Sunday, December 20, 2009

Congrats Uncle Taylor!!

UGA Graduate!!

We are really excited around our house because Uncle Taylor has graduated from UGA!!! We didn't get to spend as much time as we would like with him because he was in a wedding this weekend which took up all of his time. However, Thursday, he rode to Winder with Lucas, GiGi, and me and hung out with our family there while I got my haircut. Since we still had some time left over, Lucas was able to get his hair cut too. Lisa does such a good job on his hair, even when he is screaming!

Friday we hung out around the house where Lucas discovered it is a lot more fun to drink water out of a big water bottle!








Then, Friday night we went up to Ben's parents house to see some out-of-town friends that were staying there; but, they didn't get in until late so we ended up missing them anyway. We did have a great dinner and Lucas had a blast running around the house chasing the kittens, stealing Pop's hats and playing with bubbles. As always, the Wheeler's house looked amazing with all the Christmas decorations out.
















Saturday while we were out buying more Christmas gifts, we happened to run into Pop-Pop and Grandmama at the mall. They hadn't seen him in awhile so they took him for about 30 minutes and rode the train around. We then headed to Pottery Barn Kids so Lucas could show Ben and Pop-Pop how much fun he has in that store. Lucas sure does have his grandparents wrapped around his finger!

Sunday we had a wonderful morning making breakfast and playing around the house. We even put together a gingerbread house. Lucas didn't help us out too much with the decorating, he was more of Godzilla stealing the candy off the houses!
















Sunday night we went to celebrate Taylor's graduation at Cazadores in Roswell. Lucas is not a big eater right now so he ate his cheese dip and guacamole and then gave "the look" to GiGi and Grandmama who walked him around the restaurant several times. After dinner, we had a family shopping trip at Kroger to pick up odds and ends. Our family friend Steven held Lucas the entire time and entertained him by running around the store. When we left, Lucas gained several oranges, a Christmas yard decoration, some M&Ms, and a few bites of a Hershey Kiss. It is really hard telling this kid "no"!

































Our entire family is so happy for Taylor. We are so proud that he graduated from UGA and we all know that he is destined for great things. Good Luck with what the world holds for you!
Love you!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The Boat, Mr. Fix-It and The Best Playgroup Ever!

Our lives definitely cannot be described and non-eventful! Monday started out in full swing around here! First, Mrs. Lindsi and Mrs. Sindy called to say they were going walking. We immediately jumped on the offer to join them because Lucas was really needing some outside time. We both enjoyed walking around the neighborhood with them and getting out of the house. When we came back home, Pop-Pop came over to play. We then headed out to eat Mexican, which for some reason took forever for us to get our order. Lucas kept busy, after his appetizer of guacamole and cheese dip, by running around our private room and bringing Pop-Pop bits of rock from the fake fireplace.










After a great meal of a cheese burrito and some of Pop-Pop's fish tacos, we bundled up and headed to the lake. Pop-Pop needed to do some things on the boat and wanted to take Lucas for a quick boat ride. We were hoping that the fog would let up, but we could barely see so it was a short one. Lucas had a great time and especially loves to 'drive', but towards the end, he could barely hold his head up from being so tired. He held strong and didn't fall asleep until the ride home and then slept for almost two hours.









After Lucas woke up, we played for awhile with all of his cars and push toys and then had a yummy dinner that GiGi made for us. For dessert, I made some delicious cinnamon muffins and then we headed out for a fun field trip around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. Lucas loved sitting up front in Daddy's lap and looking at all of the flashing lights, the reindeer, and of course Santa displayed everywhere.
Tuesday morning we had a few errands to do around town. Since Lucas was an absolute angel while I had to do my stuff, I surprised him and took him to McDonald's for a Happy Meal. He REALLY enjoyed sitting in the booth and feeding himself a hamburger and dipping his french fries in ketchup all by himself. When we got home, we packed the car and headed to our Mom's Group for a playdate and our Christmas party.

One of the little boys in the group that is 21 months old, brought over a toy power tool that Lucas immediately discovered and took over for the day. I think he 'fixed' every square inch of Mrs. Lindsi's house!

























After playtime and photo shoot time, we all ate some delectable desserts and did a white elephant gift exchange. I am so glad to have all of these 'mommies' in my life!
We also carried on our new tradition of looking at Christmas lights after dinner. We went to Polo Golf and Country Club to see their lights and were a little disappointed. There were only a few houses per street that were decorated and that did NOT keep Lucas' attention. Hopefully tonight at Creekside will be better!

Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Ho Ho Ho!

We began this week celebrating my birthday. Since it was officially on Monday, I was spoiled with an all-weekend celebration with complete pampering!

Monday morning we finally finished up decorating the tree by putting the star on top. Lucas is trying so hard to say 'star' so we thought it would be appropriate to put one on top of the tree.
Unfortunately my birthday morning didn't start out like I imagined; Instead, I got a migraine! Yep, what a way to turn 28! Ben took Lucas to get Chick-fil-A for all of us so I didn't have to cook. After a few hours of rest and a prescription, I was able to re-start my day and take some more pictures! I have had such a wonderful time this year decorating for Christmas. Lucas is really into the tree and loves all of the decorations.









Tuesday, we all spent the day in Athens for Trinity's follow-up to the Chemotherapy treatments. While Trinity was being seen, we went and picked up Uncle Taylor and headed over to Winder to see Aunt Janet and Uncle Sonny. Lucas loves walking around their house and eating their fruit!
We didn't get great news with Trinity, but we are hanging in there and trying to figure out our next step.
Wednesday, we started early with our errands and housework. Nothing too exciting, but we did get a few pictures in!








Thursday, our family met up with Grandmama and GiGi at the mall to meet Santa! Lucas was very observant while we waited to meet Santa. Since Santa is a personal friend of GiGi's, he even came over at personally shook Lucas' hand while we were in line.








It was all a little too exciting and Lucas needed a quick Daddy hug while in line...
When it became our turn to see Santa, Lucas was alright at first sitting on his lap, but it slowly deteriorated from there...he never went into full blown crying, but that was only because Santa pulled out all of his tricks. I wasn't allowed to use my camera until the photographer was done so I didn't get a calm shot, but at least we did get one picture without tears.








After the visit with Santa, Grandmama promised Lucas a ride on the train that went around the mall. Ben and I stayed behind for the pictures, but GiGi and Grandmama rode around with him. Lucas even got a ticket to get on the train and then had it punched by the conductor before they rode around. He is still very proud of his ticket and likes to put it in his pocket just like he did that day. I took so many good pictures of the train that I decided to put them into a slideshow (there are also extra of Santa too.) * Click on View All Images below to see them not in a slide*

After the fun with Santa and the train, we took Lucas to eat at the food court and to watch the merry-go-round. We then walked around the mall and let Lucas play at the Disney store and Pottery Barn Kids. He was fascinated by a play kitchen and a remote control car at Disney and had a blast playing with all of the toys in Pottery Barn.
















When we got home, Lucas ran wild throughout the house! One of his favorite things to do is to sneak up the stairs without anyone watching (so he thinks), but he also loves to get caught! After some stair-climbing, he began stealing candy canes off of the small tree. He tries so hard to say candy cane, but it just comes out "nana-nan" in the same tune we say candy cane.









Friday, Grandmama came over and we went out to help her get everything she needed for MiMi to make her a wreath and garland for their new house. We went to several different stores and Lucas did great tagging along.

Unfortunately, Lucas had his first major boo-boo Friday night. We were hanging pictures in his room and set a drill on top of his dresser. Since he is growing so fast, he just reached up and with me standing right next to him, he pulled the drill down on top of himself. I was able to try and grab it before hitting him, which probably saved him from a harder impact, but it flipped and the drill bit went straight for his eye! We were so lucky that it only hit his eyebrow and it didn't bleed, just a nice knot and bruise.

Saturday, I had some people over for a Tastefully Simple party. Thanks again to everyone that came! We had a lot of good food and fun! After the party, MiMi put together a beautiful wreath for Grandmama. Then for dinner, Pops came down to join us and we all went to Cinco's. We LOVE that restaurant! Lucas really likes their cheese dip and guacamole (and the music)! He dances throughout dinner for us!

Sunday, we had a great, lazy day around the house. We were all in our pjs until the early afternoon! Lucas didn't get a really long nap, so he was a little cranky (and clumsy) for the rest of the day. That night, he gave us another scare when he decided to stand up on our bed and then sat down too close to the edge which made him flip over and land hard on his head. I was in tears because I was on the other side of the bed and couldn't get to him in time. I was sure he either had a head injury or a broken neck. He seems to be ok, but I'm sure he has a bad headache. The poor little guy has had a rough weekend with the boo-boos! During all of the crying and chaos, Lucas pointed for me to take him somewhere. I followed his point thinking he wanted some water after the crying. Instead, he pulled open the freezer door and pointed for the ice cream! He is really too smart for his own good! And of course, we gave him some ice cream, but it didn't stop there, he also wanted an icee and some of Ben's Snickers ice cream. I know we are push-overs, but we just felt so bad for him.

On a better note...this week Lucas has started talking like crazy! It is amazing how it just clicks for him. He can now say: mama, dada, Pops, Pop-Pop, Grandmama, Goo-Goo (Google), hot, dog, night, moon, up, hey (very loudly!), mess, broom, blue, bowl, and the most recent GiGi (which made her day when he said it for the first time in front of her after seeing Santa).
So Amazing! Only a week ago, the doctor asked how many words he could say and was amazed by only half of that list. She said his verbal skills were at an 18-24 month old. Even more amazing was that she saw him with his sign language and said from what she saw right there that his sign language vocabulary was that of a 2 1/2 to 3 year old! It really is wonderful being able to watch Lucas learn and see how eager he is to learn more.

Have a good week and talk to everyone soon!