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Monday, June 29, 2009

June...

what a busy month! We had a lot going on and did lots of traveling (mostly back to LP). Here is a summary of the month.

June 5th-7th
This was our only "open" weekend of the month and honestly I had a really hard time remembering what we did. It seems so long ago now! I believe it all came back to me though..I had Friday off so I used the Mario Triccoci spa gift certificate Wally got me for Mother's Day and had myself pampered that morning. I was going to do some shopping, but when I was leaving the spa, it was such a beautiful day that I decided just to head home to hang out with the boys. On Saturday Lucas and I headed to Wally's school where the TBolts were hosting and playing in the sectional championship baseball game. Wally was the announcer for the game so he wasn't able to sit with us, but I brought a blanket and Lucas and I enjoyed the game. I remember Lucas seeing a "huge" dog on the other side of the fence and he was kicking his legs and squealing like crazy because he wanted to pet it...he LOVES dogs!! (Oh, and the Bolts lost 4-1). Sunday we went to church, had some lunch at Panera Bread, and headed to Toys-R-Us...I previously posted on this shopping trip below ("I Know, I Know)...that was it for that weekend...


Just some pics of Lucas in his duck tub!





June 10th
All three of us met up with Punky and the crew (Lucas' sitter and friends) for a day at the Brookfield Zoo...the weather turned out to be quite nice that day (we were worried about it raining). It was nice to meet some of the other parents and just to see the kids out of the house. We ate lunch in the picnic area and had a great time seeing all the animals. This was Lucas' 2nd trip to the zoo in a month (we had gone on Mother's Day). We love the zoo so much that we decided to become members (it helped that Wally got an educator's discount too). So it looks like Lucas has many more trips to the zoo to come!


June 12th-14th
This was trip #1 back to the I-Valley. This one was for Wally's Grandma Z.'s 80th birthday celebration. All of Wally's aunts, uncles, and cousins were in town (coming from WI, TX, Grayslake, and Chicago). Friday night we all got together in the Community Center at Wally's grandparents place. We ordered some LaGrotto's (yum!) and had some ice cream cake to celebrate 4 of the cousins graduations (yay Emmy, Danielle, Anna, and Ryan!). Saturday the guys all went golfing, I got my hair cut, and Lucas hung out with Grandma Z. That evening we all went to church and then headed to Verucchi's for some dinner. We had the back room which was very nice since when all the Zuk's are together it can make for a fairly large group. After dinner everyone headed over to Wally's parents for awhile and then we called it a night! Lucas was a champ through all of this...we have a little trouble when he falls asleep when we are out and about and then moving him from the stroller, to the car, and finally to the pack-n-play, but he does pretty good! Sunday we spent the day over at my parents and then headed home. This car ride home was not good! Lucas was overtired; therefore, not happy! We always try to time the car ride to be around naptime for Lucas. He slept for about 45 minutes and then he woke up and was mad and we hit construction - not a good combination! We had to pull off the highway, give him a bottle and hope that would satisfy him and he would fall asleep the rest of the way home...it worked for a bit, but it was a long ride home and he was a very, very tired boy!!!
The Zuk's with Grandma Z.
Rachel, Lucas, and Clare

Flowers!

Photo shoot at Grammy and Papa's House!

Happy 6 month Birthday Little Man!


June 15th
We walked to our subdivision's park this evening. Lucas is now big enough to swing!! I think he liked it :) We tried to get Nala to go down the slide - didn't go so well. She jumped off the side of the slide, tried to get her feet underneath her, but ended up falling on her back (ouch!). She apparently was fine though, but angry. When Nala is angry she goes on a mad running spree and you better watch your ankles...she was crazy...luckily there was no one else around at that time...haha!!




Check out his hair blowing in the wind...haha!


June 19th-21st
This was trip #2! This time we had a wedding on Saturday (family friend of the Zukowski's). I was off on Friday so we headed back late morning. My dad and Wally golfed that afternoon and Lucas and I hung out with Carly and my mom. We ordered pizza and just relaxed that night. Saturday afternoon was pretty low-key as well. The wedding was at Deer Park at 4 o'clock. If you may (or may not) recall, that weekend was VERY HOT and VERY HUMID and the wedding was outdoors and there was no shade. It was quite eventful - bridesmaid had to sit down and then started puking, a groomsman (bride's brother) passed out, and at the end of the wedding, the groom himself had to walk away to puke...yikes!!! That's a wedding to remember! The reception was under a tent so not so bad. Wally and I headed out after dinner to meet up with some friends...Lucas was with my parents that night so we took advantage of being out and about already and they took advantage of some quality time with the little guy! Sunday was a busy and eventful day (see "6 month pictures..." post). Lucas did wonderfully in the car this weekend and he even popped his second tooth (next to the 1st one)!
On our way out the door to the wedding!
Lucas and Great Grandma Swanson
Lucas and Logan!
Too cute!!

The infamous 6-month pictures "airing out"

The men
An exhausted mommy and baby


June 25th-28th
Trip #3! We headed to Lake Lawn Resort (in Delevan, WI next to Lake Geneva) Thursday afternoon to meet up with Wally's family. The Illinois Bar Association conference is up there every year. The Zuk's went just about every year when the kids were younger. I had been once before with them about 7 or 8 years ago. We stayed in a house right on the lake - it was a sprawling ranch and plenty big for the group of us. Thursday night we drove over to The Abbey Resort (where the conference is held) for Family night. We had some dinner and then took Lucas around to see the fun activities he will be able to do as he gets older. Friday morning we went to a restaurant called Millie's for some breakfast and they have little shops around there too. We headed back to the house so Lucas could nap and as soon as he woke up, we lathered him up, and were off to the pool - Lucas' first time! He seemed to really enjoy it - the water was perfect. We swam around with him a bit and then put him in his racecar float (Lucas says thank you Great Grandma Swanson :) ) He was kicking the ENTIRE time....after awhile, we sent him off to the shade with Grandma Z. and the girls and I swam and layed out for a bit while the guys headed off to play some golf. After that experience with Lucas in the water, I am really excited that we have our own pool. Wally and I haven't gotten as much use as we would like out of it since we moved into our house 2 years ago, but having a little guy that enjoys it so much will make it much more worth it! Anyways...Friday night, Lucas, Wally and I went for a very long walk along the lake and met up with his family for dinner. It was a late one for Lucas especially after all that kicking in the pool so he was pretty wiped out! We sent him back to the house for bed with the grandparents and us "kids" headed to the karaoke bar on the resort. I don't karaoke, but I do love to sing and mostly dance in my chair (LOL). Emmy and Willie Idle did some singing though (along with all the karaoke regulars, haha). Wally was sitting next to me wondering why everyone in his family can sing, but him :) It was a great time! Saturday morning we just hung out at the house and the 3 of us took off to head back to LP around 11 AM. We had to get back for a Kohr party!! My Uncle Jack retired from the City of Peru and my Uncle Tom turned 60 so it was a surprise for each of them...Tom knew, but Jack was clueless (although he won't tell you that). As you may (or may not) know, Kohr parties are always a good time and it always rains on us!! I feel that it is usually because of the rain though that the parties turn in to such a good time. The party was at my Aunt Kathy's in Oglesby - the outdoor party always turns into a garage party because of the rain! It was very exciting to meet my cousin Jay's daughter Brooklyn for the first time. Lucas was a little bit of a crab because of the long weekend and his schedule basically being thrown out the window, but we did manage to get some cute pics of him and Brooklyn, along with my cousin Megan's kids Maddie and Sophie! Lucas went to bed just before 8 o'clock in the house and it was time for mom and dad to have some fun - and we did!! There was some flippy cup, pushups in the rain, neighbors coming over to join our party, 40 oz. bottles of Busch Light (yep, they make those) being dropped, dancing, dogs humping Grammys, killing off 2 half barrels, and of course some margarita ball action! Basically - it was a good time! The weekend ended with a low key Sunday and the drive home.
Thursday Night = Family Night

Getting ready for the pool!!
Taking it all in....


He's in!



Check Out "Willie Idle"!

The guests of honor!
First meeting for Lucas and Brooklyn
Maddie, Lucas, and Sophie
The Foursome!
Carly and Maddie playing my dad in bags!
Lucas intensely watching the bags game!
Have to take a picture on the rock at Kathy's!
The morning after!

Phew! That was a busy, but fun month! Lucas met a lot of new people and did great traveling and being thrown out of his routine. We try our best to stick with the routine even when we were are away from home, but it is not always possible and he is pretty adaptable. I have to admit though that I am very excited to be spending the next 2 weekends at home!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

6 Month Pictures...

what a story....we had Lucas' pictures taken at Picture People in the Orland mall. They did a fabulous job...see for yourself (http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/ - not sure what info you need but put in my email address also the user id (azukow27@hotmail.com), access code is a60ceb668f and password is lucas1211 - hopefully that will work). However, I did not do such a fabulous job in caring for the pictures that we ordered...and so we begin...

So as most of you know, it is far too hard to pick only a few pictures to order when they are so many gosh, darn cute ones so of course I spent way too much money and ordered enough for what seemed like the world! I brought all of the pictures home with us this past weekend so I could show the families and give them theirs. We stayed with my parents this weekend so they got theirs and then our busy Sunday began. We packed up all of our things and left Nala at my parent's house and decided to just swing by and get her on our way out of town. Our first stop was Wally's Aunt Missy's house...Missy, Brian, and the girls hadn't met Lucas yet so we stopped there for a bit, then we headed to my grandparents house for a Father's Day lunch, and lastly we headed to Wally's parents to celebrate Father's Day and of course so they could get their share of Lucas for the weekend. As we got into the house, I remembered that I had these pictures to show and give them. I went out to the car, but couldn't find them anywhere. I remembered putting the envelope of pictures on my parent's kitchen table that morning, but I coud have sworn that we grabbed everything. Then, I got this horrible feeling that I put the pictures on the roof of the car as I was putting Lucas in his carseat. I couldn't remember doing that, but it was like I subconsciously knew it happened. So I hopped in the car and backtracked from Wally's Aunt Missy's to my parents house hoping that the pics were on the kitchen table and I wasn't going to find them on the road. I went into the house, no pictures to be found anywhere, I started crying and figured I would bring Nala back to the Zuk's with me (my parent's were still over at my grandparents). As I pulled out of the alley onto Roosevelt Road, I saw them...my beautiful, expensive pictures run over and soaken wet (it was raining that day) in the middle of the road. I slammed on the brakes, got out, and picked them up. The envelope had disintegrated and the pictures were all exposed. I put them in the backseat of the car (at this time I am full-out bawling as Wally and Carly can attest to from my phone call) and headed back to Wally's parents. Then, my lovely dog Nala decides to jump in the backseat of the car and sits on the pictures...I pull onto a side road off Shooting Park and put the car in park. I go to open the back door to get Nala (she wouldn't come back to the front seat when I told her to) and she jumps out of the car and takes off...I am furious! She runs up to a house and wouldn't come until I pretended like I had a treat for her....uuuggghhhh!!! When I finally got back to the Zuk's, I brought the pictures in and everyone kindly starting helping to lay the pictures out and saving what we could. We actually were able to save some, but most were basically ruined! I was a mess....what a waste of money - I was SO angry with myself...how could I forget that I put the pictures on the roof of the car????? Maybe it has to do with the fact that I have a million different things running through my head at all times these days...I need to slow down, relax, and not fret the small stuff...hopefully that is what can come out of the photo incident...needless to say, I ordered some more pictures (therefore, spent way too much money again)...I was ok with Picture People not giving you a cd of the photos, but oh what I wouldn't have given to have that cd now!

Friday, June 12, 2009

6 Months!!!

Wally's buddy, my bubby, Lukey Luke, Mister...whatever you want to call him, our baby is a half-year old already! Can you believe it?!?! Time sure does fly! Lucas measured at just over 19 lbs. and is 27 inches long on his 6 month birthday yesterday. He is growing and developing perfectly! Here are some pics from Lucas' big day (impromptu photo shoot by me - professional ones are to come).










Sunday, June 7, 2009

I Know, I Know

Yes, I know, it has been quite awhile since I posted last. Hopefully there are still some people checking in on the blog. Suddenly it has just seemed that I haven't had the time to update. I can't say the next month is any less busy, but we have lots going on so I should have lots to update you with so I will do my best!

What's new??? We have a tooth! Lucas cut his first tooth (bottom front). He has actually been very good considering. We actually did not even know that he was cutting a tooth (oops!). On Wally's first day home with Lucas for the summer, he calls me at work and asks Did you know Lucas has a tooth??? I was like WHAT??? I could not get home fast enough to see it. Lucas really showed no signs at all - maybe a little fussy, but honestly we didn't even think about him teething because he was showing none of the other "typical" signs. We hope we are as lucky as he continues to get more!

We have officially upgraded Lucas to a convertible car seat. Lucas is about 20 lbs. (we go to the doctor on Thursday for his 6-month well visit so we will find out for sure). The weight limit of the infant seat is 22 lbs. and it is getting WAY too heavy to carry him around in anyways and won't be safe soon enough for him to ride in anymore. We made the trip to Toys R Us today...(side note: do NOT bring Wally to this store...he thinks he is a kid again and you will end up spending way too much money!). This was also the first day that Lucas rode in the cart like a big boy! I had the "crazy mom" seat cover for him and he did very well sitting up on his own in there.

Wally's last day of school was last Monday so he is officially home with Lucas for the summer. I have to say that I am insanely jealous and on the first day I felt like Lucas was starting daycare again (although this is 1,000 times better since he is with Daddy), but the emotions I felt were pretty much the same. The extreme jealousy stems from the fact that I realized I will NEVER have 10 straight weeks home with just Lucas EVER again...that makes me sad to even type! :( But I know the two of them are going to have a GREAT time together and I am home every Friday (off every other Friday and working from home on the alternate Friday) so that helps me get through the week!

Lucas is loving all of his new foods! Honestly, we have not come across anything yet that he doesn't like. He doesn't even really makes faces when he tries a new food. He just sort of holds it in his mouth for a second realizing it is something new, and then he swallows, and opens up for more, LOL! So far his favorite seems to be sweet potatoes!

Below are some video and new pics of Luke...a lot are just randoms I have taken around the house. Oh and we got a new camera so I have just been learning how to use it and all of its capabilities! The first 2 videos are the wonderful sounds of Lucas. Wally and I are blessed to wake up to these perfect sounds. Lucas will lay in his crib for probably 20 minutes just talking to himself. We have the joy of just listening to him on the monitor. I am not a morning person by any means, but hearing him in the morning makes me a very happy person! Sometimes he screeches, sometimes he sounds like he is singing a sweet lullaby, sometimes he sounds like he is a monster or is roaring like a lion, and sometimes he is just motorboating like crazy!





Peek-A-Boo



Somebody get this kid a rear-view mirror!




Lucas' first bridal shower...LOL!


LOVE this picture :)



What a face!




Trying to learn through osmosis...




Lucas' most favorite toy these days - the remote!


I promise I am napping mom, really I am!