Really Luke Really

Luke is being quite the handful. Jack had a cold a couple weeks ago and now Luke has it. You would think maternal love would take over and the nurturing side would shine through, but this child makes that impossible. He screams and cries all the live long day. If for some reason he isn't crying he honestly goes out and finds something to make him cry. He has discovered a couple really good spots to induce crying- the bathroom is loaded with them: toilet, tub, cabinet, and apparently the door frame, and I have temporarily moved this shelf thing into our living room, minus the shelves, so he just has to stand up underneath it to hit his head thus producing the cry. He isn't lovey or sweet, he won't sit with you for more than the length of time it takes to throw his head, elbows, and feet right into your stomach, and he refuses to take medicine- you have to pen him down, hold him upside down, and sometimes even squeeze his mouth open. He has a runny nose and if you try to wipe it he acts like you have just punished him beyond belief, and I have to wipe it every 15 minutes. There are moments when you think maybe he is better, but this just leads to situations where he will once again cry. These things include but are not limited to: hitting the dog, playing with the water heater, turning the washer on or off(whichever you don't want him to do), throwing food, throwing his cup, knocking down Jack's car ramps, lodging himself between the wall and where we have stowed our busted computer, throwing balls inside and probably at people/animals, and throwing things out of the tub while he is in the tub and refusing to sit while in tub. I think I speak for the whole family when I say-- Get Better Luke!!

Summertime Fun

We sure do get around. We headed back to KY last week to meet cousin James. He flew to KY at just 6 weeks-- way to go big guy-- and we drove there to say hello. Jack kept rubbing his belly and talking to him in a soft sweet voice. Luke ignored him at first then was interested in touching his head and face. I had fears of cars, balls, and tackles being directed at the baby but luckily these things did not happen. Here is a picture of the three grandkids.

After our visit there we drove back home so Luke could get his 15 month shots. Pete took him, and was able to get far more information from the doctor than I ever do-- I think I will send him more often. While we think of our Luke as quite the chunk apparently he is not as big as we think. If you take his weight and height individually and compare them to the general child population he is around the 30th percentile, and when you take his weight and height and compare them to each other he is in the 50th percentile. (At least I think that is how Pete phrased it). They gave Pete print outs of his graphs from birth to now, they talked about food allergies, milk intolerance, getting fruits and veggies, beta- carotene absorption when taking a multi, and a few other things. I guess she just took one look at him and knew he could handle it. They also discussed Luke's language development, and since he has displayed the ability to say words(even though he is a one and done kinda speaker) she didn't seem overly concerned. She said that after having Jack she was sure we were pretty worried about it, but not to be because in second children it is normal to have delayed speech and all they really look for is the ability to put two words together by age 2.

Then Pete and I had our 6th wedding anniversary. We have not gone out to celebrate it yet, instead we made it more of a family afternoon by taking the boys to see Cars 2. Pete and I are going to see the last Harry Potter film the weekend it comes out so we will celebrate that way. Then while Pete was studying I entertained the boys with water in the backyard. I bought a sprinkler earlier in the summer, but that was a total bust because neither child wanted to go near it while it was on. I noticed that inflatable baby pools seemed to work on the kids so I got one at Wal-Mart. This did work for a bit but then Jack got bored so I brought over our handy dandy bucket and put it next to the pool and Jack had a blast after that. So in summary the thing that has worked best this summer is a free bucket we got last year when we bought our grill. Then last night(which is really late afternoon when it involves our boys) and earlier today we have been setting off snakes, smoke bombs, M-80s, and some other loud fireworks. Below are a few pictures of our outdoor fun.

Summer isn't over yet- Jack starts another round of swim lessons tomorrow and at the end of the month Uncle Joe is coming in from Korea to visit us for a few days. We still have lots of fun to experience.

Visiting Aunt Barb

We went to visit Aunt Barb this weekend and we had lots of fun. Thanks for having us!! So below are some pictures of what we did.

We went to a place called Pirates Cove. It was pretty fun but Jack was tired and there were lots of lines so that didn't help things.

We also hung out in the cul-de-sac.

Then we had a ton of fun at the Morton Arboretum. We hung out in the Children's Garden-it was a blast.

Then one of the favorite things was playing with Electronic Snap Circuits. Here is a picture cousin Tricia took of the 'boys'.

Growing

Our baby is leaving the baby stage behind and is entering the terrible toddler phase. He has learned the art of crying for and because of EVERYTHING!! Luke don't bother Tigran=cry, Luke don't take out all the spices and throw them on the floor=cry, don't throw the dog food on the floor=cry, stop throwing the cokes on the floor=cry, if you want your cup say/sign please=cry. Add to this that multiple times a day he likes to throw himself either against the wall or on the floor while crying and you begin to get the terrible toddler phase. He understands us but he doesn't talk yet so it doesn't help in figuring out why he is crying. I have begun to think it is mostly because he just plain old wants to cry. When Pete leaves he cries, when I let Tigran outside he cries, and when he is bored he cries. He is stubborn and ignores our requests even though it is obvious he understands what we are saying- sometimes he even gives this smirky little smile before he ignores us. Oh that boy!

This is one of Luke's favorite things to do-- he thinks it is so funny!

Jack is going to preschool this year and in order to get the students ready for it they hold week long camps throughout the summer. Jack's camp is this week and last night it was me who couldn't get to sleep and me who woke up early because I was antsy. Jack woke up excited and ready to go. We packed his backpack and he added a couple snakes and lamby. We get there and he has a locker with his name on it, but they have the name John on his locker - he didn't understand why they didn't know the name he goes by. I put both names on all his papers, but I guess they didn't get the John 'Jack' thing. He told one of the teachers he goes by Jack, but the other teachers/helpers called him John so he wasn't thrilled about that part. Inside the room there is a tall 2 story house type structure with books and toys, there is a rabbit outside, a goldfish inside, and lots of other cool things. Jack loved that there were so many animals and even a reptile book on display. They were supposed to be preparing the garden and composting this week, but alas there were massive thunderstorms all morning long with perhaps more over the next couple days. Inside they did coloring, cutting, reading, playing, and snacks. Even with the John thing he still loved it. He talked about how fun it was, how great it was, and how he is glad to be going back.

Having entered my third trimester things around here have significantly slowed down. We watch a lot more Diego and Signing Times. I am tired and want/need naps, feel bad because I am not getting on the floor to play, especially with Luke who probably needs it the most, and am just starting to feel pregnant. The second trimester I was ready to go and had all sorts of energy and plans, but now I just look forward to laying down. :(   I am getting bigger and have a few pregnancy shirts that will rise up and expose my large belly- I just wonder what in the world I am going to do because I still have lots of growing time left.

lukeheadbangs

I thought this video would be the best way to show you what a rockin' summer we are having. Luke loves rock music and is often seen head-banging around the house.
Other Luke things:
-He is walking now-yay! His preferred method of transport is still either crawling or having his parents carry him around, but everyday he walks a little more.
-He is really into the Elmo House Slippers as seen in the picture below.

-He is also really really into belly buttons; especially mine. I am actually a little tired of having my shirt pulled up half the day so he can poke my belly button. Oh well, he does it to almost everyone-- at least he tries to. I have a pictures of him doing it to Jack and himself. Luckily, Jack thinks it is funny when he does it.

-He is entering the mimic stage which is cute because when we growl or make funny noises he does them too. We are excited watching him grow and leave the baby stage behind.

Jack is really into reptiles of all kinds but mostly snakes. We just bought him a snake encyclopedia that should get here this weekend-- he can't stop talking about it. While he and Pete were working in the yard they found an egg that is leathery and not hard so we have deemed it- The Reptile Egg. Jack checks on it multiple times a day. He either goes outside to look at it or there is a window in the house that gives you a perfect view. I am not sure it will hatch, but Jack can't wait to see what happens.
Other Jack stuff
- He started swim lessons this week. He has totally rocked them!!! I am so so proud of him. He can do everything they ask and he smiles almost the whole time. He came to the fence one day during the lesson and said, "Mom, I am so proud of myself!" His friend, Madeline, is in his class and they hang out the whole time. They are super cute. I have a couple not so great pictures of swim lessons. I was going to take better ones today, but it didn't quite work out so these will have to do.

-He still loves helping Pete in the yard and doing big guy things like shearing and lopping weeds.
-He signed up for the library summer reading program.
-He is just getting so big and is so much fun to be around.

Becky News-
-I am measuring big.I also had my glucose test earlier in the week, so we think that the measuring big may be a result of gestational diabetes- though we don't have the results back yet.
- I have been emailing our German university this week about housing for next year. Lucky for me the International Department understands English. :) They have housing available and we filled out a reserve form, but there is some misunderstanding about the dates- so I had to email again and ask very specifically about the dating system- is it European or American? I feel stupid for asking such a question but it does make quite a bit of difference when you have to make plans for arriving in a new country with a large family.

Pete News-
-He is refereeing a paper. This sounds very physical and like stripped shirts may be involved, alas this is not the case. When someone submits or wants to submit a paper to a journal it has to be reviewed and the errors have to be pointed out by other people in the field. Pete's adviser thought he should have the experience.
-He is also rocking it out daddy style, so much that when he leaves to study tears are flowing everywhere.

Wrap Up

Pete and I finished off our trip to Texas by heading to Austin one day and visiting friends the last day. Since I am pregnant we didn't go out on the town in Austin-- no bars or seeing bands--instead we went to the capitol, a museum, walked up and down Guadalupe street near campus, went on campus to walk around, and then headed off to Toy Joy. I wore a dress and flip flops/sandals because we had originally planned to go out to a nice dinner that evening. I did not think this all the way through because by the time we made it to the museum my feet were hurting something fierce, so decided that I could ease the pain by walking around barefoot. I am sure that I looked like some sort of hick stereotype, but it did help my feet.  As far as dinner, we ended up not going because after an afternoon of walking I just wanted to go to bed. This is pretty much how our trip went all week- I would want to go out to a nice dinner, but by the time dinner rolled around all I was ready to do was sit in bed and watch tv. Then we got to see the Barnett clan our last full day there-- it was so great to see them and meet their kids. The kids were so much fun and a blast to be around we were still talking about them once we returned home. So thank you to the Barnett family for having us over.

On the state senate floor

Turtle Pond on Austin's campus

barefoot and pregnant in a museum

pete's new plane

When we got home we were more than ready to see our boys. We missed them so much! Many times throughout the trip we wondered if we could try to change our flight so we could see them sooner. We got to hang out with Jack some before we all had to head to bed, and he was so happy to see us and had so much to tell us. They were quite busy while we were away- pool time, playing t-ball, visiting Poppa and the aunts/uncles, playing foosball, going to the Reptile Zoo, going to Natural Bridge, and a ton more I am sure. Luke was already asleep when we got home, but when I went to bed I brought him in bed with me. I was happy when he smiled and showed me that he remembered me- I was a little worried he might forget some but he didn't. Thank you Granny, Pappy, and Uncle Danny for watching, entertaining, and taking such good care of our boys.

San Antonio part 1

Pete and I decided to take a trip to San Antonio without kids. It seemed like a good idea, but we are missing our children like crazy. In an effort to try to connect with the kids from far away we went to this place called Snake Farm just outside the city. It was this scary on the side of the interstate kind of place.

It was over-priced for a place where you just look at snakes, but we wanted to take pictures and video of all the snakes we read about with Jack. I will say they have all of them-- the top 10 most venomous, the longest guys, and your every day cobras, vipers, and etc. They had a small gift shop with a back room which was isolated and included a deep well or pit-- if you leaned over and looked in you would see that it was a rattlesnake pit. I felt like there were creepy crawlies all over my skin. It felt like the kind of place where you would either die or find a dead body--eerie!! We called Jack to let him know that we had seen all these snakes, but it didn't go over too well. Instead of being excited that we had lots of pictures and video of his favorite snakes he was so so upset that we didn't bring him, and he just started crying. He wouldn't talk to us for the rest of the day.

Then we went to eat at a German restaurant in New Braunfels, TX-Friesenhaus- The town has a very strong German heritage: streets, shops,festivals- all with German names- and we heard a few people speaking German. It wasn't something that we expected when we came to Texas. We were excited and attempted to read all the signs the way they would be read in Germany. I think we are getting better, but then again it was just the two of us in the car with no one around.

We have done the regular San Antonio touristy stuff too. We visited the Alamo, saw the missions, walked around the King William Historic District, ended up at the Guenther House, walked along parts of the river, dined on the Riverwalk, ate at Rosario's, walked around the courthouse, the Fernado church, and La Villita.

The pictures from the first day are pretty numerous but since then not as many. I am pretty sure I have been overdoing it and am starting to feel it. Still, I figured we were here so we may as well see as much as we could. The Japanese Tea Garden was closed and Pete didn't want to pay $8 to see the Botanical Gardens, I don't think walking around 98 degree weather just to look at flowers appealed to him. Wonder why? :)

The Alamo

Concepcion Mission

Concepcion Mission- a few of the missions still act as active parishes.

San Jose Mission

San Juan Mission

The priest's house at the San Juan Mission

Espada Mission

Bridge from King William District that lead to to a beautiful walking path