Let's Make A Fort!

Luke was so excited to see Daddy this morning when he woke up. It was almost like Christmas morning! Absence certainly makes the heart grow fonder!

T.G.I.F.

All I can say is Thank Goodness It's Friday! It has been one long week, especially without John home. It's been a little over a month since John has had such a long TDY so I can't really complain, but having him gone for the entire week can be long and boring (for me anyway). Needless to say I'm looking forward to having him home tonight and am quite glad that he'll be home a couple of hours earlier than originally planned (8 instead of 10).

I'm also thankful that today was Mom's Morning Out! I put both of the boys in this week as I knew I could definitely use the break. I was able to clean the house this week (and keep it clean) -- so today I got to chillax! A little coffee, mani/pedi and a trip to the bead shop -- whoohoo! I almost felt like a new woman!

I did have a couple of interesting conversations today during that MMO time. I spent almost the first hour of MMO chitchatting with Miss Kim (one of the teachers in Luke's room). It was encouraging to see her excitement and joy to see Luke today (she hinted that he's her favorite). It was funny to hear her say that her teenage daughters always look forward to hearing her stories of Luke on the MMO days. It definitely delights my heart to hear how someone loves Luke and so enjoys being around him -- especially when he's been whining and cranky at home! He was my little lover today though. Luke joined me in bed this morning covering me with kisses, licks and a little tickle-time. What a sweetie

When I was getting my mani/pedi I was surprised to hear a young lady chitchatting next to me mention that she lives in Plano. How random! We ended up talking for a good 30 minutes about our time in Plano, the ministries we were involved in before either of us got married (she worked for Women of Faith), finding good churches, and of course all things mommy!

Now I'm counting down the minutes until John comes home. I still need to toss Luke into the bath and put him to bed -- but it's nice to know that Daddy will be able to help me out with the bed-time routine for a little while before his next trip!

Here are a few fun pics of the boys from the week with Mommy:

He's trying so hard to crawl! He pushes back on all 4's and manages to scoot backwards or rotate -- no forward movement yet.

Luke was quite willing to "help" Mommy with the dusting. I am not quite sure where he ended up putting the feather duster though...hmm...

He was even eager to do the vacuuming!

Mommy's new discovery -- kiddo hangs out in the sink while I finish getting ready for the day -- and he's tickled pink about it!

What's up with this?

BTW -- Paden turned 7 months this past Monday. Time sure does fly by while you're having fun!

Polka Dots

We have struggled for a long time in keeping Luke's skin blemish free. Often it seems like a losing battle. We have seen the pediatrician, a dermatologist and now an allergist to see what we can do about the never ending cycle of eczema and polka dots that covers his milky skin. I tend to also forget that the "winter" season tends to create more havoc on his skin. But we did go ahead and start the allergy testing to see if foods or other substances are irritating him. Looks like there are several things that bother this little dude: cats, dogs (great, what to do about Bailee!), peanuts, tree nuts (almonds), egg whites, soy (poor dude loves edamame), and tomatoes. We're going to take a break mostly from eggs and tomatoes and see what that does...but man, what a struggle for a little guy who loves salsa, barbecue sauce with his french fries, ketchup on his hot dogs, and all other "dips" that are made with tomatoes! Here's hoping we will be able to post a picture of a little boy with nice, clear skin! (Before and after pics to come later -- hopefully) Oh -- and we carry an EpiPen with us wherever we go now -- swell!

We Have Teeth!

So our drooling baby finally has cut his first two teeth! What a long and painful process (for Mommy and Baby), and this is just the beginning! Oy! First tooth came in last Wednesday (2/25) and tooth #2 finished it's journey today (3/2). I can't believe how quickly Paden is growing! I was so eager to see Luke move to the "next stage" when he was a baby, but with Paden I can't believe how time is flying by!

I'll add pictures when we get some taken of this little guy's new toothy grin!

Tag You're It!

For 4 weeks we were lucky to have the grandmas visit! It was certainly a tag-team effort on their part and ours with these active boys of ours! It was certainly an entertaining and crazy time. It seems that the boys "know" when grandma is here because their sleep patterns are completely thrown off (I believe because they want to play) and their antics are non-stop! Luke certainly picks up various new phrases from both Grandma Mimi (Char) and Grandma Ferne. Let's see what we here often from his little mouth..."Uh, oh sghetti oh", "I did it!", "chilly wompus", and much, much more! Paden started to roll over and "scoot" some on the floor, as well as work on his two new teeth (what a pain!). Never a dull moment in this house, and the boys certainly enjoyed sharing all those moments with the grandmas! Now let's see if they want to come back to help out so John and I can go to Hawaii...

Here are some pics that were taken over those 4 weeks, thanks to the grandmas and their cameras!

Food induced coma

What a smile!

Laughter fills the house! Auntie Paula and Grams with our funny boys.

Several generations (minus the mommy) -- Paden, Auntie Paula, Grams, Grandma Mimi (Char) and Luke

One content little baby with Grandma Mimi

Peek-a-boo! I see you!

Questionable maybe, but he was trying to get his fruit treat from Mommy. One persistant little boy!

Whee!

Luke sharing his slide with Baby P

Mommy and Baby P

Sunday morning actually finds us all "dressed up"

Daddy and Luke feeding the birds at Pollywog Park

Our Lukadelic!

A happy Paden (before the teething really began!)

"Music Machine"

Trying to get the pic to look like Luke's did...it turned out okay...

My sweet boys

Grandma Ferne and her grandsons

Is he cute or what?!

He's pretty cute too!

Okay, so there's a lot of pictures...but it's nice to have some help with taking pictures. I made one comment to Ferne about never having anyone take my picture with my boys, and now I have lots! Thanks for humoring us!

Paden's Dedication

On February 8th we were able to participate in Journey's Baby Dedication Sunday. For John and I we just saw this as a "formality" and a "coming out" for Paden. One of the sweet things that we have done with both boys is give them to the Lord within hours after they were born as we were in the hospital. John and I both know that we are so incredibly blessed to be parents to these little boys that there is no way we can do this on our own without the Lord. So, within mere hours of their birth we surrender our babies and ourselves to the Lord.

As for our church's baby dedication...standing before our church family and asking for their prayer support and making the vow to raise our child to love and serve our God, is not just a "formality" -- it's a step of faith. I believe all parents can attest the fact that it is not easy to raise children, as many of us know we weren't easy children to raise. We can only hope that we're doing the best for our little ones, but the best way we can do that is to surrender all to God and rely on Him alone.

So on the 8th we, along with our friends the Mills, made that step of faith. Of course it came with a lot of laughs (especially towards Luke whom the pastor said will be a "lively" preacher one day!).

Pastor Glen, Paden, Kristen, John and Grandma Mimi (I think Luke was off flirting with Bailey at the time)

Paden and Pastor Glen Martin

Jonny, Denise, Bailey and Laken Mills

Luke was more interested in "flirting" with his friend Bailey and making cool "thud" noises as he jumped up and down on the stage. Oy!

And He Keeps On Running And Running And Running...

A few weeks ago we made a trip down the coast to Carlsbad for a half-marathon. We can mark this as John's first for the year. Before the big run we took the boys down early on Saturday to the New Children's Museum in San Diego. It was a rare rainy day in L.A. so we opted to avoid the zoo as planned and find an outlet for Luke. It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day in San Diego but the museum was really cool and blast! It turned out to be an art museum geared towards kids, bright, colorful and crazy cool! There was space to run, bubbles to be blown, blocks to build with, textures to feel with your hands and feet, walls to climb and a tent city to explore (and that was just Daddy!).




Besides John's big run and visiting the museum, this was the Mizell's first sleepover in a hotel with the boys! Yowzie! I will admit it went a lot smoother than I anticipated. I guess we wore those little boys out that sleep overcame their little bodies.



John did really well on the run Sunday morning. I believe all parties (Phil Lauri, Kim Lauri, Tyler and Denise Norden) are pleased with their times. It was fun to support them all (and easy since all we had to do was step out of our hotel and we were at the 5 and 7 mile marker)! Now we get to look forward to rooting on our traveling band of runners in Lo Jolla in April!