Luke is THREE

Oh our sweet little Lukas. Three years old. Lord help us. When this picture was snapped I could not have begun to imagine the little boy that Boo Boo would be three short years later.

This lad embodies the definition of being a character. He is funny as hell, smart as a whip, and energetic beyond comprehension. He also doesn't listen, is ear piercingly loud and couldn't sit for an entire meal if you paid him. We wouldn't have him any other way.

Parenting Luke this last year has been quite an adventure. When we found out we were pregs with Kiera I just prayed that she was a boy, because Lukas had been so incredibly easy to that point. FAMOUS LAST WORDS, LADY. Luke is a very active little dude. If I don't keep him engaged with a specific game, toy, or activity, he will make me pay for it. There's no 'why don't you sit down and color' for this one. Well I guess there is if I don't mind having the walls, tables, floors, and any inanimate object in between scribbled on. There is an actual twinkle in his eye that lets you know he is going to do what he wants and take years off your life in the process. There is no doubt in his mind that he can do everything that Genevieve can do. So while I'm encouraging her to gain confidence by jumping off a swing, riding a 2-wheeler, or climbing a tree, I'm also convincing him to DON'T FALL BACKWARD OFF THE SWING, DON'T CLIMB THAT TREE AND FOR GOD'S SAKE WEAR YOUR HELMET!!!

Example: Matt played on a local softball team this summer. The games were once a week at EG Park. The kids would all go run around this short series of mature pine trees just down a hill from the ball parks. During one game I got that mom-feeling when you know something's not right so I bribed someone to watch the baby while I hunted for the bigs. I could hear them but I couldn't see them. But that's because I was looking forward, not up. Lo and behold these two were at least 15, possibly 20 feet up a pine tree and they were, of course, stuck. WHAT?  The 'what if's' alone raised my blood pressure 20 points, to say nothing of guiding them out of the tree. Or during trips to the playground when it's time to go...I make the six year old watch the baby so I can take off across the soccer fields for my wild child who's high tailing it toward the pond. He laughs at the threat of "Ok, see you later." and takes it as his cue to start sprinting. Or at Sendik's when I try to keep him engaged by pulling a basket and assigning him items to add. I squat down to his level and say, "now Lukie, when there are other people we use our manners and say 'excuse me please'," And his response is this:

yelling "LOOK OUT PEOPLE!!" as he high tails it across the store. i leave the baby in the cart to chase after him. AGAIN. parenting fail.

i guarantee he'll be on two wheels next summer. hopefully the wild grasses slow him down on his attempt to bike into the pond

when it's good it's SO good

sure, just jump off that huge rock. you've got your helmet on

matt: "luke, what are we?" luke: "men." matt: "what do men do?" luke: "go to ACE!"

this about sums it up

Through all this wildness Luke is a very happy little dude. He and Genevieve play together really well most of the time (see above where he thinks he's 6) and there are glimmers of empathetic, caring behavior that I hang on to for dear life. The other day Genevieve fell off her bike. It was a total self fulfilling prophecy...she turned harder than she thought, assumed she would fall, therefore she did. Which led to gallons of tears. But then Luke hopped off his bike and went over to hug her and tell her it was ok. I try to remember this when he's pretending to pee on Kiera.

Luke is also hilarious. He's got the most perfect preschooler voice and says the funniest stuff. He's got no fear with strangers. We went to dinner the other night at our favorite burger place. We walked in and he yelled at the hostess, "Girl! I want chicken!" Me: "Luke, that is very rude. This lady isn't taking our orders, she's going to show us to our seats." Luke "Girl! I want chicken PLEASE!" During that same meal he turned to the table next to us and struck up a convo with a woman who had to be in her 80's. When he decided they were done talking he pointed at her plate and demanded, "Now you eat!".  It's hard to discipline him when he makes faces back at you and sighs, "oh, aww wight mom."

the scrawniest future MLB-er ever came in at 31lbs and 37.5", about the 50th percentile for each

daddy-ups

Three year old Lukie faves:
Food: me: "Luke, what's your favorite food?" him: "Mommy, do fishes like to eat crabs?". me: "um, I don't know. But what's your favorite food?" him: "Dinner. I like dinner. I like chicken patties and hot dogs. And I like jelly sandwiches. For lunch."
Treat: N-uh-M's and vanilla ice cream (not much of a chocolate fan, this one)
Thing to do outside: play with my skateboard and my motorcycle
Book to read: Go Away Mr. Wolf
Daddy game: Hiding Tickle Monster
Color: Blue
Animal: "uh, I like a cat. I like cats better than elephants"
Item of clothing: soft pants (aka fleece)
Sport: baseball (the boy can line drive a whiffle ball pitch like no other)

We had a little party for our man where he was quite insistent that everyone keep their party hat on all night long. It was going to be a Superman party until I found only Spiderman decor at the party store. A quick stop on Pinterest helped me change the cake from one to the other and off we went. Who won the prize for worst gift for a three year old ever? Mom and Dad with...wait for it...a skateboard.

so into super heroes. still able to get those skinny ribs into this t from robin!

this many!

just...so...loud

his "say cheese!" face

this one is frighteningly coordinated

birthday morning stop of his choice: helium

big sis helped decorate, and is ready with her gift

mandatory hat wearing

it's possible they're related

cousin logan wouldn't keep his hat on. the nerve!

sending love to our little maniac

huzzah!

tellin' it like it is

this picture is just...so....them

race cars, super hero capes, planes toys, books...one spoiled lad

ready to ride the skateboard. lord help me.

about 90 seconds later, first fat lip

tough little dude hops right back on

oddly comfortable on this wobbly board

less than half an hour later, going so fast that i couldn't even move my finger out of the shot. WE ARE NOT SMART.

October Round Up

We were in full fall swing last month juggling all the same crazy everyone else is, and also making time for a few good family moments as well.

We made it to the pumpkin patch with the Willes for our annual accidental get together (unbelievably gorgeous day), and spent trick-or-treat in West Bend with the Bansemars (windy but thank god it wasn't Halloween night which was about 34 degrees). Did we ever get around to actually carving said pumpkins? Negative. Sorry local rodents. Kiera was a zebra - I died - Lukas was Superman (oh my how his chest puffed up when he got those muscles on), and Genevieve wanted to be a cheerleader. Which we almost said no to when she mentioned, "mom, how am I going to stay warm if I have to show my belly button?"  Cue the groan.

However we had an AWESOME parenting moment which counteracted like three cringe-worthy parenting moments. Genevieve took her $40 of birthday to give away and we all went grocery shopping at Target. By the way, $40 bucks buys a LOT of pasta at $1/box. So she counted her money, handed it to the check out woman herself, and had a great big girl moment. When the check out lady found out what the food was for she reached in her little drawer and gave GG a $5 gift card for "doing good things for others". So, SO awesome. Then on a day off of school Geeg accompanied me to work and we left early to drop off our goods at Hunger Task Force. The VP of Development took time to show us around and explain where the food goes and how her efforts were helping others. It just could not have gone better if I had planned it.

Also: school photos and a random afternoon when G had control of the camera. The adorableness continues.

More to come soon for L's birthday and K's 5 month.

daisy scout. cookies anyone? anyone?

first time in the swings at the park. big bro pushing as gently as i think he is capable of

fresh air = snoozy cheekers

identifying the biggest, bestest pumpkin available

guaranteed this pumpkin weighed more than she does. notice the little feet in the shadow

you are this many pumpkins tall

first annual pumpkin chart

we didn't get around to the pumpkins outside but we did manage to spookify the inside a bit

flying, clearly

goooooooooo candy!

who could resist this crew?

team candy here RACED around the blocks gathering as much as they could

superman could often be found holding batman's hand to make sure he was ok. oh those super heroes.

dying

dying

dead

two happy trick or treaters

en route to work with mom, partaking in my friday morning treat to myself

from the Hunger Task Force's fb page. we are quite proud of this little lass

Genevieve age 5.99 - K5 Pendleton

Lukas age 2.9 - Miss Angie

Kiera age 4 months - baby room-o-adorableness

And a few random shots from a silly afternoon. I'm so glad GG likes to take pictures, so we have a few of Kieks and mama together in the archives.

baby goo goo

happiest little lady ever

she loves to snuggle. i will indulge her every time

the ladies maio

oh lukas, you slay me

this is as close as it's getting to 'normal'!

4 Months

Little Kieks is four months old. She is growing into bouncing baby girl and getting cuter and even more squeezable by the day (if that's even possible). I can't believe she's only been in our lives for four months. Seems like forever - this kid has just slid right in.

At her four month appointment Kiera Anne weighed in at 15lbs and was 25.5". At this rate she should be about six and a half feet tall. She is spending lots of happy time in her Bumbo and we just busted out the jumper too (which I'm already ready to get rid of. My god it's just HUGE). She's more tolerant of tummy time and as of this morning she can handily roll from her tummy to her back, both left and right. Table foods are a few short weeks away which is always fun. We are going to shift our thinking when it comes to solids for this little one, and give the theory of baby-led weaning a try (www.babyledweaning.com). Baby led weaning - the name is misleading, it's more baby led solids - offers big chunks of table foods first and allows the kid to nosh off whatever they can instead of offering spoon fed liquid veggie. Clearly neither Maio versions 1.0 or 2.0 are traumatized from spoon feeding - and who doesn't love a little warm cereal for breakfast? - but Luke did skip right over traditional baby foods which was horrible. It never occurred to me to offer him large, easy-to-handle table food but damn I wish that thought had crossed my mind. Cutting grapes into 32nds was not my idea of a good time.  Anyway we'll see what Kiera is into but plopping a couple pieces of steamed carrot on a tray sure sounds easier than dealing with the mush while feeding two other kids and a hungry husband. Stay tuned, folks.

All three kittens currently have their first official fall sniffles and Kiera's having a little trouble with nursing. This did not stop her from going to bed at 6:30 last night, sleeping until 6:00 this morning, having a bite to eat, then falling back asleep until 8:00. I WORSHIP THIS CHILD.

the next gen of pooey lovers

had to capture this outfit one more time before she popped out of it

Everyone at 4 months with chunky thighs:

 

 

 

big girl

hubs was not cooperating for adorable daddy-and-me photos. this is right after i yelled "you're ruining the moment!!!"

dude wants his picture taken too. look at that string bean!

 NAKED BABY ALERT NAKED BABY ALERT NAKED BABY ALERT NAKED BABY ALERT

oh my god mom, do you even SEE the size of my THIGHS?

yeah that's right. hand me a cheeseburger, i'm ready

clean'n'happy

big bro was being so silly

 And our four month glamour shots

sitting much stronger

what a little giggle face

oh yes, we are razzing like it's going out of STYLE

seriously, have more chins

eyes are brown-er but not exactly...brown

so much to say

better shot of the mystery eyes