The newest member of our family

No, we are not pregnant.  The newest member of our family is this darling little puppy!  Her name is Rampage (though we find ourselves calling her "Page" more than her full "flyball-tough" name) and she is quite a spunky handful.  She will be 3 months old  tomorrow and has been with us since the middle of October.  Paul is training her to be a flyball dog and she's already made a lot of progress!  Jack wasn't sure about her at first but nowadays if you ask him who his favorite dog is, he'll say "Rampage".  :)

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins!

It was very important to me that we took Jack to a pumpkin patch this year, after last year's "Quick, take his picture with the pumpkins at Fred Meyer" experience.  For the last few weeks we've been talking about pumpkins, reading books about pumpkins, learning how pumpkins  grow, and on Saturday we finally got to go to the pumpkin patch!  And what a perfect day for it!  Jack loved the tractor, the hay ride, picking up pumpkins, finding one of his own, it was fantastic!

We started with a wheelbarrow ride to the field

Then took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch

Then we searched for just the right one

And finally, the must-have family pumpkin patch photo :)

 Here we were 2 years ago, it's amazing how fast life goes by!

This kid melts my heart

Jack is TWO!

Where does the time go???  Our little man turned 2 years old this past Saturday and it feels like it was just yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital.  We had a great party with our family and friends and Jack did wonderfully!  I was a little nervous that 30 people might overwhelm our little toddler but I was wrong, he did great!  He played with his friends, sat nicely to open his gifts, thanked each person for his present, and said goodbye as everyone left.  He was a true gentleman and a great party host :) 

The food table

A craft for the kids, coloring cars and planes

Opening gifts

Ready for cake!

He blew it out on the first try!

 

 

Yummy :)

What is Jack doing at 2 years old?

• Playing soccer every Saturday
• Wearing 2T and 3T clothes
• Talking a TON and singing songs (Twinkle Twinkle, All the Ducks, Jesus Loves Me)
• Running, jumping, somersaulting
• Going to Crystal Springs Co-op Preschool one day a week
• Playing outside as much as he possibly can

His favorite color is green, his favorite show (when he's allowed to watch TV) is Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, he eats almost any food and will now tell us that it's "too picey" (spicy), crunchy, "gweet" (sweet), and tasty.  Just the other day he was looking a picture of a puppy and said, "that's soooo cute!".  He amazes us every day with his memory, vocabulary and overall intelligence and makes us laugh on a daily basis.  He is more wonderful than words can express and I feel so grateful to God that he chose this perfect little guy to be ours.

Oops, Summer is almost over!

I'm not sure if it's because I have a very active toddler or because I now have a bigger house and a yard to tend to, but...I have been a terrible blogger!  Let's quickly recap the summer:

Jack had his first popsicle and LOVED it!

Soccer became a big part of our lives - practice on Saturday mornings and kicking the ball around the yard almost EVERY day :)

We went to Mexico and had a blast!

And then we were lucky enough to be able to go to Hawaii also.

What a fantastic summer of running around in the sun, walking up to the neighborhood park, drawing with sidewalk chalk in front of the house, running around in our backyard, playing, playing, and more playing!  Jack is growing and changing on a daily basis, amazing us with his knowledge and verbal skills - this kid is spectacular!

Father's Day

For Father's Day this year Paul wanted to go for a family hike and have sushi for dinner so we did just that.  We packed up the truck with water, snacks, the hiking backpack and the camera and headed east to Rattlesnake Ridge.  We were both very impressed with how far Jack hiked on his own before asking to be carried, he did a great job!  I told Paul that as a Father's Day gift to him I would carry Jack in the backpack - I really should have thought that one through.  Let's just say it was a GREAT workout :-)  It was a great day for a hike, the view at the top was breathtaking (and also a little nauseating), and we even got to hear thunder, so cool!! 

Happy, happy Father's Day to the man of my dreams and the father I always imagined for our child.

What can I say, the boy likes to eat!