Grace is Gone...kind of

Our days of having a dog in the house are over for now. I don't want to say that we will never have another dog, but not any time soon. Grace went to stay with Mema and Papa. I like to think of it as her retirement. She will spend her golden years doing what dogs are supposed to do. We love Grace and miss her, but we know this is what's best for her.

 

After Mark and I had been dating for about a year we thought it would be fun to get a dog. I guess it was our first stab at doing something real together. Although, it wasn't really together because we didn't live together. I did work at the apartment complex where he lived so I could help let her out during the day and after work. Who knows, young love is funny. Anyway, Mark went to this farm and picked her out. She was sooooo cute!! She was definitely more work than what we expected. She chewed up everything!! Phones, shoes, pens, and pretty much anything she could get to. We still loved her and did all of the fun things people do with their new little puppy.

 

 

She had play dates

 

We took her for walks

Let her lay on the furniture

Bought her gifts for holidays

 

Dressed her up

She went through a lot with us. She moved with us into our first house.

 

She moved with us to Indy

She watched us bring home our first baby

 

and our second

She loved those boys just like she loved us

 

She was very patient with them

I know they annoyed her at times

 

but she was always an amazing dog!!

We love our dog so much but these two boys have taken up our time. We don't always have time to play with her, walk her, take her to the dog park, or just sit down and pet her. Grace will be 10 in July and we knew she needed to be somewhere that she can be outside. She can chew on sticks instead of having toys stacked on her, she can sniff the different scents outside instead of the same smell of our house, she can lay in the nice warm sun instead of stare at it from the inside, and she can run and play with Troy instead run from the boys and the vacuum in terror. Mema and Papa kept Grace when we were in England and it worked out pretty well. When we brought her home she seemed to get back into our routine, but I could tell she was a little different. Mema and Papa have a nice fenced in back yard and another dog to keep her entertained. When Mema and Papa told us that they would love to have her we jumped on the opportunity. I hate the fact that we don't have her anymore and we all miss her at times, but I think it is the best for her. The boys have done well with the change. Andrew talks about her some but is fine with her being at Mema and Papa's house. They keep us updated on how she is doing. She seems to be settled in. They say she is always so busy outside.

 

I will say that I DO NOT miss the dog hair and the barking during nap. I do miss having her here with me during the day, seeing the kids interact with her, and I miss her "vacuuming" the crumbs after meals and snacks.

 

Lucas 9 Months

Lucas has been busy since his last update two months ago! He has changed so much!! Here are his 8 and 9 month pictures. It isn't easy getting a picture of him sitting still now.

9 Months

 

8 Months - He just kept peeling off his sticker

This is what it looks like when you pull the sticker out of his hand and put it back on his shirt.

At his nine month appointment he was 25 lbs 3 oz which is off the charts and 30 inches 95th percentile. He also has a big head, but you can probably see that for yourself :) This big boy fits comfortably in 18 months or 18-24 month clothes! He is still in size 4 diapers. I am really hoping he doesn't have a huge growth spurt this summer because all of his clothes are 18-24 months.

As I said, Lucas has been a busy baby these last two months. We had baby day at church recently and this is our family picture. It was great to celebrate Lucas and make a commitment to raise him to love the Lord and to follow Jesus.

 

Another thing he always stays busy at is looking adorable. Here is a whole lot of cuteness!!

Thanks Aunt Laura for the vest and the Sams family for the shoes!!

All smiles!!

 

Look at those eyes!!

You can't do a blog post without a Mommy/Lucas selfie!!

Here he is at his 9 month appointment. I love the face he is making!!

 

This was my attempt to take some 9 month pictures with my new lens but...camera + new lens + perfect day doesn't = cute picture!! I couldn't get him to look at me to save my life! I think he was too mesmerized by the grass.

I just wish I could bottle up these moments!!! His days of falling asleep in my arms are so numbered. I want to remember his eyelashes, chubby cheeks, his chubby little hands, and his smell. I love cuddling him when he sleeps!! I would love cuddling him while he is awake, but he is way too busy for that. I love my boys so much and they are growing up so fast!!

 

 

This little guy is still taking two naps. We moved his crib down to the lowest setting. In this picture he fell asleep playing.

 

Riding a few rides with Mema and Papa at the outlet malls.

 

Drumming at the Children's Museum

Lucas has started venturing out with food. He loves puffs and yogurt melts and has totally mastered eating with his hands! I haven't really found too much he doesn't like. He does not like avacado!! He tried that and gagged and then spit up. The Dr said we can go ahead and start table foods. We are slowly trying new things. He still drinking 4 - 7oz bottles a day. Can't believe we are almost done with bottles!!

 

 

 

One of his best buddies wanted to feed him! I think he wanted to get some practice in before his new brother gets here in July.

He moved to a big boy car seat in February!! As most of you know, he was getting way too heavy in that baby car seat. We moved him into Andrew's car seat and Andrew moved to a booster seat.

 

The only downside to moving him is that you no longer have the car seat to take in places. Here is his first trip to the store sitting in the cart. He loved it!!

 

 

He loves playing with Andrew's toys and for some reason has taken a huge liking to Buzz Lightyear. He also loves all of Andrew's cars and pretty much anything that Andrew is doing. He is kind of over baby toys!

 

 

He also loves the fireplace and Andrew did too. I hate it!! Why are boys so attracted to dangerous things!!

 

 

 

He also started bullying his brother!!

 

Our biggest news is we have a crawler!!! He started crawling at 9 months exactly!! Not only did he start crawling he also started pulling up on things all within days of each other. He is into everything now!! This picture is what he was doing at first. He was really complicating it by straightening his legs and then on the day he turned 9 months he figured it out!

 

 

 

 

Things to Remember Volume 2

This post is to help me remember the little things my kids do that are easy to forget.

 

Today after Andrew's "nap" (nap meaning quiet time because we really don't nap) he informed me that he wants six dogs and six babies!!! I told him if we are going to have six we might as well have 10. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Mommy 10 would be too many, it would be crazy, and we don't have enough car seats for 10!" I told him we don't have enough car seats for 6 either. He then went on to tell me that he wants a girl and wants to name her Strayder or Busher!! Where he got these names...I have no idea. He cracks me up!!! I love him. I am pretty sure the baby talk came from the fact that earlier in the day we had a play date with a friend who is expecting :)

 

 

To set the record straight we are not expecting a baby and we do not have plans to have six babies or six dogs!!

Another thing Andrew told me is that he doesn't like the girls in his class at school. Naturally I asked him why. He told me that he doesn't like them because they have long hair and he doesn't like it when their hair gets on him. I said, Mommy has has long hair, do you like Mommy? He said, yes I like you because you are tall and your hair doesn't get on me. I was cracking up in the car when he told me this after school. This kid makes my day everyday!!

 

How Much Do They Look Alike? 8 Months

I thought it was time to look back at pictures of Andrew when he was 8 months.  There is no mistaking they are brothers!!  We always joke about Lucas's blonde hair, but I think it is starting to get closer to Andrew's color.

Lucas is on the left and Andrew on the right.

I need to try and find some baby pictures of Mark and I around this age.

Story Time at the Library

I decided it was time to get Lucas involved in something for him. Andrew was in a playgroup with babies his age starting at 6-8 weeks!! Obviously it was more for the moms in the beginning, but it turned out to be fun for him as soon as he starting interacting with the other babies. Most of our activities today revolve around Andrew. At the beginning of February we decided to give the library story time a try. The one we went to was for babies up to 12 months, but siblings were still welcome :)

The boys had so much fun! It melted my heart watching Andrew help out his baby brother!!!! It is amazing how much your heart grows with each child. It was so cute watching Lucas interact with the teacher and the different activities we did.

The last story time we went to we stayed a little longer because Lucas fell asleep in the stroller. Andrew and I played a full game of checkers. I was pretty shocked that it held his interest for a whole game. We found a few new CDs to take home for a little variety in the car. Such a fun day with the boys.