4months...5....6months strong

Even when we are sure we are finally getting to a point when life will start slowing down we find ourselves fighting for more free time. We made it back to Minneapolis in late September to visit friends and family and to also join one of our best friends, Adam Anderson and his fiance' Lindsey at their wedding back in Iowa. We got to see all Jenn's mother's family at a BBQ hosted for our visit at Denise's home. We also got to see Nate, Jamie & Madeline for an evening. The leaves true fall colors were just starting to show signs of the shortened daylight and the winter soon to come.

Once we returned from our too short Northern Exposure we hurriedly made it back to FL to join in another wedding for our friends Janet and Fred in Salt Springs, FL. Don't they look good together. They had a great wedding setting at their "tree house" on Lake Kerr and a nice reception that followed.

After a quick week's travel to NC and back for work, I made it back just in time to meet Jenn's very good friend Scarlett, her husband Brandon and their two children Carter and Campbell. They were visiting FL for a family occasion and decided to hang out with us for the weekend. Our main plans were to just relax and enjoy the weekend and go to a pumpkin patch with the children. Though these are great plans, Brandon and I conspired to enjoy a little time on the dark swamps looking for red-eyes. I promised you all a follow up to a past post on this blog.....even Luke was ready for a gator too. We lucked out and arrowed a 8'0" gator around 5a.m. that next morning. Lucky us, and at least we got to spend part of Saturday catching up on our 28hrs without sleep.

Well, one pumpkin patch wasn't enough, so the next day we all (the Schleif/Raulie/Renberg families) went to the pumpkin patch nearer to our house to enjoy another photo session with Luke and Baron.

The Halloween spirit is alive, now that the unforgiving heat has subsided some and the chill is back in the morning/evening air. We had a good time at the local pumpkin patch and took lots of photos. In the spirit of Halloween Jenn and Luke visited Angie and Baron and they got to dress up for a little photo action at the Renberg's.

Since we haven't yet had a break we looked at the calendar and realized that this next weekend we'd be spending the majority of it at a dog trail in Jacksonville with our local retriever club. It was a nice weekend and we had great "cool" weather finally pushing in from the places where dreams come true(up north;) Luke informed Jenn and I that if we were 'real pro trainers' we would have a cool Polaris Ranger like our friends Mark and Kraig were using.

Luke's latest visit to the Dr. provided these stats:

18lbs....50%

27".......75%

He recieved his 6mo shots and his 1st flu shot for this seaoson. I'm sure he was playing it off that the shots hurt worse than they really were just so he could get a warm bottle of milk.

Real Food and Fun

I'm sure your eyes aren't lying, when you view the joy from Luke's face as he anxiously gorges himself of rice cereal and formula with a side of peaches. Yes, Luke got his first taste of what I call quasi-human food. No cornpops, french toast or bacon today buddy, you get blah followed with blah with a side of semi peach tasting muck. Man he can't wait to have some more of this food of the future.













After his long battle in the rice and peach fields it was off for a round of 'clean-up', but Luke wasn't quite ready, so Jenn improvised and killed 2 birds with 1 stone. They got cleaned up and read a new book while in the tub. You can see how serious Luke is taking his book reading.















(Here, Luke is testing mommy's strength for Dr. Garrett)

Recently we took Luke in for his 4month check up and for a nice dosage of shots for good measure. Luke, at16lbs, and just over 25 inches in length, is officially in the 75 percentile. He did very well, but it was tough to watch the needles do their job while he helplessly screamed for dear life. We managed through it and cheered him on, but needless to say our hearts for one moment, hurt more than 1,000 more days in FL. After his shots he did only manage to do 15 pull-ups and 32 push-ups and sit-ups in 32 seconds and is starting to read at the 12th grade level just that day. Wow, boosters shots are good :)

At least he makes going to the pediatrician look good.















Luke is gaining strength everyday. He now can sit up very well with some support and can stand for some time with only light assistance from us holding his hands. He is strengthening his balance daily with a routine of strength and condition classes from mommy as well as rudimentary tasks that a person of 120+ days would be doing, like Attemptive Crawling and Rolling Over Clinics. He also is making attempts to pull himself up towards us while he is laying on the floor or our laps.





























Recently, Jenn and I have challenged each other to find more economic ways of living in our household/lifestyle. Here's one clear example and now you know, fancy gifts aren't always needed. Anything that makes noise or shines will work just fine! Yes, that means Aluminum foil and rocks in a bucket from Santa, better than a stick in the eye, right?

(Before, fancy/technical child-attention getter device)













(Now, good ole 'bang on the drum, can')













(Before, Fancy high-tech internet video games)

(Now, Dollar Bin "inflato-frog")















Luke ventured out this past weekend with Mommy to attend a birthday party for the family Jenn used to nanny for. It was at their local community pool and Luke got his feet wet! Totally not fair that he gets to wear bibs and no shirt in FL and Jenn will not approve of that for me.















Today, Luke and Baron played in their own pool at Grandma Schleifs and after all the crying and tears subsided Luke realized that water was his friend and he and Baron continued to try and catch the amazing falling water drops from the towel trick.














We might have a teether-attemptive-thumb-sucker on our hands.........

..........stay tuned!

Quack Quack and Quack!

Now that we have been in Florida for some time we realize that transitioning from the July heat to the heat of August really shows no signs of relief, but seriously, it is tough to honestly tell the difference in 90 degrees and 100% humidity and 99 degrees and 100% humidity. Hot in FL is just plain hot, so we seek refuge indoors mostly, unless the breezy afternoon rains from the west cool off our evenings.

As Luke transitions into his 4th month we both agree that Luke's to the point where things really are much easier, though we expect this won't last long. Up at 6a.m. like clock work, some food, some diaper changes and more naps and feedings throughout the day. After dinner Luke gets fussy and a little bath(which he is really enjoying now), then it is snuggle time with daddy (pending his work schedule) where Luke is guaranteed to find his rest for the night.














Other than a few evenings around the house Luke hasn't really been out "in-the-field" dog training with dad, so last week we headed out to my local dog training property and ran a little energy out of Zoi and Holly. Uncle Robbie and mommy also tagged along.














I have been traveling quite a bit with the new transition in my sales territory, so the pups, Luke and mommy have had to sacrifice quite a bit lately. Luke has been wondering in amazement at what the screaming-loud noise in the garage has been most nights when daddy is around. And yes, it is time for the next duck calling competition for dad. According to mommy, it is all he ever does this time of year.















We made a family day out of this year's 2008 FL State Duck Calling Contest. Grandma & Grandpa Schleif, Uncle Robbie and Mike and Brooklyn joined us at Bass Pro Shops for the big day. There were a lot of loud noises and commotion, so lil Luke didn't get to witness it all, but he did make it back at the end to bask in the glory of daddy's win. By winning I qualified for the World Championship in Stuttgart, AR over the Thanksgiving weekend. Another wonderful Thanksgiving will be spent under the waterfowl filled skies of Stuttgart, Arkansas.














(Grandpa Schleif and Luke @ the calling contest at Bass Pro Shops)

As crazy as some may think we are, on August 15 we will forge our way out into the buggy-Florida night in search of the glowing red eyes on the water, yes, it is Alligator hunting season and we are alligator hunters. We enjoyed much success with our first hunt last year, but this year we have some very high hopes of a trophy, with a year's experience already under our belt. No, Luke and mommy aren't going to make it out with us, but if he was to go, this would be his new setup.















I hope to re-visit this lizard topic soon with some leatherish success.


Zach & Jenn

Travelin' Man...

As we look back into the month of July, the thoughts still linger of how busy of a month it has actually been for Luke, Mommy and Daddy. We have had our 1st 4th of July together, we traveled to meet friends in North Georgia, we saw a Jacksonville Suns baseball game and took our long-awaited 1st plane flight together to Kansas City.



















We joined G'ma and G'pa Schleif as well as Uncle Robbie, Ben/Angie and cousin Baron at the game for 50cent hot dogs and some n0t-so-50cent beers. All in all it was a great time watching some baseball in the summer humidity while dodging rain clouds and the occasional foul ball.











Luke and Jenn joined me for a short week of travel in July as we traveled to Acworth, GA to visit one of Jenn's best friends, Scarlett, her huband Brandon, their children Carter(2) and Campbell(6mo) and their crazy dog Bailey:) While they enjoyed Jenn and Luke's company, I traveled and visited my key accounts in that area. During the evenings Jenn sub'd in and played "bunko" for the first time with Scarlett's friends while Brandon and I shared war stories from the deer woods while attempting to supervise the little ones. We had a great time and thank them for their hospitality and skilled craftsmanship of an embroidery genius.
















Luke is a baby of many facial expressions and exciting vocabularies. He replies to our questions though we have yet to find a way to translate his extensive gibberish. He has been very talkative during the early morning hours and after his belly is full. He is really starting to use his hands, arms and legs "air running" and grabbing for toys. It is a very exciting time right now. We look forward to watching him grow up, but realize that cherishing this time is yet priceless.


























Luke and Mommy had another big accomplishment earlier this month, Luke's first shots! Yikes! As you can see on Mommy's face it was more painful for her to watch than it was for Luke to receive the 6 shots. He was a trooper, as expected, and looked at the nurse with his infamous Chuck Norris grin and expressed "Is that it". We are currently in the process of trademarking this new expression. We call it "the norris".

















One of the most looked-forward to events in Raulie history has been the 60th Wedding Anniversary of our Grandparents Paul and Marcella Raulie. This event has been in the works for over a year and every one of the 57 children (grand and great-grand) were there in attendance. It was a can't miss event! Jenn finally joined the gang of Jenn Raulie's. Now there are officially 3. Luke got to meet many of our immediate and extended family for the first time like his Aunt Rachel, Evan's girlfriend Courtney, the Colorado Raulie's and all his Great Grandparents, cousin, aunts and uncles. Grandma/pa Raulie have shown us all a way to live our lives and to be responsible in all that we do. Their dedication has been past on to us through our parents and is reflected in our families, careers and commitments. We wish them many more!

Luke got to enjoy his first airplane ride from Jacksonville to Kansas City. He did very well and we did not have a "serious outbreak" once on either of our flights. We stayed out at the Pantleo farm near Lawson, MO where Luke got to herd two calves back into their pasture, watch the sunrise with the hummingbirds every morning and savor the country air that we remember when we talk about the farm. I hope someday that Luke can get into as much trouble as I did on that farm.

Many times "Miss Jenny" is politically correct about how we do things around the household with Mr. Luke, but sometimes you have to just throw caution to the wind, lay in grandpa's sink at the farm, on an old towel and just enjoy your surroundings while you get a good ole scrubbin'.