Luke's 1st Halloween

We went to our friends' home for Halloween festivities last night, and we had so much fun dressing up for Luke's first Halloween!

Super Mario

Jennifer was 'a road' with cars taped to her legs.

Superman and Anna the Ballerina were 'tutu' cute :)

Chris and I were Celtics fans.  Or Irish hoolligans. Or both.

Joe was a knight and Micah was blown away by everyone's awesomeness :)

We walked the neighborhood with all the kiddos and parents, had a hot dog, and came home.  Luke was pooped out by all the excitement!  

I've decided that Luke will be a puppy dog next year so I can put a retractable leash on him for trick or treating!

choices

Sometimes I wonder if the choices I've made are the best, but in the end, everything seems to all work out.  But because they are my choices, I'm ok if the outcome isn't as wonderful as I imagined.  It's easy to see what's right in front of you, but sometimes that skews your vision.

And from the outside, you wonder why anyone would make such a drastic choice.  

Having a hard time processing someone's choice...

Feeling Crafty

This weekend, NWA hosted War Eagle, a ginormous craft fair that is 3 days long (Thursday - Saturday), one weekend in October every year.  Now, I'm not looking to make my house look like a bajillion crafts threw up in it, but I do like to go peruse, and occasionally I make a small purchase.  This year, I only left with a fried Snickers in my belly.  And I must say, I still prefer my Snickers frozen.

We went up to NWA Friday morning, and got to surprise Jim (Chris' dad) at work.  We walked around and showed Luke off to everyone we could find (most had bolted to go crafting) and I think he was pleasantly surprised.  Friday night we had dinner with Evan and Erin at La Huerta.  I was so hungry and devoured my entire plate.  Luke had a great time and we got him home and in bed at a decent hour.

Saturday morning, we left for War Eagle and met Ed and 3 out of his 4 kids (Kate and the 4th kiddo were not in town) for some serious perusing.  It was kind of cold, so we bundled Luke up in a beanie and jacket with a blanket over him for the morning.  We met up with Chris' parents later in the morning and then all of us went to lunch.  By that time, it was getting close to game time, so we headed to run one last errand and then home.  Ed took his kiddos home to rest, I hope!  I think we were all worn out!

This morning we piddled around the Beaty's home before going to have lunch and heading home.  Luke was so off his schedule that he whined the entire way home except for the 35 minute nap he took.  He was so glad to be home that it didn't take much to put him to bed tonight.  He's definitely a creature of habit!

We had so much fun visiting friends and having a little getaway!

Letter to Parents

Dear mom and dad,
 
 tcvb uvc7x6z5tyuuyvchgfsew dz fgj hh

b gfyrt cyxxzdqWRVIYV8KIr6ct gg   b gxt6b

hgvgfcxddsghthgyhuytiytbtcered x

love,
your son :)

8 Months

Luke is 8 months old!

Wonderful Weekend

We had a terrific weekend that started out with a date night on Friday!  My Aunt Susan and her husband, Robert, came and took care of Luke while Chris and I went to dinner.  My goal was to have Luke down at his normal time (6:30 p.m.) so they wouldn't have to do much, but by the time they got to our house around 7, Luke was still wide awake.  They said he was terrific and he was still somewhat awake when we got home about 830.  But the minute he heard my voice, he was out.  Aunt Susan laid him down in his crib and he slept all night.

Saturday we visited a few garage sales and got Luke a couple toys and 2 sleeper outfits.  He was so well behaved and slept in between house to house.  We got home just in time for him to have a nap and when he woke up, we got ready to go to Brock's 3rd birthday.  Earlier that day, my SIL called and asked if we could keep our nephews while she finished up staining the concrete on their back porch, so of course we said yes.  We picked up Grant and Jude and headed to Conway with Luke for the birthday party.  Brock had a huge bounce house and the minute we stepped out of the car, Grant and Jude were ready to test it out!  I told Jude (he's potty training) he had to go potty before he could go play and he agreed, so I got Luke out of the car, turned around, and Jude was going potty in the front yard :)  No time like the present, I suppose!  The boys had a great time and Grant said as we were leaving 'I had so much fun!'  Chris and Luke got in the bounce house for a little bit and I think Luke enjoyed it!

Sunday, Chris and I took Luke to Bo Brook Farms to pick some pumpkins and go on a hay ride.  Luke wasn't sure what to think, but as always, he just went along for the ride.

Hay Ride!!

Our little family!

We really enjoyed our weekend and were a little sad to see it end!  Friday can't get here soon enough!

Letter to Baby

Dear Luke,

You are 8 months old now!  The months just keep flying by and before you know it you'll be 1!  We've already started talking about your first birthday party!

It's starting to get a little cooler now, fall is definitely upon us and on closer inspection to your closet, you only had 2 pairs of pants that fit!  I've been buying ahead, and I guess I forgot about buying for now.  It's okay, I've been shopping and you've got enough pants to last throughout a week or two now :).  You love being outside.  You smile when the wind hits your face, you stare up at the leaves on the trees moving, and just love exploring the world around you.  Now that it's not 100+ degrees outside, we've also started going for walks in the afternoons.  Sometimes we hope you'll take a little nap, but you just kick your feet back and forth and enjoy the stroll.

Everyone still comments on what a wonderful, laid back baby you are.  We went to some garage sales yesterday morning, and every stop we made you were just perfect.  You took a few little naps in between sales, and then you were all smiles when it was time to get out.  We couldn't ask for a better behaved son!

You are now in 6-9 month tops and 3-6 month bottoms - you don't have any tooshy to speak of.  Oh, and speaking of tooshy, you love bath time, and so when we strip you down we yell 'Naked Tooshy!' and you just laugh and smile.  You can sit up in the bath now, but we had to put down a bath mat down so you wouldn't slip and slide everywhere.

We think you're starting to wave 'bye', but we're not completely sure.  But when you do it, it's pretty awesome!  You are still trying to crawl.  Those legs get up under you, but your arms just don't know what to do, so you lie there with your butt in the air until you finally roll yourself to the side.  You can feed yourself your bottle now, and that little bit of independence for us both is great!  You've started looking at yourself in the mirror, although I don't know if you know it's you or not, but either way, you smile at your reflection!

Your favorite toys include some rattle balls, a lion with teeter rings on its' feet, a soft car and the remote.  Everything goes in your mouth, too, so we have to be careful of what we can give you!  You've got both of those 2 bottom teeth in so we're trying you out on some more food.  Mainly some food called Baby Mum Mums, some puff cereal, and you had ice cream and a lick (or 7) of a sucker at a birthday party.  Just to be clear, your dad is the one that gave you ice cream and the sucker.  Bananas are one of your very favorite foods, so we slice some up and put it in a mesh feeder and let you go to town.  It's super messy, so we strip you down to the diaper, but you really love it!

I cannot believe how much you've grown since your little 4 pound 10.5 ounce self.  You're such a chunk now and I just love kissing your belly!  Your dad kisses it, too, and you laugh up a storm!  I think his beard tickles you :)  We are so glad that you are a part of our family!  We don't know what we ever did without you, you just make us so proud!

We love you, son.
Mom and Dad