Last days in Vermont...

We have been so busy the past two weeks.  We have been spending lots of time with all of our sweet friends in Vermont.  We have also been crazy busy packing.  The ABF trailer came today, so we have started getting all of our boxes and furniture loaded up.  Tomorrow will be a full day of packing, saying goodbye, and cleaning our little apartment.

And then, Thursday morning, we will head out!  We have a fun, long trip home planned.  We will see Mike and Laura, Courtney, my aunt and uncle, plus spend a night in Chattanooga.  We will finally get to Brookhaven next Tuesday.

I am so tired and have very little energy left...so I'll just throw up a few pictures!

a cookout with friends!

Kyler, our first friend in Vermont

our sweet friend, Alison

I think we enjoyed the food!

my Latin students

we had a cookout for the homeschool group (where I taught Latin), and the family (whose house it was at) owns Alpacas...so cute!

Jack liked them

look how big my baby boy is getting!

Jack and I visited his daycare and his sweet teacher, Heather.  We are so thankful for Heather and the entire daycare staff...such a great experience!

Jack's best daycare bud, Joey.

11 Months

Well it's a few days into 11 months, and I am just now putting this up!  But we are moving and our lives are crazy right now.

Baby Jack is 11 months old--almost not a baby anymore!

He is almost 22 lbs (21 lbs, 14oz on 5/11).  He wears size 3 diapers (about the middle in cloth settings) and 12 month clothes.  There are a few 9 month outfits he still fits into and a few 18 month clothes he wears just cause they're cute.

He is a moving machine!  He loves to crawl around and get into any and everything.  He took his first steps this month, but doesn't walk a lot.  This past week, though, he has walked unprompted a few times.  It's never more than two or three steps.

He is still our sweet, sweet little boy.  This month he has gotten even more cuddly, if that's possible.  He loves to crawl over and give us big hugs.  He even gives kisses sometimes.

We are still breastfeeding four times a day--we'll start weaning soon.  I want to make it to a year, but I'm not sure if I'll start weaning before or after his year birthday.  He eats three times a day.  He loves food!  He has eaten some pretty spicy foods and loves it.

This month he has really gotten attached to his "lovey," a soft white blanket.  He sleeps with it for naps and bedtime, but sometimes he wants to drag it around while he plays.  It is fun to see him grow attached to an object.

He loves his laugh and learn table, a wooden "Very Hungry Catepillar" stacking toy, and books.  I love that he loves books!  He will sit and turn the pages, looking very intensely at the pictures.

He still takes 2 naps a day--about an hour long nap in the morning and a two hour nap in the afternoon (although sometimes this stretches to three hours!).  He sleeps from about 7:30 until 6 or 6:30.  I wish we could get back to a 7 a.m. wake up, but 6:30 isn't too bad.

He has almost 6 teeth.  He has his bottom two, and four coming on the top!  Two are poking through, one is almost out, and one is hidden beneath an eruption cyst.

On the medical front, he had his third ear infection this month.  He also went to the dentist for the first time. 

He is getting to be a good little signer.  He has "more" and "all done" down pat.  He is working on "please."  We sign "milk," "thank you," "mommy," "daddy," and "I love you" to him, but he hasn't quite picked those up just yet.

Likes: music, dancing, getting into EVERYthing, cuddling

Dislikes: being told "no," getting his clothes and diaper changed

He is an absolute delight.  I have loved these past 11 months.  I can't wait until next month, when we can celebrate a year since his birth!

 

Midweek Confessions

Today I'm linking up with "E, Myself, and I" for Midweek Confessions!

- I finally got a Twitter.  Part of my reasons were good--I wanted to follow Keller, Piper, etc.  But I also really wanted to follow all of the Dance Moms...I have sunk to new lows!

- Speaking of embarrassing tv habits--I am watching the Bachelorette this season.  What can I say, I love Emily!

- Sometimes, on Pinterest, I love a pin and go to repin it, only to notice it was repinned from me in the first place.

- I have given up on counting WW points this week.  We are eating out or eating with other people too many nights this week.  I am still watching what I eat, but just not putting the points in!

- I don't even bother making my bed anymore in the morning.  Our place is such a mess right now, that the bed seems like the least of my problems!

So there we go!  Check out the others, too!

Memories...

When we moved to Vermont almost two years ago, we brought pretty much everything we owned.  We didn't know if we would be coming back down South anytime soon, so everything came with us!  

Including my "box of memories."  Bech thinks this box is the weirdest/funniest concept.  But I just have all of my childhood (or even teen or college) special objects in it.  In the packing process, I pulled this out of the storage closet and decided to go through it, see if anything could be thrown out.

I have admitted on here my memory hoarding before (2nd grade perfume, anyone?), but I now realize I am also a "memory" items hoarder.

The proof:  the inside of my memory box.

All those papers?  Oh, you know, just EVERY letter Bech wrote me while I worked at kamp.  See one of my childhood stuffed animals beside it?  Oh, who am I kidding...I got that stuffed dog in 8th grade and slept with it through college.  The teddy bear, though, is Bech's childhood teddy.  He now is residing in Jack's crib.

This is the highlight of the memory box--Baby Jesus.  Because it's totally normal for a 2 1/2 year old to name her baby doll after Jesus, right?  I LOVED this doll.  When I was five, I got another baby doll that I named Baby John.  I figured Jesus would want his cousin there.

One thing people may not know about me is my past as a mathlete.  I did math competitions all the way through high school (Can we say dork?).  My crowning achievement was going to national Mathcounts (they gave us all graphing calculators!).  At nationals, we all had state pens and we traded them with each other and put them on our hats.  Sooo cool.  Ya'll are just dreaming you could be as cool as me right now.  It's okay...I still have the hat and all the pens, so I'll let you borrow it.

This is a wonderful book.  I fell in love with this book in 1st grade (a friend had it) and my parents got it for me for Christmas.  I had no idea that this is really a retelling of George MacDonald's The Wise Woman.  MacDonald was one of Lewis' biggest influences, and this story is incredible.  I actually tried to find it on Amazon the other day, and it's not on there.  Sad, because it's an incredible book, as is most everything by MacDonald.

I was almost five years old when my parents gave me this purple Bible!

My best friend made this for me before she moved.  I was all about some decorated pillow cases back in the day.

It doesn't get much more 80's than this...

Oh wait, it does.  Lady Lovely Locks...Anybody else watch this?  Anybody else keep their favorite pj's from when they were 3?  Nope?

I got the biggest kick out of going through this box.  And the best part?  Next time we move I will get to do it all again!

Happenings...

And yet again...a busy week!  But this week has been fun busy, lots of dinners and lunches with friends, lots of packing, lots of playing outside!

The weather here has been amazing...mid 70's all week!  Jack has been rocking his summer wardrobe, and we have taken lots of walks.  We've also grilled out a bunch.

We've spent time with lots of friends, too.  Thursday, we had a cookout with our neighbor, Kyler, his family, and lots of friends.

Friday, I got lunch with Becky and Chris.  Becky is a grad student in Classics here at UVM, and Chris will be starting his PhD at Berkley in the fall.  They treated me to my favorite Burlington restaurant, El Gato.

Today we had the Morey's and Larson's over for a cookout, then spent more time with Kyler's family in the evening.

This week we have several more cookouts and several more lunches planned!

The packing has been going well.  I feel like I have most of the "easy" stuff packed.  Now I'm onto the hard things.  I have packed up almost all of my china, but I still have lots of everyday pottery to pack up (but not Bech's...I don't touch his pots!  I don't want to be liable for any breakage!).

Jack has been sweet--he's still taking two pretty good naps each day, given me lots of time for packing (and the occasional nap!).  He is definitely loving this weather.  I wonder what he'll think of the Mississippi heat!

I can't believe we will be heading home in two weeks...it seems surreal!  I am so ready to be home, but I am starting to get really sad about moving.  We have moved so many times in our five years of marriage, and it doesn't get any easier!

Also, thank ya'll for your sweet comments on my new blog 

Midweek Randoms

Well, there's no Midweek Confessions link-up this week.  Sad, right?   I could have done them on my own, but decided to just save my confessions for next week.  Instead, you will have to deal with my random thoughts...

* I revamped my blog today...what do you think?  Callie, at Through Clouded Glass, did a great series on blog design that gave me motivation to redo my blog.  It was looking a little cluttered and amateur.  Now it's much more streamlined and looks (hopefully) semi-professional.  And I got to play around a lot on Picasa; I really enjoyed that.

* Our house is a wreck.  It's worse than when Bech set up a pottery studio in the hallway.  There are TONS of boxes everywhere.  I am feeling overwhelmed by the packing!

* I am reading yet another Louise Penny novel.  She is a great writer!

* Jack has his third ear infection in the past 6 months.  Poor baby!  We are getting him checked out again after we finish this round of antibiotics to see how his ears look.  If they look bad, he'll need to see an ENT.  Bech and I both had tubes as young children (I actually had two sets), so I wouldn't be surprised if he needs tubes, too.

* Jack has an eruption cyst on one of his top teeth, so we got that checked out at the dentist today.  It was his first visit!  He did pretty well.  Plus he got to take a little toothbrush and sticker home.  Honestly, he could probably care less, but I thought it was a fun milestone.

* Season 2 of Sherlock is now on the PBS site (well the first two episodes)...can't wait to watch them!  Bech and I both love the show, so it's something fun we can do together!

* I've got chess squares in the oven cooking right now.  I am bringing cheese straws and chess squares to the InterLibrary Loan ladies.  They set off a curtained area in their office for me to pump in and they always give me yummy treats.  So I thought I would thank them with some southern themed goodies!

That's all I've got for tonight.  Let me know what you think of the new look, please!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my sweet mother.  

She is by far the world's best mother.  She is my best friend, my biggest fan, my toughest critic (in a good way!).  She has an answer for every baby or cooking question, she is the best gift giver I know, and she is an amazing hostess, baker, decorator, and dresser!

moving in, first day of college

our first picture

Jack and his Bella

in Boston

Christmas time (sidenote--who is that chunk?  I barely recognize him!)

I am so thankful to have you as my mom and am so glad that Jack has you as his Bella!  He is a lucky grandson!  We love you!

Baby Jack pictures

I'm scheduling this post for Thursday.  Bech's parents are arriving Wednesday night (and Bech's brother got here Tuesday afternoon), so we are busy spending time with them.

Jack keeps getting older and older and gaining new skills.  It makes me a little sad that he's not such a baby anymore, but this stage is so fun!  This little outfit he's wearing makes him look so old to me!

Here's Jack showing off his clapping skills.

Jack loves to read!  I had my head stuck in a book for most of my elementary and teen years, so I am hoping he turns out the same.  He especially loves Eric Carle books.

He loves his new blocks.

I put this on facebook and my mom commented on how much of a little boy (as opposed to a baby) he looks like here!

I love this little stinker!

It is finally consistently warm here, and we have had so much fun being outside.  I can't wait to get him to the pool and the beach this summer.  I think Jack is going to love them both!