Trips & Tricks

Trips:

As I have stated before, the weekends in the Bumgarner house are all about doing things as a family and spending time with Luke. (Yes, daddy usually plays a round of golf, but he always tries to join us as much as possible.) Here are some pictures of the family "trips" we have taken the last two weekends.

Grimes Park: Yesterday, even though it was quite warm, Luke, Landis, and I went to Grimes Park to swing and slide. We were the only family there, so it was nice to have the whole park to play. Check out our fun...

Random picture of little man standing up by himself-more to come on this subject in a minute...very exciting...

Last weekend, Landis, Luke, and myself went to Barnes and Noble for a cup of coffee, slice of cheesecake, and some book reading/train playing time for Luke. We were there for almost 2 hours and it seemed like 10 minutes..here are some pictures of little man exploring the book store...

Another random picture of little dude standing up (I should pay more attention to the order in which I upload...he, he)...

The Pool:

Luke and I always go to the pool at least once a week...I get home from work so early now that sometimes we go during the week after work...here are some pictures of Luke with his sunscreened crazy hair before we went to the pool.

The next picture has nothing to do with trips, but is something that Luke loves...I usually eat an apple as an afternoon snack and after I take a bite, I will let Luke suck on the apple (well supervised, of course)...he loves apples...here are some pictures of him diving into one...we sing this great song as we eat it..."I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas..." I mean....isn't there a song for everything??? If not, I make up one...:)

In the Pamper box: One of Luke's favorite trips involves trips in the pamper box. He loves to be pulled around the house in this box...take a look...

TRICKS:

I am so excited to announce that Luke can officially sit up from lying on his back and can pull up on everything all by himself. I do not think he will ever crawl...he is getting too strong pulling up and standing. When I get him from his crib in the mornings, he is usually sitting all the way up...yes, that's right...my 8 month old sits himself up each morning...he sure is growing. Here are two videos of his new tricks.

8 Months Old??? Yes, you read the blog correctly?? Luke was 8 months old last week. I can't believe how time is flying!!

A tidbit about mommy: I am loving my placement at Fair Grove. I am actually able to get in the classrooms to interact with the kids (unlike my other school where I was too busy in the office to get in the building). I love working with Audrey and the staff is great! I thank the Lord for answering my prayer for this transfer - I am enjoying my job once again, which makes leaving my precious baby boy at home a little bit easier (not easy by no means, but easier than last school year). My mother-in-law and Luke are having a blast!!! It is so nice to have Luke here in his own home with his grandma (who just happens to sweep, dust, do the laundry, start the crock pot...it's great!). I thank the Lord for this blessing also!

I'm outta here until next week (hopefully)...have a great week everyone!

Toddy

A Day to Remember

No...Luke didn't crawl or walk...he didn't accomplish a new baby feat....he just hung out with his mommy and we had a BLAST!!

I always cherish each moment I have with my sweet baby Luke. I cherish these moments even more so when I'm working. I worked 4 days this week and then yesterday, Luke and I ran all of our errands so that we could enjoy our last weekend together before things really get cranked up at school. Beginning on Monday, I am back FOR GOOD!!! One promise that I make to Luke and myself is that when mommy is home from work, it's all about family...I do not do school work while he is awake and I try to limit errands to the minimum because he's growing like a weed and I don't want to miss one second.

So...today, I planned a big day for me and Luke...(daddy was playing golf)....

We started our morning by playing with a new toy that I bought Luke yesterday. Luke is wanting to pull up, so I bought him the lion toy you will see below that is the perfect "pull up" size...as you can see...he loves it....

After Luke's morning nap, we ventured to Barnes and Noble. I wish I would have taken my camera inside, but I didn't. I wanted to get Luke some books with real photographs of animals instead of the cartoon pictures. He loves animals and animal sounds so I want him to learn what they actually look like. He and I looked at many books. It was amazing how much he enjoyed this store...I was so proud. He would sit on the floor and look at books and then hold my hands as we "cruised" to the next shelf. We ended our visit at the "Thomas train station." He pushed the trains around the best he could and then (with my help) cruised around the table and watched as I showed him how the trains went around and around. We had a blast! I don't think I have ever enjoyed Barnes and Noble as much as I did today.

Our next stop was the Holly Hill Cemetery...I know, I know sounds strange, but, at the cemetery is a pond with a cute waterfall and tons of Canadian geese that LOVE to be fed bread. Luke and I fed them some bread so that Luke could see them waddle around. He enjoyed watching these fascinating creatures in real life. I, of course, loved watching him enjoying whatever it was that he wanted to enjoy....he was so content...below are some pictures....

The first one is a picture of Luke beside of papaw Byerly's grave....he's smiling because one day we will tell him that Papaw is smiling too...he's not really in that grave.... :)

And..the final picture shows how much my child loves books...he HATES his car seat and LOVES books so I gave him one of his newly purchased books to look at on the ride from place to place and he was happy as he could be....we also sang a few songs from the "toddler CD" that plays frequently in my car.

We ended our day with reading his new books on the porch while we "watched the traffic" and then a few wagon rides before bedtime.

Basically....here's how I would like to sum up our day....I don't know what I did to deserve such a blessing from God, but I thank Him for today. I thank Him for everyday that I get to enjoy family....let me say this one more time....Lord, I thank you for my many blessings and I cannot wait until tomorrow....

Toddy

I Become A Tiger, Luke Gets A Tooth

I Became A Tiger: A Fair Grove Tiger that is...many of you read the Lexington Dispatch on Tuesday and saw that I was transferred once again; however, this time, I was transferred much closer to home. Not only will I be only 5 minutes away from baby Luke, but I will also be working in the elementary school in which I grew up...for the first time ever, I will be working with students who are sitting in the same desks that I once did...kind of weird, huh? And...even a little weirder...I will be working with teachers who taught me. I am going to have a great time at Fair Grove...the move makes it a little easier for me to go back to work NEXT WEEK!! Oh my!!! Please pray for me as I once again make the transition from "at home mommy" to "working mommy."

Luke Gets a Tooth: That's right...the first tooth arrived on August 1st - a bottom, middle tooth. There is another tooth right beside of it trying its best to cut through. For the most part, the teething has been uneventful. Luke has had a runny nose, lots of drool, and a some extra #2 diapers that leave his rear very red. He has actually been sleeping well. He is now on a pretty good schedule - an hour and a half morning nap, an hour afternoon nap, and then sleeps from 8pm to 6am with an occasional 1:00 or 4:00am feeding.

Other Luke news...no crawling yet...when sitting up, he will reach as far as he can and then flop over. When on his stomach, he gets mad and rolls over on his back. We will keep working on this skill. He would prefer to be standing up, so I wouldn't be surprised if he starts pulling up and couch surfing before he crawls.

He is drinking milk from a sippy cup since he refuses to take a bottle. He doesn't love this method of eating, but it will work until I can get home and nurse him in the afternoons.

He is doing better without the paci. We are trying our best to limit the paci to nap time and bed time only. It's difficult sometimes, but we are trying our best.

I have included some pictures below with a few more updates...

Don't you love the crocs??? :) Too cute!!!

The next few pictures include Luke spending time with my niece/sister, Lexi. She comes over while my mom works and they love to play together.

I love to watch it rain, so I am trying to instill this love into Luke. This is Luke reading his book during an afternoon thunderstorm.

Luke and Max and Madi love wagon rides in the backyard. There's Madi - "the guard dog" - she won't let sweet Max get near Luke. Luke squeals out loud at the dogs - it's hilarious!

See Luke's hands behind his head??? He has started doing this when he is thinking or when he sees something/someone that is new to him. It's super cute!!

Did you notice that the rail from the wagon beach accident is still missing? I'm not sure if my hubby will ever get around to fixing it...

Luke loves to "look" on the computer and he loves to sit and watch the dogs. Notice the dogs are now blocked off in their room while inside.

When I'm doing laundry, Luke loves to ride in the basket and then park beside of the mirror so he can look and talk to himself. Check out his laundry basket adventures...

Here's a pic of the big man drinking from a cup...

And, yes, with the paci...here's Luke playing wth my measuring cups while I cook dinner...this was one of those days where we played everything...

So...that's the latest...have a great weekend!

Toddy

The Beach Bum Among Grown-Up Disasters :)

So...there we are...the grown up disasters with the tiny beach bum...we had a blast on our beach trip...the week went by too fast...I will explain the grown up disaster segment in just a minute...let me first tell you about my little beach bum named Luke.

Luke's favorite parts of the beach trip....let me show you... :)

His baby pool...we put about 2 inches of water in this blow up pool and it entertained Luke for 30 minutes at a time...he only took one nose dive and one fall backwards...with 4 grown ups around at all times...he was saved fairly quickly (right, Mark????) :)

Luke enjoyed celebrating "Aunt Melissa's" 40th birthday...he was thinking, "Man, she's old." (he, he)

Luke LOVED our nightly bubble baths. Seriously...this may have been his favorite part...

There's old "Aunt Melissa" again - he sure does love her....they were both ready for a night on the town...6 month old style....

He loved riding to the beach and down the beach IN STYLE in the Radio Flyer...I mean...who doesn't love a radio flyer...we used this wagon often to carry our beach stuff along with little man to the beach. We also strolled Luke down the beach in the wagon several times...which usually resulted in an asleep baby....

There HE IS...the MAN of the house waiting on the grown ups to get ready....

Luke loved listening to the sound of the ocean and simply sitting in the shallow waves. Every time we took him near the water, this is what happened...

See...what I mean...he's sleeping again.... :) All of these sleeping pictures explains why he did NOT sleep at night.... :)

After a morning walk....ASLEEP AGAIN!!!! :)

Luke's favorite beach attire was the beach hat...thanks to the beach hat and the layers and layers of sunscreen, Luke did not get sunburned or even red...matter of fact, he had a tiny tan...you could see white spots in between his fat rolls....too cute.

Here's another one of his favorite people...Hannah...she and her friend Abbi helped with Luke whenever we needed them...the girls were very sweet to spend their beach trip with this little man...

Luke also loved the lazy river that was at our condo. One afternoon, Luke and I went around the lazy river for over an hour by ourselves and then another afternoon "Daddy" joined us for a few rounds. :) When Luke saw other kids in the pool, he grinned from ear to ear. He loves watching other children play.

Luke also loved staying up late with the grown-ups. His schedule was extremely out of whack and to be honest, I didn't care because we were all enjoying him so much. There were several nights that all four of us found ourselves huddled around Luke on the king size bed talking and playing with him until he went to sleep. So much for late nights playing cards and acting like grown ups...we opted to spend time with the 17 pound bundle of joy. By the way, this little bundle of joy slept in mommy and daddy's big bed all week, so it has taken a few nights to get him reacquainted with his crib...he is sleeping like an angel in his own bed right now...thank goodness. :)

So...as you can see...Luke enjoyed himself for the majority of the trip...he was such a good boy....he makes everyone want to eat him up.

Now...on to the grown up disasters...(if you are still reading)...with or without little man, our gang seems to have drama no matter what...

On Sunday, Landis broke the side rail off of Luke's precious little wagon...here's how the event occurred...

Picture this in your head...

Wagon loaded down with stuff...Luke in my arms...Landis and Melissa getting ready to attempt to carry the FULL wagon up about 10 steps...Landis is leading the way, Melissa has the back end of the wagon...Natasha is still watching...

Melissa: "Landis, are you sure you can get up the steps?"

Landis: "Yes, I've got it."

Landis seems to struggle up the first step...

Melissa: "Landis, are YOU SURE you can get up the steps?"

Landis: "Yes, Melissa, I've got it."

Natasha and Luke watching, watching, watching......Landis get to the third step, fall backwards, drop the wagon and the stuff and rip the rail off...Melissa jumps out of the way...all of us...laughing....a stranger comes to help us....we find a different way to take the wagon on FLAT GROUND for the rest of the trip.

The next day....the canopy disaster sounds/looks like this...

Under the very nice canopy are Natasha, Luke, Landis, and Melissa....wind starts blowing...starts blowing harder....

Melissa: "Look - they just lowered their tent. Should we do that?"

Landis: "No, we will be fine."

Natasha (answers a phone call - comes back - standing up talking to Melissa and Landis)

Melissa: "Wow, that wind is really blowing."

CANOPY-tumbling, tumbling, tumbling down the beach - Natasha and Landis chasing the canopy, Melissa and Luke watching - 4 strangers help us - canopy destroyed - next day, Wal-Mart visit - buy a new one. The rest of the trip...the tent was lowered when the wind picked up.

The next day....I don't know how it happened because I had Luke in the lazy river, but, somehow Mark sliced his heel open while moving a patio table.

The next day...Abbi (Hannah's friend) stepped on a tack and cut her foot. No stitches...just a lot of band-aids. :)

Even with a few "disasters"-what fun times!!! I can't wait until next year!!! Thanks, gang, for an awesome time!!!