So much blog...

You guys. I have so much blog to share. I think the only way to share the 47 (47!) pictures and not have you read some kind of novel of our lives is to just upload them all and caption them so you know what we're up to. I've got a couple posts waiting in the wings that feature, like, stories and stuff...but for right now, I have to share photos for the various and sundry family members who want to see pictures of this kid.

Post-bath evening shirt-free hangout time.

Probably the next morning. This guy loves his tractor...and sometimes we walk in the room to find him actually standing, on his two feet, on the seat. So it's a deathtrap, but he just LOVES it so much...

Teaching important woodwork-y lessons.

Post-play Muppet coma.

Yup. You're seeing that correctly. And if it wasn't so cute, I wouldn't post it, but apparently, if the photo is cute enough, I have no shame.

Papa Bob and Moki (Grandma Vickie) got us a new lawnmower. Well, they got Lukie a new lawnmower.

This kid's morning hair. I just CAN'T with it.

Yeah. He's putting keys in the door. We're in trouble.

Daddy was using the air compressor out on the porch. Lukas thought it was utterly fascinating, and not a just a little fun.

Our new friend, the finger toothbrush. Every night was dissolving into a complete meltdown when I was trying to brush his 2 teeth, so I got this bad boy. He doesn't LOVE it, but he doesn't HATE it, and I think it actually must feel good when I massage his gums where the next teeth are coming in. By the way, the doctor said today that his next teeth are really close. Lukas had his 15-month check-up and he weighs 28 lbs and 2 oz. He's a massive little man.

We took a trip to Knoxville this last weekend and Lukas was fascinated by the fountain near the Farmer's Market. The trip went really well!

Post-trip wasn't that great, though. Little man came down with a cold and coughed most of Saturday night and Sunday. At my wit's end, I ran to the store and got some baby Vick's Vaporub and put it on his feet to sleep last night...and I don't know if it was the Vick's or the new footie pajamas he was wearing, but Lukas SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME LAST NIGHT!!! He napped from 5:30-6:30 yesterday, then slept from 9:00-5:45, nursed, then went back down until 8:00 a.m.

Hallelujah! Let's just see if it EVER happens again.

That's my stool from when I was a little kiddo. He likes to sit on things (no seriously, like everything he can find to sit on, he parks his rear end on it), so we got this out and he liked sitting on it to watch the Muppets.

And then we played outside all afternoon and drank cider. It was a pretty great day, even if this was a bit of a sick day. He still had fun and I finally got some good fall shots of him. 

That's it, folks. I got some new toys that will hopefully make posting on the blog a little easier from here on out, so until next time, WHICH WILL BE MUCH SOONER, I PROMISE!

Laughing Lukie

Lukie has decided that Sid, the sloth, dancing in Ice Age: The Meltdown, is hilarious. Have to agree, but he gets an even bigger kick out of it than I do.

I'm just not going to feel bad about him watching movies. He doesn't watch regular TV, so he doesn't see commercials, which is where my real beef with television lies, so we'll just continue to make sure what he's watching is age-appropriate, and that he doesn't watch it all day. We have fun watching movies with him, anyway...though I'm about DONE with Frozen. Thank God for the Muppets.

...Aaaand we're back!

You guys! We're all still here! We're all still alive! I promise!

I have been a very bad blogger. I haven't posted a real update since mid-July. Those other ones were just place-holders, I guess. In my defense, some things have been happening around these here parts.

First...well, I guess I haven't blogged about this. Lukie has teeth! Two of them. They came in early August. They're adorable but...well...lonely still. :)

That's his new thing, by the way. He constantly wants to wear daddy's ear protectors from when he's lawn mowing.

He walked into the house the other day and immediately grabbed them and tried to put them on his head. And then got mad when he couldn't get it done himself.

Lukie is into everything lately. The laundry is a particular favorite, but he also enjoys rifling through my kitchen cabinets (the ones we've left un-baby-proofed because they contain things he can't hurt or hurt himself with).

Poor buddy has had a rough week with teething and a case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, as well, so we've spent quite a lot of time watching baseball and/or the Muppets and/or Frozen. He loves movies, and while I feel a little guilty letting him watch them, I know that he plays all day at daycare and sometimes just needs a little quiet time in the evenings. And Mommy and Daddy need that quiet time, too!

 (Zonin' out in his old man pants...)

I'm hoping, though, that once it gets a bit cooler outside (it has been miserable the last few weeks!), we can make more use of this thing:

We decided a few weeks ago that Lukie needed some outdoor play equipment and found this beauty on Craigslist for $80! Lukie loves it, but as I said, it's been too hot in the middle of the day to play lately. I'm really looking forward to spending some outdoor time this fall. By the way-- my garden is looking SO much better this year!

Among the crazy things that have happened here lately is the fact that I got a new job! I'm working at a community college now, and I love every minute of it. I teach students how to find, evaluate, use, and cite information in their papers, and how to generally be more information literate people. It's great, and some bonuses are that I don't work evenings or weekends anymore, and that I'll have June 15-August 15 off next year! Summers are going to be great!

I leave you with a few of my iPhone photos. I'm hoping that now that things are settling into more of a rhythm around here with my new position, I'll be better at taking photos and updating this sucker a little more often. I don't want to give it up-- it's been a great way to keep family updated with Lukie, and to keep a record of this special little boy's childhood!

Watching Daddy Mow

Lukas LOVES watching Daddy on the lawn mower. Maggie HATES it. They both like to run from window to window while Daddy mows, Lukie yelling and beating at the window and Maggie whining and drooling.

REAL Kid-Friendly FOOD: Sweet Potato and Spinach Mac and Cheese

We've never had a whole lot of trouble getting Lukie to eat...but there are days when it is harder than others. In general, he's super distractable at mealtime, and when he is eating, I pray that nothing will break the spell. Hope Mommy doesn't sneeze. Hope Dixie doesn't sneeze. Hope Lukie doesn't sneeze.

Yup, that's all it takes sometimes. And there's more than one reason to hope Lukie doesn't sneeze. Shrapnel.

Lately, it's been a little rougher than it used to be. Cottage cheese seems to be all he'll eat sometimes...though he really likes eggs poached in tomato sauce. I've tried lots of other things lately, and all I can get into him is fruit!

Lukas does, however, seem to have a serious love of pasta, and if I give him a bunch of pieces of pasta in a sauce, he tends to concentrate for longer and more intensely on eating. Granted, they end up in his hair, in my hair, in the dogs' hair...but still, a good majority of them get INTO his body.

Now, I'm not nuts about the idea of stuffing him with white pasta with nothing more than cheese on it. However, I've figured out some great ways to get veggies and whole grains into a Lukie-pleasing meal. And, on top of that, Mommy and Daddy get some veggies, too.

The first recipe I shared here was one of those recipes. See this post, in which I shared a recipe for roasted veggie pasta. This one is another one. To be honest, I like this macaroni and cheese better than regular old butter-laden, cheese-soaked, white noodle-filled mac and cheese. The sweet potato, especially, does a great job thickening the sauce, so you don't need to use even a fraction of the butter and flour you would use in regular mac and cheese sauce!

Sweet Potato, Spinach, and Veggie Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato
1 1/2 cups milk
1 bag whole wheat egg noodles OR one box (12 oz.) whole wheat rotini
1 head fresh broccoli, chopped, OR 2 cups frozen broccoli
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 head bok choy (including leaves), chopped
1 small onion, diced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 (8 oz.) block Colby Jack cheese, shredded
1 LARGE handfuls fresh spinch, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Rub olive oil on potato skin and bake for 45 minutes, or until soft. Peel off skin and mash in a bowl. Mix in 1/4 cup of the milk. Set aside.

Boil pasta according to package directions. Add chopped broccoli for the last 2 minutes of boiling. Strain and set aside.

Melt butter in a large pan on stovetop. Do not overheat- butter has a low flash point. Add onions and bok choy, and sautee until softened. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour over the sauteed onions and bok choy, and cook for a minute or two. Slowly, and whisking continuously, pour in remaining 1 1/4 cups milk. Stir until smooth and cook until slightly thickened. Mix in the sweet potato/milk mixture, frozen peas, and chopped spinach, and bring to bubbling. Let it bubble for a minute or two.

Turn off heat (DO NOT BOIL ONCE CHEESE HAS BEEN ADDED!!). Mix in cheese (note: I like to shred my own cheese to make mac 'n cheese. The bagged shredded cheese often has fillers like potato starch in it to keep it from sticking together. While I don't have a problem with this on an OH NO CHEMICALS level, I don't like the way it makes a sauce kind of grainy. So shred your own cheese (unless you don't have the tools). It's worth it.)

Stir in cooked noodles, and add salt and pepper to taste.

(Optional: you can eat this now (which we usually do because we're hungry), or you could put together a mixture of a little butter and some panko bread crumbs, top it off, and pop it in the oven for 10-15 minutes to get a brown on the crumbs. I'm not sure it's worth the extra effort, but hey, whatever.)

(Optional, also: I'm going to try adding tuna someday. I love tuna mac, and it'd add that much more protein!)

(No, seriously, another optional thing: You can sub lots of veggies. Adding red peppers in at the onion/bok choy stage adds a welcome pop of color, I find. Add some diced green chilies for a different flavor. You could probably get away with some celery and a blob of mustard if you want to go all French on this thing.)


Wildly adapted from here.