Buzz and Buzz

Luke LOVES Toy Story. He would watch it all day everyday if he could. On Toy Story 3, he is terrified of the monkey, so I think that's the only time he'll take his eyes off of the screen during the whole movie. He's watched it enough that he anticipates certain parts coming up... He screams in excitement when all the monkeys get released from Evil Dr. Porkchop in the beginning. We had some giftcards to Toys-R-Us for Luke from Christmas, and we went and got him Woody and Buzz. Heath about had a cow over how much they cost (it really was pretty ridiculous), but we justified it because WE actually only paid $8 for them. haha :) But he carries them around everywhere. He takes them to bed with him, he lifts Buzz's space helmet thing and gives him kisses, he's fed Buzz a banana (like, really, stuffed a banana to his mouth), and yesterday, he gave them both some toothpaste on their mouths! I'd bet they'd rather go back to Sunnyside than be Luke's toys some days. haha :)

Luke refers to Woody and Buzz as "Buth and Buth". Here's a clip of it.. excuse my man voice, we've had the flu. And I think it might be sideways.... oh well.

One of THOSE days!

For those of you who keep up with us on facebook, some of this may not be a surprise! But if the 2's are more terrible than this..... oh boy! Luke is in to EVERYTHING. Before kids, walk in my door and it's peaceful, tidy, smells good...... Now, if you were to show up and knock, this is how it would go:

I would come to the door with a crying toddler chasing me... because he's in a phase where he either wants me sitting still while he plays, or he wants to be held. When you walked in, we'd talk over Luke crying for the first couple of minutes since I neglected him long enough to get to the door, and you might get a whiff of the dirty diaper I had just changed - as they tend to stink up the entire house. Toys in every direction... and I might have to put the couch cushions back on the couch before you can sit down because Luke likes to take them off! If you don't have kids... this might just help you confirm why.... Until he starts performing! Then you might just fall in love.. haha. His little personality is what keeps me going on rough days!

I think stay-at-home mom's are sometimes categorized as "spoiled" or "lazy"... so now, let me just tell you how some of my days go. I load the dishwasher with dirty dishes... Luke takes the silverware out as it is being loaded and puts it away - dirty, of course. As I'm getting clothes out of the dryer, he's taking the lent catcher out and picking the lent off of it. While I'm wiping out the bathtub, he's pulling dirty q-tips out of the bathroom trash. While I'm taking a shower, he's stuffing toilet paper in the toilet. When I vacuum, he wants to ride it. When I clean the storm door, he's on the clean side licking it. He lets the dogs in covered in dead grass right after I've vacuumed. If I change his diaper in the mornings and don't put his pajama pants back on (usually because he prefers it that way), he'll take his diaper off - and if I don't get there fast enough, he pees in the floor! And his latest stunt? Pooping in the bathtub - before he's been soaped up, and after it's filled up with the last of our hot water.

Ok, ok. Enough of that! Let me tell you what makes all that trouble worth it......

Luke gives the SWEETEST kisses. He hums while he kisses, and sometimes, he'll hum 4 breaths worth before he pulls away. In the mornings, he loves a sippy cup full of chocolate milk (very little chocolate, no sugar added) and to watch cartoons in Mama's bed. He talks nonstop, so there's never a dull moment around here. He babbles on about these big long stories and while he's telling them, he'll throw his head back and slap his leg and laugh. If I come home with a new toy for him, he says, "oooooohhh coooooool!" He puts all of my hair in my face and brushes it away playing peek-a-boo. He helps me control my portions because he eats half of every plate I fix myself... It just looks better on Mama's plate for some reason! He makes me want to be a better person.. He gives me a reason to earnestly pray - and no, not just for my sanity.. and I've ALWAYS got something to be thankful for.

'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!

Post-Harvest Family TIme :)

After Heath got through stripping, we got the fifth wheel packed and headed to Tyler for some camping and to Rachel's baby shower. We stayed with family on their land, and Mom and Mike took their camper, too. We have cousins who work at a prison there. So, the guys went hunting at the prison, and Heath shot a deer and a couple of pigs. We had a camp fire every night, and one night, we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores - delish!

Rachel had a really good baby shower! I still don't know how they've held out not finding out whether the baby is a boy or a girl.. but props to them for going through with it. I HAD to know with Luke... in fact, I knew at 13 1/2 weeks what he was. I liked knowing, too! For those who really know me, this is no surprise. :) I'm too planny.

Before we left to Tyler, we stopped at Gander Mountain, and Luke absolutely loved driving the car/basket. I laughed until I cried in the store watching how much he loved it. He would get in and out just because he could. I had to watch him real close because he would get out while we were still moving.

The baby will be here before we know it! Luke will soon have even more cousins everywhere we go.. he's getting one on the other side of the family in April.

Rachel was glowing at her shower!

Rachel opening gifts - with her sisters and future nanny. :)

These two can't wait for another one to love on!

She got a travel system from the hostesses of her shower.

Mom and I with Rachel.

Quick family picture before we head back home!

This is where Mom busted the "your mama" joke while we were filling up with diesel. :)

Are pacifiers still orthodontic if he uses them upside down?

Heath and I got to go and watch Shane & Shane last night, and Luke stayed with Grubby and Keetha. They got this clip of him "winking." I know, it's really not winking, but he thinks he's doing it, and we think it's too cute.

Going to Work

Luke likes pretending already... for months, he's been carrying anything he can get over his arm and walking towards the door to the garage while he waves "bye". He's used a coat hanger, the diaper bag, a paper bag (what we take Dad his lunch in), etc.

Here he is going to work with his bucket :)

Halloween & Harvest

We've made it to the downhill side of harvest. It's always an exciting time of year, but by the end of it, we're glad to see Heath more than just an hour a day. Halloween was lots of fun - we actually carried a bucket this year! Luke is going through a phase (it's been a long one) of not wearing hats, so I ordered him a vampire costume and planned on painting his hair black. We got it in, and after several attempts to try to put it on him, and him down right refusing, we settled for his glow-in-the-dark skeleton pajamas.

Our first stop was to Grubby and Keeka's.

She had chocolate candy for Luke, and a new toy, too!

Our next stop was to Mimi and Papa's. They gave Luke a book, glowing sword, and some suckers.

We had a hard time getting Jaxon to sit down for a picture.. They're all so cute!

Ryder invited Luke to his Halloween party with lots of other kids, too.

We've been watching these deer for a long time. They hang out on one of our farms. My heart was racing when I took this.. Heath said it was "buck fever" :)

Heath said he was a stripper for Halloween this year!

My dad is here for a while keeping Luke and me company.. and he's getting a taste of what life is like this time of year for us!