My sweet little mister

So, this is my baby. I don't think I've ever had a picture of Luke so real and candid as this one above. Aunt Lisa took this picture at Starbucks yesterday post pumpkin shoot. I can't stop staring at it because it's so hard to get that 'shot' of your baby where they just 'wear' the emotion. Luke is like his momma, you'll always know what he's thinking. He wears his emotions.

This sweet expression is what I see everyday in my sweet baby's face in the picture above. It's Luke. To the "T". He says "momma, I'm cute, I know it, but sometimes I don't get my way..makes me sad, but I'm ok after my meltdown". note: the music was too loud in Starbucks and he started crying holding his ears. Aunt Lisa asked them to turn it down and by God's grace they turned it off! He recouped and then sat on the coffee table staring and kicking at Lisa. She took the shot.

So adorable!

Ok...stay tuned for Pumpkin Patch 08 pictures. I'll save the details for that blog. Long story short: Pumpkin Patch 08 was an experience. LOL

Love ya'll!

A

Pumpkin Patch Past 07

Hi everyone, (note: these pics below are last year!)

Note to CMS PARENTS: Luke had just been diagnosed with CMS a few months earlier. So, he was able to sit up on the pumpkin in a matter of a few months! The Mestinon medicine is truly amazing if it's applicable to the type of CMS that your child may have.

Today we are headed to the pumpkin patch with Lukester. I can't wait! If you recall, last year I got some amazing pictures of him. Below are post mestinon so he was able to sit up on the pumpkins last year.

This year, I'm going to need some serious assistance as I have no clue how he'll act. He's been more like a toddler wanting to sit on the ground and move off and not be still. So....in memory of last year's adorable pumpkin patch pictures..I just had to post them again.

Stay tuned for PRESENT PUMPKIN PATCH PICS! Coming this weekend!

Let's hope we can get these fun shots below! Happy Friday, love ya'll!

P.S. See these pants he has only below. They are rolled up. Well, they ride at his ankles now! He was my little dinky man last year. Now, he's my big boy! Wait till you see how tall he is!

Balloon face

The following picture is why I have to have my photography friends step up and take pictures of my own kid. This picture was taken literally seconds before his angry face set in. I loved it as you can see the build up in his expression. He's about to blow.

This picture is called: "Mom, I'm over it, you have taken so many pictures with that big black thing in front of your face. You just say Luke (real loud) and all I can see is your mouth. Your loud mom, and..your screeching voice annoys me. I can't take anymore. Please, for the love of all that is Holy---stop clicking that thing and pay attention to just me" love, Luke

P.S. Don't miss his new shoes post below. So fun!

Luke's new shoes and walking update

Hi blog family,

Update on Lukester duke. Well, he finally got his new cool rockin AFO shoes. They have hinges on the back and he's really doing well with this version. After a few disappointing trips to Payless for xx wide toddler shoes, me/Dh finally broke down and went to Stride Rite in the mall. We found them there and they were a perfect fit over his AFO's. (we won't talk about the financial cost -- let's just say XXDW cost a smidge more)

The PT (Physical therapists) are raving about his progress in these braces as he's got so much more balance and control when trying to stand up straight and walk around. (keep in mind, walking around means...being pulled up by us and US walking him around) Or..the gait trainer.

So, here's pumpkin chop pop. He's fascinated with the halloween decorations on the coffee table which is a good thing as it encourages him to pull up and stand straight for awhile. It's really cute.

A huge thing: He was standing up next to Jonathan's computer chair the other night and Jonathan said he side stepped from his chair to the desk. 2 steps!! By himself. Of course, I missed it! But, the therapists have told me he's been doing well with side stepping! whoohoo.

My mister in his new cool shoes!

Of course, he still loves to perch himself under plants. It's so funny! So, I had to post more plant hair pics above for your entertainment.

VIDEO BELOW of LUKE STANDING IN HIS NEW SHOES:

Hugs loved ones,
A

Funny feet obsessed mommy

Ok, so I couldn't resist. I'm at Carter's (children's clothing store) and I pass by these shoes in the halloween jammy section for boys. I cracked up and had to buy them. What am I doing? I'm so becoming the "Holiday Outfit" mom. I've already bought Hannah's Christmas dress; Luke's Thanksgiving clothes; Luke and Hannah's Christmas morning jammies and now Luke's Halloween jammies. AND! Hannah's "first thanksgiving" outfit for the day of Thanksgiving.

Honestly, the only thing I'm missing at this point is Luke a Christmas sweater to match Hannah's Christmas dress. (to which I'm awaiting to see what baby Gap gets in this week for the Holiday stuff) I'm actually calling the store to see when the shipment is coming in?! (I so need help!)

I'm obsessed with Holiday Clothes.

Ok...enjoy Luke's new monster feet that match his jammies. The really funny thing is: I put them on and he loves them. He moves his feet and stares at them and keeps them on!!




NOTE: The drum stick goes everywhere with us now. He likes to click, click, click on everything in the store, the house, the floor, his toys etc. The only place we've banned "The clicker" (that's what we call it) is in his bed. He'll click, click, click on his bed and not go to sleep! LOL

Our blessed guest

Our beloved Paul! Hi blog family, we had a special visitor last night for dinner. See him above? Isn't he adorable? NOTE LADIES: He's single and amazing. LOL! (you're so gonna kill me aren't you Paul? Don't be mad.....the above sentence filtered out of me...it's isolated..I swear) :)

We were so excited and anticipating this all week long. So, above is Paul--but you can call him "P diddy". Paul and I originally met at church while he was on staff serving and I was a small group leader a few years back. So, he's come back from serving in China a few months ago and blessed us with his presence! We missed you Paul!

Ok, so I must confess that I have favorite people in my life. I really do. I don't want to be that type of person that plays 'favorites'.....but sometimes..you meet someone and you walk away and think...I really love this person. They touch my soul. This is what happened when I met Paul for the very 1st time. He just grabs your soul. He's good people. (note again ladies: GOOD PEOPLE) He will have you rolling and has the most intoxicating sense of humor. It's so fun. I didn't want him to leave. (private reality) But...life must go on!

So, here' the fun rundown. Lisa/Paul drove over early afternoon and Lisa cooked this amazing meal. (thank you honey!) Truly! Amazing meal. Meatloaf stuffed in bell peppers, a blue cheese salad, whipped cauliflower and steamed veggies. Do you not want to just take Lisa A. hostage in your home? I do.

At any rate, we had so much to catch up on as Paul has not seen Luke since he prayed for him (MANY TIMES) in the NICU. YES..you heard it. Paul would jump in his car and race over to the hospital and lay hands and pray over our sweet Luke when he was so, so sick in the NICU.

**I just want it noted...when a man of prayer does this for your baby...you want to tackle him and never let go** Hence why I freaking love this man. He's just a light.

So, he got to see our Luke in full form. Aunt Lisa is brilliant and bought Luke a balloon to which he swoooned over. (she so knows Luke) So, Luke was giddy and elated to have balloon time. So fun! I was overjoyed that Paul got to see the miracle in Luke. It was a blessing.

We basically sat back and enjoyed the great food and we just talked, talked, talked. I was in Hoggy heaven .

This said, we ended with sitting on the couch watching some of the debate and I took this opportunity for Paul to write a note in Luke's baby album. I've been wanting the people that came to the hospital and prayed to write a note to Luke so that one day...Luke will see how much God loves him through other people and their prayers for him. It's emotional..but so very true. I was elated that Paul got to do this for us. (thank you Paul, love you)

That said, the night was ending and P Diddy and Lisa Loo had to depart. Lisa/Paul...I didn't want y'all to leave! (ok..I'm needy right now) :)

So...I'll end with pics. And...you can't miss the obnoxious video below. It will crack you up in reference to the halloween decorations! It's quite embarrassing actually. (lol)

ok so, the picture rundown: you know how Luke would smile for the camera on our last outing? Well, guess what. He would stick out his tongue every time Lisa or I would say "smile". It was hysterical.

Pumpkin chop and coveted balloon; Daddy and me; a smirk smile we got on camera!

Lisa loo and Paul above. (a fun pair)

DEEEEELEEEEESHHHHOUS FOOD!


Me and Paul at the dinner table...

So, the night ended and I was sad. Life is too short when it comes to community and fellowship in my opinion. I loved having everyone over and enjoying talking about the Lord, His ways that are cool and His ways that are confusing. That's my love. It's hard to explain other than it's nice to fellowship with sandbox playmates.

Ok...so, signing off. We love you Paul and can't wait to see you next time. Huge hugs, A

P.S. Below video is called "Exiting my house". You'll see. (you can always expect 'grand' entrances and exits at our house in September. (lol)

p.s.s. Note Lisa's hair do. Isn't it sexy?

Luke preparing for Hannah

I've been pulling Luke's old baby toys out. Now, he's fascinated again with this crib toy. He played with it all day yesterday. I remembered how the music was really getting to me towards the end of it's pack up time. Now, it's out again.

This is Hannah's blanket. Luke has discovered this and wants to play with it all the time! He dive bombs it, wraps it around himself, covers up with it, etc. He loves the texture I think. Below he's playing 'where's Luke?'. It's our favorite game.
Self portrait of my belly yesterday. I'm so large.
Yes, it was Sept. 21st yesterday. Jonathan already started with the Halloween decorations. God help us. :)

More to come...I'm wiped loved ones. Need to retire. A

Gpa/Gma flying fun!

Wow..I'm finally blogging this. So sorry! I'm 2 weeks out. Literally.

Ok:

Off to see Gpa/Gma and spend the night at the Farm. I cannot express in words how much Luke loves this place. Animals and flying all wrapped up into one! He's in grandparent heaven.

1st off, we celebrated Gma's bday. She got purses, perfume and fun stuff. She was shocked and elated. And, she made us an amazing breakfast the next morning with amazing morning coffee. Even Jonathan asked for a 2nd cup and he's a serious coffee snob.

The really great thing for me personally was that Jon/Luke slept in the next morning and me/momma (that's what I call Luke's Gma)..she's my 'other mother'.. and my dad were all up at the crack of dawn and got to sit on the back porch with this amazing Texas view, great cool crisp Tx morning weather and enjoy coffee and conversation without Luke scooting everywhere. (A luxury I never get) God's timing.

So, after the birthday fun and the boys getting up finally!....we headed out to DAD's TOY BOX.

see below!

Translation: A plane hanger! Dad's little toy box is what we call it. So fun. He's a pilot and quite the avid pilot I must add. He's got jets and fun little planes all ready to fly at a moment's notice. Well, I think the jet is still in progress. Another cool thing he does on the side. (see jet below) He buys them from abroad and brings them back to the US and rebuilds for US standard flying regulations. (I think I said this right?)

At any rate, So...here is Gma/Lukester awaiting the preparation of Dad/Jonathan flying out for a quick spin around the sky. Of course, Jon was super excited.

We followed Daddy/Gpa out to the run way in the car and this is Luke staring away. He was in awe. So fun. Video of them flying below. It's quite fun to watch. Sorry for the video quality. I've requested from Santa this year a high powered video camera. I'm not messing around with this video stuff anymore! I want better footage. LOL

p.s. no pictures of me! UGH! But..I'm on the video some. I think? I need to pay attention to this more. The picture taker always gets dissed.

Hugs loved ones..hope you enjoyed!

Pumpkin pop chop and school update

Hi, ok..my new name for Luke. Pumpkin Pop Chop. (I know? don't ask..I honestly could not tell you) note: The glitter graphic above will make sense. It's giving you a glimpse of our school decisions that need to be made. This is me above! LOL

Ok....much anticipated SCHOOL UPDATE ON LUKE:

I'll try to make this brief. Longstory short: Luke turns 3 in November. ECI (early childhood intervention) releases all their kiddo's at 3 years of age to the Public school system. Crazy early!

Luke is eligible for the special needs program at the age of 3 in the public school right down the street. I've met with the coordinator and 'transitioner' lady named Karen 3x now. She's been so sweet and so very patient with me in allowing me a lot of time to 'think, fill out the chaotic paperwork, testing, etc'.

Logistics:

• We have this huge evaluation meeting in October where about 15 people from the school staff will be present. PT, ST, OT, Nurse, School administrators, Motor lab teachers, etc. They will evaluate Luke in person and watch him play. I'm hearing this takes 1-2 hours? Wowsie. After each and every person watches him and tests him with games, toys and interactive play...then they write an assessment up for Luke THAT DAY. (literally)
• At this point, we meet with the advocate lady KAREN and we create a customized special school plan for Luke.

Did you read that?! A CUSTOMIZED SPECIAL SCHOOL PLAN FOR LUKE! WOWSIE! I'm so excited.

She has said many times that this school district that we are in is like "FAMILY" and they take care of their kids. I'm so excited and so grateful we live in the sticks. She confirmed this as well because apparently a larger school district has limitations. I feel bad now for complaining so much about where I live. :) (it's far from city life..IMO)

Ok, so. The rundown. Pumpkin Pop will have 2 options after the evaluation. It's totally up to us on what we want to do as parents.

1) We can opt for HOMEBOUND schooling the 1st year to eliminate Luke getting sick. (a huge concern for us). This would entail a lady coming out to the house 4 hours a week to teach Luke one on one.

OR

2) We can opt for 3 hours a day (3x per week) at school in a classroom setting. The school is right down the street and yes...MY NURSE WILL ACCOMPANY HIM at all times. (I'll drive them and pick them up) I'm seriously not a bus person yet. I need to have some control over my baby. I'm already freaked! :)

What are we going to do?!

DH= Wants homebound.

BW= (BW..stands for bitchy wife) LOL. = Wants both!

I'm honestly nervous about school but my gut instinct is that Luke will grow leaps and bounds in a school setting. I'm wanting to take the risk. I'm nervous...but I feel it's best for him.

Decision: Not made yet. We'll get back to you.

In the meantime..that's the skinny. sorry to rush this blog..but I'm so dang busy bloggies.

I hope to slow down so very soon!

Love you bunches. Pray for our discernment and wisdom as parents. I want so much what's best for LUKE. Not us. A tuffy decision.

Big hugs,

A

Plant hair

Here lately, Luke has been scooting his butt over to plants. Tall ones. Then, he strategically positions himself right under them and just sits there and laughs.

He favorite thing to do is pick flowers and hold the flower, or tug at funky looking plant stems etc. ...pretty much anything that is planted in a pot or the ground is a playtoy for him.

Last season I posted where Luke was in Jon's garden and tearing up stuff having a hay day. Well, this season he's a little more polite about it and just stares and laughs. It's very sweet. He wants me to point and say "Plant", "Flower", "green stem". :)

Daddy always says to Luke "be nice to the green people son". It cracks me up. Jon is a green people lover. Not me!

So...I call this picture below "Plant hair". I even took some video where I say "Plant hair" about 50x. It's quite annoying after reviewing it. lol. Oh well, it's called mommy baby time. We get bored and start scooting over to other neighbors yards. So fun. (video below)




p.s. Sorry to the neighbor where Luke messes up your rock bed. I really feel bad about it. I try to put it back together...but I saw where you were not happy with my results from a distance. (oops) sorry. I don't talk to this neighbor nor do I know her name. And, I'm certain she does not know my blog..however, sorry strange neighbor?! k?

Vespa riding baby!

Oh gracious. I know, I know. Brace yourself Lulu. Luke wanted to ride with daddy on his Vespa so, so, so bad. Everytime he saw Jon riding by he would scream and cry. So, we broke down and thought...hmmm, what can we do?

I ran in the house and found his 'walking wings' strap holder and ran outside. Me/Jon got his bike clip and clipped the back and it was the perfect harness for our Vespa baby. We call it "Vespa rigged up baby harness".

I fully understand this is ridiculous and not the safest thing in the world. But, Jon only goes down the street and Luke is in heaven!! Ok....here goes...video below. I must confess...I typically would not advocate for this type of adventure..but after a very intensely boring day for Luke....we broke down. We so badly want him to experience life and adventure. Yep...we are risk takers at it's finest. (one thing me/Jon both have in common for sure) :) Enjoy loved ones.