It's a BOY!

A snapshot of our little boy. 21 weeks & counting!

TIme Flies

Shoot! I've missed my goal of blogging at least once a month. October came and went. We don't really celebrate Halloween in any way but we did have a get together with friends. So we decided to dress Jack up like a little lumberjack. See above. I wish I would have taken a picture of him in his complete outfit, pants and all, but this one is all I have. So serious.

Dad's little helper.

This is the new scrunchy smile. Usually this is what I get after he does something naughty and is trying to look cute afterward. Although it doesn't really look like he's smiling huh?

Jack is really into dressing up right now. He loves putting on random masks/glasses we have around the house. These ones are "nerd" glasses. He's a pretty cute little nerd wouldn't you say?

New goal: try to take more pictures. Jack is just about 18 months and is always on the move! I can hardly keep him still enough to wipe his face let alone take a picture. I'll have to develop some more stealthy moves.

Funny Story

Let me just start by saying that today was really not "funny" per say but rather difficult. However, one way of coping with a hard day is laughing about it, so that's what I intend to do with this post.

We've been looking into buying a house recently and because Michael wasn't able to take time off work he asked if I could go in and sign some paperwork. I was reluctant of course because I knew I would have to tote Jack along with me, which is never easy. However, because we were under somewhat of a time constraint, I agreed and met with our realtor and mortgage broker. We met in this tiny, enclosed conference room. Well, approximately 2 minutes after closing the door and sitting down, Jack does a big humpty dumpty doo in his pants. Being the astute mother that I am, I recognize the lingering smell the minute after he did it. Now the question was do I ignore the smell and pray that they they don't notice? Or do I excuse myself and go change him out in the car? Or do I apologize for the smell and proceed with the meeting?

Seriously, what would you do?

I decided to take the first option, ignorance. So I smiled and kept on with the meeting. I kept imagining that the two men were gagging inside while smelling that wonderful scent and either thought I or each other had a flatulence problem or they recognized a dirty diaper and God willing understood because they had children of their own. No one said anything. I don't know if that's a good or bad sign.

Next, in this "funny" story, Jack was going through the diaper bag in his boredom. He found a bag of crackers. In the 2 seconds I was looking away he took those crackers out of the bag and proceeded to smash them with his fists into little crumbs all over the perfectly vacuumed floor. Awesome.

I finally decided to excuse myself and took the little bugger outside to the car to change him. When reentering the office building, I grabbed a handful of the candy on the receptionist's desk to hopefully help keep Jack happy for the rest of the meeting. I went back into the conference room and while in the motion of sitting down, Jack pulled my hair (on accident) and I slipped a little. Well, the chair was on wheels and I went tumbling down on my rear end with Jack sprawled on top of me. He happened to have a Laffy Taffy in his hands, which ended up in my hair. Warning: wet, stick Laffy Taffy's are very hard to get out of hair! Oh my. I almost cried out of embarrassment.

I am now at home and don't plan on going anywhere for a week. The end.

New

It's been awhile since I've blogged. But, I promise, I have a good excuse.

We have a new baby on the way! Due date is April 5th. Some people may think we are crazy for having kids so close together but we consider it a blessing (most days) and are super excited to meet our little one and for Jack to be a big brother.

I've been in the middle of first trimester fun. Sick in the morning, naps, sick in the evening. This pregnancy compared to my first seems to be a little harder. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I can't sleep whenever I want! I have to keep up with my spirited 1-year old. I'm about 12 weeks along and starting to feel better so hopefully the energy will get boosted soon!

My next excuse for not blogging until now is that we just got over the entire family having the stomach flu. Oh my. Not fun. At all. Thank you mom and dad for cleaning up my throw-up and other bodily fluid messes growing up. Seriously, Michael and I kind of feel like super-parents after going through that experience. I don't know what we would do without the help of our family! THANK YOU!!!

So cheers to new beginnings, new mercies every morning and new babies!

I asked for wonder, and He gave it to me

We just got back from a week-long vacation with Michael's family at Seaside, OR. It was relaxing, fun and such a blessing. Jack had a blast running around the sand and throwing it in the air. Although this was not his first trip to the Ocean (his first was when he was 7-weeks old) it was definitely the best! He's at a perfect age to enjoy it.

He really enjoyed the sand but stayed clear from the cold water. He was mesmerized by flying kites and the many doggies that ran along the beach. He would just run and run with his hands up in the air in wonder.

This really is one of the best parts about parenting. Seeing your child experience new things. Seeing their face light up in curiosity, wonder, amazement.

I read this prayer recently in a book I'm reading and I think it applies perfectly to striving to have a child-like faith.

"Dear Lord, grant me the grace of wonder. Surprise me, amaze me, awe me in every crevice of Your universe. Delight me to see how Your Christ plays in ten thousand places, lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not His, to the Father through the features of men's faces. Each day enrapture me with Your marvelous things without number. I do not ask to see the reason for it all; I ask only to share the wonder of it all." -Brennan Manning

Summer Days

I've been a terrible blogger this month. We've been spending most of our days outside playing, swimming and picking berries. Jack absolutely LOVES blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries. Oh and cherries too! We went cherry picking with some family and he sat in the backpack the whole time trying to reach and grab any little cherry he could get his hands on. We also picked blueberries and boy does that kid love blueberries. He ran around the whole field grabbing handfuls of those little blueberries and stuffing them in his mouth. I probably should have limited him on his intake (I paid for it later in his diaper) but I just loved watching his joyful face loving life with complete abandon. I wish I had more moments where I felt like that. Oh to be a kid again on a hot summer day...

We've been going to the park a lot to let Jack toddle around. I push my stroller and follow him wherever he leads. He stood for a very long time watching kids play in a water park. I love watching him watch other people. What is going through his mind? What is he thinking? Feeling? I can't wait for Jack to express himself with words but until then I am left to studying his face. Watching his little eyes move and his facial expressions light up. I love that I know those lines of his face best. They are truly a gift.

Hoopfest

For the past 3 years Michael has been playing in the nation's largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament called Hoopfest in Spokane, WA. Last year, I stayed home with Jack who was only a few weeks old at the time. This year, I decided to venture out and make the 2-hour drive there and back with my mom. THANK YOU mom for taking this long, exhausting trip with me. Jack did okay but he definitely does NOT like to sit in his car seat for much more than 1/2 hour. So that makes a trip like this tough or any trip for that matter. I tried my best to sit in the back and keep him entertained but once he decides he's done, he's done. Oh bless my mother for being willing to help and walk around in huge crowds of people with a fussy baby and at-times grumpy mother. And she didn't even complain once. We cheered Michael on, played in the dirt, visited with some friends and then made the trip back home. You can see more pictures and a video of Jack clapping for daddy here.

*Pictures compliments of bf, Rochelle Maureen.

Noah & Moses

We bought this Noah's Ark set for Jack the other day at an antique store. The lady claimed that it had been hand-carved in Africa. Not sure if that part is totally true but nonetheless Jack has a lot of fun picking up all the animal pairs and carrying them all throughout the house. I sat down with Jack and was explaining what each animal was and who Noah was. He looked up at me with such an intense interest, it amazes me how he really acts like he understands what I'm saying sometimes. I wonder how much he really understood. One minor mistake of mine was lifting up the Noah character and falsely telling Jack, "This is Moses". Luckily, Michael was sitting close by and quickly corrected me with "Noah". Oops. :\ Maybe I need to reread my Bible stories.

I've been thinking a lot this week about raising Jack up to be a man after God's own heart. One verse that I read this week is Colossians 2:8.

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy , which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

There are so many opinions and family traditions based on what this world sees as good and right. Are the values of my home based on human tradition & the basic principles of this world or on Christ?

Jack turns 1!

We celebrated Jack's birthday last weekend with family & friends. Cupcakes, presents, playing with cousins. I don't think Jack could of asked for anything better!

The night before his birthday (June 10th), I lay awake remembering how I felt a year ago before his arrival. Our experience was a little different in that we knew we were going to have a baby at 7am on June 11th because of a planned c-section. Yeah, if I could not have had a c-section I wouldn't have. Jack had flipped upside down in the last few weeks of pregnancy, somewhere between 37-39 weeks. We tried to go in and get an external cephalic version, where the doctor manually tries to flip him around by use of hands & extreme tugging. Let's just say that Jack did not want to move and it was extremely painful trying to get him to do so! He was 8 lbs. 40z and would not budge. So we proceeded with a c-section.

I lay in bed remembering June 10th. I had no idea how much my life would change. I didn't know how many sleepless nights I would have. I didn't know how hard and trying it would be to be a parent. I didn't know how many dirty diapers I would change, owies I would kiss, songs I would sing, smiles I would cherish. I had NO idea how much love I would have for my little man. He is truly one of the best gifts of God's grace I could ever have. He has softened my heart, challenged me and forced me in many ways to turn to the Lord for strength.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17.

I think any parent can attest to this scripture. At least most days. :)

Exploring the Unknown

The season has arrived when Jack finds great happiness in opening every drawer, cabinet, box or trash can. It started off slow but now we are in full-on baby-proofing mode. I bought a few boxes of cabinet locks and proceeded to try to attach them myself. 2 hours later, I finished with one of our entertainment center drawers (the one where Jack seems to slam his fingers into daily). And yes, you did read that right, 2 hours! Let's just say that we now have about 5 extra drill holes in the drawer. Oops. And I found out afterward that I baby-proofed it so well that it is now ADULT-proofed because we can no longer open the drawer. Oh well, we don't watch any of our movies that much anyway.

The one area where we decided to not put any locks on the cabinets is in the bathroom. We figured we can just keep the door shut. Well, this works, except for when someone forgets to close the door or when we need to use the bathroom. For example, this morning I needed to get in there to grab a ponytail holder and the minute, I mean the MINUTE, I open that door Jack comes sprint-crawling across the living room yelling with excitement to get in there. The absolute joy he finds in throwing open the cabinet doors and grabbing our toothpaste, soap, brushes, feminine products (ahem, sorry) and other toiletry items is incredible. He doesn't really do anything with them except throw them across the room and make a huge mess. I was thinking about it this morning and I thought it must be like opening presents or exploring the unknown. Shoot, if I was him, I would probably enjoy pulling floss out of the box too!

Happiness can be found in the smallest of things. That is the lesson I have learned today.

Life in Pictures

Me and my bubs. Wouldn't you love to know what he's thinking as I'm taking the picture? Somehow I think it's something like this: "Come on, Mom, not another one."

Happy to be sitting in the highchair made by Grandpa Jon!

Nope, still not walking. He stands there and claps his hands but then just falls down when we try to get him moving. He gives me that look like, "Mom, I do what I want".

This is a current "favorite thing" of Jack's. To take everything out of his diaper bag or my purse. This does get old after a few times a day. However, we are pretty good team because he likes to take things apart and I like to reorganize and put them back together. :)

Yes, that's right folks. This is Jack reading "To Kill a Mocking Bird". Never mind the fact that he isn't actually looking at the pages while reading.

There he goes...

Hipster Baby

PJ's & Books

Jack is growing so fast that he is now wearing 12 mo. + sizes in clothing. It's funny how once you hit this size the clothes start changing! You don't see as many onesie-type shirts and the big news over here: BIG boy pajamas. Yes, that's right, no more little zip-up onesies, this little man is wearing two-piece pajama sets. We bought a few pairs the other day and just couldn't resist taking a picture.

I definitely feel, even in the last few weeks, that Jack has grown so quickly. Believe me, there have been some verrry long days. However, I keep catching myself staring at his face thinking that he looks even more like a little boy, not a little baby.

Another fun activity that Jack does just about every day is take down all the books from the bookshelf. At least the ones he can reach. What's a mom to do? Should I keep putting them back on the book shelf for him to just take down the next day? Or should I just leave the books on the floor and fight my inner type-A personality? Oh well, at least he's taking an interest in books! :)

Jack is 10 months!

I have been meaning to start this blog for a very long time now. We have a lot of family and friends who live out of town and we want to be able to update them on Jack (and us) but mostly Jack. :) So here it goes, better late than never right?

Jack turned 10 months old on April 11th. I really can't believe that it has been 10 months already! Don't get me wrong, there have been some really long days but after looking through some pictures it doesn't seem that long ago that I was holding him for the first time.

Some updates on Mr. Jack's life:

-22 lbs of lean mean muscle and 27" tall. He's gonna be like his daddy.
-He's crawling up a storm!
-Found out he's allergic to egg-whites. Weird, I know. But he still seems to have some weird rash-like symptoms so now we are trying to figure out if he's allergic to something else as well.
-He pulls himself up on just about everything and stands there very proud. After most naps I find him standing in his crib holding on and screaming. Lovely.
-He loves pulling books off of our bookshelf. I'm seriously considering moving the bookshelf, but in our tiny apartment it's hard to find another home for it. I never really understood how to baby-proof until now.
-8 teeth!
-Refuses to be fed by Momma or Daddy so we are trying to figure out how to make everything a finger food, which ends up being a huge mess. Yay!

I think that's most of the exciting news for now. I will try and update as often as I can!

Mer