Luke's 3rd Month

Even though I'd prefer to see all of Luke's face, instead of having his arm in front and his thumb in his mouth, this is actually a pretty fitting picture for this month because Luke started sucking his thumb.  Majorly.  He'd been a pacifier baby for the first 2 1/2 months of his life, but while we were in Texas with Ben's brother, we found him sleeping like this:

First, I thought it was the cutest thing ever.  Then, I thought of how great it would be to not have to worry about giving him the paci whenever he needed soothing.  And finally, I realized that if I let him become a bona fide thumb-sucker, I might have to deal with repercussions down the road.  I debated, but in the end I decided not to fight it.  Perhaps we'll amputate this left thumb eventually (he wasn't picky at first, but now he prefers the left).  But who needs two opposable thumbs, anyway?

Other notable developments this month were that he smiled a lot more, started laughing some, and began wearing 6-month size clothes.  Yes.  And we heard a lot of comments about how BIG he was.  This was also when he started sleeping through the night.  Yep.  He's pretty great.

Cat and her favorite baby brother at the Mesa Temple.

Rest stop in Arizona

First trip to Publix.  Yeah!!!

I love this picture Eliza took of us at a park in Tallahassee.

First trip to the beach.  Yeah again!!!

And here's the comparison collage:

 

XC x 2 - Florida, Part 2

While we were in Florida we also spent some time with dear friends.  Here are a few pictures from our adventures.

My kids and I had a day with Kathryn and her kids, which was just wonderful.
Kathryn and I talked and talked while the kids played and played.  What a treasure.
Here are Kinsley, Eliza, Cat, Raeya, Jack, and Layton.

We hung out quite a bit with Tim & Cassie and their family while we were in
Tallahassee.  Tim and Ben have been best friends for forever, and their kids
are the same ages as our kids.  It worked out very well and we had a great time!

Jake, Jack, Lana, Cat, Eliza, and Madi

Beautiful Maclay Gardens

We told the kids they could walk in the water, so naturally they all went swimming in the lake...

...with a gator.

I took the kids swimming at Cassie's parents' pool and Eliza was a bit of a
daredevil, wanting to jump in and "swim" farther and farther.

We planned a beach trip to one of our favorite places, St. George Island.  We woke up that morning to find that a Flash Flood Watch was in effect for the area, but decided we'd take our chances anyway.

We had a bit of rain for the whole drive to the beach.

Fortunately, the sun came out as soon as we arrived and we were able to enjoy a day of fun in the sun.

By the time we left Tallahassee, our kids had spent enough time with Tim & Cassie's kids that they were walking around holding hands :-)

XC x 2 - Florida, Part 1

We were so happy to reach Tallahassee and get to spend time with Ben's parents!  We all had a wonderful time with Mema and Papa, spending time together and exploring in and around the house. Here are a few of our adventures while we were at Mema and Papa's.

Feeding the fish in M & P's goldfish pond.

Papa taking the kids for a ride around the neighborhood.

We tried to take the boat out, but the water level was so low in the lake that Papa's
truck got stuck when he was trying to unload the boat.

The kids didn't let a perfectly good lake go to waste, though.

The lake also made a good place to get cleaned up after they discovered the mud.

Mema kept Luke mud-free.

The kids found Ben's old cornet and had a good time trying it out.  Jack started
to get the hang of it, but Cat's the one who received coaching from Papa (a band director
for 40+ years).  Unfortunately, she didn't really want to be taught.

Luke Loves Papa.

It was so nice for the kids to have uninterrupted time with Mema and Papa.
They cooked, painted, read, and played together - tea parties are always a hit.

One evening we took the kids on a driving tour of the places around town that were important to us.
We showed them Ben's high school, our wedding reception location, our first townhouse
and of course we drove them around FSU.  (Above is the dorm where I lived my first year.)
They were impressed with the campus - of course - but I think one of the big selling points was the circus.
Hey - whatever it takes, right?  We had more sites to see, such as places we
went when we were dating and the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering (a separate campus)
where Ben's classes were, but we ran out of time.  Maybe we'll finish the tour next time we're in town.

  

Mema let Cat try on her wedding dress, which she made herself.

Eliza's turn.  You can see a little more of the dress in this picture.
Isn't it pretty??

Luke, Daddy, and The WSJ.

Cat bought herself a new curling iron, and we enjoyed trying to figure out how to use it.

 

Rain!

The Swing!

Publix!
(Okay, so I was more excited about Publix than the kids...)

Florida Wildlife.

What Jack wanted to do more than anything while we were in Tallahassee was go fishing with Papa.
He was thrilled when the time came to take a bunch of crickets over to a neighbor's pond.

Fisherman Jack.

Can't wait till they get to go again.

What a wonderful visit.