Back in the Hospital??

Not for long. But it brought back a lot of memories from his first few weeks of life. I noticed a bump on Luke's forehead 2 days after he was born. It continued to grow and we discovered after meeting with Dr. Daane at Children's Hospital that it was a dermoid cyst and it needed to be removed. Sure, when should it be done? We expected to hear "at 2 years of age" or maybe even later. "As soon as possible," was his reply. Because Luke was a preemie, we had to wait until he was 6 months old. So, the day after I took those cute pictures, he went into surgery. June 9, 2011. What a trooper. He was the best. He couldn't eat anything after 4 AM, so as we waited to get him prepped for surgery, we expected tears. What did our little guy do? He fell asleep in Joe's arms. It made it a little bit easier to hand him over to the WONDERFUL staff. They actually sent us a thank you card and everyone who was involved with Luke's surgery signed and wrote a little note to him. They were incredible.
Luke in his hospital gown right before he fell asleep

The doctor came out into the waiting room much earlier than we expected. "It's done. The surgery went excellent. The cyst was much bigger than we anticipated. He did great. You can come see him."

That little body in such a big bed (and that's a child's bed!). It was hard to watch him wake up out of the anesthesia, but after he calmed down, he was back to his normal, happy, self. I fed him when we got home and then he fell asleep in my arms. We both slept for a good 2 hours. I didn't realize how nervous I was until it was all over.

We were told to expect his eye to get "ugly." It never did. We were told he'd probably be cranky. He never was. We love you, Luke. Heavenly Father sent angels to watch over you. I'm sure of it and I thank Him for it.

Father's Day was coming up. I had to get a cute picture of the kids. it's what Joe wanted. So that was my goal. I didn't have much time because Luke would be heading into surgery soon. I scheduled an appointment and took the kids in. I told the photographer my whole goal was a good group shot. Then, if we got it, I could take Luke's 6 month shot. 6 months! Where did that go?? Anyway, I'll have to get those posted. They were hysterical. They were no good. I had to do something! We came home and I took them to the backyard and grabbed my camera and the blue sleeping bag and began telling them a story. I got 3 smiles. I was thrilled.
I even got a great 6 month shot. Joe's office wall is going to be happy :)

Who's the Man?

Dad's the Man. We have had 4 sightings of this snake in our backyard in the last 2 years. Every time Joe has not been home. I've tried to be the brave, fearless, mother who can do anything, and catch the snake. But each time, it has speedily slithered out of my grasp and I have screamed like a wild boar.

This happened to be Saturday, two weeks ago, and we were working in the yard. I went to pull some weeds and suddenly there it was, inches from my face. Now you'd think a girl who has grown up with snakes wouldn't have blinked an eye. Well, it would have startled anyone, I promise. So I validated a slight yelp. Everyone came running and proclaimed, "Catch it!" Joe did the honors. I love him. Thank you Joe for not letting the kids down the 5th time.

We played with it, watched it, took pictures and then I recommended we take it up into the hills and let it go. Joe's response was, "Boo... this'll eat mice and rats!" I made him put it right back in the bushes in our backyard. Go get 'em snake! We'll let you live in peace.

Spontaneity

You gotta love it. It was a Friday around noon and a beautiful day. "Wanna go to Half Moon Bay for lunch?" We went to Sam's Chowder House right on Highway 1
(You've gotta try it)

And spent a little time afterwards enjoying the view...but mostly each other.

Times like these when I LOVE the fact that we are flexible homeschoolers :)

Thanks for a great afternoon, Mom and Dad!

Wedding Forecast for May 18, 2011

Rain...Snow...Hail... ohhh and how about a little wind??? Let's be honest. It was beautiful. It was freezing.

I'm so happy that my brother found someone he loves so much
and that she is someone so easy to love.

I love this one. Can you believe the elements???

Our fortress from the wind in between pictures :)

the man

the little manWe love you Chris and Kalei.

Can't tell you how thrilled we are to have you close!!!

All Because Two People Fell in Love...

...we got to go to Utah

We headed out to Utah for Chris and Kalei's wedding back in May. It had been far too long since our last visit, so we decided to make a little trip of it. We drove into Salt Lake and literally drove straight to Cafe Rio to meet my Mariah and her boys. What a perfect way to kick it off! Sad we didn't document it with a photo, but soooo grateful they came down to meet us.




Then we went south to stay with my college roommates whom I love dearly. Our kids had never met and they behaved just like perfect little angels...

Ok, not really. They were hysterical. They were like best friends for the 48 hours that they spent together.
They actually reminded me a lot of us :)

We had the BEST time. THANK YOU so much Sun for opening your home to us and Ambs for coming up to be there. I loved every single second of our time together. Let's not go so long next time!!!

We showed the kids the Salt Flats

We made homes for dinosaurs at Thanksgiving Point

We even got to see our Utah Berryhills who we have missed so much!!!

We wore the kids out and we hadn't even been to the wedding yet!

Kate was in time out for being snotty. I left her in there for quite some time and she began yelling, "Is time out almost ever?!!! It's been a LOOOOOOONG Time!" How much longer will I be in here???"

To which I ignored. She kept repeating herself and I still ignored. Jake was playing with his cars at my feet. About the 5th time of her ranting, he yelled without skipping a beat:

"THREE YEARS!"

Perfect.

May and June will be updated shortly :) Goodnight!

Let's Be Brief

He did it. I'm so proud of him. Couldn't open his race track until he peed in the potty.

Cried about it for 24 hours and then did it. And that was that. Jake is officially a man in briefs.

He feels pretty cool about being in his "underwears"



Yep. He's truly gained big boy status.

( I had to post this again. It kills me.)

Of course, he came in the other day from "helping" Joe in the front yard, with his pants and underwear around his ankles. Joe had gone in the back to get some tool and when I asked Jake what happened, he said as nonchalantly as can be, "I peed on the tree."

"What???" Sure enough, our front tree had a big wet spot on the trunk. Our wonderful neighbors across the street have their parents visiting from India for 6 months. They love to sit and watch the world pass by their front window. Imagine what they were thinking this fine day.

Love It

Sometimes amidst the chaos, I have to do what the host on "The Bachelor" always said and

"Take a Moment." I wish my moment could last forever.
Check out Luke's "progress" :)

one month

three months

five months

When did those legs get so long???

Happy Easter

I know... it feels like Easter was AGES ago. How the time flies...

I've gotta catch up on the last few months.
Luke looks like he's really enjoying this, doesn't he? It rained again this year on Easter morning. Didn't stop the kids from running out to see what the Easter Bunny had left. They found his pawprints leaving our house and wondered why his prints didn't continue on to all of our neighbor's houses. Noted.

We hurried and had our hunt so we could get to church and truly celebrate Easter :) I kept asking the kids while they were opening their eggs if this was really what it is all about and Kate piped up immediately and said, "No, Mom. Easter is about Jesus. He died so we can all live again."
Eat on, my dear chocolate lover.