January 25, 2013- "Puzzle Mania"

(Excuse the quality..good ole phone pic!) I love that he loves doing puzzles..just like his mommy! Every once in awhile he will pull them out and start working his way through them..today I think he actually did them for about 20-30 mins....this is HUGE for him...trust me, there was a lot of dancing and moving around the table as he was doing them and of course encouragement from me! He will do a 25+ piece puzzle without any help now and of course no picture...I guess I am a proud momma!

January 24, 2013- "silly head"

Oh this boy can be a hard one to get a picture of sometimes..he was being a goof and running around with his shirt as a "hat" and shaking the arms like he had pigtails. Getting him changed can be a challenge somedays..especially now that he has to do it himself..and don't you dare rush a 3 year old cause they WILL make you wait longer!!

January 23, 2013- "sliding"

When it is winter outside and your mommy can't muster the energy to take you to the park you learn to get creative!! This is how Lucas gets "down" the stairs...slides on the edging and holds onto the railing..I'm waiting for the day that he bails at the bottom and smacks into the wall....

January 22, 2013 "Projects"

So I was looking through etsy.com trying to find artwork for baby's room and decided that everything was very overpriced for things that I could probably do myself. So with a little research, some ideas and a trip to Michaels I have been working on a few different canvases for babies room. They might not be as perfect as ones you can buy but they are a heck of a lot cheaper. When I am done and baby is here I will try to remember to post the finished pictures!

January 21, 2013- "Blocks"

I do realize that basically all of my pictures consist of Lucas! Lately we don't leave the house a whole lot, as outings get more and more tiring and the weather makes it not so easy to want to leave! Needless to say he is slowly starting to learn to play by himself a little more (which will come in very handy once baby is born). He has never been a very independent child but I realized that he needs to learn to be especially once baby is here...so I have been trying to encourage him more and more in that department as well as trying to find the balance of spending time with him.

One of his favorite things to do...love that his little butt still fits in the bumbo!!

January 20, 2013-"3 years ago..."

  He learned to pucker from an early age!!! This was actually his "pooping" face when he was a baby! Made me laugh everytime!

January 19, 2013- "Flashback to Vegas"

Back in October/November we had the chance to go to Vegas for 5 days for the first time. These are some of the shots we took. There was definately a lot to see and a lot of walking. 25+ degree weather with compression stockings and jeans just don't mix. Next time I go it will be nice to wear shorts and enjoy the beautiful weather!! :) The architecture that goes into the buildings was so crazy to see!

The boys freaking out at the height of the hoover dam!

So beautiful!

January 18, 2013 "Daddy time"

   This is Lucas' favorite time of day! Daddy play time before bed. From the time he wakes up in the morning he asks when daddy is coming home..sure makes me feel loved..haha! I guess mommy just can't do the things that daddy can..especially since I can't sit on the floor anymore or run or bend over!! The other day he told me that daddy was his best friend. I asked him what about mommy..who was my best friend than and he said Papa. I guess my daddy apparently is my best friend as well!

January 17, 2013- "Sad"

Lately Lucas has learned to try and pull the sympathy card by pouting and whining that he is sad and "misses his daddy" even if its only been a couple hours since he saw him last...can u say daddy's boy?

January 16, 2013 "cousin love"

Posing with the Polar Bear

January 15, 2013 "Driving"

Spent a couple days with my sister and nephew. We hung out at the mall for a bit and let the kids run. The surprising thing about this pic is that they didn't fight over who could drive!!

January 14, 2013 "shadow"

33 weeks and counting!

January 13, 2013-"Flashback weekend #2"

Lucas and his cousin Asha were born 2 days apart! Its been neat watching them grown and seeing the differences in them even though they are the same age! And they couldn't look more different!

first time meeting

camping at 6 months

reading books together at 1 year old

waiting to ride the ferris wheel at Heritage park- 2.5 years old

January 12, 2013-"Flashback weekend"

    These are pictures of Lucas meeting his great grandpa's for the first time. We feel very blessed that he has had the chance to know at least two sets of great grandparents! He loves them to death!

2nd great grandchild for Grandpa Majak..he now has 5 with 2 more on the way!

4th great grandchild for Opa (Schanzenbach)..he now has 6 with one more on the way!

January 11, 2013- "Train table"

For Christmas we bought Lucas a train/city table...and he just got it today! Good thing he has no inclination of time! With the reno's happening over Christmas there was no where to put it and now there finally was...eventually by the end of today the living room was back to its original self and his table nicely put along the wall. He loves it so far and has all his other trains and cars loaded on the tracks! There is lots of crashing and flying noises going on! I love toys that involve imagination!

January 10, 2013- "Snow"

 Lots of snow today so Lucas was kicked outside...actually he wanted to go play even though it was by himself! I love when he goes out..I just hate the 15 minutes it takes to get him dressed!! He played for a good 30 mins until it was starting to get too dark.

Making a snow angel

It took too much effort to get dressed myself and follow him outside so I made him make a snow angel in front of the steps and I took one from the door....and I froze!

January 9, 2013- "Soupy kind of day"

It was a day spent in the kitchen! Baked Oatmeal for breakfast, slow cooker bbq beef for supper and a giant pot of soup for freezing for me and another friend expecting a baby! My stock pot almost was not big enough to fit the soup recipe that I doubled! Tomorrow I think calls for a break from the kitchen..at least my legs think so! Lucas actually played really well by himself today for the most part besides asking for his daddy every half hour...so that involved a quick trip to take daddy some starbucks and get some daddy hugs in. He is having a hard time adjusting to Reuben being back at work after being off for Christmas holidays for over 3 weeks!

the hidden ingredient in the soup...7 zuchinni's!

the results

chilling on the couch and putting my swollen feet up!!

January 8, 2013 ``Pizza``

Somewhere amongst the tiredness yesterday I was actually able to meal plan for the week. One of my new favorite places to pull recipes from is pioneerwoman.com. She has some great recipes and lots of pictures to go with them. Anyhoo tonights dinner was one of her recipes..homemade bbq chicken pizza. The only downfall was that she didn`t post her recipe for her pizza crust...so I just grabbed a quick one out of a cookbook that I had. I would give the recipe 3.5 stars...as it would have been better with a different crust. So if anyone has any great and wonderful pizza crust recipe..PLEASE share!!! Otherwise it was tasty and was nice knowing that there wasn`t any added junk in it!

Anytime the mixer goes on...he is there!!! Love..perhaps?

He really wanted to help the mixer mix...had to keep an eye on him and than the spoon got confinscated!

The pizza

January 7, 2013 ``Stamps``

I finally cleared our kitchen table off today so that it could be a little more usable for other things other than holding tools and kitchen parts. So Lucas finally was able to play with his stamp set that he received for Christmas....

Learning how the things worked...

the aftermath of learning how the stamps worked....we r getting there!

I`m very glad they make these things washable...however..I believe he did receive another craft set which doesn`t include washable paints....they r now located on a high shelf!!! :P

January 6, 2013 ``2 years ago``

                               Monkey man 2 years ago today! Crazy how fast they grow!

January 5, 2013- "3 years ago"

    I thought it would be fun to change things up just a little with this project...and since I have so many pictures I decided that it would be fun to make the weekend "flashback" weekend. So on this day 3 years ago we were at the PLC hospital with our little man. He had to go back to the hospital only 3 short days after he was born because his Jaundice had gotten worse and not better..it was not a fun night/day but we made it through!

Suntanning early!

January 4, 2013 "Hard worker"

  The Kitchen is nearing completion and all thanks to my hubby who is very talented in so many ways! He is definately what you would call a Jack of all trades and has done absolutely everything himself with some help from our neighbor as well. I bet Reuben is looking forward to going back to work so that he can have a break from the house!! I wish that I had taken full before pictures to compare to the after ones when it is done..but oh well. Its quite something to have a kitchen gutted and everything redone! Especially over Christmas..haha! Thanks Babe for all your hard work!!

Doing the backsplash

January 3, 2013 "Bubbles"

    Today, unfortunately, was mostly spent inside. Not because the weather wasn't nice but because when I woke up I felt like a truck had hit me! The after effects of yesterday..but it was so worth it to see the happy smiles on Lucas' face! The house is still a bit of a mess with Reno's happening that the usual things that Lucas likes to do can't be done..so creativity comes into play at time. So as I was unpacking a few more things into the kitchen I found all the bubbles from the summer. Lucas was rather ecstatic to play with them! Luckily they kept him entertained for a good while..however I had to remind him how to blow them and to stop putting the wand almost in his mouth...mmmm...bubbles! And of course he makes the best pucker face!!

Oh to have his eyelashes!

And yes that is a sneak peak of the cabinets and floor....I will post pictures when all is said and done!

January 2, 2013- Birthday day!

   Today called for a few more pictures than just one as Lucas turned 3 today. We spent the day as a family by going out for breakfast and than to the zoo. The zoo was great..not too cold and not too crowded! And the animals were all lively and fun to watch! Later Lucas' aunt and cousin came over as well as our neighbors and we had dinner, cupcakes and a couple gifts! I still can't believe that he is 3! (the attitude kinda gives it away though!!) Sidenote: We saw the hippos without him hiding in the stroller screaming that they are scary...apparently he thought that were going to eat him! Makes sense I guess....big mouth....

The penguins were outside and oh so adorable to watch in the snow and ice!!

Lucas always has to see the buffalo

Fascinated by the otters

He tried so hard to blow that sparkler out!

   And now I will need a day to recover from all the walking....at least cold air keeps swelling down and compression stockings pose as long underwear!! :P

New Year Challenge

     Because I love to take pictures I thought it would be fun to do the 365 day challenge. A friend of mine did it and it has inspired me to try my own. Photography is a hobby of mine and this will encourage me to spend more time with my Nikon and learn more tricks with it! My lovely husband got me another lens for Christmas and I am in love with it so far. It is a harder lens to use indoors but because I love to take the majority of my pictures outside in natural light it will be perfect! The downside is it being winter outside and me being 7 months preggers and feeling all that flexible to capture the shots I like...Soon enough I will have another little one to use as a model! Lucas is a mover and makes it always challenging to capture those special moments of his personality. The second he sees the camera he runs! I was able to capture a couple tonight in his new favorite spot. His big boy bed. His daddy built this for him and he is head over heels in love to the point that he hates going anywhere else cause he misses his bed so much! The plus side of this bed is that he has to climb to get into it as it is a loft bed..which makes it great to stash all his toys underneath and it serves as playground equipment as well!! We don't call him monkey man for nothing!

The innocent look 2 seconds before he chucked all his stuffies at my head

His Lambie and his favorite