Boy!

When I was pregnant with Luke, I was convinced he was a girl. Everything about my second pregnancy was different than my first. I could brush my teeth without vomiting. My blood pressure wasn't high. I wasn't nearly as tired. Since John couldn't be at the appointment when I had the ultrasound in which the baby's sex could be determined, I had the technician write the baby's gender on a note and seal it in an envelope so John and I could look at it together. John took the note out of the envelope and read it to me. When he read boy, I didn't believe him. That's how convinced I was that I was carrying a girl. 

Today was one of those days that I am so glad that note read boy. Seeing the way the boys play together and enjoy the same things is incredible. This afternoon, Jack decided he was going to get out all of his pretend camping gear, and he and Luke were going to go camping in the backyard. 

First Jack built a fire. 

Luke crawled in the tent as soon as it was up.

So did Jack.

Then Luke roasted a hotdog and Jack roasted a marshmallow for a bedtime snack.

After a good night's sleep, Jack cooked breakfast for the two boys.

Yum, bacon!

Then the boys went for a hike.

Always prepared for anything.

And then they broke down camp. 

Memorial Day Weekend

Three day weekends are a treat. Knowing I had three days to spend with the family, I opted out of John's plans for Saturday and stayed home to clean, do laundry, and wait for the Schwan's man to bring ice cream. Important stuff. John took the boys to Newport News Park, a new adventure for the boys. It's a city park that is over 8,000 acres of fun. There are playgrounds, a river with lots of turtles, walking trails, camping, and a discovery center that has "snow owls" on display. (Luke is crazy about owls. He calls them all snow owls.) The boys had so much fun that we decided to go back as a family on Sunday. Jack has become a really good wildlife spotter. As we were driving in, he spotted three deer off in the distance. Both of the boys are really good at spotting turtles in the water. Some of the turtles were as small as a half dollar coin. I'm glad we went back because it really was a beautiful, fun day. 

We went to the beach on Monday. Our normally quiet beach was crowded with people celebrating Memorial Day. People watching was a treat. Jack was determined to master boogie boarding on this trip to the beach. The waves were not large enough for a decent ride, so I spent quite a bit of time pulling him along by the string. Luke, who cannot swim a lick, has decided that he likes to be chin-deep in the water. He certainly is our thrill seeker, so John spent the entire time within easy reach of our little daredevil. 

John was out the door early this morning, trying to catch up on work after our three day weekend. The kids and I are thinking our first trip to the pool may be on our agenda today if the temperature warms up a little bit. Our family is trying to make every moment count as we count down the days to Jack's first year in school. 

India and Other Photos

Grandpa travelled around the world. He sent us postcards, currency, and gifts. Jack has decided that he wants to visit India. He's been trying to get ahold of Grandpa to tell him that he wants to go along next time. 

Coolest turtle ever that we found in our strawberry patch. 

The gift Jack picked from the dentist's office.

Luke's sweet smile.

Botanical Garden Kids' Park

A new friend from our neighborhood asked me if I wanted to take the boys to the botanical gardens with her and her kids today. The gardens have a kids' park that is really amazing. The best feature is probably the splash pad. By looking at the pictures, it is hard to tell whether the boys had fun or not! But, I assure you that these are looks of delight. The kids had so much fun that the neighbor and I decided to split a membership, so I imagine that we will be hanging out at the botanical gardens a lot this summer.  

Beach Bums

Smiling

A conversation with Jack this morning made me laugh. I was reminding him that we are going to Miss Charissa's house tomorrow. He said, "Maybe she will let you hold her baby again. That made you happy. I saw you smiling the last time she let you hold the baby." My first baby isn't small enough to hold easily anymore, but he makes me smile in other ways.

Straight Out of the Garden

When I was a kid, I loved to listen to my dad tell me about how as a toddler I often plopped myself down in the middle of the strawberry patch and ate the strawberries right from the garden. Today, Jack helped me pick our first ripe strawberries from our patch. Both boys were excited to eat something from the garden we have been tending the last few weeks. I didn't get to taste any of the berries since there were so few, but I have it on good authority that they were tasty. 

I Must Be Doing Something Right

The boys and I spent some time at the park yesterday morning and then had a picnic lunch down by the river. It was fun! After rest time at home, we rode bikes down to our neighborhood park and had a lot less fun. Another boy, a little older than Luke, pushed Luke down because Jack was using the swing he wanted. My proud mother moment came from Jack's response. He jumped off the swing and went up to the boy and said, "You pushed my brother. That wasn't nice. You won't have any friends." After I finished comforting Luke, I went and gave Jack a great big squeeze and told him how proud I was of him for taking care of his little brother. It was an I must be doing something right moment. 

Put Your Foot In, Lukey.

Mother's Day 2013

The only gift I ever request on Mother's Day is a photograph of us together. I'll treasure every year's keepsake forever. 

I saw this little Mother's Day interview on Facebook and decided to ask Jack about me.

My mom is 34 years old. The best thing she cooks is pancakes and waffles too. We like to play games like Candyland and Memory together. My mom looks beautiful when she puts on jewelry. My mom is special because she's pretty and she does a lot for me too.

Fixing Bikes

By Tuesday afternoon, the kids and I were tired of the rainy weather that prevented us from taking our usual afternoon trips to the park, so I put Luke in his bike seat and Jack and I hopped on our bikes for a long ride. A little over a mile away from the house, Jack was riding around a huge puddle when he went off the sidewalk. He corrected his course and came back up onto the sidewalk, but the maneuver popped his tire. Lucky Luke was the only one who got a ride home. Jack and I had to push our bikes. When I told Jack that we would have to wait for his dad to get home on Saturday to fix the bike, he immediately started counting days and expressing his irritation that it would be four days before he could ride his bike again. Thankfully, John, Jack, and Luke fixed Jack's tire this afternoon, so we are back in business. 

John felt Jack's pain in having to wait to have his bike fixed. He recalled a summer he spent at his grandparents' house in Michigan when he was in second or third grade. He popped the tire on his scooter. His grandfather bought the tube but could not fix the tire until after work. So John went out and fixed the tire himself as an 8 or 9 year old. That's incredible to me. Hopefully Jack and Luke will be as resourceful. 

Luke- 2 1/2

Luke, yesterday you turned 2 1/2. Here's a little bit about you at this age:

• You weigh 33 pounds and are 37 inches tall. 
• You wear either a 2t or 3t in clothing, a size 5 diaper, and a size 9 shoe.
• Your favorite toys are your monster trucks, cars, the parking garage, airplanes, and rocket, and you really enjoy using Playdoh and putting together puzzles. You love to be outside, especially if we are going to a park. You like to ride your Strider to the park, but I always have a tough time convincing you to leave and ride home. 
• You are very attached to your cow who you call your "bow". You twirl the hair on the top of your head when you go to sleep and hold "bow" beside your ear in the same arm. 
• You like to be read to. You enjoy the Sandra Boyton books and Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site. Lately you have been sneaking out of your room during rest time and going into Jack's room. You always take a few books and ask Jack to read to you. Luckily, Jack has almost all of your books memorized, so it goes pretty well for both of you. You two enjoy that time together a lot. 
• You like to watch movies. Your favorite is 20 Trucks, which you call 2 Trucks. There is a monster truck video on Netflix that is another one of your favorites. 
• You are a math nerd. You love to count things and can count to 20. 
• You can say your ABCs pretty well too, and you can identify almost every upper case letter. 
• You know the colors green, red, blue, yellow, and pink. Your favorite color is green. I know this because no matter what I'm offering, you always want the green one. 
• You keep your brother on his toes. He doesn't get away with much. You think everything needs to be equal, and if Jack can do it, "Luke do it too". 
• You are Mommy's buddy. Daddy doesn't get any attention at all unless he's willing to get on the floor and wrestle around with you. 
• You are a good sleeper although you are usually up between 6:00 and 6:30. Occasionally, you sleep until 7:30. You don't nap anymore, so you are tuckered out by bedtime around 7:30. 

Luke, you are the sweetest combination of spunk and joy. I love you with my entire being. 

Just Photos