Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone!  We had a nice Easter despite the yucky weather.  The tornado on Friday night tore down a 40 foot steeple off the church right next to my parents' street and destroyed many homes very close to them.  They were very lucky and only had a bit of siding and screen damage.  I was at the movie with my friends Melissa & Jill, and we were forced to evacuate to the vestibule about 3 minutes in.  We received a voucher to use another night, but that's easier said than done with 3 mommies with 5 kids between us.  Hopefully we can find a date to reschedule!

We were also scheduled to do an Easter egg hunt Saturday morning with lots of friends, but again the weather had other plans and rained it out.  Bummer.  Hopefully next year when there will be three more kiddos to participate.

We planned to meet the Easter Bunny at the egg hunt, so when that fell through we went to the mall instead.  Not surprisingly, for those who know Jack, this was the result:

Jack did have his own Easter egg hunt this morning.  He caught on quickly thanks to the practice sessions he's been having at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

And he also got lots of goodies in his Easter basket.

Jack and his cousins had another egg hunt at Grandma & Grandpa Clayton's house.  Then the 3 kids went into the toy room and later downstairs to play - our little guy is growing up!!

 Oops!

 Silly faces at dinner

 Donning the shades my Aunt Lori got him

Here are a few pictures of the goofy guy from a week or so ago.

Zoo Visit

We took our 2nd trip to the Zoo today (the first was on Jack's first birthday).  It was a great day!  Jack loved looking at the different animals.  We rode the train, and he wasn't really sure what to think.  He was basically motionless and silent for the first 3/4ths of the ride, then he finally started enjoying it.  It was funny - especially with how obsessed the little guy is with "choo choos."  He was the same way on the carousel - even though he's been on numerous carousels before.

We also got him to wear a baseball cap for about 1/2 the day - that's by far the longest he's ever worn it!  He looked so handsome, despite his ears sticking out (it's a little too big).

 He really liked watching the monkeys/apes/baboons/gorillas (whatever they were)

I became a Zoo Member this year to support our local (& free!) zoo, and it comes with some perks like free parking, free train and carousel rides, etc.  We'll be going back for sure!

Croup & Fun Times

Poor Mr. Jack got sick again two weekends ago - this time with croup.  Man, that is a nasty sound coming from your toddler!  We took him to the pediatric urgent care last Sunday rather than waiting until Monday and they gave him a steroid to help the swelling in his vocal cords go down.  He slept great that night, so I guess it helped.  Other than that, you just have to ride this one out.  He's feeling good now, but still has that lingering cough (a week and a half later), especially when he's just waking up.

We've had a few bouts of great weather around here, so we've played outside as much as we can.  A few weeks ago, we met the Ashers and Lades up at a park to BBQ.  The kiddos had a blast playing on the playground - it was a nice day!  My pictures are not great (capturing 3 toddlers is quite a challenge), but here are a few:

Addi sliding

Hugs from Reghan:

Miss Addison:

Hugs from Addi - love this pic!

A few weeks ago I went to a consignment sale with my friend Rebecca.  We had some good finds, as displayed here:

We also have a new habit in our house.  Jack was taught by one of his parents (not me) to carry his little wooden chair to the kitchen to stand on so he can see what's going on in there.  Now he carries the chair everywhere.  Can't reach the bathroom sink?  No worries, I'll just go grab my chair.  Can't push the water dispenser on the fridge?  Not a problem with a chair to stand on.  Nothing is out of reach anymore! 

 He's carried this habit into dinnertime, which has been good and bad.  It's bad for obvious reasons: who wants to start this habit with their toddler?  

 On the flip side, until now we've been battling keeping him sitting in his little chair for a full meal - we are constantly saying "are you all finished?"  "No."  "OK, well then come sit back down."  With the new 'eating while standing on my little chair' thing, it's much harder for him to wander around so we typically get a full meal in before we takes off.  I'll take it for now.  

We had our final tumbling class tonight.  That was money/time well spent - I recommend it for parents of toddlers.  They just had so much fun week after week!!

So strong!

 

Somersault!

 Getting his stamp at the end of class - one of the highlights!

 A certificate!  He passed!

Addi & Jack with their newly-earned certificates

A few other random pictures:

Just hanging out in the tub with his clothes on.

Notice his left hand - he did this all on his own the other night.  Baseball star in training.

Jack's getting very curious about the potty.  So far he's not all that interested in actually sitting there, especially when he's naked, but he's always telling us what we're doing when we're on the potty.  Baby steps.

Had to take this picture the other night.  I have no idea why, but every time Jack "cooks," step one is placing the tongs around his neck.  What a goofball!

Trying out the water table he got for Christmas - finally warm enough to use it!!  Later in the afternoon, the 4 year old neighbor came over and they had a water fight.  Jack was drenched afterwards, but he had a blast.  I think there will be some fun times on our patio this summer!

Phew!  That was a lot of pictures for one post, but I was a little backlogged with all the random snippets.

Sparky Update - 17 Weeks

I had a doctor's appointment Tuesday, so I thought a Sparky update was in order.  All is well - heartbeat was 150 (chick heartbeat per my doctor - you may remember Jack's was a "chick" heartbeat at the beginning too).  We got an ultrasound, so we saw Sparky's arms moving all around!  Baby is getting big already!

I had a little scare Monday morning - I ran back into the house to grab something and my heel slid on the hardwoods.  I wiped out!  I landed hard on my knee (luckily not my belly!).  I was worried about Sparky so I called the doctor, but because I wasn't spotting and my appointment was scheduled for the next day, I opted not to go in.  I was a nervous Nelly for those 24 hours, but all is well!


During the ultrasound, Sparky was spread eagle for all to see, so the doctor was trying his best (and succeeding) in keeping our view away from the important part that we didn't want to see.  But then, as he flipped the machine to 3D mode, we caught a very quick full frontal glimpse.  Jason and I both think we saw a penis, but to our untrained eyes for that quick second, we really aren't sure.  We're still operating under the assumption that baby's gender is a surprise, and we'll find out in September if we were right at 17 weeks.


Here's a belly picture at 17 weeks - getting big already!

Here was 17 weeks with Jack:

What a difference a 2nd pregnancy makes!


Quick update about me: I'm feeling almost back to normal these days.  The nausea was not nearly as bad this time around, but lasted a bit longer (I was still feeling it a couple days a week at 15 weeks or so).  I'm still pretty tired, but have gotten some of my energy back.  Some nights I make it to my old bedtime (9:30 or 10:00 - I know, I'm a night owl!), but some nights I'm pooped and ready for bed as soon as Jack goes down at 8:00.  I haven't really had many other symptoms yet, aside from my first bout with heartburn last night.  I took 2 Tums and it quickly went away, so nothing to grouch about (yet!).  Enjoying the 2nd trimester!!

Bath Time

In the last couple of weeks Jack suddenly converted from a bath-lover to a boy who despises them.  Out of the blue he started refusing to even sit down and screamed the whole 2 minutes it took for Jason and me to tag-team frantically washing and holding him to prevent falls.  It's been rough!


I guess I mentioned this to my sister and she came to the rescue!  Tonight Jack received in the mail 3 new bath toys:

What a lucky guy!  Turns out it worked too!  We had an excellent bath tonight, and he wanted to take his fishing rod to bed with him.  That was a little risky with the plastic rope, so I traded him for a Thomas bath squirter instead.

Thanks Aunt Kelly!!

Update Through Pictures

Not a lot to update on, so I will just show you what we've been up to through pictures.

First, here is Jack relaxing with Daddy.  We're not sure where he picked up this little mannerism, but it's his favorite way to watch TV.

 I've gone on a bit of a Craigslist rampage of late.  It started with my search for a little plastic outdoor slide for Jack for the summer.  I found this (it WILL be an outdoor slide, just hasn't been moved there yet):

Before I found the slide, I came across this guy for a mere $35, so we decided Jack MUST have it.  Right now it's in Cyndi & Todd's basement, but Jack is loving it!

Jack put on a little fashion show for us last weekend.  He's really into his new rain boots, and he apparently liked his hats that day too.

Here are some more pictures from tumbling - we've gone 3 times now and it's been just as fun each time.


Brave guy trying the balance beam on his own:

 Jumping on the springboard:

Trying out the bar:

This is Jack when he was "sick" a few weeks ago.  This was the night I decided he was feeling better.  Look at that mess!!

Tumbling!

We started tumbling class tonight! Melissa and I signed Addi and Jack up for tumbling class at the YMCA. Turns out the two of them plus Melissa's friend from work's daughter Lily are the only three in the class (Lily wasn't there tonight though). We missed week 1 due to Jack's bronchitis, but made it tonight, and boy was it fun!! Jack and Addi just ran all over the place loving it! There are mats everywhere, a balance beam to walk on, a bar to hang on, a cheese mat with steps and a tunnel to crawl through. What more can a kid ask for?? They had a ball! I can't wait for next week!

Crawling through the tunnel:

They LOVED the cheese mat!

Rolling!

And sliding!

And a couple videos - fun times!!