Jack's Orange Shirt Picture

Can't believe Jack is almost 13 months and I'm just now posting these! I took Jack's orange shirt pictures a few weeks ago. They turned out adorable...he's such a ham for Mommy's camera (for now).

Here was the last time the orange shirt was out- 

And here is our big one year old...his first time actually IN the shirt-

He is going to kill me when he gets older for making him wear this. I can see it now...a senior in high school and he's squeezing into a women's size medium bright orange shirt. Poor kid. At least it isn't pink. :)

Our Trip Home During Thanksgiving

Our trip home was, as usual, a whirlwind! The drive there and back was a little rough...Layla is a total star in the car but Jack still hates it. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't fun either. We made lots of stops (one was a long one...Jack had a diaper explosion about 2 hours from home on our way down. That was FUN) so our trip was a little longer than usual. I keep telling myself that it will get easier every time from here on out. Maybe someday I will even be able to take the kids by myself! 

As usual I was terrible about taking pictures! I tried to take several at Jack's party but after that it was hard to break out the camera. I'm trying to find a balance between enjoying myself and getting photos. I think I need to get better at taking pictures again! 

While we were home we took the opportunity to go "down South" to visit Grandma Loomis, Grandma Barton, and lots of other special family members. We realized we haven't been down there since Layla turned 1. It has been one thing after the other...first Layla was sick and we couldn't make it, then the miscarriage then Jack was born...but this year was IT. We had to get down there and we are so glad we did!

First stop was Grandma Loomis'. Here's GG with her Great Grandkids-

And next up was Grandma Barton. These are just a small handful of grandkids on this side. Check out Jack's face LOL.

Jack meeting his cousin Josie for the first time. They were the same size (Josie is 18 months!).

We had some fun moments at Grandma Rosco's house too. Here is Jack being taking for a ride (before the wheels bent from all his weight!)- 

A cute picture with Great Gma and Gpa Bawk Bawk. It will be awhile before they see the kids again!

And Layla got to make cookies with Grandma Rosco.

My goal for our next trip AND for when we have visitors- get at least one picture of the kids with every person we visit/see. It is an aggressive goal but I think we can do it!!!

Jack's birthday party

Jack had a perfect first birthday "Mr. Man" party. It was so nice to celebrate with our family and friends in IL. That first birthday is so special and he had such a great time!

I have to give a big fat special thank you to Janet, my Mom and my friend Jessica for all your help! I am missing a few pictures of people because my camera settings were off...my new camera is proving to be a little bit of a pain. Maybe J's birthday party wasn't the best venue to experiment with? UGH! Here are some of the good ones we got from that day-

Jack's Actual Birthday

We were SO sick leading up to Jack's birthday. Layla spent the night in the ER the Saturday before and  the rest of that week was filled with breathing treatments that made both kids NUTS and lots of temperature checking and nose wiping.

We didn't do much on poor J's birthday because we were still contagious. Not what we planned but when has anything ever gone according to plan in this house?! So instead of going out and celebrating we stayed in, opened gifts and ate cake.

Jack got a Radio Flyer push wagon from Mommy and Daddy AND...

...the Little People's pirate ship from Layla (only because L really wanted it).

Layla loved helping Jack open his present and he didn't mind. I'm sure this will change in a year.

That evening we decided to go ahead and decorate the Christmas tree. Last year we did this on Nov 19th, the day before he was born so that we didn't have to worry about it after. This year we planned on doing it before his bday so it would be up when we got home from our IL visit. The tree was up for almost a week with nothing on it because we were too sick to care.

J didn't love decorating the tree. Mommy had to carry him like this-

But Layla loved it!

Then it was time to sing "happy birthday" to our big 1 year old. He loved it!

I can't believe we got him to wear that hat. I guess the cake was a great distraction.

We had a marble cake with white icing, green trim and red lettering. Jack didn't care what it looked like, but he loved the way that icing tasted!

I can not believe his birthday was here and now gone. He is doing more and more "big boy" things everyday (like reaching door handles YICKES!!). I love that handsome smile so much. Happy birthday Jack, we love you!!

Jack is 1!

It is so hard to believe that 1 year ago we became a family of 4. None of us could imagine life without Jack, what a perfect little boy to have in our family. 

Jack is still growing, growing and growing. He is in 18 month clothes and they fit perfectly. He wears a size 4 shoe but is almost ready for a size 5. I just moved him to size 4 diapers...that's the biggest size L ever wore! I feel like I should be potty training him next week. Ha!

Jack still loves to eat. We are starting to see him being a little bit picker but that's OK. He still eats way more than his sister ever did. He loves yogurt, cheese, eggs, bread and ice cream. He also loves Mommy's milk...and nothing else. I have tried giving him straight up APPLE JUICE and he says no. I am in big trouble. We have managed to sneak in 25% milk into his sippy cups but he is still only taking about 3 ounces from a cup a day. There goes my plans to wean at 6 months, 9 months...1 year.

Jack is napping much better. He's still taking 2 naps a day in general, but has successfully done one several times. He still needs Mommy for nap and bed times. We have tried everything- crying it out, letting Daddy rock him...NOTHING is working but Mommy. I've come to the conclusion that I don't care anymore. There is no use pushing it at this point, he'll do it when he's ready. In the mean time I will continue to try apple juice and chocolate milk (I swear this child is not human). 

Mr. Jack is a moving machine. He's so quick at crawling and loves to try and sneak down the hallway and into our closet. We now have to shut all the doors but the other day I discovered him standing up against one trying to pull down the handle. Oh boy. He still loves to try and chew on cords and pinch his fingers in any cabinet he can find. He is cruising around furniture like a pro but still prefers to crawl. He's not standing on his own yet and hasn't really shown much interest in walking. That's ok with me. Oh and he's CLIMBING. I've caught him on the top step of Layla's kitchen stool, on the back of his new pottery barn chair and under our dining room table. 

As much as he's moving, he is also TALKING! Jack can say mama, dada, lala, ada (dog), momo (more), all done (absolute crystal clear), buh bye and of all things...bite. He bit Bryan a few days ago and actually said "bite dada". 

We are still dealing with lots of separation anxiety. I know it is just a phase but COME ON. I can't leave his side. I wanted a Mommy's boy and I sure got one. I might have to go to college with him. 

J still has 8 teeth but I think he's been working on those pesky molars. Poor guy hasn't been himself the last week and now we are all sick with colds. Boo! Perhaps this weekend wasn't the best for doing his smash cake session but it is the only chance we have before we go home. 

So with a 99.3 degree fever and a snotty nose...we took his clothes off and put a cake in front of him.

You can see he was OK with it at first. That lasted about 2 seconds and then Jack needed some coaching from some of his favorite people-

He wasn't convinced. Ironically enough LAYLA decided to take a handful of cake and go sit in a corner (her fever was at 102...parents of the year right here)-

So Jack was done and we didn't want to push it

Layla enjoyed the left overs. 

Oh sweet Jack. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. We are so very blessed to have you in our lives. You are so silly, stubborn and smart. We love to listen to you belly laugh and you LOVE to make us laugh too. You keep Mommy on her toes all day long. There are no words to describe how HAPPY you are and you make us. You smile is contagious. I can't wait to watch you grow and see your personality take shape this next year. 

We love you SOOOOO much baby boy. It is November...and you are 1! :)