Our Life With Lucas and Finn

A week at home.

2012-01-24T11:14:00.000-05:00

This is the face I get to see most days at lunch with our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We make silly faces, laugh, , sing songs, and ask questions. I love this little buddy:)

This is a picture that I see most days, along with it comes the phrase, "Momma play cars" over and over :) He loves to park them all in spots, and is very organized in how he places them.

This smile came at the end of a very long week for us. On Sunday, Finn had a little cough. One Monday, he had a big cough and so much congestion, he couldn't keep any milk in. Poor thing drenched us a few times. So. . .off to the doctor on Tuesday! The doctor confirmed two things, 1: Finn had a mild case of RSV, 2: Finn is a very happy baby.

That wasn't the end of our Tuesday events. As I was walking out of the doctor's office, it started pouring outside and all the moms in the waiting room were watching the TV. Who knew that in January, a tornado warning would come? Then- you guessed it--the sirens started to go off.

Now, I am not a fan of tornadoes anyway, but when my little family is all separated and the tornado comes out of the blue in January, I got a little nervous! Josh called me to let me know that they were all in the basement at the church and all the sweet children at the school were in the hallways :( I did hear from the teachers that it was a sweet time with the kids, all with their pacis (they had to wake up from nap time to go to the hall) singing "Jesus Loves Me". Precious.

Don't judge my morning look, but here is my sweet Lucas:

And my 14 week old! Finn really knows how to roll to his sides now and suck on his thumb, but poor thing (and poor mom) had a L-O-N-G week. Of course it ended with Lucas now sick, so this stir-crazy and tired mom gets one more week inside. But at least I get to cuddle with two cute kids!

Dele's Song

2012-01-19T10:56:00.000-05:00

My Lucas loves his Dele, and he was ecstatic yesterday when he discovered she had her own song!

First Snow

2012-01-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

Nashville's first snow happened this week! The weather man said we *might* get a dusting and with my non-trust of the weather men around here I doubted we would see anything, especially since it was 46 degrees when I dropped Lucas off at school in the morning.

Well, by lunch time, the wind had picked up and the temperature was falling. By the time I picked Lucas up, there were tiny little flakes in the air. At home, I went downstairs to start dinner and wouldn't you know it, it was really coming down! Lucas and I grabbed our cold weather clothes and ran outside!

Finn wasn't sure what to think of this falling white stuff, but he sure was cute! Don't worry, I put him inside to play on his play gym while Lucas and I stayed out in the cold ;)

Lucas and I literally ran around the back yard for an hour catching snow on our tongues. I am sure the neighbors thought I was a funny site running around like that, but it didn't matter to me--its all about making fun moments with my buddy.

So much joy in one little person. We did have to eventually end the fun when both of our faces were red and numb, but the perfect fix was hot cocoa-with lots of marshmallows- in front

of the fire to warm back up.

A fun little comparison of the brothers at 13 weeks. They are really starting to be different. Finn is big. He is filling out 3-6 month clothing, makes me wonder how quickly we will be going through sizes! eek! I just love his rolls, his sweet smiles and coos.

The morning of his 13 week birthday, he learned to roll on his right side to look at toys and found his thumb to suck on! This past week, he gave me a couple nights of sleeping from 10-7/8! Amazing kid. He loves being held and talked to, and loves watching his brother shoot hoops and tackle.

Speaking of shooting hoops and tackling. . .Lucas loves to watch football on TV now that he has seen the Denver Broncos in person. This past week when we were watching a game, Lucas said, "one day someone watch football and say, 'hey mom, look, that is Lucas Graves'"! Maybe, I am interested to see where God places you in the world sweet one.

We were watching Lion King this week with Lucas (skipping all the scary parts which kind of makes for a short movie), and he asked who Timon and Pumbaa were. We told him they were Simba's best friends. Lucas looked at me and asked, "Momma, are you my best friend"? Yes, darling. Forever.

Last Lucas story for this post. Wednesday night, Lucas' class learned about the Wedding in Cana. All the girls had veils, necklaces, and flowers to dress up for the wedding (of course Lucas had to try those things on too), and they had purple kool-aid in little fancy glasses (only at Otter Creek--they were totally little plastic wine glasses, ha!). On the way home I was asking Lucas about his class. This was our conversation:

Kara: What did you learn about today Lucas?

Lucas: a wedding, we dressed up for the wedding.

Kara: What happened at the wedding?

Lucas: water turned to purple water.

Kara: and who did that miracle for the wedding?

Lucas: Miss Kim.

Well, he was right! Ha.

12 Weeks

2012-01-06T15:19:00.000-05:00

Here is a comparison of the brothers at 12 weeks!

A Colorado Christmas

2012-01-06T15:12:00.000-05:00

Ok. I am not kidding when I say this, but this might be the blog with the most pictures you have ever experienced. I took about 300 pictures on our trip, and have only included 32 in this blog but we had so much fun exploring my parent's new home that I had to share some of my favorites!

So. . .get a comfy chair, grab a snack and enjoy :)

Christmas was on a Sunday this year which I just loved! It was just the best to be able to go to Otter Creek and worship with our church family. After family worship, we ate a quick lunch at home, let Lucas take a 30 minute nap and we headed off to the airport! Lucas got this special suitcase from Finn and he was oh-so-excited to take it on the plane. It was just one more bag for us to keep track of, but it really worked out great for him to feel responsible for something.

Our first day, we went on the Cog Railway up Pikes Peak. Because of snow and some downed trees, we were only able to go up 6 miles, but it was just beautiful and a really unique experience!

Finn isn't quite sure what to think of this place, I think the altitude had him a bit confused :)

Views of Colorado Springs way down below.

Finn was altitude loopy, but it made for a great cuddler!

My sweet Lucas watching the train up ahead pass.

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Monday evening. This picture of Sugar and her grandsons was taken just seconds before Finn projectile spit up all over her. I mean ALL OVER. Her hair was dripping and we had to take a shower break before continuing our Christmas. Poor Finn will never live this down. It was quite hilarious actually only because Sugar took it so well. There was a moment of about 5 seconds of pure silence as we all were in shock over what happened but it was quickly followed with laughter and tears that lasted pretty much all week.

We think that somehow the high altitude and lower air pressure affected how Finn digested his food because the projectile spit up became a daily event. As soon as we flew back into Nashville he never did it again. Good thing that next time we fly to Colorado, he will be old enough to drink a sippy of water and we can acclimate him better that way.

Super buddies.

The Graves family at the Air Force Base and Academy in Colorado Springs.

The chapel was just amazing. The stained glass with windows looking out over the mountains, the huge organ, the row reserved for fallen soldiers. It was all beautiful.

This is the view off of my parent's deck. Yes, that is Pikes Peak right over my head.

I probably took 75 pictures just of this view, the sunsets, sunrises, clouds, hot air balloon sightings were all gorgeous. New Years Eve, hikers take 2 days to hike up Pikes Peak with fireworks and set them off at midnight which was incredible to see.

Garden of the Gods!

Don't worry guys, I'll hold this rock up.

Uncle Duncan and Aunt Megan helped Lucas make a gingerbread train. He had the joy of eating it :)

Looking out over Cripple Creek, CO with the Rocky Mountains off in the distance.

Cripple Creek

These pictures were taken at the top of my parent's neighborhood. We were having fun with the lighting the sunset was creating.

Mr. Smiley.

Precious. This was shortly before the Chinook winds hit. I have never experience wind that intense---up to 110 mph gusts of cold air filled with grit. Lucas was not a fan, he kept asking to go into stores and shop so we weren't outside. I was literally running with the stroller because the wind was pushing it so hard and after lunch we were all picking grit out of our clothes and hair.

Grand Da's time this trip was consumed with playing trucks and shooting hoops with Lucas, he has another little buddy that will be joining in the fun soon!

These two are inseparable. Precious love.

So, there are some highlights for you!

11 Weeks!

2012-01-04T17:04:00.000-05:00

Isn't he so cute? I sure think so! The 11 week mark is when we were in Colorado for 8 days visiting my parents (that blog in the next few days). Finn was a great traveler, but I think the altitude got to him a bit--he would spit up projectile style once a day and coat himself and the lucky person holding him :)

He made up for all the mess by giving us never-ending smiles, coos, and other sweet baby noises. And, as soon as we got home, he bounced right back into a routine, only getting up once at night (4-5 AM). What a gift! Oh, would you like to hear those sweet noises? Here you go!

First Graves Family Christmas

2011-12-24T16:05:00.000-05:00

Now that we have two little boys, one of which really gets excited about Christmas and understands all the festivities, we decided to do our own family Christmas together before we traveled this year. So far, I have loved the sweet, quiet day of making memories together!

Lucas concentrated really hard to color a picture for Santa and write him a note to go with his cookies.

Sweet Finn is now 10 weeks old! Can you believe it? He is wearing all 3-6 month clothing now, he smiles and coos when mommy talks to him--especially in the morning. We moved him to his crib this week, and the first night was pretty hard but he has done great ever since. He only gets up around 4-5:30 to eat and then 7:30-8 for the day which makes a huge difference for mom.

I did the portable north pole movie again this year (highly recommend!!) and it was so so sweet. Lucas was in awe, of course mommy teared up :) Santa even showed Lucas pictures of meeting his new little brother and his 2nd birthday party. Although if you ask Lucas, he is not 2, he is 4. Who knows!

The (4) stockings were hung by the chimney with care!

Kisses under the tree.

Merry Christmas! Santa brought gifts to both brother's chairs for them.

Lucas was most excited about his Thomas rain boots, he has waited a long time to wear them!

Chef Lucas and Mommy made a Christmas breakfast. Cooking with a toddler means twice the mess, but about 5 times the fun!

Thank you Pinterest for our breakfast fun ideas!

I asked Lucas to say our prayer for breakfast and to remember to thank God for sending Jesus to us. Lucas proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday to Jesus" and ended with "Amen".

Merry Christmas from the brothers!

Black and Whites

2011-12-22T15:22:00.000-05:00

I was playing around with editing black and white pictures and thought I would share my fun.

Every day I have lunch with this boy. He loves to have peanut butter and jelly. Every day. We laugh, make silly faces, quiz each other, and sing songs. This is my favorite time of the day.

And this boy. He is so sweet.

Whenever you look him in the eye, he will give you the best smile and coo.

He is so cuddly and sweet.

Oh What Fun

2011-12-18T22:52:00.000-05:00

So our week started out with a little photo shoot. I know, me? take pictures? I decided I needed to take pictures of some of Finn's sweet rolls so I can always look back and remember them.

I mean, seriously. The cuteness of rolls. Who has wrist rolls?!

And rolls with an argyle diaper? Too much. Too much.

One of my favorite places to go during the Christmas season is Opryland Hotel. I was especially excited this year because I knew Lucas would just love it. When we drive around and see lights out our window, he shouts, "momma, lights out my window, woo hoo"!

A sweet lady came up and offered to take our family picture, it is a framer!

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the decor, but it really is breath-taking and I can only imagine how huge it all looked to Lucas.

My favorite part of Opryland's display is the Nativity scene where they have a recording telling the story of Jesus' birth. It is a powerful place to stand and listen.

Finn joined play-group for the first time with his new buddy Malone! Can you tell we all had our first borns the same year? We all have the same car seat that everyone else who had a baby in 2009 has :)

We met at Danielle's house since she is on bed rest with a precious baby girl growing inside her. I think it made her day to hear us upstairs trying to get a group photo of all 14 kids. We promised everything from cupcakes to oreos and puppies but we got our picture! I love all these children so much and their mommies are my best friends. What a gift to go through life with this group!

Thursday was Lucas' school Christmas program. He woke up so excited and insisted on wearing the Santa hat to school. I thought certainly after I dropped him off, he would take it off once in school but he definitely appeared with it on stage and was oh so cute.

I can't post photos from the show on here since it includes a lot of other sweet children and I don't have permission from their mommies, but let me tell you that I don't think there could be more cuteness in one group of kids. I was focused on Lucas the whole time but have loved watching my video multiple times to see what his friends were doing. I laughed and cried and was so so proud of my boy. He sang the words to all the songs and did all the motions and there was even a Santa surprise at the end to which his reaction was priceless.

We party moms threw a pretty cute and yummy party if I do say so myself :)

It takes a village to raise a child, and I am so thankful that my children get to grow up in the Otter Creek school village. Miss Julie is just so wonderful, Lucas loves her so much. To have such amazing women love and teach your child on the days they are away from you is a true gift.

Lucas, LeiLei and their other teacher Miss Lisa. I don't know if a teacher could love her children any more than Lisa does. It is a God-given gift to love to be with 2 year olds all day!

Miss Julie had this on her wall of lucas napping on his cot. Precious.

9 Weeks! We go to the doctor tomorrow for our 2 month visit and I am so excited to get those stats!

Hope your week is going great :)

8 Weeks of Brother Love

2011-12-12T16:23:00.000-05:00

Life is getting a little more manageable each week. I think I am getting this "two kid" thing down. Slowly but surely exiting that "survival mode". Finn makes it easy being such a great baby--only gets up once a night--and Lucas is just as cute, funny, and helpful as ever.

Aren't these cute shirts my mom made? Josh and I also have shirts--Josh's says "Coach", mine is "Manager"

The other night, both boys needed a bath. I was home alone. So, either I was crazy or amazing--but I gave both boys baths at the same time. I think the look on Finn's face tells you what he thinks of my decision, but we all made it out, clean and happy. My walls and floors were a bit wet and my bathroom needed major pick up but I see this as success!

Lucas loved it so much he asks every day if he can have a bubble bath with Finn. He also wakes up asking me each morning, "Is Finn bigger"? "Can Finn walk now"?

These cheeks keep getting bigger! We are now calling him our "tiny Tebow". We weighed him on our scale out of curiosity, although it is probably not exact--it said 15 lbs. Lucas was 15 lbs. at 9 months old! Can't wait to see the doctor on Monday to get some percentiles on this dude!

Funny Lucas quotes of the week:

"Lucas, don't whine when you talk". "But mommy, this is my voice"!

"Oops, it is your lucky day Lucas, I put too much jelly on your sandwich". "Momma, you are incredible".

"Lucas, what did you learn in Bible class today"? "baby Jesus was born in a barn on hay. Mary and Joseph rode on a horse and there were two shepherds, a star and an angel. Then baby Jesus drove a pick up truck and Joseph got to ride up front".

7 Weeks and Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-05T22:52:00.000-05:00

I am pretty excited for Finn's doctor appointment next week, I just know he has gained a lot of weight, he is such a fun squishy butterball! I am in love with the rolls on his thighs and wrists. . .yes, he has rolls on his wrists. Lucas was my skinny little man so this is all new to me!

Lots more smiles this week and the occasional coo, but for the most part he is quiet and laid back. He has only been getting up to eat once a night but one day this week he went from 10:30-6:30. Hallelujah!

One of my favorite Otter Creek traditions each year is the Family Breakfast with Santa. Oh so much fun and great memories, this is our third one with Lucas! After singing carols with Clarissa, reading a book with Janet, and hearing a lesson from Melanie, Melanie led a closing prayer before we started our rotations. When Melanie was thanking God for all our families, Lucas leaned over, patted my arm and said, "and my mommy too".

Lucas was just over the moon about seeing Santa today, he was telling everyone on the way into church, "Santa will be here today"! Did my son walk up to Santa and say, "que pasa Santa"? Yes. He did.

The family picture, I love that Finn is watching Lucas. And I just adore their matching outfits that Erin Jones made. She is so talented and I love her creativity!

Each year there is a craft segment where we make an ornament. We--I should say I make an ornament while others are putting pieces in their mouths or running around in circles. I think I did a pretty good job, I only needed help a few times ;) Actually, now that I just typed that. . .I do believe I put the head on the wrong end of the body. Oh well. It already fell apart at home (it had some "help") and I can re-glue it the correct way.

Lucas was showing up some fun dance skills.

And you are caught Mr. Lucas! We were on our way down to breakfast and someone found a powdered donut on the way. . . sneaky sneaky.

The day wasn't finished with sweet moments. Finn was so excited about meeting Santa for the first time that he was just grinning and cooing as soon as we got home.

Tell me this picture doesn't make your day. I dare you.

Finn wore these booties today that I just love but even more special is who else has worn these. Me! and My brother, who now wears a size huge shoe. . .seriously, a 14/15. I love vintage :)

5 Weeks, 6 Weeks, and Matching Turkeys.

2011-11-28T22:27:00.000-05:00

Wow, has it really been since Finn was 4 weeks that I wrote anything on here? We must be having some fun around here. Or we are delirious and forget things. Or both. Regardless, here we are.

I love being a "boy" mom. I love having brothers. I love matching brothers. Introducing my cute little matching turkeys:

I just love a baby in pjs, but two in pjs? Pure yumminess. Lucas wasn't sure what to do in the footed pajamas, it has been a long time since he has worn them. He kept wondering why he

couldn't get his feet out.

And here we are, matching again. This time it is Sugar's fault. She just keeps whipping up these adorable outfits, I keep telling her she could open an etsy shop but then again, I am not sure I want her time to go to anyone else, we are loving all her creativity!

Thanksgiving 2011. The first holiday ever that the Graves family has been in our own home. We LOVED it. It was so fun to have everyone come to us (and cook for us)!

We feel pretty lucky that my sister Megan's family all lives down the road from us so we were able to see Duncan and Megan for a bit too! I have never seen Lucas run down the stairs as fast as I did when Megan was at the door. He just adores her, and I think it is mutual.

We haven't seen Duncan and Megan since their wedding so they were pretty excited to meet Finn. Lucas got to take a special ride with them in Duncan's new truck to Sonic and get ice cream. For a two year old, it was like he was going to Disney World.

We didn't do our big turkey dinner until the evening which was new for us, but again, I LOVED it. It allowed us to be lazy all morning in our pjs, with coffee and cinnamon rolls, parade watching, and football watching. . . then we ate:)

Lucas really got into the parade. He said, "momma, there will be elmo, and cookie monster, and then Santa. . .that would be so cool right"?

Happy Thanksgiving from the newest little turkey.

I had fun with the table and room decorations, can you tell I am a mom of two little ones?

I love my sister and am so glad she is in our family. How blessed are we?

These two are quite the pair. I think my dad needs a week vacation after all the cars playing, wrestling, tackling, shooting hoops, and train track assembly he was asked to do. When I called to Lucas the day after they left and said, "hey buddy", he said, "momma, GrandDa is my buddy"

And the other cute pair:

Our friends Megan and Kyle were in town visiting their family and as always, they were so gracious to give up some family time to see us. Lucas and Jackson had so much fun chasing each other and giggling. I think my favorite was when they read books to each other.

This is what Josh and Finn do best :)

This has been such a long post that Finn is now 6 weeks old :) The baby acne is getting better, the cradle cap is almost gone, but the spitting up is increasing. You win some you lose some I guess. He has started staying awake longer and smiling at me which makes it all worth it!

You thought you were done reading, right? We will end with a couple Lucas stories--

We took Lucas to the park and a family was flying a kite. Lucas looked at me and said, "that is a pretty cool bird, right"?

Lucas has developed a food allergy that we are still figuring out what the exact trigger is, but it shows up as red patches on his chin. When I brought it up at the table to Josh, Lucas was apparently listening and said with a very distraught look on his face, "Momma, I don't want my face to be broken"!

This is also the week that Lucas has started saying "Momma" over and over and over and over again. Seriously. If I could get a penny every time he said it, I would be a millionaire by nap time.

Two Brothers in a Bed

2011-11-17T11:39:00.000-05:00

Finn and I went to get Lucas up yesterday and Lucas asked if "Mr. Finn" could sleep with him. It was so sweet how they just stared at each other. Lucas said, "momma- there are two brothers in my bed"!

Finn has started smiling--I usually get them when he is waking up, but big brother got an especially sweet, dimpled smile!

I am still trying to figure out the balance between a newborn, a toddler, and the rest of life but one activity I have started is to do an art project on Wednesdays. This gives some special attention time to Lucas and hopefully the creative and imaginative time counteracts at least one of those extra Dora episodes he has been getting to watch!

. . . and here is this week's edition of art: our handprint/fingerprint Christmas tree!

As you may be able to tell, Finn is really growing and gaining--despite that it appears as if he spits up everything he eats. Seriously, I love newborns, but spit up, cradle cap, baby acne, and dermatitis? I'm s over it! Guess its good that he isn't bothered about it.

Back to his growing, he is really filling out and I have a feeling he is bigger at this stage than Lucas was. I had to go get onesie extenders yesterday so that his 0-3 onesies would fit more than just 4 weeks! Might have a basketball player in our future. . .

4 Weeks.

2011-11-11T14:54:00.000-05:00

Big Brother Lucas at 4 Weeks. It seems like just yesterday I took this picture, I remember this "photo shoot" so well, he was not a happy camper and needed the paci to distract him enough for mom to take her picture :)

And here is little brother Finn at 4 weeks modeling the cutest leg warmers I have ever seen. I think I need a pair bit somehow I don't think they will look quite as scrumptious on me.

It is such a blessing to be surrounded by friends in life, and one of the special times to experience with a friend is pregnancy. Holly was my belly buddy all year as I awaited Finn and she awaited twins Isla and Ian. Our due dates were very close, but of course the twins showed up a little early! We had a lunch date and the babies got to hang out together. . . is this not sweetness tripled?!

Oh Lucas, he just cracks me up all day. His newest thing is to sing songs and replace the words to make it funny. For example, "Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder. . . what you had for breakfast", or "Old MacDonald had some cookies". He will sing and then just crack himself up, as we are laughing right along with him.

We decided to make his hair spiky, and he went around all morning talking about his "spicy" hair ;)

The 4th week has been a lot of fun! Umbilical cords came off, newborn diapers were grown out of, Christmas trees put up, brunches and lunches attended, and even a successful trip to Target with both boys!

3 Weeks and Newborn Photos

2011-11-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

Wow, three weeks already. I already see Finn changing so much, especially his sweet little face. We still see a lot of Lucas in him, and although I don't want time to go any faster, I am really interested to see what Finn's "look" is going to be.

We are tired, but a happy tired. I am so glad the weather has been so beautiful here, we have been able to get outside and run around which makes me feel more "normal". Finn is a lot more alert these days, and by "a lot" I only mean a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours in the evening, but they are full of bright eyes and unintentional smiles that I claim as being real.

I have won the "momma's boy" battle yet again--in the evenings when he cries, as soon as I hold him, he stops. Take that, Josh;)

Big Brother when he was 3 weeks:

We had Darci come out again after Finn was born to snap a few photos of our new family. Enjoy! Now I just need to get organized enough to print them and frame them in the house, but maybe we will do that after I finish decorating the Christmas tree. Yes, we decorate November 1st around here.

Have a great week!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T14:50:00.000-04:00

What do you do when everyone is at church and you are home with a super cute and cuddly newborn? You have a photo shoot of course! Here is our littlest pumpkin in the patch:

Our first outing as a family of 4 was the Otter Creek's Trunk or Treat. It was so much fun and Lucas really got into it which made it perfect. And now sweet Lucas is napping and he will never know that I ate a couple pieces of candy. Ok, maybe 3.

Puppy love.

The puppy was patiently waiting for the trunk or treating to begin!

The bunny had no idea what was going on, but he enjoyed his nap.

Lucas had the full attention of all the girls :)

I sure do love this puppy!

Lucas and his babysitter, Miss Emily. We love Emily!!

Hope you all have a great Halloween, we are excited to take our two cuties out in the neighborhood tonight! And of course, if you know me well, you know Christmas decor is coming soon soon soon!

Finn's Birthday Video

2011-10-30T10:43:00.001-04:00

Untitled from Kara Graves on Vimeo.

2 Weeks.

2011-10-29T15:01:00.001-04:00

I love love catching these sweet little yawns. Precious boy.

We took this 2 week old (already?!) to the his first well check visit to see Dr. Reid who said he was just perfect and growing great! Finn is now 9 lbs. 4 oz. (72%), and 22 inches long (97%). Lucas at this same age was 9 lbs. 14 oz and 22 inches long as well!

Here is Lucas at 2 Weeks:

. . .and back to yet another cute face. . .check out that amazing dimple!!

Finn has also proven to be a champ at tummy time, if he has his puppy paci in of course :) He has just been such a sweet baby, we are waiting for him to wake up in the middle of the night and say, "just kidding guys, now I am going to start crying and keeping you up"! But not yet.
And for that we are grateful.

Funny story from Lucas: Josh walked into the room yesterday and Lucas pointed to him and said, "Go back to Ninevah"! ha.

Otter Creek School: Franklin Road Campus

2011-10-25T22:29:00.001-04:00

It seems just like a few weeks ago that we broke ground for the new Otter Creek School. . . time sure does fly! This was such a special day for so many people and I was honored that Lucas got to share a part of it with his daddy and help hold a golden shovel. I remember it was snowing that Sunday which just made my heart so happy :)

The other memory that pops into my mind is when we wrote prayers on the floor of the new building this summer for the Otter Creek School blessing.

And today, October 24, 2011, The Otter Creek School opened its red doors to a new school. It took a lot of work, love, tears, prayers, and creativity but we are here! I feel honored that Lucas is a part of this legacy and am so thankful for all the children that will be so blessed by this place in the future.

Amy Westerman was one of the traffic directors this morning as we all learned a new drop off routine and she snapped this photo of Lucas and me---she is a fellow mom who can't get enough pictures ;) Kindred spirits we are. And no, I did not let Lucas drive very far, but he always gets to sit up front with me until his teachers come get him.

We were greeted with lots of smiley faces and balloons as we pulled in this morning.

Lucas was super excited, I made the mistake of reminding him yesterday that we would be going to his new school today and he wanted to go right that second!

My sweet buddy and me. Driving him to and from school is one of my favorite events of the week--we have such great conversation, giggles, and sing fun songs together.

The red door is open!

There my sweet boy goes with Miss Amy! I love you bunches and bunches sweet pea!

Others have had the tradition for years and years of having their photos taken in front of the red doors at the old campus, I decided to wait until the new building was open to start our pictures here so here is our first "red door" photo:

These two are always creating lots of smiles and giggles, Lucas loves hanging out with Miss Amy one of the assistants at the school.

Today was pretty concentrated on Lucas, so I will leave you with a picture of this cutie pie:

Week 1

2011-10-21T21:38:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it has been a week already! I woke up (on my actual due date) thinking, "wow, this time last week I was 22 lbs. heavier and didn't know just how sweet and amazing my new little cuddle buddy would be! Of course, if you know me much at all, you knew that there would be weekly photos coming your way---so here you go--the very first edition of Finn's weekly photo with the elephant!

Just to compare, here is Lucas on week one:

Is there anything sweeter than newborn feet?

Love this little smile. What you can't see is the adorable dimple that appears on his

cheek when he smiles!

This past week has contained a lot of snuggles, a lot of snacking, visitors, and more cuddles. Finn has already learned how to roll onto his side--I absolutely couldn't believe it when he did it the first time, but he loves to sleep on his side. Guess we won't be leaving this one out of our sight as

much as we could with Lucas!

Here is my sweet buddy at the doctor awaiting his bilirubin prick. He did great and although jaundiced, he had already gained weight (7 lbs. 14 oz.) and was eating great so the doctors weren't worried.

I overheard Lucas talking to Finn in his bassinet. "Good Morning Finn, did you have sweet dreams? I ate all my pancakes for breakfast".

My first adventure with the boys. Finn and I went to pick Lucas up from his school and then we went on a field trip to the Purple Cow!

Sugar, Grand-Da, and their two grandsons.

A Baby Story: Finn Rowan Graves

2011-10-17T15:00:00.000-04:00

October 14th, 2011. The day we had marked on our calendars for months and months. Of course, part of me had wondered what it would be like to go into labor on my own but it just wasn't in the cards for me. Since my labor with Lucas was so fast, especially for an induction, my doctor said from day one that he would take Finn on the 14th so that date was something etched in my brain for a long time!

We pulled into the Baptist parking garage, level 3 where you park when it is time to have a baby. It was dark when we arrived at 5 A.M. and I just couldn't believe that when I exited those doors, we would be a family of 4!

Home sweet home. Well, maybe not entirely sweet. But the end result sure was!

The last belly shot!

The baby portion of the delivery room. . .can't wait to see who gets to lay in that crib!

Oh, don't we look happy here? It is because it is post-epidural. The epidural that took 35 minutes and two attempts to get in. The epidural that came too late and I was having contractions every 2 minutes while they were putting it in. The epidural that had me sniffing alcohol wipes so that I didn't pass out or throw up. So, all was good after that medicine kicked in!

My labor with Lucas was easy, the pushing was hard. The labor with Finn was terrible but the pushing was a piece of cake (3 pushes in 7 minutes). However, there was a lot that was so similar. They kept having to turn my pitocin off because Finn's heart rate wasn't cooperating. Same thing happened with Lucas--the reason was, Finn had the cord around his neck just like his big brother did. My labor with both boys was 6.5 hours total. And when Finn was born---it was Lucas all over again, they could have been twins!

Introducing Finn Rowan Graves. Born at 1:36 P.M. at 8 lbs. 2 oz., 20.75 inches long.

I remember thinking that since Finn was born so early in the day that we would have a long day of cuddling and resting. Not to be, but it was still a great day! Because Finn came so quickly, he didn't have a chance to get rid of all the liquid in his respiratory system and belly so he was a little choked up, not super perky, and continually grunting. The nurses thought he was just fine but needed to take some precautions with him so off he went to be seen by a few different people. The NICU at this hospital is named after our wonderful friends, so it was fitting in a way that Lucas' first trip away from us was to be in the Beaman NICU for observation in their transitional unit. They sucked his stomach out and watched his breathing, all his vitals were great and ultimately he was fine--just needs to keep spitting it all out.

So, 7 PM came and we were still not in our recovery room because of all that! We had Lucas come visit us, and he was just so excited to see Finn. The video we took was beyond precious as he jumped right up to hug and kiss him, pat his back and hold his hand.

The view from our room was awesome! It was so fun to look out and see the busy city bustling around.

Lucas and Finn both bought gifts for each other, Finn gave Lucas a Lightning McQueen suitcase which now goes everywhere with us and he knows it is for his trip to "Cul-oh-rado" this winter. Lucas bought Finn a sweet little star and pre-recorded his voice singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to him.

It's time to go home! I sure didn't want to leave that place. Baptist was the best experience! I did miss Lucas though, so that is what got me to walk out.

Check out the twins. . .

Thank you to all of you for your words, prayers, food, snacks, gifts, and love. It means the world.

Walden Farms--through the years :)

2011-10-03T12:03:00.001-04:00

We have an amazingly cute pumpkin patch down the road from us that we have gone to each October since we moved here. I discovered after our trip this past Saturday that we tend to take the same pictures each year, which I LOVE because now I can compare them and watch my little punkin grow!

We decided to take Lucas on Saturday because it would give us a chance to have a great family of 3 day before our life is at home with a newborn for a while. . .although, you better believe that as soon as we are home with Finn, the two boys have matching pumpkin outfits that will show their cuteness at the pumpkin patch for our family of 4 pictures :)

Here is my little pumpkin in 2009, 2010, and 2011:

Each year, we must sit on the red tractor and "drive" it.

Our family pictures. Maybe when he is 7 he will actually look at the camera;)

Happy Fall!

Where has the time gone?

2011-09-25T15:45:00.001-04:00

Saturdays. One of my 2 favorite days of the week. Saturdays and Mondays are when Josh is home with us and we all just love our time together. Especially this mommy

after daddy had been out of town much of the week and I was T-I-R-E-D.

This Saturday was also exciting because for the first time ever, ESPN GameDay was being held in Morgantown, WV ending with the WVU/LSU game at night. Perfect occasion to break out our gold and blue and take some belly pictures, right?

This is me at 36 weeks and 1 day. This baby now has less than 3 weeks, his clock is ticking. And obviously he has dropped about as low as he can get so I am hoping it is sooner. The doctor keeps saying he will induce a week early, although he hasn't actually scheduled a date yet. . .my college roomie was an OB nurse and said that was because they think I will go early. . .let's hope she is right!

One important set of details that this type A, slightly OCD mom forgot on her to-do list was realized last night. I asked Josh, "wait a second, if I go into labor, do we have a clue where we are going"? The answer to that is "no" as well as not having any paperwork filled out whatsoever.

The good things in my research are that we can do our paperwork online and after a slideshow of pictures and other info sheets, I am feeling better about being ready. Funny thing is, I used to work at this hospital in college, and I found myself on the baby floor often but do I have any clue now? Nope. Good thing is, there are a lot of bonuses at this hospital I just learned about. . .all mommies get a massage, photographer for baby, a new mommy's store, amazing food 24/7 (seriously, this is where I worked and the food won awards!), and a birthday party for baby!

Kisses for baby Finn :) I think his adjustment to a baby brother is going to be fantastic. Anytime he sees a baby, he is so excited to go give hugs and pat them, and he has been such a helper getting things ready for Finn. I was nervous about letting him watch me put new things away and decorate a different room, but even just yesterday he said, "oh momma, Finn will like it".

This is Lucas demonstrating how smushed Finn is right now. In case you didn't see my facebook update, as of the ultrasound last week, they think Finn is already 6 lbs. 7 oz and his head is the size of a 39 week old. Now do you see why going early sounds appealing? The nurse laughed when she said, "your baby is the size of most newborns"! Thank you for that.

Last weekend, we were playing in the play room and realized that Lucas is really good at kicking a soccer ball, even when it is being kicked to him! So, our family bonding that weekend was to buy a little goal for him and have fun in the back yard, he loves it and really does have great eye-foot coordination.

A couple funny Lucas stories to share:

Lucas wanted a snack and said his puppy dog wanted a snack too, so puppy dog sat in one chair at the table and Lucas sat beside him. I gave each of them some raisins and crackers. As I was cleaning up the kitchen, I noticed Lucas get up. He told puppy dog, "you share your snacks with me puppy". Lucas ate all the snacks and then came to me and said, "mommy, puppy dog needs more snacks". ha. Trying to be smart huh?

Yesterday, I woke up with a sore throat and mid morning made some hot chocolate to try and soothe it since we were out of decaf tea (have to save my caffeine intake for my Coke at dinner). Lucas looked at me and said, "mommy drink coffee"? I said, "well, this is mommy's hot drink for her throat". He looked at me suspiciously, came over and stuck his nose in my mug and said, "momma, you have chocolate in there!!!". Can't get anything past you can I?

Catching up on the belly. . .

2011-09-19T21:11:00.001-04:00

Well, I am in my 36th week so these are a little bit from the past but I know you have been waiting right? Ha. Tomorrow is a big appointment, I have an ultrasound to check on Finn and make sure he is ready to go in 3 1/2 weeks (or less if he so desires!).

I am hoping that after tomorrow his "eviction" date will be set :)

32 Weeks:

34 Weeks:

I am feeling good for where I am, so thankful for a sweet boy who is a great helper and a great daddy who comes home and takes care of us both while I prop my swollen

ankles on the couch and feel sorry for my tired self! I have had braxton hicks since around 23 weeks so I am getting a little tired of them along with the heartburn, swelling fingers, and general waddling slowness but I do have to say, this time has gone by so fast, almost too fast!

Video

2011-09-15T14:21:00.001-04:00

This little sweet voice sings to me and talks to me all day long. . .how lucky am I?

6th Annual Jackson County Fair

2011-09-14T14:58:00.000-04:00

Our sweet friend Jackson just turned 6 and to celebrate, his family let us all participate in Jackson's favorite event: the fair. Every detail was just perfect and cute,

I wish I had half the creativity that Kelley has! We drove out with Randal and Dele, Josh was out of town so Randal was Lucas' designated riding friend.

Lucas receiving his wristband for the rides from Miss Shelley.

I wasn't allowed to ride any rides, so my favorite part was watching Lucas have fun of course, and then the food. Oh, the food. The Grilled Cheeserie food truck was there, along with funnel cakes, fried oreos, an ice cream truck, chicken and waffles, fried tomatoes, sweet potato fries, tea punch and my very favorite: the meat sundae.

Lucas' first ride was the helicopters, and without even prompting he chose the Marine one, Uncle Duncan is so proud.

I didn't know they were going to go up high, I really thought Lucas was going to get scared and cry but he was great! He wouldn't ride them again, but he enjoyed the one time he did.

The fun slide. This was the hit of the day. He was technically too little to ride on this, but they let him anyway since it was a special occasion. Only problem, they wouldn't let me even help him up so I had to depend on others to help him.

Check out how high he was!

Ready to go again mom!

Face painting time. He chose Nemo.

He played a fish game, I was quietly thinking, "please don't win a fish, please don't win a fish". And guess what, the two year old won a fish. Good thing Randal and Dele have a fish pond that we were able to donate our fish to--we can go visit him anytime :)

Pig Wrestling! This was so fun to watch. I can't wait till Lucas is old enough to do this, he wanted to try but I knew for sure he would back out as soon as it was just him and the pig caged in.

Fried Oreos. These will certainly be fed to us as we enter heaven as our welcoming appetizer.

Lucas had another round of sliding--he probably went 15 times! He eventually learned to carry his burlap sack and walk up on his own--such a big boy! One friend heard him chanting the whole way up, "I can do this, I can do this".

Mr. Randal and Lucas rode the bumper cars. He was proud of himself for doing it, but was definitely crying at the end!

The meat sundae. Seriously, this was the best thing my stomach has ever had. Ever. A scoop of mashed potatoes topped with brisket, shredded cheese and a tomato.

Lucas turned in his tickets at the end of the party and Miss Carly gave him a Nemo to match his face. He now sleeps with Nemo every night!

My Big Boy

2011-09-08T21:20:00.001-04:00

Introducing: Lucas' big boy train room! We still have some walls to decorate, but that will come later. I love how it turned out, but most of all, Lucas loves to spend time in his room.

Lucas' reading corner with his new reading chair. I think it is funny that ever since I started calling it his reading chair, he can't sit in it until he has a book to read.

Only because my mother is an interior designer and I am sure this photo will make her gasp---I know the pictures are "flying" on the wall, but since we still need a changing table space, my son is also part spider monkey and that means if things are too low on the wall--they will be messed with.

Here comes the part that made my heart hurt: Lucas last night in his crib. We talked and talked about it and he would say that he was going to sleep in his train room and Finn would be sleeping in the crib, but it was hard to put him in at night knowing it was the last time.

My name wouldn't be Kara Graves if I didn't sneak back in and take a photo of him sleeping! Look how big he is in that little bed!

The first night in the big bed. I was so nervous. We read some stories and prayed together as a family before tucking him. About 2 minutes later, he came running out into the family room to see us. In the span of the next 10 minutes, he asked for: milk, water, trains, cars, and a book. After 30 minutes, he was asleep and only woke up one time that night! I was so proud of him and he was so proud of himself (the most important part!)

After the first time of talking about it, he has understood that he has to stay in his bed so he waits till we come in the morning and then he jumps out by himself! Pretty good seeing that I would think that big train table sitting beside him would be rather tempting. . .

He now runs to his bed each night and usually "needs" a few things but will then fall asleep shortly after all his things are with him. He has been waking up about one time a night when he can't find a paci or his lovey, but I think that is great progress for a move this big.

One boy transitioned to his room just means one more thing--we need another little boy to come take up residence in the nursery!

A Day With Thomas

2011-09-05T21:06:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, we bought tickets for "A Day with Thomas" at a Nashville train station. I kept it a secret until the day before because I just knew he would ask hundreds of times a day if we could go yet. We planned this day as a special family of three day--we don't know how many of those are left and want to make sure he feels special while we are preparing things for Finn.

Walking in with daddy--he was SO excited.

The first station we went to was the tattoo tent. I mean, every 2 year old needs tatted up before they meet Thomas don't they? He has been so proud of it, showing it to everyone he meets.

They had every boy's dream: a tent full of train tables! There were little boys running around everywhere with big eyes and gasps.

Riding the mini-train. It went about 3 miles an hour, but that was the best breeze we got all morning! It hit 104 degrees, and standing on black concrete makes it even hotter!

Walking to car #8.

We made it! And it is air-conditioned!

Check out my blue lips from the Italian Ice my mom got me!

I just love these next two photos, he was so fascinated with everything we saw outside of the window, the train went all the way downtown by the river and back.

After the train ride, we had the chance for a photo-op with Thomas. We stood in line for about 40 minutes in the blazing heat so I consider this photo a miracle.

With all the sweating we did, it was most definitely bath time when we got home--someone was all smiles to be cooled down and to have new Thomas bath toys to play with.

This is his new "scared" face. It absolutely cracks me up every time.

The other tie-in to Thomas day was that it would be the first night Lucas slept in his big boy room. . .stay tuned for some pictures and stories!

Darci Belville Photography

2011-08-31T10:05:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of a big moving truck parking in front of my home and unloading boxes while Josh was working at Otter Creek Church for the first day. I remember him sending me an e-mail early that morning saying, "I was made for this". He was, and continues to be, and we continue to be so grateful that God chose us to be here with this Otter Creek family.

They are our family and will always be!

I have said this before, but one thing I love about Otter Creek are the people who our lives had crossed with before in other places whether it be with ZOE, Lipscomb, Michigan, family, etc. One of those is the beautiful Darci Belville. Darci and I grew up in Ohio going to the same church camp. I watched her, she was only a few years older than me and I wanted to be just like her! I watched as she dated her now husband Josh, and I even was able to be in her cabin one year (which I try to make her feel old by saying she was my camp counselor. . .ha). When she chose Lipscomb and I watched the friends she made and experiences she had, Lipscomb appeared on my list too!

What a blessing to be in the same OC family with Darci again. She has three beautiful children and is a beautiful mom, friend, sister, wife, and Christ-follower that I still look up to. And now---she just started her own photography business!! (https://www.facebook.com/DarciBelvillePhotography?sk=wall)

We had been talking about needing a family photo (we haven't had one since Lucas was 2 months) and capturing Finn in my belly before he gets here. Perfect timing! We had a blast with Darci--these are some sneak peaks, can't wait to see the rest!

In other events, Lucas is LOVING school. As in, running down the hallway into his teacher's arms and not saying goodbye to mommy loving it. Or waking up each morning asking if today is a school day. Or--as you can see in the following picture, waving with excitement to all his friends in the drop off line.

Lucas' teacher is amazing, what a gift to have her in our lives now. She is great about e-mailing us about their day and sending pictures--here is one of Lucas' first art projects!

Happy Wednesday!

Showered with Love

2011-08-24T10:26:00.000-04:00

Sunday was such an incredible day--Otter Creek wanted to throw a shower for Finn since they felt they had missed out on welcoming Lucas into the world. (Lucas was 7 weeks when they first met him).

I was so honored and humbled that they would want to do that, and it meant so much. The shower was just incredible, my sweet friend Kelley hosted the shower at her home and she has the gift of making every single detail just beautiful.

Kelley, Dele, and all my life group girls were the hostesses for this shower. They put out scrapbook paper on this round table for people to sign so that later on my mom can scrapbook photos from the day and I can always remember who was there.

Amanda and I chose the same attire for the day, only difference is between my heels and big belly, I look like a giant next to this gorgeous, skinny friend of mine :)

Oh, the Noah's Ark. It was the sweetest thing with little animals popping out of it. The food was perfect!

Kelley and I together before the shower started. What a treasure of a friend.

All of my wonderful hostesses that sacrificed so much time, love, and energy to put this together. There is no way I can adequately thank them enough.

No detail was left un-done, even the animals had to participate!

Some of my sweet friends from Lipscomb who are now the mother's of Lucas' friends--isn't it fun how worlds come back together? Especially when I look at Darci, someone who I always looked up to as a little girl (she isn't that much older than me) and always watched at church camp. She was a big part of why I chose Lipscomb--now we are sweet friends, both going to Otter Creek, and she is taking our family photos next week!

At the beginning of the shower, Dele, Amy, and Kim read words and scripture that were just perfect for the occasion and Christy led a beautiful prayer. I love that beside me in this picture is Elizabeth- my college roommate that I love so much. I am in awe of how God worked our paths to

come to the same place again!

Josh and Lucas came to the party towards the end. So many people were so sweet to think of Lucas and he had a few presents to open himself! Including this alligator--if you remember, during zoo school this year, he was in love with their big alligator. Kelley is very involved with the zoo and searched to find one Lucas. This huge alligator (and I mean HUGE) now has to be wherever we are in the house--guarding the crib at night, laying by the table at dinner, etc.

I love cupcakes, and I have gone to most places in Nashville to test them and find my favorites. Well, I just found new favorites. The ones at my shower were perfectly moist, almost angel cake on the bottom and a light frosting on top that was the perfect amount of sweet.

Kristen Brown, oh how talented she is! She researched Finn's room and made cookies that match exactly. I am trying to find a way to save them and just hang them on the wall. But that isn't going to happen because I keep eating them.

Thank you Otter Creek for all your love. I am still soaking in all the beautiful details, letters, gifts, and hugs. I am honored to be a part of this family and am so grateful that both of my boys will grow up surrounded by this Otter Creek family to help raise them, love them, and love us as we are on this journey of life together!

8-13-2011

2011-08-20T11:59:00.000-04:00

The day is finally here! I got up early and my dad drove me to the church, Megan had a couple girls there to do our hair and we had a semi-relaxing morning taking our turns getting our hair done, sitting and chatting, putting on our make-up, etc. Here we are after hair and makeup:

All of the clothes ready to go! We were able to get dressed and take some fun outdoor pictures by the barn before it started to rain.

All of the bridesmaids scuffing out shoes on the brick so we wouldn't slip down the aisle.

Mom and I. I was in love with my mom's dress, I did pick it out after all :) Hoping I can borrow it sometime!

After we had a lunch delivered by Jimmy Johns and took the girl pictures, it was time to get the ring-bearer dressed. He was so enthralled with everyone being so dressed up, especially Aunt Megan.

I have officially decided that Lucas must wear more bow-ties, he was simply adorable in one.

Lucas and Aunt Megan. He kept going up to her and patting her dress, looking at her all googly eyed and saying, "pretty Megan". He sure does love her.

Sisters.

Megan and her mom and dad. Isn't Megan's dress just gorgeous?

She looked like the perfect model bride.

We all spent the few minutes we had before going upstairs to take pictures, I think it helped to not sit around and watch the clock. I remember being in this same building for my wedding and I finally picked up my dress and started running laps to burn off some nervous energy.

Lucas and two of his favorite people.

Admiring my flowers.

I can not even express how much I am in love with this photo. I was not sure if he would actually walk down the aisle or not, that is a lot to ask of a two year old--stay in the lobby by yourself, wear special clothes, carry a big sign by yourself down a long aisle, having people take your picture, and smile. I was so nervous, but we talked and talked through the process.

After I walked down the aisle, I just stood in that moment of non-control. I had absolutely no way of affecting anything that was about to happen. But then. . .here he came, walking slowly, smiling so big at my brother the whole time and soaking it all in. I was SO proud!

Out at the reception site, Stoney Creek where Duncan and Megan were engaged. My past experiences in this same spot are after a 10 mile bike ride or rollerblading experience so this time was so much more refreshing!

Finn was also part of the wedding party :)

Home Bakery did the cake and it was just amazing!

A storm came through, we were all inside eating and dancing by this point and it helped to cool things off drastically! I even had chill bumps leaving in the cooler 70 degrees.

We probably have about 100 pictures of this same pose, but this time they are MARRIED!

This is pure love and joy right here.

After his 3rd day without a nap, he was OUT.

Here are some photos my friend Kortney took and sent to me, so so pretty!

And as you can imagine, I have about 4 times as many pictures of the wedding on my computer, but you got just a taste, or maybe more than a taste. . .but I hope you enjoyed!

I love you Duncan and Megan MEAD!

Pre-Wedding Festivities

2011-08-20T11:38:00.000-04:00

I know, I know. It is only a week later and I am finally blogging about the best wedding ever! Well- and I'm not even to that yet, this is just the pre-wedding blog! Wow it has been a busy week since we got home, and this coming week is promising to be even busier so I might as well do it now while little mister is consumed in the movie Cars.

We arrived from the airport right in time to practice walking down the aisle. (a BIG thank you to Ashley Harrison for picking us up and enduring so many hours of traffic in the car to get us there).

The couple of the weekend!

My Nana and Papa.

The ring bearer. And yes, his collar is popped. He is so cool.

He wasn't interested in dinner so much (remember this is the day he went to school, went straight to the airport and had zero nap time!) but when the cookies came out, he was all hands. . . and pretty proud of himself that he stole Sugar's cookie.

The beautiful tables for the brides' luncheon on Friday. Everything was just amazing, the food was extremely yummy and the time spent with the girls was so special.

Sisters. We have been for several years, but tomorrow makes it legal!

Megan and her two sister in laws!

All the girls in attendance.

It might have been a busy weekend, but we had to sneak in the belly photo of the week. This is Finn and mommy at 30 weeks--just 9 more to go!

Lucas playing with my grandparents. I tried to get a picture but no one was participating with me :)

My future pitcher playing with Papa. He kept running inside to ask me. "where my helmet momma? I a baseball player".

The best brother in the world the evening before his wedding. I love this picture.

Think I will have it framed.

My mom's cooking is just the best, she always makes my favorites when I come home, and lucky for me they are also my son's favorites and the groom's favorites so we were all happy. Surrounded by family, sitting outside on a Michigan evening and eating homemade mac n'cheese, potatoes, pork, brisket, beans, and cookies. What could be better?

From here we gave the ring-bearer a bath and started getting all packed for wedding day--including me taking about an hour to get the wrinkles out of my dress. Why is bridesmaid fabric always so hard to iron? Brought back memories of my own wedding day in the same house when I stayed up half the night with my friends steaming and ironing, steaming and ironing.

First Full Day

2011-08-19T11:49:00.000-04:00

Thursday marked our first day of going to school 9-2. I still felt a little anxious about the long day without my buddy, but I was also looking forward to tackling my to-do list. My goal for the day was to get as much done as humanly possible. I think I succeeded. . .but I will let you be the judge!

Lucas woke up so excited for school and for his pink milk for breakfast. That reminds me, I need to get more of that before school next week! We had a fun time chatting on the way to school and as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Lucas started cheering, "yay school"! "yay, playground"!

While we are in line, I let him crawl up into the front seat with me and we had the windows down singing his favorite "Brown Cow" song. As soon as we rounded the corner--this is what he was doing:

Hanging out the window spotting Miss Pat and saying, "Good Morning, Miss Pat"!

He jumped out and went on his way down the hallway to Miss Julie's class and

I went off to be productive.

Here is what I did:

Starbucks-got a tall iced coffee with milk and sugar

Drove to Nashville West to visit Michaels, Ross, and World Market where I got twine for gift wrapping.

Drove to Target, got a lot, used a lot of coupons, but my total was still a lot higher than it would have been if Lucas was with me ;)

Drove to Green Hills, purchased all of my hostess gifts and boxes for the shower Sunday.

Drove back to Nolensville, filled up my car with gas.

Drove to Publix, got all my groceries.

Drove home, unloaded groceries, started dinner, started dishwasher, started white laundry.

vacuumed car

ate lunch

caught up on e-mail

Drove to pick up little buddy.

So--now it is Friday and we are in our pj's for the day watching Caillou, playing cars, and being pretty lazy :)

Snoopy Days and School Days

2011-08-17T15:55:00.000-04:00

One of the wonderful blessings we have at Otter Creek is the preschool and Kindergarten where so many sweet children are nurtured, taught, loved, and prayed for. We knew that we wanted to send Lucas there, but the time sure did fly faster than we thought and we received a "Snoopy Letter" in the mail from Miss Julie inviting Lucas to "snoop" around his classroom before school started.

Here is Lucas holding his Snoopy Letter:

Snoopy Day is only about an hour long, but it gives the kids a chance to get familiar with where they will be and a time for the parents to see everything and have a meeting with Miss Pat about the school year. I knew we would be separated a bit that morning, but I wasn't prepared for how quick it would happen (as it should, I know). Lucas ran right into his room and didn't look back!

Lucas' cubby.

Otter Creek School has the most amazing playground, I know everyone is going to miss it so much when the kids move to the new school this fall. A lot of my friends started here as 2 year olds and I know that leaving this special place will be hard for them too, but the new school is going to be wonderful and hold its own special memories.

Lucas would introduce himself to any teacher he didn't know by sticking his hand out and saying, "My name is Lucas Graves, nice to meet you"!

Here are a couple pictures of his classroom:

And here is Miss Julie, Lucas' teacher! She is just so sweet and I know we are going to grow to love her even more and she will become a part of our family. I have heard the most wonderful things about her!

Lucas (and mommy) love that Miss Dele will always be there at school too. I know it is comforting for both of us to have that familiar face- especially in the early days. Lucas is already looking forward to the days he can stay late and go home with Miss Dele to play.

The 2 year old classroom door.

Leaving Snoopy Day. We had a plane to catch for my brother's wedding (blog coming soon) so we couldn't stay for too long and play but Lucas insisted on carrying his school bag which is about the size of his body!

Lucas' school bag (each child has the same bag for all their years at Otter Creek) and

a special treat from Miss Dele.

Fast forward to Tuesday. The first day. I knew this was the right thing for him and that he was just going to love school so much, but it was so hard to imagine my day without him tagging along with me. It was only a 9-12 day for him so that they could get a little more acclimated to their class but I just thought that sounded like forever!

We took some pictures outside before we left, of course bribery with pink milk (Strawberry Instant Breakfast) had to be used :)

Target had a rack of cards for kids going to school and of course I had to get him the one from Elmo wishing him a great day at preschool :)

Waiting in the drop off line. My heart is heavy just remembering this moment! I was all choked up and Lucas kept saying, "momma talk"? I sure couldn't. I knew in just a couple minutes, Miss Pat would arrive at our door and carry him to his class and I wasn't sure what I would do after that!

I arrived at the drop-off door with my dark sunglasses on and a box of Kleenex beside me. He was so excited to get out with Miss Pat and was asking, "where Miss Julie"? No tears from him. I, on the other hand, had a hard time figuring out how to put my car into drive. I got as far as the lower parking lot before I pulled over along with my friend Courtney and we sobbed and hugged for a bit. The funny thing was watching all the moms who have done this many times with many children and they were all waving and smiling on their way to wherever they were going as we were frozen in that parking lot not sure how to operate without our little people.

I did eventually collect myself enough to go to Starbucks and get some coffee before taking my list to Target. I wasn't able to put anything in my cart though, my mind just didn't know how to go back to a normal activity just yet. I was glad I had a doctor's appointment that morning, by the time it was over, I grabbed lunch and pulled into the pick-up line at school.

It was fun to be able to see through the window at school and see him playing happily while I was waiting my turn in line. We have signs on our visors so that the teachers can see whose parents are in line next and the designated teacher brings your little love and puts them in their car seat while telling you about their day. Miss Pat even came to my car to tell me how well he did and how much fun he had.

An Otter Creek school tradition that even my friends remember from their childhood is stopping at the "Purple Cow" for a treat after school. It is just a gas station/market but I have heard their cheeseburgers are amazing! Lucas picked a watermelon flavored slush puppie and drank it happily outside with his friends.

This is the picture of Lucas before I dropped him off, for some reason I can't put this in time-order.

Back to after school. We went to see daddy at his office and Lucas was so proud to show off his caterpillar that he made and tell daddy all about his day. He chatted all the way home and then took a 3 hour nap!

Now--our first full day is tomorrow. I think I can I think I can.

Let's go to the fair!

2011-08-09T21:02:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again for the Williamson Co. Fair! I had wanted to go last year, but it just didn't work out with our schedule so we made sure to plan on it this year and we had so much fun! The fair didn't open till 6PM, so we made bbq chicken and corn on the cob for dinner. Lucas loved eating the corn right off the cob and kept saying, "I eat like a big boy momma".

The highlight of the fair for little ones is the farming experience. It is really cool and so educational! They start out with baskets and aprons and go through the whole farming process. You start by feeding corn to chickens and getting an egg in return, brushing a sheep and getting wool in your basket, picking apples from trees, planting seeds, picking your produce, and milking a cow.

How cute is my little farmer?

Lucas collected quite a yummy basket of goods!

After you have gone through the farming process, you take your goods to the market and organize them into their correct bins before you get "paid".

Then it was off to the country store we went with our "money". He got to pick anything in the store and chose a bag of animal crackers. Mommy and Daddy chose Purity ice cream bars.

With age comes wisdom I guess :)

This corn play pit was genius--I was even tempted to play in it!

The animals were a hit too. I have heard about them all day today. Did he go up to the cows and serenade them with "Brown Cow" by Taft Brown? He sure did and the cows seemed pleased that he knew their song.

The new piglets were quite cute but they did carry quite the smell.

When we went out onto the midway, Lucas spotted this Nemo ride and asked to go. I thought for sure we would buy the tickets, get him seated and he would immediately start crying to get out (his usual routine). We were so wrong! He loved it and rode twice before we went off to ride the carousel.

These smiles are because daddy is off buying us a funnel cake.

The fair was a hit for sure, all day that has been the topic of conversation.

Proud Moments

2011-08-06T15:05:00.000-04:00

I had heard about the amazing Crockett Park but we had not ever visited until this week. Lucas has been sleeping a lot lately. . .as in, I put him to bed on Wednesday night at 8 and he slept until noon on Thursday. Yes, I said noon. Somehow my 2 year old has turned into a teenager. Maybe he knows that when school starts next week, mornings are about to get a little earlier.

Anyway, back to the park. We ate some waffles and yogurt for our breakfast/lunch and decided to go try the park since it was only in the mid 90s at that point in the day and still overcast.

What a fun place! It is all sheltered under huge trees and there is so much to do! Everything is wooden, there are balancing activities, slides, ropes, swings, etc. He had a blast.

On the way back to the car, we noticed the beautiful ball fields---that had their gates open! So, I let Lucas run the bases. Here comes my proud moment. . .

Lucas was so confused, he ran up to me and asked, "but momma, where are the Tigers at"?

I have done my job as a mother.

Pancakes and Pajamas

2011-08-04T10:56:00.000-04:00

The much anticipated event of the week was to attend the 2nd birthday party of our little friend

Leighton. . .lovingly called "LeiLei" by most. Miss Courtney came up with the sweetest idea to have a morning party where all the sweet kiddos come in their pajamas and eat pancakes and breakfast together.

The table was just adorable.

Yes, those would be polka dotted paper straws from LuLus. I think I was in love.

The "big girl" table. . .for the mommies of course! I love that our kids love each other so much that we can sit and eat together and they are able to fend for themselves without needing too much assistance. It also helps that Mr. Kyle was there to assist the kiddos so we could drink our Purity chocolate milk and eat our pancakes drizzled in honey butter in peace. Man, writing this blog is making me hungry!

I just love a cute kid in pajamas, too bad you don't look so cute in snug pajamas past the age of 12.

No words for all this deliciousness, Courtney and Kyle out-did themselves!

Precious Leighton blowing her candle out.

I am just amazed at how cute our kids are, how well behaved, and how much they are growing!!

A couple of my friends alerted me to go check out what was going on quietly in another corner of the room. Jenny had put baby Milly out of the way and someone found her and just loved loving on her. It was precious and a great sign of how he will be with Finn! I didn't even have to remind him to be gentle, he would just pat her and smile at her and kiss her on the cheek!

Getting set up for the group picture is always entertainment. I really think we need to have video of the crazy things us moms are doing in order to attempt this.

This is the best picture I got from the day, we are missing Loughton in there but everyone else is relatively calm for the moment. . .it could be because they all have a chocolate chip in their mouth.

I know I say this all the time, but what a blessing to have these friends together--one day when they graduate from high school we will have quite the slideshow of their years together.

Time to play horsey! Danielle really is under there somewhere. . .I promise she is!

Pure joy and love from Lucas to Miss Danielle. Oh how he loves her and Crosby. Anytime we go play somewhere with friends, Lucas wants to know if Crosby will be there, and quickly after, he needs to make sure Miss Danielle will be there too. When I was combing his hair to come to the party today, he said, "Miss Danielle see my hair today".

And I just love Danielle too. What an honor to call her friend.

All the kids were getting a little slap happy towards the end, even Leighton was hamming it up. Maybe it had something to do with all the chocolate milk?

Happy Birthday sweet Leighton! You are such a beautiful little girl with wonderful parents who adore you. LuLu is blessed to have you as a friend and he can't wait to be in preschool with you next week!

Our little fishies.

2011-07-28T15:25:00.000-04:00

On one of the hottest days this summer (seriously, the temp got up to 104, the heat index was much higher), we hosted play group at our pool. The kids loved cooling off,

the mommas loved chatting and relaxing in the water-and some of us who have

babies in our bellies loved feeling weightless for a couple hours!

Mr. Crosby. I just love this kid to pieces. He always greets me with an enthusiastic, "Hi Miss Kawa". Everything this little boy does is with pure joy, I can't wait for the fun that will happen when we comes to spend the night with his little buddy Lucas.

Lei-Lei. What a sweet, little girl. Lucas and Lei-Lei will be in the same class at school this year!

Mr. Dean was able to join us! He has a new baby sister so we were excited that both of them could come play for the morning.

My little buddy. He seemed fine, just quiet all morning, then he spiked a fever after we left the pool. Someone is getting his molars and it made for a cuddly, Caillou-watching, chocolate milk drinking afternoon and evening.

Little baby Annie.

Charlotte striking a pose--but who wouldn't in a monogrammed seersucker suit like that?!

Lucas never wears his float anymore, until he sees Mr. Crosby with his and then we must follow suit!

One week ago today, we actually had a pool day at Jenny's! Here are our little babies then. . .

wow, our kids are growing up so fast!!

And, today is exactly two weeks from Lucas' first day of school. Where are my Kleenex? Oh, and it doesn't stop there. Thursday is the first day of school, we fly out that afternoon to get to my brother's wedding rehearsal--my baby brother!!! That Sunday is my dad's last day at Rochester and then Monday I will be helping my parents when the movers arrive at their house.

I might get dehydrated from all the tears. Seriously.

Long, Hot Days.

2011-07-26T16:35:00.000-04:00

Well, here I am with Finn at 26 weeks. This was the night we had our 7th Anniversary dinner out. What a great night. . .Lucas got to stay with his favorites: Randall and Dele. They have become such an incredible blessing to us. . .they have become Lucas' Nashville grandparents which is such a gift since we live so far from family.

Lucas spent the evening playing with turtles, feeding fish, riding in Randall's jeep, eating at 5 Guys, and pretty much just running the show at their house. . . he even requested "pink ice cream" from "Chicken Fil A" and of course, off they went!

Meanwhile, Josh and I went to J.Alexanders and our food was just scrumptious! I just love their whole menu, and I had saved my caffeine intake for the day until we got to dinner and enjoyed several sweet teas.

Afterwards, we headed to the mall---I know, it doesn't sound exciting, but Josh never shops with me and he needed some new jeans. It was nice to stroll around at our leisure without a toddler (although don't get me wrong, we sure do miss that little man when he isn't with us). We were able to get Josh some great things for fall for a super deal along with a couple things for Finn and Lucas next summer. I love to buy a few seasons ahead when it is on clearance!

We arrived back at Randall and Dele's to all three of them saying, "noooooo, not yet, we are still having fun"! Good thing they beg to have him once a week or so.

Fast forward to this past weekend. We endured the wait at Loveless to eat some biscuits.

We spent part of the wait playing on an old tractor. That suited this little munchkin just fine!

Lucas was amazing this night. I think possibly the best behaved he has ever been at a meal--we ate dinner about an hour later than we usually do, it was so hot, he kept asking to eat during our wait, and he requested to not sit in a high chair. Usually those ingredients spell out D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R, but he was a stud! I think he ate just as many biscuits as I did!

Feeding bread to the ducks---check out that follow through!

This is preciousness. I will have it framed at Lucas' graduation party one day.

Elvis and I enduring the heat at 27 weeks. I think it is about time to start counting down since that number is much lower, so.....12 weeks to go! (I am being induced early). Although with this heat, and the braxton hicks I have been having, I wouldn't be surprised if this little man comes early.

We went to our friend's pool this weekend and the boys conquered the slide, so much fun.

Where did they go?!

Today, we were getting back on track with errands. . .library, shoes for my brother's wedding (which is in 2.5 weeks!!!!!), and Target. At Target, we passed an Oreo display and Lucas shouted out, "Daddy's cookies!!!!" I replied, "yes, those are the cookies that daddy loves". Lucas responded with this: " Lulu and daddy share cookies, ok. Good idea". Ha- I laughed so hard I bought the cookies.

Playing with Photography

2011-07-25T15:33:00.001-04:00

What happens when you have a super cute kid and a camera? The following. But only if you also have marshmallows to bribe said cute kid to pose and smile.

Made you smile!

Just a funny story from a few days ago. Lucas was laying on his changing table while I was getting his clothes on and he was playing "This Little Piggy" with his toes. Except he changed the verses to: "This little piggy went to Target, this little piggy went to Publix. . . "

Cow Appreciation Day

2011-07-08T23:24:00.000-04:00

What lengths do we go to for free food? See the photo below:

Today was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A! If you dressed up completely, you received a free combo meal, if you had something "cow" on, you received a free entree. Well, Lucas and I weren't going to let this festive occasion pass us by, so we moo-ed our way over to get dinner

and it was yummy!

I may or may not have dressed up, but I did get my dinner for free :) Lucas was precious, as I was ordering, he kept mooing in the line. When the big Chick-Fil-A cow came out to see the children, Lucas kept hugging him and held onto his leg everywhere he went. . .poor cow couldn't walk very well, but he sure had a #1 fan!

Happy Cow Day!

Happy July!

2011-07-05T16:24:00.000-04:00

After a week of fun activities and hotel Graves full to capacity, we were excited for our Monday as a family of three. Our neighborhood, which really is just like Mayberry, has a 4th of July parade each year. The kids decorate their bikes, wagons, and scooters and a police escorts them around the neighborhood while people stand on their porches a cheer. It really is precious.

Lucas kept saying "Happy July" to everyone. Hey, the kid wants the joy to last longer than a day! Here he is eating breakfast in his wagon.

At the end of the parade, there is a popsicle party at the pool!

Checking out the police car. (or policey car as Lucas says)

After the parade, we spend the rest of the morning at the pool. Lucas loves to jump in and requests that you "back up, back up" before he leaps at you.

After grilling hamburgers for dinner, we got ready to head to our little Nolensville for fireworks. Well, we thought it was going to be little but there were SO MANY people there!

Lucas calls them the "fire truck works"

Finn at 24 weeks, next 4th of July my boys will be in matching seersucker ;)

Enjoying our Sonic treats before the sun set.

I was cracking up at this face. Lucas loved the whole show, clapping and shouting out the colors. The finale, however, was so so bright, I even put on my sunglasses so I could see them. Lucas just shut his eyes as hard as he could!

Happy July to you all!

Lipscomb University: Summer Celebration

2011-07-05T16:13:00.000-04:00

Each year, Lipscomb hosts a week long conference called Summer Celebration that brings in a lot of speakers, singers, Acafest, and other events. My dad has been one of the speakers for the past few years which is great because then we get to hang out while he is here! (and of course my mother arrives at my house with me already having a couple projects lined up for her!)

I was able to sing with Chris and Vicki Lindsey and some other friends for two different worship times during the week which was so much fun, I have missed those singing days.

On the last day, Lipscomb does their own 4th of July celebration with an Acappella concert, fireworks, bounce houses, and yummy food. Our tradition the past two years has been to go to Cheesecake Factory before hand :)

Here is Lucas and his beloved Sugar and Grand-da.

Anne Claire and I are both expecting boys this fall and we showed up wearing the same shirt. . .great minds think alike!

Play date mommies and great friends.

The Pleasants arrived just in time for dinner and fireworks so we got to enjoy this event with them too. Their kids were such troopers after a long day in the car to endure this late night.

I just can't believe my little babysitting babies are growing up into such cute big girls. Sniff.

Lucas was so tired, he was just completely zoned until the fireworks started.

Sweet boy stayed snuggled with Grand-Da for the entire firework show.

Now that is what you call a Kodak moment.

U2: Nashville

2011-07-05T16:01:00.000-04:00

Well, prepare for a few blog updates in the next little bit. We have had a fun filled week full of company, events, and fun!

Saturday was the long awaited U2 concert. . .this has been on our calendar for months and months. In fact, I was in my closet during tornado sirens printing off our tickets way back in the early spring!

Our friends Josh and Kayci Ross and Johnny and Erin Pleasant came into town to enjoy this monumental event with us. I of course took a large amount of pictures, but here are just a few to enjoy:

Walking in amongst all the trucks...it was amazing to watch them tear down the stage afterwards, they have it down to a science!

We were blessed with backstage passes to the Round Room. The band didn't end up coming back, but there were a lot of interesting people to see and this 24 week prego really enjoyed having a couch, air conditioning, and cold cokes brought to her until it was time to get into our seats.

Me and quite possibly U2's biggest fan.

For their 100th show, U2 played at Vanderbilt's football stadium, their smallest venue so far which is amazing because there were a LOT of people!

This is totally unedited. Josh is going to blow this one up and put it

above our mantle if I don't watch out.

For the most part, the crowd stayed on their feet the entire time. I was not able to with being pregnant and it being about 98 degrees, high humidity, and thousands of people, but the jumbo screens still gave me a great view when I sat down. These are my poor swollen feet afterwards

- - -they hurt so much but it was worth it!

So glad we had the chance to experience this night!

123: Sesame

2011-06-25T21:21:00.001-04:00

Well, Sesame Street Live came to Nashville this weekend, I debated about getting tickets until I did some research and found that tickets were only $15, and the Saturday morning show (which was my preference) had lots of great seats left.

Lucas woke up this morning saying, "See Elmo today, see Cookie Monster today"! As you can see from the photo below, mom shared the excitement with Lucas.

Lucas was so cute wanting to wear his backpack.

I think we need to go this way mom!

Precious buddies.

This was his face after Big Bird came on the speakers to announce that the show would start in 3 minutes! (3 was the number of the day).

Lucas watched the entire show intently, letting it all soak in.

After the show, he was so excited about all his favorite characters that he saw (his favorite right now is Cookie Monster), and then he requested we go get a Sprite.

We went to the downtown Panera for lunch which ended up being just the best lunch! We sat out on the patio (it was only in the low 80s) and Lucas had a blast watching the buses, police cars, and fire trucks drive by and chasing birds.

Ever since we came home, he has been talking about all the characters and singing the songs. In particular, he has been singing "If you're happy and you know it", however, he calls it "The Happy Nose" song :)

What a fun day we had together! Sure hope you are having a great weekend too!

Lucas has an announcement. . .

2011-06-19T22:13:00.003-04:00

Lucas finally came up with a name for his baby brother:

Finn Rowan Graves

We love the names we chose just because of the sound, but we fell in love with them after learning some of the history behind them:

Finn- the literary genius of Huckleberry Finn, Finn MacCumhail is a legendary Irish hero, Finn comes from Gaelic, Irish, and Finnish roots.

Rowan- As a boy's name this is a transferred use of the surname, which is of Irish origin, being an Anglicized form of the Gaelic byname 'Ruadhan' 'little red one'. It was borne by a 6th century saint who founded the monastery of Lothra, and is the name of the present Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, (he performed the royal wedding) The Rowan tree is a tree that has red berries, you can find it in many European countries including Scotland.

So, there you have it!

2011-06-14T21:31:00.002-04:00

It's A. . .

2011-06-08T16:00:00.001-04:00

Safety Night

2011-06-01T21:46:00.003-04:00

Ahh, look at this sweet summer baby. I just love this kid :) As you can tell, I have totally embraced the southern clothing for little boys, not to the extreme, but I love it! Josh doesn't quite understand yet, but that's OK. Nothing is sweeter than a blond baby with his arms showing in a sweet seersucker romper! Tuesday night is always Kid's Night at Chick-Fil-A (free kids meals, usually balloons, and sometimes a dressed up cow), but this specific Tuesday was also Safety Night: two fire trucks, a D.A.R.E. police car, and a cow stuffed animal dressed as a fire man!

As soon as we drove onto Franklin Rd. Lucas shrieked. . .and I mean loud and high pitched "Chicken Fil A Chicken Fil A" in his best southern accent.
This little boy loves fire trucks, but the real thing was quite intimidating for him. You could tell he wanted to play in and on the truck so bad but anytime we got close he grabbed onto us in terror.
Safe with daddy and holding our new toy.
Officer Lucas. On Duty.
The ladder truck showed the kids just how high the ladder goes. It was HIGH.

Giving the cow a high five.
Surprisingly, he wasn't afraid of the cows at all! This cow in particular kept coming up behind him to scare him and Lucas would just giggle and giggle.

He finally (after many many attempts) got up the courage to sit in the truck. He would ask to, and then cry and say "no" when we got up in line, and when we would walk away he would cry that he wanted to again. Poor thing was scared but wanted to try so bad!
Sitting in the front with daddy was ok.
Thank you Chick Fil A for a great night!

Pure Joy.

2011-05-25T14:29:00.004-04:00

Those blue eyes, how I love them so. We have been quite the busy travelers lately, so it has been awhile from the last update. Josh was in California for a week teaching at Pepperdine, then we were on a tropical vacation for a week, and then in Michigan!

So glad to be home and relaxing in the summer weather- thankfully since we live in a newer neighborhood, we don't have the cicadas that the rest of Nashville is dealing with!

We played in the sprinkler last night- or I should say, Daddy and Lulu played in the sprinkler, and I captured some great faces--faces full of pure joy!

Pausing for kisses :)
I think this photo will be framed in his new big boy room:

We had so much fun watching his face outside. He has been so funny lately--his words are just exploding each day! Here are a couple stories:

At dinner last night, Lucas started telling us a 5 minute story- not many breaths included and not too many recognizable words, but a whole lot of hand gestures. Josh said at one point, "wow buddy, that is a great story", but as soon as he uttered those words, Lucas pointed to Josh with his finger and said: "shhhh, no talking". And the story continued.

One morning this week, Josh was putting his shoes on by the door. Lucas walked by, raised his hand and said: "see ya later Josh".

Lucas recognizes every Chick-Fil-A that we drive by, he LOVES that place. Good thing momma loves it too! It is always stated with a good southern accent--"Chicken Fil A".

I was looking for a swimsuit for Lucas and held a shirt up to him to see if it was big enough. Lucas grabbed it and said, "oh its perfect!".

To end: here is a picture of my fellow Tigers fan and me :)

My Terrific Two Year Old!

2011-05-08T22:14:00.003-04:00

Friday night, we said good night to this precious one year old. . . and Saturday morning, we sang Happy Birthday to our 2 year old boy!!
This is how Lucas tells you how old he is:
Lucas received a basketball as one of his gifts. I should have known better than to try and take a a picture of him opening it. He almost got the camera, but check out that form!
We started the tradition of going to the zoo on Lucas' birthday, this year we were excited to see that the elephants were up close to see us!

Lucas and his Sugar :)

In the middle of the day, we got to go to the airport and welcome home a beautiful little girl named Dinkenesh that our worship minister's family adopted from Africa. What an exciting day!
Lucas was allowed to use markers when we did the sign (rare gift for him) and he felt like a big boy holding up his sign with all the other kids.
Yay for the Sanderson family of 5!!
We went out to eat at Logan's (this is the restaurant I worked at for a long time and still adore, it is also where we ate exactly 6 years ago after my graduation from Lipscomb). When we got home, it was time for cupcakes and presents!
At the end of the day, when Lucas was all good and over-stimulated, we showed him his "big boy" room. I don't have a mattress on the bed yet, I had assumed he wouldn't jump up there but the first thing he said was, "choo choo train, nigh nigh". Guess I need to get a mattress asap.
. . .and the grand finale, the train table! Big hit and sure way for mom to sit and relax a bit during the day!
Love that I get to spend every day with my favorite little 2 year old buddy :)

Up, Up, and Away!

2011-05-03T17:34:00.006-04:00

Can you believe we have reached the "2" mark? We sure can't. Our sweet little boy is growing up so fast! We weren't going to do a birthday party this year for a couple reasons: one, I don't want my kids thinking they will have a party every year, and two, last year's birthday was a big event. (Invited lots of people and the Nashville Flood hit).

Well, Lucas has grasped the idea of what "Happy Birthday" means and loves celebrating with his friends, so we decided to do a low-key, handmade birthday with just his play group friends Monday morning. . . .and this is what we came up with:

Everything was printed on card stock, bought, cut out and glued from Michaels with some candy from the candy store! I had help with some of the items that I purchased through the very creative yellowmums.blogspot.com-she has an Etsy store full of really cute things!
The other side of the water bottle wrapper says "Jet Engine Fuel".

The amazing Kristen Brown made cookies to match for the favors. . . which we placed in the "Baggage Claim" jar.

My mom is extremely talented and I asked her to make Lucas a shirt that would match his party....turned out AMAZING.
This photo is blurry, but he was having so much fun playing balloons with Miss Danielle.
Mr. Josh and sweet little Leighton.
For lunch we had: PB&J, Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Baked Beans, Homemade Mac N Cheese, Watermelon, and Cantaloupe. I had pictures posted all over with photos of Lucas' 1st Birthday.

Miracle: All the kids sat and ate their lunch! I really think they stayed there for about 15 minutes, it was glorious!
It was so funny when we sang to Lucas and lit his cupcake, he would blow it out immediately. So I had to re-light it a few times while holding my arm over his mouth!

Crosby has the best faces ever. This was right after he sang "Hah Puh Buh Duh Day Mr. Lucas" (coming to a video soon)

Putting together Door "Hangars" (get it, Airplane Hangars?)

This is where we found miss Addy Lou---sneaking under the table to eat cookies!

Our Birthday Mantle dedicated to Mr. Lucas.
Happy Birthday my sweet boy, I love you so much!

Birthday Sunday

2011-05-01T22:10:00.003-04:00

Oh, Birthday Sunday at Otter Creek, how I love thee! It is such a special tradition the first Sunday of every month as the children who have birthdays get to stand in front of everyone as the church sings "Happy Birthday", "May the Lord Bless You" and a prayer over the parents. I typically tear up each month and can't get through singing so knowing that today was Lucas' turn (and that these pregnancy hormones get me especially teary) made me wonder how today would be!

Lucas sat with us for the first 5 minutes of church. I am glad it wasn't longer than that, because he did great those 5 minutes but I could tell the end was coming quickly. He insisted on holding his Bible while we sang.
My sweet little man- who looks especially little compared to all the other kids!
I asked Lucas later in the day about his Birthday Sunday experience and he said "Happy Birthday" and when we sang it to him, he insisted that we also sing the "Bless You" part. Sweet boy.
Here is the whole group- including 6 babies who turn 1 in May! After this, they all get to go eat cake together.
My wiggly worm and I at our usual Sunday restaurant. Seriously, I think the world might end if we don't eat at Mazatlan every Sunday.
Happy Birthday Week to my favorite little buddy!