Details of October part II

This next blog won’t be nearly as long as my last one…only because I have less time to cover…and fewer pictures. =) So let me finish the festivities of October for you. I think I last left off at the yard sale (Oct. 21st.)

So on the 22nd we went to our whole Sunday thing, 8:30am- Praise Team Practice, 9:30am – teach Sunday School, 10:40am – sing on Praise Team and Service…etc. That afternoon, we headed out to Britt’s Pumpkin Patch with our wonderful friends Jon, Jenny and baby Jamie. It was a fun and amusing event! We started off on a hay-rack ride, which Luke and Jamie slept through, then they drop us off at what they call a “corn maze.” Which it was, but all the corn was bent over, and the trail through it was pretty obvious…and if you really were having a hard time, all you had to do was look over the knee high maze to see where the pumpkin patch was. Regardless, we had a good laugh meandering our way through it. Once we hit the pumpkins, we started our search for the perfect orange pumpkin among many green ones. Before we knew it, Jenny and I were on our own as Jon and Jamie and Chris and Luke went out into the wild yonder to find the perfect pumpkin. After a few shouts of “Jon? Chris?” we were all reunited with perfect orange pumpkins. We loaded back on the hay-rack ride and headed back. It was lots of fun!

Sunday night fell back into our old routine as we graduated from our Sunday Night Crown Financial Study a few weeks back. So we got to the church at 5:30pm for Praise Team Practice, had service at 6:00pm and then finished the film work for the NMI video we were putting together.

Monday (Oct 23rd) was a fun and adventurous day. Luke and I were in pursuit of the perfect stroller. A lady in our church is due at the end of November, so a bunch of us girls went in together to buy her a nice stroller for her shower (which was that night.) So, Luke and I hit Target first. We find one we really like and think would be perfect, but as I look, I don’t see them in stock. Soooo, on to Hey Baby…and we couldn’t find much in our price range there. So then we made our way clear across town to Wal-Mart thinking for sure they’ll have what we need. No luck. All they had was stroller/car seat combo’s and I knew she didn’t need a car seat. So Luke and I head to the church to decorate for the shower. Luke did well…for the most part, but then got real fussy as I was nearing an end to the decorating. So I fed him, finished decorating and we headed back out to Target to recheck the strollers there. Miraculously when we got there we found the first stroller we had wanted! So we picked that up along with a few smaller items and headed back out to the church. The shower went great and Lily got a lot of great gifts. After that we headed out to Monday Night football, where I was supposed to meet up with Chris…only to find he wasn’t there. Worried, I call him but he was fine…just had a long tiring day and decided to stay at home (Husband’s note: I did call to tell her I wouldn’t be there, but someone in our family never answers her cell phone). (Wife's Note: He called during the shower, so I had my cell phone turned off...and he didn't leave a message, so how was I to know he had called?) So I stay and enjoy visiting for awhile and head back home.

Tuesday (Oct.24th) – Saturday (Oct. 28th) mornings and afternoons were spent trying desperately to catch up on housework and laundry during Luke’s short naps, as well as working many hours editing the video for NMI and doing errends. The evenings were quite full as well: Tuesday evening we had a meeting with some friends about a project they’re doing. Wednesday evening was small groups and another meeting, Thursday was shopping at the Commissary, Friday was our weekly Friday Night Supper…since we did a Halloween Theme, we whipped up some Sloppy Joe-a-Lanterns and Mummy Dogs (Hot Dogs wrapped up like mummies) and then headed to meet up with our fantabulous friends and enjoyed supper together.

On Sunday (October 29th) I woke up early, took Riley out for a much needed walk, we all got ready for church…and shock of all shocks, actually made it out the door in time. It was quite a busy day at church. That afternoon, Fort Riley was hosting the annual Ghost Tour. Unfortunately, it happened to fall on this very busy Sunday. However, for the three years I’ve been here, I’ve always wanted to go, so I was determined to try to at least make the first few stops on the tour before we left for evening service. I didn’t realize how popular this event was, and by the time we got there, there was a line of at a couple hundred people ahead of us! I was half tempted to turn around a go home since I knew we didn’t have much time before we had to leave, but it was only $1.00 to get on a tour group, so we figured even if we only had time to hear a few of the stories, we weren’t losing out on much money. So we finally got in the third tour group, unfortunately we were only able to hear a few of the stories and see a few of the haunted locations before we had to rush back to the car and on to church. Luke pretty much slept through the whole ordeal…until the end when he started to get hungry. By the time we got back into Manhattan for the evening service (to play the NMI video) I was having a hard time putting two words together that made sense. So I introduced our video with a horrible batch of unformed words and thoughts, sat down and was overcome with exhaustion. The video turned out pretty good, so we all got a good laugh (and it was informative about the mission work in Argentina as well.) A bunch of us went to DQ for a quick bite to eat, and Luke pooped so thoroughly through all his clothes that we had to change him in our trunk in the parking lot (since DQ dosen't seem to have a changing table in the bathroom.)

Monday (Oct 30th) was spent at home trying to once again to catch up on all the housework and laundry…it just never ends! =) Later that evening, Chris, Luke and I took Riley for a brisk walk and then headed out to the mall to try to find a last minute Halloween costume for Luke. We went to the Bootique, where a photographer from the Kansas State Collegian was taking photographs for the paper. We happened to be trying a cute dinosaur costume on Luke so he took our photo. It was pretty funny. We didn’t buy the costume however, because it was $30.00. So then we went to Wal-Mart where it was all picked over, strike 2. So I dropped Chris and Luke off at Monday Night Football and headed out to Target…completely picked over as well…strike 3. So we will be improvising (unless Chris can find a costume at the PX today.)

So anyway, on to Luke facts! =)

Luke is continuing to grow like a weed. I think he’s going through another spurt because he’s eating ALLLL the time again. And no, he’s still not sleeping through the night…sniff…sniff. One of these days…one of these days just maybe he will. The “cry it out” method is working fairly well. The first few nights were AWFUL, but he’s getting the idea and fighting sleep less. If he’s way overtired, he’ll still fight it like the dickens, but if we can get him to bed at a decent time, he’ll cry a few minutes and then fall asleep. He had his first taste of apple juice Sunday, Oct 22nd. We thought he was a bit constipated, so we gave him some diluted apple juice in a bottle…and he wasn’t really that fond of it. I was surprised, and had to eventually spoon feed him some just to get it into his tummy. It did the trick though, and lets just say…well, let’s not even say. =) He’s still loving his rice cereal, and I’m anxious to start incorporating some other baby food into the mix. I’m going to wait a bit longer, but I think within the next few weeks, we’ll start putting some other baby foods in the repertoire. Let’s see what else, ah yes, his eye has seemed to heal nicely, so that’s good. He’s able to sit up unassisted for a small amount of time and his rolling skills are just getting better and better everyday. He can now roll across the room…which means we have to keep a close eye on him! He loves his toys, and I can already see him picking out favorites among them. His most favorite toy however, is the remote to the TV…he is completely enthralled with the thing! I’m sure it’ll stop working soon with all the drool he’s slathered all over it.

As far as Chris, he's actually keeping fairly busy at work! We’re beginning to make finalized plans for our move. I can’t believe that in 5 weeks we’ll be on the first leg of our journey to Georgia. It’s going to be VERY hard to leave Fort Riley/Manhattan…it’s hard to even think about it! So I won’t right now.

I hope that all is going well for everyone! Until Next Time, here are some pictures!

---------------------UPDATE-----------------------------

Since I didn't get this posted yesterday, I can fill you in on our Halloween fun! Because we were bad and waited until literally the last minute to buy Luke's costume, we were left to improvise. I recalled that someone (I don’t remember when and where I heard it, but I do remember hearing it) had said a while back that Luke would make a cute Charlie Brown. So as I was frantically trying to find him a costume Monday night, the thought occurred to me to buy a yellow shirt or onesie, put the classic Charlie Brown stripe on it and go from there. Sooooo...that's what we ended up doing! So yesterday afternoon, I started putting the costume together. Since I didn't have a fabric marker, I took a Marks-A-Lot marker and colored in the stripes, then hung the onesie outside so the marker smell would air out of it...didn't want Luke to get high on marker! Then I found some brown pants, yellow socks and black shoes for him. I raided the costume makeup at the church and Chris drew the swirly hair and eyebrows.

We met Jenny and Baby Jamie at the church. Baby Jamie looked absolutely darling in a pumpkin costume! We made the joke that we had Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin! They looked so cute together!

(Side Note - I had bought a HUGE bag of candy at Target the other night, just in case we got back to post before the trick-or-treating hours would be done. Chris didn't think we would be back in time, so I brought the candy with us to leave at the houses we went too. Let's just say Chris had a heyday making fun of me for bringing candy with me to leave instead of going to get candy...I know it's hard to believe that Chris would ever make fun of me, but it does happen once in awhile...HA! )

Anyway, back to Halloween fun...

Our first stop was to see Cherry who was working at the church, then we headed out to the RozenbLooms (hehehe), then to June's, and then to Mike and Carolyn's and our last stop was at Bobby and Lindsey's Party Trailer. We had a wonderful time and great visits with everyone!

Here are pictures, so enjoy!




This was acutally taken a couple months back...and from the video camera, but it's so hard to actaully get him to smile for the camera. Anyway, I found it the other day and thought I would post it.




Luke posing by some pumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch...



Out in the Pumpkin Field!



Jon, Jenny and Baby Jamie searching for the perfect pumpkin...




Luke sleeping through the hay-rack ride...




A happy day at the Pumpkin Patch!




Luke drinking apple juice...the look on his face says it all!




Luke sitting...he's doing so well. Pretty soon, he'll be sitting with no
support.




Luke fell asleep in his Jumperoo...tee hee...




Luke in action, rolling over!





Luke LOVES Riley...here they are hanging out!




More play with Riley...





Some pictures from the Ghost Tour...




Luke trying to eat the camera on the Ghost Tour...



Luke sleeping on the Ghost Tour...



Luke in his cute hat and mittens...



This is the picture that was in the K-State Collegian...
Chris and I look funny, but Luke looks adoreable!
















Charile Brown and the Great Pumpkin...


*I'm having some trouble posting pictures right now, so I'm going to go ahead and post this blog, and post more halloween pictures a bit later.*


PS - Kara, I loved your messages last night! =) hehehe

Updates

See below for new posts and pictures from Mindy....she has basically covered the entire month of October in one post, so be warned...it's a doozy. Mindy told me I need to blog once in a while again, and then proceeded to write everything that happened to us. So...hey, I'm doing great!

I started playing around with the blog a little tonight out of boredom, so you'll notice the new colors- not that different from the old one anyway. I also started adding some links to other peoples' blogs who post here. If you don't see it, let me know in the comments and I'll link to it (sorry Teniah, I couldn't get your address from your user name!). I'll probably add some more stuff here and there too, if I get really bored.

I'm also thinking about changing the blog name, along with which I may also change our URL. If I do that, I'll give ample warning. I want to turn this into a regular Scott family blog from here on, so the whole 9th month thing was good for awhile, but let's be honest, it dated us a little- it should be the 12th month at this point. Nothing will change anyway, except for the name. I'm still undecided on that, so we'll see where it goes.

Anyway, keep going down- there's lots of good pictures below. My favorite is the one in the car with his baseball hat on. He's a cute little guy...takes after his old man. We have a very attractive mailman.

Details of October, Part 1 (AKA The Longest Blog Ever!)

Well, a lot has happened since the last time I’ve blogged. Let me just pick up where we left off.

We had a wonderful visit with Mom Mom Scott while she was out here. We spent some time just playing and spending time with Luke and each other at home. We also enjoyed some good ole BBQ at Famous Dave’s and a couple shopping trips. With some gift cards from Uncle David and Aunt Debbie and Michelle and Landon, coupled with Mom Mom Scott’s contribution, we were able to get Luke a Jumperoo - which he LOVES!

















































Mom Mom flew out of the very unreliable Manhattan Airport Monday evening (after they cancelled the first initial flight…then the next…and I think the one after that one as well…) But they finally got a plane in and she made it home
safely.















Tuesday (the 10th) very early morning, Luke and I set out on our first big adventurous car ride since he’s been born. We drove all the way to St. Louis, and he was surprisingly wonderful! I had a fantastic time with my parents and even got to see my grandparents while there. I was only there a few days, but we enjoyed every last minute of it. Luke turned over from his back to his stomach for the first time there (He’s been able to turn from his stomach to back for quite sometime now, but he hadn’t been able to get over his arm until now.) After he realized he could turn over, he’s been loving rolling around on the floor. We had a quick but wonderful visit with my grandparents. They were able to see Luke for the first time and we had a ball!
















































We were also able to take Luke to mom and dad’s church so they could see “The pastor’s grandbaby.” It was a quick trip, but well worth it.

I headed back to Manhattan on Friday the 13th. Our good friend Annie (pictured below with her husband Josh and baby Jamie, Jon and Jenny's adorable son) came over in the afternoon to experience motherhood for a school project - the assignment was to experience something you’ve never experienced before, so she choose motherhood. Luke was unfortunately in a very grumpy mood, so I’m sure that made for an interesting paper! =) We had fun despite Luke’s grumpiness.















That night we all headed to the church to meet up with our fantastic friends to film the next blockbuster hit of the century, “Two Brothers from Argentina.” It’s a film we’re making for our church’s Missions Meeting. We made it into a western and had a grand ole time. (Pictured below: Lindsey, Cherry and Jenny dressed in cowgirl gear, Corey dressed up as the "Mysterious Stranger" and Baby Jamie as "Baby Mysterious Stranger"






















































When we were done for the night, the four of us – Chris, Luke, Annie and myself made it home and went straight to bed (well, Chris didn’t, but the rest of us did.) Luke did fairly well during the night allowing us to actually get some rest. Annie had to leave in the morning to head out to work, so we bid her farewell. She did a great job and hopefully we gave her enough excitement and experience for her project.

Saturday was spent running errands and getting some much needed groceries. Sunday was filled to the brim as usually. 8:30am praise team practice, 9:30am teach Sunday School, 10:30am – praise team and service, grab a quick lunch, let Riley out, head back to church to make preparations for the Fellowship/Game Night and so on so forth…it was a fun but tiring day.

Monday, the 16th, we tried Luke out on his first taste of Rice Cereal. I thought it may be a challenge, but he ended up loving it. He tries to feed himself and will grab at the bowl and spoon.






















































Then we headed out to Monday Night Football and were able to share in celebrating June’s Birthday. It was great fun and fellowship. Luke and Kassadee enjoyed a little time together too! Tuesday was a day of recuperation for Luke and he enjoyed sleeping…well, once he actually got to sleep. We’ve been having the “I’m so tired but don’t want to go to sleep so I’ll scream like a banshee and fight sleep until I’ve screamed so loud I’ve burst your eardrums and tried your patience…then I’ll finally surrender to sleep…” stage with Mr. Luke. He’s unfortunately getting to big for the “hold” (either that, or he’s on to us) and doesn’t really want to take the pacifier like he used to. This can make for some very interesting hours. So anyway, once I would get him to sleep, it was wonderful. =)



































Wednesday, the 18th, was the dreaded vaccination day. His check up went well. He came in at almost 18 pounds and over 25 inches long! He checked out healthy and off we went to get those shots. They ran out of the combination shot, so he had to get 4 sticks instead of 3. He did better than I thought he would. He cried while they were giving them to him, but after that he was fine. So we went home where he promptly poked himself in the eye so bad it turned his eyelid inside out. I fixed the situation and thought he was fine. We went to small groups that evening and it was cold as the dickens by the way…I don’t want winter to come! Thursday morning I was feeding him and noticed just how bad he really had poked his eye. So I called the nurse advice line to see what we should do. The assistant said that usually with anything concerning vision it’s better to get it checked out. However, because we’re in the army and it’s nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get a same day appointment, we had to take him to the ER. They did the dye test (where they put dye in his eye and check out for scratches with the black light.) Sure enough he had scratched the side of his eye as well as the middle. Although these scratches usually heal themselves, the Dr. gave us drops to protect against infection and told us we needed to follow up 24 hours later. He did really well throughout the whole experience. That evening we got things ready for our yard sale.




















Friday we followed up about Luke’s eye and they said all was well. That evening we headed out for our usual Friday Night Supper and went to Lynette’s house in Riley, about 40 mins away. We had yummy Mexican food and played Taboo. We headed home a bit after 10pm so we could finish getting things ready for the yard sale on Saturday. When we got home, Luke was playing that, “I’m not going to sleep, I will instead scream like a banshee…”game so Chris stayed up with him while I did some work on the yard sale.

Saturday, the 21st, was cold and rainy and an absolutely horrible day for a yard sale. We made $60.00 or so, but it just wasn’t what it could have been had the weather been nice. Our magnificent friends, Cherry, Holly and Corey came to help out and we had a lot of fun despite the weather and meager earnings from the yard sale. The rest of the day was busy with getting things ready for the Children’s Christmas program, playing with Luke, catching up on things like this blog, etc. =) So anyway, it’s been a VERY busy but VERY enjoyable month. I’ll do a few Luke facts and call it a night for the blog so I can publish it.

Luke is more and more tuned into the things around him. He’s grabbing at EVERYTHING and wants to stick anything he can get his hands on in his mouth. He really likes to roll around on the floor grabbing and holding and playing with his little baby toys and stuffed animals. He’s laughing more…and it’s just so cute! He’s been making these loud happy outbursts of sound to get our attention. It’s amazing how smart the little guy is. He’s learning through trial and error what draws our attention and what doesn’t. He has the most heart melting smile too. It’s the biggest, widest most wonderful smile in the world! Of course he’s been playing the “I don’t want to sleep so I’ll scream for an hour” game about every day, and he’s still not sleeping through the night, but none of that really bothers us too terribly much. He’s such a joy and we wouldn’t trade this wonderful gift for anything in the world. We love him more then words can even begin to express.

Until Next Time - Here are some more pictures!















Luke and Baby Jamie hanging out at Monday Night Football. Aren't they cute!





























Luke being a cutie at Early Edition while Mom Mom Scott
was visiting.















Sammy checking out Luke during our visit to IL.




















Grandpa Shotts and Luke spending some time together.
They are so adoreable together!





























Luke showing off his new rolling abilites to Great-Grandpa and Grandma Shotts and Grandma and Grandpa Shotts.















Luke trying to eat Mashed Potatoes.
I put a little in his mouth and he loved them!















Since Luke is so mobile, we thought a walker would be
great fun for him...his feet don't quite reach the floor yet,
but it won't be long!





















































Luke all dressed up for Fellowship Night...















He's so cute when he sleeps!















Luke in his much loved Jumperoo...















This was just a funny pictures of the animals surrounding
it's prey.















Tiger thinks the Boppy is for him.















Luke fell asleep in the middle of playtime!