A little retail therapy goes a LONG way!

Today was the semiannual Just Between Friends (JBF) sale in KC.  (http://www.jbfsale.com/ check out the link for a sale near you!)  This has quickly become one of my favorite events for Jack.  I started going with a friend who was pregnant with me at the same time and this was my 4th sale.  Basically JBF is a consignment sale and has EVERYTHING you could possibly need for a child from birth to preteen.  It's definitely better if your child is younger, only because as they get older, the items get more wear and tear.  Well, today I got a great start on Jack's summer wardrobe...all for under $100.  These are name brand items for a 1/4 of the original price.  I bought some swim trunks with matching body shirt for $6 and some velcro sandals for only $1!  I even managed to square away an Easter outfit that's going to compliment my brown eyed boy, quite nicely.  Now I'm really wishing the sun would come out so he can start wearing all of it.
This year I decided to be a consignor as well.  I obviously want more children, but there were things we didn't get to wear with Jack (wrong seasons/sizes) and I just don't have room to store it all.  So, I kept the favorites and prepared about 50 items to sell.  With the money I make from the sale, I will hopefully cut my cost down significantly.  It was fun for me to see people at the sale today, checking out my gear I had on the racks.  :) 
Not much is going on the rest of the day, so I think I'm going to untag and wash it all.  Reid just left for work.  Jack's fighting his nap today, so we're just going to hang out and hope for an early bed time. 
Hope you're having a great weekend!  Until next time...

Pictures, pictures, pictures

Since Jack has become more and more mobile/independent, it's been hard to snap some good shots.  So, in the last couple of days I've literally followed him around with a camera and caught some good ones.  Just wanted to share a few. 
I made a little "movie" chair for the big guy so he could watch his favorite movie...none other than Mother Goose.  It just happens to the be the same Mother Goose I watched as a kid (and loved).  I bought it for him on DVD and I love that he adores it as much as me:

Daddy and mommy were playing "find Jack" and chasing him around the house.  He loves to play like we're chasing him:

Jack sporting a new spiky 'do.  He needs a haircut really bad, but it's getting really good at spiking:

Just a few pics to update with.  In 2.5 weeks, he'll be 1...we're just in awe at how this first year has flown by.  We love being parents and this face just makes us smile all the time.  :) 

Until next time...

Sunday = big 'ol snow day

Well, we just got back from church and the snow is beautiful, but it's much prettier when we can watch it from the warmth of our living room.  We're supposed to have 8 inches accumulation.  I am the first to admit I LOVE snow, but I'm really ready for steady sunshine.  I can't wait to take Jack outside and run around at the park!  We are getting a little stir crazy. 
Nothing much planned for today.  Jack just went down for a nap and Reid and his friend Matt are watching the Liverpool vs. Manchester City game.  I really need to go to the grocery store, but again, getting out in the snow just doesn't sound appealing to me anymore.  It's supposed to snow until tomorrow morning!  Too bad my work place can't close for the day.  That would be awesome! 
I think I'll spend today knitting Jack's birthday blanket.  It's coming along nicely.  It's my first large project and I must say I'm pretty impressed that the 2 stitches I know, have made it.  Knitting has definitely become one of my favorite things to do. 
Hope you all have enjoyed your weekend.  Stay warm!
Until next time...

Tooth #3 is here!

I found the tips of tooth number 3 a couple of days ago.  This is Jack's 3rd tooth on the bottom.  He's working on 3 more up top, too.  I can see them close under the gums!  No wonder he's been a little fussy and it may also explain his fussiness/picky eating.  We're rooting them on...it'll be interesting to see how many he'll have by his 1st birthday?! 
We hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Until next time...

11 months! WOW!

Jack is 11 months old today!  He's quite the little boy these days and he's in a really fun stage.  He's walking everywhere and he wants to get into everything he can.  His favorite things to do are pulling the videos off the shelves, playing with daddy's Xbox gear, and trying to go outside his "designated play area".  He is starting to be pretty independent, however I still sense his frustrations when he can't get where he wants to fast enough.  He wants to run, now that he's got this walking this down. 
We're getting really excited to celebrate the big '1'!  We took him to the party store and picked out all the decorations and invitations.  If you know us well, I'm sure you can guess the theme, but if not, I'll keep it a secret till you see all the pictures.  Reid's Aunt and Uncle have graciously lent us their house so that we didn't have to rent out a room.  Our house isn't quite big enough to host my family and his together, let alone the rest of the guests.  So, things are coming together nicely and in 4 short weeks, we'll have a 1 year old.  It's hard to believe that it's gone this fast.  Just the other day a lady at my work said, "Man, didn't you just get engaged?"  Ha!  Time flies when you're having fun!
Until next time...

He's a natural...

I needed to get some updated photos of Jack, so tonight I let him play with his daddy's XBOX stuff.  He loves controllers/electronics of all sorts.  These are some pretty cute moments I caught.

Bringing mommy the controllers:

Already speaking gaming lingo: 

We've been pretty busy around our household lately.  There are some major changes happening at my work with budget cuts, so I'm working as much as I can at home, while being Mommy too.  I need to just take one day at a time and be thankful for every day of employment.  I'm not to the "worried about losing my job" point yet, but major changes are taking place.  So, we just never know.  I'm hoping this weekend we can focus on relaxing and enjoying being together.  Saturday, Reid gets the day off, so we're going to celebrate Valentine's Day early and hopefully have a couple hours without Jack to get dinner and have a date.  On Sunday, I am singing in our church choir for Mass and then we'll likely join Reid's family out for lunch.  He's working that evening, so I've invited a nurse friend from work, to have dinner and I'll share my little man as her valentine, too.  :) 

We hope you get to spend the weekend with those you love! 

Until next time....

Ferber-izing

Well, today is day three of the ferber method at our house.  It's working ok.  Reid was home on Monday and successfully "ferberized" Jack at naptime and night time.  It's easier for him to do it because I can't listen to Jack cry.  Monday night he slept fairly well, too.  One little peep around 1:30am that didn't require attention, was all!  Yesterday he took a nap around the same time as Monday and the method worked again.  Last night he had a couple moments where he'd wake up and 2-3 minutes of fussing/crying and he'd be back to sleep.  Around 3am, he woke up and we let him cry for a bit...well then he must've fell into the crib because we heard a crash and then screaming.  So we let him lay with us for a few minutes.  He wasn't happy with that either, so back to the bed.  He cried and fussed off/on from about 310am till almost 4am.  It was a long 50 minutes for this momma.  But, we're staying strong...or at least trying to. 
I don't think we're doing too much damage to him.  I was worried he'd wake up mad at us for letting him cry all night.  This morning he was awake and all smiles when I left for work, so I think he forgave us again.  (Or he just has no recollection.)  :) 
Here's hoping for success!  We'll keep you posted.
Until next time...