Rochester Trip!

We are back from our trip to Rochester -- or should I say adventure? I say that because our travel plans didn't go quite as planned. As many of you know, we are all about getting bumped! Basically, we volunteer to give up our seats in exchange for free airline $$! Sometimes they need people, sometimes that don't. More often they don't. However, on a holiday weekend, they often do need volunteers. Long story short, we got bumped on the way to Rochester (flew into Buffalo instead). On the way home, our flight actually got cancelled due to mechanical issues, which was crazy b/c a complete flight cancellation has only happened to us once before and that was just in May when we went to D.C. Anyway, it didn't end up being so bad this time because we got bumped on our re-scheduled flight! All together, we scored $2000 in airline vouchers to use on any travel in the next year. 

Enough about getting bumped...moving on to the actual vacation. We had a wonderful trip! Really, really nice. We did a lot of relaxing (as much as you can with a 10 month old anyway) and just hanging out. Here are some pictures of our trip.

Here is Madeline in front of my Grandma Warren's house. We took several walks. Many of the walks were taken in an attempt to get Madeline to sleep. 

As you can see, those attempts weren't always successful!

 

We went to Camillus (Syracuse) on Friday and stayed Friday night. We really enjoyed our visit with the Harts! We're looking forward to their visit to AZ for Christmas this year. 

Madeline loved all of the grass at my Aunt Lesley's house!

Their area is gorgeous!!! Aunt Lesley took us to a really beautiful winery near their house...

We also went to Skaneatles, which is just about 15 minutes from their house. It is a really cute little town. Sarah and I walked around while George enjoyed a cold one at a restaurant overlooking the lake. 

Skaneatles Lake (did I spell that right?) 

Just relaxing with Ian! :) 

Another highlight of the trip was seeing the newest member of the family, little Seth! He is such a cutie pie! 

Madeline swinging at the Moore's lake house on Thursday night. We need to hang her swing up here at our house!

Awesome trip!! Now, it is back to reality here in Arizona :) 

Family Photos

We recently had a girl in our neighborhood take some pictures of our family. Her mom put an "ad" on  the Facebook page in our neighborhood saying that her daughter was raising some money for college this fall. We've been wanting some family photos and the price was right so we decided to go for it. I think she did a great job -- photographing a little one cannot be easy!

Madeline and Curious George :)

 

 

Nothing Much

Hi All! Not much new around here. Madeline is crawling all over the place and pulling herself up onto things, but she isn't show much interest in walking yet. That is OK with us because we've heard that it gets that much harder to keep up once they start walking :) 

Is it just me or is the month of August flying by?! We are looking forward to our trip to Rochester next week!! It will be so nice to see family and have some time off of work. I am especially excited since this is Madeline's first trip to Rochester. She has met some family, but not everyone. We're hoping for a smooth flight. Madeline flew to Colorado when she was just 6 weeks old and she did great, but this will be a whole new ballgame since she loves to get down and crawl around. We'll bring plenty of toys and bottles! :) If you have any tips, let me know! 

Here are some pictures of Madeline from the past week. She thought that this box was a pretty sweet ride! 

 George's parents had a foreign exchange student from China last year. Shangyi actually came back last Friday for another year. She plans to graduate early and go to ASU for college like their last exchange student, Yewon. We all got together for dinner at George's Grandma's house to welcome Shangyi back. While we were waiting for her, I snapped this picture. I call them "Madeline's fan club!" 

And just a couple other random pictures. We actually got professional pictures taken yesterday morning that I will post once we get them back. I can't wait to see them!! 

Baby Giggles

The past couple of weeks have been busy with travel. Two weekends ago we went to Pinetop with George's family. It was SO nice to get out of the heat -- we are ready for summer to be over!! We got back from the cabin on Sunday and on Monday I left for a work trip to San Francisco. I stayed downtown by Union Square and during any downtime, I explored the city. I didn't do anything very touristy since I have done most of that in the past. I mostly walked around (great place to people watch), shopped, and ate delicious food! I was ready to get back home to squeeze my baby by Wednesday though :)   

I wanted to share a couple of videos from this past weekend :)

Madeline is becoming a good little eater. As I've mentioned in the past, the high chair and surrounding area is a total mess after dinner :) She also finally got her two bottom teeth this weekend.

9 Month Check-up & Bath Bombs!

Today, Madeline had her big 9 month check-up at the doctor. She is growing fast and on track with everything. She was pretty average on all of her measurement....in the 50 something percentile on weight and head and 70 something on height. She got just one shot this time and bounced back quickly. The thing that I found interesting was that she was scared of the doctor. When she did the stethoscope on Madeline, she looked frightened and started to cry (Madeline, not the Dr). That was really the first time I have ever seen her get scared.

This past weekend, I was determined to do a craft/project from my Pinterest site. I haven't had time for much craftiness recently and have been missing it. When we were in Las Vegas, we passed a shop with bath bombs. Basically, they're just little balls that you can throw into the bath. They fizz and make the bath smell nice. They contain stuff like epsom salt and baking soda. Anyway, I believe they run for at least $7 or so, which is a complete rip-off. I had pinned a pin that had a DIY version so I decided that it would be my project for the weekend. AND...they turned out AWESOME!! I did a eucalyptus mint version, which smells very spa-like. I used one and I gave the other to my sister-in-law, Terrisa, for her birthday (which was on Sunday). If you're interested, here is the site with instructions: http://www.intimateweddings.com/blog/how-to-make-bath-bombs-diy-wedding-favors/ They were actually really easy. The hardest part is tracking down all of the ingredients. If you are interested in making them, email me and I will tell you where I found everything. I also took some pictures of the finished product....

The "recipe" makes two large bath bombs. In order to get them in a circular shape, I used a plastic Christmas ornament as a mold.

They would be very cute for a shower favor or little gift. Here are two different options for wrapping them...

Madeline was overseeing my "experiment" :)

In other news, Terrisa, Hannah, my parents, and I went to see Jersey Boys last night at Gammage. Hannah works at Gammage as a "Floor Manager"...pretty big title, huh?! She got some discounted tickets for us. I really enjoyed the show!!

And a few random pictures....

 Madeline was really tired on Monday night and actually let me hold her for an extended period of time. I try to take advantage of those opportunities in the evening since I don't see her during the day. And now that she is mobile, she prefers to be roaming around, not relaxing on the couch :)

My Grandma Clark got Madeline this beautiful dress that I just love. I tried to get a picture of her in it, but she was looking everywhere except toward me! Oh well, the pictures turned out cute anyway. 

HAPPY GIRL!

Climbing Stairs

Well, it's 8:30PM. Madeline is asleep, George is getting ready for bed, and I'm headed that direction after this blog post. What can I say, we're party animals at the Lucas household!

Speaking of party animals, George and I went to Vegas for a wedding this past weekend. Our friends David and Megan (brother of Sergio...as in Sergio and Andi, our roommates in CA) got married at the Luxor on Saturday. We drove up Friday after work and got back early Sunday evening. Madeline stayed here with Grandma and Grandpa Lucas (and Aunt Emily on Sunday). It's getting harder and harder to be away from her for even just a couple of days. Now that she is so active, I always feel like I am going to miss something. 

She is seriously learning something new every single day! She is a master at "Dada" now. She has also said dog, grass, and duck. Still no Mama!!! That's OK, I guess. George said that he heard her say it once. Uh huh, sure.

She is also a very into climbing and pulling herself up onto anything and everything. The other night, I put her in the pack and play while I was making dinner. Next thing I know, she is standing up...ON TOP OF her Fisher Price piano. In addition to being adventurous, she is the sweetest thing in the world. She is always smiling and laughing -- a very happy little girl!

Here are a couple of videos from the past few days....

Isn't that the sweetest little face ever?! 

Part of the Vegas gang (from left to right... George, me, Edward (Sergio's brother, not the one that got married), Susie (Edward's girlfriend), Sergio, Andi.  

Long Weekend

A long weekend means a ton of pictures! Can every weekend be a three day weekend?! 

Madeline and I started our weekend early with a half day on Thursday afternoon. The two of us and Paisley went to the splash pad in my parents' neighborhood again. George and I had Paisley and Marie over on Thursday night. It was nice having a full house. 

 Paisley had a ball at the splash pad. Madeline and I enjoyed watching her run around (and I think she enjoyed us watching her run around :) 

She was toting this little bear around with her on Thursday. We even buckled her up.

Marie was a big help with the girls, especially Paisley. 

Watching the dust storm roll in...

Paisley teaching Marie and Madeline how to play princesses :) 

We had a great fourth! We started the day at the park with the three girls. They were up early so it wasn't too hot yet. Madeline got to go in the the baby swing for the first time. 

She loves sitting in the grass too...but, of course, she tries to eat the grass! 

During the afternoon we relaxed and prepped our food for the BBQ. 

At 4, we went over to my parent's house for some BBQ, swimming, and fireworks. George and Nick got fireworks and put on a mini fireworks show for us. There were a couple of really cool ones. Lillian and Paisley had a blast! And we all know how much Hannah loves fireworks.... :)

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and doing some house projects. We finally got curtains up in our family room (pictures to come) and we also hung some other stuff.  

During the week is usually hectic with work and our evening routine of dinner, bath, etc. We cherish our weekends...plans consisting of nothing are actually wonderful sometimes! 

We spend a ton of time in the loft when we're at home. It is Madeline's unofficial playroom. 

This weekend, George and I are going to Las Vegas for a wedding. Sergio's brother, David, and his fiancé, Megan, are getting married at the Luxor.