NEW CAR!

This Monday we started looking for a new car that would work out with Obama's "Cash-for-Clunkers" progam. Justin's parents had a super old van that they wanted to trade in, and we were more than happy to participate. SO, this is our brand-new 2009 Honda Fit. It's a 5-speed and it drives wonderfully.

(My cool new car)

( Super tiny Japanese engineering )


(The '92 Grand Marquis that I was borrowing from the Lemmons)

(Now I'll "fit" in in D.C., or so Becky tells me)

* While we were singing before class today, Luke leaned over to look at a picture of Justin, myself and himself during Justin's reenlistment ceremony. Lukas smiled and without any prompting whatsoever he said "Da-da." He used his sweet voice and it almost brought me to tears. It's wonderful knowing that Lukas really identifies who his parents are, especially the "Da-da" he hasn't seen for weeks.

* Luke's other amazing thing that he did today left me staring in amazement. While playing with one of Uncle Zach's Wii controllers, Luke stood up and started walking around. I'm pretty sure he was completely unaware of what he was doing because he ended up taking approximately 10 steps. It was incredible.

Today was one of those days where all of the gifts that have been given to me just overwhelmed me. We are so blessed.

Love and best wishes to all until next time.

Some new Luke developments

Luke spent the night at Grandma Debbie's last night. It was my first night alone without Luke since his birth last year, and it was pretty nice. I worried that he would do all of his new bad behaviors with Debbie (screaming for milk/off-limits things, waking in the middle of the night), but he was "an angel."
Julie brought Russell over this morning and I found the two boys playing together in the living room when I arrived. The boys play really well together. Whatever one does, the other wants to do. Here they are climbing on furniture and gazing at the fake fish lamp. :)

(Luke cheesing at Debbie through a window)

(Luke puts anything and everything into his mouth now)

Luke took his first steps on Friday the 17th. I was cooking dinner and out of the corner of my eye I saw him let go of the stove and take two steps toward one of the dogs. I cried and hugged him. I've tried encouraging him to take steps toward me, but he'll only take steps when he's launching himself in between pieces of furniture.

12 Weeks

12 Weeks Pregnant

Today, baby and I turned 12 weeks pregnant. This first 12 weeks has been marked by morning sickness, which wasn't bad (as long as I ate) and didn't happen with Lukas. It was quite a surprise. I haven't felt nauseous in a week or so, and I'm anxious to feel the baby move for the first time though I know it'll be awhile. The other thing I felt was super super tired allllll the time. I'm finding those symptoms alleviated now and being replaced by other fun ones :)

Anyway, I feel great now. My belly is starting to pop and the really fun part is about to begin.

Iron Kettle Farm

(Luke loved the baby goats, I did too!)

Today we visited Iron Kettle farm with Becky, my neice Natalie and nephew Thomas to check out the sweet baby animals. Luke's favorites were the goats and the roosters when they would go "cock-a-doodle-doo." I loved the chicks! I picked up some real NY Maple Syrup then off we went to Becky's for lunch and Blast From the Past. Becky and I think that Brendan Frasier and Justin are alot alike, but that's a story for another day...

(Luke would NOT sit back he was so amazed by the animals)

(The one on the top right is taken!)

(Luke @ Grandma Debbie's on Sunday)

Summer is speeding by

For the past 5 weeks, Lukas, the dogs and I have been staying in NY with our immediate family while Justin deals with all of the details of our imminent move to Washington, D.C. Over this time, Luke has learned to do so many things. Grandpa Taylor has taught Luke to wave "Bye-bye" and Luke is now saying "stop" in addition to his previous "uh-oh," "da-da," "ma-ma," "wow," & "dog." He tries super hard to immitate and is getting great at copying actions (like clapping) and sounds (we do "wheee-ewww" together).


Lukas stands unsupported now and this morning he stood up from squatting while holding a toy. Each morning he wakes either whining or saying "mom, mom, mom" over and over again. It's neat seeing how he will say this word to me whenever he needs to eat, sleep, or just cuddle. Luke has also started wrapping his arms around me to cling when he's unsure or doesn't want me to leave him for a nap. My amazing boy has just turned 1 and all of these changes are making me realize just how fast this time goes.


The movers came last week and packed up all of our things. Since the house is empty, Justin is staying with our friend Kevin until it's time for him to leave Germany. We've both been calling Kevin his "wifey," since Kevin will cook in my stead. Thanks Kevin! Justin's been having a great time pretending to be a bachelor. :)

Justin enjoying all-you-can-eat Sushi in Trier with Kevin yesterday

Luke has so much fun hand-feeding the dogs! Notice the tomatoes on the ground.

Things I love Part 2

a.) Tosca Reno

Almost 50 and in amazing, AMAZING shape. And she wasn't always that way. Mother of 3, changed her eating habits, started working out, and wrote a bajillion books about how she did it. I'm planning on buying her Eat Clean Diet Cookbook and the one for Families and Children. I'll let you know how they are.

b.) Suze Orman

Maybe it's the jackets, maybe it's the "girlfriend" use. Whatever it is, I LOVE Suze Orman. She gives wonderful financial advice, she's down-to-earth, and I feel like she actually cares about the everyday person. I own two of her books Women and Money and The Young Fabulous and Broke book. I recommend them both highly.


c.) Oxygen Magazine

I love this magazine because it shows you (with no BS) how to get ripped as a woman. I used to have a subscription to Shape, but there was so much makeup/fashion and so little actual workout/nutrition. Oxygen has excellent advice in my opinion and even a column written by near 50-year-old Tosca Reno. It shows you that having a rock-solid body is completely do-able and the right mix of nutrition/weights/cardio that you need to do it. Now, I just need to get my piglet of a husband on the right side and convince him to stop bringing home Almond Joys and ice cream for me. I'm so weak..............

c.) Music

Okay, everybody loves music, but here are some favorites (especially for working out)

1. Katy Perry One of the Boys

2. Justin Timberlake Future Sex Love Sounds

3. Breaking Benjamin

4. Britney Spears Circus & Blackout

5. Flyleaf .. I was introduced to this group via Rock Band and a few of their songs are awesome for getting through a tedious workout session. I especially like "I'm so sick," "Fully Alive," and "All Around Me"

6. Mercy Me I LOVE Emmanuel.

7. Miley Cyrus "See you Again"

8. Kanye West "Stronger," "Jesus Walks," & "The New Workout Plan" (That one makes me laugh at the people on Ellipticals.. I imagine that they are the ones the song is about. Don't ask me why.)

9. Rihanna "Please Don't Stop the Music"

10. System of a Down "Toxicity"

11. Three Days Grace

Big Changes & Award Time

The last several weeks have been exciting times for the Lemmon family. Justin graduated from Airman Leadership School on March 25th and was awarded the John Levitow Award signifying excellence in both academics and leadership. It's the highest award that a graduate can receive and only one out of each class of graduates is awarded it. It was a really proud moment for Justin and amazing to see the room explode with applause from people standing and waiting to shake his hand. It was during this moment that we both realized that this military life fits. We are both so thankful to God and all of these blessings that He keeps pouring on our heads.

Also of note is Luke's ever-improving mobility. Luke pulled himself up to stand for the first time this week, surprising me while I was sorting clothes in his room. He started crawling Thursday (4-9) and it was exciting and unbelievable. I thought I wouldn't be seeing this for weeks or months even and I was a little overwhelmed with emotion. Above is a picture of one of the consequences of this development. Time to get the playpen out!

Luke is also surprising me by trying to repeat words back! I don't think that he completely associates meaning with sound, but sometimes I don't know. On our way home from a visit to the Belgian caves, Jess was in the back teaching Luke to say "car." He would repeat that sound back to her and we thought that was pretty neat! Well, yesterday at the gas station I had him on my hip while we were waiting for the pump to finish (since he likes looking at what's going on) and he busts out with "gar!" as he sees the first car zoom by. He kept saying that and checking out the cars. It's really exciting :)

Now.. if only I could hear a "Ma-Ma" :(

London in 12 Hours (stole that from Jed)

(Tower Bridge) (St. James's Park)

We spent the 28th of March in London for a quick day of sight-seeing with Kristen and Jed. It was quite cold and sometimes a little rainy, but definitely neat to visit. After our arrival at Dover (where we did see white cliffs), our bus continued on to London. We started off with a 2+ hour tour led by the funniest English gentleman I've ever met. The entire time he would sneak in quick, sarcastic comments and was even busting on the royal family a bit. Also, we stayed on the bus the whole time! <- I loved that.

(Crossing Abbey Road)

We took a couple quick stops at Abbey Road and to take pictures at Platform 9 3/4's. Jed and I were the only ones that raised our hands and said "yes!!" excitedly when the tour guide asked if we wanted to stop there.

After our tour we walked through St. James's Park to check out Buckingham Palace, visited the Tower of London, grabbed fish and chips (Dad informed me that they weren't authentic because they didn't come wrapped in a napkin), checked out the Magna Carta at the London library and took goofy pictures inside a British telephone booth.

The Tower of London was very cool, place of bunches of executions and imprisonment. I especially loved visiting the Library, as they actually had letters written by Elizabeth I. She spoke many languages fluently and is one of my heroes.

There wasn't much time to do anything else and St. Paul's had closed by the time we were able to make it over there. It was a good trip, but I think Paris is a better place to visit. They do speak English in England, but it's so cold and much less pretty (than Paris).

We did have a tough time finding changing tables, but I'm learning that that's a problem all over Europe. Rome should be fun!

Things I love

There are a few things in life that I completely, totally enjoy. I thought that I'd share them with all of you and maybe you'd love them too!

1.) Real Maple Syrup

I feel sorry for you if you've never tasted real maple syrup. It has a silky texture and its flavor really puts Aunt Jemima and Hungry Jack to shame. Here is a picture of the last buttermilk pancake from the mix Julie sent us for Christmas, as well as the last of the maple syrup. It's been my treat every Saturday or Sunday morning since Christmas to enjoy it with french toast or chocolate-chip pancakes. MMmmm.

2.) Hyland's Teething Tablets

I think if miracles happened nowaday's, one of them would have to be these teething tablets. There's been many an hour of sleep saved by these little babies and in my opinion they are worth their weight in gold. Plus, they're homeopathic and made of all-natural ingredients so I don't have any feelings of guilt from accidentally drugging my child with Tylenol when teeth really weren't the problem. AND - they work instantly. LOVE THEM.

3.) Lipton's White Tea w/ Island Mango and Peach Flavor I have one to two cups of this tea or green tea each day. It smells fruity and delicious, warms me up and calms me down. Plus, the pyramid bags look really cool.

4.) Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred DVD

Super challenging 23-minute workouts in 3 difficulty levels on this DVD. I do this when I don't feel like going to the gym (which is always). All you need are 2 3-5 pound hand weights. Plus, the DVD is less than $10 on Amazon. Definitely the best piece of workout junk that I've ever bought. It's been a lifesaver since I can't bring the baby to the weight room. I no longer use the mother's room at the gym as there are just too many +2 children running around making noise. I like to get in a zone when I do exercise and it's impossible for me with so many distractions. I should've added jogging stroller to the list, since it's allowed me to get some running in.

5.) Fit Bottomed Girls Blog

http://fitbottomedgirls.blogspot.com/

The two women that write this blog remind me that working out should be fun. They're funny, post every day, and write excellent reviews on workout DVD's and equipment. One of them is also traning for a half-marathon! Ours got pushed back to May 9th, but she's running hers in 2 weeks.

Well, these are several things that are part of my regular routine. Hope you decide to check them out!

I'm going to add a part 2 in a little bit. I've remembered some things that should go on this list. :)

8 Months Old

My boy is getting sooo big. Luke is 8 Months old now and as wonderful as ever. I can say that 'cause I'm his mom. I take him out and about and every German comments on how friendly and smiley he is. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about how blessed we've been with Lukas.

Luke hardly stays on his back anymore now that he's figured out that it is possible to move around. It's making diaper changes tough, since he arches his back to roll over and ends up getting a leg or foot covered in poop. I think it's worth it though, especially seeing how excited Justin was by it. He's really been wanting a BOY boy, one that'll want to move around alot, but Luke is really chill and is more of a social talk-y kind of baby.

Well, I finally took Luke for his very first haircut today. His hair was getting ridiculously long and hard to control, so I brought him to a German salon (the same one I go to). The male owner of the place ended up cutting Luke's hair and he was really fantastic. I think that he did a great job. One of the other employees ended up grabbing a stuffed Ernie doll and distracting Luke by playing with it. We both got alot of laughs :) She commented on how Luke is already looking like a boy. Both she and the gentleman that cut Luke's hair wanted to hold him and I always appreciate that kind of help. Germans L-O-V-E babies. They aren't so common here as in the States and everywhere you go, everyone will smile at your baby, try to talk to him or her, and even sometimes want to hold them.

Here are the before and after pictures of Luke. Enjoy!

Justin is an old fart!

Justin turned 25 on Friday, and he's already started acting his age. I asked him to help out with something or other around the house and he said that he was too old to be doing physical labor. We celebrated early.. I think on Tuesday, because I received Justin's last gift in the mail. I gifted him a new motorcycle jacket, vest, cd, and a couple of books. Needless to say, the jacket was his favorite gift. Though, he did very much enjoy his new Scent Blocker T-shirt and paraphernalia from Jess and Nate. To celebrate we had ice cream cake; I was able to eat it for the next four days.. MMMmm.

Justin showing off his Ass-ets


In other news:
We attended the Annual Awards Ceremony on Saturday night. Justin didn't take home the award, but we had a decent free dinner. We left our cell phones at home, so had no way to contact Luke's babysitter and vice versa. I was anxious the entire evening and left without Justin as soon as I got the chance. So anxious that I got caught in security force's Saturday night drunk-driver speed trap. The damage wasn't bad, just got a little pink slip from the cops for doing 50km in a 40km. That's going 31mph in a 24mph zone. So, Justin has to go in front of his first shirt to atone for his wife's gross traffic violation. There aren't any fines for speeding on base, in case you were wondering.


Luke is sick! I took him to the doctor today and he's got a minor viral respiratory infection that we won't be treating with medicine. I thought Luke surely had croup or bronchitis, but guess that's just the mom in me overreacting.

Side Note:

Everyone says Luke's a big boy. Now I've had a doctor confirm it. The first thing the doctor said after I undressed Luke was that it was a good thing Luke was so big, as he could easily survive 3-4 days on his fat stores should he be too ill to eat. NOW, I don't know if that was a compliment, but then the doctor went ahead and told me that it'll be a problem when he gets over two and that Americans have difficulties with obesity. Then he went into a weird story about how Russians like fat babies because of all the food problems they've had historically. And that they need to make sure not to stuff their babies like turkeys. Comments and stories like these are typical of German doctors. It's funny and I think they like to show off their English skills. My OB/GYN did the same sort of thing when I was pregnant.

Sick Lutas


Have a great week!

It's hard being awesome.

The Tainted Puppies (any time you'd like a good laugh, ask Nate to explain how we came to that) have won the Rock Band 2 Tournament! Let me know if you need my autograph.

Where to begin..

I suppose this should start with what I'm doing right now. I think I'll do a list format.. feeling a bit too lazy today to do paragraph transitions.

1. I ordered a few nursery letters for Lukas in January that arrived a couple days ago. They didn't turn out at all like I wanted them to, so I'm currently covering them up with paper and re-doing them myself. I requested an airplane theme and they came with little cut-out contruction shapes of airplanes that still had pencil marks on them. I figure that I have enough artsy talent to fix them, and I'll post pictures as soon as they are finished as I've already ruined them by ripping all of those planes off :) Moral of the story, don't purchase scrapbooked letters for your nursery from this seller. If you're planning on buying from ebay, send me a note and I'll let you know who I ordered from.

2. Last night Jess showed me her friend's new blog, which details one-two weeks of menu plans with recipes. I think it's great and really saves me alot of time trying to figure out what to feed Justin. Here's a link:
http://delovelydinners.blogspot.com/
Yes, I know, you're welcome.

3. Justin's been going through ALS, which is a mandatory 4-5 week program sort of like school. The participants do not go to regular work, but they attend a seminar style class Monday through Friday on base. It's a long day for Justin, as he gets up at 5, leaves around 6 and doesn't come back home until 5:30-6:30. Luke goes to bed at 7, so Justin has been taking over the pre-bedtime playing and changing. Justin seems to enjoy everything except for the homework and is working toward receiving special recognition for his quality of participation. Depending on how well you do, lead, etc., you are awarded a title. Kind of like Most-Likely-To-____ from high school.

4. We're planning several trips for March and April, and I'm really excited to get to all of these places before we leave Europe for good! The ones we're looking at are for Prague, London, Spain, Rome, and a trip to the Keukenhof (which is a HUGE flower garden in the Netherlands) with Jess. I'll post as soon as we've actually booked travel.

5. Lukas is starting to realize that there is fun to be had when he scoots himself around! He's loving flipping from back to front (which is making diaper changes tough) and has crawled backwards a few times now. Yesterday, I had Luke's poopy diaper opened and was just about to take it off when he decided that it was no fun to lie still. He arched his back to get away and managed to slam one of his legs down into the diaper - covering himself in poop from heel to cheek. Luckily Justin was there to help with cleanup.
Lukas also manages to keep himself pretty well occupied when I'm busy with chores or cooking. He spends time talking and cooing to things and trying to pick up small things. When sitting in front of his basket of toys, Luke always chooses the "I Love You Through and Through" book from the pile to pat and chew on. One of his favorite things is to be sitting in our rocker, cuddling and reading. We've been reading chapters our of the Beginner's Bible from Grandma Debbie before bed each day, and he seems to really enjoy that. Otherwise we'll read "Time for Bed" or "The Going to Bed Book."
Just a few days ago Reese was over clapping with Jess, so I thought it'd be fun to try with Luke and after a few times he copied me! I was shocked! Other than that, he's been doing alot of horse-like noises, ba-ba's (that I think sound like Blah-Blah's now.. hope that's not saying something about his mom :) ), ma-ma's and wow's.

6? 7?.
I'll post again later.. this one's getting wayyy to long!