Luke's New Trick

So my son can do several things now.  I'm sure that you have heard about or seen him blow kisses and wave which is great entertainment for all of the old ladies at church!  Just hysterical!  What's interesting is that he seems to know when he should do it...like when Melissa picks him up from school and Luke turns and waves to his teachers as he leaves!

Well, turns out that Luke has been working on his crawling.  He can really motor around the house, in fact we got him to crawl from his room to the office, which is about 10-15 feet!  Pretty impressive!  But then, a few days ago, he was in the bath and surprised both of us!

So yay!  Luke can pull himself up now!  And what's more, he loves to do it!  All you have to do is hold his hands and he will pull himself up.  Such a big boy!

Weekend fun

It has been a hectic month in the Godinez household, but here is the latest update:

1. Luke is army crawling ALL over the place! His favorite location is the dogs' water bowl. This isn't funny.
2. The eye doctor says we have to wear our glasses 100% of the time...we'll still probably need eye surgery in the future. We're going to shopping for baby goggles to see if they are more successful than the other pair...
3. We're praying for our friends in Minot...had we still lived there today, we wouldn't have a house. Burlington suffered horrible losses on our end of town. Hopefully the neighborhood will successfully rebuild.
4. Luke had his 1 year evaluation for Early Steps (OT/Speech program). We're lacking a little in gross motor, but communication and fine motor are doing great! We couldn't do it without our weekly visits with Anita and Megan.
5. Luke is getting a walker! He'll get to use it until his legs are strong enough to walk independently.
6. Grandma Malone came and spent a week spoiling Luke!
7. Some of Melissa's best friends, Laura and Brian, got married!!
8. ...and some of Patrick's best friends, Aaron and Ashley, got married!!
9. Luke and Melissa got to spend some time shopping with Grandma, Tricia and Maddie in Dallas.
10. The house is nice and clean so we can kick back, relax, and enjoy the upcoming weekend finally as a family!!!

More Flippy Floppies

So this weekend, we really meant to go out to the lake.  Saturday we went to the Parade of Homes and then Sunday we were going to the Lake.  Well, long story short, we didn't go to the lake so we could clean, go to Target, and finish up the last day of the Parade of Homes.

Don't judge us about the Parade of Homes!  We don't bother with the houses that we could actually afford.  We go for the $500K and above.  You know, from the "within our reach sooner or later" to "we better win the lottery twice to afford this crap!".  It was a good time and our house really needed to be cleaned.

So long story short, we left work early (just a little bit) and went out to the lake armed with a few beers, some sandwiches, cheetoes, and some mac and cheese for Luke.

Luke having a bit of fun pre-Mac and Queso and Turkey.

Then we got brave.  We got Luke into his life jacket, I went into the water and Melissa handed him to me.  At first I stayed by the ladder and he seemed alright with the whole proposition, leaning towards the "not liking this" side.  

You better not let go of me dad!

Then I wanted to see if he was cool with me going away from the boat.  He seemed to be calming down, but even if we were looking at each other, I'm not sure he was totally ok with what we were doing...

So we brought him in.  He wasn't screaming ever, just not real comfortable.  I think the more we take him in there he will like it.  It was nice and warm, so that probably helps.  Hopefully, things will go a bit better next time!

Grandpa and Grandma's Housse

Sorry we've been away from the blog for so long! Luke and I took a little two week vacation back to Kansas. Turns out, I am pretty sure I have the best job in the universe. Northwest Pipe has another facility in Atchison, KS, which is only about 45 minutes from my parents' house in Topeka.  My division was holding a meeting, and luckily my boss didn't care that Luke bummed a ride on my lap on the airplane ride home. To top it off, I managed to schedule a trip I needed to make to our Vancouver, WA office immediately after my Kansas meeting.  That way, Luke could spend several days with Grandpa and Grandma Malone!

The timing couldn't have been more perfect because it was Crazy Uncle Mike's 22nd b-day, and it was the week before he left for Ireland! The Lucky Duck is studying abroad in Dublin for the summer and working for a marketing company....maybe I need his job....

Luke LOVED his time in Kansas. Each day, Grandma spoiled him rotten! Grandpa's friends, Mike and Holly, finally had the chance to meet Luke as well. Holly works with kids with special needs, so it was great to hear her advice about Luke. Of course, he enjoyed the attention, so he and Holly became fast friends.

Now, we're finally back together as a family in Shreveport. It was great to see the family, the work meetings went well, and being back in Kansas was awesome, but it sure felt good to get home.

On the boat with our flippy floppies

Another fabulous weekend in Louisiana! The weather was absolutely, positively perfect - low 90s and lots of sun (a little windy, but just a mild breeze by Kansas/ND standards!) Of course we spent as much time as possible out at the lake. Nothing beats Cheetos and beer while out enjoying the day...well, just Cheetos for Luke. After the bag of puffy delightfulness defeated Luke, he passed out for almost 2.5 hours!  We decided it is probably the best babysitter in the universe :) Here are some pics from our latest adventures at Cross Lake.

It has been another fun, relaxing week around the Godinez household. Luke is getting more and more mobile. Now that he figured out he can get around on his own, his new favorite thing to do is head straight for the doggie dishes! He loves to pull around his little train; however, he forgets how fast it moves and manages to bonk himself with it when he's on the tile.  As you can tell from the last picture, the little dude wears himself out! Plus, that fourth tooth coming in sure does hurt :( Good thing a snuggle with Daddy makes everything better.

Dallas

Last week I was all geared up for my upcoming trip to our Houston facility for work. Although I do enjoy travelling for work, I was more concerned about the exciting shopping opportunities in Houston during my free time.  Alas, they were not ready to proceed with our planned project, so the trip got delayed. No big deal for work, but what to do about my shopping?!?!?

Solution:  Dallas!

For once, we had nothing planned for the weekend, and it was simply beautiful outside.  Luckily, the neighbors were willing to watch the four-legged babies, so off we went for a weekend of shopping, eating, and baseball in Dallas.  Luke, as always, was a fabulous little traveler.  We shopped until we dropped, stuffed our faces with delicious Mexican food for dinner and La Madeline for brunch,  and went to Luke's first MLB game (Rangers v. Angels)! As you can see from the picture, it was a bit too much excitement to handle, but it was the perfect way to spend the weekend together.