Farming, Vegas, and Blessings

We have officially started our busy season again! We've had some lunches in the field, a few evenings of checking water, and a tired Daddy at the end of the day. Heath got his truck in September, and he's halfway caught me on miles on my car - which I've had for 2 1/2 years! Between miles on his pickup and hours on his spray rig and stripper, I think he'll easily spend half his life behind the wheel.

We did get to sneak away for a few days this past weekend though... We went to Vegas! It was pretty spontaneous. We booked it a week before we left. Last time we went, I was pregnant with Luke! It was lots of fun though.. we had dessert every day, shopped, gambled, and slept. I know it's cheesy, but I reminded Heath how proud I am of him.. and I really am! I loved that we could just go and do whatever we wanted.. We've been blessed with generations of hardworking men who have helped pave the way for Heath do what he loves... and after working hard, he loves playing hard, too. :)

This trip was the first time we left Luke for a weekend. He stayed with Mimi and Papa. It was weird for me. At the airport before we left, I reached for a wipey in my purse. When we'd sit down to eat, it was weird not hearing Luke say, "a bite? a bite?". We both were constantly throwing in Lukerisms. It was good to come home to him.

Yes, I'm only posting pictures of our desserts. I'm pregnant.... I can. :) We had a hot fudge and caramel sunday at Serendipity.

This one was at Texas de Brazil.... after all that food, we still found room to clean this plate, too!

We saw the water show this time... Heath's seen it a few times. I'm not a good tourist... If I see it, fine... if I don't, fine. It was pretty cool though. Even better than that, I thought, was watching a guy spray paint the scene of the water show in less than 10 minutes. If you've never seen it, it's something to watch. I found a speedy sample clip on youtube. Check it out!

Oh, and here's an awkward moment we had while we were there..... We got on the elevator to go down to breakfast at our hotel one morning, and I was hugging on Heath on the ride down when the elevator suddenly stopped on the floor below and opened for more people to get on. When we heard the bell go off, we both pulled away from each other looking guilty to the couple who was getting on. She said, "Caught ya!" And we laughed and the elevator continued down. This is when we stood and heard her comment on what kind of phone he had and then heard her say, "Do you remember my name?" He said, "No." I then realized that he was freshly showered, but she was still in last night's clothes! -- So, I was "caught" hugging my husband on an elevator... annnnnnnddd the guy you were just with didn't even remember your name. Classy.

Luke is the entertainer everywhere we go now. He doesn't know life outside the center of attention! Since he's only around other kids on occasion, he's amazed when he sees kids. At Mom's for family dinners, I can hardly get him to eat because he's too distracted watching all the other kids eat. When we go to the park, he just sits and watches the kids at first and then realizes he can actually play, too!

Luke has never been a big paci fan. He'd take one, but never really was attached to it. When Heath was gone to Vegas for the race, Luke became a paci addict. Maybe it was missing Daddy that caused it? I don't know.... but he named it and throws a fit when I take it out to try to understand what he's saying. He calls it his "me". I only let him have it for an hour a day probably (besides bedtime)... So, he can forget about it, but if he sees it on the counter, he begs for it. I have to distract him from it. I always planned on taking it away before his 2nd birthday.. and I am still going to, but it's gonna be a much bigger task now!

He loves riding the tractor with Heath. He rode with Heath for a good 3 hours one day and still wasn't ready to get off when I picked them up. He sits in the buddy seat and likes wearing his seat belt. I feel like I've gotten ahead on my housework since he's been less of a clinger. It's probably that, combined with the beginning stages of nesting (ha!). It's been nice though.

I think he sleeps half the time... :)

So, this pregnancy is still going pretty smooth. We find out what we're having on Monday. I've been having crazy dreams here lately. Sometimes, they're disturbing. Like last night, I had a dream that I was watching this baby move in my belly and saw the outline of a giant hand come up. Other than that, and some back pain, I have no complaints. I'm actually just already ready to meet this little one... I don't mind being pregnant, but I don't love it. I think it's an amazing experience, but the end result is what's so thrilling. So thankfully, it's going by pretty fast.

Maybe next time I blog, I'll have a reference to this baby besides "this baby"! :)

Spring Fever!

"Goin' to check water..." - omg! When Heath rattled that off the other day, I had to play it back in my head to make sure I heard him right. I'm so glad warmer weather is here, and as bad as I hate winter, it flew by. We've really enjoyed getting outside and playing... Luke was hardly walking good enough last year to enjoy it very much!

So here's a look at what we've been up to lately....

For Jaxon's 2nd birthday, we all went to the Science Spectrum and to watch the Dinosaur film in the Omnimax. The kids all loved it, and they all did great! Luke loved driving the fire truck.. Here he is with cousin Miley.

They have some crazy roller coaster type contraption for balls. Luke loved sitting and watching it go.

Luke and Jaxon liked watching the train too. Luke would say "Choo-Choo!" - He talked about the "choo-choos" and Jaxon (aka "Jah-own") for several days afterwards.

Heath goes to Las Vegas every year for a guys trip to watch the NASCAR race. He's gone 4 or 5 years in a row now. A bunch of farmers from here (and a few non-farmers too!) get together and go for about a week. They all take campers and motor homes, take a couple days getting there, camp out at the track, and take a couple days getting back. Heath looks forward to it every year. When I tell people my husband's gone to Vegas for a week for a guys' trip, they bug their eyes out, and I often get comments like, "Wow, you're a good wife, letting him go." But let me assure you, it's not quite the Vegas guys' trip most people have in mind. They know how to have fun, don't get me wrong... but I have lots of respect for the guys he goes with. Anyways..... While he was gone this year, Luke and I took it pretty easy. I let him sit (stand, really) at the table with me at meal times. After he got to feeling better, he was a bottomless pit! We wore pajamas almost all day one day and had soup for lunch, and using the spoon just wasn't getting him full fast enough! :)

So, this was what Heath was up to for part of his trip.... haha. Poor thing! He was helping one of the guys throw trash away into a big dumpster one morning and went to give the bottom of the bag a boost. When he did, some glass went through his hand. This happened just a few hours before the race! I called him when we got out of church and he answered his phone in the E.R. - 15 stitches later, he made it back to the race 100 laps in. It looks much better now, but he still has the stitches in for a few more days.

Gracyn came and hung out with Luke one day last week. We joke about these two getting married someday and Gracyn being a farmer's wife. The first thing Gracyn played with was one of Luke's tractors. I think she'll be a better farmer's wife than me if she's down with driving tractors!

But in return, Luke might help her with the laundry! haha :)

Gina ran out of gas one day on College Avenue (I still can't say this without at least a chuckle... haha) and called Heath to come to her rescue. So, this picture was fitting, too! Luke's getting his practice in early. :)

Heath's had a little shadow lately. The thought of possibly having a little girl kinda scares me (even though I'm almost positive it's a boy) because of the fact that she might want to be like me as much as Luke wants to be like Heath. It's less pressure on me for little boys to idolize their daddies! --- Oh, and he's gotten to where he calls Heath "Heath" about half the time. We, of course, think it's pretty funny.

We had popsicles almost every day after nap this last week! Luke would say "mmmm" after every bite. He had a few last summer, but he was really messy with them. He can eat one without ruining a shirt now! Yeah!

My newest niece was born on March 15th! Londyn June - She's just precious! We're looking for her to help Luke get used to a new baby being around. Her birth makes my 5th niece! I'm so blessed.

My parents are in Dallas for the weekend and are getting to see this little one, too. I got this picture of her today. Norah Rose - She is Jordan in female form. She's a little over 2 months now. It's crazy and sad how fast they grow!

A Candid Post

Just setting my fingers on this keyboard gives me some sort of relief, but I warn you that this might be terribly honest. I feel like some sarcasm could get poured onto the keyboard.... like on the Garth Brooks - Red Strokes video when the paint seeps through his sleeves onto the piano. haha :)

This week, we learned the having the flu set mine and Luke's immune systems pretty far back. We've both caught everything under the sun since then. He's now on steroids for a croupy cough, and he had to get an antibiotic shot 2 days in a row at the doctor to help prevent more sicknesses and ear infections. This may not interest any of you, understandably... but I write this so that I can read back on it and remind myself that I've survived long, sick days and pretty miserable times. He knew exactly what was coming on day 2's shot, too... Poor thing. I choked up when the nurse left the room and assured Luke that I would've taken those shots for him if I could've. I know he didn't understand me, but he'll understand it when he's 25 with his own kids!

I had an appointment the other day, too. Baby is doing well! I'm at 13 weeks now. I can't think of one single complaint lately, either. I think fruit might take over our refrigerator before long. I can't seem to get enough of it lately - especially citrus. I sent Heath a sonogram picture yesterday (he's out of town), and he told me he had just bought the baby its first onesie. :)

One thing about this pregnancy..... is how little tolerance I have for other peoples' ignorances. I'm telling you, every time I log on to Facebook, I'm highly tempted to delete about the same 5 "friends". Haha. I find myself getting terribly frustrated at idiot drivers, and I had an overwhelming urge to punch the guy in Verizon when he looked at ME like I was stupid for saying that my phone was highlighting and scrolling on its own. Oh, and you know another thing that makes me mad about that place? If you walk in and they're not busy, you have to wait for them to finish texting before they'll approach you to help you. UGH! The guy helping me yesterday sent a text while he was helping me. Seriously? That's just really not professional.... like a waiter taking a smoke break when I need a refill.

Luke can always brighten my day though. :) Even on his rough days, it makes me focus on helping him and takes some of the selfishness out of me that I'd otherwise let takeover without him. It's funny how that happens. My daily routine went from watching my morning shows, taking showers until the hot water ran out, spending however long I wanted to fix my hair, etc. to watching Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse and Sesame Street, taking quick showers to save enough hot water for Luke, and fixing my hair "good enough" because he's probably about to mess it all up playing peek-a-boo with me anyway!

Some of the things he's done lately.... He'll pretend like he's going to work and tell me bye, blow me kisses, and walk out the back door and get on his 4 wheeler. He's identifying letters really good, and the cutest one he says is U because it's like "Eww." :) He thinks they're saying "Mimi" on the Wonder Pets, but it's actually Ming-Ming. He notices familiar vehicles going down the road and shouts out who's it is. When he's trying to tell you what he wants, and you interpret it right, he laughs and it sounds like Fran from the Nanny.

We are loving this warmer weather. Heath scalped the yard last weekend, and Luke was out helping in his pajamas.

Heath's ready for the day when Luke can really mow the yard and take out the trash. :)

He thinks he needs to pose for pictures now!

He's saying, "cheeeeeese". :)

His hair looked like Guy Fieri's yesterday.

Here's a sonogram picture. You can see the head, belly, and arm.

And this is the little boy we're sponsoring through World Vision. I sent Heath the last 2 pictures (of Luke and the baby), and sent him this one too... saying I had sent him pictures of all of his kids. :) His name is Soneni. Isn't he cute?