Apartment Life

We are getting more and more settled into our apartment as the days go by. Really, there is not much to settle, as you can see from the picture of our living room, we don't have our furniture here! We have decided to leave most of our things at the house until it sells. Thankfully, we do have a comfy bed, and Luke has his crib, to sleep in. Having so few things here has actually been eye opening...it has made me think about the things that I really NEED. My husband, my son, my Savior, food and warmth. I am so blessed to have it all!

Mike is enjoying his new position in the product development department of Universal Forest Products. There are a lot of new things for him to learn about, but he catches on quickly. He gets to work on different projects all the time and I think that will keep him on his toes.

Luke is getting used to apartment life. It's been a challenge to keep him busy and occupied. He drew on the wall with crayons the second day we were here. He likes to watch the squirrels and the birds that come to play on our deck. We went outside this morning to enjoy the first real snowfall of the season. We got over 6 inches of snow last night! Luke and I bundled up and stomped through the snow. He wasn't sure what to think of it at first; he wanted me to get it off of his boots!

Counting...trying:)

Our little baby is almost 19 months old. Luke is beginning to act more like a little boy than a little baby. We are so proud of him and all that he is learning; he seems to soak up and repeat everything that he hears. His vocabulary has expanded greatly in the last few weeks. One of his favorite topics of conversation is his family. He goes through everyone's names and I ask, "Where is Grandma (or whoever he is talking about)?" to which Luke replies, "Home." Sometimes I'll find him looking at books and 'reading' them to himself, with amazing inflection in his voice, I might add. He has a rocket to play with in the bathtub, he loves to say BLASTOFF (you'll hear that in the video). Luke has the sweetest personality and he loves to help everyone. He's always willing to offer a bite of his food (if he can feed it to you himself), or a drink from his cup. He helps set the table for dinner, always wants to put his shoes away in the closet, and his newest fascination is getting the mail from our tiny mailbox in the apartment. We love him dearly!

Go Tigers!

This past Saturday, Mike and I got to spend a fun night out with friends. Rick and Julie got tickets to see the Tigers play in Detroit. We had dinner at Hockeytown before the game, and nervously walked into the stadium as we watched a BLACK cloud slowly blow over us. Thankfully, it only sprinkled for a few minutes and the rest of the night was great! We had nice seats and awesome company! Too bad the Tigers lost!

ONE!

Luke is talking and understanding more every day!

Meal Time Nap

Luke woke up at 6:00 this morning, so needless to say, he was very tired. We ate lunch at 11, but it wasn't early enough. He could barely get his lunch down as he was falling asleep. Thought you all would enjoy this too:)

Heritage

As it is with every child, Luke grows up a little more each day. It has struck me recently how he has begun to exhibit little pieces of his family members in his budding personality. His grandpa Grasman's tractors (and everything else that moves) hold a special allure each time he sees them. I think Luke is already growing a great love for the farm his grandpa works so hard on. Luke's joy in the outdoors and his love for things that grow and hold beauty reminds me of his grandma Grasman. He loves to help me take care of all our plants. There's also a little music and rhythm coming to life inside of him. Inherited from, and encouraged by, his grandma Glass, Luke makes music with anything he can find and always bounces to the beat. Luke's little body is already learning to be coordinated when it comes to sports. Luke loves to play, yet he is also reserved when he wants to be, reminding me of his grandpa Glass's love of athletics and his strong, quiet nature.

A blessed heritage is one of the most wonderful things we can pass down to our son. I am so thankful for our families.

July Pictures

14 months old already, Luke is really enjoying summer time! He loves to play outside in his car...getting in and out, over and over. He loves to play with the basketballs and shoot hoops with Daddy. We have a fun park in our neighborhood that he loves to play at too.

No No

Our sweet little Luke has learned a word that has the potential to be not so sweet! The day before I took this video, he was getting food boxes out of the cupboard and trying to dump them out. I told him no several times and would move him away from the cupboard, but he kept going back. Finally, I succeeded in distracting him and left the room to get some laundry. When I came back around the corner, he was standing by the cupboard with a box in his hand. Caught red-handed, he looked straight at me and said "No, No!" This was my clear indication that he knows what he knows what that word means! Still, it was pretty cute:)

Our 5th Anniversary

 

Mike and I celebrated five years of being married on July 3. We took a wonderful trip to a bed and breakfast in South Haven, Michigan the night before. The weather did not cooperate the way we wanted it to, but we still had a great time being together. The Carriage House was beautiful (We'd definitely recommend it)! When we got there, Mike had scheduled a 1/2 hour massage for each of us. Appetizers were served at the house at 5:00, and then we went to a great Italian restaurant downtown for dinner. After dinner, we went to Sherman's for ice cream. We had a delicious breakfast in the morning and got to spend a little time at the beach before we picked Luke up at Mike's parents' house. 

It was so nice to spend some time alone with my husband. I am blessed to have such a loving, hard working, godly man as my partner in life. I treasure his friendship and love him more with each passing year. These first five years have flown by. We have learned new things about each other, grown to understand each other better, and still have a "little thing" for one another:) 

Mike, I love you and am so happy to be spending my life by your side! 

Luke's First Tractor Ride

Father's Day weekend, we took a trip up to the farm. Luke is fascinated with anything that moves, so of course, he noticed his grandpa's big tractors right away! He has seen them many times before, but this time he really wanted to sit on one. Already he wants to figure out all the gears and know just how everything works. The day after the video was taken, Mike took Luke on his first real ride. I think Luke thought it was pretty loud at first, but he still loved it! 

The Baby's Cruisin'

On April 24th, Luke took his first steps on his own. We were very excited for him that night and thought that was the beginning of his "upright" life. However, Luke thinks like his daddy. What I mean by this is that he thinks and thinks and thinks and thinks:) Luke refused to walk for weeks! He had to consider his options and make sure that walking was going to be a good decision. By June 1, he had made up his mind. Confident in his decision, with no coercing from Mom or Dad, Luke let go of the furniture and starting walking everywhere. We kept him up past bedtime that night because we were having so much fun watching him walk. Each day, he walks more than the day before. It's still a shock to watch him toddle into a room behind me! 

(This video was taken yesterday. Luke loves to say BOOM when he falls down or when he runs into things with his toys. It's pretty funny:) )

Outside!!

 

Luke loves playing outside, and we've had lots of fun getting out of the house when the weather is nice! He knows how to play in the dirt (really well), smell flowers, water flowers (He knows where the watering can is and always wants to help), and mow the lawn with Daddy. We love summer! 

Grandma Glass

 

My grandma, Marian Glass, went home to be with Jesus on May 20. I miss her, but it's for selfish reasons. She is forever safe, forever healthy, and forever free from pain. 

Over the past two weeks, memories have flooded my mind; memories that I want to share with my family now, and my kids some day. Grandma's house was an hour away from ours; when we were younger, this allowed for lots of sleepovers. My sisters and I shared the room with the bunk bed/trundle. I would worry that the bed was going to collapse on me since it had been around since my dad was young:) The house sits on a big hill with a creek at the bottom. All the cousins would roll or sled down the hill, depending on the season. Grandma had the best toboggan! We would catch turtles, or watch John and Blakey catch turtles, and count them in the bucket. Christmas time holds the most memories with my grandma. Usually right on Christmas day there'd be a great meal (with lots of mashed potatoes for Emily), Barbie game-playing (Abi never cared if her boyfriend was Poindexter), John and I sharing our bench when we got old enough to be a the adult table, cheating with the Rubik's cube, taking candy canes off the tree, playing with the train, sitting in front of the fire or space heater, wrapped in Grandma's shawls, white elephant exchange fun, Grandma's hand made gifts for us, and a lot of sharing and catching up with family. Grandma made delicious chocolate cakes for each of our birthdays, each year! She spent countless hours watching our sporting events, from AYSO soccer games to college volleyball. She brought treats for my team during preseason on several occasions. She would stop by my dorm room to bring chocolate chip cookies. She knew all my roommates and my teammates, and they all called her Grandma Glass. 

The memories that stand out the most right now are the more recent ones. One year ago, Grandma drove to our house to meet Luke, her sixth great-grandchild, when he was a week old. She just sat on the couch and stared at him; she told me she didn't want to let go. I had the privilege of watching Grandma line dance at one of her classes. She was pretty good! I remember sitting at her kitchen table on a beautiful day this March while she got excited because we let her eat the crust piece of a loaf of bread I made. Only a few days before she died, she was at our house to celebrate Luke's first birthday. She loved holding him and watching him play with the little egg shaker that she kept in her purse for him. She brought it for him to keep that day. I am so thankful, as I look back, that God gave me a treasured last memory of my grandma. I can see Luke taking steps, on his own, toward her and giving her neck a squeeze before she left. I gave her a hug and we both said "I love you." 

As I worshipped in church this past Sunday, I was in awe of the joy around me and the joy I felt about praising God. It made me think about what Heaven must be like on a Sunday morning, or every morning for that matter. Grandma is worshipping WITH God, and I cannot imagine a more joyous scene. Thank you, God, for preparing such home for us.

 

I love you, Grandma.

family pictures

 

Happy 1st Birthday, Luke!

 

Luke had a fun-filled Sunday afternoon with his family. They were all in town to celebrate his birthday. (We did miss Aunt Jen and Aunt Bekah!) I know it sounds cliche, but it is hard to believe that a whole year has blown by since we brought our little baby home from the hospital. He has brought so much joy and excitement to our lives, and his birthday party was no different. He received many new toys from his wonderful family. He tasted cake and frosting for the first time; I think he liked it! He played outside. Most importantly, he got lots of loving! It was a great day!

One Year Old

My Sweet Luke,

One year ago today, your daddy and I got to meet you for the first time. We had prayed and waited for you for nine long months, and we were so excited when, on May 15, you were ours to hold.

I am amazed at the way you have changed and grown in the past year. My love for you has grown each day, with each cry, each smile, each new discovery. You are a joy in my life, and I am so lucky to be with you every day! You are a precious son. I thank God that I get to be your mommy, and I pray that you will let Him find a home in your sweet heart.

May 15 will always be a day to remember the joy and love that filled my heart when you were born. I love you, Luke Michael! 

Love, Mommy 

Little Man!  

It is so hard to believe that you are already a year old!  Getting to see you each day and see how you change makes time fly by!  You've brought so much joy to Mommy and I; your contagious smile, hearty giggles and your loving hugs melt our hearts everyday!  I love coming home each day to see what new adventures you've discovered.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for us as a family and for you as my little man!  Happy first birthday and I look forward to many more!  I love you, Luke Michael!!!

Love, Daddy

Such a BOY!

Ok, before you watch this video, please know that I do intend to teach our son to be a gentleman and act politely and not do gross things. HOWEVER, I love hearing him laugh, and I'll pretty much do anything to hear him giggle. We just like to have fun! At dinner one night, Luke let a little burp slip out and then thought it was a pretty funny sound. He started giggling, so I imitated the noise and he laughed even harder. (disclaimer....I am not really burping, just making a noise with my mouth. I promise!) 

Congratulations, Jen!

Last weekend, we were in Holland celebrating Mike's sister, Jen's, graduation. She graduated from Hope with a BSN and we are so proud of her! She is the last of the Grasmans to finish up college, hard to believe. It was a beautiful weekend, and the tulips were in full bloom. Luke had fun playing with his cousins and wishing he could run around with them! 

11 Months

Only one more month until Luke's birthday. I hope I don't have to stop calling him my 'baby' when he turns one! Each month brings new surprises and new achievements for our little man. This month we added cabinet locks in the kitchen and bought a connecting gate to block off certain areas of the living room. It's almost impossible to contain Luke, but we try to keep him out of trouble! He has his own cabinet in the kitchen with some tupperware in it, so he isn't completely locked out:) 

Luke says 'dada' all the time. I think I've heard 'mama' a couple times, but it's not his word of choice! He just started clapping his hands and he loves to play the "How big is Luke?" game; he throws his hands straight up in the air! He's a great sleeper; Mike and I are very thankful for that! He loves to push around his walker. He's pretty steady on his feet, but still has not been brave enough to take steps on his own. He is a happy, healthy little boy, and we love him like crazy!!   

Play Date

 

Yesterday, Luke and I went over to my friend Mary's house for some lunch and some fun! We have several close friends who all had children within a few months of each other. We have been getting together for lunch every so often since our kids were born, but we missed a few months with all the holidays and everything. Yesterday was pretty exciting with all of the babies now walking or crawling. It was great to watch them play with each other instead of just laying on blankets staring at each other! The lone girl in the group, Addie, had her pick of boys between Luke, Ethan, Keegan, and the twins (Owen and Ian). She's a lucky girl:) 

(The pictures: Ethan followed me around while I took pictures, I think he's got experience with that:) Luke and Keegan had fun pushing Ian on his toy; I don't think Ian knew what was going on behind him! We attempted to get a group picture. I snapped away while all the other moms kept the bunch on the couch. Such sweet babies!) 

One Step Closer

Each day, Luke is getting closer to walking. Just today he let us only hold onto one of his hands when he walks. Usually, he will stop moving if we let go of one hand. We're waiting to see if he'll be walking before these first 12 months are up! 

Go Get It!

I know every parent probably says this, but we have the smartest son in the world! Luke's brain has been taking in so many new things for the past 10.5 months, and now he's starting to let us know that he's been learning! So far, there are three things that are Luke's "toys of choice," his tractor, ball, and lion. He knows them all by name and we caught it on video so we could brag a little bit:) Watch! 

If there's trouble, he's into it...

This first picture will give you a good idea of what Luke does when I leave him alone for a second. He intuitively knows to get into the exact things he's not supposed to be touching. Of course, they're the most fascinating things! In his bedroom, his clock and monitor are the cool toys of choice. 

The other picture is Luke watching his favorite sigh language video with his lion. So cute! He is always very attentive when we play this video. Over the last couple weeks, he has really been picking up some of the signs. It's so fun to watch! 

Another Date

Luke gets to date MUCH more than I was allowed to when I was his age. His special friend, Addie, comes over a lot to play with him! Last week Addie's mom, Stacy, had a meeting and she dropped Addie off at our house for a while. When I was pregnant, I thought it would be fun to have twins. After babysitting Luke and Addie by myself, I'm not sure if fun would be the right word for having two babies at once. Luke and Addie are both very good-natured babies so I didn't have it too bad. I did feed them both lunch at the same time. Luke was very jealous that Addie got her bottle first, so he tried to steal it. Addie likes her food to come fast, so I was throwing Cheerios on Luke's tray in between Addie's squeals for more food! I felt like Super Mom, sliding back and forth on my stool between the two high chairs. We had a fun morning, and Luke and Addie had lots of fun playing together! They are such sweet babies:) 

10 Months!

Luke is 10 months old as of this past Sunday. Time is flying by; it's hard to believe he will be 1 soon! We enjoyed his "birthday" outside as it was a beautiful March day! As always, Luke is learning new things each day. His latest accomplishments include walking behind his walker (and now maneuvering around obstacles), signing 'milk' and 'all done' and 'more', crawling to the door every day when Daddy comes home from work, playing peek-a-boo (so cute...I'll have to post a video), and smiling SO much it makes our hearts melt! 

Florida Vacation 2009

 

Mike, Luke, and I had a wonderful vacation in Florida last week. We had the chance to fly to Naples to spend a few days with my grandparents who are staying in Florida for the month. My sister Rebekah was also with us for the last couple days of her vacation. It was quite an adventure to take our first "far away" family vacation! Luke is a professional flyer now...he loved watching all the people on the airplane and banging his hands on the fold down trays (I'm sure the people in front of us enjoyed that). He slept through some of the flight, but was very happy when he was awake. Grandpa and Grandma graciously shared the beautiful house that they're renting with us. We enjoyed using the pool outside every day! The weather was perfect, and it was so nice to be outside in the warm air. We had relaxing evenings at several delicious restaurants, where, as you can guess, Luke was the center of attention. We discovered that he really likes to be social during meal times. He wanted to be in on our conversations, but he doesn't have volume control:) Everyone thought it was cute though. Grandma and I got to take a trip to the outlet mall one day, and Mike and Grandpa watched the Boston Red Sox play in a spring training game another day. Luke loved spending time with his great-grandparents! Thank you so much Grandpa and Grandma for sharing a wonderful vacation with us! We love and miss you! 

Overnight Without Luke!!

 

Mike and I were able to get away overnight last weekend for the first time since Luke was born. My parents were more than happy to keep Luke overnight! We went to Detroit to watch the Red Wings play. I'm not going to lie, we bought the cheap seats, BUT cheap as we are, we eyed some (empty) good seats during the entire first period. We decided to make our move during the first break and ended up watching the rest of the game from the 7th row!! We had dinner beforehand in Greektown and rode the People Mover to the game, and Mike got to see Gordy Howe (former Red Wings player) who was at the stadium signing autographs. We spent the night at the Omni Hotel on the Detroit River and took advantage of our chance to sleep in! It was a great time! 

Luke had lots of fun with and slept well for his grandpa and grandma and probably didn't even notice we were gone! Aunt Anna brought him a lion which he loves to play with. We've been working on his ROAR!  

Banged Up Boy

Today was a rough day for Luke...as you can see from the picture. He thinks he can stand, walk, lean, jump, swim, and climb all by himself, but today his face found out that he can't! I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the way boys like to be daredevils; I have a feeling it gets worse as they get older! This afternoon Luke bumped his cheek on his play table and then again on another toy. Tonight, he took a head first dive into the leg of the end table while trying to stand up. A short 10 minutes later, he banged his head again on a handle of the desk drawer. We took some pictures so he can brag about his battle wounds to his friends. Then it was bath time. Luke wanted to try his hand at swimming and took his first, face-first plunge into the water. 

Rough day....Mommy needs some sleep! 

Table Time

Luke is pretty big stuff! He pulls himself up so he can stand by himself. He loves his table because it makes all sorts of different sounds. He is also quite a chatterbox!

9 Months Old

 One of my friends pointed out that we not only have a 9 month old baby today, but we also will have a 1 year old in 3 short months! I do not know how Luke got to be this old already. He lights up our house with his smile each day. He has begun to greet us in the morning by standing in his crib and watching for the door to open. He loves the morning and always wakes up in a playful mood, ready for fun! He finds everything BUT his toys to have fun with! Such a boy! 

A Busy Month!

 

Luke is going on 9 months and continues to learn how to do new things constantly! He is crawling and now wants to explore everything he has been staring at for the past 8 months. Somehow he knows how to find all the places where he should not be. He pulls books off of the bookshelves, opens the entertainment center doors to remove the DVD's inside, crawls under the computer desk to reach for the cords, heads for the trash can in the bathroom while I'm getting ready in the morning. He's fast too:) 

Two sharp little teeth have made their appearance in his mouth. He's back to sleeping much better now that those are in! Luke loves playing in the kitchen with Mommy. He'll mess around with anything I give him. Other kids are fascinating to him! He loves to watch them. We have switched carseats, and Luke is now in his big boy seat. He enjoys looking out the window.  He knows how to feed himself little snacks. This has its downfalls however, because today I caught him eating a piece of carpet he had picked out of the corner and popped in his mouth. Gross! 

We love seeing the joy that our little boy already has for life! 

Mr. Curious

Now that Luke can move his little body where he wants it to go, it has opened up a world of discovery for him! He still cannot crawl, but he's getting close. He easily rolls and scoots his way around to whatever he wants to explore. He enjoys grabbing books from under the coffee table, opening and shutting the doors on the entertainment center (just to hear the noise), grabbing the rocks on the base of the fireplace, and heading toward any new thing we put on the floor near him. 

Luke's curiosity is not limited to the living room however. He has recently discovered that the bumper in his crib is not totally connected to the bed. He digs underneath the bumper to find the ties to chew on. He pulls the bumper down to scope out what's going on in his room. This picture is how I found him this morning. Busted!  

Mmmm!

Luke is a very good eater overall. We tried feeding him an avocado the other night and got a kick out of his reaction! I don't think Luke cares what the books say about avocados being healthy for babies:)