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!