End of March

I haven't wrote much lately, only due to the fact that we have been enjoying the weather (other than the snow yesterday), too much to worry about taking pictures or to write about it. The past few weekends and evenings we've spent outside with sidewalk chalk, bubbles and in the sandbox. We've crunched leaves, took walks and went to the playground. On the warm days, it's been so nice to have the windows open and to be able to spend time outdoors. 

Yesterday I had to work all day, so Dillon and Luke hung out and had a "boy's day" together. I was so sad when Dillon said that he told Luke they were coming to see me at the health fair I was working at and Luke kept repeating "Mama? Mama?" and when he woke up from a quick nap in the car he kept asking "Where is mama?" 

I was so tired from yesterday that we skipped church today and did grocery shopping and I got a few loads of laundry done. We spent the afternoon with our neighbors Tara and Hannah. Hannah is only about a year older than Luke and they have such fun together! I wish that I would have thought to grab the camera to snap a few photos, but they were too quick! They played outside and had snacks and played with Luke's toys. I'm so glad that we are blessed with such great neighbors! 

This weekend started a full next few weekends. Easter and birthday party #1, baby showers and birthday party # 2 all fill up our time (And, boy howdy, do we have a "blessed", i.e. spoiled, child that is getting 2 parties). Springtime is bringing such fun times, we are so thankful! 

I planted some flowers on our porch and had an excellent helper!

We got a paper this morning and Luke found his favorite section, the Toys R Us ad! 

23 Months

Tomorrow Luke turns 23 months old! Dillon and I talked today about what a difference 23 months make. Luke now talks in sentences, runs and jumps, has preferences about what he likes (and immensely dislikes) and has quite the personality. 

His vocabulary grows every day and he knows the names of people and characters. (Maw for grandma, Na for Thomas, Names for James, Pewcy for Percy, Chawlie, Elmo, Mickey Mowse Lola, Emmee, Susu for Susan and I swear one day he started calling me Kay but promptly returned to mama). 

He likes anything with wheels; trains, cars, trucks, tractors, you name it.  The warm weather this week has prompted lots of outside play time. Whenever we walk into the house he immediately wants to go "outside!" I see a lot of hikes and playground time this summer as being shut up all winter has made us realize the benefits of a sunny day. 

Luke is at the age now where we are thinking of two progressions, potty training and losing the pacifier. I dread the pacifier weaning way more than the potty training and Luke is against both. At Christmas, he was so interested in our friend Dara's potty that I was certain he would be excited about one of his own, which couldn't be further from the truth. We went to the pediatrician's office a few weeks ago and were looking at a book about using the potty. Luke and I were talking and I said "You know Luke, you have a potty..." and he replied "yeah!" I asked if he wanted to try using it and he said "No!" I asked if he wanted to try and use the big potty and he said "No!" So I finally asked, "Well, are you just going to wear diapers the rest of your life?" and he exclaimed "Yeah!" 

I know boys are harder to potty train, so I'm not pushing the issue. It'll happen when it happens. 

I can't believe that we have a two year old little boy. He's so much fun now and I can't wait to do fun things outside this summer. Paddling on the river maybe?? And trips to Biltmore and a trip to ride on trains at Tweetsie and somewhere in there a week off for a trip to a cabin or fun things around the area? The taste of spring this week has given me the bug for summer and I can't wait. 

We love throwing sand all over the porch!

It's ok, though, since he's so cute. 

I got a sweet surprise from my sister-in-law, Kenzie, last week. These flowers have brightened my spirits a lot!

I love the flannel shirt (and the green shirt with a "catepilla", or Catepillar machine) 

We went to the playground with our friends the Sextons, on Sunday. Lydia and Luke had a fun time!

Bubbles in the face!

Watching the train go by!

The Stomach Bug is NO JOKE.

Hello, Friends. Long time no see. Life has been rather dull, and then it wasn't. We've had a few weeks where the weather was up and down and a few days when we couldn't get off the hill (ask Dillon how much fun it was to scrape an inch of ice off of our driveway). And then, this week sickness hit the household. Luke had a cold that started as a cough and on Wednesday he was just not himself. I took him to the pediatrician and they said he just had a cold, it would run it's course. That was all fine and good until Friday night we woke up to a screaming Luke who had thrown up all over his bed. He's been sick all weekend and has been a pitiful site. 

Dillon had to take a 6 hour certification test yesterday in Blountville, TN, so Friday night I sent him back to bed and slept with Luke on the couch trying to make sure that we weren't washing sheets all night. Luke and I woke up at 4:30 to see Dillon off and then we fell asleep on the couch again until about 7:00. We spent most of the day watching Elmo and Thomas and whatever else we could find on Netflix. I tried to do some things around the house, but where Luke didn't feel well, he was rather clingy. So, I just accepted the fact that the couch was our home and entertainment for the day. Needless to say, we were both glad when Dillon got home that evening. The first thing I did was hand over Luke to Dillon and go take a nice, hot shower.

One good thing to happen this week is that my mom and dad have found a house close by and it looks like they may be moving before the year is over! They'll only be about 5 minutes from our house and will now have a home with no stairs and lots of fun things (like a swimming pool!!) I'm so very excited to have family close by and a back up for when Luke is sick or when there are snow days (Plus, I'll have a good shopping partner with my mom. When those new outlets open close by, they'd better watch out!) 

We enjoyed today by playing in a sandbox on the porch and grocery shopping. It feels like spring may have finally sprung and for that I'm glad. I'm hoping that tomorrow brings better health for little Luke. I'm also planning on sending Dillon and myself to work with Zofran just in case this bug decides to hit us while we're away from home. Ugh. 

Hiding!

Trying to get some sunshine

At Lowes buying sand. We made Luke a seat.

Helping me with his birthday party invitations

Our big snow storm for the year

We already took advantage of our passes to Biltmore and snuck away to take some pictures in the snow.

Luke remembered when we had been there before and wanted to go buy another toy tractor. This was his response to "no".

Flushed cheeks and a sandbox