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!