all aboard the birthday train!

As of April 22nd, my sweet baby Grant is no longer a baby :( Growing up is such a weird emotion for me. I love all the new tricks and skills he is learning but I just wish I could keep him a baby and have him snuggle up all day.

This kid has been talking about a Thomas cake for the last, who knows how many, weeks! Anytime we'd mention his birthday he would just respond that all he wanted was a Thomas cake and to blow out the candles. Easy enough for me! Every time I'd think about decorations or who we were going to invite the focus immediately shifted from Grant. I really hope that I can keep his parties about him and not all the fancy pinterest ideas, but man that's hard! We were originally going to be in St.George for his birthday so I figured we'd just do something fun down there. Well...we ended up staying in Colorado longer which turned out to be great, that way we were able to celebrate with extra family.

I attempted a Thomas party but it looked pretty homemade:) Grant loved it though and that's all that matters. My dad made this toy Thomas and he was obsessed with it that night. My mom even found the theme song to play on the piano, that was a hit too.

I love his "birthday faces", this kid kills me.

For my own purposes, Grant received: a doctor kit, train whistle, books, sleeping bag, basketball hoop, train tracks, catching game, and tools. Lucky duck! We played our annual "Grant trivia" game and to keep with traditions, we took him to deposit his piggy bank. Would he really know the difference if a few Benjamin's were missing?! Tempting, tempting.

I took him in for his 3 year check up, other than the possibility of starting speech again everything came back great. He was so cute during the appointment and loved all of her tools. I don't remember the exact height number but it's 50-55% and he's 26 lbs, which is 6%. Still a little tyke, but we love him nonetheless!

Grant facts:
-He always reminds us that he's Grant. "No I'm not a big boy, I'm Grant." , "No I'm not tired, I'm Grant."
-He totally caves to peer pressure, thankfully his friends are a good influence. All I have to say is "Simon likes to brush his teeth." This could be problematic in the future!
-Speaking of friends, he claims (about a million times a day) that he NEEDS to play with friends. Currently he wants to do everything with our neighbor Simon and even prays for him occasionally.
-Is OBSESSED with Thomas. Like crazy obsessed. He knows all the songs and words to most movies. All the numbers and colors of the trains. The other day we were walking around the store, I just hear this soft whisper..."5-James, 6-Percy, 7-Toby" as we passed each aisle number. Thomas is mentioned in prayers most evenings.
-He is very concerned for others and doesn't like when someone is hurt or sad
-If I ask him for something/to do something he'll respond, "just a second mom, k, just a second." or sometimes he'll say "that sounds good."
-"Maybe Papa Joe will fix it" , "Maybe when daddy gets home." Are quoted frequently.
-Still eats every fruit under the sun, he'll down a pound of strawberries in one sitting and ask for more.

Love you baby Grant!

catch up

I know you all have been missing the play by play of our exciting lives. Let me give you the 'I'm too lazy to post about every detail, and you'd probably rather me do a quick post instead' post. David finished his first year of the MBA program! Woohoo! I'll be honest, this was a fairly stressful year for us. Two moves, two miscarriages, starting school, interviews for internships, me starting at 24 Hour Fitness (which then I ended up quitting for the summer and will most likely not be going back), finals, potty training, etc. It's nice to just have one year under our belts and to kind of relax this summer. If you consider 120 degree weather relaxing!

David and his dad caught the fishing bug last summer and it seems to still be hanging around. As long as Grant accompanies David on his fishing adventures I'm totally fine with this hobby. Grant enjoys fishing, being outside and mainly just being with David.

Oh and who can forget Easter? This year the silly Easter Bunny left a crazy trail through the house for Grant to find his basket, which of course was filled with Thomas paraphernalia. Since Grant gets up before us the smart Easter Bunny left the basket in our room. Unfortunately he left the chocolate doughnuts in the kitchen and Grant spotted them bright and early:)

Well I'm too tired to write more....until we meet again.

my favorite little boy

It sure is nice having a photographer in the fam. My sil (I always feel so silly using that term) took these a month or so ago. Man this kid loves trains. There are worse things to enjoy I suppose, although he is starting to enjoy the huge sand v-ball court outside. Honestly who even plays that here? And weren't sandboxes banned in like 1986? They should be! Anyway Grant continually talks about his upcoming "Thomas party", lucky for me all he wants is to blow out candles on a Thomas cake. You got it dude. He's also been "seeing" Thomas and Percy quite a lot and they usually happen to be just right out window. I always seem to just miss them. Bummer. 

Blah...gggg

Seriously, where is my motivation for this blog? I read other blogs, I have time to covet homes and cute kid clothes on pinterest but when it comes to blogging I just never feel like I have the time.

So what have the Luke's been up to? Work, school, work, study, work, clean, wipe boogers....that's pretty much it! This semester has been a little more stressful for David, plus he plays mom while I work every night. He's quite the trooper. Work has been good, I work with some really fun people and always have good stories to tell!

The other night Grant insisted on wearing a watch and tie to bed. Preparing for a job interview buddy? I figured they would both shimmy themselves off in the night but sure enough this is what he looked like in the morning! This kid kills me!

Maybe this week will prove to be more entertaining.....

Lil' Red...RIP

I've never been a big dog lover, sure they keep ya company and are loyal friends but I've got my reasons. I guess I never really felt the need to have a loyal dog that was excited when I got home, that's because I had my "little red car". Yep that beauty has stood by my side (well more so David's the last few years) and has been through thick and thin with us. She wasn't the most practical snow car but that never stopped her from attempting to be a "big kid" on the roads. She drove me to Idaho for my first college experience, drove David and I down to Arizona to start our new life together. She hauled us all over the Utah valley, made many many trips to Colorado and one massive trip to Wisconsin. Quite the traveler that lil' red car. Sure she's given us a scare here and there but boy she's a fighter and would never let us down. However one very sad day she just couldn't keep up with the demand and decided that driving in reverse was too much for her fraile body. She tries her hardest and has good days and bad, we knew it was time for her to get some extra love and care and handed the keys to a new owner last week. Suprizingly I didn't shed one tear, we will always remember lil' red. Please feel free to express loving memories if needed.

2012???

Boy I have been slackin' on the blog lately, I can't promise it will get any better either! The other day David and I were talking about what a whirl wind of a year 2011 was. So many things were up in the air and although it was unpredictable at times it was mainly just exciting. All three of us were able to accomplish major goals this year.

David completed his first semester of grad school and was offered a summer internship with PetSmart in Phoenix. Yep, SUMMER in PHOENIX. What in the world am I going to do with my pale lil' boy?!?! Back to David-he had a busy first semester which included some traveling and lots of preparation for interviews. He had a few offers (Target, AT&T and Durham Brands) which made our decision with PetSmart kind of difficult but staying in the west sure sounds nice;) He was also a trooper for agreeing to move to a new place during finals too!

After about four interviews I was offered a personal training job at 24 Hour Fitness. I love it! I've met some really great people and I'm glad that I am able to use my degree/certification in a way to help others. I know I probably will not always be able to work so I'm grateful for this opportunity.

Grant has had quite the year-his speech has improved and his ability to quote "The Elf" and "Nacho Libre" is somewhat embarrassing! His biggest accomplish yet is the fact that he gave Cosmo the cougar a high five! We heard about it for a full week! I am here to announce that Cosmo came up to us at yesterday's game and had a bite of our popcorn. Looks like we will have another earful:)

Ok on to pictures.....
This is pretty much what Grant looked like the whole month of December.

The easiest way to tell if Grant is pleased with something is by this very expression. He had it on his first birthday when the cake came out, the night he saw Cosmo and obviously when he opened his new drill/hammer.

If only I had permanent entertainment for Grant like I do when family is around.

ALVIN!!!!

October was by far the busiest month for us! David was out of twice which is always fun for him but sad for Grant and I, we made a few trips home to Colorado, I became an aunt for the third time in three months, and we attended a baptism and baby blessing. In not so good news, I had a miscarriage last Monday. Things are going really well though and we are grateful that we have Grant and that each day seems to get better. I've had some heart-to-hearts with Heavenly Father and I know that he is aware of me and my family and that's been a huge comfort during this confusing time. It's hard to trust him but even harder not to. Really I have a lot to be thankful for so I'll just leave it at that.

This was probably my favorite Halloween in a long time. We had a hard time coming up with a costume for Grant, he doesn't like to wear hats, doesn't like jackets or weird things hanging off his body. Ugh, can you imagine how feisty our girls will be?! We had a few ideas but we wanted something that he would actually be excited to wear...cue Alvin costume. It was perfect, cheap, easy, and he loved it! He caught on to the whole trick-or-treat thing pretty fast and was really polite and sweet saying "thank you" and "Happy Halloween" to everyone. That night he was eating his candy at olympic speed and had to be stopped! The next morning he came over to me and said "Mommy? Trick-or-treat? Ok mommy...shoes and socks!" then ran and put on his shoes. Uh, yea buddy like I'm going to take you trick-or-treating at 7:00 am on Nov 1.

We were able to do some festive things with family...pumpkins, halloween cookies, pumpkin farm. 

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!