Christmas

This Christmas = Awesomeness!

It was our first Christmas to stay at our home and begin to establish our Christmas Traditions.

Christmas Dinner

Clark couldn't really eat with us so he hung out under the tree for a little bit.

We read our Special Christmas Story Book after dinner.

I don't think Clark felt super involvedWatching Muppet Christmas Carol

Christmas Morning

Sorry Mom, These are the best picture I have of the boys together in their matching sleepers.

Clark once again hanging out while we opened presents :-) And then there was the most amazing gift that Cute Husband Andrew got for me!!!

All seven seasons of

ROAD TO AVONLEA Best show ever! Best present EVER! Best husband ever!
Every word of it, truth!
If you haven't seen it you should, sell something you love and buy the series. Did I mention how much I love this show. ahhhhh

Luke's Christmas Program

Luke loves school!! I wish I could explain how many wonderful skills he has developed in the past couple weeks, or how amazing his teacher and aids are. But we will just say he loves it, his teacher is amazing and it is such a good place for him to be!

So here is Luke's very first Christmas Program. He doesn't usually cover his ears when they sing but he didn't like all the parents watching.




I love how much he loves his teacher. He would rather go to her than me :-)

Luke also decided rather than decorating his ginger bread house he would rather hide all the candy inside it. I tried to ice the roof and put a gummy-bear on, but he would have none of it. The candy belongs IN the house.

Clark-ness

The last few posts have been all about Luke, so I decided it was time to showcase a lil' Clark-ness. But to be honest there is nothing lil' about him :-)
Clark and I have had a lot more time to play now that Luke is in school. It has been really fun, i forgot what it was like to focus all my attention on an infant. I like it. This week was the Early intervention Christmas Party and Santa was there. Luke does not like Santa, never has. Clark, however, loved the attention.

Courage Reigns

Saturday was Luke's first week at Courage Reigns, a theraputic riding center in Highland Utah (about a half hour from our house). What an amazing place, we had such a wonderful experience there. It is a non-profit organization that offers therapeutic riding, hippotherapy and other equine therapy opportunities. Most of the employees are volunteers and worked so well with Luke.
So how does Luke like it? He was pretty nervous to begin with and did not like wearing the Helmet. But after a while his smiles were uncontainable.

Luke rides a beautiful horse named Hela.

"Hela belongs to Lisa Lindberg, a member of our Board of Trustees. She was our first Icelandic and it’s easy to see why her name means “Frost” in her native language. Her size, gaits and disposition are so suited to the needs of a therapeutic riding center. She is often a student’s first horse; her sweet, sweet spirit, her wonderful soft coat and not being so huge goes far to reassure many of our little newcomers. She even has special saddles to allow her to be comfortable as she does her special gaits. She can move pretty fast without having to bounce her rider up and down."

We worked on basic commands. "Stop" and "Go". I love all the pictures of Luke saying "Go".We also played a game. Ride to the bin. Pick up a toy. Put the toy in the saddle. Ride to the basketball hoop. Put the toy in.Awesome Day

Take Care of Him

So tomorrow is Luke's first day of school. First day of sending my little boy out into the world, my baby. It is my first day trusting completely that strangers will take care of him for the 4 hours he is in their hands. That they will put him on the bus, take him off the bus and do everything in between. I am terrified. Absolutely, completely terrified. He is so young. He might be 3 but he really still is my baby. He still can't talk, he still is not able to tell you what he needs. He still gets scared when he thinks no one is there to make eye contact with him. He still will fall if he is not properly in a seat. I know as a mother we are our children's advocate but I feel the need to explain to the world that yes he is different, yes he is special, but he is wonderful. He is kind. He is good. He is still just a baby. And I say baby but what I mean is about 18 months developmentally. I feel the need to tell people that, to help them understand. But I can't be there for this. It is the first time I won't be able to explain this to every person that he comes in contact with him. It is his first time he will have to just be Luke. And it will be OK. It will be better than OK, it will be great. He is progressing steadily, he is getting better and better. And this developmental preschool is going to help him learn even faster.
TODAY
December 7, 2010 7:45 AM
I did it. He left. I am so grateful to such a kind bus driver to help ease my fears. He was a little timid and nervous but he did such a good job.P.S.
I was a teacher, I never thought I would be a mom who had a hard time letting go
P.S.S Best quote of the day from the kid sitting in front of Luke.
"I want to sit by that kid"
He wants to sit by Luke :-)

Happy Happy Birthday to You!

Luke got a life-size Peter Pan cut out, Andrew got a Kinnect who could ask for a better birthday!

Fall

We absolutely love our home and the huge tree in the backyard. However, when the leaves started to fall... I loved that tree just a little less. Andrew is gone pretty much all the time so it is my responsibility to take care of the yard. After 9 accumulated hours and 10 garbage bags the leaves are almost gone. And that's as good as it's going to get because it snowed.

This is only the first set of leaves. They filled the yard one more time. Luke was a big help.

And Clark plays on in the house. I love this happy pudgy kid!

Lukey Poo

So I would say 75% of all pictures I take of Luke are blurry. He just doesn't stand still. It is fabulous. He is at such a fun stage right now. He is curious about everything.
Let me show you...
"That's a cool toy"

"How does it work?""Let me try"Mommy: "Luke, NO"

The he runs away laughing.Cute little stinker, he loves to play
In the Bathroom...

In the basement...

pretty much everywhere.

He was Buzz Lightyear for Halloween and it was so fun to watch him play with his cousins. And naptime, the best part of our day.