Michigan-i-o

In the beginning of May, Jack and I had the opportunity to visit "Mamie" and "Bobby" (don't ask where that one came from) in Michigan. Marc was in Vegas for the weekend, and I was about to enter my 3rd trimester of pregnancy so it was perfect timing. It was a short trip for Jack and I, but we made the most of it and had a great time. We were able to spend lots of quality time with Jack's Michigan family, and I was able to catch up with a couple friends and meet Sarah's little baby Claire, who is cute as a button!



Sadly, my camera battery died just when I went to take a photo of Claire. Here's a bonus Jack in MI pic instead.

One day was spent, what else, visiting livestock. Hess Hathaway Park (near where my BFF Amy and I went to FARM CAMP as kids...if you know either of us, this is still a baffling concept after 25 years) has a playground and a barn with tons of animals. All of Jack's favorites were there...piggies, turkeys, chickens, bunnies, kitty cats, goats, sheep (although Jack has a bit of a sheep phobia after Marc took him to a farm with a "noisy" sheep - "BAAA!"), ducks, donkeys, and peacocks. It was Jack's first time seeing a peacock with all of his feathers on display and he was pretty impressed. "Peacock" became his favorite word to say in Michigan. We heard that there was an alpaca show nearby, so we figured why not go see more livestock, and went to meet some fuzzy new friends. I'm not sure if Jack was that into the alpacas, but I still think they are adorable and totally want one. If I only had an extra $15,000 to spend on one...



Can you find the peacock? It was a sad seeing him in that fence, but Jack still thought he was so cool.

We spent one morning at one of my absolute favorite Michigan destinations, Greenfield Village. If you've never been there, I can't even explain it, but if you have been, you know that it's totally magical. Thomas the Train happened to be in town concurrent with our trip, so Mamie, Grandpa, Jack, and I booked tickets and went for a ride. It was so cool to see Greenfield Village from the train, and although Jack isn't yet aware of who Thomas is, he totally loved riding the train with the friendly blue face. After our train ride, we spent some time wandering around the village. We saw so much, but there is still a ton we didn't see. I'll definitely be bringing Jack back for lots of trips to Greenfield Village!



Jack waved and yelled "Hi, People!" when the train came by.





Getting ready to ride Thomas!

Jack's 1st Carousel Ride



Even Greenfield Village has farm animals, the theme of this trip.

The rest of our trip might not have been as eventful as the farm day and Greenfield Village, but we had a great time the entire time we were there. It was great to see "Great-Mamie", who was in amazing spirits despite her broken arm. Jack enjoyed visiting her at the nursing home where she's rehabbing...he got a treat every time we went ("ap-ple juice" and crackers) and was able to take rides on Great-Mamie's "motorcycle", which applies to both her walker and her wheelchair. Jack also enjoyed helping Grandpa move rocks in his little wheelbarrow, and helped Mamie in the garden where he found lots of "wohms". Yes, I am afraid that it's a New England accent in the making...

April 2012: No Job's Too Big, No Job's Too Small

While looking back on the photos that I took over the month of April, what really struck me is how much Jack loves to emulate his daddy. Sure, he does this with me, but not quite as often and definitely not when a camera is around (I'm clearly the photographer when it comes to capturing our family moments). Jack really does adore Marc, and Marc adores him right back. I'm so fortunate to have a father for my son(s) who has the patience to let an eager toddler tag along and who teaches him about life along the way. This is so silly, but after I put these photos together, I kept singing the jingle from this cheesy 1980s Detroit-area commercial for a home remodeling company: No job's too big/No job's too small/We're Father and Son/We do it all! After viewing these photos, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if these two opened up their own remodeling or landscaping business one day. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that Jack's favorite words from April are tractor, lawnmower, weed-whacker, backhoe, bulldozer, dump truck, and cement truck!

Happy Easter 2012!

Easter is so much more fun when there’s a toddler around! We had a great day with family on Easter, and fun times in the days leading up to the big day. Marc, Jack & I colored eggs, which I hadn’t done in a million years. Jack had a ball dipping the eggs in the different colors and kept asking for more after we’d dyed them all. Jack also got to experience his fair share of Easter egg hunts this year. His babysitter took him to a really cool egg hunt at the Mystic Nature Center, where he searched for eggs along the nature trails. Of all the 1,000 eggs to be found, Jack found the one with the owl etching, which meant that he won a special prize – a totally adorable raccoon finger puppet! On the Saturday before Easter, Jack met his cousins for the community egg hunt. There had a be a million kids there (slight exaggeration – slight), but fortunately they were separated by age, so Jack and Kasey were able to hunt for the eggs together. All 3 boys had fun, but holy cow, was it a quick affair!

Egg Hunt #1 at the Mystic Nature Center

On actual Easter Sunday, Jack was more than ready for the bunny! He found his baskets right away and was SO excited over every little treat from the Easter Bunny. He really loved his watering can (just like mommy & daddy’s!), his matchbox construction vehicles and his vacuum. He is completely obsessed with vacuum cleaners, and now he finally has one of his own. He spent the entire morning vacuuming away until it was time to go to Grammy & Grandpa’s for breakfast. We had a really wonderful morning with ALL of Grammy Judy’s family, rarely is everyone in town so this was extra special. We then went to GG & OG’s (“Old Grandpa”) house for Easter dinner and had a fun time with Grandpa Bob’s side of the family. GG always outdoes herself at Easter, with egg hunts for the great-grandchildren, and contests and gifts for all (not to mention tons of food!).

"THE VACUUM"

Just the 3 1/2 of Us

Clearly, Jack has the coolest cousins EVER.



Egg Hunt at GG's

Found it!

In other non-Easter events that took place on Easter Sunday…Jack climbed out of his crib for the first time. I knew it was coming soon, but just didn’t realize HOW soon. And also in growing up too fast news, Jack is really, really excited for potty-training and absolutely loves to sit on the potty and try to poop. Too much information? Sorry, but this is my life these days. I love watching Jack grow, both physically and developmentally, but it can also be bittersweet. In anticipation of Easter gifts, I had to pack away some of his old toys, including Sophie the Giraffe this weekend. Thank goodness I was home alone at the time, because the tears were falling when I packed away Jack’s first friend. In fact, they are falling right now…curse you, pregnancy hormones!

It's Potty Time!!

Motor City Babies and Birthdays

Before I forget (baby brain is in full effect lately), I must write a post about our February family trip to Michigan. While the Motor City may not be a dream destination in February, there is no place I would have rather been. I was able to celebrate two very special occasions with loved ones: my dear friend Sarah's baby shower and my grandma's 93rd birthday. Sarah threw my baby shower in Michigan when I was pregnant with Jack, and I was honored to help throw a shower for her when she was expecting her first precious bundle of joy.

Sarah, the girls, and I at my baby shower. I can't believe I forgot to take photos at Sarah's shower...we will nearly certainly never be pregnant together again!

My grandma has always been so very near to my heart, even though we're often separated by miles and miles. I was thrilled to be able to celebrate the big 9-3 with her, and to spend some one-on-one time with one of my most favorite people ever. I love when Jack gets to spend time with her, they really get a kick out of each other. Jack is quite the entertainer, and loves to make my grandma laugh.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Great-Grandma.

All in all it was a great visit "home" for me, even more so that Marc and Jack were able to come along. We had such a good time visiting with friends and family, and I'm already looking forward to our next visit!

Jack's 1st snowman!

Brian lets Jack be the lieutenant for a day.

Making a new friend at Somerset.

It's a Boy!

This past Wednesday, Marc and Jack accompanied me to an ultrasound appointment where we got to see our youngest family member. The tiny person (currently the size of everyone's favorite root vegetable...a turnip) was very active throughout the entire ultrasound, and so freaking cute. First we saw the baby's tiny little feet kicking around and crossing and uncrossing at the ankles. Then we saw the outline of that sweet little baby face, and the baby made my heart melt when it took its little hand and put it up to its face. And then...the ultrasound tech showed us that we are most certainly expecting another boy!! I would have been equally thrilled if it were a girl, but now I get to look forward to life as a mother of two boys. After seeing my little fella, I really just can't wait to meet him (hopefully at a healthy 39 or 40 weeks in August). I love him so much already, and am so looking forward to introducing him to his big brother.

The sweetest footprint in the world.

January & February 2012

Contrary to what you may think, my family and I did not fall off the face of the earth in 2012. No, the Mayans didn't come down from outer space and snatch us up, or whatever nonsense people are predicting for this year. We've just had a really busy winter, and I've been exhausted thanks to the baby that I've been carrying around in my belly!! Now that I'm out of the first trimester, I'm slowly getting over the nausea and exhaustion, and wanted to share some recent photos of Jack.

Jack is such a joy these days (then again, he's always been a joy...). It's so fun to watch him gain his independence and learn new things. He resolutely will not allow us to feed him anymore, so mealtimes are pretty entertaining (and a bit messy). Each day he springs a new word or two on us - my current favorite is "Excuse Me" (sounds like scew-pee) when he burps. He's starting to use multiple-word sentences, which always blows my mind. He loves to dance, and love love loves Elmo. Where he found out about that little red monster, I have no clue. As far as I'm aware, he's never seen a minute of Sesame Street (I'm a stickler for no television before age 2), but he has somehow fallen deeply in love with ELMO! Every time we get in the car, he yells for Elmo and we have to pop in the Elmo's Greatest Hits CD. I can sing the whole thing by heart, and it's actually far less annoying than I would have imagined. Plus it's so worth it to see Jack bopping around in his carseat and to hear him singing along. There's one song where Snuffleupagus says "Staaaand Back!" and Jack loves to yell it out with him. So stinking cute. I can't wait to see Jack with a little brother or sister, he's going to be an awesome big brother!

Messy Spaghetti, aka "pasti"

Hiding under the dining room table.

Animal Crackers - yum!

Downing some Pedialyte after a night of the stomach flu, and he's still got a smile on his face!

Superbowl Sunday

An unseasonably warm January day.

Loving the snow and sled as much as he did the year before.

Now: A Hometown Christmas

2011 Christmas Card Photo

We spent Jack's second Christmas at home in Rhode Island. While of course I missed being "home" in Michigan, it was really nice not to have to travel during the holiday craziness. We had lots of quality time with Jack's Rhode Island family, with many celebrations. It was nearly as exhausting as travelling, but so much fun! We also had my parents in town for a bit, they arrived on the night of Christmas day and left a few days later. The exciting part? They actually bought a condo while they were in town, so we are  now looking forward to lots more visits from Grandma Carol and Grandpa Carl!

Jack loves his new truck from Auntie Kate!

Christmas Eve

Santa made an early pit stop at Grammy & Grandpa's!

Aww...Grammy kisses are the best.

Our little family

Jack and Michaela share a book.

Coming down the stairs on Christmas morning.

Santa brought a truck just like Daddy's!

Playing with his new keyboard.

These pots and pans have provided hours of entertainment for Jack. Thank you, Santa!

Train cars for the train set from Grandma and Grandpa.

Dinner with all of the grandparents...how lucky can you get?!