Tumbleweed

So this morning Tom and I were taking down our Christmas tree and Jack was laying on his blanket playing. We were busy untangling the lights and boxing up the ornaments while Jack was playing with his new lobster toy. Then we noticed that Jack was about 3 feet off of the blanket and we realized that he most likely just rolled over for the first time and WE MISSED IT! ARGHH!!! I've been watching him intently every time we lay him down on his back because he's been so close to rolling over. How much of a little turd is he that as soon as both of us aren't looking, he finally rolls over? Hahahhaha. He's now our little tumbleweed. I can't wait to see him when he starts crawling. It's so amazing to me that this tiny little person is so strong and determined. He is the most incredible thing! Have a great New Year everyone!!

Jack's First Christmas

Well, Jack's first Christmas has come and gone. He had a great day. Even though I know he had no idea what was going on, he seemed to have fun. He helped his dad open all the presents. He was completely fascinated with the sound of the wrapping paper, and of course he shared all his toys with Sadie. Sadie got 2 new rope toys, one with a tennis ball attached, she also had a great Christmas. We will be celebrating our big family Christmas in Feb or March when we get back to the states.

Jack has a habit of waking up in the morning with a HUGE smile on his face. All you have to do is say "good morning" and he lights up. I thought I would video this and share. It really is the best way to start a day. He has the best smile!



We hope you all had a great Christmas and we wish you all the best in 2008. Tom, Jack and I will be hanging out at home for New Year's. Germany celebrates New Year's Eve like we celebrate the 4th of July. People over here set off fireworks in their back yards that are definitely illegal in the states. I just went to our local grocery store, that's right....grocery store, to buy our fireworks this year. Hahahahaha. I spent 15 euro on this pack of 10 rockets. They're about 4 feet long attached to a huge wooden stake to plant in your yard. It's like an ultimate bottle rocket. We're very excited! :-) So wish us luck that we don't send one through our neighbors window or one of our cars. It should be great!!!

Have a great 2008!!!

Thunder Thighs!

Jack had his 4 month well baby check up today. He's in the 50th percentile for everything. He weighs 15 pounds and is 24.5 inches long. He flirted with Dr. Garde the whole appointment until she checked out his ears. He was not a fan of that! He's right on track for a 4 month old. Then we got 3 shots. He's really good about getting his shots. He screams for a minute then he's done when you pick him up. He's a tough little guy. The nurse who gave him his shots was really nice. She said he was a good size for a 4 month old, I said, "Yep, he's our little porker" That's what I call him, he's a good eater. She then told me, "he's not a real chubby baby but he does have some THUNDER THIGHS". I told her it was all muscle. :-) hehehehe. Poor Jack he's got the thunder thighs. I couldn't even argue with her, she was speaking the truth. He has to have good thighs though for when he's playing baseball and catching like his daddy.

We've been working on our cereal eating skills as well this week. Since his hands flail about as though they're independent from his body ("Friends" reference) it's a very entertaining meal. Next time we're going to try some duct tape. Just kidding. He eats the rice with no problem now. I actually think he likes it, even though it has the taste of wet paper. He even leans in for more when he sees the spoon heading his way. He really likes to help guide the spoon into his mouth. As you can see in the pictures. If anything is within reach of him, it's getting grabbed, no hesitation. :-) In two more months we get to try the green and orange veggies. Isn't that appetizing??

Well, I'm off to make my Christmas cookies....

Jack and Sadie

Well Sadie and Jack are well on their way to being the best of buds! Hehehe. Sadie loves teasing Jack and Jack loves grabbing at her hair. He just stares at her when ever she walks by him and he loves it when she chases her tail and growls.

Jack is becoming more and more active. He reaches for everything, nothing is safe. His new favorite things are the flag on Tom's uniform, my hair, Sadie's tail and the microphone toy on his exersaucer. Every time he moves the microphone it sings "Babba Do Waaaaa". I hear it so much it's in my dreams now. hahhaha. We're still working on rolling over from our back to our belly. We're getting close but those shoulders just keep getting in the way. They're his own little speed bumps.

Tom and I think we conquered the bottle issue we were having. Tom read somewhere to try latex nipples. Sure enough, it worked. The ones we were using were silicone, apparently they just weren't cutting it anymore. It's crazy to think that just one day Jack decided silicone wasn't for him.

Tomorrow Jack has his 4 month well baby check up. I can't wait to see how much he's grown. He no longer fits in any 3 month clothing and he's filling out his 6 month things as well. He has a little Buddha belly. It's so cute! He's chewing on anything he can fit in his mouth so I don't think his first teeth are too far off. I'm sure they'll decide come in right as we're on the plane flying 8 hours home. :-)

We still haven't heard anything about our orders yet. We were really hoping to hear something by Christmas, I'm still optimistic though. Cross your fingers for us!! We'll keep you posted!

Happy Holidays!

Well, at the moment both men in the house are napping. We went to the Schweinfurt Christmas market today. For those of you have never been, it's all these little shacks set up in the market place in the center of town selling just about everything from bratwurst and roasted almonds, to kitchen gadgets, socks and anything else the Germans just can't get enough of. There really isn't a lot of Christmas items, it's just a bunch of random stuff really. There are much better markets around Germany compared to Schweinfurt's, but this one's local. The main reason we went downtown today was for Tom to go Christmas shopping for Jack. There's this great German toy store called Teddy Bear that has a ton of Haba toys and hand painted wooden toys. The store is really cute! So Tom got Jack a few really cool toys. We also met up with Meagan. She very kindly let us park in her garage since we would have had to wait at least a half hour for any type of parking space. Downtown was insanely packed. So we tooled around town with Meagan and Jack, ate some brats and the highlight....a Nutella crepe with bananas. YUMMMMM!!!! That's is the best thing going at the Christmas market.
Jack did really well while we shopped. He was all bundled up, mittens and all. There was a scary German lady who was stalking him in one store. She kept shoving a stuffed monkey in his face, but he handled her. That's my boy! He's been going through a little fussy phase this past week. He all of a sudden decided that he no longer likes taking a bottle. This poses a little problem since I REFUSE to breastfeed in public. I'm sorry, but I'm just one of those people that can't do it! The other problem with Jack not taking a bottle is leaving him with a babysitter (Meagan) for a few hours. Tom and I had a Hail and Farewell on Thursday night. This was the last social event for Task Force Guardian (Tom's Rear-D Command) so we both wanted to be there. Tom got him to take a bottle right before we left @ 5:30pm, but that was it. Bath time is around 7:30, then he eats and goes to sleep. He wouldn't take a bottle for Meagan so he tuckered himself out and fell asleep without eating. Talk about a stubborn kid! Wonder who he gets that from?? The weird thing is last Saturday Tom had him all day while I was shopping in Poland and he took a bottle for each feeding - no problem. So in a matter of 5 days he completely changed his mind about how he wanted to be fed. It blows my mind. I'm thinking Meagan was missing her earplugs that night. The other battle we're fighting now is him napping in his crib instead of his swing. He has no problem going to sleep in his crib at night, and he's sleeping through the night without any issues. He just will NOT sleep in his crib during the day. We pull the shades down, we play the mobile, we make the crib vibrate, we do the "pick up/put down" method....and we're striking out. I'm up for suggestions from all you other moms out there....any advice?? He naps in his swing, his car seat, even in the exersaucer, but not in his crib. Otherwise all is well. Jack hit the 4 month mark yesterday. We have his 4 month well baby appointment next Friday so I'll keep you all posted with how he's growing. He's busting out of his 3 month clothes so I know he's at least longer. Well...until next time! Happy Holidays!

Poland Baby!!!

So Christmas is right around the corner. I almost can't even believe it. Time is flying by and I can barely keep up. My shopping is no where near done and I'm starting to worry that I'll be wrapping up pictures of all the presents that I buy for Tom. (Our mail room is really backed up and things are taking forever to arrive)Tom doesn't have to worry about shopping for me though since I took care of that yesterday. This year Tom gave me a no limit shopping spree in Poland. YEAH! I know Polish pottery isn't for everyone. The first time I went shopping for it I had a headache looking at all the crazy ugly patterns myself. However, I've grown to LOVE the stuff. So yesterday Meagan and I left Massbach at 5am, we got to Poland around 9:30am and shopped until 4pm. It was soooo great! One of the stores had my pattern for 40% off, this was HUGE! hahhahhaha. Needless to say, that place no longer has any green and blue pottery. Aside from getting great deals and completing my collection Tom spent the whole day with Jack. How sweet is that? Jack doesn't have his passport yet so we would have had to leave him at the border if he came with. I missed my boys yesterday. That's the longest I've been away from the little kiddo ever. Jack was sleeping when I left and already in bed when I got home. Tom had full on Daddy duty. He told me he understands why I want to get out of the house. hahhaahha. Tom said that at one point during the day he was on the phone with his commander while he was holding Jack and Jack let out this huge scream. So Tom said, "Sorry sir, I'm babysitting"....His commander said..."You mean parenting?" :-) That is what it is now...Parenting. We're parents. I think it's finally starting to hit both of us. We've been going non stop for the past few months. You don't have the time to think about it, you just do what you have to do. Tom and I are parents. Holy crap! :-) I couldn't imagine life any other way now. What did we do before Jackson? Other than sleep late? heheheh!
As for Jack....he amazes me with something new everyday! He discovered his toes this week. It's so funny. Keeping his socks on has become an Olympic event now. He just grabs on to those little toes and rips those socks right off. I think our new catch phrase is "Don't eat your sock!" Jack will grab the toe part and stretch it to his mouth while the sock is still on his foot. He's very determined as you can see in the video. :-) Tom saw yesterday that he's getting close to rolling over from his back to his stomach. He said he grabs both feet and rocks back and forth. I guess it won't be long. I can't believe how happy Jack is. He even wakes up with a smile on his face. Last night Tom even mentioned that it's his favorite thing. When he wakes up and you go into his room to get him as soon as he sees our faces, he just lights up with this gigantic smile! I never knew I could feel so loved by the flash of a smile! It's great!

It's December Already

I can't believe it's already December. I know it's not good to wish time away but I hope the next 3 months fly by like the last 3!! I'm way too anxious to get back to the states. Germany has been great to us for the past few years, but we're ready to move on to the next place. I cannot wait to see my family, for them to meet Jack, to go shopping, to pay for gas at the pump, to get a Dunkin' Donuts' hot chocolate, to eat a slice of Roma pizza, ya know the little things! :-) I really could go on and on!! It's going to be a crazy move too when it finally happens. We'll have to go through all of our things and decide what the bare minimum will be that we can live with once they ship our household goods. We're hoping that happens as soon as possible! Then we'll ship our cars and we have to ship Sadie as well. I'm not sure if we're going to take her to the airport with us or ship her with a pet shipping company earlier. I'm nervous for her, I hope she tolerates the plane. Actually I hope Taja, my parent's German Shepard, tolerates her as a new roommie!! I know my aunt Lisa is already calling dibs on Sadie just in case. hahahaah.
I guess now that it's December I have to get a jump on my Christmas shopping. I have a few things for Jack, he's easy to buy for. It's so much fun shopping for baby things. Tom's getting harder and harder to shop for. Especially when I ask him for ideas and all he can tell me is that he wants orders. See, once we get orders from the Army we can pick a date to ship our things, buy our tickets to fly home, and get ready for an international move. Once we get those orders I'll have a lot of stuff to write about. So everyone out there....send your good vibes this way, we want those orders yesterday! We're hoping by Christmas that we'll know the where, when and hows of our future. Orders would really be the best Christmas present!
Here's a quick little video of Jack. He's all about laughing now, even if it's fake! hahahah. If you laugh at him, he'll laugh back. And his feet are super ticklish. He's so entertaining! He's also becoming obsessed with Sadie. His eyes follow her everywhere and he gets this biggest smile on his face when she wags her tail. He's easily amused!