Family Home Evening

Today I could post about my awful morning... Lucas throwing drill bits into my exhaust pipe, putting a screw in an electrical outlet, dumping an ENTIRE bottle of baby powder upstairs... truly the list could go on.

Instead I am going to post about FHE. We have been struggling in these parts with FHE. We have it every week, but it just isn't that successful. I want Lucas to sit still while we have a lesson. I want him to fold his arms and sing songs. Yesterday as I thought about our lesson, I decided obviously I was doing something wrong. So I pulled out all my old nursery gear and started preparing. I made 11 lesson folders that can be used over the next 3 months. I cut, colored, pasted and laminated. Then I velcroed them to their own individual folder so we don't lose them, and labeled accordingly.

Last night we had the "Jesus Loves Me" Lesson and I am happy to report it went way better than expected. Lucas interacted, pointed, played the matching game... I was shocked. I am so glad it went well otherwise the fact that I ignored all household duties yesterday while I crafted would have been a waste!

I am actually looking forward to FHE next week! My hope is that by the time this next new baby is 18 months Lucas will be a perfect example of how to act during FHE! :)

Grocery Cart Debate

I always thought my child would be the well behaved one. And for the most part, he is. But every child has his or her moments? Mine always occur when going to the grocery store. This is a recent thing where Lucas screams because he hates sitting in the cart. Now I literally dread going to the grocery store because of it. Until recently I discovered that if I let him sit in the back part of the cart with a snack he will sit for hours. Ashley and I would like to design a grocery cart where the openings for the child's legs are on the opposite side, because once a child is 1 they want to see what is going on around them.. they don't want to look at mom.

Anyway... this new "trick" of mine has been working wonders until today. Today we walked in to the market, I put Lucas in the cart, and proceeded to enter. That's when this lady stopped me and said,

" You are going to let your child sit there with his dirty shoes touching where everyone else puts their food!"

I literally did not know what to say. So I looked her in the eyes and said, "Uh-huh".

She then stopped in front of me, making it impossible to pass, walked back and got three disinfecting wipes and made me sit and watch her clean the entire cart. I should have said, "We didn't use that cart, so it's probably clean" But I bit my tongue.

I mean really? Am I in the wrong here? Yes, it is probably not sanitary. BUT are grocery carts sanitary? Raw meat sits in the cart and not everyone puts it in a bag. I know there are germs everywhere... I just try and not think about them.

Ok I am off my soap box. Just wondered if I am the crazy one here...

Pumpkin Festival

Today we went to the Pumpkin Festival. Our community puts one on every year and we were excited to go and have a fun family day.

We started off with a little French Toast made from leftover baguettes. It was SO yummy. I don't think we will be able to eat french toast on anything else other than baguettes. It was THAT good!

This is Lucas' new "Say Cheese" face. Too cute.

Petting Zoo. Poor boy LOVES the animals... but could only stay in for a minute or so before his allergies kicked up!

Lucas and Daddy

Maze... Still figuring out the camera and accidently overexposed this one

Lucas went in to his first Bounce House. He love love loved it! His new thing right now is "Jumping" so of course this was a hit. I had to go in and physically get him out. If only Andy had taken a picture of that!

The whole reason I wanted to go to the pumpkin festival was to get some cute pictures of Lucas and the pumpkins. Unfortunately by the time we got to this portion of the day Lucas was overheated from the 92 degree weather and could care less to take pictures. So here is the best one:

There's my happy boy!

We headed home for lunch and naps for mommy and Lucas, and the Michigan game for daddy. Then we changed clothes and headed to Tivoli for a little walking around and dinner. We were hoping to get a pizza and hang out on the playground. Unfortunately, Tivoli was hosting a wine tasting party and it blocked off the playground. So instead we played with the lights... we had to stop at each one and watch the colors change.

So happy!

And the typical menu picture... Radio City Pizza. We enjoyed some yummy salad and pizza and enjoyed the nice fall nights.

Such a fun day... we love Saturdays!

What a week

This past week has been a doozy. I won't bore you with the details... but between a little (or a lot) of food poisoning, bed rest, ER visit, and a crazy toddler I am spent! Fortunately I have an amazing husband and awesome friends who lend their helping hands. I am feeling much much better and looking forward to my second trimester! This week we have Andy's birthday... the big 2-8. We are getting the party preparations underway!

I'll leave you with a few pictures not posted from our CA trip.

This is a tree in my grandparents front yard. It is the best tree and I am pretty sure every grandkid has climbed it several times. I wanted a picture with Lucas in said tree. Notice the golf club in this picture... Lucas must at all times have a "stick" with him. Usually a golf club or baseball bat. But really anything will do.We also went to a duck pond in Huntington. Lucas loved chasing the birds.
And... here he is with his "stick"

Disneyland!

We went to Disneyland last week and had a ton of fun. I think it gets more fun each time we go because Lucas gets so excited each time. Here is picture overload! (mostly for my parents :))

Day 1: Ashley and Christian

I had this great idea to go on the rapids ride in California Adventure. It is my #1 favorite ride... so Ashley and I went while the boys watched the kids, then we switched. The boys got SOAKED. Here they are at the end of the ride... Andy wasn't so thrilled with the wet part. :)

Ashley and I afterwards... our hair is soaking wet. LOVE IT!

Cotton Candy time!

Zane's first bite of Cotton Candy...

He loved it :)

Day 2: Charles & Angie

Best Friends Bea and Lucas

We went to our first parade while at Disneyland. Lucas loved it! As soon as he heard Mickey's voice he started clapping and dancing. It was hilarious!

After two full days at Disney we were exhausted! We got home and all took three hour naps today. But we can't wait to go back soon!

All about Lucas

Lucas has changed SO much in the past month or so. He is developing the funniest little personality and I love spending each day with him. So here are some random pictures and an update on my little buddy!

1. Usually when it is time to "go" Lucas runs downstairs. So today I opened the gate and said, "Let's go!" and went downstairs to pack the diaper bag. 10 minutes later I said "Lucas, let's go!" and he still wouldn't come. I go upstairs and see him lounging in his chair just relaxing. I had to bribe him with a snack to get him to come.

2. Lion Habitat: A few weeks ago we needed an outing so we headed to the MGM to see their lion habitat. It was quite underwhelming, but Lucas loved the "Grrrrrrr" Lions.

3. Not about Lucas... but our first floor flooded. Our water heater broke and came seeping through the walls and into the kitchen. All I have to say is thank heavens for USAA. Within ONE hour of calling them they had a crew over to fix it. We are without a kitchen for the time being, but I am not complaining. Cooking is still not my strong suit with Baby #2.

4. iPad: Lucas discovered how to work my iPad. I am in trouble now. Last night he pressed the button, unlocked the screen, picked the netflix app and played a show. He was SO proud of himself. He started clapping and dancing because he couldn't believe he did it. Now, it is all he wants to do.

5. Pony: Lucas grows the gnarliest rat tail. I swear every time I turn around it is back! I tried to let is grow out to see if maybe when it is longer it isn't as bad? Wrong! This time I even got it in a pony!

6. Not to worry- Shortly after #5 was taken we went to Snips n Clips and had his hair trimmed. Here he is post haircut.

7. Blankie: Everyday we go through this battle of taking the blankie in the bath. A few weeks ago I gave in and just let him have it. As soon as it got wet and he put it to his nose he threw it out. We haven't battled since! Phew! I was a little worried my plan would backfire and he would want it in the bath everyday.

8. Big boy bed: We have almost completed the big boy room. We are slowly getting Lucas used to his big boy bed. He loves it. Every morning he goes and sits on it and lies on his pillow.

9. His first ball pit. We went to a local indoor play area and Lucas LOVED it. This area was obviously his favorite. He loved jumping in them, throwing balls, and going down the slides.

11. Shows: Lucas now knows how to turn on the TV and asks for a "show" any second one is not on. I attribute this to my being sick and the TV being a good alternative while I sit on the couch. I started feeling guilty at the amount of "shows" we were watching. Usually when we go somewhere in the car he watches a movie on the DVD player. But in my guilt I decided to put the DVD away and just listen to a children's CD. Lucas LOVED it. Here is a short clip of him dancing. I wish it was longer, but I was driving on the 95 and didn't think it was too safe.

That's it for now... It is time for a nap!

Bagels Gatorade Apples Fry Sauce Watermelon

Yep, you guessed it, baby #2 is coming April 9th.

Sorry for only 4 posts in August and 0 in September. I am slowly feeling better each day and hope to be updating soon enough!