Friday, December 31, 2010

Christmas, part 2

On Christmas day, we celebrated with Steve, Connie, Brad and Brian.  Aunt Michelle was ill and unable to travel; we missed her.  :(   


A grain bin farm set from Uncle Brian.


Lucas got his first set of real golf clubs, courtesy of Uncle Brad & Aunt Michelle.  I see visions of Sunday afternoons on the course...

A doggy Pillow Pet; he was instantly named Sam. 

Brent and Brad "helped" Lucas build with his new Lincoln Logs.

A wonderful day filled with good company, good food and lots of laughs. 

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Lucas says...

The Saturday leading up to Christmas, Lucas came down with a fever.  It lasted six long days and was accompanied by a yucky cough. We were thankful that he was healthy for the holidays. 
Besides Motrin & Tylenol, stickers sure helped him feel better, too. 

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Putting his hands on both sides of my {very round} belly and his face right to the belly button, "Did the baby come out yet?"

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After we say grace at meals, Lucas insists we also pray to Baby Jesus.  So I start by saying, "Dear Baby Jesus... okay, Lucas, what do you want to pray for?"  Then he usually whispers to me...
* Thank you for my friends...
* Thank you for our house...
* Thank you for the work men...
And then I repeat it out loud.  Sometimes he comes up with some pretty funny, but definitely thankful, things.

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With boisterous conversations over the holidays, Lucas was heard a couple of times saying "Calm down," and gesturing with his hands, "we're all friends!"

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One of Lucas' favorite bathtub toys lately is a kitchen spatula.  He uses it to mix 'feed' for Papa Richard's cows.

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"Lucas, can you take the ketchup to the table?"
"Yeah, I can."

"Can you turn the light on?"
"Yeah, I can."

"Would you please throw this away?"
"Yeah, I can."

We have a great helper and "I can" attitude!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas

Christmas is such a magical time of year... the spirit, the music, the decorations, the scents. Lucas had so much fun with the traditions and festivities of the season.


At Christmas Eve mass, Lucas was asked to carry Baby Jesus to the manger on the altar.  What an important job! 

One tradition we have is new pajamas on Christmas Eve.  Lucas was excited!  He also got some new books and a new movie.  We watched Toy Story 3 before getting our milk, cookies and a note ready for Santa. 

After Lucas was in bed, Brent and I sat together in the quiet and we both remarked at how magical and pure this time is for Lucas. His joy is contagious and we are blessed to share our days with him. 


Christmas morning brought lots of excitement.  Santa left Lucas' present with all of this farm toys... hmmm, wonder what it was? 

A combine!



Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Our first "married" Christmas

2003


Our first Christmas as a married couple in our first home with our first tree.  Don't we look young, refreshed and thinner? 

Monday, December 20, 2010

Christmas Program

Lucas had his annual Christmas Program at daycare; he'd been practicing his songs for a long time.  He loves to sing in the tahoe and his favorites are "Jingle Bells" and "Go Tell It On the Mountain."  He'll get in and request "jingle bells" or "mountain."  Papa Steve and Gramma Connie came to watch.


Rhythm sticks - and no one got hurt. 

His buddies - Ava, Lucas, Charlie and Jonah. 

Santa made a visit and had a gift for each child.  This was actually Lucas' first time seeing a Santa in person.  He jumped up & down with excitement when he came into the room.  Lucas was lured in by the present...

then took a second, questionable look at this "Santa" guy. 

Great Pa came, too. 
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The next morning, the daycare sang at one of the local banks.  I had a a doctor appointment that day and arranged it so I could walk with the children from daycare to the bank.  It was a fun treat for me. 

We had to wait for our turn at the bank and Lucas was enthralled with Miss Barb reading a Highlights magazine. 


Lollipop song. 
Ava, Lucas, Bo, Owen, Camden.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Birthday fun

Despite the "hiccups" that led to the birthday party, everything turned out wonderful.

 I wanted the cake to be a surprise to Lucas until party time, but he ended up in the kitchen with me as I was putting the final touches on it.  His reaction was priceless.

When we were singing "Happy Birthday" he beamed from one ear to the other as he looked at each one of us, soaking it in.  It was so neat to see him feel so special! 

A big puff!



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On his actual birthday, Lucas got to pick what he wanted for supper - chicken nuggets, french fries and cottage cheese.  And ketchup!  Then he opened his presents from Brent and I. 

Fireman Lucas

Every fireman needs a fire truck!

Even big boys like to play with fire trucks.

The game 'Elefun.'  The blower from the elephant sends air up the trunk and out float the butterflies.  Lucas has enjoyed this game at Ellie's house many, many times.  What an intense look on his face!

Wonderful birthday celebrations for our wonderful, joyful little boy who will be the first one to tell you that he is a BIG kid.  We wish you many more wonderful birthdays, Lucas. 

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Oh, what a night (and day after)!

The forecast last week was for a nasty storm to hit over the weekend. It was the first storm of the season, so I was hoping it would not really be anything and pass by with a few flakes. I had a doctor appointment on Friday and was determined to finish Christmas shopping. When I got in the tahoe to leave the mall at 12:30pm, the thermometer read 60 degrees! It was a gorgeous day to be running in and out of stores.

For work, the fair preparations start early. The market beef weigh-in was scheduled for Saturday and I kept hoping the weather would cooperate so we didn’t need to postpone it. It started raining Friday night about 8pm and continued all through the night. I woke up at 5am to check the weather, ready to postpone if needed. The temperature was 44 degrees and it was still raining. We went ahead with the event and by 10:30am the rain had turned to big, fluffy, hard-to-see-through flakes. Although the temperature had dropped, we didn’t have freezing rain to be concerned about; everyone made it safely.

I got home from weigh-in and the weather was pretty calm. In fact, it stopped snowing and was a pretty mild afternoon. We planned on attending a wedding reception and cocktail party at the country club that evening with friends. At 5:30pm I came up from the basement to start getting ready and boy, had the weather changed! It was snowing, blowing and the temperature had dropped to the low 20s. Neither party location was far from our house, so it didn’t change our plans.

We dropped Lucas off with a babysitter at Garth & Jen’s and headed to the reception. About an hour later, Brent received a cell phone call and was urgently telling me we needed to leave. I immediately thought the worst of every scenario that popped into my head. We were almost to the tahoe by the time Brent was off the phone and he told me what was going on. Our neighbor, Scott, was calling to tell us that a power line in our back yard was sparking and he thought we should get home and check on it. Our biggest concern was which line it was and how close it was to the house. The way the wind was whipping, he was worried it could catch the house on fire.

After investigating, the house appeared to be safe so we went in and called the electric company. The “spark” that the power lines were creating really lit up the sky when it flamed. It was just above the storage shed, right near our property line. Sometimes it would spark for just a second, other times it would go on for 20-30 seconds. The embers created by the spark would float away, many landed on our next door neighbor’s deck.

The first question on the automated answering service for the electric company is “Is this a life threatening emergency?” Brent responded “yes” and then sat on hold for EIGHT minutes. Sure glad no one was being electrocuted in those eight minutes. He spoke with a dispatcher, explained the issue and she said she’d have a crewman call us back shortly. A few minutes later we received the call-back and were informed they weren’t coming because of the weather conditions. While we agreed that the weather was not ideal, isn’t it their job to fix these problems? The guy said that eventually the power line would burn through and then we’d be out of power until they could fix it “first thing” Sunday morning. GRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!

Since there wasn’t much we could do at home about it and everything appeared safe from fire, we set the flashlights on the counter, knowing we’d need them later, and decided to go to the cocktail party at the country club. About 10:30pm another neighbor, Harry, called to inform us that, just as anticipated, the neighborhood had lost power. We made plans to stay at Dave & Maggie’s house, picked up Lucas from the sitter and went home to pack an overnight bag. {It is so weird to go into a dark house, knowing you can’t flip any switches.} We grabbed our essentials and Brent shut off the water to house and drained the pipes, hoping that would save us from frozen or burst pipes when we returned. {I am thankful that I actually had a front door key to our house on Saturday night. In the three and a half years we’ve lived there, that was the first time I needed a key to unlock the front door; I always drive into the garage and enter the house that way.} It was 1am before we settled in at Dave & Maggie’s.

Sunday morning, Brent checked on the house about 9am. It was 49 degrees!!! He not only found a cold house, but a small pile of snow that had somehow blown its way into the house by the patio door. We anxiously waited for a phone call from a neighbor that the power had been restored. And we waited. And waited. About noon, we finally had power (so much for "first thing"). Brent went back to the house to make sure the heat was running and returned about 1pm to pick Lucas and me up. I was frazzled because we were planning to have people over at 5pm Sunday night to celebrate Lucas’ birthday. I wanted to get home and decorate the birthday cake and make food, not to mention stop by the grocery store and clean up the house.

We returned home to start the to-do list and Brent turned on the water – we thought everything was in order. Then, I needed water at the kitchen sink and nothing came out. Not even a drip. He investigated and discovered that there was snow piled up on top of the electrical box in the storage closet in our basement. This had nothing to with the kitchen water issue, it only created another issue. Since melting snow and electricity don’t mix, Brent called Ben, our electrician, to take a look. Ben arrived about 2:30pm on Sunday afternoon and although it was messy, there weren’t any safety issues.

There was still no water in the kitchen and it turns out that part of the pipe did freeze, even with our best precautions. Brent called Matt, our friend and trusty contractor, he and his family had been out of town but he assured us he would stop by that evening to put a new junction in the pipe and we’d be set. Until then, no water for the whole house. That meant no hand washing, showering, toilet flushing or dishes. We called our birthday party guests to tell them to use the restroom before they arrived.  :) 

The food was in the oven, the cake decorated, house picked up and birthday boy was ready to be the center of attention. Matt arrived half-way through dinner and slipped in to fix the pipe. Water! Remember the snow inside the house by the patio door on Sunday morning? Well, the electrical box is directly below that spot. When the house work was done to put on new vinyl siding from the hail storm, Matt thought that perhaps something wasn’t caulked or insulated properly. He would stop by in the daylight on Monday to take a look.

The weekend ended on a high note because Lucas had a great birthday party. However, it was a long road to get there. Those 24 hours were long and stressful (although the hands on the clock turned very fast while preparing for the birthday party). Both Brent and I probably had high blood pressure for most of Sunday afternoon, but we did not snap at each other, I did not go into labor and Lucas was well-behaved. A success.

We are thankful for dear friends who let us crash at their house overnight and for an electrician and contractor who make house calls on bitterly cold Sundays. I wouldn’t trade our small town life and good people for anything.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lucas!

Happy birthday to our sweet, sweet Lucas.  Mommy & Daddy love you very much!  We are so blessed to be your parents.  You bring us joy everyday. 

(Picture taken: 12.28.2007)

Friday, December 10, 2010

Flashback Friday

6:00 AM
December 13, 2007

This picture was taken the morning I was induced (13 days overdue) with Lucas.  I look so tired!  And swollen! 

We have a big THIRD birthday to celebrate at our house in a couple of days.  Not long after that we will be celebrating a new baby.  So many blessings ~ so much fun!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Big Brother class

Lucas attended "Big Brother/Big Sister Class" at the hospital the other night.  He was so excited about going - he talked about it all day at daycare.  The class is designed for children between 2 and 4 years old; there were three little girls and two little boys.  First, they each got a a special pin for their shirt that said they are an "official" big brother/sister.  Then, the kids colored a paper bib that the volunteer ironed onto a real baby bib.  They read a book about some of the changes that will happen at home when baby comes.  Each child got their own turn to hold the baby doll and change its diaper.  When Lucas was holding the baby doll, I got extremely emotional thinking about what a "big kid" he is... he held that baby and looked like the proudest brother ever.  When it was time to pass the baby to the next child in line, he turned around and looked at us like "I did it!"  We toured the Birthways unit so Lucas knows right where to find us when he comes to visit and meet the baby.  The class concluded with cookies, apple juice and a "graduation" certificate. 



Lucas is going to be a great big brother and great help to mommy and daddy, too. 

Monday, December 6, 2010

my branches hang low



Lucas helped decorate both of our Christmas trees.  He was very good help and was very careful with the ornaments.  The bottom two feet of the trees are heavily weighted this year and I love it!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

pregnancy brain

I've heard lots of people mention "pregnancy brain" when a pregnant woman forgets something, makes a silly mistake or something similar.  I've always thought it was just normal forgetfulness or errors.  Until recently.

Two nights ago, I walked into the kitchen with my almost empty cup of ice water that I wanted to refill.  I opened the fridge door and, instead of pulling out the water pitcher, I pulled out a gallon of milk and poured it into my ice water.  Yuck. 

Last night, Lucas said his tummy was empty before bed, so I cut him 1/3 of a banana, peeled the banana and threw the peel in the trash.  I have no idea where I set the banana.  Still.  I looked all over the kitchen, the trash, (even the refrigerator).  No idea. 

I am now a strong believer in this weird condition called "pregnancy brain" because apparently I suffer from it.  I'm worried what tonight might bring. 

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Christmas, part 1

Our first Christmas celebration has already come and gone.  We celebrate Perry family Christmas the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  There were two new babies since last year - Kale and Joshua.  It is always fun to see everyone and visit. 

Lucas and Great Pa.




The adults each bring a gift for an exchange.  We draw numbers and when it is your turn, you can pick a new, wrapped gift from under the tree, or you can "steal" someone's gift.  Lucas had fun helping pick up the gift wrap and carrying presents to and from people.  That was until someone wanted his daddy's gift.  He even stood in front of Brent to protect it.  He didn't understand this silly game and was pretty sad. 


It was all made better when Andrea got a Cyclone checkers set, though.  He enjoyed "playing" checkers and Landon was a good sport to let him interrupt the game. 


Then it was gym time!  The big boys and little boys (and Audrey, too) enjoyed burning off some energy.