Big Guy!

Our little big guy finally got moved into a big boy car seat and he loves it!  We tried putting this day off for as long as possible, because, well, he's my baby and I want time to slow down and I want him to stay little just a bit longer.  I didn't get what I wanted and Luke outgrew his baby car seat far too fast for my liking.  The poor kid almost hung out both ends.  He's a tall boy that's for sure!  We studied up on the internet and decided to go with the Graco my ride 65 car seat (the exact same as Tyke's).  It's heavy as can be but we have loved Tyke's so we knew this new investment would be good for our little guy.  Luke is so big we've already had to pull out one of the inserts so he'll fit (the extra cushioning for little guys).  He loves being able to sit up and look around and see out the window.  He's only gone for two car rides in his new seat but so far he has really enjoyed them!  I can't believe our baby boy has grown so fast!  We love him so much!

This picture, I love!  Grandpa Terry is quite possible the cutest Bampa ever!  Luke was having fun leaning in and head-butting him today in church (at cousin Jaxston's baby blessing, and for the record I took the picture after services were over).  My boys sure love their Bampa and it shows!

Cattle Drive

We moved cows today!  A lot of members of the Kay family got together to move Grandpa Wally's cows from the bench to out west for the summer.  We moved around fifty head of cattle.  There were nearly thirty of us that showed up to help!  

We love this time of year and we're so glad that our boys get to grow up this way, helping on the farm.  We want them to have a love for it and to be involved and to learn hard work.  Tyke had a ball chasing after the cows and "whipping" them with his long pieces of grass he would pick along the way.  Luke loved watching the cows just to the side of the rhino as pushed them through town.

Grandpa Wally was able to tag along this year in Grandpa Terry's truck.  He had a good day and loved being out of the house!  It was definitely different this year, him not being able to walk or ride a horse.  I got to drive him around a little bit (we took turns driving the truck) and he kept commenting about what a good day it was, what good weather it was (it was perfect! overcast and breezy, just right), and he kept repeating, "this is something those little kids are going to remember for the rest of their lives!"  I sure hope so!  Gramps and Grams have raised a great family and given us so much by teaching us all to be hard workers and run the farm.  I love them for that (and a whole lot of other things too!).  

Once we got to our destination we cooked up some hot dogs and had a picnic before the guys pushed the cows on up into the mountains deeper where there is a lot of feed.  We had a good time visiting.  The kids had a good time playing in the water and catching polliwogs.  It was just a great day!

Crayons=Trouble!

I feel like a mean mom.  Today I threw away Tyke's crayons.  Not all of them, just a little ten pack that had been scattered around the living room floor for a few days.  I kept warning Tyke to pick them up or they would be thrown away.  The little stinker would pick them all up and then throw them in the air and laugh and run away.  He has a hard time taking me seriously haha.  Tonight I had Luke sitting in his walker, playing with some toys.  Tyke was running like a mad man around the house, occasionally stopping to play with Luke and then back to being crazy.  Chad was in the shop changing oil on all of our vehicles and I was on the couch trying to close my eyes for ten minutes thanks to a small headache.  Things got quiet in the house, both Luke and Tyke weren't squealing or laughing.  I opened my eyes and saw Tyke on his knees facing Luke and Luke standing on his tip toes watching down at what Tyke was doing.  They both had a crayon in their hands and they were both coloring all over the tray of Luke's walker!  My first reaction was to get after them and then I laughed.  They both dropped their crayons and Tyke ran.  I wish so bad I would have gotten a picture of the scene, it was hilarious!  These two are going to be trouble I just know it!  Anyway, the crayons got chucked because Tyke kept snapping them in half, peeling off the paper, throwing them, and he wouldn't keep them away from baby brother.  I felt bad, I think he learned his lesson.  I also think it didn't phase him.  Either way we are now down ten crayons and have a tray to clean off.  Thanks boys! =)

The damage isn't that bad.  It makes me laugh to think about the whole scene, and mad that I didn't capture it.  This is the first time, for both boys, to color on anything other than paper.  Little stinkers!

Memorial Weekend 2015

What a fun, wet, muddy, lazy Memorial weekend we had!  

Thursday night we loaded up the trailer and hauled it out west to save us a camping spot at our usual spot, "Hobos village".  Turns out we didn't need to save anything, there were hardly any campers out our way (I'm assuming it's because of rainy weather).  On Friday after I got off of work we headed out for our weekend fun!  It rained hard on us most of the drive.  The dirt road didn't look too bad considering the rivers of water running down the sides of it.  We eventually had to put the truck into four wheel drive though to make it to our camp.  We were sliding and spinning out and having a good  messy time.  We were thankful that we had pulled the fifth wheel out the night before because there was no way we could have made it in the slick mud.  Also lucky for us is that the trailer was already set up so we didn't have much to do before gathering in Chris and Danielle's trailer to visit while things dried up.  The ground was a pool of water, mud and hail.  It was slick and messy and no fun at all!  We hung out in Chris and Danielle's trailer for a while before going back to ours to rest.  Poor Tyke was fevering (again) so we gave him some motrin and turned on his favorite airplane movie.  He fell asleep so fast he didn't even finish his chocolate milk.  Poor guy has two molars coming in that are causing him fevers and pain!

Saturday morning we had plans of sleeping in but the boys thought otherwise.  Luke is like a little alarm clock.  Every day at 6 a.m. he starts squirming, at 6:30 a.m. his right leg starts kicking like crazy making loud thump noises in his playpen.  By 7 a.m. if I haven't picked him up he's wide awake and either talking or screaming at me.  He's the boss and he knows it!  We had a yummy breakfast of bacon, eggs and pancakes and then headed outside to play in the mud.  Tyke loved it!  He didn't get near as dirty as I expected him to.  We enjoyed playing outside in between rain storms.  We went for two walks (we collected cool rocks), a small hike up into the big rocks (we found a lizard but didn't dare try and catch it, it was huge!), a couple of short rhino rides (which Tyke got to "drive" and loved it!  Luke got left back at camp with Aunt Danielle because he was napping).  Tyke had fun riding his bike through big mud holes.  We blew bubbles and the boys loved watching them and trying to grab them.  We played with Daddy's remote control rock crawler, which is always a hit.  We did lots of visiting and playing and napping.  It was just a good day!  For dinner we tried something new and used the "can cooker" to make a shrimp boil, or whatever you want to call it.  We all picked at and ate the yummy corn on the cob, red potatoes, onions, shrimp, sausage and chicken that had been cooked together in a cajun seasoning.  It was a hit and we plan on making it again with a few alterations.  Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Terry rode out for a short visit that night.  We roasted marshmallows and ate smores before calling it a day.

This was the first camping trip in a long time that both Chad and I were able to sit around the camp fire late at night.  We got the boys bathed and in bed and asleep in record time.  We were able sneak out and enjoy the cool night air and visit with Chris and Danielle for a while, kid free.  It was a well needed break and our boys slept so good while camping.  I swear Luke sleeps best in the camp trailer.  It's pretty much the only time he will sleep through the entire night without waking up.  It's nice!  

Luke FINALLY got his camping sink bath.  This was our third camping trip of the year and the poor guy hadn't got to experience this tradition.  Chad thinks I'm crazy but it's something I had to do with Tyke on his first camping trip and Luke as well.  Luke was a little confused and concerned but soon decided it wasn't so bad because he could watch his feet much better while sitting up.  The little stinker kicked like crazy in what little room he had and made a big mess for us.  Isn't he so cute in the little kitchen sink though?

On Sunday while Chris, Danielle, Waylon and Autumn went for a long four wheeler ride we just hung out at camp and played.   Chad pulled the rhino up onto the trailer so he could take a plate off.  While he was working Tyke went over to help and instead found a tie-down that he used to tie Chad to the trailer.  It was pretty comical and we were surprised that he knew just what to do to tie his daddy up!  We had visitors from Corey and his kids and Nanna.



Tyke enjoyed playing with his cousins.  He also enjoyed playing by himself.  He's a pretty easy going kid that way.  He and Waylon had fun playing on the rhino, pretending like they were driving it around.  They had playing with all of the buttons and trying their hardest to turn the key and get it started.  They're kind of trouble, those Long boys...  Sunday had a few on and off rain storms too.  We all gathered under the awning of Chris and Danielle's trailer and visited, played and ate snacks.  It was so relaxing!  We had an early dinner of yummy tacos, courtesy of Nana.  After she left and things calmed down we decided it was smore time again.  I pulled out the giant camp fire marshmallows and the kids were in aw of how big they were.  They were fun but we won't be buying them again.  They were too big to roast.  The outside would look great but the inside would still be hard cold by the time we were done.  Plus they were just too much to eat, way too rich and we could only make half way through one before we were done.

It was such a fun time!  We are sure loving our new camp trailer and we really love playing together in the great outdoors as a family.  It's simply the best!

Handy Boy

I feel like our home is baby-proofed pretty well but Tyke always proves us wrong.  Today we had to finally find a new home for the kitchen knife set.  It's been parked on the counter top near the sink, way out of his reach.  Well little guy, who is so handy with my step stool, helped himself to the kitchen scissors today.  Grandma Cheryl bought Tyke a new little sand box set of toys that were bagged up in a mesh bag.  Tyke grabbed his bag of toys, pushed the step stool over to the sink, reached into the butcher block of knives and grabbed the scissors.  He cut open his bag, put the scissors back and went on his way.  One-I didn't know he could reach them (I'm naive, I know), and two-I didn't know he could use scissors properly.  I never notice just how much he watches and learns from us until he shows it.  The knife set now reside in the spare pantry...until he figures that one out too!  Nothing is safe in this house! =)

Centennial

Today was a special day for the Kay family, especially for Great Grandma Gaye and Great Grandpa Wally.  Today we all gathered at Rick and Lucinda's house for a family dinner and to honor Grams and Gramps.  Today they were informed that this year, 2015, the family farm is Utah Centennial!  Meaning that the land we farm has been in the same family name for over one hundred years!  My cousin Brayden and his wife Bailee did all of the research and planning for this.

Lucinda and Rick catered a yummy meal of roast beef, taters and gravy, green beans, green salad, rolls and a huge dessert table.  Grandma and Grandpa had no clue of the centennial business, they thought we were just getting together for a family dinner.  Rick and Lucinda gave great speeches and presented Grams and Gramps with their centennial sign and a necklace and belt buckle Bailee had made to commemorate today.  Grandma cried and Grandpa looked fairly emotional too.  They told us that they bought up bits and pieces of the farm off of their parents and their Gramps siblings because they didn't want their kids to run the streets and get in trouble.  They worked hard and struggled to do this for us.

What a legacy!  Not only did they raise great kids who are hard workers but their grandchildren, great grandchildren and now great-great grandchildren get to learn to be hard workers too.  Almost the entire Kay family has stayed close to the farm, only a couple have left town/the state.  It's an amazing family and we are so blessed to be a part of it.  I love my grandparents and all that they stand for!  I love all that I have learned and continue to learn from them.  I'm so grateful that my boys and my husband get to have them for teachers too.  They really are amazing people and I love them so much!  Congrats Grams and Gramps on your centennial farm!

28 Months Old

We're getting close to being half way through the "terrible two's" year and for the most part we really can't complain.  Tyke is a pretty good kid!  He's twenty eight months old today, hard to believe (I know I say this every month but it really is mind blowing to try and figure where the time has gone, it goes way too fast!).  He's happy and helpful and funny.  He's also sassy, stubborn, adventurous and fearless.  We're having so much fun watching him grow and learn new things every day.  Our boys amaze us and that is no understatement!

This kid has got some attitude.  He likes to talk back and thinks it's funny which usually results in all of us laughing.  Bad, I know.  Tyke is stubborn and hard headed (literally) and will do whatever he needs to to do the exact opposite of what we tell him or ask of him.  When he gets in these moods it aggravates us and the more mad we get the more fun he has.  He gets to the point where he will literally start laughing a bratty little laugh that he knows pushes our buttons.  He's a little stinker!  He will get in our face if we're sitting down and laugh a taunting laugh trying to get our mad faces to break.  It's hard not to give in.  He has learned not to mind so well and does what he wants.  He's still a good boy, don't get me wrong, but he's definitely in phase right now that we hope soon ends or at least calms down.

Mr. Tyke has got some favorite toys that he just loves to play with!  He's still super obsessed with his airplanes.  He has two now that he will NOT share with others.  He loves playing airplanes, even when he doesn't have on in hand.  His imagination is growing strong.  He'll wave his hands around in "airplane" motion and make motor sounds.  At the dinner table he feeds himself airplane style and insists we do the same.  Each morning when I load the boys in the car to go to Grandma Cheryl's his first question/reaction is, "MOM! Ar-panes?!"  We left home with his red airplane one day and I got in big trouble!  He realized it wasn't with us once we got to Grandma Cheryl's house.  I was explaining to Grandma and Grandpa and Tyke that I couldn't find his red airplane and would be in trouble and that it might be a long day of whining without his trusty little friend.  Sure enough, as soon I finished my sentence (and Tyke finished unloading his back back) he looked at me in near tears and said frantically, "Oh no mom! Where ar-pane doe?!"  Grandpa Terry busted out laughing and I had a hard time staying serious for Tyke.  I felt so bad!!  It was a happy reunion later that day when Tyke got home and got a hold of his favorite little toy.

Speaking of Tyke's imagination.  This kid has slowly lost his obsession with Finding Nemo.  We watched that movie way too many times!  In the bathtub though, if Tyke bathes (not showers) he "swims" wildly on his belly yelling, "help me Meno!!" over and over again.  It's hilarious!  He's constantly asking for Nemo and Dori to save him.  Tyke is starting to show an interest in hiding and making huts.  We haven't done much for making huts yet but we have big plans to pull out the blankets and make something fun.  Tyke loves to cover his entire self up in a blanket and hide, just him and his favorite toys (3 airplanes, 2 helicopters and Nemo).  And last but not least with his cute little imagination,  he likes to pick things up and move them around or bring them to us with the mouth of his dinosaur toy.  This is both good and bad.  Good and cute for the most part until he picks up one of our iPhones to bring to us, then it's scary.  He's just helping and we appreciate it but that dinosaur sometimes doesn't have a very good grip.

Tykie is all boy!  This kid is getting more and more brave at doing scary stuff (scary to this momma!).  Tyke is getting good at jumping off of things.  The higher the better and I hate it!  His highest leap so far has been about two feet, off of a coffee table at Aunt Jenny's.  This kid shows no fear at all!  With the jumping and running around like a wild man Tyke is almost always covered in bruises and scratches.  He has had two slight black eyes in the last month!  He looks like he's abused but I promise it's just him being crazy!

Roni is such a good, big helper.  He always wants to be in on the action of house chores and maintenance.  Tyke likes throwing dirty dishes in the sink.  He will gather up bottles, sippy cups and plates and silverware and simply toss them overboard into the sink.  Luckily nothing has been broken yet.  He enjoys it so much that he will try and take our plates before we're even done eating.  He'll grab them and look at us innocently and say, "all don mom?!" (all gone mom) and try to yank our plates away.  It's too cute.  The anticipation of having a dirty dish to throw in the sink nearly drives him crazy.  Tyke LOVES packing his hammer and saw around with him to help his Daddy fix things.  Tyke helped Daddy put in the new kitchen light just the other day.  He's such a good helper.  Tyke has pretty much taken over my step stool and uses it for all of his busy work.  He pushes that thing around with him like it's an extra leg.  He's too handy with it.  He uses it to reach things in the pantry that he shouldn't, to play in the water at the sink, to climb on the counters to reach cookies and to flip the lights on and off.  He's a handy little feller.

In the next month or so we'll start potty training with Tyke.  He has started to slowly show interest again.  After every bath/shower he will point at the toilet and very seriously say, "mom I doe potty."  I'll sit him on the toilet and sure enough he will go pee.  He gets it, now we just need to buckle down and get it done.  Tyke loves to shower and would stay in all day long if we (and the warm water) would let him.  He likes to sing in the shower.  He likes to soap himself up by himself.  He's growing up too fast!  Tyke likes to put on his daddy's deodorant, come his hear and he is obsessed with brushing his teeth!  We have had to move his toothpaste and brush up high where he can't reach it.  One day when he went "missing" and Daddy couldn't find him he found him in the master bathroom, on the counter, brushing his teeth.  What a good boy haha.

Tyke's appetite is come and go but he is still doing good at eating meat, as long as it's chicken or "elk".  He's getting more adventurous and will at least try a taste of new foods before completely turning his nose up at them.  Most of the time anyway.

Tyke loves the outdoors.  We haven't got to spend much time outside the past month because of the rain but when we do he takes advantage of it!  He loves working in the garden, playing with his soccer and baseballs, playing tee ball and annoying the neighbors hound puppies (as long as their caged up, otherwise he's scared to death of them!).

Tyke's vocabulary continues to grow.  He communicates really well for a two year old.  There are a few things he says that we don't understand at all and it frustrates him.  There are other phrases he says over and over and over, like he's stuck on repeat, until we get the point.  I can't really think of any new favorite sayings right now because my absolute favorite one always occupies my mind.  "I wuz you more too mom!" (I love you more too mom!) gets said to me a lot, daily.  It gets said to his Daddy and to Louie-Pooey too.  It melts my heart!  It also melts my heart that when Tyke says those words to his little brother he finishes it off with a sweet little kiss on the top of Luke's head.  It's simply adorable and I love how much he loves his brother.  They're too cute!!

Our little guy isn't so little anymore.  He's growing up big and strong and way too fast.  He is now officially in size 3t shirts and jeans.  The jeans fit a little too big but they are the right length for our tall boy.  Tyke is still in size 8 shoes and size 5 diapers.  I swear in the diaper department, Luke is going to be catching up fast!

This kiddo of ours, and his brother, are the best entertainment ever!  We love him so much and can't believe all that he does and has learned.  We look forward to each new little thing that he discovers and shares with us.  We love his happy self and the joy he finds in nearly everything.  We love you Tyke-man-Roni!

Escape

Last night we decided to get out of the house and go for a ride.  We grabbed the fishing poles,  a pizza for the boys and tacos for me and headed up the canyon.  We didn't get to fish because the pond was busy with people so we cruised on up to Bear Canyon and found a nice little spot to stop for dinner.  Tyke didn't want to share pizza with his dad and kept taking the slices away from Chad and lecturing him that they were "Mine Dad!".  Chad eventually got to have some.  Tyke ate three pieces!  After finishing up dinner the boys went for a little walk down by the river and Tyke had a blast throwing rocks in.  Luke and I hopped back into the truck because it was getting pretty chilly and we hadn't really packed too well for it.  On our way home we stopped at the pond because everyone had left.  Chad hopped out and fished for about five minutes before calling it quits.  He said the water was too shallow.  

It was a fun, well needed escape from the norm.  Tyke loved it and didn't want to go home, he cried nearly the whole drive home.  Luke enjoyed it too!  We plan on doing this kind of thing more often! 

First Dentist Visit

Tyke had his first dentist visit today!  I wouldn't say it went great but it wasn't bad either.  Chad had an appointment to have a tooth checked out (which happens to need a root canal and crown, eek!) and me and the boys tagged along so we could introduce Tyke to the office.

Tyke had fun playing with the toys in the waiting room while his Daddy was in the back getting x-rays done.  A little girl there on her first visit was screaming hysterically and when Tyke heard her he got a concerned look on his face and said, "Mom, daddy cry?"  I told him it wasn't Daddy but he didn't believe me.  Lori, one of the nurses there, asked him if he'd like to go back and find his Daddy and make sure he was ok.  Tyke wasn't shy at all (which surprised me) and smiled at her and ran right back to his Dad.

Tyke sat on Chad's lap and noticed the x-rays of Chad's teeth.  He looked at me then pointed at the x-rays and said, "Mom, Dad's teeth!"  It surprised us both that he knew what he was looking at.  Dr. Peterson came in and I took Tyke while he checked out Chad's situation.  Once he was done it was Tyke's turn to play.  Tyke sat on Chad's lap while Aunt Charlotte, one of the nurses, pushed the button to lift the chair up.  Tyke freaked out, he didn't like it at all.  We offered to let him sit on the chair by himself and ride but he wasn't having it.  Char turned on the overhead light and showed Tyke the "flashlight" they use to look at teeth.  Chad showed Tyke how to open his mouth big so they could look in and for a split second Tyke showed his teeth and then he was done, with it all.  Dr. Peterson took Tyke to get a gold coin for being so good!  Tyke was excited about his "money's!"  He got to use it in the toy machine and won himself a new tiny top,  yay!

Even though Tyke didn't cooperate the greatest, and he was scared of the chair, I was really surprised and glad that he wasn't afraid of Dr. Peterson and his staff at all.  That's a good sign right?  We'll wait a few more months before taking Tyke to an official visit.

7 Months Old

Lukey-Duke is 7 months old today!  The past seven months have passed by way too fast for me.  Luke is growing big and strong and is the happiest little guy ever!  We love his sweet little self!

Luke is learning new things all of the time.  It's so fun to watch his eyes light up when he figures out something new.  He has found his fingers and toes and likes to play with them.  He can wave, but not really on demand just yet.  On 4-7-15 he was lying on the bed while I was folding laundry.  As usual he was wiggling and squealing like crazy.  All of a sudden he got quiet and I looked at him to see him staring at his hand, concentrating really hard and slowly closing and opening his fingers.  After about thirty seconds he got excited and went back to squealing and wiggling.  He's done this quite a few times since.  There was even one day (I believe it was on my birthday, so 4-29-15) that I waved bye-bye to him when dropping him off at Grandma Cheryl's before work and he waved back!  Totally made my day!  Luke has also found his feet and toes.  On 4-14-15 while at cousin Tristan's house (Chad and Tyke got haircuts) we stuck Luke in their bumbo chair and he LOVED IT!  I'm half tempted to get him one of his own but I know he'll out grow it way too fast to justify getting one.  Anyway, while sitting in that chair he noticed his cute, chubby little feet and kept grabbing at his toes.  He thought they were pretty cool and it kept him entertained for a good ten minutes.  The past few days he's been pulling those chubby toes up and into his mouth and eating on them.  It's pretty much the most adorable thing ever!  On 4-17-15 I noticed for the first time that Luke was making a kissing sound!  When I made the sound back at him he thought it was hilarious and giggled like crazy.  Since then I haven't really noticed him making that kissing noise but he pulls his upper lip in and sucks on it, sometimes making a kissing sound.

Luke is getting more and more mobile!  He can roll onto his stomach and then his little feet and legs kick like crazy to scoot him to the nearest toys.  He hasn't been able to cover too much area yet but he will be in no time, I'm sure!  Luke has rolled from his belly to his back only once, that I know of, since he was a month old.  I was telling Chad how I was a little bit concerned about this and before I could finish my sentence he rolled over, shutting me up (4-23-15).  Kids have a way of doing that to me.  Little guy has been seen more than once trying to get into crawling position.  He will literally dig his head into the floor and push up with his toes, making a tee pee shape and then push forward.  It's a wonder he doesn't have rug burns on his head.

Luke can kick.  He loves to kick.   He's always kicking his little legs like crazy!  Even in his sleep he will kick his right leg really hard, thumping the bed in a little rhythm.  Luke kicks when he's happy, when he's sad, when he sleeps, and when he eats.  The boy is wild!  The other day while Grandma Cheryl was feeding him baby food he kicked the container right out of her hand!  He's our little Thumper!

Luke is starting to get good at sitting up on his own.  He still needs a lot of assistance but his core is definitely getting stronger.  If our little guy had his way he would sit up all day long, he loves it!  He gets so mad/frustrated when he gets layed down.  It makes me feel bad but we can't hold him 24/7.  I wish we could but it's just not possible.

To say he's spoiled would be an understatement.  He loves attention, he loves being  held, and he loves to snuggle!  This kid is the sweetest little snuggler ever.  The way he digs into my chest while holding my shirt or a handful of hair melts my heart.  When he gets tired and fussy all it takes is a good snuggle, his binky and a minky blanket thrown over his face.  Speaking of binky's we finally convinced him to get rid of the big blue-green hospital ones.  We tried a few different models and he refused to take them but the good 'ol Easter Bunny brought him some new ones that he thinks are pretty cool.  He likes to play with them and pull them in and out of his mouth, throw them on the floors, and stick them on his thumbs.  The best part is that these new binky's actually stay in his mouth for longer than two seconds!  With the old ones they would pop out as quick as we popped them in.  We were constantly having to hold them in for him.

Luke eats like a champ!  He LOVES baby food!  He'll eat any flavor except for peas, peas make him gag so hard he almost bonks his head on the highchair tray.  We are currently feeding Mr. Lu THREE stage 2 baby food containers a day!  And bottles on top of that.  I'm still nursing and pumping and doing what I can but I'm almost to the point of not being able to keep up.  He's tolerated a couple of formula bottles.  He has started to show less interest in nursing here and there.  There have been a few times when he's pulled away and looked at me with a confused, disgusted look on his face and then refused to eat.  Tyke did this to me too at ten months old and that is when we officially quit nursing.  I'll just keep going with the flow with this little guy!  It's bittersweet to think that this nursing stage might be almost over.  Other than the boring milk and baby food Luke has also gotten a taste of pudding, both chocolate and vanilla, and loved it!  Tyke gave him his first taste of a greasy scone from One Man Band (4-15-15).  Sneaky Tyke is always so willing to share with his baby brother, I need to pay better attention.  We have been introducing Luke to water.  Dr. Fullmer said he can have 1-2 ounces with each serving of baby food.  Luke hates it!  If it's in a bottle that is.  He will literally gag and refuse to drink it unless it's in a cup.  One day (4-28-15) I offered him a drink of my water and he excitedly grabbed the cup and drank away.  I was shocked!  He hardly spilled and he drank a few gulps before looking up at me and smiling.  So we don't bother using the bottle for water anymore, just give him his own cup and he's  happy as can be.

Luke is a happy little guy.  His smile lights up his whole face.  He's usually pretty content to play by himself or be snuggled.  He does have a bit of a temper, especially when Tyke is around or things don't go his way.  The last couple of weeks it seems that Tyke bugs Luke bad.  His whole body tenses up and he squeals, not a happy squeal but an annoyed squeal.  Tyke thinks it's funny and feeds off of it and then ends up in trouble.  Luke gets super mad when he can't have Tyke's toys, the iPad or our phones.  He will throw the biggest fit ever, tears and all, and his entire body shakes.  As soon as we give in and hand him whatever it is that he wants he immediately stops and smiles a big smile and plays.  He's a little stinker!  Luke loves his Uncle Cody and Uncle Chris.  With Uncle Cody he will just sit and smile and giggle at him for no reason at all.  With Uncle Chris he leans his head in slowly and then WHAM! head butts him and smiles, repeatedly.

Luke is growing so big so fast.  I feel like maybe things have slowed down a little bit and we're able to actually use clothes more than a couple of times.  Luke is still in size 3 diapers but they're starting to get snug.  I joke that in no time I'll have two boys in size 5's the rate he's growing! (Hopefully Tyke will be potty trained by then...)  Luke wears size 9-12 month clothing now.  There are still a couple of things that are 6 month size that fit him but not many.  And shoe size, I have no clue because we don't really do baby shoes around here.  I can tell you though that his feet are long and chubby.  This kid has got wrinkles and dimples allover and I love it!  His hair is really starting to come in.  I can't decide what color it's going to be.  It's fairly dark and wild but sometimes it looks blonde.  His eyes still haven't made up their mind of what color they'll be.  Their blue, green and brown right now.  They're dark and pretty.  His skin color is a perfect tan.  He's just a handsome boy! (Really I want to say he's a pretty baby but that's a no no with boys, right?)

We sure love our Bay-Lu!  He's a fun little guy and keeps us on our toes.  Happy seven months big guy!  We love you tons!

Enjoying Spring

Today's weather couldn't have been more perfect!  We spent the entire afternoon outside enjoying the spring day.  

Chuck (our "love fern") finally got transplanted to a new, larger pot.  We're still not sure if he'll pull threw but we're hoping so.

Tyke had fun playing with his new t-ball stand (courtesy of Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Terry).  He thinks it's the coolest thing ever!  The only problem is that he aims for the stand and not the ball.  We tried showing him the correct way and he would say, "No ma!" and hit the tee and giggle.  This kiddo of ours is going to be athletic I do believe.

Luke enjoyed the outdoors too.  He enjoyed it more when he was able to sit up.  It's going to be so nice for him (and us) when he can sit by himself.  He loves it!  He hates to be layed down.  I took him for a very short wagon ride and he wasn't too thrilled about it.  He tensed right up and had a look of fear on his face.  He's been like that lately with stroller rides and riding in shopping carts too.  Poor guy.  I finally strapped him into one of the make-shift seats in the wagon and he seemed to do pretty well with that.  I had to stuff his blanket in around him to help keep him stable.  I gave him one of the plastic baseballs to play with he.  He loved it and got excited...Tyke got jealous and kept trying to steal it.  These boys are going to keep us on our toes!

Chad and I took turns working in the yard.  One of us worked while the other entertained the kiddos, especially Luke.  Tyke helped me bust up some dirt and we planted a few flowers and plants and trimmed a couple of bushes.  He was such a big helper!  Chad got the garden tilled and most of the small flower beds done too.  It was just a good, relaxing, productive day!

Special Day

Today was a great day!  We were able to attend our niece Callie Jo's baptism, tour the new Payson temple, had a barbecue and watched a dance review.  It was busy for sure but we are so glad we were able to make it to everything.

The Payson temple was amazing!  Aunt Jenny and Uncle Cody got us all passes to go through and tour it today.  Their family, our family and Chris & Danielle's family went through.  It was a beautiful, windy day and we sure enjoyed ourselves.  

Tyke was really concerned with the little booty covers he had to wear.  He was pretty whiny about having to wear them.  In the baptismal font room the murals were of the mountains with deer grazing.  Between the water in the font and the deer painted on the walls Tyke went crazy!  He "shot" the deer and then exclaimed, "I shot deer ma!"  

Luke loved bending backwards, nearly out of our arms, to look at the chandeliers and paintings on the ceilings.  Luke got hungry towards the end of the tour and was squealing like crazy, luckily we had a bottle to give him.    

After our tour we ventured towards the front of the building and took a few pictures.  We're so glad we got to tour the temple.  What a special thing to do for our little family!  

Wet Weekend

We just got home from probably one of thee most relaxing camping trips ever!  It was a wet, cold weekend and we knew that when we planned our little getaway.  We debated on camping out west but ultimately decided on going down to Yuba.  We got a late start heading down.  We had Luke's doctor appointment at 4:30 in Payson and it took a while to be done there.  On our way home we stopped for pizzas, groceries and then we still needed to pack a few things.  We were on the road by six and made good timing.  Luke did really well on the drive down considering his poor little legs had been poked.  We decided to camp at Painted Rock campground at Yuba.  It was twenty dollars a night (which bugged me a little bit, but in the long run I decided it was well worth it)  for a paved camp spot with all hook ups, a picnic table and some cover.

It rained all weekend!  On Saturday it was on and off rain until later in the day when it just down poured.  We watched lots of movies, napped, ate yummy food, played the iPad, and colored in the coloring books.  Tyke and Chad got adventurous and played outside when they could, between storms.  They walked down to the reservoir and threw rocks for a while while Luke and I stayed in where it was warm and cozy.  They also played with some bubbles which Tyke loved!  Later that day Chris and Danielle and kids showed up to hang out for a while and have dinner.  Tyke loved playing with his cousins!  We had a yummy dinner of steak and taters (fried with bacon, onion and cut up bratworsts).  We finished off dinner with brownies and ice cream.  They left for the night and we settled in good for the night by getting our pj's on and watching Lonesome Dove the rest of the night.

Sunday we woke up fairly early and had a quick breakfast.  We finished our Lonesome Dove movies and then got things packed up and headed home.  Camping in a campground (a first for me) made for a super easy clean up when we got home!  We had such a great time!  Luke did awesome considering the shots he had had on Friday.  He and Tyke are happy little campers!  We're already trying to figure out when we can go back and actually do some fishing and bike riding.  We can't wait for round two!

6 Month Well Check

 Luke finally had his six month well check!  He's nearly seven months old now but today was the soonest we could get him scheduled in (apparently spring break is a busy time with all of the school kiddos out).  Luke did great!  He was super smiley and talkative with the nurses and with Dr. Fullmer.

Dr. Fullmer did a thorough exam of our little guy and everything checked out perfectly!  We discussed Luke's diet and the doctor gave us the okay to start introducing water and more foods!  Luke can now, if he wants to, eat three baby food meals a day, plus nursing, plus treats!  If he wasn't growing big and strong and FAST before he will be now!  We were advised to stay away from baby cereal though.  Luke's poopy diapers are very irregular lately and it seems like we have to feed him apple-prune juice to get things flowing again.  Even then we're still not getting one every day or even every other.  Dr. Fullmer told us that cereals tend to constipate babies a little.

Little guy did great with his shots this round.  He had one oral immunization and three shots.  He cried pretty hard about the shots but was easily calmed down this time (in the past it seems like it took a while for him to quit crying).  We gave him a dose of Tylenol (and just for the record he's now old enough to have Motrin if we want to) and were on our way!

Luke's 6 month stats:

Weight: 19 pounds (70%)

Height: 28.25 inches (93%)

Head: 17.3 inches (57%)

I think it's safe to say that we were all surprised with how "little" Luke is.  We had bets going that he had hit the twenty pound mark.  The nurses even commented on how tall he looked for a six month old so it was weird to us that his percentages were higher.  No matter, our little guy is healthy and happy and growing like he should and that is all that we really care about!  Luke doesn't have to go back until he's nine months old, and he'll be happy to know that he doesn't have to have shots then.  Keep growing strong buddy Lou!  We love you so much!!

First Sheds

Our little outdoors lover found his very first set of shed horns today!  Grandpa Terry had mentioned to us that he noticed a set just north of the house, about 250 yards out, along his shooting range.  We took Tykie for a little walk and there they were, plain as day, lying on the ground for him to pick up.  He wasn't really sure what the big fuss was all about but finally grabbed them and immediately started banging them together while giggling excitedly.  He was pretty proud of himself and so were we!  Daddy carried the horns back to the house for Tyke, so he wouldn't trip and poke an eye out or something.  Tyke picked up some sticks along the way and showed them to us with the same excitement he had had about the horns (pretty sure he didn't get the difference between the two).  He was super proud to show his find to his Bampa!  This little guy...he's going to be a great hunter!!  Way to go Tyke!