Say Cheese

So I think it was Saturday night perhaps that Jack and I were eating dinner at the Lyons house. Darby, Elena and Jack were all sitting at the little table eating dinner and it was really cute so Chanda got out the camera. As most people do, Chanda asked the kids to say cheese for the camera each time she took a picture, which was many times since getting three kids to look at a camera and smile is quite challenging. Jack has really never been asked to say "cheese" for the camera before but he does know the word cheese and he obliged. I didn't think much of it until tonight when once again we were at the Lyons' for dinner. Jack was playing and he found a toy camera. He picked it up, held it up to his face, pretended to push the button and said "cheese". He did it over and over again, so apparently he knows how to say cheese for the camera now. Guess we'll have to see just how cheesy he gets.

Our Weekend

So Paul's out of town again. He left for Baltimore yesterday morning and gets back Tuesday afternoon if everything goes well. We miss him and Jack is very aware of his absence. Jack went looking for Paul at church today after I picked him up from the nursery. I set him down and he took off running and yelling "Daaaad". He went right to the place where we normally meet with friends after church. It was both very sweet and sad. (Sorry honey. I know how hard it is for you to be away. He won't remember this and he knows you love him!) I choose to focus on how adorable it is that Jack loves his daddy so much. And I tell him every day that Paul is gone how much his daddy loves him and misses him. 
Yesterday we had lunch with some good friends and Jack got to spend some time with his friends as well. He and Caleb had a lot of fun chasing each other in circles around the house. They love when there is room to run. The kids finished eating lunch before the adults....big surprise and Caleb and Jack went into the other room to play. It was fairly quiet so I poked my head in expecting to see them getting in trouble but instead it was the cutest sight. Caleb was playing quietly in a corner and Jack had crawled up in the rocking chair and was just sitting quietly rocking away with his hands in his lap. It totally cracked me up for some reason. Cute kids.
This evening I'm babysitting for the Lyons. Chanda surprised Matt with tickets to the Bears game...lucky ducks. So anyway, while I was preparing dinner the girls were upstairs playing and Jack was watching a show in the living room by the kitchen. He crawled up right by their dog, Lexi, and was all snuggled with her. He had his arm resting on her back just watching TV. They were so cute. I tried to get a picture but by the time I found the camera he had gotten up, probably to figure out what I was doing in the other room.He really likes Lexi, which is funny because if I was Jack's size I don't think I would like Lexi. She's an energetic boxer who is always getting up in Jack's face and licking him and sometimes knocking him over. But whatever, Jack loves Lexi.
So that's our weekend. We're looking forward to Paul coming home and Thanksgiving this week.

Christmas Lights

Last night Paul and Jack hung up a few Christmas lights outside. Every year while it's still fairly nice out Paul says he should put up the lights outside. And every year he doesn't and then they either don't go up or it's snowy and freezing when they go up. But not this year! Paul and Jack actually put them up last night. Jack enjoyed holding the lights and watching his hands and fingers glow. And he did a great job putting the lights on the bushes. Apparently he didn't think they were enough though because he started decorating the bushes with leaves. Don't worry though, we won't turn them on until after Thanksgiving.

Putting leaves on the bushes.

Mommy's Little Helper

So in keeping with my proud mom theme from yesterday I thought I should mention some of the things Jack has been learning lately. I'm not sure when this first started but probably within the past month or two  I realized that Jack had the ability to follow simple directions. So we've been working really hard on obeying and being a little helper. He puts his hat, coat and shoes away. He's still quite particular about this too. They all just go in a bin in the closet, but if he misses and something lands on the floor near the bin he absolutely feels the need to get it right. I'm guessing it won't last but how great if it does. He also is my laundry helper. He helps me sort the clothes by following my directions for which pile an item goes in. Yes, he does often make a bigger mess of things than if he didn't help, but it's so cute to see him try and it's good practice. He also helps me load the dryer by pushing the wet clothes in after I put them on the door. This weekend he helped me unload the dishwasher by handing me the silverware and putting the measuring spoons in the drawer I pointed to. He also loves throwing things away, especially his diapers. And yesterday Paul taught him what the recycling bin is so now he will put recycling away when asked. We've also been working on picking up toys, especially when he makes a big mess with blocks or balls. Sometimes he puts up a fight, but usually he just picks up when I ask him to. Perhaps if we start now and stay consistent he will be better at these things than his mommy!


Oh yeah....and he also likes to take his plate from the table to the kitchen after dinner. This evening he got down from dinner went off for a minute and then came running back like he really wanted something. Paul put him back on his chair and he grabbed his plate then wanted down so he could bring it to me in the kitchen. It's so cute.

Proud Mama, Blessed Wife

Jack made his first Sunday School art project today. He colored a picture. Doesn't seem like much but it made me so proud and excited. Though it makes him seem like more of a toddler. Of course I hung it on the fridge as soon as we got home. Then this evening while Jack was playing he went to get into his car. Often when he gets in his car he waves and says bye bye. Tonight was no different except in one major way. He said "bye bye dad". He put two words together! I was so excited. I've been trying to get him to put two words together for a couple of weeks and he finally did it. What a smart kid we've got :-) On top of those two proud moments Paul stayed home with Jack all day doing laundry and starting dinner while I went out with Chanda running errands, Christmas shopping and making returns. It was a lovely time out with a friend and no kids and so kind and wonderful of Paul to take over for the day. I'm very blessed to have such a thoughtful husband.

Mikayla Roth

It was a pretty mundane week as far as weeks go until yesterday when our friend Tanya went into labor. At 2:21 this morning the Roth's welcomed little Mikayla Nicole into the world. She is 6 pounds 13 ounces and 20.5 inches long. Paul and I had the opportunity to visit the newly expanded Roth family this afternoon at the hospital. Mikayla is a beautiful baby with a headful of dark hair. I personally liked her hat which Nate picked out, orange so she's a little pumpkin. I also really enjoyed holding her. It's wonderful to hold your own new baby but that comes with so many more emotions and so much more responsability, not to mention the exhaustion of just delivering. Holding other people's new babies is just fun and they feel so good in my arms.

Catching Up

Last night was my Shutterfly House Party. I thought it went really well and I had a great time hanging out with my sisters and friends. We had good food and good conversation and it never hurts to leave a party with free stuff. I didn't work on my book at all because of course I was more interested in talking, but I am looking forward to making a book of our honeymoon. It's one of the only trips Paul and I have gone on together since getting married that I don't have a photo book of. So last night was a lot of fun and my sisters and nephew spent the night which was fun too. We stayed up entirely too late talking. Didn't go to bed until 2. But it's worth it to spend some quality time with family. In other exciting news, Paul got home this morning (he landed at 7:30, yuck)! We hadn't seen each other since October 23rd. Jack and I missed him very much and were very excited for his return. Of course we were all tired from our late nights and early mornings so we had a pretty low key day which is nice. Hopefully he'll be home for a while now. I should go to bed, cause like I said we are all tired. But I read Goers' blog and I saw that she was putting me to shame, so I'm trying to catch up on my blogging.

Yummy Soup

So I'm taking a page from my friend Megan's blog and posting a recipe. I always enjoy trying new recipes and occasionally I come across one that is good enough to make it into my "go to" recipe collection. This recipe is one of them and I have Amanda to thank for introducing it to me. I've had it several times this week and served it at my party last night with great success. So here it is. Enjoy!

Mandi's Cheesy Potato Soup


By: Mandi Foreman


"A hearty soup that is very creamy and delicious. Warms you up on a cold winter day. Easily doubles or triples to make extra servings and tastes even better after it's been reheated. Best of all, it's easy to make!"


Ingredients

5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small carrot, finely chopped
1/2 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups milk
3 tablespoons margarine, melted
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons steak seasoning
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups shredded four-cheese blend  

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine potatoes, carrot, celery, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Once tender, stir in milk.
2. In a small bowl, combine melted margarine, flour, steak seasoning and pepper. Stir into soup, increase heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Blowing off Steam

We started a new toddler tumbling class at the Y today. I was really excited about it and thought Jack would really like it, but once again my high expectations were my downfall. Jack loved parts of it and hated other parts. He threw several tantrums and the "teacher" just seemed to make things worse. She kept asking me if he was teething or if he missed his nap or what is making him so upset. Look lady, my kid doesn't like being told what to do, especially when it means he has to stop doing what he's having so much fun doing. He doesn't like a roomful of wild strangers and he doesn't like strangers getting up in his face when he's trying to throw a tantrum. He's 1. Isn't this all fairly normal? And no coming to class early will not help him be more comfortable. As much as I would prefer to just never go back I know that's not the answer. I know that if we keep going he will get used to the routine of the class and he won't get so upset. But I needed to vent.

Happy Birthday Micah!

Today we went down to Morris to celebrate Micah's 1st birthday. Hard to believe he turned one last Tuesday.

The kids had a blast playing together. Amanda let them play with Micah's new water table in the kitchen so they all stripped down to diapers and splashed away. No surprise here, Jack made the biggest mess but had a blast splashing and pushing buttons and trying drink the water. He also spent a great deal of the day running from the water table in the kitchen to the living room and back again. Not totally sure of the point of his little game or what made it so interesting but he seemed to enjoy touching the water and then running a lot.

Micah got a lot of great gifts for his birthday. The kids had a great time playing with them all afternoon. Here he is sitting in the middle of the wrapping paper mess with on eof his toys, his new dump truck.

The whole party was finished off with a finale of cake and ice cream. Micah was sorta interested in his cake, but he hardly ate any of it. Guess he's not much of a cake person. Grandpa made his signature ice cream which Micah seemed to enjoy along with most everyone else. Jack usually isn't interested in cake and ice cream, but he said he wanted some so we tried. He took a few bites of cake and actually ate the ice cream I have him.