LUKE'S BIG BOY ROOM

Luke now has a Big Boy Room!!!

It's finally all finished, and he will hopefully be sleeping during the night in there starting this weekend. He has napped in there a couple of times already, and did really well. Somehow he knows that when he's in there for sleeping, he needs to stay in bed.

This is his Big Boy Bed.
Daddy made the "Side"-board to fill the funny angle of that corner of the room. That way, he has protection on that side of the bed. On the open side, there is a guard-rail that slides out and up from under the mattress. We had to provide him with a stool, so if he does happen to get out of bed in the middle of the night, he will be able to get back in.
The "Side"-board also has shelves in the end of it for toy storage, and a cubby over the bed to hold some of his favorite books and toys.

This is the Entertainment Area.
We put a TV in his room so he can watch all the old Disney movies that Mommy had saved for him. There are a bunch of old videos, but also some new DVD's that he's gotten recently.

This is the Dressing Area.
Luke doesn't have his own closet, but this big six drawer dresser holds all of his clothes nicely. Currently, the bottom two drawers are empty, so still plenty of room for new summer clothes.

And this is the Play Area.
He has a Magnetic Chalkboard, his little Art table and plenty of toy storage with all the shelving.
The long top shelf houses all of his prized LSU gear and the Louisville Slugger Bat that Daddy got him. The top shelf of the shelving unit holds Max's things so he can keep an eye of Luke.

He LOVES his new room. He's always in there playing with his toys and writing on the chalkboard. He loves to put the magnetic letters up, but mostly he likes to dump all the letters on the floor for Mommy to pick up. However, he is very good at helping Mommy.

With six weeks to go before his new baby brother arrives, this big transition for him, I think, will go very well.

PROUD PARENTS TO BE

Today, at the beginning of my 32nd week, we went in for our final sonogram, and Grey is doing great. He is currently weighing in a 4lbs. 4oz. and apparently has a head full of hair, which is unusual for a baby at this gestational age. He was constantly on the move, so the technician had a little trouble seeing what she needed to see. Both her and Dr. Asada tried countless times to get some 3-D photos of his face, but he just wouldn't cooperate. Either the umbilical cord or his hands were always in the way. I guess he just didn't want his picture taken today. He must figure he'll be here in 7 weeks, so he'll make Mommy and Daddy wait to see him until then. Thats okay. I'm sure these next few weeks will fly by.

YIPPEEEE!!! LUKE FINALLY WEIGHS 20 POUNDS

Luke went in for his 18 month check up, and low and behold, he FINALLY weighs 20lbs (exactly). Also, he's 32" tall. Dr. Wiley says he's done catching up from his 2 month premature arrival, so basically, he's a little guy. He definitely takes after his Mommy in that regards - I only weighed 28lbs. when I went to Kindergarten, but I'm sure he'll surpass that.

COMING UP ON 31 WEEKS

This weekend marks the beginning of my 31st week.  

I wanted to celebrate both of my pregnancies, so I had some professional photos taken.

I Love being Pregnant.

HELP MOMMY!! I'M STUCK!!

For all of you who follow this blog regularly, you know how much I love to torment my child. Anytime he is in trouble or looks silly, I try my hardest to catch it on film, so I can share it with you, but mostly for my own entertainment.

Well here was another perfect opportunity.  He was in trouble, but I was in hysterics, and had to photograph the situation first before helping him.

Since baby Grey will be arriving soon, we are moving Luke into his own room.  His new Big Boy room was previously our office, which we have now had to move upstairs into the loft.  So needless to say, we go up and down the spiral staircase quite a bit.  Finally, just this last week, I finally got a gate to block the entrance, but before that we had an ottoman sitting in front of it. Because of that ottoman, Luke didn't realize there was this unexplored space under the stairs. Well the other day, while I was upstairs (probably on FB), he decided to go exploring...and this is what happened.

HE GOT STUCK!!  This picture looks like his head is stuck, but that's not what happened.  He got himself into the space, but couldn't figure out how to get back out.

"Are you going to help me or not Mommy?"..."Of course baby, but only after I take your picture."

After the moment was caught on film, and I had stopped laughing, I convinced him to lay on his tummy as close to the wall as possible. I had to guide his head between the wall and the corner of the bottom step and then slide him out.

I don't think he thought the whole experience was very funny.

LUKE'S A CLIMBER NOW

FINALLY, Luke's little legs are long enough, and his little arms are strong enough to afford him the ability to climb.  So, of course, he's climbing on everything.  His favorite piece of furniture to climb on to is our coffee table.  Here he is in action.

"Luke, sit your but down!"

"What Mommy, I'm too cute to get mad at."

I think jumping off is the most fun for him.

COOL...MY PLATE IS SEE-THRU!!

Luke finds many ways to entertain himself during dinner-time.  Usually, it's throwing his unwanted food on the floor.  However, last night, he found something new to do.  He discovered he could see us through his plate.  So after dumping all the food on his high-chair tray, he played peek-a-boo with us.

He thought it was hilarious!!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES

Last Monday
March 2, 2009
8" of Snow - 31 degrees

Today
Monday, March 9, 2009
Sunny Skies, 78 degrees

WINTER STORM 2009

On Monday morning, March 2, 2009, we awoke to a Winter Wonderland. Starting early evening on Sunday, and continuing on through the night, it snowed about 8". With the bright blue skies, it was absolutely beautiful.


Even though Luke had a little cold, Marc and I got him all bundled up so he could go out and play. It had already snowed once this year, but this was real snow - nice and deep. He had a little trouble walking, but all and all, I think he enjoyed himself. Here he is ready to go do some sledding.


We went over to a neighbors house who has a really great sledding hill. Daddy and Luke took a couple of runs.

Daddy and Luke posing for Mommy.


Our neighborhood turned quite magical with all the snow.



And now its five days later and 75 degrees outside. I love going from all out Winter to all out Spring in less than a week.

BIG TRIP TO KENTUCKY

The last week of February, was a week filled with travel and fun. Marc had to go to Louisville, KY on business, so Luke and I tagged along...as far as Lexington. The two of us went to stay with friends of ours in Richmond, which is just south of Lexington. Amber's husband, Matt, was out of town on business, so Luke and I went to help her out with her gaggle of children. She has 22 month old twin daughters, and a 5.5 month old son. Her hands are a little full.

We were there from Tuesday evening to Sunday morning, and every day was filled with adventure. Just getting out of the house to run to the store, with four small children, is an adventure in itself. Luckily we did more than just run to the store.

The first night there, Luke had his first adventure, in that he got to share "Tubby" time with the girls. From the photo below, Luke must be very entertaining.



On Thursday, we took the kids to the Lexington Explorium Children's Museum. Even though most of the exhibits were for older children, the three of them had a lot of fun running around and exploring everything.

Here is Luke learning how damming a river affects water flow.

Everyone joins in on this learning experience, including baby Gannon (with Mommy's help of course)

Next was the horse exhibit. I think from the entire week, this was the only picture that we got of the three of them ALL looking at the camera at once. Luke's in the front, Lani's in the middle and Emmy's in the back.

The next exhibit was by far the favorite...WATER!!! Even though they had on those little slickers, Luke was absolutely soaked.

Maybe it was because we could not pry him away.

Yup, he's still there!

Come on Luke, let's go!!

Finally, on to something else. They had an area that was designed especially for toddlers. The most popular feature was the slide. Here's Luke taking his turn.

Then there was the "Motion" area. Luke and Emmy had fun trying to get the wheels moving on this bike.


After visiting everything we could on the first floor, we headed upstairs.

Here is Luke trying to work a giant puzzle that attaches to the wall.

He really liked the dinosaurs.

The last exhibit upstairs was the Bubble Room. They offered all these different ways to create big bubbles, but all the kids enjoyed the Bubble Tube the most. Here are Luke and Lani checking it out. Honestly, I think the only reason Luke really liked it, was that it had a step he could go up and down on.

After a long day of learning and exploring, the kids were exhausted. Emmy and Lani were out like a light.

Luke was also tuckered out, and fell asleep instantly holding his new school bus.


On Friday evening, Amber had a "Mommy & Me" group event. It was held at Berkshire Trains in Lexington, and was for the kids to be able to come and play with all things Thomas the Train.
Along with playing with the trains, they were also given a little wooden train to paint.

Here is Luke painting his train. He tried to use the brush, but found that finger painting was really the best way to go.

When we first got there, I could not get Luke's coat off fast enough. He could not wait to get in there and start playing with the two train sets that were set up.


I think Luke really enjoyed meeting Thomas the Train. Of course, Mommy had to buy him a little souvenir, so he left with a little wooden Thomas the Train, along with his painted masterpiece.


Late Friday night, Matt came home, and early Saturday morning, Marc came back from Louisville. As soon as everyone was up and dressed, Amber and I dumped the three toddlers on the Daddies, and we took off (with Gannon of course) for some shopping and lunch.

The Faucheux's reluctantly left the Rudacille's Sunday morning, and started out on their 8 hour trip home. However, due to a too long lunch, and a horrible winter storm, our 8 hours turned into 9-1/2. The snow really started coming down as we got off our exit. What should have taken 30 minutes for the last leg of the trip, ended up taking well over an hour. Needless to say, we were very glad to finally pull into our driveway.

MOMMY'S LITTLE ARAB

Who knew that a crib sheet could keep a toddler occupied for so long. Maybe I need to get him a cape.

2 DOWN - 1 TRIMESTER TO GO

I am now at 27 weeks, the beginning of my sixth month. At my last doctor's appointment, everything is looking great. I go back on March 12th, and then on March 26th, we go for our final ultrasound just to check on the baby's growth. Hopefully we'll get to see some more 3D images of Grey. I don't know why, but with this pregnancy, I seem to be having a much harder time getting around easily. Maybe because by this time with the twins, I was on bedrest, and, I wasn't running around after a toddler.

JUST CHILLIN'

Luke and Daddy "just chillin'", watching a little TV.

Whenever Luke sits with Marc, he always lounges with his hands behind his head.

EVERYONE...SAY HELLO TO GREY

At today's sonogram, the technician was kind enough to do some 3-D imaging of our beautiful baby boy, Grey. She said it's not something they normally do, but she thought she could get some good pictures, so she tried, and this is what we got.

In this picture he has his right fist up next to his right cheek. The tubular thing across the left side of his face is the umbilical cord in the fore-ground.


In this picture he still has his fist up by his face.


And in this one, he has opened up his fist and you can see his thumb and two fingers by his forehead.


We both think he's going to look a lot like his Daddy. He definitely has the Faucheux nose and lips. And it looks like he also has the signature chin dimple.

AN ARTIST IN THE MAKING

Luke's very first Masterpiece.