Santa VS. Rob

Although we'll have more christmas photos coming, I wanted to post our first santa picture for your enjoyment...we are ecstatic at how it turned out, considering the horror stories that you hear from people about their children and santa. Thankfully, both Santa and Rob enjoyed the experience!

Standin' Tall

The crib is a new toy for baby Rob since moving to Richmond. While living with Grami and Pop Rock and Aunt Catherine, Rob slept in the pack and play, where he couldn't grab onto the sides...although he really enjoyed the mesh during playtime:


However, once we moved to Richmond, it was game over for nap time...he discovered the beauty of sticking his legs and hands through the crib slats. We'd removed the bumper since he sleeps face down in the corner of the crib:)

Here's the scene from a few nights ago, estimated time 11pm:


The little guy has recognized the beauty of standing up, and although we are very proud of him, it means double attention must be paid:

thanksgiving:)

So although I had a streak of being on top of blogging, with our move, I have been reminded (thanks Pam:) that we are major slacking recently...photos of the new home soon!

We enjoyed a wonderful thanksgiving back in charlottesville with the Luck family in full force. Rob got to spend time with BOTH sets of great grandparents, plus grandparents and aunts and uncles...he is so blessed to have everyone so close:)

Here are a few photos from the day..

loving being on uncle will's shoulders:

eating a big meal of peas and carrots, pumpkin, rice cereal and green beans...mmmm yummy.
lovin' his bouncer with pop rock...the bouncer was MADE for my son.

Triple Whammy

The last few days have been interesting ones for the Luck household. While our son continues to speed through all the important firsts, we approached a few firsts this week that we weren't too excited about.

1. First fever following a shot: Even though he's already had 10+ shots, AND we're doing the alternative (read, less shots at a time) schedule, Robert came down with a fever the last few days...fevers are no fun for little babies.

2. First cold: Runny, congested noses are a pain for adults, but when you can't blow your own nose, they are downright awful...poor boy was so congested that he woke himself up 3, yes, three, times the last two nights...sitting up in his crib, staring around miserable to be awake....we agree little one, let's not make 11, 3 and 5:30 a habit:)

3. First teeth coming in: Although they haven't broken the surface yet, the little guy seems to have three teeth coming in at once...two bottom and one top. This is a huge relief to Grandma Kathy who upon going through her daughter's first full year of life without teeth actually asked the Dentist IF I had teeth at all...gotta love my mother.

So, although we love watching our son grow and change, we would have loved to experience these three firsts at separate times:)

But at the end of the day, when he smiles like the photo below, you just can't help but love him and smile right back:

happy halloween:)

We celebrated halloween on both friday and saturday this year...big time for our family, especially since I have never been a huge fan of halloween! We took time on friday to visit the Lawn at UVA. Every year, all of the lawn residents sponsor a trick or treat evening for the charlottesville area. Let me tell you, it was completely out of control! There were easily thousands of people there, Robert and I felt a bit like we were at a graduation considering the parking struggles....BUT our little cavalier really enjoyed himself and gave mom and dad a chance to visit with charlottesville friends on a beautiful october day.

Saturday was a full family affair for halloween at the Duke game...unfortunately the boys weren't able to spook duke, who came back in the fourth quarter, but our little guy had a great time with his Pop Rock and Grammi:) Mom, Dad and Sandra sported "Luck" jerseys, while Rob and his Pop Rock hoped that Wali Lundy would bring the Hoos some luck.

the rotunda

So there isn't anything more classic than the lawn in the fall, so we headed there to take a few (read 50+) photos of our little guy at six months old. He loved the leaves and became engrossed in them. Here are a few photos from our time on the lawn....for those of you who don't know charlottesville in the fall, you are definitely missing out:)

Playing with cousin Adelyn

We were lucky enough to have Adelyn, Emily and Steven's daughter, come and visit Charlottesville with Steven attended the soaking wet, and highly disappointing, Georgia Tech football game. The two cousins got some good play time and even though they can't crawl yet, they are certainly taking notice of each other and reaching out more and more:)

Our little guy is getting closer and closer to taking off on his own, which only means that I need to make sure my running shoes are close by, because when he finally learns what to do when he's on all fours, I am in trouble!

San Diego

Our final stop over for about four days was in San Diego to visit our dear friends Pamela and Carter. Pam went to law school with Robert and they lived down the street from us on Arlington Blvd. Not only did they show us around but they opened up their family home to us so that we wouldn't have to stay in a hotel...we LOVED Pam's family and felt like it was our home away from home for our time in San Diego.

We saw lots of the beautiful sights that the city has to offer...went hiking overlooking the ocean, saw the famous hotel del coronado on coronado island, waded in tidal pools, ate yummy, wonderful food....which, for us, is key for a good vacation. And just enjoyed some time with our friends.


This is also one of my favorites...Rob with Pam at the tidal pools:)

Hanging out with LC!

So a cali trip would not be complete without a stop over in newport beach...hoping to spot LC or Ryan from the OC:)
Some of my favorite photos came from our small stop over for lunch on the beach...

eating on the run

We have started rice cereal and although the first week was a bit rough, with more food outside than inside of his mouth:) But he's gotten the hang of it, pulling the food in with his tongue rather than pushing it out. While traveling we don't have a high chair around, so the stroller is the best we've got...it works alright, but it's way funnier for him to eat from it than from the high chair...he's far too wiggly.

LA

We spent the last week enjoying sunny southern california, visiting friends and seeing new places. We were very worried about the plane ride, five hours in a small area with lots of people who don't want to hear a screaming baby echo throughout the cabin, but lil rob did great, eating and sleeping right on schedule.
First we headed to LA to see a few of my friends from high school and college...some of whom I haven't seen since we got married (wow...four years is a long time)...they all loved our son, clearly. We visited hollywood and beverly hills and saw the hollywood sign and walk of fame and all that great touristy stuff...ate really good food and strolled along santa monica's beach walk. Thanks to Abby for taking us around...you look so refreshed on the malibu beach pier:

This is my sweet friend Katie at dinner with Rob...for those of you who know her, the fact that she's holding my son is a VERY big deal!

jetblue:)

Robert and I had talked about our possible bar trips and with the little one the greek islands and israel options were pretty much out:) BUT, then Robert stumbled upon JetBlue's promotional all you can fly month...so we signed ourselves up! We started out with our first trip without baby..only one night and let me tell you, it was rough. BUT we had a blast running around NYC pretending to be real new yorkers by riding the subway, eating in the west village and riding the double decker tour bus (well, that's not real new yorker material, but it was a lot of fun). Here's Robert and I by the statue of liberty on the way to ellis island, an event that this history dork found fastinating!
Next Robert jetted off to Phoenix to visit his best friend Kennedy, saw a Diamondbacks AND a Cardinals game...his ideal sporty weekend. Then, the three of us jetted off to Portland, Maine to visit Acadia National Park and enjoy the coast, including some yummy lobster!


It's a fabulous place and we highly recommend it to any who are looking for a relaxing, different and very family friendly place to visit:)

Robert's off to Boston for the day with his sister...we're trying to take full advantage of the month long pass!

tummy time photo shoot and learning to sit up

These days, my posts usually come in waves..when I find a moment I try to make up for not posting before! Rob is getting so good at picking up his head and looking around while on his tummy, plus, he's learning how to use those stomach muscles and sit up by himself! Here are a few photos from our recent photo shoot...I'm usually not much of a photographer, but I'm pretty proud of these:)

End of August

For many, the end of august means the start of school, the end of summer and perhaps neverending hot and sweaty metro rides...but for the Lucks it means the start of football season, and not just any football season...Virginia football season. This year, it also coincides with the changeover from 0-3 month into 3-6 month clothes for our little guy. As I was switching things around I began to notice a pattern...one that will probably not surprise any of you...the repetition of two colors, orange and blue.

I decided to take a photo:

now, due to the large amount of options, we have split it into two categories...game day gear (above) and formal attire (below)

and a third, winter gear:
now, for those of you who have tried to count let me save you the time..30..yes, 30 items devoted to our alma mater. If anyone was in doubt about our allegiance before, there is now no room for doubt...

yes, we are a little obsessed..well, Robert certainly is and, thank goodness, I like the color scheme:)

two week recap

We have been slacker blog posters recently and hopefully when you hear all that we've been up to, you'll forgive us! In the past two weeks, Robert has studied for and taken the bar exam! He is now done, officially, with Law School and has the next five months to do nothing more than hang out with his son and his wife:) Lauren has spent the last two weeks packing up our home on Arlington Blvd...I had not quite realized how much stuff we accumulated over the past two years, and we had a lot of fun de-cluttering and making some money off of craigslist (enough to pay for two plane tickets to somewhere fun...at least, that's my plan!). Thanks to LOTS of help from Mr. and Mrs. Szy and Mr and Mrs Luck, we are officially moved out and cleaned up completely. Robert and I are really going to miss the community that we formed and with friends moving to all parts of the country we are already planning lots of visits to Texas, Costa Rica, Tennessee, Lynchburg/Greenville, and lots more!

Our son has been growing by leaps and bounds also. He is sleeping from 8pm to 7:30am each night (and we couldn't be more pumped), and is awake for up to an hour and a half at a time...which we love. It gives us lots of opportunities to watch him learn and grow. He is grasping toys and studying them, getting better with tummy time, and wanting more and more to be sitting rather than laying down. He has become quite "talkative", making completely incoherant sounds and loving every minute.

Below is a photo of Rob holding his lovie...a little duck that has his name embroidered on it...thanks Mrs. Brandon.

I'm Three Months old!

Our little guy is three months old today and we cannot quite believe how much he's changed:) We can't imagine life without him and are loving every second that we can get before Robert starts work in January! Just a recap of the first three months:


one week:

one month:

two months:
three months:

June Vacations #3

Last, but certainly not least, we took a short trip for a Luck family reunion to the river house. Grandmother Luck was in heaven, getting to hang out with both her new grandchildren at once. We had fun just relaxing together, playing a bit of Balderdash, celebrating Aunt Catherine's birthday and allowing our new additions to enjoy their first dip in the pool...a bit of an adventure and a large undertaking, but priceless in the end!

June vacations #2

Immediately following father's day weekend, we headed down to Hilton Head to visit little Rob's great grandparents, the Carltons. We had a fabulous time, playing with great Grandpa....

and introducing Robert to his Cousin Sarah, hanging out with Great Grandmother too!
We also got to take Rob down to the beach for his first dip in the ocean. Although he wasn't quite sure of it, he did venture into the surf with his dad, only to take a snooze in his beach tent (an essential, we found for baby beach travel).

Although little Rob didn't take part, I feel it important to mention that Robert also got to play Harbor Town (apparently, a really big deal in the golfing world) and hang out with his best friend kennedy...who, I might add, lives entirely too far away in Arizona with his wife Val. We loved being able to spend even a few hours with these two, Robert misses kennedy a ton throughout the year!