Sunshine

Sometimes you just have to take a break and soak up a little sun. Oh, how I love my Luna girl.

Bliss

I just watched from the doorway as Luke floated to sleep for a second nap of the day. It was one of those absolutely perfect moments. He was burrowing into one of his favorite blankets and looking at himself in the crib mirror so I could see his body AND his face reflected in the mirror as his eyes got heavier and heavier and as he talked to himself with sweet "me, me, me" sounds. Aaaaah...The summer weather and activities have warranted a second nap a few times in the past couple of weeks, plus he seems to be bigger after each snooze session so the rest is good for him.

Steve is enjoying a Father's Day nap, too, before we cook out with our parents and neighbors. He has worked incredibly hard on the continued project in our backyard from the storm mess and our yard is going to end up looking better than before the storm - silver lining, anyone. (The Father's Day feast was a great time. Steve was a wonderful grillmaster, Luke was the life of the party especially with his popcorn popper, and we enjoyed great company and food)

The picture above is from tonight. I played tennis during Luke's bedtime routine so Steve sent this picture to illustrate how much Luke moves around in his crib. Can you see the leg sticking out of the bars? He got it back in and is resting with his head at the other end of the crib now!

I got the all clear to swim and resume all activities today at my Lasik follow-up! Yeah...we went swimming tonight. It is brutally hot, but I am NOT complaining :)

Dad

Happy Father's Day, Dad! This is a picture of my fabulous father directing "Big Blue" on Little Grassy a couple of days ago. He took me out to fish, well, he fished and I enjoyed the sun and the beauty of the lake.

I have been extraordinarily blessed to have the Nickster as my dad. He taught me so many things, including what to look for in a partner. Thanks, dad, for everything, and thanks for helping me find Steve, who, as it turns out is a pretty amazing dad himself!

Visitors

Luke's Aunt Shannon and Uncle Eric were in town FROM SICILY for a couple of days and we all really enjoyed seeing them and spending time together. Shannon made an AMAZING dinner on Wednesday for us all to enjoy - pistachio pasta that I dream about - You will notice a little Puggle puppy in the background. He is the newest addition to the family. His name is Puccini and he is Greg and Rebekah's 9 week old pup. Super cute! Luke spent the night at Gma's so that he could soak up some extra Shannon time. He is enjoying his bedtime bottle I think :)
Susan called this her family Christmas since it is tough for all four of her kids to be together at holidays.
Enjoying the feast!
Three generations of great guys!
Trying to find Uncle Greg's cash

Haircut

Luke got his first haircut by Gma Jackie last weekend. You can see how it all went down...what a sport and what a gma (he has two of those!). His hair is so cute now. I love running my fingers through it and making it look kind of messy.

Luke

Amazed at the fun of the splash park at Crown Center in KC
Taking a wagon ride with Uncle Glenn at his house($5 at a yard sale up the street!)
Posing so well for his portrait to be drawn (with a little help from a sno-cone and daddy amusing him)
Figuring out how Uncle Glenn's blinds work

It is summer and we are busy enjoying the outdoors and friends and family. This blog will likely suffer in the name of summer but that is a pretty great reason to suffer if you ask me. Just wanted to try and get a current photo of Luke on here and a couple of info bits before I disappear for however long...

Luke is climbing things (I know I mentioned that but it is really crazy and cute and amazing at the same time)

He will give lovely and delicious open mouth kisses and then giggle about being kissed.

He loves toast with lots of 'all fruit' on it in the morning (all fruit is the spread that is just pureed fruit - no extra junk incl. extra sugar!) So far black raspberry is a hit and strawberry of course. He also LOVES black olives, black beans, blueberries and any fruit you put in front of him. His appetite has really increased recently - it is fun to watch him eat!

We met some friends at the mall yesterday and Luke was not interested in being in his stroller. He cruised around that place like he was in charge - and he also giggled a lot at Reese (8 months) thinking she was chasing him around.

He blows bubbles through a straw into his drink and is incredibly proud of not only the result of his efforts but also the reaction from adults around him.

He gets really mad when Steve or I leave the house but if you look in the window as you are leaving he has already moved on to something more interesting and has forgotten to be mad.

He is WONDERFUL.

Happy Birthday Grandma Susan! - Edited

Blogger is not letting me post pictures right now which is part of the reason it has been a while since I have posted anything. In the past week we have had a great weekend in Kansas City, I got Lasik, Luke and I both got a wicked cold/cough that he is recovering from and I am battling through and lots of other things that I can't seem to think of right now.

Luke is currently CLIMBING on top of his table and chairs and trying to figure out how to climb on the 'grown up' furniture. I hadn't even thought of CLIMBING but here we go...he walks up to everything now and sticks his leg up trying to figure out if he can get his foot latched on something in order to CLIMB IT...yikes...

The important thing today, though, is that it is Gma Susan's BIRTHDAY! Yeah! We are celebrating with a cookout at my parents this afternoon...should be fun.

Birthday pictures (posted on 6/19)