Luke at 3.5

Luke is a funny kid. He really is. Every since Luke could talk we have always done this post bath routine. Whoever gets him out of the bath wraps him up like a "present" and sings Happy Birthday...then Luke pops out of the towels. We don't know where this came from, but its been going strong for a couple of years now. He is outgrowing the towels now. He thinks he isnt, but as you can see, he is. So, Justin and I have been trying to slowly stop this routine. He's a goofball~

He loves painting on his board Santa brought him. It stays out in the kitchen because he is pretty much painting, coloring, or drawing nightly after he's in his in pj's. People who know Luke, know the house is not quiet when he is in it unless he's asleep. But, he is actually very quiet while he works at his board. Must take concentration!

*1 more little Luke note*

Luke always refers to our cabin in Ruidoso as "The Cabinet". We have corrected him to many times to count, but he's pretty persistent with wanting it to be the cabinet. So we find ourselves calling it that now. lol.

We are so proud of this little guy! We are taking him to DisneyWorld to celebrate his 4th birthday. I cannot believe we are actually in the process of planning his 4th bday. Time changes when you become a parent. I literally pray for time to stand still. What a sweet boy he is growing up to be.

Joy to the World

Luke and his future cousin Claira! This was the first time Luke has ever had a cousin to open presents with on Christmas. It was so much fun to watch them play together!! My brother has been dating Claira's mom for almost a year. Their relationship has begun getting to the "serious" stage, so it was wonderful to spend Christmas with them. It was natural, as if they had been part of our family forever. We are thankful for God bringing Erika into my brothers life. She is a great addition to our family and we all absolutely adore Claira!

Joseph & Erika

We saved this present for last bc we knew other Christmas presents wouldn't be opened once he opened his batman cave lol. He spends an hour playing this every single day. And, so happy my sister was able to fly in on Christmas day! Being a news reporter it is very hard to get off work, especially on holidays. She flew in on Christmas day, so Luke woke up and opened Santa gifts. We spent the rest of the day cooking, visiting my huge family and (im)patiently waiting for T to get there. Then we had an evening Christmas so we could all open gifts together! Aunt T would have died of heartbreak if she missed a single second of Luke opening presents. She adores him so much, she loves to be involved in his life 100%. It only takes 1 minute of being around them to understand their bond. She often flies into Lubbock to just take him out on dates (from Idaho)...she's flown in to watch him at swim lessons, gymnastics, take him to Chuck E Cheese, etc. I thank God daily, literally, for the bond they have.

Luke always opens the present he "gives" people lol

Working on their gingerbread house before church service.

As I grow older, I appreciate every holiday I get to spend with my grandparents. My Gramma has 64 grand & great grandkids. And she shops, wraps and buys all their Christmas presents every year. She's an Irish Catholic woman, so she is 1 tough cookie! Every holiday is like a family reunion, it's always so good to catch up with my cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. These 2 people are the most selfless people in the world. I am their Godchild and that is not a role they hold lightly. I always get an extra little gift ;)

Justins grandparents! We did our Christmas in NM the weekend before Christmas. We were so blessed to spend time with Justins grandparents and eat delicious meals and enjoy church together. Justins grandparents are so fun to be around, we always laugh at his grandad especially! He's a funny man! Justin's Nan & Pop have blessed us tremendously by starting & adding to Luke's college fund every year. It is a huge blessing for us!

Nana & Papa!

I love watching them play together! Justin gets just as excited to play with Lukes Santa gifts as Luke does lol

Aunt Katy & Luke at church

5 little monkeys game! This boy loves games!

Lukes aunt Tamara and Uncle Keith at church!

As the holidays wind down, we get to reflect on how blessed we are. We thank God continuously for the love of family. We feel so lucky we both got to spend the holidays with our parents, siblings, and grandparents. Life is so precious, we have learned to stop and enjoy it. Take in every moment we can with our little boy. Praise you Jesus~

Christmas Party

This past week, we got together with our close friends for a little Christmas party at 50th Street Caboose! Our kids all get along so well and we had a great evening! Little gifts were exchanged and we enjoyed a delicious meal. It was a fun evening and I absolutely feel blessed for our wonderful friends in Lubbock!

Only the best news ever...

We met with our fertility specialist this past week...and the news was GREAT!

We are NOT out of the loop on having another baby!!!! That is an early Christmas present in itself :)

I will have to have a couple of surgeries, be on a few antibiotics and get on some medication to get my thyroid functioning again, but in the end, our doctor feels as though we still might have a chance at birthing another baby! I can't help but cry even as I write this...

I will continue to update as we go through this process. I have complete hope I will get to post a "I am Pregnant" blog soon!

I cannot even explain what a relief Justin and I have felt since this appointment. When we got into one of the rooms we had to do testing in, our specialist had me look at a wall. It was a gigantic cork board filled with pictures of families. She looked me right in the eyes and said, "every single one of these families were told they couldn't have kids again, and they all have 2 or more." I had chills shoot through my entire body. I started to cry, and the only words I could mutter were, "God bless you." I was so overwhelmed I didn't know what else to say or do?! She told me I would need to "trust" her and do everything she asked of me and she would help us get there. I was impressed with how much knowledge she had. She knew everything about our past. Every miscarriage, surgery, hospital visit etc. She was literally on top of everything in our medical history.

In the mean time, we are enjoying our Christmas holidays! We just recently had a fun Christmas party for Luke & his friends. (Pics to come!) We are in NM now celebrating an early Christmas weekend with all of Justins family. Life is good this holiday season.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and many blessings to come in 2012~

Puppy Love

This is DIRK!

My parents dog, Kandice, passed away this past year. My parents got her when I was in the 8th grade. She was a part of the family forever and it was very hard when she passed away. In our families, dogs are a part of our family unit. Even for us, Jeter & Jaclyn travel with us, even though they are huge, they are still house dogs. Their puppy beds are as big as our King bed (almost!). Needless to say, picking out a new family member is a pretty big decision.

One night while we were discussing family Christmas presents, Luke said, "I want Nanny and Poppi to have a puppy. It's to quiet there now." I had been thinking the same thing for a bit of time now and when he said that, it was the perfect idea, Nanny & Poppi are getting a puppy for Christmas!!!

We did a lot of looking, some house visits with breeders, looked at some local pet shops. Then, I found an ad for a half lab, half german shepard. I went to the families home and as soon as I saw this little guy, I was sold. I was probably there 15 minutes total. He was exactly what we had been looking for! He is funny, bouncy, full of puppy breath and on his way to being spoiled rotten! He is staying with us until we go to DFW for the holidays. Part of their present is we are training Dirk. So, its almost as if we have another baby in the house! My alarm wakes me up in the middle of night for potty breaks, we are working on sitting, speaking, house training etc. He is a SMART dog! Luke spilled the beans over a heytell message to Nanny. (Don't you just love 3 years old inability to keep a "secret"?!) But, its fun, we send pictures daily so they can see him!

I can't wait to give my parents this cute, sweet puppy for Christmas! I know he will bring them a lot of laughs and new puppy memories! Luke is being such a big boy about knowing he is going to Nanny's house. We keep reminding him every time he goes visits he will get to see his new friend. He says smart boy things like, "he can help Poppi in the big yard." I am so glad he seems to be okay with that transition. I am sure there will be a few tears shed...but luckily he has a great relationship w/our 2 dogs! He knows those are "his" pups!

Welcome to the family DIRK! You are already so loved :)

Mini-Winter Vacation

This past weekend, we took Luke to our cabin in Ruidoso for a little getaway. Here are the pics from our vacation, through his eyes :)

Thankful~

3 generations of "Lee White"

My girl in-laws after Thanksgiving lunch!

The boys!

So very thankful for my little family that our Lord has blessed me with.

This little guy is the greatest blessing I could have ever asked for.

Luke & his Papa

Luke & his nana

My beautiful sister in law. So very thankful for her as a friend and sister in law. We are really close and I have loved watching her grow up into such an amazing woman. She had just finished 7th grade when Justin and I started dating. Now, she is a college graduate, has a great career, just got her own home and truly the most generous little ladies you could ever meet. :)

This boy can eat!

Despite the difficult news we received right before Thanksgiving, we had a wonderful holiday. We laughed, ate, napped and took time to pray and thank the Lord for His many blessings.

I hope each and everyone of your families had time to thank God for being our Savior. Sometimes, life can be hard, but we are truly appreciative for our families and friends and all the love and support they give us. There will always be hard times, bad news, difficult answers to questions we have been longing for. But, we have to keep our heads up, focus on the positive and keep moving one foot in front of another.

It's always hard to not see both of our families on special days. But, I am so thankful that my parents had an early thanksgiving for us 2 weeks ago. It means so much to me that they are so generous. We always switch Thanksgiving and Christmas between our 2 families. I cannot even explain how much we appreciate our families being loving and understanding of this.

I hope Christmas season brings many blessing and love to you all!

Happy Holiday Season!