
8. I have to clean my ears out after I shower every day. They bother me all day if I don't.
9. I have no desire to ever be pregnant again. I did not enjoy it and wish I never had to do it again. I can just adopt right?
10. I wish I could do something crafty every day. I don't know where this desire came from, but it is somewhat overwhelming.
And there you have it....10 things you never knew, or never cared to know, about me. Now whoever reads this....you're it.
you better do it too.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Random Thoughts
I blog-stalked my way into this beauty. Please read and enjoy as much as I did.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
-That's enough, Nickelback.
-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?
-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no Internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.
-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
-How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
-What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
- Bad decisions make good stories
-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....
-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything else productive for the rest of the day.
-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dangit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket and Pinning the Tail on theDonkey - but I’d bet everyone can find and push the Snoozebutton from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How do I respond to that?
-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat lard before dinner.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
-That's enough, Nickelback.
-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?
-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no Internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.
-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
-How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
-What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
- Bad decisions make good stories
-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....
-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything else productive for the rest of the day.
-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dangit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket and Pinning the Tail on theDonkey - but I’d bet everyone can find and push the Snoozebutton from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How do I respond to that?
-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat lard before dinner.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Farm Country
We took Luke to Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country yesterday.
He thought it was the greatest thing.
Enjoy a few pictures of the festivities
He thinks he's funny
He thought it was the greatest thing.
Enjoy a few pictures of the festivities
He thinks he's funny
up to no good
I love how miniature Luke looks in this picture
look at those tiny little sheep!
Luke LOVED the ducks
this was his first look of awe when he saw the ducks for the first time
walking around...both arms up for balance
my cute boys
luke trying to climb into the horse cage
and me and luke with the chicks...we sat here for like 5 minutes. Luke was very upset when we leftThursday, October 1, 2009
11 Months
Dear Mr. Lucas...
To start things off, you are officially considered a "toddler"! You started walking a few weeks ago and are getting better and better at it every day. You started with one or two steps - and are now to where you can walk all the way down the hallway and all around the place! You are quite proud of yourself as well.
You are still referring to me as "dad". I'm starting to take it personally. Anytime I walk into a room you point and get excited (which I love) and then say "DAD! DAD!" At least you're excited right?
You have been so fun lately - so much of a personality and you love to make people laugh. You are incredibly comfortable with strangers and anyone new. You are still very flexible with your life schedule and very easy going.
I feel like you and I have finally gotten in our groove. I think we've learned how each other works and how to handle each others moods and schedules. My work schedule and Dad's work/school schedule are pretty nice right now. You spend Monday and Wednesday mornings hanging out with Dad until 1 when I get home from work. Then I get you to myself on Tuesdays. We hang out with Amber on Thursdays until she goes to work and on Friday you spend a few hours with your Grandma Daley while I go into work for a bit. You seem to be handling this life very well. I love that you get to spend quality time with your Dad a couple of days each week. I love the time we get to spend together.
You love going to work with me whenever you can and playing with Tim and the basketballs. For some reason Tim (my co-worker) is your favorite person at that place. You even cry when I take you. It's quite the ego-killer for me. :) You LOVE to play with basketballs - you are so intrigued by the fact that they bounce every time you throw them. And they make a great bouncing noise too.
You got another tooth this month - your third one on the bottom. You handled it surprisingly well. There were only one or two nights when you would wake up and just need a little medicine and you'd go back to sleep. Thanks for making that so easy on us.
You are still becoming more and more of your own person every day. Whether that is a good or bad thing is still up for debate. You know what you want, and get quite upset if you don't get it.
You learned out to say please by just making the "p" sound over and over again. It is dang cute if I do say so myself.
Thanks for being such a great little boy and for loving us unconditionally. You are so fun to hang out with and so easy going. We love you more and more every day. Dad and I talk often about how amazing it is that the love for you grows so much as time goes on.
We love you very much.
Love always
Mom & Dad
oh and ps: sorry for the failure of picture-taking this month. I even have a new camera and keep forgetting to use it! please don't judge...we still love you. :)
To start things off, you are officially considered a "toddler"! You started walking a few weeks ago and are getting better and better at it every day. You started with one or two steps - and are now to where you can walk all the way down the hallway and all around the place! You are quite proud of yourself as well.
You are still referring to me as "dad". I'm starting to take it personally. Anytime I walk into a room you point and get excited (which I love) and then say "DAD! DAD!" At least you're excited right?
You have been so fun lately - so much of a personality and you love to make people laugh. You are incredibly comfortable with strangers and anyone new. You are still very flexible with your life schedule and very easy going.
I feel like you and I have finally gotten in our groove. I think we've learned how each other works and how to handle each others moods and schedules. My work schedule and Dad's work/school schedule are pretty nice right now. You spend Monday and Wednesday mornings hanging out with Dad until 1 when I get home from work. Then I get you to myself on Tuesdays. We hang out with Amber on Thursdays until she goes to work and on Friday you spend a few hours with your Grandma Daley while I go into work for a bit. You seem to be handling this life very well. I love that you get to spend quality time with your Dad a couple of days each week. I love the time we get to spend together.
You love going to work with me whenever you can and playing with Tim and the basketballs. For some reason Tim (my co-worker) is your favorite person at that place. You even cry when I take you. It's quite the ego-killer for me. :) You LOVE to play with basketballs - you are so intrigued by the fact that they bounce every time you throw them. And they make a great bouncing noise too.
You got another tooth this month - your third one on the bottom. You handled it surprisingly well. There were only one or two nights when you would wake up and just need a little medicine and you'd go back to sleep. Thanks for making that so easy on us.
You are still becoming more and more of your own person every day. Whether that is a good or bad thing is still up for debate. You know what you want, and get quite upset if you don't get it.
You learned out to say please by just making the "p" sound over and over again. It is dang cute if I do say so myself.
Thanks for being such a great little boy and for loving us unconditionally. You are so fun to hang out with and so easy going. We love you more and more every day. Dad and I talk often about how amazing it is that the love for you grows so much as time goes on.
We love you very much.
Love always
Mom & Dad
oh and ps: sorry for the failure of picture-taking this month. I even have a new camera and keep forgetting to use it! please don't judge...we still love you. :)
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