more "Jack-isms"-with a few added!

Just a few more quotable quotes I want to record before I forget them.

*The other day I told Jack "we can only play for a little while, then it will be time for a nap. "
He replied "No Mommie, play for a BIG while!" (I chose to be impressed that he knows the opposite of little is BIG, instead of focusing on the fact that he was arguing with me!)

*A part of many of Jack's nighttime prayers is to pray for "Daddy's busy day"....not sure where this concept came from, but the other day Josh texted me at the end of a work day and informed me that both he and Dr. Colburn want Jack to STOP praying for busy days....because that day had been CRAZY!

* This morning Jack told us that he didnt want to play in his room because "Jack's room too messy!" We asked him how the room got so messy and he replied: "Jack made big mess" So then we asked him who should clean up the big mess and he declared "Daddy clean up big mess!"

*Whenever Jack sees Mommie and Daddy being affectionate, he starts instructing us what to do: "Mommie Daddy hold hands....kiss mouth.....give hug.....hug cheeks" (we think hug cheeks means kiss on the cheek)

*Sadly, our lawn may be proving to be too much for our "affordable" lawnmower and Daddy was having a hard time the other day. Our weet 80-something year old neighbor Mr. Frank zoomed over the the rescue on his mega mower to help out. It was very sweet and we were very appreciative! While Daddy and Mr. Frank were talking (and Mr. Frank let Daddy drive the super-duper mower) Jack apparently wanted to show his appreciation by offering Mr. Frank all sorts of gifts. At first he was waving some knick-knack while he was standing on the deck while saying "Mr. Frank, Mr. Frank....this for YOU!" and later we went down to join Daddy and Mr. Frank and Jack tried to give him sticks, flowers, a wild strawberry, and picked (non-edible) cherries from our cherry tree.I just thought it was cute that he was trying in his own little 2 year old way to thank Mr. Frank.

*Since Jack knows his ABC's pretty well (he's great with uppercase and does ok with lowercase) I have been trying to get him to recognize his own name, and maybe even try to sound it out...we havent tried it in several weeks, but I guess the concept has stuck with him because the other day at Sonic he was trying to read a word to me. I asked him to read me the letters: "W-E-L-C-O-M-E" which he did perfectly. Then, just out of habit I guess, I asked him "Do you know what that says?" He replies, "Yes....J-a-a-c-k." He did the same thing to us this morning on the way home from church. His coloring page said "Jesus loves us all" I asked him "Do you know what this says?" (wondering if they had talking about it in Sunday School...) and he replies "Yes, J-a-a-c-k"...at least he was closer this time...the word DID start with a "J"!

*Earlier in the week (the same day as THIS blog post) Jack and I were enjoying a relaxing day at home. I was WONDERFUL to stay home and chill! He and I were playing with Mr. Potato Head on his bed when apparently I broke some rule or did something wrong, because he came over to me and swatted my knee a few times with his little hand. It took me a moment to figure out what he was doing, but eventually I realized it was "No Mommie, get spanking!" I still dont know what I did wrong!

*As I have mentioned before, Jack's current favorite tv show is "Dinosaur Train". There is a character called Mr. Conductor who goes through the train cars saying "Tickets, Tickets Please!" Well the other day at Wiggle Time I was searching in my purse for my checkbook in order to pay for our time at Wiggle Time. Jack started piping up with "Tickets, Tickets Please!"

*I can remember when I was younger that no matter when something happened or was going to happen, I always said something along the lines of "Last Saturday"....like "We went to Granny's house last saturday" or "We are going to church last saturday"...well Jack has chosen his phrase: "tomorrow"...if there is something that I want him to do, that he's not 100% sure about or just really doesnt want to do at the moment, he will almost always tell me that he will do it tomorrow, such as "Jack clean up cars tomorrow" or "Jack eat sandwich tomorrow"

*A few weeks ago we had an "All about Kids Expo" where local businesses showcased their kid-friendly services. A freebie I got there was a blue medicine spoon. The other morning Jack somehow got his hands on it and was walking through the house, holding it up to his mouth singing "Veggie Ta-a-ales, Veggie Ta-a-ales, etc" I asked him what he was singing into , and he informed me that it was a microphone. Not sure where he has seen that before, but it cracked me up!

*We have been working with Jack to say "YES" instead of "Yeah" as an affirmative response. Sometimes I think we are fighting a losing battle, not necessarily because of him (he's catching on to our clues, little by little) but because of ME-I am apparently the worst about saying "Yeah" only I never realized it until we starting teaching him otherwise. The other day he and I were being silly and I was asking him "Do you love Daddy?" to which he would reply "'YEAH!" "Do you love Mommie?" "YEAH!" "Does mommie love Jack?" "YEAH!" . Then all of a sudden he stopped, looked me square in the eyes and said in the most serious (almost scolding) way "Say YES Mommie, not YEAH!" oops...BUSTED!

*Last week he and I were playing in his room and I gave him an eskimo kiss. Suddenly he hopped up and poked my nose. Then he declared "Mommie need blood pressure to keep nose safe!" ....um.....ok......So he ran to his "Doctor Bag" and got out the scope thingy and proceeded to give me an exam, complete with looking in my eyes, ears, nose and mouth, listened to my heart, checked for a fever, gave me a shot, AND took my blood pressure. I guess we covered it all, and he gave me a clean bill of health.

*This has to be my favorite new saying of his: After Jack gets a bath, or washes his hands etc, I will usually say something about "Now Jack is all clean!" and he has started adding "All clean and SHINY!" The other day I was changing his diaper and he and I were chatting during the process when he announced "Jack's bottom all CLEAN and SHINY!" Why yes, yes it is!"

Stats on the brothers Cooper

Ok, I found the developmental notes I kept on Jack...here goes the comparison in sizes:

Weeks-----Jack----- (Average Baby)-- Wesley

24 weeks-- 1 lb 13 oz --(1 lb 4 oz) 

26 weeks--------------------(2lbs)---------- 3 lbs

30 weeks --4.1 lbs------(3 lbs)

32 weeks -------------------(4 lbs)------ 6 lbs 7 oz

34 weeks-- 6 lb 14 oz --(5 lbs)

36 weeks-- 8 lbs 14 oz -(6 lbs)

I know I dont have the best parallel data to compare...but it looks to me like Baby Wesley measuring bigger than Jack measured. What is interesting to me, is that I started measuring "big" with Jack at 24 weeks....but I didnt start measuring big with Wesley until 32 weeks....I guess that confirms my observations that I am carrying this baby differently, and it truly is true....no pregnancies are identical....but still.....I think I need to go pack my hospital bags....right now.....

Wesley Update

I had my 32 week check up today. By this time with Jack I had been measuring 4 cm (basically a month) ahead of schedule for several dr visits and had enjoyed getting many "extra" ultrasounds to make sure everything was ok in there. I had prepared myself that I would measure big again, but until today everything measured fine. Today however I was measuring 2 cm bigger than expected. My Dr. went ahead and got me in to get an ultrasound, just to be sure (I love how cautious and thorough she is!). I got a little nervous when the ultrasound tech basically didnt believe me when I told her how far along I am, and when she was acting a bit amazed that I had only measured 2 cm ahead. Everything looked great in the ultrasound as far as the health and development of our little guy! After a few quick calculations she had his estimated weight: 6 pounds 7 ounces. Just to put it into perspective....an average baby at 32 weeks should weigh nearly 4 pounds......that's right...Wesley is currently weighing around 2 pounds heavier than the average baby....(and YES, we are sure there is only one baby in there...and NO, she wont change my due date at this point)I'm trying not to be nervous that the main things that unborn babies do from this point on is mature their lungs....and PACK ON THE POUNDS! Josh said that it isnt unusual at all for him to see full-term babies around this 6 1/2 pound size in his office for check ups. Looks like Wesley doesnt want his big brother to be the biggest baby of the family (Jack was born at 36 1/2 weeks and was 8 pounds 14.25 ounces....pretty much the biggest preemie ever!) My Dr. today was even expressing amazement at how big Jack was....and saying thank goodness he came early (and was so perfectly healthy!), or else the newspapers would have been calling me up to talk about my record breaking baby!! I'm dying to look and see how big Jack was measuring at this point...if I can find that paperwork after 2 moves....So, anyway, suffice it to say, I am NOT holding out much hope that Wesley will wait until his scheduled c-section at 39 weeks to make his appearance. I just hope that traffic is clear on the day we might need to zoom to the hospital. I have heard 2 stories lately about labors going so fast that the babies basically "slip out" of their mommies while in the car on the way to the hospital....but something tells me that this hoss of a boy wont just "slip out" ;) Still, I think I need to go pack our bags now and get them put into the trunk!!! So please pray that this newfound knowledge doesnt mess with my head too much and convince me that I am even more uncomfortable....I am TRYING to stay positive, and remember to be SO thankful that he appears to be healthy and perfect...just big, or as Josh likes to say "a well-formed robust individual"

No, they're not extinct....

.....they're sleeping.

Today before his nap Jack took all 5 of his dinosaurs off the train, laid them each down, one by one, and gave each them "nite,nite" kisses. I thought it was very cute, but in the back of my mind I was prepared for it to be a sleep delay tactic (yes, he has started that too....) and I was ready to intervene if he felt the need to kiss ALL his toys goodnight...but no, it was just the dinosaurs. When he woke up, Daddy was home and Jack was SO excited to see him! He immediately knew what I was talking about when I asked him to tell daddy who he had kissed good night just before his nap, and he even added "Need to wake dinosaurs UP!"

Getting ready for baby....

So, I am almost 32 weeks pregnant. I vividly remember being this pregnant with Jack, mostly because it was around 32 weeks when God sent us an employer who was willing to give a new NP graduate a job! That was such a relief! I feel so blessed to NOT have that stress in our lives this time around. It was around 31-32 weeks that we started REALLY prepping the nursery....that he only slept in a few times! Ironic I know....
I think I may actually be "getting ready" a bit earlier with Wesley than with Jack. Maybe that is because I have a little more time to prepare than before, maybe because Jack came so early, do I dont feel like I actually have 7 weeks to prepare....in fact, if Wesley comes as early as Jack did, then we might have a new baby in our family within a month! We've been working on cleaning out the room for Wesleys nursery for a few weeks now...no painting, but a lot of cleaning and getting rid of STUFF. I think we are almost done in there....just some rearranging is left really. I've started making "freezer meals" and have 10-15 meals in the freezer with more planned. I'm going to try to spread out the cooking of the meals....I kinda wore myself out last week with most of the meals I cooked for our family involving multiple batches to freeze. It's fun to try new recipes!
It's nice to be able to reuse almost all of our baby gear from Jack, and therefore I am only having to buy non reusable (or worn out) things like diapers, bottle stuff, passys, etc. I still have a list going of things to get..but its not overwhelming. I'm also trying to remember what we had with Jack that worked well and what, in retrospect, we didnt like as much. One thing we discovered that we CANT reuse is Jack's crib......turns out it has been RECALLED! GRRRR! Thankfully the company will apparently send us a voucher for getting a new crib...I just wish I had found out a bit earlier....who knows how long all that paperwork will take to process. I'm pretty much not hoping to have a crib by the time he gets here...but he can hang out in his pack and play bassinet for a while...Jack slept in his, in our room until he was 3 months old...and even if Wesley doesnt stay in our room that long, there is no reason why his pack and play cant be in his room for a little while. I am a little sad to not reuse Jack's crib....we loved that bed. Apparently Jack REALLY loved it....he left teeth marks in it to mark his territory. ;)

Wesley's WIGGLES!

This kid is ACTIVE! I really wish I could remember if his big brother was such a wiggler too...He is now big enough that I can feel his kicks and jabs on BOTH sides of my belly. Every so often I can feel a little foot or elbow, not sure which sharp body part it is. I go back and forth between describing his wiggles as kickboxing and water aerobics! :) I've tried to catch Jack when his Baby Brother is wiggling so he can feel it too...but he's not really into the idea. Too much sitting still and waiting. 3 times I have noticed that I can count on Wesley wiggling like CRAZY: 1) When I am riding in the car...I blame it on the vibrations....but this is helpful, because our longest car rides are on the way to the dr, so I can always truthfully and confidently tell her "YES....lots of movement with this baby!" 2)When I am knitting....which is very noticable because I am working on some baby gifts, for friends AND for him...apparently the click click of my metal needles drives him crazy! 3)Typing on a keyboard. The laptop doesnt bother him too bad...but the other day I put the keyboard to the big computer in my lap to type and he went spastic! Again, I guess it is the click click of the keys. It just surprises me that he can hear/feel those sounds. I've also begun to notice some active times for him are just before our bedtime and just before I get up in the morning.

I was serenaded

The other night we went to a local Pizza place called Mama Rosa's. I had wanted to go for a while, so I was really excited. While we were waiting for our food Josh had Jack serenade me with this song. I thought it was so stinkin' cute! Enjoy!

the only picture(s)

I am so lazy when it comes to taking pictures...at least when we are away from the house. I will think about it, but then someone else is taking a picture of the exact same thing so I will just think "well, I can get it from her later"....sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesnt. I will also blame it on the fact that the settings on my camera are screwed up...I've tried multiple times to have someone who knows more about cameras to help me, or figure it out myself, but all to no avail. I can pretty much only get a good picture if the subject is perfectly still (guess how often THAT happens with kids...) and even then it takes several tries! GRRRR!
This past weekend I do have a bit of an excuse though...The Fargo Fishers were in town for Daniel's graduation and we got to spend a good part of the weekend with them! Jack loved, LOVED Baby Julia...he showered her with kisses and hugs...sometimes a bit too much...and wanted to bad to help her and play with her and didnt quite understand why she wasnt always in agreement with his plans. It was very interesting to watch them together....he seemed ok with sharing all the attention with her, although there were NUMEROUS times where she would get some attention for something (such as learning to walk....she got REALLY good at it this weekend...maybe from trying to get away from her adoring cousin....) and he would copy her in an attempt to get the same attention. I was very happy with how all the family evenly shared the attention with both little ones and I think that helped him have fun. With all that excitement, Josh came down with a stomach bug and was awol for most of the weekend...therefore I was alone in wrangling the child (with lots of help from family, of course) but my brain was NOT on taking pictures, sadly. So here is my PLEA:

RACHEL, ABBY, GRANNY RUTHIE...PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE share with me your pictures of this weekend...

this is literally the only picture I took, but it is a cute one:

Jack ended up taking quite a few short naps in the car this weekend...apparently Julia had the same idea. This was when we were getting out at Olive Garden for Daniel's graduation celebration. I hated to wake him up after only about 10 or 15 minutes of sleeping...but that is how it worked out. It AMAZES me that this little boy can function on a 10 minute snooze in a car when he takes 2-4 HOUR naps on a regular basis. If he falls asleep in the car, that will pretty much be his only nap of the day. Sometimes that is a bummer, at least for me.

Anyway, as soon as Rachel, Abby or Granny Ruthie have a chance to send me some pics, I will share the cuteness with you all!

Oh, here is one more example of my photography slacking, while we are on the subject. About 3 weeks ago or so Granny Ruthie took me and Aunt Rachel on a wonderful girls weekend to Knoxville. We had a lot of fun eating and walking around and talking. This is the ONLY picture I took the whole weekend...isnt that pathetic?

This is a picture of the "Sun Sphere" at the World's Fair Park in Knoxville. We got to go up in it and see some interesting sights.Dont get me wrong, there were plenty of cute kodak moments, but this is what I walked away with...so again, as soon as Rachel and Granny Ruthie get a change to pass them along, I will share with you!

on a whim...

Mommie decided to make gingerbread cookies!

(We actually made these cooking back in april...not sure why I never posted the pictures.)

I happened to look at the recipe on the back of a molasses jar and saw we had all the ingredients and decided "Why not?" How different from play-doh could it possibly be?

Here is the chef all prepped to cook

Using his cookie cutters to make the shapes (don't worry, I made sure all the play-doh was washed off!)

arranging the cut out cookies on a pan. When I see this picture I can hear his favorite phrase of the day ringing in my ears...."Jack do it...Jack do it!!!" He is becoming a very independent boy and enjoyed asserting his independence during this activity...it was very interesting to observe.

I just happened to find some chocolate and butterscotch chips in the pantry...they made perfect decorations.

contemplating the yummy decorations....wait for it....wait for it.....

YUM!

(can you see the "I cant believe she is letting me eat this" look in his eyes?)

Some of the undecorated unfinished products

And a few gingerbread men. We made the butterscotch ones for daddy.

Waiting anxiously for them to finish baking so we can get them out and ENJOY!

That evening when Daddy got home he was very proud of our hard work. Before even taking a taste of our hard work, Daddy took a gingerbread man back to Jack to talk to him about it.

He showed Jack the cookie and said "Jack, what is this?"

Jack grabbed the cookie, bit its head off and said with a full mouth "Jack made cookies!"

Daddy held up his headless gingerbread man (which he hadnt planned on sharing with Jack just before bedtime) and surprisingly agreed.

now that's what I call FOCUS!

Part of our usual routine is for Jack to get some TV time while I get a shower. He normally sits in that red car you see in the background (it has a seat belt to keep him from wandering around) and watches a couple of shows while I get ready in the morning. Yesterday I sat him down in the car and apparently forgot to buckle him in. I stepped out for a few minutes and when I came back in, this is what I found. He had gotten out of the car, and wandered around, as usual, and somehow gotten himself stuck in the box...my guess is that he tried to sit on the box and fell in. I think the picture is funny enough, but what really got me was that I had NO idea it had happened until I got in there...no sound, no call for help or freaking out or anything like that...he was so focused on his show that I'm not sure he even noticed where he was sitting until I got in there...and he didnt even fuss when I made him wait another few moments while I ran to get the camera to snap a picture. Don't worry, he was rescued very quickly.
ps-that little car is one of my favorite "toddler purchases"....when the weather was nice (and I wasnt so uncomfortably pregnant) we would take it out when we would take walks as an alternative for a stroller, and we use it almost everyday for tv/shower time. It is GREAT!

big boy bed!

I can't believe I havent posted about Jack's big boy bed!!! This was such a big transition (at least in my head it was) and I was REALLY nervous about it. I should have listened to all the moms out there who assured me it wasnt that traumatic. I was really nervous because he is a GREAT sleeper...pretty much always has been....and I was really nervous that his sleeping late and long naps would disappear. Well...since transitioning to his big boy bed he has been waking up a bit earlier...but lately its getting later and later (which ends up not being that big of a deal anyway since I am usually up before he it due to Daddy's snooze alarm and Baby Wesley's morning kickboxing workout!) His naps are the usual 2-4 hours, so I really dont have anything to complain about! He has also done a great job of STAYING IN BED until we come to get him. I can count on one hand the number of times I have walked in there to see him out of bed. He's learned to stay in bed and call out for us when he wakes up. We've only had a few incidents of him playing around when it is time to go to sleep...and overall I am SO pleased and extremely proud of him! Here are a few pictures.

Shopping for bedding with Auntie Bethany.

I had heard that one way to ease the transition and get the kid excited about the new bed is to let him pick out his bedding...well...I knew if we allowed that we might end up with Toy Story or Thomas all over his room....I'm not really THAT into commercialized bedding....so Daddy and I (with Auntie Bethany's assistance) "helped" Jack decide on the bedding motif and then let him pick out the fun sheets for his bed. Bethany went with us to Target and entertained Jack while I mulled over the choices. Thank goodness he was ok with NOT bringing all these "friends" home with him!

(Sorry, I know the picture isnt great...I'm TRYING to figure out what is going on with my camera! grrr!)

This is Jack's new bedding...with a sports motif. We also got matching valances for the windows. There were some other super cute themes...my other favorite was the transportation theme...but since that is what the nursery bedding is, we decided to go with something different. We also decided to go with a twin bed instead of a toddler bed because we already had the twin mattress set...and a frame for on down the road. Personally I am fine with the mattress set to be on the floor for a while...less distance to fall and at least he can attempt to get himself into bed independently. He hasnt fallen yet, but that is only because of the rail we installed. He flips and flops all over the place while he is sleeping. I think it also helped that he had all his same "friends" and comfort items with him in bed....and GOOD NEWS...the past few days he hasnt even ASKED for his passys....which is a good thing because I am not sure where he has hidden them lately...maybe he knows where they are and therefore doesnt need our help locating them. :) We re-arranged his room a bit and I LOVE how it is situated now...not sure why it never occured to me before to put his toys and books within sight of the door...so much easier to keep track of him while he is in his room now! DUH!

It's really sweet too...each morning when he wakes up we will say something like "Good morning Jack....did you sleep good last night?" Usually his response to our question is "Yeah....Jack sleep in BIG BOY BED!!!" I love that he is still excited about it. He has even started saying the same things to us "Good morning Mommie, sleep good last night?"

sticky biscuits

one of Jack's very favorite breakfast foods are those pillsbury cinnamon rolls ...oh all right, I'll admit it..."sticky biscuits" are a favorite of us all....
This morning, as a small celebration of everyone being able to eat real food again (after a nasty, but thankfully short-lived stomach bug that hit the men of the house) I decided to make smoothies (yogurt is good for digestion, right?) and sticky biscuits. Jack and I were sitting at the table and I had just finished off my 2 sticky biscuits, he was about halfway through eating his. I got distracted for a moment by Maggie, and when I looked back down at my plate, there was a piece of Jack's sticky biscuit.
I asked him "did you share some of your sticky biscuit with me?"
He grinned and said something to the affirmative, although it was hard to decipher through the food in his mouth.
I said "that is nice! Why did you decide to share with mommie?"
He put on his sweetest face and said "Make Mommie Happy!" and then gave me a kiss.
Yes Jack, you make me very, VERY happy!

Dinosaur Train!

We have discovered a new show that combines 2 of Jack's current obsessions:

Trains AND Dinosaurs!!

Personally I am a bit bothered by how chronologically inappropriate it is to put DINOSAURS traveling on TRAINS in a cartoon...but he LOVES it....and there IS a lot to be learned from this show, so I grin and bear it. The pictures below show Jack and Daddy playing their own, home-grown version of Dinosaur Train!

As you can see from this video, he has already learned a lot from the show!

Update on Baby....

WESLEY! (At least that is what we have settled on this week!) Still in negotiations about a middle name...
I had my 30 week dr. appt on Thursday, and we were able to schedule my c-section. I wondered out loud to Josh if c-sections are the only major surgery that people actually look forward to! :) Everything looked fine during the appt...Jack even got to come too and thought it was neat to heard baby Wesley's heartbeat. He still isnt very happy when I tell him we are "going to see Dr. K." I guess he thought HE was going to see the dr. We already have all of the rest of my bi weekly and weekly appointments scheduled, which is kinda crazy to me! I'm honestly trying not to plan anything after the 36 week mark (just since that is how early Jack came, and Wesley is looking to be just as big as his big brother...and the only explanation that I have gotten as to why Jack came so early was that he was kinda big and I "ran out of real estate") I certainly feel like I am running out of real estate now, and all the comments arent helping! I'm learning more to take it all with a grain of salt...so it is easier to handle, but the comments are slowing down at all! It still amazes me though how nosy some people are...complete strangers, who I am not even talking to or making eye contact with...like 2 aisles over in a store will ask me when my baby is due and if I am having a boy or a girl....in those cases I will usually just say "this summer" or "july"...
Wesley seems to be quite active, which is why the other day I was up at the 4am hour to blog...he didnt really want me to sleep anymore. :) I honestly couldnt tell you if he is more active than Jack was at this stage because I was SO busy and active myself with Jack (teaching a room of 2nd graders, walking the halls, climbing a mountain multiple times daily to my 3rd floor classroom) that is it entirely possible that Jack was this active too and I was just moving around and too distracted to feel it.

We recently got a new printer with a SCANNER so I was finally able to scan in all our ultrasound pictures. Poor neglected 2nd child...I had Jack's ultrasound pictures put on a disk by the time we announced we were pregnant to the parents...around 8 weeks along or so....I guess I am about 20 weeks late on that....but standing at a kodak kiosk scanning in pictures while a 2 year old is (not so) patiently waiting just isnt that much fun! Anyway, here are a few pics of Baby Wesley!

6 weeks and 6 days

8 weeks

14 weeks

20 weeks with his hands up near his face

24 weeks profile

26 weeks 4D ultrasound..apparently he LIKES his hands around his face!

We are working on getting the nursery ready for him. Right now it is an office/junk room that aspired to be a guest room for the past year, although no one ever slept in here. The sad thing is that we are having to clean out OTHER storage areas FIRST before cleaning out stuff here...but we are filling up lots of garbage bags and taking several trips to Goodwill in the process! I am trying to remember all the "essentials" that we needed when Jack was little. Thankfully we are able to reuse at least 75% of Jack's stuff, and are only needing to make a few purchases. We got a double stroller for a GREAT deal from my friend Katy. I am in the market for a sling/baby carrier after getting some suggestions from friends, and most importantly, we are saving up for another video monitor! They are a splurge, but Josh and I agree that it was one of our favorite pieces of baby gear! The one we used for Jack is still being used, and sadly the screen is getting quite fuzzy from 2 1/2 years of use, so I think it is time to get a new one. I'm also just getting my head around what can't be reused such as new diapers, wipes, pacifiers, bottle supplies and maybe crib sheets, those types of things. One BIG item on our wishlist would be a bigger car...but I think we will just have to make due for a little while with what the Lord has given us and "make it work"

Mr. Conductor (the musical kind)

I was able to get Easter pictures off Bertie's computer!! YAY!! Thanks for letting me snatch them Bertie!
This video is one of my favorites....its a bit long. It shows Jack conducting Pops, Daddy and Bertie who are playing his instruments. If you look closely, just before he starts to play he does his own little version of "and a one, and a two....." and waving his arms like a conductor....and at several times during the performance he will take some sort of a bow. This child seriously cracks me up! I have no idea where he learns these things!

Just Chillin'

I found a homemade popsicle "kit" the other day at Kroger for $1 so I figured, Why Not?

Our first attempt was with pink lemonade...Jack was a trooper and did a really good job making it through maybe 2/3 of the popsicle before all the drips had him pretty much drenched. Thank goodness I was smart enough to make this an OUTSIDE treat!

Yee-Haw!

It was almost Jack's bedtime, and in an effort to efficiently get him to his room to start our bedtime routine, Josh said "Do you want to walk or ride Daddy Horsie?" Of course Jack wanted to ride Daddy Horsie, but as soon as he jumped on, he immediately slid back off saying "Need Cowboy Hat!"
I guess no self respecting cowboy would be seen on the back of a horsie without his hat...even if it is a Daddy Horsie!

The newest addition to our family...

No, baby brother isn't here yet....but we DO have a new baby in the house....Baby Elmo! I have heard that one way to get an older child better used to the idea of a younger child on the way was to let him practice on a baby doll....but everytime I would bring it up, Josh would only raise an eyebrow and change the subject....so I was THRILLED when I found this Baby Elmo Doll on clearance at Walmart! I held onto it for a while, and honestly forgot about it, until we did some major cleaning out of our spare bedroom/office/junk room/future nursery. I gave him to Jack yesterday morning and he has barely been without Elmo ever since. He really isnt one to "wag" toys around with him, usually he goes from one mess to another leaving destruction in his wake, but for the past 2 days Baby Elmo has been along for the ride too! Jack LOVES that Elmo has a blue passy, just like him....and he thinks it is HILARIOUS to "feed" Elmo apples and bananas with a baby spoon and afterwards burp him. I wish Elmo had come with some sort of bottle so we could practice feeding him too...but that might be a moot point since hopefully Baby Brother wont be drinking from too many bottles....and I draw the line at pretending to nurse Elmo! He went all over the place with us yesterday and also helped Jack read books and put together puzzles. Jack even shared his raisins with Elmo yesterday in the car. We DID have a little drama at naptime....against my better judgement I let Elmo take a nap in Jack's bed....and 45 minutes after I laid them down, Jack was still talking and singing to Elmo and playing with Elmo's passy. Finally, after much weeping and gnashing of teeth, Elmo was sent to nap in the rocking chair and Jack took a VERY long nap. Learning from our mistakes, Daddy told Jack that Elmo needed to sleep in the living room and there was no drama at all....same went for naptime today! It is very heartwarming to see how "gentle" and mindful Jack is of his new baby....he will randomly stop what he is doing and say "wheres Elmo? or Elmo needs his blanket" and rush off to tend to Elmo. He tries very hard most of the time to hold Elmo gently, except for when he forgets and holds Elmo by his eyeballs or drops him on his head! :) I think this is good practice for Jack to stretch his imagination and not be so concrete all the time, and also it gives me hope about what is to come in 2 1/2 months or so....

Jack and Pops go for a ride!

Pops got a "Hover-round" and he and Jack took it for a spin!

School....

The other day I had a dr appt in Nashville and Granny Ruthie got to watch Jack for me. When we told him that he was going to see Granny Ruthie, he started naming off "See Granny Ruthie, and Mzee and Uncle Daniel and Macy!" I didnt want him to be disappointed, so I confirmed that he would see Granny Ruthie and Macy, MAYBE see Mzee, but that Uncle Daniel was in school and probably wouldnt see him. They had a big ol time and he reported to me later that yes indeed "Jack no see Uncle Daniel.  Uncle Daniel at school."
2 days later back home in Cookeville we went over to my friend Katy's house to look at a double stroller. Jack's friend Andrew is Katy's son, and as soon as we pulled up to their house he said "See Friends!!!" I told him that Andrew wouldnt be there, that he was in "school" today (Mothers Day Out)....and he even informed Katy that "Andrew at School". As we were leaving he said "Andrew at Schooll. Andrew see Uncle Daniel at School!".....I was impressed that he put that together...and I didnt have the heart to tell him that a 2 year old WOULDNT be in school with a 17 year old.

"Yook! Rain!"

With the monsoon that has hit the Nashville Area, we are praying for our family and friends who are trying to stay high and dry. We have gotten a bit of rain, but no where NEAR what ya'll have seen! WOW! I'm a little bitter because I checked weather.com yesterday before we headed out for breakfast and errands and it ASSURED me that the rain would hold off until 1pm.....so we headed out, with our rain coats just in case. When we got to cracker barrell we left the coats in the car because it was only 9am.....yet it started ABSOLUTELY POURING before we left at 10.....GRRRRRR! Anyway, I'm not necessarily complaining....we have a lot to be thankful for with all this mess....let's just say I am a bit bitter and disillusioned by weather.com for the time being.
Anyway, the MAIN reason for this post is because of a phonecall Jack had last night. I called Granny Ruthie to make sure they were all still ok, and Jack heard me say her name and INSISTED that he talk with her too....usually he clams up when we hand him the phone, but he decided to be a little chatty and told her about a fire engine he was building out of blocks...then she asked him "Is it raining there?"....he immediately handed me the phone and ran to the window to point at the rain "Yook (look), Granny Ruthie, raining outside"....but then he realized that she couldnt see what he was pointing at....so he ran back to me saying "Need mommie phone", took my phone to the window and held it up to the window so that Granny Ruthie could look out the window too at the rain (over the phone)....it was SO funny!

Tacky the Penguin lives in......

Tacky is a book character I fell in love with during my elementary education classes at Belmont. There are several books in the series and I LOVED reading them to my students...and just yesterday I unearthed my copies while cleaning out a storage room (more on that later). Josh read the book to Jack this morning while I was catching a few extra ZZZZZs. Once I woke up we were trying to get Jack to tell me about Tacky. Josh asked him "Where does Tacky live?" expecting a response like "iceberg"....its all over the book.....but what was Jack's response? "Tacky live in NORTH DAKOTA!" Even my 2 year old knows that ND is cold (at least part of the year)....So, Fargo Fishers, say HI to Tacky for us sometime! Forget Country music stars, you guys are SO lucky to live near a celebrity like TACKY!!!