My Babies

As most of you know by now, I has a miscarriage a week ago Sunday. I think God has been gracious to my heart in not letting me get *quite* as attached to this baby as I might have, knowing that He needed to take him/her Home early. I had always been a bit skeptical of the fact that I didn't have any morning sickness this time around, so I think I had always wondered in the back of my head if everything was okay. Also, I had symptoms that something could be wrong for 4-1/2 days before I actually miscarried, so my heart had some time to adjust to the idea.

Needless to say, this past weekend, I think the emotional ramifications finally hit home a little bit more. The physical stuff has mostly cleared up and now I'm left to dwell on the reality that is: I'm no longer pregnant. I will never hold this baby in my arms this side of heaven. We won't have two children in our family picture this Christmas. Luke may quite possibly be at least 3 years old by the time we do have another baby - never thought I'd have kids that far apart.

And yet, I KNOW that God has a good plan for our family. I can TRUST His promises to work all things for good. My job is to be faithful and to take my thoughts captive. I need to dwell on His truths and character. Sure, I'm sad and God knows that - He will carry me through. Yes, I'm starting to cry a little as a write this - God knows and He cares. I can't imagine how life would be without an amazing God who promises to never leave us or forsake us. I am incredibly thankful for all our family and friends who have been and still are praying for us - it makes a WORLD of difference!

Here are pictures of some flowers that we received from family & friends. They comfort my heart with their presence reminding me of everyone out there who is praying for us. THANK YOU!

In the midst of all of this, we also have an incredible reminder of God's goodness to us already - we have LUKE!!! He is a wonderful little boy who makes us smile every day. I am even more thankful for him now, and that he's healthy and happy. May God grant us the grace we need to raise him well and to point him to our Savior.

Here's our little munchkin playing his zoo game on the computer. Now that he realizes that the animals on the computer are the same as his zoo toy (same brand), he insists on having all the animals with him when he plays (usually only like once every week or two - not really that often). When he presses a key to get an animal on the screen, he'll find the animal toy that is the same and will hold it up to the screen as if to say "they match!". :)

This is Luke's demonstration of the "Guess How Much I Love You" book - I love you as high as I can reach!!! Speaking of love, Luke can now sometimes say his version of "I love you": "uh voo"!

In the few days following our miscarriage, Nathan helped out quite a bit with lifting Luke and cooking. He had already expressed a desire to BBQ for the first time this season, so the timing for that was PERFECT! He even prepared the hamburger meat himself so that I wouldn't have to stand there and mix the goo. Such a great husband! He tried to introduce Luke to the grill, but Luke was quite nervous about it and didn't even want to hold the metal spatula. He did rather enjoy watching Daddy from inside the screen door, including a goofy expression I caught when taking his picture. :)

I'm really enjoying the light evenings these days, especially on family dinner night. I was there a bit early this week since I was coming from a late afternoon doctor's appointment, and got to take lots of fun pictures of Luke and his Duncan cousins - LOTS more pictures on our gallery!

Our happy boy. The first picture is Luke clapping after I've whistled the theme song from Thomas & Friends for him - he gets very excited about that! We usually watch it every day when he wakes up from his nap - half of an episode every day. It is such a routine thing to do now that he even requested it when he woke up this morning (pointing to the TV and saying "choo"). Too bad, buddy - it's only for after naptime, not EVERY time you wake up. :) The second picture is him enjoying a ride in Daddy's desk chair - he loves that SO much!

Helping in the "garden" on Saturday. We've noticed our dwarf mandarin orange tree hasn't been looking so hot, so we got it some new dirt in hopes that will help it get better. We didn't really notice any root rot, which is what Nathan's research revealed might be the problem, but maybe some fresh dirt will make it happy. :) Luke enjoyed walking around on the patio putting Nathan's gloves on and off. :)

Having fun with Nathan's shoes. (He had been wearing them on his arms, which was hilarious, but wouldn't do it again for the camera). We love our little boy! Such a wonderful blessing from our good God!

Zoo & Easter

Enjoy this pictures from the past few days - lots of activities!

Luke had gotten into the habit of taking my hairspray cap off the counter and putting it back on the hairspray when I was done with it. Then, he discovered that the cap fit quite nicely over his toothbrush - much more fun!

On Friday, we went to the zoo! I had been wanting to take Luke for quite some time now, since I figured he would be more interested then when we had gone last time, when he was only 4 months old! Well, Nathan and his dad both had Good Friday off, so we decided to make the trip even though the weather forecast was rain (the three oldest Duncan cousins came along also). Turned out to be wonderful weather - cloudy and cool, but no rain until late afternoon, when we were all safely at home taking naps. :) Quite crowded though - we probably won't go during Spring Break next time! (Lots more pictures will be up on our Hughes site, too!)

Nathan got me these "just because" flowers on Tuesday and they came with lily buds that bloomed just in time for Easter! Yeah - so pretty!

After church on Sunday, we went over to the Hughes' for an egg hunt and lunch. Luke did quite well at finding eggs (they weren't "hidden" all that well - most of the eggs were strategically placed for the younger kids in plain sight). There's a cute picture of cousin Emma just for fun. :) All the Southern California cousins were there for the egg hunt, and this is the only picture I got of all of them - Luke is NOT a group picture kind of guy these days!

We also got a new family picture. :)

And here is a set of three pictures showing Luke's enjoyment of a little slinky that came inside one of the eggs he found. :)

21 Months Old!

Our little baby is NOT a little baby anymore! He is definitely a little boy now! He just turned 21 months yesterday and is still my sweet, precious Luke! Here are some pictures from the past week to enjoy:

He went for the longest time with this little noodle on his nose without bothering to brush it off! Ha!

On Sunday, we tried playing "family tennis" for the first time! It occurred to me that this might be a fun outside activity for all of us, since Luke could run around all he wanted without us worrying about him (the tennis courts on our street are all fenced in). Sure enough! We all had a wonderful time! Luke enjoyed being responsible for the keys (our misc keys for things like the courts & pool are on this HOA lanyard), and running around after the stray balls. He giggled heartily whenever we hit the balls and just had a grand old time running all over the court. Meanwhile, Nathan and I got a little bit of exercise in with some casual volleys (no rules or scorekeeping). We'll definitely have to do it again before I get too big or tired to participate!

Riding this car at the park - he was kind of disappointed that it didn't drive around, but still enjoyed it enough to REFUSE to get off!

I love my boy! Granted, he as no fashion sense, though - this is the combination that he chose to wear on his feet to go outside: Snoopy socks and sandals!

Luke just loves this tricycle at Grandma Hughes' house! And is drawn like a magnet to the play house whenever we go outside over there. :P

We celebrated Owen's 3rd birthday yesterday, too! Luke was giggling and swinging himself around when we clapped after singing to Owen - I think he REALLY likes all things "birthday"! He's got several more Hughes birthdays to celebrate before his comes around, so hopefully he'll be more into it than his last celebration. :)

And, don't forget about our gallery on the Hughes site for more pictures (and higher resolution) - these are just the highlights. I hope to have them up by the end of the day.