First Trip to the Fair

Luke got to go on his first trip to the fair this week. He and all eight of his cousins enjoyed a day full of fun. Okay, so maybe Luke slept through the majority of the day, but I'm sure he had a blast anyway. Maybe next year he'll be more into it. :)

Micah loves his new cousin!
Luke and (most of) his cousins.
Luke and Julia spent most of the day like this.

IWU Homecoming

Hey, for those of you IWU alumni, Jonathan, Luke and I are going to Homecoming this year (the first weekend in October). So if anyone else is going to be there, let us know so maybe we can meet up and hang out! :)

Two Month Stats

Luke went for his two month check-up yesterday. He is still right in the 50% range for his height, weight, and head size. He is now 23 inches long and a whopping 11 pounds 9 ounces! Way to go Luke! :) He was so happy and smiley throughout the appointment until the very end when he had to get his shots. :( I was holding his arms, looking at his face to distract him. He looked at me with a huge smile on his face but as soon as the first shot happened, his lips pouted out and he let out a wail. It broke my heart! Surprisingly, though, as soon as I got him dressed and in his car seat he settled down and was pretty happy the rest of the day. That's my boy!

Luke's Two Month Picture

Starting Him Young

Smiley Boy

Luke's favorite new thing to do now is smile. It's so cute! Sometimes I think he's going to start laughing, but he hasn't yet. Here are some pictures of his adorable smile. (Sorry, Jonathan has his shirt off yet again...the guy never wears one!)

Do You Believe This?

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day, we headed up to Jonathan's parents' place in northern Michigan. We had beautiful weather and a great time hanging out with his family. On Monday, we decided to do the annual Mackinaw Bridge Walk. It was a little crowded and chaotic, but we were glad we did it. Luke successfully made the five mile walk (in his stroller) and even got a certificate to prove it! :) He actually slept through most of the walk except for the last 1/2 mile or so, when he decided he'd had enough and was ready to eat!Is this supposed to be fun?

Starting the walk

Halfway there!

We made it!

Man am I glad that's over!

Luke and his cousin, Julia.

Handsome boy!

Fo' shizzle

Jonathan and his brother playing a little Dance Dance Revolution.

Updates

Just a couple updates. My mom starts her six month chemo treatment this week. Please continue to keep her in your prayers, as she isn't sure how she will react to the medicine.

Peyton came through her surgery okay. She is recovering well now, though we can't keep the bandage on her for the life of us. She keeps messing with it. My husband, being the cheapskate that he is, didn't want to forge over the $12 for one of those cones to put around her head to keep her from touching her leg. So this was his solution:

Poor Peyton

Tomorrow Peyton has to have surgery on her back right leg. It's been bothering her for a while and when we took her to the vet, he said she has a torn ligament which can only be fixed with surgery. Hopefully everything goes well and she has a quick recovery!

Luke and Daddy

So I was folding laundry yesterday and Jonathan decided that Luke's arms and legs were cold. He helped him out by putting on some socks. Too bad they were Jonathan's socks and not Luke's. haha (By the way, Luke's onesie says, "If you think I'm handsome, you should see my daddy". It was Jonathan's Father's Day present.)

Here are some more pictures of Luke and his daddy:

I had to include this picture, too. The other day, I was getting ready to jump in the shower. I told Peyton to watch Luke for me and when I got out of the shower, this is what I found:

Bad News

My mom met with the doctor today and the tumor was malignant. Now she will meet with the chemotherapy doctor next week Wednesday. We aren't sure yet whether there is any cancer still in her or if they got it all out during the surgery, but they did find some in a few of the lymph nodes they removed. We're hoping it didn't spread anywhere else. Please pray not only for my mom but for dad as well, as he lost both his mom and sister to cancer. This whole thing still seems surreal to me. We really covet your prayers during this time.

Too Cute Not to Post!

We went down to Indiana this weekend to visit my family and check up on mom. She is doing pretty well and feeling good. Please keep her in your prayers, though, as she goes Tuesday to find out the results of the tests they did on the tumor. Luke went to church today in his outfit from Auntie Em and I must say, he was sooooo cute, I almost couldn't stand it! Hope you enjoy the pictures we got of him today.

Luke's One Month Picture

Luke is five weeks old today, but we took these pictures on his one month birthday. He looks so big now! He is so adorable, I can't get over it!! And I'm not biased or anything....

Update on Mom

Sorry it has taken so long for me to get an update. I know lots of you have been praying, which is awesome and so much appreciated. My mom had her surgery on Thursday and the doctor couldn't believe how well it went. Her recovery has gone well, too. She is still in the hospital but is hoping to get home tomorrow or the next day. They removed a lemon-sized tumor that was completely blocking her colon. It is being tested to determine if it is malignant or benign. Your prayers are still appreciated as we don't know what the future holds with this. I've been able to talk to my mom every day, though, and she is in good spirits and feeling pretty good, all things considered. I'll continue to keep you all updated...

Prayer Request

Please pray for my (Amanda's) mom. She had a colonoscopy today and they found a tumor. She is having surgery tomorrow morning and they will know more after sending it to the lab for testing. Please pray that the surgery goes well and that it is not cancerous. My mom is my best friend and this is really really hard on me.

4 week check-up

Wow! Luke is four weeks old today! He had another doctor's appointment today and things look great. He is now 9 pounds 4.5 ounces (up from 8 lb. 10 oz. two weeks ago) and is 22.5 inches long (he was 21.5 at birth). The only thing is that his cord stump is still on. It just will not fall off! We're going back Thursday to have it removed if it doesn't fall off before then. Other than that, everything is normal and he is a healthy growing boy!

Luke's Road Trip

Well, we took our first trip this past weekend to northern Indiana. My folks have a place on a lake and we went to see everyone. Luke did great and seemed to enjoy being held 24/7! :) Here are some pictures from the weekend.Chillin' with Uncle Jacob

Nothing beats a nap with grandpa

Check out that blond hair!

You have to zoom in on Luke's face--it's hilarious!

Play With Me!

When Jonathan got home from work today, he was pretty exhausted (thanks to a little boy who kept us up for part of last night!). He decided to take a nap on the floor, but Peyton had other ideas. She demanded his attention and would not leave him alone until he threw her toy for her. She is too funny!