Spiderwart

out of sequence again...

2012-01-21T21:22:00.002-06:00

Luke has said a few things lately that I wanted to remember, so here they are....

The other night we were driving home from my Mom's house and it was night time. Luke sudenly said, "Mommy! What is dat?!" I said I didn't know and asked him what it was. Luke wasn't sure and told me there were light in the sky. I said maybe they were stars and he said that he didn't think so. Then he said, "Mommy, I think those are God's eyes. I think those are God's eyes in the sky."

Just now he was playing with a child's gate we have and he told me he was fixing it. I said ok and went back to taking care of Aaron. Then a minute later he came and showed me this screw he had gotten out of Daddy's work things and told me that he was using the screw to fix the gate. I said ok and he went back to where the gate was. Then he told me he was going to take the gate appart adn fix it and it was going to take a long time, me "OK Luke, you can fix it." A minute later he carried the gate over to me and told me he needed a screw driver! I kinda laughed and told Greg and greg got him one of his small screw drivers and Luke set the gate against the couch close to where Greg was sitting and went back to work. Then Luke says, "I'm exlent at fixn' tings! I 'm going to take dis appart and den fix it, and it's going to take a long time to take it appart and a long time to fix it, it's goin' be a really long time." Greg looked down and started laughing and said, "Laura, he's already got the screw half way out!"

Out of sequence, but I just had to...

2012-01-10T19:26:00.000-06:00

Luke and I bought groceries today at this dented can store in our area, mostly cereal and a few boxed meals to try. Anyway, Luke decided to unload one of the boxes of food and use the food boxes to make a "nest" for both him and Aaron, and this was the result!

Dec 24, Bartel Christmas

2011-12-28T12:03:00.001-06:00

Bartel Christmas was December 24th at my grandparent's house. We ate tons of delicious food including everyone's favorite, verenika! After a little nap time we all gathered round for Grandpa to read our Christmas story and hear a little piano music from my cousins and then time for presents.

Present time!

We couldn't stay late because I had to work that night and Luke was in his first Christmas Eve program at church. I got ready for work and the boys got ready for church and I got to see Luke in his new outfit from Mimi and Papa in IN!

Greg took the boys to church and my mom helped take care of them during the service so that Greg could get a video of Luke's group singing for me. He did a great job but bounced and danced the entire time!

the toy of the day...

2011-12-20T11:51:00.002-06:00

Luke and I had a lot of fun yesterday doing little art projects, playing with cars, cooking together and tossing the ball around. The highlight though was turning some egg cartons into a bus and a semi truck. We wrapped paper around them in a way that you could still open and close them so you could put things in them, then I drew the basics on them and Luke colored them in the way he wanted too. Here are a few pics of Luke playing with the bus. It was a big hit with him.

Aaron had fun watching us! He is much more mobile now, though still not crawling on hands and knees he does the army crawl pretty fast and sometimes rolls to get where he wants too.

Pulling up!

2011-12-14T12:34:00.001-06:00

So I am sitting at the computer checking emails and I look over at Aaron who was just sitting on the floor playing beside me, and he had pulled himself up to standing by holding onto his bouncy seat! I called Greg to show him and he said, "Oh yeah, he started doing that last night." I hadn't seen him even try to pull up into standing position on anything yet! Can't believe how fast he is growing up! Seeing him next to Charlie really brings it home how much he has grown and changed over the past 8 months.

Crawling!!!

2011-11-25T21:02:00.001-06:00

Maybe not technically, because Aaron doesn't get up on his hands and knees to do it, but he is definitely moving! He lays on his belly and pushes with his feet, pulls with his hands and rolls side to side to move forward to get toys. It isn't terribly fast, but he went at least four feet while I was watching him to get a toy that he wanted! I made him do it a second time so Greg could see it and I could get it on camera, and then he was so tired out he just fell asleep on his tummy on the floor! Sweet baby!

Thankful

2011-11-25T17:22:00.001-06:00

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for so many things... For my new job, because I am happy there, because of the peace of mind and security that it brings to our family, because of the benefits that come with having a good job and an income and the things it will allow us to do. I am thankful for good friends, both for friends far away and near by, ones that I have spent time with in person and for the surprisingly close friendships I have found online with my March Mommies group. I am especially thankful for Family, both our own little family and also for our extended family that gets bigger and bigger the further you go. I know not all of my family members have had good years, some have had a lot of hard things to go through or health problems that are ongoing. I just hope that they all know that they are loved, wherever they are and whatever they are going through.

Family has been highlighted for me this year as I have witnessed friends loosing family members. I always love my family to death and try to never take them for granted though I know I probably do sometimes and I know as a wife and mother I sometimes am grouchy or short with Luke or Greg or don't spend as much energy as I wish I did with Aaron. But this year I have seen friends loose their mother, spouse, or young child, and those friends are often on my mind. I have seen them walk through the dying processes with their loved ones so gracefully in a way that left no regrets. I can't begin to imagine what this has been like for them. I have given my boys bigger squeezes and I hope loved my friends and family better because of knowing these people. I know that even on my worst days with my boys they would give anything to be able to have a screaming toddler in a store or a sleepless night with an infant that just won't sleep.

This year I am also grateful for new life. I am so grateful for Aaron and how healthy and happy he is. After loosing our angel almost 2 yrs ago this pregnancy and now sweet baby was such a gift. I treasured every moment of it and was so grateful to be able to go to the Yoder Birth Center instead of a hospital for delivery. And now we also have a new nephew, Charlie. Watching my brother and sister-in-law go through this pregnancy and delivery and now almost two full weeks of parenting for the first time, I am so, so grateful. I know that Andrea had some added worries early on because of my experiences, but thankfully her pregnancy was a healthy one, her delivery was safe and joyful, and her baby is healthy and beautiful! I am beyond happy for them. Knowing how wonderful the parenting experience has been for me I can't help but be excited for them as they get their first chance to know that indescribable love of a parent for their child. As they are blessed so am I.

I am so richly blessed in so many ways and I know that God has helped me through the hard times as well as the good times. I am grateful for a God who is everything and more. For a faith that teaches me and carries me. For a faith community which is loving and vibrant and which searches carefully for God's will in every situation.

This has turned out to be a very good year for me. This time last year I could not have seen what might be ahead, or how God would use hard things in my life to bring goodness. I had a hard time letting others know how hard things were for me at that time or asking for support even though I really needed it. I wish I had been able to do things differently, to not have to go through the hard parts, but with out the really hard parts I would not be where I am today, I would not be so richly blessed by the changes those hard things brought to my life. So that is why I say this was a good year. It wasn't easy, but the end result is that my family and I have been changed so much for the better. If we hadn't been forced to make changes I don't know when they ever would have happened, and these changes are soooo good.

In the next month we will find out if we will be accepted for Service Adventure Leadership positions and where we will be placed if accepted. If we don't get in this year it will be OK, the changes we have made this year mean that either way it will be good. We hope that we will get a placement, but we know that there are several couples applying this year and limited placements so those in charge need to consider carefully what will be best for both the couples applying and the placements that need leaders next year. If we are accepted that will mean a lot more good changes in the next year. If not we will look for other ways to make good changes in our lives.

So anyway, I just want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving and send you all so much love! Your love and support means so much to me and I am thankful for you!

New life!!!

2011-11-16T01:14:00.001-06:00

I am an Auntie again!

Charlie John was born on Monday, November 14th! 7lbs 4oz and so beautiful!

Andrea had a long hard back labor but she and Ben did amazing and now there is this beautiful and healthy little boy in the world. We are so blessed!

We just barely got Andrea's shower in before the baby came, just like me with Luke the shower was 2 days before the baby was born! I think Ruth even mentioned that at the shower, "wonder if Andrea will have the baby in 2 days like you did?!?" Now I have to get some baby blankets made! The fabric is supposed to get her tomorrow or the next day so we will see how fast I can crochet!

Facination!

2011-11-14T22:56:00.001-06:00

This is a set of percussion instruments that Mimi and Papa got for Luke a long time ago, and Luke still loves to play with them which is why they were out, and it's a good thing Luke was in bed when this happened. Aaron loves to sit and play and so I set him down next to the box with all the instruments inside the box. 30 minutes later he is still very happily playing with each instrument, moving them around, moving the box around, etc. Love these simple toys!

PS! I have a new nephew!!! Charlie John was born today to Ben and Andrea. All are doing great! Congrats and love you all sooooo much!

Messy eaters!

2011-11-12T22:32:00.001-06:00

This is Aaron tearing into a piece of bread the other night...

And Luke has mastered the art of eating ice cream so slowly that it doesn't all end up in his tummy!

Newness

2011-11-05T11:01:00.002-05:00

Luke has a NEW sweater made by my mom that he wore for the first time on Thursday.

At first he refused to put it on. He was afraid it would be too itchy and hot because he had tried it on so many times without a shirt under it, and I basically had to force him to put it on while he screamed at me. Even after I got it on him he kept saying that he didn't like it, that he didn't like those colors, that it was too hot, etc. We set off for the funeral of our friend Cookie and he stopped complaining.

Thankfully at the faspa after the funeral all of these people who knew my mom was making him a sweater kept coming up to him and saying, "Is this the sweater your Gammy made you? It's so beautiful!!!" Pretty soon when someone came up to say hi to him he was starting the conversation by saying, "Look at mine sweater! It's BEAUTIFUL!" Later when we were at home he didn't want to take it off, and then when he got it dirty and I had to take it off he cried for about 10 minutes because he was so mad at me for making him take it off!

Aaron has a NEW tooth that he got yesterday (Friday)!!! It's on the bottom and you can just barely feel it, not see it yet, but it is definitely there. I was begining to think we would have to get him the first ever set of baby dentures so we did the silly happy dance around the house after I found it. Unfortunately the boy also came down with a horrible chest cold yesterday so pray for all of us because as long as he is sick none of us are getting any sleep.

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And I have a NEW job! I have been working as Contingency staff since mid September and just last week the manager called me up and offered me a full time night shift position!!! I took it of course, I really love where I am working right now and I am so greatfull for the way God has provided for us with this full time position which will gaurantee me the hours and bennifits our family needs. It will be an adjustment to switch my hours around again, but we are very thankfull.

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6 months old

2011-09-27T21:22:00.001-05:00

Aaron had his 6 month check up today, 16lbs, 5 oz and 27 inches long. Luke was a peach the whole time and when the Dr gave him a package of smarties he said thank you, ate one, and then gave one to me and to the Dr, no prompting. Such a sweety, makes me look so good! Aaron loved the Dr too and just kept looking up at her adoringly and giving her sweet little smiles the whole time she was listening to him and holding him. Gotta love a doctor with great kid skills.

Too funny!

2011-09-25T20:44:00.001-05:00

Luke and I spent some time drawing on his dry erase board this afternoon and this is what he drew. I asked him what he had drawn and he pointed at the mouth and told me, "see, der is some teeth!" I said, "Oh, did you draw a monster?" (one of his favorite subjects lately). Luke said, "No! Dats a nice guy! See, it's Daddy!"

Winfield 2011

2011-09-18T19:43:00.002-05:00

So, Winfield this year was a very different experience from the usual. For one thing plans kept changing about who was going to go, for how long and for which days. Originally I was planning to go Friday and Saturday like we have been the past few yrs. Then I quit my job and my new job pushed back my start date so funds were getting tight and Greg decided not to go at all and just let me go for one day. I was wanting to go on Saturday and catch a ride with someone, but when I talked to my parents they said they also wanted to go only one day, but on Friday instead of Saturday. We made plans for Luke and Aaron and I to ride with them to Winfield on Friday, but as we got closer to the day the weather looked gloomy. Thursday my parents called and said they had decided not to go to Winfield at all but that they knew my cousins Melanie and Greg would be going just for Saturday and maybe I could get a ride with them. Mellanie and Greg said sure so I decided to leave Luke home and just take Aaron with me because I wouldn't have as much help carrying things or watching the boys without my parents. Friday morning I woke up to the phone ringing and ringing. My parents had been up a lot the night before changing their minds! They wanted to go on Friday after all but only from 3pm-10pm, did I want to go with them. It was a hard decision but eventually I decided to stay with my plans to go with Mel and Greg and to send Luke with my parents on Friday. That way Luke would get to go but I could hopefully go for a longer day and it was supposed to be more rainy but 10 degrees warmer on Saturday. My parents and Luke had a good time, but it was cold, overcast and misting the whole time so they ended up coming back early. Saturday it rained a bit on our drive there but by the time we got there it was clearing up. It was a little chilly but not too bad and we headed to stage one to look for the rest of the Regier clan.

The first to get to stage one that we saw were Dwayne and Ruth! We also saw Ken and Amy and family, Daniel and Sarah, and Miriam with some friends of theirs, and later still Peter, but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures while we sat with them.

We got to Winfield during the Mark Allen Wade Trio's set and stayed for Tom Chapin and Friends, Hot Club of Cowtown, and Michael Martin Murphy with Pat Flynn. During the last group Aaron was pretty tired but having a hard time sleeping because of how loud it was so he and I went and walked around a little and that seemed to do the trick. Then Aaron and I went over to stage 3 to hear the end of the New Song Showcase, where the winner of various new song categories get to preform their songs on stage. (By that time it was sunny and nice and warm, Aaron was down to a t-shirt and he had started with two sweat shirts and a blanket.) There was a pretty funny song called "I wanna be your Barbie" that won the humor category and the last group that won the "none of the above" category looked like they were having a blast up there. I wished I had taken a picture, because they were all 50+, were wearing shirts with the sleeves ripped off or overalls, and had LONG hair and beards. They may have not been the tightest band I have ever heard but they sure were a fun group to watch and I wouldn't be surprised if they show up at Stage six sometimes.

After them Beppe Gambetta came on stage. He is one of my all time Winfield favorites, I never get tired of his sets. He is a very talented flat pick guitarist and sings a lot of really beautiful songs both in English and Italian. He is also a really great story teller.

Halfway through Beppe's set I spotted Andrea, Jill, and some more of my cousins down front so we went to sit with them.

After Beppe finished we all headed back to stage one. Andrea held Aaron some more while we listened to Kenny and Amanda Smith and then I went to get an Indian Taco for my supper and came back in time to hear Marley's Ghost.

We have a picture of Luke gnawing on an apple at his first Winfield too, just look at pics in Sept. 2008.

By the end of Marley's Ghost's set it was starting to rain and the announcer told everyone that some severe weather was coming through and that they were going to shut down the stage until it had gone on past us. Everyone was running for their cars and I was with Jill Schmidt and some of her friends and had no idea where Mel and Greg were. I tried calling Mel but she didn't answer her phone and she apparently tried calling me but for some reason my phone was going straight to the answering machine. Then I called Ben and he was with Mel and Greg and they said they were headed to their car. Jill and her friends and I had already headed out towards their car which I thought was in the same basic area as Mel and Greg's car and just then I thought, I better start looking in cars that look like theirs because all I could remember was that it was white! I had no idea other than that. At the moment I thought that I was just about past a white car so I turned back and looked in the back window and sure enough, there was Aaron's car seat in the back seat! Thank goodness! Mel and Greg made it a minute or two later and we took off. All the Regiers were planing on going to a local church, but when we got there it was locked. The Regiers decided to head to a gas station but we decided to start heading home and then if it got a lot better we could always turn around when we got to Wellington, just out of the path of the storm. When we got to Wellington we saw a beautiful double rainbow!!!

And sunset...

We stopped at a gas station and McDonald's/travel center. Greg and Mel hadn't eaten yet so we all got ice cream cones to wait for the storm to pass and then decide what to do.

The storm did get most of the way past but it was still raining in Winfield according to family reports and we decided to just go on home. It was sad to not get very much time at Winfield, but we didn't want to be cold and wet either, so we talked and listened to Bluegrass music all the way home. This was the first yr I didn't get to hear John McCutcheon at all and I also really wished I had been able to hear the Wilders and Eileen Ivers group (she was the fiddler on River Dance). Anyway, that was my Winfield Adventure this year!

Signing???

2011-09-14T23:42:00.002-05:00

Aaron started signing milk tonight! The first time he did it I wasn't hardly paying attention b/c my 3 yr old wasn't listening and I was trying to discipline him and then Aaron in my lap starts crying and I look down at him and he is holding his arm up to me and his sweet chubby hand is making the sign for milk over and over again! I couldn't hardly believe it, but he did it again later. He had been sitting with dad while I got big brother to bed and when I came back he was fussing a bit so I picked him up and started playing with him on my lap. Then I asked if he wanted some "nahnies" and made the sign for milk and he looked right at my hand and then laughed and looked up at me and raised his hand and made the sign back to me! I don't think he quite gets what it means yet because when I put him to breast he really wasn't interested, but I do think he likes that he figured out how to do it. Maybe he thinks it means "mommy" or something. Anyway, I'm still in shock. Not even 6 months and he is starting to sign back at me!

Laybor Day

2011-09-10T14:53:00.000-05:00

Labor Day Sunday the hot weather finally broke so on Monday we decided to go to the zoo as a family. I know, lots of crowds, not the best day to go to the zoo, but we really did still have a lot of fun. We went to the different farms, the reptile house, fed the giraffes and went to see the bears in the North America exhibit. The giraffes were definitely the highlight. We also brought along some fun snacks that we don't usually have around the house, fresh peaches and carrots like usual, but also some flavored water, Doritos chips and some cookies! Yum!

Farm Days

2011-09-10T14:40:00.001-05:00

This group of pictures is from August 30th. Since I haven't been working we have to schedule time for the boys to go out and see Gammy and Papa. This day Luke wanted to play in the sprinkler and help water the flowers so Aaron and I sat and played on the porch while we watched Luke and Gammy.

Aaron discovered his feet the night before.

Grandparents!!!

2011-09-10T14:15:00.000-05:00

Yay for blogger's new interface!!! They finally updated and now everything works again. Things I had been missing like spell check and being able to change the alignment of text and pictures etc!!! I'm so happy! Plus now I can do things like upload a ton of pictures at once instead of only 4 which makes it so much easier to get them in the order I want them and takes WAY less time!

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Ok, so back to the real point of this post! Yesterday we went to my Bartel Grandparent's house for the afternoon. I always love watching my boys play with other people, but especially seeing Luke and my Grandpa is lots of fun! They really get each other going.

This beautiful Sunflower from in the ditch on the way to my grandparent's house. I think I'll use it to make some cards. (-:

My grandpa has some trains that he already had out when we got there and Luke had a great time playing with him and the trains! Unfortunately they are really touchy and after about 10-15 minutes they suddenly wouldn't work anymore, but I think Luke really enjoyed getting to see a train set that runs "by itself"!

Ok, I know this picture is too big for it to be centered correctly, but it's one of my favorites from the day, so I wanted everyone to be able to see it!

Love a baby in overalls!

My Grandma said she thought this was only the second time she had gotten to hold Aaron, which is terrible!!! She has seen him many more times than that, we have had lots of get-togethers and we go to the same church, but she always makes sure that everyone else gets a turn before she takes one. I guess we need to get together more just us so that she and grandpa will get enough turns too!

After playing inside on all three levels of the house where Grandma keeps toys we went outside for a bit. We kicked a ball around, played on the swings, and then went for a walk by the stream and Luke threw sticks into the little bit of water that hadn't dried up.

My Grandparents have a very large property, Grandpa said originally it was 30 acres but they sold all but about 6.5 of it to their current neighbors and Grandma's sister and her family. Usually it is always green and beautiful but the drought this year has really made it impossible for even my grandparents, the best gardeners I know, to keep it all alive and lush like normal. Hopefully most of it will come back next year, but Grandma said she knows there will be patches where all the grass is dead and some of her trees and shrubs have probably died.

Most of the creek was bone dry, but there were a couple of deeper spots that had a bit of water left and they were all covered with those little green water plants so that at first Luke thought there wasn't any water. We threw in a rock to show him that there really was water there and he thought that was really neat so we spent most of the rest of our outdoor time looking for sticks for him to throw in.

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My grandparents are super givers. They were with my Great Grandma almost everyday while she was in the nursing home before she died and when she still lived at home they were there a lot of the time too helping Great Grandma take care of herself and the place. They always have a huge garden and they give a lot of it away to their children and grandchildren. They also come and work in the garden's of their children and grandchildren. If there is any kind of work project they are there, and they are excited to do it. They are also very involved in serving at the church too, though not in the flashy roles that most people notice. They are behind the scenes kind of people, and they get embarrassed if you talk too much about how much they do for others. I hope that I will be able to be there for my kids and grand kids the way they have for us, but I already know that their strengths are not my strengths and I will never be able to match up to their gardening or some of the other things they do. Mostly though I just love them soooo much, and I know that they love me. That is one thing I can give to my kids and grand kids someday, they will always know how much I love them, even if I don't come garden for them!

summer fun with friends!

2011-08-29T18:13:00.006-05:00

Sunday (8-28) we went to spend the day with Amy Derrick and Glen at their new house in Hesston. Since it was 101 degrees plus we got out the sprinklers for the boys and they had a blast! We found a shady spot to watch them and it wasn't too bad compared to being in full sun, but still pretty warm. In the above pic Luke is using his "magic hands" to make the water go up! I was surprized that he actually ran through the sprinklers getting his face wet because normally that is not something he enjoys, but he had a great time.

Aaron even got in on the action, he liked to feel the water on his fingers!

Below is the web appropriate version of the boys "watering the tree"! They were too funny. (And yes, I have the orriginal in a safe place in case either Amy or I want to pull it out for future girlfriends! ;-)

After a much longer time in the sprinklers than I was expecting the boys decided they were cold and ready to come in and play a bit.

They each drank about 2 cups full of tea right off the bat (warm because they were cold) and then a cup full of cold water, so we made several trips to the indoor plumbing over the next hour or so!

We had supper together with them, a great crab quiche as the main course and home made chocolate mint ice cream for dessert!!! It was good to catch up a bit after all of our vacations this summer! Maybe soon it will be cool enough to start making zoo trips together again. (-:

playing catch-up!

2011-08-25T12:02:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago I was watching one of my favorite summer time dramas, ABC's Rookie Blue, and the characters were in quarenteen. One of the characters is a single mom and some of the others were helping her make a video for her son "just in case". In it she talked about how she loved the rain because whenever it rained she would get out a cardboard box and watch her son turn it into something magical like a rocket chip or a car or something. That got me thinking, we have TONS of boxes, and Luke has a great immagination. So, I got a box out for him and told him that we could color it and turn it into something, whatever he wanted and he decided on a rocket. (-:

Luke's rocket: 8-14-11 He had me write all our names on it. (-:

My little brother Tim is off his big adventure now. He is going on a vacation with my parents to visit my sister and her husband in Vermont and to NYC and then he will go to Chicago for a week of orrientation before flying to Bolivia for a year of service. At the end of the year he will come back to spend a month serving at our church before going to college, most likely Bethel here in Newton. The night before he left we had supper over at Mom and Dad's to say good-bye.

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Tim wanted to take his french horn with him but there wasn't a suitcase big enough so they had a special box made that would be big enough for his horn but still comply with size regulations for the airlines.

One last thumbs up before we say good-bye. Tim, Mom, and Dad got on the thrain around 3 am on 8-18-11.

Aaron is 5 months now. I was going to hold off on solids until he was 6 months, even though the Dr's say you can start a few things already at 4 months, but he has been watching me eat for a few weeks already and trying to grab my food so I think he is ready to start trying a little bit. I know several moms online who are doing the baby led weaning method, which basically means not mashing up their food, just giving them soft food that they can hold themselves. By not grinding thigns up it is supposed to make them not so picky later on based on texture because they will get the texture of the food right from the start. With Luke I didn't know about this kind of feeding method, but we really didn't grind up fery much of his food anyway because he really wanted to be the one to feed himself, so most of the time I just made sure to make a few things that he could pick up and eat on his own. I think that letting him do it helped him develope his small motor skills and people always commented on how well he could use a fork and spoon when he got to that stage. Anyway, one of the moms online showed a picture of how she makes these "banana handles" so on the 20th Aaron got his first solid food and had fun with a "banana handle"! He LOVED it! I think pardtly because he is teething pretty hard right now and gnawing on it felt really good on his gums, but he actually did get quite a good amount in his tummy too! I had to help him just a bit because I made the handle too short and he kept loosing it, but most of the time he held it himself and went to town!

Aaron rolled from front to back for the first time yesterday and did it 6 or 7 times!!! Here is a video, I just barely caught it, of the last time he did it before he got fussy and decided it was enough. (-: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR2TrB7uGtA

And finally, yesterday was Greg and my 9th wedding anniversary! I can't hardly believe it has been 9 yrs already. We didn't do much, played with the boys and got pizza for supper, but we will go out sometime later on to celebrate by ourselves a bit. Ben and Andrea have volunteered to watch the boys, (THANK YOU!!!) and I think we still have some gift certificates to use. We will have to plan something extra special for next year.

the zoo!

2011-08-10T23:48:00.010-05:00

Went to the zoo on Wednesday with Mom, Dad, Tim and Abby! It was actually at Abby's request. She's leaving Friday for a year of service in WV and wanted to go to the zoo with the boys before she left and it just got bigger from there. I am so glad she asked because with the temps in the 100's all summer doing anything outside has not been on my to do list. It ended up being a perfect day though, with temps in the 70's and low 80's and only rain during the bit while we were in the reptile house and jungle!

Luke is trying very hard not to smile while we all say, "Don't smile, Luke! Don't smile!"

Friendly goats, the kept jumping up on me which I didn't appreciate too much but Luke very much wanted to feed the goats and not the sheep.

Luke showing us all the different snakes and reptiles! I wish I had caught him doing his Vana White presentation!

Everyone below is marveling at how different the exhibit above is from when I was a kid and there was just these brown branches hanging from the ceiling with snakes on them. Now it's full of gren and has an iguana and a couple of turtles.

Luke ran through the jungle 3 times while waiting for me to feed and change Aaron.

Snack time at the Tigers! Kind of a tradition now I guess.

I think the pic above is my favorite from the day! Tim is leaving in a week for his own year abroad doing service in Bolivia and I am in denile about the fact that he will be gone so long and is old enough to leave home. Luke is definitely going to miss "Timmy".

Our snack consisted of Luke's leftover PBJ sandwich and a bag of carrots.

Baby's all over the zoo this yr it seemed, but I think the baby chimp stole the show this trip.

After the zoo wewent to Panera!!! I love Panera! Luke knew exactly what he wanted as soon as we walked in the door which cracked me up a bit. Usually when we go I order him a grilled cheese sandwich because we are on the road and that is portable if he doesn't want to eat while we are there, but he usually eats my soup and saves the sandwich for later. As soon as we walked in he announced that he wanted soup!

Annother video link!

2011-08-09T00:32:00.005-05:00

I need to play catch up but I don't feel like it tonight so for now I will settle with not getting any further behind. Things are going good right now. I quit my job at Newton at the end of July and have been job hunting since long before that but kicked the hunt up a couple of notches and just yesterday got the news that I am hired at a new job!!! It is the same type of nursing which I love but it is a PRN job so as needed. I will have more control over my own schedule which will be great and although I won't be getting benefits I will be making more money than I was so hopefully everything will work out in the wash. It doesn't start until September so that will give me more time with the boys which I have been loving for the past 2 weeks. Any way, I'm probably going to look for one more PRN job so that I can get hours somewhere else if things get slow on my unit, but for now I am just really relieved to have this job and really excited about what kind of job it is.

The boys are spectacular. Luke has finally settled down from all the craziness this summer of one major event after another and is back to being his old sweet self who constantly amazes me by how well he listens, even when it's hard, and by how his mind works. Aaron is my little Bubba Lou, I'm not sure why except that it has stuck just like Pooba did with Luke when he was little. He is very verbal but doesn't seem to be in any hurry to start rolling over or anything. He is way more focused on putting anything he can reach into his mouth and is constantly gnawing on something and drooling like crazy. I bought him an amber necklace in June when he first started drooling all over the place because it is supposed to help with the pain of teething. I'm not sure if it works or not but there have been two seperat times that I left it off for 2 full days and both times the second day he wa more fussy than usual so I put it back on him. ;-) Every day I see new ways that he is unique and different from his brother.

Here is a link to a video of Aaron laughing hard, excuse my knees in the frame! Or you can just click on the title of this post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez1GjEmxIiU

And for a little comparisson here is Luke laughing at about the same age.

So far behind!!!

2011-07-30T00:04:00.003-05:00

So I have a lot of catching up to do but for now I just wanted to share this little video! Aaron started doing this about 2 days ago but I just now got it on camera. (-:

Click on the title of this post or copy and paste the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBxC2QAWzCA

family pictures

2011-06-29T17:10:00.005-05:00

June 5th we had a Bartel get together and since it was right after church, our family was already all dressed up, and there was someone else to hold the camera I asked for some help taking a family picture. My dad took a few with our camera that unfortunately didn't turn out the best, but I got really lucky when my uncle Larry got out his ginormous fancy amazing camera and got a bunch of great ones for us. This was not really very easy because Luke was hot, a little tired and hungry. On top of that we had just gotten to Larry's house and he wanted to play with Larry's boys but I just had to get that picture taken first.

This one above is my favorite. We had a hard time getting Luke to smile with out being silly and it turns out I like his silly picture the best anyways.

This is the more professional everyone smiling picture, also very nice! Thanks Larry! After we got some good family pics Luke was desperate to put on his super man cape and run around a bit and Larry got some really great ones of that too!

Dedication

2011-06-27T03:00:00.004-05:00

We dedicated ourselves to raising Aaron in the church this Sunday. Remembering my promise to myself to take lots of pictures of all my children equally I was nearly late to the rehersal because I was afraid we had forgotten the camera!

This is most of what was read minus the congregation's part...

This is Aaron's "Certificate of Dedication" which includes his life verses. I think if you click on the immage you can see it larger.

Picture with pastor Anita afterwards. Unfortunately we couldn't stay and look for pastor Joan who also preformed the dedication. Aaron's outfit was a gift from Greg's aunt Becky.

Each child was given a children's bible and this one is very different from the one Luke was given. I think it is geared slightly older and it has lots of cool things in it.

The back of it talks a little about what is in it....

Here's one of the videos from the dedication. Unfortunately we were at the end of the line so there were music stands and microphones between us and the congregation.

Sunday School Retreat

2011-06-26T19:37:00.010-05:00

Our Sunday School class had our very first retreat this weekend! Not everyone was able to make it and we did miss them but it was a lot of fun and I think we all are really looking forward to the next one.

The first night it was just our family and Jeremy, Jyl, and Hope Ewy. Hope and Luke are close in age and they lost no time getting the fun started. They had races, played all sorts of immaginary games, and played so well together that half the time we didn't even need to watch them closely, just keep an ear on them!

Racing! .... Hope getting some baby time.

We grilled pork chops and threw supper together while the kids played and then we went for a tour of the camp and got to see all the things Jeremy has built and is working on. They have a really cool stage out there and Hope and Luke gave us a sweet little preformance, see the video at the end of the post!

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The kids and dads made s'mores and eventually it was time for bed. Greg had forgotten to bring something in from the car and started to walk out to get it when he saw a really long skinny snake in the grass close to the cabin. He came back in and told me about it and of course my response was, "Hey, I want to see it!" I took a flash light and got to see it pretty well but I don't know for sure what kind it was. I don't think it was poisonous but I didn't test it or anything. I went back in to grab the camera because I wanted to look it up later but by the time I went back out the snake was gone and there was just this huge spider on the cement so I took a pic of that instead...

The next day Joey, Amanda, and Sam showed up followed by Ben and Andrea. We had a great brunch together, very yummy food!

Then we had a divotional time and a couple of hours of out doors time during which Aaron and I napped. We got up and played some games and talked a while using a faith based card game and while we did that the kids fell asleep watching Dora and stayed asleep until supper was ready. After supper we went back outside. Andrea had filled some water baloons for the kids...

Then they got out the bubbles Greg had brought.....

Then Jeremy got out 2 kites he had brought! It was perfect kite flying weather, and I think some of us adults enjoyed it as much or more than the kids.

The panda kite was really easy to fly, even Luke and hope could keep it up just by holding on. But the butterfly kite was quite a bit harder and of course that was the one both kids really liked. It kept wanting to do loops and then crashing to the gound or the roof of the cabin!

After the kites we sat around and talked while the kids did some more bubbles.

We sang some music together, though I would have loved to sing so much more.

Then it was getting late and people had to go home. This is the view from their back deck!

It was a really great retreat, hopefully the next one won't be far off and everyone will come.

Fun in the park! (6/21/11)

2011-06-26T19:27:00.003-05:00

We met Ben and Andrea in the park one evening just for fun and when Ben walked up we had a fun little surprise. Ben had decided to shave off his beard for the summer but didn't quite shave off all of it...

Andrea said that after he had shaved off part of it he decided to really look like a hipster and then discovered that he fits into her skiny jeans!

It was a fun evening. We ended up at their house for some yummy raisin bars that Andrea made!

Harvest pictures (6/15 & 21/11

2011-06-26T18:21:00.005-05:00

This year harvest came early and it seemed to mostly be on days that I worked. Every time I didn't work it rained! I did get out to the field for a few meals when I was on call which was really nice, and Luke got to ride the combine twice, once with my mom and once with me and Aaron. The day Aaron and I got to ride too was the last day my dad was cutting and he was almost done so we only got to ride for one combine load and then we road in the truck with my grandpa to coop where Luke got a sucker! It has been long enough since my there were little kids riding that my dad thought that the co-op no longer gave out suckers! I think Luke was glad he was wrong. (-:

This was Janet's night to cook and Rod Wedel was there among other guests. Luke didn't like to walk in the wheat stuble so Rod put him on his shoulders!

My sling made eating in the field possible!

Aaron's first time in a combine! He did great. Was happy and awake for the first little bit and then fell right to sleep!

It went by too fast for me, though it actually took longer than they thought it would because of all the rain. By the 23rd everything was cut and we had the traditional "thresher's ice cream". I had to work that night but Greg brough in a cooler with some ice cream that I shared with my co-workers! Yum!

Happy Baby (6/6/11)

2011-06-26T18:10:00.002-05:00

Ok, I am way behind on posting so I am going to try to play catch up. Instead of one big long post I am going to try to do several smaller ones in chronological order. Here is #1!

Aaron is more and more interactive now. He has longer awake times and smiles easily! Unfortunately he has also been having more trouble with gas pains than he used to so we keep those gas relief drops handy! Over all he is a pretty content little guy, but when his tummy hurts he wastes no time in letting you know. (-;

laughing!

2011-06-05T00:00:00.003-05:00

Aaron laughed out loud for the first time while awake about 30 minutes ago! He has laughed in his sleep a couple of times, the first time was before he was smiling socially yet, but this is the first time I have heard him laugh while awake! I was getting ready to give him his bath and he was pretty happy and I tried tickling him and it just burst out of him! That beautifull baby laugh that just can't be duplicated by anything else. I called Greg to come quick and I got him to laugh 3 more times while we waited for him to get there, but when he finally came the moment was over. :( Luke heard him though! I can't believe we are already to the stage where he is laughing! I'll have to try to get him to laugh on video soon. :-)

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Just a few quick stats on Aaron. Two weeks ago when he turned 2 months old his weight was 11lbs 2oz. Yesterday his wt was already 11 lbs 11 oz, and the nurse said he was 24 inches long. He is growing like a weed and I find it funny how proud I am of his chuncky thighs!

smiles!

2011-05-30T18:00:00.003-05:00

I finally got some good smiling pics!!!

Hair Cut!

2011-05-23T14:30:00.006-05:00

Sunday we spent the afternoon with Amy, Derrick and Glen in Derby and had a really good time. The boys had a great time together and so did the rest of us. While there it came up that Greg wanted to buzz Luke's hair off and that I was opposed to it. They had a clippers handy and before you knew it Luke's hair was gone. I guess we should have gotten some before and durring pics as well but here is the after shot in the tub. His hair has NEVER been this short before, even at birth it was longer!

I admit that it doesn't look too bad, but I still definitely prefer it long. I know it will be a good summer cut but if I am completely honest I can't wait for it to grow out again.

I have been trying to catch Aaron smiling and still haven't managed to catch the big open mouthed grin yet but here are a few with his smile showing at least a little!

The swing is hand-me-down from Glen.

and a short video with a little smile in it...

Short video because I have been having trouble uploading videos lately. Sorry about the background noise, not sure what Luke was watching at the time. (-:

Family day and Graduation

2011-05-21T22:38:00.009-05:00

I think I have some pictures of Luke wearing the outfit Aaron has on in this picture so I really wanted to take a bunch of him in it too but Luke wanted to join in the fun and pretty soon Aaron decided it wasn't fun anymore. We did get a cute one of them together though!

Friday we decided to have a family day out so we started the afternoon by going to the zoo together. I take the boys to the zoo frequently, but Greg doesn't get to come very often so this was a treat.

Looking for the chimps, unfortunately they were all sleeping far away and we couldn't hardly see them. Luke still tried to get a picture though!

We got a really good look at the hippos whenever they came up for air. The water was too murky to see them under the water.

Luke wanted to pose with all of the scultures we passed so Greg and I took turns posing with him. I think Luke is growling here.

The tigers were the hit of the day. We spent a lot of time there because Aaron decided it was time to eat and the rest of us agreed.

While we were there it came time for the tiger training which was really cool to watch!

After the zoo it was time to eat supper so we thought we would grab some burgers. Then we remembered that we had a gift certificate for Outback so we decided to get some Really GOOD burgers! After eating we realized that we were just so close to the cheap theater so we stoped by to see what was playing and since Rango was showing we decided to go! It was both Luke and Aaron's first time in a movie theater so we had to document it!

Both boys did great in the theater. Aaron ate at teh beginning and then slept the rest of the time as long as I held my hand over his ears to keep it from being too loud for him. Luke loved seeing the little lights on the floor and the cool seats with holes for your drink. Infact he thought the way the chairs moved was so cool that half way through the movie I heard him crying a little and looked over to see that he had gotten his head stuck. He had leaned over the seat with his feet on the ground and then the seat folded up making his head fall through the crack and his bottom up in the air. It was pretty funny!

There is a little arcade at the theater so we let Luke ride the horse for 25 cents. Then ofcourse he wanted us to take it home!

We ended the night with frosties from Wendy's that we ate on the way home! It was a really great day...

Today Time Graduated from High School along with several kids from our youth group. In fact there were sooo many I missed getting pics of a few.

Tim was Validictorian.

My cousin Erin!

Tim!!!

Abby!

Mason!

Bethany!

Also Joanna, Kaven, Macie, Andrew and Olivia!

Aaron slept through the whole thing but was pretty hungry by the time we got to take pics with Tim so we went over the one of the playgrounds and Aaron ate while Luke and Greg played.

It was a beautiful evening. I can hardly believe that Tim is old enough to be leaving home, but by the end of the summer Mom and Dad will be adjusting to an empty house. He is planning on doing a year of service, probably in Bolivia, with Radical Journey through Mennonite Mission Network. I remember so well when I left home for Paraguay after my high school graduation. One of the hardest things about leaving for me was knowing how much of Tim's growing up I would be missing from then on. For Tim he will be missing Luke and Aaron growing up and the birth of Ben and Andrea's first child. Change is always bitter sweet, but I know he will have an amazing year and I wouldn't want him to miss that opportunity.

May

2011-05-18T23:54:00.006-05:00

I can't believe that this is the first I have posted this month, but looking back at the pictures I have taken I guess it's true. Most of these don't really have a story behind them, I just was enjoying my two cute boys.

Luke has been really developing his imagination lately. He has started putting on magic shows for Greg and I with his only prop being his cape. (This was started after watching an episode of Kipper, a show about a dog, who puts on a magic show for his friends.) Since he doesn't have a hat or cards or anything he just holds his hands in a certain way and says, "pick a card" or "nothing in my hat". It's pretty funny.

This little guy has been chuncking up! He is also a lot more allert and interactive, smiling and talking to us when he is awake! Right now he is sitting on my lap perfectly happy watching me type. (-: I know I am his mother, but I can never get enough of looking at him and his beautiful little face or his sweet chinky thighs, and every time you look at him you just have to kiss him!

My brother Tim and my cousin Erin are graduating from High School this year and had a graduation party together. Part of the process was going through all their old pics and putting some on display for people to see, and one of Tim as a newborn looks almost exactly like Aaron. In fact just the other day Luke was over there looking at the picture boards they put together asking Gammy, "Who's that?", at each picture except that one when he said, "Oh, that baby Aaron!"

Luke loves playing with Tim! Watching them together reminds me of when I was little and my uncle Randy would let us climb all over him or would play Grey Wolf with us in the barn. We are really going to miss him next year when he goes on his year of service.

Luke, Tim and Abby watching a movie together.

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On Mother's Day we had strawberry shortcake at the park with the Regier family, so here are a few pics from that day. My favorite Mother's Day gift came from Luke who potty trained himself in about three days. Thursday before Mother's Day I decided I was tired of changing his diapers and I told him that he was a big boy adn didn't need diapers any more and that it was time for him to start using the potty chair and big boy pants. I got them out, put them on him and that was it. He had one accident on Thursday and Friday and then none on Saturday or really any since then. I was most worried about him going number 2 in the potty chair because I never had any success with him doing that last summer when we tried potty training, but he did spectactular. By Saturday he was taking himself to the bathroom without even telling me. All of the sudden I just heard the toilet flush and when I asked he told me he had gone potty. I never have to remind him, it doesn't matter what he is doing or how engrossed he is in an activity, he always stops when he needs to and runs to the bathroom! I am SOOOO happy that this went so easily! I am so glad I only have to change one boy's pants now!

Aaron will have his 2 month appointment on Friday so I will have his growth stats to post then, and I head back to work next week so you can all keep me in your prayers then as I know the transition won't be easy for me. I have really loved spending all this time with my boys and watching them both grow and change and come to love eachother. I am so proud of Luke for how well he has handled all these changes and how much he has matured, and I love watching Aaron change right before my eyes.

A few pics!

2011-04-30T21:05:00.003-05:00

Notice Aaron wearing his White Sox onesie! I'm wondering how much longer it will fit him...

These boys have so much fun together already. Luke always tells me that Aaron just wants him whenever he is crying or fussy and it is amazing to watch Aaron respond to Luke. Before I took this picture I was getting supper started in the other room and had laid Aaron down on his own for a bit, Luke was with me. Then Aaron started fussing and Luke went to make him happy and lay down with him and held his hand and very gently patted his tummy and Aaron quieted down imediately and was happy with Luke there for at least 15-20 minutes! Too cool! Of course right after I took this picture Luke suddenly said "Ow! Don't do that!" and I realized that Aaron had got ahold of Luke's hair! First fight already I guess, but Luke did great, didn't do anything, just said "Ow!"

Cute pics and Easter with the Bartels

2011-04-29T18:47:00.006-05:00

Easter Sunday we went to Bartels to celebrate. Before church though I just had to take a quick pic of my boys!

After church it was quite a bit warmer so we changed clothes and headed over to my grandparent's house. Kate was the first to nab the baby!

After a really great lunch the kids and an Easter egg hunt. Each one got 4 eggs and Annette was supervising, I think...

Everything was so good and we were so stuffed that the adults were still sitting at the table when the kids got done!

Eventually we moved to the living room for more comfortable couch potatoe positions.

The paper my mom is holding is the Hutchinson paper and the front is an article about the Birth Center where we had Aaron. It mentions us and the fact that he was the 200th baby born there!

Kate posed Aaron with a Cruch bar, do you think they would pay us for the advirtising?

A few days ago Luke wanted to snuggle Aaron and be his "mommy", there is a little more to that story but we won't post it here. Anyway they were so cute and sweet, I couldn't resist. I think these are some of my favorite pics of the two of them so far!

This one is from yesterday, I think his cheeks are filling out nicely!

This week I have been very brave going out somewhere, even if it is just for a walk with the boys, almost everyday by myself. The biggest adventure was going to the Zoo yesterday. It went extremely well. I managed to pack everything esential into my purse, so not much to carry and nothing too heavy. Aaron road in his sling very happily the whole time except for feedings and I had a snack of cucumbers, carrots and a few Oreo's packed for Luke and I to eat while Aaron got his meals. We stuck to the African side and went slowely spending quite a bit of time at most exhibits and we had a really good time.

Mimi and Papaw visit!

2011-04-29T17:12:00.016-05:00

My in-laws, Dennis and Anita (or Mimi and Papaw if you ask Luke), came to visit us the week before Easter. First thing before the van was even unloaded Dennis and Greg had ripped up the floor boards on our front porch. While they were busy with that Anita and I decided to take the boys for a walk because she wanted to get Luke a birthday cake since she had missed being here for his birthday and had brought lots of presents for him. We finally tore the men away from their project and ate supper and then it was time for cake and presents! Luke chose an ice cream cake with a whale on it.

Luke got this curious George game with all of these funny masks!

Next day and all the rest of the week Greg and Dennis spent most of their free time working on projects.

Mimi helped me out with the boys, holding Aaron while I did things with Luke or playing with Luke while I took care of Aaron's needs. She also bought groceries and did all the cooking, so we ate a lot of really good food!

Mimi brought bubbles!

When ever Greg and Dennis got tired they took a break by watching baseball on the internet. Go White Sox!

Anita and I took the boys to the Zoo! Aaron's first trip, but I don't think he saw any of it.

These next few pics are for Dori!!! The red panda is her favorite and when they visited it was hiding in it's log. This time it was out and walking all over the place! I think this is the only time I have ever seen it out like this!

I think the Gorilla's were Luke's favorite of the day, and we got a bunch of cute pics.

Luke is pretending to drink from the wall like the gorilla behind him.

Anita and I swapped pics and these are a few of the cute ones she got of Aaron during their stay.

While Dennis and Anita where here there was a big car accident on the corner by our house. The driver of the red vehicle had a seziure and drove head on into the other lane. When my friend Kandace (who just happened to be driving the truck behind him and is a nurse) got to the car he was having another seziure and his two friends had taken off. The driver of the other car was complaining of chest pain, but apparently he was better off than the kid in the red car because once the ambulances came they took care of the kid first. When the police got there he had just started coming out of it and was trying to get away but was still really unsteady and combative. The police recognized him because he had previously overdosed, etc. and shortly after they got him under control he had another seziure and then the Ambulance came and took him away. It was a lot of excitement and pretty much the whole neighborhood was out on our corner.

Both Mimi and Papaw got some time holding Aaron, definitely Mimi more than Papaw, but unfortunately we didn't get too many pictures.

Their last day was Saturday before Easter and Mimi had brought tons of candy and easter eggs to hide for Luke!

Our neighbor Alex came over adn helped Luke find the last few Easter eggs and then Luke shared a piece of candy with him, big smiles all around.

Here are some of the projects that got done during their stay.

We always get a family pic when Dennis and Anita come to visit!

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We had a great time with them and as always the visit seemed too short.

Who is this???

2011-04-17T17:29:00.005-05:00

So to explain, I know this is my son, Aaron. It is just that this picture illustrates one of the biggest differences that we have seen between him and Luke as infants so far. Luke hated to be put down and left alone, but Aaron seems to need his space sometimes. Today I held him all through church, then we went home and either Mimi or I held him all afternoon, and finally he'd had enough. He was crying and I had already fed him 4 times, changed him, burped him, etc. Nothing made him happy. Finally I laid him down on the floor next to me and it was less than 20 seconds and he was quiet and happy all by himself. He also likes being held on his back and Luke would fuss anytime he wasn't held upright.

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So not only do they look different but their personalities are really different too.

short!

2011-04-15T01:29:00.003-05:00

We had another Dr's appointment today to check up on the ear infection Aaron has been fighting. He is doing much better and I can hardly wait to stop trying to remember to give meds four times a day! He also is up to 8 lbs even, which means he gaine 14 oz in the last 10 days! He is going to be a chunk yet! He definitely feels bigger and heavier to me, and he is already too long for some of the newborn outfits I have! He still curls up pretty small like a newborn, but it is always amazing to me how fast both my boys grow and change. .............................................................................................................................. Next up is a visit from Greg's parents! We can hardly wait to see them but have undertaken some deep cleaning that I am not sure we will have done when they get here or not. I guess when they get here they can always pitch in, which is part of what they like to do when they are here and I really appreciate it, but I at least want to have their room ready for them! ............................................................................................................................. My mom had the honor of babysitting for both boys for the first time today, also first time anyone has baby sat for Aaron period. It sounds like it went really well, with Luke taking his nap easily for her (he has been fighting me on it all week) and Aaron taking a bottle quite successfully for the first time. I have been building up my stash of pumped milk since he was born and decided to take it all to my Mom's since she will be the main one taking care of him and I pump more everyday. I was surprised by how much I had accumulated in my freezer, it filled a small cooler to overflowing, couldn't even close it! It is nice to know I have plenty to back us up once I go back to work at the end of May. Enough for now, time for bed!

Big Luke

2011-04-13T02:43:00.003-05:00

My cousin Luke and his new bride Kat were here to visit for a few days on the tail end of a seven month honeymoon trip that went from Portland, OR. down through most of South America ending in Paraguay, back up to New York, down to KS and eventually back up to Portland. We got to spend a good chunk of time with them both, especially considering how short of a time they were here and how many people love them here. My Luke was taken with them right away of course and was really sad when they left again. It felt like just enough time to begin to catch up and really wish for a lot more. This was most people's first chance to meet Kat and I think everyone strongly approves of Luke's choice!

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Though our Luke wasn't specifically named for my cousin it definitely helped that we had such a good association with the name already because of him! I hope that our Luke grows up to be the same kind of man that my cousin is, with strong faith that he works to put into action.

new pictures at 3 weeks old

2011-04-13T02:01:00.005-05:00

Aaron was wide awake for a long time this evening and I realized that I hadn't taken any new pics in a while so I grabed my camera. Unfortunately the battery was dead so I plugged it into the charger and found Luke's camera. It's batteries were also dead but it takes AA batteries so I plugged it's batteries into a charger as well and found some fresh ones! So here are my beautiful boys!

Luke loves to kiss Aaron and was only too happy to kiss him over and over again while I tried to catch it with the camera. He wouldn't pose though, just lots and lots of fast kisses and I managed to get these two that didn't look strange or blury.

We got new cloth diapers in yesterday and after washing them several times I got to try them out today. I gotta say it feels so good to not use disposables any more, and these dipes fit amazingly well on such a little guy. I also have some green, blue and brown ones in my stash!

Both my boys like thier baths but since Aaron takes his with me we won't be taking any pics of that!

After bath snuggles and reading time before bed. We have been reading the little house books, or as Luke calls them, "the Laura books", and we just finished, "On the Banks of Plum Creek" tonight. I am enjoying rereading them and since we started reading them in March this is the first time that he has really wanted to have me read a book with very few pictures. We read them before naps and bed time each day and he really looks forward to it. Sometimes I wonder how much he understands, like when it discribes Laura feeling scared about Pa possibly being lost in a blizzard but it doesn't ever come out and say that she is feeling scared or what exactly she is scared about. When I asked him though he told me exactly what was happening, that Laura was scared because Pa had not come home and she needed him. It's amazing to me how grown up he is getting, and each time I look at him he seems taller and more like a little boy.

Tonight though he just wanted to be my baby again, and I told him that he would always be my baby no matter how big he got. (-:

What happened???

2011-04-08T22:52:00.003-05:00

Just couldn't resist posting this... Thurs there was a gathering of friends and family and Luke got tired early so he and Greg went home while I stayed and visited another two hours. When I got home Greg was asleep on the couch, a movie was playing for Luke, and Luke was very much awake. After sitting in the living room and talking with Greg for a while I went to the kitchen to get Luke a snack and this is what I found. Apparently Luke had tried to help himself! spilled on the floor there is shreded cheese, milk, an opened stick of butter, and two broken eggs! I guess he was hungry for scrambled eggs with cheese on top!

quick update

2011-04-07T11:03:00.003-05:00

So when Aaron was 9 days old we took him to Dr Wiens because his eye had been matted up for about 5 days and wasn't getting better. He checked him over and found out that he had an ear infection in his R ear that had spread to his eye, ordered antibiotics for both ear and eye and sent us home. At Aaron's 2 week check up the R ear was getting a little better but not tons and the L ear was now looking infected as well. Dr Wiens changed the antibiotics so now we are trying those out. I was worried about developing thrush with all these antibiotics so soon after birth but so far we have avoided it. I got some probiotic drops for Aaron and have been eating yogurt everyday myself so hopefully that will keep us healthy other wise. At Aaron's 2 week check up he weighed in at a heafty 7lbs 1.8oz! His cheeks have definitely plumped out and I notice a difference in his legs and abdomen too, though they are still pretty skinny, definitely not chuncky looking yet but I am sure we will get there. Luke also had a check up that day (delayed 3 yr visit) and he weighed 34 lbs and was 39 inches tall. That puts him at 40% for wt and 80% for ht, long and skinny which we already knew. (-; He did really well and I was so proud of him. He had to get a shot and have blood drawn, two sticks! He doesn't remember the last time he got a shot, over a yr ago, so there wasn't any anxiety before hand but I wasn't sure how much or what to tell him ahead of time. I also didn't want him to be surprised or feel betrayed by me not giving him information. I ended up telling him just before they stuck him that it would hurt just a little really quick and then they would be done. It was sad, there were a few tears, but everyone was very quick and the tears dried just as quickly. After the blood draw he needed to have a bandaid of some type but almost all of his experiences with bandaids were after shots so he is terified of bandaids (even though he doesn't remember those shots). We ended up just using gause and tape and I held pressure on it foe a while and then rolled his sleves down over it. He did a great job of leaving it alone and later in the day actually told me that he liked his bandaid because it made his ouchy all better! Yesterday we had almost a constant stream of visitors at our house including Luke and Kat Bonham!!! Big Luke and little Luke got to play together and it was fun catching up and getting to know Kat a bit. After they left Luke and Aaron and I had our nap and as soon as Luke woke up he started begging to plag with big Luke! We will get to see them tonight again and hear more about their trip, but I wish there was more time for personal visits and play.

Family

2011-03-30T00:32:00.007-05:00

This is a pic from our 1 week post partum visit with the midwives. I realized the other day that we didn't have any good pictures of all of us and I forgot my camera but Lois had brought hers for no reason what so ever, I guess providence! Anyway, we quickly grabed a few pics, Luke was pretty squirley and ready for a nap and Aaron was hungry and crying, but we got one! Aaron was the 200th baby to be born at the birth center so they are going to do a little write up in their newsletter and on their face book page I think.

Aaron and I are both doing really well. His jaundice levels are with in normal limits and he has actually gained at least 3 oz above his birth weight already (on day three he was down to 6lbs 1.6 oz which isn't bad at all). Luke droped 9% of his birth weight before starting to gain and I think he barely made it to his birth weight by the time he was 2 weeks old and he also had jaundice bad enough that we needed photo therapy so I was nervous about both of those things and really kept an eye on Aaron's feedings. He is obviously eating plenty and I have way more than enough so I am able to get a head start on a stash of milk for when I go back to work at the end of May. I feel like I have healed much more quickly from this birth than I did from Luke's, several good reasons for that but I won't go into that here. It is good though, because I feel like I can really be there for Luke and if I felt like I did after his delivery I would be needing a lot more help and would be a lot less available to him.

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These next pics are from Sunday. Luke loves on Aaron all the time and frequently wants to snuggle with him or give him kisses.

This is Luke's new face, not sure why but he does it a lot right now and sometimes it is hard to get the smile for the pic because he keeps making this strange face. (-:

Sunday Tim got home from his spring break trip to New Orleans with the High School Jazz band. It was his first chance to see Aaron in person so Mom and Dad brought him over first thing before he even had a chance to go home. (-: I think the trip was really good, we got to see one of his performances later on at Mom and Dad's after he got back from Bible Study where he was in charge of leading music, yes, right after getting home from his long trip, that boy doesn't rest!

We went to Mom and Dad's for supper and brought a Luke friendly movie to watch together with Ben and Andrea too, and then Tim got back in time to enjoy desert together and a little play time with Luke.

The other day Aaron must have been really gassy because I saw quite a few little gas smiles cross his face. Caught a few on camera but most of them were pretty blurry, this one turned out the best.

This one is from tonight, such a little cutie, he was awake for over an hour and I just enjoyed him. Luke had a blast too talking to him and holding little toys for him to see. He got out one that played music and had flashing lights and Aaron actually turned his head towards him for that one!

Wednesday is Greg's first day back at school/work so Luke and Aaron and I will be on our own! I think it should go ok, but a few prayers would be welcome! (-:

pictures!

2011-03-26T22:25:00.014-05:00

I wanted to show a few pics from earlier that were on Luke's camera so here they are. The day Aaron was born it was really beautiful and warm outside, and I was so lucky to be able to go outside and walk and enjoy it!

This was on our way to the bakery, I'm talking on the phone with Becca!

The next three are from the birth center, sitting around and eating cinnamon rolls after our walk...

(Lois, one of the midwives is behind me...)

First few days home.... Aaron sleeping most of the time and Greg and I taking turns catching naps.

This is from Thursday right after Andrea dropped Luke off at our house. He was pretty sad when she left and needed some snuggle time with Mommy and Aaron.

He got a happy face pretty quickly telling me about all the fun things the two of them had done.

Friday both of my Grandparent's came to visit, bearing gifts!

The Bartel grandparents brought over a receiving blanket for Aaron and a door hoop and Nerf ball and some art stuff for Luke.

The Regier grandparents came while Luke was sleeping and we didn't get any pics but they brought us supper and a blanket for Aaron and stickers for Luke.

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My Mom and Dad have both been a huge help to us and spent a lot of time helping by running errands and hanging out, especially with Luke. He is still adjusting and has his moments when it is impossible for him to listen, but over all I think he does really well considering all the big changes in his life. So far Aaron is still a positive thing which I am grateful for. Luke still is more hyper than usual, and partings of any kind are very hard for him, but today we spent the whole day just us and I think it helped him settle in a but more. When he went to bed he gave Aaron and I hugs and kisses and then he smiled down at Aaron in my arms and said, "I really like this baby Aaron!"

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These are from Fri. night when my parents were over. Toward the end he was especially hyper and he was getting me with his flash while trying to hide from mine... It resulted in some really great smiles!

This is from this morning....

Three of us snuggled up again! Me still in pj's.

Kisses!

A new family member!

2011-03-24T01:43:00.004-05:00

Aaron Joseph Myers arrived on March 22 at 1925. He weighed in at 6lbs, 5 oz and is 20 inches long! He has dark eyes, undetermined color, and fair hair compared to what I am used to. Not sure what color that will end up being yet either but there is quite a lot of it right now!

How big is he?

Daddy finally gets a turn.

Luke and Mommy and Aaron.

Going home clothes...

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Monday I worked a 12 hour shift at the hospital and came home wide awake, so after winding down a bit on the computer I went to bed around 4am Tues. morning. I woke up to a contraction for the first time around 5:30 am but was able to sleep between contractions until about 9 or 9:30 when I got up to pee a second time. After getting up I felt like I was leaking fluid, but I wasn't completely sure. I started getting ready to go to the birth center because even though the contractions were very spaced out and erratic they were definitely a bit on the painful side where as all my braxton hicks were purely a tightening sensation with no pain at all. As I got ready I kept feeling more fluid leak and changed pads twice so I started calling people. First Greg at work, then my mom who was going to care for Luke, then the certified nurse midwives who were going to deliver me, then my work to tell them I couldn't be on call because I was having a baby! Then I got Luke up and Greg got home and the three of us finished getting dressed and ready to go. My mom came and we loaded into her van because the car seat wasn't fully installed in our car yet and my Dad was going to come in to town after doing chores to take the car to get that done and then meet us at the birth center.

We got to the birth center around 11am. Angel checked my vitals and the baby's heart rate and then said we could go walk if we wanted to. We hadn't eaten breakfast yet so Greg, Luke, my mom and I all walked about half a mile to a bakery to get cinnamon rolls to take back to the birth center. I was contracting frequently but they weren't horrible, just uncomfortable enough that it was better to stop walking when they came on. When we got back to the birth center we all went to the kitchen to eat our rolls and I sat on an exercise ball, but my contractions all but went away while we ate.

After we were done I talked to Lois, the other midwife, about using a breast pump to try to get the contractions going and she got it out for me. Mom played with Luke and my dad got there too and Greg and I sat and watched a movie while we used the pump. The contractions definitely picked up, but we only did it for 45 minutes and I needed a break. We got some tea to drink and I just felt so tired from not sleeping much the night before so Greg and I decided to take a nap. As soon as we lay down my contractions went from about 3-4 minutes to 15-20 minutes apart which was lovely and allowed us both a little snooze in between over the next hour. As soon as I got up they resumed their former pattern and were stronger than before.

By that time it was after four and Luke was getting tired and in need of a nap so after talking about it with him for a while we sent him off to my parent's house until after the baby came. He had wanted to stay but I didn't think it would be a good idea for either of us at that point because without the fluid cushion the contractions were more painful than they had been when I had Luke and I didn't want him to be scared or me to be inhibited from doing what I needed to do because I was worried about him. It was definitely the right decision.

After they left Greg and I tried watching some more of the movie while pumping to continue to ramp up the contractions, but I don't think they needed it. I was in full labor and nothing was slowing them down now. After a while Lois suggested that we walk the stairs for a while, which sounded like a strange thing to do to me, use up energy etc while in labor already, but it actually felt pretty good. It was cooler in the basement and the contractions were strong enough that I was really having a hard time with some of them and getting hot and shaky between them. Also the stairs were softly carpeted and the perfect spacing so that whenever I had a contraction I could get on hands and knees on the steps and rock and it helped with the pain a lot.

They were getting really intense and I was starting to get worried because they hadn't felt like that with Luke until close to the end but I didn't feel like we were that close to the end yet. I went up to use the bathroom and Lois decided to check me and I was 5 centimeters. With Luke I didn't even get to the hospital until I was 5 cm and then we played board games and enjoyed ourselves for a couple of hours after getting there. Right now I was barely holding on during contractions they were so intense already. But I felt like hopefully I would move a lot faster from that point on since this was a second baby.

Lois suggested that I get in the labor tub and try the jets, which I think helped me get through transition and the last 5 centimeters really quickly without loosing it. All of the sudden though I couldn't be on my back any more, I had to get on my hands and knees, and the next contraction I felt like I had to push a little. It took Greg and Lois a couple of contractions to get me out, dried off and over to the bed. Lois called Angel to come back and then got me the exercise ball toe lean on for support while I was in hands and knees position and pushing. The contractions were extremely painful at that point and after a few of them and feeling like I wasn't making that amazing progress that second time moms are supposed to make I said this isn't working!!! Angel was already there and she asked if I wanted to squat or lay on my side and I said I don't know, I just can't do it like this any more. She told me to get on my side and that did the trick. in about three more contractions I had his head down and out and one more got the rest of him out.

It was amazing. When his head came out I took a breather between contractions and said over and over, "Oh sweet boy, thank you for coming out!!!" I knew the body wouldn't be nearly as painful as the head and I was so grateful that I was at the end at last. While I was pushing on my knees I just felt like it was too much pain and I was never going to get this baby out, and I was soooo happy to have that behind me! With Luke it was so different, I pushed an hour and 42 minutes and I didn't feel like it was really unbearable pain at all, though the head coming out was just as intense, but by then I knew I was at the end. With Aaron it was all more intense and I didn't know if this was going to go fast like I hoped or take a long time for some reason.

When he was out he came directly to my chest and they helped stimulate him and got cord blood to test since I am RH negative. He cried a little and we all just looked at him. After a while I let Angel weigh and measure him and give him his meds, and then he came back to me to nurse which he did like a champ! We started calling people and my parents and Luke headed back to celebrate with us. When my parents got there he had just finished nursing so we told them it would be Greg first while I got cleaned up and then Luke could hold him with us and then they would get their chance! Greg had gotten the two of us burgers and fries so we took turns eating and holding Aaron. Angel made a cake to celebrate and Ben and Andrea showed up in time for that. Greg and I gave him his first bath and after Angel was content with our vitals and my bleeding, which was very light, she let us head home. We left the birth center at 11pm, only 3.5 hours after Aaron was born. He was the 200th birth at that center (both Lois and Angel were practicing before they started it).

So far we are all doing really well. Aaron continues to nurse like a pro which is wonderful, and he has been sleeping well too, though we are only just past that first 24 hours when they are super sleepy anyways, so we will see what his personality turns out to be. So far we have only rarely seen his dark eyes open, and only heard whimpers most of the time here and there. He has only started to cry hard during the past two diaper changes, one of which made Luke pretty worried and he wanted me to stop holding on to Aaron.

So far Luke has been adjusting well. You can tell it is stressful for him, but exciting too. He seems to really like Aaron so far, but I think there are other things that will be hard for him, like sharing our time. He always wants to help, to hold him, to kiss or give him hugs, etc. and he is really gentle. He was already used to doing a few things that help a lot, like playing with a super soft ball and getting it for me whenever it goes out of my reach, so I can sit on the couch and nurse and play with him all at the same time really easily with no worries because even if it were to hit Aaron it is so light and soft it could only startle him at the most.

The first day home has not been uneventful. Greg cut himself in the late afternoon and we had to go to the emergency room to get his leg stitched up, which was pretty scary for Luke. When he saw them wheeling Daddy into the hospital he started crying pretty good and I had to reassure him that they were just going to take care of Daddy's ouchy and make it all better for him. Also they wouldn't let Luke and Aaron and I go back to the room with Greg, saying that there were just too many germs for a newborn back there. I didn't understand that at all, because Greg was in a private room with a door on it, which they had to sterilize from the previous patient, and they wanted Luke and Aaron and I to wait in a completely full waiting room with all these sick people and no curtains even to protect us? It didn't make any sense to me at all. Luke was hungry so I got him some trail mix from the vending machine and we sat in the remotest corner we could find but as soon as he was finished eating I called down to the maternal/child unit where I work and they invited us to come wait down there so they could see the baby and we would be away from the germs.

Luke, Aaron and I stayed down there for quite a while and Aaron nursed and got a diaper change and still they said it was going to be a long time yet because the ER was so full. I finally called my mom who was planning on coming to the house at some point anyway, so she came and got Luke and they went to the store to get a few groceries. Greg actually got done about 20 minutes after they left so we got home about the same time and mom heated up the beans Greg had made over the weekend and we all ate supper and spent the evening together.

Hopefully tomorrow won't be quite so eventful. Today the midwives checked on us by phone, but we took our own vitals and took care of ourselves, which was nice to get back to some sort of normal (aside from the ER visit) with Luke and be more comfortable in our own space etc. Tomorrow Luke is going to spend a few hours playing at Ben and Andrea's in the afternoon since she is on spring break, and in the evening we will drive back to the birth center to get some lab drawn on Aaron and possibly give me a shot if he is RH positive blood type. Mom said that one of my grandma's is going to bring us supper so that will be easy too.

I am feeling great, just a little sore belly and back from labor, but I only had a very tiny tear and didn't even need stitches at all so I feel way better than I did after Luke's delivery. Everyone has been commenting on how quick my recovery seems to be this time, especially the girls at work who are used to patients not leaving until at least 24 hours post delivery at the earliest. Everything was also really good timing. Luke didn't have to spend the night away from home. Greg is on spring break so he has this week off completely and part of next week too. I happened to get my new diaper bag in the mail this morning and was so excited that I went ahead and packed it just to see how much it could hold, and then it was completely ready when Greg cut himself and we had to rush out the door. Now if we could just get the drier fixed and a few things ready for when Greg goes back to work and when his parents come down.

Well, this is long and I am tired and ready for bed! We are going to try to actually wear decent clothes tomorrow, not just sweats, and take some pictures with all of us, maybe outside if it is warm enough. I will try to post a few pics tomorrow. Thanks for all the well wishes and goodnight!

Becca home for Christmas in January (20-26)

2011-02-10T00:17:00.016-06:00

My sister came home for a very short week in January to see family and celebrate a late Christmas! The first evening together we let Luke run wild with the camera and while most of his pics did end up deleted (there were like 70 of them, mostly things like the ceiling, floor, dog's butts, etc.) I think all the pics from that night were taken by him.

Becca got a kick out of how he takes pictures, basically shoots from the hip without really looking in either the view finder or the screen on the back to see what he is getting. She took a pic with her phone of him taking a pic of her.

This one was supposed to be of (left to right) me, Tim, and Becca. He tried three different times and this was about as good as it got.

There is a video that goes along with these pics but I am going to have to post it later...

We got some bubble bath and while I was disappointed at the amount of bubble bath needed to make just a few bubbles Luke loved every second those bubbles lasted.

Saturday we had Christmas with my Bartel family including the traditional Christmas feast of Vereniki and so much more! It was a really fun day. Greg and I took a few of the initial pics just to ensure we got a few good ones and later on we let Luke run wild with the camera again. We still ended up deleting quite a few, but he did manage to get some really great ones in the mix.

I think this is where Luke's pics start...

(above pic is obviously by Ben, one of his favorite techniques I think! :-)

Sunday we had our Christmas at Mom and Dad's, and Luke again had the camera the majority of the time. I think this is getting to be a nice lazy habit.

lots of "up the nose" shots!

My mom is dishing out Wassel, my favorite Christmas drink! We also had our traditional chips and cheese dip meal!

This is Luke at home playing with his dolls and being the baby. We talk about baby things a lot, and I got a new sling over Christmas in Indiana that I have shown him a few times too

Another afternoon we spent with Becca and Mom...

We painted pictures together, lots of fun!

Mom made noodles and we had amazing turkey noodle soup for supper. Below is a pic of Luke's bowl...

Yum!!!!

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Becca's visits always end too soon for me! I think for Luke too. He always woke up first thing in the morning asking to go see Becca at Gammy and Papa's house. It was hard for him when she left and I tried to explain that Becca was back in Vermont and that no we couldn't go see her there because it was too far away. (Time and Space... He also thinks we can walk to Gammy's house and go see Mimi and Papa in Indiana in 30 minutes if we would just get in the car and drive there!)

A new baby in our Sunday school class, and belly shots!

2011-01-16T00:34:00.002-06:00

So, just for easy reference this top pic is from November 13....

This next one is from January 13, 2 months later! (Luke took it!)

Some friends of ours, Joey and Amanda just had their first baby!!! It's a little boy named Sam and he is a very handsome little chunk! He is a big little guy weighing in at 10 lbs and 4 oz. and is 22 1/4 inches long! Poor mommy! The whole family is doing really well and we got to go visit them and take them a little food to help out on Thursday. Luke let me snap one of him with baby Sam and then he grabbed the camera so the rest of the pics are his!

Proud daddy!

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Luke's pic of Amanda was not very good or very flattering so I am going to do her the favor of not posting it, especially because she looks great in real life and I don't want anyone to worry because of Luke's terrible photo taking skills! The funny part of the visit was that the fact that we have a dog named Sam and the baby's name is Sam really threw Luke off! He couldn't figure out if we were going to see a baby or a baby dog! It was too funny, but once we got there I think it finally made sense to him.

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As for me and the baby, we are doing great! I feel really good and have truly found my appetite over the holidays. I had a prenatal appointment last Tuesday and had gained 5 lbs in 5 weeks, finally in the normal range for a pregnant woman at this stage! I think my midwife was a little relived as well. (-: It was a good visit. The baby is measuring on target and is already head down! My mom came with and got to meet both my midwives and see the birth center as well as hear his little heartbeat so that was good. I also had blood work drawn and did the 1 hour glucose test and passed, maybe a little too well, with my blood sugar being only 80 one hour AFTER drinking 50 grams of sugar! I had a PB&J sandwich along to eat which was a good thing! I have had a couple of episodes of near fainting and we are guessing it is due to not eating frequently enough (one of them was at work when I didn't get to eat supper until 10:30 pm because we were so busy). I am keeping some peanut butter crackers in my purse now in case I start getting faint again so I always have something with me. I also get to start the 2 week visits now so things are feeling like we are in the home stretch now! We even talked about after delivery care for me and the baby and when most pediatricians like to see the baby for the first time. I was impressed that the midwives are able to do pretty much everything that we would have done in the hospital, including the standard lab tests, hearing screen and circumcision if we decide we want it! Anyway, this little boy is a real mover and it is so much fun to watch and feel him all the time. I can't believe we are only about 10 weeks away from getting to meet him face to face!

Snow at last!!!

2011-01-12T18:02:00.001-06:00

We finally got the first snow of the winter this week and it has been REALLY COLD! It snowed Sunday night and I worked Monday and Tuesday so Wednesday was the first day I had a chance to go out and play in it at all. It hasn't melted at all, which was unfortunate for sledding since it doesn't have that nice ice crust to make it easier going, and that gives you a clue as to just how cold it has been the last few days. Last year Luke was pretty little so we didn't end up taking him sledding at all, but this year I thought he would enjoy it, and it didn't take any twisting at all to get my dad interested! Anyway, around 3pm we went and picked up my dad and the sleds and headed out to our favorite hill. Greg and my Dad took turns pulling Luke on a sled to get to the starting spot.

(Greg and Luke above, my dad in his scary mask pulling Luke below.)

Greg and Luke went down together for the first ride...

I think Luke liked it until the snow started flying up in his face, by the time they reached the bottom I could hear him crying. )-: When he got back to the top and got his face and his boots cleaned out though he was ready to go again. He wanted to go with me, but with my pregnant belly I figured it was probably safest for both of us if I went alone and he rode just with Greg and my dad, so it was Papa's turn to give the ride.

(We were joined by a neighbor dog)

Again by the time he reached the bottom he was crying, but Papa calmed him down easily and he was ready to go again pretty soon.

Yes, I really was there! I went down the hill only twice because I wanted to take pics of everyone else and because I am at the stage where I get winded pretty easily already!

Luke didn't have to worry about getting winded on the way back up!

Luke's third and final trip down the hill with his daddy!

It might be hard to see, but by that time he kept his hands over his face the whole way down to keep the snow from hitting it. He was still crying at the end of the ride, but when we asked him if he liked sledding he still said yes, just not getting snow in his face!

I think Greg and Dad probably got at least three or four rides each, but with Luke getting so cold and not enjoying the snow in his face we stopped after only a short time to go in for some hot tea and cookies with Gammy!

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On our way out the door again to go home Luke wanted to play in the snow again so I grabbed a few of him jumping in it. We were hard pressed to get him into the car he was having so much fun.

Christmas in Indiana

2010-12-29T02:19:00.010-06:00

This year for Christmas we went up to Indiana to visit friends and family. It was different from most years in that we actually got to spend three days in Indianapolis with friends instead of only a half day as we passed through. We stayed with Dori and Tom and spent a lot of time with Kevin, Jen and Nolan as well as Matt and Erin, though somehow I think Matt and Erin totally escaped being photographed. Luke enjoyed playing with everyone, and it was interesting watching his bossy side come out with Nolan as you will see in this clip. (-:

We spent quite a bit of time explaining that Nolan could play with things to and that his mommy was the only person who should be taking things away from Nolan, Luke didn't need to help! (-:

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Luke was very happy to take pics with our camera and most of them got deleted right off the bat, but here are a few of his better ones....

Jen...

Nolan finding the remote....

Kevin...

Nolan's diaper bag.....

Luke's Thomas the train....

I took the one above, the boys had to play madden football!

Luke took this one of Tom and Dori...

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Luke also snagged Erin's camera and took over 300 pictures with it before Erin got it back! I think we will be looking at finding him one he can play with in the near future!

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We really had a good time in Indy with our friends, shopping, eating really good food, playing poker, etc. It went by really fast, and Monday morning we said good-bye and headed up to Goshen to Mimi and Papa's house!

I have not been as good about taking pics as I have been in the past, but Luke really enjoyed "helping" Papa get some of the Christmas present's ready for the other kids....

The cousins didn't get to Goshen until the 24th, so we had a lot of good time with the grandparents before that and then it was all Christmas celebrations until we left. Luke enjoyed playing with his cousins, but there were definitely some adjustments on all sides getting used to each other again. Luke is so tall that I think his older cousins expected a little more of him than he can understand at only 2.5 yrs old and he would get frustrated and then someone would come and say, "Um, Laura, Luke just __________". Most of the time it wasn't too serious, but there was once when he dumped out soil from a potted plant all over the floor at Greg's Aunt Glenda's! At least it wasn't fabric paint!

(I love Luke's face in this one!!!)

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All the kids with their stockings on Christmas morning!

Mimi wraps EVERYTHING, no matter how small, so when everything was done there were a ton of tiny scraps of paper everywhere!

The ladies sitting together with no kids, almost. Once we realized that the three of us were sitting and enjoying conversation with no kids we asked Mimi to take a picture and that drew Easton's attention so he got his head in the picture. Almost as soon as we were done taking that picture though it was time to open gifts so everyone else joined us as well.

Papa with the Boys!

Mimi with the Girls!

This year each kid got one big present from Mimi and Papa and here is Luke opening his, a system that lets you turn you tv into a kid friendly computer with about 10 different educational games for him to play. I think it may be a little advanced for him, but I am thinking it might be a good thing for us to utilize sometimes after the baby comes and Luke needs something special to do while the baby nurses.

Each person other than Mimi and Papa had their name drawn by someone else. We got Cassia this Mellissa and Doug cupcake set that has markers she can use to decorate the cupcakes as many times as she wants, pretty cool I thought!

We also had Isaac and he wanted the game Blokus which Greg was really excited to give him! Another gamer in the making!

Anna's big gift this year was an American Girl doll which brought back lots of good memories for me of me and all my girl cousins playing with our American Girl dolls in Grandma's basement each Christmas.

I also had Kathy's name and knitted her a pair of socks, her second pair from me.

Greg's name found the entire Die Hard series in one set on sale big time so Greg was really excited!

Cassia got her doll house and Easton got a Barn. Isaac's big gift was a Leapster (I think?) and some games to go with it.

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It is always amazing to me how much small kids love these singing bears that come out around the hollidays. Anita has several including caroling snowmen and this Valentine's bear. Luke has loved these things since he was just a baby and this year he added a really funny dance and made whoever was close by sing with the bear while he danced. Anyway, I thought his little dance was hillarious.

We had a really great time with friends and family and it was all over way too fast. Next time we see them there will be a new addition to our family!

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

quick update

2010-12-02T05:12:00.002-06:00

So both Greg and Luke have felt the baby move several times now. We never did vote on an in-utero name but the options are all cookie related, chocolate chip, snicker doodle, macaroon, etc. Annette, my aunt, is voting for Mac, short for macaroon, but I haven't asked Greg yet if he has any preference. If any of you have a preference or other idea (there are lots of possibilities) post a comment and let us know!

Otherwise everything is going really well. The baby is moving all the time now and has gotten big enough that he is giving me heartburn almost every evening. When I hold crying babies at work he often wakes up to give them a few kicks which cracks me up, and of course any time I sit still a little while he gets really active. I love that feeling! It always makes me smile.

Right now Luke's two favorite games involve getting extra hugs and kisses from me. One he loves is to tell me he is going to work, then we go through the good-bye routine with hugs and kisses and telling each other how much we love the other person. Then he steps outside the door of the room for two seconds and comes back in to do it all over again. The other game involves me telling him it is time to go to sleep, giving hugs and kisses, etc. Then he closes his eyes tight and waits for me to wake him up with tickles and we do it all over again as many times as I am willing. He is super affectionate, I am so blessed, and he frequently comes up to me out of the blue and says, "mommy, I love you!" very sweetly. The funny part is that if I say I love him too he usually will say, "No! I love Mommy!" until I say, "Yes, I know, Luke loves mommy and I love Luke!" and he finally understands that I am not saying that he doesn't love me but that I love him too. (-;

We have been looking at lots of pictures lately, his other favorite thing to do, mostly on my blog or other people's blogs. He is really looking forward to going to see his Indiana family and I have been helping him remember how to say everyones' names which he likes to practice too. He and I both had really bad colds a couple of weeks ago and even though he has been feeling better for a week and a half now he still tries to get me to give him suck candy by fake coughing and telling me, "Mommy, I sick! I need suck candy!" He is pretty smart but I think I am still just a little ahead of him most of the time! ;-)

That's it for now!

Another belly pic!

2010-11-29T17:35:00.000-06:00

11-28-10, 22 weeks 3 days

belly shot

2010-11-13T14:57:00.003-06:00

So here is what my belly looks like today... not sure if it shows the difference very well or not, but no one is silently wondering if I am pregnant anymore, they can all see for themselves now.

long over due

2010-11-12T00:10:00.009-06:00

Back at the end of August we took a short trip to Indiana to see family so we will start with a few pics from that trip. One of the most fun parts, and also the most photographed, was seeing the kids play so well together. They really had a blast together!

Playing soccer!

Searching for and eating the very last rasberries of the season...

Blowing a ton of bubbles, if Luke wasn't otherwise occupied that is what he always wanted to do!

We also went to a "farm" that had lots of wild animals that the kids could see and in some cases feed. Mimi and Papa paid for each of the kids to go on a camel and pony rides! Luke was ecstatic about the rides, but so tired he had a hard time waiting his turn and finding out that he only got one each!

We even got in one good family pic of all of us together!

Here is one token picture from Winfield. This year I went with Luke on my own. Greg had to work so he only made it down for Saturday during the day. At night I slept with my Mom in their pop-up camper, mostly just the three of us though Dad was there part of the time. During the day various friends and family helped me keep an eye on the busy little guy and at the end of the evening they helped me lug both sleeping boy and all our survival gear back to camp. It was hard, especially since I was still not feeling the best with the pregnancy, but it was also a really good year. Luke had a lot of fun playing with everyone and I enjoyed seeing a lot of people who are normally pretty far away.

Here is one belly picture taken over a month ago on October 6th, I guess I need to take another!

Here are a few of my sweet boy...

Luke and I played outside in the leaves about a week after Halloween, so here are a few pics of Luke!

He wouldn't jump in them with me but he did like to throw them in the air and say, "WHEEE!!!"

We carved pumpkins on Halloween with Amy, Derrick and Glen at their house in Derby, this is what they looked like one week later...

First Greg's (looks like he lost his teeth)....

And mine (in case you can't tell they are leaves, and they did look pretty good when I first did it).

Finally here are the pictures we got from our sono on Wednesday the 10th of November!!!

Face and hands!

The beginning of this pregnancy I was really sick, throwing up around 3x/day, even with medications. It was pretty miserable, I have to say, even though we were thrilled about expecting another baby after such a long wait.

The nausea finally passed around week 14 or 15 and I felt so much better that it seemed as though the whole world was better! Finally I had energy to be a parent again, I could walk into the kitchen without feeling sick, I could even cook again! Needless to say I wasn't the only one in my family grateful that I was feeling better again.

Because of all the nausea my entire family was positive that we were expecting a girl this time around. As you can see from the pics though, we are looking forward to a "baby broder" for Luke. I am really excited about having two boys in our house, I guess we will just have to try again for a girl later! (-;

Now my belly feels huge, even though it still doesn't look it. At my last weigh in about 3.5 weeks ago I still hadn't gotten back up to my pre-pregnancy weight but I had gained 1 whole pound from the month before so at least I have started moving in the right direction. Luke is super excited about this whole thing and says lots of cute things about the baby. I know it will be a big adjustment for him when the baby actually gets here, and I don't expect him to really like all of those changes, but for now it is fun to see him so excited and happy about everything. He loves to put his hand on my tummy to feel the baby, or lay his head on my tummy to listen to the baby. He likes to pretend to be the midwives we are seeing and use a flashlight like a Doppler at which point I am expected to make the sound of a baby's heart beat. He used to talk about having a baby in his tummy too, but I think now that my tummy is so much obviously bigger he has stopped for the most part. He often asks if the baby is going to come out and we always say not for a long time, it has to get bigger! He also loves looking at pictures of me when he was still inside my tummy and of himself when he was a brand new baby. I hope that looking at those pics and videos helps him have a little bit of a better picture of what this baby will be like when it first comes home, small and not able to play yet, but of course the videos don't show a lot of the things he will be faced with all of the sudden.

As I mentioned we are seeing a pair of nurse midwives who practice out of a free standing birth center in Yoder, KS, about a 40 minute drive if we stick to the speed limits. (-: I am really excited about the whole process and really am enjoying getting to know them. They have labor tubs and big comfy beds and they bake you a birthday cake when you deliver! They also have all the safety meds and equipment I would expect them to have and they have an excellent track record. They have a kitchen that you can cook food in after delivery and you don't stay there long, usually 6-24 hours after delivery depending on how you and baby are doing and what time of day you deliver. Then they do home visits for a little while and later another visit at the birth center.

Currently I am 20 weeks, at the halfway point. I can feel the little guy move now, occasionally even from the outside if I happen to have my hand there at just the right moment. Greg still hasn't gotten to feel him move yet, but I think Luke has. We haven't decided on a name yet, and probably won't tell anyone until after he is born anyways, but we are looking for an in-utero name and have gotten a few really good suggestions already. If you want to get one in I think we will decide officially on an in-utero name by Thanksgiving! (-; My favorite suggestion so far is Cookie, or something related to cookies, for a very strong wonderful woman I know.

Anyway, that's a quick update, long over due, from the Myers' house. Hope you all are well!

So... most of you already know...

2010-09-07T04:17:00.003-05:00

We are pregnant! We are expecting a baby around the end of March, which puts us almost at 11 weeks now. We are really thrilled that everything seems to be healthy so far. We got to see the baby on a sonogram around 8 weeks and Luke was so excited about the baby in mommy's tummy! I have been pretty nauseated already since week 5 so that has not been fun, and Luke started imitating mommy being sick too! I think it may be starting to get slightly better???? Either that or I am getting better at managing it. I also got to hear the heartbeat on doppler just a few days ago!!!

I can't stay up any later, Luke will be up bright and early I am sure, but soon I hope to post a few pics from our recent trip to visit family in Indiana!

Things Luke says...

2010-07-23T02:46:00.002-05:00

Peeny-butta-sammy! (peanut butter sandwich, his absolute favorite right now)

Fire-cacky (Fire Cracker)

Tackty (tractor)

Mommy, I hold you? (meaning "mommy, will you hold me?")

One day when I was leaving to go to work, "Mommy, I go work too?" And another day, "No, I go shoppin' mommy! I go shoppin' mommy!"

Yogi! (yogurt)

Peaky-boo!

Most things get a y/i on the end.

Yesterday we went grocery shoppping and a young teenage girl helped us take our things out to the car and when she left all of the sudden Luke was in tears. It took a while for me to understand what he wanted because of the tears, but he wanted to give her a hug and kiss good-bye!

He frequently asks to talk to different people on the phone, Daddy when he is at work, Gammy and Papa, Mimi and Papa, Amy and Glen, Ben and Andrea, etc. If I am talking on the phone he starts tugging on me and saying "I talk phone, Mommy! I talk phone?"

Hugs and kisses are very important to Luke, and usually he needs more than one set at any parting, whether I am leaving for work or he is getting up before me to eat breakfast with Daddy. Tonight he was going up to bed with Daddy and I asked him for a hug and kiss and then teased him by continuing to ask for just one more! He seemed very pleased about the whole thing, got a big grin on his face and was happy to give as many as I asked for.

Anytime there is music he grabs my hand and insists I dance with him.

The more tired he is the louder and wilder he gets, most people think he is being cute, but eventually he always wants to snuggle and calm down.

He loves the Francis books my mom has about a sassy little girl badger.

He loves to direct, to do things himself, to chose.

If I am not paying enough attention he comes over and cups my face in his hands and gets very close so I will be sure to listen!

Every time he goes potty in the right places he says, "Yay!" and raises his hands over his head and then gives a high five! Some of the time he tells me when he needs to go, but he never tells anyone else yet, and poop still doesn't go in the potty yet. If he is with me or my mom he usually is able to stay dry and is willing to go if we suggest it, I think Greg has given up all together at the moment.

He loves being outdoors, helping me with the flower garden, bike rides, swimming and playing in the park with other kids, usually from our sister hispanic church who meet twice a week at the park for Bible study.

Today he told me, "I sorry mommy!" without being prompted at all. (I don't even remember what he was sorry for, I do know that I was surprized because it wasn't something I was going to ask for an appology for, but he did have a reason and he was very sincere!)

He is sweet, funny, strong willed, emotional, creative and loving, and he makes me want to be a better person.

I suppose that is enough for one evening!

Harvest

2010-06-24T01:31:00.005-05:00

I think everyone already knows that harvest is one of my favorite times of year, so here are a few pics of me enjoying my favorite time of year with my Dad and Luke and a few others as well.

Grandpa and D.A. waiting to drive the next truck.

Luke was still napping during my first ride but after his nap I went to pick him up and bring him to the field for his first ride of the year. He was nervous at first but as soon as I started explaining the mechanics of it all he forgot about being scared and was completely engrossed in how the combine cut the wheat!

Luke is potty training himself and doing a really great job with it! I do remind him sometimes, but he pretty much knows when he needs to go and he does ask me a lot of the time on his own. Yes this is a naked baby pic, but I don't think you can actually see much, and he was just so cute walking down that dirt road in the sunset.

He also got the chance to play in the wheat!

Austin and Tim joined him and Austin helped him fill his shirt with wheat but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of it!

We had a great day in the field and Luke got another ride on the combine after dark. My mom made supper for everyone, partially in honor of two birthdays, mine and my sister-in-law, Andrea's birthday. It was delicious!

....................................................

I am so proud of how well Luke is doing with potty training, especially since he is really doing it all himself. Unfortunately I have to work the next 4 days in a row so we will see how well my mom and Greg are able to do with him. So far he mostly has just gone for me, but I'm sure in time he will do the same for anyone.