Luke's 1st Trip to Austin

We finally got a chance to take our little man to Austin to meet more family and friends last weekend. We were excited to take a road trip and hang out with Jeremy's cousins for a few days. 



Friday night we hung out with Tracey, Norma, Mike and Susan. Mike and Susan just happened to be in Austin to celebrate Winter's birthday. It was nice getting to see a few more family members than we anticipated!  



Norma woke up bright and early to feed Luke his first bottle.

Morning Playtime

We decided to head out to Matthew's soccer game before lunchtime so we could see Anna, Winter, and Matthew.

Playing with Anna

Spending time with Winter



Matthew in action!

Good game!

We spent a lot of time outside since the weather was so beautiful! Although I didn't get a picture of our patio time with Kevin, Mr. Luke enjoyed meeting Kevin and hanging out with us!

Happy little man!

 

Love this guy!

After exploring a little bit of downtown Austin, we headed back to Tracey and Norma's to get ready for baby Luke to meet Maggie and Aaron's little man, Warren, who was born one week before Luke. Unfortunately, Warren had had a fever that morning, so we couldn't let the boys get too close, but we were still excited to meet baby Warren and spend time with Maggie and Aaron.

What a view! Tracey and Norma have a beautiful backyard!

Hanging out with Tracey

Kisses from Norma

Warren and Luke

Warren had had enough!

Our little ham! (love the staticy hair)

We rounded up the weekend with breakfast at Kerbey Lane Sunday morning and then headed back to Dallas. We loved sharing some of our favorite places with Luke, but wish we could have seen even more...especially cousin Stephanie, who is studying in London, and Jeremy's guitar buddy, Dottie, who was out of town! Our weekend trips to Austin seem to fly by, especially with a 7month old in tote! Luckily, we can check off Kerbey Lane, Amy's Ice Cream, and Waterloo Records from our list this round! Until next time...

He is Risen!

He is risen indeed! Our family of 3 enjoyed our three day weekend together, especially since we got to introduce Luke to the celebration of Easter. We enjoyed the beautiful weather by exploring another nearby park, hung out with grandparents, attended the early service at Wilshire on Easter morning, ate brunch at Iron Cactus, hunted for Easter eggs left by the Easter Bunny, visited Luke's grandpa in the hospital, and dined in Frisco to wrap the weekend up with more family time. It's amazing how quickly those long weekends seem to fly by!

Mr. Luke is loving exploring new areas! We are enjoying going on walks to enjoy God's creation and to get out and get some fresh air. Our window of pretty days in Texas doesn't seem to be too big, so we have to take advantage of them while we can!

Sophie had a front row seat for our walk!

Saturday night we headed to Frisco for dinner and spent some time with Luke's Jammie and Grandad. 

Smiling with Dad

Luke loves his new toys he got for Easter!

Playing with Grandad

After checking out what the Easter Bunny left for baby Luke, we headed to the 8:30 service at Wilshire so that we could beat the lunch crowd. Luke slept through most of his time at church, but we managed to get a few sleepy pictures in before he was ready to eat!

Look what the Easter Bunny left me! (How can you not smile looking at this sweet face?)

 

In front of Wilshire's Easter cross

Look at those beautiful lilies!

Sleepy baby! Thank goodness for monkey!

I love my Aunt Vicki!

Uncle Scott's hand looks huge!

After lunch we headed back to Luke's Nana and Grandpa's house to hunt for Easter eggs and take a few more pictures. 

Happy Easter!

Blue-eyed baby!

Standing up with my Nana!

Next, we headed to see Luke's Grandpa in the hospital. He has had an infection in his back that the doctors were trying to clear up. Unfortunately, he didn't get to join us for church or for Luke's first Easter egg hunt, but we're glad we got to visit him! Hopefully he will be home next year when our little guy is walking around and hunting for his own eggs!

Luke loves touching faces!

Easter basket from Nana and Grandpa

So happy with all of his presents!

We loved ending our night reading Luke the Easter story from his new book he got from the Easter Bunny. As much fun as it is to get wrapped up in dying Easter eggs, finding what the Easter Bunny has left, and going on egg hunts, I hope that we are able to help Luke appreciate the true meaning of Easter. We hope that he will come to love our God and appreciate Jesus' love for us in dying on the cross to save us. We hope that he will fall in love with hymns with words like "Christ the Lord is risen today...alleluia!" and the symbolism of the shutters in Wilshire's sanctuary opening on Easter morning. 

Handsome little man

Happy Easter!

My How Time Flies!

Our little man turned 6 months old on March 17th (St. Patrick's Day). I cannot believe that he is already half a year old! Where has the time gone? All of a sudden he is starting to look like a little boy and not a newborn. I am loving the changes, but I miss my tiny little baby that we started with! 

I wish I had kept up with what has happened each month of our little one's life, but I honestly haven't jotted down every little change that we have noticed. At times I feel guilty for not doing this, but I am proud of the fact that we have taken TONS of pictures to track Mr. Luke's growth and progress. 

Here is a recap of his month by month pictures we have taken in his first 6 months:
 

Meeting Luke on hisbirthday

1 Month Old

2 Months Old

3 Months Old

4 Months Old

5 Months Old

6 Months Old 

For someone who struggled to gain weight during the few few months of his life, this little one is as healthy as can be! I love all of his little rolls and his Michelin-man arms! He is a happy little man who brings so much joy to us every day! His smile is infectious, especially when his whole face lights up! 

Some of the things Luke has mastered in his first 6 months are:

* He is sitting up pretty well, but still needs us to be close by. This week he  
   sneezed himself out of the sitting position!
* He loves to eat! We are excited that we have started some pureed veggies...     
   first up was sweet potatoes and now we are on to green beans.
* He loves to bounce in his jumperoo! We've learned our lesson about letting 
   him bounce too soon after he eats!
* He reacts to our voices and smiles when we see him.
* He is a smiley little man.
* He likes when we play peek-a-boo and "Where's Luke?" in the mirror.
* The boy loves looking at himself in the mirror.
* He is currently working on strengthening his neck and head control in 
   Physical Therapy. (Who knew they had PT for babies?)
* He is not a fan of tummy time on the floor, but is a champ at tummy time on an 
   exercise ball. 
* He likes to hit things with his hand (it's really a whole arm experience). 
* He loves his monkey pacifier and Miss Sophie, the giraffe!
* He wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth! 
* He likes to reach his hand up for us to kiss it. 
* He likes to touch our faces...so sweet. 
* He is starting to want to explore everything! We are enjoying pulling out new toys 
   for him to try!
 * We love his baby laughs!

It's amazing to me how much he has accomplished in his 6 month little life! I am falling more and more in love with this perfect gift God has given us!