Oh, where to begin.

With the amount of time I spend in front of my computer every day (mainly all of Jack's naptime), you would think I would be better about updating my blog. However, I feel like nothing really happens that would warrant a blog, just silly things throughout the day. Maybe I should join Twitter. Hmm...

Jack.
Is just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. We took him to Goore's today because I wanted to weigh him and they have a baby scale. He barely fit. He did, however, weigh in at 20 lbs 4 oz! Crazy! To think that he has gained over 14 lbs since he came home from the hospital (he weighed 6 13 at birth and was 6 2 when he came home) is just ridiculous. No wonder my back was killing me on Sunday when he fell asleep in the sling at Denio's. He is just rolling all over the place these days. The funniest part of it all, though, is that he doesn't really roll from his tummy to his back. He probably only has done that 15 or 20 times, but once he learned how to roll from his back to his tummy, it's nonstop. He knows now that he can scoot himself around in a circle while on his stomach, so I think that he prefers to be face down now, instead of just laying there like a turtle on his back. He wants so badly to crawl, he has started trying to get himself up onto his knees, and once that happens, my life is just going to be all about chasing after him. Those dogs better watch out!

Hubby.
Is doing great. Work is going ok. He is working at the restaurant in the Arden area, which he hates, but it's better than no job. He will be a front of the house manager, but is currently being trained to work in the kitchen, which is something they have never done before. So, this is a good thing, he will be able to have many more opportunities other managers don't have. He is also playing softball on Monday nights with 2 different teams. Jack and I have gone out to watch him once, but it's hard to go to them all. A, it's way too cold at night still to have baby out and B, if the game starts any later than 7:30, we get home way too late. I like Jack in bed by 8:30, 9 at the ABSOLUTE latest, and so, we don't get to go to many games this season. Maybe the summer season we will be able to go see Daddy play more often.

Me.
I'm hanging in there. Work totally sucked this last week. My schedule was very different than it usually is, and I think I let that kind of affect me. Plus, hubby and I for some reason had our schedules messed up in our minds and poor Marcia got the run-around for a few days. But luckily, it all worked out in the end, Jack got taken care of and this week is promising to be better. I have much better shifts, anyway. Lewis and I also got to go on a real date(!) for the first time in, seriously, 6 months. We went to the mall to buy a lawnmower and also decided to go have dinner. We went to McCormick and Schmick's. It was... ok... We sat at the bar, because that has always been our M.O. (well, before we had a high chair to contend with) and I think that was a mistake. The bartender was really nice, but our food took forever! And I know that that's kind of how it goes when you sit at the bar at a restaurant, but I feel like if we are going to spend that kind of money on dinner, I want to have exceptional service to go along with it. So, next time, we'll wait the 15 minutes and get a table. I am SUPER excited for our anniversary that is coming up VERY soon! I can't believe we've been married for almost 1 year! The past year and a half has just been incredible! Let's recap, shall we?
October 07- move in together, I'm traveling like crazy for work
November 07 - big fight
December 07- we're engaged!
January 08 - I go to New York with Jess, find out we're pregnant unexpectedly
April 08 - we get married! and find out Jack will be a Jack and not a Jill
August 08 - baby Jack is born
November 08 - we move again, I go back to work at a different store
December 08 - hubby loses job
March 09 - hubby finds job
So, long story short, my life has been crazy for the past year and a half and I LOVE IT!

And now, since it is bedtime for this tired mama, some pictures!

This is how I found him after nap one day.


I love his little mouth in this picture.

This is why we bought a lawnmower.

The bumper came down this day.

Roly-Poly

Just a little video for your viewing pleasure... Update to follow tomorrow...

Milestone Central

This last week has been CRAZY around here... Jack is just growing and learning and figuring out SO much stuff! Besides standing last week for the first time, getting his first tooth, and rolling consistently from front to back, he is now officially rolling from back to front. Plus he is trying SO hard to crawl, I just feel it... I'm working on getting a video.

The proof!

Holy Crap

We have a tooth! It's the lower right one! I found it today at Borders while walking around with Stephanie and Baby Sophie. I can't believe it... My little boy is growing up!

I will post a picture once I can get a good one.

Jack Standing

7 months old! (and an update)

Well, it certainly has been a while since I've posted a good update. We'll start with the little one.

Jack is feeling much better. He does have a cough still and a tiny bit of a runny nose, but overall he is so much better than a week ago. We went and bought a humidifier for his room and that seems to have made a big improvement. He is doing much better eating solids these days. He can eat an entire jar of the Stage 2 foods. He eats a wide variety of things. He has had carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, green beans, rice cereal, bananas, apples (both regular applesauce and baby apples), pears, cranberries, lemons (his choice, not ours), bread, teething biscuits, and probably more things than I can remember. Right now, his favorite food is sweet potatoes and his least favorite is peas.
We went to Sam's Deli, a kosher-style deli and restaurant for corned beef and cabbage for dinner last night. Jack was the life of the party. We sat at a table in the middle of the restaurant and he was just a dream baby. We had, seriously, like 5 people come by the table on their way out of the restaurant to tell us how cute he was. He's like that everywhere! People are just so attracted to him because he is so friendly. I hope that's something that stays with him. I want him to be a people-person, to feel comfortable in any situation.
One thing he did do last night, which scared the crap out of me was stand up! We have a portable high chair that hooks onto the table we take with us when we go out to eat. It's great, especially since Lewis and I both work at restaurants and we know how often those high chairs are (not) cleaned. Anyway, we put him on my side of the table and just tucked the chair underneath him, so he wasn't in the server's way. Well, he is at just the right height now, that he could use the seat of the chair to STAND UP while reaching across the table for a toy. None of us could believe our eyes. It was just ridiculous. I'll see if I can't post the short video I took on my cell phone.

I'm doing as well as always... I'm only working about 3 days a week at the Outback, but it's perfect. I really don't want to work any more than that, and right now, I don't need to. I truly feel that coming to work in Roseville was the right choice. I miss all the kids I used to work with over at Howe, but it's just too far away now, and, to be honest, the money is way better out here!I'm 2 pounds away from my pre-Jack weight and it's so close I can taste it! I think if I maybe exercised that would help. But, oh, well. The biggest change for me right now is having Lewis go back to work. (more on that later.) We got so used to having him home all day long. Hopefully, now, we can get on more of a schedule, though. It's just hard when we don't have anywhere really to go or do every day. It's the first time I've really had to create structure for my days. Working evenings and not going to school during the day, it's so easy to just do what you want every day. But with Jack, it's so obvious to me that he needs naps and he needs a specific routine, and it's my responsibility to provide that for him. Plus, with him taking a nap in the middle of the day, I have to get up early just in case we have something to do, we can do it in the morning. It's just so WEIRD for me going to Target before noon... It doesn't feel natural :)

Lewis got a job! He is working for Dos Coyotes, a local group of Southwest-style restaurants. They have awesome burritos and even better iced tea! (I love me some iced tea!) He really likes it, he says that the people who own the restaurants actually know what they're doing, which is a huge complaint he always had with Boudin. Right now he is training in Roseville, which is awesome, but we're pretty sure he'll end up at either the store in the Arden Fair mall, or at the store in Folsom. Either one would be fine, but I'd rather him go to Arden, because I have all my friends from OB out there! This would give me a reason to go see them and get free lunch! He is still working at Shaker's Pub and at the Country Club Saloon a few nights a week, but who knows how long that will last. It's frustrating going from seeing each other ALL the time to not seeing each other for 2 days at a time. We will figure it out, though, and do what is best for our family.

ANYWAY, on to the pictures. Because I know that's what you all come here for!

Abby gave us this exersaucer for Jack and he LOVES it. It's a toss-up now between the exersaucer and the jumper. They're both so much fun! I think he likes this so much now because the toys are all new and different.

A friend recommended these Arrowroot Biscuits. Jack LOVES them!

Rolling Over, Stage 1. Tummy Time STINKS!
(on a side note, I actually put him down facing the other way. He spun himself around almost 180 degrees.)



Rolling Over, Stage 2. That darn arm just gets in my way every time.

Rolling Over, Stage 3. I made it!

A happy boy and his dog.

Jack got this shape sorter for Christmas from his great grandparents and he loves it. He likes to dump the shapes out and play with the bucket.

See what I mean?

Come here, you naughty blue shape! I will get you!

Reaching for things can bring pain sometimes. Luckily, Mama is there for a quick snuggle and to take a picture of your hurt.

A little after-bath air drying.

I'm a McCutie!

I'm 7 months old today!

Ok, this cat. I've been meaning to blog about this cat because it's just ridiculous. He has a death wish. I swear to you. A couple months ago, this cat was hit by a car. Our car. But then, he just got up and scampered along, like nothing had ever happened. Then, about 3 weeks ago, he showed up again! This time he was standing in the street in front of our driveway as we pulled in. And do you think he moved out of the way of our car? NO! He sat down! Seriously, what kind of cat does that? One who wants to die, is my only explanation. It was kind of ridiculous.

grrr....

Jack loves being growled at or barked at. It's so cute!

Poor Baby!

Little Jack is sick right now. Just a cold, but it is so sad! He is sneezing and has a runny nose and I can actually hear his breathing... I think I would be freaking out way more if he wasn't in such a good mood. He is still his laughing, cooing, silly boy self. Crazy kid....

Major update!

Isn't it funny how life can seem so busy, when really you're not doing anything at all? I mean, ever since Jack was born, I feel like my days go by so quickly and there's not time to do anything. But then I really think and realize all I did was one load of laundry and have one playdate. Funny how that works...

This job hunt is really starting to take a toll on my family. BUT I am feeling so hopeful that this week, it will be over. We have something very promising in the works, and if all goes well, I will have good news this week! As hard as it is, though, I must admit it is nice having Lewis home all day. He really is a great husband and father, and I will be a little lonely during my days.

So since we won't have as much time together when he goes back to work, we have been trying to find fun things to get us out of the house as a family. This past Sunday, we were both feeling the itch to go do something, so we loaded up the Camry with our boy Jack and Lewis's friend Gabe and headed down to Manteca to go to Bass Pro Shops. For any of you that don't know what they are, they're a fishing, hunting, boating, outdoorsy kind of store. And let me tell you, that place is HUGE! When you walk inside, it just overwhelms you. It didn't really help that there were like 1000 people in there, too! It is two stories tall, full of animal displays and a giant aquarium with all sorts of fish in it. They have an archery range and a trout pond and a waterfall... Just crazy!

This is the front of the store.

Jack next to the mean bear.

This is the view when you walk in the front door. This is on the second story, the waterfalls go into the aquarium.

Jack was not so impressed by the fish.

We spent about 21/2 hours in the store, just walking around and looking at everything. It was very fun, and a good way to spend the afternoon. We did have to buy Jack and Lewis hats, though and Mama needed some fudge, so for around 20 dollars, we had a great afternoon!

Monday was just a lazy day, we didn't really do anything fun. We went to Wal-Mart (in the ghetto. Bad idea on my part.) to buy some picture frames and some other random household items. We also went to the mall and walked around a bit while hubby had a job interview.

Tuesday was spent hanging pictures in the living room and then we went to Grammy Pam's house to meet Matthew's new girlfriend Adrienne. She is very sweet! Next time I will definitely get a picture.

Pardon my messy couch, but we lived in our last house for over a year and NEVER hung any pictures on the wall. I was so proud of us for FINALLY hanging pictures here!

Jack had a great time at Grammy Pam's house.

Wednesday brought a playdate with Jack's girlfriends. A co-worker of mine has two little girls who are 2 and 3. They just love "baby Jack" so we try to get them together to play as often as we can. This time was so funny, though. I guess Izzy, the older one, told her mom last week that she couldn't be friends with baby Jack because Gabby was friends with him! And sure enough, when we were there Izzy didn't want to have anything to do with him, while Gabby was playing with him and bringing him toys. It was so funny! I can't wait until he is old enough to really interact with them. They will surely boss him around.

Today also brought me back to work. It's been slow lately. This whole economy thing is just sucky. It's such a vicious cycle - people aren't working, so they don't spend money, which just puts more people out of work, so they don't have money to spend, it just goes on and on and on. So frustrating! I can't wait until we get our tax money back. I will definitely go out and help stimulate the economy! :)

Oh, and a shout-out to Grandpa Alberto and Grams Vicki! We LOVED the package you sent today! Thank you so much!

I guess that's all for today. Good night.