summer so far...

We have been enjoying a fun and easy going summer at our house. Lots of days spent playing with Luke, running errands, working in the garden, completing house projects, and visiting with friends and family. Summer always goes so quickly and this year is no exception! We can hardly believe that our baby reaches 7 months this week on July 29th. At his six month checkup a few weeks ago we learned that he remains in the 90th% for height (28 in.) and 75th% for weight (18.8 lbs.). He is growing so quickly, everyday I think he looks bigger! We've experienced so many milestones since his birth, here are a few recent ones...

Trying new food!! This was the night we introduced peas..."Mom, I don't think I like peas!"

Peaches are way better!
No matter what I do Luke always ends up covered in his breakfast and dinner. This morning he did an especially good job of spreading the peaches across his face, into his hair, and all over his p.j.s (I promise he was wearing a bib!). It's hard to tell but there are little cereal pieces sticking to his shirt too!

Luke outgrew his baby car seat...his little toes were hanging over the edge!

Sleeping in his new car seat after dinner out.

Luke is ready to move!! He is trying so hard to crawl. He is able to "swim" on the floor but hasn't mastered getting up onto his hands and knees. He is highly motivated by things like the remote control, Lily, and anything that he can't have (i.e. dishes, magazines, glasses, cups, etc..). He loves to stand like a big boy!

We've gone swimming a few times and he loves to splash in the pool.

I gave Luke his first big boy haircut. I am still fixing it. Cutting a wiggly baby's hair is super hard. Much harder than I initially anticipated. At least hair grows!!

Luke LOVES Lily! He likes to watch her, pet her, and try to eat her tail. We highly discourage any tail eating. However, as you can see in the picture below I think Luke is convinced that if he could just get a little bite Lily would be pretty tasty! Don't worry he didn't actually eat the dog's nose...much to Luke's dismay (and our relief) Lily always moves before Luke can chomp down.

gift from tyler

Recently our friend Tyler gave Luke a special gift and letter. Luke loved opening his gift almost as much as he enjoyed the gift itself. The paper didn't taste as good as it looked, but it was really fun to play with! Thank you Tyler for the gift!!

The letter to Luke reads, "Dear Luke, I really wanted to see you! P.S. I wanted to give you something that is good? Love, Tyler" I especially love the drawing of Mike and me holding Luke!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!
We celebrated Independence Day (on the actual day) with our good friends and a few of Luke's buddies. On the couch Luke is hanging out with Corinne and Adam. Bryce was also at the party but was busy playing when we snapped this picture. They are all so cute! Luke didn't get to see any fireworks this year, but Mike and I were pleased to discover that we have a fantastic view of the Indian Hill fireworks in our very own backyard...so we enjoyed our own private show! Overall it was a fun and festive day!!

go purdue!

There is nothing better than a cozy hoodie and nothing cuter than a sweet baby in a cozy hoodie!! July 4th was cool and rainy so we broke out Luke's new Purdue sweatshirt. We couldn't resist spreading our Purdue Pride so we took a few pictures of our little guy. As much as we love Purdue we are a little worried about the cost of tuition so after we teach Luke to say "Boiler Up" we're going to start working on "Scholarship!"

3rd of July Parade

In Madeira we celebrate July 4th on July 3rd. We like to get a head start on all of the celebrating... Anyhow, that's just the way it has always been in our small town. So on July 3rd we have a parade, festival (i.e. local band, fried food, and ice cream), and fireworks. It is one of my favorite Madeira traditions and I love getting to celebrate Independence day twice!! Next year if anyone is itching for an early July 4th celebration you are welcome to join us...you'll find me by the funnel cake!

Luke getting ready for his first parade.
Watching the marching band.

Sarah rode the marching band bus and waved to her friends.

The only float in the whole parade and we still aren't sure exactly what it is...though it is a little birthday cake-esque...

A few of our favorites...

Vacation!

The Mouse's House

Last week we visited "The Mouse" at Walt Disney World. Our first family vacation! Yes, it's true Luke will not remember any of it, but really it was more for us than him. We flew out on Sunday and met my family and friends the Imhoff family for a few "magical" days in the happiest place on earth! We returned Friday, exhausted, but we really had a wonderful time! Here are a few pictures that chronicle our adventure...

Here we are moments before boarding the plane. I was a little nervous about how Luke would do on the flight. To our delight(and that of everyone else around us) he did great! On the way out he was awake for most of the two hour flight but content to play and talk. Flying home he slept for almost the entire ride. Overall it was successful and much easier on us than driving.
Luke and the pilot. Are we perhaps seeing a bit of foreshadowing in our son's life?

On Monday we went to Epcot. We rode the environmental boat tour, walked through "the world", and ate lunch at the English pub "Rose and Crown." It was a fun way to start our trip.
Luke wore his sun hat for our entire vacation...I was very careful about exposing his fair skin to the hot Florida sun.

The Imhoff Family (Lindsey, Paul, Tyler, and Melissa) posing with Pooh and friends.
Getting ready to eat yummy shepherd's pie for lunch.
After our first day on vacation we put Luke in his p.j.' s and went out for ice cream at Ghirardelli's in Downtown Disney. Luke didn't actually eat any ice cream, but he did get a little bite of banana from our banana split. He'll have to wait until our next vacation for ice cream...

Luke sampling banana (no ice cream), his very favorite food.

Enjoying our evening out.

Tuesday we headed to the Magic Kingdom bright and early at 8 AM. Here Kate and I are riding Dumbo. You can see Cinderella's castle in the background.

Luke wearing his very first mouse ears.

Everyone else wearing Luke's mouse ears...

Waiting for the next ride.

The Jungle Cruise

Luke's first time swimming!

Wednesday we went to the Animal Kingdom. It was HOT, HOT, HOT that day! We rode just a few rides, watched the Lion King, and ate lunch before heading back to the hotel room during a huge Florida down pour. It cleared up later in the evening and we were able to head back out to Epcot for the the evening show.

On vacation Luke perfected sitting all by himself. He is so proud of his new skill!

Thursday we went to a character breakfast and spent the day at Hollywood Studios. We had hoped to have breakfast with Minnie and Mickey or Pooh and Tigger but by the time I made this reservation the only breakfast open was with Jojo's Circus. Since Luke is only 6 months old and not into Saturday morning cartoons (we are still rookies as parents) I have no idea who Jojo is but apparently there is a lion in the circus because we took a picture with one!

Luke is waking up from his morning stroller nap. We LOVED our cool new stroller on vacation. I especially liked the huge napper canopy and UVB shade. I think Zooper should start compensating me for all the advertising I've been doing for them!!

The newest ride at Hollywood Studios is "Toy Story." It was so much fun! You compete with your ride partner in 3-D carnival games. Kate was tough competition!

On our very last day we stopped to take a few pictures in front of our hotel. We had a fun trip and look forward to going back in a few years and experiencing Disney from Luke's perspective!