not so jumbo jack

"Project" Time

2012-02-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

Jack is very interested in doing all kinds of "planned" actvities/arts and crafts lately. I've also found that having these activities for him to choose from really cuts down on the times where he is asking to watch a show- since he is only allowed to watch one half hour show a day, the asking for a show gets real old, real quick.

I know some people would say that to fix that problem, I should just cut out TV all together. I seriously commend the parents who have chosen to do that, but most of the time that half hour of my day is my chance to get important phone calls made, or dinner cooked or the bathroom cleaned, or a quick workout done or a shower taken. I just can't give it up!! And it helps me be a better Mom the rest of the day I think. :)

Anyway, back to the point. I've found it really helps our day go more smoothly when we have some fun activities to do rather then only playing with toys and legos.

A new favorite.......

Candy Land!

This is the first game that he has played that involved more then just matching, and he has gotten the hang of it pretty well.

Although, would you look at the "new and revised" Candy Land board? A little trippy, no?

They took away some of the characters (no more Grandma Nut, Mr. Candy Cane, Jolly Gumdrop or the molasses swamp guy) and added some new ones, which, (as a stanch lover of my candy land game when I was a kid), I think are a bit too modern. :)

Also, I seem to remember that the story board used to say that King Candy was lost and you were helping to find him. Now, it just says that King Candy has invited you to a special party in your honor..... ah, kids these days............

Another fun new activity involved this plastic storage bin, a few bags of lentils and his construction worker set from Nana. HOURS and HOURS have been spent playing quietly here. This was inspired by ideas from this blog, www.playcreateexplore.com , which has all SORTS of amazing ideas for kid activities.

And speaking of activities, I was all set to make cute little valentines cookies today after nap, but we are out of eggs, so it may happen tomorrow instead.

a date with daddy

2012-02-09T15:41:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, before heading up to the NICU for the parent support group, we picked up Mike from work while it was still light outside and headed to the park! I used to walk to this park with Jack when we first brought him home from the hospital since it is fairly close to our old house. It is one of my favorite parks since it is right on the lake, and I'm always happiest when I'm in sight of a large body of water. :)

Jack had a great time playing on the playground, he is still pretty timid about things, which I think is a combination of taking longer on his motor skills and maybe personality too. Mike is much better then I am about pushing him a little bit so that he is able to gain more confidence in his own abilities. I'm guessing that is true for most mommy's and daddy's right? I tend to want to protect and coddle him too much for his own good I think, but I can't help it!

He thought these statues were pretty funny- and look, this one has a book!!!

He had to make sure there were no pictures. :) This boy and his books, oh my. He really does not love anything more then sitting on the couch with a "blankie" on while we read story after story. And speaking of which, he is bringing me one now, so I'm off!

a very welcome guest!

2012-02-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

A sight not often seen during a Seattle winter!!

Oh my, we have been soaking up this amazing (relative) warmth and sunshine!! I'll be honest, as a native Seattle-ite, I rarely, if ever, check the weather forcast during the winter since it is usually just rain, rain, rain.

So, these days have been a glorious reprieve of our usual gray days, and has me really getting excited for the warm and sunny weather that will hopefully be ahead in a few months!

Jack is spending pretty much all his waking hours outside digging in the dirt, piling up rocks and watching Bailey go crazy.....

He also rediscovered his sand table and all his outside toys that we didn't put away. :)

Well, we're off to go soak up as much of this Vitamin D as we can!! Hope you have some sunshine where ever you are!

visiting cousins!

2012-01-31T16:01:00.000-08:00

This past friday, I picked up Mike from the airport (he was out of town on business all last week) and we headed over the mountains and across the plains to Mike's extended family.

We stayed with his sister and her family - they have three kids - and so there was lots of fun cousin playtime!

Saturday morning we headed up to his Grandpas house on the lake for his annual bonfire/birthday party.

When we got there, Jack asked "where is the sun and the boat?!" He remembered all the fun we had there in the summer! Quite a different scene with all the snow and the lake frozen solid!

Jack and Ella really enjoyed sledding down the little hill

"Let's do it again!!"

Getting warm inside with Mike's Grandpa- Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

Cousins brushing teeth together- fun!

Cousins taking a bath together - not so fun according to Jack.

I think he was freaked out by other people in the tub! He just got a quick rinse off. :)

How cute is this guy??

We had so much fun!!

All trying a headstand

Even Gunnar gets in on the action!

The difference of the growth charts......Dakota is 19 months, Jack is 3 years old.... quite a difference huh? :)

It was so fun to get to see the cousins all playing together and having a great time, with the occasional little fight over a toy or some tears- and in Jack's case, wanting to be the tattle-tale :) Overall though, they all had a lot of fun together and I hope they will grow up to be good friends.

snow days

2012-01-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a week we had! The snow just kept dumping down, with freezing rain mixed in between, which made for some very slick roads and a week of hibernation for me and Jack. (Mike was still able to get to work every day- he is a pretty savvy snow driver)

I always think of myself as a homebody, but being trapped at home for a few days made me realize how much Jack and I both enjoy our little outings to meet with friends, or go to the park or the library or the store. He would ask me everyday, "where are we goin' today mama?", so he is happy to get back to a more normal schedule this week.

As you can see, he did have fun in the snow, although it did take some convincing to get him out into it. Once we were out there, he loved to be pulled around in the sled with Bailey "chasing" him, and to stomp around in his big snow boots.

One day, after Mike got home from work, they went out to build some snowmen! Jack was totally into helping build and finding the right rocks for the eyes.

A daddy sized snowman and a Jack sized snowman! So fun!!

well, no pictures today....

2012-01-17T10:10:00.000-08:00

When I tried to upload pictures to the blog today, I got the error message that I've used my maximum capacity of free storage and have to purchase more storage space..... so, I'm going to have Mike take a look at that, because computer savvy-ness is NOT my strong suit!!
Instead I'll give you a written recap of the past week!
Mike had his birthday on friday, the 13th. For 69 days, I've been "a year" older then him (I don't really think less then 3 months qualifies me as a cradle robber though right??) Anyway, during those 69 days, I get lots of extra teasing about being so much older then him, so I'm always happy when his birthday rolls around. :)

His Birthday meal has been the same ever since I discovered the Pioneer Woman's Marlboro Man Sandwich which is his idea of a perfect meal- meat, bread, and the only veggie to be found is a chopped onion. And his birthday dessert has been the same for much longer then we've been together, his Nana's Cheesecake Pie- which is pretty much amazing.

Jack was confused as to why it was someone else's birthday, which has been pretty cute. Thankfully, there haven't been any major meltdowns between Daddy's Birthday, his buddy "'Tao's" birthday and Grandpa's Birthday (Happy Birthday to Grandpa too!)

My big new years resolution is organization. Personally, its more important to me to have things clean and uncluttered rather then organized in their own place. In other words, if people are coming over, I have been known to throw lots of random stuff into a big box and stick it in the office (where it may sit for several ~~weeks~~ days.) :)
So, my goal is to have a place for everything, because I DO love the beauty of order (just not enough -yet) I think it will help me to be a more happy, peaceful, not stressing about the constant battle of cleaning up since it would be much easier to maintain if I were already more organized. So, pretty cliche of a goal, but one that is much needed for me.

Finally, we have SNOW!! I have some cute pictures of Jack playing in it yesterday (or rather, being pulled around in a sled- he didn't really want to touch it or get too near it) And, according to the weatherman, we are going to be getting alot more snow in the next day or so! (maybe up to NINE inches?!?!) I always feel so happy for the weathermen when they say it is going to snow and it does and then everyone wants to watch the forecast. I mean, the rest of the year, they just forecast rain, or when they forecast sun and it doesn't happen, everyone hates them. I guess we have a volatile weather system or something here, so it is not really their fault, but still, when it snows, it is like the super bowl of weather forecasting and probably their favorite day of the year. :)

Oh, and if there are any tricks to get around buying more storage that anyone knows about, drop me a line!

a very lightening mcqueen birthday

2012-01-09T15:25:00.000-08:00

balloons everywhere to decorate for the party!

(fyi- blowing up 30 balloons and then standing on a chair to secure them to the ceiling may or may not be a very good idea- dizziness and coordination don't go together for me)

This year, Mike took over the making of the birthday cake with a little help from me at his direction.

Can you guess who it is?

Oh, right, I kind of gave it away in the title.....

The finished product!!! It only took us several hours. :)

(note: in the future use regular fondant not marshmallow fondant- while it tastes better, we could not get it to roll out as smooth as I think regular fondant would have.)

But anyway, Jack absolutely LOVED it.

He started asking for a "lightening Mcqueen cake for my party please?!" a while ago.

He also enjoyed every one singing "happy birthday" to him.

Best buddies

" let's eat some more cake guys!"

Opening gifts was super fun too of course! And, his favorite toy of Christmas and his birthday would have to be this spy plane from the Cars 2 movie from Jacob. It is seriously the best.toy.ever for a little 3 year old boy- he loves to drive and fly the plane around and reenacts parts of the movie, and the best part is that lightening mcqueen and other cars can be loaded into the plane!

Learning how to use the Sit n Spin- he is getting pretty good at it now!!

Happy 3rd Birthday little man!!

well, hello there, sun!

2012-01-05T22:47:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhhh- it was a clear, crisp, sunny day.

And folks, we don't get many of those 'round these parts.

We bundled up for our daily (when it is not pouring) walk to burn off some puppy energy....

....and this little man completely conked out in his stroller- something he hasn't done since he was a baby baby.

It probably has something to do with the fact that he has been sneezing and has been grumpy today. I was hoping we were through with winter colds, since he has already had several, but I guess not. Hopefully this one will be short and not severe- especially because he is supposed to have his birthday party in two days and he picked out his party decorations already (Lightening McQueen of course)

Anyway, since he fell asleep, we took an extra long walk so I could sneak in a little extra vitamin d and fresh air into his little body.

It really is amazing the way the sun just makes you feel better about everything. I felt like I had solved all my problems and a few world ones as well by the end of our walk. :)

(if only it were that easy right?)

Well, anyway, where ever you are in the world, I hope you got a little sunshine too...

My baby is THREE!!

2012-01-03T11:53:00.000-08:00

Having a birthday literally the day after all the holiday celebrations are over is tough. At least, it is for me! Jack's birthday totally snuck up on me!! We still managed to have a very fun day, just the three of us, and next weekend, we will have a family party to celebrate as well!

We started off the day with a special birthday breakfast, waffles with SPRINKLES!

This boy was pretty happy!

This looks yummy!

And it IS yummy!

(sorry for the blurry phone pictures) Then, we headed over to a bouncy house place nearby. Jack had a blast, I'd taken him to a similar place a few months ago and, boy, what a difference!! He has so much more confidence. He kept saying, "I'll do it all by myself!" And he did!!

Big 3-year-old!!

Loved his Mickey Mouse Birthday Balloon!

( Hmmm, he seems to have the same issue of keeping his eyes open for pictures as his daddy does!)

I made a tiny little ice cream cake for him to decorate with M&M's and his favorite "Cars" characters. Unfortunately, I didn't shut the freezer all the way so it was a very melty ice cream cake, but still, very delicious!

Mama and Dada singing "Happy Birthday!" to me!!

"My birthday is fun!"

And so is this special ice cream treat!!

He totally got that it was his birthday for the first time! It made it SO MUCH FUN! All day, he was getting phone calls from family and friends to sing/wish him a happy birthday and he would get so excited each time. It was pretty cute.

I thought I'd post some of his stats/favorite things at 3 years old:

Weight: 25.5 pounds

Height: around 34-35 inches I think

Favorite color: Green (but that changes all the time)

Favorite toys: Lightening McQueen, Francesco and Mac from "Cars" and any legos

Favorite book: The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body (maybe we have a future doctor on our hands?)

Favorite activity: Playing with Matteo and Petar or Cabrini and Peter, going to Gymboree class, or reading books. He also loves to ask me, "where we goin' today mama? Lets run a fun errand!"

Favorite clothes: Anything with the Gonzaga bulldogs, trucks or a "Nike woosh like daddy!"

Favorite show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Favorite foods: Olives, cucumbers and pickles

Favorite treat: M&Ms

Not a big fan of: the dark (this is a new one), doctors offices, being quiet in church, sleeping. :)

I'm also happy to say that this birthday, I have not been dwelling on the past too much- I only feel joy at watching him becoming a big boy and seeing his personality blossom. Before, his birthdays have been hard for me, because I would remember the terribleness of it all and the flood of memories and hard times would come rushing back with a vengeance.

But yesterday, I was just filled with happiness at seeing him reach another milestone. When he was born, all the docs said hopefully by three he will be caught up. Well, he is three, and he IS. Aside from his physical scars from surgery and IV's, and his tiny little glasses (and size), he is just a happy 3-year-old.

Praise God for miracles......and for healing.

Merry Christmas Day!

2011-12-31T20:19:00.000-08:00

Cookies were made by Daddy and Jack and left out with milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer.

Some of you know the story of my friend Erzsi, who took what she thought was a three week vacation to Morocco last Christmas with her husband and then three year old son to visit her husbands family. Once they were there, her husband kidnapped her son and Erzsi has been in Morocco for the past year trying to get her son back. They finally returned, one year later, on Christmas Eve! I was so blessed to be able to be at the airport to help welcome her home. What an amazing Christmas Miracle! You can read more about her story, covered by the news here

Welcome home Erz! I love you and I'm so glad you are here with Joey, safe and sound!!

Christmas continued.....

Looks like Santa was here!!

Coming out to check out Christmas morning!!

Looks like the cookies and milk got eaten!

And the reindeer ate their carrots too!

Santa present!

What could this be?!

Somebody is pretty excited about what is inside!!

Bob the Builder Legos!!

Opening more gifts!!

Helping Bailey open her new toy!

A Tool Set!

Reading new books from Daddy

Then we took a trip downstairs to check out his new playroom!

A kitchen!!

He was pretty excited about the animal letter cards on the far wall too.

Velcro food that you can "cut" was a BIG hit.

And Daddy made him his own new slide!

After our own Christmas gifts and putting baby Jesus in the manger, we headed over to Mike's family for more Christmas fun!

What did Grandma and Grandpa get me?

A Lightening McQueen Scooter!

One of the new baby kitties made a cave out of the wrapping paper- silly kitty!

Book and construction toys from Nana- Thanks Nana!

Grandma and Jack decorated a gingerbread house!

The day after Christmas, we had a celebration with some of my Mom's extended family and we all went bowling! This Christmas was definitely bittersweet, since it is the first one since my Grandpa Fred passed away. We sure missed him. But since bowling was his favorite activity, it was the perfect way to celebrate together and remember him!

My Uncle Mike even brought my Grandpa's bowling ball to use! His is the dark one, he even had it special made to grip with 4 fingers instead of 3.

After bowling, we headed over to see my Grandma and my Dad's family for a yummy Christmas feast! It was a fun but very busy day!

Last night, we had a bunch of our friends over for a grown-ups night of food, drinks and games. It was lots of fun to hang out and not worry about the kiddies! Jack and Bailey spent the night at Mike's families and we partied late! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends in our lives!

And now here we are, at the end of 2011!!

May the coming year be filled with much joy and many blessings for all of you!!

Happy New Year!!

(And Jack turns THREE in two days!! How is that even possible!)

Oh Christmas!

2011-12-30T00:15:00.000-08:00

This last week has been heavenly. I mean, it's Christmas! My favorite, favorite time of the year EVER. And Mike has been off for almost a week and does not go back to work until after the new year! We are living in a land of Saturdays. :)

I've always loved Christmas, but now seeing it through the eyes of my almost-three-year-old, has been absolutely magical......

except for moments scattered here and there which lose their magical quality.....

Hmmmmm, not so much a fan of Santa.....

He was very excited when we talked about going to see Santa, of course, and kept saying that he was going to ask Santa to bring him Bob the Builder Legos for Christmas,

He was happy while we waited in line and checked out all the toys that Santa was making in his workshop.

When the moment came down to it, though, he had a total meltdown, despite the candy cane lollipop and so now we have one of "those" pictures to add to his collection.

But minutes after the terrible event, he was happily enjoying the lollipop treat and telling me how great Santa was, so go figure. :)

Anyway, on to more important matters: Christmas Eve!!

This year, my family came with us to our parish for mass at 4pm. It was lovely to be with them, Christmas Eve mass is my favorite, hearing all the Christmas carols and the Christmas story read from the gospel of Luke....

Afterwards, we headed over to my parents' for their traditional Christmas Eve "Holy Supper"

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great Light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."

(Isaiah 9:2)

My brother Tony was not with us for Christmas (he is a big fancy lawyer guy out in DC) but he sent these personalized Jones' sodas. How cute right?? (It is a picture of my family earlier this year that he had put on the bottle labels)

Mama snuggles

Lots of laughter

Good food

Christmas Carols by the tree

The yearly Christmas play- this year baby Jesus was played by a kind monkey in a laundry basket since Jack was a little stinker and didn't want to participate. :)

Our little family

Yay for Christmas!!

The Uncles brought down a giant drum for Jack to play while we sang carols and he really got into the spirit of things then

He loves all his uncles!

Uncle Andrew chimed in on guitar too

And then that silly monkey wanted to play!

Our own little drummer boy!

There were lots of kisses from the auntie of course.

And then it was time for some gifts!

He quickly became a professional at ripping wrapping paper.

Family picture!

Having lots of fun with his new basketball hoop and trampoline from Grandma and Grandpa!

Next up: Christmas day recap!

In case anyone has missed this adorable christmas video on you tube......

2011-12-23T18:09:00.000-08:00

I love this little video of the christmas story and Jack loved it too

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! We are excited for Baby Jesus to come!

christmas card outtakes

2011-12-19T13:31:00.000-08:00

Every year I tell myself that this will be the year that I have my act together enough to book a session with a photographer and have an awesome christmas card picture. But, as usual, I forgot until it was too late.

Therefore, enter the Self-Timer-Christmas-Picture-Of-Cheesiness-2011!!

Which must involve christmas lights of course!

As well as santa hats!

And reindeer ears upon the pooch so she may look like "Max" from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

(If you are going to go "cheesy" you might as well go all the way, I figured)

Of course, actually getting them on her was a little tricky. Mike took that job and wrangled the boy while I pressed the "click" button on the camera and ran back to the picture as quick as an elf!

"Take 1"

Didn't quite get it together...

But "Take 2" turned out awesome (mostly!) and we ended up using it!

Of course, the dog wasn't really looking at the camera in "Take 2" so I convinced Mike to try "just one more time".....

And the result of "Take 3"!

I have titled it "Happy Family Appears To Be Strangling Antler-Wearing-Dog"

Can't you see it in my eyes? "just look at the camera Bailey and this will all be over! And you will get a treat!"

Oops. :)

And at that point, we called it good.

6 days to Christmas!

Oh Christmas Tree!

2011-12-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

Sitting by the light of the Christmas tree and drinking hot cocoa with a candy cane when all is finally quiet at night = heaven.

2011-12-13T17:01:00.000-08:00

December 6th was the feast day of St. Nicolas!

You know, the one who has become the jolly old fellow you see on roller blades on our tree. :)

The original St. Nicolas lived during the 3rd century AD in what is now Turkey. He was raised Christian and took the words, "sell what you own and give your money to the poor" (from the bible story of the rich young man), quite literally.

When his parents died and left him very wealthy, he spent his life using that money to help others and was known for his gift giving and compassion to others-especially children.

So, there ya go.....

In both of our families, growing up we participated in the common tradition of leaving your shoes out for "St. Nicholas" to leave small gifts in the morning on his feast day of Dec 6th.

This is the first year we did it with Jack and we just surprised him with his gifts under the tree when Daddy got home (so Mike would not miss out on the excitement) We didn't think he would get the whole shoes thing yet, especially since this year we got him a nativity set which would not really fit in his shoes anyway!

"wait a minute, these are for ME?!?!"

He was pretty stoked.

Opening his new Christmas "jammies"

And what could this one be?

Little people nativity- NONBREAKABLE! :)

I'm really glad we gave this to him early- every day we have been "acting out" the Christmas story with the figurines and it is really helping him to understand who Christmas is all about!

Don't get me wrong, he knows he will be getting presents on Christmas and is pretty excited about going to visit Santa too. :)

Late Happy St. Nicks Day!!

PS if anyone wanted more info on the history of St. Nicholas this website is a great resource!

Trim up the tree with Christmas stuff......

2011-12-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

......Like bingle balls and whofoo fluff! Trim up the town with goowho gums and bizilbix and wums!

(How the Grinch Stole Christmas is Jack's new favorite movie)

Oh my! Trimming the tree was all sorts of fun, we took every ornament out to look at it, he wanted to examine each one and find out what it was if he couldn't tell.

One of his favorites was the tiny "superman" onesie from the Millers when he was born, he put it on his head and said "this onesie is too small for me!" Oh, he cracks me up sometimes with the things he says, I LOVE IT!

"That's silly Mama!" (A favorite sentence)

Checking out Daddy's special Seahawks ornaments

After a long time of looking at the ornaments, he finally got around to hanging some on the tree.

Sorry for the blurry picture, I was experimenting with settings since I hate using the flash since it creates the big shadows. If anyone has any tips, pass them along!

He decided he wanted the superman onesie to go.....

.....WAY up high!

And my favorite part was that he kept saying "I LOVE christmas trees!!"

"Trim every blessed needle on the blessed Christmas tree, Christmas comes tomorrow, trim YOU, trim ME! Trim up your pets with fuzzle fuzz and whiffer bloofs and wuzzle wuzz, trim up your uncle and your aunt with yards of WHOFUT FLANT!"

journey to the christmas tree farm

2011-12-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, we went with some good friends to the land of the christmas trees to find the perfect one for our house.

Checking out a tree with daddy. "this one looks good to me!"

Unfortunately for Jack, his Mama and Dada are, we discovered, extremely indecisive when it comes to actually choosing a tree and so we trekked pretty much the whole farm in search of our perfect tree, keeping in mind of course, a desired height and price range combo- I just can't spend $100 on a tree. :)

Jack was a great little trooper though

Mama and my not-so-baby baby.

"Ok, mom, this is the tree!"

"Get to work chopping that thing down dada!"

Side note: next year , don't pick a tree that must be carried up a giant hill. Sorry honey!

After we found the tree, there was an old fire truck that needed to be played on

Group picture.....

.....which Jack only had SO much tolerance for.

Then we warmed up with some cocoa and hot dogs.

We let the boys take care of loading the tree into Mike's truck. :)

Marisa and I waiting for the trees to be loaded

Jack: "you secure down that side ok?"

"Good work everyone!!"

Overall, it was a super fun day!

christmas bells are ringing!

2011-12-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Besides drinking warm cocoa (sometimes with marshmallows!) we have started to prepare for Christmas 'round here. I recently made Jesse tree ornaments with two of my friends and we started yesterday hanging one ornament per day in a biblical countdown to the coming of Jesus. Jack is pretty excited about hanging the ornaments on the Jesse tree so getting a Christmas tree tomorrow should be pretty great.

We also got out our Christmas decorations, including this sweet nativity set that I've had since I was a little little girl. I can remember seeing it set up at our house at Christmastime, my mom would always use that stuff called angel hair to create a soft, snowy look, complete with white lights around it. It was so heavenly and magical. I'm so glad I have the set for Jack......

We have a larger "family" nativity set so I've been letting him play nicely with this set- he is a big fan.

One of the best parts of decorating for christmas when you are 2 1/2 is undoubtably playing in the boxes that said decorations are in......

....since they are the perfect size for this little boy to hide in and then jump out to say "Boo!" to Mama

He played in here for over an hour. Made me think that from time to time, I should just bring out a box for him to play with. :) Also, I love that he calls himself a "Jack in the box".

He also wanted the smaller boxes that had originally been in the big box to be on top of him- then it turned into a fort game.

And here is our family nativity set up, complete with that snowy, glowing look that I love from my childhood. I don't actually have any "angel hair" per say, but a bag of spiderweb on clearance seemed to work just fine, I just didn't stretch it thin!

Mike had to point out to me that Baby Jesus was actually born in a desert, and there was not any snow. Oops, I'm 28 and that honestly never occurred to me. :) So, I'm just going to try and forget he mentioned that so I can still imagine Mary and Joseph and Jesus in the snowy town of Bethlehem.

Oh and remember what I said about Jack playing nicely with the set? Well, we are still working on that. :) Actually, it was very sweet, he was giving baby Jesus a "ride in the excavator!" Talk about traveling in style, forget the donkey!

catch-up!

2011-11-29T23:10:00.000-08:00

We have had a fun, and busy week enjoying Thanksgiving (and Mike being off for 4 days!), playing in the snow and starting to get ready for Christmas!

There is lots of requests for "hot cocoa please mama in a little cup!" these days.....

We had an outing to the mall playground with friends and took a side trip to Nordstroms....

....for the balloons of course!

I took Jack to the library for the first time in several months. He was in awe. He sat here quietly looking at books for close to an hour. Which meant I got to read my OWN book, which is a rarity these days! We also brought home some library books for him for the first time- wish me luck with that, as I have a terrible history with the library involving lost books, large fines and a bag of books that were forgotten in the back of the truck during the rain. Mike bought me the nook last year for the simple reason that the books cannot get wet and they check themselves back in after two weeks. :)

We had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner with Mike's family and his Grandpa was there as well!

Pretty pumpkin

Ready to eat!

Jack ate dinner sitting on Daddy's lap

And Mike's Mom made these cute little turkey treats!

After dinner, some cards were played and Jack was a BIG fan of the poker chips. He kept saying "This is the best game EVER!"

Maybe I should get him a set of poker chips for Christmas?

I know this picture is super grainy but I love his smile in it. He is definitely going through a phase, or getting to the age, where he doesn't want his picture taken so it is getting harder to get one when he is smiling at the camera.

A few days after Thanksgiving, we took a little drive up to the pass to play in the snow! Jack wasn't too sure about it at first but after a while he loved it.

Hanging out with his best buds.

We brought Bailey too, which was really fun. She LOVED it and was prancing around in the snow the whole time. Don't you love her little snow booties? (They are not just for looks, in case anyone was wondering. Dogs can get ice built up between their toes which is painful so this prevents it)

Ready to sled!

"This is fun Mama!"

Today Jack and I spent the day getting out Christmas decorations and setting up the Christmas village and nativity sets. I LOVE to see the excitement and wonder he has for everything. Christmas is going to be THE.BEST. this year. I can't wait!

world prematurity day

2011-11-17T15:11:00.001-08:00

Today, November 17th, is World Prematurity Awareness Day. Obviously, I want to say a little something about this, seeing as the issue of premature birth has touched me in a much closer way then I would have ever wished.
My idea of "preemie" used to be seeing that small section of clothes at BabiesRUs for preemies, and thinking how small and cute those babies must be. Of course, I had my rotation in the NICU during nursing school but it was a NICU step down unit, babies just waiting to grow big enough to come home and I never thought of it as something that would ever happen to me.
Then of course, enter November 2008 when we found out Jack was not growing properly and would probably have to be born a month or so early (if only!). I have the personality of wanting to know ALL possible outcomes that could come from a stressful situation and so I did tons of research and of course, came across a ton of videos and pictures of micropreemies and Mike would come home to find me crying in front of the computer screen all the time.

Here is a picture of me at 21 weeks pregnant with Jack- little did I know he would be born in 6 short weeks!

Then of course as you all know, this tiny 1 lb 9 oz boy was born over 12 weeks early and our lives have never been the same.

I cannot even begin to express my gratitude to the doctors and nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, nutritionists and surgeons who were all a major part of the reason that Jack is here today.
And along with that, I am so thankful to all those who have dedicated their lives to research and coming up with new and better ways to save and treat premature babies. I could not even count all the ways that it has touched Jack directly, but here are a few biggies for me:
Thanks to the research that has been done on Retinopathy of Prematurity, testing is now done earlier and oxygen levels are used as conservatively as possible. If Jack would have been born before this time, he would be completely bind since he had a very aggressive form of this disease.
Thanks to the research that has been done, nitric oxide is used in babies with severe lung issues, and it was the use of that which saved Jack's life a few weeks after he was born.

At this point, 13 million babies per year are born premature and 1 million of those do not survive. I am so thankful that Jack was one of the ones who survived....there is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for that and my heart and prayers go out to those who have lost a child, I cannot imagine anything more difficult.

And so today, I honor my son, who survived insurmountable odds and is the amazing, wonderful, almost- three- year- old- miracle whom I can't imagine life without.

And I honor all of the medical staff who took care of him, and all those medical staff around the world who dedicate their lives to caring for premature infants.

And I honor the pioneers of neonatal medicine, who paved the way for the amazing efforts that can be done today. I hope that in my lifetime, I will get to see a cure discovered for preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction which were the reasons Jack had to be born so early.

HAPPY PREMATURITY AWARENESS DAY!

2011-11-13T20:18:00.001-08:00

This little guy is all about "snacks" these days- he totally tries to get out of eating at mealtimes, only to ask for a "snack pack?" a little while later. Luckily, I'm wise to his ways, and we get in plenty of fruits and veggies and protien at mealtime, even if it means that I am sitting with him acting silly in order for him to take bites. I have totally jumped up and down and cheered for him to eat - all for the sake of getting calories in our 3rd percentile child.

But, he still loves him some snacks, which I think is awesome, since it is an easy way to get a few hundred extra calories in. My favorite snacks for him these days are the clif kids protien bars and fruit ropes (both at costco). De-lish! And no artificial yucky stuff!

Today at church, I was talking to a mom in the back and she asked how old Jack was. I told her 2 1/2 and she said, "do you mind if I ask....is he small for his age?" I said, no I didn't mind and YES, he is super small for his age, he was born 3 months early and hasn't really caught up size wise, blah blah blah. And she told me her 16th month old was really small for her age too. I told her not to worry, that SOMEONE has to have a kid in the lower percentiles so the rest of the world can brag about their 98 percentile kids. :)

In other news, CHRISTMAS is only 42 days away!!! Christmas is the best. Seriously I love it SO much and now that I have a kid, it makes me love it even more. I'm really excited that this year Jack will be able to start to understand what it is all about! For his St. Nicholas day gift, I got him a little people nativity set so we can be talking about Baby Jesus coming for the whole month of December. I'm also hoping to work with some of my friends to make Jesse Tree ornaments!
And, on the commercial side of Christmas, Jack has been asking for "bob the builder legos for Christmas" for weeks now (he only has asked for them "for christmas" since when he first asked "mom, go to the store and buy bob the builder legos please?!", I told him, "maybe you will get some for Christmas". And he has NOT forgotten that.
The bad news is that they don't make bob the builder items anymore and if you want to buy them on Amazon they are about three times their original price! (Seriously, how could a company phase out a talking bulldozer and steamroller. Is that not EVERY little boys perfect toy?) But the good news is that I've been searching craigslist for them faithfully and tomorrow I'll pick up some bob the builder legos. Phew!
Crisis averted. :)

birthdays

2011-11-09T13:26:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to me and my little brother!

8 years and 4 days apart.

When he was born, I really wanted him to be a girl (I already had two brothers)
He will tell you that I made up for it by playing baby with him and dressing him up in girl clothes.
Sorry Nick.
I'm glad you're you.... (now). :)

Jack is glad too, especially since you play football with him like any good uncle should.

So, I'm 28. 30 is really starting to creep up now! I can remember when 20 seemed old.......

I had a pretty fun birthday- I got a new pink coat and some pretty pearl earrings from my two boys, we had planned to go out to dinner but Jack wasn't feeling too well (yet another cold), so we got applebees to go and I got to eat my favorite food in the whole wide world- their oriental chicken salad.

I know, I probably don't have the most grown-up and refined taste in food.

Then the next day my mom made me dinner and blackberry cobbler. YUM.

lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

2011-11-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

We took advantage of the lack of rain (and appearance of sun!) last week to make another trek to the zoo!

Playing in the african village was a big hit.....

....and taking a ride on the pretend hippo is always fun too!

In the zoomasium, there was an activity set up to "feed" the baby animals, how cute is this?!?

We had a super fun time with friends, despite having to be bundled up like it was the middle of winter and warming up with hot cocoa.

Self-portrait!

Oops, Jack's glasses were askew, sorry buddy!!

We have being having serious ISSUES with his glasses lately..... bailey chewed them up TWICE, then Jack broke the spring on one side, got that superglued on thursday, but now it is starting to come loose again and he lost one of the nose pads so back to the eyeglass repair guy tomorrow! I think I'm keeping that guy in business except for the fact that he is super nice and has only let me pay once....... I think he really felt sorry for me when I came in two days in a row. :)

(late) happy feast of all saints!

2011-11-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

In the Catholic Church, November 1st is always celebrated as the feast of All Saints.

I would guess that the Catholic Church's teaching on the Saints is probably one of the most widely misunderstood. Many non-Catholics think that we pray TO the Saints or worship the Saints which is not true at all. Rather, as Catholics we believe that the Saints are men and women who lived holy, faith-filled lives on earth, and who we believe are in heaven. We ask the Saints for their intercession- much in the same way that we ask Christians on earth- to pray for us. Since we believe that the Saints are in Heaven with Jesus, why not ask them to take our prayers to Him in the same way we do? We also look to them as examples of what it means to truly live a Christian life.

To celebrate All Saints Day, Jack and I made cookies in the shape of different symbols used to represent some of the saints.

I love that he is getting old enough to start to grasp the things we teach him! As we were rolling out the dough and he was watching me ~~try to~~ cut out different symbols, we talked about HIS patron saint, Saint Michael- we cut out a sword to represent Saint Michael which Jack was pretty excited about.

(Before this next picture can I just say that I found it really hard to cut shapes out of cookie dough without cookie cutters?! Is that just me?)

Anyway, so don't judge my cookies toooo much ok? :)

After we made two sword cookies (one for Daddy too since St. Michael is his saint as well) and a shamrock cookie for MY special saint, Saint Patrick, I asked Jack who else we should make a symbol for.

He wanted to make symbols of his best friends Saints, so you can see we made a money bag (no, that is NOT a whale like Jack thought it was) to represent Saint Matthew (for Matteo), a key to represent Saint Peter (for Peter and Petar!), a heart to represent St. Cabrini (for Cabrini of course!), and a crown to represent Saint Louis (for Louisa!)

The lily for St. Joseph and the miraculous medal for St. Maximillian Kolbe didn't come out AT ALL but we tried to make those too. :)

I wasn't sure how much of it Jack "got", but the next day I asked him if he remembered who his special Saint was and he said, "St. Michael!! WITH A SWORD!!!"

So I guess he got the general idea. :)

Trick or Treating at the mall.

2011-11-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the little Lion again, ready to go!

It took him a while to get the hang of it, everytime a piece of candy was dropped into his pail, he would stand there just looking down at it.

"Did that just really happen?!"

He got the hang of it after a while though....

...and was a pretty happy camper!

"whew! this is hard work mama! we'd better stop for a dinner break!"

And some playtime too!

Cutest little lion in the world?

this mama thinks so!

Trick or Treat!

"Look what I got mama!"

Trick or Treating at the mall was fun, but totally crazy too- there were a TON of kids running around. I liked that we didn't have to be out in the dark and cold and that we got to see lots of other little kids in costume, Jack was especially excited about seeing Batmans and Spidermans all over the place. :)

Also, I realized that I was teaching my kid to go up to a stranger at the mall and ask for candy....hmmmmmm, maybenotsogood.

Also, he had one piece of candy and totally forgot all about the rest, so no sugar high, thank you very much! The rest of his candy went in the garbage. I realize that this is the ONLY year that is likely to happen though. :)

Jack's Halloween Party- year 2!

2011-10-31T21:30:00.000-07:00

Homemade pumpkin face cake pops!

Pumpkin face clementines (all edible ink- not a sharpie) :)

Pretzel spider web treats!

Pumpkin decorating!

Swamp fishing!

Best Buds (unless they both want the same toy)

Group picture attempt! We had 16 toddlers and 2 babies at our house- plus 20 adults. It was just a LITTLE crazy.

You can see we had a little ballerina, St. Peter, Mother Theresa, a fireman, a pirate, another pirate, wolverine, a lion, another pirate, a flower, little bo peep, and red riding hood.

Not pictured are a baby cat, the big bad wolf, little bo peeps sheep, a little pumpkin and supergirl!

Me and my bestie- can you guess who I am?

Jack and Daddy- can you guess now?

Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Lion! (AFTER he got his courage of course)

pumpkin "carving"

2011-10-21T22:56:00.000-07:00

Time to make pumpkin Buzz!

Stick the head in the top....

Use daddy's big hammer to pound the hole for the arms and legs....

"watch out for your fingers daddy!"

Stick in the arms and legs....

And we have pumpkin buzz!

He probably needs a hug

You're so funny pumpkin buzz!

fun at the pumpkin patch!

2011-10-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

Hooray for Fall!

Fall is definitely my favorite favorite season- I love the colors of the leaves, the crispness in the air, and being able to drink tea and cocoa and cider again.

Mike tries to tell me that EVERY season is my favorite season- when it starts- and then the novelty wears off and I start looking forward to the next season or remembering how great it was in the summer to not be cold. But, whatever, fall really IS my favorite ok?

Last weekend, we took a trip to the pumpkin patch with some friends!

Jack's favorite part was riding in the wheelbarrow. :)

Going to find a pumpkin!

He also was a fan of a little something called.....

...pumpkin tipping!

Ta-Da!

"Look at this one Jack!"

Family pic- good grief, any summer color we had is GONE! (see, there I go, already missing summer, maybe Mike IS right)

Pumpkins are loaded up!

Checking out the goats and alpacas

climbing on the hay bales

Happy Fall!

Gym-bo-wee mommy!!

2011-10-14T17:13:00.000-07:00

A while back, I bought a groupon for a months worth of gymboree play and music classes. We just started going last week and Jack LOVES it!!

We had tried out The Little Gym earlier this summer (also with a groupon!) and Jack was pretty shy and timid but still had a good time.

What a difference now! The first class he was answering questions the "teacher" asked, going right up and getting involved in the activities right away without clinging to me at all.

It is pretty neat how they have it set up- each week is a different theme (this past class the theme was the zoo) and they configure the gym equipment in different ways each week to reflect on the theme. For example, they had a monkey habitiat area set up, with monkey bars, a crocodile area to climb on the crocodiles back and an elephant to climb up and slide down his trunk.

They do a pretty good job! (I guess they should since the regular monthly membership is pretty steep!)

Jack talked about going the whole rest of the week, until we went again yesterday, so now he has a whole other experience to talk about. I'm so glad he loves it so much!

This will sound really silly, but before Jack was born, I always told Mike I was going to be that mom who took her baby to the infant/baby/toddler classes. :) I had to set that aside when I had a preemie baby who wasn't doing the same things other kids his age were and who couldn't be around those kids anyway because of the germs. Now that we are past all that, this is a little bit of a fulfillment of a mommy dream :)

And of course his favorite part was the giant parachute and the bubbles!!

salmon days parade!

2011-10-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

The fire engines and aide cars were his favorite

And so was the big horn player, just like in "Harry and the Lady Next Door" (current favorite)

Someone gave him a BLUE sucker....

...which turned his mouth bright blue!

Thinking about giving a high five to the giant chipmunk...

..or maybe not!

Playing at the park

And riding the train!

Choo! Choo!

And going down the bouncy slide with mama, fun!

life with a dog.....

2011-09-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

....is both better and worse then I thought it would be.

Better in that we love her so much and she is lots of fun and I love that she sleeps next to Jack's bed at night (makes me feel safer because I am a worrier)

Worse in that it really is a LOT of work... (everyone who told me this, you were right!!)

Speaking of the worse part, Bailey had her surgery to be spayed on tuesday (in the midst of Jack and I being sick, blah)

Tuesday after she came home she pretty much just wanted to sleep.

Here is Jack with his pup right when she got home. He was VERY upset to have to leave her at the vet in the morning and kept asking about her all day long. "Mama, go get bailey please?" "Bailey! Come home!"

I told him she had to stay at the doctors and play with the other dogs for a while and get her tummy fixed.

He was so sweet with her and just sat and talked to her and fed her some of her food. Melted my heart. I didn't realize how attached to her he is!

Of course, the next day she was back to her normal self, which is hard right now since she is not supposed to run or use the stairs (which means I have to carry her outside every time she has to potty) and of course we also chose this week to get Jack to sleep in his bed for the WHOLE night, not just until 2 am, which means he woke up about 5 times and had to be re-tucked in......

.....which means I have two very needy, grumpy little creatures who both want my full attention,

and this is pretty much my view all day. :)
And I think because he is still not feeling 100% better, Jack asked me a few times yesterday if Bailey could "go back and play with the other dogs?"

The End.

blocks blocks blocks!

2011-09-27T19:42:00.000-07:00

A few of the details of Jack's test

2011-09-19T09:44:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post some of the questions the psychologist asked Jack as well as some of the tasks he had to do, just so I won't forget!!

I was kind of nervous going into it, since he had done so poorly last time, but I knew that he had made a LOT of progress so I was anxious to see where he was at.....

Of course, I was not allowed to talk at all or guide Jack to do or say the right thing. :)

I got a little MORE nervous when the first task was for Jack to put pegs into a peg board and all he would do is say "NO. Jack NOT do it!!"

I'm sure I started to sweat. It was hard to not encourage him, especially since I knew he would do it if I did it first or told him too, but that is just part of it

You can SEE from that little grin there is a mischievous little streak in this boy. :)

Anyway, after that, the rest of the test went really well. The doctor had him do a few puzzles of shapes, name colors and shapes, count to 10, say his ABC's (he is not perfect but he CAN do it by himself now!), do an exercise where he showed Jack a picture of an object on a page, then turned the page and there was 4 objects and he had to pick the one he had just seen. He had no trouble with any of that. There were several pages of pictures that he had to identify by name, probably just to show vocabulary and recognition skills. He did that just fine.

He was given a little rabbit figurine and 2 cups and he had to follow the directions to put the bunny IN the cup, UNDER the cup, ON TOP of the cup, BETWEEN the cups, IN FRONT of the cup and BEHIND the cup. I was really surprised and proud that he knew all of those!!

Then he was asked to "hide" the bunny so that "Jack could see the bunny but I (the doctor) can't see the bunny". He also did that perfectly!

The other thing that he would not do was to put a string of mardi gras beads into a plastic vial. He just played with the beads. oh well. OH! he also would NOT draw a circle! Which he does ALL the time at home! whatdayagonnado?

He had to make a tower of 8 blocks (which took a few tries) and follow the directions to make a "train" with 4 of the blocks next to each other and one on top for the engine and then push it around and say "choo choo".

(PS obviously all of these activities are standardized and the doctor had to follow a script)

He got points for speaking in sentences of 5 words and saying words like "begin".

The funniest part to me was when they asked him:

"Are you a boy or a girl?" He answered "boy"

"When you grow up are you going to be a man or a woman?" He said "man". I think it was probably just luck since I don't think we have discussed that.

"When you grow up are you going to be a mommy or a daddy?" He looked puzzled for a minute and then said "NO, I'm JACK!" Can't argue with that I guess!!

In terms of the gross motor skills, he is still only getting both feet of the ground when he jumps some of the time, but that is still in the range, and he would walk forwards and sideways on a measuring tape stuck to the floor but he would not walk backwards on it. (I think that is for older kids though since it didn't really affect his scores)

And here are a few pictures from a few days ago when there was a little bit of sun.

He is the happiest when he can dig in the dirt with his big dump truck and excavator.

The end!

A Super Happy Day

2011-09-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today Jack had his last follow up at the NICU clinic. At this clinic they do standardized testing to see how he falls on the range of normal development.

Last year he tested 6 months behind for his mental and fine motor skills development and even more then that for his gross motor skills.

However, TODAY he tested at and ABOVE where he should be for normal development.

In other words, he has completely caught up and exceeded where he should be for his age.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, this is our Jack-a-roo that we are talking about here......

The boy who was born 3 months early, underwent major surgery at 3lbs and 5lbs, spent 7 weeks total on a ventilator, 5 months in the hospital, 8 months with a feeding tube, 9 months with oxygen, didn't sit up until after age 1 and didn't walk until after age 2.....

is now acting like a regular ol' 2 1/2 year old and the only reminders that he had such a rough start are his little glasses, his scar from his surgery on his tummy and the countless tiny white scars on his arms, legs, hands and feet from getting pokes.

You can bet there were some happy tears from me today.

I think the best part was when the psychologist administering the test told me afterwards that in all his years of doing this with preemies, it is pretty much unheard of to have a kid make as much progress as Jack did in the last year and be totally caught up now after being so far behind last year.

He really is our little miracle baby.

I can remember so clearly back to all the times when we had to make the decision to put Jack on steroids for the sake of his lungs while he was in the NICU, drugs that have the risk of causing long term delays. I remember being told that his chances for not having any long term developmental effects were pretty slim based on how early and how sick he was.

To say that I never thought I would be told that he has caught up and is just a normal little boy is an understatement.

YAY JACK! We are SO proud of you!

Also, I'm really glad we got to find this out today, because it is national neonatal nurses day!!

The wonderful care that Jack received from his doctors and nurses is a huge part of the reason that he is where he is today. We love you NICU nurses!!

on that september day

2011-09-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it was just the 10th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001.

It got me thinking about a few things:

First, how there is so much emotion connected to that day. I could not watch any of the services or stories of families that had lost a loved one or stories of people who made it out, without crying. It was truly such a sorrowful and scary day ten years ago, that brought our country, united, to our knees.
Secondly, it of course brought to mind my own experience of that day:

On September 11, 2001, I remember my mom waking me up and telling me to come watch the TV- it was when the second tower had just been hit.

On one hand, it was scary to watch and to think that our country was being attacked, and think of how many people were inside the twin towers and wondering how many people had died on the floors where the planes hit.

On the other hand, it felt very surreal to watch what was happening, because it was all so far away from where we lived that it seemed like a world away.

Then the towers collapsed, and you realized how many more people had just died in that moment. It was scary, and terrible and erie.

Here we are ten years later, when so much happened, both in our country and in our own lives.

It made me think about that for Jack, September 11 will be a day that we will always remember and pray for those affected by the terrible events that happened, but he will probably not have the emotion associated with it that any of us do since he was not alive when it happened.
I guess for him it will be similar to my feelings about December 7, 1941.....
I know our country was attacked but I don't have the emotional feeling attached to that day in the same way I do with September 11, since I was not alive to live through the shock and horror of it I guess. To me, it is a sad day in history that marks the beginning of our country going to a world war. But it is an important day in history that is part of who we are as Americans and a day that we should all know about. It reminds me to be thankful for those in the military who put aside their own lives to protect our country.

It hit me just how important it is to know our history (and why it was important for me to learn about it when I was younger.) The things that have happened in the past have shaped the way we live today in very real ways.
I want Jack to know growing up that it is important to always remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and to always respect and appreciate the men and women who put their lives on the line on a daily basis to give us the luxury of freedom. And to never forget those who have died protecting that freedom.

playdate at the park

2011-09-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

Yay for the beautiful sunshine that finally came to Seattle! (Although, now, as I'm typing this monday morning, it is decidedly chilly).

Anyway, we took full advantage of the sun while it was here and had a fun group playdate to the splash park.

While Jack was NOT a fan of the water spraying him, my little godson LOVED it!

Two buddies setting sail on a ship

Afterwards, we had a fun picnic lunch at our friends' house!

I am super blessed to have a great group of friends who are all raising their kids at the same time we are. It is nice to have the support and friendship of people that are going through the same stages of toddler-ness, and it is great to always have friends to meet up with for playtime and mommy chatting time.

A trip to the sea

2011-09-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

My parents have some very gracious friends who lent them their beach house for the week. We went down for the long weekend and Jack had lots of time to play with his auntie and uncles and dig in the sand.

watching for the waves to come in with auntie kayla

jumping over them since they were COLD! (that's what you get with the WA beaches!)

Making, or rather, destroying, sandcastles with grandpa and grandma

running on the beach

jumping!

and more jumping!

Football with uncle Nick-Nick.

He's getting pretty good at catching!

self-portrait :)

watching the uncles and daddy play football in the waves

I sure do love the ocean, listening to the waves crash onto the shore, feeling the warm sand in my toes, and usually I love running in the water. But I must be getting old because it was SO COLD it HURT!!

(Or I've just been spoiled by Hawaii) :)

Still, it is a beautiful place and we had a wonderful time!

a new discovery

2011-09-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

"hmmmm, mama, what's this?"

"ohhhhh, fun!"

"this is super fun!"

"watch out bailey pup!"

WYD and soccer

2011-09-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

Jacks Uncle Andrew (my little brother) just had the opportunity to travel to Madrid for World Youth Day 2011! He brought Jack back this adorable soccer jersey, which Jack wants to wear ALL.THE.TIME. but especially when he wants to kick around his soccer ball.

We kinda had a meltdown the other day when the jersey was in the wash and he wanted to wear it. Apparently you must wear a soccer jersey when playing soccer when you are two. Makes sense I guess. :)

I'm so so glad that Andrew had the opportunity to go to WYD. There is really nothing quite like it, to be able to see the Pope in person, to gather with young people from all around the world to celebrate our Faith.

I've been able to travel to WYD twice, the first time to Toronto in 2002 (which was the last WYD of Pope John Paul II before he died)

Yep, my picture with my disposable, no zoom camera. I will never forget this moment!

And I also got to go to Germany in 2005 for Pope Benedict's first WYD, with some of my best friends.......

.....it was at the end of this trip that Mike and I finally had the "talk" and started dating. :)

Both trips were totally amazing for me and something I think every Catholic young person should have the opportunity to experience. Both times really helped me to solidify my Faith and make me excited about it.

I can't wait until Jack is old enough to go..... maybe for WYD 2025? :)

Jack has the best Daddy and other Jack tidbits.

2011-08-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Mike made Jack his own little baseball tee. We've been talking about getting him one and instead, when I got home Saturday, there was one already made!

It is by far Jack's favorite toy yet- he has spent literally HOURS out there hitting the ball off the tee, running to get it, and starting all over again. He can hit it pretty far too!!

This boy is talking up a storm. It is SO.MUCH.FUN! (I'm sure I've already said that, but it just gets better and better) Yesterday when I took Jack outside to head out for a run, he looked around the driveway and then said, "Oh no! Dada at work....white truck....vroom, vroom!"

He can now say his own bedtime prayers, he repeats when I tell him to say, "Dear Jesus, Please bless Mama, Dada, Jack and Bailey" Then I ask who else he wants to pray for and he so far always says: "Grandma, Grandma, Ree, (marie) Jake, Jake and JOEY!" (I'm sure he loves the rest of his family the same but these are the ones he says the best so probably stick out to him more).

He loves to talk about when we went to Great-Grandpa's lake and he went swimming with Ella and went on the big boat. And whenever we leave he always sings his bye-bye song he learned at his preschool to Bailey.

He is still pretty shy about talking in front of other people but he is getting better at it slowly I think.

Life is pretty darn good these days.

preemie picnic

2011-08-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the annual picnic that Evergreen's NICU hosts. Last year, Jack was too small to really participate (he wasn't even walking then!) but this year, he could do everything and he had a BLAST!

It was fun to see old friends, doctors and nurses and meet new friends as well!

There was a big bouncy house........

....which he LOVED.

"watch me jump mama!"

Saying "Hi" to Dr. Chentow. He was the head of the NICU and took care of Jack lots, but has since retired. He told Jack, "you see all this grey hair I have? YOU gave me a good chunk of it!"

Hula-Hoop!

Fishing for prizes

Hanging out and having cupcakes with J & C who were in the NICU with him

Yum, sprinkles!

The bouncy slide! He climbed up by himself but Daddy had to go up and go down the slide with him.

And there was a police car there!! Jack went right up and climbed in the..... back. Not sure how I feel about that!! :)

Talking to the nice policeman who gave him a..... coloring book. If only it were the same for grownups huh? :)

"All right ma'm, now, you color this coloring book and pay close attention to what it says about obeying the speed limit and following the laws.....I don't want to have to stop you to give you ANOTHER coloring book"

(PS, I WOULD tell you that I'm very proud that I've never had a ticket....but ssshhhhh, I don't want to jinx myself)

Anyway.....

Saying "hi" to a favorite nurse, Tonya!

I wish I would have got pictures of Jack with more of his nurses that were there, but between all the activities he didn't want to stop for long! We had a great time, can't wait for next year!!

days at the beach

2011-08-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

We finally have some real summer weather. (high 70's is real for Seattle ok?) I love that I can throw these essentials in a big bag (sunscreen, snacks, towel, life jacket, extra clothes and beach toys) and head down to the lake.

Jack is a fan, and so am I

He will spend considerable time digging in the sand with his bulldozer and bucket and shovel and loves going in the water too. And my happy place is being at a large body of water (preferably the ocean but lakes and rivers will do) so I hope there are many more afternoons like this! Happy, finally, summer Seattle peeps!

lately......

2011-08-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

....I've been overwhelmed again these last few weeks at the miracle this boy really is.......

Maybe it is because he is becoming more and more of a "grown-up" toddler, with his own personality shining through more then ever. Maybe it is his new determination for independence (wanting to do EVERYTHING by himself with no help). Maybe it is because in the last few weeks his vocabulary has exploded, he says pretty much anything and everything and is a total little parrot, repeating anything we say and also being more spontaneous in his speech. He knows all his colors and shouts them out on a regular basis when he sees them (especially yellow, and white) he loves to count everything (usually gets stuck after four though) and is starting to sing more songs. He gives hugs and kisses on his own and has started to say "love you mommy" or "love you daddy".

It completely melts our hearts and takes our breath away. I don't know if either of us ever thought he would *really* be ok and be an independent, walking, running, TALKING, little boy. The odds were so not in his favor.

These days feel like forever ago and yesterday at the same time. I can still remember the terribleness of it all and the helpless pain it is to watch your child suffer. I think I always will, I don't think there is any way to not remember it. But I don't think of it as often as I used to and it does not overtake me and envelop me in the same way usually.

Sometimes I worry that the healing I have had, has happened because I have only been getting good news with Jack for so long. So, so, many other babies in Jack's same situation have permanent, lasting effects of their rough beginnings. It is humbling to think that I would probably not be in the same place in terms of my acceptance and peace with God if things had turned out differently.

Ever since I have had Jack, it makes me cringe when someone, with the best of intentions, has said, "God does not give you more then you can handle".

I have to believe that it dosen't work like that, but rather I think that we are all human and all anyone desires for is to have a normal happy life with normal happy kids. No one ever thinks it will be their child with the rare disease or pregnancy complications. Before Jack, I had seen some videos of micropreemies like him and subconsciously thought of how terrible that would be, but how it would never happen to me. But it did, even though all I ever wanted was just a *normal* journey to being a mom.

I think it has to work more like this.... bad things happen to good people, and when they do, you will do what you have to do, with God's grace, to get through it. There is a poem floating around out there about how God *chooses* someone strong to be the mother of a baby who is born early or has special needs. Maybe it is helpful for some people, but it always hurt me to think that God would *choose* to let Jack go through what he did because I would be good at it (especially since I wasn't!).

I think it just happens, I don't think God has his finger controlling things in our lives that way. I think we live in an imperfect world, where bad things happen to the smallest and most innocent of God's creatures and when we pray, we are asking for the strength we need to get through it and find peace, not for Him to come in and change things, because if He worked that way, why would every child not be healed and free from suffering and death?

I could be wrong, I'm certainly not a theologian or philosopher by any means, but it is the only way I can come to terms with the suffering I saw my own child go through and the suffering that I have witnessed others going through with their children being sick, early or dying.

I am thankful to be at the place we are at today, to see my once tiny babe growing up into a happy healthy boy. It is not something I take lightly by any means and I pray for those still in the trenches of pain and suffering to be able to find the strength and peace they need to get through whatever they are going through.

And there is my two cents for today.

another road trip

2011-08-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

Two days after we got back from Grandpa's, we hit the road again to attend a wedding in Portland.

Thankfully, the DVD player and his toes kept Jack entertained.

Jack discovered that unrolling toilet paper is, in fact, a blast.

Everyone say "cheeeeese!"

Before the wedding, we hit the park with friends in an attempt to tire him out for an early nap (which worked thankfully)

Yay for weddings and friends!

Jack also LOVED the hotel pool and we spent lots of time there

And to cap it all off, he got to sit on a BIG tractor and we got to spend time with Mike's college roommate Brian and his wife. (The bride was Brian's little sister and the groom was my good friend marie's younger brother. It was kind of weird/neat to know both people getting married independently. Although, I guess that was the case for a lot of people at OUR wedding) :)

trip to great grandpa's

2011-08-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

playtime for cousins

playing with the boat that daddy played with when HE was a little boy coming to grandpas!

the three cousins

hanging out with uncle jake and jed

little footprints

"'driving" the boat with ella

yep, that's my hubs!

picture with great-grandpa

playing til the sun goes down

holding the baby turtle!

time with bailey

and big hugs for her too!

the "fish" he caught with grandpa (its a leaf)

jack with uncle dan and sam!

driving the boat for REAL with grandpa

watching daddy water ski

in the boat with mama

We had a great time, thanks Grandpa!!

pictures on the go

2011-07-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

I got an iphone a little while back and my favorite thing about it has been that I take lots of pictures and videos of Jack on the go and can send them to Mike. That way he can see what we are up to.

I also don't like lugging around the big camera all the time and sometimes when I'm taking pictures of Jack I feel like I'm missing living in the moment since I'm trying to take a good picture.

With my phone I just snap the picture and, done! Back to life.

Here are some of my favorite ones.......

painting rocks at the childrens musem

Taking a drive in Daddy's truck

playing at the mall playground

checking out baby shark at the Rainforest Cafe

Helping mommy get the mail

digging in the dirt for worms

playtime with the uncles

Bailey being silly. :)

Starbucks after church

Playing outside in the grass

Enjoying a popcicle

Playing at the beach

Digging in the sand with his new bulldozer

1st experience with Cheetos. In the car. oops. :)

at the zoo there is lots to see......

2011-07-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

...goats for the petting....

...penguins for the watching...

....and waving too....

...there are DINO's to see!

...(with best friend daddy)...

... babies to watch "hatch"...

...and some that will spray you, watch out!...

....there's a dino that will bite a daddy's head....

...ones to ride....

...and maybe even to be eaten by!...

....there are kids just my size to meet....

....even pretend hippos to pet!

...there's a time to say "cheese mommy!"

...and a tiny hut to climb...

....and there is dancing of course......

...and drumming...

...and just being "JACK"!

airplanes!

2011-07-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to the Museum of Flight with my family while Uncle Tony was in town!

Grama Boo with her baby and her grand-baby.

Hanging out with Uncle "Yoey" who is Jack's most favoritest person EVER right now.

Flying the airplane!

Jake, Joey and Jack!

Jake!

Check out the birds Uncle Tony!

I'm busy mama!

time for some dino cookies!

2011-07-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

Jack is totally in love with dinosaurs, thanks to his favorite song . Yesterday, he saw a picture of a cookie in a book, pointed to it, then said "more", then went and found his sandwich dinosaur cookie cutter, brought it back to the picture of the cookie and said "MORE?" "Please?". I'm loving, loving, loving the fact that he is getting to the point where he can communicate what he wants and loving almost as much the fact that he loves little projects or tasks.

And how could I resist this face I ask you? The truth is I can't.

And so we made some cookies!

He had a great time dumping in the ingredients and mixing them up.

But it was even MORE fun to use his cookie cutter to press it down and see the dinosaurs magically appear. He would giggle with delight every time.

The finished dino's (and a letter J of course!)

Sprinkles are definitely in his top 5 of current loves lately (ever since he got to decorate an ice cream cone with sprinkles at his preschool) along with dinosaurs, trucks, excavators and anything having to do with dirt.

He was a little unsure about eating his beautiful creations at first but once he had a few bites the rest was gone in no time!!

And yes, he got a major hair cut. Oops, I meant to use a #2 on the back and sides and a #3 or a #4 on the top but it is a #2 all over. Distracted mommy moment. This probably means I won't be having this conversation everytime we go to the store or park etc....

stranger: "ohmygosh, your little boy looks JUST like the kid in that one movie...what's it called..."

me: "Jerry McGuire?"

stranger: "YES!!! has anyone ever told you that?!?!? he looks just like him!!!!"

me: *smile and nod, smile and nod*

at least he'll be nice and cool for summer....if it ever decides to come back!

(belated) my SIL's graduate! (and other things)

2011-07-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

A few (ok, several) weeks ago, my twin sister-in-laws graduated highschool. YAY! They are pretty much the best. I love them alot. So does Jack- although it is very hit and miss for him to tell them apart. :)

For the occasion, we got to see Aunt Julie, and cousin Ella and cousin Dakota!

Ella is so sweet with Jack, she would just come up to him and say "I love you Jack!" or when he would be laughing at something, she would get right in his face and say "did you think that was funny Jack?" Here she is "reading" him a story. I have to be a bragging auntie/godmother for a minute and just say that she is the sweetest, cutest, smartest little girl in the whole wide world!

party time!

Great-grandma Jan with two of her great-grandsons!

(you will start to notice that Jacks smile is the same in all his pictures since when I hold up the camera he says "cheese!!"

In other "Jack" news: He can repeat every letter of the alphabet, and just today put two words together on his own when he told Bailey "drop it!". I'm really excitedly hoping that his verbal skills are finally starting to take off. I haven't been too worried since he understands everything we say but it is still really fun to have him start to use more words. I got him to say "love you" which was super cute, can't wait for him to be more spontaneous with words.

He really does love his "Baby" as he calls her. He loves to climb in her doggie bed with her and give her snuggles or just hang out.

Whenever we go anywhere, as we are walking out the door he asks "baby?" and he is always super excited to greet her when we get home. I'm really glad that we got her. I've never really been a dog person (in fact I was terrified of dogs until, well, probably college?) but she really is a sweet girl and lots of fun (and work too of course). I love how Jack loves her and how he is not afraid of her.

He also really loves his weekly "preschool" class and anything project related, especially if it is helping his daddy by holding a tool or handing him a screw, but he likes to color and paint too. :)

And no, he is not right handed, he just really really loved that toy in his left hand on this particular day and he would not put it down. Funny boy.

There! I am all caught up with pictures! Hopefully lots more summer fun and sun to come.

sweet summertime

2011-07-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

thankful

2011-07-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

A week ago monday, 4 of my younger siblings and a friend of theirs were in a pretty serious car accident. Three of them and their friend had to be taken to Harborview in Seattle since their injuries were more serious then Overlake is comfortable dealing with. The good news is, that as of last night, they are ALL home and doing ok. The littlest one in the car, Jake, had to have emergency surgery for his bowel and had to have quite a bit of intestine removed, colon repaired and spleen fixed up. He was in the ICU for a few days, on a regular floor for a few days and just came home yesterday. He also has a fractured pelvis. My sister Kayla, got released from the hospital just a few hours after the accident but has a compression fracture in her spine (no surgery necessary). Stephen was taken to harborview since he had some internal bleeding going on and they thought he might need surgery, which he didn't. He got to come home after a few days. And Andrew, the oldest, has several fractures around his left eye and may need surgery. He got to come home after a few days too and follows up with plastic surgery today. They are all pretty sore and tired but they are alive. I was able to see a few pictures of the car after the accident and it is hard to believe they are as ok as they are. The policeman told us that it was a very very good thing they were in the suburban ( they call it the "pedestrian tank".)
Scary, scary stuff. I'm definitely rethinking my plan of getting a small, fuel efficient car, I'll tell you that. All of the sudden, paying extra to drive in my big, heavy 4runner does not seem so bad after all.....
It was a very surreal feeling to be in the emergency room with them, going from room to room. It is not everyday that you have a family member in serious condition, not to mention 4 of them. My heart just broke for my mom and dad, as a parent you want to be with your kid all the time in that situation, and that was not physically possible for them. The hospitals were both great about trying to keep the kids close together or even in the same room in the ER when possible but it was still chaotic. My family has a TON of support with their friends and family and that made it easier I think.
I won't even try to get into the philosophy of it all, if that is even the right word. The "what if's", the "why's", the "why them", or "why not them". It is sobering to have something like this happen, where you are reminded how fragile life is, how we are SO NOT in control, and how glad I am that they are ok.

make it an even 162.....

2011-06-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

....total nights of his little life spent in a hospital. :(

Jack ended up with viral pneumonia last week. He started to have a fever on saturday night, that by tuesday progressed to a fever with a cough and runny nose. (I was confused since he had 2 1/2 days of just a fever and fussiness so we went to the MD on monday thinking it was an ear infection, which it was not)

Thanks to the un-awesome weather we have been getting up until, oh, well, three days ago?- there has been a big onslaught of viruses again according to the hospital.

Anyway, wednesday morning, after a night of fevers around 103.6 and coughing, we headed to the ER at evergreen. He ended up getting admitted, needing some blow by oxygen, nebulizer treatments and an IV since he was dehydrated from not drinking too much (believe me I was pretty much forcing the fluids so we could hopefully avoid the IV, but low fluids combined with high fevers is not a good match.

They ended up getting the IV on the first try, thank the Lord. The poor nurse who did it of course had a full interrogation from me to make sure that she was not a "newbie", that she is good at pediatric dehydrated kids IV's, and we made a deal that if she didn't get it on the first try, they would call the NICU. (because from being in the NICU so long, I knew that the ER sometimes called them if they were having trouble with an IV) She was really nice, and I liked her -after she got the IV in- and she was looking at Jack's arms and legs and feet and hands where he has ALL his IV scars saying "ohhhhh, poor little guy!".

We ended up staying overnight and through most of the next day until he was doing ok without the oxygen. It really was not too terrible, aside from the poke for Jack, which then made him scream everytime someone would come into his room to check on him. It didn't help either that since he had a virus he was in isolation, meaning all the doctors and nurses had to wear a gown, gloves and a mask just to come into his room. But, sadly, it kind of felt like being home again. The pediatric unit is on the same floor as the NICU, and we got to see a few of our favorite nurses while we were there. Mike and I were talking about the fact that we lived on that hospital floor longer then some people live in an apartment or dorm room! Weird.

Anyway, Jack is doing much better, he still is pretty fussy and has a terrible cough but no more fevers or need for oxygen and he is eating and drinking well enough.

So that is pretty much all that we have been up to over the last week! If this happens again, the hospital pediatrician recommended that we go back and see Dr. Carter, Jack's pulmonologist at Childrens to see if there is anything else they want to do for him etc. So, here's hoping for a healthy rest of the summer!! (and fall, and winter and etc. ) :)

yard update

2011-06-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks, we have had lots of help with the yard "remodel". Thankfully, the professionals came to take down the trees and dig up the roots, and level and rototill the yard.

That still left a giant retaining wall to be built.... I'm pretty proud of myself because I learned to use surveyor equipment (you know, the tripod thing that construction people are always looking through) which was exciting since I never knew what it was for. We also had to move 4 pallets of 67 lb bricks. I say "we" but really I moved about 12 of them, so did Marisa, and Gabe moved pretty much all the rest. :)

Michelle became an expert at chipping off cement in lethal sized chunks. (And I love that she posed for this picture)

These munchkins were happy to take the wheelbarrow wherever it needed to go.

This is on the same day we went to wild waves, perhaps Jack is having some motion sickness?

When no one was free to push them, they tried to do it themselves.

The three best friends and the improvised yard stomper. Look out Jacob!

Another ride!

The second generation best friends. :)

Do cuter kids exist? I think not!

Once the wall was up, the trees out, the yard leveled and the topsoil leveled, it was time to lay the sod!

"Come on Dad! Get to work!"

Jack was happy to supervise everyone.

And Bailey was not too sure how she felt about all that fresh dirt to dig in being gone....

Sneak peak. We still need to put up the fence and get plants and flowers for the boarders as well as bark.

Yay for my new yard!

Bailey likes it too!

Playtime with Bailey

They have lots of fun together

Best buds.

Oh, right! We are still finishing the deck! Here is Jack helping to measure for the stairs.

It goes just like THIS.

"I'm working mom"

Hmmm, looks like only one of my boys is hard at work. :)

"Just take a break dad. I'll get this figured out for ya!"

Hopefully in a week or so we will be DONE!! I love the yard already, it is so nice to have all the big trees gone and to have nice soft grass to play in instead of rocks and weeds. :)

wild waves

2011-06-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Jack took his first trip to wild waves (my mom has been taking us every year since I was not even 1.) No, really, he loved it!

He is having the best time ever.....

.......can't you tell??

Wow, do I look like a mean old mom or what? "You WILL ride this boat Jack. And LIKE it!!"

For the record, he didn't actually ride most of the rides. He would get all excited when he saw one, want to get on, I would put him on, and he would start to cry so he would get off without riding. Then he would watch his uncles and friends ride and be happy and laughing.

He did like this ride since I could go on it with him.

We went on it I think 4 times. I was dizzy the rest of the day (and I really like rides)

He was really excited to ride the fire engine with his buddy Petar......

......or not.

I'll just hang out with mom and aunt marisa ok?

the merry-go-round was a hit, we also rode that about 4 times.

And he had fun sitting on this non-ride dragon.

trying to get a group shot...... one day.

And then we noticed the sign....awesome.

Maybe next year huh Jack?

They have a really fun kiddie area in the water section, but it was not nearly warm enough to venture there.

100% BOY

2011-06-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

Oh my. This little Jack-a-roo has been having the TIME of his lil' life these days. We are in the process of redoing our backyard and building a deck! Both of these have provided him lots of opportunities to "help" Daddy and watch giant machines cut down trees, scoop up dirt and drive around, all in the comfort of his own backyard.

He wanted to use a screwdriver and hammer all day long. He has his own little plastic set which he used but any chance he could, he wanted to get his hands on the REAL tools.

Jack, Daddy and Grandpa hard at work

"Hi Mom! I'm a big helper!"

He would also settle for being "supervisor" for a few minutes at a time.....

....but then he insisted on getting right back in on the action. :)

And one of the best parts of the day was at night when he could go out and get an up close look at the excavator.

This still makes me laugh everytime I see it... This is what he did when I told him to "say cheese!"

Heaven.On.Earth.

So, currently, our fence is down, the trees are gone, we have an awesome new deck, a yard that is level and 100% dirt (sod this weekend)!!!

Thanks, in no small part, to our neighbor who is a landscaper and who is giving us a killer deal, and also my F-I-L, who is always over helping a ton when we have projects going. He even came over last weekend to watch Jack since Mike had to be out in the yard and I had to work! Oh, and he always has all the right tools. (Mike is jealous)

Hopefully next week I will have some awesome before-and-after pictures of our yard to show you!

In the meantime, I'm trying to NOT lose the dog (since the fence is down) and trying to keep the dirt that is inevitably tracked into the house cleaned up.

AND I'm trying to convince a sad two-year-old that the big machines are tired from working so hard at his house and they need a rest. Maybe we will see them again soon. (It is the first thing he looks for in the morning)

catch up

2011-05-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

(Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. Between Jack, the puppy, and now working two half days a week I haven't had a chance to post! (or do laundry, but thankfully today is a catch up day) Life is busy, but good.) Here is the lil man enjoining a pre summer ice cream cone.

As our friend "little pea" would say: "YUM, YUM, EXTRA YUM!"

Here are a few pictures of Mike, he painted a picture for his mom for mothers day. I think he did an awesome job.

Can I just say I love this guy SO much! He is the absolute best husband and daddy in the whole wide world. He works so hard and takes such good care of us. And he is pretty much the cutest too. :)

Last week, one of our very favoritest nurses in the world came over to visit! She brought Jack a book which instantly made her a huge hit as books are still his life blood.

You've heard me sing her praises before, but I have to say again how much we love Di. She really took not only Jack, but Mike and I too, under her wing during the 5 months in the NICU and we still keep in touch with her. She will always be a special person in our lives.

Here she is feeding Jack his first ever taste of milk!

Anyway, back to present day.......

Jack thinks it is the most fun ever when we play fort on mommy and daddy's bed

"Here I am!! I was hiding!!"

Rest in Peace Grandpa Fred

2011-05-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

Early yesterday morning, my beloved 94 year old Grandpa peacefully left this world for a better one. I don't really think words can begin to do justice to the amazing person that he was but I'll try to give you a little idea of what a wonderful part of my life he was.

My maternal Grandma (Patricia) died just 10 months after giving birth to my mom's little brother and my Grandpa never remarried, but became, as my mom would say, both a mother and a father to her and her siblings. When asked why he never remarried, he said that he could never love anyone as much as he loved my Grandma.
My Grandpa has always been a huge part of my life. Lucky for me, I never lived more then 40 minutes away from him, except when I went to college. Growing up, going to "Bapas" house or having him come to our house happened pretty much every week. Some of my earliest memories are being at his house, playing with his dog poochie outside on a warm summer day, swinging on the swing that hung from the crab apple tree in the backyard, him reading my all-time favorite book, "Poochie and Fastball" to me over and over, playing baseball outside and him singing "how much is that doggy in the window" to me.
When I got a little older, we started a tradition where each year on my birthday, I got to go on a special "date" with my Grandpa. One year, it was out to lunch and then to toys r us where I got to pick out the doll stroller I had been wanting, another year he took me to the bowling alley (where he himself bowled 5 days a week) to play a few games with a little tiny ball on the "bumper" lane. He was always there for my birthdays and for all the important events in my life. Christmas morning was always spent at his house.
As me and my brothers grew up, we loved to hear stories from my Grandpa about when he was a little boy or when he was fighting in the war. He had many near misses with death, like the time a grenade landed in the fox hole he was in (and thankfully it was a dud or I probably wouldn't be here today) or when he narrowly missed flying out of the 2nd (or 3rd) story of an open building when he lost the steering on the homemade "box" car he was riding down the ramps. We never ever got tired of hearing the stories of his life.

me with my grandpa right before I left for college

In highschool I stayed with my Grandpa for a summer and school year, taking classes at the community college near his house to get a head start on pre-requisites for nursing school. Every morning, we would go to daily mass together and then he would drop me off at school. In the afternoons, we would sit outside on the deck and he would read the paper while I did homework. We ate stir fry for dinner (still my favorite meal) all the time and he would watch "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" with me every night (how is that for love?!)
Speaking of love, I never, ever doubted for a minute how much my Grandpa loved me. Not only did he show me by all that he did for me and by always being there, but he never hesitated to tell me that he loved me, which meant so much to me.

jack with grandpa in the NICU spring 2009

I am so thankful that I had the privilege of having my Grandpa be there for the biggest events in my life, my wedding day and to meet my newborn son. He saw Jack a few days after he was born and then came up to see him again several months later to hold him. He could never get over how tiny Jack was, and he was always SO excited to see him.

Jack and his great-grandpa taking an Easter nap. (2010)

He was always happy to be surrounded by his 5 children, 19 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren and I always knew it would be really hard to have to say goodbye to him one day.

my immediate family with grandpa last year

He spent the last days of his life with family by his side at every minute, and we all had the amazing gift of being able to say goodbye to him, spend time by his side and hear one last time from him how much each of us was loved. When his spirit finally left his body early tuesday morning, of course there is sadness, but I also am happy to know that he is at his heavenly home (and finally getting to see my Grandma again after over 40 years).

me and my cousin stacy with our kids (the great-grandkids) alyssa and jack.

I will never forget the last real conversation I got to have with him a few weeks ago, we were sitting in the warm sun on his back porch and he was telling me more about my Grandma, the trips they used to take together to go skiing, and how much she loved the water (like me!!)
The last thing I got to say to him before he died was that I loved him, I told him to say "hi" to Grandma for me, and I told him I would see him soon. Because of course, I will see him soon, since our goal on this earth is eternal happiness in heaven.
Rest in peace, dear Grandpa. You gave so freely of your love to all of us and you will be so missed.

pictures are hard to take.

2011-05-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last week, I took a 4 hour photography class!! It was a lot of fun and I learned SO much (which makes sense since it was the first photography class I'd ever taken :) ) So, now I'm trying to take pictures in manual mode, and I have a loonngg way to go! But here are a few of my first attempts.

Jack coloring outside and enjoying the sun

Yay Spring!

Playing Soccer! He loves to kick the ball around, we've also been working on baseball too! I really wanted to sign him up for a parent/kid soccer class, but the age range is 2-3.5 so I figured he would get trampled especially since he is not running as well as the other kids that are his age. So maybe in the fall? How cute would that be!!

(the rest of the pics are in automatic since I didn't want to miss this cute moment)
Jack having a "sippy cup break" with his bestie, C

good friends

laughing about something

It is so fun to have good friends live so close by! It makes for a lot of last min play dates!

spring was one day long......

2011-04-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

....thankfully I took a ton of pictures so just pretend that the sunny weather is a normal thing and happens all the time. But just know (for those of you who don't live round here), that it SNOWED three days later!!) GRRRRR. Someone remind me why I don't live in San Diego? :)

Jack has discovered the joy of being outside stomping around, finding sticks, inspecting bugs and just generally being a boy. And he has a cute little dog to follow him around.

here's a dandelion for you Bailey!

(laughing at something that Bailey was doing.) Also, no idea what was going on with the drool. Gross little man.

Did you notice that he has new glasses? We decided it was time for a new pair since his old ones were not fitting too well and were pretty chewed up (literally, from when he was teething) These are real, big boy glasses! (same prescription)

The greatest thing to do outside is to "help" Daddy mow the lawn. This boy was in hog heaven!!

Can you say CRA-ZY dog? I love the way her ears fly up when she runs!

Lovin' him some Vitamin D

It sure is nice for this little guy to have such a handy dad who built him his own "Jack" size railing to get down the stairs so he can do it all by himself!

No one can stop me now!!

Easter morning checking out my basket!

It is hard to tell, but Mike is actually holding the dog in this pic.

Happy Easter!!

Fun new toys!

spring is springing! (i hope)

2011-04-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Jack and I were playing outside and he stopped at a dandelion, picked it and held it up to me. I took that to mean that he was wanting to pick some pretty flowers for his mama and my heart melted. (I realize he could have just been asking what it was, or even maybe wondered if it was supposed to be there mixed in with the grass, but I like to think he was picking them for me ok?) :)

dandelions look a whole lot prettier when your little boy picks them for you.

smelling the pretty flowers.

Showing his support for Kenworth! Thanks to Ryan for finding this awesome hat for Jack. He loves it!

yay for my daddy designing trucks!

Check out the sweet "easter basket" Jack made at his once a week playgroup! They even colored easter eggs too! He loved it.

Probably telling Bailey to stop running full speed at him. :)

silly sleeping puppy with her head hanging out to the floor. (And the pampers box in the crate is because she is still too little for the crate fyi. It is not crate decor.)

way too much fun with photo booth.

2011-04-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

Does everyone love photo booth as much as me? I seriously get way into it (when I remember we have it).

Then its fun to go back and look at the pictures I've taken. Mike always shakes his head at how many there are.

You can do some cra-zy stuff!

Jack always gets a kick out of it too.

Oh, and excuse the varying degrees of "messy-ness" in the background of these pictures. Maybe I should spend more time organizing instead of taking silly pictures.....?

I think it is just the reflection but it looks like Jack only has one eye open here.

How big is Jack??

Soooooooo BIG! (24 lbs to be exact)

a fun springtime project

2011-04-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a kids magazine I picked up for Jack, this morning we made bunny crackers!

We used: ritz crackers, hummus, baby carrots, cheese, red peppers and raisins.

Jack had fun spreading the hummus on the crackers and adding all the pieces!

"This is fun mommy!" (He now says "mommy" instead of "mama" most of the time)

I even remembered to use my "springtime" spreaders which were perfect for him to use for the hummus.

The finished product

(A relatively small mess was made.)

Jack's Picasso bunny which he made all by himself. Brilliant, I know.

He thought they were yummy, but he just wanted to pick off the carrots and red peppers and eat those and then replace them on said bunny, but I did get him to eventually eat a whole bunny. He was a fan.

Here's hoping for some real spring weather soon!!

puppies puppies everywhere!

2011-04-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Last week, my little sister, Jack's auntie kayla got a puppy!

Uncle Jacob and Kelly- so cute!

So, Mike and I have been wanting a dog for a while and haven't been sure that it was a good time..... but meeting Kelly put us over the edge of wanting one and soooo...........

....meet Bailey!

Jack and his puppy dog.

checking out bailey's eyes ears nose mouth tail etc.

she is just a little squirt! I LOVE her!

She is a half lab-half beagle. Check out her floppy beagle ears. (!!!)

tiny pup

boy and dog

Jack was not too sure about her when we got her last night but today he is totally fascinated by everything she does.

He doesn't quite want to share his toys though. :)

Jack lately

2011-03-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

Trying to fill my daddy's shoes :)

I'm ready for work! Bye mom!

I love magnets!

And I love hats too!

smiley boy

playtime with good friends

Its a.......

....Jack-In-The-Box!

Jack loves weekends with Daddy (when mama works). He gets to wear his PJ's all day, wrestle, watch some sports, maybe drink some chocolate milk and wear mama's hat. It's a pretty great life.

farmer jack

2011-02-25T20:02:00.000-08:00

One of Jack's christmas gifts was this fun little barn. (I wanted to encourage him in 'imaginative play')

His favorite part is that you can place the animals up in the loft with the chicken, then push the chicken to the left and.....

....the animal slides off the roof.
He did that FOREVER yesterday, and each time he would let out a huge belly laugh. So cute. (of course, the battery in the camcorder was dead)
He also likes to make the animals 'hop, hop, hop' over to the hay pile for a snack. I love to see the wheels in his head turning. :)

everyday I feel more and more that he is growing up. mainly because 1) he walks everywhere (still super excited over that) and 2) when I rock him to sleep and he is laying on my lap, his feet go down to my knees! when did that happen!?

snow day

2011-02-24T21:01:00.000-08:00

we had fun playing in the snow twice today! once and home and once at our friends house!

I don't really know how he got snow on the front of his hat. he didn't face plant, I promise!

"hey mom, i guess this is o-k". (maybe he is a boy after my own heart and would much prefer to be on a warm, sunny beach?)

"where is the rest of the grass?"

"and why do i have these giant things on my hands?"

"ok mom and dad, you never put the deck chairs away? its not summer you know! i''ll just go ahead and clean these off for ya. no prob"