Luke's 18 month check up

Luke is 18 months! Crazy. Here are his stats:

Height: 33 1/4 " or 2 feet 9 1/4 inches (75-90%)
Weight: 26.4 lbs (50%)

Head: 49.6 cm (90%)

He is staying very much along the same growth curve. Getting taller, losing the baby chub (except his legs, he has the same cute little fat legs and ankles he has had since he was a ity bity...) and his head is huge. Again, not a freak of nature, but big. The Dr. suggested that it much be holding his big brain because he is always blown away by how smart he is (actually, both of the kids). I know that sounds like bragging, and it is a little bit, but the Doc is actually really surprised by how much my kiddlets pick up on and how fast they learn. He has said that they are extremely intellegent.

He also said that Luke is so different from Taylie that I could not have two kids that are any more opposite if I tried to design them myself. His suggestion is that Luke's stubbornness will serve him very well as an adult, and for now I should just accept the fact that I am frequently manipulated and suck it up! I think I can live with that...I mean, could you ever be mad at this face:

Luke's favorite youtube.com video...

such a boy...



here is the proof:

again, such a little boy! amused by farts :)

trip to the zoo!

We made another trip to the zoo, this year we got to take Luke with us and I wasn't pregnant so it was enjoyable in multiple new ways. Taylie took it upon herself to show Luke around the zoo, since she is a self proclamed expert.

...love this girl :)
It was a totally different experience this year with Taylie a whole year and a half older. She knew what all the animals were and she knew what she wanted to see. First we stopped at the monkeys, because Luke loves monkeys!

Luke loved the monkeys! When he saw these little guys running around he would clap his hands together and say "SNAP!". ( This comes from a song that he sings with Grandma Brooks: 3 little monkeys swinging in the trees, teasing Mr. Crocodile 'can't catch me! can't catch me!' along comes Mr. Crocodile quiet as can be then...SNAP!...and so on and so on...) He saw the monkeys and clapped his hands and yelled SNAP! I thought it was hillarious that he was waiting for something to come and eat the monkeys. :)

Taylie and her favorites, the elephants! There was a new baby elephant this year that was SO darn cute!

me and Luke with the elephants

This is Taylie's favorite part of the day. She had been telling us for weeks that she wanted to ride an elephant. I thought we were going to run into a problem when we saw the actual elephants and she wanted to ride it, but she didn't say a word until the merry-go-round came into view. Once I caught on to her train of thought, it was an easy wish to fulfill. :) I love how easy she is to please!

Luke actually tried to jump off a few times...he didn't really get into it that much. He was more impressed when I told him he could ride a monkey next time.

Do you all rememer this picture from the last trip...

Well, here is the updated version! It makes me sad to look at this and see how big she got in such a short time.

and of course we tried to get one of Luke, but he was being difficult as

usual so this is the best we got.

Luke is all about the monkeys! He loved the tigers too but they were all being lazy and sleeping so we didn't get any good pictures of them. He thought this was pretty cool though.

and you remember this guy from the last visit? The water squirting elephant...

This year I think it was a little early in the season for the water to be on, so when it was activated all it did was snore! Because of the lack of interesting responce from the elephant, she moved past it much quicker this year.

Luke's favorite part of the day:

LUNCH!

In the gift shop, Taylie found the animal masks (obviously) and she put it up to her face and said:

"Mom...where did you go...BOO!" I laughed out loud and had the whole place looking at me :)

We asked Tay what souviner she wanted to take home and this is what she picked out:

The GINORMOUS elephant! This time, Taylie had everybody around her who heard laughing. She asked so sweetly "Mom, can I have that one? Pleeeeeeeease?" When I told her that it probably wouldn't fit in the car, she opted for a snake instead.

We had such a fun day! Taylie could have stayed all day and she wanted to, but Luke was tired and so were Jacob and I, so the vote was 3-1 against staying. We went home. Very tired. Taylie asked if after she took a nap if she could go back.... *sigh* If I only had a little bit of her energy!

more confessions of a stay at home mom...

• If you have ever come over to my house on short notice, I have most likely played the "fake cleaning game". This consists of shoving stuff into rooms and closing the doors, putting all dirty dishes in the sink, and flipping over the couch cushions because they are most likely dirty. Then I spray Lysol and vacuum my floor and you think I have cleaned all day:) When you leave, I turn the cushions back over and make a mental note to wash them on laundry day.

• I often loiter in the bathroom just so I can read a chapter or two of a book un-interrupted. 99% of the time, I didn't even have to go in the first place, I am just hiding. Sometimes, I even turn on the shower for a good effect and it can buy me a good 20 minutes.

how my toddlers argue...

Luke sat on Taylie's blanket. In our house, if you sit on Taylie's blankey, it is a HUGE no no :)

Taylie: "Ahhhhh! Lukie, get off my blankey! You have to the count of 3! 1...2...3, okay, go to the corner!"
Luke: "Hahahaha....no." (while he is shaking his head no)
Taylie: "now! you have to the count of 3! 1...2...3, okay, go to the corner!"
Luke: ".....no" (huge smile on his face)
Taylie: "now! you have to the count of 3! 1...2...3, okay, go to the corner!"
Luke: "no!" *whimpers*
Taylie: now! you have to the count of 3! 1...2...3, okay, go to the corner!"
Luke: (puts his finger to his lips) "shhhhh!"

(Taylie gave up and walked away)

Jacob and I were about rolling on the ground laughing :) how could you not laugh at that?!

another Taylie-ism

(Imagine us at the park, playing. The house next door has a small farm. The kids saunter over to investigate...)

Now, picture Taylie with her face up against the chain link fence looking at a cow:

Cow: "Mooooooooo!"
Taylie (speaking to the cow): "HEY! THAT WAS LOUD!"
...she then stomps off

Another day, same park:

Taylie: "Look! Cows! I like cows, I'm gonna go see them."
(she gets close enough to smell them...)
Taylie: "I don't like cows anymore."
(she walks away)

My funny girl. Life wouldn't be the same without her :)

name that TV show....

I am pretty sure that most of you will not have a clue what this show is (unless your televisions are tuned in to PBS at 8:30am or 9:30 am MST) but I thought it was pretty cute anyway!

Skip forward about 20 seconds in...Taylie tends to have the attention span of a squirrel and she gets sidetracked easily :)

Dinosaur Train! This is actually a pretty educational show, if you know any kids who love dinosaurs, they would love this show!

confessions of a full time mom...

• Sometimes after I have spent half the day deep cleaning my kitchen, I will lay a blanket out on the floor and tell the kids we are having a picnic for dinner and feed them sandwiches so I don't have to mess up all of my hard work.

• I don't always wash the white laundry by itself in hot water. I will frequently mix them with gray clothes and wash them on warm as a compromise. This way I only have to do 1 load of colors and 1 load of "whites" instead of 2 loads of colors and 1/2 a load of whites.

....what are your confessions? I promise there are more of mine to come :)

Dang it

As hard as I have tried, unbeknown to Jacob, I cannot seem to sway Luke to the BYU fan club...

The score stands:
Jacob-2
Me-0
His first point came from winning the debate over whether to hang the BYU or Notre Dame sign in Luke's bedroom. This is his second point.

...at least I have Taylie on my side :)

I am so proud!

I can proudly brag that Taylie has made her first meal all by herself, with supervision of course, at the age of 3. :)


We had french bread pizza and she put on the garlic butter, sauce, cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms and a bit more cheese all by herself! I was in charge of the oven...that is right along my skill level. ;)

I am so proud!