A year ago...

...I was getting a little rest in between running to visit Luke at the hospital/getting my brain wrapped around the fact that I was a MOM (yikes!) and I got a call. The Nurse practitioner in the unit called and said that Luke was ready to come home!!!! We were not expecting the call on that Thursday so it was a big thrill to hear the news. Steve met me at the hospital for a seemingly endless array of info/steps before we were discharged. I will always remember him showing up with a big smile on his face and his pink shirt on (it WAS a Thursday).

Woo! Hoo! That news was what we had been waiting to hear for days (yes, he had a short stay at the hospital and we were very thankful for that.) The nurses were/are so wonderful and I still think of them with a smile. They taught me a LOT in a few days and were SOOOOO good to Luke. Nurses are really special people :)

I just rocked Luke to sleep for his nap and I held him a while longer than usual. The year has gone quickly & I am so thrilled/fortunate to be a part of his happy and healthy life. Here is a picture of him sleeping for the first time in his crib and also of him last night on the way to swim class. Wow! On that note, he was a wild man in the water last night - kicking, smiling, putting his face in, even playing ball with another baby boy (they each just kept grabbing the same ball away from each other)

Birthday post

Here is the birthday boy! I got one picture of him before he flew into a rage because he wanted the camera. So....it is bad that I love the one of him with his head thrown back like the world is going to end? AAAAH...Luke you are so funny! Happy birthday, baby! Mommy really does love you - and she loves you in your bib overalls :)





This one year old is walking around whatever he can hold on to, he can click his tongue on the roof of his mouth, he really likes to talk about his dada and he is getting the whole drinking out of a straw thing down. We are down to about 2-3 bottles every 24 hours, trying to get away from those more each day. His daddy taught himto climb the deck stairs tonight, too. There is a new skill aquired everyday!


Delicious treats from Sophrona Bakery. I have eaten way too many leftovers today, and enjoyed every bite!

Can a little boy and his daddy get any cuter? Just relaxing pre-party on the deck, checking out the sticks, etc...



This is the 'floating island' punch that my mom and Steve made fun of me for making for the party. Hey, people seemed to like it. Thanks, Paul, for complimenting the punch, that made my day!

My mom had balloons and streamers up for EVERY birthday that I can remember, and I mean into my 30's! So, I had to continue the tradition. Luke wasn't sure about walking under the streamers but the balloons were a big hit. He wanted to bite them - thankfully none of them blew up while he was chomping down.

Here we go...Luke's first cake/sweet/crazy sugar experience...





Proud parents for sure!

Luke was enthralled with Aunt Rebekah :) He loved her blond hair and all of her accessories. He munched on her necklace for a while and just enjoyed soaking her up!

With Aunt Rebekah and Uncle Greg. It was really great to see them both and Uncle Greg has an amazing way with little kids. Luke couldn't get enough of him - it was really fun to see them imteract!

Helping mommy clean up the kitchen while he played with a new toy. Thanks to everyone for such wonderful first year gifts. He got lots of great and educational things that he is already enjoying lots.


After his party, we took a second walk for the day and enjoyed the lovely evening and just kind of relaxed. Luke was excited to check out some new toys for a while but he went to bed easily and didn't get up until 1:45 :)

Today was another gorgeous day and we ran lots of errands, ate lunch outside at Panera (Steve even met us!), played at the park, visited with a friend that moved away last year (Amber - it was great to catch up and see that you are doing so well up north!) and this evening we helped Gpa Nick & Gma Jackie plant our shared garden. We had three generations planting onions, greens, radiches and lettuce at the community garden. It is a great project and really special to have Luke and my dad working on together.

Hey Luke...

It's your birthday, and lots of people were around to say - Have a great day!

Those are the lyrics to a birthday song that is kind of a tradition in my family so I sang it to Luke when I went in to get him this morning.

He had a great day. I am only posting two pics but there will be more. Several friends called or texted happy birthday wishes, the weather was absolutely wonderful and his peach tree is blooming!

He got lots of love from grandparents, Miss Meg and Mr. Bob, Uncle Greg and Aunt Rebekah and even a call from Aunt Shannon in Italy! Lucky Luke!

A year ago he was on a feeding tube trying to get the eating thing down, and we were very anxious to bring him HOME. How thankful are Steve and I for the little guy sleeping with his buddy George and his new buddy Tatty Teddy (from Aunt Shannon) right now in his room. Luke has made life better, and we are just lucky to know and love him.


He was very meticulous about how he ate his cake. No big bites, he had to figure out what that red and yellow stuff was first and then he was really pretty neat about it :)

Peach blossoms. This tree was a gift from a teacher and friend at the high school last year when Luke was born. I think it was one of the most thoughtful gifts you could give new parents, and it was really wonderful to see those blossoms this weekend. New life, new year...

Let the structured activities begin!

Great day...Luke slept well, we got ready quickly and without incident this morning and I got to WORK on time (well 8 minutes late...but who's counting AND I called to let the school know!). Yeah - WORK! I am working at my former internship site with my wonderful mentor, Jackie, once a week for the rest of the school year. She has a wonderful project for me, I am going to get to know and work with lots of great students and it just feels great to be using another part of my brain for a little bit each week.

I was really excited to pick Luke up this afternoon, too! He had a great day with Gma Susan and Gpa Paul and he was all smiles sitting on Gma's lap when I got to their house. I have said it at least 100 times, but he is really lucky to have all four of his grandparents near. It is truly wonderful to see them together!

We got home and had a fun visit with Daddy. Luke was thrilled to see his dad (so was I) We talked about our days, Luke had some snacks and then we put on our swim gear and headed to the community center for Luke's first swim class! It was pretty fun to have an evening activity, and Luke warmed up to the class by the time it was over :)

He is not a kid that dives into the middle of the party. He really takes everything in, looks around, gets a handle on what is going on around him and THEN he is ready for whatever life brings. The class was 30 minutes, and he was smiling, kicking and splashing in my arms - 20 minutes into class :) He did great, though, and I think he will enjoy the next few weeks of class.

He just started crying so I am going to go see what is going on in that crib (it is almost 10, he has been asleep since 8?!) It was another stunningly beautiful day here today - trees are popping, flowers are blooming and it is wonderful to just take in...crying stopped, thanks for helping out, George.

St. Patrick's Day

30 days old

360 days old

Luke helped me hang laundry yesterday at our neighbor's house. Thanks to Meg for lending me the laundry line :) He loved this tree stump, so we went back today for some outdoor fun. He picked grass, walked around the stump, visited with his third set of grandparents and just had fun.




Keeping an eye on Mr. Bob. He follows his every move.

Thanks for the ball, Miss Meg!

Smiling with Miss Meg...such a lucky little guy!

I have seen several blogs where people list what they do in a day. I find it kind of annoying but I am about to do the exact same thing. It was such a great day. Luke and I had a lot of fun, the weather was great and we (I) are adjusting to Luke's new schedule, which may re-schedule his b-day party. Good thing we are only having a few people over! Thanks to the lovely sleep I got last night, I was really productive and Luke was really happy most of the day, too.

So...here is my day in a list (stop reading and go back to the pictures - this is the boring part!)
7:00- up, high five Steve, get contacts in, give Luke a bottle,change diaper
-find a key for the yard guys coming over this afternoon
-put dishes away from last night
-blog
-play with Luke or watch Luke play
-make breakfast while Luke watches from his post at the dog food container (it is a perfect height for him to support himself and be able to grab onto other things in the kitchen)
-move dog bowls at least twice so that Luke can't get to them
-clean up from breakfast
-go to park with L - meet other little ones
-go to grocery store
-home for a bottle and nap - oh wait, he doesn't nap in the morning anymore, he stood up and played for about a half hour while I started dinner prep, went to get him thought he might still lay down - no dice - had him come help me get dinner made
-went outside to play and take some pictures
-ate chili mac for lunch with Luke - he loves kidney beans
-cleaned up kitchen
-folded laundry while Luke went through some books
-rocked him to sleep (at 1:40)
-chilled with a big glass of water while I watched Y&R - don't judge!
-filled in 4 big holes, laid grass seed and a seed cover in part of the back yard
-showered (at 3:00) yeah!
-picked up house, played with dogs
-opened gate for yard guys
-packed tennis bag and went to Paducah for match - won singles match!
-got home at 10:00 and enjoyed a visit with Steve and a report on Luke's fun evening. Tower Road has a new car counter :)
-11:00 - went to bed- HOPEFULLY for the whole night!!

I changed a few more diapers in there, too, of course.

high fiving da da

Luke slept through the night last night and I am not talking 7-3 or 7-4 he made it 8:30-7:00. I high-fived Steve this morning when the alarm went off and Luke was just starting to stir. The previous two nights had been awful so this was a great relief. And, yes, I know that just by posting this I have cursed the next 3 nights - at least. Whatever, one good night's sleep and suddenly I am optimistic again.

He is standing at the living room windows alternating between beating up a balloon tied to his toy basket and pounding on the windows while he says da da over and over. As Gma Susan says, he is full of "da da" It is really cute. I will say ma ma and he just smiles and says "da da" louder.

He is also getting closer every minute to taking those first steps. I think he did take a couple Sunday night with Steve and my parents, but they all kind of said he didn't really walk b/c I think they want me to see him do it for the first time :) I don't think he cares who sees him, he is just READY!

He is really good at bending to pick things up (anyone familiar with the triangle pose out of warrior in yoga? he is a pro at that!) and when he does fall, he hits hit padded bottom which is good.

Another new thing is putting him to bed. He will roll over like normal and then STAND UP and talk or cry out in frustration for a while. Last night he was mad for a while, then I went to check him and he was laying across the crib widthwise with his head pushed against the bars. I took the bumper down b/c he can use it to climb up and I don't want to find him outside of the crib :) It is just funny to see him walking around in his crib.

We are going to go enjoy some cream of wheat, eggs and watermelon now. It is a STUNNINGLY beautiful day and I see a trip to Kinkaid in our future.

Spring flowers and celebrating

I am not a master gardener, but I am really proud that the bulbs I planted during Luke's naps or on nice days as he lay on the front porch watching me dig and plant made it up this spring. I just LOVE spring flowers.

They remind me of my dear Aunt Anne. She passed away over 5 years ago, but we used to take drives around southern Illinois in the spring looking for what she termed "the beauty" I might have a few blades of grass and even some weeds mixed in with the flowers but I think they still definitely qualify as some "beauty" I am pretty sure Aunt Anne is smiling :)



As I planted bulbs last fall, I was excited to see what would be blooming for Luke's first birthday. Now we are 8 days away....wow! We started the celebration early this week with a trip to the birthday night at The Jack Russell Fish Co. in Benton. Thanks mom and dad! We were celebrating our anniversary, too, but it is much more fun to watch Luke be serenaded by Birthday Bob!

Luke looks so grown up in this picture!

Doing the gma/gpa shuffle...

Hanging with mom while the restaurant sings Happy Birthday to all of the celebrants.

With the big Birthday Bob! Luke enjoyed the whole night - he even ate some red beans and rice! Working on eating more and getting less from a bottle. More teeth are coming, too. Geez...those teeth are constantly making their way through.


I liked his birthday beads!

Steve and I celebrated last night for our 3rd anniversary with dinner and the Terrier B-ball game (tough loss) Time flies when you are having fun and when you have married the man of your dreams! Life is good. Thanks to Gma/Gpa Susan and Paul for watching him last night. A full night's sleep was the best anniversary gift :)

you might love your kid if...

....you put over 20 pictures up in one post. What can I say, we had a whirlwind weekend and I love to take his picture...view on :)

pre-trip I just love that booty in the air!

going through mom's purse for stuff to chew on - major teething going on again (or as usual poor guy) He woke up at 4am with a fever Saturday but he isn't sick I believe the teeth are to blame

This hotel room has lots to explore! The phone ended up on the floor. We are in Pontiac here where Steve's class was on Fri-Sat. Luke's first hotel visit went well.

I really want...

the orange one!

We watched the sunset together as I tried with no luck to open the hotel window. It was really warm on Friday so I was hoping for some fresh air while we slept...no such luck, but it was a pretty sunset

I got a shot of his handprints on the window. Love those...

Post-bath, playing with mommy on the great king bed! We ordered pizza and ate together. I ate, Luke rolled around and explored with crust in his hand.

Saturday morning. no more fever, just a happy babe ready for the day!

This bed is awesome!

Trip to the park in Pontiac. I got the car loaded, we ate breakfast, took a little drive, had lunch with Daddy, and headed to the park for some firsts. Like his first time swinging...he was pretty content.

And he was able to work on those teeth while I pushed the swing - multi-tasker, indeed!

Can you please just give me the camera, mom?

We went down a couple slides together which he liked, but he liked checking them out on his own more. Luke probably liked the other kids at the park the best. He was happy to hang out by mom and watch what the older kids were doing.

He would be a star in a baby yoga class

Don't forget to enjoy the swinging bridge experience. This is an attraction in Pontiac. There are at least 3 swinging bridges and we checked them out. The name is a little more exciting than the actual thing, but still, a cool idea and it was something to see/do. Pontiac is a small town (11,000) with a great community center and neat parks.

Luke is beyond thrilled to be going across the bridge. "Stop shaking it, mom!"

Finally out of my carseat and stroller. What is that over there? A duck, a boat.....

Got to Ellen's Saturday evening and completely enjoyed the visit. It was quick, but it was great! Pat, Laurie, Patrick, Melissa, Bob, Jerome, Peyton, Zack, Brant, Kaelen and Emma were all over at some point in the weekend for a visit which was such a treat. Steve and I loved seeing everyone and Luke was happy to take everyone/thing in...he is a quiet little guy that wants to figure stuff out before he jumps into the mix! He did enjoy...

...playing tea party with Princess Peyton!

check out those choppers

Luke and Daddy took a nap while -

I played a great game of monopoly with Zack, Ellen and Peyton (the banker) Good, good fun!

We did venture out for some fresh air on Sunday b/c it seemed to warm up a little. By the time we got out to the deck the wind had shifted again and we were bundled up. I love this shot of L with Aunt Ellen!

We really enjoyed the trip. It was great to see everyone. I thought Luke would sleep on the way home Sunday night - and he did - for about the final 45 minutes of the 5 hour trip! I held him in the back most of the time which was fine. He was really happy to get home. We saw the dogs, which made him smile, changed diaper and pj's got in the crib and he knocked out for 8 hours.

What a kid! Steve looked at me today and said, did we really not have the Lukinator 3 years ago? (our anniversary is Fri the 13th) I said we didn't even have him LAST year at this time! Luke has just made Steve and I really happy. We tell him lots that we are lucky to know him and it is icing on the cake to be his mom/dad.

Excuse my lack of proper puncutation and grammar in this post. It is almost midnight and I want to go to bed, but I also wanted to get these pics up here.