Cheers to being a mom for 2 years!

Luke is 2!

I can't believe it.

We gave him 3 different birthday parties. We love birthday cake and will make any excuse to have some.

One with the Shumway cousins, one with just Dave and I and one with the Hales cousins.

He has been obsessed with basketball lately (probably because his dad plays so much of it!). So I tried to make him a basketball cake. I looked on the internet and I don't have a prayer of making a fancy cake. But orange icing and chocolate topping works for me.

I could write a huge post about all the things that he is doing but I will put the top 5 that come to my mind:

1. He repeats everything you say. My mom says he is like a little parrot because you can always count on him to say what you just did. As we left the house the other day I said "dang it" because I forgot something and sure enough a second later I hear Luke say "dag it".

2. He LOVES his daddy. As soon as I mention anything like "daddy's coming home soon!" he will wait by the door until he comes home.

3. Whenever we leave or anybody leaves the house, or just the room for that matter, he always says "back!" He wants to make sure that we are coming back.

4. If I ever leave and come home from something he runs through the house with his arms open wide and a huge smile on his face until he finds me. That sweet sound of "mommy!" is so precious to me. He does it for his daddy too. Precious boy.

5. Whenever we talk about his upcoming baby brother he will kiss my belly. He is going to be such a sweet big brother.

6. He loves Buzz and Biddy (Woody).

Okay so I added one more.

The pregnancy is going well. I have an ultrasound coming up to check on my placenta. I will let you know what happens.

And here are some pictures of what we have been doing lately.

I love this boy.

111 days

I just looked at my friend's blog and noticed that on the side where it lists her friend's blogs it showed that I haven't updated our blog for 111 days.

That's a long time.

And honestly a lot has happened since then.

I am 5 months pregnant with a boy. I would have bet money that we were having a girl. For some reason I just felt like we were. So when I saw the "evidence" on the ultrasound I let out a laugh. We are having a boy! And I am more thrilled than ever. It will be a while before they can wrestle but I know that they will be precious together.

I feel like I have a best friend-in-the-making for Luke.

We had such a hard time finding a name for Luke that I don't think there is any hope for this one. It's interesting to me how we like completely different names when I was pregnant with Luke and those ones just don't seem to fit with this one. I can definitely feel his little Spirit.

The day after we found out the gender I was had an appointment with my doctor who told me that I have "complete placenta previa". I had no idea what that was (placenta what?). It means that the placenta is completely covering the cervix. Which means the baby can't come out the normal way and I will most likely be getting a c-section. That was at first my biggest concern but after researching it and talking with the doctor I was informed that pre-term labor is highly likely as well as bleeding.

If I was a pioneer I would be on a countdown to my death.

And I wouldn't even know it.

That thought keeps coming to my head and I am so grateful for modern technology and science that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with. Because of the ultrasound we can know so much and prepare.

The doctor didn't put me on bed rest but she did put me on pelvic rest. And if you don't know what that is I will let you look it up. When I lay down to go to sleep at night I usually have 2 contractions with high pressure but never any pain. I just need to take it easy.

I have another ultrasound on March 7th to check the placenta. If it is still complete than I will being meeting with the doctor who will do the c-section. And things will get more intense after that.

I am having faith and I know that Heavenly Father is in charge. I feel very protected and I know that we will have a healthy baby boy at the end of all of this. The journey might be a little crazy until then but we will be blessed with an addition to our family.

We moved into Dave's parent's house as they are leaving on their 2nd mission on April 5th to the Mexico City Mexico Temple. I LOVE the space and having a house that is more than fully furnished. They are such sweet people and Luke loves them dearly. He calls them Papa and Amama.

And Luke.

He is my precious little boy! And he is turning 2 on February 18th. He makes my life have so much meaning and laughter. He is my right arm and loves just being wherever I am. He is starting to talk so much. Sometimes he will say something to me and as I try to guess what he is saying he will cock one eyebrow and look at me like I am crazy. And he is all about basketball. If he knows his daddy is going to play basketball somewhere (and he does most nights) Luke just gets his hat and jacket and says bye to everyone. One night Luke and I weren't going to go because the game was later in the evening but when he saw Dave in his playing clothes Luke wouldn't take no for an answer and got dressed and walked out the door without me.

Everyday I plan on beginning potty-training but it only goes that far. I have no idea what to do.

My sister comes home from her mission in June! Yay! I am so excited. I miss her like crazy.

And my older brother leaves for Iraq in a couple of weeks.

I think I have been trying to deny it and pretend that it's not really happening. But I need to face the facts and just pray for him. And all the rest of the soldiers out there.

Us Lately

I've been really bad at updating our blog. It's hard for me to find time these days because we are having so much fun! Luke really is a fun kid and is always going and going.

I took a trip up to my parent's house and they just happened to have a baby kitty there. Luke loved her and wouldn't stop chasing after her. As you can see, she was patient enough to let him actually pick her up sometimes.

We even took a walk with the kitty cat.

Luke and his buddy Rylee trying to fix the vacuum.

Luke actually fell asleep in the bathtub once. The tub was empty and he had his feet in the slowly running water. He was playing with his car for a while but then next thing I knew, his eyes were closed.

We went on a trip to Farm Country with some friends and Luke had so much fun he just didn't know what to do with himself.

We had a new cousin added to the family and Luke loves to hold her when he gets the chance. He points out her toes and her fingers and would poke her eyes if we let him. He'll be a good big brother someday.

Dave has a ritual of laying on the ground after he eats dinner. Luke has caught on and will join him sometimes.

I took a trip down to Delta, Utah with my parents for an uncle's retirement dinner. Every time I see my Grandma Hales I plan to take a picture but never do. This time I did. So we have a 4 generation picture now. My grandma, my dad, me, and Luke.

For Family Home Evening the other night we learned about the Armor of God and we dressed Luke up. So there is the Helmet of Salvation, Breastplate of Righteousness, and his Sword of the Spirit.

And we have started a tradition of having smoothies for our Family Home Evening treat. Luke has always loved them but this time he especially did. I can't get it into his mouth fast enough.

The summer has been fun but I can't wait for Fall! I love the feeling in the air and the upcoming holidays! Hope all is well with you all!