Blue

Jeremy came home from work with a cupcake for Lucas. With BLUE icing. I knew it would be a mess, but couldn't deny him the fun. Luckily the mess was contained to the kitchen floor, his booster seat and the bathtub afterward. He sure enjoyed that treat though.

Fridge Files

I got several emails after the last posting on Lucas climbing into the fridge about different locks that work well. I guess it's time to invest in one after all.

Cozy Up

I was chatting with my mom on the phone after the recent California earthquake. My little brother is attending a program at UCLA which is in the heart of Los Angeles where the earthquake struck. I told Lucas to say hi to his MiMi and his response was "No mom" with full attitude to boot. A few minutes later it got really quiet. Lucas found an empty box and decided to get cozy inside.

Olives

Lucas tried olives for the first time. I guess it's something that all parents do simply for the fact that our parents did it to us and we thought it was funny...I put them on his fingers. It was a success. He thought it was hilarious and ate almost half the can.

Christian the Lion

This video is about two and a half minutes long, but I promise you it will be the best few minutes you will have spent in a while. I had no idea what to expect when I first clicked on the attachment for this video in an email (Thanks Jae) and so I will not explain what it is about. But I know that you will enjoy it as much as I did. (I watched it about a dozen times in a row!)

Where Could He Be?

Anyone with children knows that the best form of entertainment is a good game of Peek-a-Boo. This is certainly true in our family. Yesterday before we left to meet with the bishop, Lucas climbed under a piece of trash (From a very large frame). He stayed under there for a good minute before I finally asked, "Where's Lucas?" You would have thought I'd given him the keys to a candy store. He squealed with delight. He sure is a bundle of joy.

Previous Post

The last post was courtesy of Lucas. He typed and hit post. Funny guy.

10

Help Yourself

Lucas now knows how to open the fridge and climb into to find what he wants. This is going to be fun. NOT.

Who's Kid is This?

While shopping with Amy and Ethan yesterday, Lucas kicked off one of his shoes. Rather than losing a perfectly good new pair of shoes I took the other off and let Lucas just relax in socks. Or so I thought. He had a different idea. He isn't quite able to get his socks off just by pulling so he figured out another way. Teeth.

Mommy's Little Helper

Recently Lucas has taken interest in helping me around the house. I love how enthusiastic he is about cleaning. When I wash windows, I give him his own rag and he will clean one window while I clean another. When I unload the dishwasher, he will put all the silverware away in the drawer. When I vacuum, he will get his own little vacuum and vacuum along side of me. It's really very charming, my little helper. The other day, as I was unloading the dryer, Lucas climbed in, threw out all the laundry into the basket. Wonderful I thought, maybe now I can teach him to fold it too. (Hey I can dream can't I?) That's when I realized, he just wanted to play with the dryer balls. Naturally they both went missing shortly after. It wasn't until today that Jeremy found one, under Lucas' bed. Now if we could just find the other one.

Bedhead

More Please

Here Lucas is trying his hardest to get the juice box from his daddy.

Blueberries

Yesterday we went to Mack's house to pick the blueberries. These are probably the last berries we'll pick this year. We feel very lucky to have been able to have picked fresh strawberries, blackberries and blueberries this year. I'd have to say that the blueberries are by far my favorite. They're organic and ripe! Store bought is no comparison. When we first arrived, Lucas started pulling berries off left and right and shoveling them into his mouth by the fist full.As is typical of our family berry picking experiences, Jeremy did most of the picking. We picked about a gallon of berries in about twenty minutes. We left behind another gallon or two at least! We would have picked more, by Lucas was being eaten alive by the mosquito's. You can see a big bite in the middle of his forehead in this next picture. The grand total was over a dozen bites. Poor kid. Afterwards we went to McDonald's for dinner. Where Lucas ate nothing but Ketchup for dinner. Like father like son.

The BIG BOY Bed

As some of you know, we put Lucas into a full size bed when we arrived at our new place. Lucas screamed when we put him in his crib from the minute we brought him home from the hospital. Because of this, he spent a good portion of the first year of his life sleeping in our bed. By his first birthday I finally had him sleeping all the way through the night in his own bed. Just in time for our FIVE week stay in Texas. He did well for the first few nights and then it was back to sleeping in our bed, because Jeremy had to be up early for school. The bed there was very high. At first we were worried that he'd roll off, and so the second we heard him start to cry we'd bolt up the stairs and run down the hall the get him. After a while though, he'd wake up, hop of the bed and come find us... or stand at the top of the stairs and holler for his mama. After so many weeks of this, Lucas started enjoying sleep rather than fight it. When he would start to grow tired he'd come to me and say "Night Night Ma Ma" and we'd head up the stairs and he would happily embrace the bed. It was a small miracle to me to see my anti-sleep child actual wanting to lay down. I would lay on one side of the bed and he'd toss and turn for a few minutes and then settle himself to sleep. I was shocked. Thinking it might just be a fluke we tried it again and again and again, and time after time he'd put himself to sleep.

That's when the light bulb went off. I suggested to Jeremy that we give it a try when we move. And so we did. The very first night we were here, Lucas went to bed at 10:00pm and slept till 7:15am... in his own bed! We've now been here for four nights and he's been in his own room and own bed for four nights. He's been waking up around 3:00am, he'll get up and wander around the house, I'll usually get up and go lay down with him until he falls back asleep, I usually end up falling asleep in his bed for an hour or so, but that's to be expected with how exhausted I still am from moving.

Here are a few pictures. As you can see, he LOVES his bed! What a relief. And here he is sleeping. He's sooo tiny in that big bed. I will admit it is a little bit sad to not have him in a crib anymore.

We Moved!

This past Friday we finally moved. Thursday night we were luckily enough to have the missionaries come help us load the heavy stuff onto the moving truck. We started about 7:00 after dinner, and had their assistance for two hours. Unfortunately it took us several more hours of lifting and loading to get everything done. We finally showered and went to bed around 2:00am. We were up at 7:00am to be on the road by 7:30. It's an hour drive from Clarksville to Madison and we were trying to be there as soon as the office opened to sign our lease. The timing was great, we walked out of there just as help arrived to help us unload the truck. Three very strong men from our new ward came to help us, it was great to have the support and friendship of these guys. Everything went so smooth that it only took about two hours to have it all unloaded. After we all sat around and ate pizza. This is the guys, Michael, Jim, Randy and Jeremy. This picture is just for entertainments sake. I look like a fool!

Overall the day went very smooth. Thanks to all of our friends old and new for helping. We couldn't have done it without you!

Photo Tagging

This one has a little spin on the traditional tags we do on here. The goal is to take a picture of everything...right now... without altering it AT ALL!

So before I start let me just say that I'm MOVING tomorrow...so everything is THRASHED! I will do this again next week once we're settled into our new place. I'm quite embarrassed about the mess around here, but there is only one way to pack and that is to get everything out, right!?

1. The Fridge
Only like 10 things in there are ours. The rest belongs to my MIL. We pretty much ate everything before we left for Texas, and with only being back for one week, we aren't buying much.
2. The Closet
That hanger sticking up like that is bothering me. But I didn't change anything. I'm also looking forward to more than doubling our closet space.
3. The Kitchen Sink
Well, it's a sink. With dishes. From breakfast. Oh well.
4. The Toilet

5. Favorite Shoes
These are my favorites for now. Bronze flip flops from Old Navy. I can't access any other shoes right now. They're buried under piles of laundry.
6. Favorite Room
This was my favorite room. It's my little guys bedroom and it was decorated so cute. With vintage toys on his shelves and elephants all over the place. Now as you can see his bed his piled with all of his belongings. I don't know if his room will still be my favorite once I move, but I'll post pictures of all the rooms.
7. What Your Kids are Doing Right Now
Sleeping. Ahhh. Honestly do you really think I could get this done if he were awake? No Way!!!
8. Pile of Laundry
This is the floor of my bedroom/closet. It's all the laundry I've washed this week, plus both of our suitcases from Texas. I haven't had motivation to put it all away knowing I'd have to repack it all a few days later. Tonight it's all going onto hangers and straight to my car. Because I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow.
9. Self Portrait
I just finished washing my car... no makeup.
10. Dream Vacation (okay you don't have to take your own picture on this one)
At this time, my dream vacation is just to be in my own place again. It will feel like a vacation for several weeks I'm sure. Then reality will set in.

I Tag.... Everyone! If you read this and you have a blog, then you're tagged. There are too many people to name off individually.

Packing...

My packing isn't going so well. Lucas is being needy and I'm not in the mood anyway. I'll probably stay up late tonight and tomorrow night doing it. Such is life I suppose.

Lucas and I went to Walmart early to get a few things for a few unfinished projects. I've made it my goal to not take any unfinished projects into our new home and so today I've been working on a few things. The first is this beautiful poem that I've been wanting to put in Lucas' room. I wasn't sure how to go about displaying a poem though. While in Texas we spent some time visiting with family and I'm stealing Suzanne's idea. She had a poem beautifully framed in her little boy's room. (Sorry Suzanne...I'm stealing so many of your ideas...good thing we live so far apart!). This is how it turned out. The poem is called "I took his hand and followed." The author is anonymous. But the poem goes like this.

My dishes went unwashed today, I didn't make the bed,
I took his hand and followed Where his eager footsteps led.
Oh yes, we went adventuring, My little son and I,
Exploring all the great outdoors Beneath the summer sky.
We waded in a crystal stream, We wandered through a wood;
My kitchen wasn't swept today But life was gay and good.
We found a cool, sun-dappled glade And now my small son knows
How Mother Bunny hides her nest, Where jack-in-the-pulpit grows.
We watched a robin feed her young, We climbed a sunlit hill,
Saw cloud-sheep scamper through the sky, We plucked a daffodil.
That my house was neglected, That I didn't brush the stairs,
In twenty years, no one on earth Will know, or even care.
But that I've helped my little boy To noble manhood grow,
In twenty years, the whole wide world May look and see and know.

Here is a picture of a tile that I made while in Texas. We made this at a church activity. While I didn't bring this home unfinished, I've been looking for a stand to use to display it. Today I finally found one. I'm thinking about using this as the center piece on my dining room table. We'll see though.

For some other big news. Lucas got both of his "I" teeth in. He doesn't let me look in there very often, but it looks as if they probably came in yesterday, which would certainly explain his naughty behavior and lack of sleep these past few nights. Well, we're off to wash my car, it hasn't been washed since before we left for Texas so it's very buggy! Oh, and I have one more project. A Family Home Evening board. Another project from church in Texas. Jeremy has to sand it for me when he gets home tonight, so I'll probably post those pictures tomorrow.

Oh what a day!

I'd be lying if I were to say I wasn't glad this day is almost over. Because I am glad it's almost over. Our day started out well, Lucas and I attended story time at the library with our friends and then afterwards we went to McDonalds with them were Lucas begged for food. I didn't buy him anything because I know better, he won't eat anything I give him. He was so exhausted by the time we left that he was asleep before we even exited the parking lot. At home he slept for almost two hours. When he woke up we went to run some errands, mainly looking for a coffee table for our new place since I don't like our current one and so we sold it to Etta.

Lucas was WONDERFUL for about the first half of the trip. Then he went into meltdown mode, throwing tantrums in the middle of stores, even banging his head once. I had had enough so we headed home, naturally that's when he decides to take a nap. We had our choices narrowed down to two. Once Lucas woke from his catnap, we decided we'd go back for the cheaper of the two (only cheaper because one of the end tables had a small chip...we'd manage. So off we headed... (here's the kicker...) WITH O.U.T. Lucas. Yes I left him home, yes with Etta, yes it felt great, yes I loved being able to do things without sushing him.... no I don't wish I'd done it sooner. I think that the timing was great. I was able to do it without feeling stressed out or overly worried about him. He really came a long way while in Texas, and so I felt like we were both ready.

Anyway, we went back to the furniture store and I decided I should lean on the table as if I were a 14th month old little boy climbing. And bam, it almost tipped over on me. It had a glass top, which we felt was thick enough that he wouldn't break it banging his toys on it, but the tipping..yikes! What if it were to tip on him? So we did what any responsible parents would do, we bought it anyway and decided he'd learn. Just kidding. We walked away from that beautiful coffee table and went with the other that was slightly more. Personally it was my first choice, I was just trying to go easy on the budget.

So today was a big day. New furniture and I actually left my little treasure bundle for the first time (well second, but first time willingly)

Oh, and here is the new coffee table. It came with end tables too.

Helpful Hints *Update*

HJ explained why the meat tenderizer works. Venom is a protein and meat tenderizer breaks down proteins. Makes sense.

The boiling water trick works for ALL berry stains, not just blackberries. Jeremy just got the mulberry stains out of our clothes from yesterday. The stains had been dried on for about 24 hours and it still worked!

Pop Pop

Lucas calls gum 'pop pop' because sometimes to cheer him up I'll blow bubbles and when they pop I will say 'pop pop pop". He thinks it's funny. You can see a video of it on here a few months back if you want. I wanted to him say something, anything, for Laura today since he wouldn't so much as say mama while we were there. So I asked for some gum. Bingo! Immediately he started asking for some 'pop pop'. I gave him the other half of my piece in the car on the way home. He was trying so hard to make some bubbles of his own.

Mulberry Bush

Um, looked more like a tree to me!?

Anyway, Lucas and I went to Laura's today to play and to get my hair cut. It feels SO good to not have split ends anymore. (Thanks Laura). While outside playing on the swing set we started talking about the mulberries. I've never tried them before but figured they'd be all gone because Laura has been talking about them for months. To my surprise there were still TONS of them on the tree/bush. We had fun picking them. I wasn't able to get any cute pictures of Lucas because he decided he needed to be held, but there are a few good ones of her kids. This first one is Levi and Landon holding the branches down so that we could reach the berries. Landon is holding a shovel to 'catch' the berries. This next one is the boys feet after walking around in the grass where all the berries had fallen. Notice Leila's stained face too! So cute!Before we left Lucas laid on the floor because he was getting sleepy. Leila went and laid with him and we told her to give him a kiss. He was having nothing to do with that and got up and ran from her. It was pretty funny. Here's the best I could do.

Uncle HJ

We took this picture when HJ came home for lunch our last day in Texas. Lucas LOVES his uncle HJ. At first he was a bit apprehensive about going to him, but once he did he never wanted to let go. I can't help but wonder if it's because he enjoyed the view from WAY up there (he's very tall). I'm sure it's just because he's a super cool uncle:) We sure will miss him.

New Ward

I guess technically yesterday, because it is 1am (I don't' know why I'm still up in case you were wondering) was our first day in our new ward. Church starts at 11:00 there instead of the 9:00 church that we've been used to for the last three and a half years. It was a nice change, especially since we had to drive an hour. Once our move is complete it will only be about a five minute drive, that too will be nice because in Clarksville it was at least fifteen minutes. We met many new people, all willing to befriend us and many of them even offered to help us move it. We're so excited for this new chapter of our lives to begin. It will be great to expirience it with new friends along with old friends too! We'll keep you posted as the move progresses. Only FOUR more days!

If only I could remember.

The other night I had some interesting dreams. I can't remember much about them, only that I had written and recited to amazing poems. At one point I started to wake up and I was amazed at myself. I wanted to get up and write them down, because anyone that knows me really well knows I have no writing abilities and that I've VERY forgetful. But I didn't get up, and I have no idea what the poems where of even what they were about. What a shame.

Ahh...It's good to be Home.

I've gotten more sleep in the day and a half that I've been home than I got in 4 weeks in Texas. I'll probably never know the reason behind my son refusing to sleep throuh the night while there, but I was hoping and praying it was just something against Texas. Luckily for me it was. Despite sleeping almost the entire drive home which should have been eight hours but turned into almost ten, he still slept in until 10:00am, which meant that we were able to sleep in after such a long drive.

Also, the humity here is considerably less. I feel like I should never complain about it being hot again for the rest of my life.

Yes, it's good to be home.

A Few More Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our last week here.

Jeremy and Lucas hanging out by the pool.
This picture was a surprise when I loaded the pictures. This was Nick's doing. Very cute though. Lucas LOVES his whistle. Exhausted!

Fairwell and Goodbye

It is appx 11:19 on Wednesday night. As I sit here thinking about our last few hours in Texas, I thought I'd write a quick post. We have decided to leave a day early. Jeremy will be finished with his last class tomorrow morning by about 10:00, which is a joke in itself. He has to make a F.I.V.E. on his FINAL in order to receive an A for the semester. He practically taught the stupid class. I'm proud of him for doing so well though. (he got an A in his other class too and because he did so well in that one was able to finish over two weeks early).

The plan originally was to stay till Friday so that we could get in another day of swimming, but even that doesn't sound appealing anymore as the days begin to get hotter and hotter. Today we heard it hit 100. That is just TOO hot to be outside, especially with a baby. So rather than suffer through another sleepless night with Lucas in our bed we've decided to just go ahead and leave as soon as possible.

Our move to Nashville has also been bumped up by a day, so it will be nice to have that extra day back at home to start packing, or sorting at least. We're leaving most of our stuff behind.

Overall, my time here in Texas wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The ladies in the ward here were more than kind to me, inviting us into their group of friends and showing us that wonderful Texas hospitality (even though technically I think they all live in Arkansas). Hanging out with Nick was never dull... always eventful, and once Lucas finally warmed up to his uncle HJ and cousin Nick, I even got short breaks from time to time. All that and I'm actually coming home with a tan! Yes it's true, I'm tan for the first time in NINE years. Yippee!

Thanks to everyone in Texas who made it memorable. And HELLO Tennessee...we're comin' home!

Beautiful Berries

Here is the picture of a good majority of the berries we picked. They're so beautiful. It makes me grateful that Heavenly Father created such a beautiful world.

Hecho en China

This is the workings of my wonderful husband. He thought it would be funny.

Taco Mi Pueblo

While out bumming around a week or so ago, we passed this Mexican restaurant called Taco Mi Pueblo. Nick went on to explain that it was only open on the weekends, and that the food is REAL AUTHENTIC Mexican food, as in it's made by Mexicans. Or in other words for the southerners reading this...it ISN'T Tex-Mex. I have been wanting some authentic Mexican food since I left California back in 2004. All week I was looking forward to going out to eat there. And finally Saturday rolled around and about 3:00 in the afternoon everyone was ready to go. HJ, Nick, Jeremy, Lucas and I all piled into the Pilot and headed off for some good grubbin'. Everything started out wonderful. HJ ordered for us, since we had no idea what we were doing, and since it's been so long I've lost all my spanish reading abilities. Next came the drinks. Would you believe this place only serves their sodas in glass bottles. How neat is that? Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Fresca, everything, all in glass. You would have thought that Jeremy and I had never seen glass before. Ha. He settled on Sprite, and I on Fresca. It was SO yummy and refreshing because it's not as carbonated as aluminum cans. A few minutes later our food came. I've learned that in order to eat my food, I have to eat it in 30 seconds or less, otherwise I have to take it to go. Because...a little boy I know, who's name I won't mention, does NOT like it when his mommy is trying to enjoy food that she's been craving for FOUR years!

To make a short story even shorter, Lucas began this high pitched scream and as not to disrupt other people trying to enjoy their lunch, he and I spent the remainder of our time outside in the blazing heat. I guess I did want memorable!

Computer Baby

Lucas figured out how to not only turn the computer on, but also how to access the internet. Oh. My. Goodness. What is next?

We're Going on a Berry Hunt...

There is family in the ward that has blackberry bushes. I keep hearing people talk about the blackberries and the jams and syrups and pies and other yummy things that they have been doing with the blackberries. I personally just wanted to eat them all up. Lucas is our little fruitaholic and it's quite expensive to buy all the berries that he wants to consume in one sitting. I bought him a little container last week for $3 and it was gone by the next morning. My husband is so great, during the last hour of church he mentioned my desired for some fresh delicious berries to the man of whom they belong. In return we got on invitation out to pick as many as we want. This came with a warning, they were going bad fast, we'd need to come today, and we'd probably ONLY get about a gallon and a half.

After church we came home, ate and Lucas and I took naps. After a few hours we headed out to the farm. Lucas' job was to put the berries into the milk jugs that we brought. He very much enjoyed this. It was more of a eat one, put one it, eat one, put one in, type affair. But because we were there for him, we let him eat as many as his little heart desired. We really have no idea how many that is because he was picking them off the bushes as quick as he could.Lucas was completely covered from head to toe in blackberry juice. He grabbed onto both Jeremy and I at one point or another and so all three of us had stains. Jeremy read online that to get rid of stains, you pour boiling water over them and they will instantly disappear. I wish that I had before and after pictures to share, but my camera battery went dead at the park on our way home. However, our clothes are proof that this little wives tale really works! Lucas was wearing a WHITE shirt and it is once again WHITE.

So thanks to the Miller family for letting us come and pick the last of your berries. We'll be enjoying them for the rest of the week!