Super Slacker!

I've not only been slacking on my blogging duties, but also on my picture taking duties. I didn't take any pictures of my boy's first Thanksgiving :( Let's see, where did I last leave off... So, last Friday Tommy and I had an awesome date night. We went to Carrabba's for dinner and enjoyed a little baby free time. Saturday morning I went to Lynsi's to do a little holiday sewing. I
made a valance for my kitchen window and a stocking for Luke. I think they both turned out well, but my valance was just wide enough for my window, so I made another one so they would kind of scrunch, and the second one ended up being probably close to 2" longer than the first. I might fix it, but maybe I'll just leave it. Kind of gives it character :) Saturday night we went to Becca's "Turducken Party." She attempted to make a turducken (a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey... maybe not in that order, but you get the point), but it really kind of just turned into a platter of meat. Everything fell apart. Luke did okay, but I have definitely figured out over the past week that he's not a big fan of crowds or being passed around or possibly loud noises. Not really sure which one, or if it's a combination of things, but he seems to get really worked up every time we're at a party or family function. We had fun and I left stuffed! Sunday we just watched some football with Amanda and Kevin and hung around the house. Luke rolled over Tuesday night, and then my sister and mother informed me that he rolled over before then and they didn't tell me because they were afraid I would be upset that I wasn't there for it. Of course I'm not upset! I just wish they would have told me so I knew the exact date to put in his baby book. On Thanksgiving we went to Tommy's aunt's first for a couple of hours, and then went to my aunt's later in the afternoon for dinner. I didn't take any pictures! Luke even met some family he's never met before... no pictures. I know, it's horrible. Friday I had a girl's get together to kick off the holiday season and we did a little Yankee Swap, or Dirty Santa, or whatever you want to call it and that was fun. Saturday we just hung out and watched Funny People last night, which I thought was a good movie. Today we went to the Festival of Trees at the Jaycees Hall and then got our own tree! We got lights on it, but haven't decorated it yet. We also had Chrissie come over to try to take our family/Christmas card pictures, but Luke was not a happy camper and even though we got some good ones, definitely no Christmas card quality pics of Luke :) He didn't smile AT ALL! Not one smile! And we tried for about an hour. He was tired and super cranky. So, there's our past week, and here's lots of pics!

"Ma" (Sarah and Becca's mom), Shelby, and Luke at the Turducken Party

Lynsi, Baby Katie, and Luke

BK giving Luke a kiss

Steelers Santa today at the Festival of Trees- Tommy said this was the REAL Santa :)

The real Festival Santa... I was not impressed. Definitely have to take him to a different Santa to get a better picture. He was holding Luke really oddly and look at him! He looks miserable!

Festival of Trees


chillin, watching some Jack's Big Music Show

Smiling because the Redskins were winning. It didn't last long.

Just hanging out on my bed while I fold clothes

with his new crocheted blanket from his Aunt Ginny

one of our pictures Chrissie took tonight

and then he crashed...

I forgot...

one little thing! I meant to mention that Luke is turning himself in his crib!! I'll put him to bed (in clock terms) with his head at 12:00 and when I go get him up to feed him he has rotated himself so his head is at 9:00! Like a full quarter turn and I don't know how he's doing it!!

Three Months Old!

I'm posting this super late after a looong day at school! I'm sad that I didn't get to spend much time with Luke on his three month birthday, but he got to see both Grandmas today and Daddy took very good care of him. I know he got lots of love all around. I don't have Luke's height or weight because he won't be seen at the doctor until four months. I'm going to try to measure him and weigh him this weekend though just to get a general idea. Luke's favorite things really haven't changed from last month- music and mobiles! He now has a mobile on his crib, his swing at home, his swing at Grandma's, and his pack and play. He is mesmerized by all of them. He'll just stare up and smile. He loves being sung to and he loves just hearing music. Tommy and I make up little songs all the time to get him to smile. He is so strong! I know I keep saying that, but this kid is seriously buff. He can hold himself up on his tummy without his arms. He tucks his arms up and just kind of balances on his belly while holding his head up high. He picked his pacifier up off the table the other night, which was the smallest thing I've seen him actually grab and hold on to. I was eating dinner with him on my lap because his favorite thing to do is cry at dinner time and not let me and Tommy eat together :) He just leaned forward and picked his pacifier right up. He didn't put it in his mouth, just kind of moved his arm around, but I had never seen him do that. Then he grabbed my napkin and rubbed it all over his face! That was the second time he's done that with a napkin. He hates being held facing you, and has for a long time. The only time I get to look at him while holding him is if he is sleeping. Then I might get to snuggle him for a little bit. Other than that, when he's being held he wants to be facing out! I'll sit in the recliner and put my knees up with the boppy pillow resting on my legs and prop him up and talk to him and sing to him and he lets me do that, so we do get a little bit of close face time, but he definitely throws a fit if I try to give him a little face to face cuddle while holding him. He likes not having clothes on. When we get him stripped down to change him or before a bath he just lays on his changing table and smiles and kicks and coos and just looks so happy and free. I guess it does feel good to get a diaper off every once in a while. He's bumped up to four ounces but is still eating about every three hours. Sometimes he'll give us four hours at night, but it's rare. I'm starting to get asked, "is he sleeping through the night yet?" all the time. My standard answer is "not even close." It's getting much easier, but I still have the occasional sleep-deprived meltdown. That's about it for this post! He's an adorable Mini-Tommy with lots of my characteristics and I would say my very favorite thing that's happened since last month is he's stopped being so stingy with the smiles! I love to see him smile and I get lots of them every day now :)

This morning before I left for school

trying to feed him cereal. It didn't go so well. I think I'll try it in the bottle next time.

Catching Up... As Usual

This past month has been so crazy, and I know it's not going to get any more relaxed with the holidays coming up! Luke had a couple of really bad days this past week. He would have periods where he would just cry and cry. As soon as I start to seriously consider taking him to the doctor to get checked out, he seems to turn around and be fine. So, the past couple days he's been his normal mildly fussy self, nothing out of the ordinary. I really don't want to take him to the doctor unless he's really sick because I'm afraid he'll pick up something worse in the germy office!

Yesterday Luke and I did a little Christmas shopping. We were in Home Goods and he decided he wasn't happy in his car seat anymore, so I held him while doing the rest of my shopping... not easy! So, today when I wanted to do a little more Christmas shopping I made sure I had a shopping buddy. My sister Carrie went with us and it worked out because the stroller ended up holding our heavy bags and we switched off holding a much less heavy Luke :) I've gotten a lot of shopping done but still have quite a bit left to do. I saw a red satin Carter's dress in Kohl's that made me yearn for a baby girl like I have never yearned before. It was seriously so adorable that I almost bought it for my future baby girl, but then realized that a) I may never have that girl and b) there is no possible way for me to determine what size to buy for a Christmas dress. I can't believe future children are even sneaking their way into my brain right now. Must be the lack of sleep making me delirious.

I have two happy moments to look forward to at school tomorrow. Luke's coming! My Mom's bringing him to visit me and to meet the girls at school. The second happy moment is that I'm hitting 1,000 hours tomorrow!!!! 500 to go. It seems like I'm so far along, yet still have so far to go. I HATE my long days at school, but 9-9 twice a week is the fastest way I can get out of there and the best way to spend the least amount of time away from home. I will hopefully be a licensed cosmetologist by next Summer. I should graduate end of April/beginning of May, and then need to take my State Board Exam. I think that when I finally do start working in a salon, I'm going to really like the variety of hours. I like the idea of being able to spend some days with Luke, instead of just nights. Also, since most salons don't open until 9 or later, I'll probably almost always be able to put him on the bus once he starts school. One downfall is that I'll probably almost always work Saturdays, so I'll probably miss out on some sports activities and parties and stuff like that. Good thing he has a wonderful Daddy who wouldn't miss that stuff for the world! Okay, definitely starting to ramble, so I'll wrap it up! Hoping to get Christmas/family pictures done this coming weekend.

Look at that lip! Sometimes I can't help but giggle when he cries because he's so cute!


This is where all of his toys go now- straight to the mouth!

Chunky little legs and feet

laughing at one of Dad's silly songs

wearing nothing but a "pee-pee tee-pee"

I love this kid in a hooded towel :)

Quiet Day

Well, except for Luke's crying. This child is still very fussy. I hope he grows out of it. Anyways, just a few pictures. We were watching football waiting for Tommy to get home from work. He just got home a few minutes ago and immediately fell asleep on the couch. He worked Friday, then got called in again Friday night, worked all day yesterday and went straight to the wedding, and then back to work today! He's really looking forward to the holiday on Wednesday.

a little smirk at my funny faces and noises


He's been chewing on his hands and thumb alot! He's really found that thumb and it makes its way into his mouth a couple times a day

baby bum fresh out of the bath

got a big smile for singing to him.

"Where were you when that baby was being made?!"

That's the question I heard at least five times at my cousin's wedding last night :) And, of course, all the related comments like "there's no denying he's yours, Tommy!" I don't mind, I think Luke's incredibly handsome, just like his dad. Maybe I'll get a baby girl who looks just like me next. Amanda and Kevin's wedding was beautiful and Amanda looked amazing. We're the same age and grew up very close and she plans on making babies right away, so I'm hoping that Luke will grow up with his cousins the same way I grew up with Amanda. Luke was a very good boy during the wedding and reception. We got there around 5:45 and left around 10:45 and he slept through most of it, but when he was awake he was pretty chilled out most of the time.

Bonnie, me, and Dad

my cousin Julie with Winston Tucker and me with Luke. He was born about 10 days after Luke

the Grandmas with the babies

Aunt Bon Bon and Luke doing the Cupid Shuffle

Amanda and Kevin dancing

I think this is funny because thats my Grandma in the maroon with her arms up

Amanda and Luke

Tommy and Amanda