My baby is 2!!!

Yep, Luke turned two on Saturday and I can't believe it. He is just the happiest and smiliest kid ever. He continues to talk non-stop, but the great thing is that we are understanding him more and more! He loves his big brother, of course, and I never get enough of watching them play together and laugh together. He is also still so cuddly when the time is right which I love. He definitely seems to sense that something is coming so he is a little clinging to me right now and I love it (just so long as I can sit down to hold him :) And of course, Lance being the super fun (kid-like) dad that he is, Luke can also never get enough of him. He says and does the funniest things all day long. So he's just a joy to have in the house and we all love him to death! Happy Birthday, Luke!

As mentioned many times before, the kid loves all things sports, balls and all that and has quite a knack for them all. But I didn't just want to make a ball cake because, well, I get the feeling I will always have reason to make sports cakes for the kid. Of course all little kids love all animals and Luke is no different. But we have noticed that he seems to particularly loves horses and being a cowboy. Anytime he gets on anything to ride (i.e. dad's back, a big wheel, etc.) he immediately starts in with "Yee-ha!" Because of that I wanted to get him a rocking horse for his birthday and thought the cake should match. And so...a horse cake it is!

I was actually not that confident in the way that it would turn out so I was glad when it turned out super cute!

First thing in the morning when we started saying, "Happy Birthday, Luke!" his response was, "Happy Birthday, Mama!" It was pretty funny. But he figured it out pretty quickly that it was HIS day. Here is Luke's first singing of Happy Birthday and he loved it all day long.


We celebrated all day in our house and gave him presents throughout the day so that he would enjoy them (he can only focus on one toy at a time). Then we got together with my whole family on Memorial Day to celebrate his birthday and his cousin Caroline's birthday with everyone.

This was his first present which he loves and sits in all day long. (His cousin has the same car and he almost never leaves it when we're at their house so I was pretty confident in how much he would love it.)


His first pictures in his new car.
Later when Mimi and Bampa came by, they brought Emmie and he loved to share his wheels with her (whether she loved it or not isn't quite as certain.)

And one more video. Mimi and Bampa gave him an awesome tee-ball set and he didn't hesitate to show us all how it's done.

And here was our Memorial Day/Luke and Caroline Birthday Party celebration. Starting at the bottom left going clockwise we have Anna, Abigail, Luke, Ben, and Mikey.

Mimi brought a pinata which was huge hit (no pun intended). It took a few rounds of hitting before we started seeing much progress since only one grandchild is over 4, but we got there eventually!

Diving into the spoils! (We actually had to instruct and help the kids realize that they are supposed to just grab all the candy! They all just kept looking at it and picking at it. Crazy kids.)

The birthday kids! Luke, 2 and Caroline, 3

Luke sitting on his horse with his cheesiest cheese and his cake!

Luke's first "Yee-Ha!" on his new horse.

Luke and daddy--yes, Luke has started the whole super-cheese phase that all kids seem to pass through.
The only thing Luke really wanted from the pinata pile was these two suckers. He held onto them forever--through grass and dirt and anything else he could find to "dip" them in.


Happy Birthday, Luke!!!!

(The next check-in should be with the new member of the fam...! Hopefully soon! ;)

Big enough?

Yep. I think so.

I hesitate to post this because, well, do I really need MORE people to see me like this? But I always love it when people post prego pics so oh well. Plus, so what that I get huge!? If that's what it takes to cook up my adorable little squirts, it's worth it! So here I am! 1 week shy of 9 months.

As anyone who has ever been 9 months pregnant knows, of course I would normally be dying for this baby to come ASAP and would be consuming all the spicy food I can and jumping on every tramp I see. But seeing as Luke's birthday was only last Saturday, for his sake, each day that passes makes me feel a little better and gives these two one more day of separation in having their own special day to celebrate THEM! I was the most relieved when Saturday was over and I was still with child so any day would be just fine now. And I'm pretty sure that pretty soon here my desire to be able to see my own feet and not ache with every movement will overcome my desire for my kids' birthdays to be as far apart as possible and I will start wishing for labor every waking moment. Either way, it shouldn't be long now!

Smoothie mustache

The other night I made a berry Julius type drink to go with dinner. Luke loved it. After he had been at it for a minute we all looked over and found this cute little smiling face:

What was quite impressive about Luke's feat was that for the rest of the meal Mikey kept trying to give himself a mustache and running to the mirror to check it out only to be disappointed at the lack of any 'stache whatsoever. (And then at the very end of the meal Lance even finally admitted his surprise at his own clean face as apparently he had been working on his own smoothie mustache through the whole meal--like sons like father ;)

The teacher and the student...

Recently Mikey has been quite enamored with telling time. He has a couple of watches that he can't live without (and he is also not allowed to turn on a show or wake us--in theory--before 7:30) So Lance has been working with Mikey on telling time. He is still a little young for it so he's more learning how to state what the time is even if he doesn't know what it means.

So the other morning after Lance had talked to him about time again he found Mikey laying on the floor here in front of the cable box clock explaining his recently acquired knowledge to Luke.

Luke was diligently listening--as he usually does when his big brother is trying to help him. So cute.

We were not actually privy to the subject matter of this teaching moment, but no doubt it was of vital importance...

....or vital mischief. They're a couple of little boys--mischief is to be expected.

Mikey Quote of the Day

"What?! You can't ground me every time I'm naughty!" ...Priceless.

Mikey is 4!!

The years are going so fast!! The long awaited day has finally come and gone. Mikey has been talking about turning 4 for about the last 6 months and I think the day lived up to the hype.

Mikey turned 4 a week ago. I worried that after his birthday was over he would be sad and ready for his next, but instead all we do now is talk about how he is 4 and all that it brings. He tells us all day about the things he can and should do now that he is 4. Today he even said that 4-year-olds listen better to their moms and dads...hey, who am I to argue with that!

It really does amaze me how grown up he seems every day. He is a huge helper and such a great big brother. He is also so enthralled with every baby we see and will give it all he's got to get a smile out of a baby. So I have high hopes for his relationship with the new baby when he comes. We are so crazy about this little man--from the very first day we met! :)

Day one

One year

Two years

Three years

And here we are at four! I personally didn't think the party was as smooth as it could have been, but Mikey had a blast so I count that as a success!

Mikey and Luke were a great help in getting things ready for the party (well, Mikey was anyway. But Luke gets credit for trying.)

Mikey has a sudden obsession with superheros. Batman was the chosen one for the day.

So here was my 7 1/2 months-pregnant-and-husband-in-finals Batman birthday cake creation. It wasn't quite as great as I had hoped, but I was still pleased enough. And again, Mikey was thrilled and that's what counts! (I've got to stop having babies at the same time of year every time--it makes for difficult birthday party execution!)

A little present opening...

Some hanging out...
Bampa getting into the Batman spirit of things...
A few games and prizes...


And we're done! Happy Birthday, Mikey!!!

At least I know he loves me...

As per the usual with Luke, Saturday morning he was wanting to sword fight. Lance and I were awake, but still in bed and Mikey and Luke were kind of running around waiting for us to drag ourselves up and take them downstairs. So Mikey got a couple of plastic hangers and he and Luke started sword fighting.

After a minute Lance kind of got up and brought the usual theatrics and excitement that he brings to whatever game Luke and Mikey are playing. So they were all sword fighting and playing and I started to sit up and was just kind of laughing at them all. Suddenly Lance grabbed me around the neck from behind, pointed his sword at me and said something along the lines of, "I got mama! Stand back!" I, in turn, screamed and yelled something like, "oh no!"

Well Luke was standing at the foot of the bed right in front of me and his little face just froze and then slowly turned from worry to fear to and then to this sad, little, slowly growing cry. After a few seconds he was just standing there with tears streaming down his face.

We immediately stopped, of course, and started telling him it was okay and we were just playing and all that. I grabbed him and hugged him for awhile and he just cried for a few minutes like that....how cute, but sad is that?! The sweet little thing. He was so worried about anything happening to his mama (either that, or dad should worry about how scared Luke is of him... ;) hee, hee. Just kidding)

Too Big Too Fast

Let me start by saying that Mikey is still so very young and small and I know this. He will be 4 next month. That's still SO little. I know. That being said...HE'S GETTING SO BIG SO FAST! That's how I'm feeling right now. He just seems so grown up lately! I've been looking at pictures from a few years ago--from before and around the time Luke was born and it was like I had forgotten he was ever that little! So I'm feeling all nostalgic and missing this little face that won't ever be this little again...






Of course, I sure love my "big" little man. I'm amazed and proud of him every day with how big and grown up he is. He does so many things by himself and is such a big help. He says the funniest things, asks the funniest questions, and it amazes me how smart he is.

Last Sunday he gave his first talk in Primary. I couldn't have been more proud. He was super excited about it and has been asking to be able to give a talk for the last two months (I know, right? Who asks to give a talk?) I wasn't sure how he would actually be considering the fact that in February (on my birthday, actually) he begged to be able to go up and talk during fast and testimony meeting and when we got up there he completely froze (giving me the chance to say a few words ;) But he was amazing. Dad helped him and he repeated every word loud and clear. I could understand EVERY word (even "dispensation!") That's quite a feat in the 3-4 year old group, as some of you may know :)

He is such a great big brother and so excited to have another little brother. I love watching him and Luke laugh and play together. (Yes, these are rubber bands on their heads. Note: mom was NOT there. Take up the issue of putting rubber bands on their heads with DAD!)

Mikey teaching Luke to blow bubbles

But even though he is big and grown up, he does do naughty things (only now and then ;) He's usually pretty good at going to time out. But after a long day of playing can one really be expected to stay awake during the whole 2 minutes of said time out? Yes, Lance put him in time out here and went back two minutes later to find this. He was fast asleep. (And yes, those shorts are on backwards. He gets himself dressed most days and most days does a pretty good job. But figuring out front and back can be a little tricky :) Love this little man.

Guke

My little Luke

Time for a little update on our little Luke (21 months). I'm having issues lately with how big he is. I feel like it was only yesterday that he was born and yet here he is, as big as Mikey was just before Luke was born and about to be a big brother. Kids just grow too fast. (I'm having the same issues with Mikey getting so big, but more on that later since this entry is dedicated to Luke).

I'm remembering how much kids change between 18 months and two years--mostly in their ability to understand, listen, and communicate. Luke is talking so much. Much we don't understand, but more and more we get.

Our absolute favorite thing right now is that he starts most words with "G." Some of the best examples:

Gankie (blankie)
Get go! (let go!)
Gock (sock)
Gook (look)
Guck (stuck)
Guke (Luke)

Gock, gook, guck, and Guke are a little hard to differentiate and so cute! Yes, he calls himself Guke or Gukie. So now it's all Mikey will call him. It's so funny.

The other favorite is "stop it." He doesn't use the usual "g" though--it's a "b." So he goes around saying "bop it!" I love it.

Here is the best "gankie" example with the best little giggle and his continuing auto-response to seeing a camera.

Luke was also our brave little boy this week because he had surgery :( It was about the simplest surgery a kid can have--he had tubes put in his ears, but it was still a little traumatizing at moments so I was so proud of him. He was getting ear infections right on top of each other. I wouldn't even know when he had one because he hardly complained! He was just used to the pain :( But even at the end of an antibiotic his ears were filled with fluid. Poor kid. He was great the morning of the surgery and rode away from us in the little wagon before the surgery without a fight. But waking up from the anesthetic was rough and the drops in his ears for the past 5 days were torturous it seemed! But he does seem so much happier and is sleeping later than before. (Definitely worth it just for that!)

Otherwise, he's just a funny, cute kid. On this particular occasion he just randomly pulled his shirt up on his head like this and walked around for awhile.

Hair cutting time! Luke's hair was getting out of control. Mikey really hates getting his hair cut so we've put it off for awhile because we were postponing the fighting with Luke as we do with Mikey. But Luke, as we should know by now, is just totally different from Mikey. He just sat there and took it.
He was even all smiles when he saw me with the camera.What a handsome boy.

And last, but not least, we continue to talk about this kid's obsession with sports and balls and of course his amazing skills. When he's not sword fighting, he will throw and catch all day if he finds a willing soul. This video was at 20 months. Check out his catching skills and that form! ;)

**I know I sound like I think he's this prodigy or something. I'm not really planning his professional career in sports or anything--he's only 21 months! (Lance and his grandpas might be, though...) But I'm mom so of course I'm proud of everything he does.