Apple Picking

Today we visited Sky Top Apple Orchard in North Carolina to pick apples. Luke absolutely loved it, and pointed to many of the fruit-filled trees, saying, "Bapple, bapple!" He was such a good helper, carrying our basket and picking many of our apples himself.



Off we go, to fill our basket!



"These look good, guys!"



Here are some more...



Biting into an apple, whole. Thank goodness for all those teeth!



Reaching way up high with Mommy



Tasting a golden apple with Daddy




We enjoyed a special treat for dessert tonight: homemade apple crisp, made from our delicious apples, just hours after they were picked from the orchard. What a wonderful fall day!

Fall Fashion Preview

Mommy's interpretation of a cute fall outfit for our little man:

(Mark commented that Luke looks like he is going to his first day of boarding school in this outfit, but I think it is adorable!)


Daddy's more casual, vest-less version:

(I think that Luke looks like he just left a frat party here!)


Despite our differences in opinon regarding appropriate attire, Mommy and Daddy both agree that this kid is so cute that we can't stand it!

Getting taller, Mom-meeeee!!!

I was out of town last weekend attending a baby shower for one of my best friends, and left Winnie to watch over the boys here in SC. Although I was only gone for 2 days, I commented (in all seriousness) upon my return that Luke seemed to have grown taller in my absence. Mark howled at this statement, because growing up, he was often asked at church, "Did you get taller?". Even to this day, it is a joke with our friends and family that Mark keeps growing. Poor guy: at 6'5", Mark's height is often the first thing people notice and discuss with him, and Luke is already being plagued with the same conversation. We had our first Kindermusik class of the fall semester yesterday, and the other moms could not believe that Luke is not even 17 months old yet! As usual, he towered over his peers and looked like such a big boy. We're still hoping that Luke's height means a WFU basketball scholarship is in our family's future!

Besides growing physically, Luke's vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds and he has been entertaining us with his new words recently. He has transformed our names from what used to be "Dada" and "Mama", to a much stronger, "Dad-deeeee!" and "Mom-meeee!" At first, it was quite adorable, but now Luke seems to use it only when whining or pleading with us. To me, it seems like a foreshadowing of when he will say, "Mom", in an exasperated voice as a teenager and roll his eyes at me in disgust. However, Luke has started giving real hugs and kisses, which melt our hearts. He wraps his legs tightly around me, will rest his head on my shoulder, and holds on tightly around my neck, staying very still and cuddly. Luke gives kisses to all of his stuffed animals, pictures of babies, and blows a kiss to Daddy as Mark gets in the car to leave for work in the morning. He also continues to surprise us with new words daily. Last night, he told me that we were eating "broccoli" for dinner, saw a "bug-a" (bug) outside his window in the afternoon, and is obsessed with feeding Winnie her "din-nah" (dinner). Of course, as first time parents, we think that our child is exceptionally brilliant to have mastered so many words already, but we acknowledge that we are very biased and every milestone still seems miraculous to us.

Kissing a birth announcement photo of a friend's baby!


A game that has elicted quite a few giggles at our house is Luke chasing Winnie with his popper toy (as you can see in the video below). Winnie skitters away from her brother as he charges at her at full speed, while he tries to push his popper into her. Poor Winnie tolerates being terrorized extremely well, but does try to retreat to the safety of her crate, only to have Luke follow her in there, where he proceeds to smother her with his "hugs" and they often end up exchanging wet, slobbery kisses.



We still have our toddler moments, but I continue to try to maintain some perspective about the occasional messes and chaos in our life. As an example, here's a photo from lunch the other day:





I unhooked the tray from Luke's highchair, and carefully placed it on the table before turning my back for one second to get a damp cloth to wipe those sticky hands. Before I knew it, Mr. Go-Go-Gadget Arms had knocked the tray onto the floor, spilling the remainder of lunch everywhere. I secretly think Winnie paid Luke to send his leftovers flying so that she could have a little snack, but I'll never know. Look how proud Luke looks as he points to his mess, as if to say, "Look what I did!"

I know that there is going to be a day in the future where my tall boy doesn't need his Mom-meee to clean up his lunch anymore, when the house will be too quiet and the "kids" no longer chase each other, and when those little legs will be too long to wrap around me for a hug, so I continue to relish it all now, one sweet, wet, loving kiss at a time!

Labor Day Projects

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog (of Luke updates, photos, and videos) to bring you a special home improvement edition. 16 1/2 months after having a baby, we finally felt like we could spend a 3-day holiday weekend doing something other than catching up on much needed sleep, traveling, or reveling in our role as new parents. After watching one too many episodes on HGTV, we decided to install a tile back splash behind our stove in the kitchen. How hard could it be, we thought? We asked the "expert" at Lowes if this was a doable weekend project for novices and he assured us that it was... And for all of you waiting for our home improvement horror story, we are going to disappoint you, because actually, the project did go very smoothly. Mark did the entire thing in several hours with no glitches or issues (many thanks to our friends, the Garretts, for loaning us their tile saw and sharing their expertise!). In fact, we were so pleasantly surprised at the relative ease of the project, that we made an impulse decision to paint our downstairs powder room the next day. Additionally, we doubled the size of our vegetable garden in the backyard, and added several new fruit bushes, including blueberries and raspberries. I use the proverbial "we", as Mark did 99% of the actual "labor" during these Labor Day projects, while I played more of a supervisory role of director, producer, and creative consultant. Mark was so proud of the cost-effectiveness of our do-it-yourself projects until I informed him that now I need to buy all new kitchen canisters, decorative knick knacks, dish towels, etc. to "match" our tile, and that new bathroom prints and accessories were also mandatory. I know the girls reading this blog will understand and appreciate this!


The "before" photo of the kitchen prepped and ready for the tile installation.



Laying the first row of tiles- No going back now!


Mark places the last tile!



One of the "After" photos!



We were so tired of the neutral "tan" that the builders painted every room, so we decided on a much softer hue.



Newly painted powder room!


All in all, it was a busy, productive weekend, and when we finally collapsed on the couch last night after putting Luke to bed, we looked forward to a few hours of relaxation before beginning the week. Mark was putting away the last of his tools on his tool bench, we were smug and satisfied with our ability to be "Masters of Our Home" and that's when I heard him call, "Carrie, we have a mouse in our garage." Since then, we have caught not one, but 5 baby mice, with no end in sight. The front page headline of the Greenville Times today read, "Loose, Vicious Animals Frustrate Residents". If we weren't in the midst of The Great Mouse Invasion of 2009, I may find this headline funny. But until all of the mice are caught, the score reads: Mouse Family (1), Winterhoffs (0). Thank goodness for mousetraps!

Weekend Cookout

Tonight we got together with our friends for a Labor Day weekend cookout. The moms of this group see each other almost weekly as we gather our children for play group, but it's fun to have the dads join us and meet as families once a month, too. Here are a few cute photos of the kids:



The motorized VW bug was a big hit with our little drivers!



Melaina wards off her beaus...



I think Luke may be too big for this ride-on toy!



Thomas and Luke go for a wagon ride.


Another attempt to confine/pose the 4 toddlers for a group photo!
(I love how Luke and Brooke are reaching for each other, as if to communicate, "Can you believe our mean old parents are making us take yet another picture?!")


The video below illustrates "Ring Around the Rosie" gone terribly wrong. Luke's friends were having a blast playing this game, but when Luke joined them, he decided to pull away from the circle, leading a "train" of children, before eventually rushing into my arms for safety. How tough it must be to have an audience of 8 adoring parents singing, cheering, and clapping for you! This video is especially adorable to the adults, since our play group started when only 1 of these 4 children was walking and they all seemed like little babies when they met. How quickly they are growing up together!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!

We have been navigating new territory recently, with Luke wanting to be fiercely independent one moment, but needing to be picked up by Mommy and held the next. It is exhausting at times, but I also find his adventurous spirit very entertaining. We are in a transitional phase of Luke getting rid of his a.m. nap (R.I.P. morning nap- you will be GREATLY missed!), which has made for some interesting days of late with little to no routine or structure (which I crave!). The following videos were all taken within a 10 minute span of each other this morning, and capture how busy our days can be, as I chase my curious little man. They also show you how Luke should be spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E with a capital "T", but are so cute that I can't help but laugh!



I'm sure Winnie did not appreciate her brother's feet in her bowls! Notice how Luke has a guilty look on his face, but then asks to be picked up in order to give me a hug and weasel his way out of trouble?



We thought we were "baby-proofing" when we pushed our cushiony ottoman up against the dangerous fireplace. Who knew it would become a jungle gym as Luke attempts to turn on the CD player himself?



Flushing the toilet is the new exciting activity around here. I'm just glad it was closed and no toys were dropped in it before I caught Luke. My favorite part of this video is when he looks at the trash can (where dirty diapers go) and says, "Pee-eww", waving his hand in front of his face at the imaginary smell!

Seen and heard around town...

New favorite place to play... Unfortunately, most of the toys must come out before Luke goes in!


Here's the latest from Greenville:

Luke and I went to the post office a fews days ago as part of our weekly errands. The same postal worker that we always see behind the desk greeted us with his standard: "We don't mail kids here." After chuckling and smiling at this joke (which we hear every time we go into the post office and encounter this particular clerk), Luke and I proceeded with our transaction. I assumed the well-established mother-of-a-toddler position of: 30 lb. child in one arm, open diaper bag haphazardly slung over the other shoulder, keys dangling from my pocket, sunglasses perched on head, now-where-is-my credit card, if only I had one hand free to pick up the pen and this receipt.... while trying to make polite conversation with the postal employee. He then asked Luke, "What's your name, buddy?" and I answered for my 16-month old with limited vocabulary, "His name is Luke." At this point, the postal worker assumed a deep, guttural voice and growled, "Luke, I am your father.... May the force be with you!" The man chuckled at this witty statement, for surely, he must be the first person to (incorrectly) assume that we named our child after a Star Wars character. In fact, every parent spends hours, days, and weeks poring over baby name books, scrutinizing hundreds of names, analyzing every possible combination of initials, just to have a stranger sum it all up in one, thoughtful moment. Luckily, Luke was in a cooperative mood and just stared at the Darth Vader/Hans Solo impersonator, instead of melting down. Sometimes we love our daily errands. You just never know what you're going to see and hear around town!