Lil Artist

Tyke's latest art project from school.  He amazes us with how well he does and how perfect his coloring and painting is!  Way to go buddy!

Helpers

Talk about melt this mamma's heart!  The boys idolize their Daddy and are always wanting to help him out so it came as no surprise tonight when they both dove under the Christmas tree with him to water it.  I love the relationship and bond that these boys of mine have.  I'd say I'm pretty darn lucky and so are they!  I love you boys!!

Trouba-Lu

 Luke really, really, really wanted some chocolate pudding tonight before dinner.  I told him no, that he would have to wait until after.  So the little stinker grabbed a fork, hid under the kitchen table so I couldn't see him, and stabbed the lid of his pudding cup until he broke through it and was able to eat it!  He was a chocolatey mess when I found him and made him sit up to the cupboard!  This kid, he's a bottomless pit lately and always in the pantry looking for something to eat!  He definitely takes care of himself!

Trim the Tree

Christmas Tree Hunt

Thanksgiving 2016

Christmas Minis

Oh my goodness am I ever in love with these pictures! I'm always nervous how the boys will act for photo sessions.  They're usually little stinkers when it comes to pictures and new people.  I was so excited when they actually cooperated with our photographer!  There were no tears from either boy, however, Tyke did panic when he spotted Santa Claus and he climbed up me like a tree and held on for dear life.  He has never been a very big fan of Santa.  Luke wasn't too worried about the big guy.  He was a little concerned but curious as well and stood semi close to Santa.  He listened to him talk and even took a jingle bell from him as a gift.  Tyke refused to take his jingle bell until we were completely out of the building and back in the safety of the car and buckled, haha.  Yay for great pictures!!

Child Labor...

Pre-Thanksgiving

We had a little pre-thanksgiving today with the Long family.  Not everyone was able to make it but we enjoyed our get together with those that did.  We switched things up a little bit and instead of having turkey we (Chad) smoked a prime rib roast.  It was amazing and went well with the rest of our Thanksgiving menu.  The kids ate fairly well.  Luke of course ate better than Tyke.  Luke devoured the prime rib and pretty much nothing else.  Tyke enjoyed only a plate full of "mash-a-ma-tatoes" and gravy.  After dinner the kiddos all played and the adults all sat around and visited and watched football.  Once our bellies started feeling a little better it was pie time.  The kids didn't show much interest in it but that's okay, more for us!  It was a great afternoon spent with our Long family!  Happy Pre-Thanksgiving everyone!

San Rafael Swell

We ventured back down to the San Rafael Swell to the area that Daddy hunted for his bighorn sheep.  We are having a full body mount done with the sheep that Daddy killed and we needed to gather some dirt, plants and rocks for our taxidermist (cousin Mike).  We decided to make a day of it and invited anyone who wanted to go to come with us.  Unfortunately half of our group had to back out at the last minute so this trip was our little family and Bampa and Aunt Tiffy.  We had so much fun and the weather was absolutely perfect!  The boys had a blast playing in the dirt with their new matchbox cars that we had purchased at the gas station in Salina on our way to the desert.  It was lucky that we bought them and that they loved playing in the dirt so much because he kept their interest away from the huge cliffs that we rode along (talk about give this mamma anxiety!).  We gathered a lot of fun items for our mount and we are so excited to see this vision come to light!  We had a great time riding the side by sides, having a picnic and just spending the day together!

25 Months Old

Another month has flown by and our Bubba-Lu is now twenty-five months old.  He has really started to speak more since turning two and will try to say just about anything we ask him to!  My favorite is to have him say his colors.  Poo-ple and ellow are the best!  He also has fun saying names and will repeat a few before getting the giggles and not being able to play along anymore.  I love it and I love him!

Luke has been extra lovey lately.  He's usually pretty stingy with his kisses but he's starting to share them with his mamma a little more (he's a daddy's boy, have I mentioned that before?).  Anyway, he has a funny little kissing routine he has to go through to kiss his mommy.  First he kisses my left cheek, then my right cheek, then my forehead, then the top of my head before finally giving me a kiss on the lips.  He does this every.single.time!  I'm the only one he does this too.  I'm not complaining, I'll take all of the kisses he has to offer!  Luke has also started giving hugs.  When we ask for loves he opens his arms as big and wide as he possible can comes running with a look of excitement on his face.  I love Louie loves!

Lu continues to get is big brother in trouble on a daily basis.  The two boys get along great most of the time but they definitely have their battles.  Luke will come crying to us and when we ask what happened he points at where it hurts and then points to the other room where they were playing and through big alligator tears tattles, "Tyke!"  When we ask Tyke what happened, if he's guilty of something, he will reply, "I didn't even do every thing!"  It's comical and all we can do is laugh.  We do discipline but we're pretty lenient most of the time.  Luke has figured out that he can get Tyke in trouble like that and so tattles a lot whether it's the truth or not.  Tyke has figured out that he's always in trouble when it comes to Luke so he lies a lot to save himself.  It's exhausting playing referee and trying to get it right.

Luke loves riding his bikes and is pretty much done with riding the "baby" big wheel now (so we donated it to Grandma Cheryl's house).  He can get around pretty darn fast considering he refuses to try and use the pedals.  He's like Fred Flintstone!  He runs so fast on his bikes and then picks up his feet and cruises.  He takes corners way to sharp and gives me a heart attack each and every time.  He thinks it's hilarious when I freak out about that!  This kiddo is going to keep me on my toes for sure!

Luke is saying more and more new words now.  It's so exciting!  He actually attempts to say things that we ask him to.  I love hearing him talk in his sweet, sassy little voice.  My favorite right now is when I ask him, "Luke, who's cute?!" And he shyly and quietly replies, "ME!"  And then I ask him, "who's trouble?" and again he replies, "ME!"  I just love it!

• "Mee Mow" (Mickey Mouse)
• "Tee-ee" (Tiffy)
• "Paw Paw" (Paw Patrol)
• "Pop-pop" (Pop tart)
• "Ma-ma" (Grandma)
• "Nanna"
• "Bampa" (pronounced with a growl of course)
• "Teet!" (treat)
• "Stooz ew!" (excuse you)
• "Pwe-pee!" (pretty please)
• "ME!"

The time is going so fast and the Lu is growing like crazy!  He is still in all of the same sizes: 2t/3t shirts, 2t jeans.  We have still been putting him in 2t jammies even though they are getting tight.  We have one pair of size 3t that fit a bit too big and he trips a little in them.  He's in an in between stage with those I guess.  I'm not really sure what size of shoe Luke is now.  I'm bad.  He's been wearing size 8 and 9 shoes.  I know the size 9's are too big but he loves the boots and pretty much wears them all the time, even in his jammies.  I think he also loves his boots because it's one thing he can do all by himself.  Luke is still in size 6 diapers and still not really showing signs of wanting to potty train.  He has used the potty a few times and gets really excited when he does, but when I ask him if he wants to go to the potty he quietly and sweetly replies, "noo!"  We'll keep bugging him until he really shows an interest and then we'll go for it!

Our Bubba just keeps getting more and more fun and it's always so great to see and hear the new things he comes up with!  We love you Bubba-Lu!