Playing with Daddy

Luke LOOOOVVVVEEEESS his Daddy! In fact, the only time that he has ever said, "I yuv you" without being prompted was to his Daddy. He just looked at him one day and said, "I yuv you, Daddy". Melt your heart, I tell ya! It was so sweet...I wasn't jealous a bit...not one bit! I mean, it's not like I take care of him ALL.DAY.EVERY.DAY or anything. Not jealous...well, maybe a little...

Sledding in Chicago...more pics to come...(that's David's 'Biff' smile. You know, "Hi. I'm Biff. Wanna wrestle?" I can just hear him saying that... Ok, I'm kidding...It was cold. He was probably just cold.)

Luke loves to kiss...especially pictures in books, toys, baby Jesus...you name it!

Daddy tries to work, but Luke will not leave him alone most days.

"I up-side-dowwwn"

Melt your heart, I tell ya...not jealous one bit!

The Park In the Fall

This fall we spent a lot of time at the park. Luke loves 'pwaying at da pauk'. Luckily, there are several in our neighborhood. The pictures below are from several trips to the park this fall. He runs from the camera, so I am lucky to get a few of his face.

The Walk

WE MADE IT!
(and with only a few blisters between us and a shin splint!)

Seriously, at the beginning of this, I thought, "60 miles? That's nothing! If I can run 10, then I can easily walk 20 a day! Shoot!" Boy, was I wrong. I realized this soon after we did our first 'long' walk weekend. Donna and I met to walk 11 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday. I remember saying to her, "I cannot wait until the 8 mile wall is gone." Soon, we would be walking 18-20 with no problem. It is amazing what only 10 weeks of training will allow your body to do.

FRIDAY:
We woke at butt-thirty and Mark dropped us off at Southfork Ranch. We got there just in time to get our bag on the truck and not freeze to death like the others that had to get there 'early'. They were all bundled up waiting for the start. We just walked in, made our way through the crowd to the front, and let the body heat warm us. After an emotional opening ceremony, we were off to the Dallas theme song! It took us 30 minutes just to get through the crowd and out of Southfork. Our hearts broke to see many women who lost their hair due to chemo standing on the side thanking us as we passed.

Friday's route sent us through neighborhoods of Parker, Plano, Richardson, Dallas, and Murphy. Walking through Murphy we saw a few students walking to catch the school bus. One of them asked, "Did all of ya'll have breast cancer?" We laughed and told them that some have, but we were walking for those we have lost, those that survived, and for a cure so that future friends and family members would not suffer with this disease.

There is something about that first day...the adrenaline flowing and all the food...that made us walk fast. We were number 210 in for lunch out of 3,200+ walkers and number 812 in to camp. When I say adrenaline and food...I mean, food! I think I ate more than I walked that day. Donna and I laughed as I listed ALL.THAT.WE.CONSUMED. We even wrote it down to share with you because I am fairly certain that you will underestimate my statement and surely not believe me. So, here goes (I won't rat out my sister...this is only my list!):
2 bagels, 3 bananas, an orange half, peanuts, animal crackers, a cinnamon roll, chicken sandwich, potato salad, chips, apple, cookie, pomegranate seeds, spaghetti, salad, bread, a brownie, plus 110+oz of water and 40oz of Gatorade. Needless to say, I didn't eat as much on Saturday.

After lunch, we walked by an 'angel' talking and she joined in our conversation. She was on the 'Asphalt Angel's' team that wore wings and a halo all weekend. It was cute. Turns out, she was a few years younger than me at GPHS. We had a nice time walking with her to camp....She was our guardian angel for half the day! :)

That night, we set up the tent, showered, ate, and watched the Rock Star show. We met a few new friends from the area south of Waco while eating. It is an experience to hear every one's stories and find out why they are walking. It made for a few emotional times. Thankfully, the Rock Star show and the upbeat music helped to segue those times.
We froze that night in our pink tent and did.not.want.to.get.up. the next morning.

SATURDAY:
What a blur...Saturday sucked! (No offense!) We made the best of it. We were sore, tired, and walked in one big fat circle with no real direction. Thank goodness for the crew members in the vans pumping you up with the music, the people at the cheering stations, and 'our gang' coming to meet us for lunch. It was great to see the family. There was actually one point that we circled around and were actually only a few blocks north of camp. Our route said 13 miles...oh, how I wanted to turn right and head back to camp instead of going left through Carrollton and Plano for 13 more miles. But, we made it! Needless to say, Saturday was rough. Although, we did sleep warmer because Mark brought us blankets and cuddle duds!

SUNDAY:
YEA! Only 18 miles to go!! For some odd reason, we woke up refreshed, not sore, warm, and ready to go. We packed rather quickly and a Boy Scout troop took down the tent for us!
The route had a destination today and that was HOME! We went through Addison, Dallas, and Highland Park. About 5 miles out, we ran into a team that was rather loud and obnoxious. You know, the kind that is annoying unless you are in the middle of the mix...especially when you just walked close to 55 miles. So, we decided to join the fun. We chanted like cheerleaders the rest of the way in...
'No diamonds. No pearls. We're walking for our girls.
No skates. No scooters. We're walking for the hooters.
No kisses. No hugs. We're walking for our jugs.'
You get the idea!
We chanted all the way to the 'holding area' just .2 miles from the closing ceremonies at SMU. They held us there until we could all walk arm-in-arm to SMU together.
It was a great ending to a great weekend.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Team names: They cracked us up...a few examples: The Rack Pack, TaTa Towing, Breast Friends, A Great Pair, Blisters for Boobies, Bust A Move, Forget the Whales...Save the Boobs, Hiking For Hooters, Jigglin' Cargo, Putting our Breast Foot Forward, and the list goes on...
Signs along the route: Walking is the Breast Medicine, 60 or Bust, Thanks for the Mammories, Titty Titty Bang Bang...etc.
Why We Walk: This is the time after dinner that a walker (usually a repeat walker) gets up and tells their story. Saturday night the team captain from the team 'Luke's Lighthouse' got up to share her story. About 4 years ago, she was diagnosed the same day she found out she was pregnant! She went through surgery and chemo while pregnant and her light, Luke, is her miracle through it all. There was not a dry eye in the room.
Slideshow: Last but not least...the piece de resistance...the pictures! See the video below.


THANK YOU!

• Mom, David & Mark for the support you gave while we trained and during THE WALK!
• All of the wonderful, generous people that supported us monetarily helping me raise $2600 and Donna raise $2907!
  
• Nikki for walking with me two to three times EVERY WEEK!
  
• Paige, Gayle, and Jennifer for walking with me!
• Mom for the amazing massage at the spa the Monday afterward! The absolute BEST massage I've ever had!
• Dad for purchasing my 2nd pair of shoes
• For all of the thoughtful emails right before the walk AND the actual letters we received at the camp site! What a joy you brought to the weekend!

Luke's New Chair

Gramma gave Luke an early Christmas present this week: the Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair. While David was putting it together last night, Luke kept pulling on it and saying, 'All done, Daddy. All done, Daddy. Luke sit in it.' I'm sure it was frustrating, but David just laughed and continued stuffing it. FINALLY, he finished (it's a booger to put together).

After breakfast this morning, he wanted to get in his chair and watch Pooh. We don't do too much TV, but I gave in so that he could sit in his new chair. Thanks, Gramma! We all love it! (Oh, and he pointed to his name on the back of the chair and spelled it last night. yl-U-K-E, Wook!)

Arrrgh! Who Goes There?

Our friends, Nikki, Scott and Hudson, had us all over for pizza and Trick-or-Treating tonight. All of the kids were so cute. We had a Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, a pirate, Elmo, Super Girl, and a cowboy. The winner of the 'Spookiest House' in the neighborhood was on their street. It was a sight! They even had a bloody surgeon on the front porch and a skeletal bride and groom...Ooooo, Spooky!

This is Hudson as Peter Pan, or the Jolly Green Midget, pushing his wagon.

The Gang
(L to R SuperGirl (Raegan), Cowboy (James), Peter Pan (Hudson), Tinkerbell (Rory), Pirate (Luke), and, of course, Elmo (Lara)

This house won 'Spookiest House'. It was something else!

Luke was mesmerized by their front yard.

Not a good picture, but a cute boy!

Ding-Dong...Trick-or-Treat!

David tends to supervise Luke from a distance, watching him grow more and more independent. This time, Luke's curiousity led him past the owner of the house, into her hallway, all the way into the kitchen! Looks like the trick was on her. Next time, grab some silver, Luke!
To make it even more ironic, we usually have to pull Luke kicking and screaming when bringing him in from outside.

Trunk or Treat

He's the cutest swashbuckler around!

Last Sunday, we went to my sister's church for Trunk or Treat. Grandma (aka Dabby) met us all there.

Luke and Dabby

Luke with his cousin, Will, as 'the sad bat named Cwovar' (Clover).
Will was not sad. I don't know why he looks so gloom in that picture.

Will (much better!)

Arrrr don't know what to think about this...all these people, costumes, horses?

We worked up a sweat going from trunk to trunk, so I had to take that blasted, hot coat off. The theme of this lady's trunk was Implements of Construction. I love trucks so off I went with all the candy. I did not understand what the big deal was...I mean, come on...everyone knows that you should never put a toy truck of candy in front of a 19 month old boy and expect it to stay there, thank you very much! I was very upset when Aunt Donna made me put it back!

Daddy finally got me on the horse and I loved it! What is that smell?

Dabby and her boys at CPK for dinner...

Aunt Donna and Haywee!

Trick or Treat! Happy Halloween!

'Luke'-isms

1. My sister and I went on a long training walk for the 3Day and found a dead butterfly on the ground. We brought it home to show the kids. When Luke saw it, he bent over really close to it and whispered, "Hi, bubbafwy!" I couldn't figure out what he was doing, but then it hit me - Mr. Brown Can Moo by Dr. Suess! There is a part that says, "Mr. Brown can whisper, whisper very soft, very high, like the soft, soft whisper of a butterfly. Maybe you can too, I think you ought to try." I laughed for a long time at the connection he made.

2. Last week we were walking out of my most loathed store - Wal-Mart SuperCenter. We were about 3 cars away from ours and Luke pointed to it and said, "Mommy's car right here!"
"That's right, Luke, Mommy's car is right here!"

3. Yesterday, we were in Old Navy and Luke was dancing in his seat to the song that was playing. As soon as it was over, he started clapping and said, "Yay! Good song!" He's been saying this a lot lately to songs. We sang 'Away in a Manger' from a book the other day and he said it then, too. He is picky, though. Not every song deserves a - Yay, good song - apparently!

4. During the same Old Navy trip, he pointed to a door to the back room that looked like a public restroom door. He then said loudly, "Mommy, go poop!" Nice. No, Mommy doesn't need to go poop, but it does look like a restroom door. I was a little embarrassed when another shopper started snickering. As the Carpenter's coined, 'it's only just begun'...the embarrassment, that is!

5. While eating his snack the other day and I caught him looking at his raisin and saying, "Bye Bye, Ree Ree", and then gobbling it up! Hilarious!

6. He just discovered his sunglasses and loves to wear them. The other day we were getting in the car and when I put them on him he said, "Cool dude!" Cracked me up!

7. This one can only be seen! It's amazing how well he is talking now. 'Have a Good Day'!
(Lee Lee is David's mom, Lou Lou. 'Dabby' is his way of saying Grandma, my mom.)

8. I am amazed by him everyday! We were coloring today and I wrote the letter 'L' on his paper and asked him to name the letter for me. He paused for a minute and then said, 'u, k, e, Mommy'. Meaning, add u, k, and e to it so that it is my name! Then I said, 'Can you spell your name?' and he did!!! NO JOKE! I almost fell out of the smurf chair I was in! He said, 'L-U-K-E...Luke'! I shot a less enthusiastic rendition on video for you. He's not as impressed with himself anymore. On to new things, I guess. I am a very impressed Mommy, though!

Humpty Dumpty

When I was little, my cousin and I both had an affection for our Humpty Dumpty Baby Dolls. They looked similar to this one:Man, I miss him...so soft...so cuddly...hmmm *day dream*

Oh, sorry...anyway, my Aunt bought Luke an AWESOME chenille Humpty Dumpty before he was born to commemorate our past. HIS Humpty is SO much nicer than the one that either of us had. I use it mainly as a decoration.
After his nap one day last week, he asked for Humpty and a love fest began...he doesn't know how good he has it! It's like a wealthy, Donald Trump Humpty as opposed to my trailer park Humpty. (I'm not bitter...not bitter at all!) That's neither here nor there. The point is...Luke loves it as you will see below.

Risky Buisness

Tom Cruise flashback, anyone?