A Visit from Granny

On a more positive note - Granny came to spend the weekend with us. This was the first time that it was just Luke and Granny around. Normally there is Aunt Jen or Nana also so Granny doesn't get as much one on one time. Luke loved her being here. They played and cuddled. It was pretty sweet.

I may get in trouble with Granny for posting a picture of her eating, but here is Luke and Granny eating at Pizza Hut. Luke learned that if he would sit with Granny he would get away with more than if he sat with mom and dad. We were going to go to the County Fair after we ate but couldn't find anything at the Fair Grounds. That was pretty weird. We'll have to see about taking Luke to the State Fair.In other news - I started back to school last week. You know I would really like to have a degree without working for it. That sounds pretty lazy, doesn't it. I'm only taking one class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings so it's not too bad. Luke goes to work with his Daddy. I'm really not worried about finishing until we are finished having kids. We don't want me to go back to work full time until all our kids are in school. My major is Early Childhood Education. I'd really like to teach K-4. Then I will have my summers off too!

We also have more exciting news...Lukas is learning to potty in the potty!!! He thinks it's great fun. He has an Elmo potty seat that he enjoys sitting on. When we flush he says, "Bye! Bye! See ya!"
Luke has also decided he doesn't need to be rocked to sleep anymore. Last week he was squirming when I was rocking him to sleep and I asked him if he wanted to lay down in his bed. He said yes. He has gone to bed on his own ever since then. I think he is pretty amazing!

I'll end with a slide show of us celebrating Luke's Forever Family Day. Keep in mind we had closed on our house the week before and were in the midst of major renovations. We didn't get to go to dinner as we had previously planned but we did have cookie cake and ice cream.

Happy First Forever Family Day Lukas!!!

What a special day! I can't believe that it has been a whole year since Luke was officially ours! In some ways it feels like it was only yesterday that we were in Vietnam picking him up. And then there are other days that I don't remember what it was like to not have him around. He is such a special little boy. It is amazing how much he has grown and changed this year. He has gone from a quiet baby boy that wasn't so sure of things to a confident toddler. He has blessed us so much.
Over the last month I have been reflecting a lot on our journey to become parents. I was remembering one of my lowest moments when we were doing infertility treatments. I had just found out that a friend was going to have a baby. I remember crying and crying that night - not because I was bitter that my friend was pregnant. I just wanted to be a mother to a child so badly. I was thinking about that night a few weeks ago and remembered that my friends baby was born three days before Luke. And I realized that at the same time this was happening to me there was a brave, loving woman half way around the world that could have been scared and confused as she was finding out that she was going to have a baby. I thank her so much for giving our son life and for loving our child so much to make an adoption plan for him. She is definitely a hero in my book.
Lukas has brought us so much happiness and joy. We are so thankful that God blessed us with him. He is definitely the right kid for our family.
I chose some pictures to do a Year-in-Review slide show. Enjoy! And for your viewing pleasure a little video clip. Most of you know that we were sick the night that we got Luke. Well, Daniel did a Luke documentary while we were in Vietnam. So here is Day 7's video clip. It is so funny! Note for future travelers: Please do not get scared about getting sick. We ate grapes and shouldn't have. Just make sure that you don't eat any fruit that was rinsed in the water!

Vacation Bible School and Other Stuff

This was the last night of Vacation Bible School. We had a great time. The crafts all turned out great and it was lots of fun watching the kids make them. Luke had an accident on Tuesday evening. He fell and busted his lip really bad. It bled and bled and bled. Now he has a really fat lip. He still enjoyed his first Vacation Bible School though.
Every night of Bible School the largest class got to throw water balloons at Daniel and another Daniel. The first night it was so funny because they were holding themselves. (See the slide show for a picture). They got smart and every other night put a blow up tube around their middle.
Tonight I was getting Luke's clothes changed to go play in the water. I put a swim diaper and swim shorts on him and we were walking over to the water. I felt all this water on me. I asked my mom if it was raining. Well, the swim diaper leaked and I was covered in pee. We got a kick out of that. I had on the same shirt that Luke pooped on almost a year ago! Fun times!
Dad, Mom and Jennifer came in yesterday. We aren't able to close on the house until tomorrow so we are going to try to get as much done as possible while they are still here.
In other news it was one year ago yesterday that we left for Vietnam to pick up our boy! Tuesday is our big day! Stay tuned for the blog update. I hope to have something for your viewing pleasure (if Daniel has time to do it)! Enjoy the pics from this week.