A Place to Call Home: Move to Illinois Phase Three

My parents were so kind to offer to keep Luke for a week, so that I could fly to Illinois and begin the house hunt with Jason.  I have never been away from Luke for more than a few hours, but was not worried at all about leaving him with his Gigi, Coach, & Uncle Colby! 

Mom & I scoured the computer several days before I left and made a list of properties for Jason and I look at in Illinois. Here we are during one of our many computer dates:

Jason and Jake drove & pulled our cars from Washington to Illinois. It was a long trip, and we learned that Jake has separation anxiety in hotel rooms. Jason tried to have dinner out one night and received a phone call from the hotel with complaints of a dog barking…oops! Jake is a great traveler though and loves riding with Jason in his truck!

This was not taken on the trip, but it is one of my favorite pictures of Jake!

Jason and Jake picked me up at the Chicago O'Hare airport and took me to our new temporary home…the Double Tree Hotel in Arlington Heights. Our room was very nice and served us well while we were house hunting. Here are two pictures of Jake napping in our room…he obviously had no problem making himself right at home :)

Jason and I looked at many different places before finding our current home. We were in for quite a few surprises as far as the condition of the homes we viewed. However, with a little bit of vision, a fresh coat of paint, and a lot…and I mean a lot…of scrubbing and cleaning we have the perfect house in a quiet, family friendly neighborhood. A huge thanks to my mom, for not only bringing Luke to Illinois…but for also spending 10 days working as hard and possibly even harder than us to make our house a home. Pictures of our new home to follow!

Sweet Friends

       

 

While we were in Texas, we were able to spend some time with my Mom’s sweet friend Bert…her daughter Stacy…and Stacy’s daughter & Luke’s girlfriend, Blake! We just love all 3 of them to pieces and have so much fun together. Here are some pictures of our play-date!

Luke thinks Blake is sooo pretty….

Blake upset over the whole match-making idea…

Blake decides that Luke is pretty cute after all!

Stacy, Blake, & Luke

Bert & Luke

My mom, Bert, & Luke

Precious Blake!

So Brave

Luke had to make a little trip to the Emergency Room at Cooks Children's Hospital in Fort Worth last night. He had not been acting like himself for a few days. Every time we tried to lay him down, he would start screaming. I was worried that he might have an ear infection. Mom and I finally broke down and decided to take him to the doctor. After checking in at the ER, we looked like crazy people in the waiting room. We were frantically wiping down every surface with disinfectant wipes and had Luke cocooned in his blanket. Of course Mr. Personality himself desperately wanted to entertain everyone in the waiting room with his smiles and squeals!

We got called back to our room rather quickly and then the real wait began. We waited for several hours before the doctor finally came to see us. Luke's ears looked fine, but the doctor seemed concerned about his stomach. He wanted Luke to have a few X-rays. Luke was not the least bit excited about the X-rays. He was actually quite mad about the whole thing. He screamed and turned extremely red! I hated to see him so upset. He ended up being diagnosed with a backed-up bowel. I was told to stop giving him rice cereal and to focus on fruits such as pears, apricots, peaches, and plums. Within days of Luke's new routine I could tell he was feeling much better.

Gigi loving on Luke

He was such a good boy during the whole ordeal and was absolutely precious in his little robot gown. I had no clue that they even made gowns that tiny!

A Happy Birthday

One of the major downfalls to military life is the fact that you miss many birthdays, special events, and holidays with your family. Truth be told...I hate it! However, I am very thankful that my husband has a stable job and that I get the privilege of staying home with our precious Luke. This year was special because I got to spend my birthday in Texas with my family. Jason surprised me before we left Washington with a new camera for my birthday. I had been wanting to purchase a new camera for awhile in hopes of getting great pictures of our handsome little man. I love my new camera. I am still figuring out all of the features, but can already tell the difference in the quality of my pictures!

Here is little Luke snuggled up with his loveys,
taking a nap on his Momma's birthday.
Could he be any more precious?

Standing up for some play-time with his Momma!

My grandmother came to Fort Worth and had lunch with us
...and then of course played with Luke :)

For dinner, we went to eat dinner with my aunt, uncle, & cousins.
We had a wonderful meal at Macs. Both Blake & Betsy walked
around the restaurant with Luke to entertain him while we ate.

My mom & Blake

Betsy & Me

The best parents ever!

Colby is always so helpful with Luke!

I truly had a wonderful day just spending time with my family. Wishing for more birthdays like this in the future!

Move to Illinois: Phase Two, Seven Months, & Happy First Easter

After shacking up with our friends the VanDyke's for two weeks, Luke & I were off to Texas for "phase two" of our move to Illinois. We would be staying with my parents while Jason and Jake drove to Illinois. Luke, you turned seven months a few days before we left for Texas. Unfortunately, your chair was packed up and in transit somewhere between Washington and Illinois. Therefore, we will not have a seven month chair picture. You spent your first Easter in Washington and Texas :) We flew out on Easter Sunday. You looked so cute in your yellow, brown, & white seersucker overalls and truly charmed everyone on the plane. Gigi & Coach even had an Easter basket waiting for you when were arrived in Texas. Gigi had taken her Easter basket, which had become my Easter basket, and added a new "boy" ribbon for you. Such a sweet and thoughtful gift!

Reunited & it feels so good!

Your Easter basket from Gigi & Coach filled with puffs, new sleepers, & a handsome new outfit!


Uncle Colby & Luke: They kinda like each other :)

Handsome boys on Easter

Another gift from Gigi & Coach...Luke's very on ball pit! He loves it!

My Aunt Lisa & Great Uncle Mike were in Fort Worth during our stay and met us for lunch at one of my favorite spots: Schlotzskys. We had the best time visiting with them and Luke, of course loved all of the attention!

One night, Luke was quite fussy and nothing seemed to calm him down. Coach decided to hook on the baby carrier and strolled around the block with Luke. Luke quickly went from the fussiest baby on the block to the happiest baby on the block!

My precious seven month old baby boy...you could not possibly know how proud I am of you and just how much I love you! You fill my days with much laughter and joy. This month you decided that you are no longer okay with falling asleep by yourself in your crib. Instead, you want to be cuddled and rocked to sleep. And you know what...I am perfectly okay with this, because I know one day really soon you will be a big boy and not want your momma to rock you to sleep. So I will simply cherish these moments when you snuggle up next to me and let me sing and pray over you as you fall asleep. I love you my sweet baby boy, each day with you is better than the last!

Seven Months!

I LOVE my ball pit!

Ready for a snack :)