Don't Pick!

Luke picked out all of his bluberries from the blueberry bread before eating it. I thought he would tire of blueberries after awhile, but now when I open the refrigerator, Luke starts pointing and doing the seal noise when he sees them. Now, I have to hide the blueberries out of sight to reduce kitchen melt downs. We came home from church yesterday, meanwhile, my parents tried to feed Luke lunch... they said he ate a few bites of hamburger, but I didn't believe them because when I looked over at Luke, I saw bright blue lips and a blue tongue smiling like he won! This is OUT OF CONTROL!!! I hope he doesn't turn into Violet...

Seriously, though... thanks to blueberries and cheese, my child lives to see another day!

Impatiently Waiting

My cousin, Linsday, is just weeks away from being a Momma! We got in one more party before their little boy arrives.

I made her move her scarf to show off the belly!

My mom, me, and about-to-be a grandma, Holly (I am not sure what name she has picked for herself... since they had a "Big Momma", I am sure that she, like my mother, has already picked out what it WON'T be :)

Honey and Luke getting some hugs in-- this was haircut day #2, so he is looking sharp!:

Holly got her creapy troll doll out for Luke to play...

We can't wait to get the phone call that we have another member in our family!... then Luke won't have to play with troll dolls :)

Happy New Year!

Luke made it to 10:20! This picture was about 10:10 :)

Digging in our friend's girly prize drawer! This happens daily in my makeup drawer too!

Again, no family picture here either... I need to get my act together!

Christmas 2009 Rewind

We had a GREAT Christmas! We always enjoy going home, good cooking, family and friends.

Can you believe we didn't pull out the camera much on Christmas Eve??? Here is what we got:

Beautiful candelight service:

Dinner at Red Lobster:

Meeting Willie Brewer the salamander-- he is 15 years old or something crazy like that- Brent "willed" Willie to his mom when he went off to college!

Fun presents:

The sweetest smile I have ever seen!

Our boy now wears a size 6!!! He got dress shoes at Stride Rite from Granna and PUMAS from his Aunti Jamie! He is so trendy ;)

Santa brought Luke blocks... they were a big hit! He stacks them and jumps into them giggling all the way to the floor.

Getting the hang of unwrapping... next year, he will be a pro!

Fancy!

Playing Cards with Uncle Chris-- the games of choice this year were Monopoly Deal and Pandemic:

"Coloring"

Grandpas:

Playing Games:

More presents!

Granna taught Luke how to put the golf ball on the tee and play Do-Ray-Mi while his Momma slept in!

Luke admiring the Christmas ornaments just before breaking this one and another one.

Found the Tuperware!!!

Merry Christmas!

Egg Nog mustaches are the BEST!

Playing with friends! This is Landon:

And some of our Houston buddies!

We enjoyed every minute!

Merry Christmas 2009!

Our Christmas Card... finally arrived after New Years!
Picture taken by Kelly Hornberger

Walkers 1

Luke is transitioning into Walkers 1 at day care... they are much more structured and have activities that he loves! The past week or so they have said he was REALLY bored in Infants 2... I am not in the least surprised! So, his first full day was yesterday and it always take me longer to adjust than him, but he came home with scratches all over his face from falling in the playground (my boy LOVES to be outside, so this was no real shock) hence an injury report on his first day, he has major diaper rash, he was in his spare clothes, and they didn't feed him his yogurt. Breathe, Abbey... they are not fully staffed on a holiday week! He did make his first art project:

And here is is first report card in Walkers 1:

They reviewed animal flash cards... I would love to be a fly on the wall watching that with kids walking everywhere! And SOMEHOW, they got luke to take his nap ON A NAP MAT!!!

When Luke and I were leaving, I said bye to Miss Eden and the 3 kids still there all screamed "Bye!" in response! Melted my heart!

I am adding these non related pictures because they are so cute :) Do boys just know how to sit like that?!!!

Our Christmas Cards Will Be Late

One of my girlfriends told us about a website that prints 5*7 photos for 0.12 cents!!! We all thought we would take advantage of what we knew to be a website misprint and ordered through the magical website! Well, we just found out that the printer is in HONG KONG and the shipment takes 8-15 business days. So, you will probably get your Christmas card for New Years! Here is a picture we took that didn't make the cut, but I thought it would tide you over until a tangible one can be delivered!

We absolutely LOVE getting your Christmas cards and run to the mailbox every night to see who's came that day!

In other news, Santa sent Luke a private message from the Portable North Pole:
http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/c1ece635ddd268001a3828f7c2d3160a
Pretty neat, huh?!!!

It MUST be LOVE

Walmart doesn't have 'em.

Albertsons doesn't have 'em.

Kroger-nope.

Tom Thumb. Yay! They had 'em!

Blueberries.

When a teething child runs out of his favorite food, you too would run all over town at 8:30 on a Monday night to make sure he went to day care tomorrow armed with the one comfort food that will soothe those gums, fill that belly, and reduce the drool... if only for a moment.

It is neat to finally be on this side of the giving after all of those years of my mom doing the same for me.

It must be love.

Christmas Advent

There are a few times I have been floored with awe this Christmas season...

1. The song "You're Here" by Francesca Battistelli is a beautiful reminder of the humbleness through which Christ entered the earth... a wonderful song, sang from Mary's perspective. Give it a listen HERE. It is such a wonderful reminder that our Savior is a personal God-- no other god is! Jesus who walked on this earth WITH us and left it FOR us. An overwhelming thought that Mary physically touched her Savior understanding God choose her to be a part of His plan. Wow.

2. The book "Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas" by John Blaste is a short twelve chapter book that is told from the human perspective of the participants: their hopes, fears and feelings. It shows the reality of Christ's birth, their uncertainty, their faith, and awe.

3. Luke 2:39-52 talks about when Mary and Joseph accidentally left Jesus in the temple at age 12. When they realized, they returned in a panic, to find Jesus. His response to them was:
'Why were you searching for me?' he asked. 'Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?'. To me, this is such an honest answer to be in His literal Father's house learning all he could from these teachers. Mary's response? She 'treasured all these things in her heart'. It makes me hope for the day that Luke earnestly seeks his Father's face- what pure joy for a mother's heart to see her children understand the Father's love.

It is hard to push through business of the season and remember why we celebrate it, but I pray you do!

Ice, Ice Baby!

After weeks of scheming for a birthday surprise, we made it to:

Catching fake snow on their tongues-- it was 9 degrees cold!

Parka Pose!

Celebrating Holly's 30th birthday in a winter wonderland

I think you pulled it off, Tim! Even down to the vanilla and amaretto flavored Tiffany cake!

Happy birthday, sweet Holly! We all love you dearly.