Happy Birthday Lucas!

Lucas turned TWO this past weekend! We had a small party with friends and enjoyed eating and relaxing out on the patio while the kids played. Lucas had been enthusiastically (an understatement) practicing blowing out candles for the past month and so was incredibly excited to have the opportunity to blow out many candles all at once while everyone sang and clapped for him!

And, for all who ask about such things, at his 2 year old well-child check up, we found out that Lucas is continuing to slowly climb up the chart on his weight. He's now at the 5th percentile (yay!) and is 23 pounds. His height is 50th percentile and he's 34" tall. In general that equates to size 18 months clothing but for long-sleeve shirts he'd need "18-24 months" or "24 months"

Knoxville!

What an amazing vacation! I always forget just how much I miss the mountains, tall trees, lush foliage and that autumn smell of fallen leaves and dewy wet grass in the morning. I loved it that Lucas could explore without running into a pile of fire ants or prickly pear cactus. We spent our first few days lounging around the cabin we rented with the Hortons in Townsend, TN- just minutes from the entrance to Smokey Mountain National Park. We had a wood burning stove (it was chilly there!), an outdoor hot tub on a patio, a wrap around porch with rocking chairs, and access to several cool hiking trails with waterfalls. It was great catching up with Karen and Matt and in classic best-friends style, picking up where we left off since we last saw each other. :) Lucas rode a pony for the first time, admired the cabin-owners' lawn mower collection, and visited with their goats and sheep. After 2 days there, we headed up to Knoxville to see the Yoders. Lucas and Gabby got along really well. It was so fun to see them having a tea party together, running amok through the house chasing after eachother, and singing and dancing to music while both wearing a pair of Gabby's plastic princess shoes. Meanwhile, 8 1/2 months pregnant Laila made an amazing home-made lasagna and we had a sit-down meal with placemats and napkins. Definitely impressive. She also treated both Laith and I to a Reiki session which was very relaxing and recharging. Doug was his usual fun, laid-back self and watched the kids while Laith and I had our Reiki sessions. All in all, it was a great getaway and we look forward to returning to our next family reunions over Thanksgiving (VA) and Christmas (AZ)!

How Does He Love Me? Here Are 2 Ways:

Laith and I love to do little things for eachother that may seem childish or silly but in reality these small gestures make us so happy! One of these things is taking the time to cut a sandwich in triangles after putting it together for the other person. And here's a new one: Cutting out the bacon strips into tiny hearts before cooking them in the microwave! And voila: my packed lunch before heading out to shoot a wedding. Thank you Laith! :)

Spidey Toddler

Check out these awesome climbing moves- espeically the middle photo!

Happy Birthday Laith!

This post written by Laith...

Happy birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I was able to get not one, or two, but four days or relaxing for this birthday. The highlights included a one hour massage on a body that felt wrecked; lighting, relighting, and relighting and re-singing happy birthday to various things, including me, monkey, candles, cake, apple juice, and Annie Pie; going to a movie with my lovely wife; playing outside with both Lucas and Jenna while seeing the Amtrak train come and go; and finally some pun-kin picking. At the pumpkin picking place, the pickin' was sparse.. until an 18 wheeler full of them showed up, to Lucas' delight!

Thanks for making my extended weekend a great time, Jenna! I love you!

Choo choooooo!

This was Lucas' first time seeing a life-size train! He was totally entranced. When we told him we were going to go see the choo choo, he thought we'd be riding the tiny Zilker Zephyr at the playground. He was in for a big surprise! After it left the station, he started pleading for "More Choo Choo" and "Choo Choo Come Please!" And when that didn't work, starting investigating the possibility of it coming back if he asked for it in another color. "Purple Choo Choo?" "Red Choo Choo?" :)

Lucas Likes Licking LimePops

New PlayHouse

Lucas and Sufyan LOVE this new hand-me-down from a neighbor boy on our street. They play in it nearly everyday. Rather than play house, Lucas is starting to try to dive out of the windows and pretends that the table inside is a tableSAW... such a boy. :)