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.

Run You Through

If you have been around Luke recently then you know--the kid is obsessed with all sports utilizing a ball (more on that later) and sword fighting. Today we talk about sword fighting. (I apologize for the lessons in sword fighting he gives to all your kids.)

Thanks to Mikey's temporary obsession with knights around Halloween, we ended up with two swords for his costume. But Luke will also turn any little thing he finds into a sword. Of course any sort of long pole works best, but smaller things will work, too. Pencils, chalk--my favorite was when he handed me one of two little blue penguins from a Wendy's kids meal and started hitting mine with his.

We are constantly trying to keep the sword fighting at bay (and safe for all kids, walls and electronics in the house.) But there is one thing that has developed that just makes the whole thing too cute to be mad about.

Just once or twice, while Lance was indulging him and his obsession, Lance pretended to get run through with the sword. Shortly thereafter Luke started doing this:
It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. And these videos aren't even his best work. I love this kid.

Under the Table

Tonight we went out to eat at the Training Table with the boys. Half way through eating our food, I noticed Mikey picking at something under the table and then little green pieces on his fingers.

My response: AHHHH! What are you doing?!!! Stop! Stop! Stop!! That is so gross!

I then proceeded to explain to Mikey, while practically ripping his fingers off with a wipe and dumping a whole bottle of sanitizer into his hand, that someone was very, very naughty and gross and put their gum under the table, which is very gross and very naughty, and sometimes people do things that are gross, and someone who was naughty....blah, blah, blah you get the idea, I couldn't stop saying it.

Mikey finally cut in: But there is a LOT. Some are hard. Some are soft.

I just stopped. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. Lance, on the other hand, knew. He was hiding behind his food laughing so hard I thought he might pass out. Boys!

Shake that thang!

Best. Video. Ever.
Mikey hula hooping on the Wii.

The difference a few months makes

A few weeks ago we went to St. George for a break from the cold and fog. Not that it was super warm there, but it was at least not snowing and freezing. We chose a hotel with a pool 'cause it had been some months since the boys had gone swimming. That turned out to be a good choice because they LOVED it. At the end of the summer they, of course, loved swimming, but Mikey was still very clingy to the edge of the pool and to us and Luke wouldn't dare get in this little boat. Apparently they progressed over the last few months...by swimming in the bath tub...? Who knows, but it was great and they loved it.

Luke loved his little boat, as you can see. (I know I've said this before, but MAN that kid is the cutest thing ever--though I'm pretty sure it's so that we don't kill him, but more on that another day.)

And Mikey just swam up and down the pool in his life jacket like it was no big deal. (Trust me, last summer it was a big deal!)

(There is actually a pool at my gym. I feel a little bad about not taking advantage of that more now. Time to go swimming)

Snow Time

This year has been so fun with the snow because both boys are big enough to enjoy it. They don't always last too long and Luke will sometimes lose a boot and just stand there in a sock screaming, but he goes right back out there. This is one of my favorite pictures because Luke is just so little still that he is the cutest thing all bundled up in his snow clothes. I could watch him walk around like that all day.

Mikey and Luke will definitely venture out alone in the snow, but it is SOOOO much more fun when dad is there.

Another cute little Luke picture

And finally a snowman! Lance has been complaining about the fluffiness of the "greatest snow on earth" because he couldn't get it to pack enough for a snowman. Well finally we had a wet snow!

They did a fabulous job, don't you think?
(Yes, we need to work on Mikey with his EXTRA cheesy grins. What can we do? He's 3 1/2 and gives it all he's got)

And the other good thing about wet snow? The ability to make snowballs. The best thing about this video is Luke just using the same snowball over and over again. And this is only a brief shot of this. It went on for quite some time with the same snowball.

Christmas PJ's and Christmas morning

What's that you say? It's almost Valentine's Day? Well I say, "back off!" I was busy this month, alright? I thought that since my boys keep insisting on wearing their Christmas PJ's then it's really actually current to post these pictures. (Seriously, Mikey will settle on his other PJ's when these ones are dirty, but otherwise it has to be these.)

I know that most everyone does the whole PJ's on Christmas Eve thing, but I never really did that growing up. Well this year I saw some cute ones so I thought I'd try it. I think we actually let them open them up a few days before Christmas so that they could get used a few times before Christmas was over. Who knew they'd be so insistent on going against the social norms and continuing to wear them long after the season! Those rebels.

And here is Christmas morning. Hey, I have a handful of other Christmas morning pictures that I never posted so at least I resisted the temptation of posting the full blown Christmas tree and present opening in February. (Mostly because I have like a gazillion other pictures from January to catch up on--so stay tuned for the next few days.)

For the grandparents

I know this post is a week or so too late, but I still had to post it because I love it. Of course, these videos are kind of long so I don't really expect that anyone else except the grandparents will love them as much as we do.

Mikey had a little Christmas program for his preschool and it was awesome. The first two videos are Rudolph. I had to break the song into two because it was too big to upload all together. And the reason why this is so great is because at first Mikey was singing like most of the little kids--just kind of mumbling through. But then during this song the teacher made some sort of "sing louder" signal and Mikey took it to heart. For the rest of the program he is almost the only one you can hear. He does sacrifice tone for volume, but it's all part of his charm. (Incidentally, the kid just behind him is one of his best friends in class and our next door neighbor. He is the one you can hear when you can't hear Mikey.)

(I apologize for the shaky camera work, but I just couldn't hold that thing straight while laughing my head off.)

Rudolph 1


Rudolph 2


Christmas Tree--this one is a lot shorter so for those who only want a small dose ;)


Luke loved the whole thing--especially in between songs when everyone clapped

The Unfortunate Follow-Up

For those who saw the last entry, specifically the part about me telling Mikey that he was getting a baby brother because Heavenly Father saw what a good big brother he is to his current baby brother, you might be interested in Mikey's epiphany this morning. We were at a ward event where the new primary kids (that's Mikey) got to meet and get to know their new primary teachers. Mikey's friend's mom asked Mikey what kind of baby his mom was having, and Mikey explained that it was a boy because he was such a good big brother to Luke. Then, after thinking for a second and with a little twinkle in his eye (and you might have guessed what's coming), he turned to me and asked, "Daddy, if I'm mean to my new baby brother do you think I can get a baby sister?" Part of me was proud of the kid for working that out, the whole "if...then," and the alternative, but the rest of me, well, you get the idea.

All Alone....

That's right folks, I'm all alone. I'm STILL all alone. I continue to be the only one in this household to be contributing any estrogen........ and that's because we're having another boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had our ultrasound today and the most important thing we discovered was that everything looks great and we have a healthy baby. But the fun thing to discover is that we are bringing another boy home. :) Now if you feel the need to comfort someone over the fact that is it ANOTHER boy, your sympathies would be best aimed toward Mikey. People keep saying, "Oh, you probably want a girl, huh?" "Oh, I hope you get a girl." Perhaps if the NEXT one is another boy, I might want your sympathies :) But I really didn't care this time, I'm actually very excited about another little boy.

Mikey, on the other hand.... He mentioned wanting a sister awhile ago, but he hadn't mentioned it in a while so I thought maybe he wouldn't care. He did. When we told him he was getting a baby brother again, he instantly dropped his head and did his trying-not-to-cry face and said, "but I want a baby sister!" He hugged Lance for a bit and remained sad and teary for awhile.

We seem to be better now, though. Lance told him that he's such a good big brother to Luke that Heavenly Father is sending him another brother. Then I showed him all the pictures we got from the ultrasound (which I'll post a little later) and explained what everything was. Between those two things he is now pretty excited--for now anyway :)

I must either be excellent with boys, or else would be terrible with girls :) Either way, for now we're happy!

Secular and Spiritual combine

Of course Mikey is quite into Santa and L-O-V-E-S Frosty, but I've been trying hard to also make sure that Mikey understands the true meaning of Christmas and all that. When it comes to that "spirit of Christmas" he struggles a little, meaning he just really isn't all that excited about what he is giving to others no matter how much I talked about it (every time I'd mention something Luke was getting he would immediately ask what he was getting). But he really seemed to understand the story of the birth of Jesus and its importance. So I tried to maintain a balance of that in the middle of all the Santa talk.

Well a few night ago after we had said the prayer for dinner, which always involves thanking, Mikey suddenly tells me, "I'm so thankful that Jesus made Santa!"

...Well...there you go...I guess. I'm not sure if I should be proud of that thought process or work on the kid a little more. But I love him either way! :)

Just watch

ps--don't call child services, pleeeeeease

Seeing Santa

We had our ward Christmas breakfast a few weeks ago and of course we got to see Santa. Mikey was so super excited and Luke is too little to be scared yet so it was all smiles...or at least it should have been.
As I've mentioned a few times, Luke is all "cheese" whenever he sees a camera. He was also in a fairly good mood throughout this Christmas event. So why the scowls? Who knows. He wasn't scared, he didn't try to squirm away. He probably would have sat there all day. He just scowls sometimes. (Don't we all have days where we wish we could scowl at everyone for no reason?) So we got Mikey alone with Santa while he was giving his ever changing list to Santa (seriously every time I asked him what he was going to tell Santa he'd say something different--what's a "Santa" to do with that?)

Luke scowling at Santa...

Then Luke scowling at us. Love my boys!!

18 months old!!!

I can't believe my baby is 18 month old!! He's just the cutest little thing (see exhibit A, B, C, D, and E below.) Although, don't let Mikey hear you call Luke cute. As you may or may not recall Mikey made explicit distinctions of who is cute and who is not. Luke has graduated from cute to a boy. I guess that's to make room for the new one on the way...?

Anyway, Luke keeps growing and doing more and more things. He continues to be a huge HAM! Every time he sees the camera he immediately strikes a "cheese" face above. (Except, of course, when we really want him to like when sitting on Santa's lap--that picture to come shortly.)

Luke is a SUPER jumper. He walks around all day just jumping. And it's quite impressive at his age that he actually gets off the ground as much as he does. He continues to be obsessed with balls. I mean more than most boys. He cannot even see a ball without dropping everything and throwing a fit unless he gets it.

That brings me to the less fun skill he has acquired--throwing tantrums. Yep. The first time you say no he just drops his head into his hands and covers his face (which I have to admit, we kind of think is cute.) But then the next stage is on the floor rolling around. Oh well, what do you do? It comes with the territory. :)

Notice his hands in this picture--those are mashed potatoes. They are actually all over his face, too and all throughout his hair. The kid hardly eats so when he started kneading the potatoes I gave up and focused on Mikey while Luke played. But in the end he actually ended up with most of the potatoes in his mouth! He just had to lick them off of his finger after making sure there were no lumps.

I also cannot believe my baby is in nursery!!! He is a champ with nursery (and I can't believe how enjoyable those second two meetings are when you just get to sit and listen!!! I completely forgot!) We took him about two weeks before his 18-month birthday. Lance sat with him the first time and said he did great. So the next week as sacrament ended and we were gathering up our stuff, Luke started to run to the back of the gym. He frequently does this (to pretend to shoot basketballs--seriously, he stands there under the basket and focuses and shoots over and over) so I didn't chase after him right away. But then he ran out the door! So I started after him. I didn't catch up to him until he was IN the nursery room. He ran straight to nursery!

He is just so 100% opposite from how Mikey was. Mikey cried for a month straight and still struggled for awhile after that. But I attribute the difference to two things. First of all, I have taken Luke to the day care at the gym since he was three months old. So he's used to me dropping him off and he knows I'll come back. Mikey had pretty much never been away from me. And second, Mikey is still in nursery. So Luke has Mikey there to feel more at ease. Anyway, I LOVE nursery and I'm so glad Luke does, too!

Luke is quite the roller in his crib. He is all over. So Lance I got a laugh when we found his little arm hanging out of the side.

And speaking of Mikey, Luke has, of course been long entertained by Mikey, but he's just started to really notice and freak out when Mikey leaves. Mostly it's just when we drop Mikey off at school. He immediately starts saying, "Mikey, Mikey!" and then screams as Mikey closes the door. I get sad that Luke is sad, but it's also so cute to watch them become more and more inseparable. I love it.

As happy and hyper as Luke is most of the time, don't be offended by his scowl. He can give a scowl like no one else and he just does it a lot. Also be careful when you put on his coat. Be sure that you're okay with him having it on forever. At church he was wearing a long sleeve shirt under his big thick winter coat, but it still took the whole meeting to take it off! When you attempt to take it off he just screams, "No!" and grabs any part you are trying to pull on. When coming in from playing in the snow he screams when you take off his boots and will walk around with hats, gloves, coat and snow pants for as long you allow it.

Just to finish things off here is a little video of Luke. I don't know why Lance started this "Bonsai" thing, but Luke loved it repeated it over and over again. It was cracking us up.



Love this kid!!

Family Pictures!

We took some family pictures a little while ago so I thought I'd share. I know many of you have seen these on facebook, but for those of you who do not frequent facebook, here they are.

It seems like we can never have perfect conditions for pictures (of course.) Last year we chose the coldest day in October so we couldn't get Mikey to get out of the blanket! This year I thought it would be much better because it was a warm, sunny evening and everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Then on the way there, Mikey fell asleep in the car...*sigh* And there the problems began. He never really came out of the "just waking up" funk. He didn't want to be close to anyone or smile or look at animals or anything! Then to make matters worse, he had an accident.... I know, right? (We ended up getting the rest of his pants wet so that you couldn't tell so much--I'm sure being wet really helped his mood.) So anyway, I was sad that we didn't get more good pictures of Mikey. There are a few, but he is normally such a camera guy and so cute with Luke that there could have been some really good ones. We're still happy with them, though. And Luke couldn't have been any cuter! :)

Like I said, Luke couldn't have been any cuter!

Finally half a smile!