'Twas the Season

Christmas... over already? Man, kids just make it go by too fast. I've been thinking about how this was my first full year of being a mama, and it's been so fulfilling. I am thankful everyday for the blessing Luke has been in our lives.

For the holidays this year, we celebrated Christmas Eve with the Greshams and Christmas Day with my side. Luke got spoiled beyond belief, of course! He got tractors, trucks, clothes, money, gift cards, movies, books, a power wheels tractor, a coupe car, shoes.... the list could go on! However, he still wasn't interested in opening presents.

He wasn't too sure about his tractor at first!

Daddy helped him make a few rounds on it.

Family picture :)

The Burkholders - and their baby!

Merry Christmas!

So on Christmas morning, we woke up to Santa's gifts.... Daddy got an ipod touch, Mama got a Macbook pro (anyone need a regular macbook?!), and Luker got a coupe car. We were all surprised by our gifts!! Again, Luke wasn't too sure about his car, but after a few rounds in the kitchen and living room (and a few donuts, too) with Daddy's help, he was ready to roll. He gets in it and make his "vrooom vroooom" sound and only goes backwards.

On Christmas Day, Luke fell asleep on the way out to Mom and Mike's, so we just let him sleep while everyone opened gifts. I knew the cousins were ready to open, and Luke wasn't a bit interested..... So, he didn't make the gift opening pictures! We were disappointed that all of Jordan and Rachel's gifts had to be left under the tree since they were staying home in Waco to wait on their baby to get here. Rachel was due on Christmas Day, and as of yet, there's been no baby!

While we had some good family time, we truly remembered the reason for the season. We're forever grateful for the birth of Christ. Having one of our own really puts a different level of significance to the whole deal. I saw on the previews to a show the other night that a 400,000 year old human bone may have been found. I told Heath, "Thank the Lord I was born after Jesus came. I couldn't have lived by the law." And I mean it!

Catching Up

Looking back on last year's holidays, I think I was a little grinchy. I went through all the motions, but I didn't enjoy it like I usually do. Heath says it was because of our crop.. or lack thereof.. haha. This year, I get sad thinking about having to take the tree down. Kids make Christmas fun! We still don't know what Luke wants Santa to bring him. Grandparents limit Santa's options! :)

For Thanksgiving this year, we celebrated with Heath's family on Wednesday and mine on Thursday. I took my camera to both places and never snapped a picture........ fail. Luke's favorite dish was the broccoli and cheese casserole. He had 6 plates full of it at Mom's throughout the day. Among many things that we were thankful for because of the various events in our lives in the past year, we were thankful for Luke's health. Little stinker hasn't been sick one day of his life! No ear infections, no tummy viruses, no sore throat... no doctor visits for anything besides shots! Lots of people give credit to him being breastfed for a year... and yes, he was.. but I'm thinking he has a freaky immune system on top of that. (Yes, I just knocked on my coffee table.. just in case.)

Another thing I was thankful for was the reminders we get from the Lord through various scenes here on earth. I knew, when I left for the gym the afternoon before Thanksgiving, that a beautiful sunset was in store for the evening when I was pulling out of the driveway and caught this on my phone.........

That night, we were headed over to Heath's parents and I looked out the back door and told Heath to grab my camera for some pictures. He took a few in the backyard, but wasn't satisfied with them and got in his pickup to go get some better pictures.

So, Luke turned 18 months yesterday. Sooo insane how fast the last year and a half has gone. We got his first haircut last week. I told Luke all day that we were gonna go see Gina and she was gonna "snip-snip" and did the scissor motion to his hair. He did alot better than I expected!

It's fun to see how good he's understanding us now. I see things click in him constantly. Heath was excited a few weeks ago when we were laying in bed late one morning while Luke was playing, and when Heath told him to go let the dogs in, Luke ran to the backdoor and opened it up to let them in. He can "fetch" things now.. which is handy. When we look for a paci before bedtime, I walk around the house with him saying, "paaaccciii!?" Luke says, "meee mee" in the same tone and looks for it, too. Whatever tone I say his name in when I'm looking for him, he says in the same one back to me, "Mammmma!?" --- Heath was gone this last week to pick up a truck he bought in Denver. Every night before Luke goes to bed, I ask him if he's ready to go lay in Luker's bed. That night, I asked him if he was ready to go lay in Mama's bed... he stood there for a second while it registered, and then he took off running towards our bedroom and climbed onto the bed and laid down. We just love our Luker! Sometimes when Heath and Luke are playing, Heath will just stop and look at me and say, "I love him." :)

And last, here's another one of Heath's loves....... Boys and their toys!