Being Baby

I stayed home from work today to tend to Luke's bottom -- he's had diarrhea for a week, so the doctor is having me take stool samples, and he has the world's worst diaper rash. Totally fun. For the last few days, Luke's been on a BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apples, toast). Needless to say, he's over it at this point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J23SgWLYwvQ
And, he makes some funny noises lately:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK7DcLyBb-A

Helping Dad

Luke is the best little helper. He was Adam's assistant putting up the TV in the workout room. Now that the TV's installed, maybe that'll be incentive for me to actually start working out. Hmm. We'll see.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Lanie and Uncle Ryan

Lanie and boyfriend Dave

Michaela and Ryan

Adam's sister and brother, Elaine and Ryan, had their 30th birthday party earlier this month. The family rented a lake house which came complete with a little beach for the kids. The boys loved the sand! They're going to be little water babies.

One night all the kids went with the grandparents (Mom and Dad kept Luke for us). We had a poker party, and Jennie and I won! Not really sure how that happened since neither of us knows how to play very well (if at all), but whatever. We won. And, we're the best. And, that's that. Suckers.

Determining our "strategy".

Raking in the pot!

July 4th!

God Bless America! What a wonderful country we live in! I know I certainly take for granted the life we have here, but I hope that Adam and I can instill in Luke how important it is to work hard, be thankful for your blessings and appreciate your freedoms.

We met my friend Stefanie and her husband Mike (they live south, too) at a July 4th celebration on Saturday night at Grey Rock Country Club. Luke loved the fireworks! We'll have to remember that place next year. Great fireworks and just five minutes from the house.

On Sunday, Adam's family came over and the boys enjoyed their day on Scott Island (Nolan's pool, which is awesome!). It was our first "party" since we moved in, and so far, so good. Think we'll have another.

Paper Pusher

Luke may or may not grow up to work at an office, but right now he's a literal paper pusher. He loves to scoot his flashcards around when he crawls. He's even mastered 2-3 cards with one hand. All over the place. Grapes, Cow and Apple have seen better days. Their pictures are starting to get rubbed off from all the pushing on the tile.

And, Luke's a smart little cookie. The other day, Adam came home while I was unloading dishes and the dishwasher door was down. When it's down, you can't walk by one side of the island. Luke was on the other side of the dishwasher door so he couldn't crawl straight to Adam but he sure wanted to! He thought about what to do for a second then crawled around the island to get to Adam. We were both pretty surprised at his problem solving skills. It's neat to see their little brains in action.

10 Months!

Funny -- I just read Michaela's post about Nolie's 10-month picture and how hard it is to get them to sit still. I had the hardest time taking Luke's picture. He would not stay in one spot. Up. Down. To the left. Over the side. Where's Max? Where's the ball? Where's Mom? So. This is the best we could do. He's getting super big! Still don't think we've broken 20 pounds, but he will by his first birthday. He's just a little dude.