Things I Love. . .

I love that Jack was born to be a Yankees fan (it's in his NY Italian upbringing).
Sweet potatoes were for dinner tonight. When else did they look so cute smeared all over a face?

Jack is 5 Month's Old

It is amazing to me that Jack has been with us for almost a half a year already. He is such a joy and a very happy baby. Developmentally he has grown up a lot this month too. Maybe that is why his sleeping patterns are also changing (ugh!). I have loved being a mom and Jack makes it even more fun, because he is starting to hug and snuggle a little more. I think this is the age where a mother develops her sense of unconditional love, because the baby is so dependent on her. Here are a few of the great things that have happened this month.

Nicknames: Peanut, Little Man, Wiggle Worm
Temperament: He continues to make lots of noises. Sometimes when I am playing the piano he will make sounds...I think he is singing. Lately he has been fighting sleep. He will easily fall asleep in my arms, but does not always want to sleep when just put in the crib. He has learned to wiggle out of his swaddles too, so it looks like we will be learning new sleeping patterns during his fifth month. He continues to be a happy baby though, and laughs more each day. Jack laughs a lot for his dad, especially when Joe tickles him. I have even seen Jack laugh at Bodhi, our dog. When my parents were here, he was giggling at my mom when she put him on the changing table. And he still gives away lots of smiles when we are out in public.

Another thing that is changing is his eating schedule. For a long time he was content to have a 6oz. bottle about every four hours. Now there are times when he won't eat for long period of time, so I have learned to increase the amount to about 7 oz. at each feeding.

Items/Toys That We Love The Most: Jack is definitely starting to show favorites. He still really likes, Mike the Moose. If you put a bunch of toys on a blanket, he will gravitate towards that. He has also started using the jumper that my mom bought at a yard sale. His feet barely touch the ground, but he still uses them to hop a little bit. The Ergo baby carrier has seen a lot of good use lately, since the weather has warmed up (lots more climbing trips). Fingers and toes also make for great entertainment. Jack will often reach for his feet to pull the socks off or suck on his toes. And of course, he loves to suck on his cute chubby fingers!


First Experiences: It took a few months, but Jack is finally rolling from his back to his stomach. He still does not know how to get back onto his back, but that doesn't stop him from flipping over and then whining for someone to help him out. Of course, right after you help him out, then he does it again right away. Forget about doing the dishes or folding laundry!

We also decided to try rice cereal. I was going to wait until he was five months, but his curiosity when we ate, made me decide that he was ready to try it out. He will stop what he is doing and just stare at us eating, as if he is studying the way to chew food. So every evening I get a little rice cereal mixed with his formula and try it out. He makes faces and most of it still rolls down his chin, but he is started to get more of the spoon in his mouth each time. I can't wait to start giving him vegetables and fruit (I need to do some research and find out how long I should wait to try that).


We also had our first getaway without Jack. My parents drove down on the weekend before Valentine's Day so that Joe and I could enjoy some alone time. I knew he was in good hands with my parents, but I was so worried that he would cry and stay up all night. Thankfully he was great. I am not even sure if he missed me?

At his last doctor's visit he weighed a little over 14 lbs. I would assume he has gained at least another pound. He was around 25 inches, so he is getting bigger too. We are looking forward to warmer months ahead, with more play dates at the park and mommy can take Jack for morning jogs.

While We Were Out. . .

My parents were kind enough to venture down here this past weekend, so that Joe and I could enjoy a romantic getaway. I was glad to know that he would be in good hands (I knew my mom would take good care of Jack). And my dad would get some stuff done around our house (install new smoke detectors and try to install our diaper sprayer, which happens to be broken...urgh). I think they had a good time, since I found these pictures on my camera when I returned home! I would have added some from my dad's facebook page too, but I can't seem to find a way to copy those pictures now that facebook has changed...oh well.

Whitegrass in WV

For Valentine's Day my sweet husband called my parents ahead of time and asked them if they would come down for the weekend to watch Jack. That would allow us to get away for a few days and have a little alone time. So after a few different plans, we finally settled on the idea of going to Whitegrass Resort on Saturday to cross country ski, return home that night and then climb locally on Sunday. Everything was planned around the weather, and it just seemed to keep changing so we weren't sure if it would be a skiing trip or a getaway south to rock climb and explore Asheville. Fortunately it looked like there would be a light dusting of snow on Saturday in Canaan Valley, WV so we decided to take the cross country ski route.

I have wanted to try cross country skiing for a long time. Cross country skiing always seemedmore like hiking and a leisure way to enjoey the beauty around you. I have never been a big fan of most winter sports, because you almost always have to like speed (down-hill skiing, snowboarding, sledding, skating) and that is not my favorite thing. Of course you can always throw in some adventure with some downhill drops, stream crossings, and a trip off trail. It was definitely all that I expected and more.

For starters it was a little harder that I expected. I fell a lot on this first trip and I was super afraid of going downhill and losing control. I still really don't know a good way to stop or turn, but I could use more practice at it. Joe just recently bought some back country skis, so he has had a bit more practice. He also likes the adventurous aspect more, so he first took me out to an area that was untouched by other skiers. The more adventurous we got, the less I liked it (after attempting to cross a stream and go uphill on crazy steep hills, I asked for us to turn around. So we did, and then thankfully Joe went on the easy trail. This was good for me to learn the basics. I still wiped out a lot. It was a great workout and very exhausting, but also thrilling. I hope we get a chance to go again next year. I included some pictures of our trip. As for the climbing part, I did not get any pictures, but that was also a great day.

I'm so thankful for my parents for allowing us to get away for a few days. We truly enjoyed the time to connect and have some fun. I think they also had a lot of fun with Jack. They even took a bunch of pictures of him...which I will post later. So I figure it was a win/win situation for everyone.

Provo, UT Girls - BYU Divine Comedy

This music video cracks me up and makes me think of college (I even miss those days). If you are not Mormon it probably won't be as funny but it was created by the improv group at BYU and I loved going to their shows.

Stair Renovations aka. The Quick Fix

So we have been working a lot of updating and improving our 100 year old house. It has definitely had its surprises for us, with wiring and old style dry walls. For the most part we have finished renovating the upstairs in our home. We completely gutted the bathroom, painted the bedrooms, leveled out the hallway floor, and put up new drywall. This new drywall was actually put up in the upstairs hallway all the way downstairs into the entryway and through the dining room. So have uncompleted stairs was a big eyesore for us. The stairs probably deserve to be replaced, but with our budget being saved to renovate the kitchen we just wanted something to make them look better. So we painted them!
I love how it came out. So we painted the front doors (we have two) to match. It allowed for a more cohesive look through out and green looks a lot better on the doors. However, Joe is not so in love with the green color. He wants to change it, but we have already had friends over for a visit and they liked the green. So maybe I can convince him that we need to keep it the way it is. Let me know what you think!