our august...

hi everyone. luke here, to give a quick update on our august (so far). first up, a little game of - - name that baby!

round one...

how do you think you're doing so far?

round two...

and one more chance...

round three...

as you can imagine, major deja vu for momma! i am shown first in each set of pictures, and that's ben second. we really don't look that much alike if you look closely, but momma and daddy sure can whip up some chubby, bald, cute little boys, huh? :) i had my first swings at the park last week and sure did like it! we went again today, and i'm really excited about getting old enough to do some new things like that. you can see how quickly momma settled into second-child-syndrome because she wouldn't dream of bothering with shoes for me, let alone socks or pants even.

we also went to the kolache and donut shop last weekend (as ben has posted on in the past). i was really good and even got to have my first donut!!

okay, i didn't really get to eat it, but i was really good in my carseat while everyone else chowed down in front of me. i know my time is coming. (cute bus shirt on ben courtesy of mimsie and grandpa!)

we also went out to eat dinner last week at momma and daddy's favorite local italian restaurant and i was so good, yet again, in my carseat while they ate some yummy food. i'm a pretty happy baby...

but i do still get toted around in my carseat a lot while momma runs us around on life's errands and outings and sometimes that does get a little irritating...

i try to be good, though, and almost always am. and usually i do it with a big smile. ben, on the other hand, continues to be a little booger a majority of the time. "who, me?" he says...

he somehow manages to find his way into momma's heart to melt it every day, though, so she's still keeping him around. he can flash a good smile, too, and also knows when to say, "momma, you're beautiful." but i've also seen him pull this jedi-mind-trick move a time or two as well... "momma, you will not list me on ebay... you will not list me on ebay..."

actually, momma knows if she did that, aunt elaina would just bid on him, anyway, so she'd just as soon keep him under close eyes herself. who knows what kind of mischief he'd get into up in indiana with those girls all day! :)

anyway, we're doing good and truckin' right along. i'm four months old now and like to chew on toys, of course, and i've started teething, but i pretty much still just eat and sleep and make googly eyes at momma. i love to watch ben and see what he's doing, and one of my favorite parts of the day is when daddy comes home from work and i see him and remember that he exists all over again. good stuff. ben has been having fun using his imagination in all kinds of cool ways and he will try to post more on that in the next couple of days (or longer, hard to say really). thanks for checking in. bye!!

the lodge... part two...

hi everybody! sorry for the minor delay, but i'm here for my update on our recent lehman family trip to the lodge. i had a great time too, of course, and was a really good baby the whole time. i loved hanging out with the gang and especially loved how everyone took turns holding me. pretty much i just like to eat and be held and i'm a happy baby. here i am on the plane ride there...


and here's me and daddy at porcupine state park...

later at that same park, asleep in momma's arms (while she sports a bad hair day), with beamee beside (who's personally just glad she has hair!) :)

in the running for cutest picture ever (me and lauren one morning)...

grampee's hat...

hanging out in a bean bag chair, while beamee looks on and i think, "just pick me up and hold me, beamee, you know you want to..."

see, i knew she did! isn't beamee the best? :) we had a lot of good times out on the porch together...

getting a bath in the kitchen sink!

no, i really mean it - - who you callin' chubby? i eat a high-protein diet and work out a lot, don't be jealous of my manly physique...

so that was pretty much the trip for me - good times! thanks to everyone for helping take great care of me. i miss your arms already!! :) and now to close, a few more pictures of that silly ben, sporting his now infamous "silly eyes" (such a ham for the camera)...

we hope to post again soon with a report on what we've been up to since we got back. thanks for checking in!!

the lodge... part one...

well, we're back from our vacation with the lehman family and have lots of pictures and stories to share! we went to a really, really cool "lodge" in the UP of michigan. first we flew to chicago and then we drove a long, long time through wisconsin (in a white "bus" though, so that was fun!) until we ended up here...

it was really neat and we had loads of fun together all week. we have a few good pictures, but it's hard to really do this place justice and describe all the cool things we did (plus momma had her hands full and didn't quite get as many good pics as she would have liked). here's the big dining table where we ate (a lot - thanks ladies!)...

and when we weren't outside playing, we were on this big, awesome porch hanging out and doing crafts together...

(note the awesome view of the big lake in the background)...

there was a piano too, which i really enjoyed playing. lauren did too, but uncle greg was the true piano master...

and one of my favorite parts of the whole trip was the big bear in the great room! we became friends right away. i said hi to him a lot, shared my food with him, and just generally liked him. there were animals all over the place in every room, and i thought that was really cool...

i spent a lot of time pushing the stroller around outside on all these yellow ones! what more could a kid ask for?!

and here's grampee and me on a big tractor - cool (with a golf cart in the background - little boy paradise)!

and one of my favorite things to do was go on a boat ride! there were three different types of boats which i got to ride several times, and here i am "driving" the fast one...

i like to sit by beamee...

here we are on an evening ride in one of the slower boats. allegedly i dozed off for a bit after a long day of playing without a nap, but i think it was just a coincidence that my eyes were closed during this picture...

silly picture outside...

long steps down to the boat house...

what whip cream, momma? aunt elaina and aunt aimee and i don't know what you're talking about...

one day we took a short road trip to see lake superior and visit porcupine state park (although no live porcupines were spotted, sad!). here i am playing with gabrielle and taylor at the park...

and here we are playing in the sand on the lake shore (the water was definitely too cold for me to get in - yikes!)...

i got to take a shower each night instead of a bath, and that was pretty neat. here i am wrapped up in my towel...

all in all, it was an awesome week. i loved hanging out with everyone, playing outside a lot, eating good food, seeing and experiencing new things, and staying up late! there was so much more to share and momma said she'll post more pictures on our picasa site soon, so i'll let you know about that. also, luke wants to do a post next to talk about his perspective on the trip, so check back in for that. good times...