First Day of Snow

I really love fall because it means I can listen to Christmas music without funny looks from people. It finally snowed this past week and I was so excited! However, there is also something about this time of year that makes me feel like I should be in school and I have been feeling guilty all week...like I've been ditching class. I love being a stay at home mom. It really has it's perks :)

Here is the view from our back yard. So lovely! Sorry Kate and Diana if this makes you homesick, but it's your own fault for moving far away :)


Here is Jack bundled up and asleep after our morning walk. He loves to be outside.


He also wanted to show off his new hat. I had to get him a bigger hat for his huge noggin.


We sure have been missing Jay. Only 4 more weeks until he comes home! Here is an update from Jack...

Dear Dad,

I really miss you. Mom isn't as much fun to play with. She is too careful with me. But, I am trying to be good so that I get lots of presents from Santa. Here is a picture of me in my fun chair. I am getting really good at sitting up straight and playing with my toys. I also can touch the ground now from my chair and I am practicing my jumping so I can dunk some day.


I decided this week that I am too big for a bottle. They are for babies. I only want to drink out of a cup. Gram still has to help me because most of the time I just dump it down my chin. I guess I still need a little practice. Maybe I better try a sippy cup first.


Look at me trying to sit up all by myself! My head is so huge that I have a hard time holding it up. Mom says I look more like Quasimodo than a kid when I try to sit.


This is my really cool new hat. I like to wear it all the time, even when I'm naked. My feet are still my favorite toys. I can even pick my nose with my big toe.


This week I learned how to roll onto my belly all by myself!!! I am such a stud! However, I still can't roll from my belly to my back, so I get stuck a lot. Mom usually has to come rescue me and roll me back over. She gets really mad at me when I do it at 3 am, but I think it is a funny joke, so I usually try to do it a few times a night. I also like to get my legs stuck in the slats of my crib. Soon, I will be rolling all over the house and mom will be chasing me. She said she hopes you come home before that so you can deal with it :)

Yesterday we went to a pumpkin patch! It was really windy and so much fun! Here I am about to pet a baby goat, but then I saw my feet and decided I would rather play with them. Do you like my really cute hat?


Here is a picture I like to call "Jack in the Cob". I kept trying to look at the cool corn I was sticking my head through, so mom had to hold my head up for the picture. I got really mad about that.


You can just call me Jack the Pumpkin King. Mom looks pretty cute, too, eh?

I love you, dad. Have fun in Washington. Don't forget to bring me home a little present.

Love, Jack D.

For the Ladies -Men, you may skip....you won't appreciate it anyway.

Today, Jack and I went to Wal-Mart...where I got carded...for buying spray paint. I guess you have to be 18 to buy spray paint and the guy thought he had a case of Juno and teen motherhood on his hands. I showed him my I.D. and he said, "26, huh? Wouldn't have guessed that". I could have kissed him! Had he looked at me a little closer, he may have noticed the extra 10 pounds of baby weight I am STILL carrying and the fact that my boobs are practically hanging into my armpits. I realized the other day where cleavage used to be is now completely sternum bone.

I have been working my butt off to get rid of these last 10 pounds. I am walking with my mom in the mornings and doing my Hip Hop Abs.....now before any of you think these are sally pants walks, I can assure you they are not. My mom walks about 47 mph and I trail behind her about 10 feet supporting myself with the stroller, gripping my side and gasping for breath. Anyone have ideas of how to fix the above weight problem without giving up butter, cheese, pancakes or chocolate?

Tales of the Work Widow

Well, this week brought a lot of changes! First big change to note was moving Jack out of our room! He now has his own room. I have to admit that I think I struggled more than he did. I think I checked on him about 307 times before I could finally sleep and then I couldn't get more than two hours of sleep because I had to keep going in his room to make sure he was still breathing, warm enough and not kidnapped. However, all is well now. He slept for 11 hours last night. It was heaven and I think he sleeps better away from his paranoid mother :)

Second change to note... I am now a single mother :( Jay got a job up in Tacoma, WA. for 6 weeks. He is roofing some family housing on the Army base up there. He has been gone for two days and I am ready for him to come home. I am glad we are still living with my parents so that I don't get too lonely :) He should be home the week before Thanksgiving. So, I am including lots of pictures of Jack, so he doesn't miss anything good while he is gone :)

Here is a cute little video of Jack laughing. It was the best I could get. As soon as I pull out the camera, he gets too focused on it and forgets to keep laughing. I also held the phone up to his ear today so Jay could talk to him. He tried to eat it. I don't think he's quite ready for the phone yet.




This is Jack's little bouncy thing that my sister Kate sent for him. He loves it but is still a little too small. And yes, we are a little redneck and let our kid run around in just his diaper.


If any of you have ever been to Boulder, CO. you may have see the contortionist man who can get himself in a teeny tiny box. Well, I think Jack may have found his calling in life. Watch out Pearl Street hippie! His feet are his greatest discovery. If I try to move his feet away from his mouth to change his diaper, he yells at me. If I put socks on him, he takes them off. Apparently they don't taste as good as baby feet.

I thought all 5 toes in the mouth was pretty impressive.


Finally for the last great news! My sister the Champion FINALLY had her baby yesterday. She was 8 days overdue. Yes, 8. I'm pretty sure I would have just lit a match and smoked the thing out by that point. But she is the patient one of the girls. They induced her and the baby basically slid right out. My sister is the 6 push queen. She weighed 8 lbs and was 19.5 inches long. She would have been just a wee little thing had she come on time! Her name is Mya Anne. She is a beautiful baby! Lovely skin and lots of black, black hair.

Hail the Conquering Hero!

Yesterday Jay took the GRE so he can start applying to grad schools. He did EXCELLENT! He got a higher score than he needs for all schools to which he is applying! WOOHOO!! I didn't know I married such a smarty pants :)

We are looking at:

Denver University
George Washington University
University of Maryland
Cornell
Yale

Anyway, we need some help. Jay is looking at a few degrees and having a hard time deciding which one to choose...so I figured I would get some input. If we can't decide, maybe we'll just put it to a vote :)

I put a little poll on the side so you can give us your 2 cents :) (Personally I think he should do International Security....then he could be like Jack Bauer :)

Bessie the Milk Cow has hung up her udders

Yep, you read the header correctly....hung up the udders!!! For my birthday, Jack gave me the gift of freedom. He decided that he had enough of breastfeeding and weaned himself! WAHOO!!!! I am loving this. My goal was to breastfeed for 4 months. Well, we did it. However, we are both moving on to greener pastures and the happy world of formula!!

Things I will like about not breastfeeding....
1. Staying dressed ALL day long
2. Sleeping on my stomach
3. Leaving him with Jay for more than 2 hours
4. Being able to feed him where ever we are without having to go find a private place

The list goes on and on :) So happy!!!!

He had his 4 month check up on Friday. He weighs a whopping 12 lb. 14 oz. (10th percentile, poor little runt) and is 26 inches long (90th percentile!!). We also started him on rice cereal today. He loved it and totally gets the concept of the spoon :) Child genius I tell ya. Sorry for the commentary in the video below. I didn't know Jay was recording :)








Someone should have told Jack not to talk with food in his mouth. How rude.



Jack tried out the Bumbo. He was less than impressed. Good thing I borrowed this from my sister and didn't actually buy it . The face says it all :)

Twenty what?

That's right 26 is how old I turned this week. I am now closer to 30 than to 20. That's pretty depressing. I did have a fairly productive year (i.e. baby, moving, no speeding tickets) but I do have quite a bit on my "Things to do before I turn 30" list to complete. If anyone can help with the following....please let me know. I am in a race against time.

Things to do Before I Turn 30.....
1. Learn Portuguese
2. Go to the Kentucky Derby
3. Go shopping in NYC, London, Rome and Paris (shopping also includes seeing all the sights)
4. Go on an African Safari
5. Learn to play the Banjo
6. Learn to make a souffle
7. Hang out with someone famous for a day (I'm talking A-list celebrity...none of this Ali Lohan business)
8. Learn to surf
9. Do a flip on the wakeboard
10. Learn to scuba dive
11. Invent a special sauce (one that might even surpass Ranch dressing)



As for good Jay news, he had a paint job this past week up in Keystone. He took the scenic way and it is looking really cold up there! Now for the bad news....Jay fell off his ladder that was also on top of his scaffold. He fell quite a ways. Luckily I'm not a widow and luckily the worst that happened was the gash on his leg below. Remind anyone of the other near death experience when he separated his shoulder 4 days before our wedding? Maybe I should look into a Kevlar Batman suit to keep him safe. Also, he would look pretty hot in it :)



I had another Martha moment. They come few and far between, so I thought I would share. My sister is having a baby girl in a few weeks and her shower was last night. I decided to make the little thing below for her nursery and some little hooks. The picture isn't great quality (at least that's what I'm blaming it on) but....Tadah!!


Just Jay and Jack looking way super cute, plus Jack wanted to show off his new camo pants. He is very proud of them. I actually think the child is quite vain.

I swear he is my child. I realize there is no resemblance, but I definitely pushed him out.

September Randomness (Is that even a word?)

September started off really great for us! We got to watch 3 boys from our ward while their parents went on a cruise. Twin 13 year olds and a 5 year old. Jay was in heaven! They played basketball, football, ping pong, watched movies and most importantly, took some trips down to the creek where they caught disgusting (to me at least) crawdads (see picture below). They walked down to the creek in mud boots and came back up with a bowl full of swamp creatures to show me. You can imagine my excitement I'm sure....but I put on a good show :)

Ethan, the 5 year old couldn't remember my name so he asked if he could just call me Grandma. I thought it would be funny to see peoples faces when he did, so I agreed that Grandma would be fine. Haha!

Anyway, I caught a glimpse of what my life will be like in a few years watching Jay play all day with those boys. I am so excited for Jack to grow up and have such a fun dad :) I'm not sure who misses who more, the boys or Jay, but they have already set up some play dates. I'm glad Jay is making friends here. Haha! :)




On another note, college football has started! Wahoo!!! I am proud to say that Oklahoma has started off with a bang....pretty much annihilating everyone they have played. I got Jack geared up for the first game of the season. Jay told me that Jack isn't allowed to watch TV until he is 2 as he is convinced it will slow his learning. Quite frankly I didn't have much choice. Jack won't take his eyes off the TV if it is on. He is totally into it :)




This is a picture of Jack's balancing act. He is pretty stinkin' good at it, actually. He just sits in Jay's hand like it's nothing.....the kid can't sit up on the floor....but he can do this. Go figure.




As you will notice throughout the pictures, Jack has an infatuation with his hands. They are ALWAYS in his mouth. We tried so hard to push the binky just for this purpose, but he really prefers his hands. Oh well, I guess I will worry about it later. Hopefully I can fix the problem before Kindergarten :)




Most parents teach their children not to pick their noses. Well, not Jay. He tries to help him. Lovely....



Here are my boys all ready for church. Handsome, aren't they?

The little man and his baby mama :)