Growing so fast!

I thought I would post a few pictures of Luke - he's growing SOOO fast! Since our last post, we've received our furniture and household items and I've been working like a crazy bumblebee trying to get us unpacked. It's been a bit more challenging unpacking with a baby around. I really don't get anything done during Luke's waking hours - other then spend time chasing him around, playing with him or feeding him. So during his brief naps and after he goes to bed at night, I try to get into bumblebee mode and unpack, clean and arrange as much as possible. The downstairs is almost done and the upstairs...well, it needs a lot of work. =) I'll post pictures once the rooms look presentable. Uh-oh, Luke's awake...be back...

Ok, I'm back. =) Here are some pictures to enjoy!

PS - Barb, did you guys live in Oakview Place Apts? How funny would it be if we're living in the same place you guys did! =)

The overwhelming task of unpacking...

Luke playing with his activity mat...

Luke's pooping face...=)

Luke playing in the vacuum cleaner box...

Playing superman at the laundry mat...

Putting coins in the washer...

Luke is pulling himself up on boxes now.

It takes a pretty tall barrier to keep him contained!

Cutie Pie!

Hanging out with dad...

Stunt Man! We got this adorable shirt at one of our baby showers.

It says, "I do all my own stunts." How true it is!

Bath Time!

Helping mommy do laundry...

He looks like a toddler here! Where did my baby go?

Comparison Time - Here is Luke at 7 months 4 weeks

Here he was at 4 weeks!

I'll post new apartment pictures soon!

Apartment Pictures - Before Furniture

Here are pictures of our apartment! We still don't have our furniture yet - Thank you Army, but you can kinda get a feel for how it looks. I'll post pictures again once we get our stuff.

When you walk in the front door, you are in the living room. Here is the corner of the living room which is our temporary office right now...

Here is the middle of the living room...

a broader look of the living room...

Our lovely furniture for now...=)

Walking through the living room, you get to the dinning room area.
This is Luke’s play area for now...

Here's the kitchen...

There's not a lot of cabinet space, but there is a pantry, which is nice...

Through the kitchen is the Utility room - it will soon hold the washer and dryer,

but for now it's the litter box corner...

The back porch...

The view...don't be deceived - it's not as serene as it looks.
There's a major road right below the trees...

Off the living room is a half bath. The wall paper is a bit

hypnotic, but it's SO nice to have an extra bathroom...

Up the stairs we go!

The landing at the top of the stairs...

The guest room...

The full bath is between the guest room and
the master bedroom...

The Master Bedroom...

So, there's the unfurnished tour. Like I said above, I'll post pictures again once we get furniture.

Here's two of Luke too! I'll keep working on the update of December!

Catching up Continues with November Part II

November Part II

Unfortunately, I don’t have the calendar I had been using to keep track of events (since we don’t have our household items yet). So I’m going to have to go from memory as far as what happened in the second part of November.

Visit from Ben and Amber and the Surprise Sunday

Ben and Amber had come from Kansas City to visit Pastor Pat, Judy and Emily, so I had the wonderful pleasure of spending the entire day on the 17th of November with Amber. We had such a wonderful time together! We walked around the mall for awhile, went to the PX, had some yummy Carlos O’Kelly’s, but mostly had a fabulous time catching up and talking. We had such a great time!



That Sunday, November 19th, was a very emotional Sunday. It was nearing Corey and Holly and Chris and my last Sunday and some of our friends where dealing with some pretty big prayer requests. After an emotional Praise and Worship time, Chris and I were surprised to be called up and honored with the NMI Distinguished Service Award. We were completely surprised and incredibly honored! Manhattan has become our home and the church has become like family to us. We will always value and treasure the friendships and opportunities and ministries the church has brought about for us.


Visit from Uncle Randy and Aunt Jamie

Randy and Jamie flew down from Maryland to be with her family for Thanksgiving – who live in Olathe – and since that’s only a couple hours from Manhattan, they came down for a visit. We had a fabulous time and they were able to meet Luke for the first time. The introductions were pretty funny since Randy had a beard and Luke wasn’t to sure of that, but he adjusted pretty quick and loved being with his Uncle Randy and Aunt Jamie. We enjoyed a great supper at Famous Daves, walked around the mall, watched a movie, and stopped at the always yummy Chipotle all in an evening and afternoon. We all had a great time together! Here are pictures from the fun visit!














Thanksgiving

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving in Manhattan with “the gang” - not everyone in “the gang” was able to be there, but we had a big group nonetheless. We all brought different dishes and we had a spectacular feast! We enjoyed fellowship, games, movies and most of all fun fun fun! =) I also got a wonderful gift from Cherry – a beautiful bright yellow afghan! I LOVE IT!!! It’s so bright and cheerful. Cherry had made one for herself and I just had to have one, so she made one for me too, and it’s absolutely lovely! It was a wonderful Thanksgiving and here are pictures to prove it! =)




Chris and Bobby have always been close...
This was acutally a "dare" in a game we played...



This was another dare...chewing up food and spitting it into someone else's hand...








Farewell Potluck and Christmas Decorating at the Church

On November 26th the church had a Farewell Potluck for Corey and Holly and Chris and I. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with everyone but it was also a bit bittersweet because it really brought home the fact that we were leaving.



That evening we gathered to decorate the church. Chris and I really weren’t much help as we ended up visiting with everyone instead of decorating. But the church looked fantastic with all the beautiful Christmas decorations up! While we were there Lindsey gave us an absolutely gorgeous quilt she made for Luke (and us.) I LOVE IT!!! It is soooo adorable and very meaningful. It is of little barns and there are little animals that you can put in the barns, you have to see pictures!

Saying Good-Bye

Our wonderful friends, Corey and Holly moved at the end of November and it was awful to have to say good-bye. I know I can’t give them a hard time since we left a week later, but it was still hard to say good-bye! We miss you Corey and Holly!!!



Here are some more pictures of Luke taken in November...






Luke would get up on his knees and rock back and forth...
it wouldn't be long until he crawled!





Stay tuned for December's Catch-up Blogs!