Due Date-iversary.

Sweet, sweet toddling boy. You have come so far from where you were a year ago. 

Jack is now 14.5 months. 

He is starting to walk, which is both terrifying and exciting. 

He wears size 24 month/2T shirts and onesies, and size 18 month pants. Shorty.

We attempted to weigh and measure him at home, and got that he's about 22 lb, 29.5". 

He still sleeps 12+ hours a night, from about 7:30-7:30. He usually has two naps a day, from 9:30-12, and 3-5, but if we're out doing something he's okay with one nap.

He hasn't had formula in over a month. He loves water (which is what he gets for bed), and juice. He gets milk once a day as well. 

We're sticking strong with cloth diapers! 

He LOVES The Wiggles, living with Grandma Martin (and Uncle Max), and puppies.

And we LOVE LOVE LOVE

Jackers.

{one!!!}

my sweet little boy is officially a toddler.

no more babying this kid.

he is 20 lb 11 oz. that is ten times his birth weight.

he is 28" tall. that is double his birth length (shorty).

he wears 12 and 18 month tops, and 9 and 12 month bottoms.

he is so close to walking its painful.

he knows when "dad!" gets home.

he is also very good at saying "ba ba ba ba ba" and that is it.

he has 6 teeth. very sharp teeth.

he loves his grandma martin.

his favorite foods are tacos (burrito and enchilada style) and mashed potatoes. he's also taken a liking to oranges and peaches.

in fact, we've yet to find a food he doesn't like.

he is a very quick crawler. one of his favorite games is "i'm gonna getya!"

he had his first bum rash this week. oops.

but we've been cloth diapering for 2 months now, and i think we love it. ;)

i KNOW we love this kid.

the last year has been hard. with moving at 6 months pregnant, having jack at barely 7 months, 10 weeks in the nicu, grandma being sick and passing away, my parents splitting up... jack turning 1 feels like a milestone, like we can finally put the year behind us and start over.

cheers, 2013 - you sucked.

DIS GIRL.

My BFF gets home from her mission on FRIDAY!

I'm so excited. I've missed her SOO much. I would've loved to have had her around this last year from hell, but, alas, the Lord had other plans for her... like serving in Korea!

Watch out for lots of duck face selfies comin' your way via Instagram startng FRIDAYYYY!

"This is my house, I swear!"

Jack and I are down at my mom's house in Raymond because Carter is going out of town to work. But yesterday Carter texted me after work and said he was having the worst day ever, and that he locked his car and house keys in the car. Oops. He had called the landlord, but he was going to be another 2 hours and I didn't want Carter to be sitting out in the cold (although, luckily, it was only like -9) for that long, so I told him to try the windows (since we don't lock them. Well, now we do). The windows in our basement are tiny. Seriously, tiny. But my logic was that to be a legal suite the windows have to be big enough for someone to crawl out of. The reverse of that would be big enough to crawl into! He tracked through the (literally) 3 feet of snow to our kitchen window, and crouched down beside the window to cut the screen when he heard a helicopter overhead. The adrenaline pumping through his system convinced him that they were the police out to find him! He said he stood flat as a board and "hid" against the house. Once he pulled himself together, he knelt back down and cut the screen. Our kitchen window faces our neighbor's gate, by the way. He said he got all the way to his hips into the window when the neighbor's teenage daughter came out the gate, screamed, then ran to the front of the house. Great. The mom popped her head around the corner, then they ran to the car. Carter jumped out of the window and ran after the screaming pair, told them that this was his house, he locked himself out, and luckily the teenager recognized him from the many times she's come into the backyard to get their balls. The mom had 9-1-1 dialed and was about to push send! lol. When he got into the house he called me and said, "I basically peed my pants like 6 times. I thought the police were going to come arrest me for sure!" Poor Carter. Let's just say he won't do that again! lol

{9 months}

On December 12, Jack weighed 16 lb 14 oz. We'll get another weight on January 2 when we go to get his second Syngais injection.

His first tooth cut through on December 6-ish. An eye tooth and the other bottom tooth followed around December 21. His other eye tooth is almost ready to come through too. Poor boy.

He is still eating 4-5 6 oz bottles a day, but he's also eating 2 meals of solids a day. Toast and yogurt, pureed fruits and veggies, bananas, bites of this or that. There's really nothing he won't eat. Except corn. He spits it out every single time. Turd.

We're at Grandma's, and she borrowed a Jolly Jumper for us - he loves it. LOVES it. He also loves "reading" his Peek-a-Boo Elmo book, and watching Thomas the Train on tv.

He still sleeps like a champ - usually 8-10  hours a night, and 2 naps during the day. We've put a crib projector in his room., and he's asleep by the time the music stops. Every time. 

We celebrated his first Christmas yesterday! He got so spoiled with a ton of clothes, books, and toys. And LOTS of cuddles. Unfortunately, somewhere along the cuddle line, this little man ended up with a nasty runny nose and a Croup-y cough. :(

Here's a bunch of pictures from that fabulous day!

The cutest little Santa EVER.

Mama's new hair! :)

X-mas PJs!

Some of his loot from Grandma M.

jack-o-lantern!

happy halloween

2013

Love!

This guy went and got himself hitched!

His wife is beautiful. Marshall was stunning. It was so much fun!

I've known Marshall for a long time, like since we were 13. So 8 years! Wow. 

And Carol is perfect for Marshall in every way. I love the new Leishman family! Marshall is still and forever will be one of my best friends. 

{We're both very excited to get our 3 other friends back! Ethan is home from the Philippines in October, Adrian is home from South Africa in December, and Viktoria is home from South Korea in February!}

Congratulations to Marshall and Carol! We love you. 

BVJ13

What a cray cray weekend!

None other than BIG VALLEY JAMBOREE!!! Which is my favorite weekend of the whole year. Ever. And that includes July 1 weekend. 

This year we got weekend passes, but decided to drive back and forth between Camrose and Edmonton, a good choice considering how much I love my bed. 

We totes got to see Travis Tritt, Aaron Lines, Gord Bamford, Rosanne Cash, Small Town Pistols (also known as The Wilkinsons, my favorite childhood country band), Terri Clark, Big & Rich, Rodney Atkins, ALAN JACKSON (who is kind of old and boringish, while still being fun to watch), LUKE BRYAN (who is a stinking incredible performer. And hot. Super hot.), and TIM MCGRAW (who is my all time favorite country singer ever of all time and I love him.
Things we learned this year that we will follow through with next year:

• Taking your own food is always a good idea. We spent <$40 (minus my t-shirt cause those suckers are not cheap!) the whole weekend! Sandwiches, water, fruit, licorice, crackers, popcorn, etc. 
• Hats for everyone. Sunnies too.
• Umbrellas are not allowed. Take ponchos. Or steal them from CISN Country. In addition, waterproof stroller covers work fairly well in lieu of an umbrella. 
• Get lawn chairs with foot rests! ugh.
• Charger. Your. Camera.
• Make a portable cell phone charger There is nothing worse than finding out your phone is dead when Tim McGraw is on stage :( 
• The end.

Ready for some photographs? Ok go. 

Carter loved this little "family vehicle"

Country up!

What?

Enjoying the sunshine.

Happy little country loving family!

So there's that.

The smallest cowboy hat we could find. Next year, Jackie boy. Next year.

Happy mornings!

Mmmmhm.

Morning after. Hey there.

Getting all pumped up!

Family photo op!