Christmas Morning

Luke woke up around 7:30 am. He didn't quite know what was going on, but he did know that Santa had left "gum and nuts" in his stocking so he was excited! Santa left Luke a race track for his cars (which he loved). He played with it for a bit, opened a present (some cars), and then went into the spare bedroom to play with some of Grandma's toys. We tried to encourage him to open his presents but he wasn't very interested. At one point he was over playing with the blinds on the french doors. We thought it was pretty funny. I'm sure next year will be completely different . Lily got a doll and some tights. We had a wonderful Christmas (except that Lily didn't sleep a wink). She was up 10 times in 8 hours. I'm not sure who was more exhausted by morning, me or her. Luke got a pack of gum that contained 5 sticks. Each time I saw him, he had a new piece of gum in his mouth. We couldn't figure out where he was hiding the pack of gum. We followed him and soon found that he had hidden the pack of gum under a bed. He then proceeded to pull out the last 2 sticks and put them both in his mouth. Needless to say, he had chewed and swallowed the whole pack within a few hours. I figured, it's Christmas, he might as well enjoy it while he can! I love Christmas time. I think my favorite part is being with family and the spirit of giving and thinking of others. Everyone is more thoughtful and willing to serve at this time of year. I really do wish Christmas could last the whole year round!

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve we go to Kent's parents house and spend the night. Each year they reenact the birth of baby Jesus. For some reason Kent is, and always has been, the donkey. The rest of the parts are played by the children. This year Luke was Joseph. It was pretty cute to watch. They would tell him what to say and he would repeat it.

Here is a picture of Mary and Joseph (Lexi and Luke) riding on the donkey (Kent).Here is Luke and Hallie (the angel).

Frosty's Wild Night

So, last night we noticed that Frosty was swaying just a little bit. Then, this morning when Kent went out to get the paper he realized that Frosty wasn't swaying anymore...he was staggering! Yes, apparently Frosty had a wild night last night. We found a 6 pack of Bud Light, all of them empty, in Frosty's possession. We thought it was hilarious! Kent was concerned that the neighbors would think we put it there (honestly honey, if our neighbors don't know us well enough by now, we should let them think what they will). We have a pretty good idea of who assisted Frosty (after all, Frosty is underage). And we aren't naming any names (CAP and NAP), but we have your BBQ fork (aka Frosty's hand). However, I am curious...ALL SIX cans were empty....where did it all go??? Thanks for the laugh, an expensive one but a good one.

Here is the staggering Frosty with the six pack. Notice: two of the cans still attached to the ring.

Here are the four scattered on the ground at Frosty's "feet".

Here is a close-up.

Frosty The Snowman

Luke loves the snow. He LOVES it! But he doesn't really like to touch it or walk around in it. He goes outside to "help" Kent shovel the walks, but he always sticks to the sidewalks. So today I tried to get him to branch out a little bit and play in the snow. "We" built a snowman and made snow angels. He didn't really get the whole "building a snowman" thing. But he did tromp around and through the snow at least. When "we" were finished building "Frosty" I tried to get Luke to stand next to it so I could take his picture. He was terrified! He wanted me to hold him. So I took him over and helped him touch Frosty and tried to show him that Frosty was just snow. That helped a little, but not much. He still wouldn't get too close to it (as you can see in the pictures). After we made snow angels. Luke was a pro at snow angels!
NOTE: I couldn't find any rocks or coal for the eyes so I used broccoli instead!

By this time we needed to go inside for lunch. I told Luke, "Say goodbye to Frosty". So he said goodbye. Then he would get half way into the garage and turn around and run back out to Frosty to say goodbye again. This happened about 3 times before he finally made it into the house. Then as he was eating his lunch, Luke kept asking, "Frosty needs lunch?" "Frosty drinks milk?" And he kept asking for Frosty. When lunch was finished I told him to go look out the front window at Frosty. He stayed at the window saying, "Ohhh, Ohhh, I see Frosty! Frosty! I see Frosty!" Some days (or moments) are just perfect and I wish they could last forever!

My snow angel on the left and Luke's on the right.

A close up of Luke's snow angel.

"Santa Claus is coming to town..."

On Saturday, at our ward Christmas party, Santa came and let the children sit on his lap. Luke was terrified! Lily did just fine (she's too young to care). So we got a picture of Lily on Santa's lap and Luke sitting on Kent's knee next to Santa. After we asked Luke, "Did you like Santa?" to which he replied, "No". Then we asked, "Were you scared of him?" and he shook his head and said, "Yeah".However, Santa did give him this blue sucker that he LOVED!

An Update

Last night, for FHE, we put up the Christmas tree with the help of Luke (not so much help) and Lily. Luke kept trying to take the tops off of all my glass balls. However, he is doing pretty good at not touching the tree and not taking the ornaments off...so far (my fingers are crossed). After the tree was decorated, Kent played Christmas songs on the piano and we sang. Sunday night Luke discovered Christmas lights on houses and he proceeded to yell, "Christmas lights!" at every house we passed with Christmas lights. Trust me there are a LOT of houses with Christmas lights! But it was really cute to see him get so excited about lights.

Lily is finally eating baby food. I know...I know...she is 8 months and I am the worlds worst mother. She's been eating oatmeal since 6 months (my Pediatrician advised me to wait until 6 months to start her on food). She loves oatmeal and would eat it 3 times a day if I would let her. But that causes problems for her on the other end. I have wasted countless jars of baby food and a lot of time and frustration trying to get her to eat fruits and vegetables. She clamps her mouth shut and shakes her head back and forth when I try to feed it to her. She has even learned to giggle with her mouth shut so that I can't sneak any in. I have even tried mixing the oatmeal with baby food. Finally, yesterday I was so fed up with it, that I went to drastic measures. I decided to plug her nose. She couldn't breath, so she opened her mouth, and in went the food. I know...I know... I am a horrible mother. But she ate 1/2 jar of green beans and didn't even spit any out. This morning she ate 1/2 a jar of pears and 1/2 jar of green beans for lunch.

Lily is sitting, but not crawling yet. The last two nights she slept 11-12 hours each without waking up!She is still such a happy baby and just very content. Her two teeth on the bottom finally broke through yesterday (these are her first teeth).

Luke's new thing is "five minutes". If you ask him to do something he doesn't want to do, like take a nap, go to bed, put his toys away, etc. etc., he will say, "five minutes". Sometimes he's pretty funny about it, like he will say, "hoops downstairs five minutes please." The other day he tried to tell me that Baby George, his monkey, needed "mellows", as in Lucky Charms. I told him that Luke already had mellows with Daddy and that we only have them for breakfast. He replied, "No, Baby George mellows". He's a fast learner.

Luke and Lily getting out the ornaments.
Luke and Lily in front of the tree.Kent and Luke

Me and Luke. We didn't have anyone to take the picture so we had to take one of each other with Luke. Lily was asleep by this time.

Indpendance!

I knew this day was coming, I guess I just didn't realize it would come so soon and be so frustrating! Luke has discovered his Independence and he's loving every minute of it! He has to do everything! He has to get himself into the car and car seat, put the lids on everything (sipee cups, milk jugs...you name it), he has to put his toys away HIMSELF, get himself dressed, wash himself in the tub, wash his own face and hands (they're never really clean anymore), get his own snacks, climb into bed by himself, and the list goes on and on.

I know, I know. I can hear 99% of you saying, "This is such a good thing!" "What's wrong with that?" "You should encourage this!" And if I weren't in the situation myself I would be saying the exact same thing. I know this is how he learns, but take it a little at a time PLEASE!

The real problem is that he has to do EVERYTHING by himself. And if I forget and "help" him, he has a serious meltdown. Or, if the skill is too complicated for him, he gets really frustrated and mad!

A wise sister-friend (Norma no blog) once told me, "This too shall pass". I tell myself this about 4-5 times a day. I know this is just a phase, but I will be so grateful when it is over!

"Mamma called the doctor and the doctor said..."

It all started Saturday night. Lily fell asleep... and then she woke up. She would fall asleep... and then she would wake up. You get the idea. Lily woke up every 30-40 minutes Saturday night.
Sunday -that morning her nose started running. We knew she was cutting teeth and attributed it to that. Sunday night she was awake every 30-40 minutes again!
Monday-I made an appointment with the pediatrician. Her symptoms: clear runny nose and not sleeping. Turns out she had an ear infection. She never acted grumpy. I even considered not calling the doctor because she acted so happy. However, Monday afternoon was a different story. Her runny nose turned thick and goopy. She could barely eat because it was difficult for her to swallow. At times she would start gaging and choking on her own mucus (sorry for those of you with a weak stomach). And now she has a fever to add to her ear infection, cold, and cutting teeth. Monday night she went down fighting, but she slept the whole night through.
Tuesday- Her cold was even worse. We were suctioning her nose about every hour to help her breath (this couldn't feel good on her ear infection). She was miserable, we were miserable. That night she screamed for about an hour and 15 min before finally giving up and going to sleep.
Wednesday- Today was about the same. She awake about half the night.
Today is Thursday. I am hoping to make it to the weekend!

While the Cat is away the Mice will play...

I came home one evening, after going to the grocery store, to find Kent giving Luke and Lily a pony ride. He give Luke pony rides all of the time, but today he decided to let Lily in on the fun. Kent is always so good to play with and take care of the kids while I am gone. I really do have the best husband in the world!

He Gets It From His Daddy...

I know every mother thinks their child is intelligent, including me. But when Luke learned his ABC's I was shocked. Probably because I still think of him as a toddler and not a big boy. However, he is 2 years old now. He turned 2 about a month ago and he's known his ABC's for about 3 weeks. Not just singing the ABC song, but when we drive down the road he will see letters on signs and say, "B, basket" or "U, umbrella" or "I-insect, T-daddy's tie, L-Luke, D-duck, F-fish" and the list goes on and on. He has always loved watching The Wheel of Fortune but now it has a whole new meaning since he can recognize the letters. I never noticed how many letters are on television until Luke started pointing them out.
I say he gets it from his daddy because Kent has always loved learning. As a boy, Kent's family went on vacation driving across the country. To keep Kent entertained, his dad would write out math problems for him to solve, and Kent loved it. Luke is so much like Kent it is unreal. I guess that is why they say, "Like father, like son."

How Do You Pick The Perfect Pumpkin?

For Luke it was the only one that he would touch. We tried to interest him in many that were his size. But he wouldn't have anything to do with them. He walked over, the first and only one he touched was the one he wanted, (of course it was a huge one), and that was his perfect pumpkin.Kent helping Luke take his pumpkin to his car.Notice the tiny one, it's Lily's pumpkin.

Picking Apples on Grandpa's Farm

This is Luke "helping" Hollie pick apples. He would get an apple out of the box, climb up the ladder and hand it to Hollie to put in her picking basket. He did this about 10 times before we finally realized what he was doing. It was pretty cute.

This is Luke with Rocky, the dog. Luke is always a little unsure of Rocky so it was cute to see his petting him.

Luke enjoying the fruits of his labor.

Lily doing her part. She was just happy to sit in her stroller and watch everyone.

This is Luke in "Bampa's tractor". Luke loved the tractor! He wouldn't ride on it alone with Grandpa at first. But after I rode with him, he felt safe enough to ride on Grandpa's lap.
Hans and Dane (Hollie's boys), and Luke taking a break.
Madaline, Jack, Hans, Dane, and Luke (Grandpa in the the background).

Lily's Photo Shoot

As I got Lily ready for church, she was just so cute and happy that I couldn't resist taking a few photos of her. She really is so precious and sweet. You will notice in one of the pictures that Kent is "helping" her pose. Notice how baggy her 6 month tights are on her legs! What can I say? I just can't get enough of her!

SNOW?

This is Luke, the morning after the first snowfall of the season. He wouldn't touch it or walk in it, but he kept saying "snow! snow! snow!". And all day he kept asking if he could go out and see the snow. Watch how he runs and jumps. I just love it! He cracks me up!

Husband Tag

1. What's his name? Kent

2. How long have you been married? 4 1/2 years of wedded bliss!

3. Where did you meet? In a singles ward. It was the last place I was looking.

4. How long did you date? According to me- 7 months

5. How old is he? 33 but he's been asked a couple of times, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" he has a real baby face.

6. Who eats more? Kent....unless we're talking about sweets.

7. Who said, "I love you" first? Kent. I said, "I really really like you a lot." He started laughing and told me he loved me.

8. Who is taller? Kent is. Even when I wear heels, he's still taller! He's 6'4", I'm 6'

9. Who sings better? Most certainly Kent. I'm tone deaf and I can't carry a tune!

10. Who is smarter? He is for sure. He has a PHD and a LOT of common sense to go with it.

11. Who's temper is worse? That would be me. I don't think that word is in his vocabulary.

12. Who does the laundry? I do, but he is very willing to help if I ask!

13. Who does the dishes? Me 80% of the time. Sometimes he surprises me and does them for me or we'll do them together.

14. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I used to, until I got pregnant with Luke and had to go to the bathroom like 12 times a night. Now he does.

15. Who pays the bills? I do. He makes the $ and I spend it!

16. Who mows the lawn? Kent does with Luke in a backpack on his back.

17. Who cooks dinner? I do M-F. Kent does Sat- Sun

18. Who drives when you are together? Kent. Only on rare occasion do I. I hate driving.

19. Who is more stubborn? That would be me.

20. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Not sure. Probably me, I'm usually wrong.

21. What do you admire most about him? His honesty and he is the most NON-judgmental person I've ever met.

22. Who proposed? He did, at his house, on Christmas night. And then again on one knee, on an island in the Caribbean.

23. What is his favorite color? Blue

24. Who has more siblings? equal 7 and 7

25. Who wears the pants in the family? He does, but he lets me pretend like I do.

26. What does he do that surprises you? He's always so thoughtful. He's always thinking of everyone except himself.

27. What is your favorite quality of his? His desire to learn. His ability to make and fix just about anything. And that he's always teasing. I love to be teased!

28. What is you favorite feature of his? His muscular chest and his "Layton backside".
29. Does he have a hidden talent? OH YES! And those who really know him, know what it is.

Every night before I fall asleep I can't help but think of how luck I am to be married to Kent. I could search the world a thousand times over and I wouldn't find a guy as great as he is!

I'm tagging Doreen, Marissa, Natalie, Hollie!

LIFE

After 5 hours of cleaning my house (vacuuming, sweeping, taking out the garbage and dishes), it is now 1:00pm. It took 5 hours because I had a lot of interruptions (Luke teasing Lily, Luke "helping", Lily being oversensitive and pretending to cry, lunch time, 3 diaper changes, feeding Lily three times, and getting 2 kids dressed, etc. etc...). So needless to say, it is 2:00 pm, I haven't showered, Luke just went down for a nap, and Lily just woke up from a nap, which = no nap for me. But I really can't help thinking, "I have the best life!" I wouldn't switch places with anyone. I have an AMAZING husband who is perfect in every way. He is thoughtful, he is a wonderful dad who gets up in the middle of the night with the kids. He changes Luke's diaper and feeds his breakfast every morning so that I can sleep for an extra 30 -45 minutes. He calls every night before he leaves work and asks if there is anything I need him to stop and get. He is silly and a tease and he is all mine!
I have two wonderful kids. Yes, there are days when I would much rather Kent stayed at home and I worked full time. But 99% of the time I love being a stay at home wife and mother. Luke is such a cute tease, and he's always saying silly things and jumping and running and dancing. It just makes my day! Lily is so cuddly and sweet and mild tempered. My house isn't always clean, my yard could use a lot of help, and I still have an extra 10 lbs to lose. But that's OK. This is my life and I LOVE it. Sure I have my problems, but who doesn't. Life is great because I get to spend each day with my family that I love!

Lily at 6 months!

Lily is only 6 months old, but she is such a good baby! (I hope that statement doesn't come back to haunt me...) When she gets sleepy/ grumpy, just put her in her crib with her Binkyand a burp cloth over her head and she falls right asleep. However, when we aren't at home she is more than happy to snuggle up and fall asleep too. We sometimes call her snuggles because she is so good at snuggling. She sleeps through the night (what more could I want). She doesn't have to be talked to or entertained every minute, she's just content to play on the floor. She loves to roll. If you put her on her back, she will be onto her tummy in no time.

Lily has what I like to call "The Layton Gene". She toots...A LOT and they are very stinky! She can most definitely clear a room. It's funny at home, but in public it can get embarrassing because no one would ever suspect Lily. She also has the "Aunt Julie" disease. Her hands and feet are usually very warm and sweaty.

Lily loves to blow raspberries and bubbles. We know she is awake in the morning because we can hear her blowing raspberries. She is also VERY ticklish. She's ticklish just about everywhere. Sometimes she giggles when I change her bottom, or when I am trying to put a bib on her. Here is a clip of her giggling. I said her name and she just started giggling for no reason. I couldn't rotate the image, so you will have to view it on it's side.

Here are Lily's stats from her 6 month well check:

Length: 24.7 inches = 13%
Weight: 14 lbs = 21%

Even though she is small for her age, she has plenty of rolls to spare. Just look at all of the rolls on her bottom and arms. However, we call them "muscles" at our house.

Lily is such a good and easy baby, very low maintenance. She's is always smiling and happy and she LOVES her big brother!

Happy 2nd Birthday Luke!

Luke turned 2 on September 26th. It seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital and now he is such a big boy! Luke is such a tease. Kent will say to Luke, "I..." and Luke will say, "love..." and Kent will say, "YOU!" But the other morning Kent said, "I..." and Luke said, "love Julie!" And then he giggled and giggled because he knew he was being a tease. His uncle Stephen taught him to say, "Gooooo...Cougars!" and roll his arms while saying it. So now at random times during the day I will hear him say to himself, "Goooo...Cougars!" Luke is very active and talks just about non-stop. He LOVES music and some days we sing 20 -30 songs. He recently discovered airplanes and helicopters so they are his favorites right now. He is obsessed with garbage cans and garbage trucks. I don't think he realizes what is in them, he just likes them. He loves books, especially ones with trucks, cars and wheels. He also loves balls and is pretty good at "shooting hopes" on his basket. Luke is our little wild card. You never know what he going to say or do, and he is constantly making us laugh. Luke truly is a spitting image of his daddy!

We had some family over for cake and ice cream. Here is his cake/ cakes. I only planned on making one, but I had left over cake and you can't just let that go to waste. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate his birthday with us.

Luke "helped" me make his cake. Here is him licking the beaters.

Here are Luke's stats from his 2 year well check:

Weight: 29 1/2 lbs = 70%

Height: 36 inches = 88%

Even though Luke leaves us exhausted at the end of each day, we wouldn't trade him for the world! We love you Luke!