Jack Visits Harry Elephante!!

If I have not mentioned it already, Jack got an elephant for his 1st birthday!! Well, really Grandma JoAnn and GPW "adopted" an elephant in Jack's name at the local zoo, Niabi Zoo. Naturally Jack and I had to take a trip to visit his newest "pet."


With fall (and sadly winter) right around the corner here in Iowa we took full advantage of a 70 degree day and took a trip to see Harry Elephante this week! Jack and I tagged along with our friends (old and young) Courtney, Sophia and baby Cole to see all the animals at the Niabi Zoo. We had a great day enjoying the beautiful weather and wonderful animals.

Jack is 1 Year Old!

Our little guy turned one on October 26th!! It's hard to believe that we are already upon the 1 year old stage, but he is turning into such a little boy these days. No more baby in our house :( And while Momma isn't too overjoyed at the lack of baby in Jack these days, I am enjoying seeing him learn and explore more everyday.We celebrated the 1st Birthday with the Grandparents: Gran-Gran and Pap came up from Arkansas and Grandma and GPW came out to visit from New Jersey. It was such a fun weekend!!
A week later we were able to have a little trick-or-treat fun too!! It was the first Halloween for Jack where we actually celebrated. Seeing that Jack was only a few days old last year he was our little Jack-O-Lantern, but there was no trick-or-treating for him. This year our Baby Hulk took a stroll in the wagon and rang a few doorbells. I'm hoping next year he enjoys it even more!!
Now that I'm back to blogging I hope you all keep checking back. Jack grows and learns more each and every day so I'll have a lot to keep you posted on.

Love and Hugs to all!

Pirate Jack's Adventures Part II

Onto the wedding day....

Finally the wedding was upon our families and we all couldn't be happier :) After a rain delay the bride and groom were finally united on the sandy beach. Unfortunately due to the overcast skies there was no sunset in the background, but it was still beautiful. The ceremony was gorgeous, as was the bride. I'm glad I have no more brothers to marry off, because I cry too much at their weddings!

Here's a few photos from the day...

Jack was such a trooper throughout the day even though it was so hot and sticky. We didn't get any pictures of him at the wedding (besides the photographer's family shots) because he (and Mom and Dad) was so uncomfortable and sweaty. After all, those sweet little babies don't really have an internal temperature regulator. So we stripped him down after the ceremony and he hung out until his bedtime. He slept right through the reception, party and drive home. Jack really is such an easy going baby- he definitely gets that from his Dad! :)

Now that the wedding festivities were behind us we had the rest of the week to ourselves. We had some fun so stay tuned to see what Pirate Jack was up to the rest of the week...
To be continued...

Pirate Jack's Caribbean Adventure Part I

So we are going to do the Caribbean trip blog entry in a few posts. Too many pictures and too much fun to do it all at once!!

We arrived after many unhappy hours of traveling (darn you cold and congestion!!), but we were finally there...in St. Thomas! Jack was super happy to staying with Grandma and Grandpa AND Uncle Matt and Aunt Lisa!! It was a dream come true- so many people to play with and "talk" to :)

Oh...and here's what we woke to every morning...Yup- that's our view from the house we stayed at! Amazing :)

Sunday we woke early and made our way to the docks for a sail. This was the Caribbean version of a rehearsal dinner! It was so wonderful to have the whole gang together- the McPartlands (+Donnelly), the Kruegers and Fishers (+ Gebharts)! Jack LOVED the boat. He was topside for awhile enjoying the wind in his hair, then napped below. The catamaran was the perfect setting for a nap- slight rocking, lots of white noise and vibration from the motor....ahhhhhh.Jack even got a stamp in his passport because we traveled to the BVIs. Jost van Dyke and Foxy's was the perfect setting for lunch :) I could write a whole blog entry just on how truly amazing this day on the boat was. To share the experience of sailing around the BVIs (something very dear to my family) with my husband and son....it was so memorable. A huge THANKS!!! to my Dad for making that day possible.
The following day was filled with pool time and a Welcome Party in the afternoon. After some coaxing Jack fell in love with the water. He first foray into the pool could not have been better. We will never forget his first "swim"...in St. Thomas nonetheless!
Finally we made it to the Welcome Party where Jack got to (finally!!) meet his second-cousin Kirsten!! I don't know who was happier- Kirsten or Jack :)

Before we knew it the day of Greg and Jackie's wedding was before us....to be continued....
Check back soon for the continuation of Pirate Jack's Caribbean Adventures....

Mother's Day

I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day with Jack and Nate and it was wonderful!! It was such a great day that I was more than happy to spend with my two favorite guys in the world!

Also this weekend Jack finally got to meet his Grandma Jane and Papa Simon from California. Nate's Mom came for a visit and it was great! Jack was more than happy to have more grandparent snuggles :)


Unfortunately it was freezing this weekend (is it really May!?!?) so instead of spending Saturday at the arts festival downtown we hit up the Figge Museum for some warmth :) There are some really great exhibits there right now so I was happy to spend the afternoon at the Figge. It seems like Jack and Daddy were having a few Ferris Bueller moments along the way too.


Not too much else going on here. Jack will be starting veggies this week which is exciting and we are still counting down to St. Thomas (less than 2 weeks!!!).

Hope all the Mothers out there had a great Mother's Day too!
Love and Hugs...

Portrait Sitting

So we finally got to have 6 month portraits done of Mr. Jack this week. After one unsuccessful trip to a photo place we finally ended up at Sears and they were amazing!! The photographers working there were so good with Jack, they were professional and had some really great ideas. It seemed every picture they took was cuter than the last. Naturally I ended up ordering a ton of prints, but here's a preview of a few of the photos from Jack's photo shoot...

6 Months Old!!

I cannot believe my little guy is half a year old already!!! Where did the time go? Seriously, where is it? If anyone can find it please let me know because I am seriously lacking in the time department these days :)

Jack had his 6 month check-up with Dr. Campbell today and his stats are as follows: 16lbs and 26.5 inches. He's still 50th percentile for height and dropped a little to the 25th-50th percentile for weight. Overall he's doing great!

Also this week Jack celebrated the Polish invasion at Grandmom and Grandpop's house! Even though he won't be there to celebrate with the Poles he was there in spirit and clothing :)

Jack is LOVING his new walker too!! He is now zooming around the floors navagating like a pro. His favorite use of the walker is chasing the dogs. I think really he's just trying to get to them to pet them, but to Otis and Gracie it's chasing. The puppies are not such big fans of the walker and would prefer it didn't exist :) As soon as I learn how to post video I will put one up of Jack zooming around in the walker. It really doesn't get any better- trust me.

The weather here in Iowa keeps going back and forth between beautiful and chilly spring weather. Jack and I were able to get a few days in at the park though. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful, bright and playful little son. He just seems to love life which makes Nate and I love life even more :)


Well this was a short post but I hope you can see that Jack is still getting bigger everyday and we are all having fun out here in Iowa. Only a few more weeks and then we will be in St. Thomas for the wedding!! Can't wait for our fun in the sun!

Love and Hugs to all...

Let the eating begin...

So big Jack news this week, he has started eating solids. Well actually at this point it's just rice cereal but in the baby world that counts as solids!! We started on Monday morning during his second feeding of the day and by Tuesday he was a pro. Now when I put him in his highchair and start preparing the rice cereal he's so excited and can't wait to eat. He eats up all that I prepare for him and he's getting more in his mouth and less on his face everyday. I can't even believe that he is becoming such an old man right before my eyes!

Jack also spent some time tickling the ivories this week. I bought him a little "piano" and he just loves it. He's always trying to get at it and "play" some songs. Whenever we are home in New Jersey I like to play the piano and I have him sit on my lap which is great because he seems to really love music - this makes Nate and I so happy. I figure the earlier he shows an interest in music, and with the right encouragement, maybe he will pick up where his Mama left off and become the musician in the family :)

The best news this week in Jack's life is that Daddy is back to his normal schedule and they got to spend all afternoon on Friday and all morning on Saturday together. Nate had to take a quick trip to Arkansas Saturday/Sunday for a friend's wedding, but the day and half we all had together before he left great! Nate was lucky enough to feed Jack his cereal on Friday and Jack loved having his new mealtime buddy there.


As far as Jack's development I'm pretty sure he thinks rolling over is for babies because he has absolutely no interest in that and would much rather sit on his own like a big boy. He's so strong - I wish I had his core muscle strength!- and loves to sit and play on his own now. It is so amazing to think how much he is changing and developing everyday.


Jack will be turning 6 months old next Monday and we will be seeing the doctor for his checkup next Tuesday. I can't wait to see his "stats" for our 6 month old! I am also hoping to have 6 month portraits done - I will make sure to post those if it's a success :)

On tap this week is probably some time in the park (weather permitting), time with Daddy(!) and some more eating, growing and being cute. It's a rough life, but Jack is handling it all with a smile on his face.

Love and Hugs...

An Eventful Two Weeks...

Sorry for the delay in this entry, but Jack and I have had a busy few weeks. We started with a trip to New Jersey and celebrated Easter with our East Coast family. I had a blast seeing everyone- I even got to celebrate Shannon's 30th Birthday while I was there- and Jack had such a good time hanging out with his Aunts and Uncles. We even had a visit with Great-Grandpop Ken.Jack got a chance to play in a fun Jumparoo and hang out with Grandmom and Grandpop - Jack and Grandpop were buddies the whole week we were in NJ! The boys even enjoyed a night out on the deck :) Naturally while in NJ Jack and I visited Aunt Lisa and Uncle Matt's house where Uncle Matt tried to persuade Jack to root for the Yankees. I don't think Daddy is going to approve of the photo!When we finally decided to fly back to Iowa we had a treat- Grandmom came with us!! It was a nice relief to have a travel companion to help with Jack during our flight, but honestly Jack is a GREAT traveler - he seems to have really taken to the skies ;)
Jack had some great adventures with Grandmom - we went to the park when the sun finally came out and enjoyed the swings.

Jack also finally rolled over on his own!! Of course when he finally rolled over I scooped him up right away and had to share the news with Daddy- who is still sleeping during the day and working at night :( Hopefully only one more week of that and then we can get back to normal.

I am counting down to my brother's wedding in St. Thomas and it's only 6 weeks until we are celebrating Greg & Jackie and all things Caribbean. Needless to say we are so excited to see these two get married with sand between our toes...Love and Hugs to all and here's one last parting picture of Jack enjoying New Jersey...