Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Luke's new best bud...

Lucas has a new best friend, his Uncle Brandon. He had a blast hangin' with him this past weekend...
Who looks like they're having more fun???

Lucas' first hitting lesson from Uncle Brandon, you can never start to early right?
Thanks for hanging out with us Uncle Brandon, we love you!!!

Swing!



I have about a million pictures of Tyson swinging, he loves it. We had a great time this Memorial Day weekend in Provo at the park with Uncle Brandon and Grandma, doing Tyson's favorite thing, the swing!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Wild party, and roarin' good times!

 




                                                                                                                       Sometimes I think kids' parties can be a little overdone. All you need is a little water play, good food, and some bumpin tunes and it's a hit.(We had a fun mix of the Lion King, Jungle Book, and for the parents: a little Brass Monkey, Eye of the Tiger, Welcome to the Jungle, etc.)We started off our party coloring Zebra puppets and decorating safari sun visors. Then headed out back for a little slip n slide (which the birthday boy loved crawling up and down) and kiddie pool. When Lukey saw his pool full of kids and no room for him, he headed in side to grab some reinforcements: Grandma and his golf club. What more does a kid need to regulate? After some time out side, we went back in for cake (as seen in the post below), ice cream, and our awards and presents. The kids received an award for bringing their favorite stuffed wild animal to show and "decorate" for our party. Then we reversed the normal present thing, and Luke gave the kids presents instead.  Fun times were had by all.

Ty has his cake and eats it too...

I just want to make it clear that Tyson also got a birthday cake. In fact it traveled 2 states to his family party we had in Zion's. 


 He had a difficult time realizing that it was ok to eat his "car car cake". Even after he took a bite, he wasn't sure what he thought about eating a car. ***If you ever decide to get black food coloring for frosting a cake, realize: 1. it taste's like black licorice which I think is gross and 2. it will turn teeth black (or sort of a bluish tint) on anyone who eats it. Which could actually be kind of a funny joke. 

Luke's 1st Birthday Cake

I made this cake for Lucas' first birthday, the cool thing about it (besides that it's a 3-D cake) is that is from the same cake mold (mould? I don't know how to spell it) that Jim's mom used to make his 1st birthday cake. What does this mean? That this is a freaking OLD cake pan. It fit right in with our theme for the party wild jungle animals. I'll put a few more pictures up in a bit.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Snuggles



When Lucas moved into his own crib, it was kind of a tough transition. We gave him a little snuggle bear that wasn't too smooshy as a security item. He loves it! I try and wash it often because it has gotten so mangy, but as you can see in the picture above it's not really as fresh and clean as Snuggles should be. The question Jim and I have: is Snuggles going to make it one more year??? Let alone an entire childhood??? Should we stock up on Snuggle Bear's now as to avoid catastrophic meltdown later? Good Luck Snuggles, good luck.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!


I woke up in the morning of May 12th, 2007 and knew I was going to have a baby soon. I quickly scheduled a 4-D ultra sound because I felt guilty that I had done one with Tyson, and hadn't yet done it for this baby. I didn't want him starting out in the world with the "2nd child syndrome" of hand-me-downs and incomplete baby books. I told Jim that day that we needed to go on a serious walk that evening. So we did, and we walked for about 3 hours with me pushing Ty in the stroller up and down a few hills. It must have worked because my water broke just outside the gates of our neighborhood. This picture is of me after I had changed my amniotic fluid soaked clothes (can you find them in the pic?). My mom might die when she's sees this picture up here, and I'm sure it's not what you all want to see, but I promised someone I'd post it.  I'm waiting for Jim to finish my dinner because I didn't want to go to the hospital on an empty stomach. I know the stark white prego body is just too hot to handle, but it tells the story. 
After an entire night and morning of labor, Lucas John Pettingill was born Sunday May 13th, 2007 ~ Mothers Day! Jim presented me with my Mother's Day present (he luckily had it in the car) during my labor. Part of it was Mary Kay's Satin Hands, and he did a full on hand treatment for me. He gained all the favor of the nurses (and his wife) with the hand treatment, during labor. Luke gave us a little scare, you know when the doctor stops talking and he and the nurses are hauling booty pulling, and grabbing, prodding, etc., something's not quite right. He finally came out a little too wrapped up in the cord and didn't cry for a LONG time. I kept yelling at Jim to make him cry, but I found out later that Jim was too freaked out to leave me because I was hemorrhaging a little too much. Finally my mom suggested that it was ok for Jim to go to Luke, and I'd be fine. Sure enough when daddy got there, we got a cry. It was pretty much the BEST sound I have ever heard. 
Between a 13 month old, an overtired wife, no time off from flying, and a newborn, Jim and Lucas spent the first few weeks sacked out in the recliner every chance they got.  
We could not get one picture of Tyson and Lucas together where they looked decent. We figured their little piggies would due for cute factor.
When I found out I was pregnant and my kids were going to be 13 months apart, I'll admit, the excitement wasn't as intense as it was with our first pregnancy. I had so many concerns such as could I love another child as much as I love my first born, could we handle it, would I be cheating either one of my children of attention? After 1 year of having Lucas in our family, I can truly say that this year has been amazing, and I can't imagine our family with out our Lukey. He brings us so much joy, words can not describe it. His older brother still isn't exactly thrilled but they're making progress. When Tyson sees Lucas in the morning or when he wakes up from his nap, he says "Hi baby." They've started to play "chase" around the house, and they can even sometimes play cars together. Lucas of course adores his older brother, and I'm sure shortly they will be best buds. We love you Lukey, Happy Birthday Baby!!! 

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Mother's Day

I've really been horrible lately about taking pictures, but I wanted to share what Tyson and Lucas "wrote" in my mothers day card (Jim's excerpt is mushy and personal, I'll keep that to myself), it's made me laugh all day. 

Tyson:

Mommy,
Thanks for all the ogart (Ty's word for yougart) and the trips to the pool. Happy Mothers Day, I love you, Tyson

Lucas:

Mom,
Thanks for defending me from Tyson. Hopefully someday he'll learn to appreciate his younger brother. I like pizza.
Love, Lucas

The thing is, I KNOW that this is exactly what they would write if they were able to. Especially the last line in Lucas' note, "I like pizza". Classic.

Happy Mothers Day everyone, I like being a mom.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Hiking in Zion's





This post is about 6 weeks late because we didn't actually remember our camera on this trip. Luckily my ever dependable inlaws had theirs, and sent me a CD with some pics on it. We had a great time camping in Zion's National Park the end of March. Since my parents moved to Hurricane, UT (right out side of the park) we have had many opportunities to day hike through Zions; but, we've never camped there. We had our first successful nights sleep in our new tent trailer; went on a hike or two, had awesome food, and celebrated Tyson's birthday a little early. Our kids love their backpacks, and who wouldn't love the free ride? They had a great time cooling off and playing in the "stream" 1/2 way through our hike. It really was a great time and we encourage everyone to check out Zion's.