Walking!

So, Luke started taking so steps without his walker last Sunday, the 15th of November. Today he is trying so hard to make it his main mode of transportation. Here's a video to show you from this morning!
He's so proud of himself! Every once in a while he'll stop to clap his hands in excitement =) I am so proud of my little man!

Also, we are so excited because we are finally having Luke's birthday party today! I can't wait to see all of the family and watch Luke interact with them. He has become so vocal, letting us know what he wants. I love this stage!

I mean, ofcourse I miss my little baby who used to just swim on the floor. I miss him needing me for everything. I miss breastfeeding even though I only got to do it for a short while. I miss that tiny little baby at week one. But, I am so incredibly proud of who he is today! Everyday he does something wonderful to amaze me!

Late Nights, Early Mornings

Luke's birthday started out nice. I kept him home to spend some extra Mommy time with him. That morning, I could tell something was different. He was a bit more fussy than usual, but I thought he might be teething (his fingers are ALWAYS in his mouth!). He required extra attention that day in order to be happy. Then he took his nap for the day. Normally his naps are 2, sometimes 3 hours. I had to wake him up at just over 3 hours! I then found out why he was so tired! He was running a 102.6 F temp!

He ran a fever through the night, so we decided he should go to the doctor. It's a good thing because he has his first ear infection... and guess what! It's a doozy! He's got it in both ears! Plus, the doc said he is wheezy all over in his chest, so if we had let it go too much longer he might have gotten pneumonia! Ugh.

So now he is on prednisolone to keep his lungs from getting inflammed and help the gunk to get out. He is also taking Omnicef (antibiotic) and Dallergy>>I am so excited about Dallergy because it is an allergy med but it also has a decongestant! It is working wonders! His nose is running instead of staying stuffed. I think he is feeling relief from the congestion.

Too bad his fever has not gone away. Today we have had to give him Motrin and Tylenol and had to give him a luke-warm bath to cool him off. It's been rough! He's never cried so much in one day! I am really looking forward to some relief from this.

Sadly, he was going to have a bunch of family over tomorrow for his first birthday party, but now we are not. We are postponing til next Sunday. I was so excited about tomorrow! But he has to come first. I want him to enjoy seeing everyone. I hope that he is much better next weekend! How long does an ear infection normally last?

Puppy time

So this is just a funny picture I thought I would share
So lately, I've been asking, or begging, Jesse to let us have a puppy. I know it may seem silly, but I was so used to having an inside dog before we got married. My family had one since I was five years old. Jesse comes from a hunting family...dogs belong outside and away from the house. Recently, he's been leaning toward letting me get one. As a joke, he went out and got us this puppy cake! It's white and fluffy just like I wanted! Hah! I don't think Luke was too sure about the idea.

Halloween

This was at the end of the night...he was very sleepy at this point.
He looks so deep in thought

Sucking on his bottom lip as usual

Luke and Makayla hanging out

The harvest festival with mommy

Luke playing with the hay

The hay ride!

Please Pray

Luke is very sad...he's sick again. He has an aweful cough and thick congestion. He absolutely hates getting his inhaler treatment and tries to get away if he sees it coming. This face above is what happens when he sees it coming. I have to put him in his high chair just so I can give it to him. It just breaks my heart!

As you all know, Luke turns One this thursday!!! Yay! I'm cheering for many reasons...one of the reasons is that now, finally, he can be allergy tested! If we could just figure out his allergies, we would be able to fix both his eczema and his constant congestions that leads to colds like the one he has now. Then we could have less sad faces and more fun times!

Please pray that we can get him tested soon and be relieved of all these bad allergies soon!

Daddy's lil' buddy

Luke and Jesse are the best of buds! Some times they rough house a bit though...
For some reason, Luke is always going for Jesse's nose!

He thinks it's hilarious!

Jesse doesn't think it's that funny.

Has anyone else had any biting issues? He only bites Jesse, but what if he starts biting others?

Family time

Here we are trying to get all of us in one picture...I think it might help if we had some help
Jesse and Luke hanging out

Cruising at Grandma's house.

Her house was a bit cold so Luke had to borrow one of Jesse's old sweaters.

Playing with his favorite instruments...pots and pans

Little man in charge

I guess he decided that the high chair should go back against the wall. He loves to move all the chairs in the kitchen around, this time I actually caught him doing it!

I have discovered this week that my little guy has quite the appetite! Yesterday, I fed him what would normally fill him, then I tried to put him down for a nap. This did not work at all! He was so upset and cried. I tried to give him a juice bottle, nope...held him and rocked him, not it...finally I put him back in his high chair and gave him more food. He ate nearly triple the amount he usually eats!! He's never eaten that much before! I was so shocked! I guess now that he's eating solids, he eats more.

Faces

His signiture look is sucking on his bottom on his lips, making a cool fish face!

I just can't get over my boy! I know all of you feel the same about your babies! Everything he does amazes me! He's so intelligent! And that smile gets me every time!

Bath time fun!!

Luke just loves taking baths! He loves his ducks....he says "duh, duh, duh" (duck)
And of course we get a kick out of playing with his long hair...can you blame us?

Posing for the camera

His hair is so sooo long! We need to cut it, but we decided to wait until after he turns a year. Amanda told us it was an old wive's tail that it was bad luck to cut it before they turn a year. Oh well, his hair stands up all the time anyway. If we were to cut it, it would stick up even worse than it already does!

Luke is everywhere now! He climbs into everything, opens all the cabinets he can, and if he could climb on the tables and couches he would...luckily he hasnt' figured that one out yet!

We try to keep his room organized,but he always manages to pull his toys out of the closet and display them all over the room. I love it! He's a mess!

Sometimes, we even find the kitchen table's chairs in new places! He loves to push them around, which make quite a racket! When he's not rearranging furniture he's romping a round the house with his push walker. He's such a speedy walker! I know he can walk without it, but he just doesn't know it yet...he'll figure it out someday!

Haha!

So, this was back in August when we were still in the apartment...it cracks me up everytime I look at it! He had just finished eating and I decided to play with his hair. He looks so surprised! Just reminds you that life can get you frazzled, but if you just take a moment to laugh, the load gets much lighter. I think God has blessed us with many moments like this!

Almost a Year!!!

It's almost been a year since our beautiful package arrived!

He's brightened each day with delightful memories to last a lifetime.

Sometimes it's been hard through sickness and strife, but I would not trade

my dear Luke for the world! His smile lifts my spirits and reminds me of

the love that started it all! Thank you dear Lord for the most beautiful

gift of all...our son and Yours!

Hello Again!

So, hello everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't written in so long, but life has been pretty crazy!

We've been so busy! In July we took a spur of the moment vacation to Indiana to see my Grandpa. That was great....12 hour drive with Luke wasn't so bad surprisingly. Then Jesse had to go to Texas for 3 weeks..it was awful! He came home on the weekends but I was still lonely. I stayed with my parents for 2 of the weeks and in the apartment by myself (well, with Luke) for the last week. After that, I had summer school and was still working part time at Baptist in LR. And I guess that brings us up to speed.

Cool Luke Facts:

• 
  
  Started crawling at the end of June


• 
  
  Was pulling up by July


• 
  
  Started using a push walker in August


• 
  
  No new teeth, but he's drooling and chewing on everything


• 
  
  Tried eggs...big NO-NO! Allergic reactions are kinda scary


• 
  
  Eats yogurt now everyday! and loves it!


• 
  
  Had ice cream for the first time last weekend at the Crackle barrel with Grandma and Grandpa McClendon


• 
  
  Cries now when Jesse and I leave


• 
  
  Moving to the sippy cup (a big boy now)


• 
  
  Still doesn't like real solids...spits them out


• 
  
  Eats puree meals, but still not sure about the level 3 jars


• 
  
  Wakes up every morning and stands in the crib, shaking the crib..haha


• 
  
  Is going for his first bike ride this weekend!! We got a bike seat for him! I'm so excited!

Sorry, I stole this format from you Amanda, but it just seemed easier so I could catch up. Hope you don't mind =) Thanks!

Eating at Chili's with my best friend, Susan! Luke loves the coasters!

Yep, he loves to eat them! He gave us a scare...when he pulled this out of his mouth, part of it was missing. Mommy had to fish cardboard out of his mouth. Yikes!

Susan and her favorite nephew...Luke

In the walker at Grandma McClendon's house.

Luke showing off his skills with the walker...one handed no less!

Well, guys, I hope to write more often. Sorry it's been so long!

Life Goes On

Or I should say "life goes and just keeps going!"

It seems like all of my memories seems so distant. Even the memories from four years ago seem so far away. I remember first going to college and loving that first year. Sometimes I wish I could go back because I was so naive. Jumping forward five years I find myself married with a seven month old...how did I get here? And how did I get so blessed?

I love my family so much! The three of us are so tight right now...and I love that, being snug as a bug! Luke is such a happy baby! We had a rough start with him. He got RSV at 2 1/2 months and things seemed like a roller coaster of sickness after that. Now he's pretty healthy...just the occasionally sneeze or sniffle from seasonal allergies.

Things to be thankful for:
Luke sleeps!
My husband has a fabulous job!
I have two semesters of Nursing school and then I finally hit the "real world" as far as jobs go!
Luke is the happiest baby in the world!
Luke smiles and brightens my day...his giggle is pretty hard to beat too!
My husband is so loving and supportive of me!
I have a wonderful job that is going to further my knowledge as a Nurse!
Oh, I could go on and on, but the point is....

I have been so blessed in my life and I just want to make a point of being thankful! Too many times I take things in life for granted and that's not the way it should be!

If you take the time to examine the world that surrounds you, you may find that you have been blessed too. These are hard times that we live in, but what have you been blessed with?

Think of the little things in life, then go from there. Sometimes I like to start with air...yes I know it seems silly, but just think! We're still breathing aren't we? I don't know about you, but traffic out there is awful and scary at times. When I get home safely with Luke, I'm just thankful to be breathing!

What are you thankful for today?

I Rock!!!

"I Rock!!! Yes, forward-backward-forward-backward...over and over and over"

Yep, so no crawling yet, but rocking yes! He love to rock!

He gets up on all fours, and kinda grunts in a happy way and just rocks..

it's actually pretty hilarious!

He's so proud of himself though!

Soon, I hope to show video of him movin' around.

Maybe tomorrow, or next week...

we'll see!

Memories

This is my mom helping me burp Luke the day after he came home..I was a little nervous to do it this way.
I still can't believe he was that small
This is them now! My how times have changed!


Now Luke feeds himself, but mom still loves to cuddle him.
And of course I love to watch!

One step toward Crawling!

Here Luke is warming up....and feeling the funny carpet of course =)
"No flash photography please"
This is Luke sticking his tongue out at the camera



Okay, so here' s what happened....mom and dad came over to visit me on my birthday (today). We were just letting Luke play while we were visiting....He was doing his usual rolling and pushing up on his arms. Next thing we know, he pushed up on all fours and looked around with this huge grin on his face...AND of course no one had a camera out. By the time we got one, he flopped back down and refused to do it again. The above pics are as close as he got. I'll be prepared the next time!!

And this to the right, well this is my precious Little Luke being his cutest and showing off his adorable teeth! I just love his new smile with teeth!

Oh, I almost forgot! ( I don't know how) Luke is officially 7 months as of yesterday!! Yay Luke! We also went to the doctor a couple of days ago because he had a rash...and our Little Luke is officially 20 lbs!! Can't believe it!...well, actually I can..or my back can!

Well, miss you guys in Cabot! All of your babies are so beautiful!