And the party. . .

This was the biggest birthday party we have ever given Luke either of our kids, yet surprisingly it required the least amount of preparation and was probably one of the smoothest. We have always had parties either at our home or at a local park because that is what he wanted. This year he wanted a roller skating party. I was down with that except that there was only one rink he wanted it at and it was not in our city. It required driving through a ridiculous construction zone freeway. The last party we went to there we were met with a line wrapped halfway around the building just to get in. But it was awesome because he got out there and did that roller skating thing all by himself.

We got on the computer one night and looked around the internet for fun places to party that were local and easy to access. We chose a place called Leapin' Lizards which was awesome. It had 8 or 9 inflatable play things, a big playground/climbing/slide thing and the party packages included absolutely everything from napkins to party favors. We had a party bouncer that was amazing. He took one look at the party and then knew who belonged and who didn't. Luke kept calling him his coach, as in, "Where is my coach? I need a drink of water." I just can't rave enough about this place and I would recommend it to anyone. When you consider all the things included, the price was reasonable to me--what we would have spent on birthday decor, plates, food, favors.

Will jumping with the big kids

 Will was in absolute heaven. He talked about that yellow castle for days, literally. The kid never stops jumping around on dry, flat, solid land. Putting him in a bounce house was like sending him back to his home planet.

Group shot with Izzy(?) the lizard.

I did my best attempt at a spiderman cake.  Thank you for action figures.

A cute bunch of kiddos.

 This picture below was one of the best features of the party. The kid-mob riot that happens at present-opening time drives me bananas. They had this giant inflatable chair that they plopped Luke in for presents and it totally gave me the space I needed. I didn't get a good shot of it though because I was standing to the back/side.

 When we got home, this is the first present he ripped from the package.

Look out. This kid is five and he means business.

And just for fun. . .

4 years old

Three years old

Two years old

One year old

Minutes old

Catching up: Party at the Park (Luke's birthday, part two)

 Luke's party was at our favorite local park.  He is so easy to please! All he wanted for a party was the park, cupcakes, and balloons. Easy enough for me. Somehow, we have lucked out on his birthday weather every year and ended up with a beautiful day for a party. Last year on his birthday morning when he woke up he said, "Mommy, tell me all the people who are coming to my party." So I listed all the family and close friends we had invited. And his response was, pitifully, "I don't want those people. I only want George*." Of course George wasn't invited because we hadn't invited ANY of his school friends. So this year, you can bet I invited every school friend, church friend, family friend, minor acquaintance, neighbor, and all their siblings and cousins as well. Since it was at a park, the guest list was virtually unlimited. And all the right people showed up!

(*Name changed to protect the innocent)

Luke picked Handy Manny for the theme and all the kids got plastic tools on top of their cupcakes.

Count the four candles for Luke!!  It was really windy that day and we barely got the candles lit, but really all Luke cared about was licking the icing off the top.

And here is the evidence that they were there. . .

Family. . .

Neighbors and friends. . .

When it was time for presents, I felt a little like I was in the middle of this pint-sized mosh pit.

It was so much fun, and Luke enjoyed it. The wonderful thing about having it at the park was that I didn't have to plan any activities or games. The kids entertained themselves the entire time.

A big {LATE} thank you to everyone who came and made this day so special for Luke!

Luke's not the only one who grew in the last year. . .

Will's (now traditional) picture with Aunt Kim--

Hasn't Kim grown up so much??!? And Will, too. We even let him have his own cupcake this year!

Christmas is finally here!

So I'm finally getting around to posting Christmas. It's been a busy month, okay?

At the start of the month, Will had to have his adenoids removed and ear tubes placed. He had been having ear infections on a monthly basis for too long! Coming out of anesthesia was rough. The moment he began to come back into consciousness he went into his signature move from infancy--the angry alligator roll. The kid couldn't even open his eyes but he was rolling over and over and over so much so that the two nurses couldn't keep him untangled from the EKG leads, pulse ox, and iv tubing. By the time we got to the PACU, all his leads were off, he was mad, mad, mad, still couldn't open his eyes, and biting at the iv in his hand. I know he was a nightmare patient for those nurses! It took a dose of lortab, and two doses of morphine to calm him down and he finally began to chill out. They really wanted him to drink some fluid and once he calmed down he did. He was not interested in the yummy juice and only slightly interested in a melty Popsicle. What he wanted was unflavored pedialyte--yuck! He chugged about 10 oz of the stuff in about an hour or so.

  Because he is so young, we had to stay overnight in the hospital. Right after we got to our room, he immediately fell down and busted his lip. It made him cry so hard he turned purple to blue to black before he finally took a breath. My nursing instincts kicked in, but I was not in my hospital. My eyes darted to the wall for some oxygen, but alas, there was none there. Next I looked to the monitor for his sat reading, but they keep it on privacy mode so it can only be read at the nurses station. I looked for the nurse assist button, but again, none there. So I panicked a little bit--as any good stressed out mother should--and called out for help, but by the time they got there he had finally decided that breathing was, in fact, a good idea.  

Other than the fact that he hated being cooped up in the room the rest of the hospital stay was fine. Thankfully, they had a wagon for us. They helped us pad it with pillows and blankets, and this is what we spent a lot of our time doing--walking the halls over and over. We would walk for a while, then go back to the room for five or ten minutes and then get back in the wagon and go out again.

He only wanted to eat pudding and yogurt so when we got home I had to make a quick trip to super Target to stock up on those things. He is now fully recovered and we have not had any ear infections so far! Yay!

Last weekend I went to Houston for a nursing conference with one of my nursing buddies. It was so fun!

 So those are my excuses as to why I am just now getting around to posting Christmas pictures.

Foreword to pictures: Luke doesn't like to wear clothes right now. We have had to develop a few clothing rules in the house:

1.  You must have on at least underwear unless you are in the bathroom or in your room alone.

2. You must have on at least underwear and pants if there is anyone other than Mommy, Daddy, and Will at our house.

3. You must have on underwear, pants, shirt, socks, and shoes to go outside.

A lot of these pictures show shirtless Luke. Be assured he has on pants in these pictures even if you can't see them.  I don't have a ton of pictures of him to post because I refuse to share pictures of him in his skivvies on the Internet.

Starting with a moment of love and sharing. . . awwww, these moments are brief these days.

Christmas Eve my family came to our house after Christmas service at our church.

 Luke and his cousin Zoe.

Of course, Luke immediately lost his sweater and shirt the moment we set foot inside the house.

All the cousins ready to open presents!!

Luke has been wanting this guitar ever since we got it for his friend for his birthday in September. Aunt Kim and Uncle Matt got it for him and he loves it.

Watching him play is hilarious. I don't know where he gets it from but he acts just like a real rocker with it. He jumps up and down and has this rocker stance with it. I can't really explain it. If he would ever wear pants, I could get some video to share with you and you would love it.

I tried to get a sweet Christmas Eve and PJ's picture, but this was the best I could get. Will doesn't sit still long, and Luke doesn't have the patience to let me take 5,000 pictures until I get one that looks good.

On to Christmas morning. . .

Luke was up first. These days, he has been coming to our room around 7 or so and crawling in bed to snooze a little with us before we all get up. He has to go past the living room to get to our room so he got to scope out what Santa brought.

He was thrilled!

Santa brought Luke a scooter.

And Will got a turtle "scooter." Just what Luke had told Santa to get them. They must have been good boys this year.

And right after those pictures, my camera was immediately buried underneath wrapping paper and toys and who knows what else. So I don't have any more pictures of Christmas morning.

The next day, Grandma Juli came in and we celebrated Christmas with Gene's family. I'm not sure who got this hat, but Will enjoyed trying it on.

Whew! Tired mommy and her boys after everyone left.

This picture was supposed to go in my previous post but got missed. My little overachiever pulled his trusty yellow chair up to the the big recliner and climbed in. I will assure you he did not climb into the recliner in order to recline and relax. His real intention is to use the recliner to get to the table next to it to get the phone/laptop/remote control/magazine/glass of water, etc.

Think I'm pretty caught up now!

Luke's Third Birthday

Luke's birthday morning started out with his first present--a new bike!! I know this isn't a good shot, but I just love the expression on his face!  (Oh, and ignore the messy house!)

Yes, this is what Luke chooses to wear at 8 in the morning--pajama top, underoos, and a ball cap. Such a boy.

Anyway, with a bit of help, he hopped right on to try and figure this thing out.

He did very well with one exception. When he rides his tricycle, he gets his momentum up to start moving by doing a little half back pedal manuver. If you remember, these little bikes brake when you back pedal so he got very frustrated at the beginning. It was two steps forward, one pedal back on the learning curve until we were both in/near tears out of frustration.

Luckily, Will soon went down for his nap and we were able to take it outside where we had room to move and really figure it out.

Later that afternoon, Daddy took him up to his office after hours where he really got the best practice cruising around the parking lot.

Luke still has a little soft spot for his "big red car" and took turns between his bike and his car that afternoon. No, he's not flashing me a peace sign, he is telling me how old he is now, it's just hard to see that third finger in the shot.

Then we decorated the driveway for his big day.

The next weekend, we had a small party for Luke at a nearby park. The weather was perfect and I think everyone had a good time.

This is Luke NOT wanting his picture taken as he was very busy driving and protecting this spot from any other kids. This is his favorite part of this park--which he refers to as "the driving park."

Will, surely exhausted from staying up until 3 am the previous evening, spent most of the party parked here under a tree. I was pleased that he got a nap.

Luke was super-excited about opening presents this year. In the past we have had to tear him away from eating to get him to open gifts--I guess he remembers what a great time it was at Christmas because he tore into them.

This displays some of his favorite gifts this year:

a cars chair--kid sized

a clock he can turn

a watch

Daddy got him a t-ball set that was a big hit with all the kids, and a fun toy to have at the park that day.

Luke's turn.

Maya and Hayden took a turn too.

All that was left was to blow out the candles and eat cupcakes!

 Happy Birthday Party!

A little bit more Christmas. . .

Since today is the Epiphany, I guess it is my deadline to get Christmas all wrapped up.

Due to the bad weather over Christmas, Gramma Juli didn't get to our house until a few days later. She came bearing more gifts than Santa Claus himself. Luke really hit the jackpot with Juli. If the way to Luke's heart is through Hot Wheels, then Juli took the expressway. Luke's car collection doubled in less than half an hour! He was ecstatic. This picture is a bit blurry,(because the unwrapping had begun furiously) but you can see just how big his pile of gifts is!

Halfway through the Juli gifts, Uncle Mike brought out his gift for Luke. A bag of peanut butter cups!! Luke's favorite!! (You can see the new cars piling & lining up near Luke!)

Cousin Hayden was there too with his Mommy & Daddy. The boys seemed to have a great time together. Hayden was all smiles despite sharing difficulties on Luke's behalf. Sharing is hard, but as long as Luke got to pick which car to share everything was a-ok.

The next morning, Gramma Juli and Will got to spend some time cuddling.

Luke had to get on the cuddling action. At this point he had commandeered a LED headlamp that Gene got in a multipack of flashlights. He wore this headlamp--turned on--for at least two days until it "disappeared." But it randomly resurfaces and always goes straight to Luke's head. It is actually good for something. You know, sometimes I'm tied up with Will and Luke wants to play in a room that is dark. Ta-Da! Headlamp fixes that problem.

I just think the headlamp is hilarious and couldn't stop taking pictures of it.

Pretend like you don't notice how messy my child's face is. . .