Funny Lukey

Karla emailed this story over yesterday...

On the ride to McDonalds yesterday, Luke said he wanted a watch. Emma was wearing the one he got from McDonalds in his fun meal. Emma figured that he wouldn't be interested in it and she was. Emma and I chimed and said, "Luke, you don't know how tell time." He said, "Uh-huh! Two minutes!"

Emma Stories

We have been working with Emma on chores around the house and have just started a weekly allowance of 50 cents. Her chores include putting away her folding clothes and returning the basket to the laundry room, taking out any recycling on the counter and clearing her plate after her meals. She is very excited about her new responsibilities around the house but can never seem to remember the exact amount of her allowance. The other day, she looks over at me and says "Mom, I can't remember how much I get for my chores. Is it $30?" Not quite, Emma.

The kids spent the night at Karla & Roger's on Saturday night. I took the opportunity to do some school work and even had a chance to cut some fresh flowers for the kitchen table and hang three little flower vases in the kitchen window. Other than that, the house was the exact same as she left it on Saturday morning. On Sunday during lunch, Emma says, "Mom, I barely recognize this house. Its changed so much since we left!"

Last week, Emma came home from school, completely distraught that Casey took away the TV for the night. From what Casey told me, she was complaining from the minute that he picked her up until he had enough and finally punished her. By the time she walked in the door, she was a mess. She runs up to her room and dramatically throws herself on the bed. Meanwhile, Luke is following me around like a puppy, trying to figure out whats going on. So, I go into Emma's room to discuss what happened and she's crying so hard that I could barely understand her but I did manage hear "daddy said I couldn't watch TV." At that point, Luke excitedly looks at me and yells, "I watch TV, mommy? I not tying! (i.e. crying)." It was so funny! His question sent Emma straight to her pillow with more tears. Classic! Another funny thing Luke has done lately is respond with "eeee" when something is good. We have no idea where he got it from but its hilarious! Here's are a few examples:

Casey: Here Lukey, here's your dessert.
Lukey: "Eeee."

Stacy: Luke, here's the balloon that you were looking for earlier.
Lukey: "Eeee." Makes us laugh every time!

Pregnancy #3 is going well. I'm almost half-way done already! I have an ultrasound on April 20th. Looks like Casey might not be able to make it so if that's the case, then I'm going to pick up Emma after school so she can go with me. I think she'll love seeing the baby on the screen. I'm feeling good and done with the nausea and headaches, so life is much better!

One more...

I took Luke to the grocery store this afternoon since Emma was still taking a nap. He was great throughout the entire trip and entertained everyone who walked past by shyly smiling at them or singing. When we got to the ice cream section, he starts yelling "Ice cream, mommy! Yummy in my tummy! Ice cream, mommy! Yummy in my tummy" (yes, he's still repeating everything twice)! It was so incredibly cute! I couldn't help to buy a pail to take home... you know - for Casey and the kids. :)

New Stories!

A few nights ago, Luke and I were in bed watching t.v. when he saw a baby in a diaper commerical. He excitedly points to the t.v. and shouts "A baby! A baby!" I commented that the baby was cute and then said, "Luke, you realize that mommy has a baby in her tummy, right?" He said, "I have a baby in my tummy." "Really?" I say. "Does Emma have a baby in her tummy?" He responds giggling, 'NO!" "Does Daddy have a baby in his tummy?" Again, he responds, "NO!" So, I ask, "how are you feeling with that baby in your tummy?" He looks over, shrugs his shoulders and says, "I don't know!"

Last week, Casey told me that Emma has had a few conversations with her after-school teachers regarding "inappropriate behavior." Immediately, I am concerned about her behavior and whether she's treating her friends nicely, etc. Casey starts laughing and tells me that Emma is "breastfeeding" her dolls at after-school so the teachers had to ask her to stop! I haven't had a lot of conversations with her lately about that, but I do remember her asking how the baby eats after it's born. That must question must have a caused a chain-reaction!

And finally, Emma has been bummed out that she can't marry Lukey... Casey tells me that on the way to school, Emma has been talking about marrying Luke so he had to break the news to her that she wasn't allowed. Of course, she wants to know why. He tells her that its just not the thing to do, that she'll find someone else to marry, and also that its illegal (which, as you can imagine, sparked a whole other conversation on who is allowed to marry who)! Then she wants to know if she can marry her friends because she just doesn't like boys. Casey closed the conversation by telling Emma that maybe she should be talking about marriage after she graduates from college... well after she graduates from college!

And Baby Makes 5!

The Schniebers are excited to announce that we're expecting Baby #3 in early September! Emma and Lukey are so excited about their new sibling. We told them a few weeks ago and it has been non-stop baby talk ever since - from Emma, not Luke. When we told them, Emma immediately started squealing. Luke looked over and started squealing, too, unless he realized that a blueberry had fallen off his plate and quickly focused his attention on the stray piece of fruit! Its all on video - very cute!

The next day, a Monday, I picked her up from school and her afterschool teacher slyly says, "So, Emma told me some news..." I start laughing and confirm that it was true. As Emma and I are walking out to the car, I ask her how many people she told that I was pregnant. She looks up at me with her cute little curly hair and glasses and said, "A LOT of people, Mom." It was so funny! On that same ride home, I fielded about 20 questions on the baby ranging from "why can't daddys carry babies?" to "if you get sick, does the baby get sick, too?" Emma recommended that we name the baby "Rosie" and Luke likes "Calilou." Both options were nixed immediately!

A few Luke stories:

He's had a runny nose and cough all week. We were all sitting in the living room and I say, "come here, Luke. We need to blow your nose" and he replies, "no, I'm fine."

Luke spends most of his day running around the house, looking for me, yelling "i hold you! I hold you!" I probably hear it about 10 times a day - and that's during the week when he's at school and I'm at work. You can imagine how intense the weekends are. We're working on keeping his pacifier in bed when he's not sleeping. Its been a real effort, especially since he's been sick over the last week. Nevertheless, he's always asking if he can have his "passy." Here's his earlier attempt at negotiation:

Luke: Where's my passy?
Me: In your bed.
Luke: I have it?
Me: Nope, not unless you're ready to go to bed?
Luke: Noooo.
Me: Okay, you'll have to wait for bedtime.
Luke: But I hold it... in my mouth.