My little knight in shining armor

Now that Matt has started the real part of residency (easy-going orientation is over. sniff, sniff), I have a new little man in my life. We decided to finally give the boy a hair cut and he's like a new person. Matt gave him a good talking to and he is now the newest protector of our home.

 Seriously though, he has been so much happier, obedient and nice this past week then he has been in weeks. I think it's because we are finally getting into a consistent routine. 

Luke got eight stickers on his potty chart and every time he earns eight of them he gets a toy. The first toy he chose from the pile was a sword.

After giving him the sword I regretted my purchase, because of the numerous whips across my legs and blows to my head. He's gaining better control of it and is improving on his fencing skills.

The past few days have been wonderful 70 degree days. Before the heat and humidity returns, we've been taking advantage of parks and being outside. 

Allow me to introduce Sir Luke.

Yes, that's his sword. This was his idea.

He also took this picture himself.

Boys are so fun. This boy is definitely all boy through and through.

 He also found his new favorite "room" in the house. Our tiny entry way. 

After I got off the phone today I couldn't find Luke.

I thought this was so cute. 

He had his favorite Pixar books, favorite puzzle, sword, blue blankey, milk and his half eaten sandwich (on his spider-man plate).

Garage sale season is at it's peak and we have been scoring left and right the past few weeks.

We got this super fun swing for Luke a few weeks ago for $5. We put it up in our tree today and spent a lot of time out there.  
Just ignore our over-grown backyard. That's a next summer's project
.

It's so fun.

He's my little buddy.

What we've been doing while Daddy is working...

Matt started residency almost two weeks ago. Luckily he has two weeks of orientation, so it's been pretty predictable, easy hours. This week though, he starts the long rotation of night float, that will last most of the summer. We really enjoyed having him around for a month and a half, but I know he is happy when he is busy working (finally earning money!!!) and doing something he really enjoys. 

Luke and I try to stay busy and enjoy the summer sun.

We've made several trips to the city pool, two trips to the beach, shopping, play-doh, watercolors, markers, bubbles, bike rides (him, not me), and lots of helping mommy. To top off all of the fun, we were lucky enough to have our good friends visit us for a few days. It was so much fun and nice to have some company!

Me and Luke at Huntington Beach (on Lake Erie for anyone who wonders what we call "beach").

Lake Erie is MASSIVE. It's hard to remember that it is a lake, because it is so big and there are decent sized waves. But the 4 feet of moss and crap you have to get through to actually get to the water is a quick reminder that we're not at the ocean!

It's not the most beautiful beach you've seen, but I thought it's fun how off in the distance you can see the skyline.

We also started (yet again) Potty Training! 

Luke was doing awesome until we went on vacation and then moved...it threw it all off. 

He has filled 7 squares on his potty chart, only 1 more and he gets a toy.

He's great at going number 2, but number 1 will be tricky....boys are hard. Any good tips?

So then Bryce, Maddy and Britton came into town for four days and we had a BLAST!

Unfortunately, I have not been into much picture taking lately (weird for me, I know), so I only have a few pictures from our adventures. Maddy got a bunch more that I am excited to see.

In a nutshell we...played and played, went to Kirtland, watched movies, had a bbq, went to a kiddie amusement park, went to the beach, the drive-in, went to some awesome garage sales, watched soccer, ate good food, talked, the guys made some house repairs, chased little boys, continued potty training for both boys.

Friday morning Matt had the morning off so he was able to come with us to the Memphis Kiddie Amusement Park, that was right by his work. It's only for kids under 50 inches. It was pretty hilarious watching some of the kids being forced onto rides. Our boys had SO much fun and so did we! We will definitely be going back regularly.

Even though Matt placed Luke on a girl horse, Luke loved it. He waved every time he passed me.

Britton is only 6 weeks older than Luke. This trip was so fun, they were such good little buddies.

For those of you who don't know, Bryce and Matt have been best friends since high school and Bryce is currently in med school down in Virginia. We were so happy they could come and visit us and be our very first visitors to our new house!

This ride was the best. It was so funny to see all these little white-knuckled fingers gripping the cages as they went around on this mini ferris wheel. Luke would squeal "wahooo, hi dad!"

Right before Matt left, he went on the little roller coaster with Luke...he was excited at first...

But after the first turn...well, I've never seen such a terrified little face on him before. 

Matt had to hold his head from being flung around for the rest of the ride. It was pretty funny.

I know this picture is terrible, but it's the only one I got as the ride was slowing down.
You get the idea. Haha.

But that didn't stop him. They still went on the rest of the rides.

After Matt split, we drove down to the beach. It was probably the worst beach I've seen in Cleveland, so sorry Egberts! We didn't stay too long, and I think the boys still had fun playing in the sand.

We had our own, very first bbq ever in Cleveland. We got this grill from some friends that were moving out and cooked us up some yummy steaks and potatoes! Ahh they were so good.

Luke and Britton loved playing outside together. Britton is much bigger and has much stronger legs than Luke, so he would peddle and Luke would jump on for the ride. It's so fun to watch our boys grow and play together!

They had so much fun chasing each other in circles, catching fireflies, watching the rabbits run across the lawn and squeezing in the bubble car together (even though we have two of them).

They are so cute.

Luke misses you Britton.

Thanks you guys for coming. I hope you can come again, we had a blast with you!

Pregnancy Blues

Why do we forget so quickly what it's like to be pregnant?

When I wasn't pregnant I thought, "I loved being pregnant, it's so fun."
It is so NOT fun.

But it's what we do.

And, I'll do it again.

And again.

I still have 12 weeks to go, but I'm ready to be done today.

I shouldn't complain because my pregnancies are not as bad as a lot of women I know.

 The first trimester is full of fatigue, nausea and hunger pains that can't be satisfied. 

The second is wonderful. I'm hungry, I eat, feel good, have energy, start to get a small and exciting little bump and find out the gender.

Then comes the third. For me, it's full of massive heartburn that keeps me up all night and is like breathing fire all day. If you haven't tried Tums Smoothies, the work pretty well and aren't completely disgusting. Then comes the back pain, squished sciatic nerve pain, sore hips and tail bone. My feet are swelling more and more each day. I feel feet in my ribs and punches in my hips. Braxton Hicks contractions on and off all day. Shortness of breath. My energy is gone midday and I'm ready to nap-even though Luke is over the napping phase. 

And luckily for me, I have the flu! 

Thankfully Matt should get off early today and Luke loves to watch movies.

But, I'm STARVING!

Ahh, motherhood.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful father's in my life!

My life has been blessed with wonderful men (I know, that sounds weird). I have an amazing dad that I love and miss very much. My grandpa rocks and he calls me sweetie. I luckily married into a wonderful family and have a great father-in-law who has been a great example to Matt, which has taught Matt how to be an amazing husband and father.
Matt, thank you for being such a wonderful husband and father to me and Luke. I love you and truly appreciate everything you do for our family. Happy Father's Day!

Isn't he cute?

Too bad. He's mine.

Stolen pictures, but finally something from our trip to VA!

At the very beginning of May we drove 9 hours south to Williamsburg, Virginia. It was our graduation trip and we had a blast spending a week there. Dave, Meg and McKelle came down for a few days, as well as our good friends Bryce, Maddy and Britton, who live close by. Thanks to Maddy I can finally post some awesome pictures she took. I have yet to get mine off of our hard drive. I will post those ones next. I just loved all these great pictures she took!

During the week her and Bryce came with us to Virginia Beach. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed some great weather. The water was chilly, but that didn't keep the boys out. Maddy and I were happy having girl talk, laying out on the beach.

Matt and Bryce have been best buds for years, since sometime in high school-I think. Bryce is also in medical school, so they have lots to talk about when we get to see them.
And Luke and Britton are only 6 weeks apart, even though Britton is a head taller than our little Lukey.

The boys wandering down the beach, chasing birds.

Luckily, Luke was pretty afraid of the water, so we didn't worry too much about him jumping in-because he wouldn't.

We brought our kite. The boys loved it.

And before we left for the day, Matt and Bryce decided to jump all the way in. Here are some great in action shots. They are crazy, it was so cold!

After we walked down the board walk. It was a really fun day at the beach with some good friends! Thanks for making the drive you guys.

Later in the week they drove out again to spend the night with us at the condo.

All the boys wanted to do was either play in the pool or watch "Handy Many Motorcycle Adventures." And they would seriously say the entire title of the movie each time. They are so cute.

The pool was right behind our room, so we spent a lot of time there.

Saturday night (it was the night before Mother's Day) the guys sent us out (without the babies) to the outlet mall to do some shopping. When we got back we were pleasantly surprised to find the table set, dinner ready and the table all decked out. It was our Mother's Day dinner.

It was so cute!

They even guessed our favorite candy bars and surprisingly got them all right.

After dinner they had us blow out our candles on our cupcakes.

None of us knew they were trick candles...it was pretty funny when we discovered they kept lighting up. More great in-action pictures.

After blowing them out a few times we realized we were standing under the smoke detector.

Notice Dave fanning the smoke away?

We have great hubbies.