Our First House!!

Eric and I have now officially signed our life away so that we could own our very own home!!! Needless to say, we are extremely giddy first-time home buyers. On our walk through the night before closing I took a bunch of pictures which I will post below, and don't worry all the stuff you see in the pictures is now gone. Our new home is in Denton, TX, and we will move into it in a couple of weeks. There are a couple of painting projects to be done first. It is a 3 bedroom and 2 bath. Our backyard backs up to the local elementary school.

The front combined living room and dining room.





The kitchen...with a pantry!





The laundry room, which thankfully should be large enough to house the cat's litter box.



Our back, or informal, living room, and really neat fireplace.





Bedroom #1: This will be Lukas' room. This room is painting project #1 because it has a bright neon pink wall (which I did not post a picture of).





Bedroom #2: This will be a study and guest bedroom. The open door on the right of the picture opens into a closet that the master bedroom shares...so they are connected.





The master bedroom.



The closet on the left is that pass-through closet to the "yellow" room.





The master bathroom, which I think is really pretty.







After 5 years of apartment life, we are super excited to have a garage.



Our backyard, and this picture doesn't even show all the grass on the left. The field on the right (over the fence of course) is the elementary school.



So, I know that was a lot of pictures to put in a row. Not that I wouldn't have posted them all, but next time I'll find a better way of doing it...like a slideshow or something. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed them!

16 Months

First of all, I must apologize for my lack of posting. We've been very busy. First it was house hunting, then house finding, right now it's packing, and in a few days we close! When we do and we get the keys I'll get in there and take pictures so all of you can see it. We are so excited!!

On top of that Squid is getting older, and so much more active. We play A LOT when he's awake!

At 16 months Lukas:
- is 22 lbs - The weight for his 15 month well-check (which was only a few days before his 16 month birthday) was 22 lbs 3 oz.
- is almost 33 inches tall - He measured 32 3/4 inches tall at his 15 month well-check.
- talks in his own language, however when you insist he will say (or sign) the words he knows. So for the sake of his vocabulary we are beginning to insist a lot (with old and new words).
- has learned these new words: up ('uh' with a finger point up), juice ('oose'), cat ('at' - but his 't' is not very distinct)
- loves to go to Mimi's (Eric's mom) office and "work" - He will sit in her lap and talk on the telephone, type on the computer, take notes on the notepad, and organize the pens. It's hysterical to watch. I will get it on video soon.
- has decided that walking is outdated, but running is very "in".
- has learned to spin, thinks it's very funny.
- is very polite (says please and thank you usually with no prompts)
- is the friendliest toddler around
- is very excited about the backyard he's getting soon (Although, what he doesn't know is when he gets older he will be conscripted to mow said backyard)
- loves to draw pictures. He colors everyday several times.
- continues to think that all cats (especially Melody) were put on this earth for his enjoyment alone
- follows simple commands
- knows where his nose, tummy, mouth, and eyes are
- has learned how to blow kisses
- gives lots and lots of hugs
- loves his Mommy and Daddy more and more every day!

New Cars sofa (which folds out into a bed) that he loves!



Helping out on the ladder. (This was during his last visit to Mema and Grandad's house.)



He is holding a screwdriver and a nail, and trying to put them together. Smart kid!



Kinda washed out, but look at those beautiful blue eyes!!



The next few are at the playplace at the mall. He LOVES it here!

Lukas and Alex in the car.



The slide!



The car again....it a favorite.



For those of you that haven't seen him recently, here's a very short video of him running around in the play place. He's wearing the same clothes he is in the previous 3 pictures, and he starts out on the left side of the green (the only one on the floor). Enjoy!




Health Update: Over the summer we tried, with the ok from the doctor of course, to take Lukas off his asthma medications. We tried twice and both times ended the same way. By the third day, he was lethargic and struggling to breathe well. Our little experiment told us that unless he grows out of it he will be on medication forever. His asthma is, thankfully, currently well managed by the medication he's on.

For those of you who don't know in May, after his 6th ear infection, we took him to an ENT. There we were told that we could put tubes in his ears immediately or wait and see if he gets any more ear infections. We decided to wait, and this past Thursday he was diagnosed with a double ear infection. YUCK!! And when I think I only took him in because he was wobbly, and he woke up 4 times Wednesday night. Anyway, we are going back to the ENT next Thursday (the 28th), and we will more than likely schedule his tube appointment when we are there. We do thank you for any prayers you can send our way. I will keep everyone updated.

15 Months

Again, I'm late putting this post up. With the house looking (and finding!!!), who can blame me?

Lukas is such an active little person these days. He still likes to take a 2 hr nap in the morning and another 2 hr nap in the afternoon, but in between those naps he goes non-stop. He is starting school September 2! I'm so excited for him! He's going to have so much fun, and learn so much more than I could teach him all by myself.

Lukas at 15 months:
- is about 22 pounds
- has, I think, 14 or 15 teeth (it's really hard to count teeth on a squirmy toddler)
- eats everything but broccoli (this he gives back as soon as you give it to him)
- says (or signs) 12 words: Mom/Mama, Daddy (yadi), bye bye (buh buh), Mel (Meh), thank you (ta-tu), you're welcome (eyum), Cheetoh (ee-toh...once), Mema (once), cat (once), milk (signed), please (signed), all done (duh)
- talks in sentences (with inflection and everything) in his own language....and expects me to understand it
- eats with a fork with about a 40% stabbing success rate...once it's on the fork he can easily get it to his mouth
- eats with a spoon with about a 50% success rate...about half of it ends up getting dumped somewhere between the bowl and his mouth, but he's getting better
- currently makes everything into a phone and talks on it
- follows simple commands
- loves to color
- wants to do everything that Mommy and Daddy are doing...he's very "helpful" with household chores
- loves animals, especially cats, to distraction....if it wasn't so hot this summer we'd be at the zoo a lot
- is finding out that anything can become a drum...and recently a flute
- loves puzzles, books, music, and blocks
- knows what shoes are for....and even puts on Mommy and Daddy's shoes
- knows how to brush his teeth and hair
- has discovered the wonders of swimming this summer...he is now a fish
- loves Mommy and Daddy more and more every day!

Smiles!!



Greeting Daddy at the door is a very exciting time of the day!



The next few are eating chocolate pudding. As you can see, he had a ton of fun eating it.

Fun with Mema and Grandad

Lukas went to visit Mema and Grandad July 18-20 so Mommy and Daddy could have a small break. Here's the proof they sent back with him that he had fun!







This was the first time he rode the carousel, and he didn't quite know what to do with it.





The second time around he had a lot more fun!



Trying on shoes....he got 2 new pairs!





He apparently talked on this phone all weekend.



While at home alone we were able to go on a date, as well as put in a major day of house hunting. Not a product of that day, but we have found a house we like and have made an offer. So, now it's all in God's hands!

5 Years

We recently celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary (June 28th to be exact), but we've been so busy that it got missed in the blog world. In the 5 years that we've been married our lives have gone through changes (good and bad) that I never would have dreamed of. However, to be at the point we are today (very happy, with a wonderful son and fantastic job for Eric) I wouldn't have traded any of our experiences. We have been very blessed!

My family at 5 years!

Squid takes Denver

Over the Fourth of July weekend we went to Denver, CO for my cousin's wedding. Let me tell you the trip was interesting. The fun all started before our trip actually started when we took Lukas to the doctor last Thursday. The diagnosis was inconclusive...maybe the beginnings of an ear infection or maybe just teeth. So off we went with a prescription if we wanted to fill it just in case. We decided to fill it and that turned out to be a good decision since the next day his snot turned green.

On Friday (July 4) Lukas took his first airplane ride. We booked using my generous father-in-law's miles, and somehow we ended up in first class. The extra space was great! He did great on the way there, only getting a little fussy near the end.

Here's the pictures of him all ready to go. I know there small and kinda bad...sorry. We didn't realize until later that Eric's phone, which took the picture, had been changed to the lowest resolution.





When we got to the Denver airport we met my parents. Lukas took Grandad on a tour of Baggage Claim.



The Swaynes documented at the airport safe and sound.



The next few days were a mixture of continued sleep deprivation (he was not sleeping well before we left town, and being in a hotel and sick certainly didn't help that) and an attempt at fun (which with a family reunion of sorts how can you not have fun).

Squid and Aunt Ashley (who was a lot more awake...and therefore more fun than Mommy and Daddy)



Lukas and Great-Aunt Phyllis (who has more energy than all of us combined)



My cousin Jeff and his new bride Megan were happily married on Saturday (July 5). The wedding was at beautiful country club (which I probably should remember the name of, but I think that's how out of it I was all weekend). The view was amazing. We ended up watching the ceremony from inside instead of on the deck with everyone else because Lukas got his thumb smashed in a chair so he was screaming through half of it. Thankfully we got to see and hear (thank you microphones and speakers) and not put a screaming baby on their wedding video. We are all so happy to have Megan in the family now, and the two of them looked very happy together (as they should on their wedding day).

Jeff and Megan Wilson



Lukas is trying very hard to get out of this picture.



The Swaynes with my cousin Tim. Yes, there are 3 Wilson brothers.



Lukas at the end of the night. By far Mema got the sweetest picture!



Our returning flight was not near as uneventful as as the first one. Lukas managed to wail through the first 1/3 of it. I got the lucky seat across the aisle from Baby and Daddy this trip, however due to wailing Baby I ended up with wailing Baby which then turned into sleeping Baby...thankfully. He then woke up as we were landing with his ears bothering him and started to cry again. Not a fun trip.

However, even though we were completely exhausted through the whole trip and Squid was "fun" to deal with, I'm really glad we went. I hardly ever get a chance to see this side of my family (especially all of them) and so even though I'm not sure I made the best impression on some of the newer members due to the fact that we were completely sleep deprived, I'm very glad to have seen everyone.

On another note, I'd also like to congratulate my cousin Dan and his wife Dana. They got married at the beginning of June. It was wonderful to meet her this past weekend, and now have her in the family as well.