Fish Lake 2008

The Cousins
Riding on Daddy's shoulders.

Look at that belly.

On the Boat

Slept the full 2.5 hour drive!
Sitting with GMa waiting for dinner.
Discovering how much fun it is to throw rocks!
Needs a bit of help from Dad.

Wow! It's hard to believe that Fish Lake has come and gone. Our annual 4 day trip to Fish Lake was very different this year. It's hard to believe that we no longer enjoy the fishing and scenery for us. Instead we spend hour after hour chasing a carefree toddler in every direction imaginable. Fish Lake did not come without Luke's fair share of battle wounds (as you will see on his face in some pictures). But the entertainment of watching our 19 month old discover the simple pleasures of thowing rocks in the lake, feeding the squirrel outside our cabin, and chasing his cousins around is what Fish lake was about this year. It rained everday, but it certainly didn't stop us from enjoying the outdoors.

Mr. Piggy

Luke LOVES pizza! He has to eat naked because he won't wear a bib. We're tired of ruining clothes to food stains we just can't get out.

And he sleeps...

Luke hasn't been sleeping great for the last couple of days. We're thinking a milestone is supposed to hit any time now... which one, we don't really know. Maybe he'll start talking! But he's never just laid on the floor and fallen asleep. Tonight he did. He'd had a small accident and hit his head on the corner of the step. We gave him his binks to settle him down, trying to avoid a mess of vomit when he cries so hard he makes himself sick. Well, after he settled he settled, he just curled up on the floor and fell asleep, binks in hand...

The Germs...

We thought we were free and clear from being sick after the last round of the flu we had in March. Well, Luke picked something up somewhere and now we're all sick with yet another cold. I think this is the worst part of being a parent... we are sick ALL the time. It feels like no matter how clean I keep him or anything else, he still picks up viruses left and right. Will he ever grow out of getting a bug every other month?!

The Farm

Luke loves the outdoors. If he could open the door and let himself out, he would. (And he's getting close to being able to do just that.) Every Sunday we take Luke to play at grandma and grandpa Kaczka's. He loves to run up and down the hill in their back yard and he loves to play with the dogs. This particular Sunday ALL the dogs were there. Auntie Kat's dog, Sadie (chocolate lab), our pugs Maggie and Molly, and my parents dog, Abby (fox terrier). Luke was in the middle of everything! He's all boy, that's for sure.

Happy Father's Day

Brad wanted to take Luke to the pool on Father's Day and that's exactly what we did. Brad loved having Luke in the water with him. We also too Luke to the kiddy pool, which he loved splashing in.

No No No!

And he has learned the word NO! But it's very cute when he says it.

Spring

Our gardens are so beautiful this year. Everything is blooming in our yard, even our pond plants are blooming. Looks like the fish have had babies once again and Maggie has helped us spread our strawberry patch all over the yard. (We never actually get to taste the strawberries before she’s eaten them all.)
Luke loves the outdoors. Many times throwing a tantrum at the sliding glass door as we let the dogs out and we don’t let him go out with them. Tantrums are becoming part of our lives now that Luke is approaching 18 months. He’s not talking much but sure can scream and whine for whatever it is he wants. I’m starting to think he’s a bit spoiled. Notice his Pottery Barn Kids arm chair that I gave in and had to get it for him. (I think it was more for Grandpa then for the baby.) We also got him a tiny cabin play set for the deck. He loves it!

Grandpa Ed with Luke and the dogs

The binks will go soon... but how cute is that?

Luke's new cabin

The pond

The backyard

More flowers

The Koi

In & Out... Luke's favorite game

Time...

In the last month, Brad and I have discovered how little time we have. We're both wrapped up in our jobs as well as trying to maintain a normal home life with Luke. (Whatever "normal" means.) To add to all of that, I have decided to go back to school. I start classes on the 12th of May. I haven't even started classes and I'm already swamped with homework. I'm in a program that the U defines as the "pre-MAcc" program. Basically, for the summer and fall semesters, I'm taking a few cources to be elegible to apply for the MAcc program (Masters of Accounting). I will start the Masters program January of 2009, and then sit for the CPA exam in January of 2010. On top of all of this, Luke has become more independent, but also become more of a handful every day. He's all over the place. I try to take him to the park every day for a bit. He loves to pick up the wood chips and put them in the slide. He loves the slide and just walking in the grass. He's starting to babble in the form of sentences and has figured out how to feed himself with a spoon. We continue to be amazed with all the things he does... I'm posting a bunch of pictures since it's been so long since we've posted anything.


Naked... looking for bink's under his bed.



"Oh... think I got one"

Didn't get it, but I have a messy face!

Lot's of bink's this morning...(Look close, there are 4)


Loves bathtime.



Not qutie ready to wake up this morning

Helping mommy?

Hanging with Daddy
























So sweet...

The Flu...

Well, all of us in the Pierce family came down with a para-flu virus. Apparently it's a strain of the flu that is going around that the flu shot doesn't protect you against. All three of us have it all at the same time. Brad took Luke to the doctor early this week thinking we all might have strep... It hasn't been fun, but we've been making the best of things. Luke has been enjoying the added amount of times he gets a bottle during the day (so we can force more liquids), Brad and I have been eating ice cream and popcicles. It's about the only thing that relieve the sore throat! Luke has also begun to really enjoy Playhouse Disney and it's been quite nice for mom and dad to be able to put something on for him to watch while we try to get some much needed rest. No matter how sick Luke is, he doesn't seem to want to slow down much.

It has been quite a month for us. Brad will be starting a new job at Qualified Personnel next week. He's kind of taken a career change and is now going to be a recruiter. So all of you out there that ever need a job...you know who to call.

Luke is all over the place these days. Can't turn your back for a minute. He likes to flush the toilet and play with everything that is not considered a toy... even the dogs. He now thinks its fun to sit on the dogs. I'm not so sure how long they will allow this to happen as he weighs more then they do. Other then sitting on the dogs, he's actually quite gentle with them.

Luke likes to climb on everything. This is one of his toys that he takes apart and uses it as a chair.

Luke and Scottie Reams. They're only a week or two apart. Both hungry and waiting for the parents to stop talking and feed them. =)

I told you he likes to sit on the dogs... particularly Molly.