Lots to be Thankful for

I wanted to record some of my many blessings in this blog. Thanks for the inspiration Mom! I am thankful for...
1) My first Thanksgiving as a family with Luke.


2) That I have a big, healthy baby that likes to eat. He doesn't look so happy here, but he actually had a good time trying to eat his rice cereal for the first time. More got on his face than down his throat, but he seemed curious about it, so we are going to keep trying a little every day.

4 month check-up stats from Nov. 23. He weighs 17 pounds, which is the 85 percentile. The doctor said he looks healthy, which is such a blessing because I am a teacher and so I work with kids every day. I have already had 2 students out with the swine flu. So, I take care to be extra careful so Luke won't get sick. I have my students clean the room so much more than in years past, and now I have them use clorox wipes to disinfect the door handles and sink. We have a very clean smelling classroom. :)

3) Having a job that I love (which has taught me soooo much about kids in the pre-teen years, that I hope it will make me a better Mom for Luke when he gets to be that age)

3) To continue the health theme: I am grateful that I have not become sick at all. It is such a blessing, and neither has Rafa.

4) Having a happy baby is so nice. Luke loves to talk baby talk to us and play with us. I love the stage he is at right now.


5) He likes to be on his tummy more now and roll over.

6) He is sleeping so much better! But he still has his hard nights, I can't wait until he can do 10-12 hours a night, what a dream that would be.



7) He can entertain himself so much better now. He likes to grab his feet and...


suck his fingers all the time. :) We have to have a bib on him all the time now to catch the drool.

8) He likes the baby carrier---finally! He used to hate it. Now I can get more done around the house.


9) He can play in his Jumperoo for about 15 minutes before getting bored! Yay!


10) Having a son that makes me laugh even when I am so tired that I can't think.

11) Having a warm, clean house to live in.

12) Knowing my extended family is safe and healthy.


13) Celebrating every holiday like it is the first time because we have Luke now. He was a skeleton for Halloween, and glowed in the dark. We will do a more extravagant costume next year, but he was so little this year we decided to go simple.

14) Oh, and the best blessing I have in my life right now is my husband! He is heaven sent. He sacrifices his sleep so I can have more. He helps me with cleaning everything. He still cooks me fabulous food. And he is the best daddy to Luke, he knows how to comfort him and put him to sleep just as well as I do. I seriously couldn't have survived these fist four months without him.

3 months old!

I can't believe that it was 3 months ago when we brought Luke home from the hospital.


He was so little back then!



Look at him now! He loves to sit up and talk to us. But we have to be careful because he can't hold his head good enough yet to sit in this chair for very long.


He will start to fall over if we keep him in the chair for too long.


Here he is with his soccer ball pacifier. He also has one of his favorite toys with him.


He may look like he was crying here, but he was actually really happy and making all sorts of sounds.


Here is another cute smile that we love to see.


A classic Luke serious face.

On Saturday I went with my friend Heather to a BYU Education Department homecoming luncheon reunion. It was a little crazy getting there with it being a game day. Just as both of us got there it started raining. Oh well, we still got some good food and each won a prize from the drawing.

New Faces and New Talents

I love this picture because Luke looks so funny with his eyes all wide.

Here is Luke starting to look older in the face. He is changing every day.

He loves to blow bubbles now.

And to stick out his tongue.

He likes to hug his toys and grasp them better.

He also loves to sit up now, but always flops over so I have to watch him. He is wearing an outfit from Grandma Kingsley here.

Here he is wearing the pj's that Mike and Caroline gave him. He is holding one of his favorite toys.
He also likes to hold his bottle now, but I still have to help him of course because he does not know what he is doing yet.

A Very Special Blessing

We had Luke's blessing on Sunday, September 27th. Luke was so good and slept through all of church. He started to stretch when we picked him up to go to the blessing circle, but did not completely wake and and thankfully did not cry or make a sound. When Rafa tried to hold him up to show the congregation, Luke kept stretching and had his head way back. Oh well. Sometimes it is still so hard to believe that we have a son, but he is such a blessing in our lives.

After church we had all of our friends and family over to visit. Here I am with Shannon and Tyson. It is so fun to see the two cousins grow up together.

Mari, my niece, loves to hold Luke. In this picture he decided to start stretching his arms. I love it when he holds his hands in little fists.

We were so happy to see our good friends, the Cooks, again. Mike Cook baptized Rafa and his family, so it was really special to have him be part of Luke's blessing.

Here is Lauren, one of the Cook kids. She was so excited to give us a gift for Luke; a soft blanket and cute little slippers that look like dogs. Luke loved both of the gifts.

We had to get a picture of the entire lovely family! Thanks so much for coming you guys!

Rafa has been saving water bottles and cans for the past several months with the goal to fill up the entire back of my Dad's truck. Looks like he reached that goal. My Dad loves to recycle back in California.

Luke is 8 weeks old and has leg rolls :) !

I had to get a close up of his legs because he now has the cutest leg rolls because he is getting so big. I can't believe how much he has changed in the past 3 weeks. I can actually work on this blog again after so because I took a day off work today to just be home with Luke.

Here he is stretching his legs all the way out. I think he is going to be a tall boy (I hope).

Before he never liked his bouncy chair, but just recently he can stay in it longer and actually likes it. I had to get a picture of him in it.

Here is our future rock star in his rocker outfit. He was hugging the teddy bear because he likes soft things. He also likes his soft cow blanket toy that I got at the Tillamok cheese factory last April.

Here is Luke in his cute overalls getting ready for church. He is laying on his changing table all happy. He loves his changing table and could stay there all day sometimes. Notice his hand all clenched int a fist. He is doing that a lot more now. It looks like he is boxing or about to punch the camera.

Another happy changing table moment. I love both of his hands here!

So happy!

This was Luke's second play date with his cousin Tyson. I love Tyson's new haircut. Before going to my house to eat yummy Kneaders for lunch, Shannon and I went to Baby's R Us together.

These little guys are going to have so much fun growing up together!

Rafa captured this picture and said it looks like Luke is saluting someone.

We never got a picture with our doctor at the hospital so we took one during my 6 week check-up. I love how Luke is look at him all in awe.

Happy 1 Month Luke!

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Luke posing for the camera. Luke turned 1 month old on Wednesday. He is growing quickly and loves to eat :)! Lately, he likes to lay on his play mat more and make new sounds as he looks around and discovers his world. Yesterday, he made a lot of new cooing sounds, it was really fun to listen to him.

I love it when it looks like Luke is smiling or laughing, even though I know he is not yet. I just love looking at his facial expressions.

He loves to have his arm up like this, or box with his little arms.

We gave Luke his first bath in his tub yesterday. He still is not that into baths yet. But he looks so cute with his little chubby tummy showing.

Drying off in his hoodie towel. So, funny story. Good thing we gave him a bath yesterday morning because later that afternoon he had a huge poop explosion and got all dirty. Oh well, that is life with a baby right?! :)

We love our little guy and can't wait to see how he changes next as he grows up.