Things are about to get CRAZY!

I just wanted to pop on here real quick to share some exciting news...

We are Moving! Yesterday, Matt was offered a position at Grand Forks Tower. He will most likely be released from Providence in January. :)

You and Me Goin' Fishin' in the MALL

I had to run to the mall this morning to make some returns and as a reward for being so patient while I shopped, Jack got to play at the little playground inside the mall afterwards. It was a perfect day to do this, since it was cloudy and windy outside. 

"Guk!"

It's about 12:17 AM here, so technically it's the 19th; however, I think the blogger program is an hour or two behind, so it will say a completely different time then when I actually posted an entry. About 30 minutes ago, Jack woke about with what I believe was a night terror, because when I went in his room and tried to comfort him, he had a really difficult time calming down and usually he calms down the minute I step foot in his room. I hugged him tight from his crib and kept reassuring him that mommy was there. He kept pointing at his dresser, while still crying, yelling out "Guk," but I had no idea what he was trying to tell me, which frusterated him even more. About a minute later, he finally calmed down and it was in that moment that a light bulb went off in my head. I realized he was trying to tell me that he wanted a drink of water from the cup that I always keep on his dresser. As soon as I asked him if that was what he wanted, he said "Guk," (drink) and when I handed him the water, he seemed so relieved that his need had been met. He finished off what was left in the cup, and I asked him if her wanted more, and he happily said "more," so I said "wait right here, I'll be right back." After he had his second helping of water, he put his gaga back in his mouth, laid down, and I covered him back up and said "I love you." Life with a toddler is so much more manageable when they are able to verbally tell you what they what. I could really get used to this...

Let There Be WATER!

Okay, okay, I know it's been forever since I last wrote and the truth is I really don't have any excuses other than the fact that I just didn't feel like it. I typically write these at the end of the night, long after Jack has gone to bed, and when I have completed various tasks around the house, such as, the dishes and putting the house back in order. This past week, my energy level has been non-existent and have been finding myself worn-out, even after a good nights sleep. The reason for this could be because we have been blessed some amazing weather and have spent a lot if our time outside in the sun. Anyway, I'm back and I hope to stay consistent for a while, at least until our upcoming trip home.

I thought it would be fun to share 6 exciting things that happened this week. So without further ado here is our Saturday Six:

1. Jack can now say and distinguish the letters J, C, S, Z, T, D, and O, and these are only the ones I have thought to take note of. I'm pretty sure there is even more to add to the list now.

2. Jack has begun number sequencing, and can say the numbers 2, 6, and 8, after I have called out the previous number. For instance, I'll say "1" and then Jack will say "2." I'll say "3,4,5" and Jack will say "6." I'll say "7" and Jack will say "8." Hopefully you get the idea.

3. On Wednesday, I cashed in my mother's day gift from Matt and Jack and went to our local outlet mall and went a little nuts. I got some really cute pieces for my summer wardrobe and I'm super excited to get the opportunity to wear them when we go home.

4. On Thursday, I went to the dentist and finally got the small chips in my two front teeth sanded down. They look good as new.

5.  Matt is almost finished putting the baseboard up. He just has to finish Jack's room and the stairwell. The house is really coming together nicely. Now if only I had enough energy to let my creative juices flow and start decorating.

6. Yesterday Matt was informed that someone from the Grand Forks Tower called his supervisor and requested information regarding Matt and the type of employee he is. I am trying not to get my hopes up, but I'm super excited about the thought of potentially moving only 5 hours away from our families. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will work out.

We finally got to break out the Water Table today.

Jack and Daddy drilling holes in the Jar for their caterpillar that they found today.

uh-oh! We're in trouble now. Someone figured out how to open the fater

Someone went a little crazy with the chalk. The good news is, it's chalk, and it will inevitably wash away in the rain.

My hot, handy-man of a husband.

Earlier in the week we went on a dandelion hunt.

I'm happy to report that we officially have no more dandelions in our yard, at least for another day or two. 

Jack's 1st experience with the Sprinkler

Potato Soup!

MOM

Here is a mini recap of our weekend in photos, starting with today...

Today was an absolutely gorgeous 85 degree day. Jack really got a kick out of helping me water our strawberries and new Azalea plant that we got yesterday.

My adorable mother's day gift from Jack.He is also treating me to a shopping spree at our local outlet mall for some new summer attire this wednesday.

Me and my boy waiting to be seated at Olive Garden on my special day.

Since it was over a 35 minute wait to be seated at Olive Garden, we decided to go next door to the Home Depot to kill time. Jack's favorite parts of the store were the outdoor nursery, the lighting department, and the tractor displays.

Earlier in the day, while Matt was still at work, Jack treated me to a trip to the park. He insisted on going down this slide about a million gazillion times.

On Saturday we went to a birthday party for Matt's co-workers son who was turning 3.

He insisted on holding his balloon from the party the entire 30 minute drive home. If you can't tell, it was nap time.

Bunnies Asleep in the Hay

Remember yesterday when I told you that Jack can say and distinguish the letter "O?" Well now you can add "M" and "Z" to the list as well! I can't tell you how awesome it feels to know that Jack is actually retaining the information that I aim to teach through play and simple activities on a day to day basis.

I forgot to mention yesterday that after 5+ years, I finally went to the the dentist. The last time I was supposed to go was a week before our wedding and someone rear-ended me on the way to my appointment. when I went in yesterday, I warned the hygienist that she may have her work cut out for her, being that it had been so long and the fact that I have given birth to a child since, which I have heard can take a toll on your teeth. To my surprise, she told me my teeth look great, considering that it has been so long. She said that there was barely any Tatar to clean off and also from what she could tell, I had zero cavities. Yay for me! She did mention that I had some swelling in my gums on the left side, which was probably due to hormones. She recommended that I floss and use mouthwash daily, which I will admit I am guilty of not doing so as often as I should.

As I was cleaning up after bedtime tonight, I noticed this. Jack put his bunny asleep in the hay. How sweet is that!?  I love him so much.

The Letter "O"

Proud Mom Moment # 876: Tonight in the bathtub Jack picked up one of his foam letters and said "O," and guess what? He was right! He then found another "O," picked it up and said "Two." In other words, he was telling me he had two "O's." Genius.

This evening Jack got to enjoy his very 1st campfire. He did really well with not getting too close and stayed next to me the entire time. He repeatedly kept saying "Hot" and "Danger," so I think he got the point.

Just a Couple of Cuties!

Rock On, Dude!

Rockin' out to some Volbeat in daddy's car, on the way to the gym.

It's a Small, Small World

Today proved indeed how small the world really is. Jack and I made a morning run to Target to pick up diapers and as we were walking out of the store, I heard a woman say "Oh my gosh, Elaina!?!?" I looked up and it was my high school classmate, Juli. I knew she lived out here; however, she lives on the other side of the state, and the odds that I would run into her at that Target, at the exact same time  were very low. I can't tell you how comforting it felt to stumble upon a familiar face from home. It truly made my day and I definetly took it as a sign from above. We made plans to get together for drinks when I get back from Minnesota in June.

Two!

April Favorites

Here are some things that Jack and I were loving in the month of April...

Jack's Favorites...

The Fisher Price Little People Wheelies Loops 'n Swoops Amusement Park. We have had this toy for about a year now and it has by far been Jack's most loved toy and has provided hours upon hours of entertainment. Since I rotate his toys, this was brought back out at the start of April, making it "like new" again. Rather than using the cars that are made for it, we use Hot Wheels and Match Box Cars. It's so fun for Jack to race his cars down the track. An added bonus is that this is something special for Matt and Jack to do together and Matt actually gets enjoyment out of it as well, because he has had a blast building up Jack's Hot Wheel collection. 

Mega Bloks First Builders Big Building Bag. Until recently, Jack has never been too interested in playing with these and when he did, they would only hold his attention for a short period of time. I think the reason for this is because they were tucked away on his shelf in the playroom amongst all of his other toys. I recently brought the bucket out into the living room, where they are more visible and not competing with the other toys. Best. Decision. Ever. It's a great distraction for when I'm cleaning or making dinner. On a good day these will hold his attention for a solid 20 minutes, which in toddler world is an eternity.

Crayola Bathtub Crayons.  Jack received these in his Easter basket and they've sure made a big splash in the tub. Jack has never been big into coloring, until these. Our bathtub has never seen so much color and I enjoy seeing his adorable scribbles every time I set foot into the bathroom. He also enjoys to sort them on the rim of the tub, as well as put them into a cup and dump them out all at once into the water over and over again.

Melissa and Doug Ball Pounder. We found this for him at Home goods for a great price. I prefer to buy toys that Jack can grow with and I definitely think this is one of them. Right now he is completely entertained by hammering the balls down the holes and watching them come out the bottom. But I think as he gets older he will enjoy matching the color of the balls to the colors on the side of each hole, as well as, counting the number of balls as they go down. I, on the other hand, find the clinking noise of the wood to be somewhat therapeutic and get excited every time he chooses to play with it.

My Favorites For Jack...

Honest Kids Organic Juice Drink.  Don't ask me why, but I've always felt extremely guilty about giving Jack juice. I've also worried that if I give him too much juice, he won't want to drink anything else, so up until the past few months I've made every effort to avoid it all together and just offer him milk or water. But now that he is older, I thought it would be fun to give it a try. I don't give it to him on a daily basis and it's more like a special treat. I love this brand because for starters it's organic and also because there is no added sugar. It's sweetened only from fruit juice. It tastes more like flavored water than juice, which also makes me feel better about giving it to him. It's a little more spendy than other juices on the market, but totally worth it.

My Favorites...

Shark Professional Steam Mop. As you know, we recently installed hardwood floors and I was on the hunt for a mop that was quick, easy, Eco-friendly, and free of harsh chemicals. This is absolutely perfect because the pads are washable and the only thing it requires is water. It claims to sanitize and clean with the power of steam and I totally believe it. It's so cool to see the steam come out of it as I clean the floors. It takes me less than 10 minutes to mop the entire main floor of our house. The only downfall is that it's not cordless; however, the cord itself is really long. I also purchased a gallon of distilled water to use with it, to avoid water marks on the floor. The entire gallon should last me a really long time, as it only uses a small amount of water each time.

Ninja Professional Blender. In an effort to eat healthier, I decided to supplement one meal a day with a green smoothie. Our old blender was really crappy and did a horrible job chopping up the fruit and it took forever, making it super inconvenient and not worth my time. I decided to use the money that my in-laws gave me for my birthday and splurge on this one. I. Love. It. It's super quick and easy and chops up anything I decide to add in seconds.

Seventh Generation Natural Dish Soap. Let me let you in on a little secret. We do not have a dishwasher. That's right. I have to wash all of dishes by hand. It's extremely time consuming and a big pain in my butt, especially having a child that goes through countless dishes a day. I used to use Original Dawn, but I started to notice all Jack cups smelled like soap no matter how thoroughly I rinsed them out. The contents inside of the cup tasted like soap as well. It got me thinking about the ingredients in the soap and I just didn't feel comfortable with the idea of Jack potentially ingesting harmful chemicals on a daily basis. So I switched to this product, which is all natural and bio-degradable. To my surprise it actually cleans the dishes really well, if not better and I haven't had any problems with jack's cups since. It's also around the same price as Dawn, so I'm happy about not losing any money on it.

Old Navy Vintage V-neck T-shirts.These are so comfortable. Before discovering them, I bought a style similar to this at Target. I feel like these are more flattering for my body type. I usually get them when they are on sale, making them cheaper than the ones at Target. Bonus!

Here's the Scoop.

Diaper Boy.

My "Little Sasquatch." Matt's hockey coach had this specially made for Jack, since the entire team refers to Matt as "Sasquatch."

Sorry I missed a couple days. On Thursday night Matt and I got a babysitter, so we could go to his end of the season Men's League Hockey Party. Though it was nice to get out of the house and associate with other adults, I would have much rather spent our night out, which rarely ever happens, going to dinner and a movie. Hopefully when we go home in a few weeks, we will have an opportunity to go out a date. The best part about that will be our FREE babysitters. Last night, Jack threw his worst ever tantrum that left us both in tears right before bedtime. After that I had no energy and was in no mood to write a blog-post. I spent the rest of the night cooling-down and praying that today would be better. So far, so good.

Jack's 22 Month Update

Can we please hit the rewind button and go back to a time when my son wasn't going to be two years old in less than 2 months!? Just saying that makes my heart feel heavy. Today one of my friends on Facebook, who just recently had a baby made a post asking when she will get to sleep again and though I will admit that I do love getting a decent nights rest, I would give anything to go back in time and have the chance to hold Jack in my arms and watch him sleep. I wish I knew then what I know now. That every minute spent with your child is something to be cherished, not endured. I wish I didn't complain to Matt about how lucky he was that he didn't have to wake up and nurse the baby 3 times a night, because the truth is, I was lucky one. I had something to offer Jack that no one else could. Knowing how this feels, I will spend our future time together cherishing all of the little things and ensuring that every day is a memory in the making.

At 22 months Jack is...

- repeating a lot of what we say. If I ask him to say something, he usually will attempt to repeat the word without hesitation and gets really proud of himself when it actually sounds like what I asked him to say. For example, the other day when we were reading a book about animals and I asked him to say the word "horse," not only did he repeat it, but he used the "s" sound as well, something that I had never heard until then. There are still a lot of times where we have no clue what he is trying to tell us, but I have noticed a significant improvement this past month. I have recently become a little concerned by the fact that Jack is not yet using 2-word sentences, something that he should be able to do by age 2. With that said, I am aware that boys are a little slower to catch on to speech than girls and also that a lot can happen in 2 months in the world of a toddler. Now that I think of it, He has said a few phrases that I would consider two-word sentences, including "check-out," "Love You" and "Hair cut."

- fascinated by how things work. He loves taking things apart and putting them back together, such as blocks, stacking cups and container lids. He also loves to pour things from one container to another such as water in the bath tub and matchbox cars, food, I even saw him doing this with forks and spoons the other night at dinner.

- on the verge of jumping. In fact, just tonight when Jack was on Skype with Matt's parents, doing the actions to "Wheels on the Bus" his feet were actually off the floor and slightly elevated. It was pretty cool to see.

- only using a "Gaga" at nap time and bed time. Immediately upon waking up, I have him put it in a porcelain jar that we call "the boot," because it resembles a pair of baby booties. At first he didn;t like the idea, but now it has become a game to put it in the jar and he actually looks forward to getting to wave and say "good bye" to his "Gaga."

- able to distinguish and point to all of the colors of the rainbow, as well as clearly naming most of them, especially blue, yellow and purple.

- doing chunky puzzles and sorting shapes with ease. His favorite shape is a circle and gets excited every time he sees one in real life, such as, the icons on my phone. He also loves stars and loves to point them out when we are reading. Every time he points to a star, he follows up by signing "more," in reference to me singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Sleep Habits...

- Recently we decided that Jack was showing signs that he was ready to have a later bedtime. He now goes to bed at 8 and will usually sleep until at least 7:30 and lately has even gone as late as 8:45.

- I usually put him down for a nap at 12:30 and he usually wakes up around 3.

Favorite Foods...

-Apples
- homemade green smoothies

Stats...

- Jack weighs about 36 lbs, if not more. We will know for sure when we go in for his 2 year check-up.
- Size 7 1/2-8 Shoe
-3T in tops and 2T bottoms


Extra Curricular...

-Little Gym on Fridays with Dad. Matt reports that he prefers to sit on Ms. Kristin's lap during circle time, rather than sitting next to him.

- The Y Child-Watch Program 3 times a week for 1 hour. He is been doing significantly better this month, and even when he fusses a little at drop off, the teachers tell us that he stops crying immediately after we leave. Whenever we pick him up, we stand and observe him for a few seconds before we run in and scoop him up and he appears to be having a good time. It's obvious that he is a teachers pet, because he's always at their feet rather than playing with the other kids. Though they don't seem to mind and they find jack's antics to be very cute and entertaining.

Ta-Da!

Sorry I didn't write last night. I was watching game 6 of the playoffs (Wild vs. Avalanche) with my hockey addicted husband. I'm so glad I decided to tune in because it was a great game to watch and it actually managed to hold my attention from start to finish. Well that and the fact that Matt was rubbing my back most of the time. I'm so happy the wild won and believe it or not, I am looking forward to game 7 tomorrow night.

I guess I will start with The Tomorrow Fund Stroll, which took place this past Sunday. (I posted photos in that days entry.) With the money that we personally donated, our grand total came to a whopping $1060.00! It felt so good to be able to give back to a fund that helped us so much in the past.  It is a wonderful organization that was crucial to our family in such a difficult time. They did so much for us including, but not limited to, bringing various toys to our hospital room to keep our sick and fussy baby entertained, bringing up a swing to help him sleep better at night, giving us a parking pass, since we were in and out of the hospital so much, providing us with food vouchers for the hospital cafeteria, paying some of our expensive co-pays, and even a month of our mortgage during a particularly hard month, and they also tracked down a counselor for me to talk to once a week, since I was having a hard time coping with the situation. They made every effort to take away as much outside stress as possible, so we could focus on more important things, like taking care of our sick son, while he worked hard to kick cancers butt. Words can not express how thankful I am for them, as well as all the people who helped make it possible for us to give back and show our appreciation. It's comforting to know that other families will be receiving the same assistance, if not more depending on their situation, as we did, because of the generosity of others. The day itself was absolutely amazing. I cannot even begin to describe the energy of the crowd and the high you get from being part of such a wonderful cause. Jack's favorite part of the day was sitting in an old fire truck that had been transformed into a cancer awareness truck for patients with cancer to sign. He also enjoyed the live music, where he busted out a few of his own moves. A lot of families brought their dogs and every time he saw one he got super giddy. We will definitely continue to participate in the stroll as long as we are living here.

In other news, after his 2 month hiatus, Jack finally went potty in his potty chair again! He actually did this the same day as the stroll. It just goes to show what a great day it was. He really had no interest in going, until I plopped the seat on the living room floor and let him play with his blocks while he sat on it. When the pee started to pour out, he instantly stopped what he was doing and watched it pour out in amazement. When he was done, he proudly brought the bowl that held his urine to the bathroom, poured it in the toilet, and flushed it down. After we finsihed washing hands, he ran to the pantry closet, remembering past time when he successfully used the potty, I would reward him with 1 chocolate chip. Although, I was only planning on rewarding him with praise this time around, I just couldn't deny him in such an exciting moment.

Enjoying an apple after nap time.

I finally got around to taking him in for a trim.

Ta-da!

12th Annual Tomorrow Fund Stroll

Can you spot Jack's name?