December 31, 2011

I wish I had a better photo for the last day of the year.  I was trying to get one of Luke & Isaac together but that is never easy to do.  And I should have used my nice camera too.  Oh well.  Luke is sick so we had a quite new Year's Eve at home.  Here are the boys right before bed.  I have loved watching their relationship develop over the past few months.  Luke is fascinated by Isaac and loves watching his every move, all with a huge smile on his face.  And Isaac has been very loving with Luke.  The other day he told me "Luke is my best friend" and ordered Charlie to "give Luke back to me!" after he had moved him from the spot where Isaac was playing.  I hope that they continue to be best friends.

My favorite part of this 365 project has been looking back at photos of my children that I might not have otherwise taken and reading memories that I would not have otherwise posted.  That being said, I'm not sure that I will do 365 again for 2012.  Maybe I will just resolve to be better about posting on our family blog.  Does anyone else have an opinion on the matter?  Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

December 30, 2011

Isaac got this marble maze from his grandparents for Christmas.  It has instructions to build it in an elaborate six tower design, but Isaac just had fun building it his own way.  I had to help him get all of the switchbacks going the right way, but he thought it was pretty cool to make it so tall.  

December 29, 2011

We met our friends Sherri, Daniel & Vera at Chick-fil-a for lunch today.  We used to all fit at one table, but now with the addition of two babies - we need two tables.  I thought the boys looked cute sitting together.  Their own little lunch date.  Isaac was happier than he looks.  

And someone else was very happy at meal time too.  On recommendation of my sister in law, Cassi, I made Luke a whole batch of butternut squash to store in the freezer last week.  It is his favorite of the vegetables so far.

December 28, 2011

Now that Luke is sitting well, I can put him in the basket of the shopping cart without his car seat.  This is great because it takes up much less room and I can now fit both kids in the little shopping carts.  There's still not much room for food, but at least no one is running away!  

Luke has also discovered that if he pulls down on his crib bumper he can peak out into his room.  He now does this every time he wakes up, and sits there watching and babbling until someone comes to get him.  It is kind of hilarious.  

December 27, 2011

Luke is sitting really well now.  It is nice to be able to set him down on the floor with a pile of toys and  he can play for awhile.  Isaac never did that because he crawled at just over six months but did not sit well until he was eight months - and by then he was certainly not interested in sitting still!  Luke seems pretty happy with it though.  

December 26, 2011

Karl & Janelle always like to go to the beach when they are visiting, so tonight we drove to Newport and walked down the pier.  Isaac liked watching all of the fishermen and checking out the fish that they caught.  I think one of them told us the fish are mackerel.  They are pretty small and I can't imagine they taste that great, but there are always plenty of people fishing there whenever we go.  

December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!  It was hard to pick a photo to post for the day. I will post more on our family blog whenever I get around to doing a Christmas post.  Here is little Luke enjoying the pile of wrapping paper on the floor.  

And Isaac at breakfast with his crazy straw glasses that he got in his stocking.

December 24, 2011

I really wanted to get some pictures of the boys in front of the Christmas tree and I probably shouldn't have waited until Christmas Eve to do it.  Isaac would not hold still so I didn't ever get the perfect shot, but this one is still cute.  

December 23, 2011

Today we drove to Thousand Oaks to attend a lunch reception for Charlie's cousin.  Afterwards we went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  Isaac wanted to see this fighter jet that was out on the lawn.  He was disappointed that it was roped off and really wanted to be able to go touch it.  He and Charlie snuck under the rope, ran as fast as they could, touched the wheel and ran back.  Troublemakers!  

December 22, 2011

Tonight was the Edwards' (my mom's family) Christmas party with my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We were in charge of dessert so we made surprise cupcakes with cream cheese & chocolate chip filling, chocolate covered peanut butter sandwich cookies, fudge, white chocolate dipped pretzels, peanut butter cup cookies, white chocolate, cherry & macadamia nut cookies, and peppermint bark.  My nephew Ryan was first in line to help himself.  I just had to laugh at the massive pile of treats he had loaded on his plate!  I never go to see how much of it he actually ate, but I'm pretty sure that his mother intervened before he finished.  

December 21, 2011

We put this enormous exersaucer thing together for Luke a few days ago.  When Isaac saw it, his face lit up and he told Luke "Welcome to your new home!"  I thought it was hilarious.  His home?  What?  Anyway, Luke thinks it is fun but he doesn't spend a whole lot of time in there before he wants out.  He better start to love it or it might not stick around very long.  It is huge!  

December 20, 2011

Isaac got some stickers at the store and decided to stick them over his eyes while we were driving home. He has done this before, and I warned him not to do it again because it hurts when they are pulled off.  Sure enough, he started screaming that his eyes hurt as he tried to get them off.  He rode blindly the rest of the way home and then I pulled them off for him.  They were covered with little eyebrow hairs.  Ouch!  

And I also wanted to include this picture of Luke after his bath because he just looks so precious all wrapped up in his hooded towel.

December 19, 2011

A new LA Fitness just opened right by our house.  Charlie signed us all up for a membership plus child care while the place was still under construction.  Isaac has been eagerly watching and waiting for it to be finished so he could go to the kids club.  When I woke him up this morning he immediately asked "the gym is open today?!"  I have a feeling he will be really good at keeping me motivated to go.  (He is in a red shirt climbing on a giant hand weight in the back of the room.)  

December 18, 2011

Charlie's parents are coming to our house for Christmas, so I have been trying to clear out some more space in Luke's room where they'll be staying.  I was kind of hoping Luke could sleep in the bassinet again in our room, but he is just too big for it now so the pack-n-play will have to do.  We are getting rid of a lot of baby things as Luke outgrows them (the verdict is still out on #3, but we are short on space) so tonight some friends of ours who are expecting their first baby came and got the bassinet.  Luke just wanted to try it out once more.  

December 17, 2011

Some of our good friends hold a Christmas Boat Parade party on Lido Island every year and we always look forward to going.  They have a nice dinner at the house and then we head down to the beach to watch the parade.  Isaac really likes boats (according to him they are all battleships), so I was hoping he would sit and watch the parade.  Unfortunately he was more interested in exploring the beach (he went missing once and we about had a heart attack trying to find him), rolling in the sand, and even wading ankle deep (shoes and all) into the water.  Never a dull moment with Isaac!  

December 16, 2011

Today was Isaac's last day of school before his three week winter break.  It was an early release day so Isaac's class met in the morning instead of the usual afternoon time.  We had plans to meet some friends at Chik-fil-a for lunch, but things got busy and they never made it there.  Meanwhile, Isaac got into a rather dramatic fight with another little boy in the play area.  Unfortunately I only caught the very end of it (the other boy kept pushing Isaac and calling him a "trouble maker"), so I'm still not exactly sure what happened.  Isaac was a sobbing wreck though, so we got our food to go and he ate his lunch at home while watching "Santa Buddies" on the Disney Channel.  

December 15, 2011

Tonight we went to the Spectrum to do some Christmas shopping.  We usually take Charlie's car when we go places as a family, but I keep Luke's snap-n-go stroller in my car.  I forgot to bring it with us tonight, but luckily we had the Maclaren in the trunk for some reason.  It was Luke's first time sitting in it and he loved it.  Isaac rarely rides in a stroller anymore, but I still think of this as his stroller so Luke seemed really tiny sitting in there.  

December 14, 2011

Luke received this plush dachshund as a gift from my sister Lisa.  It used to sit untouched down at the bottom corner of his crib.  Now that Luke is more mobile, he loves to creep his way down to that end of the crib, grab the dog, turn him around and suck on his tail.  It always cracks me up when I come in and find him with the dog in his mouth. 

Today in Isaac's karate class the kids donned helmets and gloves for the first time and did some sparring. They all looked really adorable in their gear and Isaac thought it was really fun to have a sparring match with his sensei.

December 13, 2011

I've been in a bit of a dinner rut lately, so tonight I decided to try a new recipe that I found on Pinterest.  We had quinoa burgers and sweet potato fries.  The burgers tasted really good but the patties kind of fell apart because the mixture was a little too runny.  I think I would try them again but try to thicken them up somehow.  

In other news, little Lukester has been getting up on his hands and knees for about a week now, and tonight he was even rocking a bit.  It is both adorable and tragic.  He is growing up way too fast!  I cannot believe he is half a year old already.  Isaac took off crawling right around 6 1/2 months and I fear it is just around the corner for my Lukey too.  (And yes, I bought him dachshund pajamas in size 9 months (9 months?!) too because I just couldn't resist.)

December 12, 2011

We don't get a lot of rain in Southern CA, and we haven't had any in several weeks.  I always like the rain just because it's fun to have a little variety in the weather.  It didn't rain very hard today or for very long, but Isaac insisted on wearing his rain boots and his rain coat to school and he also wanted to bring his umbrella.  After school I let him splash around in the puddles in our parking lot for awhile.  

December 11, 2011

Isaac was doing some "construction" out in the backyard today and came inside to ask me to take a picture of his trucks.  When I came out I saw that he had them all lined up and ready, and he wanted to be in the picture too.  He's a funny kid.  He drives me a little crazy sometimes, but he's also adorable and smart and creative and funny and can be very sweet when he wants to be.  I've been getting kind of emotional lately about my boys growing up too fast.  This was one moment when I just wanted to squeeze him and keep him as my cute little boy forever.  

December 10, 2011

We went to Bed, Bath & Beyond today and as soon as we walked in Isaac wanted to see all of the decorations in the Christmas section.  He picked up this singing Rudolph and carried it all around the store.  Rudolph ended up coming home with us and we got to listen to his animatronic singing for the rest of the afternoon.  It is kind of cute though.  I loved that movie as a kid and we bought it for Isaac this year.  He likes it too, except for the scary part with the abominable snowman.  

December 9, 2011

A sick baby is just the saddest thing ever.  Luke woke up with a fever yesterday morning.  I gave him Tylenol throughout the day and he seemed to feel okay.  Then last night he woke up with a 104.5 temperature!  He was congested and coughing and not breathing well. He was obviously miserable so I gave him Tylenol and got his fever down, and got him back to sleep but I called the doctor first thing this morning.  Since he is still so young and with that high of a fever they wanted me to bring him in.  Our regular pediatrician was out of the office so we drove to Aliso Viejo and saw Dr. Coulson.  Luke should be fine in a few days, but right now he is really sad and miserable.  It is heartbreaking.  

December 8, 2011

After school today we went to Isaac's friend Hudson's house to play.  The boys wanted to watch Cars - which I'm sure they've both seen a million times.  They were both cracking up at the part where the gangster cars are driving around Mac on the freeway.  I wish I had gotten a better photo.  

December 7, 2011

Luke is starting to get a little bored with the actual baby toys, so tonight I pulled out some of the pretend food for him to play with.  I left the room and came back to find Isaac "feeding" Luke some peas.  He does seem to like them!  

December 6, 2011

Today I put up the Christmas lights.  Luke sat on the front porch with me and watched, Isaac rode his tricycle up and down our courtyard, and Cracker barked at the two squirrels that have taken up residence in the trees out front.  I put up lights the first Christmas after we bought our condo, and now I guess by default it has just become my job.  I like doing it though, and I'm thinking I'll go back and add a few more strings of lights this year.

December 5, 2011

Today Luke had his six month check-up.  He is a happy, healthy baby.  He is getting quite chubby, but apparently he is still in a pretty normal range.  I had a hard time getting a good picture of him with his check-up sheet because he really badly wanted to grab it and eat it.  You can't really read it in the photo, but here is the latest:  Length/Height: 26 1/2 inches (50th percentile), Weight: 18 lbs 8 oz (50-75th percentile), Head: 17 1/4 inches (50th percentile).

December 4, 2011

I've decided to make all fresh organic baby food for Luke.  I wish I had done the same for Isaac.  I am just getting started and I'm sure there is a bit of a learning curve.  I want to go buy one of those baby food makers, but just haven't done it yet.  Today I made peas for the first time.  It was a huge mess because after steaming and pureeing them, you also have to strain the skins out.  But for some reason it was strangely satisfying to make them.  Perhaps there is some truth in the statement "cooking is the sincerest expression of love" - Gwyneth Paltrow (thanks Meredith).  Luke loved the peas.  (And Charlie, please don't think that I love you any less when we have frozen pizza for dinner!)    

December 3, 2011

Today we attended the ICEC Christmas party.  ICEC was the therapy clinic where Isaac received services from time he was 16 months until he was 3 years old.  They hold a Christmas party every year for the children who have graduated to come back and see everyone.  Here is Isaac with his Occupational Therapist, Jeannie.

Later in the afternoon we had some friends of ours snap a few family photos for us to use on our Christmas card.  The hardest part was getting Isaac to hold still, look at the camera, and smile (he preferred to make a variety of silly faces).  Here is one of the many out takes.

December 2, 2011

Tonight we went to South Coast Plaza to do some more Christmas shopping.  Isaac was a good sport as we dragged him around from store to store.  Here he is entertaining himself in the Nordstrom shoe department.  We told him that if he was good he could ride the reindeer carousel.  But we didn't realize that the mall closed at 9:00 (when do the holiday hours start anyway?) and he didn't get to go on the carousel after all.  I gave him a Finn McMissile that I had stashed away in the closet at home to make up for it.  

December 1, 2011

Tonight we went and picked out a Christmas tree at Lowe's.  We got the decorations out yesterday and Isaac kept begging me to play with the ornaments.  I went through the box with him earlier today and told him where we got each one (we've collected a lot while traveling) and let him play with them a bit.  He was a good helper in decorating the bottom half of the tree.  Now hopefully we can keep all of the ornaments on the tree and all in one piece until Christmas!  

November 30, 2011

Charlie had to attend a work event tonight, and for some reason I got the crazy idea to take all three of my little ones to Petsmart to get Cracker's nails clipped.  Cracker is a very low maintenance dog, until he leaves the house and then he becomes a total psycho.  Luckily the boys were both good and overall the outing went pretty smoothly.  Isaac thought it was the best thing in the world to have Cracker ride on his lap in the car and to hold Cracker's leash and walk him around the store.  

Luke was mesmerized by the fish tanks.  He has been sucking on his bottom lip a lot lately and making this funny face.  

November 29, 2011

Isaac seems to think that all of the baby toys belong to him, and is always snatching them away from Luke (not in a mean way, just because he wants to play with them too).  He tells me he is doing a "Baby Show" for Luke... whatever that is.  It usually involves lining all of the toys up in front of Luke on the ground, but tonight at dinner it was just swinging toys around in the air.  And as you can see, Luke is always delighted by the "Baby Shows." 

November 28, 2011

Each unit in our complex only gets one covered parking spot.  I usually leave it open for Charlie because when he gets home from work the uncovered spots are usually all filled up.  Unfortunately, those other parking spots are all underneath trees.  Trees with falling leaves... and falling gifts from the birds.  This is how lovely my windshield looked today.  

November 27, 2011

This morning we went to my cousin Roger's missionary farewell in Huntington Beach.  He's leaving in just a few weeks to serve a Spanish speaking mission in Tampa, FL.  After the meeting we went back to Karen & Brian's house for brunch and to visit with everyone.  Just a little before we left, Luke started crying like he was hurt.  I got back and calmed him down but then he screamed the entire drive home. 

After we got home I nursed him, changed him, etc. but he was still crying and I noticed that he wasn't moving his left arm and cried more every time I moved it.  I started to panic a little bit.  See Luke never really cries unless he is hungry or tired or maybe a little bored but even then it's just a little bit of fussing and he calms down right away as soon as he is taken care of.  So I knew something was wrong and it was scary.  We decided to take him to the urgent care.  By the time we got there he had stopped crying but was still not moving his left arm at all.  The doctor checked him out and wanted to do an x-ray, but after getting a second opinion they determined that it was probably just a sprain.  In fact, after they moved it around a bit he seemed to be in less pain.

Update - At his six month check-up I relayed the story to Dr. Baker, his pediatrician, and she told me that she thought it was probably nursemaid's elbow.  I think she's probably right because by the next day he was totally fine.

November 26, 2011

Today we went to Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach and then to lunch at El Ranchito in Corona Del Mar with our friend Naddia.  After walking around and seeing all of the gorgeous decorations, we got in line to see Santa Claus.  Isaac wanted to know where the reindeer were.  He was delighted with the little jingle bell and the mini candy cane from Santa.  

November 25, 2011

We decided to brave South Coast Plaza on Black Friday, but not until late afternoon.  Before leaving, Charlie needed to top off his engine oil.  Isaac thought this was pretty cool and was very curious about all of the engine parts.  Unfortunately neither Charlie nor I know much about auto mechanics.  Luckily Isaac was satisfied with a few of my made up answers about what everything does. 

November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!  We decided to stay home and celebrate with just our little family this year.  Here is the table just before we sat down to eat.  We had a turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls, and pumpkin & pecan pie.  It was all delicious and we have lots of leftovers.

November 23, 2011

I put off doing the shopping for our Thanksgiving meal until today.  But then Isaac was off of school and I really didn't want to take both boys to the store because the carts at Sprouts are too small to fit them both in, and then Isaac runs away.  So I waited even longer and went in the evening after Charlie got home.  The store was a bit of a madhouse but I got everything that we needed (except for fresh sage which they were out of).

We also went to dinner tonight with our friends Melodie & Chris (the ones that got married in Virginia last month) who were in town for Thanksgiving.  I had the server snap a photo with my iphone, but it didn't really turn out.  We went to a place called Jack's in Dana Point.

November 22, 2011

Today I gave Luke some rice cereal for the first time.  It only took one bite for him to decide that he liked it.  A lot.  I thought it was super cute how he would open his little baby bird mouth and lean in for each bite.  He wanted to grab the spoon out of my hand and shove it in his mouth all by himself.  His darling embroidered bib was a gift from one of Charlie's sales reps at work.