Luke's 1st Christmas!

We celebrated Luke's first Christmas this year and he really seemed to love it! I will admit that it seemed he loved the wrapping and tissue paper more than the actual presents but oh well! We had our family Christmas really early this year since we had so many with our extended family. Luke loved reaching into his stocking and pulling something new out. He really loved his walker that Santa got him!

We celebrated with the Taylor side the week before Christmas. Luke got some great clothes and a pop up tent! He didn't know what to think about it at first but he absolutely loves climbing in and out of it! He also got his first basketball goal that all the adults broke in for him. :) My grandmother got Luke toys that I used to play with as a child. A popper and a pull along phone! Luke loved them immediately and knew exactly what to do with them!

The weekend before Christmas we had Mitchell Christmas. We acted out the nativity drama as a family. Luke was a sheep and Jonathan and I were shepherds. We enjoyed our time roasting marshmallows for smores and catching up with our family. Luke got lots of books and some cool clothes. He got a Spiderman warmup suit that Jonathan was very jealous of! :) The adults got to play the newlywed game which was a blast! We enjoyed learning things about each other.

On December 21st we left for Salt Lake City, Utah for a family ski trip with my family. It was my dad's whole side and the Hinsons and Nicholsons. Going through security was definitely a shocker! We took up about 10 bins, no exaggeration! Luke did AMAZING on the flight! He slept the whole 2.5 hours!! It was quite a challenge carrying a snowboard bag, 2 carry ons, a huge suitcase and a diaper bag! Did I mention we had a stroller and a carseat too?!?

Jonathan had a great time snowboarding all week. He hadn't been in 3 or 4 years. I stayed at the condo with Luke and my mom. We are the ones who don't ski! I did get to go snowmobiling with the group while my mom watched Luke! That was a lot of fun!!!! Jonathan was so sweet to let me drive as much as I wanted since that was my only entertainment. I don't want to brag or anything but I did get it up to 70 mph! :)

Luke had an amazing 1st Christmas! I love that he had a white Christmas on his 1st year!! We really loved spending so much time with our family! I love the holidays mainly for that reason! We hope you all had a great Christmas!!!

Mitchell Update

Oh my goodness it's been a while since I've updated our blog! Here's a brief run-down of what's been going on with us!

On November 1st Jonathan and his brother, Samuel, ran a half marathon. They both did great! Samuel had run it last year and it inspired Jonathan so much he wanted to run it this year.

Luke had a great first Thanksgiving and we enjoyed seeing family in Ft. Worth, Palestine and Beaumont. We also gave Jonathan's parents a 40th Wedding Anniversary party the same weekend we did Mitchell Thanksgiving.

Luke even got his first taste of Aunt Dee's famous banana pudding!!

Luke is growing more and more every day. He has 3 teeth now and we often call him snaggle tooth because his one tooth on top is off to the side! :)

He is also walking around pretty good for a 10 month old! He started taking a few steps around 9 months and now he is really doing well.

We are packing for a ski trip now that we will take to Salt Lake City, Utah with my whole family. We'll be gone for a whole week so I'm a little nervous about packing for a 10 month old for that long! Stay tuned for a few pictures of Luke in the snow! :)

We also just took our Christmas card pictures so I'll post those soon too!

Pumpkin Patch

We had a great time at the Dallas Arboretum in the Pumpkin Patch. We got some great pictures of our little family and Luke. Enjoy and Happy Fall!!!

Luke in the hood

So we're starting to pull out the winter clothes and trying them on Luke. He absolutely hates to wear hats and pulls them off the second I put them on him. But I did find out that if it's a hoodie it slows him down quite a bit! :) Here are some pictures of one of my faves.

Bekah's 18th Birthday!

We celebrated my sister's 18th birthday last weekend in College Station. I put together a type of scavenger hunt and each place she ended up she got money to shop! :) She had a lot of fun and I had a great time planning it! Here were the clues I gave her and the places we ended up:

Clue #1 - To start your day in an awesome way

Think how you would pay on the Milky Way.

Answer: Starbucks

Clue #2 - You may be mature cause you're big 18,

But all kids at heart enjoy this scene.

Answer: Toys 'R' Us

Clue #3 - You may think at 18 that you are of age,

But legal is really forever away.

We know that shopping is all the rage,

So we're bending the rule on your special day!

Answer: Forever 21

Clue #4 - Because it's your birthday we're whooping it up,

And taking you some place that's fun.

To outfit you so you're peeps say what's sup,

You'll be sportin' your colors when done.

Answer: Aggieland Outfitters

Clue #5 - All over the state at your house or mine

We'll never achieve the right goal.

I can cook, I can grill and it tastes mighty fine,

But I'll never recreate that dang roll!

Answer: Texas Roadhouse

Luke liked the butter!

Clue #6 - Your train has come in, it’s time for some cheer

Aren’t you glad we’re not in a rut

You can shoot, you can eat, but you can’t drink a beer

You can roll down the lane, you can putt

Answer: Grand Station Entertainment

The birthday cake!

Looks like Fall??

We have really enjoyed our summer and now are adjusting to the fall schedule. Jonathan is teaching Calculus I at SMU this semester while he is researching and working on his dissertation. He is still tutoring when he can and has really gotten into his new hobby of running. He is signed up to run a half marathon with his brother, Samuel, on November 1st. I am so proud of the discipline he has! He's doing great and shaving off time every time he runs!

I am going to a women's Bible Study at our church this fall called Near to the Heart of God. The women's minister wrote the curriculum and I have enjoyed reading through the Psalms. I am still scrapbooking when I get a chance and I am even working on scrapbooking my mother-in-laws family photo albums. It's been a lot of fun looking at pictures of Jonathan when he was little. :) I have also joined Twitter recently. Look me up (mitchellmob)! That has been very different trying to learn everything, but it's been so fun seeing what's going on with friends and even some celebrities! :)

Luke is doing great! He continues to grow and develop. He is crawling EVERYWHERE!!!!! I have figured out a way to barricade him in our living room so I can do dishes and not have to worry about him crawling to the bathroom or his room. He is pulling up on everything too. I swear he thinks he can walk already! And it actually might not be too much longer. He takes steps when Jonathan or I hold his hands. He brings us such joy and we are so blessed that he has been entrusted to us.

Here are a few recent pictures...

End of Summer

We have had such a blast with Luke this summer! From swimming, to traveling or just hanging out at home. Luke is now crawling EVERYWHERE!!!!! He is also pulling up on everything he crawls to and he thinks he can walk! :) He reaches out to you like he is going to take steps and has full trust that you will catch him! He keeps me on my toes!

He is loving butternut squash! I am planning on starting spinach next week! We'll see what kind of faces he'll make with a green veggie! He is growing so fast...I can't believe he's six and a half months old! He is such a blessing and we are so glad he is our little miracle!

Here's some of the latest pictures....

Luke is crawling!

I finally got Luke crawling on the video camera!

Trying to Escape!

We just recently lowered Luke's crib since he is sitting up and crawling. He has figured out that the bumper pad can be pulled down. This is what I found when I came in after one of his naps!

Solid Foods and Sitting Up!

A few weeks ago my friend Jess came over to help me make baby food for Luke. We had a blast and I really enjoyed the experience. I made enough butternut squash to last until after Labor Day! We tried the squash first and Luke really liked it. He made a funny face at first, but kept opening his mouth. :) A few days later we tried pears. He made more of a funny face with the pears than the squash! Here are a few pictures...

Luke just turned 6 months old this past week! I can not believe he is already a half a year old. Time has really flown by. He is such a joy to me and Jonathan and we are so blessed by our little miracle. He never ceases to amaze us with his entertainment.

He just recently started to sit up on his own. He is still wobbly but can get from the crawling position to the sitting up position all by himself! I have lined our entertainment center and the hearth of the fireplace with pillows just in case! He isn't quite crawling yet, but likes to get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. He even gets up on his hands and FEET sometimes! Here are a few pictures of him sitting up...

I can even sit on top of my Daddy!!!!

Seeing the cousins

This weekend we got to visit with some of Jonathan's family. They don't get to see Luke very often so we were excited they got to see all of his "tricks"! :)

After our visit we went home and Daddy did some work around our place. Luke watched very intently so he could be Daddy's helper someday! It all seemed to wear him out...