All Things Eigsti

Oh The Places Cars Will Go

2012-01-29T23:39:00.004-06:00

One thing about motherhood...you never know what you will find. This find made me smile. Finding a toy car in a semi-clean toilet, not so much.

Bath Time

2012-01-26T23:14:00.007-06:00

This is the new favorite pastime at our house. We recently started sharing bathtime...who knew it would be such a hit? As soon as they hear the water, they come running (or crawing super fast). They love playing in the water together and giggle lots. Luke hasn't admitted it at home, but his Sunday school teacher reported that he said Adam was his best friend. *melt* a mommy's heart!

New Car!

2012-01-19T15:21:00.002-06:00

Adam's first ride. Happy baby!

Adam was just as excited to see Luke in the car!

Luke's first time in the car. Approximately 0.2 seconds after he got out of bed.
Because we were sick and didn't get to go to Omaha for Christmas with Chad's family, we got this Christmas present in January. It is a major.hit. Both boys are very into it. And, it's actually worked out well for me, too. If I need something put away in another room, I just ask Luke to "drive" it there, and suddenly picking up and putting away is fun!

Forget the To-Do List!

2012-01-06T13:29:00.002-06:00

I have a to-do list that's a mile and a half long. For every item I check off, three more grow in its place. It's overwhelming. But, the weather gave us a wonderful near-70 degree day (in January!?!)...so what's a mommy to do? The list stayed at home, and we went to the park and enjoyed the sunshine. The infinite number of giggles and smiles were totally worth it. My goal is to do this more often this year. It's so easy for me to get wrapped up in the busyness of life...and that's not what is important. My children are growing fast and I am determined not to miss a thing!

Veggie Tales

2012-01-05T15:19:00.003-06:00

Apparently this is the result of watching perhaps one too many Veggie Tales while sick on the couch for a week:

Bah Stomach-Bug

2012-01-02T20:48:00.003-06:00

This last week we saw a little too much of this:

Both Chad and Luke came down with a nasty stomach virus last Monday. Nasty is not descriptive enough. I'd call it wicked, maybe just down right mean. It caused things to come out of both ends for not one, not two, but SIX days straight. And added cold-symptoms on top of that...runny nose, cough, and headache. Luke was inches away from having to go to the hospital for IVs because he was getting so dehydrated. Adam and I escaped the virus (thank the Lord!), but Adam fought a bad cold through it all. Basically, everyone was miserable, which meant we were all up at all hours both day and night. One night I think I got up around 9 times between both boys. Finally, (finally!) today everyone is basically back to normal, with the exception of lingering colds for Adam and Luke. It was one of the most trying times I have had so far as a mother. I will say, however, puke no longer has any gross-out affect on me. I'm over it. A big thank you goes out to my mom, who rearranged her work schedule to help me take the boys to the doctor, and who came over one day just to let me get out of the house for a little bit and run some errands. I think I might have lost my mind if it wasn't for that. Unfortunately our Christmas "break" resulted in being shut-in our home, which also meant we had to cancel plans to see several different friends we hadn't seen for 1-2 years. We were also planning to head to Omaha this past weekend to have our Christmas with Chad's family and that had to be scrapped as well. We were disappointed to say the least, but I am so grateful to see the light at the end of this nightmare. Now, back to work tomorrow. I'm gonna need to find some caffeine in the morning.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:28:00.005-06:00

Pay It Forward

2011-12-19T11:38:00.003-06:00

The other evening, I had the pleasure of taking Luke to his first movie. Our local Fox theatre, (which is an awesome historic theater!) has special $5 movie nights - plus buy one get one free! Can't beat it! They were playing Cars 2, and of course, Luke is a huge Cars fan. Even so, I'm not sure who was more excited to go - him or me! He was so cute and sat in his seat like a big boy holding his McQueen and Mater cars throughout the movie. I was a little disappointed in the movie as it was a lot more shoot 'em up bang bang than I was expecting, but we still had a great time.

One of the most memorable things about the movie night, however, happened when we were getting our tickets. I got to the window to pay for our tickets and handed him my debit card. He apologized and said he could only take cash on movie nights. I did not know that! Frantically I started rummaging my wallet for cash but could only come up with $1. There was a man with his two teenage daughters standing in line behind us. Without hesitation, the man slapped his money on the counter and said "put them with us". I was incredibly touched. Apparently, so was the cashier. He handed them their tickets and change and the man looked at it and put his money back on the counter and said he didn't think he was charged enough. The cashier just gave a sweet smile and said, "Yes, it's right". He only charged them for 2 people!! I have to admit, I've been feeling a little Bah Humbug lately...just feeling overwhelmed with life. But this encouraged me so much and inspired me to pay it forward! I hope we all have an opportunity to do so this Christmas season.

Forgetful Mommy

2011-12-04T17:09:00.003-06:00

The other day I had just left the house with the boys and realized I forget to tell Chad something, so I quickly called him. As soon as I got off the phone, a little voiced piped up from the back seat.

Luke: Who did you call, Mommy?

me: Daddy

Luke: Why did you call Daddy?

me: Oh, I just forgot something.

Luke: Oh. (pause) Did you forget a coupon?

The boy knows me well. A little too well, I'd say!

A Little Late, But...

2011-11-18T16:28:00.007-06:00

Here are some pictures of our little monkey and cowboy this year. It happened to be my parents' anniversary that weekend, so we took pictures of our cute people and then went out to dinner. My kind of Halloween!

In other news, Luke has mastered #1 AND #2 and has moved on to teaching others.

Fall Pics

2011-10-28T00:06:00.005-05:00

These are some of my favorite pictures and activities from this month. It's been a crazy busy couple of weeks, but we managed to squeeze in some fun time, too!

Our little pumpkin-eater.

Luke's expression in this picture cracks me up.

Riding horses and feeding a baby calf at the Drake farm. Luke loves visiting Dan and Karen's house!

Pumpkin Patch!

Jumping into hay was a major hit.

Trying to get a happy smiling Luke picture was not such a big hit.

This one cooperated though!

We also watched a lovely sunset while we were there. So pretty! I love fall!

V for Victory!

2011-10-24T22:15:00.003-05:00

We've had some proud accomplishments around these parts...Child #1 is {partially} potty trained! We started about 2 months ago, and he didn't seem quite ready, so we put it off for a little while and started again this weekend, and just like that, he got it! Well, he got #1 anyway...#2 is still a work in progress, but we will celebrate this victory! My favorite part is that he didn't even need bribery or rewards of any kind. Being able to wear his "underwears" and get to flush the toilet after he goes is the only motivation he needed. What a kid!

Child #2 didn't want to be showed up or left out, so he decided to start crawling today! He's been going backwards for a week or so, and just couldn't seem to get the hang of going forwards. Then, today he just took off and went without any struggle whatsoever. I'm convinced he's been practicing in his crib. Mostly, I'm thankful that I got to witness it. God gave me the little gift of Adam crawling on a non-work day for me! And though Chad didn't get to see it, I did just happen to be on the phone with him at the exact moment it happened, so at least he got to hear our happy squeals. However, within an hour of learning to move, this child managed to pull a large plant down on himself and spill the soil, and try to eat a power cord, so...let the games begin!

Everything

2011-10-16T23:41:00.002-05:00

Our youth group did this skit in church today. I wish I had a video of our kids because they did an awesome job. Here is the one like it that's on youtube. I can watch it a million times and it is so powerful it gets me every time. Please watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cyheJ480LYA

Eigstis are Cool

2011-10-14T23:24:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we celebrated Great Grandpa Eigsti's 86th birthday. Here are four generations of handsome Eigsti men!! Good thing we've added two more men to the mix. It turns out there aren't a whole lot of Eigstis out there. Anytime we say our last name, no matter where in the world we go, we are pelted with questions and comments. Eigsti..."how do you say that? How do you spell that? Where are you from? What country are you from? What origin is that? I've never heard that one before! That's a weird name. That's...different." Yes, truly, we have heard all of these questions/comments and many more not mentioned here. You don't even want to know how bad telemarketers have butchered it. We get it. We're a rare breed. Let it go.

Yes, this is our family. In true form. One child with spit up covering 90% of his body, the other child who has recently decided that using his "zoned out" look is the way to go for pictures. At least 50% of our children are happy. We must be doing something right, right? The truth is, before these pictures were taken, Luke just came to the realization that he will have to say, spell, and state his country of origin every time he says his last name to someone for the rest. of. his. life. He looks exhausted, doesn't he? Can't say I blame him. I had a moment like that as well when I decided to marry into it! :) Just kidding. I'm proud to be an Eigsti!

Farmer Boys

2011-09-18T22:33:00.006-05:00

Luke and Jonathan: A Day at the Farm...the Dialogue

Luke: Let's go look at Grandpa's cows.

Jonathan: Ok.

Luke: {doing cow call [aka mooing] to bring them to the fence}

Jonathan: ewwww! That one is peeing. I hope it doesn't pee on us!

Luke: That's a black one. It's a baby cow.

Jonathan: Is that one a baby cow?

Luke: No, that one is the black one. (clearly the expert on the situation)

Luke: They go in the barn when they hot. Grandpa feed them hay bales with the tractor. John Deere tractor.

Jonathan: ooooohhh.

[This is the conversation as I remember. It was very educational...and awfully cute that the cousins were having such a grown up conversation. I was too busy snapping pictures to think about getting video.] ages- Luke 2 1/2, Jonathan 3 1/2

Adam is 6 Months Old!

2011-09-09T23:51:00.005-05:00

I don't know how it happened, but somehow our babe is already a half a year old. Actually, next week, he'll already be 7 months old! But I just managed to get him to the doctor this week for his well baby check. He weighed in at a solid 19 pounds 2 ounces! He continues to be as easy going as ever and smiles all.the.time. His bottom teeth (seen pictured below) came in without any sign of irritation from him. Let's just keep that up, ok Adam?

We started foods and his first bites were carrots which he was not too sure of at first. But he has quickly developed a love for all things edible."Here, let me help you Adam"

We love this smiley happy baby and are so blessed to be able to soak up all this chubby baby goodness every day!

Sunday Lunch

2011-09-09T23:27:00.004-05:00

The other Sunday after church we headed over to my parents' house for lunch and the boys got in some good playing time as well! Grandma put Adam on Luke's shoulders and Adam seemed to know instinctively that this was a cool thing to do. Every time she did it he got so excited and beamed his big smile.

Cheesin' at Grandpa

I have pictures of me as a babe in this rocking chair, too!

This was the day that Adam {finally} discovered that he has a tongue and is sticking it out ever so slightly in this picture.

This looks so sweet with Big Brother holding Little Brother's hand. But really the Big was keeping the Little from touching his toys. Whatever, still cute.

Working on sharing!

Adam's Dedication

2011-08-28T16:37:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had Adam's dedication at church. Grandpa has done this for all of his grandchildren so far, and on this occasion did 2 grandkids (Adam and Hannah) at once!

The babes who were dedicated

The verse selected for Adam's dedication: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise." Psalm 111:10 Basically, this verse is saying that the only way to become truly wise is to fear and revere God. Our prayer is that we will teach Adam to love, fear, and serve God!

This picture was the best (of many taken) of the whole crew of cousins.

Old Pals

2011-08-28T16:10:00.002-05:00

I guess now that I'm Thiry *sigh*, I can say things like...this is my "long-time" friend, my "old" pal from my "college days". Whatever. My always-has-been a wonderful friend from the moment I met her, Jane and her daughter Maddie squeezed in a quick visit to us before summer slipped away. It was wonderful to see her as always. She is one of the wisest, strongest, godliest woman I know.

Big Boy Bed

2011-08-28T15:36:00.003-05:00

About a month ago, Luke surrendered his crib to his brother (i.e., he learned to climb out of his crib). We were ready to make the transition anyway, so it just sped us along in the process. Luke has always been a wonderful sleeper, so I was kind of concerned about the transition, hoping it wouldn't change his good sleeping habits. Much to my delight, it was smooth sailin'...for the first two weeks anyway. Then it suddenly dawned on him..."hey, I can get up. any.time.I.want!" So, {my first week back at work} we battled it out, night after night and took him back to his bed umteen million times, and I am happy to report that now once we put him in, he stays. He does, however, wake up roughly 2 hours earlier than he did pre-big boy bed. Whatever, I'll take it.

Waking up from his last nap in his crib

Luke's room before the transition...and below is after. Eventually, Chad plans on building bunk beds for the boys to share the room.

first time sleeping in his bed! (P.S. Mike & Jen - thank you for storing that bed for us all that time, now it's getting put to use! :)

Never A Dull Moment...

2011-08-18T15:20:00.002-05:00

Life has been a bit hectic to say the least! In the last 2-ish weeks:

- I turned 30 *groan*

-Adam got his bottom two teeth

-Adam learned to sit independently

-Luke (my always-has-been-a-fantastic-sleeper) decided sleeping is overrated, henceforth, no one sleeps at our house anymore

-I started back to work (how could summer be over already!?)

-Adam got sick for the first time - fever, hives, rash...the works (my first week of work *groan again*)

-Adam's dedication was Sunday at church

-Chad got accepted to Seminary

-oh, and we went swimming at the Salt City Splash and the boys LOVED it! (just wanted to throw something fun and summer-y in there! :)

August has been a whirlwind so far! Fortunately, God did bless us with some rain and some cooler weather, so life has felt more bearable. 90 degrees never felt so good! Pictures to come at some point of some of the above listed activities...but not until I get a handle on this mound of laundry...

Dry and Weary Land

2011-07-28T22:58:00.003-05:00

It's summer in Kansas. It's hot. Not just hot, but crazy hot. We've broken all kinds of records I'm sure for the most 100+ temperature days (I think we've had over 30 days now? I've lost count. And summer is far from over. Not only is it unbearably hot, (we barely get down to 80 at night!!) but it is dry. No.rain.all.year. Ok, so I heard someone say that we've had maybe 5 or so inches this year (including snowfall). When you are driving along, it is clearly a dry and thirsty land. Grass is dead. Trees are dying...with dead brittle leaves cluttering yards. Farmers have pretty much given up on all their wilted crops. Everything is brown and sad. I don't remember such a miserable summer as this. So what's the point of all this lamenting? Well, I was convicted today as I read scripture:

"O God, you are my God,

earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you,

my body longs for you,

as in a dry and weary land

where there is no water."

Psalm 63:1

I had to stop and think...do I "thirst" and "long" for God as much as our land thirsts and longs for relief? I along with many others have been praying for rain and a break from the heat for a while now...but perhaps what God wants for us to be praying for is a desire to desperately thirst and long to know Him more on a daily basis {and not just when we are dry and weary}.

Brotherly Love

2011-07-25T14:14:00.004-05:00

Like any parent, I hope that our children will be lifelong best friends. I'd have to say that I think they are off to a good start. [Of course, Adam is not yet mobile and trying to play with Luke's toys, so sharing is not yet an issue. But I'll live in my happy bubble a little longer and pretend like that's not in our future.] Truly though, they {currently} are in love with each other. Every morning as soon as Luke is awake he asks where Adam is. And as for Adam...let's just say he would choose to watch/play with Luke any day over his parents. He gives Luke the best smiles, and fortunately is still very forgiving when Luke injures him in some way (yeah, happens all the time). Here are some pics of the boys showin' some love.

Luke 2 years, 4 months ~ Adam 5 months

This first one happened by accident and is probably the best picture I've ever taken of them! I was playing with the features on our camera and found the black and white option. They were already playing on the couch (dressed in similar outfits for church yesterday morning) and I just got their attention and snapped. I couldn't do it again if I tried. And trust me, I tried.

I Need More Frames

2011-07-13T09:39:00.006-05:00

I managed to get Adam's 4 month pictures in just a few days before he turns 5 months. With Luke, we were moving across the country when he was 3 months, so didn't do any pictures for him until 4 (almost 5) months. So, I decided to do Adam's on the same months I did Luke's. This age is so fun to take pictures of anyway!

Just for fun...here's Luke at this age. Yes, I used the same hat for both boys. So sue me.

Summer Concert Series

2011-07-11T16:04:00.004-05:00

What do you do when it's 100+ outside? Stay inside and sing, of course! The other day, Luke grabbed his microphone and spontaneously started singing every song he could think of for his captive audience (mommy and Adam), so I quickly grabbed the camera and went with it. Knowing the camera was watching him too gave him encouragment to keep singing. Luke, at just over 2 years old, you amaze us every day! [Sorry, viewers, if you get bored with these. I just couldn't bear to leave out any of his masterpieces!
Jesus Loves the Little Children

ABCs

My God is So Big

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Jesus Loves Me

Your Grace is Enough by Chris Tomlin (He picked this one up from church and randomly started singing it one day. Chad and I just looked at each other in awe...we did not think he was even paying attention at church! Little did we know... He actually can sing more of the song than this, but this is all he chose to sing this day.)

Independence Day

2011-07-08T17:09:00.003-05:00

While Chad and I enjoyed a rare date/shopping day in Wichita on the 4th of July, the boys spent the day playing at Mimi and Papa's house. It turns out, Mimi and Papa had been doing a little shopping of their own, and bought this little motorized truck for the grandkids to play with when they came to visit. Luke was more than thrilled and rode it enough that the battery had to be recharged several times. Adam also had to try it out. He looks like such a big boy in these pictures and not just 4 months old!! That night we took the kiddos to the "big" fireworks (I say "big" because everyone and their dog were shooting decent sized fireworks in their front yards all around us) at the fairgrounds. Neither of them were scared of the noise and Luke was in awe the whole time and LOVED them. He is still talking about it! Gotta say, he takes after me as Independence Day and fireworks time is one of my favorite times of the year!

4 Months Old!

2011-06-16T15:20:00.003-05:00

Our littlest man is now 4 months old and I can't believe it. He is a true joy and continues to be happy 99% of the time and is very easy going. He watches his brother constantly with great interest (oh, what could he be learning???), and when he does get mad, I am convinced it's because he wants to be big and not a baby. Well, little does he know, he is already big!!! Yesterday at his doctor appointment he weighed in at 16 lbs 4 oz and is 25 1/4 inches long. No wonder my back hurts! What a sweet little person this guy is:

And, being a 4 month old is exhausting, by the way. (Or maybe it's the watching of his brother run circles around him that wears him out.) I promise I did not position him like this...he naturally fell asleep this way. Oh, drama.

Hendricks Exotic Animal Farm

2011-06-14T23:27:00.003-05:00

This evening we took a little family field trip to Hendricks Exotic Animal Farm. They have everything from ostriches to camels to giraffes and you can get up close and personal with them as well. Luke was very into feeding the animals. If you live in the area, I would strongly recommend taking your kiddos there...it's a neat experience.

Luke feeding a kangaroo...there were also little kangaroos hopping around on our side of the fence as well and would come right up to us!

Luke's view of a giraffe.

I think the giraffes were our favorite.We even snapped a rare family pic!

Harvest

2011-06-12T23:44:00.004-05:00

In the life of our 2-year old son, there are few things greater in life than having a tractor ride, and this year's harvest did not disappoint, complete with a tractor ride, wheat truck ride, and a combine ride. He was so excited to go out to the field he couldn't even eat his lunch!Plus, as an added bonus, he got to hang out with his uncle Matt. So cool!

Of course, Adam didn't want to miss the fun.

tractor ride...

combine ride...

wheat truck ride...Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot.

Fun With Cousins

2011-06-12T23:29:00.007-05:00

Being home with the boys for summer means more time for playing with cousins! Luke had his first experience in the kiddie pool with his cousins Andrew and Jonathan. He was a little unsure at first..."Um, Andrew, is this going to be fun?"

Yeah, he liked it alright. They played out there for hours, and I had to practically drag him in the house when it was time to go.

Even Hannah dipped her toes in!

Birthday Bash

2011-06-12T23:03:00.006-05:00

The first weekend in June, we took a quick trip up to Omaha to celebrate our nephew Seth's first birthday. Luke played and played with his cousins Kayla and Ethan! We took them to Kayla's school playground just down the street to help burn off some energy before Seth's birthday party.

Adam just chilled in the shade.

The guys spent the day building a new swing set in Shanna and Micah's backyard. Although here it seems Micah is doing all the work...

Here is Seth's awesome birthday cake that Aunt Cherise made!

The birthday boy!

Little Man

2011-06-01T23:02:00.004-05:00

Well, our little man is growing up fast! At his 2 month appointment, he was already 13 pounds, and now at 3 1/2 months, I'm guessing he's getting close to 15 pounds - a big strong boy! He is such a sweet, happy, easy-going baby. He started smiling at us at 7 weeks, and sleeping through the night at 12 weeks old (hooray!) and still is doing well at night for the most part. And today he rolled over for the first time! On-top-of-everything mother that I am, I still do not have a baby book for him, so gotta record it all somewhere so I don't forget! He is super smiley and beams whenever anyone talks to him, stranger or not. He looks nothing like Luke at this point...he's his own little person. The other night, Luke thought Adam should wear his cowboy hat that he inherited from Great Grandpa. We thought that was a good idea. and more pics of our cutie-patootie...

It's the Best...

2011-05-16T14:55:00.006-05:00

...being a mom, that is. These boys are simply a delight and add lots of joy to our lives. Some days are more challenging than others of course, but I can always confidently say that it is 100% worth it. The other week, our serman at church was about distinguishing what in our lives has eternal value. I couldn't help but think of the eternal value of raising kids. God has given us the blessing and responsibility to raise our children to know and serve Him. What job could be more important?

Luke has just started to spontaneously tell us he loves us. The other day, he ran up and hugged my leg and said, "Mommy I just love you so much". *Melt* my heart.

And another day, I caught Luke (spontaneously) serenading his brother with "Jesus Loves Me", with Adam smiling and beaming at the attention from his big brother. Love it! Since Motherhood is not a paid position, I consider this my raise. :)

Favorite Things

2011-05-01T22:50:00.003-05:00

Lately, at the end of each day, I've been trying to remember my favorite thing that happened that day. Today I have two things. The first happened during church. Someone sitting behind us let out an unintentional, but VERY loud, long, and gutteral/growling-sounding cough. Luke looked up at me with large bewildered eyes and asked in all seriousness, "Mommy, was that a bear?". Ha! My second thing is pictured below. Chad was on nap duty today and after they were in there for awhile, I wondered what was going on, and this is what I found. This is extra special because it NEVER happens. Sometime around Luke's first birthday, he began to only be able to fall asleep on his own in his bed and never ever on our laps. But today, they both fell asleep! A.dor.able.

Happy Hour

2011-05-01T22:24:00.003-05:00

We've had a rough week. This mommy got strep throat on Wednesday night and was pretty much out of commission until Saturday. On Friday, Luke woke up crying from his nap crying his "I'm in pain" cry and immediately I knew he was sick with something too. Sure enough, he had a fever. I called his doctor immediately and they were thankfully able to get us in their last appointment of the day. He had an ear infection and conjunctivitis (pink eye). So 50% of this household is on antibiotics right now. It had been a dreary couple of days at our house (the only fun part about being sick for me was that I had something to watch [the Royal Wedding] at 4:30 a.m. while I was up with the aches and chills. :) So, on the way home from the doctor's office I decided it was about time for some fun and get a little special treat for us sickies. We went through the drive-thru at Bogey's and got some curly fries and Luke's first taste of a cherry limeade. Yum! They have happy hour (50% off drinks) from 3-5, so my total bill for all of this delicious comfort was $3, which made me even happier, of course. :) But the best part of it all was seeing Luke's face light up with joy at this special treat and listening to him happily say over and over the whole way home "Mmmmm...so GOOD!". It made my day.

Pass the Ice Cream, Please

2011-04-19T14:36:00.018-05:00

Getting my children's pictures taken should be considered an Olympic sport. Seriously. On picture day, Luke awakens in the grouchiest mood of all time. He also wakes up with a serious amount of snot plastered all over his nose area and pinning him down the clean that up amid much resistance was enough to make me want to take a tub of ice cream and head back to bed. Once I finally got the car loaded and the boys loaded for our 45 minute drive to Wichita, I realized how bad the weather was. Cold and rainy and 50 mile per hour winds. I exaggerate not. The thought crosses my mind just to reschedule, but no, the car is loaded, the boys are ready...we're committed and there is no turning back. Once we get there Luke decides to control the situation best he could by pretending to be shy, clinging to his mother, and resisting pretty much everything they wanted him to do. "I don't want to sit in da chair!" What's that they say about the terrible twos?? Yeah, we're there. The photographers tried to make me feel better by saying that 2-year-olds are their most difficult subjects and this is by far not the worst they've seen. Still embarrassing and exhausting. When they did get him to smile, he pretty much only gave his "shy" smile, which includes his lovely tongue sticking out. See exhibit A:

and Exhibit B: (there are about 90 more like these)

But we did get about 2 pictures of him with a somewhat normal smile. I really mean literally 2 pictures. And here they are:
Now don't get me wrong, I love my Luke. He can be the sweetest child in the world and does make me smile each day. He's a great helper around the house and there is nothing like listening to him sing Jesus Loves Me while we're driving down the road. But this child has a serious bit of independence and strong-willed behavior. We're working on it. I've read "Don't Make Me Count to Three" by Ginger Plowman. The point of the book is to work on training the heart to obey...to focus on changing the heart instead of just getting the behavior to change, and to use God's word when doing so. And to expect immediate obedience, as delayed obedience is disobedience. Kids will live up to what we expect of them. If they know they don't have to obey until "3", they will never obey at "1". It's good stuff. Anyway...please tell me I'm not the only one out there dealing with the new-found independence and rebellion of a 2 year old!
Oh, but he really does love his baby brother.
This child, on the other hand, posed like a champ.

I got this one in black and white. His shirt is more of a rust color, but looked bright orange in the pictures for some reason which I didn't really like.

I liked this one because it made his blue eyes really pop. I guess I'm still surprised that with Chad's brown eyes and my green/hazel eyes, we had a blue-eyed son. Chad still thinks they're going to change, but I think they're here to stay. Either way, he is a little darling.

Boys Will Be Boys

2011-04-07T15:01:00.003-05:00

Oh, the joys of motherhood. The other night, Luke was playing outside with Chad, and of course got his pants covered in dirt/mud. So, when they came in for supper, I just took off his pants and didn't put another pair on since bedtime was just around the corner. I also noted he had a super wet diaper, but again didn't change it since bathtime was coming after supper. Fast forward to after supper...Chad went back outside to mow and I kept Luke inside so I could give him a bath, but had to feed Adam first. Luke was playing quietly in the other room, so I was enjoying my time with Adam when my Mommy Radar went off. The other room was quiet, too quiet for the last minute or so. I hollered for Luke. No response. Adam's dinner came to a quick halt as I jumped up to investigate, only to find the door leading to the garage wide open. I ran through the garage [as fast as my post-baby legs can carry me] and discovered our first born happily frolicking and jumping in the puddles of our next door neighbor's freshly watered yard. Did I mention he was only wearing a red t-shirt, a saggy diaper, socks, and an oversized backwards baseball cap? Classy. If I wasn't so mortified in the moment, I would have run inside to grab my camera. The mental image of it still makes me laugh out loud. I did try to snap a photo when we got back inside [after he was scolded for going outside by himself], but couldn't get him to hold still long enough to do so. Go figure. Boys. What do I do with boys?!?

Da Boys

2011-04-07T14:38:00.002-05:00

Here are some of the latest and greatest of our boys. I find my days to be so busy I often don't remember to get the camera out. This is my favorite one of all of my men. Brothers

Our house is loud, can you tell? Adam is still getting used to it as you can see from his expression.

Sweet sleeping baby...at least until his brother rudely awakens him. *sigh*

Adam has started smiling at us, which we love, of course. This is not his full smile, but the best one I've caught on camera so far.

Hello, blue eyes.

Month One in Life of Adam

2011-03-16T13:31:00.010-05:00

And so it goes with a newborn...the days fly by and before you know it, you have a one month old! I'd love to tell you what has happened this last month, but alas, it is basically all a foggy blur to me. Sleep deprivation does not do good things to my memory or my functioning, but we're doing ok and actually got 4 hours in a row last night. I feel like a new woman...though I could still use a nap! Adam is a great baby. He's pretty content most of the time, and so far tolerates his brother's "love" fairly well. His one month stats: length - 22 inches (80%ile), weight - 10 pounds 8 ounces (70%ile). His eyes are soooo clear blue, that I wonder if they will stay that way. Here's our one month old babe. Check out the belly!

Other highlights from the last month:

Mommy trying to be a photographer (one week old)
Adam definitely has the old man disgruntled look down...even in his sleep!
Adam (2 days old) meeting his cousin Hannah having his first bottle with Daddy

Luke must hold him pretty much every day - "I want to hold it him Mommy" We've been trying to work on using "him" instead of "it", so now he usually just uses both.

Luke loves to help entertain Adam during tummy time. He asks about 100 times a day, "Adam tummy time now Mommy?"

Happy Birthday Luke!

2011-02-27T18:20:00.011-06:00

It's hard to believe, but Luke turns 2 today! Our little man is growing up so fast. At 2, he loves all things related to music and tractors. He sings lots of songs, talks up a storm, and is going through a very independent stage where he must do everything "self!". All of his grandparents are among his favorite people, so they all came over to celebrate with us. He was in heaven! He brings so much joy to our lives, and we can't imagine life without him!

one week old 6 months old
12 months old
18 months old

Luke is 2! I am now the mother of a 2 year old and an (almost) 2 week old [God help me]. So his mother didn't make him a special cake this year. I do have a newborn, remember? He loved his cupcake from Dairy Queen just the same.
Adam partied with the rest of us

"Yippee!" A new bike!Peek in the bag, it's a cool new tractor from Great Grandpa Eigsti!

Adam meeting his Great Grandpa Eigstis

Happy Birthday, sweet Luke! We are so glad you are our son!

Grandpa Nisly

2011-02-27T17:16:00.004-06:00

The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster emotionally. We welcomed the beautiful new life of our son Adam, and one week later said goodbye to my sweet Grandpa who went to be with the Lord. Although he's been slipping away from us for several years now due to Alzheimer's, it's still hard and sad to say goodbye. He was a wonderful man and I have many fond memories with my grandparents. But, I am glad, knowing he is no longer suffering on this earth, and now he gets to hang out with my grandma again up in heaven!

Henry Nisly

March 5, 1919 - February 21, 2011

Grandma and Grandpa at their auction July 2008

at our wedding rehearsal dinner May 2006
Luke with Grandpa February 2010

We'll miss you, Grandpa.

And Then There Were Four

2011-02-16T13:00:00.009-06:00

We are thrilled to announce the birth of our son, Adam David Eigsti, born February 14 at 11:44 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 inches long. A healthy bouncing baby boy! I had a doctors appointment last Friday, and my doctor was convinced I would have him in the next 2-3 days (even though his due date wasn't until this Friday the 18th). She was exactly right! So, we spent the weekend doing all of our last minute to-dos before the baby came and I had contractions inconsistently throughout the weekend. Monday morning the contractions started again around 4:30 and by 6:30 they were already about 5 minutes apart so off to the hospital we went! Everything continued to go very quickly once we were there, and only 5 hours later he was here! We were so grateful for a smooth labor and delivery! He is a healthy and strong little guy! Some have asked if we named him after anyone, and yes, his middle name David is after my uncle (dad's brother) who passed away while I was in high school. He had Down Syndrome and to know him was to love him! We just liked the name Adam and it was Luke's alternate name, so we used it this time! We adore this guy so much already and Luke is crazy about his baby brother. Although, Luke calls him "Hannah" sometimes, who is our 4 month old niece. It's taken him a bit to understand that this is a different baby, who lives with us, but he's getting there!

Here is the brand new Adam!

First family photo (minus Luke) right after delivery
A few hours later, Luke came to meet his baby brother!
Checking him out...
Grandpa Nisly
Grandma Nisly
Papa Eigsti

Mimi Eigsti

A tired Daddy

One day old!

Going home!
Luke loves Adam and wants to hug, kiss, and hold him all the time!
Two days old. He's pretty alert and loves his binky! We love you, Adam. Welcome to our family! Thank you God for this incredible blessing!

A Few of His Favorite Things...

2011-02-02T14:26:00.003-06:00

What can I say...my child is a little bit weird, which makes him all the more loveable! I took him to a "Dr. Seuss Night" event last month where he got to do lots of fun crafty stuff, obstacle courses, etc. One of the crafts was to make a hat which he wasn't all that into when we were there. Ever since then, however, he must wear this hat at all times. While we eat, play, whatever. It will soon go bye bye however (don't tell Luke), as it has taken quite a beating of love. It's still lookin' pretty good in these pictures though.

And if you were to have a conversation with my son about his favorite things, he would most certainly talk about cows and tractor rides! On Wednesdays he goes to my parents' house while I work, and MUST have a tractor ride with Grandpa and go visit the cows. He talks about it constantly..."dump it" (the grain for the cows) "baby cow", "tractor ride", etc. My dad is convinced we should be raising this kid on a farm.

Getting ready to "help" Grandpa do chores.
Good thing Grandpa's tractor has a buddy seat!

Christmas?!?

2011-02-02T13:44:00.002-06:00

Um, it's FEBRUARY, you might say. I realize. But, things have been a bit wild around here as of late as we are frantically trying to finish projects around the house before Munchkin #2 joins us. Plus, I've been working extra days to help cover my maternity leave (but not today, it's a snow day, yea!). Anyway, although Christmas is practically ancient history by now, I still couldn't resist sharing our highlights this year. So, here they are:

Christmas morning at our house. For some reason, Luke's mother decided to get him a drum. Crazy woman. But, the boy LOVES music and puts concerts on for us all the time. Accompanying loud singing included.

Christmas with the Nislys. Luke can be found wherever Grandpa and Hannah are. Please note Hannah's adorable headband that we got her. Girly accessories are so fun!He got lots of fun gifts, but of course especially loved the tractor he got from Grandpa and Grandma.Posing in front of our Christmas tree looking all handsome!
We celebrated Christmas over New Year's in Omaha with the Eigstis. Luke can be found wherever "Baby Sef" is. Noticing a theme?? This kid LOVES babies. Hopefully he will also be this fond of his baby brother.
Luke got more fun stuff for Christmas. Here he is dancing a jig with the music on his new leap frog computer. That thing was a lifesaver during our drive home! Hours of entertainment!
We had lots of fun with everyone! Thank you Micah and Shanna for hosting us!

Baby Growth

2010-12-28T22:33:00.006-06:00

So I haven't been the best at giving baby updates...everything appears to be going ok so far. I was 32 weeks on Christmas Eve, so we are getting close! It's hard to believe. It's going so fast. I felt hiccups for the first time today...just another reminder that there is a little sweet person in there! A couple of weeks ago, I had a bout with the stomach flu. Extremely no fun for me, and I assume no picnic for Baby either. Uck. Fortunately, Luke and Chad did not get it! Other than that, I've been relatively healthy, though I "feel" more pregnant with this one than I did with Luke. Not sure if that makes sense - maybe other moms out there get it? In other baby news, we are seriously struggling with coming up with a name for this little guy. Any suggestions out there?
21 weeks

24 weeks

28 weeks
32 weeks

Random Cuteness

2010-12-16T22:06:00.002-06:00

I love this kid.

Fix Your Eyes on This...

2010-11-30T22:50:00.003-06:00

Hello Eigsti Blog Stalkers. Chad here. Found this video. You gotta watch it...

Watch the video

Very interesting, don't you think? I think this might be the answer:

So let us FIX OUR EYES on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Heb. 12:2

A Month in a Nutshell

2010-11-27T10:12:00.004-06:00

Ok, so I've been MIA for awhile, so sue me. I've been doing some nesting around here! Lots to do before #2 enters our world. I've just entered my 3rd trimester, so we're in the final stretch! Here's a litte of the fun we've had in the last month or so.

Halloween - our little elephant

Enjoying a pretty fall day at the Dillon Nature Center
This is my favorite picture

The end

Zoo

2010-10-24T20:15:00.004-05:00

We had to take a family trip to the zoo before it gets chilly, so after visiting Hannah in the hospital, we jetted to the zoo. Luke loved it of course and now has many new animal names added into his vocabulary. Penguins, tigers, and monkeys topped his list as his new favorites to watch. It was a beautiful day! checking out the hippos with daddy

Welcome Hannah

2010-10-24T20:05:00.003-05:00

This is ridiculously late, but we would like to welcome Hannah Elizabeth Julia into our family as our new niece! She was born October 14 and weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and is a beautiful little girl, already well loved! Luke is definitely in awe of her and did not want his turn to hold her to be over.

It's a.............

2010-10-08T14:55:00.008-05:00

Well, I am 21 weeks along and we had our ultrasound this morning. As far as we know, everything looks good and Baby is growing right on track...currently weighing in at 15 ounces. It seems weird that we could possibly already know the gender, but we do! Baby was a little shy at first, but eventually the technician got a good look. Anybody want to place any final guesses??

profile pics
face shot (the blob on the left) - at least this one is not quite as alien-looking as Luke's was!

one little foot
Two little feet! Luke will soon have a wrestling buddy and a new best friend. That's right, it's a BOY!

Still not convinced? Here's another shot. Someday I'll have to apologize to him for exposing him in this way!

Hair Cut and Farm Fun

2010-10-07T16:51:00.010-05:00

We stopped at my parents' house for a much needed hair cut from Grandpa...

...and then Luke was off to explore the farm! First stop: getting the eggs with Grandma.
I don't remember it being that exciting when this was on my chore list as a kid, but for Luke, getting the eggs is a treat. Next stop: Visit the cows. Admiring them from a distance...
They noticed him and got curious, much to Luke's delight.
Luring them in...

Almost there...
Bingo! Luke gets to pet a wet nose. Victory! Life on the farm is never boring.

Pumpkin Patch!

2010-10-03T17:54:00.005-05:00

Last year, we went to this great pumpkin patch with tons of stuff for kids to do. So, we have decided to make it a family tradition to go each year. Luke was all about it this year and it was so fun to watch his face full of delight as we explored all of the activities. He literally walked around clapping because he was having so much fun.

Our new annual family photo op
Luke loved the pumpkins!
And we know this because he would not stop smiling. This from a child who does. not. smile on demand ever.
He also couldn't get enough of the hay bale maize. Even though a mean big kid pushed him down in the middle of it.
He cried when it was time to leave. The only thing that appeased him was getting to hold one of the pumpkins he picked out during the ride home.

As soon as we got home, he helped put them on our porch. We stopped first to take a picture with our flowers. He entertained himself by picking the flowers and decorating the pumpkins. Whatever.
Four pumpkins...one for Daddy, Mommy, Luke, and Baby #2!

Pregnancy Woes

2010-10-03T17:31:00.002-05:00

So I'm still kind of in the in-between stage in this pregnancy. I'm in maternity pants for sure, but a number of my maternity shirts still swallow me, while my normal shirts and "a little too big shirts" are too tight. Therefore, dressing each day is a challenge. I decided to try to get ahead of the Sunday morning rush and figure out what to wear the night before. So after much frustration, I found one of my maternity shirts that seemed to work ok. What happens? You guessed it. Toothpaste down the bottom of the shirt minutes before needing to leave for church. So I did what any pregnant person should do in such a situation. Rinsed it out, threw a sweater over it, and away we went. I cannot be bothered with finding something else to wear, seriously.

Water Boy

2010-09-11T11:40:00.004-05:00

Luke has become more of a "helper" these days. Watering Mommy's flowers was one of his favorite things to do this summer. He used to let me help guide where the water went, but no more. All by himself. All the time. With all things. Good thing he hits the flowers most of the time! Never mind we always have to change clothes when we go inside. He tugs at his shorts and shirt and declares them "wet".

Luke's summer highlights

2010-09-10T23:00:00.001-05:00

Since Mommy didn't feel good pretty much all summer (thank goodness I'm starting to feel like myself again!), Luke didn't get to do nearly as many fun things as mommy had hoped. Here are the things he did get to do and loved!

-go on lots of rides on Grandpa Nisly's ranger (and help drive, of course)

-Play on Grandpa and Grandma Nisly's farm. He also got to take rides in the field on the tractor and help Grandpa feed the cows and Grandma get the eggs.

-drive Grandpa Eigsti's truck

-drive Grandpa Eigsti's tractor...this kid will sit and "drive" anything forever if I let him.

-ride his bike

-wear cool shades

-and ride a horse!

Sing it Michael!

2010-09-10T12:36:00.003-05:00

Our highlight was probably getting to go on a real date to a Michael Buble concert in June (about a day before the horrible morning sickness kicked in, literally!) We had planned it as a [late] celebration of our anniversary. It was an awesome concert!

mmm, mmm, mmm....love his voice!

Eigsti Family Vacation

2010-09-06T15:11:00.004-05:00

So this is very belated, but in late July/early August we took an Eigsti family vacation to Colorado to celebrate Chad's parents both turning 60 this year. The cool weather was a nice break from the Kansas heat! We had lots of fun and loved getting to meet our new nephew, Seth! We did lots of hiking, went down the alpine slide, got some shopping in, lots of eating, and some great relaxing time! This kid is cute enough to take home with us!Love this picture of my boys!
This waterfall was our treat after a long (and rainy!) hike. It was a little bit grueling for the preggo girl.

We managed to get rained on during every hike we went on...even when we took the kids! They loved it of course!

We took advantage of one lovely rain-free day to take some family photos. They turned out pretty great, I'd say, for using an automatic timer. Good thing Chad is a fast runner!

This rock was harder to get on than we thought, but at least the nice picture made it worth it!

Pregnant Brain

2010-09-03T00:50:00.003-05:00

I know there is research out there that claims that pregnancy has no effect whatsoever on one's brain, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Case in point:

A couple of days ago, I was on my way to work and was within a few blocks of the babysitter's house when it suddenly occurred to me...there was no child in my back seat. It was Wednesday. On Wednesdays (just like last school year), Luke goes to my parent's house and Chad takes him since it is closer to his work. As I got ready that morning I even thought about how nice it was to only have to get myself ready for the day. This was my third Wednesday back to work this school year too, so you'd think I'd have the hang of it. Hmmmm...not convinced?

The next day, more absent-mindedness. There is a stoplight about a block from where we live. I stop at this light basically every day. On this particular day, I approached the light, looked both ways and saw no cars in sight and went on my merry way. About halfway through the intersection I realized I had just ran a red light. What?! I am losing it. I don't remember being this clueless while pregnant with Luke, but of course, seeing as how pregnancy seems to strip away my ability to think, I probably wouldn't remember.

So, if you see me driving down the road, I highly suggest you turn and drive in the opposite direction for your safety. Or, if you would be so kind, please pull up beside me and tell me where I am supposed to be going. I'm sure I won't have a clue. thankyouverymuch

Top 8 Ways...

2010-08-11T15:11:00.005-05:00

I know I'm pregnant:

1. nauseous nauseous nauseous barf barf barf.
2. I cry during commercials. The new iphone 4 one where they can see each other talking and the new mommy shows the military daddy overseas the new baby for the first time...sigh...gets me every time.
3. I'm a wee bit absent-minded.
4. I dream about new shake flavors. One night it was chocolate chip cookie dough with peanut butter and oreos mixed in. The next day thinking about that made me gag. Literally.
5. The bladder kicks it in overdrive. Particularly at roughly 3 a.m.
6. Smells [any and all smells, even normally good ones] are a turn-off.
7. I don't blog for months on end. Please refer to #1.
8. And the most certain way anyone could ever tell they are pregnant...[insert picture of sonogram at 9 1/2 weeks pregnant. I would insert it myself if I could find it. Please refer to #3.] It was an amazing sono though, I could already see arms and legs moving around and a pretty decent profile.

So...to answer your questions:
1. Yes, I am actually pregnant.
2. I'll be 13 weeks on Friday. According to babycenter.com, Baby is currently the size of a lime. Can't wait to see what kind of fruit/vegetable he/she will be compared to on Friday. It's the little things, ya know?
3. Yes, I was this sick with Luke, too.
4. Baby is due Feb. 18. Yes, that is the same month Luke was born. No, we didn't plan it that way.
5. Yes, we are planning to find out the gender. No, we didn't with Luke. Just mixing it up to keep you on your toes.
6. Yes, I start back to work tomorrow and will work up until Baby's arrival. No, I have no idea what happens after that. But I am thankful for a boss who has been flexible with me so far, so we'll see.
7. Yes, we are super excited. I will be even more excited once the nauseous/sick all the time phase ends [oh, Lord, PLEASE let it end!]. Luke is excited too, he just doesn't know it yet.

Chad here...

2010-07-10T11:44:00.002-05:00

Howdy folks. I have hijacked Sondra's blog to post a cool vid. I came across this song and L.O.V.E. it. Enjoy.

Death In His Grave (Performance Video) from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

Harvest

2010-06-25T16:27:00.006-05:00

It's that time again! Luke couldn't get enough of watching the combine, taking rides, and hanging out with Grandpa and Uncle Matt (even though it was ridiculously hot!).

Just for fun, here is Luke last year at harvest. He was 3 months old and we had just moved here.
Matt gave him a ride in the wheat truck.

During the combine ride with Grandpa. Don't be fooled by his non-smiling face. He LOVED it and didn't want to get out of the combine.It turns out harvest is exhausting.

Cowboy Luke

2010-06-22T16:17:00.006-05:00

We celebrated Father's Day lunch at Chad's parents and Chad's mom bought Luke some new cowboy boots. She pulled out their stick horse and straw hat and Voila! Instant fun! Not to mention, instant mini-cowboy. He loved every minute of it.Note to self: next time select "kids and pets" option on camera so pictures are not blurry. oops

When you pushed its ear, it neighed, snorted, made galloping sounds, much to Luke's delight.

The horse was chopped liver once Luke spotted Daddy's old tractor.Love it! Of course, the next day, we still had to wear the boots.

kiss the horse. We love our animals.

Splish Splash Splosh

2010-06-22T15:41:00.005-05:00

This morning we met with Luke's playgroup at the splash park. It's a hot day, so perfect weather to get wet! Luke's splashed to his heart's content. I thought it would take him a little bit to get used to the idea, but he jumped right in! And of course thought he was big like the other boys running around. I think we'll be going back here a lot this summer.

waiting for the water to shoot out

I love summer!

HENfest

2010-06-12T21:49:00.008-05:00

Last weekend we were in Colorado for the first ever HENfest (Henry Elizabeth Nisly [my grandparents] family reunion). My dad's family started as a family of 7 - his parents and 5 children. We have lost my grandma and 2 of dad's brothers. But, we are now an extended family of 33 (34 in October). We all stayed in a beautiful lodge up in the mountains and had a grand 'ol time. My Grandma would have loved it.

This is the whole gang, except for my grandpa who is not well enough to leave the nursing home.

Don't these pictures just look like we're on vacation? Mountains, balloons...what more could you want?
Have I ever mentioned that Luke is obsessed with my dad?
Well, so are his cousins. And they spent plenty of time fighting over his attention.
But don't be fooled, they LOVE eachother. We didn't tell them to do this. They hug literally every time they see each other. Even if it's only been 5 minutes.
This is my immediate family.

One day, some of the gang decided to go on a bike ride down Vail Pass. It. was. awesome. The views were breathtaking and it was so refreshing. We stopped along the way frequently to explore, enjoy the view, and take short hikes. Luke even rode along with us and loved every minute of it. Except when we didn't let him eat a rock.

Baby Boom

2010-06-03T22:22:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Chad's sister and BIL on the birth of their son, Seth Micah, born earlier this evening!! We can't wait to meet him!

Also, congratulations are in order for my sister and BIL...after having 2 boys, they just found out they are having a GIRL in late October!

Hooray for getting a new nephew and a new niece this year!

Finally Done!!

2010-06-03T14:27:00.003-05:00

The bathroom, that is. Unfortunately, when our computer crashed, we lost the "before" picture, so you'll just have to envision dated pink everywhere...tile (on all the walls), on the floor, on the wallpaper. I love pink and all, but not in the bathroom! So, after approx. 4-5 months of hard labor, we have a beautiful bathroom. I can't take much credit. The only thing I did was strip all the wallpaper and pick out all the new stuff (with Chad, of course). Chad did pretty much all the labor himself, with a little help. And of course he works full-time, so everything was done on evenings and weekends (hence the 4-5 months). My brother Matt helped with some plumbing, removing/installing the tub and shower walls, my brother-in-law Keith helped with cutting and putting up some of the beadboard (unfortunately, he is not pictured below since Tanya and I were hard at work on other house projects at the time), and Chad's dad helped with laying the tile, hanging the giant mirror, and some electrical work.

Here is what it looked like for most of those 4-5 months (a super fun mess to try to keep a curious toddler away from!):

And here's the after:

The toilet and the fan are the only things that remain from the original. Yes, I said a fan. We are not sure why there is a ceiling fan in the bathroom. It may or may not stay. Jury is still out.

my cousin Gina helped me make this curtain...cute, huh?
Ta Da! My husband is awesome.

Giddy-up Cowboy

2010-05-20T00:14:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we took Luke to his first rodeo. Nevermind it started about the time he usually goes to bed...he LOVED it! My parents have Luke one day a week while I work, and they spend a good chunk of time out looking at my dad's cattle. If Luke had his way, that's all they would do all day. ("Moo" was his first word, by the way) So, naturally, 2 1/2 hours of getting to sit and watch horses and cows run by was heaven for Luke. Mommy and Daddy were chopped liver as Luke would only sit with Grandpa all evening (except for about 2 minutes when Grandma snuck him some gummy bears *bribery*). There was not a peep out of him...he just pointed and pointed and Dad said he would kick excitedly every time a horse/cow/bull came running or bucking out of a chute. Let's just say getting Luke to sit anywhere for this long is a miracle, so you know he loved it.

My dad, as you can tell, is a bit of a cowboy himself. Back in the day, he actually competed in rodeos in the team calf roping event. My dad is such a stud, don't you think?

This pretty much sums up the evening. Point point point.

New Looks

2010-05-19T23:49:00.003-05:00

Luke does this new thing where he gives you this awful scowl and then just busts up laughing. One day, it was like he was just playing with facial expressions, and when he did this one (see below), I could not contain myself and laughed. So, now he does it just to make me laugh.

Lookin' mean Lookin' less mean
Smile/giggle is just around the corner (nevermind the dumb picture is sideways)

He's also discovered he can imitate Mommy's fishy face.

And then there is the sweet potato 'do. I promise he styled his own hair! And please note the red spot just above his eyebrow. He took his first face dive into cement that morning. (The first of many, I fear.) He's tough though, and barely cried 10 seconds before wanting to run back and play.

In the Motherhood

2010-05-09T16:52:00.003-05:00

Motherhood certainly isn't easy at times, but it is wonderful. Luke is a great kid and makes me smile every single day. Yes, even on the days he throws all of his food on my freshly mopped floor. The other day, I was really frustrated about something (unrelated to him) and he immediately sensed it. He came up to me and raised his arms to be picked up. The second I had him in my arms, he started kissing me profusely (open mouth, of course) and hugging and squeezing me as if to cheer me up. He gives me hugs a lot, but that was the first time I got that kind of affection unprompted. That makes a million dirty diapers worth it. Not to mention, since becoming a mother, I now get to dance every day and someone claps for me every time I sing. This is the life.

Happy Anniversary

2010-05-06T16:36:00.003-05:00

May 6 is the day that we said "I do". It's been 4 years, and I've never been more proud to stand by my man. He's a keeper. Since we now have a child and no longer take pictures of ourselves, this pic is from our fabulous honeymoon in Hawaii...how many years do you have to be married before you can go on a second honeymoon?????

First (Real) Haircut

2010-05-02T16:44:00.004-05:00

Luke has been in need of a cut for a while, but well, life has been busy so it just didn't happen. But the day finally came where I was sick of washing sweet potatoes out of his long locks, so it was time for a trim. He did fairly well, with some whines and wiggles mixed in, just to let me know he didn't really appreciate sitting in that chair...but did enjoy the lollipop and book for distraction.Mission accomplished.

Eigsti Farm Fun

2010-04-22T11:20:00.003-05:00

The other Sunday, Chad's parents declared they needed their "Luke fix" of the week so we headed out to enjoy a beautiful afternoon on the Eigsti farm. Luke of course was thrilled because that meant plenty of time to play outside.

Mr. Cool just chillin' on the porch

a boy and his sticks
Mimi giving a ride in Luke's new found love, the wagon.

so. happy. Sticks-check, wagon-check, outside-check, grandparents-check check. Life is good.

Papa giving Luke the extended tour. I think our next investment might need to be a wagon.

One Year Pics

2010-04-20T20:37:00.003-05:00

So we've had these for a while, but I'm just getting around to posting them...these are Luke's 1-year pictures. They gave us a CD of all the pics they took, which is awesome. We didn't buy this first one, and now I think it's so cute. There is so much pressure to pick and eliminate on the spot! It's stressful, people!

Luke's Life

2010-04-02T21:45:00.002-05:00

We've been playing outside a lot lately. Luke is obsessed with being outside. Thankfully we've had a lot of nice days! His current toy of choice is his baseball. Such a boy.
In other not so fun news...it seems that Luke may have a milk allergy. Pictured below shows how his face breaks out if he drinks whole milk or has milk product. It doesn't seem to bother him otherwise. But, our doctor recommends that we eliminate all dairy from his diet and we will do allergy testing at his 15 month well visit. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. I have found it seems everything I make has some sort of dairy in it. How do I cook? I often end up having to make him something different than we are eating, which is super unhandy. Check your labels...it seems like everything has milk in it! Anyone out there ever been through this? Any advice?
Just for fun...looks like we have a natural on our hands. He doesn't know it yet, but there are piano lessons in his future...

Things That Make Me Happy

2010-03-19T21:07:00.002-05:00

Today we went back to the doctor and got a clean bill of health for Luke! Ears - clear. Lungs - clear. On target developmentally. Blessed? Yes. Thank you Lord for healing our babe! That was definitely a happy of the day. Other things that make me happy:

1) This face: I could be having the worst day, but one smile or giggle from this person and nothing else matters.

2) Completely unrelated to all things Luke, but this is no garbage bin. It is a recycle bin that we can put all things recyclable. Then they pick it up on trash day and it goes into a machine that magically sorts plastic, glass, metal, paper, etc, so I don't have to! This makes me happy. Don't judge. So I'm a nerd, ok? We didn't have this kind of luxury in our apartment. Plus, what can I say...it's good to be green.

The Good, The Bad, and The Beautiful

2010-03-07T14:50:00.006-06:00

About 3 weeks ago, Luke got a cold. A really bad cold...the day before we were to fly to Florida for a pastor's conference. About half way through the week after being up all night with a fussy baby, I suspected Luke had an ear infection and off to a walk in clinic we went. Sure enough, he did. So we started antibiotics. Fast forward a couple of weeks. Finished the antibiotics and Luke still just didn't seem right and so on Friday back to the dr we went. Sure enough, double ear infection this time. But that was the least of his problems. We weren't with the nurse for more than 30 seconds when she noticed a little bit of "grunting" in his breathing. They did an oxygen saturation test, and it was just ok. His breathing and lungs were raspy. That's when the doctor said that he "is flirting with going to the hospital". Chills went up my spine. They hooked him up and we did a breathing treatment. Retested his oxygen and it was too low. Waited a little bit and retested again and it was just high enough to keep us out of the hospital. Thank goodness. So, Luke is now on breathing treatments every 4-6 hours until he can get over this gunk, a steroid to try to clear his lungs, a stronger antibiotic for his ears, and ear drops to numb ear pain. Poor kid. We watch the DVD God Made Babies during every breathing treatment. It is our friend (a treatment without this distraction is torture for all parties involved). He loves this video and it is a total treat for him to watch it, which is the only thing that gets us through treatments . I haven't let him watch much before this except in extreme cases (i.e., when mommy and daddy had food poisoning). Now he's like Pavlov's dog, and sees the video come on and sits down and gets ready for his treatment.
Bad = we have a sick babe. Good = we're not in the hospital and he's still happy as normal for the most part.

our little sicky

Beautiful = Daddy brought home flowers for Mommy and Luke after a rough day.

While in Florida, we stopped at the beach for a few minutes even though it was pretty chilly.

Beautiful = SPRING is around the corner! Luke and I went out to explore our backyard the other afternoon since it was beautiful and 60-something outside. And we discovered green! This will be our first spring/summer to enjoy our yard, and I'm excited to see what flowers and plants emerge! Any guesses what flowers these will be??

Birthday Boy

2010-02-27T22:01:00.003-06:00

They say that once you have children time really flies, but this is just ridiculous. I really and truly feel like we could have just brought Luke home from the hospital yesterday. I'm not sure what has happened to this last year, but somehow our baby boy is now 1. I'm sort of sad that he is leaving the "baby" stage, but am also looking forward to the "big boy" stage. [Sidebar: He somehow intuitively knows he is now a "big boy" and as of yesterday completely refuses to be fed anything by anyone and insists on feeding himself even though he hasn't mastered handling the spoon yet. Sigh, here we go...] He has, in his 365 days of life thus far, lived up to the title "bundle of joy", though. He brings so much joy to us and we can't imagine life without him. He is such a sweet boy and everyone who knows him is crazy about him, naturally. We love you, Luke. Happy birthday, sweet son.

about 4 days old

One of my favorite pics of my boys. Luke is about a week old.

2 months old

3 months old...and you'll have to refer to previous posts for the other months...our computer with all our pics has crashed this month, so these are all the pics I currently have access to.

The birthday boy! Can't believe he let me put the hat on.

This is as creative as I get, folks. Luke got a construction birthday cake[s].

Yummy!

He Walks!

2010-02-12T22:32:00.003-06:00

Just 2 weeks shy of his first birthday, Luke has taken his first steps! Earlier today he did about 2 steps, later in the day about 4, and by this evening got brave and did about 8. Fast learner I guess! Sorry for the not so great footage, but seriously, I'm a mommy watching her baby take first steps...what do you expect?!? I'm so grateful though, because ever since I started back to work (though it's only part-time) I have feared missing Luke's firsts. But God has been gracious to me and has so far allowed his firsts (crawling, walking, etc.) to be on the days I am home. (Unless of course, it has happened at his babysitter's and they have not told me...but I won't think about that. :)

Visiting Grandpa

2010-02-05T21:47:00.006-06:00

Today Luke and I went to visit my Grandpa at the nursing home. In the Alzheimer’s unit where he is staying, they have lots of activities planned to keep their minds stimulated. When we got there, another resident of the nursing home had volunteered his time to sing for this group. When he was finished, we were playing with Grandpa, and all of the residents were so intrigued with watching Luke, that they canceled the next activity so everyone could just enjoy Luke! He put on quite the show for everyone…crawling around in the middle of them, laughing, jabbering, playing peek-a-boo, reading books. As we left home this morning, I happened to grab the camera and I’m so glad I did! Grandpa was having a great day and LOVED Luke! I saw lots of Grandpa’s familiar smiles and wish he could be this alert more often.

And really, who could resist this face??? He may be the sweetest kid ever.

It's the Little Things

2010-02-05T21:38:00.002-06:00

This first picture is horrible quality, but this was Luke's first romp in the snow. It took him a while to get into it, but eventually he started digging in it with his little mitten hands.

In other everyday news, Luke is in love with laundry. Every time I bring out a clean load he is right there to "help" me fold it. He would probably play with a load of laundry all day if I would let him.

From Baby to Boy

2010-01-20T22:53:00.003-06:00

It has been brought to my attention that my son has gotten a bit of a shaggy do. Check out the hair hanging over his ears:

Even more noticeable in this picture:

So, we did it. His first hair cut. Well, really just a trim around the ears. He was such a trooper, even though he looks a little unsure about it in this picture.

Then it was daddy's turn.

The result. Excuse me, what happened to my baby boy?

Four Generations

2010-01-20T22:09:00.002-06:00

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, four generations of Eigsti men. Take it in, as there are so very few Eigstis on this fine planet of ours, and here are 4 in one picture!

Three Muskateers

2010-01-16T22:08:00.000-06:00

Can we say Triple Trouble??? Here is Luke sandwiched between two of his cousins. Andrew plays with him pretty well and loves to make him laugh. Jonathan and Luke are exactly a year apart and therefore there are some toy battles to be had, but the love is there for sure. I have a feeling these boys will be good buddies growing up and perhaps a little trouble for their mothers.

Tanya got them all matching shirts to wear at Christmas. Too bad Santa didn't deliver matching attention spans/smiles!
Please note Luke's face in the pic below. We don't know where this expression came from, but it is his new "so excited, can't believe it" face. He uses it frequently these days. hi.lar.i.ous.

Game Plan 2010

2010-01-05T22:37:00.005-06:00

So, as I was pondering the idea of making New Year's resolutions, I came to the conclusion of..."What's the point?". Not that making resolutions is a bad thing, but I am thinking more along the lines of, how does this affect my eternal growth? Pretty sure when I get to heaven, God isn't going to ask me, "So, how did that 'learn to knit' resolution go for ya?". That said, my goal this year is to read the Bible in 2010. The whole thing. I'm using the One Year Bible, which has the whole reading plan set up for me. Because I'm a little lazy like that and am more likely to achieve this goal if it's already all set up for me and all I have to do is read. Now, technically, I confess, I'm already a day behind, but I will do it, by golly. And there will be ice cream in the end to celebrate. And maybe in my spare time I will learn to knit, just for an added bonus.

Do you have any eternal goals 2010? Do share. Seriously. I heart comments.

Merry Belated Christmas

2009-12-30T12:30:00.004-06:00

Ok, so I was just wondering...is there anyone out there other than me who can't seem to pull it together this year??? I even got half a Christmas letter written, but didn't have time to finish it. sigh. As I reflect on 2009, one word comes to mind: Change. It goes as follows: In February, we welcomed Luke Thomas into our family and began our journey into parenthood. In April, Chad accepted an associate pastor position in Kansas. In June, we moved 1000 miles from Cleveland to Hutchinson and Chad began his position at the church, as well as his new vocation as a plumber (with no prior experience, by the way). In August, we made 2 offers on two houses and didn't get either of them. In August, I also started back to work part-time at a new job working as a speech therapist at a school (very new for me since I'd never worked in a school setting before). In September, I joined the women's ministry team at church and started leading a Bible study. In September, we also made another offer on a house and got it! We closed on the house in October. In November we moved into the house after numerous hours of painting and fixing. Which brings us to December, when we had a broken down water heater, and we still have plenty of unpacked boxes, and a bathroom project in the works, complete with a toilet in the guest room and the sink and vanity in the living room. Now that I look back at this crazy year, I don't feel so bad about not sending out Christmas cards, because really, it's a miracle I'm still sane. Here's to hoping for a less eventful 2010. And maybe I'll even get a little more organized. I did get a label maker for Christmas after all.
From our hectic home to yours, we wish you a (belated) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday...

2009-12-29T01:03:00.003-06:00

To the hottest husband around! I gotta say his birthday is not at the most ideal of times, since it often can get overlooked in the midst of crazy holiday happenings. But I'm here to say he is a wonderful, selfless husband and father. He works. Hard. He is passionate about helping people. He is discerning and wise. Here's to hoping Luke grows up to be just like his daddy. Happy Birthday, my love.

A Trip to the Zoo (with Grandpa and Grandma Nisly too!)

2009-12-24T12:41:00.004-06:00

Luke visited the zoo for the first time in October. Even though I'm way behind in posting them, the pictures are too fun not to show anyway. My parents went with us and it was a perfect fall day to enjoy the outdoors!

I think Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed themselves as much as Luke did!

Monkey see monkey do.

Luke's Room

2009-11-28T00:55:00.002-06:00

Thank you for being patient with me (as if you are all waiting on the edge of your seats for me to post something new, ha!) as I have been super slow to post pics the last several months! We are finally in our new home with daily internet access at last and everything. I'll be playing catch up for a while. I have some fun pictures of a trip to the zoo and other adventures that will be coming once I get the pics off of my parents' camera. Until then, see some updated highlights of the last couple of months as you scroll down. And I have had requests to show our work at our new house, so I will start in Luke's room, which is my absolute favorite. Not sure how he gets the coolest room of the house. But, if our bathroom ever gets done, that may become my new favorite.

I don't have the original look of this room, but imagine blue wallpaper with little flowers...not quite the boy look we were going for. So this shot is after (count them) three layers of wallpaper have been removed but before the paint... And after...
We started with a orange and brown theme (partly because it's cool and partly in honor of his birthplace - the Cleveland Browns), but later thought the blue was a perfect complimenting color and would brighten it up a bit. Chad was reluctant at first, but I told him the blue could represent Lake Erie. He wasn't super impressed, but went with it anyway, and now we both love it.

In Other News...

2009-11-28T00:45:00.002-06:00

I cut my hair. A whopping 4 inches. It's the first time it's been above my shoulders in...well, a long time. Somehow, people haven't really seemed to noticed though. I think only 3 people have noticed in the last two weeks. Obviously a more exciting milestone for me than everyone else! If you look closely, you can see the green wall in the background which is the color of our new bedroom.

8 month pics of Luke

2009-11-28T00:02:00.004-06:00

This is our new thing. Luke has figured out the whole separation thing...like when mommy puts him down for a nap she leaves the room. So he did not nap/sleep all that great for awhile, but hopefully we're back on track now. Anyway, he's taken to sitting up in his crib and crying until eventually he wears himself out and falls asleep sitting up, which ends up looking like this. I happened to peek in his room right as he was falling asleep literally sitting up with the head bobbing thing going on and everything so I ran to get the camera and by the time I got back I found this.

My little bookworm. Getting to his pile of books is what motivated him to learn to crawl.
Oh yeah, have I mentioned he crawls now? My life as a blissful, carefree mother is over. It just happened overnight practically. One day he couldn't and didn't seem to care. The next day he made a beeline across the room for his books. Now he makes a beeline to pretty much everything that is not baby related...outlets, a teeny tiny screw, breakable items, etc. I'm excited that he has accomplished this milestone, but secretly, I'm also in mourning because I know what awaits me and that this is just the beginning.
Awww, this picture was just taken a short week and a half ago, back when life was simpler and I could just sit him by his toy box and not worry about his every move. *Sigh*

This pic is pretty deer-in-the-headlights-ish, but check out those big brown eyes!
Halloween. Yes, I said Halloween. Yes, I realize it's almost December.
The cutest cow on the Nisly Farm.
This picture is pretty wiggy for some reason, but a cute one nonetheless.

A New Friend

2009-11-27T23:49:00.002-06:00

Nevermind these pictures were taken in October and I'm just now posting them...my longtime pal Dana and I had sons within months of each other. We are sure they will grow up to be buddies! These pictures were taken at our second playdate (Luke is 7 months, and I believe Wyatt is around 5).

And this one is just too ridiculously cute not to show off. (taken way back in September!)

Home OWNERS!!

2009-10-28T09:00:00.002-05:00

Well, we closed on our house on Oct. 15 and have been feverishly picking out paint colors and updating stuff around the house. We still have a bit of painting to do, but it’s coming along nicely and I’m so excited how it’s all turning out! Luke’s room is going to be especially cool. My brother will be in town next week and he will be helping us transform our pretty-in-pink-tiled bathroom into a light and airy bathroom. Yes, I watch HGTV. “Light and airy” makes me happy.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-04T15:43:00.003-05:00

This weekend Chad's sisters came for the weekend to celebrate Chad's mom's birthday. We all ventured out to the pumpkin patch and corn maize. Chad navigated us through the corn maize, we went on an adult-sized slide, shot baby pumpkins with a giant sling shot and lots of other fun stuff. Luke, little trooper that he is, got his first tooth during all the fun and a bout with diarrhea to go along with it that resulted in two quite impressive blowouts. What's a trip to the pumpkin patch without some extra excitement, right? :) He didn't seem to mind. He also fell in love with his cousin Kayla. He giggles with us, but he just laughed and laughed at/with Kayla all day long. The kind of belly laugh that makes everyone else laugh too. It was a fun day, despite all the poo! It's nice that he can see his cousins more than once a year now!

Luke with Grandma and Grandpa Eigsti

with Aunt Cherise and cousins Kayla and Ethan (somehow didn't get Aunt Shanna pictured!)
Our little pumkin

Race for the Cure

2009-09-27T14:45:00.004-05:00

Ok, so we didn't technically race, but we participated! I did this race for several years back in my college days and then somehow life got busy and I haven't done it since. This year my sister Tanya and I did it together and had a great time for a good cause. Don't we look buff?

Peas and Carrots and other Adventures

2009-09-12T21:08:00.006-05:00

We recently started Luke on veggies. Carrots were first and were a big hit. Then we introduced peas.

He really,

really,

REALLY doesn't like peas. Who can blame him? In other adventures...here's Luke and Daddy checking out Grandpa Eigsti's beloved truck.
And here's Luke's favorite new pastime...emptying out his toy box. Can't wait until he's able to crawl and does this to everything in the house. Wait a second, yes, I can wait. Won't be long!

NEW HOUSE!!!

2009-09-12T20:43:00.002-05:00

We have a home! Well, kind of. We bought a home, but won't close on it until next month. We are so excited to get in there and start painting and making it our own!

Luke's Dedication

2009-08-18T13:55:00.003-05:00

We had Luke's dedication on Sunday at church. I love the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel..."I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." 1 Samuel 1:27,28

Luke in his dedication outfit ...and please note his new trick - sitting all by himself like a big boy at only 5 months old!Ok, mom, enough with the pictures

Catch Up Time!

2009-08-15T13:33:00.005-05:00

So, I've fallen a bit behind. The summer has flown by! Here are some of the latest and greatest pics of our lovely Luke.

First bites of rice cereal. He was a little unsure at first, but quickly learned to like it and gobbled it up!

My favorite new picture of my boys...
What a cheezer! Visiting Great Grandpa Nisly. Grandpa responds so well to Luke. He always flashes his familiar smile and talks more when Luke is around.This is the best part of my job description.
I think we seriously do have the happiest baby on the block.

He Gives and Takes Away

2009-07-09T13:15:00.005-05:00

On this day last year, I experienced extreme joy and extreme sorrow.

We had just found out I was pregnant, although there were some complications and the doctor was concerned I was having an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy. We had only told immediate family at that point about the pregnancy (since I was only about 6 weeks along) so that they could be praying. My Grandma was also always on the top of my list to share news with, so she knew as well. However, she herself was going through great trials as the week before she had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Even though she was sick, she was overjoyed to hear our news and said she would be praying for this baby.

Our doctor had ordered an ultrasound for July 9, and this would determine if our baby was growing where it should be and if it was ok. That morning, Chad and I saw a dot on a screen that indicated our baby was indeed alive and well. I called Grandma in the car on my way home to tell her our exciting news and to tell her I had bought a plane ticket to come see her that weekend. She sounded weak and tired, but again was thrilled to hear the baby was ok and told me she had been praying for this child and for us. She said she couldn't wait to see me in a few days. Later that day I received a call and heard the crushing news that my sweet Grandma had gone home to be with the Lord, less than a week after she received her diagnosis. That night, I thought of that Tree63 song "Blessed Be the Name" and the verse of the song that says "He gives and takes away, he gives and takes away, my heart will choose to say, Lord Blessed be your name..." Although it's hard to rejoice in a loss, I know my Grandma is rejoicing in heaven today. I miss her so much and it breaks my heart that she could never see or hold our sweet Luke, and that I didn't get home in time to say goodbye. I wish I could just have a little more time with her. But I know it was God's timing and that I will see her again one day in heaven! My heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your name.

Grandma with Baby Andrew
Grandma during her favorite pastime...playing cards

Our first look at Luke.