Christmas Day - Part 2

Here is a video clip of Jay enjoying riding the horse at Grandma's.

After Christmas Day dinner, pictures, and Jay's nap, we went to my Uncle Dale and Aunt Julie's home for a gathering of my Dad's side of the family. I should have, but didn't take photos of the adults. Instead I took a few photos and videos of the kids playing. First here are a few photos of Jay and his 2nd cousin, Zoe, who is 5 months older than Jay. She was a good influence/example for Jay to follow in the eating department.

Jay enjoyed playing with 2nd cousin Taylor (older sister to Zoe) with the homemade wooden blocks my Uncle Dale made for his grandkids.And here is Jay enjoying the cartwheels and antics of his 2nd cousins Eliza and Taylor. Similar to when Jay was about 5 months old watching his 1st cousin Sydney and Samantha do cartwheels, he still screams, squeals, and laughs with delight.

Returning home from the family party/gathering, we enjoyed watching Great Grandma and Jay open their Christmas gifts (both were taking afternoon naps when the rest of us opened our gifts).

Jay enjoyed pulling his new "puppy" from Uncle Scott and Aunt Mandy around the house. As you'll see in the video, Jay never missed the cuckoo clock chiming and announcing each hour that passed. He'd hear it, look up at the nearest adult, then go running or ask to be quickly taken to the clock to see and hear it.

Molly's Scott (now fiance!) brought his Xbox with all his Rock Band 2 accessories - drum set, electric guitar, bass guitar, and microphone so that four could play the game at the same time. Jay watched us play and decided he'd like to try the drum set out for himself. Here are the results. Not too bad!

Christmas Day - Part 1

Christmas Day we took the opportunity to gather for a 4 generation photo:

And a family photo:

Matt, Jay, and me; my Mom (Grandma Amy); my Grandma (Great Grandma Dorothy - Mom's mom); Molly's now fiance Scott and my sister (Aunt Molly); and my brother (Uncle Scott) and his wife (Aunt Mandy)

After Christmas Day dinner (at 1:00 p.m.) we opened gifts.

The three of us kids went together and bought Mom a 36" x 36" clock (her Christmas wish) for the big wall going up the stairs to the bedrooms.

The newly engaged couple - Scott and Molly!

Mandy opening her gift from Mom - a steam mop for their new home

Scott with his gift from Molly - an expansion to their Ticket to Ride Europe game

Matt with his iPhone accessories from my Mom

My gift from Scott (Molly's fiance) - new slippers and an expansion to my Ticket to Ride USA game.

More photos and videos to follow in the next blog post with the rest of Christmas Day...

Pre-Christmas Adventures

My sister Molly, little Jay, and I left December 21 to go to Grandma's house. Matt stayed and worked until the end of the day on the 23rd, then hopped a flight to Spokane where I picked him up from the airport.

Here are some pictures from our days before Christmas.

Jay really enjoyed riding the horse at Grandma's house. He is the perfect size for it now and has the coordination to really ride it well now, too.

He insisted on taking "Bowser", Great Grandma's stuffed dog, for a ride on the horse, too. I think you can tell from the pictures below that he LOVED doing this.

(This photo above is one of my top favorites.)

Grandma also has a mini train on the kitchen island counter that Jay really enjoyed watching.

On Christmas Eve Matt decided we should take Jay to see the calves at the feedlot near my Uncle's house. When I asked Jay what cows say at the end of our time there, he quickly said, "Moo."

Determined and Creative

Jay was quite determined to get to "his" videos on top of the living room cabinet. He needed some added height and came up with this solution...

Success!! I'm pretty sure this isn't how Grandma envisioned the use of the John Deere tractor she gave to Jay on his first birthday. It was pretty funny watching him. Every time he shifted his weight he'd hit one of the two buttons on the top of the tractor cab that made it either make its start-up motor noise or the backing-up beeping noise. He stayed standing on top of the tractor for a good 15 minutes or more before he decided to get down. What a funny guy!

Prenatal Check-up

Today Jay and I visited my Ob-Gyn doctor to get a check-up on how Baby #2 is doing. My protein level is great, my sugar level is fine, my blood pressure is perfect, Jay was a very well-behaved little man (thanks to a well-packed lunch of PB & J, string cheese, and apple), and always the most amazing thing of the whole appointment...hearing that precious heartbeat. It sounded so strong and steady with a rate of about 156 beats per minute. PERFECT!!!

Today I was also able to schedule the 20 week ultrasound when we'll find out if this baby is a boy or girl. January 18 is the day! So exciting!! That is definitely a moment we are all looking forward to in the new year.

18 Month Old Portrait!

Last week I took Jay to the nearby JCPenney portrait studio to document his sweet personality at 18 months old. Here is my favorite photo from the session:

I dressed him up in this year's Christmas outfit and chose to photograph him with their holiday background.

Today Matt and I finished sending out our 2009 Christmas cards, a crockpot of beef vegetable soup is awaiting our consumption for dinner tonight, I baked a batch of Oatmeal Carmeletes for a cookie swap I'm participating in tomorrow, and made a homemade pumpkin pie for a dessert potluck and white elephant gift exchange Christmas party we are attending this evening. The Christmas tree is up and decorated (since December 1) and holiday parties are in full swing these days. 'Tis the season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

Two Snapshots

Here are a couple snapshots from Jay's life here at home. These photos are very random, but they were memories I wanted to capture and remember for years to come.

Above: Jay busy in a kitchen cupboard he is allowed to explore. As you can see, he has already taken out the air popcorn popper and is headed to the back of the lower shelf in this cupboard to discover more fun appliances.

Below: I LOVE looking at sweetly sleeping kids. And I must say, I have a very special affinity to seeing this sweet thing asleep in his comfy crib.

18 Months Old Today

Yes, Jay is officially 18 months old today. This Mom finds this very hard to believe that he is this old already!

We saw the pediatrician today and here are his latest stats:
Today's Weight: 23 lbs which puts him in the 10-25% range
Today's Length (Height): 33 inches which puts him in the 75-90% range
Today's Head Circumference: 49", again putting him in the 75-90% range

Jay's weight has been in the 15 to 25% range almost his entire life, so the pediatrician and I aren't worried in the least about it. And his height and head circumference remain "equal", still in the 75% range which has been Jay's norm, so we might just have a 6' tall boy in his later years which will beat out Dad's height (my comment/opinion)...we'll see.

Some of the latest developments and activites for Jay include:
-walks and runs well and can walk backward to pull or push a toy
-can walk and crawl up stairs quite proficiently now
-can use a utensil to feed himself, although this doesn't happen often since he likes to play with the utensil and bang it on the highchair tray more than using it to get a bite of food in his mouth
-can scribble
-when I dust the house, Jay likes to imitate me, then wants to dust with the feather duster after I'm finished with it
-temper tantrums happen now (and I guess are to be expected at this stage)
-we've begun to implement "time outs" when he completely looses it
-doesn't like to be dirty; will hold out his messy hands to be cleaned off if he gets something on them
-can remove his socks and shoes on his own
-vocabulary now includes: "oh wow", "uh oh", "no", some form of "Mama" and "Dada", and he definitely tries to say some form of "Nana" or "Grandma" when around these respective ladies -- sometimes heard as "Mom Mom"
-he will blow air out his mouth if he sees something hot (like food or a hot drink), imitating us blowing on it to cool it down
-understands most everything we say these days
-knows and points to his nose when asked (still working on knowing the names of his ears, eyes, mouth, feet, knees, etc.)
-understands and performs sequential actions; for instance, when I asked him to get his toothbrush and toothpaste tonight at bedtime he immediately got up, walked over and opened the drawer, got out those items, then shut the drawer and handed the items to me
-still takes two naps (about 1 hour in length) per day, though it seems we might start transitioning to one nap in the coming month or two (though this Mom isn't going to force it - two breaks per day is nice!)
-Usually wakes up between 6:15 and 6:45 every morning and goes "night night" around 8:00 every night
-when giving a hug, he'll often also gently pat the person on the back with his hand(s)
-hums and pinches his lips closed when he wants to give a kiss or receive a kiss from this Mom or Dad

Thanksgiving at Nana & PopPop's

Matt, Jay, and I left Wednesday morning after breakfast to drive to Nana and PopPop's house 3-1/2 hours away. We beat the traffic and enjoyed a smooth, easy, and beautiful drive (no rain!).

Matt and I came down with terrible colds, so Nana and PopPop were especially gracious to host us "sickies."

Here are a few pictures and a video that captured part of our time together.

Jay "helping" PopPop grate some cheese for Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, Nov. 26.

Here are PopPop and Jay playing with the cardboard box "tunnel" PopPop set up just for Jay. Jay loved putting various toys and shoes inside the box. And finally later on all on his own he decided to crawl all the way through. So fun!

Jay became quite good at crawling up and down the stairs.

Above: Jay playing with the bar stool. Just moments before I took this photo he had his leg, his arm, AND his head stuck in between the rungs.

Below: Nana playing a great "beat" with the silverware. As you can see, he loves playing with Nana and PopPop.

We left this morning to drive back home. We were again blessed with a beautiful day and great traffic.

Thank you so much for hosting us PopPop and Nana! We love spending time with you. All your meals were so nourishing, delectable, and beautiful. I'm just sorry I didn't feel well enough to help out more in the preparation of them! The rest, relaxation, love, and fellowship was priceless. We love you!

Our Friends' Atlanta Wedding

Matt and I flew to Atlanta on Thursday. Our flight landed about 15 minutes after our friends Phil and Ashley's flight from California. We met up with them at the rental car place in perfect timing. They had just finished the inspection of the Volvo stationwagon when we pulled up in the rental car shuttle bus. We drove straight to our hotel and checked in.

Meanwhile our friend/bride-to-be Rachel called us and spur of the moment invited the four of us to join her groom-to-be Mark, her, and her parents for a BBQ dinner at her parents home. That sounded great to all of us, so that is what we did! We arrived at their home shortly after 7 p.m. EST and enjoyed a delicious meal and fun fellowship/conversation for several hours.

Friday morning we enjoyed a lazy start to the day. Late that morning we met up with Phil and Ashley and groom Mark. We decided the guys should go pick up their tuxes from the local mall. Ashley and I went along and browsed through some stores while the guys tried on their tuxes and got squared away. From the mall we headed toward downtown Atlanta and found a great hole-in-the-wall place for lunch called "Twisted Tacos." When we drove by the place we saw lots of people out on the outside patio eating so we figured the food would be good. And it didn't disappoint! After lunch Mark headed back to the hotel since he had "groom" responsibilities to attend to. Phil, Ashley, Matt and I headed to the nearby botanical garden to enjoy the gorgeous afternoon.

Phil and Matt


Me (Mindy) and Ashley w/ downtown Atlanta behind us


Me and Matt (Yes, I'm starting to show at 12 weeks!)

Rehearsal at the church started at 5:30 p.m. It went very smoothly. It was such a big, beautiful church. I took a few photos of the rehearsal since cameras were not allowed during the actual wedding ceremony the next day.

The bridal party - all in their "spots"

Left of Rachel are her sisters - co-matrons of honor

Right of Mark are his co-best men - Aaron and Matt

Mark & the co-best men waiting for Rachel's walk down the LONG aisle

Beautiful Rachel escorted by her Dad

Although blurry, I'm glad I caught this sweet moment

Rehearsal dinner followed at nearby Chastain Horse Park. It was a terrific evening filled with great food and touching toasts.

Groomsman/friend Rick and co-best man Aaron

Me and Matt at rehearsal dinner

Groom Mark giving his thank you speech

Bride Rachel giving her thank you speech

Groomsman/friend Greg and wife Dara Saturday at the wedding reception

Matt and me at the wedding reception Saturday evening

The newly married couple cutting their cake

Matt, me, and Phil ringing bells as the couple departed the reception

The happy couple in the back of Rachel's Dad's Impala convertible

(In the front seat - Rachel's dad is driving and her Mom getting in the front passenger seat)

A parting shot of the front of the church sanctuary where Mark and Rachel were married.

Sunday morning our flight departed back home. It was SO NICE that our flight was incredibly smooth and that it landed 45 minutes early (how often does THAT happen!) which meant we arrived home to reunite with Jay at the time our flight was supposed to have landed at the airport. Hooray!

We were so glad we were able to attend Mark and Rachel's wedding. It was a blessing to be a part of it, too. We look forward to continuing to spend quality time with them - now as married couples! :) And we are so grateful for Nana and PopPop who sacrificed lots of travel, time, and energy to care for Jay here at home while we were away. What a blessing!!!!