Ends and New Beginnings

Once again, I have allowed far too much time to pass between updates on the 'blog. This has been a crazy year, with lots of ups and downs. We had a "double whammy" last month; great-grandma Aileen passed away, and we had to say goodbye to Apollo.

While we have mourned these losses, we are also reminded on a daily basis of how fortunate we are to be surrounded by family and friends. As such, we had Yaya (Josh's mom) visit for a weekend, and she got to help Lucas with baking cookies and riding his big-boy bike.

In addition, the world doles out new beginnings in tandem with its endings...while shopping at the pet store for cat food today, we were lovingly accosted, and subsequently adopted, by the newest member of our family. We brought Tucker home with us (and yes, if you were wondering, Lucas was thrilled), where he is currently making himself at home and negotiating an agreement with the cat. Pictures? Of course there are pictures!

We will continue to take life as it comes, and prepare for the holiday season (which crept up on us this year); however, I will make more of an effort to keep this little diary updated. Stay safe and warm, and I hope that you all enjoy your holidays as much as we intend to enjoy ours!

Hands On!

Lucas and Daddy took a trip through the morning deluge to visit the Great Explorations Children's Museum in St. Pete (AKA the "Hands On Museum," for you old fogies).

We had a great time playing in/on the treehouse, and - since we had the great fortune to run into Lesley, Edison, Ana Tobin and Eli - we got to build block cities! I took lots of pictures, but they aren't the best in the world. Enjoy!

A quiet little visit from up North...

This morning we saw Papa Jon, Nana Karen, and Lucas' cousin Nicole off to the airport. While we are sad to see them go, it was great to have them come for a visit. There's lots of pictures to look at, and everyone had a good time!

We love you guys, and hope to see you soon!

Happy Birthday Lucas!

We had a small birthday party (just a few local family members) for a big boy today, and Lucas had an absolutely smashing time. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that he is three YEARS old today!

As you can probably see from the videos and eleventy-billion pictures that we took, Lucas really enjoyed the day - I didn't get to take any pictures of us swimming in the pool, but a good time was had by all.

Happy birthday Lucas, and here's hoping that you never lose your sense of delight in Matchbox cars and Thomas the Tank Engine trains...

A visit from Nana-Nana and Papa-Papa

We just said goodbye to great-grampa Tim, great-gramma Vera, and great-aunt Renee (Papa-Papa, Nana-Nana, and Nee-nee, respectively) last night. It was a fabulous visit, with a trip to Clearwater Beach, a movie night at the house, a drive to Tarpon Springs, and lots of time on the deck and in the pool.

Since everyone had a camera, we have LOTS of pictures and a few short videos (here's one of Renee and Lucas on the porch) of the excitement. We had an absolute blast - thanks for coming, you guys!

Thank you easter bunny! (Bawk-bawk)

Lucas had a fabulous time hunting for eggs in the back yard this morning! We put lots of pictures up on Flickr (look over there --->), and got some video uploaded.

Here is the big bad egg hunter in all his glory (note the personalized bunny bag that Yaya sent for him to store his eggs), and here is Lucas "helping" Boopa Steve put a racetrack together...

I hope that you all have a wonderful Easter!

Tales from the Big Chair

No, it's not the CD by Tears for Fears...Lucas is now using the Big Boy Potty! It may be funny to watch him use the "flying Superman stance," but we are SO proud of him!

Sorry that I've not been putting regular updates on here lately, but life has been crazy. Other recent highlights include using two verbs ("pull" and "pour"), and sharing (well, sometimes, when it's his idea).

His vocabulary has exploded over the last few weeks...he's saying words much more clearly now, and is counting EVERYTHING. He is definitely a lover of School Buses, Big Trucks, Wee-Wee Vans/Trucks/Cars (ambulances, fire engines, and police cars respectively), and all things Construction.

Life is going well, and Lucas is growing like a weed. We're looking forward to a lot of visits from family over the next few months, so it should be an exciting summer. I promise to do better at keeping this site up to date!

Uncle Tom and Aunt Diane visit

Lucas got to see his great-uncle Tom and great-aunt Diane yesterday, and had a great time horsing around. We took a short video of the hilarity, as well as put some pictures up in the usual place. It was great to see you two, and I hope you can come down again SOON!