No Buy July

Well, it's officially time to start the second annual "No Buy July." Ben came up with this idea last year to see exactly what we could live on in a dire situation... and to try to save up some cash. If I remember correctly last year, it was only a couple hundred dollars that we saved which means that we don't really waste a lot of money... Ben thinks I could have done better, but I wasn't going to not buy food for crying out loud! This year I'll try to do more with beans and rice... we'll see how we do. Anyone want to join in on NBJ?

Thanks to my sister Lisa for Lucas's new threads. She figured she better fill his closet for the summer now, since I can't fill it in July. She's such a nice aunt!


On another note, Ben just found a freakin' scorpion in our bathroom and that makes me really aggravated. Ahhhhh!

And on another 'nother note, doesn't Lucas look hot when he puts his food in his hair? If only I could achieve the same look with hair gel...

Who's Your Daddy?

Lately Lucas hasn't seen Ben too much. One night last week we were at the pool with some people from our neighborhood. The mom said to her kids, "Look, there's Daddy walking up the street!" Lucas then looked and saw a tall guy walking up the street and said, "Dada! Dada!"

I told Lucas it wasn't our dad, but he continued to point and say, "Dada." Then he started pointing at random cars and trucks and saying "Dada." I told Ben this story over the phone and that night he managed to meet us at the playground by 8:00 that night. Then he worked from home.

Tonight I had Lucas at the pool and then at the playground. A car pulled up and again Lucas pointed and said, "Dada." Wrong again, Lil' Lukie. Unlike the last dad, this dad had no resemblance to Ben whatsoever. He was short, and Hispanic with a full head of black hair and a beard. Yet, Lucas still pointed and said, "Dada" even when the guy was standing about 30 feet away.

Well, lucky for us, Ben got home tonight at 8:30 while Lucas was in the tub. Lucas was so excited when Ben came around the corner - he started splashing and splashing like a maniac. I left the rest of the bath up to Ben while I took the trash out and put the couch back together that Lucas had earlier destroyed. (Lucas discovered how to pull the cushions off the couch yesterday and it's a complete nightmare. I constantly hear the velcro ripping and know he's destroying the living room). Now he's asleep and all is well in the world.

Nighty night. We are going to watch a movie now to celebrate Ben's arrival before midnight.

Latest Lucasisms

I guess it's time I update the grandparents (and Ben, who has taken up residence at his office) on the most recent happenings in Lukie Land, so here it goes:

Refrigeration Station: Lucas loves to play in the refrigerator. He opens it and takes out all the bottles in the door and puts them back, then takes them out again, etc. I try to keep the door handles tied shut with a bandanna when I can... this all causes lots of tantrums.

Ketchup: Because of Lucas's fondness of the refrigerator, he has been playing with the ketchup bottle. Once in a while I catch him sucking on the lid. The other day I got him to eat his lunch by putting a little squirt of ketchup on his tray and he dipped his grilled cheese bites into it. He ate the whole sandwich! Hopefully this won't become too habitual.

Blueberries: Lucas's all-time favorite food is still blueberries. He opens the freezer and tries to grab them out all the time. Or he'll point to the frige and make the sign for "more" over and over. Because of this blueberry love affair, the kid often has blue fingers/fingernails - it's not dirt. I do bathe him. Here's a shot from lunch today:
Speaking of a blue and purple boy, Lucas's black eye is looking better. It's almost all cleared up.

Head Banger: His eye may be better, but he's got several other marks from running into walls, counters, corners, etc. He's also got a mark on his forehead from banging his head into the wall. He does this on occasion when he is really mad and throws a fit. My brother says not to worry - it's just the Cutchen coming out in him. I guess my nephews do the same thing... I think I remember my brother doing it too, actually.

Tired and Abusive: When Lucas gets really tired he starts to lose it and becomes mean and destructive. Yesterday at the end of nursery, he was tired and started going around the room pulling kids' hair. Last night he did a similar thing at our friend's house. He went between climbing on the TV stand and attacking people. He went up behind little Eden and just grabbed her ears from the side. It was hard not to laugh.

Hand Holding: If I catch Lucas before he's too tired before nap time we have a sweet moment. After his lunch we know it's time for naps, so he takes me by the hand and we walk up the stairs. Then we get him all ready for his nap and he points me to his bedroom. He's so cute.

Mummy = Mommy: Lucas has a book with a picture of Egypt in it. There's a picture of a mummy standing by a pyramid and when we tell him it's a "mummy" he always points to me and says "Mama." Today he just pointed to the mummy and then pointed straight to me. I guess I do look that bad some days...

Time on the Potty: Lucas really enjoys playing in the bathroom. If one of us is going to the bathroom (TMI, I know) he will always ask for some toilet paper, wipe his bottom, and then he likes to flush it down the toilet and say, "bye bye." Today he actually wanted to sit on the potty, which was cool. He's usually afraid of it, so I took his diaper off and set him up there. Nothing happened, but he kept signing, "more, more, more" because he wanted to get back up. At least he's not afraid anymore - someday diapers will end.

Swimming: We've been going to the pool a lot lately. Somedays alone, sometimes with our friends. Lucas is more afraid of the water than he was last year. Now he doesn't even like me to take him away from the steps, even if I'm holding him. BUT, I did have a breakthrough on Friday when he wanted to look at all the little filter things on the side of the pool, so we swam around the pool a few times and look at all of them. Today he did pretty good again. Some day he'll be a champ swimmer, I know it.

That's all I can think of for now. Ben just got home and it's only 11:24, so I'll go spend 20 minutes with him while we get ready for bed. Have a good one!

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there... and to those guys who fill the shoes when some dad's aren't around!

Just thinking about how much I love this special dad:

And this special dad:

And this special dad (my bro, Robert):

And of course this special dad:

...sorry, but the picture shows how much Ben loves his son by allowing him to sit nakedly on his shoulders.

I'm so happy I married this special dad, so that Lucas could have such a great daddy. Here's to my hard working, wonderful, funny, husband!

Tough Lil' Bugger

Lucas is looking pretty tough around the house these days. He's sporting a rad black eye and a fierce attitude to match. While I was at my second ABQ wedding this past Sunday, poor Little Lukie climbed up the arm of my parents' patio chair and it fell over. He smacked the back of his head on the floor... the cement floor, and then the chair arm smacked him in the face. I guess he cried for a long time, which isn't typical of Lucas when he gets hurt. Now he has this gnarly black eye to show for it.
Brenna recently had a black eye and noticed that people weren't as nice to her. One guy actually walked away from her when he saw it - in the middle of a conversation. Sadly, people have been treating Lucas differently as well. He's in a very friendly and social stage right now. He likes to say "hi" and "bye" to people and at the store the other day a lot of people ignored him. THEN at Wal-mart (a place I detest more than airport security) the greeter guy, who couldn't speak English, came up to me and muttered something about how I need to be taking care of my son and he's my responsibility, etc. I don't really know, to be exact, he could have been giving me the recipe for Chicken Feet Soup with Snow Fungus for all I know, but I don't like people assuming that I abuse my son. Anyhow, Lukie's eye is starting to look better. Poor Baby.

By the way, Lucas's new nickname in ABQ is Lukie Lau Lau. Robert came up with it (maybe from hukilau???) and I believe Stoney thinks it is his real name.

ABQ Addendum - Sleepy Time

I forgot to mention one of the funniest things that happened while we were in Albuquerque. One day Ben, my mom, Lucas and I went to Costco. Ben was driving my parents' car. There was a traffic jam on the freeway because Obama and President Bush were in town, so we were pretty much just sitting there. Ben announced that he was tired and I didn't really think anything of it. Then I started talking on the phone to Alison. Before I knew it traffic was still stopped but we were rolling forward. My mom thought maybe he was just being Ben and screwing around, until it was too late. I yelled, "Ben!" but not quick enough either. BAM! We hit the 18-wheeler truck in front of us. We were only rolling because Ben let his foot off the brake, so luckily we weren't going very fast. Then I yelled, "Did you fall asleep?" and Alison said, "I think I better let you go."
Lucas started screaming from the bang, bump, and commotion. The trucker came out and asked if we hit him. I don't think he even felt it, but he knew something had happened. He was cool about it, and so were my parents. Ben felt really bad though. There's a tiny scratch/dent on the front of the car, but we were expecting worse.
The moral of the story is not to drive when your tired. And definitely not to let Ben drive when he's tired. Poor Ben, poor car, poor Lucas, poor mom and dad.

Albuquerque Adventures

Well folks, I'm back. Lucas and I landed safely in Austin last night at 9:45. He was much better on this flight than on the way out to Albuquerque. He only whined a little, threw one blueberry, one fruit snack, one sippy cup, and one binky at the girl behind us (his car seat was rear-facing so he couldn't kick the lady in front of him). The binky managed to hit the poor girl in the face. Her boyfriend thought that was really funny. The flight ended beautifully with the little guy sleeping for the last 10 minutes.

We had a lot of fun in Albuquerque. Our first day there we were able to go to the temple to see my brother and his wife be sealed to little Sadie Belle, whom they adopted 4 months ago. It was the sweetest thing, and it was really cute how she opened her big brown eyes and really paid attention.

The rest of the week was filled with fun and wedding preparations for my friend, Alison's, wedding. Here are a few highlights:

Lucas fell in love with my dad over the trip. Here they are working in the yard:
My mom and sisters are always a big help. Here's my mom helping get ready for bed:
We went to Santa Fe to see a friend for lunch. We managed to get some great photos of Lucas because he was strapped in!

Ben had a couple conference calls for work. This one took place in the Santa Fe Plaza:

About 15 years ago my parent's scored one of the best lots in Albuquerque - bordering the Indian reservation, although it was in the middle of nowhere at the time. When we got home from Santa Fe the buffalo were right behind the house!

On Friday I was busy putting flower arrangements together with the bridal party. Ben took Lucas to the zoo for a boys day out. They had a great time together.

And finally, Saturday May 31st arrived, and Alison tied the knot. It was a beautiful ceremony. I loved the music. Alison's husband, John, is getting a PhD in music - he plays the trumpet. They had a great trumpet player while Alison walked down the aisle and it was awesome.

My favorite part of the day was dancing with the flower girl, Molly. It's so much fun to dance like a 6 year old! Here's a video of Joanna and I dancing with Molly:

Mousetrap

From a funny conversation I had with some girls tonight about breastfeeding:

"It hurts to bad. It's like putting your hand in a mousetrap and you know it's gonna snap."
"Yeah - but instead if your hand, you're putting your boob in a mousetrap!"

True, true....