Just Keep Swimmin', Swimmin', Swimmin...

After our trip to the zoo, we met up with family for a nice & relaxing swim to cool down from the summer heat. We got Lucas into his little swimmers and board shorts & he took a nice dip in the pool with Dad. My cousin let us borrow one of their yellow baby intertubes, and as you can by the picture, Lucas found it to be quite comfy. He loved kicking his legs and smacking his hands against the top of the water, and probably would have stayed in all day if he hadn't started getting sleepy.

This is why we love the summer time! Lots of fun things to do with family & friends, great food to enjoy, and it's all the more fun with our little man in our life now. Love you Lucas!

Into the Wild!

Lucas took his very first trip to the zoo yesterday & he had a blast! (We're sure he probably had no idea what was going on and won't remember any of it, but he seemed to enjoy it while it lasted lol). We saw monkeys, elephants, giraffes, and even got to watch the zookeeper's feed the crocodiles. We had lunch outside & enjoyed the beautiful sunshine! Lucas was such a trooper because it got pretty warm during parts of the afternoon, but we lathered him up in sunscreen and kept the bottles coming. It was so much fun & we are really looking forward to taking him again. Alex had even suggested we make it a yearly/summer tradition every year!

July, July...Watchin' the time fly by!

We can't believe our little Lucas is 6 months old and going strong! Just the other day my Mom had him riding in the front seat of a shopping cart and I didn't know if I wanted to smile because I felt so proud or cry because I realized how fast these first 6 months have already gone :) It's something new every day with him. He is constantly babbling and jabbering away & has had some of the cutest squeals and giggles coming out. He is loving mashed up bananas and peaches, and especially enjoys the occasional strawberry popsicle with Dad. We recently took him in for his 6 month check up, and as you can see in the pic above, he's not starvin' :) He weighed in at a respectable 20 lbs., 10 oz and measured 27 inches long! He's in the 90th % for babies his age & the doctor is already talking new car seats. He loves to grab on to fingers and practice his standing, rolls over constantly on the floor and his crib, and is probably going to be cutting more teeth soon because his fist is in his mouth every time I look at him and there's a puddle of drool to prove it. We love you Lucas & are happy you're so healthy and strong!

We've enjoyed spending lots of time with family this summer & feel so blessed for their efforts in coming to visit. All of us ladies went to see Eclipse together and had such a blast! I love each one of them dearly & treasure every moment we're together.

My oldest sister has a little guy whose only 5 weeks older than Lucas. These two have so much fun together. They'll share their chew toys, kiss and grab at each other's faces, and sometimes just stare at each other, looking so amused by the fact that they found another person whose the same size as them.

Another sister of mine, Danielle, has such a special way with children & seems to tap in to their minds better than most. She comes up with fun noises and songs to engage in with them, and I was sad to see her go back home this summer. She called me on the trip back home & asked me to put her on speakerphone and then put the phone next to Lucas's ear. I taped this hilarious conversation on my camera-it's so neat to see Lucas get excited to hear her voice, yet confused by where it's coming from. Take a look!

Oh Happy Days!!!!

I haven't been able to blog it out lately & share the exciting news until now because it's been such an exciting and busy time for our family! As you can see by the all the smiles, happy tears, and supportive family, we are now legally and eternally one big happy family!

Day 1: We finally had our "day in court"as they say, and that was such an exciting time for us and for our family members. We are so grateful to each and every one of them for being there & experiencing all of this for the first time with us. Our judge was such a kind and wonderful man & took a moment to take a picture with the three of us.




Day 2: This was, BY FAR, the happiest day for Alex and I together, as well as for our families. We were sealed together for time and all eternity as a family & I have never experienced anything so incredibly special and sacred, beside our wedding day, in my life or in Alex's. We felt the love of our Heavenly Father there, and the love from our families, and Lucas was glowing so brightly. He was and is an angel.



Day 3: To round out the weekend, and to add the cherry on top, we had Lucas blessed in our ward in front of family members, friends, and ward members. He was so good throughout Alex's beautiful blessing and gave the ward a huge grin as Alex carried him back to our seats.

We could not have experienced all of this joy & happiness without the love of our Savior & Lucas's courageous birth mother. We love you dearly and wish you the same happiness in your life!!!

Summer Picnics

We are really enjoying the beautiful summer weather! We decided to take Lucas to the park for his official first summer picnic and we had a BLAST! He loves being outside with the freash air on his face & really enjoyed watching his cousins go up and down the slide. His adorable two bottom teeth are so much fun to look at- how has the time gone so quickly!?




Lucas just LOVES his Aunt Sara, I mean absolutely LOVES her! She gets him smiling so much and he just loves to snuggle and be held by her. In the video below, she let him play with her necklace and boy did he enjoy it! Pretty much anything, and that includes bottles, that you put in to his hands, he'll try making some kind of noise out of it :)





We also spent some time with the extended family and Lucas really took to one of his great-uncle's (wow, again, where does the time go??) and got to meet a horse for the first time. I grabbed my camera and ran outside and while I was taking the picture, I thought to myself- where have I seen this before?? And then I remembered: my sisters and I have pictures with this very same uncle, petting a horse, but at that time it was at my Grandma's house! Talk about life coming full circle.


Finally, what would this post be if I didn't include another adorable video of Lucas and Dad :) Lucas is especially drawn to hair and grabbing on real tight, so in the video below, Alex is rubbing Lucas's face with his hair and he is LOVIN' it :)