More pictures...

Just want to see if you're watching me... I don't care that you're watching me - I'm going to eat the dog's toy...
Yay for eating the dog's toy and not getting in too much trouble!!We went to my Grandfather's memorial in Fond du Lac - this was part of the memorial - Jack was being quite the stinker though and wouldn't let me enjoy it - plus it was so hot and humid - he was just uncomfortable. Stinker! It was a beautiful memorial though and the dedication, from what I saw was lovely.

Chocolate Teddy Graham face...under the dining room table This was my new trick of the day - learning how to crawl under the tableOne trick wasn't good enough - I also learned how to climb the stairs!!Game on! And yet again another new trick..Yep..just had a bath..now chewing on my comb.Hi Mama!

Granddad Paul came to visit from England

It was a fleeting visit - but Jack had lots of fun with Granddad Paul. Here's the proof.Look at my silly mucky face!!!

My favorite parts of Jack

I love how these pictures turned out - he's such a photogenic little boy. We pick up the camera now and he gives us this huge cheeseball smile. These were all taken outside in the backyard while we were having a pitfire.

Trip to Rush Creek

We have lived in Harvard for 5 years now and we just learned of a conservation area that's right down the road. Apparently we've been under a rock for the last 5 years. Anyway - we took Jack and the dogs down there today for a walk around the area. It was lovely - there isn't all that much to do except walk the 2 trails and fish in the pond. But it was still nice and felt like we were out of town. It got pretty buggy and Jack was cranky so we only were able to walk the 3/4 mile trail, but we definitely will go back. Here's some pictures I took.

1 year check up

We went to the dr today for Jack's 1 year checkup. He did great. He weighs 25 lbs even now (80%) and is 31 inches tall(85%). Doc said that if he keeps growing like this he'll be 6 feet tall and 180 lbs as an adult. Neither one of us are tall, so we're not sure where he's getting this height thing from - but we know it can all change. So we're not banking on having a 6 foot tall son. He got 4 shots, 2 in each leg - cried bloody murder for about 10 seconds, and then was done with it.

Forgot to say that on Jack's birthday - we moved his carseat from backwards facing to forwards facing. Hard to believe that time was already here! So now he's loving facing forwards because he can see us and the outside so much better when we're driving around.

It's Jack's Birthday!

Today I made Jack blueberry pancakes for his birthday breakfast. He loved them. I made homemade macaroni and cheese for lunch and invited Grandma Ethel over. We sang Happy Birthday and had some cake and Jack had a blast with it again. The kid loves cake, what can I say?

He was trying out a new eyebrow...hehee..

After lunch we went into the living room and Jack was walking with his Thomas push toy and then he let go and just started walking by himself.
Grandma Ethel and I couldn't believe it and we started cheering and clapping, which of course scared Jack to the point where he was crying - but it was so darn exciting!! We put him down for a nap - then we all got ready to go to our friend's daughter's 4th Birthday Party which Jack and Caoimhe share. They had 2 bounce houses and an inflatable slide - Jack went into the bounce house and loved it at first, then was tired of it. He took more steps on his own and just stood there watching the other kids - he'll be walking all by himself sooner than we think. Here's some pictures of his day..enjoy!! I still can't believe we're parents of a 12 month old! Plus side of the day - I only cried a few times..

12 months old now...

To my Sweet Baby Jack,

This year has been an utter whirlwind. I think that all the time spent taking care of you has made the time go so fast. The days just keep flying off the calendar like leaves off a tree and here you are, an entire year old.

This past year was the most fabulous year of my life. Taking care of you everyday has had its ups and downs, but I thank God for you every single day. I think I've done a pretty good job taking care of you and raising you into the little boy you are today - I love all the amazingly fun memories of our first year together as a family, all of your smiles, all of your giggle fests, all of the snuggles, kisses and hugs and milestones.

Your daily routine consists of - wake up in the morning around 7.30 - 8 and by 10 am you're ready for a nap. Then around 11.30-12 you'll wake up and have some lunch and we'll play or go outside until 3 - then it's another nap until 4.30-5 and then we have dinner around 6 - then it's a bottle around 7.30 and bed at 8 - or roughly around there. You don't need to be rocked in order to go to sleep - we just put you in your crib and give you your blankie and paci and you're down for the count.

We are still on formula - but we are almost done with the can so I think we'll be doing whole milk or 2% soon - we just can't bring ourselves to buy anymore. I'm sure you'll make the transition with no problem, just like with everything you eat. You're such a good eater - you'll eat anything. Dog hair on the floor, yep that goes right into your mouth - but you don't swallow it, you just chew it around. You love cut up bananas, oatmeal, peaches, pears, grapes, squash, carrots, peas, green beans, the list goes on - I made you blueberry pancakes this morning for your birthday and you couldn't shove the pieces into your mouth fast enough. It was homemade macaroni and cheese for lunch and you couldn't get enough of that either. I'm amazed at how well you eat. You love to feed yourself. You're doing well with a sippy cup and love your water and juice- so one of these days we will take you off the bottle and go straight to sippies.

I still can't believe God has brought you to me - I couldn't ask for anything better and what I hoped for doesn't even compare to you. In general, my favorite memories so far are all of your firsts. I was always so excited for your first Halloween, Christmas, Easter, your first time to the park, your first smile, first giggle, first step, etc. It was so important for me to document it all because here we are, already a year later, and I'd hate to miss anything. Thanks to this blog I was able to do that and I'm so glad I took the time to do it all. This is only the beginning - I hope when you're older and we read this together, you'll be happy to have it.

You wear 12-18 months clothes and size 4 diapers. I weighed you a few days ago and you were 25.5 lbs - we have your 1 year checkup next week so we'll find out for sure. You have 6 teeth, 2 teeth have nubs but haven't cut through the skin yet. Your hair is growing and even has some curls at the back. It's so blonde as well! Your face is so precious - it's just such a perfect baby face and definitely all boy!!

You're very ticklish and I love to make you laugh! We have so much fun together. You took 7 steps on your own today as well - your balance is getting so much better and you're getting braver. You push your Thomas ride on toy around and let go and just stand there - pretty soon we'll have to really baby proof. We haven't had to until now because you never crawled - you just scooted on your bum. When we say Good Boy to you, you clap your hands. You love to copy us - when we clear our throat, so do you, when we cough, so do you, when we tilt our head side to side, you follow. It's so darn cute.

It's so hard to believe that 1 year ago from this moment, you were born. I remember it like it was yesterday. I hope I never forget it because the day you came into my life was the best day of my life. I'm so looking forward to witnessing more of your firsts and having more fun with you. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me Bubby and I love you more and more each day. Happy 1st Birthday sweetpea.

Love, Momma

From this...To this... And now this...

Walking with Thomas...

Jack is getting his balance!!

Jack stood up today for about 30 seconds all by himself!!! He was walking behind his Thomas push toy and he let go and just stood there, almost falling forward a few times but he dug his toes into the carpet and stayed upright. Then he started crying because he was scared..poor baby. Once he gets the hang of it though, we're all in trouble. We're so proud!!

Jack's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Jack's birthday today because Mark will be away next weekend. We set everything up outside and it turned out to be a beautiful, yet hot, humid and muggy day. We had to move the tables and chairs into the garage a few times due to the rain, but all in all it was a beautiful day. We had quite a few people come but also quite a few people who didn't come and didn't tell us they weren't coming - oh well, such is life I guess. We just know that the people that did come do really care about our little boy Jack. He did so well - took his naps and didn't cry at all during the day. We decorated with loads of balloons and streamers. Jack ate his first hot dog and loved it!! Not much of a surprise though because he just loves food. He opened presents and got a lot of nice gifts. Then it was cake time and oh my did he love that. We stripped him down to just his diaper and away he went. He dug right in - covered head to toe with cake and frosting - it was so cute! Here are quite a few pictures of his day - we still can't believe it's been a year already - time sure does fly. We remember the day he was born like yesterday.

Here's the 3 of us before presents

Here's Jack before he got all messy with his smash cake that mommy made

Hmm...this frosting is mighty tasty - they're really letting me mess up the cake??Oh yes - this cake is niceI must destroy!!

It was very sensible to only put him in his diaper

All this cake eating has left me a little sleepy...Guys - I think I'm done now..
And this is the last of the smash cake - completely destroyed..Mission Accomplished

Messy boy went for a bath straight after thisAll squeaky clean after my bath - hey anybody got anymore cake?Jack's balloons floating in the breeze

We put a Baby's 1st Birthday sign around the front tree

Playing with his Thomas ride on toy that Mommy and Daddy gave him
That's the END!