Luke is 10

**This is my second attempt at this post. I had it nearly completed when a sweet little girl decided to help me type and DELETED the ENTIRE THING!!!!!***

This post is for Luke who turned 10 years old THIS summer and I never blogged about it! This shows you how far behind I really am on my blog! Boy do I feel like a bad mom :-(

So here is my sweet baby boy!

School picture September 2010 - Boy does time fly!

On June 16th at 8:37 a.m. our second son, Luke, was born. He was 2 weeks early and weighed in at 8lb 3oz. He looked so small compared to his brother. Luke had the sweetest little smile and the most adorable giggle. He was such a happy and content baby. He only cried when he was hungry, tired, or needed to be changed. One thing about Luke is that he spit up ALL THE TIME! He would go through multiple outfits a day and soak 10 receiving blankets DAILY. I gave up using burp clothes early on as they were WAY too small to deal with the amount of liquid this little guy would spit up in a day. I did a load of Luke laundry everyday. When we were in the car, I would hear Martin say "OOOHHHHH LUKE!!!!!!" and that meant that Luke had puked ALL over the place. I would stop and he would be all smiles covered in puke. Fun times......I sure don't miss those days. We lovingly nicknamed the boy Pukey Lukey.

It was fun to watch Luke with his brother. Boy did they get into trouble together and still do. They are 19 months apart and keep me very busy. I remember one day when Luke looked at his brother and told him "You are NOT MY BOSS!". Martin, acted as though he was and Luke wanted to set him straight. Martin, did all the talking for Luke, so when Luke finally started talking he was talking in complete sentences and knew exactly what he wanted to say.

Luke has such a tender and compassionate heart. Hurting people, starving people, orphans, etc all have a special place in his heart. He is also a great helper. Luke, will always jump right in when there is a project to be done. You don't even have to ask him to help. He loves to give his time and money whenever he can. I love seeing these qualities develop in him.

To watch Luke with his sister, Alesha is priceless. He adores her. The wait for her to finally come home was very painful for him. To see the joy that she brings to his face is so fun to see. He can make Alesha laugh harder than anybody in the house. They have a special bond and I love to see that grow day by day.

Luke we love you so much and are proud to be your parents. We look forward to what God has planned for you as you continue to grow in Him. Happy Birthday!

Every year we go to Luke's favorite place, Red Robin, for his birthday dinner. Here he is all smiles with his birthday sundae.

Me with the birthday boy!

The crazy brothers!

I love a good bargain

I have enjoyed over the last year getting some really good deals by clipping coupons, pairing them with store sales and store rewards. Here are a couple of purchases I made recently. It takes some time and planning, but it is so nice to save a ton of money and at times have the store actually pay you money to shop with them :-)

The total price for the above items $16.27

Total for the above items $0.92!!!

Martin turns 12

Time sure goes by FAST!

Around 3 months

September 2010

I cannot believe that I am a mom to a 12 year old!!!! On November 6, 1998 at 3:19 p.m. I set my eyes upon our first born son. He was WAY bigger than I had expected. 9lb 3oz!!!! Keep in mind I am only 5 feet tall. He had the most adorable features, most notable were his BIG brown eyes and EXTREMELY long eye lashes. I knew he would be full of energy as he was NEVER still in the womb. Martin was my non-napper! He slept through the night, but would not take a nap. This made for REALLY long days as he was quite the busy boy! He was running at 9 months old, climbing on everything, frustrated that he couldn't talk yet, and had the most adorable laugh

and smile. I remember at about 2 years old he set out on the counter bread, peanut butter, jelly, a butter knife, and said "Mommy, I am hungry!"

As the years have gone by he has made me laugh more times than I can remember. We have butted heads more times than I would like to remember, too :-) I have watched Martin grow into a wonderful young man. He still has his wonderful laugh, great smile, and those amazing eyes that to this day get comments like "Do you know that women would DIE for those lashes!", "Those are the most amazing eyes I have ever seen", etc. etc. To these comments when Martin was younger he would just roll those BIG brown eyes, but over time he now responds with a thank you :-)

I have loved to see how children just seem to be drawn to Martin. Little ones follow him around and want to be as close to him as they can when he is around. He is amazing with Alesha. She adores him and he makes sure she is safe and loves to play with her. It warms my heart when he asks her for a hug goodbye in the morning before he leaves for school and she lays her head on his chest and to see the smile it brings to his face is absolutely precious.

It has been fun to watch him excel at playing the guitar. He plays the electric and acoustic guitar, electric bass, and he started this year in school playing the stand up string bass. He has such a love for music. His love for drawing is also being displayed in his projects for school this year. I am impressed by what I see. It will be fun to see how the Lord uses these gifts he has given Martin in the years to come.

Martin, your dad and I feel honored to be your parents. We are thankful for the relationship you have with Jesus. We pray that you will continue to seek Him in the years to come. Happy Birthday, son. We love you!