Mmm...Peanut Butter

It always tastes better when you do it yourself. Messy, but good.

We Moved!!!

Yes, we have officially moved.

This happened about 3 weeks ago, but I have been silent as we wanted to keep the move a surprise for Heather and Karen when they came for their summer visit. Thanks to all of you who helped keep the secret!

Here are some of the details.

• We moved about 9 miles north of our old house. We were looking for a better school for Jack and a larger house to accommodate our family. Please no guilt from my Chandler/Gilbert family. Stuart owns commercial property that cannot be sold in this market and we did not want him to commute to work.
• We LOVE our new neighborhood. It's gated and has a community center that includes numerous parks, soccer fields, basketball, volleyball, and tennis courts...and...a splash park for Jack!
• We have a basement! YEA! I love this part!
• Jack has his own play area outside of his bedroom.
• Stuart and I have separate closets!
• We bought a bank owned property so we have some work ahead of us. For example, there were no doorknobs in the house, there is carpet in the bathrooms, the tile hasn't been sealed in the master bathroom, there is no backyard landscaping, etc. We actually like that we get to do it ourselves, the way we like it, although it is overwhelming and it will take us years to get it the way we want it!

Jack has adjusted very well to the new house. We paid frequent visits while in escrow so it was a familiar place to him when we finally moved. He only fell partially down the stairs once before we closed, so we put in a gate before we moved into the house. (I was terrified and had nightmares about it for a week after it happened.)

Here are some pics to show you the move from Jack's perspective:

Jack took advantage of the chaos on moving day and pulled the suckers out of my diaper bag and decided he would have them for breakfast. Sneaky boy! (He does look happy...makes it hard to get mad.)


All the projects means lots of tools. He loves this part!

He had to put his mark on the house by decorating with Sponge Bob stickers.

"No Jack! You are too close!" Guess we need to hurry and put the TV away.

Boxes are so much fun!

Jack loves the Jacuzzi tub (so does mom!) However, it is big and more than once, Stuart lost the baby under the bubbles.

Anyway, there will be more to come. We will be busy in the coming weeks with the girls in town and the 438 projects we have to do, so stay tuned for more reporting.

Oh, and the good news is we got 3 written offers on our old house within 24 hours of listing it. (2 of them full price!) Hopefully, it will close in late August. I am sad about leaving the old house. For one thing, we did so much to it over the years and it looked beautiful. But, more importantly, it is the first home Stuart and I lived in together and it was Jack's first home. So many memories...most of them good! hee hee

Road Trip

A couple of weeks ago, we took a family road trip to Pinetop for my sister's wedding. I am amazed at how great Jack was in the car. 4 hour ride each way and he was wide awake and wonderful the whole time. (Of course, he insisted on a very fun game of "put the water cap in mom's mouth repeatedly until her jaw hurts," but you do whatever it takes to keep your kids happy.) We had a great time staying at my generous uncle's cabin/luxury resort with family. It was beautiful, although Jack didn't sleep much as he preferred to explore his new surroundings.

We saw lots of elk.


The location and weather were beautiful. It was a nice intimate ceremony. (Yes, I cried, I can't help it, as I said before, I am an emotional person.)


Wendy looked beautiful and Shane looked very much in love.


Jack looked so handsome on the way to the wedding. However, it took a lot of candy to keep him quiet during the ceremony and Stuart was gracious enough to walk him around and keep him distracted so I could watch. (We don't normally use sugar as a bribe, but on special occasions, we aren't above doing anything that works to keep the peace.)


Wendy's daughter, Kailee, was a beautiful junior bridesmaid.


My other sister Charlotte and my gorgeous niece Caitlin had fun.


Luckily, Jack's sister Karen was in town for the wedding. (I know Karen hates it when I post pics of her, so hopefully she won't mind this one. She looks beautiful, as always.)


OK, I had to post this pic because Stuart said it looks fake because Char and I are hugging...how sad is that?!


Jack got to meet his newest cousin, Hunter. He was so excited and grinned the whole time he held him. At first, Hunter seemed okay with the idea.


He soon appeared a little nervous so we gave him back to his mom. Jack cried.

The only bad thing was that the air conditioning in our car went out the morning we left for home. The first portion of the trip was okay because we were still in the high country. Once we hit Payson, however, the heat was on big time. So, we stopped to buy tons of cold bottled water to try to survive driving the final couple of hours home. (This had to happen in 115 degree weather?!) I just kept dumping the water over Jack's head on the drive home to keep him comfortable. He really liked that. And, in Fountain Hills we stopped for ice cream.

He got a little heat rash, but overall, we had a good trip. Can I say again how amazed I am at how wonderful he was in the car? What a great baby boy!

23 Months Old

Yesterday, Jack turned 23 months old. Here are the latest Jack facts:

• He loves to share. He often tries to feed his stuffed animals. He even tries to give milk to dogs he sees on TV. (Listen as he makes the swallowing sound for them.)
  
• He has become quite the picky eater. If he gets something in his mouth that he doesn't like, he sticks his tongue out and cries until you wipe it off his tongue. If you aren't fast enough, he will lick whatever is nearby to get rid of it. This includes pillows, the sofa, my leg, whatever. It's really gross.
• He hates blueberries. He also hates McDonald's chicken nuggets (can you really blame him?) But, he will eat chicken nuggets from anywhere else.
• He loves all things dairy: cheese, yogurt, ice cream, etc.
• He always runs to the mirror after getting dressed for bed to check out how he looks in his jammies.
• His favorite movie is The Incredibles. Actually, it is the only movie he will watch. And he will watch it for up to an hour at a time! It is so funny to watch his reactions. He always says "uh-oh" at the same parts: like when the character Bon Voyage blows a hole in the wall, or when the train almost drives off the tracks. He even tries to feed popcorn to Mr. Incredible. During the scary parts, he leaves the room and watches from around the corner.
• He talks constantly. Although we still don't understand most of what he is saying, more words are becoming clear. He always says "thank you" when he brings you something. If he throws a fit when he wants something, I tell him to ask nicely for it and he responds with "please." Some of my favorite words include: Blay bee (blanket,) Jew (juice,) Iguana (his friend Savannah,) and I swear "thank you" sounds like he is saying "that's nice."
• He hasn't slowed down one bit. He is constantly moving every second he is awake.

Exiled

Jack is very picky about who he sleeps with these days. (Yes, I know that sounds twisted, but stay with me here.) He usually sleeps with a monkey, a cat, and 2 dogs. Not just any dogs, he only sleeps with his Jack Russell Terrier and his Disney Dalmatian. (Once he goes to sleep, I put the animals between the bars of his crib so he can get them if wakes up in the middle of the night.) He doesn't want any other animals in his bed. Even his special panda bear, the one he loves so much, is refused entry into the crib. Any toy he has in his hand when I put him down for the night is promptly handed over to me when he gets to bed. The other night, however, I found this scene when I checked on him. I don't know what they did wrong, but apparently, they were all banned from the bed for the night.

Big Boy Underwear

No, Jack isn't potty trained. He isn't remotely ready to start, but he is very fond of his superhero underwear. Last week we went shopping and Jack was drawn to the display of kids underwear...likely because they had such great themes like Elmo and the Super Friends. After fighting him in the store, I broke down and bought a package since I'm going to have to start potty training soon anyway. He picked them out himself; surprisingly, he didn't want Elmo, but was adamant that he wanted the ones with the superheroes.

I explained what they were as we walked back to the car. By the time we got home, he had gotten a pair out and put them on himself (although both legs were through one leg hole, but he didn't care.) I tried to take them off before getting him out of the car, but he kept pushing me away, telling me "no." So, I relented and he proceeded to waddle around the house with his Superman underwear.

When I changed his diaper, he threw a fit and wanted to wear the underwear instead. Potty training can't possibly be this easy. I thought, what can it hurt? (I should know better by now, shouldn't I?) He loved them. He ran to the mirror to check himself out, laughing and licking his reflection...don't ask me why he does half of what he does...

He peed in them almost immediately, leaving a big mess on the carpet for me to clean. He didn't care that he was wet and still fought me over removing them. We finally reached a compromise. He now wears them over his diaper and couldn't be happier when he has them on...Superman appears to be his favorite.

My Love

We love this picture...Jack found an old pair of Stuart's glasses and had to wear them...what a cutie! Jack is just awesome. There are so many reasons to love this little baby boy. Here are a just a few:

• When I sit to watch TV with Jack, he will wrap my arms around him. If I try to move my arms, even to point out something on the screen, he will pull my arms back and place them around his waist again.
• He calls out to me in his sleep. Often, I will hear him say "mom" repeatedly over the monitor at night. When I go to check on him, he is fast asleep. He will sometimes sit up and say "mommy?" with his eyes closed tight. It is so sweet I can't stand it sometimes.
• He loves to give kisses. He always says "mmmm" before he puckers up for a big kiss.
• It doesn't matter who gets him out of his crib in the morning, he has to run through the house to find the other parent before he can go about his day. He smiles and laughs when he finally gets to see who he is looking for...and then he runs away.
• When he talks to you, he isn't satisfied until you are looking him in the eye and he is certain he has your full attention.
• When he snuggles in for a story, it isn't enough to sit next to us, he has to sit ON us. That could be the lap, chest, neck, it doesn't matter...he just can't seem to get close enough.

I am overwhelmed sometimes over how blessed we are to raise this little boy.