Jack at 4 Months

Jack is now officially 4 months old!  He had his 4 month appointment.  He is in the 95 percentile for height, 75 percentile for weight, and 15 percentile for head size.  So not much has changed...little man is still a giant pin-head.  He was so cute at the doctor's office.  He was just smiling at all of the nurses and doctors.  He would crank his head around and smile at them until they noticed him.  He was also smiling at the nurses right before they gave him his shots.  It soon disappeared.  I have never heard him scream that loud.  It was ear piercing.  It took him a long time to calm down.  But he finally did when I gave him food.  I didn't even know he had that much volume in him.  It makes me appreciate the restraint he shows with his normal crying.

Top 3 Likes:

1. He LOVES getting dressed and undressed.  Especially the shirt going over his face.  He just grabs on to it and giggles.  I think he thinks it's a game.

2.  When people smile at him.  If you smile at him he will smile back.  The doctor was asking how he was doing interacting with other people.  At that moment he was laughing and smiling at the other doctor in the room and she just said, "Obviously he's doing good with that."

3.  Eating.  I think this will continue to be one of his top 3 likes for a long time.

Top 3 Dislikes:

1.  Being hungry.  We've started him on baby food because he just wasn't staying full enough with formula.

2.  Not getting enough attention.  Sometimes when I leave the room he starts to cry, but as soon as I walk back in he stops.

3.  Getting the bogies suctioned out of his nose.  He has learned to grab the bulb syringe and pull it away from his face.

Top 3 Cutest Things he does:

1.  Sometimes when Chris and I are in the car, we will look back and Jack will have his head twisted around so he can look at us.  We just look over and he is smiling at us.  Chris said one time Jack was on his lap and he arched his back as far as he could so he could smile at his daddy.

2.  He has started talking to himself and making all of these adorable noises.

3.  When you go into his room when he wakes up he looks up and smiles and giggles.  This can be a little annoying when I go to put his pacifier back in and he won't stop smiling and his pacifier won't stay in when he smiling that big.

Top 3 Least Cute Things he Does:

1.  Randomly starts screaming when he realizes he is hungry.

2.  Cries when being put into his car seat.

3.  Spits Up.

Top 3 Things People Say About Him:

1.  People comment on how big he is.

2.  How happy he is.

3.  And how much he eats.

Onto the photo shoot:

The many faces of Jack.

So happy his tongue sticks out.

"Oh Hey!"

Wide eyed.

With his friend Albert.

Big Cheeks.

So a couple of weeks ago at church I might have drawn eyes and a nose over Jack's belly button.  His belly button looked like a little frowny face.  The little girl sitting next to us asked her mom for a marker so she could draw on her stomach too.  Oops.

Chris later put lips on the face with a red marker.  And this was after he reprimanded me for being irreverent in church.

I like this picture of Little Man.  Notice the drool dribbling down his chin.

The other day, I came downstairs and saw Chris and Jack looking at each other like this.

I've just loved being a mother.  He is just so easy to love.  He is so happy and cute.  I feel like this is the best time of my life so far.

I Made One on My Pins!

I'm so proud of myself.  I actually attempted to hand craft one of my pins from Pinterest.  It didn't turn out amaze-balls or anything but at least I tried.

Here was the original pin:

This chica made a dolman tee from one of her hubby's old t-shirt.  I admit, I had I never heard of a dolman tee, but I liked the looks of it.  And I had a bunch of t-shirts Chris gave me when I was preggo and none of my own clothes fit anymore.  If you go to her website HERE you can see instructions and a video tutorial.

Here is the result:

A few things:

1. I had to make a pocket on mine to cover a scouting emblem that was on the shirt.

2.  I think she used a bigger shirt.

3.  I sewed my sides in too much.  I always get a little optimistic about my waste size.

I suppose I will get better as I try doing this sort of craftiness more.  But I just loved pulling out my sewing machine and experimenting. 

Puppy!? and Oregon

Let's get this post started with some random photos of Little Man.

Here he is rockin' his Bumbo.

BLUE EYES!

Jack and his daddy.  I still feel weird using the word "Daddy" as it was banned in my house growing up.  Every time I say it, I feel like a rebellious fiend.

 Moving on to Valintinians Tag, or Valentines Day in laymen terms.  Chris's cousin Dallan came over early in the day so that he and Chris could prepare the feast for later that night.  Dallan brought his girlfriend Kelsie.  They're our favorite married friends...except they're not married.  Details.

 They labored for hours making lasagna and Chris slaved away making this cake.  When Chris and I were at his friends wedding reception I fell in love with their wedding cake.  It was the best chocolate cake I had ever eaten.  Seriously, it was even better than that hefty Costco cake.  And that's saying something.  So Chris tracked down the recipe and made it for me.  He even decorated it.  Pretty sure I say this every post...but he is just so sexy.

I also got these flowers for V-day.

Are you ready for a story? If not skip this next few paragraphs.  So Chris told me about a week before Valentine's Day that he had a huge surprise present for me and that I was going to love it.  My mind raced and I decided I must be getting an iphone because he said it was something that I had wanted for a while.  One day I informed Chris that I thought I was getting an iphone, whereupon he told me that I wasn't.  Now, I'm not proud of this...but I might have thrown a baby fit when I realized I was going to be stuck with my archaic phone.  But Chris told me he got something he thought I would like better.  

I was baffled.  What could I like better than an iphone?  Then a few days later I was watching a commercial.  In this commercial the wife figure says, "My husband went out to get milk and came home with a puppy."  To  which I mused aloud, "I wish my husband would go out to buy milk and get me a puppy."  And then I knew it...I was getting a puppy for Valentines Day.  Chris's sly grin when I confronted him confirmed it.  A million thoughts raced through my head. Where would we put it?  How do you keep one of those things alive?  Would my house smell like dog urine?  How could I stand to wait til Valentines Day?  If I hugged a puppy too hard would it hate me?  Could I be any happier?  I hope it's a dog with pointy ears! I can't wait for it to come running into my arms when it meets me!  I bet it will have a bow tied around it's neck.  And then I'll hug him and cry tears of joy.  Jack would have a friend and then he can be like that kid in Marley and Me that cried when his dog died because he was his best friend...

Pretty much, I was a little anxious but mostly EXCITED!!!  I began planning things with Chris.  I did most of the talking and he just agreed with things.  He even showed me a text he sent his mom requesting she get a kennel.  You see my Valentine's Day present was waiting for me in Oregon at Chris's parent's house. 

One day I was telling Chris that I planned on going shopping for the puppy that day.  I was going to get food, a leash, and a gate to keep him contained.  I figured that we would keep him confined to the kitchen until he was potty trained.  I was a little concerned that Chris hadn't thought all of this out before hand.  Well, Chris told me not to go shopping and that I wasn't getting what I thought I was getting.  And everything that needed to be bought had been bought.  But, I'd seen Chris trick people many a time and I would not believe him.  I said, "I know I'm getting a puppy" about a thousand times.  I was so sure I even convinced Mandi, who knew what my real gift actually was.  

That night when I went to pick up Chris from work he said he was going to show me what my gift really was because he was concerned I would be disappointed.  He pulled up a picture of a laptop.  "Here he goes again with his tricks," I thought to myself.  When I still didn't believe him he showed me the bank statement with the laptop purchase on it.  It was only then that a sliver of doubt entered my mind.

Maybe I wasn't getting a puppy.  A few conversations later I was 95 percent sure I wasn't getting a puppy.  After talking with Mandi who explained how Chris had been on the phone with her for days, worried that I would be distraught that I wasn't getting a puppy, I was 98 percent sure. 

When we got to Oregon and saw the laptop I was 100 percent sure.  Was I disappointed?   A little yes.  I don't care that people tell me dogs are hard work...I still want one.  I have a mini stroke every time I see a cute puppy.  But I was also immensely relieved.  Chris assured me that he would never get a small dog and I was worried for our small house and new couches and little yard.  And the extra responsibility would be overwhelming.  So in the end...a new laptop was the better choice for where we are in our lives right now.  As I sit here typing away on it...I am so grateful that my hubs got me the perfect gift.  

By the way,  Chris tells me he never once lied to me about getting a puppy.  And the crate was so that he could put the laptop in it and trick me a little further.  Which he decided not to do, once he realized how excited I was.

 Here is Jack on his first plane ride.  There were other pictures, but I looked nasty in them.  So we shall have to make due with this gem.  He did great on the plane.  We gave him some baby Tylenol and he slept the majority of the time, both ways.  You could see the fear in people's eyes as we carried him aboard, but he hardly made a peep.

This is in downtown Portland.  Cameron and their new baby Laila (she's the pile of blankets on Cameron's chest), Ashley (Chris's sister), Me, Jack, and Chris.

Bridges in Portland.

 While we were in downtown Portland, painted on a building were the words, "Keep Portland Weird." The building they were on was apparently a transvestite bar.  Then later, as we were waiting in a loooong line outside of Voodoo Donuts, some weird things did indeed occur.  A man kept driving by the hundreds of people in line at a slow crawl.  He was in a van that was painted metallic and had a bunch of monkey heads attached to it.  The song, "Strangers in the Night" was blaring and he was holding a little monkey puppet that was mouthing the words.  And he was singing along too, all the while he had this creepy grin on his face.  At one point he got out of his van and broke it down to a Lady Gaga song...with a matching monkey mask on his head.  Creepy!  And then there were about 20 bikers carrying full black garbage bags in and out of a near by building.  AND, a homeless man was yelling profanities and smacking a random U-Hahl with his bag. This was all within about 20 minutes.  I didn't wait around for the donuts, I was too afraid of being mugged, molested, or murdered.  So I think it is safe to say, Portland has been kept weird.  

 Me and Little Man.

Chris perfected his cake making skills with this cake for Laila's baby blessing.  It took some convincing for him not to write "Queen Poops" on top of the cake.

  

Chris is such a baker these days.  He has always done the majority of the cooking in our house but now he makes all of these extravagant recipes...like pretzels, cinnamon rolls, cookies and cake.  And he sews better than I do.  He's just so domesticated. 

 Here is Jack in one of Mom Albert's old hats.  This face cracks me up.

Here we are at OMSI.  This science center place.  

We went to a Mythbusters exhibit at OMSI.  They had these interactive experiments and items from the show.  And here are their outfits.  

Chris and I wrote down ideas for them to do on the show.  I wanted them to test and see if sharks are really attracted to girls if they are on their period. (Did anyone else get told this as they entered those sensitive puberty years?)  And Chris wanted to know if you could really bait a shark with fish on a line and then ride behind the shark holding on to the line.

Here we are. The whole fam.  Notice Jack's second mom is holding him.  Chris's parents took both kids every night and basically took Jack off our hands completely.  I love the little guy but it is nice to have a wee break from him sometimes.   

I loved our trip and can't wait to go back to land of green and fresh air!