Happy Birthday Jack!

First, let me apologize for the long absence. More to come on the ear infection and tubes saga this fall. But for low, onto more happy times :)

This was our little guy 1 year ago today. Even though he was not officially 1 util today, Pete and I have been talking about "last year" for about a month now. Things we remember...

- when it was finally November
- the weather leading up to the due date
- thinking my water broke... Twice.
- my due date arriving, but Jack did by.
- the induction date being set
- Pete shattering an entire glass of milk induction morning
- every minute of November 21 until 10:50pm when he was finally here.

It's been an amazing journey so far. Cheers to what year 2 will bring :)

3 Years Later...

And still smiling. Hard to believe it's been 3 years already!

Weekend in Review

What a weekend!

Jack was under the weather last week with a sinus infection that spread into his ears! Not fun at all. But 5 doses of antibiotics lit a fire under us for sure and we were ready to break free from the house and enjoy the Northwoods. Here's a quick recap:

We started with dinner at The Brick in Lake Tomahawk on Friday night. It's a great spot that we love to eat and is kid friendly is well.

On Saturday we were off to Minocqua for "Beef A Rama". This is one of the more hilarious festivals in the area that includes a craft show, live music, and... a Parade of Beef. This year the UW Marching Band came up to lead the parade- it is officially entering the "big times" now! We spend some time with our friends Nick and Courtney, and Jack's little buddy North! North is only 2 months younger than Jack and they always have a lot to catch up on...

Even though Jack was on the mend, you could tell he needed a few extra snuggles and some extra rest. This was one of his cat naps...

It was a fantastic fall weekend. The colors are in full effect here. Fingers crossed that these icky germs stay out of our house for a while this time around!

10 Months

Every month that goes by I feel like a total broken record: " How is Jack already 10 months? ". For those of you who are not here, it's crazy how much he is now able to do. Here is a list of all things Jack...

• I pull up on everything
• I like to sing "The Wheels On the Bus", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", and " Old MacDonald" the best.
• I chase Fletcher from room to room
• I have 4 teeth and a HUGE gap on top
• I sometimes give Fletcher a toy, but then do not let go.
• My favorite food is FRUIT... Any fruit.
• I love any thing that shakes or rattles.
• Smashing bags of chips gets me very excited at the store.
• I still crawl with one knee on the ground and one foot on the ground- the "crab" crawl
• Splashing in the tub is really fun! 
• If I drop something, I now look for where it went
• The Nick Jr. CD is my favorite in the car
• I am 19 lbs, 6 oz.
• I love smiling at people in the store, outside, and at events.
• I try to drink out of a sippy cup. But then I throw it on the ground.
• I love other babies. I try to grab them. And then eat their face.
• My toy basket is fun. I take things out one by one and explore.
• I love the Alphabet Pal by leap frog because I can roll him around the kitchen.
• If I am upset, usually I will calm down right away if mom will sing a song. Or 20. Or the same song 20 times.
• I am such a happy little guy full of smiles.
• I give my mommy a huge snuggle when I am happy to see her.
• When dad comes home I smile but then try and hide in excitement.
• If I crawl into another room and mom finds me, I squeal and crawl away to find a new spot.
• I DO NOT sit still (please see exhibits below when mommy and daddy tried to take my picture...)

The last week of summer

Our magical summer together is quickly drawing to a close. As I headed back for three days of inservice this week, Jack has had one final week of summer fun!

Monday mornings, we would head to the local library for Baby Story Time with Ms. Denise. (side note: she also taught out birth class... Another moment of Life in a Northern Town!) Jack has enjoyed all the little guys there... although the new form of showing our love is grabbing faces and trying to squeeze very tight. Kiddos- watch out!

Tuesday was the day for swimming lessons with Ms. Karen at the YMCA. I'm thinking Olympic Games 2028? Jack was downgraded on his "report card" for drinking a bit too much water. I'm not going to let that hold us back from the gold. Is it appropriate to bring your yellow duck to the games?

And finally, we have had to say goodbye to one of our dearest friends. Ms. Carmen has watched Jack since I returned to work in February. I could not imagine leaving him in better hands- Carmen and her family are moving to Oregon this weekend (which unfortunately is too far of a commute... although I would be willing to go quite far if it meant Jack staying with her every day!!) so Thursday was Jack's last day with her, complete with a goodbye party. Although Jack does not know what is going on, I have cried enough for the both of us!! 

With these teary endings also comes new beginnings... all right fall, here we come!

An awesome deal!

Anyone who is around kiddos can testify to the fact that they outgrow EVERY THING at a crazy rate! No matter how hard I try, I cannot stop this child from growing!! I have developed some what of an obsession with sales and deals. It's also fun dressing up this little guy in his cutie petutie looks. This website is one I just had to share (and I may have already told some of you about)...

www.thredup.com

It's an online consignment store! They have fabulous deals on a range of clothing brands including: Polo, Nautica, GAP, Gymboree, Janie and Jack, and Old Navy. Some of the clothes are new with tags and many are gently used. I have had a fabulous experience with this company. In addition (I have not done this step yet) you can send in your gently used/never worn clothes to receive credit for other items that might just take up space in your closet. Especially for those of here in the Northwoods, there aren't a lot of consignment like options in the neighborhood.

Stellar does not even begin to describe how I feel about this one stop shop!

If you are truly interested, let me know. I think there is something in there where I can send you an "invite" and we both get a $10 credit- BONUS! :) Happy Shopping!

Saturday Hike

There are some weeks/weekends in the Northwoods where I miss the things a "city" can offer- mostly shopping and restaurants! But then there are days like today where you can truly embrace all the Northwoods has.

I started the weekend out with a bang- or rather a fall- down the steps on Friday. My bruised tailbone was not up for too much adventure, but with school around the corner, I wasn't going to let that keep me down. We decided to stick close to home with a hike on the Perch Lake Trails in the Washburn Trail System (about 10 minutes outside of town). We had both Jack and Fletcher in tow. We had let Fletcher off his leash all last weekend to explore. He needed to be leashed on this trail and was thoroughly upset as he could not "track" all the animals. Fletcher's barking only entertained Jack more! However, now I believe both my tailbone and my arm that Fletcher nearly pulled off my body need a little ice.

Fingers crossed that we will be able to continue some weekend adventures this fall. I was at school 2 days this week, 3 days for in service next week, and the 4 days when the kids return. It's always hard when "good things must come to an end".

9 Months

It's hard to believe that Jack is already 9 months. I think the hardest part for me is thinking "This is how long I was pregnant??"- it felt like I was pregnant FOREVER (I did love it... but it was still a long time). These 9 months have flown by in the blink of an eye. Pete and I comment every day on how Jack is changing and growing. You hear us say quite often "Remember when __________". More often than not we seem to thinking about times when Jack was non mobile and would stay in one place! We'll have to get a video on here of the "crab" crawl he does to move himself around!

At his 9 month appointment yesterday we found out he weighs 18lbs 14oz (which puts him between the 25th and 50th percentile) and he's 28 inches long (between the 50th and 75th percentile). He's still in the 98th percentile for his head but we just keep saying he has a lot of brains.

Now that is one happy little guy.

Here we go...

So... I have decided to enter the world of "blogging". I consider myself fairly technologically savvy, however I have found this set up to be a bit challenging. Bare with me here...

I wanted to set up this blog to better communicate with family and friends. With the arrival of Jack, it seems like having extra time is non existent. I made this resolution for better contact January 2012. And 8 months later, here we are, better late than never. So check back when you can to check out the fun and fabulous times of The Youngs!