Catching Up with some Holiday pics!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful year. We have had an eventful one ourselves. It has been fun watching lil Lucas grow. He, I am sure like any baby, is a handful. With all the ups and downs, we enjoyed every minute. Here are a couple of pics from Halloween and a bit more from Christmas. We wish everyone wonderful blessings, and hope to see you very soon.

Lucas & Santa

Our neighborhood sponsored a visit with Santa earlier this month. It was perfect as we didn't have to wait in a long line. The event turned out to be a family affair as Lucas was not interested or willing to sit on Santa's lap. I had to sit on Santa's lap and hold Lucas. Lucas was still not interested and kept reaching for Sam, so Sam had to join us too. The picture was snapped and you can tell Lucas was not enjoying it at all. Too funny! At least we didn't have to wait in line for hours and Luke's meeting with Santa ended quickly enough!!

Lucas eating lunch or sleeping?

I took this video a while back but just figured out how to get the video from my phone to the computer. I know, I'm a slow learner, but eventually I'll get it. Anyway, I think he's changed alot in the past 1.5 months since this video was taken but it's just too cute not to share. He must have played hard that morning....

We've been busy!

We've been busy over the past two months. Lucas has had some fun moments: spaghetti fed by himself, college color day with Mom, vacuuming for mom, playing hide & seek in Max's kennel, and hanging out with Dad. In October, we went to the FW zoo and attempted the pumpkin patch but the weather rained us out. Maybe we'll get that in before the pumpkins are gone. We traveled to Port Neches for my 20 year class reunion. Lucas went to his first volleyball game to watch the Rock-A-Noos and headed over to the stadium for his first friday night lights football game. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the end of the game because Lucas was too tired. Lucas got to spend his first night away from mom and dad with his cousins Cade and Cale. Aunt Nancy said he had a great time dancing to music and playing with his big cousins.

So far, we haven't been able to get a picture of Lucas in his Halloween costume because he cries/screams whenever we try to get him in it. It might be time to try a different costume! This weekend we'll be carving our pumpkin, attempting the pumpkin patch, and try to go trick or treating to a few houses. It'll be a wonderful weekend. It Lucas cooperates, we'll post pics of Halloween soon!

Can you say "buh - buhl" ?

At a friends birthday party, Lucas started saying bubble when he saw the bubble machine going. We are so excited we had to catch it on video since this is his first 2 syllable word--unless you want to count, UH-OH.

Later, unprompted he did "tickle, tickle, tickle, to Lori. All this brings us lots of laughs. This is such a fun age! He laughs hysterically when one of the dogs tries to give him "kisses." He is really into playing with his blocks, going down the slide by himself, and climbing into the tall chairs at the kitchen island. He's also becoming interested in buckles and snaps, his shoes, and the best part--he loves putting his things away (usually!) Lets hope that sticks around!

Hope you enjoy the video as much as we did.

Gym Time

This summer Lucas has taken a weekly gym class. It's so exciting to see him get to play on all the equipment. We have found this is the perfect place to let him explore because everything is padded, and he LOVES to climb. They took pictures today so I thought I would share.

One of Lucas' favorite...parallel bars.

We do a mommy/baby roll.
I hug him tight and we roll down a ramp.

Lesson learned

Mistake #1--never put your child to bed without shorts/pants over his diaper.
Mistake #2--don't make your child wait in his crib after he wakes from a nap

Yesterday, Lucas woke up from his nap. I was busy so he had to wait a few minutes before I could get to him. I quickly realized my mistakes when I saw he had smeared poop all over his crib, all over himself, all over his books and toys, and then picked it up and thrown it on the floor. Needless to say, I learned my lesson the hard way. We were 30 minutes away from leaving for his doctor's appointment so I turned into supermom mode. He got a bath and fed and I got his room cleaned and deodorized and left on time for the appointment. I think I was in so much shock I didn't really get mad. I know better for next time.

Lucky for you, no pictures, I just wanted to record the memory.

Show me your muscles!

Lucas' latest thing is to show us his muscles. I caught him on video the second time he did it. It's pretty cute! Enjoy!

Lucas' 1st Birthday

Wow! Talk about good times with a lot of memories. We appreciate everyone who came to the party. Thank you for all the gifts. I am still full from all the food. We had a wonderful time and Lucas is very blessed to have family and friends like you guys. Here are some pics...

Time's Gone By Fast

In the past weeks, we have really noticed Lucas starting to recognize things. For example, he helped me put the dog bones away and picked out one bone to bring to the dogs. Today at daycare, he started dragging his diaper bag towards the door. I hadn't even said it was time to go yet. Sam and I are both just amazed at how quickly babies pick up on different things, especially at this age. It's just a huge reminder of how fast this year has gone by. He's only about 2 weeks away from his 1st birthday. Wow! I wish somehow I could have every second of every day recorded so I could take it all in again and again. This year has been truly amazing.

Mother's Day

We spent the day at the FW Zoo for Mother's Day. The weather was perfect and no big crowds. Lucas even started paying attention to the animals. He couldn't get his eyes off the gorillas and the zebras. He really liked the bird sanctuary. He kept trying to catch the birds. But, his favorite was the white tiger exhibit. They were very active on Sunday. He was so fascinated with them. Check out the video below. I am so thankful to spend my first Mother's Day with Sam and Lucas!

Easter 2010

We spent Easter Sunday with Sam's family. It was nice to have all 4 generations over for the day. It was fun to watch Lucas and cousin Jace hang out. We had to wait about 2 weeks to get some outdoor pictures of Lucas and his basket due to all the rain, but finally sunshine!! And yes, I know it took me even longer to post the pictures. It is just CRAZY having him all over the place. He keeps us on our toes for sure! He's been walking consistently since the end of 9 months but in the last couple of weeks, he's really gotten his confidence. He turned 11 month old on May 2. It's gone by so fast and he's changed so much we are just amazed.

Fort Worth Zoo!

After Lucas' 9 month check up we took him to the FW Zoo for the first time. We started with a picnic in the park and then headed over to the zoo. We had a great time, the animals were active--the lion was roaring, the primates were all out playing, the elephants and giraffes hanging out, and the hippo yawned really big for Lucas and Sam. We got some great pics. By the way, the doctor said Lucas looks great. He's 30.5 inches tall weighing 19 pounds. He did suggest we try allergy medicine for him. Looks like he inherited our allergies!










Oh, the Musuem of Living Art just opened in early March and its awesome. That's where Lucas saw the Komodo dragon. He couldn't stop staring at it.

Granny's 100 Birthday

My grandmother turned 100 on February 18, 2010. We went to Port Arthur to celebrate with family and friends and honor Granny on her special day. Granny was born 2 months premature. She was so little her crib was a shoebox and her diapers were her daddy's handkerchief. She has blessed each family member with at least 1 crocheted blanket, until just a few years ago when she had to give it up. Luckily, my aunts took over where she left off and made Lucas an afghan using Granny's yarn.

Lucas is Granny's 33 great-grandchild. It's fascinating to think they were born nearly 100 years apart. I think about all the things Granny experienced and accomplished in her lifetime and I have to wonder what lays ahead for Lucas.

We enjoyed our weekend getting to spend time with most of mom's side of the family. It has been a while since we have all had a chance to get together. What a wonderful way to get to celebrate together. Happy Birthday, Granny!

Photos by Anthony Martinez (http://www.ajmartinez.com/)

Gotta love the snow in Texas!!

I noticed Sam started this post, but must have forgotten to finish it....anyway, it's way overdue, but the pictures are too cute not to share. This was the day we got over a foot of snow and school/work was canceled for us. Also, during spring break, I'm going to try to post pics by the month starting at 6 months. I got this idea from Rachel as she posts Aiden's pictures monthly and my cousin Susan told me I needed to post more so everyone could see Lucas. So maybe doing it monthly (and making up for the past couple of months, Susan) will keep me up do date.

January Events w/ Family and Friends

Lucas invited Aiden over to start the year off with a play date. The boys got along great and actually played together. They were so cute. The following weekend we traveled to Austin to celebrate Christmas with the Meryman family. Lucas opened lots of presents, but really had fun with cousin Arcie's dumptruck. A couple of weekends later Lucas got to meet Uncle Jimmy from California while hanging out with cousin Jace, Grandma, and more of Bryan's family. We missed great grandma and Tim...hope to see them soon.

One Small Step for Man...

Lucas took a few unassisted steps tonight. Crazy stuff! He was so excited and happy. We just weren't prepared for it, we didn't catch it on video :-(

We are heading to Austin this weekend to celebrate Christmas with the Meryman side of the family. Hopefully, we will have plenty of pics to share when we get back...until the next post, here's my favorite pic of us during the holiday season. Thanks Uncle Chuck and Aunt Lani for the warm tobaggon and mittens. Lucas really needed them these cold days and he looks so cute too.