Weekend Stuff

I know that I am the world's worst blogger - going to try to post at least once a month (lofty goals, lofty goals ;-)

We had the best weekend! Friday evening was spent hanging out in our yard, ordering pizza, and relaxing - Luke LOVES being outside and the heat really doesn't seem to bother him (I don't know where he gets that from - I am such a wimp when it comes to heat/humidity!). Luke has been battling a little summer cold (hence the runny nose) and yet another ear infection, so it was good to see him feeling better!

He loves playing with his car and lawn mower (his mow-mow as he calls it!) and has recently gotten very interested in sidewalk chalk. He is also obsessed with digging in the dirt, putting it in his wheelbarrow and distributing it around the yard. Kasey recently put out sand and dirt to level the back yard, so he wants to be just like his daddy!

Saturday was spent at the zoo! He loves the zoo and we are so grateful to have such a great place so close to us! He loves all of the animals, especially the zebras and the giraffes. They also have a carousel and a splashpad area. He loved the carousel, but wasn't too sure about the foam pit. I cannot believe that my germaphobic self got in that foam, but I just prayed that no flesh-eating microbes had taken up residence in there.

On Sunday, we went to church and then spent a great afternoon playing basketball, going to Costco, and playing in the new sprinkler from Gran - great weekend!

Island Time!

This was the view we woke up to every morning from our room...not too shabby!

So, we finally took a vacation! It had been many, many, many years since we took a trip of any kind, so we were blessed beyond our comprehension when Kasey's company rewarded his hard work with an amazing trip to Caneel Bay on St. John in the US Virgin Islands! We filled our days with swimming, snorkeling, reading (I read three books on the trip!), exploring the grounds, eating amazing food, and relaxing. Caneel Bay was more than we could have imagined. Beautiful scenery, tip-top service, anything we wanted or needed was made available to us immediately, and endless opportunities to unwind...ahhh. There were no televisions or phones in the rooms (we did have a cell phone to check in at home) and we didn't take a computer, so we got five days of completely unplugged relaxation. 

We left Luke at home (our first time leaving him overnight and my first time to be away from him for more than a 5-6 hour stretch). I left more laminated signs around the house than you would find in most kindergarten classrooms - it was a little (maybe a lot) much, but at least there would be no question regarding routine/procedure ;-) We all survived just fine and had a great time. The grandparents did a great job keeping him busy and happy so that mommy and daddy could relax and enjoy...which we did for five great days! 

We ate at some amazing restaurants - this one was in Mongoose Junction and had the absolute best desserts we have ever had in our lives. The other food was amazing, but the desserts were not to be missed! 

Sailboats would dock near Caneel Bay, stay a night or two, then head off for other ports. It was so neat to see all of the different boats. It is certainly a different way of life in the islands! This picture was also taken from the private balcony/patio right off of our room. We could hear the waves at night and the birds/frogs. It sounded like the rainforest setting on Luke's sound machine ;-) 

This was one of the places that we snorkeled...it was a bit nerve-wracking to jump off of a large boat into choppy water and swim to the big rock, but once we did it, it was amazing! We saw so many different types of fish and other sea creatures - I had never seen a coral reef before, so it was very cool to see what that was all about. We also snorkeled into some caves, which was just awesome. Again, nerve-wracking, but awesome. 

On our last night, we ate dinner on the beach - it was so relaxing and beautiful. We were definitely spoiled. 

This was one of the beaches just after a little morning rain - the sand is much whiter than it looks in this picture. They had rows of these great hammocks and waiters that came to your hammock to take your food/drink order - does it get much better?

We are already planning our return - we think Caneel Bay for our 15th anniversary sounds like a plan. We can't come down off of the "cloud" - it was such a treat to relax and rejuvenate. We can't wait to go back!

Easter 2013

So I have fallen a bit behind on the blogging...I have tons of pictures on the camera, but I am just going to start from this point forward!

We had a great Easter! We actually made it to the 7 am service at church, so we were quite proud of ourselves. We went to Sunday School and were home by 9:30 to get ready for everyone to come over for brunch. We had such yummy food! I made a quiche and salad, Gran and Gigi brought fruit, blackberry french toast, orange rolls, chicken biscuits, hashbrown casserole, ham, and devilled eggs - do you think we had enough food? It was a bit ridiculous. We had such a relaxing brunch and then watched the basketball games. After Luke napped, Kasey, Luke and I went on a long walk - pretty much a perfect day!

Here are a few pictures of the little man - he was so proud of his new white shoes! The Easter Bunny was quite good to Luke - one of his favorite treats was his bottle of spill-proof bubbles (ha) from Gigi - he likes dipping the bubble stick more than he cares about the bubbles!

Luke's First Snow Day!

My relatives who live in areas of perpetually frozen tundra will chuckle at this post, but we got a little dusting of snow yesterday and it was SO exciting! It was cold and blustery all morning and the snow was really coming down when I got to Luke's school! When I went to pick him up from his room, his teacher had all of the babies in the bye-bye-buggy and they were all just looking out the big window, watching the snow fall down...it was precious!

Once we got home and got a little (emphasize LITTLE) nap, we headed out. Luke was not a fan of his jacket, his hat, or his mittens. He is, however, a huge fan of his bottle. For twelve solid months, I tried to get him to take a bottle to no avail. In fact, I can count the ounces he drank out of a bottle on one hand...However, he found a bottle in the cabinet with his sippy cups and is now completely obsessed with it. I don't put anything in it, but he loves carrying it around and sleeps with it every night. I can sometimes get it away from him (we don't take it out in public or in the car), but if he catches sight of it or thinks about it, there is no distracting him from his goal of getting his little chubby hands on it!

Here are a few pictures from our snow day! He liked looking at the snow and walking in the snow, but wasn't wild about touching it - I guess we will wait until next year to make snowmen and snow angels! I could only keep one mitten on him because he had to have one hand free for the bottle at all times....

Snacktime

So I guess I didn't close the refrigerator door tightly enough - luckily, it has an alarm on it that beeps when it's been open for longer than 2 minutes. In that 2 minutes, Luke opened the door, climbed on the bottom shelf, got the hummus off of the middle shelf, opened it, and started scooping it into his mouth - the boy does love hummus, but I had no idea just how much...

Caught in the act

Making a run for it

Santa Baby

Luke did not enjoy his first visit to see Santa. We didn't take him last year because I didn't really want to take a 2 month old out with all of the little kiddy germs, but we gave it a try this year....maybe he will enjoy it a little more next year!

My sweet friend Julia owns a Paint-Your-Own-Pottery Store (Do It Yourself Crafts in Homewood - go see her, she is awesome!) and she does a "Painting With Santa" party every year. It is great - you don't have to wait in a line to see Santa, you get to paint a sweet plate and ornament (or you can do like we did and have her paint it for you!), and you get to take the pictures with your own camera instead of having to pay the mall $49.99 for a 5x7. Luke just didn't quite appreciate what a great deal it was!

What is this madness? I'm not too sure about this, mama. 

Mama, get me outta here!

I'm making a run for it! 

Merry Christmas From Luke and Santa!

The Little Patient

Okay, all of these pictures are super blurry because the little patient would not slow down - not for ONE second.

We have been struggling with Luke's ears since February. We had one set of tubes put in on August 27 and have had seven ear infections since then. SO, I switched ENTs and had a consult this past Monday. During our visit, we learned that Luke's tubes were non-functioning (not a surprise) and that he had some significant hearing loss in his right ear due to fluid and blockage. They fully expect the hearing to return as soon as the blockage is cleared, but that was scary news. We also learned that the culprit behind the ear infections might be his adenoids. The ENT wanted to act very quickly, so he scheduled surgery for this past Thursday.

Once we arrived at the surgery center, Luke took on the position of social director. He had to "talk" to everyone and greet everyone that he saw. They have toys everywhere and Luke decided to "help" a little girl who was riding on one of the toys. She didn't seem to mind and he did a great job of pushing her around on the little riding toy. It was hilarious. He looks like such the little old man in these pictures with his hospital gown, dark socks, and tennis shoes.

Luke on the move, pushing his new friend around the hallway

Stopping for a millisecond so mama could take a picture

Off again! Check out the dark socks and tennis shoes - hilarious. 

The surgery took about 30 minutes and he was absolutely pitiful when they brought him back to me. He had to have an IV and he was not loving it. The doctor said that his tubes were in horrible shape and that his adenoids were really, really big. Hopefully, this will solve some of our issues. He has been a little stuffy the past day or two, but seems to be recovering well. I am praying that the ear infections will stop - they are so hard on him and I hate giving him so many antibiotics. Time will tell, but I am optimistic!