Belgium

I am so excited. Today I bought the flight tickets for our first visit to Belgium with Luke. (Well, I used our miles and got two tickets for $229. Good thing because each ticket was over $1,200 regular price!!!) We will be going from May 15th until the 31st. Luke will be six months old by then. I am a little scared of traveling so far with him but I will try to be prepared to make the journey as pleasant as possible for him. I was able to request the bassinet for the long flight. I hope that will help him relax and sleep.

My parents are extremely excited!!! (Oh and I forgot to mention that mom is coming in March for a two-week visit. She misses Luke so much and calls us every day!) Mom has started collecting baby gear from friends and family and is ready to buy what she won't get. My dad has requested days off work already! It should be a fun visit!
(Emily, if you read this, please send me some tips since you've done this three times already with your kids!)

Youpie! Aujourd'hui j'ai reservé nos billets d'avion pour notre première visite en Belgique avec Luke. Nous serons là du 15 au 31 mai. Avec nos miles, les billets ne m'ont coûté que $229! Heureusement car le prix plein était de $1,200 pour chaque billet! Et j'ai pû demander d'être assis juste derrière la classe business où ils offrent un espèce de petit lit pour le bébé. J'espère que ca permettra à Luke de dormir paisiblement. Mais, j'ai un peu peur quand même de voyager avec lui et je ferai tout ce que je peux pour que le voyage soit le plus plaisant possible.

Mes parents sont très contents! Maman est déjà entrain de recolter toutes sortes de choses pour Luke (lit, jouets, poussette, etc.) et est prêtre à acheter ce qui lui manquera! Papa, lui, va déjà demander des jours de congé! Au fait, j'ai oublié de dire que maman vient nous voir en mars pour deux semaines!
Alors, notez ces dates sur vos calendriers et à bientôt!

Joseph

Joseph is my grandfather on my mom's side. The other day, during a little photo shoot with Luke and Owen, I suddenly saw a big resemblance between Luke and Joseph. What do you think?
Joseph est mon grand-père maternel. L'autre jour, quand je prenais des photos de Luke et Owen, je croyais photographier mon Bon Papa! Qu'en pensez-vous?

The cousins Owen and Luke!

Owen is just six weeks older than Luke. For Christmas, they received matching outfits so we had a little photoshoot with the boys.

Are you dizzy yet?

Luke loves his swing. But if I watch him for too long in it, I get dizzy! Luke adore sa balancelle. Moi, ça me donne le tournis!

Smiley Luke!

Luke is two months old today!

Time flies! So much has happened already in the past two months. Luke has changed so much from the tiny baby I gave birth to. His personality is starting to come out a little bit and I am able to understand him more and more. I know when he's hungry, fussy or just tired. I can soothe him like no one else can and I love the special bond I have with him. (That part makes Cody a little bit jealous at times when he is unable to quiet Luke and then sees me rock him to sleep in no time! And then Cody calls him a mama's boy!)

Le temps passe vite...très vite. Luke a déjà deux mois aujourd'hui! Il a beaucoup changé et il n'est plus le tout petit bébé à qui j'ai donné naissance. On commence à voir sa personnalité et je le comprends de mieux en mieux. Je sais quand il a faim, quand il râle et quand il est simplement fatigué. Je peux le consoler comme personne d'autre ne peut le faire et j'adore cette relation priviligiée que j'ai avec lui. (Cody est parfois jaloux quand il essaie en vain de le consoler et puis qu'il voit Luke endormi dans mes bras en un temps record! Et après, il l'appelle le petit bébé à sa maman!)

Happy New Year!

I can't believe that in 2009 we will see Luke learn to crawl, walk, talk and much more I'm sure. This is going to be an exciting year for us!

We spent New Year's day at Craig and Kathy's.

Luke's First Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas with Luke!

On Christmas eve, we went to Matt and Lléna's house for dinner. The food was so yummy and the company was great! Auntie Lléna and Uncle Matt spoiled Luke with toys of course! We had a fun evening chatting and playing the Wii.






Luke (and his daddy!) surprised me with a gift that day too. There was a little present sitting under the tree with a sweet card that said: "Merry Christmas Mommy, From Luke." I almost started crying when I saw that! I received a super cute ring with his birth stone. I love it.


On Christmas morning, Cody surprised me with another wonderful gift. He splurged on a beautiful watch that I had been talking about. I was really surprised because it was quite expensive and thought I might have to wait until our 10th or 20th or 30th wedding anniversary ;-) He did say that I had to consider that a gift for the birth of Luke, Christmas and my upcoming 30th birthday!!! Fine with me! The watch is perfect! Luke received a fun gift from Santa. It's an activity dome with the designs and colors of Eric Carle.



Then, we headed to TC to visit Cody's family. We ate a yummy breakfast at Craig and Kathy's house and opened a ton of gifts. Luke will be the best dressed little boy on the block! At the end of the day, Luke had a laundry basket FULL of new clothes. He and his cousin Owen got matching overalls and a funny onesie. Luke's says "Chicks dig me" and Owen's says "I party naked." Now, we need to get the boys together for a fun photo shoot!
Craig and Kathy spoiled us all again!


After that, it was time to go to the O'Brien's to celebrate Christmas with Cody's mom and stepdad Dwayne. Again, we all got spoiled with great gifts, ate a yummy Christmas dinner cooked by all and enjoyed great company.




And here's a cute pic of all the babies at Cori's house. Kylie, Luke, Finley, and Owen.


And here are the cousins: Luke and Owen


Our final stop for the day (I know...what a long day!) was back at Craig and Kathy's house to say hi to the rest of the family. Luke of course received more gifts from everyone (this child is so loved!) and one of his very favorite is the mobile that Becky and Greg gave him. Luke loves to look at the animals and laughs and giggles at them all the time! I have to take a short video of him doing that...too cute!






I so wish my family could have been here too to celebrate Luke's first Christmas. We miss them so much.

We love our friends!

Craig and Czarina came to visit us about a week ago. It was so nice to see them. Czarina is expecting her first baby and we couldn't be more excited for them. Baby Hounsel is due to arrive at the end of June and maybe he/she will arrive on my 30th birthday, June 22nd?! I can't wait for them to find out if it's a girl or a boy and either way, he/she will make a great friend for Luke! Sorry, no pictures of our little gathering...I lost half of my brain when I gave birth and didn't think of taking pics of our great friends!

We also had the visit of my friend Shanda and her daughter Emily. Shanda and I taught at the same school. Her daugher Emily was so nice to Luke and gave him kisses!