February Recap - Sweet Lukie Turns One!

Luke has been an absolute joy, a sunshine baby. All of our babies have been fairly happy babies, and I thought Carter was a sunshine boy (believe it or not - minus the craziness of Carter lately, he is a very happy guy), but Luke has topped it all. If he cries, we know it's because he's tired, hungry, or in pain - otherwise he is smiling through it all: happily played in his carrier (for often the whole hour!) until just recently while I taught aerobics at the church, still exploring and happy despite the crazy nap (or should I say napless) schedule that comes with being the third. He is just so much fun. Matt has loved it because the other two have been such momma's boys, but Lukie loves his daddy!

We love you Luke and are so glad you are a part of our family! Here are some pictures from his big day (actually the celebration waited until my parents were in town to celebrate with, as his birthday was actually on the day we were traveling home from NM):

Here I am with the birthday cake. My dad always made our own cakes for holidays, and I love the creative part of carrying on that tradition - I love seeing what I can make! I was especially excited for Luke's birthday because he doesn't have any requests - I just made a cake I have wanted to for a long time. It's a dragon, complete with chocolate covered graham cracker cookie scales, and fruit roll up wings. Isn't it fun?!

This is Luke's first introduction to large amounts of sugar - aka his birthday cake. He wasn't too sure about it at first.


Then he started warming up....

Finally, he was begging for more! What a cute cakey smile!


Luke is one and our third boy, so birthday presents were pretty minimal. I got him some leather slip on shoes (you know, the kind with no sole so they can feel the floor for walking, but can't take off and loose their socks everywhere!), and then we used the money from Aunt Aubrey to get his one and only toy. We did such a great job getting a cool toy that we had to remind his brothers over and over to let him play with it!

Happy Birthday Luke!

February: A Recap (Part 1)

Still playing catch up here, but thought it better late than never! February was a fun, crazy month with a trip to Alburquerque, NM for Matt's brother Tim's wedding, Luke's first birthday, as well as all the insanity that comes with buying a house.

First, Tim's wedding. It was Matt's first chance at real vacation, as they don't let him use vacation during the first 6 months of work - poor guy! We were excited to go check out a new place. It was really only a long weekend, but the wedding was beautiful, it was wonderful to see family, and our favorite part of Alburquerque was this gem of an aquarium we spent an afternoon at, quite by accident.

You start walking through the aquarium and see some small fish tanks, walk by the big swim tanks for the sting rays, then see some cool eels (you're thinking, oh this is nice..), then BAM - you are infront of this amazing giant aquarium (the kind that is so big they build risers into the floor so you can just sit and enjoy). The kids could have spent forever watching in there - there were sharks, turtles, sting rays, various fish, and we even got to see the workers feed them all. It was so cool!

These eels just made me think of Flosom and Jetsom in the Little Mermaid (yes, I even remember their names - I was obsessed! I had the sheets, the sweetshirt, the movie, knew all the moves and songs...)

The glass on the giant aquarium was obviously specialized - you felt like you could just touch the fish!

There was an amazing jellyfish tank as well - we love this picture that Aunt Megan took of Lukie just mezmerized by them!

Here are a few pictures from the wedding. Like I said, it was beautiful and the love the bride and groom had for each other was very sweet. All our little boys had on white shirts and matching ties - it was adorable!

The handsome couple - Uncle Tim and our new Aunt Kaitlyn

The kids were pretty pooped by this point in the day (can't you tell by Nathan's fake smile and having to lean against me!), but amazingly enough Carter is the only kid smiling!

This is all of Matt's immediate family - Top row (right to left): Megan, Matt, me and Carter, big football player Aaron (just entered the MTC for Samoa!), and Melanie; bottom row Grandpa Blaine, Kaitlyn and Tim (holding Luke), and Grandma Heidi with Nathan. What a great group!

It was a fun trip, and we love any chance to see family! Hope you are loving married life Uncle Tim!