Happy Birthday and Happy New Years

Today is of course Sonia's birthday so we decided to start it off with our second favorite breakfast restaurant...Sam's just isn't all that close by.  Sonia loves her some eggs Benedict :) and Jack loves getting out of the house... everybody wins.

Call me Ishmael

One of Jack's favorite activities has always been bath time.  This year for Christmas he got some sea creatures and a select few of them have been lucky enough to join Jack in the tub.  Tonight Sonia decided to name them and I felt I had to share.

From left to right we have Diddy the pufferfish... aka Puff Daddy,  Raymond the sting ray... aka Ray Ray and of course the predictable Moby the whale.  Sonia's backstory of Ray Ray casts him as a potentially flamboyant, potentially not straight sting ray.  Hence the pink color of his ensemble.  Jack doesn't seem to mind, he'll chew on all of them, and it's pretty fun to watch him dominate these poor little sea creatures in his tub.  We're just happy he's stopped trying to suck his toes underwater.

Don't try and tell Jack he's supposed to be afraid of Moby, cause in this story the baby eats the whale.

Jack's First Christmas

We had a very full holiday season this year. After getting everything purchased, wrapped and ready (which is always the stressful part of the holiday), we headed out to spend some time with some family.  We went to the Hesseltine household for a wonderful dinner on Christmas Eve, and exchanged gifts afterward.  We stayed the night there (which was helpful in getting some much needed laundry done, as our dryer had officially kicked the can) and woke up to attend Christmas morning mass with Grandma and Grandpa Hesseltine, and Uncle Steve and Carrie.  We had a wonderful brunch together, and later went to Uncle Scott and Brandi's house for dinner on Christmas day (prime rib, yum! and more presents). We spent Christmas night in our own beds, and enjoyed time on the 26th at home with Grandma and Grandpa Buckmaster.  They came over for an early dinner, and some more gift exchange.  Jack got a lot of really great presents this year, in fact he was a bit spoiled!  Not so much by mom and dad, but by all the other people who love him so much!

Jack's first Christmas was wonderful, and will definitely be remembered always. We had so much fun with him in tow, and it is amazing how much fuller the Christmas season is for us, now that Jack is a part of our lives.  We are so grateful for all the loving family we have, and we are glad we were able to spend so much time together.  That time is what really makes the holidays special, and we are continually reminded how much we all are loved.  Jack is such a lucky little boy.  Actually, we are all so lucky!  Thanks, everyone, for making this holiday so special for Justin, Jack and me.

 Jack was definitely the best present under the tree this year.  

Now, we anxiously await the arrival of baby Templin, Jack's newest cousin, who is likely to arrive any day.  I'm hoping for December 31st. ;)

The Real Santa Claus!

For Jack's first Christmas Sonia was determined for him to meet Santa.  Guess where Santa's Village is.... if you guessed the North Pole you would be wrong!  It is in fact at Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree.  Personally, I strongly dislike...borderline hate going to the mall in December.... let's be honest it's complete and utter chaos. I also thought Jack wouldn't remember and we'd just be doing it for us, which makes me feel a bit selfish and guilty.  Well that all may be true, but Sonia picked a time and talked me into going.  I will admit, Sonia was totally right on this one.  She buffered it quite a bit for me and called me after she was there and had put her name on the list.  I was meeting her from work so standing in the Santa line for an hour wasn't really in the cards.  The wait was minimal, and I showed up 5 minutes before we got to see Santa, which was really nice 'cause seeing Jack and Sonia in the middle of a work day can do wonders to make me happy regardless of what kind of shenanigans is happening at work.  Talk about a legitimate Santa, geez look at this guy, he may be the real deal!  He was so nice and seemed so genuine it was incredible; really made the experience fun.  Never thought I would say that!  We even got a big smile out of Jack (you can't tell but he's smiling at his Mom who's standing behind the camera).

Sonia ordered Christmas cards just before we took pictures with Santa, but we may have to throw one of them in anyway.  I think these will be great pictures in the long term and Jack will be able to look back at this with a smile whether he remembers it or not.  I know I will.  Way to go Mom, and thanks for not letting me Scrooge this one up.

More Christmas 2011 pictures can be seen on our Picasa here:  https://picasaweb.google.com/111722875828833100930/Christmas2011

Zoo Lights

On Monday night, we met up with our good friends, the Wolfe's (Brady, Liana, Eva and Cameron), and together we visited the Zoo Lights at the Denver Zoo.  It was a little chilly outdoors, but we came prepared (well, mostly - somehow Justin forgot his own hat and gloves, but at least the baby was prepared!).  In fact, it was quite funny to watch us getting all the kids bundled up. After we'd been working at it for about 10 minutes, Liana said that we should have raced.  I think we would have won, but then we were only getting one child bundled up, while they had two.  Not to mention getting ourselves layered up.  Regardless, we stayed warm, and enjoyed the night out with friends.

Jack seemed to like the lights okay.  He was kinda mezmorized by it all, or he was completely zoned out, couldn't tell you which.  But at least this time he stayed awake the whole time we were at the zoo.

It makes me happy when we do fun little family outings, and I am reminded that all this stuff can still be done with a young child.  Not to mention, it makes me realize how much more fun these outings will become when Jack is of the age to show real interest.  In the meantime we will just tote him along on our every whimsical adventure.

Jack is 6 Months Old!!

Today, Jack turned 6 months old.  It is absolutely crazy to think how quickly time has flown by.  Jack is now starting to sit up on his own, the rolls around like crazy (it seems at some point he mastered rolling both directions without me even noticing), and likes to babble and laugh. He has stolen our hearts! His personality is becoming more and more apparent with each passing day, and I'm fairly certain we have an active, persistent, and vocal little guy on our hands.  Sometimes I think he might be a little shy, but those episodes are becoming more rare.  I still get some good quality snuggle time, and I'm trying to enjoy that to it's fullest while it still lasts!

Jack is also eating more foods now.  Today we tried carrots, which was a real hit.  I'm thankful to find something else he likes (he's liked everything so far, with the exception of peas).  But, he hasn't been eating very well the last 2 days.  Lesa, the wonderful lady who watches him while I'm at work, said she thought the decrease in appetite might be illness coming on, or teething.  We are keeping a close eye on both, but no temperature has developed, and I'm not feeling any new teeth coming in.  Who knows what could develop in the next couple days though.

We also got our Christmas tree today.  Justin picked out the perfect little tree and set it up, and Jack helped Justin decorate it.  By "help" I mean he sucked on the ornaments and threw them on the floor.  But he really liked the strands of lights.  So cute!

Jack has grown so much, and I love watching the growth as it continues, both physically and developmentally. He is such an amazing blessing. Can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring!

Jack's Baptism

A little over a week ago, Jack took the plundge and was baptised into the Catholic Church. He was baptised on November 20, 2011 at Saint Francis Cabrini in Littleton, Colorado. My parents, Allan and Joan Hesseltine, were Jack's Godparents, which was special for all of us. 

 

Jack did really well during the ceremony, considering it was during his naptime.  And because he loves his baths, he did great with the water, even when it ran into his eyes (good thing they warm the water for baptisms!). We had a little crowd that gathered to celebrate, including family and friends.  Thanks for making it a wonderful event!

Jack's baptismal garment was hand made by my mother, and included pieces of her wedding dress. We also had a beautiful blanket made by Jack's Great Grandmother Morse (my mom's mom). There are pictures uploaded to Picasa, and many others were taken that we are hoping to get our hands on very soon.

Hungry, Hungry Hippo

Jack has started solid foods, and all of a sudden it started going really well.  He has had rice cereal (he seems to like most of the time), yams (he likes), avocado (he did not seem to approve), and tonight we tried winter squash. This baby loves him some winter squash! After having some milk, he downed a small tub of winter squash, and washed it down with some rice cereal.  Hungry boy!  The food is a lot of fun, and Jack is getting better with taking the spoon and minimizing the mess ( at least when Sonia feeds him).

At Jack's 5 month appointment, he weighed in at 18 lbs. and was 26.5 inches long.  He is growing at an incredible rate! :)  He is also doing great with activity level. He likes to lay on his back and squirm, he enjoys time spent in his Exersaucer, and he is getting really good at rolling from his back to his tummy.  He has only returned to his back on his own a couple of times, with the first time occurring just a few days ago.  More often than not he becomes unhappy while lying on his stomach, so we are working on that. And we'll have to get him rolling in both directions, because right now all rolling happens in one direction. This, as you can imagine, makes for a frustrated baby when he has rolled over in his crib, and he can't get back (and makes for some late night wake-up calls).

Hardwood done

So we finished the floors last Sunday thankfully because I don't think I had another straight weekend in me.  The furniture is back in the house and it's not a total disaster anymore.  All told it took three full weekends.  It wouldn't have been possible without a lot of help from Allan, Josh, Ross and Scotty.  Sonia and I both love the outcome.  The natural light in the house is so much better.  That was really our biggest complaint with carpet before.  Spills are much easier to clean up, and that's already been tested plenty of times in the last week.  I still have to add baseboards and a little bit of other trim, but we currently have Jared and Terri and the girls in town, in addition to it being Thanksgiving week, so it's a good excuse to take a break.

All of the renovation photos can be seen in the Picasa album... https://picasaweb.google.com/111722875828833100930/Renovation

Flooring continued

So, we made HUGE progress on our flooring project over the weekend. We now have hardwood floors in the main room, which runs from our kitchen to the wall that the TV is hanging on.  We are so happy with the hardwood we selected, and it looks amazing in the space. We are thrilled we didn't go with the other wood we had it narrowed down to, as it was considerably thinner, and would have required much more work. And the room already looks brighter, as the wood reflects what little natural light we get.

Some of you may be wondering, "Why now?" Well, it wasn't too long ago that my friend Liana was over visiting with her daughter, Eva. I was embarrassed as Eva kept picking stuff up off the carpet, and I was grateful that she shows her mom things before putting them in her mouth (what a good little girl!). I quickly realized how unsafe this situation was for children in our home, both our own kids, as well as all the children who we care so much about.  So, with a visit from the nieces scheduled, we decided it was as good a time as any.  We have about 1.5 weeks until they arrive, and we are hoping to have the project complete, or at least nearly so. Needless to say, we will sleep better at night knowing that our floors are a safer place for kids.  Poor Ozzie will no longer be allowed to destroy tennis balls, leaving small pieces of plastic everywhere, that's for sure.

An ENORMOUS THANK YOU to all those who have helped with the project so far:

• Scott, for his braun which was might handy when moving furniture out of the space
• Ross, for his tebowing technique perfection while removing linoleum (admittedly Justin's least favorite part of the entire project, and the company made it  more enjoyable, as if removing linoleum and enjoyable ever belong in the same sentence)
• Josh, for his nailing expertise (and Lauren for letting him come help when under the weather herself)
• My dad, Allan, for his dedication to the project for three solid days. The first day doing prep work with Justin, including screwing down the squeaky spots, trimming door jambs and prep around the fire place, and then laying hardwood for two days, even working when Justin and I had to leave the house for a class.  Your amazing dad!

The project isn't complete, but it wouldn't be where it is without the help of so many.  Thank you again!

Demolition Derby

Over the last two days we've been doing a bit of demo... ripping out trim, carpet and linoleum in our main floor.  It's been a bit of work, but soon enough will be well worth it.  Once all the carpet is gone we'll lay hardwood and re-trim the main floor.  

Jack and Ross are both Tebowing.  Needed inspiration to push through the painful linoleum demo.  

A day for firsts

Yesterday was a special day with Jack.  They are all really nice days with him, but yesterday included a couple of "firsts," which is just exciting.  In the morning, Jack rolled over for the first time.  He has been flirting with it, rollin from his back to his sides with regularity.  But yesterday, I was kissing his neck while he was tipping back and forth, and he rolled all the way over and got his arms out from underneath himself.  So, he first rolled from his back to his tummy.  He doesn't seem very close to rolling from his belly to his back, but I'm sure he'll surprise me with that sooner than I expect.

Jack and I also took Ozzie for a run for the first time.  It wasn't my first run with Ozzie since having the baby, but it was Jack's first run in the stroller alongside Ozzie. It definitely kicked my butt, but Jack did GREAT!  He stayed awake, took in all the sights, did a little cooing, and even hung in there patiently while I talked to one of our neighbors at the end of the run (more patiently than Ozzie in fact). What a good baby.  I adore him so very much,and I know how lucky I am! Hopefully more of these running outings to come, but it'll have to wait for tomorrow's snow to melt away.  I was a bit overzealous on the pictures, but he's just so adorable!

 

This is one of the rare photos without a tongue :-)

Preparation

We are currently preparing to lay hardwood floors on the main floor of the house.  There will be a ton of work going on in the next couple weeks, including furniture moving, demo and then installation. Our house will be chaotic, and we'll have to live on subfloor temporarily.  But it'll be so worth it.

So... any takers on helping out?  :-)

Chitter Chatter

Jack is starting to find his voice and it's really fun having little conversations with him.  Half the time we sound like just a bunch of cavemen grunting at each other, but there's something really satisfying about having two way conversation with your child regardless of how insignificant the words being spoken are.

City Pumpkin

Saturday the family took a little excursion to Parker to visit a Halloween fair and get some pumpkin's.  We thought about driving all the way out to a pumpkin patch, but figured Jack really wouldn't remember it so the authenticity doesn't really matter.  Anyway, it was a brief trip, but pretty fun all in all.  There was a petting zoo, corn maze, pumpkins, and a bunch of other stuff for kids who could run around.  The corn maze was fun, bu ultimately a little too easy because I could see over half of it.