Last day with Mema for awhile...

We had a wonderful few days with Mema before she headed home for a four month break from work. We played with play dough, threw the Aerobie at the park, and then we took Mema to Penn Station. We will sure miss her so much!

Thanks for all you do for us, Mema! We love you...

Sam's First Tooth

If you have seen Sam lately, then you are familiar with this look. Serious face with lips tightly pressed together. It's the look he gives people on the subway when they try to talk to him. They smile and coo and he looks at them with this look. And often he shakes his head "no" to them while making this face. Well, Sam has a new tooth - his first tooth. But if you try to see it, you will get this look. Anyway...it is a top front tooth, which is not very common, but I got my first tooth on top as well. I don't know if I ever made this face when people tried to talk to me, but I do know that I used to say "don't touch me" when people would comment on how cute I was and try to touch me. So, I guess Sam gets more from me than I realized - he looks like me, his first tooth is a top one, and he doesn't care for strangers. But no matter what, I love my sweet Sam. I cannot believe that in a few days he will be 10 months old. He can stand and is about to start walking. He cruises all over the place and he loves to eat graham crackers and yogurt. He is a sweet and calm little boy. He says "mama" to me, "dada" to Doug, and "bubba" to Lucas. He claps too. I can get lots of smiles and giggles, but I have to work hard for them - he doesn't give them out too easily. His favorite thing to do is play with Lucas. Lucas can make him laugh and giggle more easily than anyone else. We love you, Sam!

Visiting Daddy at work

I took both boys to Doug's office this week. They were well-behaved and we had a great time, though we didn't stay long. Lucas found a trophy in Doug's office which he said was his own.

Raspberry Picking

We went Raspberry picking at Barton Orchards this week. What a fun place! We had a wonderful time!















Oh and did I mention that we ran into a bunch of friends there:

This week with the boys

We have done some fun things this week. Our summer is almost over so we have been doing as much as possible. We had our ward mommy group this week at the park:


My mom was here a few times. Lucas loves to snuggle with her.


Sam and Lucas love playing together. Mostly Lucas likes to play "like baby Sam." They crawl around and play under the kitchen table a lot.



We have had a lot of rain this summer, which is uncommon for New York. I have had a hard time coming up with places to play indoors. This week, on a particularly rainy day, we decided to make the most of it and we went to the Toys'R'Us in Times Square with our friends. There is a train table there - need I say more?!



Notice how Sam is licking the train table in this shot...nice!


Lucas has a new favorite book..."Where's Waldo?" He's really good at finding Waldo!


Sam is taking after his older brother. He loves to play with the soccer ball.


Another thing Sam loves to do is play in the bathroom. When someone is in the shower, he stands at the end and watches the water go down the drain.

Upstate New York

We just spent a wonderful long weekend in Upstate New York near Palmyra. We stayed in a big house with two other families, the Diehls (Doug's sister) and the Zumbachs (good friends of the Diehls who we had never met before). We drove there and it's about a 5 1/2 hour trip each way. Here are the boys in the car:


Between their cousins, Olivia and Geneva, and the Zumbach's 7 girls, Lucas and Sam had a blast. The kids found an old bottle with a message in it from Tinkerbell on the first day of our trip, which unfolded into a weekend-long treasure hunt to find her missing wings which Captain Hook stole. Captain Hook himself even made an appearance.





The treasure chest had Tinkerbell wings for all of the kids to decorate:



We also had fun playing games and hanging out:












We even had some time to see a few church history sites:



And we took some family pictures too:




The view from the front porch:

Sam is hilarious...

Sam has some new tricks. Enjoy!

A family outing to the park

We sure love our time with you, Doug!

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My sweet Lucas

I just LOVE this boy. I cannot believe he is getting so big. Today he said (as he was brushing his teeth), "I can do it like a grown up." He asked if we could go for a family scooter ride. As I loaded Sam into the carrier so I could ride Doug's scooter, Lucas asked if he could carry his baby in a carrier too. I almost forgot we had this little red carrier, but I pulled it out and Luc's baby rode along with us. I love that Lucas is a rough, tough boy but still has a sweet and nurturing side.

Summer

This is what we will be wishing for when summer is over. We have had a great summer - I am glad it's not over yet.

Sundays

Lucas & Gavin in Primary:


Riding the train home:

My cute boys...

I love that they play together now. It makes me so happy to see them enjoying one another's company.

Lucas, Kansas

Apparently there is a town called Lucas, Kansas. A friend saw this and took some pictures there for us. I asked Lucas what it said and he said, "it says me." He also said he "really really" wants to go there.

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I want one of those...

Lucas went to a friend's birthday party this week and they had one of these in their apartment. Lucas was impressed and informed me that he wants "one of those." I didn't know that such a thing existed in the perfect apartment size you see here. We will have to look into it. It seems like a must-have for the winter, in addition to one of those mini-trampolines.

More funnies

Sam has learned to clap and it is adorable. Also, he has me wrapped around his little finger and knows how to get what he wants. My heart melts when he smiles at me and shakes his head no.

Lucas gets funnier every day. He told me this week that he saw a "camerican" flag. I explained that it's called an American flag and he said he likes to say it how he likes to say it.

A few days ago he stepped on my toe and I said ouch. He quickly said, "Is it ok? Do you forgive me?" I said, "Yes, and where did you learn that? At church?" He said, "No, I learned it from watching Kai-Lan."

Enjoying summer in spite of the rain

We usually go to the beach once a week in the summer, but this summer has been unusually rainy and we have yet to go at all! We were supposed to go to the beach today, but again...rain. But we weren't about to let the weather keep us from having fun. We spent the day with Hillary, James, and Henry. We started with lunch at the Shake Shack on the UWS. It was chilly and threatening to rain when we left, so we went from there to the fountains at the American Museum of Natural History. The kids played for about 15 minutes, got nice and soaked, and then we went into the museum. We spent a few hours looking at fossils, extreme mammals, and some videos about both. Afterward, we topped off our day with cupcakes from Magnolia. Lucas, Sam, and I got home just in time to hang out a little, play some soccer in the basement, and go to bed early. Woohoo - what a great day!

A New Adventure

We went to a new place today, Riverbank State Park. It was so much fun. They have an outdoor wading pool for kids, picnic tables, and lots of room to run around. We had a blast!

Splash Park with the Mommy Group

We have a great Mommy Group at my church. Every week there is a planned get-together with all of the kids. During the summer, each week is a trip to a different park. In the winter, the play groups rotates to different apartments. We go when we can and Lucas always has a great time. Yesterday we went to a splash park and it was so fun - and hot outside! Here is a picture of Gavin, Lucas, and Reuben. The kids had so much fun together! And the moms - well, we have fun chatting with each other about life, motherhood, and living in this great city.

Family Day

We had a wonderful family day today. We spent the day in Central Park.








On our way home, we walked up Madison Avenue. We walked past the gallery where I used to work. Then, just before we got to our bus stop, Doug noticed this in a gallery window.

Warwick, NY

We spent a day in Warwick, NY with some friends. What a lovely little place! We had a wonderful time. (Click on a photo to enlarge.)

Hanging out at home

We have been out and about a lot lately, enjoying the summer weather. But we have also spent some time at home doing various things. Our computer needed some work, so Doug and Lucas took care of that:


Lucas ate a new food and liked it - a cucumber. Who would have thought?! (Of course, the reason he was willing to try it was because I told him that the snails in our fish tank love cucumbers.)


Lucas loves to play on the computer. He visits Nick Jr. and Starfall. He is quite good at the games on both websites. The other day I thought he was asking me for a pudding so I got him one (see it on the desk?). What he really wanted was his hoodie because he was cold.


Doug put Sam in a pillowcase because he thought it would be funny. Lucas wanted to get in one too:


Sam is teething, as evidenced here.


When Lucas plays trains, Sam wants to play too. But Sam always messes up the track and Lucas begs me to "put Sam in his crib." I always tell Lucas that I will put Sam in there for a few minutes, as long as he is happy to be in there. So Lucas makes efforts to keep Sam happy in the crib. They are pretty cute together.

The Central Park Zoo

We went to the Central Park Zoo this week with Hillary and Henry. We had a great time even though it was super hot and humid. Of course, the following day it was 70 degrees and almost no humidity - perfect zoo weather.

Water Balloons

Lucas loves water balloons. He is always asking to do water balloons at the park. So this past week we did just that.

Picnic with Gav

Thanks, guys. We had a great time!

Lucas

The other day while Sam was napping, I was getting some things done on the computer. Lucas came in asked me a question. I was distracted so I said, "Ummm....well...." He interrupted me to say, "Mom, get to the point!"

Sam is 9 months old

Sam is 9 months old today! I can hardly believe it - the time has gone by much too quickly. As he gets older, we see more and more of his personality. He loves to crawl around the apartment. He crawls into the bathroom and stands up on the edge of the tub and squawks (he loves bath time and I cannot give Lucas a bath without putting Sam in too.) He keeps his little lips clamped shut most of the time. He will scream for ice cream, red vines, and root beer. He shakes his head "no" if we say, "no no no." He is cruising all over the apartment and can pretty much get what he wants. I have been trying to feed him baby food for a few months now, but he refuses. A few days ago he took a bite of a banana - I think he is going to skip baby food (of course, that's what we get for giving him ice cream). Sam knows his name and turns when he hears it. He chews on everything. He is starting to get hair. He sleeps SO well that I can hardly believe it. He is such a happy baby and it's easy to get him to smile and laugh, though at times he seems very serious. He loves to kick his legs and splash in water. If he can't reach something with his hands, he will try to stomp on it. He loves to play peek-a-boo. If he can see Lucas, then he is happy - he loves to watch Lucas and play with him. He loves to get into Luc's trains. He stands up in his crib. He says, "Bubba" when he sees Lucas and can say "Da Dad" too. When he holds a toy and crawls, he pushes it out in front of him like he is Super Man. If I ask for a kiss, he leans his head to me and puts his forehead on mine. He still has no teeth, though it seems like he has been teething for about 6 months. He loves to be out and about in his carrier. He loves to stare at people and makes them work hard to get a smile out of him. If he sees someone whose attention he wants, he leans toward them and if they don't look at him, he squawks pretty loudly. He loves to hold my fingers and walk around.

Sam, you are delightful and we love you so much! We are grateful to have you in our family.



And some video clips to enjoy:

Old friends

We had some old friends in town (with a new baby). Lucas loves Hunter, and it was wonderful to meet Grace (Sam was quite taken with her). It was great to see you guys.
Move back to NYC!