Easter Weekend

Happy Easter one week late!! We had such an amazing weekend! Thank God the weather is starting to turn around. It is weekends like this that remind me to be thankful for all of the beautiful things that God has put in my life!!

 

On Friday we headed out to Cincinnati for a quick visit. I was able to go out to dinner with my friends from high school. It was so great to catch up and I love them so much. Every time I see them it makes me miss home!! I love that we can all get together and just be ourselves. It is like we were never apart! There was a group picture taken but my phone died so I didn't get it. Mark and the boys stayed with Andrea's husband and boys. So thankful the guys stayed with the kids to give us a girls night out.

 

The next day we went to an Easter Egg Hunt that Andrea organized. We also met my family for lunch after the egg hunt. My mom had to work pretty much the whole time we were in town so we didn't get to spend a lot of time with her. Here are a few pictures from the morning.

 

 

Definitely forgot an Easter basket, Kroger bag will do!

 

Andrew, Dylan, and Lola

 

Had to check out the real bunny. I love that Andrew is a little sketchy with petting animals just like his Mommy.

Wish there could be more play dates with these kids!

On Sunday we went to church. It was a great service! My friend Stephanie and her family decided to check out our church that morning so we got to see them too. Here are the boys after church.

We started outside but that wasn't working well.

These two melt my heart!!

We had to work pretty hard for these pictures!

 

My boys, love them!

We decided to go to an Indians game in the afternoon. The weather was perfect!! Lucas hung out in the carrier and napped for a while. Andrew watched the game and then went on the hunt to find Rowdie.

 

 

We got the boys hats and the same hats that fit the boys fit me. Big baby head problems can be a benefit at times!

This was probably one of the best parts of the day for Andrew!

Andrew got to run the bases after the game. Which you may remember that he has done before, but today he decided to mix it up a little and go to third base first. I mean why not, that is where Rowdie is standing?!

He got back on track after third base, so he got to pass Rowdie twice.

I think it is safe to say that he had fun!! Daddy caught him the ball he is holding!

We went home after the game and cooked out. It was such a great weekend!! Hope everyone had a great Easter!

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!