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.

The World's Next Great Crime-Fighting Duo

Scenes from Staycation

Luke sports the official Staycation shirt.

Just call me Charles Gibson, because I'm about to bring some news: the economy stinks! Because of this, the Eubanks family decided to skip a super big vacation and opt for a staycation!! (Get it?) So, the Featherstons, Griffiths, Renshaws, Eubankses, and Robertses convened at Mom/Honey and Dad/Grand's house for a little poolside cruise this past weekend. While we missed the amenities of a real cruise (maids, little towel animals waiting for us in our cabins, and not having to prepare any food ourselves), we still managed to have a great time. We made t-shirts. We ate and drank heartily. We even had a pool olympics. As is always the case when we all get together, we had an absolutely wonderful time.

In hindsight, I really didn't take very many pictures of anyone that was over the age of 10. For me, it was kind of all about how Luke interacted with Sophie (7) and Tessa (21 months). Not surprisingly, he adored both of them.

I'm not feeling very articulate or thorough, so I'll just include some pics. Happy weekend, everyone!

Tessa gets pool ready.

Luke and Tessa (literally) kick it in the crib.

"I got Dad's hat! I got Dad's hat!"
Tessa gets a little dirty...
Luke and Grand watch the Pool Olympics...
Luke prepares for the 2030 NBA Draft.

Luke Live!

As promised, here are some videos of all of Luke's new skills. He's been crawling for a month now, and let me tell you... if I would just eat right, I'd lose a lot of weight because of all the chasing around I'm doing! These videos are from the past week. Enjoy!

Luke crawls to the window to check on Hannah

Luke pulls up to see Hannah (who, thankfully, tolerates his advances)

Luke's playdate at Willow Bend mall

By the way - when I started summer vacation not even one week ago, Luke had three teeth. Today? SIX, with a seventh on the way, I suspect, in the next couple of days. Yikes...

This weekend we're "staycationing" with my brothers, sisters, in-laws, and nieces and nephew at my parents' house. I'm sure I'll have lots of pics and videos from that. Have a wonderful weekend!

Updates - 9 months old, first fat lip, and other shenanigans...

Hello there everybody! Since I last blogged, Luke turned 9 months old, I finished my sixth year of teaching, we received a contract on our house, and have one in the works that could be our next home! Throw in Mr. Luke's constant crawling, pulling up, and jibber jabbers, and we have been a very busy crew!

Friday was a very rough day for Luke - he suffered his first busted lip. He pulled himself up on a table, lost his balance, fell, and his bottom teeth cut his top lip. He was at Mimi's (Mon./Fri. babysitter) when this happened. I'm pretty sure Mimi was more traumatized than Luke! Anyway, this happened about 30 minutes before I picked him up for his 9-month appointment. I have a picture from about eight or so hours after the fact; it looks significantly better than it did when I got him!

Then it was off to the doctor's office. An aside - I have no idea how pediatricians and pediatric nurses do their jobs. Big kids seem to do fine, but the Lukes of the world just scream and scream and scream. Luke has gotten quite savvy about things. In the lobby, he's chill. But once we cross through the doors and he sees the scales, the cries commence. And continue. And grow louder and louder. Yikes. Anyway, after a finger prick for an iron test, one shot, and some pokes and prods, Luke got a clean bill of health. Here are his vitals:

Length/height: 30 inches (90th percentile for his age)

Weight: 20.25 lbs (45th percentile for his age)

Head circumference: 18.25 inches (60th percentile for his age)

So good news: he has the long and lean physique of his father. Granted, this means I'll have a hell of a time buying him pants throughout his life, but I think I'll still keep him. = ) Here are two pictures from his actual 9 month "birthday" - one of a hilarious mischievous face, and the other that zooms in on his curly hair.

I survived another year of teaching - always an accomplishment! This year I had two new "preps" (i.e., subjects): Pre-AP Junior English and AP Senior English. Awesome subjects and awesome kids, but a little daunting when combined with the new prep of the toughest (and best) course of all: motherhood. I'm happy to say that I had a good year, and I think my kids maybe even learned a thing or two. I'm thrilled I'll have the same subjects next year, and I'm loving being at GHS. If you're a student reading this, you've been a blessed part of a year full of many blessings, and I wish you wonderful summers!

As for our real estate occurrences - I don't want to jinx anything by blogging about it. Let's just say this: I feel pretty confident that this up-and-down process will be finished soon, and I hope by mid-July, I'm blogging from a new address that is much closer to my job!

I feel like this has been very long-winded, so I'll wind down. Below are some pictures from playing around the house and from our trip to the Willow Bend play land earlier this week. I have video, too; but I have to save that for another post.

Hope everyone is having a great summer! (BTW: Just popped in the Baby Shakespeare video, and Luke is mesmerized. YES!) Stay cool in this already yucky heat!