Dossier

Today we mailed our paperwork for our dossier. On its way to Atlanta.

New Car

Mark's new company vehicle. The Subaru Forrester. No more truck, now Jack can ride with Daddy!

Childhood friend

Last weekend I got the opportunity to meet up with an old friend. When I was in first grade my family moved from North Carolina to Oklahoma. On my first day the teacher assigned Ashley Alexander to be my "buddy." Ashley showed me around, sat with me at lunch, played with me at recess, etc. and this turned into a wonderful friendship.

We had a great time talking about some of our favorite memories from our early years. Sleepovers, playing school at each other's houses (we were both teacher's pets in school. In fact, in 5th grade the two of us would give up our recess time to go down to a first grade teachers classroom to help out. Very fitting that as adults we ended up working in education), making radio shows, playing pageants, musical theatre class. We watched our first rated "R" movie together: My cousin Vinnie.

Anyways, here's to Ashley! It has been great to reconnect over the last few years and very fun to see her, reminisce, and meet her boyfriend David.

(Ashley and David)

Go Rockies!

Jack went to his first Rockies Game tonight! The Rockies played the SF Giants and won 8-2....Go Rockies!

It was raining when we first got there. Good thing we were in a suite and had covered seating to watch the game. Although, the rain didn't last long. Mark's company took a bunch of their clients and Jack and I were able to go along for the fun. Jack ate when we first got there and made it about a hour into the game before he lost it. I am talking complete meltdown; utterly inconsolable. We spent some time on the floor of the handicapped bathroom stall in the women's bathroom - I was trying not to think about how clean or unclean it might have been. Jack finally calmed down - and ate again. Then, he was OUT. Perfectly calm and asleep.

I was able to meet my friend Heather and her little boy Bridger for a few minutes during the 7th inning. It was great to say "hi" and catch up a bit. Shortly after returning to the suite, Jack woke up and was VERY happy. He was all smiles and cuteness.

I just love this picture!


Justus and Jack, they are gonna be good buds!
First Rockies Game for the Boys. Justus is the son of Scott and Treena.
Scott works with Mark and these two boys were born just 3 weeks apart.
Justus -almost 9 weeks, Jack-almost 12 weeks.

When the game ended it was raining again. Actually, it was pouring. Mark was kind of enough to leave me under a covered area and as any good Dad would do, he took off running with the umbrella towards the car. (It was at least a 5 minute run - and Mark is a former track runner) He valiantly returned to pick us up and we drove home.

Blizzard of the Month Club

Blizzard of the MoNtH: Girl Scout Tagalong Peanut Butter Patties Blizzard Treat

My brother Jacob and I have decided to start our very own Blizzard of the Month club. Once a month we will be enjoying the same tasty frozen treat and then giving it a rating of 1-10. 1 being awful, 10 being "this was the best blizzard ever, I will only order this one in the future." Our opinions will be collaborated and the results will be displayed. Please note that we do not live in the same location and he is in fact traveling out on the road.

Megan said: I give it a 6. This is definitely for the peanut butter lover. The chunks of pb and chocolate make it good. More chocolate would make it better!!

(Location: Silverthorne, CO)

Jacob said: I have to give it a 6. It was good but peanut butter is not my favorite flavor.

(Location: Festus, MO)

Please feel free to join us in the fun. Try it and let me know what you think. Also, DQ has a coupon for a free 16 oz. blizzard with a purchase of a blizzard. Click here to register for your coupon (it's at the bottom of the page).

Does your fist fit in your mouth?

Today Starbucks was giving out free pastries with the purchase of a beverage. So this is how I started my day: very berry coffee cake, and a tall non-fat misto. Yum!

Also, Jack's new discovery is pulling things to his mouth. My hair, his shirt, my shirt, his blanket, etc. I took this picture of him trying to get his shirt to his mouth. Also he gets super mad because he can't fit his fist into his mouth.

Muffin Mom

Jack is now comforted by things we can do for him and is slightly distractable by our singing, clapping, dancing, etc. One of his favorite songs is "Do you know the Muffin Man?" The other morning he woke up and was crying to let me know he was hungry. So I start singing the Muffin Man song. He starts smiling, I keep singing, and then he remembered he was hungry. But it worked for a minute. He almost always smiles and coos at me during this song, it is so cute. Because this song is sung so often I have made up many verses to this song. One verse details all the kinds of muffins we eat, one talks about who eats the muffins. This morning as I was actually making muffins, I came up with a new verse talking about the "Muffin Mom." Cheesy, I know, but what do you expect from a woman who spends most of her day with a 10 week old who doesn't talk yet.

I-600A Form

We have been waiting for our home study to arrive in the mail. It was approved by the state and arrived today. Thank goodness! I have been a bit neurotic in checking the mail lately; I went twice today - it was there the second time. Jack and I drove it to Mark's office and we sent our approved home study, marriage/birth certificates, some $ for the fee, and our I-600A form to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). Our I-600A form is our "Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan" - it is the form you fill out before an orphan has been located or identified for adoption. Essentially it will give us a neat little piece of paper called our I-171H form which we need to proceed with our adoption. But yeah!!! It will be there tomorrow.

Grandmammie visits

Mom came in town this last weekend. She was here Thursday night to Monday morning. This was her first visit with actual summer weather - it was warm and sunny. Friday we went to the Farmer's Market in Dillon to walk around and enjoy the beautiful weather. We ate Dairy Queen Blizzards for Lunch --yum! And then Mark grilled steak burgers for us for dinner.

Saturday morning Mom and I left Jack with Mark - and with our donuts and coffee, we went garage sale-ing. We found a few good finds - a couple of clothes for Jack, some shoes for our little girl, an extra bumbo seat. Then we made a quick stop at Walmart before heading home where Mom (a.k.a. Grandmammie - she jokingly referred to herself as this, and now I think it might stick) watched Jack so I could make some blackberry jam. It is so fun to watch her with Jack - she sings to him, gets him to smile, dances for him, etc. Saturday night we had pizza and a movie uninterrrupted; Jack actually slept.

Sunday we skipped church and went to the Blue Moose, Mom's favorite breakfast place in Breckenridge. We dined al fresco in the warm morning sunshine. Mark and I both commented that we almost felt like we were on vacation - it was so darn relaxing.

(Jack ready to go to breakfast)

After breakfast we headed over to the outdoor market in Breckenridge, just to take a look around. Sunday afternoon we just stayed around the house and I got to make a strawberry rhubarb pie. We grilled again on Sunday evening and then stuffed ourselves full of pie.

One of the best things about her visit was staying up late to talk. Yes, I know sleep is still very precious to me - but I love our late night chats. One night we looked at recipes, and one night I asked questions about when she first started dating my dad. It was really fun and I appreciate the relationship I have with my mother as an adult.

Monday morning came all to quickly and I sent her home with hugs for Grandpa who wasn't able to make it out. Thank goodness our next visit is in just a month where we will take Jack on his first trip to Oklahoma.

Lies

The other night I got a phone call from my mom who was having dinner with my brother. I picked up and she said "Did you tell your brother you met Whoopi Goldberg?" I knew exactly what she was talking about and so I nonchalantly responded with "you mean in an airport bathroom? she signed a piece of toilet paper for me." My mom recognized this as untruth immediately. However, when I first told that little lie when I was a child, my brother didn't know I was lying. This is the kind of thing I used to do when I was a kid - I would make up fibs and tell them to people just to see if people would believe me. No one really ever believed me because I lied about ridiculous things. Really, who would believe a 7th grader when they said they had a nose job. Or the time I told people I had a twin sister who died at birth.

Funny that this surfaced again this week. Once a week I meet with some other women who are moms to read/discuss a book together. This week we talked about how all kids will lie at some point and how we think we might handle this when our kids are older. It will be awhile before Jack starts telling lies but he will some day. I think for me, I just wanted to see what I could get away it. I am sure I lied about other more serious things, but the ones I remember telling were absolutely ridiculous. And hard to believe that a lie I told almost 20 years ago is still affecting me - once its out of your mouth, you can't ever take it back.

2 month check up

Little dude had his 2 month appointment yesterday. He weighed in at 9 lbs, 3 oz and 22 inches long. He is roughly in the 10th percentile. Starting off at only 6 lbs, he gained half his original birth weight, that's a big deal. Nice job, Jack! He also got shots, ouch! Only cried for about 30 seconds - two shots in one leg, one in the other. I could tell that he didn't feel well yesterday, he just didn't seem like himself, and he was extra cuddly. But, he slept well. He ate around 8:45 last night and went to sleep, it is now almost 5:30 and he is still sleeping.

Happy 2 Months

Jack is two months as of yesterday. It seems like he is growing and changing every day. He gets it when we pick him up out of his crib - he now knows we are going to do something he wants (change his diaper, feed him, etc.) He is alert and curious. Jack loves looking around and taking in all the new sights. He is still intrigued by lights but more fascinated with people. He is smiling at us and smiling when he is happy. Jack loves his swing, bouncing up and down with Mom and Dad on the excercise ball, and laying on his play mat. Jack is an active little kicker - he has kicked himself over several times from his tummy to his back. He loves stroller time and going for hikes.

He now likes his baths and they seem to be something he enjoys. He also had his first shower and really seemed to like that too. He is making all kinds of little noises. Jack likes music, especially guitar music. Mark has played to him and on more than one occasion we have been out at friends houses where there is someone playing the guitar and Jack immediately calms down. He is looking bigger and he's growing. We have finally outgrown a couple of the newborn outfits he was wearing, we just have a few newborn shirts that still fit. It is so fun for us to watch him grow, change, and develop. You constantly amaze us, we love you Jack!

4th of July

I love this day. I always find it so relaxing. I began my day at 5 when Jack woke up. I fed Jack, made a pasta salad, made cupcakes, and went to the gym all before 8, whew! While I got up really early, I felt incredibly rested due to the over 6 hours of consecutive sleep time I got last night. Jack ate at 9 last night and didn't get up till 5; way to go little buddy!

Mark and I walked into town this morning to our friend Kristen's house for her annual Pancake breakfast. Coffee, mimosas, chocolate chip/butterscotch pancakes, sunshine, friends = good times! Next, we ventured another 2 blocks to main street where we had prime viewing for the parade.

(L.) Me, Kelsi, Kelly (R.) Me, Mark, and Jack
Parade viewing Fun!

We stayed till Jack started getting hungry and then headed back to the house.
Our afternoon consisted of Jack sleeping, Mark going for a run, and me working on a little hamburger/fry cupcake project I found via bakerella. Baking is just so much fun for me and I love trying new things. I had a great time replicating this recipe and was pleased with the way it turned out. I made cupcakes and cut them in half, they are the buns. I cut out brownies to make the beef patties. I used red, green, and yellow frosting for the ketchup, lettuce, and mustard. Assembled and topped with real sesames. Very easy! The fries are sugar cookies cut into strips and sprinkled with sugar.

For dinner we headed to the Colvin's house, a family we know from church. They also have an annual get together. Everyone brings a dish to share (we brought a pasta salad and the burgers and fries), there is an egg toss, a water balloon toss, and then we have the Colvin's infamous homemade ice cream...so good!

Mark and I made a quick pit stop at our house after leaving dinner to check on the dogs and feed Jack and then we were off again. This time we were off to hang out with DJ, Jen, and DJ's family at the house where DJ and Jen are house sitting. We ended up having an incredible view of the fireworks. I love fireworks shows. They are beautiful and breathtaking. I find myself saying "I love this one," "I think this one is my favorite," only to find a new favorite in just a few seconds. Growing up I would watch fireworks in the Oklahoma heat lying on a blanket. Now I just watch fireworks in the Colorado cool, wearing a jacket. Oh, and I also love the way the fireworks echo in the mountains. It makes the silence in between each one seem so much more pronounced.

Jen and DJ

Fireworks are loud though and I am not too surprised that Jack slept through the whole thing. Really, what did I expect from an almost 9 week old baby?
So, we had a lovely day. Full of fun, tradition, and relaxation!