1st Haircut

Luke's hair was getting a little out of control - something he inherited from me I'm sorry to say. At the end of the day his hair was beyond nasty. Those locks collected sunscreen, sweat, dirt, banana, pasta sauce.... you name it and it was probably stuck in his hair at one point or another. Luke was also blessed with these crazy cowlicks (is that how you spell it? really?) on both sides of the back of his head that makes his hair even more unruly. It was driving us (mostly me) nuts. It needed to be cut. I have cut Matt's hair for the past 7 years so I figured I was as experienced I needed to be to give Luke a trim. We also figured that he would never sit still and cooperate if we took him to an actual barber. We used about every source of distraction and bribery that we could think of (not the best parenting tactic, I admit but hey, you do what you have to do right?)

The Before Pictures...

(I did not mean to have the blur/out of focus background here but I think it's kinda cool- like it captures how Luke is always on the go or something)

He would NOT cooperate for me to get a good picture of his crazy hair. He REALLY wanted the camera and when I wouldn't give it to him he wasn't too happy.

We had Matt hold Luke while watching Sesame Street clips on YouTube. It worked fairly well. Luke was really entertained by the "Elmo Song" clip. We probably played it 7 times. The rest of the night Matt and I both had this ridiculous song stuck in our heads (LaLaLaLa LaLaLaLa Elmo's song.... ahhhhh)

After I had finished 99% of the haircut Matt thought we should probably have a picture of me in action vs. being the one behind the camera. I had to hold Luke in position with my legs, give him a cookie and put on The Music Machine on DVD... just for a few pics. Totally worth it.

The Final Result (Drumroll please...)

He still wouldn't really cooperate for a good 'after' picture. *sigh*

Please ignore the fact that he has cookie smeared all over his face. He's officially no longer my baby. Doesn't he look like such a little man?

Yes, I saved pieces of his hair in a ziplock bag for the baby book. And yes, I cried afterward.

Birthday Fun Part IV

Seriously, how long can I drag this on? This is the last birthday post, I promise. There isn't really all the much more to tell about the birthday fun we had with family but I have more pictures that I had to post.

DeBoer Family picture

- minus Uncle "E" who had to work and couldn't join us for the festivities.

Surprisingly not a bad pic!

Grammie DeBoer sure loves Luke

Fun on the floor with Pops

(very impressive that my dad is laying on the floor playing with his grandson when just a few months ago he had fairly intensive back surgery!)

Mommy and Luke with our matching diaper hats (and dopey looks)

Luke has always had a weird foot fetish - wanting to kiss and/or bite feet. He developed a strong bond with my mom's feet. He kept going back and forth from his books to Grannie's feet to give them hugs. Strange kid. :)

Pops making his famous steaks for dinner - showing Luke the ropes of the grill.

Taking a break for more hugs- can't get enough!

Story time with Pops

Saying 'bye bye' to Grannie Jannie and Pops before they head to the airport.

We had an absolutely marvelous time celebrating Luke's first year - can you tell? I've only mentioned it about 27 times in the last 4 posts! We want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped to make Luke's big day even more special. We love you all!

Birthday Fun Part III

Sunday after church and naps we decided to head up to Oak Glen for a bit. We wanted to get out of the house and do something fun (not that sitting around the house playing with Luke isn't fun) before Mom and Dad T. went back to IL. It was so nice up there. The rain we were worried about never came and we had a glorious time.

These videos are of the ride up...

First we had a sing-a-long

(This really reminds me of the scene from Dumb and Dumber when Jim Carrey's character asks "Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world...". We could probably rival that) :)

Such a noisy boy! We may have to re-think road trips in the future

Once we got there we stopped to see some animals fenced in near the entrance to the hiking trails. Luke wasn't so sure what to make of all the goats and the crazy Llama.

Checking it all out from the safety of Daddy's shoulders.

This goat was a pro at maneuvering his big ol' horns through the fence to get the food on the other side. Pretty Impressive.

Billy Goat with his massive beard

I love how these boys of mine have basically the same expression on their faces.

Heading to the hiking trails- Luke leading the way

(when I say "hiking trails" I mean pathways throughout the hills, nothing intense or anything)

Check out these incredible trees. What an Awesome Creator!

Checking out the enormous tree trunk

Another attempt at a family picture. Not my favorite, but it'll have to do

Luke did not want to be held. period. So posing for a picture was difficult with him squirming and struggling to be put down. We had to walk a few steps, distract him, then stop for a quick pic. It worked. Sorta.

The ride home was not nearly as noisy.

Birthday Fun Part II

Happy 1st Birthday Luke!!!

We had such a wonderful time celebrating Luke's first birthday! We are so blessed to have family that were able to come out and be with us. Mom DB and Andrea had to head back to WA on Saturday, April 10 so we celebrated Luke's birthday on Friday night. We had a delicious meal, courtesy of Mom DB via Andrea ;). Then enjoyed cake and, of course, presents. Luke relished in being the center of attention (as if he didn't get enough attention the entire week family was out here). I'm pretty sure he knew it was his special day. We can't believe that we are the parents of a one year old already! We are trying to force time to slow down a bit but aren't having much luck at commanding the cosmos so we have to settle to slow down ourselves and delight in every minute we have with Luke. He is such a gift and we absolutely love being his parents. Here's to looking forward to all the years to come!

Luke wasn't quite sure what to make of everyone singing to him

Our little family

Luke was ready to dig into his cake and couldn't be bothered to smile at the camera.

Luke didn't want to be put back in his booster seat for cake at first but once he had his first taste he relented

Mmmmmm. Sugar.

He had a nice frosting mustache working for him

Happy birthday Lukey Boy!

We LOVE you!!

All smiles and claps after cake... onto the presents!

Luke had smeared cake and frosting on his pants so rather than change his outfit we just took 'em off. That'd be why he's sporting just a diaper in these pics.

Lovin' the shiny ribbon

Luke got a baseball toy from Grannie Jannie and Pops

His own puppy (in spite of daddy) from Katy (T-T)

Again, lovin' the ribbon

Books and puzzles from Grammie DB

Mom T made Luke his own book, complete with pictures of all the people who love him (well, not all the people who love him- that would be an extremely lengthy book- but lots of the people who love him)

What a special gift. (both the book and Luke) *tear

Luke's first set of golf shoes.

(slippers actually. Grannie Jannie had to cut out most of the stuffing to make them fit on Luke's chubby feet)

Stud

Done already? I was just getting warmed up