Look Who's Eleven Months Old!

You may be asking yourself if I forgot about Jack's eleven month birthday on the 27th. Though we have been really busy with Christmas and traveling to Minnesota, we didn't forget the day. Let's see... This month Jack added Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota to his travel log. He already visited Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan when we took our trip to Michigan last summer. Jack is wearing 12-18 month clothing although some of his 6-12 month stuff still fits. He's eating many of the everyday foods that John and I eat just chopped smaller. His favorite food is probably cheese, but rice pudding is a close second. Jack loves being around other children. He's a social butterfly. John and I were in a restaurant the other night when the next guy in line started talking to him. Jack reached out his arms and tried to go to the guy. It surprised me and the guy in line. He continues to be a sweet natured baby who has stolen my heart.

Snow Play

It's really too cold for Jack to play much in the snow, but we took him out for a few minutes anyway. Jack didn't crack a smile the entire time we were out. I think he inherently knew that it would hurt his teeth if they were exposed to the cold. I think I may have mentioned to him on our drive to Minnesota that I remembered it being so cold here that the snot freezes in your nostrils, your sinuses hurt, and your teeth ache. I should have stayed quiet because I'd probably have better pictures to show for our five minutes in the snow. More to come.

Christmas 2009

We enjoyed Christmas Eve with Linda and her family. I cooked for the first time, and I surprised myself when everything tasted pretty good. It was lots of fun to see Charlie, Joe, and Rachel. Even though we only live about 30 minutes away from them, we don't see them regularly. Everyone is busy. Charlie is finishing up at Western Kentucky soon. Joe is living in Nashville. Rachel just got accepted to the University of Tennessee's nursing program, which is quite impressive. We had a good time catching up.

On Christmas morning, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Annie, Eric, and Tiffany were there to help us celebrate the holiday. Jack made it through opening one gift (the firetruck from his Aunt Annie) before it was nap time. When he woke up, Grandpa and Daddy had his wagon put together, and let me tell you it was quite the hit!

Soon, we're on our way to celebrate Christmas for the third time with Kathy and her family. They hold a special place in my heart, so I am really looking forward to it!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I'll post more photos soon once I figure out my new software that Santa brought me for Christmas.

All I Want for Christmas...

is Photoshop Lightroom 2. I've been playing with a free 30 day subscription which runs out today. Yesterday, I decided to just buy the program for myself because I love it and I rarely buy anything for myself. I went online to find the best place to purchase it and found out that it is sold out everywhere! So, unless Santa has something up his sleeve, I'm going to have to wait until my birthday to be able to make any more photos look this good. Boo...

A Boys' Adventure

John helped me out a lot today by taking Jack outside. While they played with the dogs and dragged timber out of the woods, I prepared dinner, finished all the laundry, and vacuumed the entire house. I don't think there is much that Jack enjoys more than spending an hour or two outside with his daddy. You can see that he was so excited about his adventure that he flashed that dimple at Mommy.

MckMama's Giveaway

So, if I blog about MckMama giving away a copy of Lightroom, I get one more entry into the drawing to win. Wouldn't it be fun if I won???? I really, really want Photoshop Lightroom, but Santa can't be that generous this year. Check out MckMama's blog if you want a chance to win, too.

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

There's also a Photoshop Elements giveaway on this blog.

http://grammiemommy.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We celebrated John's birthday last night. I loved Jack's expression as he looked at all 31 candles on the cake. John received lots of farm related gifts. He got a Carhartt jacket from his mom and dad and a sledgehammer and wedge for woodchopping from me and Jack. He was delighted. Happy birthday, Daddy!

Tinkerbell Park

When Charlie, Joe, and Rachel were little kids, I took them to Tinkerbell Park in Franklin all of the time. It's by far the best playground I've ever visited. Unfortunately, much of it was closed yesterday for winter repairs, but I cannot wait for Jack to play there when he's walking. We had a good time swinging and walking on the paths yesterday. Jack also enjoyed watching the kids on the slide and in the sandbox. You better believe that there will be many Tinkerbell Park pictures in the future on this blog.

Santa 2009

A Lesson Learned

Aren't these shoes cute? They were Jack's first pair of shoes, and I absolutely love almost everything about them. I think they're adorable, and I appreciate how quickly I can slip them on his wiggly, squirmy feet. So what's the lesson to be learned? Velcro, my friends. Jack is so smart (Hey, that's what the sales associate told me!) that he figured out how to take these shoes off nearly as quickly or quicker than I can put them on.

So, sadly, I had to make another trip to the shoe store which is where I fell in love with these. Aren't these shoes cute? And, the best thing about this pair of shoes is that they were 50% off tie! I know it's hard to tell that these do indeed tie, but I challenge you try to get my little man to stay still long enough to take a photo of his shoe.

Grandparents

Unfortunately, I wasn't ever really able to have a relationship with any of my grandparents while I was growing up. I vaguely remember my dad's mother. She passed away when I was four, but I remember going to her apartment and enjoying Tang. Dad always told me that Grandma Thorn was able to spend a lot of time with me during those four years because she was retired. He told a story about Grandma taking me to the park in Algona. I insisted on climbing the ladder to the slide that was too high for me, and of course I fell and scared the daylights out of my grandmother. My maternal grandparents were in their late seventies when I was born and soon after suffered the loss of my mother. They didn't have the energy to keep up with the willful child that I was. The situation was unfortunate for me because from the stories that my brother and sisters tell, they were amazing grandparents. My only real knowledge of grandparents came from watching my dad interact with his grandchildren. My dad shined as a grandfather. Jake and Megan were especially blessed to have him around so much, and the relationship they formed with Dad was heartwarming to say the least.

Coming from a limited experience with grandparents, I had no idea what to expect. I've been absolutely delighted by what I've watched develop between Jack and his grandparents. The pride and patience that Jane and Marion have for Jack is boundless. We were eating at a restaurant last week when Jack began to get fussy. Marion scooped him up and walked around the restaurant with him. Everyone at the table affectionately agreed that he was probably stopping to talk with people he didn't know to tell them that Jack is his wonderful grandson. Marion has even spent the last few weekends helping John turn our bonus room into a playroom for Jack. Lucky boy. If you've ever had the chance to visit Jane's house, you know she has some very interesting antiques that would tempt any baby to touch. Those little treasures have been wordlessly packed away until Jack's a little older. The Christmas skating scene has a new home this year, right at Jack's eye level but lovingly out of his reach. When Jack arrives, a safety gate is placed in front of the dangerous stairs, and the birdseed is moved so Jack can reach his favorite toy (the doorstopper). All these little acts of love make it apparent that Jack has a place in their hearts.

As for Jack, his love for his grandparents becomes obvious when one sees his toothy grin and hears his delighted squeals when we arrive at Grandpa and Grandma's house. He's a lucky little boy to know the love of his grandparents, and I'm the lucky mother who gets to watch!