The latest form of discipline...

J/K =) Steve's parents have been in town for a few days.Friday we went to Sandy Beach in Rio Vista. Carson experienced the joy of being buried in the sand. Luke experienced the joy of eating sand. There has been sandy poop in diapers today, but it was all worth it, right?

Luke Eighth-Month Update

Always something in his mouth, I know...

Mom thinks my first tooth is about to pop through because I have been abnormally fussy this week. Hopefully it will come soon. If you don’t count this week I’ve been a happy and well contented little guy… as long as I get my naps. Mom can’t go anywhere in the morning anymore because I HAVE TO take my 8:30 am nap or else I am a grump for the rest of the day. Gone are the days of sleeping anywhere. I want my own bed in my own room! I usually sleep for an hour or so, and then I take another nap around 1:00 pm. I haven’t figured out the crawling thing yet, not even close. I have mastered the roll though. I can roll anywhere to get what I want. Mom told me to feel free to take my time with the crawling thing, that there was no rush. So I think I will.

I think my brother Carson is HILLARIOUS! He thinks he is pretty funny too. I am getting a lot tougher so we can play rougher. I like when mom and Dad flip me upside down, but I do not like to be thrown. That scares me. Nothing has changed with the bottle thing. (Hate them, refuse to put them in my mouth.) I do like baby food though. I am starting to get picky and only want the fruit ones. Mom says I have to eat veggies too. When I nurse I like to rub my little head and run my fingers through my little old man fringe. Speaking of hair, I love it! I always pull and suck on anyone’s hair that is holding me. Mom can’t wear her hair down anymore and she complains that it hurts when I pull it, big baby. I love to be tickled on my back, head, ribs and thighs. I have the cutest giggle and squeal when I am excited. Mom’s favorite thing about me right now is my chubby cheeks. Seriously, it looks like I am storing something in there. 

Happy 30th to Me!

I had a rad 30^th birthday extravaganza last week. 24 of my dear friends, well the ladies at least- I was kind enough to let their husbands tag along =), attended my “jumping” themed party. We went out to eat at Claim Jumper in Concord. After dinner about half of the group went to jump at Sky High Sports. Sky High is a large warehouse filled with trampolines. It was a lot of fun. I have to say that after a few tries I was able to land my front flip. (I was too chicken to try my back flip.) Steve wants me to mention that he landed his without any effort… The funniest thing was it was us and a ton of teenage boys, I'm sure they got a huge kick out of us.

I am so lucky to have such great friends to share my birthday with!!

Table Makeover

 Before...

After...

We got new chairs, stripped the top of the table to the natural wood, and painted the legs black. I love to jazz up something I already own. What do you think? 

**Thanks to Mimi for the birthday flowers on the table! =)

Best part of my day

This was my favorite birthday gift today...

BTW thanks for all the happy birthday texts, facebook messages, and phone calls. I felt very loved.

**A fun 30th birthday celebration  post coming soon**

It's not easy being green

Whenever we get to the end of a bag of water balloons (we do water balloons a lot) there seems to be only green ones left. Green seems to be Carson's least favorite color I guess.

Appreciation

Teachers rarely get the appreciation they deserve. Especially high school teachers and especially, especially, special education high school teachers. By high school the students are too old and cool to ever think to be grateful for all you do for them. Most parents by this time think of sped teachers as the enemy. It can be disheartening at times, so any little thank you you get can mean a lot!

I got an email from an old student of mine today telling me he had a daughter and named her Leah after me. How sweet is that. This student was a pretty rough and tough guy with many behavior issues. He had a difficult family life and was close to dropping out of school. My goal from day one was to make sure he felt safe and comfortable in my classroom. I tried my best to give him a positive adult role model and to show him that I genuinely cared about him. His tough guy wall eventually came down and I got to know the real him. He turned out to be one of my favorite students. He did finish school and is now working and seems happy.

So, for all you teachers out there-you are changing someone's life, even if you think everything you are doing is going unnoticed.

A quick picture of my guys before church...

We had just woken Carson up from a nap, can't you tell? 

He knows he looks like such a big kid!

Is there anything much cuter than this?

Luke Seven-Month Update

This was as good as it got for this month... The card says 7 months by the way. Sucking on it kind of defeats the point I know. Hopefully next month will be better.

The day after mom wrote last month’s update I rolled over! I am a rolling machine now rolling from one end of the room to another. I am getting really close to being able to sit all by myself too. BIG NEWS this month is my tear ducts seemed to clear! Mom and Dad are so glad that I won’t have to get surgery.

I eat baby for twice a day and like it okay. I still prefer to nurse over anything else. Mom’s decided to try to get me to take milk out of a sippy cup. So far it hasn’t worked… I take two solid naps a day. One long 2 hour nap at 8:30 am, and a shorter 1-1 1.2 hour nap around 2:00. Mom is going to shorten my morning nap in hopes that I will fall asleep in the afternoon at 12:30 (that’s when Carson takes a nap.) For some reason she wants some time to herself…I can’t imagine why… I am really good at going to sleep though. Most of the time Mom can just lie me down awake in my crib and I’ll fall asleep on my own.

We have been driving a lot lately on trips to southern California and Oregon and I have become accustomed to long drives. I do very well in the car. I am getting so much sturdier so Carson can rough-house with me more. He likes to hold me and roll around on the floor. I think it is really fun and laugh and laugh. He usually doesn’t stop until I finally cry out. Mom says Carson doesn’t understand “social cues” yet. No teeth, but they should be here soon. It’s amazing how much I can chew off of a piece of apple without any teeth. I almost choked yesterday, so Mom said no more apples slices. My hair is finally growing. It looks like I have a buzz cut. My hair is very blonde.  I am an extremely happy, well tempered baby boy!!

Girlfriends

I don’t think there is a woman alive that can get through life without good girlfriends! Last night my friend Kelly threw a “slumber” party because her hubby and boys were off at scout camp. A few of us came over, brought yummy food, and watched 16 Candles. We decided that it would be much more comfortable to sleep in our own beds though =). I am so lucky to have such great friends!

By the way, how great is 16 Candles??? If you haven’t watched it in a while you’ve got to! Watching Jake Ryan all night almost makes you want to be a teenager again—being so excited over  your latest huge crush. Oh, back in the day…

Bonner Family Reunion 2011

Last week we returned from our Bonner family reunion in Seaside, Oregon. Steve has 3 siblings and with all of us combined there were 9 adults and 19 kids. Steve is the baby of the family which means a lot of cool big boy cousins for Carson to play with. We stayed at our timeshare in Seaside which was so wonderful because we all had our own space complete with kitchens. The Oregon Coast is BEAUTIFUL, but never warms up much. We made the best out of it though and had a lot of fun. Here is a summary of what we did:

***Rented two boats and went crabbing. The boys thought this was especially cool. We cooked our catches up for dinner, but seemed to have a lot leftover…

Isaac enjoying the ride

·  

Cleaning the crabs after they've been boiled.

Does it look like enough crab for 28 people??

·        
 ***Went to the tidepools at Cannon Beach.

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Beth and Rebekah 

·        
*** Visited the Tillamook factory and ate delicious ice cream!

{Josh, Matt, Isaac, and Carson}

·        *** Visited the Maritime Museum in Astoria.

Little boy Heaven!!

Making our own rope

·         ***Checked out the Seaside Aquarium only a few blocks from our hotel.

·         ***Plenty of playing on the beach. (Adults wearing sweatshirts and the kids playing in the water.) =)

Roasting hot dogs

·        
 ***Swimming, swimming, and more swimming in the hotel pool.

Perfect location, right on the beach (except for the ocean wind!)

Piggyback ride thanks Matt 

Swimming all by himself

·         ***And of course, plenty more!!!

Checkout the shirts Ruth designed!

chaos known as dinner

Isaac, Allie and Megan 

Grandpa eating a chocolate covered twinkie

Big girls being silly on the elevator

Carson initiating body slams during dinner. ( A common theme of the week...)

On the Promenade 

Luke and Josh

A highlight of the trip, the luggage racks!

Luke's attitude concerning the beach...Not a fan of the wind, sun, and coldness.

A HUGE thanks to Steve’s parents, Bill and Ruth and his sister Janel for putting this all together. I am very lucky to have such a great family that I married into!