That Which Was Lost is Found!

Celebrate the finding of our gold coin, er, luggage with Katie's laptop. We were sweating it for the last couple of days because they told us they don't cover lost electronics (yikes!), but it turns out it didn't even leave San Diego. We already got a $50 voucher and Katie's dad will pick it up and get another for him--win win!

It sounds strange, but I'm more comforted by the fact that someone in TSA or part of Southwest's staff didn't steal it. Losing a laptop is better than losing faith in others that are screening our Christmas luggage...

By the way, while I'm thinking about it, some people complain about TSA. I'll admit I'm leery about the "nudie scanners", but I've only had good experiences with the TSA personnel. Especially when traveling with children, they've always been understanding and helpful--helping unload and clear empty scanner bins, passing along a kind word, etc. I've been through a number of airports and they've all been the same.

Anyhow, happy New Year, everyone!

Two Turdle Dubs

I captured Luke singing a classic Christmas carol. Between Grammy, Papa, and Mama reading him the book about ten times, he had the whole song down.

He loves the song, but he doesn't have too much patience for how long it is--it starts to come off the rails at about 5:15--"oopsy daisy".

If the embedded version doesn't work for you, click on this direct link.

Holly Jolly Christmas on the Couch

A bit of tonight's activities:

A Holy Ho Ho

About a week ago, Luke heard Burl Ives sing, "Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas," on the radio. Since then, he has been rather obsessed with the song. I will try to get a video of it- when he sings "Ho, ho, the mistletoe, hung where you can see. Somebody waits for you- kiss her once for me!" it is absolutely adorable.

Today, we were at church. During a part of the liturgy, we sing, "Holy, Holy, Holy." Luke heard this and said to himself, "Holy, holy, ho...ho, ho, the mistletoe." Then he launched into a full round of Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas and we made a swift exit. :)

Grammy and the Budding Musician

When it gets quiet, Grammy whispers to Luke to stop playing, since it is the end of the song. Then he waits until they begin again. He calls the song that they are singing the "Angel Song." Doesn't Grammy have a nice voice?

Little Peanut

Here is our second little peanut, all almost 11 weeks of him/her.The baby wiggled and kicked and wiggled and kicked, had a very strong heartbeat, and everything looked normal so far. I have to admit that it was nice to hear that there was only one little peanut in there. I am showing a little bit more this time than last time, and I thought it might be two.

The midwives are excellent. I am SOOO happy to have found their practice. I love having a midwife because the midwife stays with you while you are at the hospital, generally as much as you want, start to finish. They add such a human touch to things too.

Thank be to God for a good report.

Decorating the Tree

Sorry for the blurry pictures- the iPhone 4 let us down. We listened to classic Christmas carols and hymns and put up our tree. I love having a house where we can display the tree in front of our living room window. It is so fun to come home and see it lighting the night. Luke thinks that the Christmas Tree is the most beautiful thing ever.

Lights!

Last night we drove to a really nice area of town and looked at lights with Luke. He LOVED it and yelled "Christmas lights, real Christmas lights!" Which made me wonder what fake Christmas lights might look like.

Here are some pictures taken by an iPhone in a moving vehicle. They don't hold a candle to the real thing!

Announcement and Thanksgiving Weekend in Pictures

For those of you who haven't heard, we are having another baby! He/she/they are due around the end of June/ first of July. We are very excited!

This is pretty much why it has been a while since I updated our blog. Usually, when Luke naps, I have a little time to do things. Usually, after he goes to sleep for the evening, I also have some time. Right now, most of my extra time is going to sleeping or just laying down. Morning sickness hit with a vengeance at week 6, but has been improving a little each week since then.

I am very grateful that this time I am at home. With Luke I was working 10-12 hour days for much of the pregnancy. Now, I get to control my day a bit more.

So, now onto Thanksgiving. We went to Nathan's sister's house and had a few other families Join us for a lovely meal. The turkey was smoked again this year and was quite tasty:


I brought this (the toasted almond, cranberry, citrus spinach salad and the fall M&M's):

And this:

Nothing that required too much cooking this year. :) Finally, my rolls turned out well. I nixed the use of whole wheat this year. No more dense rolls. My favorite was definitely the mashed potatoes. They were fluffy and buttery.

The kids all enjoyed playing with one another inside and outside and all around. Luke definitely loved spending soo much time with his cousin! This year, Luke was able to say Happy Thanksgiving in a way that we could understand.

On Friday, Bethany and I took baby Jane shopping (briefly and later in the day), while Nathan and Evan took the older kids to lunch and to play in the back yard. We all had a great time and pretty much finished up Christmas shopping.

Last night, Nathan, Luke and I all helped putting up the Christmas tree and decorating it. I wanted to wait a while, because we are really in the Advent season, but since we are leaving for CA in less than 2 weeks, I thought it would be ok this year. We do have our advent wreath out too. We turned on some beautiful Christmas music and got to work. Luke ran around saying "Christmas tree! Christmas tree!" and tried to pull all of the bells off of the tree. I was afraid that he was going to pull the tree down on himself- he doesn't know his own strength!

Luke has also been saying "Baby Jesus is born!" It is really a gift to watch him this year. He doesn't know anything about all the presents and hype of the Christmas season yet. he loves the simple things, the manger, the tree with lights, listening to Christmas songs with mommy and daddy. I want to preserve this as much as we can. Being a grown-up, I know how hard it is to keep the real meaning of Christmas alive when the world at large pushes glitz and gifts.

An add for a local store came in this week with an ad that said, "Bring the Joy home!" How about that? For just $19.99 plus tax you can bring joy to your own house. Not that giving gifts is bad. Really, it is one way that I can tell people that I love then the best. But the love that comes with the gift is the real gift, just as God's great gift to us was given in love.

Enough of my soap box. As I end this post, I will give you a glimpse of this year's photo Christmas card. This was one of the photos in the running, and is not cropped (note the boxes on the shelf in the background):

San Antonio

Last weekend, we went to San Antonio to celebrate our brother-in-law Evan's 4oth birthday. Here are some pictures of the good times that we shared:

1. On the River Boat cruise:


2. The birthday boy:
3. How we got around with 3 kids in tow. Yes, this was not the happiest of pictures, but overall, Luke and his cousin Clara enjoyed their time together. They were both sad when the weekend ended and we went our separate ways.
4. Luke on the cruise.
5. Me holding a sleeping Jane (we wore her out!) and listening to the cruise conductor (who was excellent!).

Cowboy Luke and Thumbelina

Bethany and I took Clara and Luke to the All Saints party at our church last night and we all had a great time. Clara was Thumbelina and designed her costume all by herself. Luke was a cowboy- and a very cute one I might add. :) They played games and decorated cookies and danced to the music.
We stayed at the carnival for about an hour and then took them out in the neighborhood for about one block. The kids enjoyed trick-or-treating, and Bethany and I kept our eyes out to make sure that we only went to the friendly looking houses(!).


Hope you all enjoyed Halloween!

Workin' on da Rail!

Lately, Luke has been singing, "I've been working on the railroad," as he plays with his toys. Here he is in the play room.





This song is still hard to understand when he sings it. :)

Jane's Baptism

Bethany takes beautiful pictures!

Aunt Katie with the freshly baptized baby:

Escape!

Sunday night, we were at the Getz's. Bethany and I were watching the kids and cleaning up after Clara's grand birthday party.

At one point, near the end of the evening, I looked over at Luke and noticed that he was playing with a full diaper. Where did that come from?

I checked Luke over and found that he had been the diaper's owner. Oh no. No more diaper and I didn't think I had another change for him. I went out to tell Nathan that Luke had no diaper and that we should go.

While I was outside, Bethany asked Luke what had happened. He told her, "I am a boy.. escape!" and smiled. So I guess he found out how to "escape" from his diaper. Hopefully he decides soon to escape to the toilet!

Luke says

Some treasures that we hear from our dear little boy:

"Buna buna bo!" - this is what Luke says whenever grown ups are using words that he doesn't understand. Whenever I give him the phone to say, "hi" to someone, this is what he says.

"Moonana" - Lukes word for banana. He know how to say banana, but prefers moonana. Bananas are shaped like moons and are generally a similar color in most children's books.

"Thank you, thank you, dinosaur." - From a book that we read often. One day while I was talking out loud to myself, I said, "Thank you Lord." Luke looked at me sternly and said, "No, thank you dinosaur." I laughed. :)

"Lukey tukey." - How Luke refers to himself right now.

Other favorite phrases: "Der it is!" "Dat's better!" "Clara beara." "Owen has a fuzzy blanket!"

I'll try to write more sayings down as I remember them. :)

Flowers

Fresh flowers for my birthday:

Orange

I recently made Luke a pair of flannel pajama pants and bought him a top to match since it is beginning to get cold at night (yay!). Luke LOVES the pants. They have construction equipment and trucks on them. He wants to wear them all day. Last night he actually asked to go to sleep. All for love of wearing the pj's. Luke doesn't know how gratifying this is to his mother. :)

Here he is:

Licking the Spoon

2nd Post of the Day

I am on a roll! Sorry for the slow posting these past few months. Here is another in our series of Luke videos.

This time we caught him being a monster on camera. I was folding laundry and he decided to put a green changing pad cover over his head and try to walk around the living room growling. He called himself the "Lukey Monster." Then he began wandering around calling out for the "Mommy Monster." This name comes from a morning game we play where Luke hides under the sheets and I come in and growl and tickle him through the sheets. He calls me the "Mommy Monster," and laughs deliriously.

Mommy's flip flops

This one is a little different since Mommy and Daddy sing different verses at the same time and cause confusion to Luke. Do you know all the verses to Mary had a Little Lamb? It is Luke's new favorite.

Mary had a little lamb:

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Here is Luke's interpretation:

Two, and confirmation that we are are growing a St. Bernard

Two... Luke is definitely a two-year-old. So far, I definitely have a love/hate relationship with the twos.

I'll list what I appreciate about the twos first:

-At church on Sunday, we were singing, "Let us now lay aside all earthly cares." Luke, who likes to sing for most of the liturgy (and at the top of his lungs, bless his little heart :) ) sang "...now applesauce.." I never realized how much "lay aside" and "applesauce" sounded that much alike before.

-Today, when I told Luke that we were going to visit the Doctor, he replied' "Dr. Seuss?" Oh yes, I wish that we WERE visiting Dr. Seuss. This visit was for a check up and shots instead.

- Luke says "I lub you" and gives snuggles at bed time.

- Luke sings spontaneously and often- usually it's "Twinkle, twinkle," or a Wiggles Song.

- Luke can pretend things and plays on his own sometimes


Now, my not so favorite things:

-tantrums. period. Today there were tooooooo many!

- Luke says, "I don't want it" to many things that he may not want, but needs. He also tells us, "That's enough" when he doesn't want us to sing or talk or do anything he doesn't want us to do.

- Luke pushes other kids- a lot. I've tried many things to dissuade this behavior, but nothing seems to stick. I just want to stay home some days.

The twos are terrible and wonderful at the same time- it seems that I can't have one with out the other.

Oh, and at the Dr. appt. today, We found out that Luke is 36" tall and 34lbs. That put him in the 95-100% for both categories.....


I love you Luke! Happy two!

Birthday Party in Pictures

Together

Luke really loves when we do things together. He loves when Nathan and I kiss him on either cheek after saying prayers in the evening. With a huge grin he remarks, "All together."

Today I was doing laundry and asked him to help. He smiled and said, "Working together, Luke, Mommy!"

He really likes for everyone to sit down when we eat so that we are "all together." It brings him great joy to run around saying, "Dinner ready!"

I think he will like his birthday party on Sunday!

Twinkle Winkle...

... little star

Wun, Too, Free...

When Katie and Luke are gone, I go through our videos. Here's a great one from a few days ago.

Boerne Day 1

Yesterday, Christi and I, with all of the kids in tow, headed for her parents home in Boerne. It was an amazingly good drive considering that we were in the car for about 4 hrs!

Here are some our our activities:

1. Out in the pool!

2. Eating a muffin at the local bakery

3. Ducks by the river.

4. Sitting on a bench with Annalise

5. Feeding the ducks by the river.

On Our Own

So yesterday was a sad day. We took Nathan to the airport first thing in the morning and off he went. Luke took it all in stride and mostly focused on how cool the planes were. Good for him. :)

We had a good first day together, read lots of books, baked, organized drawers, and generally had a good time. We got to talk with Nathan last night and it was very fun. I was putting laundry away with Luke and he kept putting articles of clothing up to the phone for Nathan to see. So cute. :)

Today, I was playing with Luke outside at a friends house. It was really hot, so the kids wanted to go in the little swimming pool. We were having a great time in the water when I stepped on a small branch and punctured my right foot. It went in almost an inch I believe and cut through muscle. So, now I am limping.

I called my mom and Nathan's mom so I now have some great advice on how to deal with it. It still hurts, but what can I expect. Luke was very helpful this evening as I redressed the wound. He brought me a box of bandages and tried to bring me a towel. He is very interested in "owies." It seems like most kids are- at least the ones I know. :)

Of How We Almost Came to CA...

... and then didn't.

Yesterday, Nathan informed me that he had to make a last minute business trip out to CA. A couple of things crossed my mind right then- 1. I will be alone with Luke all week, and 2. California? I want to go too!

I have really been missing everyone and missing the nice summer weather and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to use up a free Southwest ticket that I had. Seemed is the important word. I often think that things seem perfect and act on them before I really sit down and think it through. In this case, I even booked my ticket.

For the rest of the day, I felt like something was wrong. It might have been because I began to realize the stress of the journey alone, the costs involved, the extra pressure it put on Nathan, the possible tropical depression coming through (yikes!), the fact that I already had several obligations to fulfill here in Texas next week, and so on.....

At 11pm, Nathan I were talking and not quite ready for bed. We discussed my trip and how much fun it would be to see everyone. We also discussed logistics and some forseable problems. In the end, it seemed that it was not the right time. So, at about 11:30pm, I cancelled my flight. I felt at peace again.

Well, we still hope to come closer to the holidays. And, if the blogger website will cooperate (!!!), I will get a video up soon.

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod

Soon I hope to post a video of Nathan or I reading a book to Luke. Right now, Luke's favorite book is a toss up between Dr. Seuss's ABC book and Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (the classic Dutch lullaby in book form). I like W,B and N the best because the illustrations are gorgeous and because of how Luke smiles and says "binkin, nod," throughout. :)

Reading to Luke is such a joy- probably my favorite thing to do with him. He picks up new words each time and even picks out letters. These are he letters that he can recognize: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, M, O, P, U, Z. He is working on I, K, L, S, and Y. I can't believe what a little sponge he is right now!

In the Kitchen

What Luke was doing while I made dinner tonight:


Yep, that is one whole kitchen drawer arranged on the counter top. :)

Our Loss, California's gain...

Today is a sad day. This morning we said goodbye to the Getz's (for one month), and this afternoon, we will say goodbye to Grandpa (probably for longer). For those of you in CA, you are lucky to have 5 great people coming today.

As I was driving home after taking the Getz's to the airport, I was reflecting on what it means to live somewhere. I live in Houston. I come from CA, and most of my family still lives there. Do I miss the golden state? Is it better to be in Houston? Really, it is pretty easy to answer these questions from a practical perspective. But, it is hard some days to think about being out here when so many that we love dearly are far away.... really hard...

Well, I will be grateful today for my wonderful husband and my beautiful little boy. That is an awful lot to be thankful for! And...I will begin looking at Southwest again to see how good the air fares are for my dad, and begin planning a great welcome home party for the Getz's.

Swimming with Grandpa!

Luke has never been in the water without someone holding onto him, until now...

Imaginative Play

Luke is beginning to use his imagination when he plays. It has been interesting to see what subject matter he uses for this play and shows me why psychologists use "play therapy" for their youngest clients. It is amazing to see how much their play is influenced by what is happening in their lives.

I wrote earlier about how he liked to say that large items were mommies and daddies, and their smaller counterparts were babies (i.e. Mommy sun (big sun) and Baby sun (small sun). Here are some other recent examples:

1. When we all spend time together in the morning in our bed, Luke makes the blankets into a tent and pretends to hand us food. He especially likes to give us beans, rice, berries, and ice cream "beans, wice, bewwies, and i scream). Then, it is our job to eat it and say "yum, yum!" Luke really likes all of these foods and he likes to eat.

2. Last night, Luke was playing with some plastic balls and began taking them to his time-out chair to give them time-outs. He would pick a ball up, look sternly at it, and take it to time-out. If the ball rolled out of position, he would yell "no, no," and take it back to the spot he put it down. The twos are hitting with a vengeance right now and Luke has had lots of time-outs as of late. Sometimes, I think half the day is spent disciplining for something or other. Time-outs are our primary method of discipline right now, so I guess he is getting the message- at least in part. Now, he knows what time-outs are, and how to give them himself.... if only he would stop the behavior that we were trying to stave off by using time-outs. Well, I guess he has plenty of time for that- he isn't even two yet. :)

Please, all right.

Luke has discovered that "please" is a magic word. He has been saying please and thank you for many months now, but lately he has begun to believe that if he says please, he will automatically get what he is asking for. His new phase is: "please...all right!" It sounds more like: "please, awl wight!" So cute.

Pictures

Here are pictures from this past month:


1. With Grammy and Clara, reading a book!


2. At dinner while on the Brenham anniversary trip:

3. Getting ready for a swim!
4. More at dinner in Brenham. He just drank some very cold water.5. With a new friend- Mr. Bear. Luke also enjoys the company of Bunny Baby.

22 months!

Well, the second birthday is fast approaching!

This last month has been such a joy with Luke. He is acquiring new words and making short sentences everyday. It is so amazing to see how much he can pick up in such a short time!

Luke is loving letters and colors right now. He points out objects and tells us what color they are. Tonight at dinner for example, Nathan asked Luke what color his spoon was. He answered, "Geen!" Green it was. Then he pointed to my shirt and said, "pink!" He went around thr room naming several other colors.

The longest word that I have heard from him is "bumblebee," said just like it should be. He saw the bumblebee in his Magic "scoo bus" (School Bus) book that he adores.

His favorite book has been Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss. He almost has it memorized. I read on page to him and he says the next page to me. I am so amazed!

Since it is summer time, we have been outside in the pool a lot! Luke loves going in the "wader." We swim in our pool, in friends pools, or at the local splash parks. They are all fun.

I am planning on taking Luke to an allergy specialist soon. He has had another bout of stomach issues this week. I am not sure what is causing it exactly, but my hunch is that it is milk. He seems to be able to process other dairy products like cheese and yogurt, etc... (thanks be to God), but not milk. I can hardly digest milk myself.

This whole month, we have been blessed to have Grammy in town. Luke has enjoyed her immensely, and it was sad to say goodbye yesterday. He still doesn't really understand goodbyes, but we will hopefully see Grammy again in August.

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to get some pictures up later. I am so tired- it has been a busy month!

Hello, Hello?

Buckle

This past weekend we all went to Brenham, TX to spend a night away for our anniversary. We had a very good time together and especially enjoyed picking blueberries at a local farm on the way home.

Today I made Blueberry Buckle. Luke loved it and learned to ask for it by name. :)

The Tent

Luke has discovered the joys of a tent (fort). It has been fun to see what new games he wants to play and watch his imagination grow. Another thing that he has liked lately is to point out families. We have a book with a big sun on one page, and a small sun a few pages later. He calls the big sun "mommy sun" and the small one "baby sun."

Here he is playing with Daddy.

"No Scream."

A quick story about our ever changing little boy. :)

Today we were over at the Getz house celebrating Jane Marie's 1 week birthday. It was lots of fun- we dressed up, had cupcakes and tea, presents and all. Clara was the party organizer. I think that she is really enjoying being a big sister!

After the party part was over, we stayed around for a while and the kids played in the living room. Clara was frustrated about something and screamed. Luke, sitting and playing with stacking blocks, put down the blocks and went over to Clara. Then he told her quietly, "No scream. No scream." Apparently, though he does not always follow the rules, he is learning them! We laughed and Uncle Evan yelled from the kitchen, "No hypocrisy!"

Yes, as has been mentioned here before, Luke has a bit of a reputation as a screamer. :)

As Heard in the Jones House This Morning...

Mama: "Come on, Luke."

Luke: "Is a bu-g! Is a buuu-g!"

Mama: "It's a diaper. Come on."

Luke has become an avid bug hunter having visited Grammy's home in California where they're having a big earwig season. But he sometimes sees pieces of trash as bugs or patterns on things as bugs. Of course, around here we always check because it can also be a big ol' cockroach buu-g.

Red Hat Photo Shoot and New Cousin!

Here is Luke in his red hat. We were getting ready to go to a splash park. It is HOT here now, so we are outside in the water a lot. I think he looks like he could go on safari.

In other news, Luke has a new cousin. Clara is staying at our house tonight- hope she has a peaceful night! She was SOOO excited!