O Christmas Tree

After spending a very nice Thanksgiving day with our sweet boys, Derek's mom and brother, and the Schaefer family... we headed out bright and early on Friday morning to find our Christmas tree.

We headed up to a tree farm not too far from our house off of Hwy 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Being the impatient Lu family that we are, we turned off at the very first "tree farm" that we found. We quickly learned it was not your typical tree farm and that turning off at the very first place we saw was looking to be a bad decision. The owner was sitting in a old wooden chair and really didn't look like he knew what the hell he was doing. In previous years, the other tree farms we had visited had a handful of staff, looking eager to help. Not this guy.

We pulled up to the "parking lot" (this is in quotes b/c it was no parking lot... just some random logs on the ground) and looked at the sign that said which types of trees were in which section, and a then saw an assortment of saws. Hmmm... something seemed off about this from the get go, but we decided to get the kids out of the car and go for it. We walked down the hill and the trees were spread out and it didn't seem like a tree farm. There was not a good looking tree in sight and it almost seemed like we were in someone's backyard... odd. Miles seemed to care less... he had fun hiking around and looking for sticks. We decided to get back in the car and drive up the road in search of a real tree farm. (Of course our gas tank was on "E" but we like to push the envelope, haha).

Alas! A few miles up the road we can to a real tree farm, which even has it's own website so it must be legit! LOL. We got the boys out and were among lots of other families in search of the perfect Christmas tree. There were rows and rows of great looking trees and we quickly found the perfect tree. We sawed it down and Derek "tied" it to the car. (I sure am using a lot of quotes today)

As we drove home down Hwy 17, we heard lots of noise coming from the roof of our car and then noticed the tree hanging in the back window... uh oh. Derek quickly pulled off at the next exit and at the same time, the tree flew off the car and onto the exit ramp. LOL. Derek pulled the car over and ran down the exit ramp as fast as he could and Miles and I were CRACKING UP watching him run to save the tree! Low and behold, not one car exited and Derek saved the tree!!! We decided to put the tree inside of the car for the rest of the drive home.


Miles had a blast helping me decorate the tree... he was super cute about asking which decorations were too fragile for Oliver and then he was sure to put them up high.

And he was his usual clown self when it was time for pictures.

Wheeeeeeeeee

Just wanted to share some pics of Oliver on his rocking chair "swing". As much as I worry about this darn thing getting a baby finger stuck in it, he sure loved playing on it (as the pictures show). :) Since we are all done with bedtime/nighttime bottles (yay!) and we are pretty sure there will be no # 3 (sniff), I'd really love to get rid of it and get a more child friendly chair in his room. It was a great chair for both Miles and Oliver, but it's time to move on. (The funny thing is, I am sure I wont get around to getting a new chair for months).

*Sidenote: I have to say that I love the bright orange walls in Oliver's room. It's a lot of orange, but I just love it.

The discovery of YouTube on the laptop

Miles has discovered that he can watch endless videos of trains on YouTube and it's his new favorite pastime (in addition to watching Curious George on Tivo). Of course we don't let him watch TOO much, but he just loves it. He doesn't care what kind of train it is - steam train, passenger train, or freight train. And, he even started calling the home laptop "his laptop". He has quickly mastered the touchpad mouse and is able to navigate pretty well. We just have to keep a somewhat close eye on what he's watching because he's stumbled upon a few crashes and things we really don't want a 3 year old watching.



This morning Oliver sat next to him and watched, too. Of course Oliver had a big stick in his hand. He really loves to have something like a stick in his hand at all times. And, he loves to beat things with that stick. Have I told you that he reminds me so much of my father? LOL. At any rate, please don't ever think of taking that stick out of Oliver's hand. He gets SOOOO mad. He's got a serious temper!

1 year stats

Oliver and I went to see Dr. Lan for his 1 year check-up this morning and all is well. :)

He weighs a healthy 25.2 lbs (75th percentile), he is 30.5 inches tall (75th percentile) and his head was ?? (75th percentile).

It was a quick appointment as I didn't have a whole lot of questions (funny how much more relaxed you are about almost everything the 2nd time around). Just the standard... try to stop the bottle, no peanut butter until he's 2 and no shellfish. Cool. He is a happy, healthy baby.

Dr. Lan asked me if he was saying any words... and I said yes "momma" (that's my boy!) and "cool" (that's daddy's boy!). haha.

Poor guy got 3 shots - he was not happy about that.

Happy 1st birthday, Oliver

Our sweet little Oliver turned 1 on Saturday and we had a big celebration in his honor!

We had a western party with cowboy hats, bandannas, and badges for everyone. Lots of food, cake, and pinata fun.

Happy 1st birthday, sweet little man.

First steps...

We were up and at em early this morning (5:30am... thank you, daylight savings) and we were all hanging out in the playroom and Oliver stood up and took a few steps and then lunged into Derek. Even though it was only a few steps... they were his first steps!!! Very exciting for me and Derek!

What a happy halloween

Miles wanted nothing to do his costume and trick or treating last year, so we were ready for the same this year.

Well, what a difference a year makes!

Miles had a blast cruising the bustling streets of Westchester manor with his buddies Brent and Mateo. I think the fact that he understood that he was going to get candy at each house was a huge incentive for him. And, he even braved the (lame) haunted house that was in someone's garage. (Well, I had to hold him, but I was very impressed that he went in). It was so much fun watching him get so excited at each house and he was so good about saying thank you. :) And, Oliver was in the stroller and loved watching all of the action. But, it started raining and Derek took Oliver home early. But the rain wasn't going to stop Miles!

Another great part of the night was was trick or treating at the houses where we are friends with the neighbors and they invited us in for something to drink... a juice box for Miles and a glass of wine for me! We both arrived home with a nice buzz... Miles from sugar and mine from a few drinks. :) Everyone was happy.