Moo Baa La La La

The words to Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton:

A Cow says Moo
A Sheep says Baa
Three Singing Pigs say La La La!
No, No, you say, that isn't right the pig says Oink all day and night.
Rhinoceros snort and snuff
And little dogs go Ruff Ruff Ruff.
Some other dogs go BOW WOW WOW!
And cats and kittens say Meow!
QUACK says the duck.
A horse says Neigh.
It's quiet now what do you say?
(Luke always says, 'shhhhh! Duck.' at the end!)

Weekend in Houston

A few weeks ago we were in Houston visiting Lou Lou, Opa, Nana, and Grampa Jim. We were at Lou Lou and Opa's for the first 3 days and all Luke wanted to do was play the 'pee-nano'. Of course, Lou Lou can play the piano. Mommy can't...well, that's not entirely true...I can play chop sticks. *snicker* The whole weekend he wanted her to play 'Hey Dee Dee' (Hey Diddle Diddle). Unfortunately, she left to go on a cruise a few hours before we were leaving. Uggg, he asked me for five hours straight to play hey dee dee. I played chop sticks, but he didn't like that as much!


We left that day for Grampa Jim and Nana's. Luke loves the 'Pa-OO-l' and the 'Wa-wa f-a-ll'. Grampa Jim's is a fun place to 'go play'.


Luke's teeth were chattering when he got out of the pool. So, Nana got Luke a robe (aka the coat of many colors) from the kids room. So cute! My little Joseph.

On Saturday, we had the pleasure of going to the A&M v. Army game to watch them finally win a game. Luke stayed with Grampa Jim and Nana all day. He apparently chatted the whole day and napped well. It was a great day for all of us.


My favorite part of the whole day was watching the NATIONALLY FAMOUS FIGHTIN' TEXAS AGGIE BAND! Oh, and sawin' varsity's horns off!

Awesome Dinner Tonight

There are those few moments that David makes a little 'mmmm...' when he takes his first bite of the meal I just cooked. Well, tonight I got a BIG 'mmmm...'! I love hearing that! Here's the scoop:

Dana told me about the Pioneer Woman's blog and it is now one of my fav's! (BTW, Dana, I am going to start tagging the number of times I mention you in my posts...hmph...not a super mom, my butt! Total Super MOM/Cook!) Anyway, I have been eyeing PW's Enchiladas for a long time, but haven't had the energy to devote to them. She posted the recipe last month and my mouth started watering. I have always had issues with homemade enchiladas, though, because that canned sauce has such a bite to it...yuk. Well, tonight I decide to put the time and energy into it and it was well worth it! They were the best.I.have.ever. had! Check out the recipe here! I am so excited about her cook book coming out in mid 2009!

Oh, and they did take a while to put together, but it made 24 (not 12-14 like she said) so I can freeze them for another meal or two down the road! Bon Apetite!

Parrot or Sponge?

Our dinner conversation the other night:

David: saying something sarcastic, as always...can't remember what...

Melody: laughing 'Oh, shut up!'

Luke: 'Sut up...Sut up...Sut up'

David: 'HA! See, Mommy, he is listening and we need to watch what we say around him. That needs to go on the blog!' (Of course, he said this in a condescending way because I am always telling HIM that!)

Lukey Love

A Night at Bible Study...

Boys! I tell ya! What is it about farts and boys? (Did she just say that? Is she REALLY talking about farts on her blog?) YEP...and it's ALL DAVID'S FAULT! I'll give it to you that some women have a secret *snicker, snicker* love of farting, as well....I dare not mention names, Atlanta, but they are out there...be sure of that! Tonight as I am away at a wonderful night of learning about the Psalms of Ascent, David sends me a txt that he taught Luke to say, 'Toot'. NICE is all I could txt back! PROUD, I tell ya, PROUD!

I am surprised, however, that it wasn't a goal of David's for it to be Luke's first word. David is all about the bodily noises, much to my dismay! I cannot tell you how often I YELL and HIT him for it...the noises are one thing, but the smell...ugh...I.cannot.take.it! Not that mine don't stink, but I tell him often that I may have 5 a YEAR that smell like his ALWAYS smell! It's nasty, trust me!

I should have known from the first date when he decided to expell the nastiness ON me! I wondered for a l-o-n-g time if he really liked me because of that night! (He argues that he felt so comfortable around me that he just could not help himself! I will give him the fact that our friend's mom made some pretty potent enchilada's for us and we.were.all.feeling.it. but the comfort thing on a first date is a stretch!)

Thankfully, David is wonderful in every other way and even helps me reinforce 'Excuse Me'...right, Honey? My baby is just too small to already say and chuckle at the word, 'Toot'. I'm in for it, I believe! Hmph! Boys!

(The picture above is hilarious...this is what Luke does when you ask him to smile now! I'm glad I got a shot of it! He actually looks like he's repulsed by Daddy's smell, too! HA!)

18 months

Dear Lukey,
Every milestone seems to be 'the best stage so far', but 18 months is a dream! I love that you are so curious and are getting to be more independent. You walk all over the house and 'don't have to be glued to Mommy's hip' anymore. You have your moments (hungry and tired), but mostly you love to just play. This is pretty new for you. I suppose it is because you only started to walk about 2 months ago. Oh how I love that you can walk! Most people said that I would hate it, but I carried you around for 16 months and I am so glad that I can finally put you down. You don't have to be right next to Mommy all the time, but you do come find me once you are bored with playing OR need help with a toy.

I love to play with you, though. Your favorite toy is your CD player. It is the first thing you go to when you walk into your play room. You LOVE to dance and you LOVE music. I am amazed that you know the songs. Just the other day, you said 'rewy hoPpE' when the song said 'really happy'. You anticipate your favorite part of some songs and get SO excited when songs you like are on...(I'd mention your favorite songs, but there's not just one that you LOVE...there are a lot!). At night when we sing Jesus Loves Me, you always know right when to say 'Bible' in the song and it just melts my heart. Music class is so fun for you and I am glad you are learning to love music. Hopefully, you can sing like your Grampa Jim and Uncle Thom...look out Jonas Brothers...Goldie is on his way!

Books:
Oh Man, do you love books! Not only do you love them, but you can point to the spine of one on your shelf and say your version of the title. It is amazing how much you know and how quickly you learn! Your Goodnight Gorilla book is a favorite because of the balloon on every page. We always search for it...even if it is just the string or a dot in the distant sky. You love to find the mouse on every page of Goodnight Moon and point to the fire place and say, 'dan-der' (danger). That's right...fire is a danger! Reading time (until recently) has always been your favorite. You are more into your playroom and running around now, but that is to be expected. Many times you still come to me with a favorite: 'Frew, Frew' (I Love You Through and Through), 'A-D' ( A Your Adorable), 'Albight, Albight, Albight' (The a Monster at the end of this Book...Grover says, "Alright! Alright! Alright! on one of the pages.), 'Ow Baby' (Owl Babies), 'Gigga, Gigga' (Texas A&M 101 Book...you say this while giving me the Gig 'Em sign. You also think that the statue of James Earl Rudder is daddy!), and 'P-B' (Peter Cottontail). You have so many books and they are all your favorites. Some days you love one more than the others, but mostly you love them all.

Words:
Everyday you say a more coherent word. I always know what your saying (well, most of the time), but others are starting to understand too. You can name most of your body parts and tell me where it hurts (that is so nice!). You have a name for all your shapes and a few sound like the correct words, 'Obal, Ti-ta (triangle), star, re-re (rectangle), di-dee (diamond)'. The other day at Wal-Mart you looked up at the aisle sign and said 'Ti-ta'. Yes, it was a triangle! I never noticed, but you did!
You are also learning your manners. I struggle to get you to say please or thank you when I want you too, but many times a day you will say, 'Takum' to me (Thank you). You are such a stinker! You have also started to say 'OOooooo or Ohhhh' when you find something that is super cool to you (or something you aren't supposed to have). It's very fun to watch your expressions with your words.
Letters are also coming along. The fridge phonics works wonders. You know R, E, A, M, D, and O. When you see a group of letters together you point to it and say, 'a-E-O-i-e-O' like you are naming all the letters the way I show them to you!

You just started learning your colors. A few months ago you said 'Geen'. I thought it was a fluke, but now I really think you knew that color. You can pick that one out most of the time. You know yellow and blue, as well. GRAY is your new favorite! We were coloring the other day and you pulled that crayon out. I told you it was gray and pointed out that a stripe on your shirt was gray! That did it...now, all you want to do is use THAT crayon and tell me that it's 'gay'! Love it!

Friends:
You are so funny with your friends and people you love. You've learned to group people together and are always waking up asking for them. You go through the list, but keep them with their respective mommy's. You always start with Grandma (Dabby), Aunt Donna (Ai-Ah), Haley (Habee), Will (Wee), Uncle Mark (Unca), and then you move on to who ever you saw most recently (Lou Lou and Opa, Grampa Jim and Nana or playgroup friends...you LOVE Ella from playgroup and say her name often (Elya)) It is so cute! I love that you love people, but am sad for you when you miss them....I guess mommy and daddy need to get started on a little brother or sister for you! :)

More than all of the things you are actively learning and doing, you are still my sweet, lovable Lukey that will come up behind me and give me a big hug around the neck or will lean in for a kiss. You are still sucking that left index finger and putting the right index finger in your 'Bee-Bee'. I don't understand it. I know it's a comforting thing and you look super cute doing it so I don't mind too much. I try my best to put you in PJs now that are two pieces so you can get to your 'Bee-Bee' (those one-piece PJs really irritate you). You are starting to show your will, but are pretty quick to hug me and give a kiss when I have to get on to you. You are a pleaser and don't like it when someone is upset with you. I love those, 'I'm sorry, Mommy' kisses! Thank you for being such a wonderful boy and thank you for the joy you bring us everyday!
I love you,
Mommy!

Beep!

Today our friends, Nikki and Hudson (he and Luke are 1 day apart), were over for some play time. After lunch, Luke burped loud, giggled, then said, "Beep"! So funny...we all cracked up. Then he laughed again and said, 'Burpy'! He's just like his daddy (or most daddy's)...you know, 'All bodily noises are worth a chuckle!' He's definitely a boy! Happy Friday!

Green Chili Stew...

Last Friday, I was at the store picking up a few things for my in-law's visit. There were samples all over the store for their theme of the day, 'roasted green chili's'...even a green chili smore that was a little different. That's right, wrapped in a stinkin' marshmallow...
Anyway, one of the owners of Cookwell & Company was passing out samples of his Green Chili Stew. It was f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s! I.must.have.it! All he had in it was ground pork. It was ok, but a variation on the jar said chicken...sounds better! He told me that grabbing a rotisserie chicken would be good in it. I was off. Grabbed a jar or the mix, a bag of frozen corn, some new potatoes and a rotisserie chicken. The jar was a little expensive, but MAN was it a good EASY dinner for this under-the-weather family. Next time I may leave out the potatoes and serve it over rice. YUM-O!

(It made enough for about 6 large servings. I took some to my mom last night after her eye surgery and she loved it...she was glad to have enough for today!)

Enjoy my new find!!

Roid Rage

Luke is on a steroid for his croup. (I swear he picked it up at Wal-Mart---I HATE Wal-Mart, but that's another post or just read my friend Dana's post. She sums it up beautifully!) Anyway, he's on his last day of it and is a monster. I mean, the Incredible Hulk come to life! Those roids are nasty! In a 5 minute time period, he literally went from screaming his head off to hugging and kissing on me to a stomp-your-feet-roll-on-the-floor-full-on-fit back to hugging mommy! KILL ME NOW!

(For those of you with older kids reading this, I swear it's not just that he's turning into a toddler...it is seriously the roids (and lack of sleep)! He's usually super laid back!)

Halloween HA HA

Luke and I went to Old Navy today to take a look at their Halloween costumes. While looking, I picked up this skunk costume (which is so funny with that big bushy tail). I showed it to Luke and asked him, "Do you want to be a skunk for Halloween?" He said, "No. Tukum. Shooey." and pushed it away. I cracked up. For those of you that don't speak Luke, he said, 'No. Thank you. Skunks stink." He must really listen when I read him the Tails book! I won't be buying that one, I guess. I didn't really want it anyway...it's a little girly...cute, but girly!

A Three Hour Tour

Last Monday, we returned from a fabulo-so trip to our friend's boat house/condo. As you can tell from the picture, the house is still under construction so we stayed in the boat! Yes, 6 adults (half of which are over 6' tall) and 3 children in the 'ark' (as Luke called it all weekend) on the left.
We had a fabulous time with Jon, Amber, Dan, Lee and the kids! We went to the Aquarium to find Nemo and Dory for Morgan one day. Dan and Lee kept the kids for us that night so that Jon, Amber, David, and I could go to a wonderful place to eat...and, of course, get some DQ for DEEsert! Gotta go to DQ when it is right across the street!

The next day, we raced across the bay at 7 knots for 35 miles to Eat At Joe's for lunch. Ok, so we didn't really 'race' at 7 knots, but a brotha has to save some gas! (*fist pump*) One more knot would have doubled the gas consumption. The sucker holds 2850 gallons, so needless to say, Dan has stock in Valero. Joe's was great, but the 2 1/2 hour ride back with the engines humming, the boat-a-rockin, and Luke napping sent Momma to sleepy land. It was the quickest and best nap I.have.ever.had!

The next day, we planned to go to the beach, but God had something different in mind...rain! Hmph! Oh well, maybe next year. At least Luke was able to play in the sand at the park one day!

Overall, it was a great time with wonderful friends. Surprisingly, we never really got to the "these people are driving me crazy" point. You know what I'm talking about. We have all stayed with people or had them stay with us and you are just counting the minutes before you are gone. It was just the opposite, actually! We didn't want to say goodbye on Monday. They are such special friends. We are so thankful that the Lord brought us together 10 years ago! Thanks for a great time, guys! We love you and cannot wait to see the newly renovated boat house/condo (whatever it is).


Oh...one more picture. This is the engine room with two 1300 Hp Caterpillar Turbo diesel engines. David is dying for me to put this one in. Men and their testosterone!

Hair Dryer (Hay-ry-ry)

Ever since Luke conquered the fear of my hairdryer, it is one of his FAVORITE 'toys'. It's too heavy for him to carry around so he just sits and holds it (unplugged, of course). Because of his near equal love of his comb, David and I think that he may be a stylist to the stars one day!

Several months ago, he decided he wanted to put his favorite thing, the hair dryer, in his other favorite thing, the bath tub! Oh, YES! He threw a fit when I said, "No, that's a danger. The hair dryer does NOT go in the bath tub!" To calm him down, I had to show him the warning tag on the hair dryer. "NO! NO! See the red line on the tag, Luke? The tag says NO NO hair dryer in bath tub!" Can you believe that worked? And, funny enough, he doesn't mind anymore (plus, most days, it's put away to where he can't get to it...out of sight, out of mind, right?)

Keep in mind that scene was probably 3-4 months ago and it must of made an impact because of what happened last week. I was in the kitchen and I could hear him in our room saying, "Na! Na!" When I turned the corner to see what he was doing, he was in our bathroom with my hair dryer in his lap pointing at the tag, saying "Na! Na!" (No! No!). I cracked up! I got it on video a few days later. See for yourself...

Stolen post about blog books

I just read my friend, Paige's, blog about blog books! What a great idea and why didn't I know about this earlier?? I think I'll get one every year, too.

New Playroom

A few months ago we went over to my friend Dana's house for a BBQ. While we were there, they showcased Gabby's new playroom (their converted dining room). It was SO cute! Needless to say, the wheels began turning. Luke needs a playroom, too. I really didn't know how we were going to afford it and assumed that it would have to wait until fall or after Christmas and we would have to do it little by little. Well, thanks to AA.com, we have a playroom! That's right...American Airlines.
I'll explain, you see, in June we went on a family reunion and I signed up for text messaging alerts and was entered in a sweepstakes. (I enter AA sweepstakes all the time and NEVER win, so I didn't think anything about it.) WELL, I WON! SHUT UP, I know! I didn't think it was anything super huge...just a cell phone...until I looked this phone up online and it was retailing for $750! WOW! Ebay here I come! A few weeks later the phone came in and it was sold to a guy in CA by Thursday for $560. I was SO excited you don't even understand! The first thing out of my mouth when I saw the retail price of the phone was, "YEAH, Luke get's his playroom!" (You know you've transitioned to complete selfless motherhood when your first thought isn't, "YEAH, I get a new purse! or YEAH, a shopping spree!")
So, here we are...As soon as the money was in our account I ordered the cabinets above from JCPenny.com (cheaper and better made than PB). I also saved 20% and got free shipping using retailmenot.com! (I freakin' LOVE that site!) The center console will hold a TV one day for David's, I mean Luke's, playstation. Grampa Jim and Nana are giving us a TV for it (thanks, guys!) and Grandma is buying Luke a PB chair for Luke to sit in (Thanks, Grandma!) It's all coming together nicely! I know the pictures look familiar (see the banner above)! I saw these at Dana's house and fell.in.LOVE!
So, when you are in the neighborhood...come play! Luke loves his new room and goes straight to it as soon as he wakes up every morning! Thank you, Dana, for a great idea. Thank you, AA, for the moo-la. Thank you, IKEA, for some CHEAP stuff including the cute table and chair set (we'll go back for more chairs and an organizing bin later...they were out last week)! Thank you, Aunt Donna, Uncle Mark, and the kids for the majority of the toys in the playroom! Thank you, Lou Lou and Opa, for my favorite CD player that I go straight to and turn on by myself EVERY morning! And last, but not least, thank you, Grampa Jim, Nana, and Grandma for helping to make it an EVEN better room than expected!
YEAH! Luke has a playroom!

Whistle

We are in the process of creating a playroom for Luke (pictures to come) out of our guestroom. While we were going through his toys and organizing the room, I found his train whistle from Max's birthday party hidden away inside a random toy. Anyway, I stuck it in his bag which was the perfect thing to do, because the next day on our way home from meeting friends I handed him the whistle and showed him how to use it. Play the video to see what he did all the way home. Hilarious!

On a side note, we met our friends from our previous home state for lunch. Emily's new baby is beautiful! She looks just like her daddy! While we were there, Alison (Emily's cool-hip mom), taught Luke to roll his cup all over the table! He got a real kick out of it and loves roll it where ever we go now! (Thanks, Alison!) Funny, though, he rolled it straight into her water cup which went right in her lap! We all laughed! That's what you get, girl! HA! She's a fun grandma!

First Trip To Chuck E. Cheese

Last week, our niece and nephew stayed with us for a "4 night sleep over". We spent most of the time trying to figure out what to do with them while Luke napped. One morning, they played in the backyard baby pool and sandox making mud piles. The next was church (and we got everyone dressed and there ON TIME! Whew!). Then Monday, we played with Magic Nuudles. It's a great activity for 3-6 year olds. Thanks, Mom, for bringing them over for the kids to play with. It kept them busy so I could shower!

When Luke woke up, we went to Chuck E. Cheese. We all had a great time and were officially WORN OUT. Afternoon nap was good for all of us that day! Thanks for coming over, guys! We had a great time with you.

Spin Around and Around and Around...

David taught Luke to do this while I was running errands this week. He finally did it for the camera. Too funny...(It may not look like a big deal, but since he's only been walking for 3 weeks, it's nice to see all he can do in such a short amount of time!)

Enjoy!

Homemade Fingerpaint

Many afternoons we do a fun activity together. Last Thursday, I made green and blue homemade fingerpaint with flour, water, and food coloring. Luke had a great time creating an artistic expression for our fridge. :) I think I am getting the hang of this SAHM thing!

Pupik

'Pupik' pronounced poo-pek is Belly Button in Czech. Grandpa Jim teaches all the grandkids to show their pupik instead of saying belly button. Well, lately Luke has started lifting his shirt to put his finger in his pupik while he sucks on his finger. We don't know why it started, but it's become a comforting habit, I guess. Nice...one more habit to break (hopefully, before school starts). Now, he walks around sucking on his left finger with his right finger in his button. It was cute at first because you can't really tell that his hand is in his button and he looks like an old man toddling around with his hand tucked in his pants. BUT now, when he is tired at dinner, he takes his dirty little hand, lifts his bib, and sticks his finger in his pupik. This is really annoying if we just gave him a bath or if he already has his one piece pj's on. Food gets all over his belly or his pj's...another piece of laundry to clean!
Any ideas on the obsession with the pupik? We'd love to know why it started.