What Do You Want From Me?

This must be what Luke is thinking every time we sit in front of him with the camera. Mike's grandma asked if Luke ever got to play or if we just took pictures all the time. He's just so photogenic:) 

Luke and His Girl

Let me just say, as a proud mother, that girls find Luke very handsome! He's got some stiff competition among our friends, however, considering he was one of about five other baby boys born within a few months. It appears as though he's realized this and decided to make his move on the only girl in the nursery, sweet Addie Grace! :)  

So Thankful!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend traveling to see both of our families. We are so fortunate to have two amazing families who love us so much. Luke had lots of fun playing with his cousins and seeing all his relatives. He continues to be the center of attention:) 

We spent Thursday with my mom's extended family which we have been doing ever since I can remember. It's fun to catch up with everyone and see how the family continues to grow and change. Friday I ventured to the mall with my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. We were not totally crazy...we waited until about 11:00 to brave the crowds, and we did find some good deals! Mike spent some time hunting, but much to his disappointment, did not shoot anything this year. He also helped with some projects around his dad's house. We stopped back by my parents' on the way home to celebrate my dad's birthday. 

I was challenged on Sunday at church to train myself to be thankful. It's easy to remember things I'm thankful for around this time of year, but not so natural through the rest of the year. My thankfulness and love overflow for the wonderful family God has blessed Mike and I with. On top of that, we have many other blessings to count! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

(...The picture of Luke in the tub is somewhat unrelated to Thanksgiving, but it was taken over the weekend. We are thankful for our son, bath time, and rubber duckies...)

Tagged!!

I have been tagged by Jessica.

Share 7 facts about yourself. Some random and some weird. 

Luke is in bed and Mike is gone tonight so I'm sitting here wasting time instead of doing laundry or something! 

1. I could live off of cheese and apple juice. I absolutely love them:)

2. I've never had a hamburger from McDonalds (or any other fast food place). Stacy informed me that I'm a hamburger snob. I guess it's true. I only like homemade ones on the grill. I've only ordered a burger from a restaurant 2 times in my life! 

3. My favorite place to visit is Charlevoix, Michigan. I would love to have a house up there someday for our family to stay at on vacations. The city is called "Charlevoix the Beautiful" and it is. 

4. Lately I like to watch Matlock on tv while Luke is eating lunch. How old is that show? It intrigues me:)

5. I have shot 2 rabbits in our backyard (and killed them!) with a pellet gun. One I shot from our bedroom window, the other from outside the garage. Don't be alarmed, we only shoot things at very safe times.....i.e. when the neighbors are at work and all the dogs are inside. Yikes:) We kill the rabbits because the eat everything! I take pride in my flowers and my hostas! 

6. This is getting harder.....um...I love to bake and cook things! I wish I could open my own bed and breakfast! I would LOVE to decorate the rooms, make fancy table settings, and cook all day long!

7. I am the oldest of 7 granddaughters on my mom's side of the family and Luke is the first BOY to come along. He will be surrounded by all sorts of aunties at Christmas!

Six Months Old

This Saturday, the 15th, will be Luke's six month birthday. Where has the time gone? In six months he has grown over 8 inches in length, more than doubled his birth weight, learned to coo, scream, stretch, smile, bounce, reach, spit, laugh, growl, roll over, sit up, suck his toes....and this is just the beginning. He is nothing short of a miracle! Mike and I thank God every day for our healthy, happy son! 

Luke's personality is already starting to shine. He takes things in stride and goes where we go. He loves to watch what's going on and figure out where noises are coming from. I think he will be great at figuring out how things work, like his Daddy. He loves to smile at people and to be entertained. He never lets us forget that he is in the room; he loves to jabber! 

I would venture to say that Mike and I are used to "baby" life now, though Luke continues to teach us new things every day! I am sure that he is just looking out for his mom and dad's well-being. He wants us to stay flexible and be ready for anything. Everyone tells you how much life changes when you have kids, and it's true! It's amazing how different things are. It's amazing how WONDERFUL they are. We are so in love with Luke Michael and so glad that God has entrusted him to our care! 

Fall Fun

In an effort to catch up on my blogging, I'm combining some of our fall events to post. Our family has gotten to do lots of fun things already this fall. Luke just follows us wherever we go! We enjoyed a hayride at the Riggenbach's with all of our church friends. It was a perfect evening to be outside, and we didn't lose any kids off the side of the wagon:)  Mike and I celebrated our 27th birthdays. My parents came over to celebrate with us. Luke bought flowers for me and some golf balls for his dad. Mike ended his birthday snuggling with Luke and reading him a bedtime story. Precious! We just got back from our yearly camping trip with the Grasman family. Luke is a pretty good camper already. He enjoyed hiking (while napping on Daddy's back). He had lots of fun watching his cousins run around and wishing he could play with them. We love the beauty of fall time and all the fun it brings! 

Adventures in Eating

Someday our son will be mortified that we put this video on the Internet for the world to see, but right now, it's pretty funny. Be warned...this is not for the weak-stomached. We started feeding Luke some food this past week. This was our first attempt; later ones were more productive. Note also that we learned a couple valuable lessons, one, don't feed babies in the living room, and two, remember to change the diaper before meals. We'll write it off to being first-time parents. 

Rolling Over

As you can see, we just got into the exciting world of videotaping:) This is Luke practicing his new skill of rolling over. Let's just hope he always listens to me and obeys as well as he does in this video. 

Luke's Discovery

A couple days ago, Luke realized that he has a lower register to his voice. He uses it all the time now when he's talking his baby talk. It is hilarious! 

just some fun new pictures of our sweet Luke

(This is why mom's give up on doing their hair!)

4 Months Old

Today marks four months since our little Luke came into the world. I cannot believe how much our lives have changed since then. I cannot believe how much HE has changed since then. Each day he sees something new that triggers a smile, and his smiles melt my heart! Each day he gets a little better at holding his head up and grabbing onto his toys and pushing up on his legs. As he gets older, I am reminded daily that life is precious. I am so thankful that God has given Mike and I the responsibility of being Luke's parents. 

Yesterday we opened a couple boxes from the basement which held new toys for Luke. People would probably laugh at how excited Mike and I were to watch Luke enjoy these new things for the first time. Even with the torrents of rain coming down outside, there was such joy inside our house! This gave me a bit of a revelation. God takes the same delight in me that I find in my son. How simple a truth! How amazing is His love!   

I just had to put this picture on here because it completely encapsulates my son! We had a long weekend with family, and it was wonderful. BUT it was also wonderful to be home. Luke just acts more like himself. His neck and back are getting stronger and stronger, so we've being trying out his Bumbo seat. He loves it! He reminds me of Mike in this picture because Mike SO loves to relax and that is just what Luke is doing! God has entrusted us with quite a little miracle:)  

Luke and Evan

from Luke....

This is a picture of Evan. We stayed at his house this weekend in Grand Rapids and our parents are making us be friends. I think we'll get along someday because our mommies and daddies get along so well. My dad played baseball with Evan's dad starting way back when they were in elementary school and my mom played volleyball with his mom in college. Evan's mom and dad introduced my mom and dad to each other. My mom told me a story about the night she met Dad. She and Evan's mom were camping and they talked all night about how they would marry our dads and live close to each other and teach at the same school and have their kids play together. So I guess it's pretty cool that Evan and I are only 2.5 weeks apart. We're looking forward to trying that baseball thing together. 

Luke and I are figuring this thing out together. I think he'll be a computer nerd:) 

I did it:) We have a blog! Give me a few days to put more than just these words on it. :)