Our First Christmas

Well, our first Christmas as a family has come and gone. Whew! I am tired, but it was wonderful. The girls got in Christmas eve, and Jack must have known because he waited to go to sleep until after he got to meet his sisters. Continuing my childhood traditions, everyone got to open one present on Christmas eve, pajamas! Here is Jack with his first ever Christmas present. He looks very unimpressed. I think next year will be better.

The girls were a bit nervous around their brother at first as they haven't really had much exposure to babies, but they soon got the hang of it. They both did a great job of playing with him and keeping him happy.

Jack got a bit spoiled by everyone. Remember people, he doesn't even understand any of this yet! Ok, maybe Stuart and I got carried away a little too. Here is a pic of his Dr. Seuss tree in his room.

As usual, nothing was perfect this Christmas, but everything was still wonderful. Just another reminder of our reason for celebrating.

We feel truly blessed this year.

What's really important...

It's Christmas eve morning. Stuart is at work and the girls arrive this evening. For now it is just me and Jack. Currently, I'm not worried about presents. I'm unconcerned with the house cleaning I need to do. I'm not focused on the cooking that needs done. I'm happy for the true gifts of Christmas.

4 months old!

OK Laura, here is a new post. Just a couple of random pictures of my big kid. He turned 4 months old yesterday. Of course that meant more shots for him, and more tears for both of us. He is now 19 lbs 11 oz and 27 inches long. It is amazing to see how much he has changed in such a short period of time. He finally got to meet his uncle Kevin and uncle Jon! That still leaves a couple of aunts and uncles who haven't seen him. So, Patrick, when are you going to make it back to AZ? Don't make him wait until we come up to Utah in April!

I had to post that second picture, because it is the first time I have every thought he looked like me (or at least like baby pics of me!) The ultrasound pics looked like Charlotte. Then, when he was first born, everyone thought he looked like Stuart. As he got older, he totally looked like his cousin Ryan. Lately, he has started to resemble Kevin. But no one ever thought he looked like his mom!

White Trash Christmas - 2003

Recently, Charlotte posted some pics of Christmas past. I thought I would do the same, although mine are a bit unconventional. A few years ago, some friends of mine threw a "White Trash Christmas" party. Everyone dressed in costume; it was hysterical! It was one of the first few times Stuart and I had gone out together. I am still surprised he wanted to keep dating after seeing me at my absolute ugliest!

Don't we make a cute couple? I considered using this pic for our wedding announcements. It would have been approrpriate. Hee hee.

Charlotte and Wendy will not be thrilled that I posted this picture of all of us at the party. Oh well, they should remember that I have more embarassing pics of them from the party, so it could have been worse.

Gingerbread Party

Yesterday I held my 6th annual gingerbread making party for the family. (Maybe it's the fifth, I forget, all I know is it was 2 houses ago for me, so it's been going on for awhile.) The first year, I was crazy enough to make the houses for everyone to decorate. I've long since given up on that idea. Now, everyone brings their own (either homemade or those great pre-made kits!) Here are a few highlights:

1. It seemed louder this year than normal (the new tile in the house created some echos and made the 3 wild boys sound more like 10)
2. Caitlin was insistent that I judge them and create a blue ribbon for the winner (with smaller prizes for everyone else.
3. All of the kids houses had to be completed by the parents when they lost interest
4. Lexi is so cute!
5. Charlotte, Wendy, and my mom ate all the appetizers before my dad, Laura, Marcy, and Jamie arrived so we had to make more.
6. Caitlin ran into the screen door and it popped right off the door frame. She was so worried we would be mad at her. (How could we, she is just so cute.)
7. It's more fun with Kevin, Jon, and Patrick because they really get into it!
8. Caitlin reading to the crazy boys to help calm them down.

We even managed to get a picture of all the kids together!

Lazy Days

Just wanted you to see my little chubba bubba baby.

Kailee always said she preferred chubby babies, so we aim to please!

At home watching Jack

Well, I took today off of work with the intention of completing all of my Christmas shopping. Jack and I went to Target and he was just great (he usually likes the car ride.) I planned on doing some outdoor shopping, but it was raining so I thought I would go home first. In the 2 mile drive home, Jack started crying, no screaming is more accurate. He turned bright red and I thought for sure he was going to pass out. I couldn't calm him and couldn't get around all of the crazy drivers to pull over. I was crying and he was screaming. As soon as I got home, he went to sleep. So much for getting everything done today. I guess I will be one of the last minute shoppers fighting the crowds just before Christmas.

I'm at home and frustrated because I want to be out, but don't want to wake my peaceful baby (he is so cute that I can't be upset with him!) So, I will follow Marcy's lead and do some rambling. Jack loves music. He apparently is tone deaf because he loves when I sing to him and I am just awful. We found that he really loves 2 songs in particular: On Top of Spaghetti and Jingle Bells. He laughs out loud and does his own attempt to sing along. I'm glad about the Jingle Bells because I was getting tired of singing the other one.

What else is going on? We've tried to start some of our own family Christmas traditions. One is that we read Jack a Christmas story each night and then take a candy from our advent calendar. I found some great children's books that tell the story of Christmas. He really likes the stories and I really like the chocolate.

We went to the doctor Friday because his eye was red and watering. When I called the nurse, he thought it was pink eye and wanted me to bring him in to the office. Turns out it is just a clogged tear duct. We did find out that he now weights 18 lbs 6 oz... and he isn't even 4 months yet! No wonder my back is killing me.

I only work 4 more days this week: 2 from home and 2 in the office, then I am off for the rest of the year! Yea! I really am excited to do some holiday baking again this year. Well, it looks like Jack is waking up, so I will just post this cute picture of him. (We took it while singing with him.)

Christmas with Jack

We are really excited about Christmas this year. All 7 Christmas trees are up and decorated. (We decided to give one of them away because we felt 8 trees would just be tacky!) This year we did a Dr. Seuss tree to match Jack's room. I know, I can't help myself. Jack really seems to like the lights.

I really can't think of a thing I want for Christmas. Jack is our best gift this year. And having the girls here for Christmas with us will just be everything we want.

3 Months Old!

I started back to work after 12 weeks at home (wow! the time just flies by!) So, I've been a bit busy and haven't had a chance to post anything new lately. However, I just had to put up our newest picture! Baby Jack turned 3 months old on Thanksgiving. We dressed him up and did our own photo shoot at home. Look at our handsome man...wearing his cute little nerdy outfit from his aunt Charlotte!

Family Photo Shoot

We recently had a photographer come to the house to take some family pictures. She did an amazing job with a challenging group. First, Jack threw up all over me, minutes before we started. Jack also missed his afternoon nap and was more than a little fussy. The few times he looked at the camera, Stuart was making a face (he hates to take pictures of himself.) Then, the sprinklers went off twice while we were in the grass. Whew! And to think, we get to try this again while the girls are down at Christmas. Anyway, this link will take you to a slide show the photographer put together for us.
http://www.jenniferweems.com/slideshows/Allen_Family.html

Halloween Fun

Jack just celebrated his first Halloween. We have some visitors to help us celebrate. Stuart's sister, Alicia, along with Frank, Marge, and Ken are down for a visit. This is the first time anyone from Stuart's family has gotten to see the baby, so it has been loads of fun. We just love Halloween and normally throw a party to celebrate, but with the addition of Jack, we decided to keep it low key this year. We did, however, scare up some costumes for our visitors to get into the spirit of things...

Jack seemed to enjoy his first Halloween. He even had his own Jack-O-Lantern (created by Dad.)


Isn't he the cutest bear? He helped us pass out candy. One of our trick-or-treaters insisted on giving her candy to Jack when she saw him. We couldn't convince her otherwise.

Eventually, he grew tired of all the pictures.

Nanny HELP

For those of you who don't know, Stuart and I were talking about the possibility of my taking a year off of work after Jack was born. However, our situation has changed. Just before taking my maternity leave, I was offered a promotion with the option of working from home much more frequently. Because we are hoping to buy a larger home in the near future (and those diapers are soooo expensive) we thought we should at least give my return to work a try. Well, being caught up with taking care of baby Jack (and my natural propensity to procrastinate) I haven't made any arrangements yet to put this plan into action. With my return to work scheduled for November 14th, I am in full on panic mode now.

Our plan is for Stuart and I to alternate working from home, so that someone is always there with Jack. However, since we both are required to be on the phone in meetings throughout the day, we want to minimize interruptions from a crying baby. We are hoping to find someone who can come into our home (while we are there) to assist for about 4 hours a day. From about 9am-1pm (these times are flexible and negotiable.) We are located in Phoenix. Nanny placement services are outrageously expensive, so I am looking to see if there is anyone out there who knows someone who can help us. If you know of a loving, reliable, caring individual who is interested in this position, please let me know. Who wouldn't want to come spend some time with this adorable kid?

Whose kid is this?

It seems Jack really likes music. He loves when I sing to him, which is amazing for those of you who know just how bad my voice sounds! I had downloaded a few lullabies from iTunes for him that he likes. Searching for more, I found the Rockabye Baby series which is lullaby renditions of various artists. (It's very cool!) It turns out Jack loves the Cure! I was so proud of my little boy. I then had the idea to create a playlist with some of my favorites for him. It turns out he really hates Depeche Mode and Social Distortion. What?! I don't think this is our baby! How can a child of ours actually dislike Depeche Mode?! Stuart and I were shocked! I think there must be some kind of mix up. I swear if this kid didn't have easily identifiable birth marks, I would swear we brought the wrong one home from the hospital. I can tell already this is going to be a challenging kid. He was in my arms last night, with his hands near his face, looking very peaceful, so I asked Stuart to take his picture. As soon as he focused the camera, Jack flashed him the loser sign. Sheesh! Rebel in the making...

2 months old!

Monday, Jack turned 2 months old. I can't believe how big he is now. Despite having a slow start in the first month, he has made up for lost time by gaining 4 lbs. in the last month!

Unfortunately, that means it was time for his shots! He was very upset, as was I. I hated seeing him in pain and just cried along with him.

He's doing better now, but has been a bit fussy since getting the shots. I think he is just mad at his parents for putting him through so much pain.

After his shots, we got a nice gift in the mail from his sisters. Attached is a picture of the card they included. It's hard that they have to wait until Christmas to get to meet their little brother....

Smiling Jack

Jack has been smiling and laughing. Usually, we are enjoying the moment to much to actually stop and get the camera. By the time we get the camera, the moment has passed. We finally captured one of his happy times on film! This is the short version that we could upload to the site.

Baby Bath Time

Jack just loves his baths.
We love that he is starting
to smile more. He even
laughs, although he
doesn't usually make a
sound while he does it,
it is still adorable.

Jack the Pumpkin King

Our little Jack-o-lantern:

The many faces of Jack

Jack has some great expressions, we just love to watch him as he tries to express himself. We've captured just a few on film...

Jack Updates...

Patrick has recently advised me that now that I have a blog, I am obligated to update it. So, here are some more recent pics of Jack.

Yes, I take them all as he is laying on my lap, I can't help it, he is too cute to resist. Here are a few of Jack and Dad: hanging out...