The Past Year

When I think about the past year, I feel very blessed because I fell in love with a very special boy. It's been one of the hardest years of my life, but also the most rewarding. Can you believe Lucas is almost one?? I can't.

It seems like just the other day my mom flew to Austin, we got pedicures, went jogging, and the next day Lucas was born. When I think of how my life has changed since then I just have to laugh. A couple years ago I couldn't have pictured myself at home, wearing yoga pants, wiping spit up off the floor and changing diapers all day. Now I can't imagine getting ready by 8:00am, wearing skirts and dress pants, going to work and sitting in a chair all day. How life changes!

Well, I just wanted to recollect about Lucas' first year. He's always been such a sweet boy. He's got a happy temperament and a great sense of humor. We love watching him laugh and laugh. His big blue eyes are so beautiful they can light up a room... or break your heart when their filled with tears. I could just stare at him all day. Ben laughs at me because when Lucas is finally asleep for the day, I sit at the computer and watch videos of him or look at pictures.

Ever since Lucas learned to move on his own he hasn't stopped. When he started rolling he would roll and roll and roll until he hit a wall. Eventually he learned to roll the other direction, for which, I'm sure, he was grateful. Then he started scooting around with all his might. It seemed like such a struggle to use all his energy to get across the room, but he thought it was worth it to reach that shiny cell phone or bright toy. Eventually he got up on all fours and started to crawl like a pro. Now he's got rough, bruised little knees from all his crawling. He's the fastest crawler in town and we can't figure out how he does it. Sometimes I try to crawl after him, but I just get rug burn. In the past couple of days Lucas has started cruising all over the house. He holds on to the table, cabinets, couch, whatever he can to walk all over. I'm sure he'll be walking on his own soon... then running. And I'm afraid I'll be running soon, too, so I can catch him.

We've noticed that Lucas is VERY busy. He never stops. Lucas is constantly playing with, chewing, or banging on a toy. If not, he's hurrying across the room looking for something else to explore. Lucas is very curious and is learning more each day. He loves to look out the window and see outside. I'm sure it would be more exciting if we lived in a high rise downtown, but he seems to like the trees just fine.

I just want to thank all of our family and friends for all of your support over the past year. A big thanks to my mom for coming to Austin when Lucas was born, for staying a few extra days when I didn't think I could make it without her, and for promising that she would come back if, in fact, I couldn't make it.

We've had a lot of fun and we are grateful for all the friends we've made here in Austin. We do miss our family like crazy... and for that we would like to thank the Wright Brothers for thinking it would be a good idea to stick people in a very quickly propelled tube in the sky.

Here are a few pictures of Lucas over the past year. Kisses to everyone.







While I'm here I should make a list of all of Lucas' nicknames. He has so many - I don't ever want to forget them...
Little Man or L.M., Creature (Creatch for short), Rittlest Rucas, Sweetish Meatballs, Lukity, Bubbles, Butters/Budders (sp?), Lil' Crapper (in a nice way), Lucas Austin Harmanator...

Lucas' Favorite Things

Lucas is growing into such a big boy! His 1st birthday is fast approaching (August 29th) and he seems to get busier and busier by the day.

We really don't have that many toys for Lucas, but he seems to enjoy junk just as much as real toys, if not more. Some of Lucas' favorite things are boxes, dirty diapers (we don't let him play with these on purpose, but they seem to be what he most desires), pots and pans, measuring spoons, cell phones, and anything else he can bang on the tile to make loud noises. One of his most expensive toys is the vacuum. It's a Filter Queen like the ones I used to sell to people for a couple grand when we were living in Utah. He loves to push it around and play with all the parts. Oh, and his most expensive toy is my ring box -- with my wedding ring inside it makes a great rattle. When Lucas isn't chewing, shaking, or banging these toys, he's probably throwing them down the stairs.

Aside from making noise, Lucas also loves to open and close doors and drawers. He loves to play with the new TV stand with a couple doors and drawers, or he will spend a long time opening and closing the only cabinet that isn't locked in the kitchen. He likes to empty all the contents, bang them on the tile, perhaps crawl in the cabinet, and then move on to something else...

Something like the broiler drawer, for example. He discovered this fun toy just a few days ago and has been driving me insane ever since. Lucas likes to open the drawer, put some toys inside it and then climb in the drawer himself. Tonight he actually tried to push the drawer around the kitchen, but I would have none of that.

I think Lucas' favorite weird toy is the fireplace. Yes, the place where most people have real logs, fake logs, candles, or some rod iron thing (to hold said logs). Well, we had to take the rod iron thing out so Lucas wouldn't clobber himself. The kid has always had a fascination with the fireplace, but this past week he started climbing all the way inside the fireplace with a couple toys. Then he just crawls in and out over and over. I'm trying to teach him to come out feet first, but he prefers to come out head first, so sometimes we have a head bonk, but nothing too major.

I thought Lucas deserved his own song for his creativity with his "toys" so we wrote this little ditty to the tune of "My Favorite Things." I encourage you to sing along.

Lucas' Favorite Things

Sucking on noses and red oven mittens
Everything that I touch soon will be bitten.
Shiny pots and pans that go “Crash! Bang! Ting!”
These are a few of my favorite things

Ugly old boxes that I can go hide in
The shower loofah - I find it excitin’
That dirty diaper - it made my bum sting
These are a few of my favorite things

The vacuum cleaner – I love the attachments
Throw them down the stairs to my mommy’s laments
Bang things on tile and make a few dings
These are a few of my favorite things

When I can’t play
In the fridge or
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

Lucas' First Date

A couple weekends ago we went out to dinner with our friends Wendy & Blair Jones, and Tanner & Danielle Clark, with their daughter, Addison. She is just about a month younger than Lucas, and it was their first date.

They looked really cute sitting together in their highchairs, eating off the gross table. They kind of stared at each other and Lucas tried to grab at Addison - he was very interested in her pretty flower on her head. I'm sure he wanted to take it off and suck on it or something. While the rest of us dined on meat and potatoes, Addison and Lucas had a delicious meal of baby food, cheerios, raisins, and free rolls from the restaurant.

After a while Lucas got a little too grabby with Addison, so she had to move closer to her dad. But, overall I think it was a good first date.

Above is a photo of the cute couple. Lucas is in the middle of a smack. He's probably got a mouth full of raisins. Mmmm.