September 2009 trip to Nebraska

We had a GREAT trip to Nebraska. We left Oklahoma City Thursday and flew to Sioux Falls. Luke was VERY well behaved on both plane rides. He didn't nap at all this day. The first time he's ever done that, so he started off our trip sleep deprived. I had bought some new small toys to give him while we flew to help him stay happy. The first was a small toy airplane. He loved it. He played with that airplane all day and it alone was enough to keep him entertained during our Thursday travels. My mom picked us up at the airport and we drove the almost 1 1/2 to their house, her singing to Luke the entire way. He now has several new favorite songs. "Chick Boom" and whenever he requests something that we can't figure out, that means he's generally asking for "Slick Chick". He also likes "Jack Jill" and "Jack Jill Blackbird" and "Blackbirds". I heard them all enough times on the drive to their house that I now have them all learned. Luke's Grandma is a very patient singer!!

Friday night he slept pretty well. Got up early, but not too bad. As soon as he finished breakfast, Grandpa whisked him off and they were home in time for lunch. They got to drive "the big truck" to Hartington and run a few errands. They also gave the cows some corn and watered them...and really who knows what all. Luke did get a sucker at one of their stops. Right before lunch after Grandpa and Luke got home I went outside to see what they were doing and decided I needed shoes. SO ON GRANDPA'S WATCH in the few minutes it took me to put on shoes and get a camera...THIS is what happened.

Luke splashed in and DRANK muddy puddle water.

After lunch and an okay nap Grandpa and Luke were gone again. This time to the feed store (he got a big chocolate chip cookie there). Then they watered some other cows...fed the horse...I'm not sure what all, again. I didn't see too much of them this day =). Michael, Audra, Solomon and Amelia showed up just in time for supper. Luke loves Solomon and was very excited that he'd arrived. They played all Friday evening. My Aunt Marsha and grandparents stopped by for a few minutes on their way home from North Dakota to see the boys. Luke slept okay Friday night.

He woke up even earlier Saturday morning saying, "Solomon awake". The boys spent the morning and afternoon playing outside with Grandpa. They fed the cows corn, fed the horse corn, watered things, Luke went with Grandpa and got bales of hay on the tractor, they used the swing set in the back yard, and generally had the best time two little boys could have. Luke didn't take a nap this day either. First he played, then had a dirty diaper, then cried about it, then rested, then spent the rest of his nap pitifully crying, "Solomon awake". He wasn't, but Luke was convinced HE WAS! AND HE NEEDED TO BE UP PLAYING WITH HIM!

Saturday evening Great Grandpa and Grandma came back over for a "Thanksgiving" supper and spent the evening playing with the boys. It was really fun to watch them play and have a good time.

Sunday we went to church. It's a really small congregation and the preacher knew we were all coming. I think he kept the sermon unusually short just for us. We went to eat afterwards and Luke was so tired from another not so great night of sleep, no nap the day before and getting up extra extra early that he about came unglued. He got to go out side with Grandpa while we waited for our food and then we went home and had a nap. After naps on Sunday there was more outside playtime. That evening Michael, Audra and family gave Luke his birthday present. He first opened fireman dress up accessories. He liked them, but you can tell, he's not quite there yet developmentally for that type of imaginative play. Then he opened the last gift from them. As soon as he saw it, his eyes got so wide and he yelled, "FIRETRUCK!!!!" I don't think I've ever seen him happier to receive a gift. He spent the rest of the night playing with that. Solomon really likes helmets so Solomon was very happy to get to wear Luke's fireman helmet. They boys had been doing really well sharing, but this night if Solomon would even look at Luke or get close to him (even though Solomon didn't want the fire truck), Luke would clutch it to him and run off yelling, "away! away!" or "NO!!!".

Monday morning brought us TWO cranky boys, although I must say, Solomon was holding himself together MUCH better than Luke. Luke was so bad we decided to go into Laurel to the park. It was VERY windy and pretty chilly (about 55) but we went anyway. Great Grandparents met us there and the boys had fun playing, swinging, sliding, digging, and teeter-tottering. After lunch everyone was tired and cranky and you could tell. Luke and Solomon didn't share well at all, and at one point we had all three crying at the same time. Naps were definitely in order.

Tuesday (yesterday) was go home day for everyone. Mom and dad had to work so my grandparents drove us to the airport. Luke did great on his flights again. I was even more nervous because he was much more sleepy this time around. We watched Veggie Tales. Luke likes "Jericho". He didn't sleep at all on either flight, but fell asleep in his stroller while we were waiting for our luggage at baggage claim. He was tired and cranky last evening. He'd had a long long weekend. We put him down extra early last night. He's still tired, but I think we'll make it.

Kyle and his new favorite teddy bear. We made him leave it at mom and dad's for next time =P

Doctor Visit

LOVE his expression in this picture. I'm pretty sure this is what a "Cheeky Monkey" looks like.

I had another uneventful trip to the OB yesterday. Other than weighing in, it was quite pleasant. There is a new nurse there who was quite taken aback by my low blood pressure. I guess the other nurses have grown accustomed to it =)

I did try talking Dr. Shanbour into a later "travel restriction" date. He says I can't travel farther than 1 1/2 hrs away after 28 weeks. Which means Kyle and I can only go to Tulsa or Ponca City after November 1st. I, however, wanted to go to Grapevine, TX (about 2 1/2-3 hrs away) to go stay at the Great Wolf Lodge and take Luke to their indoor water park as a last Hurrah! for our little family of 3 before Leta is born and ruins all our fun....I mean limits our activities the way new babies can. I don't even want to go late into the pregnancy. Luke was born early. I'm not too keen on having my baby someplace other than Mercy. I just wanted to go in November, when it's colder and we can't go outside quite as much ect. I tried everything. I even promised that Kyle would drive back to OKC really fast if my water broke. I told him "all the other doctors let their patients". AND I did my best smile. It didn't work. So. Either no indoor water park for Luke or we'll be going next month. We'll see. The masses would probably appreciate us not going at all. Seeing a way preggo lady in a swim suit isn't on my bucket list.

And. I think we've told people, but we're not traveling for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year (both are after that immovable 28 week mark.

Anyway, Leta is doing just fine. Her heart rate continues to be in the 140's, which is supposed to be the "boy" range, I'm told. Whatever. She marches to her own beat =).

Meal Plan

We've been watching all the track meets that have been on TV lately. I could watch a good meet at least once a week. Turns out Luke really likes track. He likes to watch people "run fast". He'll get in a standing racing start position and say, "Ready set Go!". Here he is relaxing one Sunday afternoon watching track.

Also, lately Luke has been talking about "Tricky Birds". I don't know where he got that, but it sure is funny. Tricky birds say tweet tweet. Luke informs me of this often.

No "new" recipes this time, for us anyway =) Sometimes I'm "feelin'" tryin new things...other times, not so much. I was just looking over this list and almost all of these are my mom's recipes.

Latest Meal Plan

Pizza Casserole

Easy Chicken and Pasta

Microwave Lasagna

Chicken Manicotti

Fierro Chicken

French Toast

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Pizza Loaf

Beef and Macaroni Skillet

Shepherd's Pie

Extras: Key lime pie dip, marinated cheese, Texas Caviar

We're having a going away for the Lindens, some friends of ours who are going to be Missionaries in Rwanda. So that's what the extras are all for that.

Italian Omelette

2 T olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

4 1/2 oz ham, sliced thin

6 eggs

1/4 c milk

2 cups cooked short cut pasta (or 1 1/4 c before it's cooked)

1/4 c parmesan cheese

1 tsp parsley

3/4 tsp basil

1/2 c cheddar

Sautee onion in oil. Add ham and stir for 1 minute. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together then season with salt and pepper. Stir in cooked pasta, parmesan, herbs and onion mixture. Return everything to pan. Sprinkle with cheddar. Cook over medium heat until mixture begisns to set around the edges. Place under a broiler to complete the cooking.

I know pasta in an omelette sounds weird, but it really turned out well and Traver and Kyle both really liked it. It also has to be really inexpensive to make. Eggs...pasta...not exactly pricey ingredients!

Pass It On

Here is Luke wearing the apron that my cousin Analisa made for me when I was little. She made it as a practice for a 4-H project if I remember correctly. It was in the tub of things my mom saved from when I was little. I got out the two dresses, bonnet, shoes and a couple blankets for Leta to use. I showed Kyle, feeling all sentimental about the things from when I was a baby and he said, "They look kinda old." I'm not very sentimental, but he's even less so than me!

I went to Pass It On this morning, which is a local consignment sale to pick up some clothes for Leta. Can't have a naked baby you know! Last night I went through Luke's tubs of old clothes picking out the things that were more "gender neutral" that I thought would work for Leta. Armed with that list, I went to fill in my gaps. I didn't need a whole lot of night time type stuff, since there was more of that that could carry over. I think there will be just a few things that she'll need, clothes-wise. But I think we're pretty well set. We'll see... No more consignment sales until spring!

Size: Newborn

Size: 0-3 months

Size: 3-6 Kyle was proud that I bought her the ONLY OU thing in her size ranges. Now she just needs a Nebraska something to balance that out. *that was a not so subtle hint*

That's a lot of pink, and I made an effort to get things that were blue, brown and purple etc. so she wouldn't perpetually look like a cotton candy maker exploded on her.

When I got home this morning Luke was a little cranky. He was getting hungry and he had just fallen and hit his head AND he got a quick glimpse of "outside" and wasn't even allowed to play out there. So, life for him was pretty rough at my arrival. It was just a few minutes until lunch time so I put him in his chair. He said, "Need strawberries help feel better." He got some strawberries.

Still Lying!

Luke wanting the pop bead put on his cheek and wearing the shirt that Great-Grandma Olson gave him before he was born. He finally fits into it!

Today at Body and Soul, Luke got ahold of a gals water bottle. One with a twist cap. He had that cap off and all the water dumped out before I knew what was happening. So I got onto him, he said he was sorry and gave her a hug. A little while later he said, "Mommy dump water." To which I replied that I most certainly did NOT that it was he that had done it.

Then we went to Target to pick up more free cereal cups and we had this conversation.

Luke: Mommy dump water out.

Me: No, I didn't. Who dumped the water out?

Luke: Daddy.

Me: Daddy did NOT dump the water out. Who dumped the water out?

Luke: Monkey.

Me: A monkey did NOT dump the water out. LUKE dumped the water out. We do not dump out water!

And her name is...

Luke "monkey crawling" on the wall at swimming lessons this morning.
Getting ready to JUMP!
He loves to jump in from the side. Here he is jumping to his swim instructor. Something he would NEVER have done last session. He wouldn't go to anyone but me. He's more brave about that this session.

More monkey crawling.
Riding a "noodle" with Mommy.

Here are some close ups of the quilt. I know most of you probably don't care, but I love this quilt. And I know Vicki (Kyle's mom) at the very least will appreciate seeing the colors we'll be doing in her room.



AND HER NAME IS:

LETA ELAINE SOPER. (Leta pronounced Lee-tah)