Happy Father's Day!

So this one is for one of the best daddies I know... :)

I knew he'd be a good one. When we decided it was time for kids, we were excited to begin that phase of our lives, but from day one, I enjoyed watching Heath prepare for Luke's arrival. He wanted me to get up early one morning and take a test to see if I could be pregnant, and I didn't expect to be, but I did anyway. I sat waiting for the result, and when I told him from the bathroom that it was positive, I could hear him throwing covers back as fast as he could and jetting to the bathroom. He sat down on the floor, stared at the test, shook nervously, and fought back tears. We had lots of complications early on in the pregnancy... We had plans to go to Dallas one day and pick up my car, and that morning, I started showing signs of miscarriage. My doctor told us going to Dallas wouldn't help or hurt, so we went on with our plans. Things turned from bad to worse before we got there... We signed the papers and left to meet some friends for dinner. We were both just sick about it. Heath ordered food at the restaurant that night and never even touched his fork. We were back home the next day and tried all weekend to analyze different scenarios. We went back to the doctor after the weekend, and we thought we'd seen a miracle when we saw that heartbeat. My doctor said he never expected to find one. We were thrilled! -- Heath was hands-on in putting together the nursery.. He'd take people in there to show them what we'd bought even when it was just piled up in the floor of the empty room. Towards the end of the pregnancy, he'd cup his hands around his mouth, get right up to my belly, and say, "Luuuuke, I am your faaather." :)

After Luke was born, to say Heath was "in shock" would be an understatement! He went through the motions of helping... He'd hold him when he came home, take him to the other room when I needed a break, get him out of his bed at night and bring him to me to eat. But I guess like most men, the fun for Heath started when he could get a reaction out of Luke. I think if Luke could comprehend the idea of it, he'd tell you that his Daddy is his best friend. When he hears the garage door open up, he takes off running and meets Heath at the door of his pickup. They dance and sing together, watch movies, play with tractors, swim, and play hide-and-seek. Heath will do things I don't think of... He duct taped a box and drug Luke around on the carpet, dumping Luke out at every turn from going so fast. He pops wheelies in the stroller for him and bounces him all over the place. He sits with him and shows him farm equipment on his iPad in the evenings. When Luke's been with Heath out to the farm or to run errands, he always comes in walking tall and telling big stories.

I'm thankful... extremely thankful. Watching Luke and Heath makes me want to be a better Mama. It's refreshing to see them interact - especially when I'm running low on patience. I think I've said it before, but I'm excited for this little girl to get to experience the love that Heath gives.

So, here's a look back at Heath and Luke. :)

Happy Birthday, Luke!

I have a 2 year old..!? What? - Still blows my mind. I looked at Heath the other day and thought back about our times in high school as purely friends and how we'd talk about wanting to be young when we start our families and what all we hoped to be doing in our 20's... I don't know if either one of us (at the time) planned on living that dream together, but it all turned out that way and I couldn't be more thankful. Jordan (brother) told me the other day, "Sara, 24 with 2 kids is young." - And yeah, I'll technically be 25... but I always wanted to be a young Mom. I'm glad to be living this life. :)

My mom has a tradition where she calls us every day on our birthdays and tells us about the day we were born. We give her a hard time about it, but I guess all parents think back on it when that day rolls around every year. We'll say "Hello".. She sings her version of "Happy birthday" - always ending with claps and whistles... and then she says, "Ok, let me tell you about the day you were born.." - I could tell you about that day almost verbatim, I'm sure. But, Heath and I have found ourselves, just in the past 2 years, thinking back on the events leading up to Luke's birth. Here's a recap of how it went down. --- After an appointment on the morning of the 4th, we were supposed to check in to the hospital that night to get a jump start on some medication and then they'd induce me on the morning of the 5th. We got everything ready for the hospital that day, and I had been having some contractions.. but nothing alarming or regular. I think we were supposed to be there around 9 or 10, but about that time, a storm blew in. My mom was here (their house had burned in January), so to keep her car from getting hail damage, we took our cars to the barn to wait for the storm to pass. The storm ended up being really bad, and I was having more contractions while we waited.... I was refusing to let that baby be born in a barn! haha :) - So, we finally got to the hospital around midnight, and they gave me some pre-labor medicine and some ambien. Would've been nice for that to go as planned, but the pre-labor medicine put me into full fledged labor, and so I was all wacky in labor at about 2 a.m. on ambien. I was hallucinating, crying, laughing all at the same time! Once I finally got comfortable (around 4 or so), everything was better, and little Luker was born just after 1 o'clock that afternoon. He was 7 lbs. 8 oz. -- Mama was instantly head over hills... Daddy wondered when his head would go back to normal. haha :) -- Oh, and he was back in the field the next morning to sandfight and replant.

I wonder what our story will be with this little girl... I'm anxious to find out. :) She still has no name.... we've made a little progress, but still nothing close to definite.

So, here's a look at Luke's birthday party!

We had his party at a park in the Vintage Township in Lubbock. We rented an inflatable bouncer... Luke loved it!

Sliding with cousin, Emma.

Friends Ryder Stracener and Gracyn Kauffman.. and their Mama's, Summer and Gina.

Family catching some shade.

More partying...

Cake and presents...

(I must've folded the cake getting it out of the pickup... oops!)

Silly boy!! :)

It's fun having friends and family with kids our kids' ages. They nail gift giving and make birthday parties fun to plan. :) - Luke loved all of his gifts. We boxed up all of his baby toys for sister so that we could make room for his new toys. He's been pretty occupied lately! - He got lots of Cars stuff... He took Mater to bed with him last night! He got a Buzz sit and scoot car, too. He took it out in the garage and parked it yesterday, and when I asked him if he was gonna leave it out there, he said, "Uh huh... Seep." Haha :) He let his Buzz car take a nap in the garage. He sits on it and wants it to "fye." :)

So, thanks again to everyone who came... You are all the ones Luke thanks Jesus for in his prayers!

Luke - Almost 2!?!

As long as I'm living, my baby he'll be... right?! - I hope so... because he's not a baby anymore. I don't think he was even walking when I started this blog last year. Now, here's what he's up to...

- He has developed some fears. Heath's touch on his nursery was the stuffed animal heads, and he got so scared of them, we had to take them down! There was a moose and a deer. He'd come running out of his room and say, "Cows, Mama." - Heath was disappointed to take them down, but it's only temporary, I'm sure! If Luke hears the freezer dropping ice or a loud car driving by, he comes running to us in a panic. I get sad for him though.. I see a part of his innocence going away with these fears.

- I don't think I can put enough O's in looooooves to explain how much he likes tractors. From day one, I never wanted to label him as a future farmer. I want him to choose his own path. If he wants to farm, great! If he doesn't, that's great too. I want him to do what he is good at and loves. Being married to Heath is made easier by him loving what he does. With that being said, Luke has developed an infatuation with farming and tractors. Before we take Heath lunch, Luke's job is to turn off the TV and get his backpack. He tries turning the TV off at about 10:30 every day because he's ready to go. He'll say, "Bye-bye Dadda tractor." One thing that can always occupy him is for us to show him the google images when we search for "John Deere".

- He is a really good eater. He's not very picky at all. His favorite breakfast food is oatmeal. He'd take it over pancakes. He likes to help me make peanut butter and jelly.... He eats it much better when he helps make it, too. He'll eat any kind of meat and likes it with salad and bread. He's not big on potatoes unless it's fries. He'll eat green beans and strawberries until you think he's gonna pop. He likes chips and hot sauce. He loves his chocolate milk.. he calls it "cha-o-moke".

- He still likes Toy Story, but he also likes Cars, Thomas, and Nemo. Toy Story used to be "Buzz and Buzz", now it's "Toy Tory". His favorite cartoon is probably Blue's Clues ("Coo-Coos"). When the Farmer's Insurance commercial comes on (Ya know, "We are Farmers. Bum Bum Dum Bum Bum Bum Bum."), he stops a cuts a quick jig and says "Bum Bum Bum". He sings the "I'm a big kid now" part on the Huggies commercials, too. He'll sing, "I now now!"

So, he's in a pretty cute stage, as you can probably tell... But he's also turning 2 in about a week, and I now know why they're called the "terrible 2's." I thought the 2's would be easier because they have more defined boundaries that they understand. They're exploring still, but they know they're limits. WELL. This is why they are so terrible! They know their limits, but they still choose to test them. He wasn't ready to come inside when we got out of the car the other day, so he took off running down the street from me. When I caught him and spanked him, he kicked and screamed the whole way back to the house! We've used his time-out chair more in the last 2 weeks than we ever have. He tests my patience... I have to make a conscious effort to show him that I'm disciplining out of love because, sometimes, it's easy to let my frustration take over!

When I look back on the last 2 years of our lives, I'm amazed at how fast it's changed. Sometimes, motherhood makes for the longest days. The big picture is extremely fulfilling though. I've learned that kids are like mirrors.... they look like us, they talk like us, they act like us, they value things we value. He keeps us on top of our games, for sure, and I'm thankful for it! Here's a quick look back..

Fresh from the womb... :)

STILL belly crawling on his first birthday..

Driving Daddy's spray rig... (He just saw this, btw.. He says, "Tractor!? Cooool!")

When we ask him how old he is, he says, "Two!!" and holds up 5 fingers. We have some work to do on that before next weekend. :)

Nesting and Lukerisms :)

I don't think I've had a more chaotic life since I had a newborn! I've had a blog halfway written about Easter and planned on adding pictures and posting it over a week ago, but I never got around to it. We've been sooo busy with getting our house ready to sell - on top of Heath's work. We finally finished though, and it was a huge relief to have it done. -- So, this will sum up the idea of my unfinished blog....... After having kids, John 3:16 will forever have a more significant meaning to me. I love celebrating Easter and look forward to teaching my kids about it.

And, yes, we're moving! I've been telling people that this must be the ultimate nesting mode. At the beginning of the year, we thought we would build, so we started house plans. We found out we were expecting in the mean time and didn't like the thought of rushing to finish and get in a house before the baby gets here. So then, Heath was looking in the paper and ran across a house for sale he wanted to look at, and when we went to look at it, we spotted a house down the street we thought we'd like better. We contacted the owner (a buddy of Heath's), looked at it, and committed to it. A bit spontaneous, but we're anxious to get in over there. The new house is getting us more space... we're excited about that!

So on to Luke.... I just love the stage he's in now. His innocence just shines, and I love how observant he is and the connections he makes. Just like this morning - I pumped him up about getting panCAKES for breakfast, so he was disappointed when he didn't have "ice keem" on his plate, too. He knows the John Deere house is coming up before we even get there and starts yelling "tractors!" over and over and gasping a quick breath in between yells. He calls Heath's parents' pool a "shower". He knows Mama has baby sister in my tummy, but he thinks he has a baby in his tummy, too. If he farts in public and it's silent, he doesn't let it go unnoticed... He announces, "Mama! I pooter!"

Luke got decked out at Austin's birthday party. Now, every necklace is an "Austin."

Heath got this hat for Luke in Vegas, and he calls it his "Papa hat" for some reason!?

He's lookin like Mama here. :)

We went to Jumpin' Jungle 2 weekends in a row for birthday parties... Luke looooves it.

Luke loves Keeton, too. He calls her "Kee-own".

Heath gave in a got a blue tooth ear piece for when he's spraying. Luke likes being like Daddy. :)

One of the many reasons why I love Market Street! He pushes his basket like a pro.

Are they really "blessings"?

Wow... So much to write about, I feel like!

We are blessed. I write this with contradicting thoughts, and have the same feelings when I hear the words come out of my mouth, too. What exactly does it mean to be "blessed" anyway? If I consider myself "blessed" for having a healthy, growing family... Are those who don't have the same not "blessed"? And if so, why not? I mean, I know God blesses each of us in our own ways, according to His plan for us..... but, I think the word is often overused. If we have a good crop, but our friends have a bad crop, why are we the "blessed" ones? And if we had the bad crop, were we cursed? Blessings aren't really earned, are they? I've even heard people use the phrase "We bless you" in prayer. Who has the power to bless God?

Got side tracked there..... If anyone has some good insight on that, let me know. :)

So, we're adding a little girl to our family. I'm thrilled! As I've said before, I always imagined my family with 2 boys. The thought of having a girl makes me get butterflies, and the idea of this little girl being loved by Heath just delights me. The guy just knows how to love. -- We got a pretty certain guess on the sex of the baby last week, and when we found out, I expected Heath to be happy about it. He had kinda hinted here and there that he would like to have a girl, but when we left the doctor's office, he almost looked like he could throw up! I asked him what was wrong and told him I'd expected him to be more happy about it. He said, "I'm scared. I wanted a baby girl.... but not a teenage girl." Haha :) - I'm about halfway through the pregnancy now... he's got a little more time to prepare.

On the downside, I'm having kidney trouble again. My babies like to just grow that direction and take over that space, so I'm just hoping it at least stays as tolerable as it is now. It causes lots of pain... got me down to where I was hardly able to walk for a while last time. So, prayers for that are appreciated! Oh, the trouble we go through to get them here... and in the end, it's all just a few months of treachery that lead to a lifetime of joy.

Joy.... yes! Joy is what my little Luke brings to my heart. He's so silly... I love him so much. He thinks he has a baby in his belly, too. He says "Sorry" (or "sah-ee") now when he knows he's done wrong or when he gets in my way.... He loves getting up and going to work with Daddy in the mornings when I go to the gym. He eats and eats when I cook and says "yummy" ("a-mee") after every bite - which I consider a great compliment! He's been using the potty lately.. today has been his best day so far (3 times before lunch!). He sits and pees, and then he claps and dances for himself.. and looooves flushing. He likes for Heath to lay with him at night to go to sleep, and Heath usually falls asleep in there, too. Oh, and he loves watching videos of himself on my phone... he's deleted several pictures and videos by accident, so here's a few of what I've been able to save!

Keetha (Kakee) took Luke to Sesame Street Live last weekend... I went along, too. :)

His favorites right now are Elmo and Abby. :)

Kakee is one of his favorites, too!

Yesterday was a nasty day (we've had lots of those lately), but we went to the park anyway. There were roofers working on the house next door, and we were tired of listening to all that racket! Here's a clip of him... he makes me laugh. He's always been a cautious little thing.

It's actually pretty today! We're gonna get out and play... Luke's got a farmer's tan already. Maybe we can even it out a little bit. :)

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!