Truly a child after my own heart...

I've been trying to mix up Jack's diet a little bit lately...it was just getting too easy to always feed him the same things for lunch and dinner:
turkey meatballs or cooked chicken
squash or sweet potato
peas or green beans
fruit
rice or noodles
all topped off with a sprinkling of cheese
I think he was getting a little bored, so I.m trying to add a little variety
when we have meat and 3 or a casserole of some kind (not too spicy) then I'll give him a little
I've also been trying out grilled cheese and quesadillas..
tonight was spaghetti! He inhaled it!
so a few things I've noticed about his preferences:
he loves pasta (like me)
he also likes quesadillas (like me)
fruit is always a favorite (like me)
truly a child after my own heart...and possibly even less picky than me (he likes peas)...except for...
he HATES peaches (like Josh!)
oh well!

SUCCESS!

YAY! After many hours of work, several helpers and (not too much) blood, sweat, and tears, the house was ready enough for a social gathering. I wish to goodness that we had taken some before and after photos..but several of the friends who came over saw the place just after we moved in, and couldn't believe their eyes! One of them even said, "I didn't even know you had a fireplace, it was so covered up with boxes!" I invited the Ladies who are in my MOPs group to come over for spaghetti and conversation, and as a fun activity, to share our favorite photo albums and scrapbooks. We had so much fun eating and talking that we forgot about the picture part! I think that is is so neat that really, the only way we know each other is through MOPS...none of us grew up together, none of us go to church together, but we are still growing to be friends.
Many, many thanks to my sweet mother and my sweet friend Bethany who both came up to help twice to help me get the place ready for company. Most especially thank you to Josh who did such a nie job working on the house on the weekends and after work. He even (almost) finished the deck for us...so now we can play and enjoy the nice weather without being scared of Jack falling off the edge of the world. YAY!

a cool website

I was reading on another moms blog about this fun website, and I'd like to pass it along to ya'll.
www.productiveparenting.com it is a service you can subscribe to and it will send you ideas about fun simple activities to do with your child according to his/her age. I also love that you can request how often you receive the emails...right now we are getting them MWF, but you could do whatever configuration of days you'd like...so you're not completely overwhelmed with emails like with some other services. Todays activity for Jack is to take some platic toys and freeze them in water in an ice cube tray, then to pop them out during his bath and just watch his reaction...that doesn't sound too hard to me...do any of you have any suggestions for websites that have given you some good ideas of activities to do with your little ones?

A Productive LONG weekend...

Josh took a 4 day weekend, since he hadn't had a day off since Christmas..and we got a lot done! YAY! On Friday we planned out how to fix the deck and make it much more child-friendly and went to Lowes. We spent WAY too much time and $$ at Lowes on lumber AND mower AND weed whacker AND ladder etc...but the lawn got mowed that night too! Now Daddy feels like an official homeowner. We had to rent a truck to go pick up the lumber since they couldn't deliver it until TUESDAY...but we figure renting a budget truck for a few hours was about as expensive as having them deliver it, and we could get it on our timing...Saturday Daddy worked VERY hard on the deck...got about half way done before exhaustion, darkness and rain set in. We would've worked on it more on Sunday, but it POURED all day long, so we worked inside on book cases and unpacking more boxes. (Have I mentioned that I've taken leave of my senses and have planned a get together of some of my friends for this coming MONDAY...at our house??? I'm really actually not that stressed about it right now, I think I've got a lot of work to do, but I keep telling myself I have a while to do it, just take it a little at a time and prioritize!!! No one will care what our bedrooms or storage or laundry rooms look like!!! There WONT be anything up on the walls...besides the undesirable walpaper that doesn't match a THING we own...but that's ok...)
anyway, Jack has been lately transitioning himself to 1 nap a day from 2 naps a day...I'm having mixed feelings about it...but hey, what can I do about it? I am glad that this will make it easier to get to church and other morning functions...I hope. This has also made the weekend interesting...

So today is Monday, Jack is napping, we just got back from my monthly MOPS meeting and Josh is outside under our covered front porch chopping wood and tryingto work on the porch...from the opposite side of the house...I think it is misty raining outside...hopefully we will get the deck done soon, weather permiting

our deck before

and after!

Jack is watching Daddy work.

Jack is helping daddy hammer the back on the bookshelf..with his own little hammer

my skinny child...

He's gonna be tall and skinny like his daddy....
according to weight he is ALMOST in 24 month clothes...but he's so tall and slender that he definitely needs 24 months for his onesie shirts for the length, but 18month pants FALL off of him, and are even sometimes too long...he's got a long torso and shorter legs. I took this picture of some of his clothing issues of late...it's hard to shop for this kid...especially if I try to do it ahead of time, not knowing what size he's officially going to be in...

24 month shirt, (fits well) 18 month pants...SERIOUSLY low riding!

So sorry to anyone who may have viewed my blog earlier and may have been scandalized by Jack's "say no to crack" picture I had posted...I thought it was cute, but I guess a mommie is supposed to think those pictures are cute and all 10 of you viewing this aren't his mommie!

Easter Weekend..

We went into "town" on Saturday and had a great time visiting with family. First we drove into Gallatin and had an Easter celebration at Granny Franny's new house, including Jack's first Easter Egg Hunt (He did very well hunting for eggs, I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Daddy had him "practicing" the night before!!) Sorry we didn't get any pictures from this gathering..as soon as Granny Ruthie can send them to me, I'll post some. I was too busy baby wrangling at this gathering. We had fun visiting with everyone and Jack got a new gift from Granny Ruthie and Mzee and Daniel...a baby "popcorn popper"...you know, those push toys that pops up balls and makes lots of noise...THANKS! Mzee is excited to put his philospohy into practice-parents get educational toys and grandparents get noisemakers!!

One time came for Jack's nap we put him back into the car (he's a GREAT car snoozer...like his mommie!) and we headed down to Franklin. Again, I didn't get too many pictures here either...but I did get a great one of him "playing" with the Wii. We were playing "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader (collectively we were!) Jack knew from watching us play bowling that those white remote thingies were pretty important to whatever was happening on the screen, so he was VERY excited to get his hands on one, and rush up to the tv and start waving it around and squealing (like we did during bowling or cow races...) I wish I could've gotten a video of it! One of his favorite items in his Cooper Easter Basket was a Nerf SWORD! He's really gotten into swinging things around (dusters, yark sticks, fly swatters....poor Maggie, she DOES NOT like it!)so Bertie was very excited to find him a sword (we were too, since it doesn't hurt like the fly swatter does...:)

I've also included a picture of him in his Easter outfit (I know, I know, he's a BOY and Easter outfits aren't a BIG deal...but it was still fun to dress him up nice) he didn't get to wear it on Easter since we had to miss church due to Jack and Daddy feeling sick that morning, but he got to wear it this past Sunday and my, didn't he look handsome!

He has had SO much fun playing with the Easter Eggs we brought back...I think they must be in every room of the house! And We sure enjoyed the sweets inside!

Have I mentioned my son is VERY smart???

As many of you probably guessed, I LOVE to read to Jack (I know, big shock coming from a former teacher....) some of our favorite books to read are from our collection of Dr. Seuss books. These have special meaning for me since these are some books I read to my baby brother Daniel (well, he's not such a baby anymore...that's another post....). My absolute favorite book to read is I Can Read with My Eyes Shut. I read it to Daniel and to my class so much that I literally can read it with my eyes shut! Josh and I are such dorks we will start reciting it to each other in the car to entertain Jack...and get through it pretty well too!
Anyway, my son is smart...the other day we were in his room and I asked him to pick out a book for us to read..he toddles over to the bookshelf and starts looking...I start reciting "I can read in red, I can read in blue, I can read in pickle color too" and he immediately finds that book and brings it to me saying "EYES, EYES, EYES" (I PROMISE!) I was shocked, so of course we read it! Then he goes back to the bookshelf and pulls out another favorite Dr. Seuss's ABC and brings it to me saying "Aaaa, Aaa, Aaa" (I know, I can't believe it either!) Then the icing on the cake...yesterday I'm in the kitchen trying to gather up what we need to run some errands and he disappears for a moment. Apparently he went to his room for a book, because he comes toddling back with Green Eggs and Ham in his hand saying "Eggs, Eggs, Eggs" (WHOA! AMAZING) So of course my plans get put on hold for a moment to do a speed read of this Dr. Seuss Masterpiece! When Josh got home I told him all about it, and we tried to get him to do it again...of course he won't...but I PROMISE, I didn't make it up (although I will admit that maybe he was just babytalking and I WANTED it to sound like this....but I won't admit it out loud...my child is brilliant...remember?)
A few more new things he's learning...he's getting really good at body parts...his favorite way to wake me up when I go stumbling into his room is to start poking at my face and reciting the part he's poking (especially EYES and NOse). He's also learned a few new animal sounds....Giraffe and Dog...what, you didn't know that giraffe's make sounds....just ask him....maybe he'll perform for you! :)

He's such a boy!

Today as we were playing in the bonus room I grabbed his Easter basket/bucket (all the baskets were WAAY too girlie). I made a silly "gassy" noise (with my mouth, or course) into the bucket and it echoed. He CRACKED UP! He hands the bucket back to me, asking me to do it again, so I oblige, then he grabs it and starts making the sound. I've never heard him laugh so hard!! The louder and "juicier" the gassy sound, the harder he laughed. This goes on for several minutes until I distract him with something else...but then later in the day he discovers an empty pitcher and it starts all over again...I'm going to try to get a video of it to share. Why is gassiness so funny to little boys? :)

Playing outside!

Did I mention we now have a YARD!!! It's a really neat feeling to have all that space to roam around and not be in someone else's space. When I was growing up and my parents would have me go out and weed the garden, I would always grumble "I'm marrying a doctor so that we can afford to pay someone to do this for us..." well...the Lord has some funny plans....I DID end up marrying a (future) medical professional...but unfortunately school loan payments are taking the place of paid landscapers.. :) Oh well, I wouldn't change a thing!

In spite of the 2 trees that had to be cut down as soon as we moved in (big bummer) I still feel like we inherited a gorgeous yard, and I feel very obligated to do my best to keep it looking nice...which is a bit overwhelming to me, since I also inherited my mom's black thumb...It's BAD...I've even killed cactus plants and aloe...I didn't know that was POSSIBLE! (And in my mom's defense, she may have had a black thumb when she was my age, but she does an amazing job with her plants now...her black thumb has definitely turned GREEN....so there may be hope for me yet...) I'd like to keep what is here alive, and maybe even venture into the world of flower and vegetable gardening....I'm planning to go get the book "Gardening for Dummies" since when it comes to keeping plants alive, I'm not too smart.

Anyway, yesterday we went outside to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. I started pulling up a few green things that I KNOW are weeds...had to leave a few things I wasn't sure about...and Jack was so helpful...he would go behind me and throw the weeds BACK into the garden (Josh says he's practicing catch and release!) It was fun to see him getting dirty like a little boy should.

He also enjoyed playing with Maggie, and chasing some birds. He's so interested in the birds ever since I pointed out to him what a bird looks like and sounds like. He loves to watch them through the window hopping around outside, so yesterday when he saw one not too far away, he took off after it! No luck.

house things....

a few things we've learned about our house since living here...
*the floor creaks just outside Jacks room...but so far no loud enough to wake him up...
*we have DOGWOOD trees in the yard (I LOVE dogwoods!)
*we also have lilac, cherry, redbud, weeping cherry, and several other things we can't identify (thanks granny ruthie for helping us id those...can't wait until Granny Franny comes up to help too!)
*we now have a garbage disposal and child locks on the cabines (Thanks honey!!!)
*I've been convinced that a young child has never lived here since the deck is SO not child safe (or else all those who did live here were really FAT and couldn't fit through the too wide spaces in the deck railing....) but..
*maybe a kid has lived here since there were the remnants of old child locks on the bathroom and kitchen cabinets...shocking!
*someone who lived here LOVED to talk on the phone...a LOT...there are phone jacks EVERYWHERE....like at least 2 or 3 in each room....and one in the bathroom and even one OUTSIDE on the deck! sheesh!
*we have a few light switches we need to figure out, and the outside lights are not attached to switches, but some sort of timer that is kinda complicated...still trying to figure that one out.
*The first day we were here I kept thinking the door bell was ringing, but actually it was windchimes that the seller left, and they are so pretty to listen to (and for Jack to play with!)
*The front storm door needs to be fixed...Just ask Jack about that one....
*Our dog has figured out how to work folding louvered doors....
*The 2 big trees out front were both dead/dying and had to come out...big bummer...interesting process to watch...thankfully Jack could sleep through the noise...and they were cut down just in time for all the strong storms last week....now I can sleep at night!
*we have made some really sweet friends up here who took care of some meals and other things for us during this transition...
*we still love our house!

a much better day...

thank goodness! I just "let go" of the notion of getting much done while he was awake, and we had a very nice day. Even though there are a million errands we needed to run, I decided to hold off one more day and try to avoid the snowy mess and give us both one more day to recoup. So, today will be the day for errands I suppose...
I was able to get some laundry done yesterday while he was awake because he helped me...no not "helped" but actually HELPED! Since our laundry room has no hanging rod (wierd...) I took the mountain of clean clothes to our bedroom. He was happy pulling the clean socks and hangers out of the laundry basket, so I started sorting and hanging. Once he caught on that I needed hangers, each time I would come to get one, he would pick one out for me and hand it to me with the biggest grin on his face. It was really very precious. I must have told him a hundred times, if not more "Thank you for being such a good helper!"

well...we made it....mostly....

we are in the house! After some "exciting" times with packing...and LOTS of help (thanks Bethany, Raychie, Daniel, Steve and the college guys who helped us...) we got into the house. It was an exhausting day, but we did it! Also many thanks to several of my CBS and MOPs friends up here who are providing us with a few dinners this week while we are settling in. My friend Jennifer brought us dinner on the day we moved in and it was SO perfect....comfort food and just the kind of thing for Jack to eat too...somehow I thought I'd be able to start fixing dinner soon this week...but with all the workmen coming in and out of our house yesterday and the nasty weather and no groceries and the clingy fussy kid, there was NO WAY I was getting anything cooked (let alone unpacked or cleaned).
Yes, yesterday was a hard day, but today is starting out better. I had a friend lined up to come out and help me this week, but I decided not to take her up on it because Jack is so coughy and snotty and I'd hate for her little boy to catch something. I'm beginning to wonder if Jack is allergic to our house...or maybe I should just blame the weather.
He had a hard day yesterday. Some of the trouble is that we are still "getting to know the house" meaning with all the stuff out, it's not very childproof...but I trying. Everything is still so new, so he's very curious, opening up drawers peeking into closets, pulling up on unsteady things and scaring me to death and exploring and NOT staying in one place for very long. And it seems as if we are having to start from square one with setting his boundaries, even with things that he knew very well back in our previous home, I guess he doesn't realize that the dresser and the tv etc are THE SAME, and therefore still have the same rules. Let's just say he's learned "no no" very well by now...and unfortunately it's turning into a cute little game for him. I try to say it pleasantly but then it seems he doesn't take me seriously and grins and shakes his head and says "nono" and keeps doing what he's not supposed to do....and of course between the newness and the sickyness he is very clingy, so suffice it to say, I'm not getting much done....and by the time he's asleep, I'm needing a break too!
So today, while he's awake, I'm just going to try to take it easy. Just make sure he's safe and happy and then maybe I'll have the energy to do something productive. Today is already starting out better because Josh took charge of Jack this morning giving me a MUCH needed break, and I got some things accomplished, and a game plan for his next nap....guess I'd better stop blogging and go get more done!

a not-so-good milestone..

yesterday we thought Jack might have a slight fever, but it didn't seem to slow him down much, so we attributed it to teething...but this morning he woke up with a 102.3 fever! Yikes! Daddy got us an early appointment at the dr. office. We got to see the new Nurse Practitioner there (yay! Maybe now Daddy won't be so overwhelmingly busy!) and she disgnosed him with his first ear infection..oh goody :( She was asking us about his allergies etc and she was SHOCKED when we told him that at 16 months he had never been on any antibiotics....but today that had to change. Hopefully with the help of the "bubble gum medicine" and lots of tylenol he will be feeling better soon...she said he should feel better by MOVING DAY this weekend.

we are homeowners again!

well, it actually happened...I wasn't sure that it really would. The closing went off without a hitch (except for the stinky dirty diaper Jack blessed us with during the closing..) In lieu of paying for repairs the seller agreed to give us a gift card to Lowes and I thought it was sweet that she remembered a comment I made about being Vandy fans and she got us a Vandy themed Lowes card. It's probably the ONLY vandy thing for sale in ALL of Cookeville....we are in Big Orange Country around here... we went over to the house immediately after the closign to unpack a few things...Josh had to make an emergency stop at CVS for some diapers (oops, none in the diaper bag and none in the new house) and toilet paper...thankfully I realized both of these needs before they were fully needed...that would've been a disaster. Our realtor is SO awesome...she called a friend of hers who cuts grass and SHE PAID for us to have our lawn mowed to buy us a little time before we have to buy a mower....and they were there when I pulled up. Unfortunately they had some not so good news for us, apparently one of the trees in our yard is dying/dead and probably needs to be cut down...not good news to hear as a new homeowner...but better news than the dead tree just fell on your roof...so I guess we will be taking care of that soon...ahhh the unexpected expenses start up literally immediately... Thanks for all your prayers...keep them up! we move this weekend...and lots of packing to do in the meantime! I'm trying not to get overwhelmed...obviously it's not too bad yet if I can find time for blogging, right? :)

while we were waiting on the appliance guys...

for 3 HOURS! in an almost empty house! trying to entertain a 1 year old....fun times, fun times.... Jack took a nap in his new room....now he cries everytime I take him in there...even if only to dust etc...not good....we ate some lunch and I tried to clean up the house a bit...its amazing how easy and fast it is to clean an empty house! here are a few pics, since I didn't really have anything else better to do during the endless waiting....

Picnic in the new kitchen...

playing with Mommie's sunglasses in the floor...

so now we are waiting on a call from the carpet cleaners...I BEGGED them to call me ahead of time so that 1)he can get more of a morning nap than he did yesterday and 2)so that we aren't waiting around FOREVER! we'll see.....