A picture post!

"Thumbs up to us, Mom, don't you think?" (The following pictures are my attempt to play catch-up on the last few months! They are in reverse order, so pictures from March are first and January is at the end.) Warning: lots of pictures!


Don't you love Luke's fuzz?
















I love my little buddies!







Luke's t-shirt is a gift from Grandma Warner! Thanks Grandma!











Luke is all boy...no fear to do anything with Daddy!



We spent two weeks in Seattle for Todd to do some engineering training. We were blessed to spend time with Tytus and Cathi and their kids, as well as several good friends. Fun days!











A younger picture of the balance act!









I've been living lots of "life" lately...and haven't done much blogging. I love, love, love this season of my life with baby Luke and Elijah. I'm very busy, and a bit tired, but there is so much raw joy in taking in the moments as they happen. I feel so blessed that the Lord has given us two boys, entirely different in how they will grow up, but both enormous gifts to Todd and I.

The joy and sense of awe we feel watching Luke grow, develop, and interact is intensely heightened by the loss and sorrow we have experienced (and continue to experience). It's as if we are marveling every day at perfectly normal things...the way a prisoner who has seen only gray walls would turn his face to the sun and stare at the color of green grass and blue sky. I don't mean that in a depressing sort of way; we've found beauty and incredible, deep-within joy in the "gray walled" pathways of life, so to speak.

I also see that some of our joy spills over to Elijah. I can tell that it makes him so happy to hear us laughing and that he loves the sounds of his little brother playing and "talking".

Luke is a funny little guy and finds a lot to laugh about. He is quite the little dare-devil already and we can definitely see his sense of humor. He laughs at things like popcorn popping, listening to the sound of himself blowing through a play "tube", and meeting new people who smile at him. He has two teeth, has started eating a few bitefuls of baby food, and tries to rip the spoon out of my hand at every opportunity. :)