A Few Random Things

Pete and I had our 3 year anniversary on July 2nd.  We dropped Jack off with our friends-Mark, Tamri, and their daughter Elsie-and we headed off to dinner.  We were dressed up to the nines and headed to this restaurant that we knew very little about.  Once there we noticed tons of people in jean shorts, there was no hostess, and there were babies-- not a good sign.  After waiting for a minute or so a very sweaty man showed us to our seats.  We sat there and waited and waited and waited- no waitress showed up so we left.  So we walked to the restaurant we knew we liked, but once we got there we noticed a sign saying it was closed until July 6th.  So we walked to another place, once there we noticed they had big screen tvs- again not what we had in mind.  We were running out of places to try, Lafayette isn't very large after all.  So we finally tried one more place - Maize American Grill.   It ended up being very good.  

Jack is in love with Elsie-- he follows her around like a puppy dog.  Apparently he couldn't stop kissing her while Pete and I were on our date.  He has started hugging her constantly and invading her personal space.  Sometimes she doesn't mind, but mostly she is very aggravated that he won't stop touching her.  He gives her all of his toys and tries to just sit next to her no matter what. I don't think he understands the concept of playing hard to get or acting macho to impress girls.  He just wants to give her what she wants and be near her-- hmmm- I am not sure what this means for the future.  As far as their "make-out" session we warned him that this is fine for now but in a couple years he shouldn't be surprised to see Mark waiting with a shotgun.  

I've been toying with the idea of expanding our family.  It is something I have been going back and forth with for awhile now.  Just when I would decide yes we should something inside me said no not now wait, and then things would go back in the other direction.  About three weeks ago we decided to go for it-- however--I just got my period.  Now I am sorry if this is entirely too much information, but it does affect things.  I am not someone who ovulates on a regular basis so the very fact that 3 weeks ago I made this decision and then I get my period means I decided at the correct time to try and expand our family but somehow or another it just didn't work out. I was quite devastated.  The last time I ovulated was in November-that was 8 months ago.  Who knows when it will happen again--it is very disheartening.   Pete tells me to remember that we have never had any control over this process, and we have been clearly shown that time and again.  He told me to trust that God knows when it will be best for us to have another baby and when it is time he will bless us with another pregnancy.  This I know but it is still hard.

Cocoa Beach time

Jack and I went to Cocoa Beach, FL last week-- we had a blast! This was Jack's first plane ride and it went very well overall. We had to switch planes in Cincinnati both ways, but Jack handled it like a pro, he loved seeing all the planes, trucks, and buses on the tarmac. Originally we thought Pete wouldn't be able to come, but it turned out he was able to sneak away from classes, grading, and school late Wednesday night and stayed until Sunday morning-- that was a great surprise and treat!!! Jack really needed his dad to help him sleep because when daddy wasn't there sleeping was a big headache. I was able to buy a camera and ended up taking 173 pictures, of course I couldn't put them all on here, so there are many more on our shutterfly website. I will probably do one more blog adding a couple more pictures just so you get a better idea of all the fun we had, I could only add 5 on here and that didn't seem quite enough-- I wanted to add at least 8.



In FL we had the opportunity to see my cousin Erin and her baby- Isaac. Jack LOVED Isaac!! He was so excited- he held his hand, gave him a million hugs, gave him his very first kiss, and in the car when Isaac was crying Jack sang to him--it was so cute!!


Jack loved running on the beach- it was pretty funny because even though his arms were moving fast his legs weren't.



This was on daddy's last day- Jack went to the beach to collect shells. It was so much fun. Jack even had the opportunity to run around naked.



Daddy and Danny were burying Jack's legs in the sand. He wasn't real sure how to feel about this.


Granny and Pappy taught Jack to fill up buckets with sand and water, to pat down the sand, and to make little sand castles.

Tag

Our camera is busted-- yes broken.  I took it to the pool with hopes of getting pictures of Jack with Lydia and Elsie but it didn't pan out.  During break we drank water out of the water bottle but apparently did not close the lid all the way, and when leaving I noticed everything in the bag was wet--that included phone and camera.  I turned the camera on at the pool and it worked so I thought great--yay!!  I then padded the bottom with towels and put the rest on top, but once home I tried to take a picture and nothing.  I charged the battery and nothing, I opened all the compartments I could open to let it air dry- and nothing, I ordered a new battery and nothing, and so I had to resign myself to the fact that the camera I bought in October was in fact busted.  I was devastated.  We are poor college students again and we made a decision to get a nice-ish camera in October, but now it won't even turn on!!!  I am heart-broken.  

Jack had tubes put in Tuesday-- things went very well.  Jack was given two new toys--so fun!  He got a toy stethoscope from the nurses taking his blood pressure and then the anesthesia nurse gave him a plastic snake--so fun!!  We were told that when he woke up he would be cranky and crying-so we were prepared for this child who was screaming his head off, but we weren't prepared for an angry baby.  We offered him his cup, which he took and brought to his mouth, only to have him bring back like a football behind his head and launch it across the room.  Then in the elevator he reached out for his cup, so I gave it to him, the exact same thing happened again.  It was so funny.  I couldn't help but laugh. 

Reading-- a contact sport

While I shouldn't be writing or using the computer now I just can't sleep and at the moment I am not in pain, so I thought I would share the story of my Friday the 13th.

poker chips

Jack really likes putting poker chips in his plane


He didn't realize he wouldn't be able to get them out



After he stopped crying I made him come in- he still wasn't too happy


Then he climbed into his toy box and remembered he had a truck on his shirt so life was good again.

can you hear me?

Wow we have been pretty busy around here the past few days. Jack has been having so much fun lately. Pete has been taking him out and showing him the ins and outs of frisbee golf, and Jack will be out throwing daddy in no time. He has been playing with poker chips, coins, pens, cups, and anything he can get his hands on; he has been lining stuff up in a row and/or sorting things. I am not real sure what his method is, but I know that he has one because he is very serious when doing these things. I could go on and on really because it seems that every day he just learns how to do so much more.

This has been our week of doctor's visits and we aren't quite done yet. This morning we had to go get the 15 month shots. Jack wasn't even phased, he acted like nothing happened. Then we ran a couple of errands, but I had not had breakfast yet so we also went to Panera. Quite a few people stopped to tell Jack that not only was he cute but they really liked his shoes. Then it was off to Borders to pick up a few things. We were browsing in the kids department when Jack noticed this little stuffed dog-Spot- and so I let him carry it around. He would not let that thing go -he sat it on the shelf next to where he was looking, then he carried it over to the little table and chairs and he sat it on the chair, then he introduced it to some other stuffed animals that were in the corner. Of course I bought it for him, I am weak, that and well the dog's face was very wet from Jack eating it. So two of the above pictures show Jack and his new favorite, at least for today, stuffed animal.

Then it was home for a nap before we went to another doctor's appointment this afternoon. This doctor's appt. was a hearing test. Jack has been struggling with ear infections all winter long. We just haven't been able to shake them. Yesterday we had an appointment with the ENT and today we had a hearing test- the verdict is--TUBES. It is very sad. Jack has minimal hearing loss due to his multiple ear infections, and this was something we sort of figured. He never says the ends of words. It is sha for shoes, d for dog and duck, fl for flower, and if it weren't for context and sign language I don't know that we would fully understand what he was talking about. However, he is one smart cookie- during the hearing test he and Pete were in this little room with a window, and I was on the other side of this window with the two ladies giving the test. The grad student was making noises and Jack saw her through the window, figured out that she was the one doing it, and just stared at her the whole time. They had to change the lighting so he wouldn't see her. I say- very clever young sir.

The surgery is to be done in a couple of weeks. This means that for a year he has to wear ear plugs in the bath and when he is going to be anywhere near, in or around water. He also has to wear this head band type thing in addition to his ear plugs when he swims. He can't play in lakes or oceans--he can only hang out at the very edge where water meets land. At least now his language skills will improve and he won't be sick anymore. Still mommy and daddy are a little stressed out about the surgery.

Our favorite time-- pool time

Hi all!! We were so excited that this afternoon the weather was perfect swimming weather. Before now it has either been too cloudy or chilly for us, but today it was perfect. Jack took to the water very quickly. He wasn't scared or intimidated at all. I tell you what, this boy is not afraid of anything. He just climbed right in, splashed and was walking around like it was no big deal. He did fall face first a few times but mom and dad were there to pull him back up. He would never cry when he fell and only after the third time falling did he become slightly more cautious. He loved climbing up and down the steps, I think that was his favorite part. We stayed for about an hour and a half and then it was time for a nap. We look forward to going back soon.