Joyous Developments!

Hello everyone! We are BACK with lots of exciting news to share! Mom is getting a lot better about carrying the camera with me so lots of new photos this time!

Here are a couple pictures of Lucas. The first with a puzzle he had just completed for the first time by himself! We were so proud and all of us were jumping up and down! :) Here he is before our "madness". The second photo was on a recent Saturday morning. He gets to watch Thomas when he wakes up, and likes to be wrapped up on the couch. :)





We signed up Lucas for Soccer Tots this fall, and he really likes it. We go to our gym's gymnasium area and they kick over cones, play and run with the soccer balls, and practice using their feet a lot. He loves to wear his Soccer Tots T-Shirt they gave him as part of the class. Here are a few shots from our session on October 16. The third shot is him getting the stamps on his hands at the end of the session. Getting the stamp and chasing after the hoola-hoops are his favorite activities:





Right after Soccer Tots this day, we had another exciting event! "The Lion of Sodor" movie was playing at our local theater during the month of October, and we thought it was a great opportunity to take him to his first movie. This is a movie with Thomas the Train. The first picture was taken of Lucas and Ivan outside of the theater, the 2nd of all of us. Lucas at first didn't like the theater, as they had ads streaming in from the speakers, but the screen wasn't on so I think he wasn't sure where the "voices" were coming from. He paid attention to the movie for about 30 minutes, then we left early. He's still a little too young to sit still that long! :)





This past weekend, Ivan was in Austin in a wedding, and we decided at the last minute to stay at home vs. making the trip with him. We had so much fun, just Lucas and I. Friday after school, we made a trip to his favorite play place, Bouncin' Bears. It's a place full of these inflatable slides, jumping bags, etc. I took lots of pictures of him, however he moves SO FAST WHEN HE'S HERE that the pictures just look like streams of color! Here is the only still shot I have of him. He stopped in his tracks when he saw little pumpkins on the windows (he calls them "pumpkin jack-o-lanterns and refuses to just say just pumpkin!) The second photo is of him just coming down a slide.











We were at Bouncin' Bears for ALMOST THREE HOURS and he still got sad when we left, even though he was EXHAUSTED! Next, we had a bit of a scare. We got home and all of the smoke detectors were going off. There was no smoke or anything. After calling mom and dad with "what should we do?" I ended up calling the fire department. They came out and stopped the loud noise, and later on the main reason for them going off (water leaking from one of the A/C units) was remedied and all was back to normal around 9:00pm that night. However, Lucas was AMAZED when he saw the fire truck pull up, lights and all, to our house and watched them intently as they made their way around the house to unhook everything. Everyday since then he's been asking me where the firemen are. :)

We had a GREAT weekend together, though we really missed Ivan. We hung out on the back porch and had a chocolate popsicle (the only place where these are allowed!) Also a couple of funny pictures I took of him as he found mom's shower cap and was "posing" with it. Crazy.



This picture was taken before things REALLY got messy!


In other news, last week I worked in Houston with Quanex and finished up that training class. Ivan and I are just getting into the swing of things with our new life up here in Tomball. Though it's not been much of a season for Texas football, we spend our weekends watching the games, going the playground (Lucas can really ride a mean tricycle now).

I am continuing with my consulting work, though starting in November my "mommie" responsibilities will finally be able to change. Lucas will only go to school from 9-12, then I'll pick him up for his nap and he'll spend the rest of the day with me. This was the arrangement when we first moved up here, but we can tell that he's not napping well at school, and now that my work is slowing a bit we are able to do this permanently.

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE life in Tomball. We have met so many wonderful people, live with some great neighbors and have really found a home here. We're also continuing to learn about the area and are considering a couple of neighborhoods near where we are to purchase a home. My favorite community has tons of trees and a golf course. For now we are happy in our rental home as we anticipate decisions once our lease is up.

November will be exciting, as I get to travel to Nashville twice, the first trip for a friend's wedding and the second for Thanksgiving with ALL of my family. We are so excited we cannot wait to get there.

We love you all!

The Houston Madrigals

October Already?

Hello!

Am I the only person that is shocked that it's already October? I cannot believe it. Where does the time go? It's already time to schedule holiday events, buy gifts, etc.!

The end of September FLEW by. I was working onsite with another client in Houston the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 1, and though the client was GREAT to work with, the time I spend away from my sweet family is difficult. Ivan was here during the mornings with Lucas (I left the house at 6:15am each day to miss the traffic) and in the afternoons I would RACE out the door in order to pickup Lucas as soon as possible! I actually did well to plan ahead and had lots of food prepared so I didn't end up cooking too much.

Lucas is keeping his KILLER pace of language development if I can brag! Here are the latest sentences. "What is that sound, mommie?", "I put it together!" (speaking of putting together one of his puzzles), "I don't like that song, mommie." So now we're getting five and six-word sentences. Of course I'm as proud as punch! :)

This past weekend we met some of our neighbors down the street, Eric and Lisa and their 5 children! She homeschools (so many people homeschool up here!) all of them which I think is so admirable. One of her daughters is coming over tomorrow night to see the "evening routine" with Lucas, so Ivan and I can start going out for regular date nights. Here's a picture of him riding his new tricycle with their brood this weekend. They had a "Harley tricycle" which he loved!

This past Monday was exciting. Lucas got a visit at school from the Cypress Creek volunteer fire department and he proudly wore is "volunteer fireman" sticker all day. In the afternoon, we went shopping at Carter's for some new fall clothes and new socks. Lucas was very entertaining to all other guests and employees of the store! He was moving the steel clothing rack around the store (the rack the employees are hanging clothes on that are about to go onto the store floor), talked with several other children, and even found a pair of fireman boots he wanted to walk around in. He picked a HUGE pair and had to put them on. Here he is in the boots showing mommie the outfit he would like to get (never mind it's a 6-month size!):

Lucas is also getting very quick on his new tricycle. He's only had the tricycle for a few weeks now and loves riding on it. Here are a couple of pictures. One is of the little bell that he loves to ring. One day I'll look back on those sweet little fingers. Soccer stamp is from Soccer Tots, the soccer activity we go to on Saturday mornings at the gym.

Ivan and I are still praying about the job situation. I think we've made our decision, but we'll see as we continue to discuss this week. I know for me specifically it's scary walking away from something I've always known, but I have to know that if it's the right thing, God will make a way for this to happen.

Also, something I'm playing around with are starting a couple of blogs. I've always loved writing, and did quite a bit as a young adult but got away from it once the "real job" hit. I feel like I have a lot to say and share, and I am learning so much everyday about being a better mom, wife, cook, time manager, etc. I just want to share it all with others so I feel there's more benefit than just for me. I have started a new blog, check it out here. I also found a great website that tells you all about blogging, and I just started reading it today. I feel like I found a virtual treasure chest! Her blog is Blogging with Amy. We shall see where all this blogging takes us! :)