crafty???

Jack's walls are pretty bare. So I have decided to slowly but surely add some decoration to his room. We are starting out with these letters- which he helped to paint- then we are getting a bulletin board that will be covered in fabric. After that who knows, but we will figure something out.



Once we painted the letters I felt sort of crafty. I am not crafty or in any way artsy, but thought hey why not try small things and see how it goes. We cut out felt bats, spiders, and ghosts, added pipe cleaner smiles, and googly eyes. We also printed out some Halloween pictures, added ribbon, and hung them from the ceiling fan.


Realizing, that through doing these activities we have had far fewer outbursts, I had to come up with more so we made roll-out sugar cookies. Jack helped pour the ingredients into the mixer, helped roll out the dough, cut out the shapes, icing them, and eat them!


We had fun painting our small pumpkins last week, I thought why not do a couple more to keep inside. Jack picked out his pumpkin- his is the one that started out with white on it. He painted his pumpkin almost all by himself. I only helped in a couple of spots. His ended up being the one with the pipe cleaner hair.

a compact fall break

We had big plans for fall break, I was so excited, but a week before we were set to go Pete remembered he had a math conference that weekend!!! The conference was here, so no big plans to travel to far away cities were made. Needing something to do and somewhere to go we headed off to KY for a quick two night stay. We arrived in time to celebrate Danny's b-day. Then the next morning it was off to the Newport Aquarium. We had a great time.




Jack's obsession with lawnmowers continues. He is pretty particular and requires all lawnmowers be cleaned before ridden.




We also went to visit some farm animals ( they were extra stinky!) and Jack helped Granny carve a pumpkin.




Once home we painted a few pumpkins. This was Jack's first time using paint and he did a great job!

babies, toddlers, and out of town/ out of my mind

My sister, Mary, had a baby girl on Sept. 30th. I thought it would be great to go and help out, plus the added bonus of seeing Jack around a newborn couldn't be bad. Well, I just want to say right now that if anyone wants to help out a new mother- LEAVE ALL TODDLERS AT HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, I was so angry, mad, stressed, mean, tense, and unhelpful. SORRY! I had great intentions, but we all know the adage. It wasn't that Jack was malicious or in anyway hurtful or harmful toward the baby, but toddlers need routine, exercise, and sleep- Jack had none of these. He was actually very sweet toward Khloe; he kissed her all the time, hugged her, wanted to help when she was crying, but that part didn't out weigh the rest. He never listened to me-ever, he never slept-ever, he did the exact opposite of what I said, and took so much of my time that I really couldn't be of any real help. Of course the fact that this baby was extremely good and didn't require much of my help in the first place also made me feel useless. They were really on that 2-hr. schedule of nursing and sleeping accompanied by almost no crying. We left 2 days early because we were causing more noise and disruption in their house than the new baby.

Things weren't all bad- here is Jack reading to Khloe while Mary took a nap.


Jack laughing at something - who even knows.




Jack holding Khloe our first night there.



I did get to see a glimpse of how kind and sweet Jack will be toward a new baby, and I think being at home with his dad, dog, friends, routine, and bedroom door that locks from the outside will all help when it is our turn in March.

Other notes:
I am taking weekly progesterone shots to help prevent preterm labor. Now that I have had the first one I am actually pretty nervous about continuing them. I am looking for any information people may have. I think the fact I am having a boy is intensifying my fears- maybe that is silly but there you go.

Pete has a math conference this weekend which is great for him because it is here at Purdue and the two professors he works with are hosting it, but sad for us because that is our fall break. Who schedules a conference over fall break? boo.

busy busy busy

We had a fun filled action packed weekend! On Friday we rode on the Boilermaker Special. On the Fridays before home games they have free rides and Jack loved it! He took it very seriously, not moving, smiling, talking or anything. Afterward he thanked us for the ride, of course I told him we could ride it next week too.



On Saturday we went to a local pumpkin patch- Millennium Farms. It was pretty chilly, which was actually great because that made it feel more like fall! They have a small barn with animals, and Jack showed no fear when he climbed up the gate and got nose to nose with the llama. The next stop was a pony ride. He was so excited and acted like he had ridden many a pony in his day.


We ran into some friends so that is always fun.


Then he and daddy went down a home made slide.


Even though we weren't getting a pumpkin, I thought Jack should still check out the pumpkins. He was more interested in trying to pick one up, and after four or five different pumpkins he finally found one he could lift.


We concluded our visit with the pedal cars. Jack isn't quite tall enough to reach the pedals so Pete had to either push him around the maze or ride with him.



Then on Sunday the Math Dept. had a picnic. We had a lot of fun. Pete tossed the football around and played volleyball. I didn't get any pictures of his athletic feats. Jack warmed up to the event by throwing the ball to daddy and Mattie.



Then he found Mia and remembered how much he likes her! They threw the frisbee around and chased each other. I think that was his favorite part because he is still talking about her. I think it must be love.



Then once she moved on to some of the older kids he found a girl his own age and starting picking flowers and giving them to her. Hmm- is my son a playboy?

Things here

We've spent the last couple weeks just hanging out together and not doing a ton. We should have some exciting stuff coming up in the next couple weeks, but as of now we are just taking it easy.


Going on a walk at the bog- carrying a BIG walking stick



Climbing on rocks while on our walk



Sleeping on the floor- Jack's favorite way to sleep now. (Until he comes in our bed)


I had my cerclage put in Thursday. Pete and I got there bright and early- 6am and unfortunately didn't leave until 1pm. The procedure takes 15 minutes or so, but they use a spinal block for anesthesia, which is supposed to wear off in around 2 hours, but it took mine about 6 hours. It was no fun because Pete had stuff to do and ended up missing almost all of it-- even though it wasn't my fault I felt so so bad!

Aunt Cassie came to watch Jack while we were at the hospital. Jack was pumped! He taught her how to play monkey password ( a game Pete made up), they talked about things that are gross, threw the wood airplane Sean gave Jack, and many other things. Just when we thought we were done with Cassie she came back a few days later with Sean!! Oh my Jack was in heaven. When it was time for them to leave Jack asked them to please stay. Awww!!

big baby and the sex!

We had an appt. today to see if the placenta had moved, and while we were there she was able to give us a little extra information. We learned that we are having a BOY! I will be greatly outnumbered, but it will be fun! Jack wanted to call Granny and tell her is was a girl sister because he thought that would be funny- we decided not to give him the phone.

I will be able to have my surgery soon which is a huge relief. I will call the doctor on Friday to schedule it. The cervix is actually longer now than it was at this time with Jack, hopefully that means good things for the rest of the pregnancy.

mary's baby shower and the zoo

We went to Henderson this weekend for my sister's baby shower- my aunt was gracious enough to let us have it at her house. Mary is looking great but ready to have the baby. People brought wonderful gifts and the clothes were especially cute!! Following the shower Mary hosted a bbq so our family could meet Daniel's family, however it had to be moved indoors because there was torrential rain- so no cornhole. We still had a good time.



Before we left for Henderson we went to playgroup. We hadn't been in a long time! First we went to the playground, and then some of us went to the zoo. Jack had such a good time seeing friends and actually thanked me for letting him go to playgroup and told me it was so much fun.



* in the picture with Jack and the tractor he is checking to see if there is gas in it.