Santa Picture

Here it is - Lukas with Santa at Holiday House 2006.

Christmas Tree Farm

I've got the photos up from the Christmas Tree farm on 11/25. I didn't put any captions up, you'll be able to figure out what's going on. It's Me, Lukas, Uncle Kenny, Nanna, Grandma & Grandpa Haddock - and Christmas trees. And, I think I put that it was 11/26 on the photo album, and it's too much work to go back and change it.

*Click here for the pictures*

Online Grab Bag

Have you seen this Random Box O Stuff? It's a crazy grab bag that you can order online. I'm tempted - might be a nice Christmas gift in there for someone.

Behind on Blogging

I missed about a week of blogging. So here's the catch-up...

Sunday, 11/19 - Lukas & Daddy put the Baby Locomo together (Thanks Tom & Ashley). Lukas loves all the buttons and sounds. Lukas & I went to Nanna's to visit with Grandma Barb & the twins (and Nanna). Then I dropped Lukas off at G'ma & G'pa Holt's for an overnighter.

Tuesday, 11/22 - G'ma & G'pa Haddock arrived for their Thanksgiving visit. They didn't get to see Lukas because he went to bed early at 7:30.

Wednesday, 11/23 - Grandpa & I took Lukas to the doctor to see about his month-long runny nose. We were told that it's to be expected for 10+ weeks out of the year. That's not great news. He recommended a humidifier and saline spray for his nose. Done & done. I got a cute froggie humidifier at Target. Uncle Kenny arrived today too.

Thursday, 11/24 - T-day. Gobble, gobble. Lukas loves G'ma Haddock's dressing with raisins. He even ate some cold leftovers on Friday. We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner thanks to G'ma & Nanna (I helped a bit). Rich got his gooseberry pie thanks to G'ma & G'pa - they found the gooseberries in Texas. I went to 4 different grocery stores and couldn't find them. Bryan joined us for the festivities as well.

Friday, 11/25 - Rich had to go back to work, but before he left, G'ma made us Swedish Pancakes (AKA crepes). Delish. I can never find this mix around here. We had some Damgoode Pies for lunch and then headed out to visit G'ma & G'pa Holt. They were watching the Hogs lose on the big screen. After our visit there, we went to Nanna's for a cookout. We roasted hot dogs over the fire (well, I had a hamburger charred on the grill) and then made s'mores. Unfortunately, only 2/3 of Team S'more was there - Jessica & me. I talked Ken, Jess, Chet & G'ma into playing game of Cosmic Catch with me. I think it's fun. It will be a good color-learning took for Lukas one of these days.

Saturday, 11/26 - Time to find a Christmas tree, but Rich had to work. He insisted that we get one without him, so we did. We loaded up the van with Lukas, G'ma & G'pa, Nanna, and Uncle Kenny. We went to Schilling's Tree Farm in Jacksonville (501-982-1046). I like it - they have Virginia Pines and Leyland Cypress (my fave). Uncle Kenny cut us a lovely 9 footer and we strapped it to the top of the van. Grandpa helped me put lights on it, and that's where it stands today. All the Christmas gear is in the floor of the foyer. Hoping to get it decorated by the weekend. Uncle Kenny left for Purdy on Saturday.

Sunday, 11/27 - Daddy got confused about what time he had to be at work, so he was about 2 hours late - oops. Lukas, G'ma & G'pa Haddock, & I went to the late church service. We ate a "jazz brunch" at Bosco's while Lukas slept in the booth. Then we came home and G'ma & G'pa headed back to Dallas.

Monday, 11/28 - Now everyone is gone and I'm trying to get Lukas back on his normal schedule. He slept till 11am this morning! I figured he had a little sleep deficit, so maybe he's caught up now. Tonight we went across the street to Connie's to work on bows for The MORE Group's Christmas wreaths. Making bows is not fun to me. Lukas had a good time, then Daddy picked him up when he got home from work. I came home and found them having more turkey and dressing. Mmmmm. Leftovers.

So, where are the pictures you ask? Well, I couldn't get Blogger to upload my blog pictures correctly, but you can see all the pictures except the tree farm (I'll get those up later) by clicking *HERE*.

Santa Scare

Saturday the 18th Nanna & I took Lukas to Holiday House. It's a big shopping thing put on by the Junior League. Mostly we were there to get pictures with Santa, and partly because our pal Jess is a Junior Leaguer. As luck and timing would have it, Jessica got to watch us torture Lukas by putting on Santa's lap and watching him cry. I was sitting very nearby, but it just wasn't good enough for him. The photographer got a few shots of not crying, but not smiling either. I chose one where he was looking up at Santa, as if saying "who are you?". They'll be mailing them to us, so I can't wait to see how they turned out. I only got to see it on the camera's tiny LCD screen.

Lukas ate cheese pizza for lunch at Holiday House - mmmm. And he drank Nanna's diet Coke. How nutritious. We also saw Brian & Terri Kinder perform some of their kid music. Terri is a nurse at my office and they live in our neighborhood. Lukas seemed to enjoy, so we bought their new Christmas Album.

When we finally got home, Lukas played in the yard for a while. I don't think he swallowed any acorns, but maybe. How many times can I say "no" and "not in your mouth"? I got some cute pictures of him romping in the yard.

*See the pictures here*

After the romping about, Shea, Bobby & Becca, our friends from England (Arkansas), stopped by for a visit. They brought Lukas a very cute birthday gift. It's a John Deere Tractor "Hayride". It's got 2 trailers and animals and Old MacDonald himself. There are animal sounds and it plays "Old MacDonald". Lukas took right too it. He's already starting to make car sounds when he pushes toy cars (and tractors) around in the floor.

The Wonder Place - again.

Lukas at the water table

Friday we went back to The Wonder Place. This time we took Daddy, and our friends Dylan & Sarah. Before we went to The Wonder Place, we ate lunch at McDonald's. Too bad they didn't have a playground, or maybe we wouldn't have spent $14 on this place. Actually, no McDonald's playground could compare to this place. We all had a great time!

*See our pictures here*

First Times Two

Tonight we all went out to dinner with Ashley, Tom, Jessica & Ken at The Flying Burrito (make sure your volume's up so you can hear their silly song) in the River Market. For the first time, I ordered Lukas his own food - a [dang] child's cheese quesadiLLa. At first it was warm and melty and he ate almost an entire wedge (the thing was big). After it started cooling, the cheese started to firm up and was about too hard to gum. I thought Lukas was a fairly good dinner partner and didn't cause too much of a ruckus or make too big of a mess. I was just overjoyed that the place had a high chair and that they closed their windows for us (thanks again Tom).

After our delightful evening out, Lukas came home and took 1 step. I put him down on the floor when I walked in the door (he's a heavy guy) and he stood there smiling and holding his hands out to his sides. After a while, he picked up his left foot and put it forward, then put it down and just stood there. I got down in front of him and held out my hands for him, but then he lost his balance, went to the ground and headed for the stairs. Daddy was watching too! This is just the beginning.

Also of note today, Daddy & Lukas went to the Heights Toy Center to use a birthday gift card from Ashley & Tom. They picked out the Kettler Baby Locomo, which is the EXACT same toy I've been saving Pampers Points for! No biggie, I'll choose something else from Pampers, but it's just weird.

Happy Belated Birthday Daddy!

Daddy Rich had to spend his birthday (Monday) working and Lukas spent the night with Grandma & Grandpa Holt. Lukas saved his birthday cheer for today and it was just as special. He used a crayon to scribble on the card envelope. He tried to eat the crayon multiple times. He even helped Daddy open his present that Nanna helped pick out. It was a Cranium game, Whoonu. It's for Daddy to play with Lukas when he gets a little bigger. Or, I guess we might let the twins play when they visit.

*New Pictures*

Another Baby!

We've got another new baby in the family - meet our new cousin, Layken. Finally a girl! She was born November 9th, 2006. Seen here with her Daddy, Mark. Her Mommy, Crystal, was doing well last I heard.

This is the only shot I got because my funky rechargeable batteries bit the dust. Did I bring spares? No. Why? Because I plucked these off the charger moments after they finished charging. Bad batteries!

Halloween Revisited

I wanted to share a couple more Halloween pictures...


This is Bryan dressed as Two Face for Halloween - nice job on the costume!



















This is a picture that my neighbor-friend, Amber, took of another neighbor's pumpkin display. Very Halloween-y.

Cat on a Hot Flatbed Scanner

Here's what happens when you scan a cat sitting on an open flatbed scanner (China will be the demonstrator today)...

Photographer Find

I heard about littlerockblog.com somewhere a while back. Seems like it was on that changing billboard on 630. For some reason I clicked it tonight and saw these really great Halloween photos from Gusano's. I checked out the photographer's web site & blog and I must say - WOW. I wish I could do my wedding over & have her do the pictures. I think when Lukas starts walking, I'm going to give her a call and get some great pictures. Okay, maybe I'll be sneaking a peak at her equipment too. There has to be some Photoshopping involved too. But still, I love the pix.

I highly recommend checking out her photos.

Fall

our maple tree



This is my absolute favorite time of the year. The trees are beautiful and the weather is too. There are some bushes in our front yard that turn terrific colors. I missed the yellows, and now they've moved on to the reds. I wanted to get some shots of Lukas in front of them so Daddy took him out today, but he was wearing a red shirt. It was almost dark so I didn't have time to change his shirt. Maybe tomorrow.

*more pictures*