August 9, 2013

Happy Birthday to Charlie!  He is 36 years old today and we had fun celebrating.  The boys and I picked him up from work to go to lunch at PDM Cafe.  It's a new restaurant in Irvine, though their Newport Beach locations have been around for awhile.  I had a seasonal salad with grilled chicken breast that was fantastic.  I always love a good salad.  At the end of the meal they brought us each a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie.  Luke is holding his up to the camera in this photo.  This boy loves cookies. 

Charlie came home from work just a little bit early and we rode bikes over to the pool to swim for an hour or so.  Next we headed to dinner at La Sirena Grill, and then came home to sing Happy Birthday and eat cake.  Charlie chose to have a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  This was actually my first time baking a yellow cake and I decided to go with a different frosting recipe too (though I will go back to my other recipe next time because this one wasn't as good).  I finally got new cake pans with straight edges so the cake actually stacked up nicely this time.  Except it looked a little boring after I frosted it, so I decided to try making chocolate shavings to decorate the sides.  I was having a tough time getting them to stick and they were starting to melt in my hands and get really messy.  As I was in the middle of freaking out about all of this Luke walked into the kitchen and said "Ah! Cake mess!"  Though he confirmed my suspicions of the cake looking like a disaster, he did give me a good laugh.  I think it looked okay in the end.  The important part was that it tasted good!  

It was also Adrianna's last session with Luke this morning.  I got a little teary eyed when we said good bye to her.  I tried to explain it to Luke but I don't think he really gets it.  Perhaps it is better this way and I can just be sad for him.  

August 8, 2013

Since we are transferring next week, this was Luke's last day with his speech therapist Kim.  Her dog Tilly is trained as a therapy dog and comes to work with her everyday.  Isaac used to see Kim too and when he stopped Luke took his spot with her.  So we've been working with Kim for over a year and we are sad to be done.  Except we might end up going back there due to some insurance stuff... we'll see.

Anyway, one thing that I am NOT sad about with this transfer is that I won't be going to the gym in Fountain Valley anymore!  Our LA Fitness in Irvine just opened a year and a half ago so it is new and clean and has great equipment.  Also, I took this for granted before, but the people who go there are overall pretty young, fit, and generally motivated.  Oh my goodness, it is like a night and day difference at the Fountain Valley location.  The gym is old and run down, and kind of smells.  They have ancient treadmills with no TVs on them so I can't even watch Bravo while I run (first world problems, I know).  I tried attending a class once but the instructor was about 65 years old and the average age of the class participants was about the same.  I left after 15 minutes when we were still exercising our wrists.  I will have to say though that Isaac really loved the kids club at this location, so I decided against telling him today that we are likely NEVER going back there!   

Last but not least for today, I had a dentist appointment.  I hadn't been to the dentist in about three years and I needed to go for a check-up and cleaning.  I purposely scheduled a 4:30 appointment thinking that Charlie could just come home from work a little early and watch the boys.  But he ended up getting called to the YM Presidency and had to attend Stake Youth Conference today.  So I did what I never do and actually hired a baby-sitter.  I have had the privilege of being her primary teacher two separate times over the past few years and have always been so impressed with this girl.  She is 13 now and right at the age where baby sitting is still exciting and she is not too busy with friends and other activities to want to do it.  Or at least she seemed really excited, ha!  The boys had a great time with her and I am already planning when Charlie & I should go out and have her come back. 

And as for the dentist - this sounds weird - but it was really relaxing!  Even though the hygienist was doing her thing with my teeth, I was just laying there watching Chevy Chase Summer Vacation and reading the subtitles, and I was totally relaxed.  Call me crazy, but I loved it.  Except I have a cavity and have to go back so that part was not so great.  

August 7, 2013

This is Luke's therapist Adrianna.  We love her.  She's been working with Luke for about 5 months now and she is awesome.  Luke is always excited to see her and to play with her.  I don't think he has any clue that it's "therapy" because she just plays with him and makes everything fun.  Today they were out in the backyard playing football and she taught Luke how to do a touchdown.  He loved it and ran back and forth across the yard yelling "tuh-dow!" over and over again.

I got a call later this afternoon from Regional Center letting me know that our transfer had been approved and that this would be our last week with Adrianna and CLC.  Obviously I knew that this was coming but it kind of broke my heart because I am sad for Luke to lose Adrianna.

August 6, 2013

This afternoon I met my friend Sherri and her kids at the Lagoon.  It was nearly empty except for us and the geese.  We don't see these guys nearly enough lately.  Baby Ava was there too and I got the privilege of holding her for awhile.  She is pretty much the perfect baby and also completely adorable.  I'm not gonna lie - I was feeling a bit baby hungry while holding her today!  

August 5, 2013

So it was Monday morning and I was not feeling very motivated to get up and go to the gym.  Then Luke woke up feeling a bit warm and had a little runny nose, so I decided we had better stay home.  I got back in bed with my little buddy and we cuddled and played games.  We made tents out of the blankets and hid underneath them and blew around a loose feather that had leaked out of the comforter. This little boy just melts my heart.  He is simply adorable and has the funniest personality.  I can't get enough of him and our little cuddle session this morning pretty much made my day.

And as long as I was taking a morning off, I figured we might as well add in some donuts.  I had bribed Isaac with donuts last week when we took Luke to the dentist, but Isaac ended up being very disobedient that day and we didn't get any donuts.  He was SO disappointed.  So today we got them just for fun.  No bribes attached.  

Our next door neighbor is out of town for a few days and asked me to check in on her cat.  When I went over yesterday the cat was super friendly and seemed happy to see me.  He was purring and meowing and rubbing against my legs.  Today when I walked in the door with my two noisy boys, the cat bolted and hid.  We eventually coaxed him out of his hiding spot, but he still didn't want to get too close.  Isaac & Luke were both really excited to see him though.  

And tonight for FHE I made these peanut butter chocolate chip filled brownie cups, courtesy of Pinterest.  They were yummy but very rich.  

August 4, 2013

After church we were snacking on some chocolate covered pretzels.  Luke wanted one (of course) and we were kind of shocked when we looked over and saw what a mess he had made with one little pretzel!  Also, if you notice the Jeep on the table - it is one of his favorite things to play with lately.  Karl & Janelle gave it to Isaac several years ago because it looks just like Karl's Jeep.  Luke LOVED the Jeep rides when we were in Utah last month, and now he plays "Jeep ride" with his "guys" - the Playmobile.  Also whenever he spots a Jeep on the road he always excitedly shouts "JEEP RIDE!"  

After Luke's nap Charlie wanted to take the boys on a bike ride with his new bike.  Isaac says Charlie is cheating because he is using his birthday gift before his birthday.  But that didn't stop Isaac from going along for a ride today.  Luke can't pedal by himself yet so I followed behind Charlie & Isaac for 2 1/2 miles pushing Luke on his tricycle.  After we got back home Charlie took Luke for a quick loop around our front courtyard.  Luke giggled and shrieked the whole time.  We will be buying a bike seat soon!

August 3, 2013

Isaac was invited to a laser tag birthday party for his friend Hudson today.  This was his first time playing laser tag and he asked me questions about it all week leading up to the party.  He told me he was nervous but I knew he would love it.  And of course he did.  It was kind of hilarious to be in the room watching the battle.  All of these 5 and 6 year old boys running around and shooting each other.  No one used much stealth, but rather they would stand directly in front of each other and shoot one another for a few seconds before running away.  Isaac is already begging to go back and play again. 

Later this afternoon we went to the bike shop for Charlie to pick out a new bike for his upcoming birthday.  Isaac quickly picked out a bike for himself and started riding circles around the shop.  Luke really wanted to ride too so I pushed him around on this little 12" bike.  He was cracking me up because he found this helmet with a mohawk of spikes across the top and was begging to wear it.  Charlie picked out a beach cruiser which he ended up having to ride back home because we couldn't fit it into the back of his Audi (even though we'd brought two cars just for that reason).  

Then tonight we went to Trader Joe's and this was Luke's first time with a little shopping cart.  Isaac always gets one but he is terrible with it.  Despite our constant warnings to watch out and slow down, he never does.  He basically runs in wild circles around the store taking out other shoppers ankles.  For that reason, I try to avoid ever bringing Isaac to Trader Joe's.  But tonight we all went together and Isaac had a little cart, and Luke saw it and wanted one too.  Luke was much better behaved than Isaac and followed along obediently next to the big cart.  And he got really excited every time we put his favorite foods into his little cart.  "Toast!"  "Cheese!"  "Cookies!" (which Isaac took out and put in his cart).   It was quite adorable.  

August 2, 2013

We are dog sitting for the weekend.  This is cute Lucie who is also a miniature dachshund.  Cracker was not socialized well in his previous home, so since we've had him he has never liked other dogs.  He gets all barky and aggressive around them.  Except for Lucie.  Seriously, this is the only other dog he's always been totally okay around.  I think it's because she's a dachshund too.

August 1, 2013

Today was Luke's first dentist appointment.  He is only sometimes cooperative when I brush his teeth, but I was still hoping that he'd do alright with the dentist.  He watched Isaac get his teeth cleaned a few weeks ago and before his appointment today I showed him pictures and a video on my phone to help remind him.  Luke liked wearing the sunglasses and sitting in the moving chair.  He actually did pretty good for the cleaning, though I had to help him stay in the seat.  And then an office assistant came in and told us that our insurance wasn't going through so we ended up leaving!  There was some confusion about whether Luke had been added to our family plan, so we will have to go back once it's fixed.

July 31, 2013

And here's Luke at swim lessons.  Part of the reason I chose Safe Swim again was because they allow other swimmers in the water during lessons.  I knew that Luke was not going to want to stay dry and just sit and watch for half an hour everyday.  He LOVES the pool!  And he's actually a pretty good little swimmer.  Everyday during lessons I would get comments from other swimmers about Luke.  Everyone wanted to know how old he was and they were always super impressed that he could get around so well.  Anyway, this picture is obviously before we got in the pool.  Luke has a thing for these glasses lately and wants to wear them all the time.  He calls them his "ga-ga" and likes wearing them up on his forehead more than on his eyes.