Baby Shoes Giveaway!

I've decided to hold a little giveaway for one pair of cute little baby shoes. And not just these ones. The winner can pick a preferred color and size (up to 12 months). I know I have only shown 2 kinds of girl shoes but we will have some for boys as well as a variety of colors for both. So all are invited to participate. Here's what you got to do to get a chance to win:

For one entry:
1) Post a comment telling me
a) how much you think I should charge for these baby shoes;
b) what colors you think would be popular (including sole color); and
c) any other advice on what you would like to see on a future pair of baby shoes.

For a second entry
2) Post about my shoes on your personal blog and leave a comment here telling me that you have done so. My website is www.luckybuttondesigns.mybisi.com. My blog is www.luckybuttondesigns.blogspot.com.

And for a third entry
3) Grab the html code for my website (not blog) button (in the text box to the left) and add it to your blog. If you have questions about how to do that, then let me know. Then leave a comment here telling me that you have.

You get one entry to win for each thing that you do, so up to 3 entries. I'd love for your guys' advice and help in getting my name out there. You have until next Wednesday, August 12th, until 10pm EST. Thanks guys!

Baby Shoes

Messed around yesterday and came up with these cute babies.

Photo Shoot

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Took Lukas and Lydia to Target photo last week. Luke turned 2 and Lydia turned 6 months so I figured it was a good excuse (and about time for Lydia - haven't taken anything professional for her yet!). They turned out better than I thought they would while the photo shoot was going on - they both were pretty stinky during the whole thing. I just wish the one of them together would have been a little better ... where's the smile Lyd?! Lukas' other ones are down in the last post I did. Can't wait to go pick them up next Monday.

Happy Birthday Lukas!

Birth

3 month stud

1 year old

18 months

2 years old...and another cause he is so darn cute! ;)

I can't believe that my little man is 2 already. Ah man, I'm already emotional writing this. haha. He's seriously one of my best friends. I love how he such a chatter box...well, in sign language at least. He carries on full conversations with me in sign language. All day. The kid is so funny. He is the sweetest little boy. Everyone he meets (that is close to his size or smaller) he always gives them a hug. Sometimes a kiss too if they are lucky. ;) If he does something wrong, all I really have to do is calmly talk with him about why it is wrong and then he stops (most of the time, if I do it in a calm loving voice). He listens to me chatter all day... which is probably why he does then, huh? His new favorite thing to say (verbally - not sign language) is "Dada, Mama, Baby Iluvu" (he runs I love you all together). It seriously melts my heart every time. I love you too Lukas. Thank you so much for coming to our family and helping us all live life a little better and happier. Happy Birthday little man!

Luke, how old are you going to be?

We've been trying to teach Lukas how old he is going to be. So we've been practicing. I think he finally has it down. Although, he's still trying to get the right 2 fingers down (right now he does an L with his thumb and pointer finger). We have a week and a half until our big guy turns the big TWO!
A Potty training side note (beware a little graphic, haha):
I've been trying to get Lukas used to the toilet lately. I've heard of potty training in 3 days and have read a little of it but haven't wanted to do it just yet because of all the vacations we are going on this summer. So I've just been trying to get him on the toilet as much as possible. However, he HATES the toilet. Every time I say "want to go poop/pee on the toilet?" he screams NO! Its like he was scared of it or something. So after thinking about it I decided not to say a word to him at all about the toilet. Now I just calmly hold his hand and lead him to the bathroom, pull down his pants and pull up, sit him on the toilet and simply say "I'll be right back" and then walk away. This does WONDERS for Luke. He then doesn't freak out and just sits there calmly. I'll try doing this a couple times a day. Twice last week I could tell he was pooping in his diaper so I just calmly and quietly took him to the bathroom and sat him on the toilet (thinking the whole time that he wouldn't go because he already had in his diaper). I left to put Lydia down and then realized that he had been really quiet for a while. I walked back and peeked in through the crack in the door and he was grunting and trying to look into the toilet. I waited until he stopped and yelled "MAMA POOP" hahaha. I went back in and simply said "Good job Luke" without seeming too excited (even though I really was ecstatic! its just better for him if I act like its an every day normal thing - nothing special). He went #2 again the next day even though he went a little in his diaper again. Then we went out of town the next couple days and he didn't go in the toilet again until yesterday. He's eating his lunch and then he says "Mama poop". I looked and he hadn't gone yet so I set him on the toilet and...... dum duh duh dum... HE WENT! WOO HOO! So I know that this is going to take a lot more to fully potty train him but I'm just excited he is not afraid of the toilet anymore and that I found a way to get him comfortable enough to go in the toilet. AND that if I'm very aware of him during the day and catch him before he goes #2 in his pull up then he will go in the toilet so I don't have to change his poopy diapers as often! That's a great feeling for a mom! ;) Although how do you guys handle public restrooms with young children who are being potty trained? The front part of the seat is missing on those and that is where Luke sits. How do you handle that? And how do you handle the yuckyness of the public toilet? Any advice??

Gettysburg Reenactment

Matt heard from someone that the Gettysburg Reenactment was a must see on the 4th of July. And we agreed. So off we went at 5:20am to drive the 2.5-3 hours to Gettysburg, PA on Saturday morning. It was really fun. The country was absolutely breath taking. There were tons of actors and actresses dressed in authentic civil war attire, cannons, horses (Luke's favorite), and fun bands playing awesome music that Luke couldn't get enough of. The actual reenactment took about 1.5 hours and then had a cool live mortar competition between the Union and the Confederates with different size balls. They shot them 100, 200, then 300 yards. The last thing they had to do was hit a hay barrel that would then explode. Matt got a pic of it exploding. All in all it was very fun and worth the cost and drive. How blessed we are to live in such an amazing country. Thank you to all those who have given their lives in fighting for the freedoms that we now all enjoy. Thank you to all who have served and who are now serving. How proud we are that Matt is serving in the military now to protect not only his family but all who live here. Thank you honey! We love you! God bless America!!!





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New Phases

Luke and Lydia seem to constantly be changing and entering new phases these days. It's so fun to watch as a mom and rejoice with them in their new adventures. About a week ago we were driving to the store early Saturday morning and happened to see our LDS neighbors having a yard sale which included a very cool car toddler bed. We weren't planning to get Lukas a toddler bed, I was just thinking we would skip over that and go right to a twin bed to avoid subsequent costs. However, after seeing this bed I wanted it for Luke. It was only $20 for the bed, mattress, and mesh side rail (not in the pic)! HELLO! Who wouldn't want it for that price?! They even had a Cars Movie comforter and sheet set for $10 that we got as well. Now we don't have to fork out the hundreds it would have cost for a twin bed frame, mattress, sheets, and comforter...well, not yet at least. ;) We weren't going to have him sleep in it just yet because we didn't really want to deal with him getting out of bed all the time. But he had different plans in mind. He was SO stinkin' excited that night to sleep in it that he made us set it up for him. He hopped in and didn't even move a muscle all night! Say what?! Yep, every night since and nap times he doesn't move off of the bed. He had no issues switching to it at all. Yes, we are very spoiled parents and are very grateful that this phase has been a breeze for him. Matt and I think he just hasn't figured out yet that he can get off of it any time he wants...we hope he doesn't figure that out for a while. ;)

Lydia has began the never-ending moving phase. It's so fun to watch her reach and grab everything near her with such precision too. She won't stay still for a second. Once I lay her on the ground she is over on her tummy and turning in circles for hours. She is such a good baby. She also had yummy rice cereal twice this last week (at 5 1/2 months old). She loved it and is definitely wanting to feed herself already. Lukas was a big help in feeding her. They have so much fun together already. I can't wait to see how much more fun they will have when Lydia is older to do more with Luke. Oh the fun phases of growing kids! ;)
Matt didn't take a pic of Luke before waking him up after the first night of him sleeping in his new bed (like I had specifically asked him to do). I was upset (I know, its really not a big deal). So he tried to make it up to me by having Luke pose in these pics. haha. He even made Luke pretend he was asleep. haha. My boys are too funny.