Luke turned two last Tuesday so we celebrated with his family on Monday evening. I remember when I got the voicemail from Esther announcing Luke’s arrival. Hard to believe it was two years ago.

I’m glad for friends like the Wilhelms and I am excited for Luke and Fuller to be good buddies at this point in their lives. It tickles me to hear Fuller ask to play with Luke and get super excited when I tell him Luke will be coming here. And just the mere mention of Luke is enough to bribe Fuller to complete chores.

“Luke’s coming over! Pick up your blocks!”

“Wanna go see Luke? Put away your cars!”

Both phrases are said in a sing song voice and all tasks are completed in under five minutes. Five happy, non-whiney minutes.

Happy Birthday to Luke!

Back when I was worried about our stroller not cutting it anymore, I started to look online to see if there was a sturdy stroller for the bigger of little kids. I mean, Fuller is almost three, but I have a hard time thinking he can keep up walking everywhere.

I stumbled on the Mutsy stroller and thought it looked really sturdy and like it could handle a 38- 40 pound kid.

I seriously thought I could purchase the Spider (a neat three wheeled stroller) for our trip to Florida. But since I would have to order it (no stores here in Chattanooga carry it, according to the site), it wouldn’t have made it in time. I could have done a test drive for sure to see if it could handle Fuller, if there was a store here.

When we went to Florida, we decided Damon would carry Fuller when his little legs couldn’t keep up. The stroller stayed home and all future stroller purchases will be made if we ever have another child.

But, Mutsy is still at the top of my list when that day comes. Though at that point I would probably choose the 4Rider Lite so we can put the car seat on it and change it out for the fun steering wheel in the future.

My mom visited this week, when she was on her way from Florida back to Ohio.

When she was here we took a trip to Sam’s Club to pick up some pictures. After our field trip, Mom wanted to stop at Krystal to pick up a soda. She figured she should get Fuller something and we sat in the drive through discussing our options.

The cashier came on the loud speaker and I asked for a moment to figure out exactly what we were ordering. After it went quiet, Fuller piped up in the back, “Number 2!”

I guess he understands drive -thrus more than I thought.

And as my sister said, it really is more a testament to how well traveled my kid is, because we really only do drive-thrus when we are road tripping.

Fuller’s third birthday is next Friday. We have been working with him to understand the answer to “How old are you?” will be changing.

Right now I ask him, “How old are you?” and he answers “Two!” Then I ask, “And how will you be on your birthday?” and he answers, “Three!”

These last few days of his twos have been very pleasant. The cooler weather helps because he can be outside a lot more and we have made it to the playground to burn off steam on several occasions. I took him shoe shopping (gasp!) and he behaved beautifully (a steady stream of crackers helped). And his diet seems to be branching out from PBJ and grilled cheese.

But my favorite development has been his willingness to adapt a certain phrase into his vocabulary. Instead of coming up to me and demanding more juice (often shoving his sippy cup in my face), Fuller has been taught to ask “May I (pause) Have More (pause) please?”

He doesn’t always specify what he wants more of, and sometimes he uses the phrase even when he is asking for the first time, but it is so much nicer than him being demanding and pushy. The pauses come from how I made him repeat the phrase to me when I was teaching him how to ask politely. It is really a cute thing to behold.

And I look forward to his birthday next week. I think it is only going to get better.

Sponsored by Cuff-Daddy where you can get silver cufflinks, which might make a good birthday gift for someone.

I didn’t mean to take the break from the blog.. but somehow I did.

We had a busy week of chores, a visit from my mom, a birthday party for Luke, a 4 a.m. puke fest for me, Mom’s Group, a visit with a family friend, a My Family Dinners session, and an attempt at shoe shopping. I also used my hands this week to complete a crochet project and since I was using my crochet hook, I couldn’t really type.

Right now we (Damon and I) are watching Auburn play Florida. It just started, so we are still maintaining some hope.

On Saturday I walked over 3 miles to help raise funds for the local Alzheimer’s Association. I really enjoyed myself and the whole experience was a good one. There was one hiccup, I registered online and when I went to sign in, they didn’t have the list of people who signed up online. Oh well. They believed me when I said I had raised over $100, which got me the free t-shirt.

My goal is $250. I have had $155 in donations (thank you!) so if you are inclined to donate, go ahead! I think I have through this week to finish raising funds.

The walk was very festive. It was my first time doing something like this, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. There were lots of people and lots of organization. To warm up, the local Jazzercise folks did about 10 minutes of moving and stretching. There was plenty of swag from local sponsors, and door prizes (that I didn’t win).

I love walking (no hoodia patch for me!) and the 3 miles was really nothing since I walk that often. I look forward to next year.

More pictures here.

We have a busy week ahead of us, starting with a birthday party tomorrow evening and ending with another session at My Family Dinners on Saturday.

I feel as though I have hit a stride with keeping the home life organized and not too overwhelming. Of course whenever we start the bedroom/ bathroom remodel that could all change. I guess I am glad I am putting into place certain organizational skills for myself now so I can keep a sense of peace when the dust starts to fly.

I imagine even people in drug rehabs learn some skills to keep their inner peace. Mine happens to be keeping lists and realizing there are some things I can’t control. (And I get more done when I wear an apron.)

I’m almost ready for tomorrow. I have to go make my list now.

I took Fuller to the playground this evening. Our friends Esther, Luke, and Ben came over and Esther and I got to catch up while Luke and Fuller played together. They don’t really play together as much as they play near each other, but I think that is on par with their ages. (Luke turns two on Tuesday!)

While we were there Fuller and Luke took to playing with the mulch like it was sand. For a little bit they were throwing it at each other. We got them to stop and then they just started piling it on things, and sifting it through their fingers. When we left Fuller said his hand hurt. It looked like he had an inch long splinter in the palm of his hand.

When we got home Damon helped with attempted removal by telling Fuller we were playing “operation.” Fuller cried and hollered. We finally realized there was no splinter but he had cut his hand at some point and failed to be upset by the owie.

A Spider-Man band-aid helped him stop crying and I know now I need to be better about letting Fuller play with the mulch. It can be an owie in the making.

When Damon and I were in Orlando we encountered some rain. It rained twice while we were at the Islands of Adventure. We ducked into a restaurant the first time and the second time we got in line for stunt show, The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad. It was a pleasant show, about twenty minutes in length, long enough for the rain to pass.

A few days later some major storm system moved across Florida and wrecked some Orlando real estate. I was really glad we weren’t there when that happened, but I was saddened for the families who were displaced by the storm. I think at the time I saw the footage on the news they were trying to determine if it was an actual tornado that ripped through the neighborhood.

I wonder if we will get some rain here in Chattanooga this week?

While our hotel at the Royal Pacific Resort was really nice, I did notice it was really geared toward people who were there to just spend the night and spend most of the day off at the parks. It wasn’t like a Mendocino bed and breakfast where you are encouraged to spend time at the location. They know you are there to be at the parks.

Sure it had a very nice lagoon pool and some shops. I think there was a spa too… but over all they didn’t pressure us to stay at the hotel and just spend time there. If we were there for more than one night, we might have spent some time at the pool or ate at one of their restaurants.

The bed was comfortable (King sized!), the TV was big, and the mini bar was well stocked (not that we used it). I liked the bathroom, where the sink was separate from room with the toilet and shower. I was most impressed with the lighting- which had dimmer switches and actual switches on the wall when you walked in.

We did have Spider-Man wake us up with a wake up call in the morning. Damon took that call so I have no idea what Spidey said.

I would recommend the Royal Pacific Resort if you were going to Orlando for Universal fun.