SLEEP NEEDED!!!

Happy Tuesday! I am home, laying in bed, blogging before I take a much needed NAP! We took away the pacifier last weekend, cold turkey, and Jack is doing great 90% of the time. The only thing that is NOT going so well is the middle of the night stirring/fits/hysterics (thankfully, usually only 1 huge episode a night). Last night was not so bad so Dan and I both got a decent nights sleep. Aaaahhh! I felt much better this morning. Hopefully we are on the upswing!

A couple of funny stories-
Jack is making all kinds of associations. We went to McDonalds for an ice cream cone. There was a white AT&T van parked in the parking lot- Jack points to it and says "Dada." (It looks similar to Dan's work van. Trucks tend to be "Papa.") Saturday Morning, Jack and I were sleeping in the 2nd bedroom and Jack did the same when Dan blew his nose AND when his alarm clock went off in the morning.

He also is seeing similarities... We have a photo-mosaic poster of YODA in our family room. Jack points to it on Sunday night and says "Papa." I kindly correct him, "no, YODA." The Jesus on our piano also has gotten a "Papa" or two. We are teaching him "Jesus" so there is no mistaking. :)

Jack LOVES to help. He puts things in the garbage, helps to clean up (sometimes), but my favorite helping jobs are with me in the basement. He put water bottles in the refrigerator door and helps me move laundry from the washer to the dryer, or empties the dryer into a laundry basket. I got a great video of this, but I will save you the boredom.

A couple of fun activities from our weekend of no pacifier.

We made cookies together- they were delicious (but probably not germ free-thanks to Jack)

One of Jack's great ensembles- Dan's shoes, PJs, and a different pair of PJs on his head.

Pancakes for breakfast- we tried Peanut butter on one, syrup on another, but he liked the plain one the best.
A swim diaper on his head- he likes to play with our sliding doors!
Just having fun!

Dinner last night

Jack also went to Nursery for the FIRST TIME at church. He did pretty good (he fell asleep during Sacrament Meeting so he was a little out of sorts when he first when in, Dan stayed with him.) After Dan left he did great! Dan picked him up too- I just wanted him to be able to tell me everything he did, instead I had a happy kid! I'm alright with that!

A lot on my mind...

I'm sure you all care about my inner thoughts- but let me tell you how my night went last night.

I worked, ran to Sam's Club, exchanged our cable box, and made it home. We were home just long enough to get some dinner packed, change into my frisbee clothes, pack a cooler and we were right out the door to pick up babysitters and get to our frisbee game.

We are late to our ultimate frisbee game (not to be confused with frisbee golf)- they changed the time to 6:20. We were never on time when it was 6:30, why would we be on time now??? Dan runs out to play (actually tells me to keep the babysitters occupied so he could go find a tree.) I get all of our stuff, the girls, and Jack out of the car and to the field, where I am informed that I will be playing the whole game because we only have 3 girls. I am used to playing like 1/4 of the game!

As soon as I have Jack settled, I run out to play. We lost 15-13, but it was a great game. A personal best for me! I didn't die (although I thought I was going to when the game was 12-14) and I had 1 "D" (which is smacking the disc to the ground so the other team couldn't catch it, it was a first for me), 3 catches, and one hammer throw to me that I had to jump for, I touched it! That is more than I have ever touched the disc before. I had no drops and one back-hand throw that was pretty good for me.

I was pretty pumped- all I could think to myself is "I might be in the best shape of my life" which comparatively is not really that good. (I am at one of my lowest weights, and I actually run, mow the lawn, and run after an 18 month old all the time, so maybe I am!) It motivates me a little to work harder and add a little more workout into my life- after frisbee is done of course.

Back to last night- We stopped for a cold treat on the way home, took the babysitters home, and then went home to shower and get to bed hopefully before 10. Even as we lay in bed, I was pretty excited until...

I read on my friend's facebook that they were leaving WI. and I crashed. I was an emotional mess! WHAT THE HECK!!! I guess that is one of the side effects of a really good workout- the high and then the low.

Dan and I watched a homicide show to hopefully distract me (and scare me), and I was sleeping by 11. Not exactly how I had planned the evening, but it turned out ok.

I am feeling much more in control today- although I am very tired and very sore. Dan and I might be moving around like old people for the weekend, but it's good because we will be home.

We're going to get rid of the pacifier this weekend. It would be wise to wait until we are both at our best to do this, but we will always have excuses. Wish us luck!

Oh- and all of this after a busy Tuesday- work, mow the lawn, party, city meeting, finish mowing the lawn, and laundry- that I still haven't quite recovered from.

THAT'S MY LIFE. I love my life, but it sure is exhausting some days!

Here's a couple pictures from our party the other day- I think we had 8 moms and 10 kids... or about that. It was a party!



Don't be confused by this one... he still does not eat Fruits & Vegetables, although, he is a little intrigued by some fruits!

Happy Birthday DAN!!!

Dan had a birthday, shout hooray!

Dan turned 28 on Friday. Dan and I celebrated by going to a wedding, Jack spending the evening with Grandma and Grandpa. However, we had lots of time to celebrate on Saturday because Dan had the day off! He went fishing in the morning, played with us in the afternoon, and went to a friends house for a delicious cookout/outside play and movie at night. We're pretty lucky to have such a great dad/husband!

5 things we love about Dan:
1. He is very funny! Always making us laugh and smile.
2. He loves to play- video games, computer games, and board games. He even likes chasing games with Jack around the house, which is very fun to watch.
3. He works hard. Even when Jack and I have a day off, Dan is out working.
4. He likes to grill out for us- Jacks favorite? Hot dogs or bratwurst, maybe even steak.
5. He is very thoughtful- on Saturday he brought something home for me (on his birthday fishing trip-oh yeah, with no fish) AND last night while I was in the grocery store he quickly/secretly went over to the gas station and filled my car with gas. He likes to surprise me once in a while.

Of course we love lots of other things too!
Like, that he went with us to pick up this little kid picnic table from the GHETTO last week. Jack loves it! It still sits in our kitchen for him to play, read, eat, whatever.
This is Jack playing at our friend's house. He loved the water toys, but didn't quite get the water guns. He was just so excited!!!



This is one of our "bad ideas" as parents. Now, whenever we go to the car Jack wants to go in the front door and sit in our seat. It is actually really irritating when we are in a hurry. Will he ever forget how much fun pretending is???


Notice when I ask him to say "mama" he says "dada" every time. But then when I ask him to say "dada", he will sometimes say "papa." :)

We love love love...

all of Jack's tricks! He is a smart kid and has really started "talking" the past couple of weeks. He is always surprising us with what he can say and do!

A couple of our favorites...

We're sitting at dinner time- Dan and I fold our arms and start to pray. Jack folds his arms and watches us. Us: "Amen" Jack: "Namen" Us: "WHAT??? (confused look, let's try again...) "Amen" Jack: "Namen" This went on for at least 5 times. Does he say it on his own, no. But soon he will!!!

Dinner at Grandma & Grandpas- He is very off schedule this last weekend so he is just a wild monster! We eat dinner, and Jack is a little antsy, wanting to get out of his chair. I say "Are you all done" and shake my hands (I think that is the sign language for all done- if it's not the real thing, it's our sign language.) He shakes his hands "Ah done." With that, how can you not take him out of his chair and let him play, even though his dinner did not last all that long.

Last night, we finish dinner and Jack is really tired. He needed a bath, and so between his tired cries I say "let's go to the bathtub." He follows me, and on the way says "bath tub, bath tub, bath tub." LOVE IT! In the bathtub he practices dumping cups of water on his head to rinse out the shampoo- he doesn't like when I do it, but he loves to do it himself!

Last story... I promise! Last week we were playing at grandma & grandpas. It was time to go. We said goodbye to grandpa, and I told Jack "we have to say goodbye to Grandma." Jack (knowing that Grandma just walked upstairs) goes to the bottom of the stairs and says "Grana." It was so cute.

That's our fun lately! My new phrase I am going to teach him is "Love you". Wish us luck!

We went to the grocery store- opened the marshmallows while we were there to keep Jack happy- I hate doing that but oh well! He brings them in the house and I put groceries away. I come back to this- he is saying "uh oh, uh oh, uh oh." It was great!!!

He is back to loving his rocking chair and reading books. This was him getting ready for church. Yes the Toy Story milk cup is a nice touch. :)

Playing with the plastic containers at Grandma and Grandpas.

I love to see his excitement for life. We got home a little late tonight from a friends house, and Dan & I just tickled Jack, and tickled him. Jack tries to do "zerberts" back to us, but he's not quite there yet. I just love being his mom!

A time for rest...

We have had a BUSY BUSY couple of weeks. From Dan's family reunion and playing with the Boston's, to the Wilson sisters staggering in one at a time, and leaving one at a time, it has been about 2 weeks of CRAZY FUN!!! We are exhausted! (Oh- don't forget Dan working LOTS of hours helping people recover from the rain- he's still working 12 hour+ days.)

A couple of pictures- highlights. (My camera was not out all the time, so I'm sure I'll get my hands on some of my sister's pictures too.)

The weekend in a nutshell:
Wednesday-Sadie comes to town and we play play play!

Thursday the rains came. Dan & I went to visit friends at the hospital- they welcomed their 4th baby! While we were there we got shooed to the hallway because of all of the warnings. Dan gets a call that one of the work vans has a flat tire and they needed a tow truck. So Dan is in limbo all night waiting to see when he needs to go get his guys.
This is the only night where all 6 girls, 5 husbands, Grandma & Grandpa, and all 5 grandkids are going to be together- so by the time we are all there (minus the rain drama) we take family pictures sometime after 10 PM (I'll get my hands on some of these pictures for sure.) After pictures, dinner, play, we go home to find water in half of our basement. :( We start cleaning up the mess.

Friday- Noah's Ark! Everyone makes it, Dan & I are supposed to stay in the Dells with some friends for the weekend, but because of the rain we decide to come home so Dan can work.

Saturday- Dan works all day, I recover at our house and then we go to the lake house with the family. We went on the boat and played in the house- the kids loved it!

Sunday- BIG FAMILY PARTY with some of our cousins. My camera died by then, but we had the moon-walk, kids pool, volleyball, great food, lots of people to talk with, and of course our little monster causing trouble.

We love our life, but we also love the calm after the storm.










2 jobs I cannot do while Jack is awake: sweep and vacuum- he just wants to HELP!!!




Jack loves to smile for pictures. People ask if now that he's walking, if he has thinned out at all. Sometimes I think so, but then I get a nice picture like this, belly and all!

A sad sad story...

I am not a "oh, pity me. My life is so hard" type of person. But just for today "pity me, my life is so hard..."


For the past 3 weeks I have spent countless hours in our basement. Jack's naps, late nights when Dan plays basketball or has to work late, Brewers games, and even working along side Jack on our days off. When I decide to get something done, I do it!

You would look at my basement and think, what took so much time? I didn't finish anything off, did not paint over our green basement walls, didn't install flooring or any other high quality improvements. I sorted toys, old video games, books, clothing, junk, everything! i moved all our work out equipment (that we never use) from one side of the basement to the other. I condensed and reorganized our storage area. I vacuumed rugs, relocated my crafting corner and made a play area for Jack. I swept, I wiped, I cleaned. Pretty much all of the crappy things that our basement was so badly in need of.

I was so proud of myself, and yet I have no pictures to show you. Our basement flooded last Thursday night when the heavy rains kept coming and coming and coming. Only half of the basement- but it was the side I had just set up with toys and games, a train table, Jack's ball pit, and my crafting stuff. It is really depressing to think about.

Dan and I squeegeed water, mopped the floor. My dad came and helped put in a back up sump pump that night to help control the massive amounts of water that kept on falling from the sky. Saturday while Dan sucked water out of other people's basements, i tore apart all of my hard work. Pulling up rugs, the massive 70's carpet that was under our ping pong table. I moved toys and piled things in the dry side of our basement, just so I could begin the recovery process.

I was just downstairs trying to finish moving the rugs. I laid some out in the back yard to dry, and the big one is still downstairs dripping water. Maybe later this week i will be able to put things back together. But until then, just imagine my disappointment. Maybe, just maybe, you'll feel a little sorry for me.

The hardest part- i have no one to blame. In my excitement to get rid of junk, I pushed a recliner (that doesn't really work- I want to throw it away!) in the corner blocking the sump pump. I am pretty sure that it was pushed a little too close and didn't allow the stick/sensor thing to activate the sump pump. It is all my fault. BUMMER...

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On the plus side, Marcia came over to make cards on Thursday during the day and Jack and I played. We got to use all parts of the new and improved area. I like to think we would have lost a lot more, had I not cleaned and organized and found places for things. The only thing we lost was the HUGE 70's carpet that was pretty disgusting anyway. I'm pretty sure we could keep it, if we really wanted. To me, it's not worth the hassle.

I just wanted to write that. I am giving up for tonight.

Haircuts

Jack and I got haircuts last week. I have really been enjoying playing with Jack's hair at night, making it all wild and crazy, but sadly it needed a new do- with the hot weather and picture day coming up we cut it all off. Surprisingly, he did quite well.


Following our haircuts, we had an eventful weekend of playing with Grandma & Grandpa Boston, family reunion, and swimming at the hotel. It was great-we are still recovering!
Jack in his Pepsi shirt from Grandma Diane. She is a big fan of pepsi!!! As is his mom and dad. :)
At the family reunion- we did a "Building a Cardhouse" challenge (kind of like on Survivor.) Dan was in the finals, I lost to him in the semi-finals. Our towers were so tall we ran out of cards. ***A little credit to Dan's aunt who painted plywood and then helped a friend cut about 500 cards on the table saw. They said it took over 2 1/2 hours. ***
Jack napping- for 30 min. We made it through the day, but we were all hot and tired by the end.

Monday night swimming with Grandma & Grandpa. Jack had a great time in the kid pool, the big pool he could have done without. Or maybe it was his Floating Tube/Life Jacket that he didnt' like.



And- My favorite trick. Enjoy!