March and April (pics and videos)

Obviously, I've been posting less and less lately. Facebook-itis. But I wanted to make sure that the grandmas (and any other interested persons) who don't use it still get to see pictures, so, here we go. :)

I made this blanket (it's quilted along the lines) and embellished the pillowcase for Jamie. Did I already post this? If I did, sorry. 

He especially likes his "J pillow." :) When he saw it, he said, "Hey, that's a 'J' for 'Jamie'!" Then he said, "Can you make a 'L' one for Luke?" He's such a sweet boy.

This simple set of magnets I made has been a big help. He gets a star for every day he does them all, and when he has a week's worth of stars, he gets a prize. After he got a month's worth, he got a big toy airplane.

On our anniversary (Mar 9) last month, in the afternoon, we went to a "rodeo." There was almost no action going on yet that was truly rodeo-ish (that happened in the evening, after we left), but there was this little "petting zoo." Jamie had fun petting all the animals.

Luke is a big fan of balloons.

I love this picture :)

Grandma and Grandpa Yarwood sent Jamie this really fun scooter. He likes it, though he hasn't gotten the hang of pushing hard, then riding--he just keeps pushing with one foot, over and over, so he gets tired out. But he'll get it eventually.

Obviously, I love this one, too :) I do love it when I get to snuggle my babies, but both at once is the best :)

Luke's birthday turned out kind of odd. I'd made these muffins (they're sugary enough--I'm not into giving babies regular, crazy-sugary cake with frosting), but Luke slept through dinnertime and past bedtime, and we didn't want to do the singing and candle without Jamie. So this is him eating a preliminary birthday muffin, while Jamie was in bed, without fanfare--but he didn't seem to really care for it! Rrrgh. 

This was FOUR DAYS LATER, when we finally were able to sing, have him blow out a candle, and he ate some pudding I made. Maybe not so traditional, but it worked and he was happy.

I left the cleanup to Daddy.

In fresh pjs, ready to open presents.

Big brother found it very difficult to restrain himself from "helping." :)

Here you can see that we've been working on staining our bench and chairs. Only one of the chairs is finished, and everything else needs at least one more coat, but we've been using them until we get time to finish them up. And I LOVE how much better they look!!

I just heard Luke calling from upstairs, done with his nap. But there's not too much to say, really. Jason is almost done with his Master's program!!!!! That's our biggest news. His graduation ceremony is May 8, and I can't wait to see him in his special regalia, that he (and we! ;)) have worked so hard for almost three years now to attain. I'm so proud of him! Pretty soon we'll be seeing where life will take us next. Very exciting, a little scary. :)

I'm just plugging along about like usual, taking Jamie to preschool, trying to exercise more (I have about three pounds to go until my first goal, which is the weight I was when I got pregnant with Luke). I've been going to Zumba two or three times a week, and really enjoying it. Experimenting with new recipes, making a blanket for my new NEPHEW DANIEL!!!! that I can't wait to show off, but it will have to wait a month until we visit CA and actually give it to him.

Aaaand now I hear Jamie bellowing at me, too. Better go. Videos are uploading to You Tube and I'll add them later.

One year older and wiser, too!

A year sure has flown by (or at least it seems so in retrospect). I know these are all cliches, but this baby boy is an indescribable joy to us, and it's so strange to think there was ever a time when we didn't know him! Our little family's happiness has multiplied so much since he become a part of it. Happy 1st birthday, Lukity-lukity-lu!

A few facts about Luke at 12 months, mostly so I can update the baby book from this later:

He has six teeth--four on top and two on bottom. For a few weeks, he had the funniest snaggletooth smile--he had his two bottom teeth, his top middle right tooth, and the little one next to it, and that was it (if that makes sense). But a couple weeks ago his top middle left and then the one to the left of it finally broke through, a couple days apart.

He can blow a wooden whistle that makes a train noise, and is very proud of himself when he does it.
He can clap on command.
He's a fast crawler--especially when someone forgets to close the baby gate that blocks off the kitchen (and consequently the cat food he loves to get into!), for which he has built-in radar.
He would much rather press buttons on the tv, DVD player, and VCR than play with baby toys. We have all sorts of barricades in front of those, bookcases, the computer, my craft stuff...when we're being the most conscientious, our house looks pretty nuts. He's a busy boy!
He loooooves solid foods. Cheese curds are a special favorite. The baby puffs don't interest him much.
He wants to be a big boy in so many ways. Grabs the big cup I rinse him with in the bath and tries to drink from it (and ends up coughing and spluttering, usually), loves to feed himself, loves cell phones, remotes, computers, etc.
He wears size 3 diapers. I'll find out at his doctor appointment Friday, but I'd guess he's 20 pounds by now.
Size 12 mo clothes usually fit him, but sometimes are too small.
He usually takes two naps a day, about two hours each, and is usually awake for two hours at a time also.
He still drinks 7 1/2 oz of formula at most feedings, but doesn't always finish it.
He says "da-da" a lot, along with "ma-ma" and "ba-ba" some. (It sometimes seems like he only says "mama" when he's upset or calling to be taken out of bed.)
He's VERY smiley and babbles adorably. He charms people wherever he goes, and is a big distraction to the 12-year-old Sunday School class Jason and I teach at church.
Last month I bore my testimony in church (on the first Sunday of each month, members are encouraged to fast, and anyone who wishes may go to the pulpit and share their testimony with the congregation), and I was holding him at the time because Jason had taken Jamie out. I was told afterward that Luke was making the funniest, cutest faces, and it was hard for people to keep straight faces while I was sharing my feelings. :)
He loves to play with Daddy and Big Brother. When they start playing on the floor, tickling, Jamie climbing over Jason, etc., Luke will squeal with delight and plunge right into the middle of it. 
He might be a planner. He'll throw his food on the floor, then go back for it later.

Overall, he's just an incredibly happy, healthy, delightful little baby. He has his cranky times, for sure. But for the most part, he definitely lives up to one of his nicknames--smiley little peanut! And oh, how we love him!

I'll try to add more photos tomorrow. His actual birthday celebration (candle, presents) got delayed until then because he fell asleep at 5:30 p.m. and didn't wake up until 9. :)

Pics aplenty, pics galore

I read Jamie a book yesterday called Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore! It wasn't very good, but there you are.

The first of these go back to May, I think, because I suck that much at picture-taking and -uploading...

I should send this one into a "cutest baby" contest, right??

Sorry, didn't know how to fix it...

This was the hurricane that was: GOOP. It's cornstarch and water with food coloring--neither liquid nor solid, and Jamie had a BLAST with it. So did Jason and I, truth be told. It's really fun to play with!

He played with it for over TWO HOURS, some of that time by himself. This is amazing for him. He doesn't have a very long attention span.

See how it's not only all over the table, but him as well? Luckily, it's very easy to clean up.

Add caption

Oh, and all over the bench, too...and the floor...it was a fantastic mess!

What did I ever do before Pinterest??
http://pinterest.com/kristinanoall/

Couldn't resist capturing this since I actually had the camera right there...

This boy is never so cozy as when he's snuggled up with/on Mommy or Daddy.

Ninja baby! Obviously doing a move Ryu would be proud of!

These are from last night.

I also uploaded three videos today--see them below :)
And now I need to go, because this is Jason's trail day, where he's gone from about 5:30 a.m. til around 12:30 a.m. At least it's only once a week!