My Little Buddy

In the past few weeks Lucas has gone from a baby to a toddler. It makes me a little sad... but at the same time he is at such a fun age. He is walking almost exclusively... he only crawls here and there. His little walk looks like a chicken because he bends his legs, but it is still so cute.

Today he wore his skinny jeans with a flannel and his vans. I thought he looked SO big!

This one is a little out of focus, but I love that smile!

Today we went to Costco. Usually it is me running like a mad woman trying to get everything I need before nap time hits. But today Lucas and I meandered through the aisles, sharing samples. Some things Lucas LOVED... other samples he made a "I don't think I like this" face. We laughed and ate. Pretty soon we will share a hot dog and gelato together... he's my little buddy. 

Merry Christmas!

Today was such a fun day. Andy and I have been plotting and prepping all month waiting in anticipation of Christmas Morning. We knew that Lucas wouldn't completely grasp the concept of Santa or what Christmas is, but we still couldn't wait. Last night I think I finally fell alseep at 2AM because I was giddy just waiting for Lucas to wake up.

Lucas could tell something was going on because he got to eat breakfast upstairs and Andy and I kept saying, "I think Santa came!"

Waiting on the stairs:

Did Santa come?

As soon as we set Lucas down he started smiling...

He went straight for the Little People Farm:

Then over to the Ball Popper:

But definitely the favorite was the Pick-up Truck Cozy Coupe:

Lucas is a little short to sit and walk Flinstone style... so instead he just stands and walks.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa... He LOVES it!

He loved it so much he opened all presents from the drivers seat... nothing would get him out.

My favorite childhood book- Where's Spot?

What a wonderful Christmas day. It was so much fun playing Santa and even better reflecting on the birth of our Savior. Christmas is so much more magical with Lucas and we are so grateful to have so many blessings, family and friends in our lives.

Merry Christmas!

Grandma and Grandpa Honey

Tonight my Grandma and Grandpa Honey came in town on there way to Salt Lake for Christmas. We have been anxiously awaiting their arrival ALL DAY! For those newer readers of the blog... No, there first or last name are not "Honey". My grandma always would say, "Honey, come here." or "Honey, can you help me?" And the name just stuck. Grandpa Honey. I think everyone calls him Grandpa Honey and we love our Grandpa. We keep hoping Lucas gets his 6"5' genes....

Anyway, the night was complete with a yummy meal at Frank and Finnas... one of our favorites. LARGE Diet cokes and Mexican. Notice the FOUR diet cokes on the table.... and you wonder why I love diet coke. I'm pretty sure my grandma used to put it in my bottle.

At dinner Lucas discovered his Tongue...

Of course Grandma came with some gifts in tow:

Cute card.... Izzy wanted in on the action.

What do you get Lucas if you want to be on his good side?

BALLS! Lucas played with them ALL NIGHT LONG. Surprisingly, his favorite was the football. 

Ever since I was a little girl I can remember Grandpa Honey clearing his throat every night before bed and first thing in the morning. In there house in Huntington Beach it practically shook the house. For all us grandkids it is just something we love about our Grandpa Honey. I guess I didn't even notice it when Andy says to me as are all getting ready for bed, "Is grandpa honey OK????" I looked at him and said, "Yes. How come?" And he replied, "Listen to him". It was then that I heard the nightly ritutal of the clearing of the throat. How funny that I didn't even notice it, but Andy heard it three doors down and was concerned. I told my grandma and we both giggled. She then said, "It's my wake up call every morning".

We love having them here and are sad they have to leave tomorrow, but we will get to see them on there way back home!

Slandsome

Whenever any of the boys in our family are dressed up (either for church, wedding receptions...or just date night) my mom calls them "Slandsome"... With Andy it is... "Smandy... you look Slandsome".

I think Lucas looked especially Slandsome for church today:

Wouldn't you agree?

We had to look nice for Christmas Sunday!

Today

Today Lucas and I have had a great day. We had our one year check up.

Height: 31" (84%)

Weight: 20 lbs 14 oz (24%)

Head: I don't remember.

Although he had 4 shots, he was a tough guy. To make him feel better we went to lunch with out good friend Jude.

(This photo was taken awhile ago at a previous lunch date... hence my bald baby)

But once we got home the real fun started. It began with our favorite game:

Where's Lucas?

Peek-a-boo!

 Our next favorite thing... my phone!

Hi Mom!

What a good day.

And so it begins...

Lucas hasn't even been 1 for a week and he is already throwing tantrums! What happened to my sweet baby? Now he has a mind of his own and thinks he can do whatever he wants. Yesterday morning was the biggest tantrum yet. It was time to get out of the bath. I pulled the plug, got down the towel and went to get Lucas. Lucas started screaming, raced over to the other side of the bathtub, pushed down the plug and stared at me. I think he was waiting for me to smile because he was so smart. Instead I pulled the plug and tried to pick him up. He started screaming even louder, arched his back, and wiggled his way until I didn't have a good grip and had to set him down. Naughty Shamers! Needless to say he won that round. Today I took all the toys our first, let the water go down completely and then tried to get him out. It worked a little better.

Lucas new favorite thing is Thompson's cage. Thompson doesn't think it is so great...it really isn't big enough for the both of them.

Somehow Lucas locked himself in the cage. It is out new time out spot :-) 

I can't wait to see what this kid comes up with next!

Come have a ball!

Today we celebrated Lucas' 1st Birthday with all our family and friends. I can't believe one year has passed since we took our little Lucas Henry home from the hospital!

In the past year we have...

Sent 3 missionaries off and welcomed two home;

We have had a helmet & cast;

We bought our first home;

We bought a puppy;

We've grown together as a family.

So on to the Birthday Celebration!

We decided to go with a "Ball" theme because they are Lucas' favorite thing. We basically just wanted to have Balls everywhere so the guests could play with them throughout the party. Let's just say Lucas was in Ball Heaven. He played on the grass the entire time crawling from ball to ball. Some Party Highlights:

- Lucas took his cake eating very seriously, barely cracking a smile.

- Homemade cupcakes and also had a cake for variety.

-El Pollo Loco catering--since Lucas' loves rice and beans.

- Skyping with Grandma Tracy so she could watch Lucas dive into his cake

- Beautiful 70 degree weather in December

A HUGE thank you to everyone who came and celebrated with us. I know Lucas felt so loved having all his friends and family with him on his special day. We are so grateful that our Lucas Henry joined our family one year ago. He brings such joy to our lives and we can't wait to watch him grow.

Here are some pictures! (What you really wany anyway!)

Past 48 hours

Notice anything different about this picture?

Perhaps a certain Lucas is wearing normal PJ's? As in, NO cast!

Well my friends, the Coons family has had an extreme case of the stomach flu. Lucas' was in the form of explosive diarrhea which equals major blow outs, which then blew into and down his cast. After discussing with his doctors the pros and cons-- cons being serious infection and possible warts, we decided to take the cast off. So, he only had the cast for  1 1/2 weeks instead of 3. And now we have to keep him from crawling. So if you see Lucas in the Baby Bjorn over the next few weeks it's because he can't crawl. 

Good times. 

Thanksgiving Weekend!

This past weekend has been a blast! We have had so much fun hanging out with the Coons family. I didn't take nearly enough pictures because we were too busy playing hard!

Thanksgiving morning we had everyone over for German Pancakes and a little turkey bowl. Andy woke up at 6AM to secure a field. Best line of the day was by Charles, "This isn't the Super Bowl, this is the Turkey Bowl. Let's get on with it!"

We had a wonderful dinner prepared by all family members and of course no Thanksgiving is complete without Jane's Orange Rolls. YUM!

Here is Lucas in his Thanksgiving Sweater. Please ignore the black sock to cover the cast.

Family Picture

This was Lucas' last "1st" Holiday so we had to go all out with a bib!

On Friday we of course did our Black Friday Shopping.... and put up Christmas decorations!

Here are Andy and Lucas finishing off the Christmas Tree with Santa:

Family Photo in front of the tree:

Here is the story behind this picture. We set the tri-pod up to take a family photo... well Lucas refused to look at the camera or smile for that matter... or when we would get him to smile it would stop by the time the timer went off. So I started jumping right before the picture took. Well that resulted in me "landing" and looking really small, and Andy looking really tall. So, here we are, the munchkin wife and the super tall hubby.

Today John and Jane gave their homecoming talks at church. Afterwards we took a family photo:

It was freezing outside. And of course, Lucas is looking elsewhere.

Me and Kelly... wish they lived closer... sigh

It was a great weekend filled with yummy food, good conversation, and lots of family. Thanks Burdetts and Trythalls for coming in to town so we could play. 

Bookcase/Den

We have been going back and forth about what we wanted to do in our front room... Formal dining? Formal living room? Play room? What to do, what to do. We finally decided we wanted a "Den/Crafting Area" because after all is said and done that is what would be put to best use.

So then we were trying to decide what we should put in the Den. We found the most beautiful craft rooms at California Closets, but the $$$$ was not in the budget. Andy came home one night and showed me his drawing of what he was going to build. I'll be honest, I was skeptical. He told me that if I hated it I could take it out and we could go back to the drawing board.

Well, Andy finished and it looks great! It totally finishes the front room and I now have a place to keep on my crafting items!

Best part? Grand total of project = $200. Savings of about $2000 for not using California Closets!

**Those chairs don't normally go there... the Christmas tree is taking up the space that the chairs usually go**

So welcome to our Den! :-)

Spikey

While Ashley was here she mentioned that I needed to blog more because Lucas look so different than when she last saw him in September. This morning I took pictures of Lucas new "spiked" hair do. His hair is finally get long enough to do something!

Lucas loves it.... and so do I. I am hoping it will be longer for Christmas!

It's the most wonderful time....of the year.

Which also means it is time for Santa pictures! Tonight Ashley and crew drove through Las Vegas on their way to Utah for Thanksgiving. We did the annual "Meet at In'NOut, let the kids run around, and hang out". Afterwards Ava and Shea still needed to get some energy out (and maybe Christian too:-)) so we headed over to Bass Pro Shops. Luckily, Santa was there this week (last week we went, and Santa was out sick) so we decided to get a picture of the grandkids for Grandma Tracy.

Take 1:

The kids all seemed OK, so we decided to try again with Shea actually on Santa's lap. Easy enough, right?

Take 2:

The best part of this picture is Santa's face. We honestly were laughing for days. Santa doesn't know what is going on or why we decided as parents this was a good idea. As the kids were sceaming he said to the elf taking the picture, "Hurry, you gotta do it quick with these ones". Hilarious.

Better luck next year?