Our Wonderful World

Busy Bees

2010-05-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

Busy doesn't even explain how crazy our lives have been the past couple of months. We all have so much going on.... time has just been flying! I can't believe it has already mid may!!! It really feels like it was just yesterday that Jack turned three. I have no idea where the past three months have gone.
Jack has been swimming like a fish. He loves going to his swim lessons and his teacher is AWESOME! I can't believe my little boy can swim, it is fun to watch him in the pool. He just smiles and giggles the whole time.
As for school, he only has a couple more weeks of pre-school..... his first year almost over!! I am looking into some camps for him and just trying to figure out our summer plans. I can't believe how much he has learned this past year. We are working on the sounds letters make.... it was just 6 months ago he was learning his letters! He loves telling me the letters and numbers on signs and asking me what certain words say. I guess in a just a couple of years we won't be able to spell out things in front of him...... we will have to come up with code words.
I leave for Richmond today for a few days and when I get back will upload some Easter pictures in the meantime here is a picture of Jack on his way to swim lessons one morning.

What Jack wants to be when he gets older

2010-03-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

What Jack wants to be when he grows up... a firefighter construction worker. Oh and a policeman who can help mommy when I am in trouble.

Birthday morning pancakes

2010-03-07T18:53:00.000-08:00

February 24, 2010

2010-03-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

On Jacks actual 3rd birthday we had a fantastic day!! He woke up with chocolate chip pancakes and I took him out for a picnic lunch and then we went to the toy store where he picked up Chuck the talking truck.
The day wrapped up with fabulous dinner out and then coming home for cake and presents. Jack wanted a pink cake with pink sprinkles. So that is EXACTLY what he got. He loves telling people now that he is free years old. Although funny enough he still considers himself "a little boy." He says he is not a big boy yet he is still little.

Birthday Party

2010-03-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

Jack's 3rd birthday party was a blast! He was surrounded by friends and family. We had a firetruck themed party. He had a firetruck cake, kids decorated wooden fire trucks and picture frames with markers and stickers, everyone took home a fire truck hat filled with firetruck themed toys. We had a fire truck come from one of our local fire houses. Jack is still talking about his party. He loved it!!

Some days I just want to freeze time..... Happy Birthday to my sweet boy!

2010-02-23T18:29:00.000-08:00

Jack is 3! Words can not express how much love we have for him and how much joy he brings to our lives. He has been nothing but the greatest blessing to us. From the beginning he has has been a very easy going baby turned into a pretty laid back kid. He LOVES life and is almost always smiling and laughing, he is just one happy kid! We are beginning to notice as he gets older whos traits he gets from who. He has Brandons love of learning, his persistence, as well as his easy going personality. From me he gets his sense of compassion, sensitivity, and likes things to be neat and tidy.
This past year is has been so much fun seeing his personality really develop into his own. He definitely has his OWN sense of humor, he makes us laugh all the time. We are so blessed to have him as our son and thought that two was anything but terrible, it was terrific. We will see what age 3 has in store for us.....

Sleepy Heads

2010-02-22T18:43:00.000-08:00

Brandon read to Jack last week, I realized he had been reading to him a long time. I went in and found this......

My Valentine.......

2010-02-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

With all the snow... there wasn't much to do other than crafts and bake. Jack loves helping cook and bake. He has his own utensils and is a pretty good at pouring and mixing I must say.
The only problem is he wants to help EVERY time I cook or bake. He scoots up a chair and wants to get to work, which can be hard with the burners going but I try to let him help as much as possible :)
We made some very yummy valentine day cupcakes and Jack especially loved the sprinkles. He really enjoyed v-day and asked me to be his valentine. We talked about different holidays and Jack proclaimed he loved holidays and even made up his own song "Holidays! HOLIdays! Holidays, I love Holidays.. Christmas, Valentines, Halloween, Easter, I love holidays!" The last part he just added recently but he will just randomly sing his holiday song.... can't imagine where he got the gene from to make up songs..... haha.

Sledding

2010-02-22T17:28:00.001-08:00

Oh boy, have we had so much fun with all this snow! These pictures are back from early January before the BIG snow hit. We loved going sledding down the hill and making snow men and snow angels. I think I may have enjoyed it more than Jack!

Christmas videos

2010-01-05T16:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some videos that we took of Jack on Christmas. We still have to upload some sledding pictures so those will be coming soon.
We are bit behind since we just got back in town yesterday. We drove down to NC to surprise my Dad for a big New Years/ Retirement party my mom threw for him. He had a no idea and it was such a wonderful night. My mom really outdid herself for this one! Everyone had a blast and it was great seeing family. I can't wait to see more pictures of the party. We had such a wonderful new years and feel so blessed to have ended 09 with a bang. I hope 2010 is as wonderful as 09!

Christmas 09

2010-01-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas! We stayed here in Maryland and Brandon's father came to spend a few days with us. Santa really spoiled Jack with Thomas, cars, books, and all sorts of fun times. We enjoyed a very yummy dinner and had the whole day to relax and be together as a family. Jack was so excited to open his gifts and see his Thomas trains set up. We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas :)

Jingle Bells!

2009-12-23T19:15:00.000-08:00

For Jacks school pageant his class performed Jingle Bells. The middle video recorded blurry, but you can understand the situation. Twelve two year olds shaking bells and not really singing along. It was extremely cute and very entertaining. Jack led his classmates out to the front of the church with Ms. Alison (the assistant teacher). It was so sweet to watch them perform.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T19:07:00.001-08:00

Here are some of the xmas photos we took of Jack and his cousins, enjoy!!

Busy

2009-12-13T17:24:00.000-08:00

My gosh life just gets so busy and hectic sometimes you just need to remind yourself to slow down ;)
After our wonderful trip to Connecticut we drove to Richmond and visited with family and friends. We had so much fun and took lots of great pictures of Jack and my sisters kids (check back next week for photos). This weekend we were busy trying to play catch up with house work and preparing for Christmas. Time has just really flown by, hard to believe Christmas eve is just ten days away.
Jack and I really have been getting into the holiday spirit by baking, he loves to help me make cookies. I think he just like to eat the chips but thats OK. He is a great helper and once he sees I am ready he pushes the chair to the counter and gets out his own utensils to use.
A few weeks ago we went with Brandon to wash boats with his crew team. They were putting them away for the season and needed to be cleaned. Jack LOVED helping and really hit it off with some of Brandons teammates it was adorable :)

Jack and Mary Grace

2009-12-13T17:15:00.000-08:00

This is one of those time where I could not pick just one picture so I am uploading all of them. Jack and Mary Grace were just goofing off and playing with each other and it was really cute. We caught them on the stairs just talking to each other and hanging out. They are the sweetest!

Thanksgiving :)

2009-12-13T16:52:00.000-08:00

Brandon, Jack, and I drove to Connecticut this year to be with our family for Thanksgiving. We had the BEST time and Jack just loved being with all of his cousins. It was one of the best thanksgivings we have ever had, just perfect family and lots of relaxing. The only complaint was that it went my too fast! But the good thing is we are much closer to family now and can drive for a visit anytime :)

Thanksgiving pics coming soon :)

2009-12-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

We have lots of great Thanksgiving pictures that we took! I plan on updating the blog the next few days with them. We had a wonderful wonderful trip to Connecticut and had a BLAST with family. Jack especially loved being with all of his cousins. We are already looking forward to doing it again next year! It is just so great seeing all the kids together :)
In the meantime enjoy the picture of Jack eating a cupcake, he always gets the icing goatee!

Halloween Pictures (FINALLY!)

2009-12-03T17:43:00.000-08:00

I finally have a bit of time to update some halloween pictures! Some our from my moms club event, some our from
his halloween party at school (posing with his two teachers) Ms Jeanine is the lady with the blond hair and Ms Allison is is teacher dressed like a cat. We ADORE them! The other pictures are right before and during trick or treating, with Uncle Grant, Aunt Laura and Daddy.... enjoy!

Grandparents Day!

2009-12-03T17:39:00.001-08:00

Jack had grandparents day at school in the beginning of November. Chris was sweet enough to come up for it. Jack really enjoyed having him at school and showing him his classroom, they even ate cookies together. I took a few pictures before we left for school :)

Jack ==== LOVE!

2009-11-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

Jack woke up one morning last week and came into our room. Brandon leaves at 4:30 am every week day morning for rowing so I am always by myself when he comes in. He comes in and crawls into bed with me and this is what he said:
"Mommy......
I like airplanes
I like choo choo trains
I like Doggies
I like Bunnies
I like stories
I like diggers
But I LOOOOOOOOVE MOMMY!!!!"
My heart just about melted into a puddle, I realized just how much I love this age. Another cute thing he did was he was playing with MAK truck (who's bed opens up and in it is a place to wash lightening and brush his teeth, etc) and Lightening from cars and this is the diaglouge he made them say to each other....
Mak: Come on Lightening, I will clean you
Lightening: Ok, here I go (he moves lightening into maks trucks bed)
MAK: Right up on the ramp. (he runs lightening between the scrubbers) There you go, all nice and clean!
Lightening: (he gets off the ramp) OH THANK YOU, I look GREAT!

Gosh I can't believe how big my little boy is and how his imagination is taking off! I love the fact that he is so sweet and just happy. When he comes in the morning he says "Mommy lets get up, its BEAUTIFUL outside!" He is always smiling and excited about the smallest things. How can you not want to wake up to that every morning?!

p.s Halloween pics are coming this week but this picture is what happened when I came out of the bathroom from putting my make-up on. Even though Jack has been potty trained for 4 months now he still has trouble putting his undies and pants on and if he goes potty he will come out half naked, too cute!

Go Navy!

2009-11-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

My parents were here the weekend before Halloween. We told Jack to say "Go Navy Beat Army!" When Pop Pop came in. We went to the Navy/ Wake Forest game. Jack really liked it! Even though it was in the middle of nap time and it started to down pour during half time we all had a good time!
We are already looking forward to Thanksgiving and being with family again!

oh Hanson

2009-11-04T15:18:00.000-08:00

Jack and I went on our 4th walk together. He actually really enjoyed it and went to the Washington DC show with Brandon and I. He only went on the baltimore walk and that night I went to the show with some girlfriends. On the way to the walk we talked about how some kids are not as lucky as him and how blessed he is. I tried to explain in words he would understand that we were walking and helping kids who needed it. He seemed to understand and when Zac walked with us he said "Thank you Zac for helping the kids!"
I think it is important as we raise our Children to show them how lucky they are to be born into part of the world where they can be healthy and safe. How they will not go to bed hungry or be without clothing and shoes. I hope that we will be able to raise Jack and our furture children without them ever having a sense of entitlement. I hope that we can show Jack that no matter what race, religion, backround, etc that person is; a person is a person and treating everyone equally is what is most important. My parents raised me that only God is allowed to judge. I am proud to say that I have friends of all walks of life and love them equally. I hope my children will have the same experiences.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

Well it is that time of year! Last weekend Brandon and I took Jack to pick out our pumpkins. We actually went to two pumpkin patches. The first one had A LOT of fun things to do for kids, lots of games, activities, a even a live band. The only problem was the pumpkins were all around the patch in groups and not on the vines. Brandon felt that it was too commercialized (surprise ;) ) So we went to a second patch that was a lot of fun and not nearly as crowded. It had a huge corn maze that took us a bit to find our way out, pony rides, animals you could pet, and other fun activities but best of all the pumpkins were on the vines! Jack loved it and it ended up being a hit! Now we are all ready for a trick treaters at the end of this month.

Beach trip

2009-10-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

Brandon, Jack, Lindsay, Sean, and I all went on our annually beach trip this past September. We went to Nagshead and had so much fun. It was great just being able to relax in the jacuzzi, read, and just hang out for a few days. We were so sad to leave but are already looking forward to our next trip and love hanging out with the Dugans.

Wacky Dress up day

2009-10-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago it was wacky dress up day at school and we had lots of fun picking out a silly outfit for him to wear. I think it ended up being a hit :)

Kings Dominion with the cousins!

2009-10-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

Last month we met Brian, Meghan, and Mary Grace at Kings Dominion. Brandon's company had a big corporate event there and they shut down the park for just Booz Allan employees and family members. The kids had a blast on all the rides and even got to meet some characters. It was cute to see Jack on all these rides for the first time! It was so great being able to spend time with the kids and we even got to meet baby Henry afterward!! We forgot to take pictures but take my word for it, he is one cutie! It is great only be 2 hours away from my sister and her family, I love spending time with them and I am so glad the kids can get together more often now!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2009-10-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

Jacks Grandpa came to visit over labor day weekend. Since it was close to his birthday we decided to celebrate. Jack was especially excited to eat his birthday twinkie :) It was so great able to spend time with him and be able to celebrate his special day with him!

Updates Updates :)

2009-10-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

It is just amazing how quickly time flies by when you are busy! It is hard to believe that Jack has been in pre-school for almost two months now! He loves it so much that I wish they did it 3 mornings a week! He tells me all about circle time and the sand and truck tables. He has a little cooking set my aunt got him while she was visiting that has a whisk, a spoon, a spatula, etc. Lately has been pushing a chair up to the counter tops and taking out his cooking own cooking utensils to help me. I have to say now that he is getting older, it is more help!
We also went to the zoo with our friends Evan and Michelle and only managed to take a few pictures.

First Day of pre-school

2009-08-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

Jack had his first day of pre-school last Tuesday! He did great, he couldn't wait for school to start!! He now wakes up every morning asking if he has school that day. It is quite the disappointment if he doesn't. I am so glad he loves it so much, I hope his love for learning continues as he gets older. I can't believe he is already in pre-school, where does the time go?

Dancing Machine

2009-08-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

On August 15 our good friends Carrie and Jay got married. We were all invited to the wedding but Brandon and I were debating taking Jack to the ceremony and reception. We knew it would be past his bed time and he might get squirmy.. etc. However he loves to dance and loves music. So we were torn and in the end we decided to take him, hoping he would have fun and not be miserable. Well oh boy did we make the right decision. Jack LOVED it! He kept calling Carrie the princess and was in awe of her. Then he took the dance floor and danced all night. He was doing moves we didn't even know he had in them. Even found a little girl to dance with. He danced with every female and was loving it. It was really cute to watch!

Mom Mom and Pop Pops

2009-08-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Jack, Buster, and I went to visit my mom and dad again this past July. Meghan also came along and we had all sorts of fun! Jack loved having Meghan to play with, we were sad to leave. We can't wait to go back!

The Didelots!

2009-08-30T12:44:00.001-07:00

We have been fortunate enough to see my aunt, uncle and three cousins a few times this summer. We visted Sarah at her camp when it was vistors day. And then they were driving through on their way to the beach. They stayed for a few days and we went and saw some DC and Baltimore sites. It is always great hanging out with them!!

Rowing!

2009-08-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

Brandon has been rowing all summer and has been really enjoying it! In june Jack and I went to one of his races in DC. Brandon did great, he won all three of his races! Jack loved cheering him on! He kept saying "GO Daddy Go, Go Faster!!" We are so proud of him!!

Jack and Obama

2009-07-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Jack was watching the Inauguration of president Obama with me back in Jan. He loved it So we have been working with him on teaching him who is who in the political world. I feel bad we are just getting around to posting a video about it.
I don't think there is any other two year old out there who loves Obama more!

Happy fourth!

2009-07-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

We had one of the best days we have had in a long time this past fourth of July! We met with the Kreses which is a family I got to know well when I babysat for them in Northern VA during college. We walked around Annapolis and had a delicious lunch. It was so much fun getting to spend time with them and they are such wonderful friends and such a great family! Jack just loved being with Elle and Chip. They headed home early and Brandon, Jack, and I stayed for the parade in Annapolis. As we were waiting on the curb for the parade to begin, the restaurant we were sitting in front of had a table open up. So we order a little bit of food and drinks and sat there while we watched the parade. Iit just was fantastic!! We had a blast and ended up making friends with the table next to us. We then headed to the water to watch the fireworks and made it just in time! We didn't want the day to end, it was definitly a great fourth of July for us.

Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks..........

2009-07-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to a baseball game with some of Brandon's coworkers. It was fun getting to meet Brandon's friends and put names to faces. Jack especially loved it! He knew all week he was going to a baseball game and when we finally got there he was quite excited. After the first inning he looks at Brandon and I and says, "Ok Jack's turn, I go and play baseball now." He then turned around to try and walk down the steps to the field. We had to explain to them that we were only there to watch the game.... not to sure he was as thrilled to be there after that. But he definitly enjoyed eating hot dogs and fries! We also rode the metro there and back and that was a big highlight too.
The following pictures are ones that I took of Jack this past week and sent to Brandon at work. Brandon had a very busy few weeks, he is working on a huge proposal with his team that is due tomorrow. Because of it he hasn't been home a lot the past two weeks and I know he was missing us so I took some pictures of Jack (the "oh no face where is daddy?" then the "sad face daddy is working" and finally the "happy face, daddy will be home for dinner tonight!") Jack was so excited to send his pictures to Brandon that when Brandon came home he asked Brandon if he got his email with his sad and happy faces. Gosh I love my boys!!!

Even More to come!!

2009-06-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

Now that we are getting settled into our new home, we are excited to take pictures of the finish product. I am hoping to get pictures taken of new house this week and have the up by the end of the week to share with everyone!
We also had a BLAST this weekend, we went to a baseball gane Saturday night and found a church to join on Sunday! So I have just a few more recent pictures to share later this week.
It is feeling great to finally be all settled in! Brandon just joined a crew team in Annapolis today and I am joining L.A fitness tomorrow. I can't tell you just how excited I am to finally have a gym down the street with a pool!! It is less than a two minute drive. We are beginning to feel at home and it is such a fabulous feeling :)

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful father's day! Lots to celebrate. Brandon and I both lucked out with having two wonderful Dads who are incredible role models not only for ourselves but for Jack.
Jack is also lucky to have such a wonderful father. Brandon has been nothing less than a fabulous Dad. I know I couldn't have given my kids a better Dad, he puts 100% into everything he does and Jack just adores him. We are all pretty lucky to have such wonderful Dads!!
Brandon's Dad came up for fathers day to drop off a few items and stay for dinner and dessert. It was such a treat having him here on such a special day. We even got to ride the Vespa (well except for Jack). Here are a few photos to share!

Naval Academy and Mom Mom!

2009-06-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

When my mom was here helping us we had a blast going to the Naval Academy and shopping around Annapolis. We even went to a sushi place in downtown Annapolis where the named a sushi roll after my Brother. He came up with the idea of the roll, so we had to get a picture of the "Ern Roll." We can't wait until Mom Mom and Pop Pop are back this fall to visit :)

Family Pictures and Beach

2009-06-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last month right before our move to Maryland we took a few pictures outside our Kansas house. These were taken over Memorial Day weekend, we then went to a party are my friend Bree's house. We had a fantastic time celebrating with our friends and it was definitely a weekend we won't forget.
The pictures of Jack I took a week later when my best friend Amber and I went to the beach in MD. It is definitely nice being so close to the beach, we are already planning a weekend away as a family. Jack just loves the water, it would be a crime to keep him away.

Jack and his hair

2009-06-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Jack has had a haircut after the tractor video :0) It was getting a little out of hand. Once I sort out pictures I will post some recent ones of him.

Tractor

2009-06-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

We were unpacking the basement a few weeks ago and we found a special toy that Jacks great uncle Bill gave him. It was a John Deer tractor. Jack was soo excited to play with it. We put away to give to him when he was a bit older and we felt that he had reached the perfect age to play with it! He gets so much joy out of his tractor, many thanks to Jacks Uncle Bill!

2009-06-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

We have wanted to make a blog post earlier but have been so busy!!
A lot has happened this past month. We moved to Maryland from Kansas at the end of May. Then Jack and I went to the beach with my dear friend Amber while we waited for our furniture to arrive. After everything came, we unpacked and left just days later for Lindsay and Sean's wedding. Brandon and I had such an amazing time at their wedding and were honored to be in it. They are without a doubt the most wonderful couple we could be friends with. We could not be happier for them and we are so excited for their marriage! We look forward to all of our future memories together with them and are thrilled to a part of their lives; as they are just as part as ours.
After the wedding my mom came home with us. She was a great help and such a wonderful blessing. We had a BLAST with her, and we didn't want the week to end. It was so hard when she left.. I am already looking forward to her coming back in just a few months! My mom is just the best! She has so much energy and is great with decorating. We were so grateful for having her here...... we are definitely missing her!!
In other news Jack has been going to the potty a lot :) He has been sleeping in his big boy bed for nearly a month now. He is such a good boy, he calls us in the morning when he wakes up. He just sits in his bed until we get him. He knows almost all of his letters in the Alphabet and can spell his name. He can count to twenty at least and knows all of his colors from Pink to Black ;) He has just exploded with knowledge the past month, it is almost scary! I can't believe some of the sentences that come out of his mouth. Although he tells people he is 'Mommy's Baby' he really is a big boy! We are so lucky and blessed to have such an amazing, smart, beautiful,incredible and sweet two year old :)

Jack E-mailing

2009-05-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

Whenever I get my labtop out to send emails or catch up on blogs Jack likes to get his play laptop out and email too. He likes to say he is emailing daddy. It is really cute. I was able to catch a bit on video a couple of months ago.

Great Wolf Lodge/ Mothers Day

2009-05-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Brandon, Jack, and I went to the great wolf lodge with some of our good friends Jeff and Alicia. The also have a little boy that is the same age as Jack. Jack had a wonderful time playing in the water and didn't want to leave. They had a lot of rides for adults and kids we had a blast! That night we went out to dinner and dessert at the legends. Jack enjoyed an ice cream cone as we went shopping at all the stores. The next day was mothers day and the boys surprised me with two dozen roses! So sweet, Jack especially enjoyed sniffing them :)

House hunting

2009-05-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

We had an exciting and tiring trip to MD while we were house hunting. In one day we saw 16 houses, Jack fell asleep twice. Poor little guy. But he enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool and we even set him up with popcorn and milk in the bed while he watched a movie. It was hard keeping him schedule while we were there, we were definitely happy to find our new home!

Airplane!

2009-05-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

Jack was so excited to get on the airplane when we left for a house hunting trip a couple of weeks ago. Here are some shots of him waiting to get on the plane and for take off :) He kept saying "Airplane goes high in the sky!!"

Tulips

2009-05-16T18:12:00.001-07:00

Our tulips bloomed a few weeks ago, we are sure going to miss them when we move!

Updates!

2009-04-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

We have been meaning to update the blog, but we have been so busy!! This past week Jack came down with hand, foot, and mouth disease. I am thinking our next door neighbors gave it to him :( Apparently the little girl had it just a week before. If I would have known that we would have never came over for a play date. But Jack is feeling great now. He is back to his happy self and even helped us with his big boy room this week/weekend!
We also sold our house!! YAY! We sold it on Easter Sunday! What a great Easter it was. So now we are preparing for our move to Maryland. We have a wonderful Realtor who we have been working with to help us find something to tie us over for just a bit before we buy. We are soo excited to go house hunting in Maryland this week. We have received great advice about renting/buying; It pays off to have a Realtor in the family that is for sure!
When we come back from our trip, Grant will be staying with us. We are so excited to have him. This is going to be a very busy month for us. We are so happy to have Grant come stay with us!! However it is going to be so hard saying good-bye to the most wonderful people we have ever met. We have to admit people in the Midwest have hearts of gold and are just the nicest. It is going to be difficult to adjust, but at least we will be a bit closer to family.

Kiefer Sutherland!!!

2009-04-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

Kiefer Sutherland was on the radio in Kansas City this morning and Jack and I rushed over there to see if we could meet him. We made it JUST in time he was exiting the building and signing autographs. He talked to Jack and I, it was awkward because I was the only female fan there. There was a handful of male fans. But he was such a nice guy and we really enjoyed talking to him! Not the best picture of Jack and I but I had to have proof :)

Easter Sunday pictures

2009-04-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos we took of Jack in his Easter outfit, we just can't get enough of seersucker in our little family :)

Easter Morning!!!

2009-04-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

We had an absolutely PERFECT Easter morning/day. We woke up to see that the bunny left Jack some chocolate bunnies and Hersey kisses along with Books, Tonka Trucks and Cozy Coupe Fire Truck. He was so excited when he saw it, he kept saying "Thank you Bunny Easter, thank you!!" It was so cute! He also was blowing kisses in the backyard because we have a family of bunnies that live back there. He kept calling the Easter bunny, "Bunny Easter."
He knew the Easter Bunny was coming and days before he asked for "Treats and car!" That is all he wanted was treats and a car. So he was thrilled when he saw what the Easter Bunny brought him. As soon as he woke up he wanted to go downstairs immediately, he knew that someone came to visit him the night before and he didn't need any reminder :) We had a family breakfast of eggs and bacon and celebrated a special day in our Catholic Church. We couldn't have been more happy or thankful for all the blessings in our lives :)

Bunny Cake!!!

2009-04-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

Jack helped me make our Easter Bunny Cake last Thursday! We had fun mixing, baking, and decorating it. He loves to help me cook and bake, it is so cute. He always asks "Mommy, I mix?? I mix spoon?" It is always fun cooking and baking with him. It is more work with him than if I did it by myself. He just loves helping in the kitchen so much it doesn't matter how long it takes to get to the end product, it is worth it :)

Thanks Grandpa

2009-04-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

Jacks Grandpa sent Jack books by one of his favorite authors Todd Parr. Jack was so excited to read them that we took this little video for his Grandpa :)

A mess!!

2009-03-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

Jack really doesn't like it when certain things are out of place or his friends dump his toys everywhere. He will usually say "Oh no! A mess!" It bothers him quite a bit, I just can't figure out where he gets it from ;)
Well the day after his birthday party (about a month ago) hard to believe a month has flown by--- he came downstairs and wasn't very happy with what he saw. Our neighbors stayed after the party and helped clean up and put the toys away. On Jack's kitchen they put the food on top or where it would fit like any normal person would. When Jack and I put the food away they all have certain spots like the veggies go in one area, fruit in another, canned items, etc. The first thing he noticed when he came downstairs was that the food on the kitchen wasn't put away, he looked at me and said "Oh no!!! A mess! A mess Mommy!" I tried to capture it on video minutes later but didn't get the real drama of the situation but thought I would share anyway. Hopefully I can start posting videos the same day I take them or the same week for that matter!

Pictures Uploaded!

2009-03-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

Please go to our Webshots page to see pictures of Jack the past two months. We finished off his one year album with pictures from the past two months and made his Birthday album.
I haven't taken as many pictures as I normally do the past month because I have been so focused on videos. But I promise to update the blog with more pictures later this week :)
In case you no longer have the link saved here is our link to our webshot page: http://community.webshots.com/album/570725673TLVBMy?vhost=community

Jack and peace

2009-03-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

Jack loves reading his peaces books. He has two one by Karen Katz and the other by Todd Parr. A few weeks ago he kept asking for the Karen Katz one and it only took him about five times of reading it to learn how to say peace in 10 different languages. We took this video a couple of weeks ago because we thought it was cute.
After watching Brandon read it to Jack makes me laugh a bit because some of the kids names I say differently then him.
I know a lot of this is just memorization and Jack is too young to grasp the idea of peace but I look forward to the day he does :)

Counting and growing

2009-03-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

I finally have uploaded a video of Jack counting. This was taken a little over two weeks ago once we learned he could count to ten. Now he can count higher and he really loves it! He is such a smart little guy and we are so proud of him! It is just amazing how fast he has been growing and how quickly he learns, his brain just soaks everything up!
We feel so blessed to have such a great little boy, I don't know how we got so lucky! He is just the best little listener and is so well behaved. We went shopping and out to dinner last weekend. When we had dinner it was past Jacks bedtime but he sat still and was happy as a clam in the restaurant. I just hope all my kids will follow his lead and be laid back and just as sweet. We are so thankful for our amazing little boy.

Jack Reading

2009-03-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

This video is about a month old but I thought I would share it anyways. I told Jack to pick out a few books for me to read before bedtime and when I came in the room he was already sitting in the chair reading a book and letting me know "I read, Jack read!" I was able to catch a bit of it on video, enjoy!

Jack loves ranch dressing!

2009-03-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

These are videos of Jack literally licking his plate clean of ranch dressing. He loves it and really doesn't want it to go to waste. I couldn't believe what he was doing so I had to video tape it. These video's were taken just a week ago!

11....12..

2009-03-02T18:05:00.000-08:00

Last night I posted that Jack was counting to ten and couldn't really figure out where he picked it up. Well tonight he started counting again when he was getting ready for bed and continued till 12. I finally realized he must of learned from Seasame Street. When they do the number of the day they count up until that number which could be anywhere from 1-20. He just amazes us each day with all the new things he learns and picks up. The most heartmelting is when out of nowhere he will say "I love you!" to Brandon or I and sometimes he even tells Buster. I just love we don't have to prompt him to say it. He started doing it about a month ago but now it is just mroe frequent.... such a sweet little guy!

Jack and The Park

2009-03-01T18:45:00.001-08:00

Jack loves going to the park! He especially loves going with his best buds Britain and Parker. It is so cute watching them play together and slide down the slide and swing on the swings. Jack has a favorite slide at one of the parks in Gardner and he will slide down it for hours if he could. He also likes the water around the park and wants to swim in it, we try to explain to him that it isn't swimming water. Here are some pictures and videos of Jack and his pals at the park!

Videos galore

2009-03-01T18:15:00.001-08:00

I have around 8 videos downloaded and lots of fun birthday and park pictures to share! Some of the videos are older and some are more recent. So make sure to check back for those!

Jack is really a little boy!

2009-03-01T18:04:00.000-08:00

Jack is just getting so big!! We are currently working on colors right now, he is getting down red, blue and yellow the best. But what shocked me the most was today I was counting something and in the background I hear this little voice.. "6 7 9 10!" Jack can count to ten!! I have NO idea where he learned this, as I have only done a few times with him. But I started counting with him and sure enough he counted right along with me! He sometimes leaves out 4 and 8 and he likes to start with 2 instead of 1. It is just crazy how much he is picking up lately. He is also using me and I a lot instead of Jack. Instead of saying "Jacks shoes" he will say "My shoes" He also know lets us know when he is done eating, he will say "I am full Mommy!" Instead of "All done." It is just crazy how many 4+ word sentences are coming out of his mouth.
He uses a lot of two word sentences but we try to guide him into adding words such as today his Mak truck came apart and he ran up and said "Fix Mommy... please" We were able to get him to say "Fix my Truck Please." We just can't believe how big he is getting and how quickly he picks up on things. Kids are just little sponges and it shows everyday!

Happy Birthday Jack!

2009-02-24T06:29:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe another year has past! Our precious little Jack is getting to be a big boy! He can't stop talking about his party with his Elmo cake and his big boy bed with his new bedding that has trucks on it. Unfortunately for him he won't be moving into a big boy bed for another few months, but he is definitely looking forward to it!!
He is also drinking out of cups now, sippy cups are only for the car. Because he is doing all these big boy things he thinks he get on the big boy bus with all the other kids.
These have been the best two years of our lives and we feel so blessed to have Jack as our son. It only gets better as time goes on and we love being Jacks Mom and Dad. We can't wait to see what comes the next two years!

Jack loves to Vacuum

2009-02-19T11:13:00.000-08:00

Jack absolutely loves vacuums. He loves to help me clean where it is dusting, scrubbing, spraying, or vacuuming.
When I start to vacuum he gets his push lawn mower and pretends it is a vacuum and pushes that to clean the floors. It is really cute and Brandon was able to catch it on camera a few weeks ago.

2009-02-18T08:25:00.000-08:00

Jack watched the inauguration of President Obama with me and loved it! He knows who the President is now and it is so cute to ask him who the president is, he responds with "Obmama!"
Brandon was asking him one morning who loved him and normally he responds with Mommy or Daddy but this morning he kept saying "Obama" So cute!

2009-02-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

This is a video of Jack playing with his trains on January morning. He loves playing with them, when he first recieved them he would just play with them and watch them go around for an hour. He really loves train, trucks, cars, airplanes, anything that goes!

Videos

2009-01-27T10:01:00.000-08:00

I have four recent videos of Jack that I want to share. However youtube won't upload any of them. I have been trying all week. So I am hoping I can find a new site that will allow me to upload them so I can share them!

Jack's Room

2009-01-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

Finally we changed Jacks room quite a bit. I changed it to more a blue/green theme then a froggy theme. I also made a ribbon board that is above is changing table to put pictures of family and friends. Whenever he is getting ready he asks to hold certain pictures.

Other Updates in the house

2009-01-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

In the house we also put up a couple of mirrors in the hallway, by the front door, and above the mantel in the living room. We also put a painting up in the living room. Just a few little touches around the house, but it has definitely help spruce it up!

Kitchen Pictures

2009-01-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some new pictures of our kitchen since we have updated the floors and put up some paintings.

Basement Pictures Continued

2009-01-27T07:44:00.000-08:00

Basement

2009-01-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

I know I have been late posting updated pictures of the house and I apologize. But I finally found some time this morning to makes some posts! Here are some pictures of our basement that we finished this past November. We used this room as Jacks play room and most of his toys are stored in the laundry room (where the double doors are). It has been so wonderful having the extra space.

Happy 2nd Birthday Mary Grace!

2009-01-09T16:32:00.000-08:00

We were so happy that we were able to be with Mary Grace on her Birthday! It was so much fun celebrating with her. She was so excited about her cupcakes and cake. She also got lots of gifts and had lots of help from her big sister opening them. She is such a little doll and I can't believe she is already two!

Catchpharse 2

2009-01-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

Catchpharse

2009-01-09T15:58:00.000-08:00

During our visit we all had a blast playing the game catchpharse. It is my moms favorite game and everyone particpated. It was so much fun with lots of laughs. If you don't have the game you should go out and buy it for a good night with friends and family :)

More Family Times

2009-01-09T15:47:00.001-08:00

Family TImes

2009-01-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

Opening Presents

2009-01-09T14:11:00.000-08:00

The kids had so much fun opening gifts. Jack was so excited about each gift that he wanted to play with the gift he opened instead of opening more. He got all sorts of presents but his favorites were The Thomas the train sets, Barney DVDS, Cars, books, a Barney, Cars DVD, and a keyboard.

Waiting to open gifts!

2009-01-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning at 4:45, Brandon and I had a little visiter. Alex woke up and was ready to open presents! We were able to keep him and his energy contained in our room until about 7 when everyone else started to wake up. It was fun seeing the anticipation in all the kids!

Christmas Eve

2009-01-09T13:33:00.000-08:00

We all had a relaxing Christmas eve with the kids. It was just so much fun being with family :)

Uncle Tommy and Aunt Therese

2009-01-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

Jack loved being in GA with Uncle Tommy and Aunt Therese. He loved reading books with Aunt Therese at the bottom of the steps and enjoyed going on walks. Uncle Tommy taught Brandon how to make his famous lemon drops, they were very yummy! It was great seeing them and being able to spend time with them!

Reading with his Best Friend

2009-01-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

Right before we left for our big trip to GA and FL, I caught these cute pictures of Jack and Britain. They were sitting in Jacks rocker reading books together, it was so cute, at one point they even traded books with each.

We are Back

2009-01-07T18:14:00.000-08:00

We are back from GA and FL!! Oh my what a trip we had!
It took us 21 hours to get from Kansas to Florida but was well worth the drive. We were able to break it up by spending time in Georgia for a few days with Uncle Tommy and Aunt Therese.
We were so exicted to arrive in FL, my parents had no idea that we were coming. It was a huge surprise for them and they were so happy. My mom actually cried tears of joy. Rich, Ann, Sarah, Caroline, ALex, Christine, Brian, Meghan, Mary Grace were also there at my Uncle Steves and Aunt Martys. It was so nice being with family and getting to spend time with everyone.
Jack especially loved playing with all of his cousins. In most our pictures he is wearing a bow. He asked for one every morning so he could fit in with the girls. He and Mary Grace shared a room when they went to bed, it was so cute hearing them talk to each other in the morning. The conversations usually were Mary Grace singing the 'I love you" song from Barney to Jack and telling him to wake up and Jack asking Mary Grace to go Night Night. It was so adorable hearing them chat.
I am updating the rest of pictures to webshots tonight so enjoy!

Snow video

2008-12-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a video of Jack playing in the snow... he really liked it especially his boots :)

snow pictures continued

2008-12-07T12:05:00.000-08:00

Jack and snow!

2008-12-07T11:32:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday (November 30, 2008) was our first snowfall!! I started the morning by making Jack pancakes in the shapes of snowmen, Christmas trees, and stars. He loved it. Then we took him outside and he was so excited! Especially because he got to wear his winter boots for the first time, he was really happy when we put them on him and he kept saying , "boots, boots, snow, boots!" It was cute. He had a blast running around in the snow and playing with it!
Finally when we came inside we read some of our favorite Christmas stories to him, like Rudolph, Twas the night before Christmas, and Santa Mouse. He especially loves Twas the Night before Christmas because of all the pictures. There is a certain page with all the reindeer and every time he we get to it he says "WOW!!"
Here are some pictures we took of him in the snow :)

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T07:45:00.000-08:00

Jack wanted to wish all of his family and friends a Happy Thanksgiving! In this video he saw a bug and was trying to kiss and hug it. When you ask him how old he is he holds up two fingers and says "Two!" He said it softly in the video but if you listen closely you can hear him. Happy Thanksgiving!!

The Zoo!

2008-11-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Brandon came home last weekend and surprised Jack and I by taking us to Omaha for the weekend. Brandon has been working a lot and we haven't spent much time together. It was such a wonderful weekend, just the three of us spending time with each other. We went to the Omaha Zoo on Saturday. Jack stayed awake the whole time just waiting to see the bears. The bears were one of the last exhibits we saw and when we finally got to them Jack just went nuts. He was clapping and smiling and saying BEARS!!. He was so excited, I took lots of pictures to capture the moment. The zoo was awesome, Brandon and I agree that it was the best Zoo we have ever been too. It was a blast and had every animal you could think of, we just loved it!
On Sunday we went to a little town called Old Market. They had lots of shops and yummy restaraunts. We had such a wonderful weekend together, we definitly plan to do it again.
I included a slideshow of some of the pictures we took, but there are lots more on our webshots page :)

Dancing!

2008-11-11T20:52:00.000-08:00

Jack loves to Dance!! We have a lot of music channels on our tv and we often dance together right before dinner. I took these pictures about a week ago of Jack after he danced for 45 minutes. He kept saying he was hot so he was stripped down to his onesie. He is such a happy little one!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous Halloween this year! Jack dressed as a lion and was so cute! We had a little Halloween party with my moms group. Jack went trick or treating that night with his best pal Britain, they were so cute. They would go up to the door and knock and would say "Treat Treat." I think he enjoyed himself very much and boy did he make out like a bandit!

During and After

2008-11-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures of him getting his haircut. The salon was so cute, it specializes in childrens haircuts and the kids sit in little cars. They even have tvs at each station and kids can choose what show they want to watch. However the only show Jack watched at that time was the wiggles and they didn't have that. But he was happy just sitting there munching away!

Jacks first Haircut!!

2008-11-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

Jack had his first haircut about five weeks ago. He was a really good boy during it and didn't mind it at all! He just had a little snack while she snipped away :) Towards the end it was hard thou because we ran out of his snack and he was getting antsy.
Here are some before pictures, you can tell how long it was around his ears.

continue....

2008-11-11T20:10:00.001-08:00

Play Time

2008-11-11T20:03:00.000-08:00

Jack and Britain playing at the mall on the ride along rides :) These are old but I still thought I would share

Fun at the park

2008-11-11T19:51:00.000-08:00

During the first weekend of October we all went to one of our favorite towns in Kansas. The town is called Lawerence and is home of thte Jayhawks (KU). We had a yummy picnic and we walk around the town. They have wonderful shops and found some really great books for Jack at a used bookstore called the Dusty Bookshelf.

We have been busy!

2008-11-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

I am sorry we haven't been updating the past few weeks! We have been very busy but lots and lots of fun things have happened with Jack so I am going to try to make a lot of posts tonight and tomorrow :) Enjoy!

Jack and Britain dancing

2008-10-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

Brooke captured this video of the boys rockin out on our way downtown. I don't think it gets any cuter than this. Except Jack's car seat is way to loose.

I love Brooke!

2008-09-26T20:19:00.001-07:00

Let me begin by saying I have the most amazing neighbor and friend. Brooke lives three houses down from us and I just love the fact that I have such a wonderful neighbor! Not only is she my age and has such an adorable, sweet, and loving family... but her son is just three months younger than Jack. Her little guy is named Britain and let me tell you Jack just loves Britain!! They are so cute together and as soon as Jack wakes up he knows he is going on a walk with Britain and runs to the garage.
Brooke is such a beautiful and wonderful person, I don't know what I would do without her. I never felt at ease or happy in our neighborhood, but then Brooke moved in and now it really does feel like home. As corny as that is, it is true. It has been hard with Brandon working such long hours and having so much going on but it makes it easy having someone to relate with. Brooke's husband Tyler not only works but goes to school at night! So we are able to talk about how our hubbies are so busy and how sometimes it can be a bit trying. We are also able to talk about our little boys and their issues (since they are so close in age) It is nice to have someone to talk to about anything and have so much in common with.
Before I go, let me give you an example of how sweet Brooke is. This past Wednesday she drove with me to do The Walk with Hanson. I didn't want to go by myself with Jack, so she was kind enough to come with us. After the, she waited with Britain while I pre-ordered their new book and talked to Isaac with Jack. Then that night she babysat Jack while Brandon and I went to the concert. She watched jack from 6:45 pm - 1:15 am!!!
I am very happy that I have someone to talk to about anything and everything. She is just so kind, loving, and understanding. She is such a wonderful friend to me and lets face it, who else would go with me on a walk with Hanson?! :) Thank you Brooke for being such an amazing friend and always giving great advice!
This is a picture of Her and her absoululty adorable son Britain!! They are just way too cute for words!