Friday, August 07, 2009

Luke's Room & Play Group

When you walk in our house/flat, the living room, bathroom, and kitchen are on the "ground" floor. The master room and Rebekah's room are on what they call the "first floor" here. Then, up another set of stairs, on the "second floor" (3rd floor in US terms) is a loft/attic where Luke sleeps. Right now, Rebekah and Luke are very different sleepers, and I just want them separated for now. After Christmas and closer to Luke being 2 (April), we might room them together in R's room. Not sure. So, this is how we have it now. The problems are that this is an open loft without a door and it's right off Rebekah's room. Even with a sound machine, it can still be quite loud. However, most of that doesn't bother Luke at all. The other problem is that without heat or AC, the loft gets extreme temps, right now hot. So, Luke missed his afternoon nap the other day b/c he was soooooo hot! Poor buddy! I did open the "hatch" window and it was much lighter :), but better ventilation. (We do have a heater for him for winter and I plan on getting lots of warm jammies)

Anyway, with the weird half-walls and the long skinniness of the room, it was hard for me to figure how to really show you it. Sorry.

As you walk up the stairs, you see this wall- I haven't organized the shelves yet b/c I am working thru his clothes and figuring out what he needs for when.

This long wall is parallel to the stairs. We have the crib and changing table on it. (I hung his decorations over the changing table so that they stay in tact :)- with the angled walls, I couldn't hang them over the crib out of his reach.)

This is my sweet Luke and the view I have when laying him down. :) Unless he's still asleep, he's never still laying down when I get him up.

Regardless of the fact that I have put a sweet, color-coordinated super-soft green frog in bed with him since his first day of life, Luke has chosen to hold a wash cloth at sleepy times. Doesn't really seem to matter which one, he just like wash cloths. (yes, those are precious little meat frog legs, as my dad calls them)


The room is kind of an upside-down L-shape- the changing table is at the corner of the L and this book shelf and the pack n play are the short part of the L. We use the pack n play for "room time" for Luke in the am's if I need a few minutes. I will do more of that when he drops his am nap. As it is, I have plenty of time to get things done, and he spends so much time asleep, I don't use room time for more than 10 or 15 minutes maybe 4 times a week. When I do use it, he usually fusses about being left, but then starts banging cars together, so I think he's okay. :) He used to always poop during this time, but now that he's moving around so much more, he doesn't seem to need it as much.

Sweet Luke just loves the camera- he starts grinning right when it comes out. I gave them both Ritz crackers with peanut butter on them and they were in heaven! Luke now says "Dat! Dat! Dat!" and points when he wants something, so I got a lot of dats during this snack time. Unfortunately he recognizes every snack package and gets really excited about them, so it is hard for me to say no. Look at that face- could you??


We hosted play group for the first time last week. The play house was big hit!! This is Duncan, Luke's good friend. Duncan is schooling Luke on crawling/walking, even though he is a mere 6 months younger! Duncan is precious- the sweetest smile and best disposition. His parents are super-cool so this is no surprise.


This is Baby Callum, who is delightfully chuncky and also majorly mellow. He is Lily's little brother.

The kids playing with chalk- thanks, Shannon!!!! I love having cement for this very reason!

Luke and Duncan took turns chewing on it. I think blue must have tasted the best.

Little ham- did I mention he loves the camera?

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

(Most of ) our flat and our new do's

Okay- here is our new flat, minus Luke's room and the master room. They will be on the next post or when I get pictures.

(Mortons, keep your eyes open for a mysterious someone in one of these pictures.)

Our fun red door.

The front garden- the stump is a happy sight for us b/c it means a very scrubby tree is now gone!

Look at that hydrangea!

This is the hallway once you enter the front door- the front door is past the door you can see with the sweatshirts hanging on it...yes, even in August, we have sweatshirts.


The living room is off the hallway.

I love this big window. There is a lawn bowling green across the street.



The kitchen- it is very light and bright! I love it! Josh added this wonderful shelf for me!



We have 2 fridges and freezers- yippee!

Our pantry space- there is quite a bit of space, but not enough shelves...this is the best I could do!


The back door- it comes directly off the kitchen, which is sooo nice!! We go out back almost 50 times a day... :)

Rebekah's play house!

Our backyard has 2 sections- the first is cement and the 2nd is grass. It is great! You can see my laundry line.


The bathroom is in that front hallway and to the side of the kitchen. We finally have a big tub!

I am currently looking for a home in my flat for this plant...not sure where to put it....anyway, this is the corner right by the bathroom.

Rebekah's room!

Rebekah loves her "decorations"- last year we had to pray for them. This year, she has been content, so long as they are hung. Sweet girl. I tried to keep in mind that this was a little girl's room- so I hung things low and tried to keep most things in reach so that little eyes and hands could enjoy.

Luke's room is done, I just need to take pics when he's not sleeping in it. ;) Our room is quite sparse right now b/c we are waiting for our landlord to bring back the duvet cover she inadvertently took. :) Josh did get me my own elliptical machine for FREE off Freecycle! Woo hoo! So, that is in our room- I used it this am, and it is great.


In other news, everyone but Rebekah got a haircut today! Finally, we are recovering from Luke's dumb and dumber cut he had the misfortune of getting from me. He looks very clean-cut and grown-up now. :)

I also got a semi-permanent color for shine and luster... :) I got it pretty short b/c I can't believe how fast my darn hair grows!

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Miscellaneous

I am still putting the finishing touches on things at the flat, so when that is done, i will post pics. For now, I thought you would enjoy seeing Luke's BFF... (best friend forever)

Banchory

New flat...


Fortunately, we were able to fit the kids in the car when we moved...

I mentioned the guys at the HUB getting Rebekah a gift...here it is...

On our way in to church this am, we heard bag pipes- this was a parade literally outside the church doors! Rebekah is obsessed with kilts now, so it was fun for her to see, though she was so excited to go back to our church, she practically skipped by.

Luke pulls up A LOT and actually cruises quite a bit, too. One day he might walk. ;)

I was just putting Rebekah to bed. She is pretty precious at bed time, and I have learned (thanks to my wonderful friend, Carrie) not to rush those tender moments. As I was praying I accidentally said "and i pray for her salvation"- I usually try to use woprds she'll understand. Anyway, the conversation went like this:

Mom, what is salvation?

It means that you believe in Jesus.

What does believe in Jesus mean?

(me thinking...) That you love him.

Oh. Well, then I believe in you, too, Mom.


Oh my word. Delightful. I LOVE my kids!!!!