Aunt Me, dishes, and rolling

My newly-married sister came to visit for the holiday weekend with her husband (actually they used our house as a meeting place because they are both in the military and don't live together yet-hopefully that will happen soon). Trey LOVED Aunt Melina (or Aunt Me as he used to call her). Poor Melina heard a rousing chorus of  "play with me" the whole time she was here. Here are some pics of their t-ball game in the front yard:

Trey has also found a new hobby: playing in the sink. He finds about 25 excuses a day to have to wash his hands. And he is ecstatic if I let him "do the dishes". Today I told him he could do the dishes while I put groceries away and HE THANKED ME. Please God, let it always be this easy :)

Luke is officially rolling nonstop now. He had done it a few times before, but wasn't so into it. Now we can't set him down without him finding his way onto his belly within a few seconds. He has gone belly to back a few times but he has to be in the right position to figure it out.

Let's play "you know your husband travels too much when..."

1. The valet parking attendant at the airport knows him by name

2. He knows his credit card number AND frequent flyer numbers by heart

3. He no longer needs to take a GPS when he travels

4. Your sister calls and says that she ate at a really great restaurant in New Mexico and he says, "oh yeah, I've been there"

5. He knows the Southwest airline schedule

6. He can tell you about all the restaurants inside any major airport

7. See the scenario below

Gary and I went to bed last night and turned on the T.V. A Gerber commercial came on and Gary leaned over and said, "the Gerber baby served me breakfast in Louisville." WHAT?!?!? The words all made sense to me, but not together. He explained that the Gerber baby was now about 60 years old and he was a millionaire, but he worked as a waiter just for something to do. And Gary happened to eat at the restaurant where he worked. SERIOUSLY! But, it gets better...the show we were watching on the discovery channel comes on right after that commercial. It was something about an ostrich farm. Gary looks at the T.V. and then at me. He says, "I drove past that ostrich farm before. It's right on the side of the freeway driving from Phoenix to Tucson". He says this by the way just at first glance of the ostrich farm. Where it was hadn't been mentioned at that point. It was crazy! He is "that guy". The one who has been everywhere and done everything. It makes me laugh sometimes. Please continue praying for his safe travels. Thank you.

Ring Bearer

Here is a video of Trey dancing the night away at Aunt Melina's wedding. Luckily, he has a smart Daddy who packed him PJs for the long night (although it was probably nanny's idea). It's a little hard to see because it was so dark, but you should be able to get the idea.

We have had a crazy few weeks!!! We spent the first two weeks of the month in Michigan. Our main reason for the trip was my sister's wedding. We had a lot of fun. Trey was the ring bearer, which was interesting. He did great during the rehearsal, but his shy little personality surfaced during the actual wedding. Gary sat in one of the back pews of the chapel so that he could take Luke out if he got fussy. Trey started sown the aisle and then caught sight of Gary. He got 2 steps past Gary and then stopped dead. He looked back and forth between Gary and the alter - clearly making a choice about what he was going to do. Daddy won and Trey turned and started to head back toward him. I had to go down the aisle and get him (his pillow actually had the rings tied to it). Fortunately Grandma was waiting in the front pew with skittles in her pocket, so he sat and munched happily until the ceremony was over. After that, Trey turned into a party animal during the reception. He started to fall asleep until the cake was served. As soon as that cake was placed in front of him he miraculously woke up and was ready to party. He ate about two bites of cake and then asked to dance with Grandma. He danced the WHOLE night! He did not want to leave either (and we stayed pretty much until it was over - we left at like 11pm!).  He also developed his first little crush on my sister-in-law. All night he kept asking, "where'd Aunt Rachel go?" If I said I didn't know, he would say, "well, let's go find her". We had to track her down for one last dance before we could leave. And then the next day my parents had a BBQ and he followed her around all day. He was so sad when she had to leave to go back to North Carolina. Unfortunately, her and my brother, Gavin, flew in the day of the wedding and had the leave the next. Gavin just left for Afghanistan on friday so prayers for his safety would be greatly appreciated.

Trey with Grandpa, patiently waiting to walk down the aisle

Fumbling the pillow

Gary's mom being an angel, with Luke the trooper

Enjoying our big night of partying!

Melina, my beautiful sister!!!

We spent the week after the wedding hanging out with Gary's family. Nanny bought Trey a neat little chef's costume, and he spent a lot of time wearing that and pretending to bake cookies. He also spent a lot of time outside: He helped my parents do some landscaping, learned how to start the 4-wheeler (thanks for that, Dad!), rode around on the tractor, played on the swing set, went to Dairy Queen and got the only thing he can eat off the menu (a slushie), and saw the ducks and geese at the mill pond. 

Trey the chef

I have said an awful lot about Trey and nothing about Luke. So let me just say that Luke was a trooper. He stayed out all night for Aunt Melina's wedding, was fed in way too many bathroom stalls while we were gone, got moved around from place to place and passed from person to person, and managed to stay relatively happy the whole time- even though he is teething! He rolled over while we were at my parent's house, but isn't really a fan. He can support his own weight in a standing position for a sufficient amount of time already, which seems incredible to me. Mostly, he is just content as long as he can be social. He has also discovered his feet...he loves chewing on them.

On our way home, we stopped in Indianapolis for a night to break up our trip. We took the kids to the Children's museum, and they both had a good time. I reccomend it if you are ever in Indy. Here are a TON of pictures from our adventures :

Trey, the race car driver

Shoveling Rocks

On the Carousel with Daddy

Luke the digger driver!

3!!!

I can't believe that Trey is 3 today!!! We have had a big birthday week. Trey had his party at school, which basically consisted of the kids singing happy birthday and me providing the snack for the day. When it was time for the class to sing to him, Trey stood up front with his teachers and started singing along--until he realized they were singing to him! He quickly stopped singing, put on the most stoic face he could find and jammed his hands into his pockets. Here is a photo:

Trey also got to have a big party at home this weekend. He had a pajama party and invited all his friends. He was most excited about the cake. He spent the entire week talking about his cake. He kept saying, "cake is my favorite!" Of course, cake is NOT his favorite and he ate about 2 bites of it. He still insists it's his favorite though. 

He was the most excited when he discovered that there was an airplane on his cake (score 1 for mommy). He says he wants to be a pilot when he grows up. It's funny to think about him as adult and a bit sad too. I have to confess that I went through a wide range of emotions this week. I still remember, very fondly, the day he was born. I remember what a cuddly little baby he was, and now I look at the independent little boy in his place and I can't help but smile at the miracle that is life and frown at the lightening speed with which it passes.

Speaking of that, Luke (you know, the baby I just had like yesterday), has started solids. He can sit up supported by mommy or daddy, and is about an inch away from rolling over. He is such a good baby with a healthy appetite. Here are pics of him devouring his first rice cereal. I couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough, so he was using his hands to try to shove it in, and in his haste he was eating the bib (which probably had way more food on it than what got into his mouth).

Lastly, I will leave you with a video of Trey. He has become obsessed with music. He goes into "big church" now with mommy and daddy for the worship, and he watches the band intently while singing along. He also uses my laundry basket as a drum with some blocks for drum sticks. He frequently sets up his "drum" and says, "I'm gonna ROCK OUT!" He is known for stopping in the middle of a song to use the "foot pedal" which he pretends he has. He will just stop and say, "foot pedal" and then tap his foot on the ground. Enjoy!

Luke's Dedication

Well, the biggest event that has happened in our lives as of late was Luke's dedication. On April 5th we dedicated him to the LORD at our Sunday church service. "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow". Here are some pics of our recent adventures. Sorry, but that's all I really have time to post for now.

All together at Luke's Dedication

Gary introducing our family

Singing praise to Jesus

Trey and daddy's jam session

Luke watching the "concert"

"The booty" from Trey's first Easter egg hunt

Best Buds

Trey has said and done some super cute things lately, but I think my favorite was when he leaned over and hugged Luke and said to me, "Mommy, this is my best buddy". He has become a fabulous big brother. One day when I was getting ready to vacuum he said to me, "mommy, you vacuum and I'll watch baby Luke". I said okay, and when I went back into Luke's room to check on them after only a few minutes, and this is what I found:

Trey said, "baby Luke is playing with the truck and I'm playing with this!" 

We have had lots of fun recently, which is why I haven't been posting. Here is some of what we have been up to...

Luke is getting bigger. Here he is in his sling at 3 months.

Trey and Brandon at Playhouse Disney Live. We went for Brandon's birthday. It was a mommy-and boys only date. The boys loved seeing their favorite characters, but you would have never known it by the looks on their faces. Both of them sat, unblinking with straight faces until the end. By the time we got home though Trey was begging to go back and see Mickey Mouse again tomorrow.

Face to face with a tiger at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, WI

Trey getting a back rub from great-grandma Molitor. She is nearly 97, still lives alone, and is still more worried about serving others--AMAZING!!! We could all learn a lesson from her.

Trey rolling Grandpa up like a taco. While visiting Grandma Molitor in Wisconsin, Trey slept in the living room floor with my dad on this little foam mat. I told him that when we were kids, my siblings and I used to roll each other up in it. My mom offered to let him roll her up, but he thought it would be more fun to make a taco out of Grandpa. My dad was a good sport :)

Snow day!!!

We got our first, and probably last, snow of the season. We actually got enough for Trey to go outside and play in. Of course by the afternoon it was all melted leaving us a soggy backyard. Luckily we took some pictures before that happened (I included one of Luke for good measure).

Look at Luke grow!

Luke is growing so fast! He had his 2 month check up today and here are the stats: he is 11 lbs 10 oz (which puts him in the 75th percentile for weight), and he is 23 1/2 inches long (95th percentile!!!). It's hard to believe that he is already 2 months old. He has been such a blessing in our home. Even lately when he has been sick he is SO smiley. When he is overtired is about the only time he cries (or if he thinks I am going to make him sleep). He loves his big brother already. He smiles for him and watches his every move when he is within sight. He is just a happy, healthy little boy and we thank God for that!