Boo hoo...

Luke's developed a nasty habit: waking up in the middle night and only falling back asleep if it is in his mama's arms. This habit is really my fault for sleep-walking in to check on him and, in my somnambulant stupor (oh yeah - I can use "somnambulant" correctly at 3:47 a.m.), I just pick him up, carry him to the couch, and we both fall asleep. Sweet and comforting for each of us, but it's time to harden my heart. He's been in there crying it out for about 20 minutes. Ugh. Please pray for us that Luke and I break this habit quickly!

Since I'm up, here are some cute pictures from the month that I haven't posted here. Here's Luke crawling out of his toy basket at the old house...

Here he is enjoying french fries for the first time.

A family shot before Jeremy and I went to the Chelsea-Club America game at the new Cowboys Stadium on Sunday night. (Maybe I'll do a blog about that since it seems like Luke's sobs aren't stopping any time soon. *sigh*)

Luke gains confidence scaling the stairs.

Good night - er, morning - everyone. Bless his little heart. : (

A New Diversion

As I've mentioned, Luke has been really clingy lately. Well, yesterday, I needed to do something upstairs for just a second, so I put Luke in front of the TV. I fully expected a complete meltdown, but instead I see him enthralled by the following:

Yes, he was enchanted by $100,000 Pyramid. (He even preferred it to the finale of Charm School. Is this my son?) Looks like the Game Show Network has a tiny new fan!

New house blog to be posted soon...

It's probably complacent of me to think that any, let alone many, of you are all aquiver waiting for a blog post about our new house, but in case that's the case, look for one in the next week. In short, everything is going really well, and we love the new place! I'll do my best to take and post some pictures in the next couple of days and get an entry up a.s.a.p. In the meantime, I'm counting down the minutes until Luke goes to sleep... and I drink my glass(es) of wine. It's just been that kind of day, folks. Sheesh. Right now, "Luke" is spelled c-l-i-n-g-y.

Adios, Espinosa!

If you told me a couple of months ago that I would be teary-eyed typing a farewell blog to this place, I would have laughed. Given all the blood, sweat, tears, and… well, MONEY we’ve put into this place, I’ve always thought saying goodbye would be a breeze. In the beginning, the spending was on aesthetic fixes. Take down that 80s wallpaper. Seashell sinks? Well, can’t change those. But we can lose the brass fixtures. And Lord knows the biggest costs came from what you couldn’t see. I know far more than I ever care to about the intricacies (and expense) of foundation repair. And don’t even get me started on the weird across-the-street neighbor who appears to have a lawn mowing allergy, the rage I feel towards whoever keeps on telling the city when we don’t pull our trash can up immediately after collection, or the aggravation I feel driving down streets with so many cars parked on either side. Ugh…

Nevertheless, with less than two days before the movers get here, I’m surprisingly sentimental at the thought of leaving this place. For all the pains we’ve gone through, we’ve turned this place into a home. We’ve brought a lot to it: new furniture, fresh paint, updated flooring. It’s the only home we’ve shared while married, so we also brought some more important things to it: a puppy and a son. That puppy isn’t so little now and certainly not so spoiled, but she paved the way for what’s been our most rewarding time here: time with Luke. He won’t even remember this place. But I’ll remember everything, from the positive pregnancy test to the “Oh wait… NO! Luke! Put that down!” I shouted as he “helped” me pack some wine glasses this morning. This house is now more than just the sum of its flaws: it’s a place that has held our family through some low and high points. It’s time to move on to bigger and better things, but I’ll always hold a special place in my heart for our first home.

So, to all of you who have shared time with us on Espinosa – thank you. Thanks for some wonderful memories. We’re eager to start anew on Goldenrain Tree Drive. (Yeah, so that mouthful is our new street name. Doesn’t exactly roll off the old tongue, huh?) I’ll do my best to post pictures as the place is presentable… which could be anywhere between mid-August to Christmas. In the meantime, I’m off to pack some more… as soon as I wipe my eyes and blow my nose. : )

I promise we didn't stage this...

Guess what Luke discovered today?

Toilet paper! Note to self: got to make sure I close bathroom doors...

10 months old... where does the time go?

My little monkey is already ten months old! I can hardly believe it. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was holding that quiet, tranquil little bundle in my arms at the hospital.

This is Luke at about 15 minutes old here. Awwww!

Now? Well that little bundle isn't so quiet. Or little. Or tranquil. He is BUSY. Let me tell you, packing a house up to move with Luke around is next to impossible. Luke wants to "help," you see. He wants to "help" with the boxes. He wants to "help" with the packing paper. Kind of like he wants to "help" with the remote when we watch TV, and how he wants to "help" with the buttons when I'm on my cell phone. You get the idea. Luckily, we got some help (note the lack of ironic quotes) from his Grandpa and Grandma yesterday, who came to town from Tyler to watch Luke while Jeremy and I emptied the attic and did some more packing. Thank God for their visit! We got a lot done, and they got to spend some quality time with Luke. Win-win-win. Thanks, Pete and Donna!

Here are some pictures from this month, beginning with the 4th of July festivities at the Humphrey house. Here's my little patriot:

Just have to include pictures of Luke's newest cousins, twins Jordan (red shirt) and Nathan (blue shirt), who are five months old:

And some of Luke's ten-month pictures - a couple with his bear in his chair and one reading Go Dog, Go! with Dad. (A nod to Cathy Tenner, who got this book for Luke and is the book's biggest champion.)

I love how serious he looks in the pic above.

In closing: I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday with friends and loved ones. Every day, I become increasingly thankful for my precious little Luke, Jeremy, my family, friends, and blessings. Thanks for reading this blog to share in that, and I hope this finds all of you enjoying your blessings, too.