First cold ever!! Summer 2013 wrap-up

I guess I should be thankful that my little guy is 13 months old and just woke up with his first cold this morning.  We've definitely been super lucky in the sick department. He's cranky, has a runny nose, a cough, and I can hear it in his chest when he breathes....poor little guy 

:(

So needless to say we are spending the day curled up under the blankets and napping as much as possible!  

I've kinda been slacking on the blog this summer, still trying to figure out where the time has gone.....here are some pics from our summer of 2013!

Hiding in the pantry!

Up to no good!

Smelling the fake flowers

Wearing mom's sunglasses around Wegmans

Now likes to stand on top of toys rather than sit!......scary!!

 

Riding the merry-go-round at Olcott

As summer is now officially over as far as I'm concerned I'm actually super excited for the Fall and all that it brings.  I'm thinking pleasant thoughts of hit apple cider, pumpkin cookies at Scripts, Fall decorating, and if course.....a Halloween costume for Jack!!! I'm ready for Fall weather to! NOT snow by any means just yet but id def welcome cooler more mild temps.  I'm itching to break out my leggings and boots, comfy sweaters, and snugly nights with my boys.  

So as far as a Jack update goes, he's got a mouth full if teeth, is running all over the place, has a crazy obsession with my little broom and dustpan AND the electric toothbrush, likes to smell the flowers wether they are real or fake, and pretty much only says "uh-oh" and "hot".  He's now taking a liking to reading books which I'm thrilled about until I've read the farm animal book for the 12th time before 9:30am! I keep all of his hard books that he won't ruin the pages (unless he chews on them) at his level so he can reach them anytime.  All other books are up a little higher for now, I just don't want him ruining all of his million books....kids got quite the collection!

We've been to the beach quite a bit this summer and each time we went Jack got more and more daring with the water.  Now as soon as his feet touch the sand he bolts right for the water, or the nearest  seagull LOL.

 Cousin Serena playing in the sand with Jack

Our first ride on a sail boat!  Right after this pic he decided that he hated the life jacket and wanted off the boat, it was really hot and probably not the best idea BUT we tried!

Jack's 1st Birthday

OK so I know this has taken me WAY longer than I originally anticipated but I've finally found some time to get to know my new computer.....my first MAC!!!  I'm so excited because I've wanted one for so long and I'm loving everything about it so far :) 
So......My baby turned ONE and we went to all lengths to make sure a good time was had by all who came to celebrate! To start things off we had 10 of Johnny's family members staying with us for the long weekend.  And I must say for having that many people under one roof all at once it really wasn't as hectic as I would have thought.  Everyone helped with everything and the kids played all over the place so nobody was usually all in the same room at the same time.  It was really nice to have everyone together from that side of the family since we don't see each other all that often and are RARELY all together at the same time.  Company started coming in on Friday for the long weekend and continued until Saturday (party day).
Besides having torrential downpours the night before and morning of.....I'd say the party was a HUGE success!  YES I was stressing out immensly and my stomach was in knots for most of the morning....  But I had 70+ people due at my house at 2pm, so can you blame me??!!  At that point all I could do was throw in the towel and just decide that at this point it is what it is and everything will just have to work out!!!!.......EEEK!!

So as you can probably guess we had a couple different celebrations for his birthday...his actually bday fell on a Monday so we had a small get-together with grandparents and great grandparents that night for cake....as you can see in the pics above he had a blast!

The pics below are from his BIG party!...

"Max's" boat as our beer cooler!

4 generations!

One more week of Baby turns into One Last Day!

Only one more week has now turned into one last day of my little sweet baby Jack before he turns ONE and will from then on (for a while at least) be considered a "toddler".  Where did my sweet little baby who for the longest time only wanted his Momma (and I secretly loved it and wouldn't have it any other way) go??  It really brings a several tears to my eye when I think of how extremely and so unfairly fast this past year has gone.  So many memories made and firsts witnessed.  Each day I would look at him and decide that "this" was my favorite time with him, he only became more and more fun as the days went by, and I can only hope that the fun continues as it has been.   He's perfect in every single way and I wouldn't change a single thing about this past year.  His little personality is so precious and I've cherished watching it develop and grow into his own.  He's such a curious little George getting into everything, keeping me on my toes for sure!  He is now copying everything I do and I seriously can't get enough of it......its too stinkin cute!  He winks (which is adorable and I WISH I could capture it in a picture), he sticks out his tongue, everything is "uh-oh" or "ooooo".  He's now walking and getting better and better at it each and every day....his little waddle kills me and I could watch it for days!  He sneaks up behind me when I'm on the ground doing something (usually cleaning up a mess) and pats me on the back and hugs me the entire time......melts my heart <3  He just crawls or walks over to me just to give me a hug and put his head on my shoulder for a minute and then is on his way to do something else.  He gives the best open mouth kisses EVER.  I can't get over the looks he gives me when he's about to do something he knows is naughty as if he is waiting for me to come after him and then he giggles because he thinks its a game.  His endless games of peek-a-boo are hilarious.....he loves it and is constantly peeking from behind or from around something to get me to laugh.  Oh and even though he keeps me up night after night and sometimes I feel as though I will never know what its like to sleep through and entire night again.....I don't even care (well in the moment I might care a little).  If he's in our bed because its 4am and I know he'll be up for the day two hours later at 6am, and he wakes up and looks over at me and smiles because he doesn't have to cry for me to come get him, and then rolls over and hugs me after doing a big stretch....it just doesn't get any better than that!

On Sunday we were downstairs reading books and playing with toys while Daddy ran some errands, Jack looked up at me and I said "say ma ma" and in the sweetest littlest voice he looked at me and said "ma ma" and then "ma ma ma ma" and smiled and got all excited because I got all excited.........I couldn't believe it and was so super excited because this kid NEVER says it!  He has said it a couple of times but not in a very long time and I try seriously every day to get him to say it.  I have to admit that I got a little teary eyed because it was just the cutest thing ever and I will NEVER forget that moment and the look on his tiny face.  

I am so proud to be this little guy's momma, he makes it so easy to love him.  All he wants is love and in return he gives it back even greater.   My little Jack is seriously the best and I for the life of me can't even remember what life was like without him.  He has turned our lives upside down and inside and out....but.....only for the better.  Johnny and I love him to pieces and are so very proud to call him ours. 

Summer Time Life - the past few weeks!

Soooo I took a little hiatus from blogging.  Mainly to avoid frustration from my computer not allowing me to upload any pics to my blog!!!  I'm pretty sure its on its last leg so I don't want to push it.  So I gave up, threw in the the towel, and said to hell with it!!  Yep, that was my attitude.  BUT then I missed it and know that I'll kick myself later on in life for not keeping up with the Jack updates....knowing full well that I'll want to look back and see what life was like during the summer of 2013.....so its time to get back at it!!

These days I'm in full on BIRTHDAY mode, I mean when did first birthdays get to be such a big HUGE deal???  I'm pretty sure Pinterest is the root of all of this birthday madness :)  Pinterest is taking over my life....just kidding.....sort of!  Too many good ideas that in my mind are easy and I think "no problem" until I set out to do them and then quickly find myself thinking "what the hell was I thinking"??!!  So I've  settled on a Where the Wild Things are theme and will somehow work that into a raging backyard bash, and I say that because with 85 people invited so far it better be nothing less!  Yes that's right, I said 85 people.....my anxiety is already through the roof, and every time I think about it I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach reminding me of how unprepared for this I am.  Actually I'm pretty on the ball, I've been making to-do lists for weeks now and slowly checking things off....its going to be GREAT.    The craziness in my house right now is actually all of the home improvement projects we are forcing ourselves to get done before the big day.  Right now (and for about a week now) I have NO counters.  The new ones are supposed to be getting installed this weekend (FINGERS CROSSED).  However can I tell you how incredibly difficult and inconvenient it is not having any counter space with a baby??!!  NOT fun!  Needless to say this is when owning a restaurant comes in really handy :)

In Jack news all I can say is....where has my little baby gone???  He's such a little man now, in the past few weeks he has gotten taller, taken his first steps, has really developed quite a little temper at times, and is learning how to seriously use his lungs to the max!! 
He took his first step on Father's Day, he didn't really know he was doing it though....I was coaxing him with a spoonful of whipped cream :)  Then he went for like a week without doing it again and then one day he decided that he was going to walk across the room to Daddy from Mommy.  He JUST began taking a few steps here and there on his own yesterday though.  I caught him walking from the middle of the kitchen to the pantry and then he took a few steps towards me while I was on the other side of the room.  So its only a matter of time now until he's running all over the place.

Chubby thighs & Daddy's little helper

Jack is now eating mostly everything we eat.  I'm trying to decrease the amount of actual baby food I buy now but its still so convenient especially when we're on the go all day to throw a yogurt pack or smoothy in my bag, love those things and boy do they come in handy!!  Even better since he can hold and suck on on it, feeding,  himself.....so self sufficient now! 

Look at this baseball tummy, and such a big boy standing all on his own!
 

Helping Grandpa & Daddy fix the sink...

A little pool time with Mom!

First cupcake, and he LOVED every bite...look at that smile

Turned 11 Months and this time getting a decent photo of him with the chalkboard was nearly impossible!  He just doesn't stop moving!

Went to the beach in Canada, the water was so warm and low that he could just sit and splash around!!

Playing the piano with Uncle Chris while Mommy gets some work done downstairs

Peek-a-boo I see you!  Such a curious George 

Loves seeing himself in the camera on my phone...