Some pics of Luke

The hardest thing about having two kids is that you don't have enough time. You are always busy handling, feeding, changing, bathing or loving on one of the kids. This makes it really hard to take pictures. In the past 6 months I have not taken nearly enough pictures of either one of my boys. But, I want to change that. So, the other day I decided that I was going to devote some time to taking pictures of Luke. Here are some of my favorites:

Potty Training 101

Will and daddy minutes into the potty training experience.

Once we got back from going home for Christmas, I made up my mind that I was going to potty train Will. He had been showing interest before we left, but while we were at my parent's house he talked about the potty constantly. I don't know where the sudden fascination came from, but I took it and ran with it.
We didn't start right away, we actually took a couple of weeks once we got back. My friend Lauren graciously gave me a copy of the 3 day potty training system by Lora Jensen. It is a "boot camp" style system that has you throw away all the diapers and go to underwear cold turkey. You don't even use pull-ups. The system is designed for you to learn your child's signals when they need to go. You don't have the child "try" to go and you don't ask if they need to go. You have them tell you when they need to go. You give them the control and praise them after every accident and success.
After reading it I saw that I had a lot of preparation to do, especially mentally. We had to buy treats, potty seats, step stools and of course, big boy underwear. Will was thrilled at picking all of this out. He loved talking about it, even wanted to sit on his potty seat and play "potty". He was ready.
We started him last Thursday. He was a little apprehensive once he realized that we were not playing a game and that this was going to be his new normal. He didn't want to put on the underwear, he didn't want to sit on the potty and he wanted his diaper back. The first day was hard, I won't lie. He had 10 or 11 accidents. But we stayed positive and by the second day, he had gone in the potty once. He would tell me he needed to go, but it would be too late and so we had more accidents. By the third day, it started to click and he started to tell me when he had to go. We were making it on time and staying dry all day. Nights have been going well, with an occasional accident here or there.
Today has been a full week since we started. I don't think that we have mastered this new skill, but we have made huge strides and each day we make more progress. He is proud of himself each time he goes and enjoys all the praise. We are definitely proud of our big boy!

Luke at 5 months

Its true! Our little Lukie is 5 months old! Here are the things that I want to remember about him at this age:
*He is always smiling and loves to laugh.
*He rolls over as soon as you put him down.
*He is eating rice cereal, peas and applesauce.
*He is starting to sit up on his own.
*He loves to jump in his jumpy play thing.
*He loves bathtime.
*He is starting to sleep on his tummy.
*He loves to cuddle.
*He wears 6-12 months clothes and a size 3 diaper.
Oh, how we love this little guy!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ok, I'm a little late on both of these greetings. We have been out of town for a week and when we got home, I was just too exhausted to even think about blogging.In fact I am finding that being a mommy of two little boys makes it hard to blog period. Oh, well. Better late than never. It just so happens that both boys are sound asleep in their little beds right now, so I don't have an excuse.
We had a wonderful Christmas, as I hope all of you did as well. We spent it in Charleston with our River Church family before heading home for a week to be with our families.
This was one of our best Christmases. I know that might sound weird, especially since we were away from family, but Christmas day was wonderful. This was the first year that Will understood what was going on. He knew that there were presents wrapped for him under the tree. And he couldn't wait to open them. Seeing Will's face as he walked down the stairs Christmas morning was priceless. He was so excited to see his new toys, especially the train table which we had set up with his trains on it. He got to play with his toys all day long. Luke had no idea what was going on, but that's ok. He had fun playing with all the wrapping paper!
The four of us spent the whole day in our pajamas. We ate when we wanted to and slept when we wanted to. Will had more cookies than he should have, but I didn't stress. It was a total family day. Which to me was the best present you can get.

Here are a few pics from our family Christmas 2010:
Some of the Christmas cookies that Will and I decorated. I hope to make this an annual tradition with the boys.
And here is Mike with his cookies. Ever the perfectionist, he won the cookie decorating contest.
Will enjoying his cookie.
Christmas morning, playing with his new train table. His new favorite thing to say is "Mommy/daddy, wanna play trains?"
the aftermath!
Playing in the snow at Mimi and Poppy's house.
Will with his new racetrack.
Will and Tate playing with Tate's new boat.
Will and Jake enjoying new toys.

We had a blessed 2010 and are so thankful for what the Lord has done in our lives. We look forward to what the Lord has in store for 2011!

The perfect Christmas card picture

I have tried so hard this year to get the perfect picture of the boys in front of the tree. I wanted a great picture to go on the Christmas card and to even frame for the room. But, alas, with 2 small boys a "perfect" picture is impossible and if you get a good one you got lucky. Here are some of my attempts this Christmas...

I love this one!



But, at least we got a couple of decent ones...

Rice Cereal, Rolling over & not sleeping

Luke at 4 1/2 months

We are back in baby food mode at our house. Luke got the ok at his last dr's appointment to start on rice cereal. So last week he got his first taste. Naturally he spit most of it out on the first bite. In fact, he spit most of every bite out! But, he has done better each time since. We are going at it slow, he might have a bowl every other day. But we are working up to everyday. I can honestly say I forgot how had it is, and how much time it takes!
Luke after his first bite of cereal.
Luke after his 2nd bowl of cereal. Yes...that is a bottle of water. I got the ok to give about an ounce.

Luke is also rolling over, back to front and sometimes front to back as well. If you put him down he will roll over with in a matter of seconds! In fact rolling over is waking him up at night. We have gone from sleeping 4-5 hours at night to 2 hours! It is killing me!! But I am hoping that adding in rice cereal will help him start to sleep better. It would be nice to sleep all night again!
Whether he sleeps well at night or not, he is still about the cutest thing I have ever seen!

Update on the boys

It dawned on me the other day that I have not done a great job on keeping everyone informed of what my little ones are doing. Seeing as how that is the purpose of this blog, I need to get on it!


Let's start with Will. Since the day he turned 2, he has been a big bundle of independent energy. I do my best to keep up everyday, but it is a struggle, especially since I have Luke to look after also. Everyday he asks to go outside and kick soccer ball or swing or slide. Luke is finally old enough to sit in the baby swing on the swing set, so that helps us to be able to go out and run off some energy.

Will is a sweet little boy, but we have hit a point where we are seeing some defiance and crying fits when he doesn't get his way. Welcome terrible two's! Time out is a major correction tool in this house, and Will spends a lot of time there some days. This is a trying time, but everyone tells me that it will pass and to stay consistent with our correction strategies. I honestly have to pray for patience everyday!!

I say all that to also say how much fun Will is right now. He is learning so much everyday. He is talking so well and is starting to talk in sentences. It is so nice, he can actually communicate with us and tell us what he needs or how he feels. He likes to say:
*Mommy, what doing?
*I did it!
*I find it!
*Ride in mommy's/daddy's car.
*I go outside...kick soccer ball.


Now for little Luke. Last week we went for his 4 month doctor visit. He now weighs 17 pounds! He is wearing 3-6 month clothes and a size 3 diaper. He is only nursing right now, but the doctor says he is ready to start on rice cereal. That will be a whole seperate post. Wow, I can't believe he is big enough to start eating solids!
Luke is our little bundle of joy. He laughs and smiles all day long. He is such a happy baby and he loves when Will plays with him. I think they will be good friends one day!