Weekly Photo

As I've mentioned several times, I take Jack's picture every week.  I think it's fun to see how he is changing so quickly.

So I was getting ready to take his pictures last week and Jack decided to not be very helpful in the prep.  Actually, Dave wasn't very helpful either-he was too busy laughing at me as I tried to get Jack to help me spread out the blanket.  I couldn't get my gray blanket backdrop down and then Jack decided to grab my camera strap and taste it.

Redemption

The last you heard from me, I was telling you about how Jack and I were having a difficult time.  I'm not one to leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth so I want to tell you that things have gotten better.  Yesterday, we had a GREAT day.  We went over to see our friend's Kristen and Eva for a pool date.  It was so nice to see them and get out of the house for a while.  Jack was sweet as could be!  Eva and Jack floated around the pool in their floats and Jack even decided to take a little snooze while in the pool.

Ahhhh, this is the life!

After the pool, we headed home only to discover that Molly had decided to do a little light reading:

Molly enjoyed a little James Patterson

Needless to say, I was not pleased.  Jack had a little snack and then we played until he was ready for his nap.  He slept for over an hour in his crib and then he slept for another hour in my arms (sometimes you just need to snuggle).  I was thinking about how great the day had been and I couldn't wait to put him down so I could blog and tell everyone.

Well, eight o'clock came around and we fought sleep for about two hours.  Close to ten o'clock, Jack finally went down for the night.  By this time, I was done!  I had nothing left in me so I just went to bed.

Today has been another good day.  We went and saw Crafty Sue, played a little dress up and showed off Jack's great sitting up skills. 

Little Buckaroo with big boots

This evening, we went over to the McBridgett's for dinner.  Jack had so much fun playing with them and their dog, Barley.  He got a little fussy towards the end so we headed home in hopes of getting to bed on time.  As I began rocking Jack, I started to tell him the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.  As I was telling the story, he started to nod off.  I put him down about 30 minutes ago and haven't heard a peep!  My fingers and toes are crossed that he stays down for several hours.

Defeated

I try to keep the blog upbeat and positive all while "keeping it real" so this read may be a little different than usual. 

Some days just get the best of me and today was one of those days.  Actually, it was tonight that really got the best of me.  Dave is out of town again this week and won't be home until Saturday.  I think that Jack senses his absence and gets a little out of sorts.  Deep down, I think Jack and Dave are in cahoots.  Jack acts up while Dave is out of town so that I will appreciate Dave even more when he is here.  Jack and Dave:  if you are reading this, I really really really appreciate you so please cut me some slack.  Jack was very clingy today.  He didn't want to play with any of his toys, he just wanted me to hold him and play with him.  Don't get me wrong, I love Jack and really love playing with him, but I also like him to play independently occasionally so I can use the bathroom and give my arms a break from the 19 pound bouncing baby.  By the time eight o'clock rolled around (Jack's bedtime) I was ready for him to go to bed.  After over an hour and lots and lots of crying, Jack is finally down for the night (or at least until he gets up to feed in a few hours).

I call Dave and I tell him how our day has been and then I automatically feel bad that I am causing him worry.  I would never keep anything from him, but I also hate to worry him.  I know that he feels bad that he's not here and then when we have a rough day it makes him feel even worse.

It's hard because Dave was out of town two weeks ago and then we were all at the beach last week (where Jack didn't do a lot of good sleeping or napping) and now Dave is out of town again this week.

I know (and have always known) that travel is part of Dave's job.  It is because Dave works so hard that I am afforded the luxury of retiring at such a youngish age.  I try very hard not to complain about Dave traveling, but sometimes I just want our little family all together.

I hope that today was the worst of it and the rest of the week will be smooth sailing.

Now, to end this on a happy note. Here is a sweet picture of Jack from the beach:

Olympics

The Mulleys are going to the Olympics.  No, we didn't qualify for Weightlifting (even though we have become quite good at doing Jack Curls and Jack Presses) we are going as spectators.  While we were at the beach we were able to procure some tickets to the 2012 Games in London.  We are going to see Badminton, Table Tennis, Beach Volleyball, Synchronized Swimming and Field Hockey.  Even better than being a part of the Olympics, we are going to see Jack's grandparents and hopefully his uncles and aunt! The countdown in on...397 days until the 2012 Olympics in London!!!

Last Day at the Beach

Our last day at the beach was nice and relaxing.  Auntie Allee, Uncle Eddy, Delaney and Dylan left early that morning so that they could make their way home.  They had quite a long drive ahead of them.  Later that morning, The Roadys and the Mulleys headed out for a drive on the 4x4 beach.  Corolla is known for their wild horses on the 4x4 beaches so we went out in search of them.

this dumbass woman wouldn't get out of my shot...

I was finally able to angle the shot so that I got the horse but not the ass

After our trip on the beach we headed back to the house for lunch.  Dave and I decided that we would leave that evening when we would normally put Jack to bed.  Our hopes was that he would sleep the whole way home and we wouldn't have to deal with the traffic on Saturday. Once we made that decision, Dave made sure he got a nap since we would be driving during our normal sleeping hours.

Jack helping his daddy nap

After dinner, we walked across the street for some ice cream before we hit the road back to Raleigh.  On the way, we stopped for a picture or two...

After our ice cream, we loaded up and began our 4.5 hour trip to Raleigh.  After about 7 minutes, Jack started his Jack Attack so we pulled over and rocked Jack to sleep.  Once he was asleep, we got back on the road and didn't hear a peep from him the whole way home.  It was nice to sleep in our own beds and have all of Saturday to ourselves without any traveling.  It was so nice to see everyone and for Jack to have the opportunity to get to know his aunts, uncles and cousin better.  The added bonus was when I weighed myself after vacation, I was 8 pounds lighter.  I told Dave that this clearly means we need to vacation more!

The Roady Family

Jack has had the opportunity to spend a lot of quality time with his aunts, uncles, cousin and Granny.  He has been a really good baby this week (with the exception of during the sleeping hours).  All of his cousins loved on him, but Delaney and Madison were a little obsessed with him.  He is such a lucky little boy to have so many people who love him!

Elizabeth helping Delaney (4 years) hold Jack

Delaney and Madison (4 years) admiring Jack

Jack and Dylan (11 months)

Dylan playing with Jack

Uncle Chip loving on Jack

All the cousins: Madison, Jack, Tripp (7 years), Delaney, and Dylan

Madison holding Jack

Tripp holding Jack

And we couldn't forget about Auntie Allee and Auntie Colleen:

Beach Update

We've been at the beach since Saturday and I haven't had time to blog until tonight (and I'm pretty distracted by my sister and sister-in-law who are begging to be blogged about-more on that in another posted dedicated specifically to them).

The drive down was great until the last hour when Jack had a major Jack Attack.  When he got fussy, we decided to stop for lunch and Jack's pleasing personality came back and he entertained everyone in the restaurant with his giggles and smiles.  After lunch, we got back in the car and within minutes Jack was screaming again. We stopped again and I fed Jack.  He was happy and then when we started moving again, and he started screaming again.  The bumper to bumper traffic certainly didn't help the situation.  When we were about 2 miles from our destination, Dave pulled onto a side street and said he was going to walk the rest of the way with Jack.  He and Jack got out and started to walk and I drove the rest of the way.  Jack was a happy (albeit sweaty) baby for the remainder of the trip.

Our first stop was at our friend Jenn's house.  We were so excited to see Jenn and meet her sweet baby, Keller.  Jack and Keller were fast friends!  Keller is almost 4 months old and is as tall as Jack.

Dave, Jack, Jenn and Keller (Jack was hot from his walk so he took his clothes off)

Elizabeth holding Keller and Jack

Elizabeth, Jack, Jenn and Keller (Jack was man-handling Keller a bit)

After we visited with Jenn and Keller, we got back on the road and headed to our home for the week.  Jack was so thankful that we got to take a little break from driving- he was much more pleasant for the last 12 miles of the trip.

Once we unpacked the car, we jumped in the pool to cool off.

Jack and Mommy cooling off

Jack practicing floating on his back

Jack wasn't too sure about the pool at first, but he loved it after a while.

After our swim, Jack was hungry! We borrowed our friend Eva's booster seat and Jack tested it out with his first dinner at the beach.

Thanks for sharing, Eva!

Sunday morning, we headed to the beach.  It was quite a task to get all of our stuff to the beach, but once we did we had a great time.  I think Jack is going to love the beach as much as his parents do!

Jack relaxing in his beach tent

Jack and Daddy enjoying the sun

toes in the sand

Jack was looking at a crab but the crab was trying to escape the shot.  (You can see him on the right side of the picture.)

All in all, the first half of our beach vacation has been great.  Lots of family members are eager to make an appearance on the blog, so I'm sure I'll be back with with posts dedicated to them ;)

Downward Dog

Beach Bound

Jack and I have been busy packing up practically everything we own so that we can head to the beach for a week with my family.  Jack didn't offer very much help, but did remind me of some of the things we need to remember to take.

The cooler looks like it's packed full

Can't forget Jack's sunshade!

Looks like the beach bag is ready to go!

Our goal is to continue to blog while at the beach so check back as we document our adventures.

Bonus Footage from The Bachelor: Baby Edition

Here is a little behind the scenes footage of Jack wooing Claire from there one-on-one date yesterday.

The Bachelor: Baby Edition

Today, Jack had a one-on-one date with Claire.  Claire is a 3 month old from Apex, North Carolina.  She enjoys bath time, kicking her feet, playing in the pool and loving on her Mommy and Daddy.  Jack and I drove over to Katie and Claire's house for their one-on-one date.  Just like any good first date on The Bachelor, the couple immediately got into their bathing suits so they could hit up the pool.

Jack is smitten and Claire clearly has butterflies

While at the pool, Claire started drinking right away (typical Bachelor material) and Jack had to play in the pool by himself (don't call CPS, Mommy was in there with him).  Once Claire was done guzzling down some of "Mommy's Love" she was ready to hit the water.  By this time, Jack was done and ready for a nap.  Claire played for a little longer and then she passed out, too.

Once the little ones woke up, we went back to the house for some lunch.  Everyone ate and then Claire shared some of her toys with Jack.  Jack really tried to impress Claire with his crazy jumping skills.  She totally fell head over heals in love with Jack. 

At the end of the date we tried to take some more pictures of the happy couple, but Jack was tired once again and could only do his very best bull dog impersonation.

Claire is clearly showing Jack that she has feelings for him

Jack attempting "second base"

Jack running his fingers through Claire's hair while Rosebud looks on

I'm sure you are all wondering whether or not Claire got a rose at the end of her date...she did!

Teething

Jack has been working on some more teeth this week.  They have been giving him serious pain and that causes me serious pain as well.  Everything is going directly into his mouth. 

Hey Teeth:  Come out, come out, wherever you are!

Chewing on his teething rings

Finding relief from the pain with a frozen wash cloth

Jack's Newest Trick

Jack has decided that he doesn't need my stinkin' help anymore when it comes to holding his bottle.  When did he get to be so grown up?  Slow down, little man, slow down!

Swinging

This morning, Dave went on a looooooong run so Jack and I decided to take a walk and hit up the neighborhood playground.  I wasn't sure if Jack was going to be too small for the swing or not, but I thought it would be fun to try. He is still a little small but we made it work and he LOVED it!  I have a feeling we will be making a lot of trips the playground.  After we swang swung swinged played on the swing for a bit we continued on our walk.  It wasn't a crazy long walk (a little over 3 miles) but I was extremely sweating and tired when we got back.  I later discovered that the humidity was about 90% while we were on our walk.  UGGGGG!

Here's the big boy in action:

Having a Baby Changes Everything

Wow!  I started this post back at the beginning of March.  I guess it's about time I finish it and publish it.

I'm not sure if it is a national ad or just a local one, but we have a series of public service announcements on television around here and the tag line is "Having a baby changes everything".  Here is one of the commercials from the series:






I always thought, "Duh?! Of course, having a baby will changes everything."  Now that I have a baby of my own, I really understand what they were trying to say.  Having a baby really does change everything!

Now that I have Jack, my heart no long resides in my chest.  It is it's own living breathing organism in the form of Jack.  Everything that he experiences, I experience.  Everything that he feels, I feel.  It's hard to describe, but I bet if you have a child you will understand.  I never knew I could love someone as much as I do Jack.

My relationships have also changed.  People that I was super close with and considered some of my best friends I hardly ever hear from anymore.  I never thought that would happen.  I thought, if anything, I would be closer to those who knew me before Jack-I thought they would love Jack as much as I do.  On the other hand, people that I wasn't terribly close with before I had Jack have become some of my closest friends now.  I guess we have new things to talk about.

Oh, and the things I talk about now were never a part of my dialog before I had Jack.  Dave and I discuss diapers (and their contents), cheer for farts and burps and thoroughly appreciate nap time (even though it's not ours anymore).

I originally thought the commercials were warning teens that having a baby changes everything, but now I think it's a warning for everyone.  I love Jack more than anything in the world, but I am amazed daily by how much he has changed my life.  Before I do or even consider doing anything, I think about how that decision will effect Jack.  There is no more running out to dinner because I don't feel like cooking, there's no more going out for drinks after work (mostly because I don't have a job) and there are certainly no more quick weekend get-aways.  Nothing is quick with Jack along for the ride- things take twice as long now (hence why this blog is being published 3 months after I started writing it) and I wouldn't have it any other way!

6 Months

We went to the doctor this morning for Jack's six month check-up.  The doctor checked him out and said that everything is looking good.  He is starting to slow down on the growing-which is a good thing.  He also got a few shots and took them like a champ.  He only cried for a few seconds.

His current stats are:

Weight:  18 pounds, 9 ounces (70th percentile)
Height:  25.75 inches (25th percentile)
Head:  44 centimeters (60th percentile)

It's hard to believe that Jack is already half a year old.  This time last year we had just told people that we were pregnant and hadn't yet found out that Jack would be a boy. 

This month, Jack:

• is wearing size 2 diapers
• is wearing 3-6 month, 6 month and some 6-9 month clothes
• is sitting up unassisted for less than a minute
• eating solids for breakfast and dinner (apples, pears, peaches, bananas, carrots, green beans, peas and squash).  He seems to like veggies better than fruits
• is grabbing everything in arms reach and putting it straight in his mouth
• is getting up once at night to eat
• turns his head toward sounds and voices
• still doesn't know a stranger
• smiles all the time!
• isn't showing any signs of crawling yet
• turns on a smile when the camera is pointed at him

Jack's next check-up isn't until he is 9 months old!  I'm sure the next three months will fly by as quickly as the first six.

Here Comes the Groom...

Jack and I had a busy day today and it's not even over yet!  First, we had a morning date to go for a walk with our friends, Katie and Thomas.  I always enjoy talking with Katie and I'm sure the boys will be great friends when they get a little older.

After our morning date, Jack and I picked up some lunch and headed over to our friend Laura's house so Jack could finally meet his future bride, Millie.  Laura and I were able to catch up with each other while Jack and Millie starred lovingly into each other eyes (that is, when they weren't sleeping).  Jack and Millie have been betrothed to each other since before they were born.  I know what you're thinking, "Millie Mulley?" but I think it will be super cute....when the time comes.  Maybe by then, boys will take the girls' name?!?

Jack is currently taking a nap so that he can rest up for our dinner date this evening.  Whew!  This boy is keeping me busy!

Here are some pictures that will surely be displayed at the rehearsal dinner for their wedding:

Jack checking Millie out and playing a little footsie

Millie plays footsie back- and Jack likes what he sees

They certainly move fast!

Double Deuce

Aunt Kori turned 22 this week and we went to Chapel Hill to celebrate with the family last night.  Kori forgot her camera so I told her she could use mine and I'd send her the pictures.  When I went to upload the pictures on my computer, I laughed at what she photographed.  She took a few pictures of the people around the table and then she took about 30 pictures of Jack.

Jack had a great time playing with Aunt Kori, Levi, Elissa, Geoff and Kori's friend, Jacob.  

Happy birthday, Aunt Kori!  We love you!!!

Welcome to My Hood(ie)

As I mentioned in this post, I made Jack a new hoodie towel.  It is perfect for all of his upcoming pool dates with his dear friend, Eva.

We have a few hoodie towels, but they are really thin and not very big.  Our friend, Karan gave us a great hoodie towel that is big and snuggley which gave me the inspiration to make some myself.

It was easy to make and I'll most likely make some for our upcoming beach trip.  I'm taking orders if you want one!

Jack all bundled up modeling his new towel

Happy eyes

More Jumping

Jack had continued his love of jumping.  He still jumps in the Jackie Jump Up, but now he likes to jump while we are holding him and while playing in his Exersaucer.  His other new trick is to smile whenever I pull out the camera.  I have, clearly, taken too many pictures of him.

Pool Rat

Jack and I went over to our friends, Kristen and Eva's, neighborhood pool today.  Kristen and I grew up together swimming on the same swim team and have recently reconnected.  We try to get together weekly to let the kids play together, but more importantly to let us be around another adult.  Eva is 3 months old and once she and Jack notice each other, I'm sure they will be the best of friends!

I wasn't too worried about Jack not liking the pool since he LOVES bath time so much.  Once I got him lathered up in sunscreen, put on his swimmy diaper, bathing suit and hat and then carted practically everything we own to the pool-Jack fell asleep.  I took this opportunity to lay in a lounge chair and gossip with Kristen.  Once Jack woke up, we got right in the pool.  He loved it.  Then we tested out Eva's canopied float and Jack really loved that.  He just relaxed and enjoyed his time in the pool.

I'm so glad that Jack liked the pool.  This will make our upcoming beach trip even more fun!  I'm sure we will be spending a lot of quality time at the pool this summer, too.

Kristen and Eva testing out the water

Jack and Mommy taking a dip

Jack chilling out in Eva's float