Fall ramblings

Fall is really my favorite time of year; I love the smell, the leaves, the crispness in the air... I've always loved decorating my house in harvest colors and carving pumpkins. Maybe it's from years of school, but fall always seems like the beginning of a year for me... a time I want to reflect and start anew. Maybe it's because I just got my hair done... that always makes me feel good. :)

Yesterday I decided to call out a particularly hurtful family member for the person he is. It is really out of my character to start a conflict, but something he said (on blogger none the less) put me over the edge. It was honestly the most hypocritical thing I think I had ever heard, and he deserved everything I said. And how did my 60 some year old family member respond? By deleting me as a friend on Facebook. What an ASS! I can't say that I am surprised, years of other family members trying to get him to fess up to what he had done bore no fruit, so I am not sure why I hoped my message would get through. In any event, it was beneficial in the sense that it touched those he hurt in a positive way. Enough about my effed up extended family. I prefer to talk about my adorable immediate family, namely a little cutie named Luke (currently sporting his second runny nose in his entire life) and my slowpoke smarty-pants Malachi (currently fighting sleep with everything he has). Well, not much else to say... time for pics.

I love this smile!

Baby Collin came to visit us and practice
binky stealing with Lukey.

Luke and my dad at his dedication

On stage at his dedication... he was ALL smiles!
Ok, so not in this one picture, but the rest of the time ;)

Chad was thrilled as usual to be on stage.
I hate this picture, my face looks weird, but
I didn't get any better ones (thanks Dad for letting
Malachi hold the camera!)

Words

Okay since I have been thorough this before, I should know that I can't remember half of what I swear I will... so I decided I should write down what Luke is saying right now.
Words he says, or attempts to say:

• mama
• dada
• kai
• doggie
• hi
• hi doggie
• ball
• more
• kitty
• thank you

I am sure there are more, but I just want to have a spot that I put this for future reference.

Luke's dedication, a new niece, cruising babies and reading maniacs!

So last Sunday was a big day for my little man; the day we had him dedicated to the Lord. We did it at our church at the 11am service and then went to brunch with our family after wards. The whole family came to see our little smiley dude be prayed for by the pastor and publically dedicated to be brought up Christian. He was quite the ham (as usual). He also got his own new testament and certificate of dedication. It was a really wonderful day.
Luke is all but walking these days, cruising from one piece of furniture to the next... in a few short weeks he will become the "T" word...TODDLER! I am already missing my tiny little bundle of immobile joy I brought home a little less than a year ago; the one that would lay still while I changed him, sleep wherever we were, lay calmly in my arms for hours... you know the type. This became even more clear when we saw Auntie Cara's new baby, Emma Lou (born on Tuesday). Tipping the scales at under seven pounds, Luke looks like GIANT next to her. Both he and Kai were quite enthralled with her. Here's to years of pulling pig tails and protecting her from bullies.

My little braniac has gone from enthusiastic reader to voracious reader. After we turn out the lights at night, we find him reading to the light of his nightlight for hours. I think by ten, he will have officially read more books than me. Does that make me a complete idiot? It's rhetorical... don't actually answer please.

Pictures will follow... as soon as I upload. I'm feeling a little sloooooooooooooow.

School Begins....

Well, today actually marks the beginning of week two of school, but last week was nuts, so no time to blog. Kai started 1st grade at Hayden Meadows, I was hoping he'd get in to Sorenson, but he seems happy where he is. He is taking the bus like a big boy too. He seems to really like his teacher, Mrs. King. She is a 1st year teacher, but seems to be full of energy and ideas (which is probably just what he needs). I took some pictures of his cute little self, and of course of Lukey when we were waiting for him to come out of class. I still can't believe I have a 1st grader. Where does the time go?

Baby GO TO SLEEP!

I absolutely love these pictures!

My happy boy!

Collin, Kai, Lukey (looking down) and me at Art on the Green

Getting his tee ball trophy

Cutting teeth doesn't lend itself well to sleep as I well know. Luke has protested sleep the last few days, but tonight has been the worst. It is after 10pm and I've been bouncing, rocking, dancing, shushing, rubbing, patting, and nothing. WIDE AWAKE.
Currently playing with Daddy's cell phone and blowing bubbles. The 10 month old wins!

So, I think I'll post some happy pictures to take my mind off my sleepless night to come. School starts next Tuesday and it's only going to get more hectic. I really have enjoyed having Kai out for the summer. Here's a cute picture of Lukey laughing... Chad is off camera throwing grass at him. So dang sweet.

Lukeydoodle Turns 10 Months, gets 2 teeth, and LEARNS TO CRAWL!!

So the last week or so has been quite eventful for my little man. He has had two bottom teeth and one top left lateral incisor, but in the past week, he got a bottom right lateral incisor and his left front top tooth came in. The right front top tooth is going to pop through any day. He has also gotten much more mobile. His "crawl" is sort of an army crawl still, but he is definitely figured out how to get from place to place. Tonight I was making dinner and he cruised into the kitchen and pulled all the Tupperware out of the bottom drawer. Baby proofing here I come! I ordered a gate for the top of the stairs and with no time to spare.

Summer is quickly escaping us, it is actually quite cold tonight. I love the fall, but I am going to miss the beach, the bike rides, the boat, and spending so much time in the yard. In two weeks, school is going to start and Malachi is going to be a first grader. I have mixed feelings about him starting school. On the one hand, he is so ready; he is an information sponge and loves to learn. On the other hand, I want my baby back. Having Luke reminds me of how much Kai has grown. He asked me to rock him to sleep tonight and he has to curl up to be in my arms now. It's definitely bittersweet.

Tomorrow is our last tee ball game. Malachi seems to have enjoyed it, although we haven't figured out how to get him to focus while he is there. I am just glad that he wants to do it, I think it is really good for him to learn how to be a part of a team.

I have been feeling rather domestic with Chad being home in the evenings and weekends. I am trying to make dinner every night, make all of Luke's baby food, and get us to sit together as a family. Tonight, I started what I want to be a tradition for us. I asked Malachi to tell me his "high" and "low" points of the day and asked him to tell me one nice thing he did for someone else. I want him to get in the habit of telling me each of these things every night. Tonight, he said his "high" was getting one of his stuffed animals, Sarge, back and his "low" was not getting to build his castle outside. (He was reading his book and didn't come out with me when I was out there). The nice thing he did for someone was not getting mad at Grayson when he knocked over Malachi's lincoln log building. Eh, we'll get there.
I'll post some new pictures later, I am too lazy to go out to the car to get the camera.

Summer Fun, Kai's 6th Birthday and a new job for Chad

This has been a really nice summer so far. We have enjoyed going on the boat with my sister, going to the beach and park regularly, playing t-ball, taking piano lessons, going to Silverwood to celebrate Kais 6th birthday, and riding some major bikes. Luke has been a trooper with everywhere we've taken him these past couple of months.
Teeball photo op

At the lake in Luke's Cozy Crab (Kai's favorite)

Grayson cruising on the John Deere

Luke rockin the hawk and sort of looking like an old man



Silverwood was last Sunday. We took the boys, Jaden and Louie, Seth, DQ's family, and Grammy. We all had a really good time.

Kai playing in someone else's tubes.

It really wasn't cold even though he's shivering.

Luke and Daddy on the train to nowhere.

Auntie's family on the log ride.


On July 15th, Chad started a new job with Macy's and is now home with us on evenings and weekends. It is way more challenging (and interesting) than his old job and he is really enjoying it.
So that's kind of what we've been up to.