Zoo Day!

Last month we took a trip to the zoo with some friends. Luke had been begging to go for weeks and there was finally a nice day for it. The kids both had a great time and have already asked when we can go back. Here are just a few pictures I took.

My pretty missy on her tiptoes checking out the animals.

One of Luke's rare "aimed at the camera" smiles.


The carousel (Lily's favorite part.)


I just love this shot of all the kids lined up looking at one of the animals!


It was a fabulous day and I'm so glad we have such a great group of friends!

Birthdays!

Way back in January, my sweet little girl turned two! You hear that...TWO! Two is full blown toddler - not even partially baby anymore. Good thing she's so darn cute or I'd be sad(der) about that. Here are a few shots of her birthday.

Eating cupcakes!


Modeling her princess shoes.


Guess what else happened in January? My precious Luke turned four. If you can't keep them little forever, I think four is a pretty fabulous runner up in the great age category. He is the sweetest, most thoughful, loving little boy I could ever have prayed for. Here he is on his big day!

Blowing out candles!


And here is a shot of the three of us in the matching aprons that my mom made us!


I love these perfectly amazing kiddos so much it hurts and I am thankful every single day that I get to be their mom. Good thing we have a whole year of four and two before I'm faced with being Mom to a five year old and a three year old.

Luke's Christmas Performance

I know I am super behind on my blogging, but I'm still going to try and catch up in the order that events occurred. So here we go...

At the beginning of December, Luke's school put on a Christmas concert for all the grandparents (and parents too, of course.) It was so much fun to see Luke up on stage just singing his little heart out. He was so excited about the music and his sweet face would light up every time he looked at us in the audience and saw that we were all there watching him.

This is him shaking his bell during the song "Bells are Ringing".


Mimi and Papaw came to watch.

Lily certainly loves her Papaw!

This picture is probably my absolute favorite picture of Luke and his Nina.

And here are the kiddos with Grandpa.

After the concert and the book fair, I went back to Luke's classroom and got to watch them do something they call "Follow the Star". The kids all dress up like sheperds and then one of the wise men comes by all the rooms holding up a star and the kids all follow him to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is a room that they have set up with a manger and a real Mary and Joseph that tell the story of Jesus' birth. Then the kids get to go up and see the baby and ask any questions they have about the story. I thought it was really neat and I love how involved I and other parents get to be with what goes on at school.

The whole experience was wonderful and it reminds me of how much Luke is growing up and how thankful I am that there are so many people in his everyday life that are teaching him about Jesus.

Poor Baby

I had to take Luke to the doctor this morning because he wasn't getting better from the cold he's had the last ten days or so and yesterday his eye started getting goopy. Turns out he has a sinus infection and it has turned into an eye infection. We got some antibiotic eye drops and he's had three doses today, but his eyes just keep getting worse. Here are a few photos I snapped tonight.
This is him trying to look pitiful. Matthew and I think he looks like he's been in a fight.


And here's one to prove that he's not really as miserable as that first picture makes him out to be.


But he does feel pretty rotten and I'm really hoping the antibiotics will kick in tonight and he'll feel better in the morning. He's already been out of his room four times asking me to wipe his eyes and he's only been in bed for an hour.

Cold Weather

Apparently my children are embracing the spirit of cold weather. I snapped these pictures around 9:30 this morning, before we had gone anywhere or even stepped outside.





I would like to add that it is 75 degrees in our house right now and these two ragamuffins picked out their own clothes. They are so totally my children.

Happy Halloween!

Luke and Lily had a fabulous time trick-or-treating tonight. Luke wasn't shy at all this year, and Lily was unconcerned about anything except "Mo canny!" Here are a few shots of my rough and tough Ninja Turtle and my sweet fairy.









Luke was sick with a stomach virus this weekend and we missed the fall festival at church on Friday. I was so worried that he wasn't going to be well in time for tonight or that Lily was going to get it next and she would miss out. We are so thankful that everyone was well enough to go trick-or-treating and that we avoided the meltdown that surely would have occurred had one or the other of them missed out!

(And on a side note...my mom made Lily's fairy costume - didn't she do a fabulous job?)

A Little Bit Alike

Yesterday we took this picture of Lily playing in the dryer.



This was her first foray into the fun that can be had inside a major appliance, and Matthew and I were remembering how Luke used to do the same thing all the time. So I went back through our pictures and found this one of Luke.



They are exactly the same age in these two pictures. They were both taken in July when they were each 18 months old. I always think that they are so different from each other, but occasionally I am reminded that they really are a little bit alike. And lately I keep looking at Lily and thinking what a big girl she is, but when I see this picture of Luke, I feel like he was still so little. Have I mentioned lately that I wish my kids would STOP GROWING!?!

Crazy Hair and the Police

This is what I do all day every day...

I get to transform this...


into this...


I get to avoid this handcuff wielding maniac...


And I really have to watch out when they team up...


Sometimes the little one clenches her fists and roars at us...


And sometimes the big one chases his sister while refusing to take the carrot out of his mouth...


They are silly and challenging and delightful and they are all mine! I couldn't be more blessed!

Astros Game

On Saturday we took the kids to their first Astros game. I was a little worried about how they were going to do, but they were great! They both loved clapping and cheering and Luke was particularly excited about Junction Jack. We had fun watching them have fun and we're planning on going to another game in June.

This was the first time I have gotten Lily's hair in pigtails and I just love it. I took this picture before we left for the game, and good thing, since it's the only one of her that wasn't blurry.

Here are Luke and Matthew at the game.

It was a really fun family outing and it made me excited for all the other fun stuff we're going to be able to do this summer. Most of you know how much I love babies, but I've got to admit that I'm enjoying having two kids that are old enough to go places and actually be able to do stuff!

San Antonio

This weekend we loaded up and took the kids to San Antonio, for the express purpose of seeing...

Shamu! We met the Proctors there and all four of the kids had a great time and behaved wonderfully. There was a ton to see, but I think Shamu was definitely the hilight for everyone. On Friday we got to the hotel, which both kids thought was very cool. Luke kept asking, "We get to sleep here?" and Lily was just happy running around. Here are Mommy and Lily in our room on Friday night.

On Saturday after Sea World and dinner, we let the kids swim in the hotel pool. It makes me excited about this summer and all the swim time we'll get when it's warm. And did I mention that Lily loved running around the hotel? Here's the little beauty queen all decked out in her swimsuit and coverup.

On Sunday we got up, had breakfast, and drove to the San Antonio Zoo. We took the train ride around the zoo, which was nice just because it was such a gorgeous day.

Luke and Matthew on the train.

This trip was the first time we have taken the kids to a hotel and had a weekend full of activities and we had a fabulous time. Both kids were exhausted by Sunday when we got home (Matthew and I too) but I'm excited that they are big enough that we can start taking trips again.

Luke's First ER Visit

Last night while Luke was in the bathtub he slipped and cracked the bottom of his chin against the edge of the tub. It was a pretty deep gash and it was gaping open so we decided to take him to the emergency room to see if it needed stitches. Mimi came to stay at the house since Lily was already asleep and we loaded Luke into the car and drove to Methodist Willowbrook. We were there for about an hour and forty five minutes and Luke was a total rock star. He was very tired, but he just hung out and we read books and did Hidden Pictures. The doctor decided it didn't need stitches, so he just glued it back together and put some tape on it. Luke never cried or got upset at all and he hasn't messed with the tape today at all. Here's how his chin looks now.

On another note, today we took him to Texas Children's to see the rheumatologist about his knee and foot pain. The doctor said he seems perfectly healthy and it's likely he just has a severe and slightly odd case of growing pains. So we're good for now but they will continue to monitor him and see if he grows out of it within the next year or so.

And I guess maybe Lily was feeling left out of all the excitement, because this morning she woke up with a rash all over her body. So we're going to see the pediatrician in the morning to figure out what that's all about. I'm hoping it's just a reaction to the shots she got on Tuesday...

15 months!

Lilybean is fifteen months old now! She had her well baby visit yesterday and Dr. Purcell said she is looking perfect and staying exactly on her growth curve - so no more worries about her weight. Her stats are:

Weight - 19 lbs 6 oz, 6th percentile

Height - 30 3/4 inches, 62 percentile

So she's just long and lean and that is likely how she will stay. She's hitting all her milestones and is learning new stuff everyday. This morning I told Luke to go get his shoes out of the shoe basket and put them on and when I turned around Lily was bringing me her sparkly shoes and holding her foot out. The girl still loves shoes.

Some of the things I want to remember about her at this age are:

• When you tell her to smile, she scrunches her nose up and says "Cheeeeez."
• She loves to mimic Luke and totally thinks she is every bit as big as he is.
• She loves to feed herself with a spoon and hates for her hands to be dirty. And when she's finished eating, she wants every single crumb of food picked up off her tray.
• She always puts herself to sleep in her bed unless she doesn't feel good, in which case she wants Mommy to snuggle her to sleep. I love, love, love it and will be so sad when she doesn't fall asleep on me anymore.
• Mama is her go to word right now. She says it all the time (even out of context), but especially in the car when she wants to check and make sure that I'm still there.

Big Boy Bike

My dad bought Luke a bike a while back and from time to time Matthew has let Luke ride (meaning Matthew pushes him around the culdesac.) Tonight Matthew put the training wheels on and Luke got to ride all by himself. He was so proud!


It just kills me that he is already so big. I still feel like he's my baby and then I see pictures like this and it hits me that he's growing up so fast.

Lily loves to watch her big brother. Her eyes followed him everywhere he went.

And when he got off, she toddled right over and tried to swing her leg up. Why do I feel like I'm going to blink and when I open my eyes she'll be three?

New Camera

I have been looking forward to getting a new camera for months and now that I have it ("it" being a Nikon D5000) I can't stop taking pictures. I absolutely love it. Here are two of my favorite pics of Luke and Lily.

Tired Baby

This is what a really tired, crazy haired baby girl looked like when her Mommy went in to wake her up from her nap today.



Probably no one else will get this, but when I see her like this she just melts my heart.

The Bartkowiaks Paint!

Luke's room is finally done! Matthew painted on Saturday (I helped!) and then yesterday we hung everything on the walls. Luke really likes it and has actually slept really well the last two nights. Here's hoping that's a sign of good things to come!

Luke's dresser wall - he picked out the picture himself.


His bed and chair.


I'm happy with the way it turned out - thanks to those of you who helped me decide on colors!

Luke and Lily also painted today. Luke loves to paint, but honestly this is the first time I've let Lily join in.

Here she is hamming it up for the camera.


And here's how she really feels about having paint on her hand.


Can you tell she's a little bit of a priss?

And one last shot of my sweet Luke just enjoying himself.