New Window!

Yesterday Jeff's dad and uncle installed our new living room windows. They look great!!! It makes such a difference in the look of the house - inside and out :) We still need to finish staining and hang blinds, but the living room should be all finished up soon!




During the window installation Jack and I played outside in the continually-growing pile of leaves in our backyard. He seemed to enjoy it a lot more now than he did last weekend. I guess he's gotten used to them :)

Sick Day!

On tuesday night around dinner time Jack wasn't eating well (not eating anything actually) and when I picked him up he felt quite warm. He had a slight temperature. I gave him some tylenol, but then I had to go to class. He and daddy did a few quick errands that night and then just had a quiet evening with an early bathtime.

Jack woke up in the middle of a night for a bit and still had a temp in the morning so he stayed home from Miss Cathie's with mom. We had a low key day. Jack slept for most of the morning (3 1/2 hours !!!) and then played pretty well all afternoon.

The next day he was looking much better, his temp was down, although he still isn't eating very well and is quite crabby at times!! (But that could be Jack healthy too... so I think he's pretty much better...)

Hair Cut!

On Tuesday morning I finally gave Jack a haircut! I had trimmed it a few weeks ago, and a few weeks before that - but it was getting a little out of control. It was all bushy in the back and front was getting in his eyes, so I fixed it!

It actually went quite well. I did it in the morning while Jack was watching tv - Martha Speaks and Sesame Street. He just sat on his little stool for about 20 minutes while I cut away. And I think it ended up looking quite good! We needed to do a minor touch up trim that evening to level out above each ear but over all I'd call it a success :)

And doesn't he look so handsome !!!

Busy Saturday!

Friday night we brought burgers home for dinner and Jack took mine right out of my hand! He loved it :)

Saturday we were very busy! Jeff's dad and brother were over helping add some storage space to our garage "attic" (we need somewhere to keep all Jack's outside toys over the winter) and also installing our new microwave!!!
Here's Jack checking out what's going on up there with all the pounding! He wanted to help too.

I made a big pile of leaves for Jack to jump in - but he wasn't too into the whole "jumping into leaves" thing.....

driving his car into the pile...

"mom get me out, I can't find my legs!!!"

Maybe next yeat he'll enjoy it more.

To finish the busy day Jack went over to Grandma and Grandpa B's for dinner - mom and dad needed to out for a nice quiet meal after all the hard work of the day!

Family Pictures

Yesterday afternoon we went down to Jeff's parents house to take family pictures. We got lots of good ones. Jack was as well-behaved as could be expected - we got a few smiles and then he was off and running!

Jack had a wonderful day playing with everyone :)

Here are a few...

Jack checking out the wind chimes (he loves wind chimes!)
Jack running crazy with Grandpa around the pond!

Jack with his cousins, Chase and Jillian

Is It Fall? ...or Christmas???

Yesterday we had a very busy day!

We started the morning with some car maintenance - oil change and a car wash! This was Jack's first car wash. He was quite apprehensive through it all, until he could see the light at the end of the tunnel, then he smiled. But before then we was very mervous/scared - his little legs were shaking. I'm sure he'll LOVE it next time!

Then we headed over the Fleet Farm for opening day of Toyland!!!! It was so much fun. We weren't there very long, and we only bought a cheap little plastic snow shovel for Jack - we were mostly looking for Christmas ideas for Jack. And we (and Jack) found a few good ones :)

Al's Run & Walk 2009 !

It was cloudy, it was windy, it was cold, and it even snowed (I saw two flurries after we got home this afternoon).... but we still had a wonderful time at Al's Run for the third year!!!

We got an early start by meeting over at B's at 7:45. And after loading the cars... food, stroller, dog, etc. we were off. Jeff dropped off me, Katie and Jack near the starting line and then went to park the car and take the shuttle with Will. That was soooo much easier than lugging Jack, stroller, and all our stuff on to a school bus !!!

We hung out with Auntie Katie and Cesar at the starting line while we waited for the rest of our team to arrive. We had some snacks, listened to the Marquette band and walked around. It was fun!

After our team was assembled we slowly made our way towards the starting line on Wisconsin Ave. We hung out and heard some music, saw some cheerleaders, had some more snacks and tried to stay warm!

And at 10:30 we were off and walking. We did the 3-mile route this year because it was so cold. (The weather had been more promising when we first arrived... but the sun soon disappeared and it failed to get warmer....)

Jack did great. He took a nice nap before the start - for over an hour in his stroller. I was very surprised the music, loud speaker, and just being around so many people didn't wake him up. But he was wrapped up all comfy cozy and warm. He woke up just before the start. While we were walking he just laid in the stroller all covered in blankets - poor guy couldn't come out because it was soooo cold.

After the walk we had a nice tailgate lunch back at the cars. It was delicous. We didn't hang out too much longer than it took to eat because of the weather. Oh well.... we'll hope for warmer temperatures next year.

We can't wait until October 9, 2010 for the 33rd Annual Al's Run & Walk - hope you can join us :) A huge thanks to everyone who walked with us and everyone who donated money! Over the past three years we've raised over $2,300 for the NICU in memory of Jonathan!

Playing with Auntie and Cesar

It was cold! We really had to bundle up.

This year's team t-shirt!

Just before we started walking - Jack was still asleep.

Some of our team walking ahead.

Apple Picking!

This morning we took Jack apple picking at Barthel Farm in Mequon, the same place we've picked strawberries the past few years.

It was a cool, damp, cloudy day (we had to get Jack's fall jacket out!) - but the picking was good! And there were quite a few other people picking as well.

We picked all different kinds of apples. Some just for eating, some just for baking, some for both, some we'd never even heard of before!

It was a lot of fun. Jack was really good the whole time. He helped pick and even put a few in the bag. He ate one or two also! He ran around the apple trees and looked at the pumpkins.

We came home with a "bushel" of apples - so as soon as we were in the door I started peeling and cutting! So far I've made two apple pies, an apple crisp, and a large pot of applesauce. That's all I could handle for one afternoon! But we still have tons of apples left so there will be more baking in the days to come.


Running around under the apple trees!
Dad found a good one to pick!
Picking with mom!
Look at that big pumpkin!
Eating an apple at the end of our adventure!

Jack's Horsey!

I got my rocking horse out for Jack this week. It's been buried in the basement and I thought he might be able to sit on it without tumbling off right away by now! He is still a little too small to make it rock much on his own - but he had fun. We'll keep it out in the basement for him for a while.

It's such a nice horse, it shouldn't be buried in storage :)

Home Improvements - Part 1, Complete!

Our new doors and woodwork are complete! Wow - that was fast :) It was a lot of work (by many hard-working people!) and a little messy, but it sure looks nice. We love it all. The doors are beautiful and so quiet. It really amazing to have doors that done creak everytime you touch them.

We still have to get the new living room window installed in a few weeks, but after that the living room is done and then it's on to the kitchen.... :)