Wednesday 28 October 2009

Pumpkins 2 and 3

Pumpkin Painting with a toddler is a joyous and messy process. He had a great time selecting each color, placing just where he wanted it, twisting the pumpkin so that he covered all the areas. He got plenty of paint on Nick. I took the clean spot--taking photos! Nick ended up putting clear spray on the final product so that we could leave it outside in the rain. He is really proud of it. He is a little confused why it doesn't come off in his fingers when he touches it now. Funny stuff!

Tonight we carved out our pumpkin. As I expected, Jack wasn't too much into touching the pulp and seeds. He did do much better than I thought and didn't cry or whine when we forced it upon him. He did do what he could to get it off him as quickly as possible though. He was most fascinated with the knife. It is so nice to have those safety knives. He and Nick did plenty of carving off of the lid, while I got a good start on the insides. Nick finished up the detail work and then we settled on the pattern of a baseball and bat with his name beside it. The final U was Nick's touch, but I am sure that doesn't surprise any of you.

Happy Halloween everyone!

http://www.youtube.com/user/LovingNT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/Jayhawkjack

Sunday 25 October 2009

Pumpkin 1

Since Jack is getting a little more crafty and capable we are going to decorate three pumpkins this year. This first one was a blast! I found Mr. Potato Head Pirate Parts at Target. I thought Jack would really enjoy putting them on. We quickly found it was way too tough to stick the parts in. It was hard for an adult to do. So he instructed us on the placement and we did the pushing in. The only one he cared about the correct placement was the hat. He's into hats right now and so he was sure it had to go on top. We had to trim off the stem to make it fit, but it was easy enough.

Once we had finished (or so I thought) he got out his markers and started coloring on it. Well, I couldn't bear the thought of those beign washed away by our seemingly constant October rain so I let him have the permanent markers. He had a blast. He was so intent on the placement and how he had to make his marks that it was just fabulous to watch.

I love the final work. I am so proud to have it sitting on my front steps!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayhawkjack/sets/72157622662649590/

Thursday 27 August 2009

Back to Life...Back to Reality

Not much new news to report. We are getting back to the grind around here.

Nick is Denver again this week, but made a new schedule that allows him to be home until the very end of September. He will be glad to be back home and we will be glad to have him back. Jack and I miss him so much when he is gone. He has now taken from calling me on the phone to calling his "Dada" We're not sure why he changed from Dadeeee to Dada.

My first week of class was this week. I have two classes with 19 students total. I teach Monday and Wednesday all day and Thursday afternoon. They are keeping me on my toes. It is taking a while to get adjusted.

Jack is loving his babysitters. He goes to Ms. Katie's on Monday and Wednesday. Thursday morning he is going to a Mother's Day Out class at the preschool and then going home with Ms. Beth in the afternoon. He has so many people taking care of him that he can't get enough of it. He is in love with Elsa, Ms. Katie's 10 month old daughter. Today at school, it was reported that he was holding hands with a boy on their walk. He also loves his one on one time with Ms. Beth and picking up her kids in the afternoon.

I haven't had nearly the time to get online since I really don't want to miss any of my hours with Jack when we've been apart for so much of the day. He apparently misses it too as he began walking up at 6:30 so we have plenty of time together.

Keep us posted on your happenings!

Tuesday 11 August 2009

A Mother's Musings

When Sandra Bonyton wrote "A bear and hare have been to the fair." Did she do it just to prove how messed up the English language structure can be?

How is it in a room full of toys that a kid can be most entertained by a ball and fish net?

Why does saying a word over and over again make it sound so silly? Elmo has made me realize how weird that can be.

How can I toddler love something one minute and two minutes later think it is repulsive?

Isn't it nice that sometimes all you need is a kiss to make things better?

Why would you bring your kid into a restaurant if you know that they weren't feeling well? Then why wouldn't you alert the people when your kid threw up in the booth?

Why is it that parents try to explore the cause to crying when they were nowhere around during the incident, even though there were posted signs children must be supervised? Do you really think that 10 four and five-year-olds are going to be able to explain what happened when you can't help them all?

Did you ever notice that 15 minutes of a tantrum last as long as 3 joyous hours of playing outside?

When is it that we stop noticing and taking joy all the little things like train whistles, birds chirping, and butterflies floating by?

Why is it in the middle of a long day I forget how blessed I am that I was given this challenge?

How did I get so lucky?

Saturday 1 August 2009

Woot!

I am so excited to be done with my conference and all my summer camps. It is a huge relief to be done with all of that.

Jack is really hitting is stride. He is coming into own and become more helpful than a handful. This week we have been running around getting everything ready for this conference and my summer camp. He would always take small items to help me out and would entertain himself pretty well while I was running around.

He has also began a new fascination with blocks. He loves to bang, sort them, and build with them. I will try to take a few new pics of him when he gets going. I have been glad to have see him entertained while I was doing work this week.

I have a week to catch up on house work before my focus returns to school. Nick is spending a half week in Denver again. He is liking his work, but it would be nice if he were closer to home. His bosses are taking notice of his hard work, so it will help him continue his career up the path that he desires.

I will try and get some pictures posted soon.

Monday 20 July 2009

Greetings from Denver

Yep, you read that right... I am on "vacation" again. Nick was called to work in Denver. When he left, they said he would be out here for a week. Last Thursday, they asked him to stay for another. This was a little irksome since our anniversary is tomorrow. He convinced me (which wasn't easy) to drive and meet him somewhere in the middle and he would drive us back. He really wanted to see us and I think it is easier to come home to a hotel room, if you're wife and kid are in it.

Saturday, we explored downtown Denver and walked around the 16th Street Mall. We had a delightful breakfast at a little Cafe down there. They had the best pastry and fresh fruit bar. Yummy! I also had from scratch pancakes. I am not sure that I ever had from scratch before. They definitely taste different than a mix!

Sunday, we decided that we would hike the mountains around Denver. We looked up a place on the web called Maxwell falls. The sites said that it was 2 mile walk that was easy to moderate. It must have been 2 miles the way the crow flew not the way you climb. It must have also been a mountain climbers version of "easy". The trail ended up being around 4 miles long, one way. My calves are killing me from the steep hills that you had to take in most places. The worst thing about it all is that we weren't truly prepared for such a long hike and had to ration out our water. Luckily, the day was fairly cool and so we didn't have to fight the heat in addition to climb. When we got to the top, the falls were such a let down. For all that trouble, I'd hope to see something a little more awesome. We played in cold water from the Rockies and then headed down. It wasn't but 10 minutes into the walk that Jack conked out hard on Nick. Nick was a trooper and carried him down the entire way. We then went into the quaint town of Evergreen got some delightful fudge and some nastily overpriced "mexican" food in a Bistro. I think they sold more on location than on quality!

This morning was rough for me. Denver and I did not get along. I was trying to get batteries for my camera before we went to the zoo. So I had it in my head how I would get the store we had passed the day before. But, I turned the wrong way down a one-way. You can imagine how freaked I was. This was made much worse by being pulled over and issued $100 ticket and being told that I was forced to show up in court in September because I didn't have my most current insurance card with me! So we go the zoo and Jack falls asleep before we make it half way through. Since there was no waking him, I decided to leave. Well, I got the courthouse on the phone and they made it sound like I could get everything taken care of quickly if I went in. So I decided to go in. Well parking downtown is a bear. I find one spot that looks good, I pay the meter extra so I know that I won't get another ticket, and trek back to get it taken care of. The trip in there takes around 40 minutes. Just as I am walking back with a hot, cranky, and hungry kid--I see the meter maid putting a ticket on my car. Apparently, I was parked incorrectly (even though I had no other option when I parked there!) So there was another 25 ticket! I start freaking out, and the cop tells me I can go back a couple a blocks and they should waive it for me since I am a tourist and all. Jack is screaming his head off, but I really don't want to shell out another 25 dollars. The guy tells me that it is a valid ticket and that I should have driven to another spot. However, he was willing to waive it down to 5 if I paid it today. The paying was the worst part. I think that the city has something against central air as their buildings were extremely hot.

I was glad to return to the hotel in one piece. Jack had a huge lunch and late nap. I had two cans of coke and some strawberry shortcake and felt much better. We picked up Nick after work and the traffic was awful again. Too many people it too much of a hurry. However, we had a great dinner and a wonderful evening. Nick is over working from home and I had some time to blog. Who knows, I might even get pictures up too!

Tomorrow is 8 years for us. My goodness, how the time does fly. We are unsure of what we are doing with Jack in tow and Nick needing to work a full day. At least we are all together.

Monday 29 June 2009

Where did a month go?

I can't believe that it has been a month since I've blogged.

We have all been busy. I am preparing to teach my second full day camp. It is amazing how much harder it is to prepare a classroom with a toddler in tow. Jack really loves to explore the classroom and get into every toy that I have set out for my kiddos. I have to really leave him at home to get anything done.

Jack is having a blast enjoying the summer. We spend so much time outside playing around. He is really a bleached blond now. He is growing like a weed and is tan to boot. He is developing his own funny personality. He is a total daddy's boy and an all-boy kinda kid too! He loves to be thrown on the bed, get rolled around, sword fight, dig in the dirt, throw rocks in the water, splash in anything resembling a puddle or a waterfall. He also loves to go fishing. Thank goodness Aunt Rachel picked out a fishing pole for a gift for his first birhdhay. It is the only way we can keep him away from Nick's poles.

Nick is doing well. We all had a great time on our vacation. He hated driving the truck with a camper attached through Texas! Those drivers are crazy. I have no idea how our friends, the Norman's, live there. We spent two wonderful days with them playing games, seeing kids, and debating philosophies. It was nice to be around friends who we enjoy bantering with. We also borrowed Nick's dad boat and went out on the lake. Nick had a great time fishing and we had fun playing in the water and on the rocks. I must admit that I am not a fan of those crazy Lake Travis fish. I have never been attacked so many times while I was in the water. I got used to the minnows, but the big fish, ugh! This week he is in Salina working on Pioneer Crossing, Segment 2. One of their subs from Segment 1 has begged their help for the 2nd part. I think it is supposed to be short lived. We can only hope so.

I am posting new pics and video after this. I am actually using Jack's nap time wisely. :) Hope you are all having a wonderful summer.

Tuesday 26 May 2009

Summer

We love that summer is now here. We enjoyed a great four day weekend with Nick. He was able to work from home on Friday and then only had to put in a couple hours the next 3 days. It would have all been ideal if our air conditioner had not went out on us.

We attended KC Jiggle Jam, an outdoor family concert event. Jack did pretty well. He even had a few moves that I would have love to shown you, but I forgot the camera. He keeps me so busy now that I rarely to think to grab the camera. I wish that I had something that I could just attach to my glasses and I could grab all those "too cute" moments to film. Nick was talking about how those are the moments that Valerie always seems to grab of the kiddos.

Since I last blogged, Jack and I have taken a trip to Western Nebraska. He had a great time seeing everyone. He had a constant playmate which is pure heaven to him. His Gram has a great clock that plays music every hour. Luckily for him, there is a button that you can push to activate it sooner. He was able to scam out a few plays from his Gram and Tio. I think that his Tio really just loved to hear him say clock, which comes out more like cock at this point. He did have a bad experience when he was out at a party. We were looking at a macaw that they warned me would squawk at us. I didn't realize it would be so loud and in our face. It scared the bejeezers out of him. Now he is apparently afraid of birds. We were eating dinner at Mi Ranchito and then he spied a wooden macaw hanging on a perch in the center of the restaurant. It was over after that. Hopefully we will get this kicked before he deals with it while he has long last memories!

He also received a cute swing set from his Grandma Denise. She worked very hard checking ebay and all the area Craigslist until she found him just the one I wanted. He loves it so much. We are going to rock up our backyard so that he has a more even, poo free place to play. I am not sure when we will get around to it, but hopefully this summer. Nick thinks we need like 8 tons of rock to fill in the space! Wowzers!

We have such a bleached blond boy on our hands now. He is growing so much. We play outside for at least 2 hours a day. He really gets a kick of just about anything out there. He is also working on his throwing arm. He can get a ball to go about a good 10 feet. Now, it is just to make sure he remembers which toys are balls and which are not!

He likes to sing along to music with me in the car now. Unfortunately, instead of making sounds sounds he just makes an eeeeeeee noise instead. Cute, but it gets annoying after a while. I am looking forward to the day when he can see along using some wrong lyrics.

Hope all is well in your world. Keep in touch!

Thursday 7 May 2009

The Irresitable Power of Raspberries

I wanted to share my observation of the simple power of raspberries. From the time Jack's belly was big enough to get one, I've loved giving him raspberries and watching his face light up with a grin. Now on our snuggle mornings, he loves to return the favor. His huge body movements as he prepares to blow are hysterical. He is also learning that the more slobber he has, the better the result will be. It is just amazing to me that something so simple can bring us so much joy!

Not much in other news here. We're are just staying busy with our standard schedules. Nick and the neighbor guys built our shed. I must say that I am very thankful he recruited their help. It took the three of them almost 3 1/2 hours of constant work to get it together. That is on top of the time we spent building the frame pieces and the time they spent unloading/hauling rock to level the base! Now once he has the time, he'll be able to hang the doors and we can load it up. It will be nice to have the garage cleaner and more organized!

Saturday 2 May 2009

A Perfect Saturday

Sometimes I wish I had a blackberry so I could write a blog about all the cute things Jack does in a day. Then the day gets crazy and I can't remember all that I was going to tell you about. Isn't that they way it goes?

Today was wonderful. Jack and I left the house bright and early to go to garage sales (which were a total bust), so that Nick could sleep in. When we were on our way home, Nick texted to say that he was finally up and moving. He was watching some southern lady cooking steaks with her kid. This apparently inspired him to want to make steaks with his kid.

Since it was in the 60's with little wind, it made for a beautiful day to be outside. The boys went to the store to get the goodies without me. I was able to stay home and lay in the quiet and then enjoy a nice shower by myself. I even had time to make sure that my legs were shaved good and not the hap hazard attempt they usually get as Jack is playing peek-a-boo with the shower curtain!

After our delicious meal, we headed down to the water for some fishing. We didn't catch anything or even get a bite, but Jack did get to work on his rock tossing. His Gram taught him this during our trip in March and he's been a big fan ever since. He's really gotten a bit more of an arm. We also went swinging on the swingset provided by the park. He smiled so big with each high push.

Unfortunatley all this fun made him miss his nap, so he was a bit cranky. I brought him home and Nick went to take back our movie. He actually felt well rested enough to tackle our home improvement project of fixing our deck stairs. While he was at the supply store, our happy little man woke up a grouchy one! All he wanted to was snuggle and be near Mom. Nothing else was cutting it. It was a bit trying of a couple hours, but he finally calmed down and we are able to play farm for a bit before he settled into bed.

Nick got the back stairs done and they even ended up being considerably cheaper than he had estimated for. So now, he is out returning the extra supplies and picking up more supplies for projects tomorrow. Jack is sleeping sweetly upstairs and I am having a chance to blog. Hope all is well in your world.

Monday 27 April 2009

Three more weeks until school is out

Where has the year went? It really seems to fly by as I get older. Having Jack has only magnified that. I suppose Nick being gone the majority of the year has added to it to. I can't stress how thankful I will feel when this project is over and we can attempt to return to some sort of a routine in our lives. I never feel like I know what I am going to get.

Last Wednesday, Nick came home in enough time so that we could plant our patio garden. Jack had a good time helping dig in the dirt. He is still into exploring things with his mouth and he decided that dirt didn't taste all that nice although he tried it more than once. With Jack doing so much of the helping with the plants, we are trying to take an organic approach to them this year. We will see how that holds up. I want him to be a part of it, and so we will work to see what works for our family.

The weekend before we went to Wichita so that Jack could go the circus with his Grandma and Papa and two cousins. He came down with a bad cold on the Tuesday before hand, but at his 15 month check the doctor determined it wasn't contagious. I think his Aunt Rachel and cousins would beg to differ. I think the boys had a blast, but I feel awful that we shared his cruddies with them. Jack ended the trip by feeding his Grandma some banana cream pie. I have some wonderful pics that I posted over on flickr.

We had quite the hot spell the last couple of days and so we have been playing outside like crazy and Jack is turning into quite the beach headed blonde. I am surprised how quickly it is changing. It will be amazing to see what color it is after the summer. We didn't get to see it last summer as he hardly had any hair. If anyone makes a trip to visit, we have several fun places that we can show you. We are looking forward to making a trip to Deanna Rose again soon. This week it appears that we will be getting rain so it wouldn't be to enjoyable, but hopefully soon. I am trying to plan us a summer full of busy activities.

Monday 13 April 2009

Busy Times

We are staying busy here. I couldn't believe it had been so long since I updated the blog. It didn't feel like very long, but it's probably that old age creeping up on me! As you all know, I turned 30 this past weekend. It was actually a great birthday. I hope that I can take 40 as gracefully. It's hard to believe I am closer to 40 than to 20. But I did have one great student tell me that I was going to be a long time before I was old, so that was quite nice.

My family came down from Alliance and Lincoln to see me. We had a good time playing cards and catching up. My great accomplishment was that I managed to beat Kyle on the Wii Fitness part of Wii Sports two out of three times. Nothing like keeping up with the spring chicken. Jack loved having everyone here. It meant constant attention and entertainment. My mom got him a singing bunny for Easter. It totally freaks him out and yet he has an odd attraction to it. Could it mean that he is going to love horror movies? He was also quite entertained by the box my color laser printer came in. We've decided to keep it around another week or so that he can enjoy it a little longer. After that, I make take it to preschool so that my morning class can have a go at it.

There isn't much new going on in Jack's world. He may be getting a cold or his bottom teeth could be making their surge. I am hoping for teeth as I would love to see these suckers crack through. They've been harassing him for almost 5 months now!!! I really hope it's not a cold as we would like to go Wichita so that Nick can see the circus and Mom and Dad could take a break. I am not sure that I am ready to go a whole weekend, but a day/night could be nice with Nick. We haven't really had time to discuss exactly what our plans are.

Nick dedicated himself to spending all weekend with us. He didn't take a work call or email the entire time I was with him. (I went shopping with my mom for a couple hours on my birthday, and can't be sure of what he did then!) Unfortunately, he is really paying for it today and looks to have to work a 16 hour day. Tuesday's are usually his worst day, so who knows what he has in store. We are looking for a good vacation spot because our original plans fell through. If you know of any good, relatively inexpensive ideas, let us know!

I uploaded some new pics and vids. Enjoy!

Kara

Friday 27 March 2009

A Vacation from Everything

Sorry it has been a while since I updated the blog. For my Spring Break, I pretty much took a break from everything. I didn't answer email, I didn't blog, I didn't do work, I didn't do laundry. It was great. However, it has made me busier now. Plus, as school rolls to a close, things always get busier. It is hard for me to think that I only have 7 weeks left with my kiddos. Where did the year go?

Jack is cruising along like a champion. He now prefers to walk more than crawl. He is pretty slow, but I am glad that he hasn't figured out the run speed yet.

We had a great time up in Alliance. It was pretty nice weather most of the time we were there. Jack went on several wagon rides with his Gram and her dog Archie. He loved the rides so much that he would just go and sit in the wagon and dream about riding. It was quiet darling! We also went and fed the ducks. When we first arrived, Jack was really freaked out. He was crying and clinging to me. However, he quickly warmed up and by the time we left, he was walking up to the ducks with the bread. He usually seemed to have the philosophy of one bite for them, one bite for himself. He also spent a lot of time trying to learn to blow bubbles. He didn't have any success, but my mom caught some great pics. I have great pics of most of this, but have misplaced the camera, so it will be a while before I get them up online. I am hoping to get that done sometime this weekend.

We are gearing up for a snow storm. I am hoping that it isn't as bad as they say it is going to be. We are running to the store to pick up the essentials. We are also going to pick up some beer because the Jayhawks play tonight and we won't have to run out if it is nasty. We are also going to open gym with our friends. We had a great time last time, so hopefully we are as lucky again this time.

If you're wondering about Nick, he is working hard as always. This project is really "kicking his ass". We are looking forward to taking a nice break in June.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Hand, Hand Fingers Thumb

I love sharing books with Jack. Hand, Hand Fingers Thumb was one of my favorites growing up as kid and now Jack is really enjoying it too. It is so funny to see him ask us to read books and read them again, and again, and again. He's definately getting his favorites.

Sometimes I wish I knew what he was thinking. Today, he sat in the sink for a good 20 minutes just turning the water on and off and playing with the drain. He also played with toothbrushes and anything else he could get his hands on. He looked so engrossed that I really wished he had the verbal skills to express what he was thinking about.

I am enjoying the start of Spring Break. I have several days off. I know that I should plan for the rest of March and April, but I think that I will probably just enjoy going home and playing with the boy. He does enjoy visiting school, so maybe that will be my motivation since playgroup doesn't run when school is out of session.

We hope you are planning to cheer on the Jayhawks during March Madness. Their first game is tomorrow at 11:30! Go Hawks!

Sunday 8 March 2009

A Nice Weekend

We have had a fairly nice weekend here. On Friday, we went to Salina so we could meet some of Nick's co-workers on this project from hell. While Nick was at work, Jack and I enjoyed the pool. It was absolutely beautiful. I tried to get some video of him enjoying it, but it's hard when you are in the water too. I am not sure if turned out well or not. If it did, I will be posting it to youtube soon so that you can enjoy it as well. I did at least capture a few precious pics so I will have to get those onto flickr soon. If we get lucky, I am going to have a great summer because the water play wore Jack out. He took a 2.5 hour nap! Now this was not as great for me b/c I didn't have a laptop to play on, but I was able to get some work stuff and book reading done.

After meeting Nick's co-workers on Friday night, I felt so much better. It was good to see that I wasn't the only wife totally frustrated by the number of hours that their husband is putting in! Nick thinks that it will get better soon and he may only have to work 50 hour weeks. I sure am hoping so.

Saturday, we headed over to Wichita and saw everyone. It was a beautiful day and we were able to keep the door open so Jack could just go in and out as he pleased. He had a good time being the only kid there for a while and getting all his of Grandma's attention. A couple of hours later his cousin's arrived and the mayhem started. Those three are so funny together. They all had a great time enjoying each other. Keegan and Jack really played well together. One of the funniest moments there was is when they were eating goldfish crackers with their Aunt Valerie. Jack would take them from her and feed them to Keegan. I tried to get a photo, but it didn't quite take. It was bust-a-gut funny. What wasn't so funny was the thunderstorm that was on it's way. It took out the second half of the intense Kansas vs Texas basketball game. We got lucky, and were able to dig themselves out of another large hole. I have a feeling the Jayhawks won't go far in the tourney this year because of their propensity to do this, but don't tell Nick I said that.

We drove home and were faced with some beat down rain and hail. It's not 9:30 (granted we've sprung forward so Jack only thinks it's 8:30), but he's still asleep. It's kidna nice being the only one up. The wind is howling outside, so it doesn't look we will be spending much of our day out there. We are lucky in that Nick's dad is going to come and see us for dinner, so that will be nice.

Hope you all are doing well.

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Beer Breaded Out

I have made so many loaves of beer bread that I don't think I can stand to make any more. They ended up being very popular items at the bake sale, so I couldn't deny the school the money making opportunity. I wasn't going to make any more, but my friend Judy put her's back to my instince so we could see if it would sell on Tuesday. So, I made three more loaves for today and she didn't get one of those either. I ended up making three more loves so she could get one of them, but I am done now!

Jack was tuckered out today. He fell asleep in the car on the way home from Mi Ranchito. He hasn't been taking afternoon nap and so he is wanting to crash out and then wake up early. I am not a huge fan of the schedule. I keep thinking we will work on once these darn molars come in. I hear that the eye teeth are just shortly behind so I shouldn't hold my breath.

Nick pulled another 28 hour shift. He came home and got about 2 hours worth of sleep before starting back to work again. He's so tired, but he's hanging around watching the Jayhawks get beat. They keep digging themselves into these big holes. Nick takes it as a personal offense. As if they are playing bad to offend him!

Tomorrow promises to be busy with my reading to daycare children, having a staff meeting, enjoying the beautiful weather, and going to game night at the school!

Monday 2 March 2009

The Family Is Growing

Gotta ya! It's not us, although I must admit I was surprised how many people thought it might be when I talked to them on the phone. We got the news yesterdat that Jack is going to have another cousin at the end of October. Roy and Rachel announced, via video blog, that Baby Number 3 is on it's way. I don't think they will find out what they are having again, but I am hoping for a girl for the family. We've got lots of boys, so a change of pace would be nice.

Jack is walking pretty well now. He will take a good six or seven steps pretty much consistently before deciding that he would prefer to crawl. Sometimes he will even end his journey by walking.

He has also found the power button on my laptop. I was in the middle of writing this blog last night when he powered it down. I figured that it was a sign that it was time for a bath.

He still doesn't like having his hair washed. It's a huge ordeal with him. It's harder for me if Nick is trying to help b/c he tries to go slow to minimize the screaming, while I just try to blast through it so I can distract him afterwards.

He finally weighed 20lbs on the scale. I am sure that we will probably flip him around before our next road trip. We are planning on a road trip to Nebraska in the middle of March and I am sure that I will keep rear facing then if he will let me. It is nice to be able ride so that we can easily look at each other. I guess we'll just have to see how used he gets to riding forwards.

Not much new with Nick or I. We are both looking forward to the nice weather the weather man said is coming! I think Nick's going to go fishing if it gets nice enough one evening. Silly kid...

Thursday 26 February 2009

Content

Isn't it amazing how content little ones are with the smallest things? You can spend all the time and money pick out the greatest books and toys and yet they like to play with the leaf the dog brought in on his paw!

Jack is so much more content now that his father is home. They don't have to be doing anything together. He just seems that he is more at peace when he knows that his Dad is around.

We have a crazy week next week. It is National Lutheran Schools Week, so I need to bake a bunch of goodies for the bake sale. I have to get ready for the kiddos to sign at church. Then we've got a family game night on the 5th.

The most exciting thing for next week is on Sunday. Don't forget to see the Jayhawks battle (hopefully, whoop) the Tigers. If they can come back from 12 down to the number 3 team in the nation at their house, than all things are possible.

Monday 23 February 2009

Nick's out of town...again

Not much of note today. We had an excellent weekend. Nick took all of Saturday off again. We went to a playgroup in the morning. There were so many kids there that it was a bit overwhelming for all of us. It is funny to see Jack interact with other children his age. He definately has no idea about waiting for toys or turns or much of anything.

Speaking of not waiting, this is leading to some horrible tantrums at home. He can scream bloody murder when he is angry. I took a Baby Sign class tonight so I am hoping that giving him a way to express his emotions may help those. I think that he just has a strong personality, which is good that we are working on learning those things now.

I am hoping that tomorrow that weather is as nice as predicted because we will spend most of our day outside. He loves to go for wagon rides, especially if there is a park stop involved. He is getting good at climbing his little tikes slide, but he still needs some help figuring out what do when he gets to the top.

As I close this message, the Jayhawks are down by 12. I sure hope things turn around. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Thursday 19 February 2009

A Blog Worthy Day

Today was one of those really enjoyable days. He slept until 6:20 (which is sadly becoming sleeping in) and then we had a nice nurse and snuggle until almost 7:30.

For breakfast he ate, about 30 grapes, 5 silver dollar pancakes, and half a container of applesauce. We got dressed and headed out for our Thursday playgroup. It is becoming something we both look forward too. The is a core group of regular attendees who it is nice to visit with.

After play group we headed over to school to pick up the gerbils and my paycheck. He went in with the MDO group for a while and I was so amazed at the difference just a year makes. It made me so excited about all that is too come!

He took a catnap on our ride home and when I woke him up he was hungry again. Unbelievably, he ate almost 6 ozs of butternut squash, and some chex cereal, and more applesauce. I was thinking he was most likely done eating for the day. We then went to living room and had a great time playing. He chose to walk from the end of our couch clear into the kitchen. I just don't think he realized what he was doing as he was jabbering away pretend that the remote was a phone. I tried to get him to repeat it, but he wouldn't. He's a bit stubborn like that.

We then went out to HyVee. It is so funny to see him ride in the ridiculous sized car themed shopping carts. There is no way that I could do my whole weeks worth of shopping, but it is nice treat for him. I love taking him to the banana isle. It gives everyone there a laugh. I recorded his reaction to bananas on video tonight so look for it soon. After our trip home, we ate dinner again. This time he had a cheese stick, a banana, some sweet potato, some baby carrots, and some tuna fish! If he eats nothing tomorrow, I will not be surprised.

We then play around some more and when it was ready for bed, he had me read books to him for 40 minutes. He would have kept going, but I called it quits since he only had two catnaps all day. When I laid him down, he just snuggled under his blanket and look up at me peacefully. It was the perfect ending to a great day!

Saturday 14 February 2009

Valentine's Day

It has been a wonderful day. Nick got the boy dressed and we headed out around 9:30am. We were on a search for a new camera, since I dropped the last one down a flight of concrete stairs trying to get the perfect shot of the boy. I did find one that I liked and it takes great video. We got some good ones of the boy taking a few steps. His dad and "Aunt" Laurie say that is walking. Apparently they both think that I am being to hard on him. Speaking of his Aunt Laurie, both she and Patrick were kind enough to watch Jack while Nick and I went and watched The Reader at the Cinema Suites. The wonderful thing about all of this, is that it was all set up as a surprise by Nick.

I thought as an ode of Valentine's Day, I would try to list 14 things I love about being a mom.

1. I love slobbery open mouth kisses.

2. I love the biggest bear hugs that I get when I walk into the room.

3. I love that the way that he gets all excited over the little things, like bananas and dishwasher detergent.

4. I love sharing my favorite books with him.

5. I love teaching him new things.

6. I love that I can make him giggle with slapstick comedy. Tripping myself is par for the course. I am glad it makes my kid laugh.

7. I love that I have a better excuse as why my house is a mess.

8. I love that he loves to hear me sing. The Rock Chalk chant is still his favorite.

9. I love his smile.

10. I love that he is such a mix of Nick and I. He can climb like a champ and throw a fit like a hurricane.

11. I love to watch him sleep.

12. I love watching Nick be a dad.

13. I love watching him make other people smile.

14. I love my son.

Wednesday 11 February 2009

Third Time's A Charm?

So I am not sure if anyone is reading this, but I thought I would try again. The blogs won't be long or detailed, but may give you a brief snippet into our days. I thought they would be a bit like my constant status updates on facebook.

Today, I got my conferences done. They went smoothly. There wasn't much I had to say that the parents hadn't already heard. I think it helps the parents feel a lot more connected with me and the school.

Jack doesn't seem any closer to walking. He is doing a lot of standing on his own in random places, but he just feels more secure with a hand on something. He has taken a few single steps, but nothing with consistency. He had his Valentine's party at his daycare today. I ended up being the only parent to make valentine's, but the kiddos appreciated them. I also gave them to his friends outside of daycare.

Nick is working like crazy. In fact, he is still on the phone as we speak. He is looking forward to June to the end of this project. I think that they are going to try and give more like this. I am not sure how much of it we can all take. At least they have given him a laptop so that he has able to spend sometime with Jack the majority of evenings.

Hopefully, I will write more tomorrow. Don't hold your breath waiting though!