Luke's Third Birthday Party!

Well, after a long hiatus, I decided to pop in to post just a few pictures of Lukey's special day. We ended up looking at baby pictures and his first birthday party... And now I'm feeling all sappy. I want to have pictures of Grace like I do of him, so I'm wanting to get back into blogging again. So, here's the start of that. I make no promises or guarantees of anything!

This year was the first year that Luke was really excited about his birthday. That made it a lot of fun for me. I was actually not planning to have a party for him, because things have been so crazy around here with pregnancy and hernia surgery, etc. But, he started asking about it and I'm so glad we decided to go ahead and have something for him. He was very excited about "his birthday party of cake" and having his "friends" come over. I think to him "friends" just means people he loves. But all day the day before and all morning the morning of, he kept asking when his friends were coming. It was annoying, but also adorable. He had fun helping me make his cake and get ready for the party. Plus, he was nearly delirious with happiness with so many children running around being crazy in this house. I think he had a really great day. We didn't actually get many good pictures, but we did get a few. Hoping my brother Josiah has a few that are good! Anyway, the order of these is all messed up, but I'm too tired to fix them.

This was Friday when we had just finished his cake. he was pretty excited about the little children peeking out of the windows... :)

Opening a few gifts. He got lots of art supplies and I am super excited about that! He's been really into paints and paper lately. It was fun to see his face light up.

Enjoying some birthday cake. I think he was more excited about looking at it than eating it, but hey, whatever!

Singing "Happy Birthday." He was enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame. Of course, a few nights ago he could be heard singing "Happy Birthday" to himself once he was in bed, including cheering for himself upon completion. He was so excited to blow out his candles that the moment people stopped singing, they were out! We didn't even get a picture.

The cake. He also realized on Saturday evening that we forgot to put the stop sign on the side of the cake and was pretty upset about that for a minute. But he quickly got over it when we started talking about how much fun it was anyway. He is a really good kid.

Just a last goofy birthday smile. He had a lovely day. I'm so glad that we did a party for him. He hasn't had it the easiest the last six-eight months and has really been a trooper. It was good for my Mommy heart to see him have a good time. It has been wonderful to watch him grow and change in the last six months. I think he's a great big brother! Can't wait to introduce him to his little sister.

Last night when I was tucking him in and we were cuddling while I told him a story, he said, "Mommy, thank you for my birthday. And thank you for my special cake." He definitely makes my heart happy! Thank you God for our almost-three-year-old!

Happy Birthday Lukey

Yesterday my son turned two. Wow. I am still kinda shocked by that. We had a good day, for the most part. We played with some new sidewalk chalk (which was a big hit), played with some lacing cards he received from Uncle Sam and Aunt Gina, made a big mess with the bowling game given by Uncle Mark and Aunt Jena, and played with a kazoo and car given by Uncle Josiah and Aunt Jessi until Mommy had a headache and the car smelled like burnt electrical something. :) We finished the day with a chat via Skype with Gramma and Granpa Mack and Uncle Jonny and Colin. It was a good day. I am proud of my two-year-old.

It couldn't have been a birthday without a birthday greeting written in sidewalk chalk, right?

Daddy came upstairs for a brief respite to draw a snowman with the birthday boy.

I would say he was having a really good time. I don't know that he'd ever seen chalk before, at least not to get his hands on it and touch it, so he was lots of fun to watch.

It's sad when you have to write your own birthday message...

Just Luke, being Luke. I love this kid!

An end of the day birthday gift from us. I think the lacing beads will provide lots of entertainment and one day, he will be able to play with them on his own. :)

We enjoyed our day with our little one. He is infinitely precious to us. Thank you God for this evidence of your grace in our life.

Luke's Birthday Party

Luke had a great day celebrating his 2nd birthday with some of his little friends. We had his party this past Saturday and it was a fun day. Very busy, but fun. :) We decided that while he wouldn't have missed having a party, he certainly enjoyed the one he had! I had fun, too, even if it was a little last minute. This is a crazy busy time of year with friends and family birthdays as well as Easter. Next year I shall plan better and in advance!

A Turtle Cupcake Pull Apart Cake. I had to use SO much frosting to get it to stay together... I don't think the kids minded. Not so sure about the moms. :)

Homemade play dough. I got a recipe from my cousin Jena that uses Kool Aid to colour the dough. It smelled SO good! Andrew arranged it so nicely on the table that it looked like fruity yumminess!

I love the look on Luke's face here. He had such a good time playing with the other kids.

Uncle Josiah and Uncle Mark played with the kiddos a bit and it was sweet to watch. I think it was a hit. (Luke is standing here as I type saying "Want play dough, few minutes" and it is too sweet.)

More play dough fun. Luke enjoyed playing with the cups almost as much as he did playing with the play dough!

Here comes the birthday cake! He really enjoyed everyone singing to him. He has been walking around singing Happy Birthday to himself ever since.

I was pretty impressed that he was able to blow out the candle himself with no help, problems, or slobber! I think he was pretty pleased with himself, too.

Just waiting for the cake to arrive!

I think he was enjoying it... We gave him the "head" of the turtle, so it had M&M's on it. He's never had M&M's... I forgot to sit and watch him, but he didn't seem to have any issues... :)

Enjoying the yummy cupcake!

Opening presents. His first gift, from John and Shelly, had a really cute fish watering can in it, among other things. I don't think he let that out of his sight for the rest of the day. At one point, Andrew found him in the bathroom with it half filled in the tub. He was pretty excited. He received many lovely things and I am excited to enjoy them with him!

All the present-y mess. He had such a good time. I'm so glad that we had a party for him. It was fun to get together with friends! I was exhausted, but already look forward to next year.

Happy birthday to our beautiful little TWO year old! I will refrain from reminiscing overly much... but we are so thankful for our son! He is a blessing.

Birthday Fun

My birthday was at the end of July. Andrew and I went out to dinner and a movie while Mark and Jena watched Luke for us. We had SUCH a good time! I really needed a little time away and this was perfect.





Here we are in the car outside of Outback. Woo hoo!



And this is how we found our son when we arrived back at Mark and Jena's. I truly had no idea he would sleep there, and expected him to be awake when we got back. It was so sweet to walk in and find him knocked out cold. Apparently he fell asleep right around his usual bed time of seven o'clock and was still out when we got there at nine.


It's exhausting playing with cousins! Seriously. He has such a good time chasing all the kiddos usually that I'm sure he had a blast. And I was SO glad to be able to enjoy my evening with Andrew and not worry about Lukey. I think the only one who didn't have a good evening was Courage, the puppy. (Luke is scared of dogs and I think poor Courage got relegated to the front porch for most of the visit.) So thanks again, guys. We had a great time.

Also, I just realized that this post shows how far behind I am! Yikes!

Birthday Cake at Grandview

We had planned to have a birthday bash for Lukey on the 28th of March, but everyone in my family was sick. I was pretty disappointed, although admittedly Luke didn't seem to mind. We had a good time on his actual birthday, though so that was fun. Then, we were able to throw together a last minute party for this past weekend so we ran with that. (Sorry Gina that your flooring didn't come in!) We planned it for Grandview park so that it was closer for most people than driving all the way to F-town to our house. Plus, it had lots of space for the older kids to play. The only problem is that it was freezing! Oh my goodness. It was so cold. Luke's nose was red for the rest of the day. But overall I'd say it was a definite success and I'm happy that we were able to do it. Here are a few shots of the day. Josiah took better pictures, but I haven't figured out how to download them properly yet.


The train cake, which I was pretty happy with. Although it nearly caused tears when we had to cancel. Fortunately, it froze pretty well and was a hit, especially with the kids.


He saw the cake and immediately started signing "more." Too cute.


He received his very own "Luke is 1!" train car. I don't think he was impressed.

Here's Daddy, trying to encourage him to have a taste, or at least get a little messy!



Finally delving in.

I don't think he was too impressed either way. He could take it or leave it.


Cutting the cake for everyon else.

"All done!"

We had a good day, despite the cold and wind. I was worried for a while cause it ended up taking four guys to get the fire started for hot dogs. Apparently Josiah is a genius in that department to, cause it finally worked when he showed up! We enjoyed celebrating our little boy... and are glad it's over! I confess that I just now finished unpacking all the stuff from the party. Oops. But, now it's on to life with a one-year-old! Here we come!

A Birthday Present

So, when we got back from the park we gave Lukey a birthday present. What un-fun parents we are--we didn't even wrap it. And he may or may not have been playing with it in the box for weeks. But, it was fun none the less.



This is Luke, not sure what to make of all these shenanigans.

This is the look he had on his face when he first saw the truck out of the box.


"Oh, wow, you can actually move this thing!"



Learning how it works...

Personally, I just love this expression.


Daddy trying to teach him that it actually dumps stuff out. Not so sure he got that lesson.


What is it with kids and always liking the boxes best?

We had a good day together, especially after I started to feel better. I actually ate lunch today! Luke was lots of fun and I'm choosing to believe that he's screaming in his crib right now because he's just so happy.... Or, cause I'm trying to make him go to sleep. One or the other. He can have quite the temper and I think we have our hands full trying to get a grip on that while he's still young. It can be hard being a parent, but we love this little guy so much. In many ways this year has flown by, but I remember parts of it dragging. I have learned a lot and he is forcing me to grow in ways I didn't even know I needed to grow. Thank you God, for my son.

More blogging to come... depending on what my evening looks like. Maybe tomorrow I'll finish off the birthday day celebration. We still have a haircut and first cake to get through!

More Birthday Fun

Andrew and I just took Luke to the park that is close by our house. I'm sad to say that it was the first time we'd been. But I'm quite certain we'll be spending quite a bit of time there this spring/summer. Luke had never been in a swing and he had such a good time.




He had such a look of pure glee on his face! It was SO sweet.





Daddy and Mommy taking turns pushing our one-year-old.



The slide was lots of fun, too!


He loved the merry-go-round, but personally, I wished I hadn't gotten on it with him. I am still quite nauseous and even though Andrew pushed very slowly it didn't feel very good.



Crazy faces!


The long walk back to the car. "Daddy, do we have to go now? Just a few more minutes?" It won't be long until he is voicing those desires in more than a disappointed look and a few whiny cries.

All in all, it was a great first trip to the park. We all had such fun.

Lukey is ONE!

Happy birthday to our little boy! It is so crazy to think that he's already a year old. I'm sure we'll get many more pictures and videos before the day is over, but for right now, here is Lukey enjoying his birthday cards from his Great Nana and Great Papa Ball and his Great Granny Preston. We let him open them all by himself and he looked like he was rather into it. I thought it was rather sweet that his first birthday cards from grandparents actually arrived on his birthday. It was fun for me!

Hopefully I'll be feeling up to doing a little bit of a birthday treat soon for the little guy. Poor Andrew has been in charge of everything for the last two days and he's doing a great job! We had to cancel Luke's party on Saturday because of this virus that has made it's rounds through the extended family here. Andrew was sick on Friday and I was sick yesterday and am still not up to par. Hopefully we'll be able to have a party of sorts later on.