1 Year Video

I compiled some of the pictures that were taken of Jack over the last year. My baby is turning ONE in less than two weeks. My....Baby...Turning...One...(sniff-sniff)... I think that it is a cruel joke that babies grow so fast and that you are so sleep deprived that you can barely remember how to tie your shoes, much less what they looked like last week. Just today (well, I am blogging early in the morning, so actually yesterday), I was asking Jay if he remembered that when Jack first started sitting up, if he smiled too big, he would loose all concentration and fall over. Sadly, Jay said that he does not remember this. This only makes me wonder, "What have I forgotten?", what cute little things have occurred and is now a moment lost in time?

Jack's birthday party is in just a couple weeks. My sister keeps asking me what theme I have picked and what all do I have done for the party. Truth is, nothing is done. I am not willing to accept that Jack is actually turning one, so there for, I am not dealing with it. I really should just get over it. Really, I should...I am hoping if I keep typing it that I will...not working so far...I know that if I let him turn one, that next year he will just insist on turning two...definitely can't let that happen... The other day, I was reading in one of my parenting books about what your child is up to at this age. The book called my baby "Your Toddler". I am not ready for him to be a toddler. If you watched him race up and down the aisles at Lowe's yesterday afternoon, you would insist that I actually have a Preschooler, but no, in my heart, he is a baby.

Minnesota Zoo

Jay and I took Jack to the Minnesota Zoo today! It was quite chilly, but otherwise we had a wonderful time!
Jack's favorite exhibit was the Snow Monkeys (I think that is what they were called). He pointed at them and did his "ooooh--oooh" noises! I think he felt like family with them.

Here Jack is looking at a sleepy bear.

Here is our little sleepy bear! He did pretty well considering he missed his entire morning nap. He didn't fall asleep until we had seen everything that we wanted him to see.

Trip to SD--part 3!

The next destination was to my parent's house.
My sister drove up from Arkansas with her two kids and my other sister came from Sioux Falls to visit as well. While we were all home, we threw a surprise birthday party for my dad. My dad was very surprised!

Jack had a grand time exploring Nana and Papa's house! Jack got pretty sick while we were there, so that did slow him down a little. At one point, my mom said to me, "Well, he sure isn't letting his illness get in his way." I then explained to her that this was actually pretty calm for Jack. She then said that Jack can come back to visit when he is 10. Even though he was sick, he did manage to rip the blinds down from my bedroom window. He also managed to give me a mild heart attack--I thought my sister was watching him and I went upstairs for a moment. I am pretty sure that I closed the door behind me, so I was very surprised when all of the sudden, I could hear Jack on the stairs! I went running and the whole time I was wondering what do I do when I get there. If I catch him halfway and he sees me, he might stand straight up, loose his balance and fall all the way down! Well, I didn't need to worry about that--when I got to the stairs, he was already at the top!!!!!! He was quite proud of himself too! I think his guardian angels must be exhausted at the end of the day!

Here is a picture of Jack with his cousins, Cale and Ellie. I know it is a terrible picture, but of all the ones I took, this is the best one! Somehow, we didn't get any of them the whole time we were there, so this is on our last day there. Ellie is scowling at Jack because, well, quite frankly, she is sick of him by this point! Jack is crying because he is sick and Cale is being good as gold like always!

Jack and I were originally going to stay a few more days and visit tons more friends and family, but he was sick and not getting any better, so I decided to head home early so he could get some rest. He slept the entire 4 hour trip home! Once we got home, he didn't seem to get to much better, so I took him to the doctor and they told me he has pneumonia! The doctor said it was a pretty bad case and she said she would be more worried about him if he wasn't tearing apart her office. I felt terrible for thinking it was just a bad cold! They gave Jack his first anti-biotic (I still think that it is pretty good that we made it 11 1/2 months before the first anti-biotic) and he loves it! We had a re-check yesterday and they said he is all better!

Cash's Birthday Party--Trip to SD--Part 2

While we were in Parkston, we were able to go to Jack's second cousin, Cash's 1st birthday party.
This first picture is of me holding both Jack AND Cash, because Jack threw a fit when I picked up Cash! Apparently, Mommy is not meant to be shared! Good thing that I quit working, Jack would not like having to share me with 70 other kids!

I wasn't planning on giving Jack a pickle, but he saw mine and threw a fit. I thought that if I gave it to him, he would take one lick and not like it. Well, I was wrong! Jack loved gnawing on the pickle with his three little teeth!

Jack enjoyed the birthday cake! It was good practice for his party in a couple of weeks!

Big Trip to South Dakota

A couple of weeks ago, Jack and I did our first solo (well, first as in we made it ALL the way there!) trip to South Dakota. Jack did better than I could have ever hoped for! We did stop several times (4 times total). Our first destination to hit was Jay's parents house. We made it there Thursday night. Jay had been traveling for business and met us there that night.
Jack was glad to be able to run around after the long car trip and Jay's parents were glad to see him run! He quickly took over the house and had great fun with the Tupperware drawer and the Swiffer!

This picture was taken after he broke the Swiffer. Daddy fixed it, however he wasn't allowed to play with it anymore. Jack was not too happy about that. Jack also managed to break a baby gate and cause trouble all through the house!

Jack had fun checking on calves and watching the dogs, but I think the Tupperware drawer was the favorite...oh, and that Grandma's kitchen chairs are on wheels so that they make GREAT push toys!

Aunt Missi

Aunt Missi came to visit Jack this weekend and we all had tons of fun! Jack showed off every skill and trick he has and Missi was especially impressed by Jack's soccer skills.

Missi and I took Jack shopping at the mall and I showed her one of Jack's favorite new games---shoe shopping!!!! Jack laughs hysterically when you try and shove his fat little feet into shoes!!! He even will cry when you walk away from the shoe section! We were trying on the cutest pair of saddle shoes at Children's Place, but his round little feet won't fit into their shoes! I was so sad because the shoes were so adorable and Jack was very sad to walk away from them too.

Shoe shopping has become a part of the Target ritual now. Every time we go, we stop in the shoe section for entertainment! People come from aisles away to see what he is laughing so hard about! What a nut!

Play Date

Two weekends ago, we went to visit Mandi and Travis, and their little girl, Hadley. The two little ones had a great time playing together! Hadley cooked in her little kitchen and Jack was happy to join in!































Hadley is such a sweetie! She likes to play with baby-dolls and was happy to share them with Jack.


















Here the two are exchanging numbers and putting the numbers in their Blackberrys.

Here they have traded phones...I guess they are entering their own numbers for each other? We have told Jack that the appropriate amount of time to wait before calling a girl is about 20 years, so hopefully Hadley is not waiting by the phone!