What a day....

These are one of those days you just want to end...and it's only noon! It began HORRIBLY...I won't go into details but I took some Nyquil last night since I was no feeling well and overslept for a really important appointment. If you know me at all...I HATE irresponsibility and this was a very humbling experience.

My cold just got worse this morning where I had to just lay down while Luke played. I cancelled a fun playdate we were going to have which was a bummer. Luke played sooooo well by himself and would periodically come over and give me hug. He knew mommy was not feeling good.

I had my eyes shut for awhile on the couch and did not hear Luke moving around. I opened my eyes and found him asleep right next to me on the floor!!! He has NEVER EVER fell asleep like this. I think he knew I was so tired and he was tired so he thought this was the best option. See cute pics below.

Okay...these pics are a little out of order but this is Luke's reaction after what happened in th last picture. He was very perplexed. Do you see that strange, dark colored dot above his lip? That's a crusty that he will not let me wipe off. I'm picking my battles today and this is not one of them.
View from upstairs.

Luke only slept for about 30 minutes on the floor. We giggled when he awoke. He loves to go into the cuppards and we have had no problems with him ruining things until today. He took my favorite pyrex glass measuring cup and dropped it on the floor. I am still picking up the pieces. This of course scared him and he watched while I cleaned it up.

Wow...this enough action for me today!! Let's hope this afternoon is quiet :)

Decorating Christmas Cookies

We had so much fun tonight decorating Christmas cookies as a family. We were so interested to see what Luke would do. He's going to a Cookie Decorating Party on Monday so I wanted to give him a little practice. Yeah, he's definitely more interested in the eating part than the decorating part. I wonder where he gets that from???

Yep...this is my hubbie! I think he enjoyed the cookie decorating more than Luke!
Luke did not waste any time eating his first cookie!
Luke gettins messy. It was very interesting...he liked the cookie plain, the icing by itself but he did not like icing on the cookie. I'm not sure why...I think he has an expectation of how the cookie should taste and the icing messes that up. I'm probably analyzing this way too much...but o'well
Before we began...We decided to strip Luke down incase he made a huge mess.
Jeremy made him and I one cookie each to enjoy. His is sooooo gross. He ate the entire thing.

I love my boy!!

Here is Luke eating lunch one day this week. I love hanging out with during the day. We have so much fun playing hide and seek, wrestling, and blocks. He gets the biggest kick out of the littlest things. He's such a joy!!

Thanksgiving with the Dengers

Jeremy's Aunt Diane hosted Thanskgiving this year. We had such a great time. The food was fabulous as always and Luke played with everyone.

Here Jeremy, Betsy and Nancy were look at old pictures. They were laughing really hard.
Luke loves his great-grandpa. Luke goes right to him when he sees him.
The weather was crazy this year. It was at least 60 out...maybe warmer. Luke was enjoying a stroll after dinner!
Here Luke is "watching" his grandma Betsy play with his toys. I'm not sure who enjoyed the toys more!?!? :)

Halloween Night...2 Months Late

Sorry...Just downloading pictures from my camera and still had these pictures on there. As you can see, Luke was not really into the trick-or-treating yet. Maybe next year! Jeremy also informed me, Jeremy will be picking out Luke's costume. O'well.

Here is Luke afterwards...much happier playing with Daddy!

"I don't like my costume!!!"

Here is Luke afterwards with Mommy. He rarely falls asleep in our arms so we knew he was really tired. Isn't he cute??

Here is Luke actually trick-or-treating. He would not leave my shoulder nor give any smiles. Jeremy said it was the costume!

Plymouth Orchard.

My MOPS group visited the Plymouth Orchard last week. Luke had a tough tonight that night before and needed to take his nap during the scheduled visit. We decided to just go on our own after lunch. Luke LOVES attention--here a group of ladies were "noticing" him and he was eating it up! I think Luke would prefer to stay the only child!
Here Luke is trodding through the pastures of the petting farm!
What's the first pumpkin Luke wants to touch in the pumpkin patch??? Of course...the opened, moldy one! He's all boy!
I'm not sure why this picture is sideways...but here Luke is excited about going to the Orchard!
After playing with the open pumpkin, Luke decided the dirty pebbles going through his fingers sounded like much more fun.

Harvest Party

Luke went to his First Halloween Party on Friday before Halloween. He was the only kiddo who would keep his costume on but I think that's because he didn't realize he had it on :). The party was "controlled chaos" with all the kiddos. Luke did not really particpate in the trick-or-treating nor the games...he enjoyed the cupcake though. A few moms (and g-mas) hid in closets/pantries so the kids could go trick-or-treating.
In the midst of all the chaos, I found Luke "taste testing" other's sippy cups. Little stinker!
Here the kids played "pin the face on the pumpkin". We thought it would be challenging enough without the blind fold :).
Here is an attempted group pictures. A few moms were not there but this was the best we could do. In summary, 1 firefighter, 2 lions, 1 pooh, 1 lobster, 1 dragon, 1 Red Power Ranger, and 1 Pumpkin were present!

Murder Mystery

Yep. If you don't recognize the stud on my arm--that's my hubbie! Thankfully, that was just a wig!
Eeek! White is the WORSE color on me!!! I am soooo pale--NEED TAN!

Our very good friend, Jerry, hosted his annual Murder Mystery Party in Terre Haute, Indiana. Jerry does such a great job hosting--this year was a 70s theme. Fondue, great music and TAB made a statement at the party!! It's so much fun to get together with such old friends--good time was had by all.

Mackinac Island

The sunset was beautiful. In the distance you can see Mackinaw Bridge. It connects the upper and lower penisulas of Michigan. Pretty nifty.

We went on a horse/buggy ride around Mackinac. The ride began right during Luke's nap time which made me mega-nervous. Luke NEVER falls asleep in Jer or I's arms...what a horse/buggy and Grandpa can do!
Our first horsie ride!
According to our tour guide, National Geographic labeled this as the most beautiful site in Michigan. I would have to agree.

Mackinac Island

My parents, Luke and I made a quick trip up to Mackinac Is.. Mackinac is located between the lower and upper penisula of Michigan. It was gorgeous. We hit the perfect weekend...mid-60s, pure sunshine and the leaves were at their peak in color. This was my first time in upper Michigan and it's gorgeous. We had a great trip!

This was Luke's first time in a hotel room. Him and I were roomates! Let's say, we had a little party of our own around 4 am.
My dad and I took a bike trip around the island (no cars are allowed on the island). It was so gorgeous! Here's a sample of what we saw.
Another view on our bike ride.
Dad and I being silly! Like my glasses?!? I do!
Luke has the room key in one hand and the survey of the hotel in the other. What a ham!

Chicago

Over Labor Day weekend we visited friends who live in Chicago. They live downtown near Wrigley Field. We had a blast and Luke loves company--especially when we are visiting! Check out some pictures.

Here we are standing infront of a large bean that showed our reflection. It was pretty cool.

Here is Luke and Madeline Nelson. They are pretty cute together!

Okay, Madeline is super cute. She actually fell asleep in this position.

Jeremy and Luke infront of Wrigley Field. Super fun place to live. Lots happening and everyone is the same age--right out of college/beginning families. Super fun.

The Nelsons brought us to the Millenium Park downtown. They had this neat water fall that kids were playing in...Luke wanted to sit down and crawl but I did not want his hands on the dirty cement. He liked it!

FINALLY!!!!

Jeremy and I are so proud to FINALLY announce that Luke is walking consistently by himself. I tried recently to expose him to several friends his age for him to observe them walking. People would say to me, "wow, he's a fast crawler" and I would say, "yes, because he should be walking". He's walking in twos...left, right stop, left, right, stop. He gets so excited when he reaches the other side of the room. He's so happy with his new found talent. His officialy walk-date is August 28, 2006 (he turned 15 mos on August 24)

Who can sleep sitting up?

Jeremy found Luke sitting up while sleeping and you can see he's dead asleep. Jeremy got it on camera as well--I can't wait for Luke's wedding to show off all these pics!

Isn't he a doll? I have had a few people in stores come up to Luke and say, "You're so cute, you could be a girl!". I'm not sure if that's a compliment...I just give a half smile and we go along our way. :).