A day at the park

We had some beautiful Texas winter weather and decided to stop by a park for a while so Luke could run around. He has been on a slide before, but wasn't really confident about going down by himself... until now. He went up the playscape and down the slide like a CHAMP!

Santa visits KVUE

Every year, Santa Claus comes to KVUE, where Sarah works, to tape a special Christmas show that airs on Christmas Eve. All of the kids at the station and their families get to come for the taping, which means Ryan got to sneak behind enemy lines and enjoy some holiday cheer.

Everything went really well, as you can see above, until Sarah got the bright idea to take away Luke's candy cane...

...which did not go over very well.

I believe he's giving Mommy the evil eye here. Yep, moral of the story - taking candy away from a baby is HARD. And will result in an hour-long meltdown. Don't do it.

NXNW Oktoberfest

Ryan and Sarah love beer and never miss an opportunity to raise Luke right.

That's right, Luke is too cool for Bud Light.

We went to the North by Northwest Brewery Oktoberfest to enjoy some local beer...

...yes... we enjoyed most of it before we remembered to take a picture...

...and we also got to check out the polka bands, although it was a little too crowded to dance. But we all enjoyed the music!

Luke got the opportunity to show off his many faces to our fellow revelers.

And he tried out the bounce house...

...although he didn't get much beyond the entrance and never got up to jump.

But we did meet up with Adolfo and Pinty the Bear! We'll definitely be back at NXNW next year!

Best Burgers Tour

This fall, Ryan embarked on a quest to find 7 of the best burgers in Central Texas. He went all over Austin and even way out to Copperas Cove to check out all kinds of burgers!

Luke likes to go out to eat, and will usually try new foods.

On our trip to Cafe Canela, Ryan and Sarah enjoyed burgers and Luke mostly stuck to black beans.

Yep... this one made the list. Maybe when Luke has more teeth, he can enjoy sinking them into a Cafe Canela burger, too!

A day in Spokane

We drove from Montana back to Spokane the day before our flight back to Texas. We enjoyed an hour or so at Riverside Park downtown, where Luke enjoyed running around...

...looking around...

...and riding around!

He also got to check out the geese in the river...

...and walk over a bridge all by himself!

We had a great time in Spokane for the short time we were there, and followed up our trip to the park with Thai food with my cousin, his wife and their daughters. Lovely end to a lovely trip to the Northwest!

Downtown men, part 2

Luke likes going downtown... there's always a lot to look at! Today we went to Katz's Deli on 6th Street for lunch and had a pastrami sandwich. (That's right... just one... they're enormous.) Ryan was going to introduce us to the famous owner, Marc Katz, but we didn't have a chance. Still, Luke brought the ham to the Jewish deli. Whoops!

Luke's first haircut

A week before we took some family portraits, we realized it was time for Luke to get his first haircut. At 11 months old, he was getting quite shaggy.

So we took him to Birds Barbershop in Austin, where Ryan and Luke would both get a haircut. They even give you beer while you wait!

We had only made it through about half of one beer when they called us back. Ryan got caped up and held Luke on his lap.

Finally, it was time for Julia to start snipping.





But the snipping didn't last long - Luke started fidgeting and I had to put the camera down while Julia quickly worked some magic with her clippers. Soon she was done, and Luke looked great!

Downtown Men

We went downtown to check out the Austin Farmer's Market and eat lunch at Frank, and it was such a nice day! Ryan and Luke looked so hip, being all downtown-y and stuff.

Saturday at Independence

Luke sure likes going to breweries. Ok, it probably doesn't look like we're at a brewery, but we're at the First Saturday tasting at Independence Brewing right here in Austin. We had some tasty samples, even though we kinda didn't have a wristband. What can I say... nothing stands between us and our beer!

Pretzels and wine

We took a trip out to Driftwood (okay, it's pretty much South Austin) to Mandola Estate Winery. Ryan and I sampled some wine, and Ryan and Luke sampled some pretzel sticks. I think they're both enjoying themselves.

From Mandola Winery

9 months old

At 9 months old, Luke can say "Da-da," and "ba-ba," though we're not sure what that means yet. He can pull himself up to standing (and does, often). Most mornings, we go in to find him standing up in his crib ready to greet the day. He's also getting pretty good at waving if someone waves at him first.

He has two bottom teeth now, and at his 9-month checkup his pediatrician said he has four top teeth on the way in. He weighed in at 17 lbs 3 oz and was 28 inches tall.

Luke's favorite things right now: he loves to eat cheese and Cheerios, but will generally try just about anything he can pick up by himself (chicken, chunks of vegetables, etc.). He likes to play peekaboo and run in circles on his exersaucer.

Luke is still pretty good at sitting through church, although he does like to try to make the people behind us laugh with his silly faces and smiles. He is starting to make noise during the hymns, like he wants to sing! He also likes to go places with us, like wineries (here he is at Georgetown Winery).

First Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, Luke and Ryan took me to Cafe Monet, a paint-your-own-pottery studio in Austin. I picked out a mug and they painted it for me (okay, Ryan did most of the work, and I helped), and put both of their handprints on it.

It was a little harder to get Luke's handprint on it than we thought, but we were pretty successful in the end and I can't wait to see how it turned out. I have to wait until Thursday to pick it up!

More pictures below.  Yes, that does say "The Hands of My Mans" and I love it!

From Valentine's Day Mug

From Valentine's Day Mug

From Valentine's Day Mug

From Valentine's Day Mug