Luke's Baptism

Luke William was baptized on Sunday, December 21, 2009. We will be able to tell him one day that he was baptized in Pennsylvania in the middle of a snow storm, which kept even the hard core Pennsylvanian's at home. Driving around in the snow, much less making an hour+ trip in the snow is completely foreign to me, having grown up in Alabama. Down south we are 'lucky' to see snow once every couple of years and it's generally not more than 2-4inches. Those 2-4in mean you are stuck at home, the power might go out and school doesn't even think of opening. In the northeast, however, 2-4 inches is considered a dusting and no one seems to slow down too much. I was a little panicky about driving in the snow, but after I saw how the roads were plowed and salted, I realized that getting out and about is ok, as long as you take it slow and steady.

So, how did we end up baptizing him in PA? James and Elana, Luke's Godparents, asked us to be Godparents to their new baby girl, Chloe. We decided it would be nice to have both kids baptized together. Elana's hometown pastor, Pastor Bob, graciously offered to baptize Luke for us and we are so glad that he did. After chit chatting on the phone with him about the upcoming baptisms, I learned that he is a big Alabama fan, due to an uncle of his that moved from PA to Tuscaloosa because he was such a fan of Coach Bryant. Pastor Bob has visited Tuscaloosa and knows alot about Alabama football and the campus. We could have talked football and Alabama for hours with him and feel so lucky that he was able to be apart of Luke's baptism.

After the baptisms, Elana's family threw a huge party for Luke & Chloe. We felt so lucky to be apart of their family gathering and it was so nice of them to include us. We are so honored to be Chloe's Godparents and look forward to watching her grow up!

Look mom and dad, she's in that seat you used to put me in ... isn't she cute?

But seriously, I think this is my seat ... can you get her out?

You are going to put what on my head?

Dad must have told a funny joke ...

The Godparents and Godchildren ...

The first snow!

We got our first snow of the year a few days before Christmas and Luke absolutely loved it! He couldn't get enough and would stand at the door to the patio and bang on it to be let out.

The elves also brought Luke an early Christmas present -- his first sled! You can't tell from the pictures below because he looks pretty miserable, but we couldn't get him out of the sled and then he wanted to walk around in the snow with his new boots.

We are looking forward to some more snow and more opportunities to break out the sled :)

This is about 4-5in of snow in our backyard....


Come on people ... can't you see I have on my boots?!


And they're off!


Coming 'round the bend ... Nola is setting the pace...

What a ride ...

What is this stuff?

Turkey Day 2008

We had a really nice Thanksgiving this year and more fried turkey than we could eat! Grandma & Grandpa Mehl joined us in Hoboken and Grandpa Mehl came packing ... packing his turkey fryer that is! He had a spare fryer and decided he would package it up and fly cross country with it so we could fry up a couple of tukey's for thanksgiving. I think he had alot of fun telling everyone what he had in his big duffle bag and we all got to rib him a bit for bringing his fryer with him. I have a feeling that is a story that will go down in Mehlberger history.

yum....about to hit the fryer...


The infamous fryer ...




All done ... perfection...


Chowing on a roll ...

Happy Halloween!

We had such a great Halloween this year! Luke was so much fun and really enjoyed getting all dressed up in his Elephant costume. Luke also participated in the Hoboken Ragamuffin Parade which makes it's way down the main drag in Hoboken. Steve and I feel so lucky to live in a town with so many fun activities for kids and families. We had a big day and Luke barely napped all day, but he was such a trooper and rallied until 9pm!

We started our big day off at music class....

We sang with Ms. Dana ...

And we ooohed and aahhed at the bubbles...

We took a nap and headed to the park to take photos with our friends!

Dad left work early to come see me! He showed up at the park and I decided I needed a snack ... an elephant needs his peanuts!

We then headed to the parade -- Nola got scared and had to borrow my stroller! I thought it was hilarious, as you might be able to see :)

Aunt Kelly came over to see me all dressed up ...

My mom and dad are cool and let me get naked and make a big mess carving my first pumpkin!

I am a model ...

We were celebrating our friend Emma's 1st Birthday and we ended up making friends with the photographer. Turns out he is a good friend of Emma's parents and he was taking some photos of the big day for them. I was really impressed with Stan - I love photojournalistic photography and he has quite a knack for it, in my opinion.

He took a photo of Luke that we love ... and Stan loved it so much he posted it to his website as part of his portfolio!

If you want to check out the photo, here are the directions ...

1. Go to: www.bestnycphoto.com
2. Once the site loads, Click on "Portfolio"
3. Click "My Style"

Enjoy!

I can stand up!!

Luke has been walking for a few weeks now, but he wasn't able to stand up on his own. Each time he fell down he would have to crawl to the nearest structure and pull up. Welll....watch out people because Luke can walk AND he can stand up on his own!

We were visiting Meghan and Kaelin in their beautiful new home and during the playdate we walked to the park near their house. While we were there, Luke fell down and rather than pulling up on something, he figured out how to do it on his own!

Thanks to my blog videographer, Debbie, we captured one of the first times Luke pulled himself up all on his own! Thanks, Deb :) Click the play button to watch the clip...

PS -- Make sure to check out his expression once he stands up ... he is clearly very proud of himself!

Cruisin' at the Home Depot

As many of you know, Steve and I are definite DIY'ers. Maybe its a little nerdy, but we always enjoy a house project. As Debbie says, Home Depot is our favorite store. Anyhow, we took a family trip over to the HD and Luke and Nola rode around the store in style. Had to share this picture ... we even got Uncle Dave to admit that it was 'cute' when we showed it to him.

(Note his shirt -- thanks Aunt Kelly! RTR!)

My 1st Trip to the Central Park Zoo!

We took Luke to the zoo for the first time yesterday and we had a blast! We met up with our good friends the Kantor's and we all had a fabulous time checking out the animals. We saw the polar bears, penguins, seals, birds, monkeys, bats and snakes and Luke really seemed to enjoy himself. He would look at the animal and say "Ohhh", which we interpreted to mean "What is going on here, these don't look like my dog". We wished we would have been privy to his internal dialogue because we can't imagine what he must have been thinking. It was really cool to see him checking things out and exploring - we love this age!

After the zoo we walked over to the Children's zoo which is adjacent to the main zoo. This was our favorite spot. Luke was climbing along the fence sticking his hand in for the sheep, goats and alpaca to lick him! We were kind of surprised that he was so willing to get this close to the animals. Once we were done feeding the animals, we strolled through the park and took the subway back home. Luke is SUCH a flirt on the subway and likes to smile and laugh at the ladies. After Luke had picked up two very nice girls who talked to him and laughed at him the entire way back to hoboken, an older gentleman leaned over to Steve and said "Well, he won't have any trouble with the ladies, will he!". He was so tired and hungry, but the girls kept him entertained and happy which was so nice for me and Steve.

Thanks Lauren K, Evan, Maya and Maya's very sweet grandparents for a wonderful day at the zoo!

Checking out the seals with Dad ...


Talking football with my buddy Evan ...


Checking out the turtles ...


This rock is cool ... nevermind the tasty catfish in the tank...


Baaa....

One year checkup!

Luke had his one year checkup and we are happy to report that he is doing great! He is 23.5lbs and 30" long. He ended up getting 2 shots yesterday and he was a trooper! The doctor was very happy with his progress, which is music to our ears.

I crack myself up...

We had to share this little clip of Luke. This is what is referred to in our house as "slap happy". Basically, he gets so tired he is just beside himself and laughs and laughs and laughs until he just falls apart and needs to go to bed. He's quite a character these days :)

Click on the link to be taken to YouTube to watch the clip :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktYIogZpm9c

Fun in the sprinkler!

Debbie & Jack and Mona & Christian came over for some fun in the sprinkler last week! It was impromptu, so no one had a suit and once the diapers swelled up, they came off! There were 3 little naked booties running around and giggling in our backyard and there is no telling what the neighbors were thinking. Luckily it was during the day, so hopefully no one was home.

Thanks for an awesome playdate!

My first set of wheels!

Grandma Mehl stayed with us for a few days after Luke's Birthday and she spoiled him a ton before she left. She bought him his first push car and he is already busy picking up chicks around town. (Nevermind that the chicks have to ride in the trunk :) The car has a cup holder and he has become quite obsessed with it. He takes his sippy cup out and gets a sip of his drink, puts it back into the cupholder and looks up at us with a big cheesey grin. Apparently he is impressed with himself each time he does this and when we giggle at him it just encourages him to do it again ...and again...and again! Oh well, he's a well hydrated little boy these days!

He is starting to talk more and more and the babbling is slowly turning into words. He said "ball" this weekend when our friend Dave handed him a ball, so we were all excited. Ah, the little things :) He is also taking about 5-10 steps at a time, but he needs to be coaxed into doing it. He can definitely walk, but he knows he can get around faster if he crawls. In some ways, I can't wait for him to walk and in others, it scares me. But, he's going to walk someday and I am guessing he will stay a little cleaner on his feet than on his knees.

Below is a picture of Luke cruising in our backyard with Dad...

The "real" birthday (cup)cake!

Of course we had to sing to Luke on his ACTUAL birthday and he had to have a little cupcake to go along with our off key rendition of Happy Birthday. He DEVOURED his birthday cupcake and thoroughly enjoyed every bite of it, unlike the delicious and visually appealing cake that he wanted nothing to do with at his party. Oh well -- I think it was because it was chocolate icing.

In any case, here are a few pictures ...

Happy First Birthday Luke!

We can't believe it -- our baby is one! Thanks to all of you who joined us yesterday for the party. It turned out to be a beautiful day and everything went off without a hitch. Thanks to everyone who helped out and offered advice along the way. Here are a few pictures of the big day ... to see them all, check out the following link: Luke's 1st Birthday Photos

Fun at the pool!

Luke and I were invited over to Tara and Isaiah's on Thursday for a pool playdate with the gang. It was a beautiful day and all the babies had a great time! The pool is so nice and the views of Manhattan are pretty cool :) Luke and I consider ourselves very lucky to have made such great friends ... we can't even imagine life without all our peeps!

With all the babies on the go, there was alot going on! Kaelin found some cool rubber duckys that quack and all the kids quickly became obsessed with them. When Christian wasn't training seals in his designer wet suit, his mommy was dunking him underwater and he was loving it - go Christian! Jack lost his spoon a few times in the pool, but his mommy found it for him and all was right with the world again. Isaiah practiced walking some and by the end of the playdate he was moving really nicely -- he also did his signature toe wiggle that Mona and I love. Luke was busy eating my sandwich (no wonder I never get to eat anymore) and trying to drink the pool water. After we finished lunch and went to the grass, Luke got a little freaked. Sad to say, but there is no grass in our backyard and I think the green prickly stuff might have freaked him out a little :) What can I say ... he's a city baby and likes his concrete jungle!

Thanks Tara and Isaiah for such a great playdate!

Note: I now have a blog photographer! Thanks for the pictures, Debbie :)

check out my new kicks ...

Luke and I went into the city yesterday to buy his first pair of 'real' shoes. No more baby shoes for this walking machine! He seems to like them, but I worry they don't fit well. The salesperson wasn't super knowledgeable, so we haven't worn them to the park yet. We might hit one of the local Hoboken stores to get his foot remeasured before he shows them off for the ladies.

Anyway, he had to show them off for dad this morning and I couldn't resist sharing this picture. Not too sure what that face is all about ... but it looks like he digs the new kicks :)