The Lucks

Pictures By Hannah Byrd

2012-01-28T21:41:00.000-05:00

Sweet Hannah Byrd, who just welcomed a second precious little girl into her family, took some wonderful pictures of our family (while 9mo pregnant...God bless her!) We are so grateful for her talent and willingness to take pictures of our crazy little family. Braden had a 104 degree temp during these pictures (I know, worse mother of the year award to me. But I knew our chance with Hannah was running short since her little girl was on the way, the holidays were a week away, and we couldn't, and still can't, keep Braden healthy to save our lives!) Hannah did a wonderful job. Here are some of the pictures she took mid December...yes, it has taken way too long for me to post, but like I said, it has not been for lack of effort!

Our precious little man. Smiling, despite the fact that he was sick. He is certainly our little charmer. When we are out, people ALWAYS ask me, "Does he always smile this much?" My answer is always a resounding, "YES!"

Sweet Adelyn :)

This is where Steven & I got engaged 6 years ago on Jan 26th. It was sweet to get some pictures there with the two of us. And then some with our whole family!

And in case you were wondering, the only reason that we got any smiles from our children in these pictures, is b/c of my dear mother. She has a way of getting these kids to smile, even in the depths of sickness. She is wonderful, and dearly loved by my children. (and I think she may have gotten one of the best pictures in the whole series!)

Hope you enjoyed them!!!

technical difficulties

2012-01-28T21:09:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. It is not for lack of effort. Blogger is making it impossible for me to upload pictures, so I am trying to figure it all out. I promise that there are some great pictures to come, and I have not forgotten about the blog!

Oh, Braden :)

2012-01-01T21:38:00.001-05:00

Braden loves to dance, smile, snap (at least a attempt to snap) and has been waving and saying "bye-bye." And Adelyn likes to tell him what to do, of course.) Fortunately, Ashley caught it on video while I was working. So cute!

We've Been Busy

2011-12-15T23:01:00.004-05:00

Sorry I have been so bad about updating the blog, but we've been busy. We have about 10 house projects going on right now, on top of it being the holidays, Braden having a head to toe rash, and our already busy schedule...So, blogging has not been my top priority. Here's a glimpse at what we have been doing.


Steven has been patching the holes that have been in our ceiling for about 6 months from our plumbing being replaced...next will be painting the kitchen cabinets...thank goodness Ashley has a few weeks off from school!

Replacing the faucet in the sink, with Adelyn's help (?), of course

Playgroup, playdates, trips to the Richmond discovery museum, and preschool coop are all keeping this girl busy!

Adelyn loves her friends, Kinley and Lilly Kate

I imagine we will be seeing that face a lot from Adelyn in the future...she's either mad that I'm taking her picture or that her little brother is trying to play with her friends...who knows!

Braden has been eating a whole lot, only, it's not always stuff he should be eating. Either that nuts or mac and cheese he's found on the floor, the napkins in the cabinet, or something he actually should be eating is causing a head to toe rash. We have cut out all solids except sweet potatoes and avocado (and are being more careful about sweeping and vacuuming.) We have also washed all of his clothes b/c it might be the detergent I have been using...who knows. Sweet boy looks miserable, though. We took him to the doctor today and they definitely think it is related to a food or environmental sensitivity.

My pile of baby boys clothes I am washing...no fun.

And my little project for our mantle. Still in progress, but OK for now.

Brad Arms (1984-2004) We miss you!

2011-11-19T22:03:00.001-05:00


image credit Brad Arms passed away 7 years ago today, and oh, how we miss him. He was a smiley, fun, passionate, and kind kid. Steven and I had the privilege of going to school and church with Brad growing up. Brad was an incredibly hard worker, a great athlete, and a kind friend. He was always thinking about other people and was willing to put himself below others in order to care for them. Brad went to Georgia for College (where we heard he was quite the ladies man...but look at that picture and I am sure you can see why) and he also served in the US Marines. He was strong, both in mind and body. He was passionate, and that passion is what led him to sacrifice his life in order to save the life of a fellow marine while serving in Iraq. We are so proud of him, and we miss him. When Brad died, Steven and I were not dating. But in going to Brad's funeral, and spending time with each other and other high school friends after his death, we were reminded of how much we cared about each other. Shortly after his death, we started dating again and we definitely attribute so much of our getting back together to Brad. We are so grateful for him. And our gratefulness is what led us to name our son, Braden after Brad. He was named for Brad. While it is not his exact name, his name is intended to be in memory of him, because we love him, are proud of him, and hope that our son (and family) can learn from him and can one day grow into the passionate, loving, and Godly man that Brad was. (update: How we chose Braden: The etymology of -en is that it is a "Suffix meaning 'pertaining to', 'having the qualities of', 'like'" (site). We hope that Braden can grow up to have the qualities of Brad, hence, Brad-en) .Thank you, Brad, for blessing us with your life and death. Thank you, Bob and Betty Arms for sharing your sweet boy with us. We miss you, love you, and are so incredible grateful for you, Brad Arms.

Bob and Betty Arms came to meet Braden a few days after he was born.

Braden is already starting to resemble his name sake. He is smiley, ambitious, and strong. We look forward to telling Braden more and more about Brad as he gets older.

Date with Daddy; Braden is 7months!

2011-11-15T22:11:00.001-05:00

So this post is a bit late, but as always, things are a bit busy around here. Since Braden was born, Steven has been taking Adelyn on outings every couple of weeks so that they can have some special daddy/daughter time. They usually get Christian's pizza and ice cream and talk about their day or whatever comes out of her little 2 year old mouth. This past week, he took her out and I painted her nails for the first time so that she could look especially pretty on their date :) She loved it!
Last week, we also had the privilege of having a sleep over with Henry Kelly, who is precious and sweet, and we all love!
And last but not least, Braden is 7months old. He is smiley, energetic, and busy! He continues to adore it sister, although they fight a bit more b/c he can crawl over and take Adelyn's toys. She usually says to him, "No buddy, no buddy, that's not yours." It can be really nice b/c she takes things from him that he shouldn't be playing with, or warns me if he's getting into things. It is really fun to watch them interact and actually start to play together!

Headed out for their date.

Showing me her painted nails

We brought the pack-n-play downstairs so that I can contain Braden if I need to do something and can't supervise him all the time, but Adelyn has decided it is going to be her play space. If you notice the pink chair next to the crib, that is how she gets into it.

Play time with HENRY! (And, yes, I dressed them all in overalls, but don't they look so cute!)

7 months old!

attempted to get away from my photo shoot. I had to drop the camera and grab him a couple times before he leaped off the bed.

Playing Piano! His favorite new activity. He loves to crawl over to it and bang on it. My little piano man!

Halloween

2011-11-11T13:56:00.001-05:00

So this post is super late, but I didn't have the halloween pictures, my mom did, so I finally got my act together and am posting from her computer. Anyway, we had lots of fun on Halloween, continuing our tradition of going to the lawn. We didn't do any trick-or-treating in our neighborhood b/c the houses all sit on 2 acres, and we would have gotten half way to one house and then Adelyn would have given up, so instead we enjoyed the kind students who were handing out candy on the lawn only 10 steps away from each other. My parents came to the lawn to see the kids and got to take Adelyn around, which was wonderful because then I could talk to friends and didn't have to fight the crowds, and they got to be with her and Kate. All of Adelyn's friends dressed as monkeys (by chance, not on purpose) and were super cute. We decided last minute to do some VERY homemade costumes, so Adelyn went as Princess Leia and Braden was an Ewok. By the time the pictures were taken, Adelyn's hair had come down for the most part, but I thought they looked pretty cute/silly :)

At one point Steven asked Adelyn if he could have a piece of her candy, and she looked at him and said, "No Daddy" and pointing to one of the lawn rooms, "They are just giving it away over there." IE why would you take my candy when they are just handing it out over there?

Weekend at Grami and Pop's House

2011-10-23T17:21:00.002-04:00

This weekend, Adelyn and Braden spent the weekend at Grami and Pop Rock's house, while I got to go to Julie Dilworth's wedding in Knoxville, TN. I had a lot of fun on my baby free weekend, hanging out with my girlfriends from college (poor Steven had to work), but I think the kids also had lots of fun with Grami, Pop Rock, Aunt Catherine, and their Cousins, who also stayed the night on Friday. They had a big sleep over, lots of play time, and even got to go the the UVA football game all dressed in their orange and blue. I think everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Grami and her 4 grandkids. She is one brave woman!

Pop arrived late Friday night (around 3am) and awoke to this sweet chaos...no sleeping in for him! (Joshua was not so sure of everything...sweet boy )

The babies (who look so much alike, I think. It is like having Robert and Steven as babies.) Joshua is going to catch up to Braden soon, I think!

Adelyn loves her cousin Joshua

This girl can eat!

Steven helped out after he got off work. I'm sure he had fun reading to the big kids, but he also love calming his baby nephew, Joshua, and putting him to bed on Friday night.

Braden was apparently very interested in Joshua. He and Adelyn are equally obsessed with him, I guess

Braden is almost crawling!

Tub time!

Getting ready for the game...how cute are they!

UNCLE WILL!

Fun at the game (for the kids at least :) )

Braden 6 Months!

2011-10-16T22:13:00.002-04:00

My sweet boy turned 6 months old! He is such a joy, and while 5-7pm are not his best time of day, most of the day he is happy, and smiley, and easily entertained. He is well loved by his big sister, who often picks him up onto her lap and is constantly saying, "I want my Braden! Can I have my Braden, Mommy." He loves putting everything (literally) in his mouth, and he is also loves to be heard. He has found his voice and likes to grunt loudly, especially in the car. Last week, I was driving the two kiddos home and Braden started saying "Bah!" loudly. Then Addie said, "Shhh, Braden" which Braden welcomed as an invitation to yell louder. So my entire ride home was filled with Braden yelling "Bah" and Adelyn responding with, "SHH Braden." I didn't know whether to laugh or go crazy...I had to laugh!

He has been doing a great job sitting up, going from laying to sitting, and just moving all around. This stage is wonderful because he can entertain himself so much better. He is much happier sitting. And, I am grateful he is not crawling yet!

This sweet boy is so smiley. I just love it!

The beginning of the end for the 6 month sign...

The sign did not make it through the photoshoot...oh well.

Apple Picking and Brush Fire

2011-10-16T21:44:00.001-04:00

Last Friday, Adelyn, Braden, Lisee, and I went Apple picking at Charter's mountain. It was lots of fun, and we enjoyed the warm weather, beautiful views, and delicious apples. When we first got there, I was planning on getting lunch, but unfortunately they do not serve lunch on weekdays, so we settled on donuts and apple cider. (What 2 year old wouldn't just love that for lunch!) Adelyn thoroughly enjoyed this lunch, and while sitting on a bench, looking out over the mountain, and shoving her face with donuts, we heard her say, "THIS is Apple picking!" with such enthusiasm in her voice that we about peed our pants. It was hilarious! She had discovered that apple picking was eating donuts and drinking cider, and she would have been happy if it stopped there. Of course, when we started the actual apple picking, the apples were too high, sun too hot, and hills to steep. My little girl is ALL girl, and I love her for it (even though I was the biggest tom boy there was growing up!)

Clearly she did a lot of eating! That apple looks bigger than her tiny head :)

and more eating...

riding in the cart "agether" (as addie likes to say)

my smiley boy :) He has loved the apples! They made great applesauce!

Onto other fun happenings...

We have been very busy during our weeks with playgroup and Addie's preschool coop. This week Adelyn pulled out her UVA cheerleaders poster by herself so that she could show her friends her Uncle Will. She is so proud!

Braden has enjoyed having playgroup at our house, too. Not only is he incredible well loved by all the girls, he also gets styled well by them!

Over the past few weeks we have had several bonfires, an attempt to get rid of a large brush pile that was left for us by the people who used to own our house. Braden loves sitting out by the fire and watching Daddy work. He is going to be a great helper when he gets older!

Thanks Auntie Megan for my hat!!!

Fun with Siblings

2011-10-02T16:27:00.000-04:00

So, I am just loving this faze with Addie and Braden b/c they are really interacting a lot together and enjoying one another. Adelyn tries to "pick up" Braden all the time and then roll around with him, kissing him and saying, "you're a handsome boy, you're so sweet, I love you Braden." Braden is learning to be tough as his sister smothers him, and Addie is learning to be sweet because Braden loves to pull her hair and grab her face. Life with two continues to be very busy, but lots of fun, as Braden learns new tricks, like eating solids, sitting up well, and practicing crawling. Adelyn surprises me every day with the things she has learned and the new songs she loves to sing (Like "Doe a Deer" from The sounds of Music...her new favorite.) With all the busyness, I am constantly trying remember to stop and appreciate the gifts the Lord has given us. I am very grateful for my job right now, because, although it takes me away from the kids and Steven which is no fun, the break away helps me to gain perspective. And, we are, as always, grateful for our family who constantly help us and give us the little breaks away from the kids that are so necessary. Here are some pics I took of the kids together.

Crawling practice! He started getting up on his hands and knees and rocking at around 5 months. He is going to wear me out. I would like him to wait until he is 12months to crawl...that would make my life a lot less hectic. And I wouldn't have to baby proof as much. Adelyn just never really "got into" things...Braden is going to tear the place apart when he can move, I think. At least he's a happy baby!

A few weeks ago, we all went to the Lawn to visit with Uncle Will, have lunch (at Take-it-Away of course), and enjoy a little sunshine.

Braden loves our stroller b/c he gets to sit up high in front. Adelyn loves it b/c she gets to sit down low away from the sun. These kids couldn't be more different when it comes to personality.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!

2011-09-06T21:52:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, was Steven's birthday! We had lots of fun celebrating over the weekend with the whole Luck family (since it was also Bob's and Williams birthday over the weekend.) We did one of Steven's all time favorite activities, going to a UVA football game! And fortunately, the Cavs won, giving Steven the best birthday present he could ask for. We absolutely love you, Daddy! So in honor of you, we have a photo shoot of you, the babes, and all orange and blue!

singing the good ole song

Love you, Daddy!

Braden is 5 months...already!! (time is flying by!)

2011-09-06T20:51:00.001-04:00

Our sweet Braden is 5 months old, and I just can't believe how much time flies. He is sweet and smiley, and has become so much fun. He is sleeping much better, though still a little bit unpredictable. He went to his very first UVA football game this past weekend and, not surprisingly, loved it! He loved the colors, all the people, and of course, watching football. He loves to move, jump, and stand, and he also has started babbling a lot. This boy is going to keep me on my toes!

Braden is 5 months old! I just can't believe it.

The boy refused to sit down for the photo shoot, so I had to take some pictures with him standing up.

Must have a pic of sweet Addie, too. She is very 2 and wonderful and challenging and changing every day. She still loves to sing, count, read, and learn. She is sassy and sweet and loves everything baby. Recently, she has loved role play, and calls me Addie and her Emily. She says, "Say, 'Hi Emily.'" Her newest obsession is her cousin Joshua, whom she talks about all the time and couldn't get enough of at the football game. We couldn't imagine life without both of our sweet babies!

Beach and Braden is 4months!

2011-08-13T20:44:00.011-04:00

This post is long over due, but we have been super busy recently. On July 21st, Steven and I had our 5 year anniversary (what?!? 5 years?!? My how time flies!) We were so excited to celebrate by having a nice, quite evening just the two of us. We went out to eat at a yummy restaurant and planned to leave for the beach 2 days later and enjoy a little R&R with the Wood and McNerney clans. Well...my crab cakes I enjoyed at dinner had other plans...And Steven and I ended up with wicked food poisoning that knocked us out for 3 days, and finally landed us both in the ER to get some fluids, antibiotics, and anti nausea medication. (Fortunately, Adelyn was already at the beach, and Sandra Luck was my saving grace and took care of Braden, bringing him to me to nurse him, putting him down for naps, and spending the night just in case he woke up...my hero!) Once we regained a little bit of strength, we packed our bags and headed to the beach (4 days late) and figured we would feel better out of the house. We loved our time with family, but were still a bit sick, so I didn't take many pictures. There are several on Facebook that I will try to get eventually from the McNerney fam, but here are a few from the week.

Addie loves playing in the sand :)

And Braden slept beautifully in his tent by the ocean

Bundle baby!

This boy loved the beach, I think mostly b/c there were so many people there to smile at him

Eating Popsicles with Poppy

After the beach, I spent a day in VaBeach with some amazing college friends. Megan, Jen, Ashley, Julie, and I all hung out at Megan's house, enjoyed some time by the pool, and spent hours talking and catching up on eachother's lives. Braden got to come too, and he played with Noah and Micah, Megan's too wonderful boys. He also started rolling from his back to his front while we were there and he hasn't stopped since!

When I got back from vacations, we had Braden's 4 month appointment. He is growing well and doing great! He is smiley, laughs all the time, and is such a joy. While he still isn't the best sleeper, he is doing much better, and is definitely more predictable. Once he learned to roll, we had to stop swaddling him b/c he rolls all over the place and scooches himself around his crib and the floor. Sleep was rough right after we got rid of the swaddle b/c he loved it, but now he is used to it and loves to sleep on his tummy (often with his face down which totally freaks me out, but he's fine.) He loves grabbing his feet, kicking things, and standing all the time! He also adores his sister and smiles any time she is around. His little bald head is totally kissable, though he is starting to get a little bit of blond hair. I foresee my life changing drastically in the next few months as this child learns to move, so I'm trying to enjoy the fact that I can put him down, and he will be in the same room, at least, when I come back. (often under the couch or across the floor...but at least in the same room :) ). Here are some pics from his 4 month photo shoot.

Attempting to take pictures...

that's how he ended up...oh help me!

Sweet face. :)

(this is a picture of Steven as a baby...I think they look similar...what do you think?)

And b/c we can't forget our sweet Addie, she is now fully a 2 year old. She is sweet, firey, and wants to do everything herself. She likes putting her own shoes on, putting her baby to bed, and reading her books (by herself.) Every night before bed, I sing her "Holy, Holy, Holy", "Amazing Grace", and "Jesus Loves Me". Her favorite book right now is God Knows Me, and she has memorized it, which is adorable b/c there is a part that says, "God knows (loves) me, God knows me. He walks with me and talks with me. God knows me." My precious, independent girl!

Joshua Dennis Luck and Anne Ryland Brown

2011-07-16T09:49:00.007-04:00

The newest addition to the Luck family, Joshua Dennis Luck, made a slightly early appearance (38weeks) on July 8th. We are so excited to have a new nephew/cousin, and we had the joy of going and visiting him on Monday. He is absolutely PRECIOUS and Adelyn has been singing a song she made up titled "Joshua" all week. She couldn't stop giving him hugs and kisses (we had to basically peel her off him at times.) Robert if a fabulous big brother and we are so blessed to have these two sweet boys in our lives.

Joshua Dennis Luck

Oh my goodness...Look at that face!!!

Lauren and her daddy, Dennis, who Joshua was named after.

While I snuggled the baby and talked with Lauren, the dads and "bigger" kids were on the porch eating (devouring) lunch. (My favorite part of this picture is the that the 2 kiddos are eating their sandwiches at the same time. One shoving it into his mouth, the other taking a very small bite. They adore each other despite their vast differences :) )

Robert saying "cheeseburger"...probably not the best way to get him to smile (Adelyn is looking at me like, "what in the world is going on here mom?")

"Was that necessary Robert?"

Sweet Braden :)

What a fabulous big brother!!!

Then the photo shoot of the dads and their kids. My loves!

So precious!!

Look at that handsome Luck Family!!

Next stop in Richmond was to go see my friend, Chris Brown's, new baby girl, Anne Rylan Brown, who was born approximately 3 hours before Joshua. She made a very early appearance (at 36weeks) but weighed over 6lbs so was healthy and able to come home with her mommy and daddy. She is truly gorgeous!

future girlfriend?...(If Braden hadn't been sleeping, I'm sure it would have been love at first sight!)

We even got to see her with her eyes open!

Adelyn wasn't sure at first....

But when she found out we weren't bringing her home, she was very excited to see her :)

The car ride home after a very hectic day...eating chocolate and watching movies way past nap time...you gotta do what you gotta do!

Braden 3 Months Old

2011-07-08T21:35:00.007-04:00

My sweet boy turned 3 months old last week! I can't believe it. He is a precious, smiley, expressive baby, who is adored by his older sister. He started laughing last week, sucking his thumb (although he has no idea what to do with the rest of his fingers and they often end up driving him crazy) and even rolling over. And it is a good thing that he has such a darling face b/c this boy is a pistol when it comes to sleep. He was sleeping well at night and not taking great naps, but then he started waking at night and taking VERY short naps and driving me crazy! But every morning I look at his sweet face and can't help but smile and fall in love again. Precious boy....SLEEP!!!
I did a little 3 month photo shoot with him so you can enjoy all the pics at our shutterfly share site:
http://bradenluck.shutterfly.com/pictures/184

But here are some that I love:

She adores him...so sweet :)

This one is my favorite :)

My two precious babes

Look at those beautiful blue eyes...LOVE

Father's Day

2011-06-25T21:26:00.007-04:00

This Father's Day, Steven had to work on his "blitz" all day long, so Braden and I stopped by the job site to see how things were going. After that, we headed to watch the UVA baseball game at the Lucks and play with cousin Rob. We finished out the fun day at the pool where the Fathers finally showed up! My dad was out of town at a wedding that afternoon, but he was dearly missed. Adelyn did get to spend Friday and Saturday with him, though, so she was super happy!

At the job site. Braden was sleeping happily in the Moby wrap :) (btw, I got a massage from Mrs. Kluge while I was there. Not every day that you get a massage from a billionaire's wife!)

My dad and Braden (I had to get one of Poppy in here :) )

The whole Luck clan.

Daddy and his kiddos!

Driving Uncle Will's Jeep

Pop and Braden

The Dad's coming to see there kiddos at the pool...finally!

Adelyn reached for this ball and went face first into the water. I was taking the picture and then realized she was under water, swimming to try to get up, so I started yelling, "she's under, she's under" and aunt Catherine came to the rescue! Thanks Aunt Catherine...you're a great lifeguard!)

Braden was sad that Addie fell in :(

YAY UVA baseball (so sad they lost last night...both b/c they lost and I stayed up late to watch it)

Both of my kiddos looking up to their older cousin

More from the wedding weekend!

2011-06-25T21:08:00.002-04:00

STOP TAKING PICTURES MOM!!!

Tummy time in the airport.

We finally made it on the plane after 6hrs in the airport...Braden is clearly happy

At Animal Kingdom:
Watching the Lion King Show. Braden loved it until he got incredibly overstimulated and then started screaming. Fortunately it was so loud that you couldn't hear him cry.

on the safari ride

Her Minnie Mouse hat (I love it!)

Miles and Sarah's Wedding

2011-06-17T21:25:00.006-04:00

Our friends, Miles and Sarah, got married last weekend. It was a beautiful wedding in Orlando, Fla, and our whole family got to go! Steven, Adelyn, Braden, and I flew down there on Thursday and back on Monday and it was a long and wonderful weekend. While the flights were HORRENDOUS, the time in Orlando was fun, and we loved spending time with friends. You would think that our travel was so horrible b/c of traveling with a 10week old and a 2 year old, but Oh no, it was the delays! We were supposed to arrive in Orlando at 9:30pm but instead, we got there at 1:00...what!!! A 2 year old staying up until 1:00am...yikes! Couldn't get worse, right? Well, on our trip home we were stuck in Charlotte for 6hrs! We were supposed to get home at 12:30pm and go to the amazing UVA baseball game, but instead, we got home at 7:00. Yes, I said 7:00pm. But the wedding was ABSOLUTELY worth it, and we were so excited to celebrate Sarah and Miles. Adelyn and Steven were honored to be a part of the wedding, and I even got to be the "oldest flower girl ever" as Steven said. (Adelyn walked 1/4th of the way down a VERY long isle and then decided she couldn't see any one she knew, the promise of candy wasn't good enough, and wasn't going to go any further, so I walked her the rest of the way down.) Adelyn was a precious flower girl, and I was so proud of how well she handled everything. (I was also proud of Steven, of course, for being a great groomsman :) ).
We also got to go to Animal Kingdom, and that was lots of fun. We got to see lots of fun animals, and go to a fabulous Lion King show.
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera...total bummer...but fortunately Anna Kate brought hers, so I was able to get a few pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

The precious couple!

After the Wedding and waiting for the bus to the reception.
Waiting to walk down the isle. Her favorite place over the weekend was in Braden's car seat.

Playing with Nate.

Sweet Braden spent the whole weekend in my Moby wrap. Thank goodness for such a wonderful wrap!

She held her flower basket like a purse...while she was walking down the isle...precious!!

Practicing walking down the isle.

At the rehersal dinner...such a serious face Steven!

This is how Adelyn ate 90% of her meals...on the go...she is so flexible!

Swimming with Nate.

At Animal Kingdom. Look at that cute face! (My pictures of Braden wont load for some reason...forgive me...but he was precious as well)

Sleeping in the airport in Charlotte...on the floor...b/c she just finally lost it. It was about 3:00 and there was nothing else to entertain her. Steven and I were so grateful that she took a nap b/c it would have been a rough ride for everyone in the plane had she not. Fortunately, Braden slept beautifully in the Moby wrap.

Addie Turned 2 y.o. and Braden Turned 2 months old!

2011-05-31T15:08:00.010-04:00

Last Thursday our precious girl turned 2y.o.! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. It has truly been an honor to be this little girl's mom and to watch her grow. She has lots of spunk and personality, but she is also very sweet. She loves her family well (including all of her extended family) and she loves to give hugs and kisses (most of the time). She also loves to tell me what to do, and usually will listen if I tell her what to do. The things that come out of her mouth are typically hilarious and sometimes I wonder where she gets them from. Here are some examples:
- In the car with Skip today, after he puts her seat belt on and sat next to her: "Buckle up skip"
- while putting on her shoes. "I'm putting my shoes on and going to go for a run" - I don't run, never said that, have no idea where she got that from.
- One of my favorites: while intently watching Ashley put on make-up one morning she said "Ashwee, you're beautiful." Melt my heart! Then later on, she was watching me get ready for church and said, "Mommy, your beautiful." "Thank you," I said, and then turned to her to tell her she is beautiful too, but instead I see her with hands raised in the air, fingers pointing to herself and she said, "Addie's beautiful too, Mommy." Yes my sweet girl, you are beautiful!
~the list could go on and on, and her crazy words make my days a lot more fun.

On the 29th we had a small family birthday for her. That was the day Braden also turned 2months old, so there was lots to celebrate. Here are some pictures from the party. On her actual birthday, we went to Skips graduation, so I will post pictures from that later.

"I'm two!"

Sweet face

Daddy at the grill

Cuddling with Braden

The Cake. (this was my second attempt b/c the first time I tried I put 3/4 lb of butter in instead of 3/4 cup....whoops! It was late at night....)

I know I taught her better manners than that!!

Ahh....maybe not....

When you ask her how old she is, she points her two pointer fingers and says, "I'm 2!" It's cute!

Our neighbors Pete and Rachel came to join us with their son Owen who is 10 days older than Braden. The boys already love playing on their mats together. They are going to be best buds!

This girl LOVES watermelon!

Opening presents with Sam,

And Grami.

After everyone ate, it was time to go inside and open more presents. Adelyn got this wonderful kitchen from Lisee, Poppy, DeeDee and Sam! She loves it.

To go with the kitchen theme, I bought us matching aprons. She wore hers all day yesterday!

Listening to her precious book with Grandpa Sam. My mom, dad, Skip, Ashley, Sam and Dee all recorded their voices to her in a book. It brings tears to my eyes when I hear it b/c it is so sweet.

She also got this tunnel from Grami and Pop that is so much fun and literally entertained her for 1hr on Monday! I love that kind of toy!!

4 Generations!

Addie loves her Uncle Skip!

And we of course have to celebrate our sweet Braden turning 2 months old!
This precious boy is all smiles these days, and he especially loves smiling at his Daddy. It is fun to see his personality evolve, and while he is still not a great sleeper, he is fabulous at snuggling. He is really starting to fill out and I love kissing his chunky cheeks!

Staring at Great Grandma DeeDee

Sweet boy!

Cuddles from Addie

Braden with DeeDee and Sam

Playing on the mat with Addie

All smiles for Daddy

More Beach Pics

2011-05-19T22:02:00.003-04:00

Beach Babe

Adelyn and Aunt Catherine

My smiley boy hanging out in his stroller (where he spends most of his time at the beach)

Addie and Robert doing yoga on Aunt Lauren's mat together (or "a gether" as Adelyn likes to say)

Kisses from Pop

Playing on his mat

We're at the Beach!!

2011-05-18T20:38:00.002-04:00

We're at the Beach, and having lots of fun...more pics to come!

Playing in the sand with Daddy

Reading with Julia

Braden and Pop

My sleepy boy

Week 5 and Catching B bugs

2011-05-05T14:02:00.002-04:00

Braden turned 5 weeks old this week and he went to his 1 month apt yesterday. He is now 9lb 1oz and 21.5in long, which means he has jumped percentiles in both weight and height, and we can tell! His tiny face is starting to fill out, and he is getting precious, full cheeks :) I love it!

And, are you curious what Adelyn is doing in this picture. I bet you can't guess it...cathing stink bugs! Yes, that is right, she is pretending to catching stink bugs in a cup with a spoon b/c that is a daily ritual in our house. Steven and I get our cup of water and soap and catch the hundreds of stink bugs crawling around our house. Now, Adelyn asks for her cup (with pretend water and soap, of course), and walks around and pretends to catch skink bugs...which she calls "B" bugs. And, I know, everyone has stink bugs, but we have hundreds of them, and I would pay a million bucks for someone to find a way to get rid of them. In the mean time, my sweet Addie has learned a new game of "B bug" catching!

Braden is 1 Month Old!!!

2011-05-01T08:53:00.002-04:00

On Friday, Braden turned one month old!! I can't even believe it. I told my mom yesterday that I thought the month of April was the fastest month of my entire life! (and most exhausting, and joyful of course) I forgot what a difference a month can make for a newborn. They go from little sleeping machines, to engaging and much more social precious little bundles. Braden started smiling socially (not just b/c of gas) soon after he turned 3 weeks, and we love it! He especially loves to smile at his Daddy and big sister. Braden is a very sweet baby, and despite the fact that he still not a great night time sleeper, he naps pretty well during the day and has learned to adjust to our busy schedule and sleep wherever (in the car, at play groups, at music class...etc) Braden's biggest fan is still his sister, who I often struggle to keep further than 1 inch from his face between the snuggle hugs, kisses, and pointing out of different body parts. It is fun to watch the two of them together, and I am sure Adelyn is just desperately waiting for the day she can play tea party with her little bro and play dress up with him (I think we still might have that blue tutu we put skip in...sorry skip :) ).

Big Smiles!!

Napping on mommy and daddy's bed

lots of kisses from big sister

ADORN by Ashley

2011-04-28T21:46:00.004-04:00

Check out that gorgeous bow in sweet Addie's hair! All you moms with girls jealous? Well you don't have to be because it was made by may very own sister, Ashley, who now has her own etsy website. Now, you, too, can "adorn" yourself or any sweet little girl you know with one of her original, handmade bows. Having a little girl with CRAZY hair means bows are a must, and Ashley's bows are so unique and beautiful, I just love having Addie wear them. Please check out her website: http://www.etsy.com/shop/adornbyashley

and her facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adorn-by-Ashley/104188459669434

Also, share the site with other people you know who might need want to adorn their little princess with one of her gorgeous bows. I promise you will love them!

week 3

2011-04-18T20:01:00.004-04:00

Braden will be 3 weeks tomorrow and I truly cannot believe it! It seems like the weeks have just flown by. He is a very sweet baby and does not cry much. Unfortunately, he also doesn't sleep much at night, but he is still pretty small and needs to eat a lot, so I am hoping he will extend his night time sleep soon. He also is very gassy, so we are trying to figure out how to deal with that b/c it seems to bother him a lot at night. Adelyn still adores him and loves to give him kisses. She is handling him crying much better and has become a pro at putting his paci in his mouth. She still sings to him all the time, and she also has started this thing where she wants Steven and me to sing with her. She says, "sing together mommy and daddy, together!" So of course all three of us sing "Jesus Loves Me", "Amazing Grace", or whatever song she wants us to sing, together. It is really sweet :)

Here are some of my favorite pics of the week.

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY ROBERT!!!!

2011-04-14T10:46:00.002-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET ROBERT!!!!
We all adore you around here. Adelyn asks to play with you almost every day, and often several times a day. I know Braden will look up to you like a big brother one day too.
I hope you have a wonderful day!!!!!

sending you hugs!!!

Jesus Loves Me

2011-04-14T09:11:00.003-04:00

As many of you all know, our sweet Adelyn LOVES to sing! Her favorite song to sing to Braden is Jesus Loves Me, which is just precious :) When she is in a singing mood, she will literally sing it to him over and over again. This video is from one of those singing sessions. Sweet Braden slept through the whole thing, even the smothering hugs and kisses!
(and yes, she is almost two, hence her commanding me to "sit right there!" I thought about cutting that part out, but then you wouldn't get to enjoy all of Adelyn's personality :) )

week one

2011-04-10T17:37:00.005-04:00

I promise to post more pictures soon, but in the mean time, here are just a few of our first few days home. (Also, I put a bunch more on our shutterfly site: http://bradenluck.shutterfly.com/ under Braden's First Week Home) It has been a very busy week and a half and quite a wonderful and exhausting adjustment for everyone. We adore our sweet boy, but we will be happy when we start getting a bit more sleep :) Adelyn has been doing much better this week than last, and there have been fewer and fewer break downs. She is a wonderful big sister and adores her brother, but doesn't quite understand all that is going on. She is definitely getting more used to him crying (she used to tear up every time he cried) and she is learning what it means to be gentle. We are loving being a family of 4, even if it means little sleep and a few more tears :) How could you not love that precious face! (even at 1, 3, and 5am :) ) Snuggling with "Braden Marshall" (b/c Adelyn makes sure that we include Marshall when we say his name :) ) Cuddling in his crib. That has been her favorite place to play recently.

Our Hospital Stay

2011-04-04T22:17:00.004-04:00

My two little loves! I can't believe it has been a week since our little man joined our family! Time really does fly by. Steven did a great job posting the most important stats of Braden's birth, but I thought I would write about the birth story for any of those who are interested. I started going into labor on Monday night, Tuesday morning. I started having some more painful contractions around 12:30am, but didn't think much of it. I tried to sleep, but the contractions were strong enough to keep me awake, so I decided to take a bath to see if they would go away so I could sleep. I was sure I wasn't going into labor, so I thought I needed to try something to help me sleep. I had been having braxton hicks, so I was convinced that was all I was experiencing. After my bath, the contractions still wouldn't go away, so I decided to take advantage of being awake, and clean the downstairs. Yes, it was 3am, but I was starting to think this might actually be it, and we had left the sun room a mess b/c I was too tired to clean up that night, so naturally I had to clean it up :)...that was definitely the nesting/surge of energy, whatever you want to call it, that happens before a baby comes. Also, my rush to get everything cleaned helped to keep my mind off of the contractions, so it really wasn't bad. I finally finished what I wanted to get done downstairs by 4, and decided to go up stairs and sit in the glider in the nursery and write a list of things we needed for the hospital. Steven still hadn't packed his bag, and I hadn't really thought too much about what we would need to bring. I also wanted to time my contractions b/c I hadn't been paying attention to how close they were coming. They were about every 5-6mins at that point, and I decided to try to lay down and go back to sleep, hoping that I could get some rest if this wasn't really labor. (Why I wasn't convinced I was in labor is beyond me...I am a labor and delivery nurse, but I am sure I was just in denial). At 5am I had a really painful contraction and decided it was time to wake Steven up. I woke him and told him I thought I was going into labor. He asked if I had taken a bath yet, and even though I said I had, I decided it might be good to take another one. I got in the bath again, and Steven came in to time my contractions and try to figure out what was going on. I told him that I thought they were coming every 6 mins, but after timing them, Steven said they were coming every 3mins, so at this point I told Steven he needed to pack his bags...we were going to the hospital. Steven then realized he had two large toilets in his car that he was planning on replacing our old (wooden seated) toilets with, and so he had to haul these 100lb toilets inside. By the time he finished doing so, I quickly informed him that he needed to call my mom and Dr. W b/c the contractions were coming faster and were beginning to get more painful. When I talked to Dr. W on the phone at 5:40, he told me that he needed to shower and feed his dog (but of course) so he could meet me at his office at 6:30 to see if I was really in labor or not. (he also gave me a hard time for waking him so early...haha...I love that doc). I sent Steven to get breakfast at McD's when my mom came over around 6 b/c I knew I didn't want to stop on the way to the hospital, but during the time he was gone, I started going into transition (the final stage of labor) and the contractions became almost unbearable. As soon as Steven got home, we got in the car, and I rode the whole way there facing backwards and groaning through contractions. When we got to Dr. W's office, I knew that if he wasn't there, we were going to have to rush over to the hospital, b/c I felt like this baby was coming. He was there, and when he checked me, he informed I was fully dilated and we needed to head to labor and delivery quickly so I could start pushing. As soon as I got to the room, I started pushing, and 40 LONG minutes later, our little man was born. No time for an IV, epidural, or any pain meds. Not what I was planning, although I wasn't planning on anything really, but in the heat of pushing, I would have paid a million bucks for some pain meds. It was over quickly, though, and I was so happy to have my little man in my arms. Adelyn was swept away so quickly b/c she didn't handle the delivery well, so it was such a treat to have our sweet Braden in the room with us. We feel so blessed by this sweet boy and just can't believe he is already here with us! Thank you for all the sweet messages, food, gifts, etc. We also feel so blessed to have such an incredible support system. Here are some pictures from the hospital. There are several more, but these are some of my favorites. Lots more pics of our 1st week home to come! Sweetly patting her baby brother. Cuddling after a long day Addie has loved getting as close a possible to Braden from the beginning. We now have to be careful to not leave her alone with him for more than 30sec b/c she will try to crawl on top of him only to give him hugs and snuggles. It is sweet, but keeps me on my toes! Headed home from the hospital. My mom bought Braden those booties b/c Steven was complaining about how much Carolina blue (not baby blue of course) I put him in. :)

Braden Marshall Luck

2011-03-30T23:55:00.003-04:00

Braden Marshall Luck was born 3-29-11 @ 7:20am 6 pounds 2 ounces, 20 inches long Emily & Braden are both doing well Pictures: Here

36weeks

2011-03-03T09:44:00.004-05:00

So, with all the craziness that has been going on recently, this poor little boy of ours has been totally neglected. We already adore him and are so excited for him to come, but we just haven't been able to document this pregnancy quite as well. I'm 36weeks pregnant now, which means I only have 4 weeks to go! YAY!!!! (and btw, no name yet, I think we are going to have to see his sweet face first)

In other news, Steven and I bought a house last week and were able to move most of our stuff in this past weekend. We are hoping to be fully moved in by the end of next weekend, but in the mean time are enjoying the joys and pains of home ownership. We have already had to repair a heat pump, install a garbage disposal, and remove wallpaper, among many other things. We have loved watching the house gradually become more of our home as we put our furniture in it and paint walls. More pictures and info to come. Please be patient as this is just a really crazy time for us!! Please also pray for strength and energy during this exhausting and wonderful time.

Larry the Cucumber and Bob "Mato" singing "The Good Ole Song"

2011-02-09T23:03:00.001-05:00

Yes, my child is a Luck and has been brain washed by all the UVA fans and therefore knows how to sing "The Good Ole Song"...yes, that is Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato ("Mato") made out of legos (Thank you Pop Rock)...and yes, our sweet girl is bidding her Grami goodbye with a "Wahoowa!"

(Sorry the video is sideways...I have no idea how to flip it)

Some more Christmas pics

2011-02-03T13:18:00.005-05:00

I know that Christmas was about 2 months ago, but I got these pics from Lauren from our train ride and I love them. Hope you enjoy!!

Christmas #2

2011-01-14T13:46:00.006-05:00

So, I know I am a little late with this, but here are some pictures from our Christmas #2. Christmas #1 was spent with the Woods, but I don't have pictures from that yet. I promise to post from that when I get them
The day after Christmas was spent with the Lucks. Adelyn absolutely loves her cousin Robert and was very happy to wake up the morning of Christmas #2 to his sweet face. It was quite an eventful day and present openning lasted until the following evening. It was wonderful to spend so much time with the entire Luck family!

Christmas morning! You might think she is smiling b/c snow is on the ground, but...

I am pretty sure it was b/c Rob was running to the door :)

After breakfast, we went downstairs where the boys had put together Adelyn's new play house. As you can see, she was thrilled!! She has been talking about the house every day since she got it.

After a quick nap, the kids got to open their next big present: thomas the train books and tickets to go on a train ride to Staunton! Rob and Adelyn absolutely loved riding the train and had a blast looking out the window and hearing the train whistle blow.

The morning was quite eventful, so we all rested a bit when we got back from the train ride.

Soon after the kiddos woke up from their naps, GPop and Grandmother came to visit.

We finally got started openning presents and this year was so much fun b/c Robert and Adelyn really enjoyed openning and handing out presents this year.

One of Adelyn's favorite toys was her new baby doll from Grami. She is giving it a hug in this picture after she told the baby "no cwying baby, no cwying"

Giving the baby a bottle. She is going to be a great big sister!

"Cutting" fruits and veggies together

After a long evening of present openning, the kids were wiped out and enjoyed a little rest time together.

The day Rob left, Adelyn was very sad, but she did have fun playing on Pop's lap.

Tackle hugs from Robert. We miss you Robert!! (and Aunt Lauren and Uncle Robert too!)

Tis The Season!

2010-12-12T10:46:00.003-05:00

Finally, a pregnancy picture! I have been so busy with work and holiday stuff that I just have not been able to get a picture of this little man on the way. Yesterday, I was taking pictures for our Christmas card and had Ashley take a few pics. I am 24weeks along now, which means the baby is viable! Here are some random pics from our photo shoot and play time with Ashley.

Hugging her "baby bruder"

Pointing to the baby :)

Eating at Lisee and Poppy's house. Don't you love that bow!! My sister is making bows, so if you have a little girl and are interested, she is selling them and they are fabulous! Email me or leave me a post on this blog and I'll give you more information about it.

Look at that staticky hair! I love it!! This is the play house at my parent's hosue and Adelyn LOVES it!

Another UVA game

2010-11-14T12:19:00.004-05:00

Despite the Hoos poor performance, we continue to go to all of the games. Last night was the last home game and we managed to stay for the whole game. Adelyn and Rob did very well, but I think they were mostly interested in watching their Uncle Will cheer and eating all the fun snacks. Here are some pics of our little wahoo, who every time she sees anything that even resembles the shape of a "V" says, "UVA!"

Dressed in her UVA best and ready to go to the game with Auntie Ash

It may appear that they are watching the football game, but I am pretty sure they are watching Uncle Will do a cheer leading lift on the side line. Go Will!

Sitting with Daddy/Ucle "teev". If you notice, Steven can't take his eyes off the game even for a second :)

Aunt Ashley caught a football and gave it to Addie. She was holding on tight!

Watching the game with Pop. "Pop, don't let anyone steal my football."

Snuggling with Grami ("mimi")...it was cold!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T20:19:00.003-04:00

This Halloween, Steven, Adelyn and I went to the Lawn at UVA to "trick-or-treat" and show off her cute duckie costume. We had lots of fun seeing all the other kids dressed up in fun costumes as well. At one point, Adelyn saw a little boy dressed up in a dog costume and started yelling "puppy, puppy!" until he turned around at which time she got a very confused look on her face b/c she had never seen a puppy that looked like a little boy. It was hilarious! Here are some great pictures that Ashley took while we were there. There are a few of Kate Wood, Turner McNerney and few other play group friends. Enjoy!

http://adelynluck.shutterfly.com/#Halloween%202010

Welcome Micah Rathbone!!

2010-10-24T20:44:00.002-04:00

On October 21st, my dear friend Megan Rathbone had her second little boy, Micah Jeffrey Rathbone. He had a little bit of a rough start and was in and out of the NICU, but he is now home with his mommy and daddy and big brother, Noah. We are so excited to finally see his sweet little face, and we can't wait to meet him!!

Isn't he just precious!!!!!

On the way....

2010-10-19T22:03:00.003-04:00

- Steven and I are hopefully "on the way" to buying a new house (we hope, we hope!). We have no leads now, but once things settle down a bit, we hope to start searching more seriously. Currently, we are living with Sandra and Bob in Ivy and are loving being back in c'ville.

- I am "on the way" to working independently as a nurse on the OB unit at Martha Jefferson hospital. Currently, I am working full time and being oriented to the floor. By mid Dec, I should be working on my own and will cut back my hours to part time (20 hours a week), working evenings (3-11p). I have really enjoyed starting work again, and MJH is a wonderful hospital.

- and, the biggest news of all, another Luck is on the way!! I am due March 31st and am almost 17weeks pregnant. The pregnancy has gone well so far, and zofran has been a wonder drug for all the unfortunate side effects. Adelyn doesn't quite understand, but when I ask her where the baby is, she either points to my belly or picks up her shirt and points to her belly. Steven and I are very excited for this new little one and can't wait for his/her arrival!

Uuu Wee Ai! (ie UVA)

2010-10-19T21:52:00.003-04:00

Although I have nothing good to say about our football team, our sweet Adelyn loves to cheer for them. She "sings" the Good Ole Song while holding her hand up, and says "U Wee Ai" any time she sees a V saber, orange and blue things, or the cavalier. She is a full on UVA fan, with a cheerleading outfit (to match her uncle Will, of course) and an orange and blue smocked dress with 2 V sabers and a cavalier on it. Needless to say, Addie's daddy is very proud :)

Adelyn eats a salad

2010-10-19T16:17:00.001-04:00

Check out this hilarious video of Addie eating a cleo salad at Bodos yesterday with Steven and Aunt Catherine

Fun with Cousin Rob

2010-09-28T16:38:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago, cousin Rob spent a few days with us. It was lots of fun, and Addie loved having play time with Rob every day. My favorite part of the weekend was that Adelyn and Rob would hug each other and give high fives...so sweet!!!

Future Wahoos!!!!

Sitting on Pop's lawn mower.

Playing on the trailer.

Rob loved pushing Adelyn in the stroller...hilarious!

Beach Week #2

2010-09-14T11:42:00.007-04:00

During the second beach week, Steven, Adelyn, and I had lots of fun playing with the whole Luck family. Adelyn really enjoyed playing with Rob, and I enjoyed all the extra loving help again and getting to relax at the beach.

Here are some fun pics from that week.

We got caught in the rain one day while out on the beach. Rob and Addie actually loved playing in the rain.

Rob was just pulling Adelyn in the wagon, which became a favorite activity of the week.

Playing with Aunt Lauren

Being wheeled on the beach by daddy!

Reading with Pop

On Thursday, we went to Scoops to get ice cream. Addie and Rob loved it, of course.

Look how cute they are eating ice cream together!

Ice cream face!

Sharing with Daddy

Robert and Rob

These kids mooched from everyone :)

Thank goodness for a long bib!

oh, I love those sticky fingers on my face :)

Loving her daddy

The kids and their dads

Kisses from aunt Catherine

Cheese!

The oringinal 4 Luck kids.

Julia and Steven were pointing to a helicopter. Adelyn is pointing too, which has become one of her new favorite activities. Any time I get her out of bed, she immediately starts pointing to anything she sees and starts "talking" about it. It's really funny.

Catching up...Beach Trip #1

2010-09-13T21:09:00.007-04:00

This summer Addie and I were fortunate to be able to spend 2 weeks at the beach! The first week was with the Woods and McNerneys. It was lots of fun for both me and Addie b/c Addie had plenty of little and big friends to entertain her. That being said, we both really did miss Steven/Daddy. Here are some fun pics from our 1st beach week.

The Lisas decided they didn't want to do the shopping this year so they left it up to the girls. It was fun to hold all that cash, but not as much fun to spend all of it on food.

Look at that sweet face :)

Swinging with Ash and Mommy

Love her!!

If you notice, Adelyn is not playing in the water table. Instead, she is using keys to try to unscrew all the screws. I think she has her daddy's engineering mind for sure!

Addie loved playing with her buddy, Turner.

All the kiddos feel in love with a little cubby under the TV...

It was so cute to watch them play in it together.

On the beach with her Ash.

Uncle Skip!

Addie really loved playing with Erin Ingraham. We are so sad she and Jonathan moved away from Charlottesville about the same time we moved back.

Addie and Poppy

Addie and Katherine McNerney...looks like someone was ready for nap time

Eating Os with E

All the kiddos on the coach! They are so cute!

I'm Back

2010-08-29T16:00:00.006-04:00

Hi Blogging world...I'm back! I know, many of you have wanted to send nasty emails to me about why I haven't updated, but I feel like I had a pretty good excuse...

For all those who don't know...WE'VE MOVED!! About a month ago, Steven was offerred a job with Habitat for Humanity in C'ville as their project manager. We were very excited for him to accept the job, and ever since then, our lives have been crazy. The following weekend, we went away for our anniversary, then we all got nasty colds followed by a dual ear infection for sweet Addie, then we went off to the beach for 2 weeks, and finally, the week we got back from the beach, we packed up our condo and then moved into the Lucks basement. We have been spending this past week unpacking and getting settled at the Lucks, which is where we will be staying until we find more permanent housing. We did all this while also going to 3 weddings and a wedding shower. It has all been lots of fun, but there has been absolutely no available time for blogging. Things have settled down, though, and so I am planning on posting lots of pics from our beach weeks. In the mean time, here are some cute pics of our sweet Addie to tide you over until then.

My sickly little girl :( Don't worry, she recoverred quickly after a good dose of antibiotics.

Pretty in purple with her fun backpack. She looks like such a big girl!

This little one loves corn on the cob! She and Ashley at from the cob alongside each other because Adelyn couldn't handle Ash eating from it without her. It was so funny to watch!

Kissing Daddy goodbye when he was off to work. She has learned to blow kisses now, and I love it!

The River House/ 4th of July

2010-07-11T21:45:00.008-04:00

This 4th of July, we went to Steven's grandparent's river house. We love going to the River House and have been every year since we started dating. It is so relaxing and fun, and we love visiting with all the Luck side of the family. This year there was a record number of people in the house because of all the grandbabies, and the Luck seniors managed to host 20 of us. It was lots of fun for Adelyn to play with all of her cousins, 2nd cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, grandparents and great grandparents...whoo lots of family! It was great fun, and we are excited for many more years of 4th of July fun at the River!!

Fun Family Pic by the river

The Asher Family (Steven's aunt, uncle and cousins). The girls were lots of help with Adelyn all weekend long.

Addie and her daddy

Finally, a picture of Adelyn and me :)

Pop Rock and his two grand kids. This pic was taken right before little Rob almost pushed Adelyn out of Pop's arms b/c he did not want to share his Pop, understandably.

weeeee, sliding down the water slide!

I just absolutely love this picture.

Adelyn - "Mom, can you believe him!", Rob - "What?!? What did I do?"

Ellie Asher was so much help with Ava and Adelyn. Adelyn loved playing with her second cousins.

Adelyn was "helping" Pop with his crossword puzzle

Adelyn loves her dad (Steven was whispering to her about how she needs to be a bit more modest...)

Very Nautical

Pop watching Adelyn as she ventured towards the water. There were a lot of new things to explore at the River house (And yes, Adelyn does have her clothes on her head, it is her new thing...don't ask me why)

Steven's Aunt Allison and her daughter Ava. I love this pic. Allison is 8 months pregnant, can you tell? Doesn't she look great!! And she was so brave to come.

Adelyn had lots of fun playing in the baby pool with everyone. Madison was great with keeping her head out of the water. I, on the other hand, was a bit slower to grab her as she slipped, so I guess she got used to "swimming" in the baby pool.

Grami playing with her grand babes. It doesn't get much better than that for her. :)

Being loved on by Aunt Catherine!

The cute couple :) We all love Julia

Adelyn loved playing with Andy!

Fun with Dee and Sam

2010-07-08T16:01:00.003-04:00

Two weeks ago, Adelyn's Great Grandparents, DeeDee and Sam, stopped by Charlottesville on their way up to Ohio. Adelyn and I went down to visit with them and were able to spend a lot of fun time with family. Unfortunately, a day before they arrived to Charlottesville, the crazy "micro burst" happened and so my parents had no electricity, cable, or internet. It was definitely a hot and dark visit, but still lots of fun!

Swimming with DeeDee

Grampa Sam was showing Adelyn pictures and teaching her how to use the camera

Adelyn also loved playing with uncle Skip, as always

Aunt Ashley is Home!!!

2010-07-08T15:56:00.002-04:00

This is kind of a late post b/c Ashley got home a month ago, but we are just so excited to have her back. She is back in the US for good now, and Adelyn has had so much fun playing with her auntie. We are thrilled to be spending lots more time with her this year.

Ash and Adelyn at the pool

Watching the world cup together. Ashley is already training Adelyn to be a future soccer player.

Trip to Hilton Head

2010-06-22T10:35:00.004-04:00

This weekend, Steven, Adelyn and I flew to Hilton Head to visit Adelyn's great grandparents, the Carltons. It was Adelyn's first time on an airplane, and she did surprisingly well. We had a long delay on the way out and ended up spending 2 extra hours in the plane waiting to take off. She slept for a lot of the flight, but when she wasn't sleeping, she was talking (loudly) and saying "hi" to everyone. (We are going to be working on our "inside voice" this week).
We had a wonderful time with Grandmother and Pop Carlton. I spent most of my time by the pool reading, while Adelyn played with her great grandparents. She loved playing with them, and Grandmother Carlton had the best selection of fruit, which is Adelyn's favorite! We are already planning out trip back!!

Adelyn's first flight!

Cool Dude

Playing with Pop Carlton...Adelyn loved playing with Pop!!

Eating her first creamsickle...

She ate the whole thing :)

Riding Ellie the elephant. Adelyn got to see lots of elephants at their house. She also learned to say "tick, tock" b/c Grandmother has lots of beautiful clocks.

Swimming with Dada..

and Grandmother...

and Pop!

Sitting by the pool with Grandmother, so much fun!

Looking at all the beautiful birds with Pop.

Weddings Galore!

2010-06-12T09:26:00.004-04:00

During the week of Memorial Day, Steven and I got the privilege of attending 3 beautiful weddings. It is definitely a year of wedding for us, as we have already been to 5 this year and still have many more to come! Adelyn came to Clark and Jennifer Walker's wedding, but she got to play with Grami and Pop during Virginia and Randy's wedding and with Naoh Rathbone during Tyler and Ashley's wedding. Adelyn did really well being away from me so much, and she also enjoyed listening to all the fun music at Clark and Jennifer's wedding. Here are some fun pics from all the different events. (Thank you to Virginia's photographer, Stu Scott, and Erik Kelly (for Ashley and Tyler's wedding) for the great pictures :) ).

Virginia and Randy Strunk

Some of the bridesmaids at the photo booth. Lots of fun!

Clark and Jennifer Walker

Steven loved talking with his highschool buddy, Daniel Marotta at the wedding.

Adelyn and Uncle Will

Tyler and Ashley Tuite

Adelyn had fun watching the beautiful bride and all her bridesmaids get ready. (That is Noah and I in the background snuggling)

Visit with the Carltons

2010-05-27T20:32:00.002-04:00

Last week the Carltons came by for a quick visit while they were up in the area. It was so good to see them, and Adelyn loved playing with her great grandparents!

Trying to intice her with the stuffed animals..."hum...which one should I pick?"

Reading her birthday card with Great Grandmother Carlton.

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Girl!

2010-05-26T20:17:00.003-04:00

Happy 1st Birthday!!

I can't believe a year ago today you were born! What an incredible year it has been!!!

I took some birthday pics and posted them on www.adelynluck.shutterfly.com

Adelyn's 1st Birthday Party

2010-05-23T22:19:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures from Adelyn's 1st Birthday Party. I'll put some on the blog later.

http://www.adelynluck.shutterfly.com/

Come Home Ashley

2010-05-21T08:49:00.002-04:00

Here at the Luck household, we are getting excited about Aunt Ashley coming home in just a few weeks. We have been looking at her picture, and Adelyn has been learning to say her name. Here is a cute, short clip of her saying "Ash" and pointing to her.

May Pics

2010-05-13T13:12:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, I went to a Bachelorette party for Ashley Lawson in St. Michaels. It was a really fun weekend, and I loved spending time with the girls. We can't wait for the big day...less than a month away!

wonder what's in the bag :)

I made some cookies for the bride-to-be.

Can you guess what these are?...

Last week we went to Clemyjontri park in McLean with Helen Burton and Mari Beach, friends from our shephards group. It is an awesome park and great for kids of all ages.

Aiden and Adelyn were driving the car together.

Sweet Karis Beach

This is the face Adelyn makes all the time now...she's quite expressive :)

She got herself up on the bench. The only problem was, she couldn't find her way back down.

She also loves climbing into the basket (she has alterior motives, though...she tries to play with the DVD player without me seeing)

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

2010-05-05T10:10:00.002-04:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

Adelyn loves looking through the holes in the tube slide.

Look at that sweet face peeping through :)

11 months and Walking!

2010-04-26T19:34:00.002-04:00

Adelyn is 11months old today. I can't believe that in only one month, she will be a year old! Crazy!!! For the past month, she has been taking a few steps here and there but not consistently. Yesterday we were all playing outside and for the first time she took several steps on her own and walked over to Steven (she refused to walk to me, though). Today, she did it again, although this time, she did walk to me, especially when I was eating raisins and she wanted some. She still is a bit timid, although very capable. I am very happy for her to be crawling and not walking with confidence b/c I don't think I am quite ready for a walking child. Fortunately this weekend there was a big consignment sale in Louden and I was able to buy 2 baby gates for a great price. I guess we are going to have to install them sooner rather than later. I also got some great dresses and adorable bathing suites for really cheap. I can't wait for summer and for our pool to open!

Last Thursday we said goodbye to Uncle Skip. He is in Ireland for the next month studying. It sounds like it is going to be awesome, although we will definitely miss him.

This past weekend Grami and Pop Rock came up to watch Adelyn so that we could go to Julie Andrukonis' wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and Julie looked gorgeous (as always). It was fun to see friends and to have a baby free nights. While at the reception, we did think of Adelyn, though b/c right now she is in love with dancing. She will purposefully press buttons on her toys in order to make them play songs so that she can dance to them. It is hilarious! I guess we are going to have to get this little girl into dance classes soon!

Aunt Catherine's visit

2010-04-24T09:45:00.004-04:00

Two weeks ago, Auntie Catherine came to watch Adelyn so Steven and I could go to a wedding for one of Steven's colleagues. Adelyn loves her Aunt Catherine, and they had lots of fun. Before we left for the wedding, though, we all walked over to the park. Even Adelyn got to walk over by pushing her walker. It was lots of fun.

Teaching her how to drive already.

A little pep talk before going down the slide.

Weeeeee....Adelyn loves the slide!

Easter pics...late

2010-04-24T09:35:00.004-04:00

I took some pictures for Easter, and completely forgot to post any of them. Here are some. Thank you Dottie Guthrie for the gorgeous Easter dress! You are amazing!!!!!

Trouble Maker....

2010-04-20T09:12:00.006-04:00

As my dad would love to say..."this is what you get"

Our trouble maker likes to:

-play in the dirt

(she's coverred in mulch! I had to take her clothes of outside b/c it stuck)

-wear her food

-but not wear her bows...she sucks on them instead

-and last but certainly not least...CLIMB

(you might not be able to tell, but she is standing on top of a stool in this picture)
every time I turn around she is climbing on something new. Steven said that when he was watching her on Sunday, she tried to climb out of her play yard.

She also started shaking her head "no" when she is about to do something she knows she is not allowed to. The nice thing is, most of the time it keeps her from doing what she shouldn't (key words: most of the time...not always)

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY ROB!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-04-14T09:05:00.005-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROB!
We love you!!!!
What an amazing year it has been!!!
We are so blessed to have you as our cousin and nephew.

in the hospital

first time the cousins met

first trip to c'ville together

first time at the river house

helping us move

Joe's Wedding

1st UVA football game

learning to crawl

Baptism

Thanksgiving...first bath together

1st Christmas

1st overnight with Grami and Pop together

What a wonderful year of many fabulous "firsts" together!

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T07:31:00.007-04:00

This past weekend, we went to Charlottesville to watch Steven run the Charlottesville 10miler and to celebrate Easter at the Lucks. We had lots of fun cheering for Daddy and Anna Kate, and Adelyn clapped the whole time (since my dad taught her how to do that last week...perfect timing Poppy!) and she even cheered at times. It was great to spend some time with the Lucks, although we did miss Robert, Lauren and Rob. I was so grateful for a beautiful weekend and several extra sets of hands to help care for Adelyn which allowed me to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend as well!

Loving on Grami at the race.

Clapping for Daddy

The cheering squad

Megan McPadden helped Adelyn cheer the racers on.

We even got to see Debi Prum, who was there in support of Anna Kate.

Fun with Pop Rock. "Mom, get this flower out of my face!"

Run Daddy Run!!! Steven finishing his first 10 mile race!

The Runners!

We ran into Meghan Streit and her family b/c her husband Greg was running the race. (he's the one in the middle in the picture above)

Adelyn looking at Dorry...she's not so sure about what her shirt says, though...

"My Dad is faster than your dad"

"I still love you Daddy"

"Hey everyone, look what my Daddy won!"

We're so proud!

loving on Aunt Catherine!

This picture looks familiar....

...this was from the River house last June!

Adelyn loved playing with the dogs. When she sees them she says, "woof".

I don't think Rugby was so sure about Adelyn steeling his ball, though.

On sunday we all sat outside for awhile. Adelyn and Will had fun playing on the blanket.

"Want some of my water, Uncle Will?"

He's so funny!

What a great weekend it was!

Silly Daddy

2010-03-29T14:30:00.001-04:00

Playground photo shoot

2010-03-26T07:35:00.006-04:00

We just started going to the playground with Adelyn and she absolutely loves it. She loves going down the slide, swinging, and watching the other kids play. I took advantage of a cloudy day yesterday to take some photos of her.
Here are a few...Enjoy. If you want to see more you can visit our shutterfly account: www.adelynluck.shutterfly.com

Where is Addie?

2010-03-17T14:35:00.003-04:00

I have a video monitor and one day I looked up and it looked like the bunny had eaten Adelyn's head...yikes!

There she is...she loves snuggling with that bunny

We had a fun play date with Aiden and Sam this week at JW Tumbles (it is like gymboree, a gym for little kids).

Adelyn was trying to feed Aiden...what a little mommy.

"You want some too, Sam?"

I kept trying to get Adelyn to crawl through the tube and finally she did. You can see sweet Aiden on the other side.

So much fun!

What's so funny?

2010-03-09T10:14:00.003-05:00

Adelyn is in a wonderful stage right now where she thinks everything is funny. You can't help but smile when you hear this sweet laugh.

9 Months!!

2010-03-04T15:38:00.005-05:00

Adelyn turned 9 months last week, and I really can't believe how old she is! Our little monkey is crawling around, pulling up on everything, cruising, climbing the stairs (thanks Steven) and becoming a very social little girl. She just learned to wave (well...a modified wave...she sticks her hand out at the person she is waving to and gradual curls her fingers) and she loves to do it to anyone she sees. She is also in a stage right now where she thinks almost anything is funny so often times I will put her down and hear here laughing and I have no idea what is amusing her. She now has 5 teeth and two of them broke through last week, just before her weekend away with Grami and Pop Rock. I was very grateful it happened before the weekend and not during it b/c teething is just no fun! (And when her teeth were bothering her she decided for the first time that she wanted to bite me and those little shark teeth really hurt my arm! Fortunately, she hasn't done it since.) We went to the pediatricians office today for her check-up and she weighs 16 1/2 pounds (30th%) and is 27inches tall (40th%), so right about where they expected her to be (and still wearing 3-6month clothes). Everything checked out well, and she managed to survive the blood draw and immunizations (which were probably harder on me than her, as usual).
This past weekend was Adelyn's first overnight without Mommy and Daddy, and she stayed 2 nights with Grami, Pop Rock, Aunt Catherine, and cousin Rob. Steven and I enjoyed a wonderful weekend away with Robert and Lauren, and while our adventure to western Maryland was cancelled last minute because of a crazy blizzard, our back up plan to go to St. Michaels turned out to be fabulous! We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast, got massages, shopped, went wine tasting, and just enjoyed having our arms free of babies and not having to worry about cooking, cleaning, or changing diapers. When we came back, I was sure my little one would just jump into my arms b/c she had missed me so much, but instead I saw her dearly hugging her new best friend, Grami. Instead of making me feel sad, though, I was so happy to see how well she handled not having mommy and daddy close by, and I imagine I will be taking many more of these wonderful weekends away.
Before we went on the trip, I drove into Charlottesville to hang out with Skip, who was home on break, and Adelyn got to spend the night with her Wood Grandparents. She had lots of fun playing with Uncle Skip, and she is continuing to butter up to him b/c she knows he is going to be her dearest ally in years to come and the one who is going to spoil her rotten! She also appreciated Poppy's wonderful story telling and got a few sweet kisses from Maizey. It was quite a busy weekend for our little girl and she seemed to enjoy every minute of it.

This is a picture from St. Michaels...I'm ready to go back!

Steven and Robert doing what they do best...goofing around.

Reading with Poppy

Playing with Uncle Skip

Playing with Lisee!

Look at those pretty girls in their pink

Fun with Grami and Rob!

Uncle Will and his girlfriend Julia came by to help out.

Playing with cousin Rob

Adelyn also has a new friend, Aiden, that she met at her swim class. He is a cutie, and they love swimming together. His mommy and I are planning a weekly play date now that swimming is over.

Adelyn two favorite things to sleep with are her blanket from Mrs Cindy and her big bunny from Poppy.

She has also just discoverred that she can crawl under things but can't quite figure out how to get out. "Mommy, put that camra down and get me out of here!"

Bath Time

2010-02-17T21:33:00.003-05:00

Bath time is Adelyn's favorite time of day. (Her least favorite time of day definitely has to be when her Daddy leaves for work. This week she has cried every morning when he has left. It is so sweet.) What she really loves is looking at herself in the mirror while the tub is being filled. I think the reason she loved other babies so much is because she sees herself in the mirror and gets such a wonderful response from "the baby in the mirror". We thought you might enjoy a little video of our bath time prep ;)

Some Random Pics

2010-02-16T14:13:00.005-05:00

Her are a random assortment of pictures from February:

Today, Adelyn had a play date with Luke, Sarah's nephew (Sarah was Ashley's roommate in Africa, who is now back in the US and lives about 5minutes from us. It is great hanging out with her, and she is a wonderful babysitter too! Adelyn loves her!)

Adelyn kept trying to take his paci away from him.

Watching the Super Bowl (Wearing her outfit that says "cool like Dad")

Adelyn is quite petite, and she is wearing a 3month dress in this picture...she is almost 9 months.

Poppy and Lisee came to visit last friday and Adelyn loved playing with them. She was in such a great mood all day long.

Lisee took some pictures of her, and she really wanted to see them.

Adelyn is pulling up on everything now. This is her on our kitchen chairs, wearing her Valentine's Day outfit.

Drinking from her tea cup that Auntie Catherine gave her.

Adelyn loves reading. In this picture, she was reading the book from her Great Grandparents, the Carltons.

Adelyn also loves eating bread. I think she would only eat bread if I let her.

I have had a lot of time in doors b/c of all this snow, and I decided to use the Joy of Cooking that Robby and Claire gave me for my birthday and learn how to bake bread. I was inspired by Ashley when she came back from Africa and made everything from scratch. I am no Ashley, but I have really enjoyed learning how to bake breads. This was my first attempt at rolls. They were pretty tasty, and of course, Adelyn really liked them.

Adelyn loves eating things out of that mesh bag. Recently I have been putting avocado in it and I think she would eat an entire avocado if I let her.

Adleyn is wearing and outfit from her great grandparents, Sam and Dee. She is also playing with her favorite toy right now, her musical table. She got it from Pop Rock and Grami, and she loves walking around it and listening to all the music.

SO MUCH SNOW!!

2010-02-07T18:50:00.005-05:00

I thought that 18inches of snow was a crazy amount to get back in December. But for this snow storm we totalled 32inches!!!! I can hardly believe it, but it is certainly a winter wonderland out there. We have had so much fun watching it all fall from the sky, although, I am not sure that Steven would consider shoveling out 3 cars (he shoveled out our neighbors car as well) buried in over 2 feet of snow "fun". He did a great job, though, and Steven at least will be able to drive tomorrow. I don't think I will be taking my car out for a drive for awhile, though, b/c the roads are still not great. I imagine that the sunny days and cold nights will make for some very icy driving conditions!

Adelyn was reading the newspaper last Sunday and was informing us of the big storm coming.

Look how deep that snow is! And that isn't even in the deepest points.

Our little snow bunny!

Adelyn like to stand at our balcony door and look out at the snow as it was falling. It is so beautiful!

Though, she was not so sure about being out in the snow when it was coming down hard. We didn't keep her out long; just enough to take a pictures :)

On Sunday, we walked over to Harris Teeter to get some milk and other essentials (like tortilla chips, and rice crispies to make treats for the super bowl.) It was very sunny, so Daddy shared his sunglasses with Adelyn. That is one cool bunny.

Guess what is under that mound of snow? My car!!

Sadly, a huge tree fell on two of the cars parked next to mine. (Yes, that is actually a car under that tree.) I was very fortunate that mine didn't get hit.

This is our walkway on Friday night. Saturday morning it was barely passable, but fortunately the HOA has done a wonderful job of getting a crew in to clear the walkways.

I was supposed to go visit the Rathbones on Friday and stay until Saturday morning, but when I woke up on Wednesday morning and heard that we could get a few feet of snow on Friday and Saturday, Steven and I both decided it would be best if I didn't travel over the weekend. Fortunately, the Rathbones are very flexible, so Adelyn and I hopped in the car on Wednesday morning and took our trip to Williamsburg a few days early. It was lots of fun to hang out with Noah again, and Adelyn loved playing with all the new toys.

Noah loves books and he was really good about sharing his mommy's laps so Adelyn could enjoy the books as well.

Ashley Lawson came to hang out a few weeks back, and Adelyn shared her Puffs with her. It was lots of fun to have her come visit!

Teething!!!!

2010-02-01T09:41:00.003-05:00

I really am not a fan of teething. I don't think any mother is, and now I know why. My once sweet, relatively even tempered child, now has random bouts of fussiness, is refusing to eat solid food, and is waking me up in the middle of the night. We have been blessed with a good sleeper, so these midnight wake up calls are really throwing me off! Also, the refusal to eat is so bizarre. Anytime I bring a spoon near her mouth, she whines and throws her head to the side with jaw clenched shut. At first I thought she was being picky about the food I was feeding her, but then I read that teething can cause them to lose their appetites. She got her two bottom middle teeth back in December, but we hadn't really started solids yet, so I didn't think much of it. The top two seem to be much more difficult to for her to handle. The one on the left broke through on Friday, and I actually saw a marked improvement in her demeanor that day, but now the right one is trying to push through, and she is clearly not enjoying it. I gave her one of those mesh bags that you can put frozen fruit in so that she could teeth on that, and it was hilarious. At first she had no idea what to do with it, and she made faces every time she got a taste of the frozen banana, but then she realized she likes the taste so she started sucking the mushed, half frozen banana out of the mesh. Not really helping with teething, but at least getting her to eat something, I guess. She is still our sweet little girl, and for the most part is still behaving fine, but I will be very happy once that middle tooth breaks through!!! (Oh, but there are so many more to come in....oh well)

On another note, Adelyn has perfected sitting from a crawling or laying down position and is now pulling up on everything, so that makes nap times much more interesting. We have a video monitor, so it is hilarious to watch her play in her crib before she falls asleep. She sits up, lays down, sits up again, tries to pull herself up to a standing position, lays back down, sits up and plays with her giraffe, and so on. This can go on forever and is really funny to watch. So much for nap time, though. (She actually does finally go to sleep, but it is typically 20-30mins after I put her down for her usual nap time.)

We have also been going on a lot more play dates, which is always fun. She seems a lot happier when she gets to play with other kids, and, as Abbie South pointed out, she might be an extrovert and just need that time with other people. I guess we'll find that out later, but in the mean time, the play dates are definitely keeping us both much more sane! And, to continue with her tradition of play dates, they have all been with boys. She even plays with a little boy at my mom's bible study even though there are lots of other kids there. Will she ever have girl friends?...watch out daddy...Thank goodness for Cousin Kate and June Coleman!!!

Baby June

2010-01-28T15:22:00.002-05:00

Last Tuesday, Ashley, Adelyn and I went to visit baby June and Melissa in Harrisonburg. It was great to hold her, and she seemed so small compared to Adelyn. It is amazing how fast they grow! June is absolutely precious, and Melissa looks amazing!

"Hey Mom, why are you holding her?"

Adelyn decided that she wanted to take June's paci...whoops!

Ashley and sweet baby June

Julia Rice (Melissa's sister) came by for a little while too.

"Hi Mom. Can I go to Africa with Auntie Ashley? I'm packed and ready."

"Hey Maizey, do you want to come too?"

Bye bye Auntie Ashley

2010-01-25T19:50:00.003-05:00

Auntie Ashley left for Africa today, and we are all very sad. Adelyn had gotten pretty attached to her and would cry when she left the room. Ashley even taught Adelyn to sing (she will now sing with you if you start...it is so funny). It is going to be a sad 4months for us!