We're Back

Well, we decided to return to the site of our first blog that we started way back in 2005. The Mac program we were using for our previous blog was just not user friendly enough (for me) and we got a new computer for Christmas that---gasp---isn't a Mac! So, it just made sense to return to Blogger. Hopefully people will visit us over here. The old site will be up a few more months with the link for this blog.

We had a wonderful Christmas with all of our family. We celebrated Christmas with my side (Suz) two weekends before Christmas because the Olsons were headed to Minnesota the Saturday before Christmas. It was a lot of fun. Mark got Guitar Hero and we entertained ourselves with that. Luke and Lily got several fun new toys.

We spent Christmas morning at home so Luke could see what Santa brought him. He got a basketball hoop and a few other things. Later that morning we drove to Temple to spend a few days with Mark's family. It was a lot of fun. Luke and Molly played a lot together.

Mark also got Rock Band for Christmas, which is a blast to play on Playstation 2. There can be 2 guitarists, a drummer, and a singer all playing at the same time. Here is a picture of Mark, David and Jake playing Rock Band yesterday at David's house.

I bought a new Digital SLR camera with some of the generous Christmas money we received. After much debate, we went with the Nikon D40. It is pretty intimidating because there are so many buttons but I hope to learn how to use it to its full potential. I was just so tired of the shutter lag with our other digital camera and missing all the cute shots of Luke. I plan to post a lot more pictures as soon as possible.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving

Little Big Man on Campus

Luke and I visited Mark on campus one day when the weather was nice and cool. Luke was a big hit. A group of students studying nearby came over and asked if they could play with him. He was more popular that day than his mom and dad ever were at college.

Once again, I haven't done that great of a job of updating the blog. Hopefully we still have some readers. :) We are really looking forward to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and spending time with both sides of our family. We may be on the road a lot, but it will be fun to see everyone. On Thursday, we will be in Granbury at my Aunt Dixie Lee's house with my Dad's side of the family. That evening we will go to Belton and see Mark's family and spend the night and Friday with them. On Saturday we are driving to Brownwood to see my Grandparents.

Luke is talking so much. I don't even know how many words he can say now. He says new words all the time. Yesterday he said "football" and "horsey." For some words, he says his own version of the word, but I still know what he means. He never really took to the whole signing thing, but when he is done eating and wants out of his highchair he says "ah du" (translation: all done). He also LOVES to be outside. He goes to the back door and says "out" over and over. Now that the weather is more pleasant, we have been going outside more. Grammy and Paw Paw brought him a little slide that he is enjoying. Regardless of how long we spend outside, he cries when we bring him inside.

We joined a church near our house called Celebration Church. We have been visiting it since Easter and decided to join. We really like it. However, last Sunday was the first Sunday that Luke didn't make it all the way through the service in the nursery. They flashed our number on the screen about 15 minutes into the sermon and when we left the sanctuary a lady was holding Luke in the lobby and said they just couldn't get him calmed down. So, we had to take him home. Every other time we have gone, Luke has loved the nursery. So, I'm not sure what was going on. Hopefully it was just a one time thing.

I have been subbing once a week. I think I may have said in a previous post that subbing was like a "walk in the park" compared to teaching in inner-city Austin. Well, I think I may have overstated that a bit. It's definitely not a walk in the park and a few days I have come home with a migraine--but I just remind myself that it is only one day out of the week.

Mark and I are pretty bummed about the writers' strike going on in Hollywood. This last week was the last new episode of "The Office" until the strike gets resolved. We will really miss our shows (especially "30 Rock") if they area all reruns soon. It looks like "LOST" is going to still come on, but we may just get half a season.

Happy Thanksgiving

Lukes' First Costume Party

Luke attended his first costume party this past weekend. He went dressed as Nemo from the Disney movie, “Finding Nemo.” He looked so cute waddling around in his costume. Our friends, the Ashcrafts, hosted a really fun party. All of the babies in attendance looked so cute!! It was really fun just to watch them play and interact in their costumes. Luke kept his costume on for a while before he finally started to get fussy and we took it off. Shauna and Jeff came dressed as farmers and Lily was a little piglet. She was too cute!

Here is a cute picture of Luke and Lily. Click here to go to the web gallery to see more pictures from the party.

Luke just got in four of his top teeth all at once. We thought he was only getting in two teeth at once. But one day I caught a glimpse inside his mouth and saw that all four were coming in at the same time. So, he was a little more fussy than normal for about a week and didn’t eat well. But now he is back to his old self. Also, in the last week, Luke has learned to bring us books if he wants us to read them. Usually we would just sit in his room and I would read the ones that were his favorites. Now, he brings us books one by one and wants us to read them. He even is pretty good at keeping track of what we have read lately and will throw a few new books into the mix. But he makes sure his favorites (Hello Hook ‘em, Silly Sally, Baby Noah World Animals, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar) are read very often.

I started substituting for Round Rock ISD last week. Grammy (aka Sharon) watched Luke so I could sub for 2nd grade at a school near our house. The plan is for me to sub once a week. My time teaching first grade in inner-city Austin made this day subbing seem like a walk in the park. I am subbing at the same school tomorrow. I am so excited that it is finally fall and we have some cooler weather. Now we can actually spend some time outside.

So Much for a Fall Festival

On what was quite possibly the hottest day of the year, we attended a “fall” festival with the Olsons and our friends, the Johns, in Marble Falls. It was so hot! All of the babies had red cheeks and we only lasted about an hour in the heat. We got a few cute pictures of Luke, Nathan and Lily. Our attempts to get all three of them in one picture were pretty unsuccessful, as you can see below. Luke got to see horses, goats and chickens.

In other news, Luke is walking about 95 percent of the time now. He took his first real steps about a week before his first birthday. Then over the next few weeks he has started walking more and more. His favorite things to say right now are “apple” and “hat.” He got a UT baseball cap from Jo for his birthday and ever since then he has said “hat” or “at” about 100 times a day. He calls everything either “apple” or “hat” or both. He also says “ight” (light), “anana” (banana), and a few other words. Last night, we were reading him his favorite book right now, Hello Hook ‘Em, and he said his own little version of “hook’em” it sounded like “oo ka.” It was pretty cute, and Mark was pretty excited.

We are glad Grammy and PawPaw are back from England safely. They brought Luke an official British soccer uniform (or “soccer kit” as they call them over there), a cute hoodie that says “England Rugby,” and some Wellingtons (rain boots). Everything is adorable and I can’t wait for Luke to play in the rain one day in his “wellies.”

We have been invited to a costume party for Halloween. It will be a lot of the babies and parents from the playgroup I attend. I can’t wait to show off Luke’s costume that he got from Nana and Papaw. I also can’t wait to see little Lily in her costume too. They will most likely be the cutest things anyone has ever seen. :)