The House (technically a condo, but who cares about technically)

I finally found a day that had some sun breaks, the house was clean, Luke was asleep and I wasn't too busy to get the camera out! Here is our wonderful home! It may not seem like much to some, but it is heaven on earth to us! We have been living in apartments since we have been married. These haven't been luxury apartments. They have been places that poor students like us could afford. When we were going to move to the Tualatin area we looked houses/condos/townhouse, but I didn't think anything would pan out. We have looked at TONS of houses the past couple years and even made an offer on one so I was very skeptical about finding something that we could actually afford that wouldn't be a total fixer-upper. God blessed us by leading us to this condo. It is SO perfect and everyday I am so grateful that I get to live here. We really feel so blessed and it was a great time to buy. It is still a buyers market, we got a record low interest rate and with the help of many we were able to close on a short sale in about 60 days!!!! I'm so glad that the buying process is complete and it is ours!!! So, without further adieu here it is!

We live on the top two floors of the unit (I guess I need to add a picture of the outside!) there is a one bedroom condo below us. The main floor is what you see here. The living room, kitchen and a half bath. 

 I think this is my favorite part of the house! The kitchen is big and open and I LOVE it!! I have an island! The funny thing is that it actually has less cupboard space than our Sandstone apartment :) 

 In our opinion we have the best unit because we are the very back corner unit and we look at greenspace and a nice neighborhood behind us. I love all our beautiful trees in Oregon and I love that I get to enjoy them everyday outside my windows. 

There is a little walking trail right outside our door that walks past a pond and through some very nice neighborhoods. We love it and can't wait for spring/summer so we can enjoy it even more. 

As I look at these pictures I believe that some painting may be in the future. It looks a little lifeless. I would also like to do some sort of window treatment in the kitchen to liven things up a bit. Too much brown, black and tan.

These are the stairs that lead to the outside. Yes, I have to carry the groceries, baby, diaper bag up the stairs, but it is good for me! I don't hate it as much as I thought I would. 

 This it where the half bath is and then down the stairs to the left. 

 Half bath on main level. 

Here is the upstairs. I actually took these picures a few weeks ago and I have since added a few things to the playroom and it looks even better now. I am also going to make A Very Hungry Caterpillar valance for the window soon. 

 Here is Lukey's room. Dan is going to paint it a very light blue when Luke and I go to Utah next month. 

Now, I know that this just looks like a boring hallway, but I have never had a hallway before. Isn't it awesome!!  

Here is the full bath upstairs. We chose a monster theme for Lukey!! I am so in love with it. 

 Here is our bedroom. Not too exciting, but it is nice to have a full bathroom in the room and there is plenty of room for all our furniture. 

The only things that didn't get included are the laundry closet, stairs to upper level and the outside. We love our house! If anyone has an great CHEAP decorating ideas I would love to hear them :)

Dan took Luke into the restroom at church yesterday and when he went to dry his hands Luke started laughing his pants off!!! He took me in to show me and we just had to get it on video! He had only slept 45 minutes all day and it was 5:00 pm at this point so I think he was also a little slap happy.

I can't believe my big guy is nine months old. No one told me, or at least I didn't really understand, that babies are only babies for such a short time. I feel like Luke is quickly becoming a toddler and I miss my little baby boy. He is such a fun age right now and he just brings so much joy to our family. This is what Luke is doing at nine months.

He weighs 21.5 pounds (65th percentile)
He is 29.25 inches (75th percentile)
His head is 18.75 inches (95th percentile)

He has absolutely no interest in crawling yet! He will actually tolerate a more extended tummy time, finally! He is pretty content to just sit and play with his toys. He doesn't scoot, roll or pull up on the furniture. He is a little behind what is considered "normal", but I am not too worried. When he wants to start moving around I know that he will. I am happy to not worry about baby gates, cupboard locks, etc.He has just started to roll around in his crib and we enjoy getting him up from naps and seeing what kind of a position he will be in!

He loves to eat (in case you couldn't tell!!) He is still nursing 4 times a day and eats baby food at breakfast, lunch and dinner. He loves to eat green beans, mixed vegetables and sweet potatoes as his vegetables. He enjoys all fruits but favors mangos, peaches and any berry mixes. He LOVES cheerios. He takes his little pudgy fingers and puts them in his mouth as fast as he can!! I haven't really given him any other finger foods quite yet. I am waiting for all his chompers to come in.

Speaking of chompers, in the past three weeks he has gained 4 teeth on the top!! That brings his total tooth count to 6! Everyday those chompers get bigger and bigger! He only bit me twice when he first got his bottom teeth a few months ago and I'm hoping that he doesn't start now! He is actually really good when he teethes. He was waking up once in the night for several nights when he was cutting all those teeth, but he would just nurse for 3-5 minutes and then go right back to bed. He doesn't get really drooly, sick or too whiny.

He is still a great sleeper. This is a typical sleeping scheudule
     8:00 AM     Wake (if he wakes up before 8 I make him talk in his crib until 8 unless he is crying, but he usually wakes around 7:45 or 8:00)
     10:30 AM   Nap
     12/12:30  PM  Wake
     3/3:30 PM    Nap
     5/5:30 PM    Wake
     7:30 PM       Bath
     8:00 PM       Nurse and Bed

He loves to sit and play with his toys. His favorite toys are blocks, anything that lights up and makes noise, remote control, phones, daddy's string on his hoody and his jumper. He is so good to just sit on the carpet and play and when he gets bored I move him to a different toy or location. We try to read books everyday and he likes to turn the pages and hit the book. He loves to play peekaboo, wrestle, get tickled or be upside  down.

He is definitely better in the car. I have noticed him looking out the window more and checking out what is going on outside. He just started taking his socks off. It is always the left sock first! He then chews on it and then it will be sopping wet when we arrive at our location.

When we go to the grocery store and I have a list he has to have his own list. So, I learned to bring an extra piece of paper that he can hold. We usually make it through the produce and bulk section and by the time we get to the meat section he starts to eat the paper and I have to take it away! He also loves to hold credit cards! I have old insurance cards that I let him hold in the store and he loves to just hold the card and wave it around. When we get to the checkout he wants to push the buttons on the credit card machine and he waves his card at it. Hmmm.....maybe I take him to the store too much :)

He laughs at the craziest things sometimes. Like today at the Doctors office there was a little girl walking by and she sneezed and he laughed his pants off! He has also laughed at tortilla chips being crunched, crinkling paper, mommy walking up the stairs, wind blowing in his face, pulling his shirts over his ginormous head and people getting hurt!

I can't believe he is getting close to one year old! He is the greatest kid in the whole world! Love you Lukey!