Two Hours

So I dropped Luke off at daycare today for a little while so I could go vote. The center opened at noon so I thought I would get there a few minutes early to get a good spot in line...wrong! There was nowhere to park. I circled the block three times and decided I was hungry and would go get some lunch and come back. I got back at one o'clock only to find the line longer!

I decided to wait so I would not have to worry about going on Tuesday. So, I waited for two hours to vote! I have to admit it was a pretty day and the people around me were very nice to talk to. I noticed everyone that came out of the polling place after voting had a huge smile on their face and I wondered why. There was something about waiting two hours, casting my ballot and leaving there with the satisfaction that I had taken advantage of one of the freedoms we have as Americans. I, too, left there with a huge smile on my face!

Mr. Jack

Tonight we decided to carve our pumpkin that has been sitting on the front porch for a couple of weeks now. I made Paul clean out the gunk inside. I can't stand it, yuck! Then I took over to do the carving. My dad always made the neatest, most elaborate Jack-O-Lanterns. But since I am not creative and we don't own a jigsaw I went with the old standard. Luke seemed to be pretty entertained by all the fun!

We have been out of synch lately with our blogging. We had our annual Bonfire and Hayride this past weekend. Well, somehow the camera ended up in a chair of spilled soda and does not work now. Hopefully we will be able to get the pictures off the camera. So, we have gone back to our old digital camera for now.

Luke has started doing several new things over the past week. He now is pulling up on anything and everything. He is also "cruising" around which he loves. He does not want to be held anymore he would rather "walk" everywhere. He has gotten his two upper teeth and has one more coming in on the bottom. Everything seems to be going so fast now! We are looking forward to his first Halloween in a couple of days.

Thursday Update

Well, Luke has been home sick since Monday when I got a call from daycare. Apparently there is a very "persistent" stomach bug going around. He has had diarrhea and vomiting neither of which have been pretty! I was home with him Tuesday and Wednesday. Paul stayed home today. I came home to find them both napping and "Christmas With the Kranks" on TV. It was pretty cute. We hope he is able to go back to daycare tomorrow. He seems to be feeling better and Paul and I are ready to be back to a normal schedule again!

Pumpkin Patch....

Do you recognize these faces?!?!

Luke picked his very own pumpkin!

"Walking" in the patch

Just a swingin'

Luke's first trip down a slide

I absolutely love the fall and have always looked forward to the day I could take my own child to a pumpkin patch. We took advantage of the beautiful fall afternoon and went to Honeysuckle Hill Farm in Springfield. It was wonderful! There are so many things to see and do. Luke had a great time but we know he will be able to enjoy it even more next year. There are all kinds of things for kids to do....swings, slides, a petting zoo, corn mazes, hayrides, pig races and face painting. You could easily spend a whole afternoon there. Hopefully this will be an annual trip for us!

Lunch Time!

Luke is still doing really well with eating. He eats three meals a day with bottles in between. We have cut back on the amount of milk he gets which he has seemed to adjust to fine. We barely have him in the high chair before he has his mouth wide open ready for whatever we have for him. He also has started flinging his foot over the highchair when he is eating; it is too funny! He still loves to play with his feet and chew on his toes!

Curious

Hmmm...if I can just make it a little farther

almost got it...

Yes! The drawer knob!!!

Since Luke has become more mobile nothing is safe anymore! He has almost pulled down some drapes, put countless pieces of carpet fuzz in his mouth and banged his head on numerous pieces of furniture. But none of this seems to phase him; he keeps right on going. Since he has begun his new adventures Paul and I have begun one of our own...attempting to baby proof the house. Luke's new favorite thing is to open and close drawers. We have put those nifty little locks on most of the drawers but we haven't made it to the guest bathroom yet. Well, guess where he likes to spend most of his time now?!?! That's right....the guest bathroom. I caught him in the act earlier this week and was able to capture a few of his guilty faces.

Nine Months!

Only 9 months and already driving!

We celebrated Luke's 9 month birthday by doing last minute preparations for our trip. We went to Dr. Patterson's for his 9-month check up last Thursday when we got back from the beach. It is hard to believe how fast time is going. He was 28 1/2" long (56th percentile) and 22 # 14 oz (69th percentile). I asked Dr. P to print out all of his heights and weights thus far.

Just to reminisce...the first time he visited the pediatrician's office Luke was three days old, weighed 6 # (8th percentile) and was 19" long (7th percentile). It is amazing how far he has come. Every time we visit Dr. P she always comments how he was just a "little bitty guy" when he was born and now look at him! It is a rule of thumb that a baby should triple his birth weight by 12 months. Well, Luke already has that covered!

Cousins...

Nana enjoying the grandkids

Lauren giving Luke a bottle

It was so nice to spend some time with the whole family on our Florida trip. Whenever we get together it is usually for only a couple of hours at a time. Lauren and Luke got to hang out some. I think Lauren is still a little shy around him but the vacation helped her warm up to him a bit. She helped feed him and enjoyed playing with him. Of course Luke loves it when he gets attention from someone new!

Photo Shoot

Uncle Andrew and Luke

All the girls...

We had a little "Christmas Card" photo shoot Sunday night at the beach. Andrew and Mandi came to take the pictures. Since most of you will receive a card from us I won't post the many, many attempts it took to get a decent picture of everyone.

Another First

We ran in to a problem while we were in Florida. We all wanted to watch the Titans game but it was not televised down there. So, we found a family friendly sports bar to watch it in. This was another first for Luke, his first trip to a sports bar. There were actually several babies in there. He had a great time. He took several cat naps on various people. We were all so excited to see the Titans pull out another victory!

Football Game

Look at me!

Luke's expression is priceless...

Now I like the doggy.

Last Saturday night we went to Andrew and Mandi's to watch the Auburn / Vanderbilt game. Unfortunately the outcome was not what I was hoping for. But, I can't help but be happy for Vanderbilt, even if it came at Auburn's expense. This was also Luke's first encounter with a dog. Since neither Paul nor I are big animal people Luke has never been around them. Andrew and Mandi's dog is an inside one but she is well behaved. She was very happy to see Luke but Luke was not so sure about her at first. It took a good hour for Luke to warm up to her and not cry whenever she came around. By the end of the night she would let Sara give him wet kisses. It was too cute! It still did not convince Paul and I that we need a dog.

Vacation Pictures

All smiles while eating out...

First day on the beach with Grandpa

I think between everyone we probably took over 400 pictures on our vacation! We will not bore you with all of them. But I will post several over the next few days. All in all we had a good trip. Luke slept well which was a big relief. He has, for some reason, reverted back to his newborn days in that he is more fussy than normal. We don't really know what is going on. I took him for his 9 month check up today and Dr. Patterson said that is pretty normal at this age. They want to be involved in everything and go everywhere and they get frustrated when they can't. Paul and I hope this phase does not last that long....

New Entertainment

Luke found a new place to have fun....the bathroom sink! He was not very happy last night so we were trying everything to console him. I took him in the bathroom to look in the mirror, which he loves. I stood him up in the sink and the next thing I knew he was sitting in the sink playing with the faucet. He thought it was great fun!

Vacation update

Well, we made it to Destin in record time. We left home around 2:40 am yesterday and were in Destin by 10:00! Luke did great. He slept from the time we left home until we stopped for breakfast around 6:30. He was in and out of sleep until we got to Destin. The weather is perfect! We have enjoyed the beach and the pool. Luke seems to love the beach and playing in the sand! Last night we celebrated Jon's birthday by going out for seafood. Paul wasn't feeling too good so we left early. He felt a lot better after a good night's sleep. Luke slept from 8p-6a, just like at home!

We are trying to enjoy the Auburn/ Vandy game at Uncle Andrew and Aunt Mandi's house, but AU looks horrible! I will try to post pictures when we get home! Happy Weekend to all!

Getting Ready for Vacation Week...

Our blogging will probably be slow this week. We are heading out for Destin the end of this week. We have a lot to do to get ready to go. This is the first time to travel with Luke farther than a couple hours.

I have a question for you all out there with kids. Kelly and I are having a hard time deciding when we want to leave. We feel each option has it's pro's and con's. Please give me your suggestion/comments of each of these:

-Leaving around 8 Thursday night right when we would normally put Luke down.
-Leaving around 2 or 3 Friday morning.
-Leave around 6 Friday morning, when Luke wakes up.

I hope each of you has a wonderful week.

Girls Day Out

I have been trying to see my friend Angela for a while now and something has always come up. She is on "light duty" during her pregnancy and can leave the house once a week. Luke and I joined her and some other girls to celebrate Audrey's birthday today. We ate at Wasabi, a new hibachi grill in Mt. Juliet. It was really good. Two of the other girls had babies so Luke had good company. He was really mellow.

Luke took a 2-hour nap this morning before we left and slept all the way there. We noticed last night that he had a bite on his leg. He has been prone to mosquito bites. At lunch I noticed it was considerably bigger and warm to the touch. It did not seem to be bothering him. But since he had been sleeping a lot and had a decreased appetite today I call the pediatrician's office thinking it might be a spider bite. They said to draw a circle around it to monitor if it gets any bigger. If he develops a temp or gets excessively fussy we are supposed to take him in. She feels like he has had a localized reaction to the bite. It has not spread since we got home this afternoon so hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

The Smallest Fan

Well I don't really have much room to talk when it comes to Saturday's football games. Luke was really good and let me watch a little of the Auburn vs. LSU game. He had his first experience with a shaker. It scared him at first but when he realized if he pulled really hard the strands came off he was set!

I was so excited that we were doing well in the first half. I put Luke to bed early and waited for Paul to get home. I was so frustrated when we lost it in the final minutes. At least it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I dressed Luke in some AU gear and introduced him to W-A-R-R-R E-A-G-L-E....Hey!!!

Paul's Saturday...

Gotta love the East Tennessee sunrise!

Baby Will

The highlight of Paul's day...
meeting Will!

It all looked good at the beginning...

Paul got up really early Saturday morning (4:15) to get ready to head East for the UT game. Luke and I were fast asleep in bed. Paul was planning to meet up with Jon at 5:30. Paul just knew Jon would be late. If you know Jon you know what he is talking about! Needless to say Paul was shocked when he pulled in at 5:25 and Jon was waiting on him! They were in Knoxville in no time. They got to meet Baby Will Kingery. I was sad I wasn't there. Unfortunately the game didn't go too well but Paul said he had a great time hanging out with all his friends.

Luke and I decided to go to Tullahoma to see my Nanny. Nonna went with us. Luke did so good. He was so happy and went right to Nanny. She loved it!

Playin' Around

Luke has this little outfit with a hoodie. We put it up last week and sang the theme from Rocky. He looks like he is getting ready to go work out. He is so playful especially in the mornings while Paul and I are getting ready for work. He usually plays in our floor after he eats until it is time to go. He really is a good baby.

Eating at the Big Person Table

Last Sunday night (that is how far behind with blogging I am) we had supper at Nonna's. Until then we hadn't really had anywhere for Luke to sit when we ate at someone's house. Usually one of us ended up holding him. We found this cool hook-on chair at Target and decided to try it out. It worked great. Luke loves eating with the "big people". He is doing great eating. I think he almost prefers solids over milk now. We are a little behind on finger foods but he likes Cheerios and puffs. We haven't found a fruit or vegetable he does not like!