John, Christy, and Luke

My Sweeties at 10 months

2010-10-10T15:02:00.003-05:00

I love comparing pics of my babies. I should post more of these and post more on this blog in general, but you know....there is facebook and that is quicker for me. Anyway....here's a comparison of Luke and Hadley at 10 months. Love my bald babies! They look so much alike and have similar personalities too! Watch out world!!

Luke - October 2006

Hadley - September 2010

Egypt

2009-09-11T18:38:00.003-05:00

Luke and I took a walk around our neighborhood tonight. He was riding a scooter and telling me about how he and Daddy do these walks. We got to one of the buildings and he pointed out a retaining wall. The wall has 2 tiers and the lower tier is a pretty good distance from the ground for a 3 yr. old, but it's wide enough to be walked on.

Luke: "What's that, Mommy?"
Me: "It's a wall that's holding up dirt."
Luke: "Daddy said I can't go walk there. He said I have to come back."
Me: "Daddy's right because if you fell off that wall you could get hurt."
Luke: "I have to go to the hospital?"
Me: "Uh-huh, probably."
Luke: "I have to get a shot?"
Me: "I don't know, maybe."
Luke: "Then I go to be with e-jip?"
Me: "You what?"
Luke: "I go be with e-jip."
Me: "Are you saying Egypt?"
Luke: "Yeah. When I dead, I go to be with Egypt."
Me: (laughing) "Sweetie, you mean Jesus. If you died you would go to Heaven to be with Jesus, not Egypt."

So cute!

Rattlesnakes

2009-07-16T17:43:00.003-05:00

Luke and I (Christy) were driving to the library today and I was listening to a story on the news about a man at Wal-Mart somewhere in the country who was reaching under a plant to pick up his baby's bottle and ended up being bitten by a rattlesnake. After the story I commented aloud, "Whoa!" Here's the conversation that followed.

Luke: "What's that kind of whoa, Mommy?"
Christy: "Oh, there was a story on the news about a man who was bitten by a rattlesnake."
Luke: "What's that kind of rattlesnake?"
Christy: "A rattlesnake is a kind of snake that has a rattle for a tail. Well, its not a rattle, but his tail makes a rattling sound. It is a kind of snake that can hurt you."
Luke: "How it hurts?"
Christy: "Well, if it bites you it has poison that can get on you and make you very sick. You have to go to the hospital really fast. Rattlesnakes are very dangerous. They can kill you."
Luke: "They have guns???"
Christy: (Laughing) "No sweetheart, they don't carry guns. They are dangerous because they bite people and that make people sick."
Luke: "What's that kind of ha, ha, ha, Mommy?"

Oh, the days of many questions have begun:)

March - June Update

2009-07-15T07:59:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures to cover the last few months. I bet you can guess the months I was sickest! Christy + flu + first trimester = not many pictures. Then take the same formula, subtract flu and first trimester. Then add salmonella and you know why June is short. We're currently dealing with a stomach bug with Luke. I've been praying for a season of health for our little family. I think we're due for one. Please join us in praying for this. Also, praise our Savior for keeping John so healthy! He continues to do a wonderful job in his seminary classes and will finish up his 3rd semester of Greek at the end of the month. I'm proud of him and know he must be doing great when a friend teasingly calls him the "Greek scholar." John is about to complete a paper this summer which he is excited to work on because it is the whole reason he wanted to come to seminary and study the Biblical languages, allowing him to interpret Scripture in its original text.

Enjoy our pictures!

March

From March - June

Our first picnic of the season was in early March. We enjoyed lunch at a Holding Park close to the seminary and Luke got in some playground time.

April

From March - June

Grammy & Pappy came to visit in early April and we had so much fun while they were here. Grammy brought eggs for Luke to hunt at night with a flashlight. He enjoyed this so much and we hope to make it a tradition for him (and Hadley) each year.

From March - June

Spring Time at Pullen Park in Raleigh....Beautiful!

From March - June

Our building egg hunt

From March - June

Seminary campus with azaleas in full bloom - The campus in full bloom is a beautiful sight!

From March - June

Strawberry Pickin' at Vollmer Farms

From March - June

Daddy teaching Luke how to milk a cow...although this strange cow only had water to give!

From March - June

On the John Deere trike in his overalls....farm boy at heart!

May

From March - June

The seminary hosts a campus picnic for students twice a year. They have inflatables for the kiddos and the big kiddos. Its always a good time of fellowship and fun for all.

From March - June

Luke attacking the gnome knight

From March - June

Mommy & Luke

From March - June

We celebrated Mother's Day with my parents and my brother Jeremy's family. We had a picnic lunch at Pullen Park.

From March - June

The Mom's (Christy, my mother Becky and my sister-in-law Jennifer)

From March - June

One of my favorite days...our first visit to Krispy Kreme. We had hot, fresh, delicious donuts. Luke and I had never been to Krispy Kreme before so it was a big treat for us!

From March - June

At the NC zoo

From March - June

Out of all the times we've been to the NC zoo, this is the first time we got to see the giraffes. Now I can finally believe them when they say they have a giraffe exhibit.

From March - June

Luke Marx

Reynolda Gardens in Winston-Salem
If you are ever in Winston-Salem, Reynolda Gardens is a must see. I LOVE this place. It is full of flowers, a vegetable garden area and a huge rose garden. We've visited here many times to enjoy the view.

From March - June

The perfect rose according to Christy

From March - June

The perfect rose according to John

From March - June

June

From March - June

In early June we went to Oak Island, NC for some beach fun with my parents and my brother Jeremy's family. We enjoyed our time there and Luke is learning to love the ocean.

The Half-Way Mark

2009-07-07T08:35:00.002-05:00

We've reached 20 weeks as of Sunday and this pregnancy has already been more eventful than Luke's! During the first trimester I had the flu and was pretty sick for a week. Now in the second trimester I've had salmonella. Yuck!! That was far worse than the flu and has changed my outlook on eating out and eating chicken. Avoid Chili's at all cost! They don't have the best record when it comes to food poisoning.

The short of it....On Tuesday, June 23rd we had our ultrasound and found out we were having a girl. We went out for lunch at Chili's to celebrate the occasion. Early Wednesday morning I was extremely sick and thought I had the stomach virus. I ended up in the doctor's office that day due to dehydration and then the ER that night due to high fever and continued dehydration. After trips to the doc Thursday and Friday we were back in the ER Friday night and I was admitted to the hospital then until Sunday. It was a horrible experience with symptoms I won't mention, but Hadley seemed to do fine and stayed protected during the whole ordeal. It wasn't until the Sunday of my discharge that we learned I had salmonella. We've reported the case to Chili's and the county health dept. Since then, there have been 5 other cases reported so we're really hoping/praying for some help with the upcoming medical bills. Please join us in praying for that!

I had a check-up yesterday and it went great! Hadley's heart rate was at 145 BPM. She is moving a lot and I still feel her very low so we're still praying about the low placenta. We'll have an ultrasound at the end of August to see if it has moved up. Since I was unable to keep fluids in me for 4 days, I lost weight and was 2 lbs lighter than a month ago. So my total weight gain so far is 8 lbs. It sounds bad, BUT at 20 weeks the recommended weight gain is 10 lbs so I'm not far off. The doctor just said to make sure it goes in the right direction. I eat like a hoss now, so I don't think we'll have to worry with that. I also started iron yesterday....no surprise because my iron always seems to be a little low. That's it for now.

Hadley has already received her first outfits. Nana bought her an especially sweet one that just brought tears to my eyes. I am so excited about dressing up this sweet girl! It's a different excitement the second time around. With Luke I had nervous excitement, but now I just can't wait to meet this girl and I can't believe God is blessing us with a daughter. I really never thought we would end up with a girl. All I know is boys...brothers and nephews always around so this will certainly be an adventure for me.

We'll go back for another check-up in 4 weeks. I'll try to get some pictures up sometime. Luke is very excited to have a baby sister on the way. He likes to tell people now that he's going to have a baby sister. He finally realized it wasn't going to be a brother! We are so excited about our trip to KY coming up at the end of the month! Can't wait to see our KY family and friends!!!

IT'S.............

2009-06-23T22:21:00.004-05:00

We had our big ultrasound today and learned that baby #2 is a little girl!!! Hadley Rebekah is doing great and is keeping her same due date of November 22. The tech asked during the ultrasound what I thought I was having and I looked up on the screen to see the tell-tale sign of a little girl!!!

"Is it a girl?" I asked.
"It is!" she said.

Tears were flowing quickly and thus began the ugly cry. It was such a cry that she had to ask if this was a good thing or a bad thing. It is great news!!! Hadley will be the first girl on my side of the family. So that is very exciting for us!

We do have a prayer request for you along with this announcement. I have a low-lying placenta right now which will likely resolve on its own. Please pray that this is resolved to avoid complications near the end of pregnancy. We were told almost all ladies who have this before 20 weeks end up seeing it resolved by 28 weeks or so. That's what we're praying for. I'll probably have another ultrasound in 6-10 weeks to check on that.

As for pictures, they were pretty disappointing. They are pretty blurry so its hard to make things out. Maybe my belly was shaking too much when I was crying??? Anyways, we'll see if the next ultrasound produces better shots to post. Just know, she looks like your typical alien baby at 18 weeks.

"This is the Day"

2009-06-08T22:20:00.000-05:00

Here is Luke singing (and performing) his current favorite song, "This is the Day."

Baby Update

2009-06-08T20:59:00.003-05:00

I don't know if we have many blog readers still out there since my updates have been very infrequent. I decided to hold off on the first set of ultrasound pics from my 9 week appointments since the images require a lot of explaining so you know what you're seeing. I am now 16 weeks pregnant and have another check-up coming up this week. All is going pretty well. Morning sickness ended right on time at the end of the first trimester and we are watching my tummy start to grow. I just started feeling the little one move around at least once a day this past week, so that has been an exciting development in this pregnancy. We told Luke the other day that we would find out what we're having in a couple of weeks. He said, "A Baby!!!" You're exactly right Luke! We will find out the gender on June 23. We debated on that one, but decided on finding out since we need to know what exactly to bring back here from KY since our space here is extremely limited.

I never gave a lot of details of our first appointment, but the short of it is before conceiving there was a concern that my pregnancy would be high-risk due to the brain malformation I was diagnosed with in '07. We were told then that any future delivery may have to be a C-section. However, at my appointments thus far (and I've only seen NP's so far) there has been no concern about this whatsoever. I'm considered a normal pregnancy which was a huge praise for us. I will still double-check this when we begin seeing doctors, but we're trusting God completely on this and believe all is just fine. I don't anticipate it causing any problems since I had this with Luke and we just didn't know at that time. In case you're wondering, the reason we haven't seen doctors yet is due to personal choice. The office we visit is the closer of 2 offices and doctors are usually there in afternoon hours and we've only done morning visits. Don't worry...we will see the doctors!

I'll post more updates as we have our appointments this month. Life has been tough this semester with classes for both John and I as well as a PT babysitting job for me. Updating the blog has not been at the top of my priority list, but I'll try to do more updates while we have more time this summer.

Our BIG News

2009-03-20T21:40:00.003-05:00

From New Album 3/20/09 10:42 PM

We found out some exciting news on Monday! We are expecting baby #2! I am only 5 weeks along and will be due around Thanksgiving. We know this is very early to announce, but as long as we've waited for this, we just couldn't wait to tell. I have my first appointment on April 1st. Please pray for us and a healthy pregnancy!

November - February

2009-03-08T20:26:00.003-05:00

Once again, we are long overdue for an update, so I thought while John and I watch Prince Caspian for the second time tonight, I could catch everyone up on pictures from the last few months. Luke has been an absolute joy the past several months. Not that he wasn't before, but he is becoming quite the little entertainer these days and he is saying the funniest things as his language and conversation skills continue to grow. We are getting very spoiled with his increased independence, to the point that we know if and when we get to have baby #2, it will be a huge adjustment for us all over again. Speaking of a second kiddo, we get asked A LOT what our plans are with that and if we're only planning to have one, so I thought we would answer everyone now on that one. Yes, we would LOVE to have another little one and we're just waiting for God to answer that prayer. We know God's timing is perfect as is His answer and will. We ask that you would also join us in praying for God to grow our family in His time and that we would have patience in waiting.

Now on to the pictures! I tried to pick out highlights of each month to keep the pictures down to a minimum but that is tough because there are so many cute ones to choose from. To see more pictures, click here:

February

From January - February 2009

Pepaw's Valentine's Birthday with his 4 grandsons

From January - February 2009

You guessed it...Marbles Museum again, and now Luke is a very big fan of dinosaurs!

From January - February 2009

Luke ran up to this phone, picked it up and said, "Hello, Magic School Bus?" Funny boy! He had been watching a Magic School Bus video a few weeks before and remembered the kids at the end of the video calling the Magic School Bus.

From January - February 2009

This was a very impressive food sculpture of our fave Veggie Tales, Larry & Bob. What was really cool is that you couldn't really make out the image with the naked eye, but looking through the camera lens, it all came together.

From January - February 2009

Posing with Luke after a Mommy & Daddy date night

January

From January - February 2009

We made a spontaneous decision to go to KY for New Year's to visit with John's family in northern KY. It worked out that he could get off work and we could stay with Grandma Kay (GG), so off we went. It was refreshing to get away and visit with family we had not seen in a while. We also met up with Grammy, Pappy, Leigh Ann, Woody & Hope while we were there. Luke is playing on the playground at GG's in this pic.

From January - February 2009

We also visited the Creation Museum with Woody while there. We loved it and highly recommend it. John and I would like to go back to look more closely. There is a lot to read within the exhibits, but the reading pace is way too slow for a 3 year old!

From January - February 2009

They also had their last weekend of Christmas lights and the nativity display while we were there. This was great for us since evidently Christmas lights are sparse in our part of NC and we missed seeing the beautiful displays so familiar to us in KY.

From January - February 2009

Luke and Uncle Woody - trying to remember what they were doing here, but I think they were about to blast off???

From January - February 2009

A very memorable first visit to the dentist office for Luke - You may look at this picture and say, "Wow! He's doing great and look at how attentive he is!" Don't let the picture fool you. Terror and tears soon followed this picture. After this display of the "magic tickling toothbrush" the chances of anything getting into Luke's mouth on this day were slim to none. In the end, he did let me brush his teeth for the hygienist, and we are going to have to try this again later this year.

From January - February 2009

Luke's first big snow and our first big NC snow - We woke up one morning in January to around 5 inches of snow. This is a pretty amazing and unusual occurrence in these parts. Families were out everywhere in the neighborhood playing in the white stuff which is pretty foreign to a lot of these folks from the deep south. We had so much fun on our snow days.

From January - February 2009

Luke and Mommy built a snowman (AKA "The Diesel Doctor"). Pappy should recognize this hat!

From January - February 200

December

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Happy 3rd Birthday Luke - December 6, 2008
We had a small family celebration at our place: Nana & Pepaw, Jeremy, Jennifer, Hunter, Cole, and Ethan. Luke had so much fun with this birthday. I made the big cake and Aunt Jennifer made Luke a bear cake which he requested after seeing Ethan's first birthday cake. This was my first attempt at cake decorating. Hopefully I'll get some future training so I can improve my skills:)

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Luke and his ladies (our neighbors) - We were out to Applebees for a building Christmas party

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Luke, Jeannie and Nathan after blowing out her birthday candles.

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John and I have very different ideas on how to make and decorate Christmas cookies. Can you guess who lives life a little more "outside of the box" between the two of us?? I admire his creativity. Here you see on the top left, a key to John's heart (that's for me), a cross, a roller skate, a bicycle, UK football player, gingerbread man, snow ghost, and Christy in a bikini

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Christy's cookies

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Christmas Eve dinner at our pastor's house
No, Luke didn't jump out of a cake and dance for everyone here. Shortly after Luke was complimented on how well he could hold his adult sized cup of tea and drink, he spilled the drink all over his clothes. Fortunately, we could launder his clothes while there since we were in between Christmas Eve services at the church. Luke ran around in his underwear and some reindeer antlers while his clothes were being cleaned. That will be a Christmas memory forever etched in our minds.

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Punishment for Luke has become pretty severe these days. No, this is a joke! Just for fun Daddy lifted him up on top of the dresser while Luke was playing in the crate. We aren't cruel and unusual parents!

November

From September/October/November

A beautiful shot John took at Flaherty Park near our housing complex.

From September/October/November

Out for pizza with our neighbors. Luke LOVES Nathan, Natalie and Noel! So sweet and so cute!

From September/October/November

Our amazingly strong son!! John and I love this picture because after we took it we realized that it looks like Luke is holding up his body weight and so perfectly balancing those legs. In reality, there is a seat underneath him! Great illusion though!

From September/October/November

Out for a fall walk at Durant Nature Park

From September/October/November

Ahhh....we loved the Bayleaf Toy Chest. It was a tremendous blessing for our Christmas with Luke. This church in Raleigh has an annual Toy Chest to help offset the costs of Christmas and it is exclusively for full-time seminary families. The members donate money/toys/etc all new and current products and seminary families shop for 10% of the total cost of the toy. We had a $7 spending limit per child and there were also legal raffles (meaning we all got a ticket and you paid $10 for a big item if your ticket was drawn). There was also a special $.25 area with gently used and leftover toys from last year. We did well in that area! You had to have a strategy in doing this, especially parents with multiple kiddos. You would be amazed at how quickly these tables full of toys were emptied. The "shopping" was over in 10 minutes tops. The proceeds the church makes from this are for their Lottie Moon offering. Luke ended up with a nicer Christmas than he has ever had!

From September/October/November

Luke and his new cousin Baby Hope at the cabin in the Smokies where we celebrated Thanksgiving/Luke's Birthday/Christmas with Grammy, Big Pappy, Leigh Ann & Woody

From September/October/November

A very proud Big Pappy

2008 Family Photo Shoot

We had our family pictures taken by a neighbor who started her own photography business and we were the guinea pigs for some advertising photos. This worked out to be a great deal for us and we ended up with some beautiful photos. Here are some of our favorites!

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September & October

2009-01-06T20:14:00.000-06:00

In the Kitchen
Luke continues to cook with Mommy in the kitchen. He loves to help as much as I allow.

From September/October/November

So, one night before going to my seminary wives class I asked Luke what he would like to take for a snack and here is what he pulled out of the pantry. To my knowledge, he's never had tuna before, although John does think he tried it at a neighbor's house. Either way, no I didn't send a can of tuna for his snack that night. He thought he was pretty funny though.

From September/October/November

Making pancakes for Saturday breakfast with help from Daddy

More Fun at Marbles Museum

From September/October/November

Luke said he was making pancakes

From September/October/November

Marbles had an Olympic area set up and he was playing hockey

From September/October/November

In the ambulance....he does well playing sick

From September/October/November

Dress up

From September/October/November

A different trip to the museum...the Olympics display was replaced by a Magic School Bus display full of science experiments. He was watching a balloon float in this pic.

From September/October/November

Taking care of Mommy in the ambulance...Dr. Luke

From September/October/November

Firefighter Luke

From September/October/November

Taking a break from the water tables

At Home

From September/October/November

My sneaky little guy avoids naps at times and I snuck up on him and went outside to snap this shot of him during his "naptime." Obviously he found better things to do than lay in bed...like standing in his window sill and yelling at our neighbors outside.

From September/October/November

Luke has an old VHS movie of "Little Bear," a Nickelodeon character if you've never heard of him. In the movie Little Bear and his new friend make their own space hats out of colanders and wooden spoons, so Luke ran to the kitchen and made his own. He had to wear this every time the movie got to that scene.

Luke's First Chapel Service

From September/October/November

Luke got to hear the Getty's for his first chapel service. They came to preview the new hymnal for the seminary. He did very well and stayed for 45 minutes of the hour long service.

Visiting Nana & Pepaw's House

From September/October/November

We make it to my parents' house about once a month. Luke loves playing there. Here is our little Marx brother.

From September/October/November

Celebrating Hunter's birthday...which is near Halloween so it was a costume party. These are Luke's cousins..Hunter, Cole, and Ethan. The bumblebee falling out of the pic is a little one that my sister-in-law babysits.

From September/October/November

Hunting for Halloween candy in the dark with flashlights. Forgot what they called it, but it was a lot of fun. We'll have to do this again next year.

From September/October/November

Potty stop...you just never know what John will do to spice things up. He keeps us laughing though. Having a boy does make these emergency potty stops easy though.

Halloween

From September/October/November

Trick-or-treating at the Farmer's Market

From September/October/November

This is how I dressed my child before going to seminary childcare....pretty daring, huh? They didn't kick us out. Many families do celebrate Halloween on the seminary campus...actually it seemed like more did than didn't. We went to a chuch fall festival and then trick-or-treating on Main St.

From September/October/November

We spent Halloween with out neighbors. These are the kiddos I watch a couple nights a week. So sweet and so cute in their little costumes. Luke loves his neighbors.

From September/October/November

Buzz Lightyear....Luke's first favorite super hero

From September/October/November

First cotton candy he ever had....pure sugar....he loved it!

From September/October/November

Luke is WILD about dragons/dinosaurs right now. He saw this on the inflatable and was ecstatic!

Sleep in Heavenly Pee

2008-11-07T21:33:00.003-06:00

Christmas is quickly approaching and we are already practicing our Christmas carols with Luke. This is one of his current favorites...probably because Mommy has been singing it a lot lately while she practices for our church's Christmas program.

August

2008-11-02T18:51:00.003-06:00

Our last month of summer was a fun one. We were able to travel pack to KY to be with my family while my grandmother had surgery (Christy) and it was a great time visiting with Grammy, Pappy, Leigh Ann, and Woody (and Joan). Coming home we had an adventure with a flat tire, but John saved the day and we still made it back on schedule. Enjoy some of our last pictures of summer!

From August

We had steaks for dinner and Luke liked them so well he pulled the bone from the trash to eat off the remnants.

From August

Pirate Luke on the Marbles Museum pirate ship

From August

A little boo-boo at the museum after a run-in with another kiddo. The staff was a bit excited about getting to use their first aid room.

From August

The Sansom Farm in KY...this is the spot where we would love to build a house if we were to ever settle down in one place...doubtful that will ever happen.

From August

Luke sleeping at Grammy and Pappy's.

From August

For all of our neighbors who we sit around the fire with, this is a small Sansom bonfire. Not only do you roast marshmallows...you also roast yourself!

From August

Luke and Big Pappy

From August

Mmmmm...S'mores

From August

Riding on Joan

From August

On the way home we had a flat tire somewhere in Virginia. Fortunately we had a big spare and were still able to make it back that night.

From August

Looks like an accident, but Luke got into Mommy's make-up and played with some lip liner for a bit.

From August

This is "Charlotte" that hung out on our balcony for about a month. She built a web every night for us to see and often it would span across the opening of our balcony. She disappeared as the weather became cooler.

From August

Luke and Mommy on the carousel at Pullen Park in downtown Raleigh..little did we know...Luke had strep throat on this day, which we would learn in just hours after taking this picture.

From August

A tuckered out and sick Luke..we still didn't know, but when we got home that afternoon the poor kiddo got really sick. I took him to convenient care that night and he was doing much better the next day.

From August

Luke licking on a popsicle after we got in from convenient care. He enjoyed getting spoiled for a few days.

From August

Peek-a-boo!

It's October, and Here's the Rest of July

2008-10-10T21:19:00.003-05:00

OK folks. This post is the end of my July pictures. August pictures coming in 3 months....I hope not. I'll try to get them on sooner than that. We continue to have a great time here in North Carolina!

Cow Appreciation Day

From July

Here we are with our sweet neighbors at Chick-Fil-A for Cow Appreciation Day. We got to eat for free since we dressed like cows from head to toe.

From July

Our little herd

From July

Playin' in the Rain

From July

Grammy & Pappy came to visit in July and we went to the science museum in downtown Raleigh. It was raining when we left, so Luke played in the rain while Pappy fetched the car. Luke, aka "Dash" was so wet that his shorts fell down. So he continued running through the puddles without them...just his shirt and underwear.

From July

Wet Boy

Super Hero Night at the Library

From July

Luke in his Spiderman PJ's and borrowed gloves and mask. "Learning Luke" is his Super Y name (from PBS)

Back to Marbles

From July

CRAB!!!

From July

Luke, the hockey star

Neighborhood Picnic at Bluejay Park

From July

Several of the buildings in our neighborhood got together for a picnic at a local park. Here are some shots of Luke in his cute overalls.

From July

Back Door Visitor

From July

We have seen a few interesting insects visit us on our back porch. Here is one that we caught on the camera. It is a Luna Moth. It was very pretty, lime green with pink accents and a white body. It rested near our door until the morning.

Marbles Children's Musem

2008-09-21T13:04:00.008-05:00

I'm still on July pictures. We got our membership to Marbles Children's Museum in downtown Raleigh this summer which is a phenomenal deal to any of our seminary friends who are reading this. We have a sponsored family membership which means we receive a family membership to the museum for the year through donations made to this program, and we weren't required to give anything for this (although we did make a small donation to the museum). It is a tremendous blessing for us to be able to take Luke here anytime we want. The play area is incredible. For his age group, the area is completely enclosed, so as long as he's behaving, he can run around and play at all sorts of different stations while we sit and relax/read. We've made several trips since our first trip here, but I just had tears in my eyes with this first visit being so grateful for having this opportunity to take Luke here so often, knowing we could never afford it on our own. It is a huge blessing to us, and he loves going to play here.

From Marbles Museum

Bus Driver Luke---the bus has a slide on the back side that goes down into the play area.

From Marbles Museum

Driving the Boat--there are also fishing poles where the kids use magnets to catch fish.

From Marbles Museum

The train set--Luke played here for a LONG time on this first visit to the museum.

From Marbles Museum

The very neat pirate ship. Luke hasn't played on here for too long yet---its usually full of bigger kids. We have to go up on this one with him. Its equipped with weapons and pirate costumes.

From Marbles Museum

Tree House

From Marbles Museum

In the garden

From Marbles Museum

Fireman Luke

From Marbles Museum

Dress up---there's a stage for mini-performances, but Luke isn't too interested in this stuff yet.

From Marbles Museum

The water tables---another Luke favorite. Leave it to him to figure out how to divert the water from the hose in order to splash everyone around the table:)

From Marbles Museum

The over-sized chess set

From Marbles Museum

Writing on the wall

From Marbles Museum

Playing rhythm instruments

From Marbles Museum

Mirrored with Daddy

From Marbles Museum

Connect Four

July 4 Festivities in Wake Forest

2008-08-25T06:31:00.003-05:00

On July 3rd, Luke and I (Christy) joined our neighbors and went to a professor's cookout to watch the community fireworks show. Both of our husbands work at UPS, so us wives took the kiddos for their first Wake Forest 4th of July celebration.

The very nice firefighters let us hop into the little firetruck and then blocked the sun out of Luke's eyes so I could snap a picture.

Luke's first sparkler.

Mommy and Luke waiting for the fireworks to begin

Luke wasn't crazy about the fireworks. He held onto Mommy pretty tight.

The Wake Forest 4th of July Children's Parade was on July 4th, so Daddy was able to go with us. These people go all out to dress up for this event. We decided to watch from the sidelines and catch the candy rather than put Luke in it this year. Good choice, because he was in a pretty bad mood that morning.

The Chic-fil-A cow from where John used to work

Check out that ballerina!

As I said, they go all out!

After the parade, there was fun and games at a local city park. Everyone walked from the parade to the park. Here is the potato sack race. The whole morning had a very nostalgic feel to it, with the small town celebration and the familiar childhood games.

Our neighborhood cookout-John and I organized this event---Whew! It was quite the undertaking and VERY hot! We all had a great time!

Our 5th Wedding Anniversary-July 19, 2003

2008-07-18T22:05:00.005-05:00

We celebrate our 5th anniversary on Saturday (July 19th). Just like everyone says, it seems like it was just yesterday, and still in other ways it seems like a very long time ago. It is absolutely amazing to stop and look back at where we were then and to see where the Lord has taken us since. Never would we have imagined the road God had ahead of us, and if we knew, we probably would not have traversed it, fearing how it would all work out in the end. Yet, through the past 5 years, God has blessed us abundantly, and He chose for us a beautiful son in Luke, who we love immensely. We're learning now, that it is a good thing not knowing what lies ahead, and just enjoying the present, walking in the presence of our Savior and drawing nearer to each other and nearer to Him, so He can direct our steps and carry us through this journey together. We look forward to many more years for our love to continue to grow for each other and for our Savior, who brought us together.

Below is the PowerPoint presentation that Kathy H. made for us to show at our wedding.

Sansom Wedding 2003

view presentation (tags: wedding)

June

2008-07-15T20:25:00.004-05:00

Here are highlights from June. Luke worked really hard on potty-training during June and he's doing very well. We're not 100% yet, but he has really surprised us with how quickly he learned and took interest in going potty.

Chef Luke

Playtime

Toy Story continues to be a favorite of Luke. One of our neighbors gave him a few toys from the movie and a couple we were able to use as potty training rewards. That was quite the treat for Luke. Here he is after getting his stuffed Buzz. He also has a stuffed Woody now.

Luke enjoys finger-painting. Here is his masterpiece.

Exercising with Mommy

Luke is in the advanced nursery at church...he's finishing up his reading assignment before Sunday morning.

Luke's 2nd Haircut

I took Luke for another haircut in June which went much better than his first time. He had a sucker sampler to keep him occupied while getting trimmed up.

Pullen Park
We found a great park in downtown Raleigh. Pullen Park is a very old park with a lot of character. It has a Victorian Era feel to it as you walk around. Unfortunately, you won't see much of that in these pictures. The park also has paddleboats and a train. Luke really enjoyed playing here with Leigh Ann and Woody while they were visiting.

Luke Potato Head
All Luke's own doings...he did both of these and ran over to show us (after checking himself out and laughing in the mirror)

Thank You Aunt Nancy & Uncle Bill
Luke received these really cute building blocks from John's aunt and uncle for Christmas and he's really starting to play with them more lately. Here is his "castle." He did this all by himself.

Our New Neighbors

Here are our new neighbors who live right next door. Luke enjoys playing with his new friends.

Luke's not sure if this is allowed

New neighbors also means new toys

NC Zoo on Father's Day Weekend

2008-07-10T16:30:00.002-05:00

We visited the NC Zoo in June with Nana and Papaw. Luke loved seeing the animals, and we all had a great time. It is a really nice zoo with lots to see.

Luke watching the sea lions .

We had a great view of the polar bear playing. This was Luke's favorite part. He stood at the viewing window as the polar bear swam right up to the viewing area.

Playing on the playground

Going for a ride with the animals

Taking off for an African safari

Luke said this is "Woot ridin' da egg."

Memorial Weekend Vacation To Oak Island, NC

2008-07-07T20:15:00.003-05:00

Well, it's July and I'm behind as usual with posting pictures. Since we're going back to the beach in August, I thought I better hurry and post our May beach pictures. We had a fabulous time on our first family beach vacation. We are very excited to go back. If you've never been on a NC beach vacation we highly recommend it. It was beautiful.

Luke's first time feeling the ocean water. He was pretty intimidated by it. His favorite part of the water was trying to run from it.

You can see by this picture that Luke is very unfamiliar with what you do at the beach. Instead of collecting seashells, he began a stick collection.

Beach babies

Luke's mini-ocean...this is where he played during our first afternoon

One of several jellyfish we saw washed up...no stings to report though

Luke pretending to sleep on Daddy's head

Luke was a firm believer that everyone needed to have their shirts off on the beach. We were just walking after dinner in this picture, and he insisted that his shirt come off, as well as Daddy's and Mommy's. Fortunately, only Luke had his shirt off.

Luke quickly learned that seashells aren't for licking, and sand is not for eating.

The do-it-yourself family photo while riding the ferry to go to the aquarium.

Couldn't get a smile out of him in this picture...he was very concerned with the crocodile being too close for comfort.

Daddy and Luke on our last day at the beach. Luke was very irritable on this final day. We returned to find out he had an ear infection. He was sick on and off for a month before it cleared up. Still, we had an excellent trip!

May Days

2008-06-06T20:35:00.005-05:00

May was such a fun month for our family. We enjoyed the warm weather and getting outdoors with our new friends and neighbors. Here are some of the highlights.

Our First Building Cookout

Here are some sweet pictures of Luke and his friend Madelyn a few weeks before her family moved. This was the first of many friends I'm sure we'll be saying goodbye to. These two were so cute together...they look like siblings. We miss Madelyn and her family SOOO much!

Meet in the Street in Wake Forest

We went to "Meet in the Street" in downtown Wake Forest during May. For our Owensboro friends, this is the BBQ festival about 1/4 the size, minus the BBQ. It was fun to just mill around and get to know our new community.

Luke driving the fire truck

Six Sundays in Spring

Another fun Wake Forest tradition...for six Sundays in May and June, the city puts on an outdoor concert on the lawn of the founding place of Wake Forest University. We were able to go on a beautiful evening. We look forward to going again next year!

Southeastern Seminary Cookout

Here are some shots from a cookout the seminary hosted for the students and families here. Luke and I went with our neighbors.

Our Adventurous 2 Year Old

This is the mess Luke made of most of his pull up/pop-up books as an act of rebellion during one of his nap times. I was not very happy about this. He still fights taking naps from time to time.

This is blue highlighter

Mother's Day Weekend

On Mother's Day weekend we went to visit with my parents and planned to go to the zoo.

Unfortunately, the zoo was closed due to a water main break. Although we didn't learn this until making the hour drive to the zoo. This is a shot from the hour drive back to my parents...I had not come prepared for a 2 hour ride in the car with a toddler. John likes this shot...Luke had been pushing Mommy's buttons, and Mommy had already had enough.

Happy Mother's Day!

End of the Semester

Another "caught" moment of Luke during nap time when he wasn't napping

Another building cookout...fun, fun, fun!

April Highlights

2008-06-04T19:22:00.005-05:00

Going Back Home

During April we made a trip back home to Owensboro to visit with family and to be with my grandmother (Christy's) while she had open heart surgery (she is getting better...Praise God). We had so much fun visiting with Grammy & Pappy and Leigh Ann & Woody. One of the biggest highlights is the news Luke received about a new cousin on the way!!! We are so excited for Leigh Ann & Woody and can't wait to meet our newest family member in a few more months.

The first temper tantrum before we even got out of our neighborhood. We were on the way to the airport.

We spotted this large picture on the wall at Wendy's in the Atlanta airport. We're not sure when Luke was photoed for this ad. So it's really not him, but it totally could be!

Pappy, we're stuck in Atlanta...come get me. We had a 2 hour delay due to stormy weather. Our flight from Atlanta to Nashville was the most turbulent flight I've ever been on. Just to give you an idea, my bottom came out of the seat. Luke was saying, "Fun...more." Mommy on the other hand was clinging on for dear life!

A boo-boo at Grammy & Pappy's...Luke fell out of the chair at lunch.

Super Luke

Feeding rocks to Joan

Luke likes to chase squirrels in the park with sticks. He found quite the weapon here.

Wearing BJ's helmet

Back Home in Wake Forest

Luke literally got a crash course in wrestling by a little boy that is younger than him.

Sansom Family Photo Shoot

We took these around the campus of Southeastern Seminary one Saturday morning.

Fun Times

Date night...we went to play miniature golf and John had to go to putt-putt prison for throwing his putter. OK, not really.

This is Luke after our date night. Our neighbors across the street watched him and gave him this Buzz Lightyear toy. Luke is now obsessed with Toy Story. He loves Buzz & Woody!

Going down the slide by himself!

Sunday at the mall. Luke is getting a massage!

The Rest of March

2008-04-27T18:01:00.003-05:00

The Rest of Our Easter Pics

Luke was waiting as patiently as possible for a 2 year old for the Easter Egg Hunt to start. This hunt was at Nana and Papaw's church in Kernersville.

Since the kids were divided up by age groups, Luke ended up with only about 7 other competitors. We guessed a lot of the other kids hunted eggs with older siblings.

Once again, we found the golden egg...boy Daddy & Mommy sure are good at finding the golden egg:)

After figuring out that these eggs contained NO candy, Luke wondered if the eggs on the other side of the fence were better.

Showing off his bling

Luke on Easter morning

The Sansom family on Easter Sunday

An Easter egg hunt with family and new friends

All clean

Luke's curls

Luke's new friends

Children Doing What They Do Best

We had our neighbors over for dinner one night, and this is what happens when you forget to keep your eyes on the kiddos. They emptied out the game drawer all over our living room floor. It was pretty funny to see how quickly they could make a mess.

Luke was putting his newly learned methods of destruction to action in my plastic storage cabinet. No big deal....this is his cabinet to play in anyway. This was just the first time he actually played in it.

He really did empty it out.

Giving up the Afternoon Nap
So I'm very sad to report that Luke is nearing the time where he no longer needs the afternoon nap. Well, at least he doesn't think he needs it. At least twice a week he will just hang out on his bed, resting and playing for 2 hours. I was at first extremely disappointed at this new stage, but I've learned that if I just leave him in there, he sometimes will fall asleep an hour or so later while "reading" a book. So, in a way its a good thing since that often prolongs the time I get to work on things.

I caught Luke here peeking out of his window and yelling out at the neighbors while he was supposed to be napping. He's a funny little boy!

Mmmm...yogurt!

A Quick Catch-Up

2008-04-06T21:35:00.004-05:00

We will be traveling back to KY for a short visit this weekend, so I thought I would throw some pictures on here to avoid the guilt of not having done this since we've been here. So here you go...enjoy. I've also included a link to an album with more pictures here

I'll try to do more posts in the near future (and be more detailed about Luke), but I'm not making any promises;)

at the museum of natural science in raleigh

cooking with mommy

john's first day of school

luke thinking it was also his first day of school

the "Woody Beard"

Yes, it was time for the first haircut

Before

After

saturday bubble baths

the wake forest community easter egg hunt

candy and a pinwheel...life doesn't get much better for a 2 year old

Sansom Look-alike Meter

2008-04-04T20:49:00.001-05:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Roots - Descendents

The New Camera

2007-11-27T21:49:00.000-06:00

So, I'm sure you are not surprised that once again it has been a long time since I have updated the blog. We some good excuses though! The last post we made was from the old camera, and these pictures are the start of the new camera we bought in September (after I left the other one on top of the car). That was one delay, and the other is the fact that we're about to make our big move to NC, so life is getting hectic during this Christmas season.

Kitchen Time

Luke and I made some yummy cupcakes for Great's 70th birthday.

"Yee-Haw...Hosie" Luke likes to ride the trash can while we're in the kitchen. Fortunately he has only done this when it is empty.

Ahhh.....Luke loves his chocolate!

Harvest Festival Fun

We arrived back in town from our visit to NC on the afternoon of Oct. 31 and hurriedly dressed Luke in his costume to go and visit with family.

I wasn't sure if I could top last year's doughboy costume, but we came up with a pretty good idea for this year. Here is a way easy, and a bit cheaper Mickey Mouse costume. The tights, gloves, shirt, and shorts all came from Wal-Mart. The shoes are yellow socks (from Wal-Mart) over his shoes, and we bought the ears and tail at an online store. And of course, the eyeliner on the nose.

Luke with Aunt Leigh Ann at the hospital

Luke visiting with Uncle Woody at GRADD

Grammy's Wiggles "bee-oh" that Luke was excited to see

Luke and Grammy at Nation's

Luke won some treats at the cake walk at our church Harvest Festival. Actually, this was the cookie he snuck off the table when I wasn't looking.

The Visit to Southeastern

We visited the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC at the end of October. It was going to be a short trip (4 days) so we decided flying would be the best mode of transportation. Luke did really well, even enduring a 3 hour delay in Louisville at the start of our trip. This was his third time flying, but the first time as a family and as an active, walking toddler.

Killing time while we wait for our flight.

FINALLY...we were en route!

Campus Shots

Here are some pics of where John will be spending a lot of time over the next 4 years.

This is the Manor House where visitors to the campus stay. It is like a bed and breakfast. We enjoyed our short stay here. We even had a nursery adjoined to our room for Luke during his one night stay with us.

Luke spent 2 nights with my parents while we visited the campus. Here we are about to go to a fall festival event at their church before taking him back to Wake Forest to go home.

Luke with his cousins Hunter and Cole. In case you didn't know, my brother, Jeremy and his family are living with my parents now in NC. He is working in the same industry as my dad, and they are looking for a house to settle into.

Some Saturday Fun

Bono Luke

We were at a Lewis and Clark exhibit, but Luke was more interested in the boat washed up on the dock.

Climbing the ladder on the playground

Luke's First Pumpkin

Taste-Test

Our Favorite Super Hero

After some inspiration from some hand-me-down PJ's, John tried to recreate a super hero costume for Luke out of his own PJ's.

Every super hero wears his underwear on the outside and has a cape!

And this was the inspiration...hand-me-downs from cousins Hunter and Cole.

Luke's first flight lesson.

The Sweet Maiden

Luke is modeling a throw from the couch.

Some Random Fall Pics

Luke's First Bike Ride

We took Luke on a bike ride on a Saturday morning in September. We have a trailer that my parents gave us. He seemed to enjoy the ride.

The Booger Sucker

Luke had some cold/allergy problems during early fall and became very acquainted with the snot sucker. Eventually, he even took it upon himself to clean out his own nose. So hang in there parents of infants! Someday your little ones will clean out their own noses!

ACTION SHOT!!!!

Saturday Morning at Yellow Creek Park

A Warm Day in September

On a couple of Fridays during September we had lunch at a downtown park and heard live music. The fountain and playground were the highlights for Luke.

A little tickle to get a smile never hurts!

My Little Chef

Luke LOVES to help make food in the kitchen. I think he likes sampling the best, but nonetheless, he is fun to have as a little helper.

Luke Feeding the Goats

2007-10-02T20:55:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is dated! It was filmed in Kansas City at Deanna Rose Farmstead. Highly recommend if you are in Kansas City with little kids...plus its free!!!

It's About Time!!!

2007-09-18T14:36:00.000-05:00

Well, it is about time that I've updated our blog. I've spent 3 weeks getting things ready for our MOPS group at church, and I finally have some spare time in my schedule again. These are the last pictures we had downloaded off our camera before it disappeared. Last month, I accidentally left the camera on top of the car as we were leaving and it was never to be seen again. It was a sad day, BUT I had already downloaded the pictures so the only loss was the camera (and memory cards and case). This is all we have for July and August....hopefully we'll catch up on the picture-taking since our new camera came in last week.

My Little Chef

2007-09-18T14:21:00.000-05:00

Luke is becoming a pretty good helper in the kitchen. It's just a matter of Mommy becoming patient enough to let him do it his way. One Sunday morning in July we made a coffee cake together. He may not look impressed at the end, but believe me, he was.

Wedding Crashers

2007-09-18T14:19:00.000-05:00

Our friend Bleck had his wedding this summer, and we took Luke to the reception.

Here is Luke with Mr. Maglinger....his 3rd Grandpa. For those of you who may not know, Mr. Maglinger is the father-in-law to John's sister, Leigh Ann.

Craft-time with Mommy

2007-09-18T14:17:00.000-05:00

Luke and I made Play-doh together. This was his first experience with the stuff. He's lucky because we were not allowed to play with play-doh in my house as a kid.

Fun with Food

2007-09-18T14:15:00.000-05:00

When he's this messy it's usually a good indication that he liked what he was eating. In case you're wondering...it was chocolate chess pie and macaroni and cheese.

Summer Play

2007-09-18T14:11:00.000-05:00

The park down the street has a spray park that Luke played in several times this summer.

Posing for a Picture

2007-09-18T14:07:00.000-05:00

What a cutie! The quality didn't turn out great, but the smile did!

Luke and Mommy

More Old Pictures.....Father's Day

2007-09-18T14:04:00.000-05:00

Here are the boys on Father's Day before church.

John, Christy, and Luke...Simpson?

2007-08-05T21:21:00.000-05:00

Since many people confuse our last name (Sansom) for Simpson many times we thought it would be fun to see what we would look like if we were characters on the show/movie "The Simpsons". You can "Simpsonize" you own picture here. We hope you enjoy!

John "Simpson"

Christy "Simpson"

Luke "Simpson" - in his favorite place!

North Carolina Pictures

2007-07-30T09:44:00.000-05:00

During June, we spent a week in North Carolina to visit with my parents.

City Lake Park

This park had a VERY impressive playground. It was a bit intimidating for a young toddler, but the big kids like John had a great time! Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures of it.

Waiting for the train

Riding the train with Daddy (and Papaw in the background)

Grandfather Mountain

NC Zoo--Asheboro

A Return to Reynolda Gardens in Winston-Salem

Mt. Airy, NC (AKA "Mayberry") Hometown of Andy Griffith
I have to laugh at myself (Christy) for being a fan of the Andy Griffith Show because I absolutely hated it as a child. However, watching the show with John during his lunch break has become a pretty regular part of our schedule these days. I guess the humor in the show comes with age.

Hanging Falls State Park

Greensboro Science Museum

On The Road Again...
We've driven to my parents' in NC 3 different ways now, and the VA/WV route is by far our favorite way to go. The traffic wasn't nearly as bad, and the mountains through this area were beautiful.

Eating at Max & Erma's in Huntington, WV....This is the day Luke figured out how the straw

North Carolina in June----Dad's Pictures

2007-07-29T21:44:00.001-05:00

Here are the pictures my dad sent us from our visit to Kernersville, NC in June. We all had a great time there. It was our first visit where we really were able to go out and do some things since Luke is older now, and we're way past those nursing days. John and I had fun being tourists, and Luke had fun being spoiled by Nana & Papaw.

This was a bit intimidating for Mommy, but Luke has no fear.

Wheeee...Nana and Papaw have a steep driveway. I believe this was his first wagon ride.

We visited MANY parks in NC, so unfortunately I can't remember the name of all of them. However, this was one of our favorites because of the beautiful landscaping. KY has much to learn from NC when it comes to parks. Most of the city parks we visited had carousels and a miniature train to ride on, in addition to very nice playground equipment.

Luke and Daddy on the carousel at the zoo. This was Luke's first visit to the zoo. It was a lot of fun, and the weather was great!

Luke and Mommy on a carousel at one of the parks.

The official sign of toddler-hood...the red & yellow car. Luke has one at our house too. I recently caught him running the car to the end of the driveway, into the street. He's a bit ambitious with his driving. Unfortunately, when he's at the wheel, he can only go in reverse.

Kansas City, MO in May

2007-07-13T12:19:00.000-05:00

The Tuesday after Mother's Day, Luke had tubes put in his ears, and then we left the next day for John's training in Kansas City. We were a bit nervous about going out of town right after the procedure, but Luke did great. As a side note, he's been MUCH healthier and has had no ear infections since we had it done. He had his first cold without an ear infection recently.

The Arch

On our way to Kansas City, we stopped in St. Louis for lunch at the arch. Believe it or not, I had never been to St. Louis before.

Our Destination
We stayed in the Westin Crown Center in downtown Kansas City. Hallmark headquarters are located in this complex, hence the name, so there was quite a bit to do around our hotel.

We ate several of our meals at the Crown Center mall. Our first lunch was at Fritz's, which is a burger joint. Its claim to fame is a train that goes around a track near the ceiling and delivers your food order to your table.

When the train stopped at our table, the tray lowered down to us and we took off our order.

Luke was pretty impressed.

Our Hotel Complex

Our hotel room looked out onto the Crown Center Plaza which has a fountain. Every night there was a water show set to music that played about 3 times. We never grew tired of watching the display.

Luke hanging out in our hotel room after a nap.

Our Excursions

Dinner at Stroud's Restaurant....recommended by Southern Living. You won't actually see us eating in these pictures. It was a beautiful evening with great lighting and several photo ops, so we played while we waited to get in.

On John's day off, we walked to the Farmer's Market for breakfast where we ate at Succotash, another Southern Living recommendation.

After meandering around for a bit, we walked back to our hotel and went to Union Station which was right across the street. It houses Science City, an attraction which was lots of fun for all of us. The train exhibits were pretty neat, plus Luke enjoyed pretending to be the train engineer....lots of buttons!!!

So, this is an old train car, and Luke's in the bathroom. I couldn't get the potty in the shot too, but it was right in front of this seat. I guess you had spectators when you used the potty on the train???

A big bonus for our trip was that we did quite a bit of research on the area before leaving, and we happened to know a couple of friends from church who had lived in the area. They recommended some places to go/things to do, and this was one of the recommended stops, Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead.

This was our absolute favorite thing we did. First of all because it was free, and second because it is extremely kid-friendly.

It was set up like a petting zoo, but it is so nice and unbelievable to us that something like this could be free.

They run on donations. You could buy food to feed the animals (a moneymaker for them), and you could actually go in some of the cages to feed them and play.

We have videos to post later that you're sure to enjoy.

Here's a link to a website where you can read more about the farmstead and take a look at some of the different areas it houses. http://www.360kc.com/Attractions/DeannaRoseChildrensFarmstead.html

Mother's Day

2007-06-30T19:44:00.000-05:00

So, Pappy was right...it did take us two months to put our Mother's Day pictures up. Better late than never right! The following pictures were taken in Russellville at Luke's great-grandparents (Pappy's parents).

Who are these crazy people?

2007-06-23T20:51:00.000-05:00

Since these pictures have nothing to do with the sequence of events in our (ok...Luke's) life I thought I'd give you a glimpse to a sillier side of me and Christy

Enjoy...

Ok and one of Luke...

And one for Nana and Papaw...

Owensboro's International BBQ Festival

2007-06-18T15:44:00.001-05:00

Continuing on with the BBQ Fest from our previous post, after the run we had a quick breakfast and returned to the riverfront to enjoy the festivities of the BBQ Festival. Our first stop was at the First Baptist Family Pavilion. This is John's former church. They had all sorts of fun, kid-friendly stuff set up in their parking lot.

Our first stop was the pony rides. Luke loved it.

They also had inflatables. Luke didn't quite know what to think about this big slide.

Whoa Daddy, I can't see!!!

Next stop was the face painting and tattoo tent. We opted for the quicker tattoo.

Oh, the smell of BBQ!

It smelled great and tasted wonderful. We had free samples along the way.

Cooking teams begin early Saturday morning, preparing their best recipes for BBQ chickens, pork, burgoo, mutton, etc. It is a very large competition and a very coveted title to win. Many local churches (usually the Catholic parishes) compete for the grand prize.

Luke and Mommy making big bubbles.

Taking a little break from the stroller to play on the playground.

We ran into some of my former students who were doting over Luke. John and I went to elementary school with this little girl's uncle.

The moment I waited all week for was to visit the Southern Living tour bus. There was a rep there doing a grilling demonstration. Unfortunately, Luke didn't find it too interesting, so we didn't watch for very long.

Here's a view of the crowds of people at the festival. This riverfront street was full of food vendors, and the picture was taken at lunch time. The weather was beautiful, and made for a great turn-out for this annual event.

BBQ Festival 5K Walk/Run

2007-05-31T22:16:00.000-05:00

John and Luke ran the BBQ festival 5K this year during Mother's Day weekend. There were around 400 participants this year...not counting Luke. The run took place on a Saturday morning.

Pre-race....Luke wasn't enjoying this time much. He's having his breakfast milk here.

Daddy and Luke at the start line, waiting for the race to begin.

Here is Luke in his shades with his walking buddy. He started toting the bunny around on our walks in the neighborhood, so we brought him along for the race. The best part is the bunny sings and moves. We get lots of laughs as we walk.
The race is on. They've gone about a quarter of the way at this point. John's strategy was to start in the back with the walkers so he could pass the "slow people" along the way. That's pretty good encouragement to get you to the finish line.

WE MADE IT!!! I didn't get to the finish line before they did because I stopped to get water and pick up a few groceries. John said he let Luke out of the stroller to run to the finish line the last 25 feet of the race. I am still disappointed I didn't get to see that, but John said Luke was all smiles and laughing as the crowd cheered him on.

Following the race, Luke was checking out the dogs in the crowd. Since he has had some time around big dogs at Grammy & Pappy's farm, Luke shows little to no fear around other big dogs, which is a little scary for Mommy. This was a friendly German Shepherd that Luke liked.

Luke's Buddy

2007-05-28T15:54:00.000-05:00

Here is Luke's sleeping buddy, Mickey Mouse. He snuggles up to him when he naps and goes down for the night. Luke calls him, "Me-Mou," (Mou rhymes with cow). This is very close to what he called me for a long time, "Me-Ma." Luke seems to be growing out of that one though, so I'm now Mommy (John has been Daddy for a while.)

Girl Time

2007-05-25T10:09:00.000-05:00

During April 3 of my college friends came to visit. We all have April birthdays and celebrated together during college. We decided to relive the old days and celebrate together again. From left to right is Luke and me, Jessica and her son Ross, Natalie, and Jennifer. We had a fun time. John was a very gracious husband letting me have a slumber party with my friends.

Easter and April

2007-05-21T19:49:00.000-05:00

So, yes...I'm still behind on Luke's pictures. We are in Kansas City right now, heading home tomorrow. If it's any consolation, I am up-to-date according to the pictures on the computer since we haven't unloaded the camera in a month. We have lots more pictures and some videos to post from our trip. Hopefully I can also post a list of the latest and greatest things Luke is doing sometime in the near future. For now, here are some pictures from April.

Here is our cool cat on Easter sporting his Easter shades from Grammy and Pappy. This wasn't actually the planned Easter outfit, but the weather turned very cool and the original outfit wouldn't work. We didn't have dress shoes since we had just bought sandals to go with the original outfit, so the kiddo was very hip on Easter since he had to wear socks and sandals to church. Unfortunately that's not in the picture.

Wearing Daddy's boots...some big shoes to fill.

Hammin' it up for the camera.

CHEESE!!!

The Easter Egg Hunt

2007-05-06T16:28:00.000-05:00

The much anticipated Easter Egg Hunt pictures are finally here. We did our hunt at church the weekend before Easter, and the weather was great. Luke had already had a few practice sessions with me at home around the yard, so he had an idea of what was expected of him;) We had been practicing with prizes in the eggs (cheerios/pretzels), but we found out the church did things a little differently. They divided the children into 3 separate areas according to age, which we loved, and the eggs were basically spread across the lawn. It was more of a "pick-up" than a hunt. These eggs were empty though, and they turned in their eggs for a prize. Every child received the same prize bag, another idea we thought was great. They also had "prize eggs" that you turned in for a special prize, but I don't think they put those in the baby section.

And we're off...as you can see, the bunny ears have already come off.

We're off to a good start. Eggs are going into the basket, just as planned.

The discovery is made....these eggs are empty.

Luke's attention to the game is now lost since there seems to be no point in picking up empty eggs. He quickly shows great interest in the "bahs" floating in the air....balloons.

Ready for something new to do.

Wow....now this is where the fun is happening! Luke found the eggs that had already been turned in to be much easier to throw into his basket than the ones on the ground. Plus they were lots of fun to play with. Eggs went flyin'!

Makeover

2007-05-06T16:17:00.000-05:00

Well, what can I say.....Luke likes makeup. Now don't worry. He mostly likes to try and put it on me, but he likes to take the sponge or brush across his own face occasionally. Really it's not the makeup that interests him at all. He just wants to hold the sponge or brushes. These pictures were taken the first time I let him hold some of my applicators.

He thought this was pretty neat.

A little blush on the head never hurts. He made the funniest expressions when he would put it on his own face, much concentration.

FRESH FACE!!!
Oh, and by the way....Daddy was still at work:)

Finishing Up March Pictures

2007-05-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

These pictures were taken on one of those fun mornings when Luke is wiped out by 9:00 because he woke up at 5:30. Fortunately, this hasn't happened again in the last couple of weeks.

Luke was enjoying his morning dose of PBS under the chess table.

This is the book Luke chose for Daddy to read to him. He is a very ambitious reader.

Pajama Party

2007-04-28T11:01:00.000-05:00

Luke still has his boo-boo in these pictures from mid-March. He likes to play with laundry, clean or dirty, and in these pictures he had grabbed one of his sleepers from the laundry pile to wear on his head.

Being silly with pajamas on my head

Dancing with pajamas on my head

Watching Sesame Street with pajamas on my head

Easter Pageant

2007-04-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of my debut in the Owensboro Easter Pageant. It took quite a toll on our family for me to do this, so I am very grateful to John for his help and encouragement to get through it. The week of the performance, I ended up coming down with a cold so it was a huge struggle to get through the dress rehearsals and 4 performances.

My character name was "Sinful Woman," which meant I was the woman who washed the feet of Jesus at Pharisee Simon's house with my expensive perfume. It wasn't a huge part, but I had a few lines and sang a song.

Here I am with my John's Mom, (aka Grammy), who recruited me for the pageant. I would just like to point out at this point that my skin is not this oily....it was very oily make-up (that I didn't get to apply) and an extremely hot costume:)

This was my wig lady...sorry, but I don't remember her name, but she attends First Baptist, the church that produces the pageant. It was fun having all the ladies in charge of hair/make-up/costumes make a fuss over me, trying to make me look just right. They all took it as their personal responsibility to make sure I looked "just so" on stage. I don't think I've ever had so many people to work on me for a show. Not sure if that's good or bad.

Here is Luke, our little lamb, who was terribly frightened by this little guy. Pappy was in charge of animals again this year, and supplied the cast with a couple of lambs.

Our First Play Date

2007-04-22T09:13:00.000-05:00

In March, our church MOPS group had a play date at the Owensboro Area Museum. Luke and I went along and were joined by cousins Hunter and Cole when we arrived. This was the same week as our accident, so we still have the Band-Aid on. The little boys really liked Luke's Spider Man Band-Aid. The 2nd floor of the museum is a discovery/play area for kids. That's where we spend the majority of our time. They have an indoor playground that's really nice, but the kids seemed to enjoy the discovery area much more.

There was a large orange cone at the entrance that was an air funnel that the kids could turn on. Basically it was like a fan covered by a box and cone, and when it was on it would suspend a beach ball in the air above the cone. Our older kiddos figured out how to climb onto the box and stand above the cone. They loved feeling the air blowing in their faces. As you can see, the little ones soon caught on.

This is cousin Hunter and Lauren (another MOPPET).

Luke and Evan (Lauren's baby brother) Evan is actually a month or two older than Luke.

Climbing up the tunnel slide.
Luke also went down a slide all by himself. He climbed up the stairs and went down head first on his belly. He looks like a seal when he slides...very cute.

This is cousin Cole in the NASCAR section of the museum.

Standing in the tires.

Luke's First Big Boo-Boo

2007-04-09T11:17:00.000-05:00

Luke had his first big accident almost a month ago. We (Christy & Luke) had just gotten up for the morning, and he grabbed a piece of paper from his diaper bag and took off running with it. My first reaction of course was to chase after him. I was barely awake and didn't know what he had pulled out. Luke was running right toward our bookcase and fireplace...YIKES. He tripped and fell right in between the two, but ended up hitting his head on the corner of the bookcase. I think I did more screaming than he did. I was scared and frazzled. Those things people say about, "You'll know what to do when it happens," are just not true, at least not for me. I called John and had him rushing home probably thinking things were much worse than they actually were. In the end, Luke ended up with a pretty deep, but small cut and a swollen eye. Poor baby had a black eye for almost 2 weeks. We didn't take him in for stitches or anything, but judging by what the scar is looking like, he probably could've used them. Oh well....we'll know for next time.

It's Springtime!!!

2007-03-29T21:16:00.000-05:00

Well, here is the start of my March pictures. Luke loves to be outside now that the weather is warmer. There's not a lot to do around our yard, but we're a 7 minute walk from a city park, so we have made multiple trips to the park the past couple of weeks.

In our backyard.

At the park.

Swinging with Daddy is probably much more fun than with Mommy. The swing seems to go much higher when Daddy is pushing. No, John's not going for a new hairstyle. He had it cut shortly after this picture.

Our cute bunny!! The ears were only a dollar in the cheap seasonal section at Target. I couldn't pass them up once I saw them on Luke.

When Mommy goes bye-bye, Luke goes for the purse.

Fun Times With Luke

2007-03-18T14:47:00.000-05:00

Luke has a very big head as you will see in some of these pictures. He gets that from his Daddy....just joking:)

Ship me to North Carolina!

A Day of Play

2007-03-08T17:04:00.000-06:00

Luke thinks it's fun to throw his magnetic toys that we stick on the washer, in the washer. Fortunately nothing was in there when he did it.

2 Lukes

Storytime

Playing on Valentine's Day

2007-03-08T16:50:00.000-06:00

Here's Luke playing in his house on Valentine's Day.

His gift is on the floor beside him. Luke got a book about dogs for Valentine's Day.

Luke's New Look

2007-03-08T13:41:00.000-06:00

So here we are sporting the "no pants" look. Pretty cute, huh?

Check out the orb!!! I know...it's a reflection from the ball, but I like to tease John about it:)

It's a homerun!!

Growing Appetite for a Growing Boy

2007-02-16T16:05:00.000-06:00

I Feel Good

2007-02-16T15:53:00.000-06:00

Near the end of January Luke had strep throat so these pictures were taken the day he started his antibiotic. He was feeling much better that day. He had to wear a bib because he was drooling so much. We had no idea what was wrong with him for about 36 hours. We thought he had a stomach bug because he started out with a high fever and threw up one time. We were treating him for that, but knew it had to be something more when we could barely get him to drink at all, much less eat. If only we had looked at his throat...when you click on the last picture in this set, you can probably see the white spots on his throat. Poor baby....he was hurting pretty bad. We're still learning as parents so that's one to remember for the next time he's feeling bad.

Out on the Farm

2007-02-16T15:06:00.000-06:00

In January we all spent the night with Grammy and Pappy one night. Here are some pictures from our visit. In the outdoor shots, Luke is checking out the dogs. He isn't quite comfortable with them yet so that explains the look of uncertainty on his face. I think he would rather watch them through a window.

Here is Luke with Aunt Leigh Ann.

Licking a paddle with the help of Uncle Woody

Dress-Up

2007-02-16T14:58:00.000-06:00

I've learned lately that little boys like to play dress up too....maybe because this little boy spends a lot of time with his Mama right now.

All in a Day's Work

2007-02-16T14:49:00.000-06:00

I just never know what Luke will decide to try out on a given day. Here are some recent experiments.

One morning I found him watching TV with this ring around his ankle. I guess he thought it make a nice anklet.

He recently found my apron drawer in the kitchen and wanted to model for us. The wooden spoon makes for a nice apron accessory.

Dinner Entertainment

2007-02-16T14:40:00.000-06:00

John keeps Luke entertained basically as soon as he steps foot in the door from work so that I can finish up dinner. Here they are watching from the hallway, while Mommy makes dinner.

John is anxiously awaiting for me to finish up. Daddy, what's wrong with you???

On this evening Luke was running back and forth with books for John to read to him. He would bring a book and then stand with his hand on John's shoulder while John read.

Dancing Luke

2007-02-03T10:06:00.000-06:00

The Main Family Christmas

2007-02-01T10:28:00.000-06:00

My (Christy) Mom's maiden name is Main. Celebrating Christmas with her family is a huge ordeal as you'll see below. The family is so big that we have to have Christmas at a church fellowship hall because no one has a house big enough to host everyone. I know John's Aunt Nancy will be able to relate to these pictures!! Lots of people to keep up with.

(I borrowed these from your blog Jennifer....thanks!)

Here are Mom's parents - my Grandpa & Grandma

The Mains - All 12 of them
This is the first Christmas that I can remember when all of Mom's siblings could make it in to celebrate.

The Main Grandchildren
There are 5 missing in this picture. 3 were out of town and couldn't make it in. 1 is stationed in Germany, and 1 of my cousins passed away a few years ago from complications with MS.

The Main Great-Grandchildren
Cole (my nephew) is the one covering his eyes. This was a very funny picture to put together. I couldn't even name these kiddos for you. Again..there's at least 1 missing in this picture.

More Christmas Pics

2007-02-01T09:36:00.000-06:00

While John and I were out of town after Christmas my parents watched Luke at our house for a couple of days. This is how my mom found Luke one morning while he was playing. He managed to open the dishwasher door and climb on in by himself. Since then we have put up a gate to keep him out of the kitchen.

The Vandiver Family
My parents, Tony and Becky, along with my 2 brothers Jeremy (left) and Troy (right)

Luke and I on Christmas morning. I had to keep him from running off several times so he would finish opening presents.

Trying out the new rocking chair

We still haven't learned to keep from sliding out of the chair.

The 3 Stooges watching Baby Faith

Another Vandiver Family
This is Jeremy & Jennifer (brother & sister-in-law) and their 2 sons, Hunter (left) Cole (right)

Sansom Family

One More Vandiver Family
This is my extended family. From left to right, my aunt Rosalynn, my Mem-Maw (now we call "Great"), my dad, and my aunt Tina (Ros and Tina are Dad's sisters....I guess you could figure that one out:)

Handsome Little Boys
This is Cole and Hunter. Many of you may remember Hunter as the ring bearer in our wedding 3+ years ago. Cole was also in the wedding. You just couldn't see him because he was still growing inside Jennifer's tummy.

No Luke....leave the ornaments alone.

Luke and his baby. Cousin Cole has the same kind of baby that he carries around as well.

Holding Luke down for a picture on Christmas Eve

13 Months Old

2007-01-08T14:01:00.000-06:00

Luke is now 13 months old and into EVERYTHING!!

We like to call this one "Elton John in His Toddler Days." Luke loves playing his keyboards.

While some who are around Luke more may think he is filling up his diaper in this picture he was actually just making a funny face while he modeled Daddy's UK hat.

This looks like a fun thing to wear too...Mama's scarf.

Our little homeboy! Looks like he's about to DJ a big party.

My New Hat

2007-01-08T13:58:00.000-06:00

I had some tights hanging up to dry, and Luke thought they would make a fun toy. Daddy on the other hand thought they made a great hat.

New Year's Day

2007-01-08T13:53:00.000-06:00

I was told these pictures HAD to be posted as evidence of our New Year's Day fun. John and I went out on the 4-wheeler, and he and Larry got to choose my riding attire. So here I am in camo and John's Elmer Fudd hat. Believe it or not this was not my first time on a 4-wheeler. We had one almost identical to this when I was younger and I drove it around A LOT. I actually did most of the driving when John and I rode together. So, I'm not all city girl after all!!!

Happy New Year!!!

2007-01-08T13:46:00.000-06:00

We packed our bags to spend New Year's Eve with Grammy and Pappy. Luke looks just a little uncertain about his mode of transportation.

Mini-Vacation

2007-01-08T13:41:00.000-06:00

This is the Aspen Hall Bed and Breakfast in Harrodsburg, KY. John and I spent 2 nights their after Christmas for a brief getaway. It was so nice to have some free time without having to worry about what Luke is getting into, and no stresses or responsibilities to take care of. We thoroughly enjoyed our time away and hope to take another trip like it again this year.

Christmas Day in Ohio County

2007-01-08T13:32:00.000-06:00

We videoed our Christmas morning so I'll have to get those pictures from Nana and Pepaw. Here are some pictures from Christmas Day with Grammy and Big Pappy and Leigh Ann and Woody.

It took a while, but Luke eventually stuck around long enough to actually unwrap his own gift.

Looks like Woody got a "Luke" for Christmas. Just what you always wanted!!!

The best part about Christmas is climbing over all the big boxes!!!

Luke and Leigh Ann getting in some exercise before the big meal.

Christmas Eve

2007-01-08T13:16:00.000-06:00

"Luke, this is my chair." Hunter enjoyed sitting in our "bowl" on Christmas Eve.

Luke is looking at his Little People Airplane. He asked Santa for this one since he racked up some frequent flyer miles during his first year of life.

Cole is decorating Luke for Christmas.

The ornament thief in action. We are only missing one Christmas ornament, so I guess we did OK with our first Christmas with a toddler.

Russellville Christmas

2007-01-08T13:10:00.000-06:00

We spent the Saturday evening before Christmas in Russellville, KY to visit with John's grandparents. Luke is checking out his gift here. This is a Santa who sways as he plays his sax. Luke was timid for a bit, but he learned quickly how to make Santa play.

The Human Vacuum

2007-01-06T21:17:00.000-06:00

This is another pre-Christmas picture, but not much has changed in the subject. Luke can continually snack all day if I don't get his crackers picked up off his exersaucer after snack time. He has a new habit now of pulling food out of the trash can to eat. We're working on that (to correct him).

The Christmas Program

2007-01-02T11:27:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from our church Christmas program where I portrayed Mary. Sorry we don't have any shots of John in action playing his bassoon. He was in a totally different program at another church.

At the end you see our tired family in the midst of performance weekend. I still had 3 shows to go and John 1.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-22T11:10:00.000-06:00

Well, we successfully finished our church performances last week, and we are now preparing to celebrate the holiday with family. I think we're all finally healthy now for the time being. My parents (Christy) are traveling in today to stay with us for a week, and I am so excited for the time they will have with Luke. John and I are both looking forward to a much needed, childless mini-vacation to a bed and breakfast right after Christmas. Luke will be staying at home the Nana and Pepaw. It is such a fun time to watch a one-year old experience Christmas. We hope that you and your family have a blessed holiday!! Remember to wish a happy birthday to Jesus , and slow down so you can truly realize the reason for such a grand celebration at this time of year, as we rejoice for our Savior who was sent to Earth to save us. Merry Christmas!

The Cake

2006-12-22T10:59:00.000-06:00

You can watch the succession of Luke's experience with his birthday cake!! Thanks Aunt Leigh Ann and Uncle Woody for making the cake!! We especially enjoyed the blue frosting!

And So It Begins

2006-12-22T10:46:00.000-06:00

Here is Luke opening his brithday presents. He already had Christmas 2 weeks ago!!! You'll see his cousin Hunter in some of these pics as well.

Somebody heard that I like to read!

Dog-Dog!

The Grand Finale

Practice

2006-12-22T10:32:00.000-06:00

Luke is getting some practice sitting in a chair without being strapped in.

Decorating the Tree

2006-12-22T10:29:00.000-06:00

We put ornaments on the tree one morning during Luke's nap. Here he is checking out some new additions for this year.

Time to Eat

2006-12-22T10:19:00.000-06:00

Luke will occasionally take his bottle in the papasan, but he would much rather be held. He is a bit spoiled. We are trying to wean him off the bottle, but he just doesn't think milk belongs in a cup.

Forward Facing

2006-12-20T11:17:00.000-06:00

A couple of days before Luke's birthday we went ahead and turned around his carseat. He was pretty impressed with this new perspective. Obviously, I couldn't even get his attention for a picture.

After A Big Party

2006-12-20T11:13:00.000-06:00

Our small group from church had a Christmas party in early December, and we had to bring Luke along with us since had been pretty sick a couple of days prior. He had the best time and was exhausted (as you can see) when we got home. Here he is sleeping on his changing pad while we were getting him ready for bed.

On Our Way Back

2006-12-20T11:08:00.000-06:00

On our way back from Thanksgiving vacation we stopped in Louisville to visit with my younger brother, Troy (Christy's bro).

Luke and Uncle Troy

Catching up on some reading while we drive back to Owensboro.