ONE YEAR OLD!!! What an incredible year!!!!

What an incredible year!!!!  I don't think I could have ever imagined the amazing joy that this sweet boy would bring us.  You always hear that the love you have for your children will be different than any love you have ever felt before but I didn't realize how truly amazing it would be until we had Luke. 

He has taught us how to look at life in a totally different way.  He has made our marriage even better and stronger than ever.  He has taught us to find the balance between a healthy, strong relationship and caring for your child.  He has taught us to love and appreciate the little, wonderful things in life and that it is not worth stressing over the small things that don't really matter.  He has taught us that little things are worth getting super excited about!  That love is truly unconditional.  That sleep deprivation could really be a form of torture :).  Most importantly he has taught us to truly be selfless.  Any time he is ever sick or in pain I wish more than anything that I could take that from him and apply it to me.  We have been so blessed that he has had very few illnesses and his health so far has been good with the exception of the normal junk kids get.  We just pray that this continues.  I can't wait to see what else he will teach us.  This, by far, has been one of the greatest years of our lives.  I look forward to many more!!!  Thank you for a wonderful year Luke...we love you more everyday!!!

Here is what you are up to right now:
-Still love your mom and dad....we need to soak this in as much as possible :).
-You LOVE walking!!  You don't want us to ever hold your hand....you want to walk like a big boy on your own!
-Love your sippy cup and have had such an easy transition to regular milk!  You walk around with that cup in your hand clinched on it for dear life.  If we attempt to take it away you will put up quite the fight!  You are not into your bottle at all.
-You love food and will try just about anything.  You will let us know if you don't like it.  You are really into throwing your food....we are working on stopping this game very soon :). 
-You love to test your limits with us....
-You are still overly cautious....which is great the majority of the time.  You like to really take a situation in before doing anything.
-Love any and every type of ball, grill and coffee cup! 
-Love to explore!  You want to look, touch and feel everything!!  When we take you to a new place it is like Disney World!
-You are transitioning to the young toddler room at school.  Hearing them say toddler makes you seem so big.  You love the new class!!  There is so much more for you to do and explore there.
-Your smile and big dimples still melt our hearts.
-You still HATE getting dressed and getting your diaper changed.  We get our workout in by chasing you around the room to get your clothes on.
-You still hate most shoes.
-You are still an EXTREMELY early riser.
-Your little personality is so sweet and you are more fun each and every day!!

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the year....

So crazy to see this....our very 1st sonogram!!  We could have never imagined the amazing boy that would come from this little dot on the screen :).

One of the 1st times I got to hold my sweet boy

 

Had to post this picture right after he was born.  he literally still holds his hands out like this....especially when he walks!

 

He was so tiny!

Such a proud dad!!  Luke is so incredibly blessed to have Brent as a father....he loves him more than life itself!

One of my favorites.....sweet nap on the couch

Meeting some of his cousins...these girls will teach him how to be such a gentleman!!

Such a sweet face

Some of his 1st smiles....it still lights up a room

1st flight....he didn't make a peep!!  I have a feeling it would be a little different now considering he is into everything!!! :)

Supporting his favorite team :)
 

1st Halloween....sweet little dinosaur

1st Thanksgiving

1st Christmas

Of course the 1st haircut....he still hates these!

 

1st Easter!!

                                         

Love this sweet smile

 

 

We had a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends this weekend.  Pictures of the party and his stats coming soon!!  Love you tons little man!!!

                                         

 

 

                           

Little obsessions

I was a pretty strange child and went through some pretty weird stages.....I unfortunately may have passed this on to Luke.  I hope he doesn't have too many of my weird quirks :).

Things we have noticed so far are some of his weird obsessions.  The one that has been most consistent is his crazy obsession with our coffee cups!  This one will just not go away....he will do anything and everything to get our cups in the morning and stick his whole face in it.  I don't know if he likes the smell or just wants to be a big boy and drink coffee like mom and dad.  He has taken a little bit of the nice, relaxing joy of coffee away :).

 

Shoes.....ah the troubles we have with shoes!!!  He will literally only wear one pair....we definitely got money's worth on this pair.  We have had to buy them in every size.  We have tried every other pair imaginable!!!  We put Crocs on him and you would have thought we put little needles in them prior to putting them on....he freaked out!!  He would just stare at them, cry and not move.  We did learn if we ever need him to just sit still and stay where he is we can just put any other pair of shoes other than his "go to" pair and he won't move.  I tend to find a pair that I like and stick with them until they fall apart and then I will get the same pair again.....so I am probably to blame for this one :).

Grills.....he is obsessed with grills.  I think he is just trying to be just like dad because dad is always tending to the grill.  He loves our new Big Green Egg!  He is constantly trying to go over there and he just rubs his hands all over it.  The darn thing gets so hot and he just doesn't understand why he can't touch it.  Hopefully this phase will pass soon!

Golf, sports, and balls.....he gets this one from his dad.  He loves all of Brent's golf items.  He will go to the range with Brent and could literally stay out there all day!!  He has been obsessed with his clubs for as long as I can remember!  We got him a little plastic set but they are not as cool as dad's set so his isn't that into it.  He is really into any sort of ball.....he likes to throw them all over the house....this may have to become an outside game in the near future!  It will be very interesting to see if he got my athletic ability or Brent's.....let's just hope it is not mine or he may be manager of the team instead of quarterback :). 

These are just a few of his many obsessions....can't to see what else pops up :).