The Costume

For Halloween I had been planning on making Merrill a little lamb costume. But then when I bought the pattern for it, the tiger costume that came in the same packet looked a lot cuter, so I was going to make that. Then I opened the packet, started looking at the pattern, and realized I have not idea how to read patterns. This was way over my head. So the default costume (Luke's brilliant idea by the way) was JEDI KNIGHT.

It was much simpler to make, but I think it turned out pretty awesome. He was a big hit at all the trunk-or-treats! And he was lovin' his light saber.

October

This fall has been lovely here in K-ville. Merrill and I spent a lot of time outside at the park.





He loves to swing....



He loves to slide....



And of course, he loves mommy and daddy too.

Rotations

I realized that I didn't do a good job of getting the word out to all you family and friends who live far away, but we now know where we will be living next year. Carbondale, IL!!!! Luke and I are both very excited as it was our first choice. Just thought I'd let you all know. :)

Birthday Boy

Merrill turned one year old on Sunday. I can't believe it has already been a year. Time really does fly by. We had a birthday party for him on Saturday. I think he had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the day.....

Birthday Cup Cake

Bale Maze

Here are Merrill's One Year Old Stats:

• 22.2 lbs
• 29 Inches tall
• He can stand all by himself
• He takes up to 5 steps on his own
• He drinks whole milk
• He knows where his belly button, nose, ears, eyes, feet, and toes are
• He says "Dada", "Ma", "Ba"=ball, "nana"=banana, "Dow"=dog/cat
• He can roll his tongue
• His favorite foods are bananas and kiwi
• He LOVES his baths
• He likes to spend time playing with Leverden, the mangy stray cat that comes around our deck everyday (don't worry, it's through the glass. I don't let him actually touch it.)

Merrill makes our lives so much fun. We love him so much and we feel very blessed to be his parents. Happy Birthday Merrill!!!

11 Months

Merrill is doing so much these days. He loves to stand up and get into whatever he can....

He can even stand up without holding onto anything for a few seconds with his chubby little legs shaking until he falls onto his diaper bum. He's a big boy.

His very favorite thing is to climb the stairs....

He thinks he's awesome, which is what I tell him everyday.

8 months

Time has been flying by. Especially for Luke. He says that since he started school last August everything has been a blur. Poor guy is going through medical school finals, which means he has at least one test (sometimes more) every day this week and next week. Mix some presentations and practicals in there some where and you get no time for sleep. I can't even think about the amount of information these guys have to know or I start hyperventilating. But of course, Luke is doing very well and I am so proud of him. Amidst all his school work he still finds time to spend with me and Merrill and I am very grateful for that.

I think Merrill is grateful too. He loves playing with Daddy.

I can't believe Merrill is already 8 months old. He is getting so big and doing so many more fun things. He can sit up quite well now, and he wants to crawl so badly. He is always leaning forward onto his hands and rocking back and forth. He getting really good at face planting. He'll be crawling soon enough and I'm not sure how I feel about having to chase him around everywhere. He loves his baby food and carrots are his favorite. He likes to yell and screech really loud. He always pulls on my hands to help him stand up. He loves to laugh and play and go on walks in his stroller. He's a good sport about letting me lather him up in sunscreen (SPF 70!). After he got his first sunburn a while ago I'm paranoid about getting enough sunscreen on him. He also got his first tooth in April and just this week his second little tooth cut through. Both are on the bottom. He is just a fun little boy and brings so much joy to our family!

Fort Video

Here's the video of Merrill and Luke in their fort that I promised a couple posts ago. Enjoy!

I just can't resist those big blue eyes

I'm in love. Who could ask for a better Valentine?

Fort

I'm glad our first child was a boy, because Luke is ALL boy through and through. He reminded me of this last month when he built Merrill his first fort at the age of 3 months.




For Christmas I got Luke this little flashlight to put on his key chain and it fits perfectly in Merrill's little hand. They had a lot of fun in there.


I have some video footage of the boys playing in their fort, but alas, our internet is too slow to upload it. Maybe I'll get it on another time. We'll see. For now I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Twinners

Here are a few pictures of my boys in matching outfits. It started out as a one time thing when Luke wanted to take a picture with Merrill in matching Aggie gear. Then he wanted to match at church with argyle sweaters. After that it happened one time by coincidence and then Luke got a little carried away and started dressing Merrill to match him whenever possible. I think it's cute!

I decided I better get in on the action too.

Merrill won't develop some sort of weird complex because we dress him to match us, will he?

Look what I can do

Merrill surprised us on Sunday by reaching another baby milestone- lifting his head while on his tummy! Usually "tummy time" = "torture time" for this little guy. He would normally just lay on his face and cry, but this time when Luke rolled him over on his tummy he popped his head right up and smiled at us. It was so cool! We are excited about it. Now he loves to view the world at this new angle. I'm told he'll be rolling over soon. Oh boy!