PlaYinG iN thE RAiN...

It's been raining pretty heavily all day thanks to hurricane weather! Luke has been itching to play outside since we went to the store earlier this afternoon and picked up some laundry detergent. He didn't think it was very cool that I rushed us into the car and the store with an umbrella over our heads instead of hanging out in the rain. So, when Jake came home from school Luke ran outside to "get ALL wet!!"... this boy loves getting wet. He takes any chance he gets to drench himself. He had lots of fun running around out there! We still haven't put up a rain gutter on the house, so the rain just rushes off the roof... Luke found out that standing underneath is the perfect spot for a kid to get soaking wet... even when the rain slows down to a drizzle.
Aaa! so fun.
Trying to catch the big drips coming off the roof...

Then trying to catch them in his mouth... haha

My cute, soaked little boy.... he finally agreed to come inside once the rain stopped.

19 days

until the 2008 Beijing summer Olympics start!I'm an Olympics nerd... LOVE watching them. My favorite sport has always been gymnastics. When I was little I thought Shannon Miller was the coolest person that ever lived.

I'd pretend I was Shannon, Kim Zmeskal, Tatiana Gutsu, or Svetlana Boginskaya when I'd tumble. Yeah, so nerdy. Anyway, I'm counting down the days until the games begin again. Here's the lineup for women's gymnastics in Beijing... Bela Karolyi says this year's team is the best ever. Can't wait!

Ok Baby,

we're ready for you to come! Well, almost ready. Here are some pictures of baby girl's room. We haven't decided on her name yet so baby girl will have to do for now! Last month we had crown molding put up throughout the house and bead board in baby's room. It's my favorite room now :) If you can't tell, I'm loving brown and pink... and polka dots. Putting everything together has been a fun project!

Here's her room!...

A couple more bedding shots...

Here's my bear I've had since I was a baby (Alexander), and we'll put a picture of baby in that frame when she gets here! Found the frame at hobby lobby the other day in super bright colors so I painted it to match...

Yeah for a changing table! We changed Luke all over our house since we didn't have one with him and it seemed like I was constantly picking up diapers, wipes, and stuff everywhere. I think it will be easier having changing things in one place. Oh, and I saw some cute collages at http://www.petitcollage.com/ and decided to copy and make one. It's the picture above the changing table. So easy and fun to make... and so cheap when you're the one making it.

These next two pics are for my mom... she claimed it didn't look like I had a belly in the last few posts. Well, mom... I definitely have a belly. Here ya go. I don't know how it's going to get bigger since it feels like there is NO more room for her to grow in there. Luckily I have tons of things to keep me busy until her expected arrival so I won't have much time to think about my largeness. Haha.

The torpedo belly...

Another house update... We made some changes to Luke's room a while ago, but I never got around to posting about it. Here's our little guy's big boy room...

I made this sign like over a year ago with my sis-in-laws and finally put it up above Luke's closet. I'm such a procrastinator when it comes to putting up pictures and stuff!

Well, I think that's it as far as home improvement goes. Now we've made all the changes that we'll make while living here. I'm off to see what my guys are doing... bye!

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July! We had a fun day... went for a little while to our ward's 4th of July pancake breakfast, had to go on a search for new cell phones since Jake lost his and mine only works half the time (found some cheapo's at Target... woo hoo!), and went to see the fireworks last night at Sea World. It was a good fireworks show! The loud noises startled Luke at first... he screamed like he was surprised at the first few fireworks that went off... and then he loved it. Actually, he was mad when it was all over that there weren't more coming. Haha.
Pictures....
There were so many people at Sea World!!!... nowhere left for us to sit, so Jake held Luke the whole time...

On the 3rd, we decided to be spontaneous and went to the circus! Ringling Brothers is in town for a few days. I hadn't been to the circus since I was little, so I wanted to go! We went early so we could see the animals and the performers before the show started. You can get so much closer to them then you can at the zoo, or anywhere else really! We got to see a bunch of the elephants getting ready for the show, lots of tigers, zebras, and horses. It was a fun night... it's amazing what people can do... and what they can train animals to do! Whenever all the clowns and people would come out to do their stuff, Luke would ask "where the animals go?" They were his favorite part!

Jake and Luke before the show...

Cutie Elephants!

Cheesy couple...

The cotton candy came with a big goofy circus hat... Luke thought he was so funny :)

Fun At The Zoo.. And Yay For Girl's Nights Out!

I told myself at the beginning of the year that I was going to try and post at least once a week! So, here are some pictures of a couple of things we did this past week. First off, Luke got to go to the Zoo! He loves trains and animals, so he had a great day. It was SO hot there though! We were all sweaty and nasty by the time we left. Good thing they sell snow cones! I could eat them all day everyday here in Texas... so muggy.
My handsome guys on the train...
So exciting!...

Yum! snow cones...

GREEDY goats!!! They try to get the food out of the machines before you even buy it for them.

Hey goat, this is how it's done! Luke is a pro at feeding them now.

My favorite animals... the kangaroos! It was cute... so many mamas had babies in their pouches. I'm SO glad people don't have to carry their kids around like that after they're born... I would die. Yep... those are baby kangaroo legs sticking out of that mom... and isn't that baby down on the bottom cute?

Another fun part of the week was girls night! Mandee, I swiped these pics from your blog. Thanks! Haha. Krista and I had birthdays in June, so all of us went out to celebrate at Bravo! So much fun... I have awesome friends here. L to R.... Here's our group pic... Me, Melissa, Susan, Beth and baby Grace, Krista, Nicole, Mandee, Kajsa, and Melissa. Got to love girls nights out!

You can't see it that well, but my ice cream was super cute.

Other highlights of the week: Jake was able to do some golfing with friends, we filled out paperwork for military stuff... can't believe we're leaving here in less then a year! I'm excited to see where we'll be living next!, I read tons of books for my children's lit class, we went to Sea World, I did lots of cleaning, we went to dinner with the Nielsons at Scenic Loop Cafe, hung out with friends, and watched some movies Jake rented. Oh, and I'm almost done with baby's room... Pictures coming soon!

Making Bubbles...

Luke went pee pee in the potty last night and again this morning! Haha.. He loves "making bubbles." He saw Jake do it and just had to do it himself. We have to stand there making sure he doesn't fall while he's standing on a bucket in front of the toilet since he's still too short. When we tell him he's all done he gets really mad... wants to stand there for forever and try to go some more. Haha. Sorry dude, we're not going to stand there for an hour at a time. I know it's wishful thinking to think he will keep it up. He's still pretty young for potty training a boy, but I think we're going to venture out to buy a little potty this week... at least he can't fall in a little potty and we won't have to stand there until he decides he's done!

Luke's Big Day

Some pictures of Luke's birthday! His big day was pretty low key but he had fun! We spent the day running in sprinklers, reading books, and watching Cars. Uncle Aaron, Aunt Kristen and cousins Lily and Gunnar came over to play and have cake with us. He was excited about the presents we got him... new tools! and a lawnmower!

He blew most of the candles out first try (there were more then 2!) Lily helped him blow the rest out...

Huge bite....

Mmmm...

Liking the cake!...

Unwrapping presents with helper Gunnar!LOVES his lawnmower... and all lawnmowers, really. Such a little boy :)

Very into his new tools...

Lets hope the terrible part about being two doesn't start for a while! He's a fun kid!

2 Years Old!

Our little cutie turns 2 tomorrow! It's so weird to think I have a TWO year old!... he's so much more of a little boy then a baby now. Happy Birthday Luke! We love you! We're planning on spending his big day tomorrow doing things Luke likes to do!... playing in the hose/sprinkler, watching the chapter on the Cars DVD where mad Frank tries to catch Mater and Lightning (he loves watching this part over and over and runs around yelling "aaaa! go fast! frank is coming!"... haha)... visiting the whales at Sea World... reading lots of books... throwing balls... and of course cake and ice cream! Two years have gone by sooo fast. Seems like it wasn't that long ago when we brought him home from the hospital! Some pictures of our growing boy!...
First week of life...
Just born!
2 days old...

1st spongebath at home!

1st family outing... S.A temple...

3 months old!!!

Cute little chub!

6 months old
well, this pic was just before 6 months

9 months old!

1 year old!

First birthday!

15 months old!

18 months old!

21 months old!

Almost 2!!

Whenever we ask him what toys he wants for his birthday, he yells "tools!" We need to go get him some! Jake's are slowly disappearing since he's been playing with them for the last several months! Pictures of his big day coming soon!

On another note, I have been so busy working on school stuff this past week that I didn't post anything about my birthday! I turned 24 last week! It was a fun day! Jake woke up early and brought home bagels from my favorite bagel spot before I woke up (So sweet of him. Cosi!!... yum... )... then we did some shopping, and later that night Matt and Mandee watched Luke for us so we could go on a date. Thanks guys! We went to Mimi's for dinner and then mini-golfing. Fun time!

Last but not least... it's fathers day today! HAPPY FATHERS DAY JAKE! You are the best and I love you!

Also... Happy Fathers day to dad! and Rick! and Grandpa Arnie! and Grandpa John! Have a happy day.