Adios Grandma Mary & Grandpa Craig!

Last year my parents "tried out" being snowbirds by heading South for a couple months to Bonita Beach, FL. They loved it, so we weren't surprised when they decided to do it again this year - but this year they are heading to sunny Arizona to be close to Kristin, Cory and PJ for a few months of the year.  From February through April they will be residents of AZ, so we had to make sure to soak up our time with them before they left the Midwest.  We headed up there for a couple days last weekend and had a lot of fun.  Mom has been really ill for two weeks with flu-like symptoms (it even partially ruined their trip to St. Maarten!), but she rallied enough to be great company.  I would normally be sad to say good bye for three whole months, but this year I know that  they'll be back in a short while to meet the baby.  So with that we say "See you soon!"

Playing with Grandpa

Cooking with Grandma

Matt pulling Luke on the snow shovel, he loved it.

taking the dogs for a walk

Statues at the auditorium entrance.

Aunt Susan hosted a dinner Sunday night to say good bye to Mom & Dad, a great opportunity to see Grandma, Aunt Susan and Uncle Dan.

Last weekend before heading up to WI we had a brunch with my business school girlfriends.  It has been way too long since we got together, with a few new babies having been born since we last met.  The kids had so much fun together, the guys had fun watching the kids, and the girls got a couple hours to catch up on our blossoming careers and kids.  I love my group of working Mommy friends!

This picture is from last April - when everyone except me was pregnant!  Lots of babies have been born since then!

Also last Friday at work my amazing teammate Brandi threw a little baby shower for me at the office.  So sweet of her!  Lots of my friends from work were able to attend, the baby received many adorable girly outfits and we had delicious cake & ice cream.  So thoughtful of everyone!

Brandi and I

One last update.  Last Wednesday Isolene went home sick (which she has only done twice in her 2 1/2 years with us, by the way, which shows how serendipitous this was), so Matt ended up taking Luke to music class.  Good thing he did, because he was able to overhear the other moms talking about preschool registration on 1/29!  Just a few short days away!  We were shocked that we had to register Luke for preschool for NEXT FALL in January!!  Kristin said "welcome to having a kid and not a baby" and she's right!  We have to get on the ball for these things it seems.  Anyway, Matt quickly set up a tour of the preschool we had been thinking Luke would go to (my friend's kids go there and it is very near our house) just a day before registration.  We loved the school and we think it will be a great fit for Luke.  So la-dee-da we plan to register him the next day, thinking "no problem!" when we come to learn that there are only 8 open spots for his age group and that people actually get there several hours earlier than registration opens to reserve their spot in line.  This is crazy talk!  What is this, Manhattan?  Am I in "Baby Boom" or something where I should already have my unborn child on some sort of a list to get her into a good preschool?  Nonetheless, we were smitten with this preschool so endeavored to "get him in".  Matt, bless him, went there at 5am and at 8:30am we were the proud parents of a new "Purple Class" registrant for next September.  Phew!  If we had not heard about this preschool registration we would have been in trouble, since apparently all of the area preschools registered this week and they all seem to be competitive.  Can't believe Lukers will be in school in a few short months!  It IS only 2 hours, twice a week, but still...its the idea of it:)

Cousin Baby Bump Bond

Last weekend I attended my cousin Tracy's baby shower.  We are due within a couple of weeks of each other.  The shower was lovely and the food amazing!  It is always fun to see my Mom's side of the family, they are hilarious.

Hostesses - Nikki and Julie

Cousins Kristin and Dana

Speaking of baby bumps, I have been meaning to take some "belly shots" for a while now, since we haven't really done any.  I love the one of Luke hugging my belly.  Some day I know I'm going to look back at that one and say "Ohhhh, I can't believe he was so little and she's not even born yet!  So cute!!"

For those of you who haven't heard, Matt has embarked on a new stage of his career.  Congrats to him!!  He officially resigned from his job at FH Paschen, where he has worked for the past 12.5 years (ever since he graduated from college).  His last official day was January 18th.  His new career is going to be investing in real estate, buying homes and fixing them up to either sell or rent.  This combines his passion for real estate and his extensive expertise in construction, not to mention it gives him more of a flexible schedule and more time with us!  It has only been a few days, but we all are already really enjoying his new schedule.  Matt did decide to take FH Paschen up on an offer to work part-time, so for the time being he is still working a couple days a week for them, but the other days he is doing what he loves.

Luke continues to be so interactive and fun.  He now likes to play hide and seek.  He has a little bit to learn though, because when you call out "Where is Luke?" he feels compelled to answer!  So he'll call back "Luke is in the closet!" or "Luke is in the bathroom!" and totally give himself away.  When Matt or I hides, you can hear him say "1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10!  Ready or here come!"  then he tears around trying to find us, but is really very bad at finding us.  Spumoni usually finds us first and gives us away.

A Lukers Update

With all the holiday stuff going on, I haven't been giving many Luke updates.  Here is a long one to catch everyone up!

Luke is all settled into his big boy room.  We have tons of truck/train/plane/car decals up on his walls and a Thomas the Train decal mural too.  We tried out him sleeping in the big boy bed during a Sunday nap, and he resisted at first - pointing at his crib and saying "Luke's bed is here!"  We eased him into his new bed and he seemed unsure, although eventually fell asleep.  That night we were planning to let him sleep in his crib, but he actually asked to sleep in his new bed.  So just like that he switched to the big boy bed full time!  It was so much easier than I thought it would be, and he doesn't even get out of bed.  He stays in bed until we come and get him up in the morning.  It is the most adorable thing to tuck him in under his truck & train comforter with his head on a pillow - so different from his crib sleeping - he is such a big kid!

Luke is so extremely verbal it is amazing.  He repeats things that we say all the time, sometimes parroting, but then other times he says it days later in the right context.  Like tonight he wanted his "Hey, Luke" music CD on instead of the music I picked out, and he says "How about we try the Hey, Luke music Mommy?"  Yes, how about it?  At times he is very contrary, saying no to everything.  "No, Luke does not like breakfast.  No, Luke does not like to change diaper.  No, Luke does not like pomegranate (lie- he loves pomegranate)."  He also says really cute stuff during regular conversation like "Mommy do you want some peas?" But, he says the "do you want" staccato style, and then draws out the "peas" so it is like "Maahmee. do. you. want. some peeeaaaaaas?"

He still is very particular about what he wears, dressing exclusively for comfort.   No buttons, zippers and preferably only cotton or fleece materials are allowed to touch his skin.

He loves to help us cook or bake, and has really been enjoying his play kitchen a lot.  Last night he helped me make banana bread and actually cracked an egg with one hand into the bowl (could have been an accident that no shell got in the bowl, but it was really quite impressive).

He moved up from the baby room to the "big gym" in gymnastics and really is quite good at what they have him doing.  He has been encouraged to join the class above his age group because of his skill level.  Isolene and Luke have many activities - gymnastics, music class, art class and storytime at the library.  They keep quite busy!  I'm looking forward to taking him to his classes while I am on maternity leave.

 Here are a few recent pictures:

"washing" dishes

"Luke is baking a cake!"

Reading stories with Daddy in my new big boy bed.

Play doh pizza time with Isolene

Pudding face

Head stuck in the banister

Head stuck between the wall and the chair

Watching trains with Daddy

Last weekend we went to Olivia Bullock's first birthday party.  There were probably a dozen other kids there, Luke loved it!  Nicki and Andy went all out for the party.  It was great to see them and all the other friends who came.

Indoor Kid Fun Mania

A math problem:

Free time + 2 year old + winter - snow = indoor kid's activities

Luke and I hit the DuPage Children's Museum with Ben, Linda, Donna & Emil one day.  This children's museum, near D&E's house, is huge and awesome.  We couldn't even see all of it before it was time to go home.  The 5 adults per kid ratio was kind of funny, but the adults had almost as much fun as Luke exploring everything.

 Kristin and PJ came back into town for their last weekend of their trip to the Midwest.  Cory had already headed back to Arizona.  Instead of just lazing around the house, we planned some fun activities - like going to the Charlie Brown exhibit at the Museum of Science & Industry with Mom and Dad on Friday.  Then on Sat/Sun we went to the nearby indoor waterpark Key Lime Cove. The waterpark was really fun!  We didn't really know what to expect, but it was more fun than I was actually anticipating it to be.  It felt like we really had gone to FL or something - quite the successful mind trick of actually being on vacation!  The kids had a blast, and we had a blast watching them enjoy themselves so much.  Too soon we had to say good bye to Kristin and PJ.  Can't wait until our next visit!

After dinner popsicle treat

At the museum on Friday, Matt had to work so couldn't join us.  Luke was a wild child - definitely a hand full in a museum.  Even with three other adults there, I missed Matt on hand to help me reign in the stinkers.  I'm getting too pregnant to physically carry this kid around for hours.  

Luke sitting in a real John Deere tractor with his new John Deere tractor shirt on.

Fort!

Key Lime Cove!  Lazy river.

PJ was a little fish.  She was so independent going down all the slides.