Luke is Seven!

Seven years old....my baby is seven years old.  Sometimes it seems completely impossible that we have already had seven years together, but then other days, I am positive that he has always been mine.  It is really tough to put into words how incredibly awesome Luke really is.  I know that every parent thinks their kid is great, but he really is...and he just came that way.  Luke is sensitive and earnest and a hard worker.  He's funny and really inquisitive - I seriously need to up my trivia game because I can't answer most of the questions he asks.  I'm constantly amazed by the things he learns and retains - the other day he was explaining to me the scientific principles that make an airplane fly.  Luke loves school, and his friends, and especially his cousins.  He (mostly) is good to Ruby and learning to look out for her.  His hugs are awesome some of my very favorite moments are when he asks me to sing him good night and lets me cuddle him while he falls asleep.

This year he was excited to get a new birthday poster and dictated all of his favorites.

Luke has been thinking about his birthday for months and we spent a lot of time discussing his options and making a plan for his parties.  Yes, parties.  He has learned how to stretch out the festivities for as long as possible.  Friday afternoon we took several friends to Nikel Cade to celebrate.  They got money for the arcade and also played a game of laser tag.  I had a lot of fun watching them all play together, and Luke is still talking about how great the party was.

Of course Ruby was invited

He won an extra 1,000 tickets and was in heaven.

They at pizza and birthday cake and he received so many fun gifts

One of his many purchases with his tickets

One the party was over, we dropped off all of Luke's friends, then rushed home to pack our bags so we could head out for Park City.  Grandpa and Grandma Whitesides were staying there and invited us all up for the night.  Of course, Grandma had a cake and presents so we just kept on celebrating.

Luke's official birthday was on Sunday so I told him that Saturday night he could pick wherever he wanted to go to eat dinner.  Pizza Pie Cafe was his immediate choice and he loved every singe bite of cheese pizza and oreo pizza.  Turns out though that may have been his last outing for pizza.  He got sick a week or two later and threw up several times and is convinced that pizza was the cause.  So currently he will not eat it at all, maybe by next birthday he will be ready to go back.

Sunday morning we woke up early to make sure everything was set out and ready for when Luke woke up.  On his birthday he always asks me if I am going to cry and usually I already have.  On the morning of his seventh birthday I spent time thinking about meeting my boy for the first time and how completely blessed I feel to be his mama.

Watching him open his presents is so joyful - he gets excited over everything and thanks Tim and I over and over for everything we do for him.  

Luke has been begging for a hoverboard and it was the only thing he even listed when we asked for a birthday wish list.  I was pretty ambivalent about getting one and he knew it so I don't think he expected the gift.  Tim and I did a lot of research and found one that we thought was appropriate for his age so we felt better about his safety.  And really, look at his face, I couldn't stand the thought of disappointing him and am so glad we were able to make it work.  I thought it might be a fad that he only rode for a day or two, but he rides it every day and has learned all kinds of tricks.

Luke and Gavin both wanted a How to Train Your Dragon Cake

and this was the perfect way to share

After church we invited everyone to our house for dinner and one last celebration.  Luke loves to celebrate with Gavin and the kids all had a great time at the party.

Lucky, lucky, boy

Best part of the party was having 2 out of 3 big kids there

Luke extended the party when he 

Celebrated with Gavin and his friends

Since they were out of town, Luke got to have a special celebration with Grandpa and Grandma

As part of the the celebrations,

Luke Spent the week being the Star Student

We successfully managed to stretch Luke's birthday out through the end of the month when we went to Build a Bear to build his birthday bear.  He had so much fun picking out every detail, and I just loved hanging out with him and remembering how blessed we are to have this awesome little man.

I wanted to make sure the parties were documented, but I still have more to show and tell about my boy.  Really I just want to make sure I remember some of my favorite moments.  

Luke is so sweet to me and always watches out for his mama.  Most days he will still hold my hand when we walk somewhere, and often tells me thank you for what I do and how much he loves me.  He especially watches out of the important things, a few days after my birthday he was praying and said "please bless mama got a lot of good presents and stuff you know."  Another time, out of the blue, he said to me"mom, if you were i life or death I would save you".

This will forever be one of my favorite pictures of him

I try to include it every chance I get

In June he finally lost his first tooth,

Then lost the next three front teeth in a few weeks.

We had these pictures taken six months ago and I can't believe how much he has changed already.  His teeth have grown in and look good, but I am so glad I got good pictures of his toothless look. 

The boy loves How to Train Your Dragon.  He and his friend have a game on their tablets. When they play, they bring out all of Luke's dragon mini figures and line them up on the counter.  It is fun to watch the role play and what they decide to have the dragons do - mostly battle the bad guys.

Luke has played both soccer and basketball over the last several months and has struggled a little during the games.  It seems like this last year a lot of boys have moved up and the games have become much more intense.  Luke is super competitive, but not aggressive, which makes it tough.  He wants to do really well and gets down on himself when he doesn't score, but isn't willing to get in and bang around with the other players.  He has just started baseball and I'm curious to see if that will end up being his sport since he won't have to have the same "in your face" kind of contact.

In September Luke asked to have lightening bolts shaved in his hair, I think that was the start of his hair obsession.  It was about that same time he asked me if his hair had grown while he was swimming.  Funny kid. 

I know I keep calling various pictures my favorite, but c'mon, look at this cute kid.  Fresh out of the salon and looking so fly.  Luke is slightly obsessive about his hair and the care and attention he give is is one of my very favorite things about him.  He told me that he needed a haircut and more blond in his hair so we went to see Miss Chante for the cleanup.  Luke sat there so patiently while they put in the bleach, then sat under the dryer with his root beer and my phone - living his best salon life.  Sure, the process was fun, but I just love how pleased he was with the cut and color.  It feels like Luke spends half of his life looking in the mirror and checking his hair.  He asks for my help every morning and lets me know when the hair do is done just right. 

Luke loves to draw and has become quite the little artist.  One day he was bored so he put his panda down in front of him and did a drawing.  It may be his best so far...it is definitely his favorite.

When we planned our trip to Yellowstone, we really hoped the kids would have fun.  After a few days in the park Luke said "I thought nature wasn't very exciting but it is, can we stay at Yellowstone forever?"  It has been so fun to watch him explore and learn about how amazing nature really is.

Some of my favorite moments...

"I'm not a kisser kinda guy"  One of my favorite quotes and so funny to hear Luke say.  Especially because this has been the year of crushes.  shortly after school started he told me that he had a crush on a girl named Asia.  Since then he has switched his crush several times and I'm not sure the current object of his affection.

I wonder if God made Santa really special so he will never die, or did he already get resurrected.

Wants to change his name to Lukas Jett Broadbent

Loves to have dance parties, especially on his hoverboard.  One day he said to me "In New York there are a lot of disco parties"

First grade has had its ups and downs.  Luke gets embarrassed very easily and is often worried that people will laugh at him - it often affects what he wears, what activities he does, etc.  We are working on helping him realize that he is awesome exactly as he is.