Jack Attack!

Well, I've been wanting to post and keep running out of time in the day so I'm not 'blogging' just posting some pictures. These were taken by our friend Risa who is AMAZING! check out her website at risawest.com Thanks so much for taking them of our little guy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friends

You know- friends make the world a better place.
Yesterday, we had our friends over for dinner. well- they offered to bring us dinner and come over to visit. going out is much more difficult now, trying to remember everything to bring.(worked out too because Jack went thru 3 outfits just while they were here!)Since I'm on this low fat diet, Amy made 2 dishes that in combination had less than 5 g. We're so lucky to have such great friends. Dinner was yummy and it was so nice to catch up. It's been over a month since we've actually done anything with anyone. After dinner we played RACKO. They are expecting their first (also a boy!) in April. They'll be moving tho :( so we hope we still get to see them often. We also have other friends that are moving too! BUT they're moving into our complex. :) they have a little girl who is 1 and i'm super excited to have another mom so close!

Many crazy things have happened to us since moving here to MD. Many challenges. However, one of the most wonderful things is the friends we've made. We always heard how tough it is to find "couple friends" where both you and the husband like both the husband and the wife in another couple. I don't know if it was because we were still kinda "newlyweds" or because it was Provo or because we still wanted to hang out with our single friends, but we didn't have a whole lot of "couple" friends. We had a few but none that Matt and I would hang out with the couple together or just the girls or just the guys would get together. We've been lucky enough to find a few couples to be friends with here. It's great to have friends that are in the same stage of life!!

Anyway! I've just been cooped up for what feels like forever and even tho we stayed inside- it was great to have company!

Saturday mornings

By the end of the week, I'm exhausted! I sometimes miss my naps because we have apts or because of cleaning or because that's when matthew has his break from work. but whatever the case may be i usually lay down to watch tv with matthew around 7 on friday nights only to fall asleep. i wake up around midnight or 1 am to find that matthew took care of jack all night. he'd feed and change him before he even started to really wimper so that i would stay asleep. i feel so refreshed and ready for the week then. it won't always be this way but for right now i'm just so grateful for a hubby that lets me nap and takes care of our little boy. he's such a good husband (plus i'm less grouchy and more energetic for whatever he wants to do on saturdays :) )

1/11/11

What a cool day! 1-11-11 and it's my birthday! We've had SO much going on lately so I didn't get to plan my birthday as I had planned last year. I really wanted to have a party with pizza and ice cream and brownies surrounded by friends and games and maybe a movie. It's a Tuesday so it would have been last weekend or next weekend. but life has thrown a lot of things at us these last few weeks and so Matthew and i will be doing some more low key things instead. I can't really eat the food that I want but we'll Matthew said he'd make a yummy dinner. we'll skip the dessert for now. After next week, Matthew promised to take me out for whatever food i'd like to eat. My mom is in town so we'll head over to Dave and Buster's for some games and maybe a movie since it's right there. My mom will take care of Jack for us. i'm really excited and even tho i'm not having a "1" party- I get to spend the day with my little boy and then the evening with my very best friend. It's going to be and has already started out to be a perfect day.

I love birthdays! I can't believe a whole year has come and gone. I've gotten so many things accomplished though it's really amazing. and it's been 3 years since Matthew proposed on a cold winter night in utah. that birthday and everyone since has been amazing. life is good and for that i am grateful. busy and crazy and tough- but good.

life as we know it

Life is busy. but- what else is new?!?

i totally love being a mom. don't get me wrong-i'm crazy tired and hungry and sore but every minute is worth it. it's different, yet the same as what i thought it would be. i knew all of these things would happen- that i wouldn't get sleep and that i would love him so much but it's different knowing you'll feel a certain way and actually feeling it.

We're done with visitors now- all on our own. It was great to have family here and Jack loved it! My mom was here for about 2 weeks and then we had Christmas. then Matt's mom came for about a week. i loved the help and having someone to talk with during the day but now I have Jack all to myself. which is also nice.

we started to "sleep train" today so hopefully he'll catch on quick and I'll get some more sleep during the night. today went great. i'm still tired but it's nice having a set schedule. we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks.

for being a new mom, i feel so accomplished. sure- my house won't always be clean but it's mostly clean right now and that feels good. i've been able to get myself in a little schedule so that i can play with jack, clean, nap, pump, feed jack, and have time with matthew. once he starts to sleep more at night-i may even have time to start my crafts! but february will come quickly and then I need to go back to work. it's going to be so difficult. i don't want to leave my little man. he's just so cute. but that's a little while away so i won't even think about it just yet. :)

jack is such a good kid! he loves to stare at things (often the back of the couch- haha). he enjoys his tummy and bath time. he can lift his head pretty well now and move it from side to side when on his tummy. he likes to do "little pushups".. he doesn't really like having his face washed in the mornings tho. probably because it wakes him up some. he's definitely a sleeper! we're trying to put more of that sleep in the middle of the night and so far so good. i'm not totally counting on it to last consistently but i'll take what i can get. i actually wake up after about 3 hours now wondering why i dont hear him.... it's nice to just check that he's still soundly sleeping like an angel and close my eyes again to fall asleep. he LOVES to be in his bouncer or swing. even if they are still. he has to sit up for about 30 minutes after eating so he doesn't spit everything up so we usually put him in one of those if we can't hold him at the time. he also likes to watch the TV(when it's on his eyes are glued to that part of the room) and the fish if we put him near the tank..

here are some pictures (which i know is why you read this blog :) )

he loved spending time with grandma christensen and papa bob(great grandpa)

we loved our christmas as a family! i think jack enjoyed his first one too!

he also loves to play with his daddy!!

he also had his first "temple trip" to see the lights! it was a GREAT night. (so warm)