New words...

Well...little winkerbean is gaining quite the vocabulary lately (can't wait to hear how many more words he says after he gets tubes in his ears) I think he'll be able to hear and repeat clearer. But, for today he said "Appbub" Apple and "Ak Go Bye Bye" I wanna go bye bye also when he saw Amber he said, "Beau's mommy". He's very smart. He even helped Daddy clean up and put toys in the toybox tonight. Quite the little helper he is. What a joy that boy brings to my heart. Luke also got some new velcro sandals today at Kohl's. I got em' home, tried em' on and they were too small. So, after dinner Jason and I went to another Kohl's to exchange them. They didn't have his size in that style so we got a different kind. Jason was dropping me off at church for the VBS meeting tonight when we realized he'd already figured out the velcro on the new sandals and had taken them BOTH off before we reached the church. So, Jason dropped me off went to yet another Kohl's took back the exchanged one's from earlier and got him the orig. one's in his size. These he can't get off. And they light up when he walks so he thinks they're pretty cool. He kept looking at his new kicks and saying, "Zewws"--Shoes. Can I tell you how blessed we are. Luke has brought so much joy to our lives since his arrival just 20 short months ago. I cannot believe he's almost 2. Boy how time flies... Luke's spending the night with GranDee this weekend so mommy and daddy can have a Final Four Party. It'll be a fun time. Well...that's about it for now.

So blessed here in McKinney....Thank you Jesus for all you've bestowed upon us.

Finally Blogger's running faster...

So I was able to post some pic's that I wanted to from yest. as well as today's tubby time pic's. Luke loves splishing and splashing.




Oh, he also likes riding his bike and planting weeds on top of his head.

He's such a little cutie pie. Today he tried to say vitamin, which came out, "Bye-Min". So adorable.....

That's it for now.
Heather

Weed Management...New Haircuts

Ok, I've tried for 3 hours now to post 8 pictures on blogger. I'm giving up. Here are two cute one's taken tonight.

Lukey seems to have quite a green thumb. Notice his pile of weeds. He was quite proud of them. Actually we picked em' he just walked around with one.

All is well in Ricearoni-ville. We're so blessed to have a wonderful church and great family and friends. Who could ask for anything more.

Sis--Sorry I didn't return your call today but to answer your question, "Yes, you can use me as a reference".

Later taters....it's almost time for Apprentice

P.S. Note to Tammy you now have me addicted to spinach salad and Ken's Chunky Blue Cheese dressing.

Heather

Put ON guard....

***Note to self*** Before cutting Jason's hair make sure to PUT THE 3/8 GUARD ON!!!! Yes, I swiped a whole stripe on his head tonight right over his ear BEFORE I realized I'd forgotten to put any guard on. So, straight electric razor on one stripe and the rest had to blend in with that mess up.

Needless to say, you must now address Jason as follows: Private Pyle how come you're not allowed to eat donuts in the barracks???? You're so ugly you could be a modern art masterpiece. (Gunnery Sargeant Hartman-Full Metal Jacket 1987)

It'll grow out in a couple weeks! Sorry baby. At least I blended it as best I could. I love you.

"Busy Clippers, Sissors Oh, Oh Hairdresser on Fire"---Morrissey

Heather

Ear infections will soon be down the tubes....

Well...the long awaited ENT (ear, nose & throat) appt. commenced yest. for Luke. As suspected the boy needs tubes in his ears. Too much fluid behind the eardrum, coupled with chronic ear infections has brought us to this point. So, we'll be taking him in for the quick 20 minute procedure in April.

I'm thankful for the ENT's diagnosis because it seems that Luke's pediatrician was not as proactive as I would have liked. He probably should have had tubes 3 ear infections ago. Oh well...hindsight is 20/20.

Speaking of pediatrician's, today was Luke's 20 mo. (suppose to be 18mo.) appt. He weighs 29.10 lbs. and is 35 inches tall. She told me he's well on his way to be at least 6 ft. if not taller. Luke would like to thank his grandpa Stredwick (who's in heaven) for the"tallness" genes.

Luke is right on track with language, words, height, weight, etc.....He got a clean bill of health 3 shots (which he did not like, who would?) But, they had to be done. Immunizations are a must for a healthy child. I'm looking forward to the next few months as with tubes he'll probably be able to hear better therefore really start talking the Doc. said. We'll see....he goobles and gobbles a lot already. He says, Hi, Bye, Bye-Bye, Bye Ya'll, Hello, Nana, Poppa, Dada, Momma, Outside, car, ball, Beau, Wow, Uh-Oh and he can identify his belly, feet, hands, hair, head, nose, mouth and eyes. Such a smart boy. I know for sure he's going to be very detail-oriented...hmmm wonder where he gets that. He's very analytical...hmmm wonder where he gets that....

Last night I hosted a girls night out dinner. It was great to share some fun and fellowship time with Heather, Amber, Kjrsti, LaNae, Sharon, Tammy, Soprina, Stacy, Jocey & Jen. What a great group of friends I have been blessed with. Jen is moving to Ark so we had a sort of sending off dinner for her and it was Amber's bday so we killed 2 birds with one stone. Plus, it was my first official dinner party at Casa De Limon. I have to say, it went off without a hitch. We dined on scrumptious food, wine and desserts. Thanks everyone for bringing your fav. sides to share.

My friend Jan had her baby 2 days ago. Garrett Sumner Christian finally discovered America. Little Lauren will be a great big sis. I'm waiting until they get home and settled over the weekend to drop by for a visit. I don't want to have a "I don't want a Wendy's hamburger" fiasco on my hands. (some of you know what I'm talking about!)

I will post some pic's of the house soon. I gotta take some of the new walls. They really look good. I got lots of compliments from my dinner guests last night so I guess I picked some good one's. For those of you wanting to know what color the kitchen and living room are it's Benjamin Moore's Roxbury Caramel. I got it mixed at Home Depot though in Behr paint instead of Benjamin Moore. Home Depot can color match exactly if you tell them B. Moore Roxbury Caramel. Thanks to IKEA for painting one of their walls that color. That is where I originally saw it.

Sis has got a new job, sounds like all is going well and she loves it. Beau is doing better with his ears since getting tubes. Jason is liking his new lead position at work. That's all folks!

Heather

You wanted it, You got it! New Pic's that is...

As you can see Luke spends much of his day IN the toybox. Now, if he could only figure out how to get OUT once he got in. It would save Mommy and Daddy lots of trips.

We've had a whirlwind week. Painter here 3 days, house looks great now though. Will post some pic's later when I take em.

We had a very rainy weekend. Flash flooding abounded everywhere locally. My sis in laws parents house flooded in Garland, as did Granna's. Garland rec'd 10.67 inches of rain in a 2-3 day period. Crazy how the skies just opened up and the rain came down. Needless to say, we all need goloshes to get around.

Friday was Grandee's bday and she came over for the weekend. We all just hung out. Went to church Sun., had lifegroup Sun. night and we're off and running with a new week. Have lots of plans this week. Having to make up for being housebound for 3 days last week. Hope everyone is nice and dry and warm whereever you are.

Note to sis--Please check and see when my new MellaLukey cust. pkt. should be arriving. Thanks.

Painting Day #2

Well...we're off to another day of painting. Today we'll finish the entire house minus the master bath, tech room, guest bath and my sewing room. I'm painting those rooms myself. Other than that, things are looking great. Our painter Steven is excellent. I can't stop heralding his work. He is meticulous, very client minded, friendly and an all around nice guy. If you need any work done he's your man to call.

Anywho...today I'll spend corraling Luke to keep him out of Steven's way. He's still asleep right now, but I'm sure he'll be up and around quite soon.

Will post pic's as soon as I can click some more.

Tah Tah for now.

Heather

Painting in progress....

Today the painter came and we now have a beautiful shade of caramel covering our foyer, kitchen and living room walls. The rest of the rooms are being painted tomorrow. Our painter rocks. He's so meticulous and perfectionistic at his work. So, if any of you out there need a painter he's awesome and so reasonable. We're getting our living, dining, kitchen, breakfast nook, foyer, hallway, master bed and Luke's room painted for $300. Amazing huh! Like I said, he ROCKS! He also is a Master Electrician and does many other things like tiled backsplashes, surround sound installations, ceiling fan installs, etc....

I'll post pic's tomorrow when he's finished with it all. It should be interesting keeping Luke out off all the stuff tomorrow. Thanks to Poppa and Nana for watching Luke last night and all day today. He had fun at their house.

Off to sniff some paint....

So many friends, so little time....

Alrighty, so much to catch you guys up on. Hence, all the pic's. Luke's really exploring the new house. He thinks it's so much fun to flush the toilet in the guest bath and run out. Silly boy. He was so excited to receive a care pkg. from Aunt Brooke and Uncle Michael yest. Thanks for all the fun stuff. His bath time fishing kit is going to be a hit. As is the fusilli with ME....

As you can see from the pic's he's been quite the busy boy. He's found a new passion in taking sips of water from his sippy cup and NOT swallowing it. See above pic. Also, if he has a remote or phone in hand that's all she wrote--he's a happy boy. We're also excited here at Casa De Limon to have met some great neighbors. Our first night here Brian, Rebecca and Jonah stopped by as they were taking their evening walk. They're transplants from Jersey and are very sweet. Luke and Jonah are less than a month apart in age. So yes, Rebecca and I will be crying together when the boys start kindergarten in the same class in a couple years. He's a cutie and liked Luke's Elmo sunglasses as you can see. Those things are such a hit. Also, Sweet Robert paid us a visit with Aunt Janna the other day. Isn't he getting big. Such a little cutie patootie. I am starting to see Wade in him. What a delight to get to hang out with him. He'll surely love the Elmo glasses too one day soon. Also...Cuzzin Beau is doing well standing up. He even unloads a dish or two once you get him started. As you can see Luke and Beau make quite the "Dish Crew". One of Luke's newest passions is to hang out IN his toybox. Again, with his glasses. Although, he's still not quite sure how to put them on correctly. Oh well....he's cute either way. His little eye brow is healing where he gashed it open last week. The dermabond is wearing off and it's a chore to keep him from picking at it. Oh, I almost forgot we met our next door neighbor Jen too the other day. She's a single gal who is 27 and has just the sweetest spirit. Can't wait to get to know her better. She's also an out of towner. Transplanted from Sunny FL. Then one house down from Rebecca, Brian and Jonah is our 3rd neighborhood friend to meet. Dax, Jen, Jade & Jasmine. Such a small world but they go to our new church Four Corners, Dax works for my NEXT door neighbor Jen's dad. They transplanted from FL too. Jade is 4, such a sweetie pie. Cuddly and loves to brush people's hair. Jasmine is 14 months and is all smiles. I'll get some pic's of them on our next play date. It's hard keeping up with all the Jen's in my life, but it's great to have two other stay at home mom's right on my street and one that goes to my same church. Small world huh? I don't think it's coincidence that God put us all together. As you can see we've been blessed beyond measure with great neighborhood friends and family as well. Hope that this blog gets you up to date on the latest goings on in our new hood. By the way, I'm so thrilled I found a painter on craigslist.com who is coming to paint my entire house on Wed. I got all the paint yest. at Home Depot---13 gallons. Oh what fun it will be.....Stay tuned for the before and after pic's.

Dermabond Poster Child & Cute lil Beau

Now you can all see what is keeping Dermabond in business. Notice the lovely little laceration on Lukey's left eyebrow.

The boy's still going strong though, still getting in to everything. What a little monkey.

Also, check out this cute pic of Luke's cuzzin Beau that I took today. He looked so cute sucking his thumb and watching Luke out in the back yard. The two of them play well together. Here's the scene: Beau is playing with Luke's Sesame Street guitar while Luke decides HE wants the guitar and Beau Bo should have the nemo football. We're teaching Luke how to share and not take toys away from his cousin. He is protective of him though. He walks around the house saying, "Beau", "Beau" and pointing at Beau. Then he'll bring him a toy or a sippy cup. Don't worry Auntie and Uncle he didn't drink out of Luke's cup. It was a kind gesture though, don't you think?

Such sweet little boys. What a blessing they are to our families.

Heather

Exciting little things....

I was just thinking today about some exciting little things...going's on if you will.

Met the next door neighbor today. So nice, single gal with a sweet sweet spirit and personality. I can tell we'll be great friends. We invited her to church. Luckily, while standing out on the porch chatting we both detected a "natural gas" smell. I called the gas company and sure enough we DO have a gas leak down by the meter at the street. Sure glad our sniffers were working. They'll be out in a little while to fix it. In fact, I think they just showed up.

Found some cute things for the house today at Stonebriar Mall (Kirklands ROCKS!!!) We found a cool table for the breakfast nook. Now if we could only buy it without a trip to the ER. (see previous post for those details.)

My friend Danny just got a huge job offer with Ann Taylor Loft--Regional VP, he's leaving Chicago and moving to Washington D.C. Go Danny, he works really hard.

My cousin Ty's tests came back that they removed all the cancer in his last surgical procedure. Yeah God.

I'm reading another great christian fiction book by Francine Rivers--Redeeming Love.

Jason just got his quarterly bonus. Our income tax check is on it's way.....I figured out what colors I want to paint the living room/kitchen/b. nook areas.

We have such a quiet dishwasher....yes, I'm even thankful for that.

My next door neighbor on the other side of us looks like he's going to really take care of his house (unlike our last next door neighbor/felon).

I love rocking on our porch at night. It's Jason and I's time to chill, relax and talk.

We are so lucky, so blessed and so thankful that the Lord has provided for us in ways we would never imagine. He's given us such great friends and family.

Oh, I almost forgot I get to watch my sweet nephew Beau Bo tomorrow morning so mommy can go to a Dr's. appt. Can't wait. Luke will be so excited to have a play mate.

My friend LaNae's son passed some standardized tests that he was having trouble with. Go Jaylen....

Aunt Brooke just got a new job working in HR in a center for the mentally challenged. She'll be good at this because she's got such a compassionate heart. Also, her adorable purses are selling well...It's all about word of mouth.

Jason just rec'd a promo. of sorts at work to a lead position. His new tasks are a little different than before. A welcome change.

I saw my pregnant friend at the mall today (Casey Tucker) she looked like she was so ready to have her baby. She didn't see me so I just kept walking.

Pokeno is upcoming next week with the "girls". Can't wait. Sharon--hope you can come this time.

My friend JJ is volunteering at the Neighborhood Outreach Center in McKinney. Way to give back to our community.

That's about it for now. We are blessed!

Dermabond Take II

Oh yes, you read correctly. Remember about 3 wks ago when I had to take Luke to the ER to get the gash in his forehead dermabonded? Well....we had the pleasure of making another Urgent Care visit last night.

Let me set the scene, we're in Frisco at Haverty's looking at a table for our kitchen breakfast nook (we took the first one we bought back--it was too small for the space) We didn't have the stroller (red flag #1) because we had to put the table we were returning in the back of the Expedition and so the stroller wouldn't fit. We thought....we'll just run in and look at this table we found online. We did so, finished and were headed for the front door. I said to Luke, "let's go bye-bye!". He looked at me with his devilish grin and ran the opposite direction of the door (here's where the stroller would have come in handy). Mind you it was also 8:30 p.m. which is 30 minutes past his bedtime (red flag #2). He decided to run from me. I couldn't catch him before he ran smack dab head on into a glass top dining table. At first I thought he'd just bumped his head. When I grabbed him it was evident that some sort of suturing would be necessary for the 1 inch gash that was layed open on his left eyebrow.

We quickly tried to stop the bleeding and proceeded to A-Cute Kids Urgent Care in Frisco. Where they Dermabonded it. It is a pretty wicked cut and it looks like he's been in the ring with Muhammad Ali, but the Dr. said unless Luke shaves his eyebrow later in life, you'll never be able to see the scar once the laceration heals.

So...now we begin approx 10 days of strangers in public saying, "Oh, honey what did he do to his eye!" To which I'm going to respond, "What do you mean? I don't see anything." People always have their comments when you're in public with a child who has bumps and bruises. Even if they have been crying or have allergies and their eyes or watering I always get, "Oh, he looks tired." I'm about to start saying, "Yeah, he IS---Tired of people like you making random comments about his demeanor." Can you tell unsolicited comments about my kid are a big pet peeve of mine. I swear, people need to just mind their own business.

He's a boy, he's fearless, he tries stunts only a trained circus professional should try. Get over it!

Anyway, he's resting quite comfortably tonight. He ran out all of his energy fighting Jason and I as we had to restrain him during the Dermabond application. Let me say, my boy does NOT like being held down. He was sweating so bad from fighting us that his whole head was soppin wet when the Dr. was done.

Oh, I almost forgot regarding the fearless thing. It's amazing that he didn't bust his head open earlier in the day as I caught him on the back patio trying to stand on the seat part of his 3-legged bike only he was backwards. That was right before I found him having tipped over a milk crate and was standing on that. What a little monkey.

We still love em' though. At least he's not afraid to try new things, much to our shegrin.

Into everything....

A little update from the Rice trio. Luke is enjoying his new home. He's helping mommy and daddy sort through empty boxes. Most of the time he just gets IN them. He's having a good ole' time though.

He's loving crawling in his toybox, on the new end tables and just being a general little winkerbean. Oh, and how do you like his peanut butter sandwich shot. He decided to wear it instead of eat it.
Well....yesterday marked a milestone in Lukey's life he now officially knows how to kiss you on the lips.
We. were at IKEA and I said, "Give Mommy kissey". He grabbed my head (by my ears) and pulled his head in close to mine where he gave me several smoochies on the lips. It was so cute. I savor little "firsts" like that. So cute. Still working on teaching him to say, "I love you".

Also, Luke is proud of his new "doggie shoes". They are little leather Robeez-like shoes with little doggies on them. Yest. morning when we were dressing I said, "Do you want to wear your doggie shoes". He smiled at me and said, "Dah-ee Zews". He get's me.

We're still unpacking, haven't been real motivated the last couple days. Just enjoying being here in the new house. Casa De Limon. We're really loving sitting out on our front porch in the evenings rocking in our wicker rocking chairs. Luke is learning the meaning of the words, "Stay on the porch". When he wanders he gets a spanken. He's learning slowly but surely. We're noticing he is really testing his boundaries these days. We say, "No touch" he has to get his little fingers right up to the item we just told him not to touch only he won't touch it, he'll just look at you like are you going to do anything if I DO touch it. Our answer--YES we will, don't try us.

We love our life. We have been blessed abundantly by our Lord.

Pop OUT book.....

Well...the Pop UP book quickly became the Pop OUT book...as in rip the pop up pages OUT. As you can see....Luke just loves tearing up his Jesus Bible Pop-Up book. He's adjusting to our new house and is loving the backyard and his new room. It's so cute to watch him wander around exploring all the new surroundings. We LOVE our new place. It's so cozy and bright. All the windows really bring a lot of light into the windows. We are so blessed God lead us to this neighborhood. It's just perfect. For all of you who knew what we put up with in Allen with our convicted felon next door neighbor will understand that our new place is a refreshing change for us. More pic's to come....stay tuned.

Heather

Can a person possibly have TOO many Pyrex dishes?

It's official....we're all moved in! Translated, we have all of our boxes out of the Grassy Creek house. All the boxes are in the new houses garage. However, I have been able to unload several boxes which had kitchen dishes and gadgets in it. So now, the question of the day is: Is it possible for someone to have TOO many Pyrex dishes???? I think it is. I have over 9 pyrex casserole dishes. Far too many for one person's kitchen to handle. We are LOVING our house. The best part is that we're all on one level. Easy access to the laundry, Luke's room and the kitchen. Last night I bought the two black wicker rocking chairs for our front porch. Will post pic's as soon as I find the cord to hook up the camera to the computer. It's in one of the 85 boxes in the garage. Jason swears that by the end of the weekend we'll have all the boxes out of the garage and be able to park our cars in there. I think NOT!!!! Luke is adjusting to his new room. He is managing great, even though the house is a maze of boxes. The Lord has really blessed us with a new home and great surroundings. We are thankful for his goodness to us. I will be emailing soon with our new address, emails and phone#'s. In the meantime, if you need us call our cell....So nice to be caught up on the blog world. I've been out of pocket for a week now. You know how much that drives me crazy too. Oh, I almost forgot. It's been great having family and friends help us pack, move and unpack. Thank you guys--you know who you are. More to come....stay tuned!!!