Multiple blogs within a blog

Well, here I am in the 2nd week of October and I know I've been poor at getting this thing updated.  Again- it's likely a result of how busy we are!  So, I'm going to write short little snipits of what has gone on in the month of September and early October. 

We've had an extremely busy and exciting last 6 weeks!  Some highlights:
*I got accepted to William Jewell acclerated nursing program.  This program will allow for me to attend 12mos of school and have my RN, BSN.  It's going to start in May 2011.  It's close to home, a beautiful campus, and most importantly, I'm SO excited to get into the physical health side of things.  I know that I have the potential to be a great nurse and I cannot wait to start.

*We upgraded our Cobalt to a Chevy Equinox.  It just happened to work out and ended up being a good deal and it has already been a huge blessing as far as space goes.  We were quite crammed, seeing that we're all tall people.  Jack was kicking the seats really bad in the back of the Cobalt and now he has at least a foot of space between his feet and the seat. 

*Jack and mommy took a trip to the KC zoo on 10/2 with some friends.  Jack's friends Owen and Gabby and Anthony all got to come too, with their parents.  Jack got to see one of his favorite NickJr characters, Diego the Animal Rescuer.  He was at the zoo visiting kids.  This month and next, all KC residents get in free with a utility bill-- you can sure bet we'll be going back soon! 

*On 10/9, we went back for our 2nd Annual Carolyn's Country Cousins pumpkin patch visit.  This year we went with my friend Cortnie, her husband, and their two kids.  It was so fun to see Jack run around and play on all the toys.  He wanted to see everything.  We took a VERY dusty ride out to the pumpkin patch and decided it wasn't worth standing out in the 90* weather, so we went back and enjoyed some pumpkin donuts, pumpkin bread, and cider slush...YUM!  Jack got to play with his friend Gabby around the play yard.  They are too cute together.  They walked around holding hands and just looked like a miniature old couple wondering around.  They played on the pirate ship, went down slides, banged pots and pans, went under the tire tunnel, and pet some of the animals.  On the way home he was asleep within 5 minutes of leaving the patch.  The heat and fun wore him out!

*Later that evening, my mom and Lucy arrived for a short, but very fun visit.  No school today (10/11) and so they got to hang out for two days.  We ate lots of good food, shopped till we dropped, and they got to enjoy some good quality time with Jack.  He just loved having them here and really loves his Aunt Lucy.  He says, "Llluuucy".  :)  It's just too adorable.  I'm so thankful they were able to come and visit.  Its a very long trip, but my mom is right: we're just going to have to work at making this distance thing work! 

Jack news:

*Jack had his 18 month check up and got a good clean bill of health.  He's right around the 90th percentile for both weight and height.  His weight did drop some, so we're heading in for a weight check in 2 weeks.  I know it's likely because we went in right after he had the flu and had no appetite.  We'll just take him in an double check.  As many eating issues he's had, we might as well just make sure he's still on track.

*Jack has been talking up a storm.  He is an incredibly bright young boy.  We feel very blessed and are excited that he's learning so fast.  In the last real post on Sept 1, Jack was just starting to count and recognize new letters.  Well, by 9/17, his 18mos mark, he was saying his alphabet and counting to 10!  Now he can't count to 15, on his own and he can count to 10, with some prompting, in Spanish!  He also recognizes all of his alphabet and will point out random letters everywhere we go.  Last night at dinner he saw a 'W' and said "W, X, Y, Z".  He likes to sit in a "pool of blocks" and pick up random blocks and tell me what they are.  Now, I'm not sure how all of this came about, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, I know that NickJr has helped teach him these things.  And they advertise it as "preschool on TV" and they aren't kidding!  Dr. Cattaneo, his pediatrician, couldn't believe it and had to show him off to the rest of the office, he was so excited. 

*Not only is Jack counting and saying his letters, he's started talking in short sentences.  While Grandma Skoch and Aunt Lucy were in town, he was very talkative.  Last night while shopping, my mom walked away for a minute and he said, "Grandma, WAIT!"  At the grocery store, he was riding in the cart and grandma stopped to look at something.  We kept moving and Jack yelled, "Come on grandma!"  I had NO clue that he knew what "wait" and "come on" even meant!  He has also been saying "Bless You" when someone sneezes.  He'll also say, "Daddy work" when I'm at home with him at night and his daddy comes up in conversation.  If you ask Jack "Why?" he responds, "Cuz".  I was trying on clothes to go out the other night and I asked Reid, "Why do you like this one, over the other?"  Jack yelled from the other room, "CUZ!"  I guess he was sick of me trying on clothes too.  (Boys will be boys!)  :)

We're really looking forward to a fun rest of this month.  Jack's daddy's birthday is on Sunday and his Grandma Judy's is next week!  Halloween will be here before we know it and we have lots of road trips coming up as well. 

Thanks for checking in on us.  Happy Fall! 

Until next time...

18 mos pictures

We took Jack to JCPenney's last night to take a family photo for his 18 mos "milestone". Unfortunately I can't get the print to save to my computer, so I'll have to try to share the link. They turned out GREAT, even though he was being a little stinker. We're happy to share his smile.


https://viewimages.jcpportraits.com/sharealbum/sharealbumlist?rndId=1283656299&uId=1120605
 
Until next time...

Let's Count!

Jack's been doing so many new things recently and I wanted to share.  When we were visiting cousin Emery a few weeks ago, Jack really took to the magnadoodle, so when I saw one on our recent kid's consignment sale for $4, I couldn't pass it up.  His new love is "coloring" and this is a great way for him to color without all the mess.  I've also been writing things and having him guess what it is, or I'll draw pictures of animals and he makes the appropriate sound.  He's a sharp one.  Last night he started counting!  Ok, it's not like he said "1, 2, 3, 4, 5" but he knows the sequence of the numbers he said.  We were stacking some cups that we have (with numbers on them) and I said, "eight" and he goes "nine, ten!"  I looked at him in amazement and thought it was a fluke.  So, I tested it again and he said, "Nine, ten!"  I am amazed at his ability to absorb so much and now the regurgitation is coming at fast rates.  He also is able to recognize letters.  While we were watching our favorite programs on TV last night, the letter 'S' came on and he said "S!"  Then came "R", "M", and "D"!  Anyone that says TV can't be educational is NOT watching NickJr.!  :)
Here is an updated picture of our smiley little guy:

Another funny photo:  Jack is also really entertained by walking around in "big people" shoes.  He even tries to put on his daddy's flip flops, while he has socks on.  It's just the funniest thing. 
Thanks for visiting us.  Here's wishing you a happy holiday weekend.  Be safe and enjoy the last few days of summer! 
Until next time...

17 months

Today, our little guy is 17 months old!  It just seems unreal, how fast this time has gone.  I don't have much in the way of stats, since his next check-up isn't until next month.  However, he does have a pretty bad case of diaper rash, so we happened to be at the doctor's office last night.  On the way to the scale I guessed 28 lbs and sure enough, he weighed 28.4 lbs!  That's only up 1 full pound in 7 weeks.  But, he's quite a bit more active these days, so I'm not surprised. 

He's keeping us busy at home.  He's really starting to talk a lot more.  My favorite is the way he says, "milk".  I appreciate his ability to let us know when he's thirsty, however do not mention anything about his milk, unless you're prepared to give it to him.  We've noticed that we have to spell things out already because otherwise he gets mad if we can't deliver it to him. 

Last weekend we were away for one of my best friend's weddings, and grandma Judy kept him.  She told me he was walking down the hallways, knocking on the doors, saying "knock, knock".  He's very smart and I'm enjoying the new ways of communication.  The wedding we went to was my friend Sarah, who married Patrick Altenhofen.  It was a stunningly, beautiful ceremony and reception.  I was so honored to be part of the wedding and I'm so excited for them to spend their life together as one.  They are great friends of ours as a couple and just wonderful people to be around.  Patrick's family was fun getting to know and it's fun for me to have common roots with him; both our grandparents are from the same part of Kansas.  In fact, the groomsman I walked down with used to work with my cousin! 

Together at the Rehearsal Dinner:

Sarah and her bridesmaids at the beautiful Rehearsal dinner:

Sarah and Patrick Altenhofen!:

Sarah and her bridemaids taking fun pictures:

Two weekends ago I took Jack to visit my cousin Jennifer and her boys, Patrick and Emery.  Emery and Jack are 8 weeks apart and it was so fun to see them interact, now that they're both walking and talking.  They sat across from each others at mealtime and just "babytalked" the whole time.  They'd shake their heads at each other and mimic movements.  They spent time enjoying their favorite TV programs together and sharing emery's toys.  We had a blast taking them to the zoo, the farmer's market, shopping for "mom time", and playing in the fountains.  We're looking forward to the Atchison's visit this weekend for some baseball!

Jenn and me with the boys (paying attention to something else) at the zoo:

Fountain fun:

Bathtime for the boys:

Hanging out in diapers, watching the Backyardigans:

Some of Jack's current favorites:  Dora the Explorer (still- in fact we were in Payless yesterday and he only wanted to try on the pink Dora tennis shoes, instead of the Buzz Lightyear for boys), PB&J sandwiches, building blocks, kicking a soccer ball (or just kicking anything on the ground), going outside or "bye-bye", playing with our phones (he picks them up and says, "how" which we think is hello), walking around in mommy and daddy's shoes, wrestling with daddy, and storytime with mommy before bed. 

The last 17 months have flown by.  We're blessed with an intelligent, smiley little toddler and we can't wait to see what's in store for us next!

A mouth full!

Well- it's finally pushed through...tooth #12!!  It's been a long road for this last molar to break the gum surface.  Jack has been teething on everything and I believe this tooth may have caused the most discomfort for him.  But, finally the skin has broken and hopefully some relief is in sight.  I can't believe this kid has 12 teeth!  He's experiencing chewing his food in a whole new light...or maybe just experiencing chewing, period.  He used to shovel everything in and now he actually chews.  :) 
Until next time...

Do do do Dora...

Jack's vocabulary is expanding at a rapid pace.  He loves Dora the Explorer right now and has started saying many words that are related to it; for example "map" or "Dora Dora Dora" or "Aww man" (Swiper the fox says this when he gets in trouble) and don't forget "Boots", Dora's best friend.  And sometimes Dora explores in a car and Jack's shouting "car, car" at the TV.  I think his favorite word is "map" (see the map peaking out of backpack below?).  Every time Dora comes on the TV he gets excited and dances to her song.  Then it's "map map map map" for the rest of the show. 

Hopefully you're having a good Monday!  Until next time...

Phillips Family Cruise 2010

Well, I'm finally getting a chance to update about the last couple of weeks.  Reid and I went to Mexico on the Carnival Cruise lines FUNship Ecstasy. His grandmother turned 80 and wanted her 4 kids and their families to go on a cruise.  It was an AWESOME vacation for us. 
It was also Jack's first vacation to his Grandpa (Ye-Ye) and Grandma Skoch's house in Hastings.  I'm so thankful they agreed to keep him.  He was there for 9 whole days!  I was really anxious about the whole thing when I left him there, but I knew he was in good hands.  My mom said he did wonderfully.  He definitely kept them busy!  My siblings were chasing him around all week.  He loved to run around to the different rooms (since its a big circle around the fireplace), flip the lights on and off, and play outside in the backyard.  He was spoiled with all the space he had. 

At the beginning of the trip to drop Jack at the Skoch's house:

We left Friday morning the 9th after Reid got home from work at midnight that night.  We drove 2 vehicles from KC to Houston, where Uncle Jeff's family lives.  We were all getting so anxious and it was hard to sleep.  More family arrived late in the night and it was wonderful to catch up with everybody.  After rearranging the bags, we piled in the cars drove to Galveston to board the ship. 
We had these great "Phillips Family Cruise" shirts made for everyone:

We spent the first evening on the ship, exploring all the fun things to do.  There were comedy shows, game shows, a casino, performances, and dance clubs.  We got to have fun umbrella drinks and enjoyed some simply amazing food.  The dining on the ship, by itself, is worth the money.  We felt like royalty being served such fancy meals every night. 

Our first port was Progresso.  It was a culture shock to me.  The town was quite small and seemed rundown.  However, there was a great little open-air market where we got fantastic bargains on some souveneirs.  They wanted to sell us their stuff pretty bad so we were able to make some deals.  And they had a BEAUTIFUL beach (see next photo).  While we were on the beach, the locals were selling everything from jewelry to singing (people would stop and want compensation for a serenade).  It seems like this was how many of the locals made their living.  I spent the day with Jeff and his girls, while Reid explored the Chichen Itza ruins.  It was a great day!

Here is a picture of us as a night of dinner:

Our second port was Cozumel.  That was awesome and such a difference than Progresso.  As soon as you got off the ship there were big, fancy shops with LOTS of shopping.  Reid, 2 of his cousins, and had chosen to go to the Playa Mia Beach Break Deluxe.  Basically it was all you can drink/eat Mexican buffet and water toys.  There was a water trampoline and slide in the middle of the ocean you could swim out to.  You could also check out the paddle boats.  I just laid out and drank some pretty great margaritas.

Me and Reid enjoying the sun: 

Margarita #1 for the day!  I was in heaven...margaritas and beautiful beaches...what else can a girl ask for:

The rest of the time was spent enjoying the ship.  Reid won a round of trivia and got a little trophy.  We played pitch on the lido deck until late at night with the family.  Then after the parents went to bed, we explored the dance clubs.  I would definitely do that again. 

Here we are on the last night with the sunset as we were sailing back to Galveston:

When we got home life picked back up really fast.  We met my mom halfway to get Jack.  I was so incredibly excited to see my little buddy.  I couldn't believe how fast he grew and changed. He came back saying like 10 more words and he knows what so many things are.  It was like his vocabulary exploded while we were gone.  He knows car, ball (of every shape and size), book, block, dog, woof woof, duck, Ye-Ye (Chinese for grandpa- and Grandpa Skoch wants to be called Ye-ye), nana for banana, and so much more.  He is holding "conversations" with us.  It is just amazing to see this little boy emerging.  Other than new words, Jack has his 12th tooth coming through.  He has 4 top and bottom in the front and then his first molars on top and bottom are through.  The last one (bottom right) is popping through as I write this.  I can't decide if teething is worse as a toddler or infant.  He's really growing up so fast. 

Until next time...