My Main Man

Despite how much I love my bro-bro, my daddy is still my #1 favorite guy.

Best Buds

Eleven's Heaven

I'm sorry I've been so bad at blogging lately.... It's just that summer has been so busy! Lots of time at the pool and parks...plus mommy working hard at her new job and trying to run around after her two maniacs... Leaves little time for blogging. I promise I'll try to stay on her to keep up.

So Luke turned 11 months old yesterday.... Hard to believe that in one month, he will be ONE! Time flies when you're having fun!

What's little brother been up to lately??
- Cruising furniture
- Standing up all on his own
- Eating tons and tons of "big kid food" (although he is a meat and potatoes guy like daddy...not so much fruits and veggies)
- Knows how to drink out of sippy cups, water bottles, straws, CamelBaks, whatever!
- Says "dada", "baba", "nana" and tries his best to imitate "danger" and "sissy" (No - still NO mama!)
- Is overall VERY good natured but will not hesitate to unleash a NASTY high-pitched scream if things don't go his way

I love Luke as much as ever and spent about 10 minutes last night arguing with momma that when I get older, I'm going to marry him. Mom says I'll fall in love with a different prince charming, but I told her over and over "NO mama! I'm going to marry Luke"

Mountain Fun

We had a fabulous Fourth of July weekend. First I went with mama and Mimi up to Boulder to visit Great-grandma Shirley. It was fun to have a girls day and I behaved and did quite well. When we got home, mom and dad made a last-minute decision to head up to the mountains for the long weekend. We packed the car, loaded up and were gone within the hour....and were up at Aunt Cindy's condo within 90 minutes. So fun!

I had so much fun in the mountains. Our family went on a hike, spent the day at Keystone, I got to ride a gondola, we ate lunch on top of a mountain, went to the 4th of July parade in Breckenridge....and I did something SOO fun and brave it deserves its own post. For now, I'll give you some picture highlights. Unfortunately, mama's camera stopped working early in the weekend so most of her pictures were on her blackberry or ipod...

First, our early morning hike. So fun!

By the end of the hike, poor Luke had fallen asleep. He slept all the way home AND for another two hours once we got home. Fresh air does wonders!

Gondola ride at Keystone....

(have I mentioned I'm much more brave than mommy when it comes to heights??)

Top of the mountain...Lunch and family pictures!

TEN

I'm a bad sister.... Luke turned 10 months old on July 1st and I've just been too busy to blog about it. But I can't let TOO much time pass, or else I'll forget all the cool things he's been doing.

At 10 months, Luke, you:

- Fully crawl (not army style anymore)
- Pull up on anything and everything, including flat surfaces (wall, fridge, etc)
- Cruise on furniture
- Go up stairs
- Sit up (from laying down position) all by yourself
- Are almost done with baby food...you like table food
- Say "dada" and "nananana" all the time... but much to my dismay, no "sissy" or "mama"
- Shake your head "no", and also shake in the air any object when we ask you to "shake it!"
- Like to take my toys, and tend to hang on for dear life. I'm now starting to get mad when you take things and I tattle on you!

Even though you are starting to get on my nerves at times when you touch the IPad or take a toy from me, we are still the light of each other's worlds, brother. I love LOVE to play with you and I just know we are always gonna be best friends, bro! (mama thinks its funny I call you that already!)

Happy birthday, buddy! Soon you'll be a year old! Such a big boy :)

Sporting KC

The other big highlight of our trip to KC, which deserves its own blog post, was the chance for me and Luke to attending our very first Major League Soccer event. Mommy keeps in touch with a good friend from her days working for the MLS in Dallas, so her friend got us these AWESOME tickets to see Sporting KC play in their brand new (just 2 weeks old) stadium! We got to sit right at the midpoint of the field only 6 rows up, so it was VERY cool. (note that I had to represent my girly side, insisting on wearing a princess dress to the game, much to momma's dismay!)

When we first walked in, the field and game transfixed me and Luke. At least I turned around for a second to take a picture. Luke...not so much!
The good news: within minutes of sitting in our seats, Sporting KC scored TWO goals! The bad news: the very loud burst of noise from the crowd on both occasions scared the daylights out of me and had my hysterically crying. After awhile, though, momma learned to tell me to "hold my ears" whenever it looked like KC might score. That, combined with blue Gatorade and a big tub of popcorn from Grandpa Bill, was the key to success. I LOVED the game, had fun watching the ball go so high in the air, and also was quite interested in the players when they fell down and got hurt. Luke, bless his heart, was a perfect angel and watched the game with interest.





We ended up staying until the end of the game! I was sad to leave and exclaimed several times "I LOVE this place!" We finally loaded back in the car at 10pm (!!) and Luke and I both promptly fell asleep on the car ride home.

Kansas City

We just got back from an awesome weekend visiting Grandpa Bill and Grandma Kay in Kansas City. I was thrilled to fly on an airplane again, and momma and daddy were thrilled because the flight is just a quick hour over to KC - very manageable! Daddy actually had a golfing weekend with his buddies from college, so momma, me and brother all hung out at Grandma and Grandpa's for the weekend.

The trip started out like this...a quick cat nap on the way to the airport for me:

Doesn't look very comfortable, does it? No worries...I slept just fine.

We had lots of fun attending a "concert in the park" event near Grandpa's house... complete with lots of time on the tire swing (a new discovery for me) and even a facepainter!

Other highlights included my first time eating at Winsteads (yummy!), seeing my step-cousins Audrey, Simone and Penelope, and playing (new toys = hours of entertainment for me!) and bonding non-stop with Grandma and Grandpa. Me and brother were really, really good all weekend - which momma was thankful for.

Overall, it was a great weekend. Luke approves :)

(did I mention he is signing and clapping now?)

Thanks for a great visit, Grandma and Grandpa! I can't wait to come visit you again soon!