We're going BLUE...again!!

Jack just found out Monday that he is going to have a little brother. Now, the hard part...coming up with a name. We have the middle name all set, we just need a first name now. Well, we have some time, so we'll just keep plodding away at it! Jack seems a little too young to know what's going on, but once that baby comes, I'm sure he'll be an excellent big brother!! We'll keep you posted with updates and such...new room look(s), Jack's new room and big boy bed, and all the rest!

Some REALLY Cute Pictures and Videos of Jack since Christmas

I can't believe it's been so long since I put up some pictures of Jack. He is growing sooo much! He runs around now, or walks on his tip-toes. He's LOVING being able to walk. The other day, we actually walked around our block...he and I were both walking. He didn't like to hold my hand, but I made him do it anyway. Hopefully soon he won't mind so much.
Jack also has started to point at people when we ask "Where's so-and-so?" It's so cute. He can say "Mama", "Gaga"(grandma or grandpa), "loon"(balloon), and sometimes, "Dada" (but he always ends up calling Matt "Mama.")
Well, anyway, here's the pictures:

Just checking the tire pressure.
He's so safety conscience!

The little man snoozing in his new
forward-facing car seat.

Jack eating the potatoes he found in the pantry.

He actually took a few bites,
so they must have tasted good!!

Lovin' up Gramma's kisses


In the laundry tub


Carrying Mommy's purse around the house


On the front porch during our recent heat wave.
He was pointing to Jack when I asked, "Where's Jack?"

Jack was just in rare form this day
I think it was early April.

Hope that you enjoyed these pictures and video! More to come ASAP!!

Announcement...old news to some, though

Just in case you DIDN'T hear already, Jack is going to be a big brother!!!!! We will hopefully find out the gender in late June, so we'll post pictures and info about it then. But, until then, everything is going fine. The morning sickness this time around is a little worse, but then again, I have a little less down time this time around too! As of today, I'm 11 weeks along, and I already am in some maternity clothes (ouch), but I'm told that's somewhat normal. Oh well! Que sera, sera. Here is a picture of the sonogram I had on April 10th. He/she already looks like a little person....it's sooo cute!!

Jack's 1st Birthday

Jack turned one last Friday, the 20th and one of Matt's coworkers at Orville's switched shifts with him so we could all hang out Friday night!! We went out to dinner and had lots of fun!! Then we had a great birthday party for him the next day. Thank you to all who came and joined in the celebration with us! Thank you also for those who weren't able to come, but sent well wishes!! Jack had a blast between eating frosting off the cake, seeing his family and friends, and then playing with all his new wrapping paper (I mean toys!).
Here is a video so you can see how much fun Jack had: (pictures to be coming...problems with uploading...too tired and frustrated now!!)

Jack Walks!

Jack took his first steps on February 3rd...and they were

towards Daddy!!! How wonderful :-)
He now is walking everywhere! No more crawling for Jack!!!

This is Jack in mid March walking around outside
before we ventured off to see a
St. Patty's Day parade.
Jack LOVES being outside!!

New Camera...Yeah!!

Matt couldn't wait until my birthday to surprise me with my new camera...how cute!! He gave it to me today, so lookout world...lots of pics and videos from here on out. (Well, at least that's what I am hoping for. We'll see how it really works out!)

I Love this Christmas-y Time of Year

The holidays were a blur, but they were fun! Mike, Julie & Emma came into town on the 24th and stayed with us while they were here. It was so much fun!! We all had a great time...but I think the kids enjoyed it the most (as it should be).
For some reason, Matt & I volunteered our home for the annual McCoy Christmas Eve get-together since it was supposed to be at Dan & Judy's this year and we knew their home was just not big enough to have all those people in it. What a crazy few days we had before and after trying to get ready for it, and then cleaned up from it! Would I do it again??? Sure, why not!
Christmas day was a full day! We woke up at 7 to be at my Mom's by 8:30am. We opened gifts and played with the Wii that my family got. Then it was time to go to Dan & Judy's. We opened gifts and had lunch there. Jack got a really cool Kawasaki motorized four wheeler that he just loves! Emma got a cool slide and rocking horse that both kids loved! Then, around 2 Matt, Jack and I went to my Dad's house to open gifts and visit. My sisters and Jeff Moore came too! We stayed there until 5pm. Then we went back to my Mom's house for dinner and birthday celebration - her birthday! Matt, Jack & I left for home around 8pm weary and exhausted from a very long and exciting day.
Then, not a week later, we went to Matt, Sara & Kinsley's for their 3rd Annual New Years Eve party. This year's theme was Wild West. Jack made it until about 10:30pm, and then zonked out upstairs in his car seat. It was a lot of fun. Matt didn't get that into dressing up, but I went to Salvation Army and got a decent outfit. Unfortunately, something in the outfit made me sneeze, so I had to give it back to the Salvation Army after the party. Oh well!!
Below are some pictures from Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve and random pics of Jack & Emma playing while they were together.

Matt & Jack Christmas morning at my Mom's opening a gift for Jack.
I love the expressions on both of their faces...exactly the same!!

My Dad and Jack at Dad's house on Christmas Day.
Jack was getting a little tired by this point.

Here's Jack on his four wheeler.
It's not on Christmas Day,
but we had to assemble it first!
(Yes, that's me with him...wearing matching overalls!)


Jack & Emma played so well together! How great!!!

Matt's Big 3-0

I don't know how I did it, but I did. I threw Matt a SURPRISE birthday party and he didn't find out until we shouted, "Surprise!" as he walked in the house!! Here's how it all went:
Matt doesn't get many weekends off, but he requested his birthday weekend off, so I started to plan the party when I found out about it. That day, we hung around the house, went for lunch and then Dan & Judy took us out to dinner. After dinner we went to the Festival of Lights in Hamburg. We got to go on a reindeer drawn carriage ride...which was cold, but fun! All the while, Cindy and Jeff were back at our house getting decorations up, setting up the house for the party and greeting people as they came over. If it weren't for Cindy and Jeff, the party would not have been as great as it was! It definitely wouldn't have been a secret!!
So, on our way home from the Festival of Lights, I kept texting Jeff & Cindy to let them know where we were and our ETA (estimated time of arrival). Judy looked nervous all the way home, but the rest of us kept our cool. When we got to our house, the entire street had cars parked on it and Matt said, "Whoa. Look at all the cars. I wonder what they're doing here." To that I answered, "I guess somebody must be having a party." And he dropped it at that. We parked in the driveway and Matt took Jack into the house as we all followed him. When Matt got to the top of the stairs, everyone inside yelled, "SURPRISE" and started singing happy birthday to him. Charlene Bryant got it all on video, which she posted on facebook if anyone is interested in seeing it. Matt seemed surprised!
Then, after we settled in and started to visit with people, we got a new visitor: President Ronald Reagan...back from the dead!!! He looked pretty good for being dead too! It turns out it was Dale McKerrow playing a joke on Matt. (I knew all along, because Dale called me the day before to see what I thought of the idea.) Matt had no idea who it was because Dale did such a good job acting like Ronald. It was great!!!
After a while, Matt had to open some gifts. He got some great things...chocolates, the movie Lonesome Dove, and the coup de gras (sp?) .... his signed Magglio Ordonez baseball from Jeff & Cindy.

Overall it was a great time! There were almost 50 people there, so it was a bit packed, but fun. We even got to meet Char's parents for the first time!!! They stayed with us that night too, and then we all went out to lunch the next day after meeting. I think Matt really had a good weekend off. And so did Jack & I.

All bundled up.
Matt & Jack on the reindeer drawn carriage.

Matt & Jack inside one of the buildings
after seeing the lights.

Matt meeting Ronald Reagan....

and then meeting the man behind the mask.
Silly Dale!

the "Big Gift"

Not so big after all, but I think Matt likes it.
What do you think?!

The past month and then some...

So, in the past month, we've had a lot of fun. Here's some of what happened:

Emma and Jack got to visit with each other when Mike,
Julie and Emma stopped by on their way back from
Ben & Molly's wedding on November 1st. Jack and Emma
really had fun...and they even stayed up past their bedtimes!

Here's Jack bracing for Daddy's driving.
He already knows what a crazy driver his Daddy is!!

Jack has become aware of himself in the
mirror and loves to kiss himself.
I'm not sure if I should be concerned that he
wants to kiss another boy, but it's cute none the less!

Matt, Sara, Don, Matt & I went to the Monday night football game.
It was fun...except for the whole loss thing. Wide right...again!
I think the sports teams in this town are cursed or something!!!
This was Don's first NFL game. How depressing to have it be this one :( Sorry Don!

Jack and I visited Daddy at work (school).
In the background is Matt's Daddy board.
His students made it for him last year when Jack
was born and Matt keeps adding pictures to it.
It's quite a piece of art!!
Jack broke part of his toy!
As you can see, he's just as shocked as I was!!

Jack has learned how to pull himself up on things, like his gate.

He also can climb on his gate. I call him my little monkey!!

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my mom's house.
Jack's great gramma Koziel got this bib for him
to commemorate the occasion. Of course, this is the
only picture of it clean...he's such a messy eater!
Oh, and he loves pickle juice now too!!

Grampa Kryman got to play with Jack a little bit about a week ago.
Grampa hasn't seen Jack in a while,
so they were both very excited to see each other.

Here's Jack getting into a box of toys.
Notice how the bottom two shelves are cleared of
books...he loved to pull them off and eat the covers!

Jack with some of the toys he found in the box.
He was actually kneeling here. How cool!!

The above picture is Jack in his tub on December 5th. Below is him in his tub in July. Wow...has he grown a lot since the summer!!!

In the past month Jack has also figured out how to crawl (for real this time). He scoots from one room to the next with lightening speed! I'm so glad I put the gates up a while ago :)
Jack has also been the adventurous one with the foods he's eating too! He loves every flavor of baby food except peas. We've even tried Guava, Mango, Blueberries & Apples, Bananas & Strawberries... he loves them all!!
But recently, he's been eating table food too! He's tried (and loves) cheerios, clementines, dill pickles, vanilla ice cream, crackers, and Beechnut strawberry banana puffed rice. Hopefully the trend continues and he's up for any food I feed him...unlike his Daddy!! :-)

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I'll get more pictures and info up around Christmas (while Matt's on break!)

Halloween Fun

Here are some pictures from Halloween Eve - the local fire department to which my dad and brother in law belong had a little parade through the village and then a party in the hall afterwards. There was even a costume contest in which Jack won a prize as Clifford the big red dog. Kinsley was a peanut and also won a prize!! For Halloween, Matt and I took Jack around to the grandparents' houses and then around the block for the neighbors to see. He was Tigger...incase you couldn't tell!! We had a lot of fun. Halloween is probably my favorite holiday!

7 Months and Counting . . . . .

Jack turned 7 months on the 20th of October! WOW!! Sometimes it seems like he's only been here a few weeks, other times it seems like he's been here forever. He is getting bigger by the day it seems and now he can "scoot" around, so I've got to be on the lookout all the time :)
Jack doesn't crawl yet, but he does "drag" himself across the floor. It's the cutest thing...he pulls with his right hand and then uses his left elbow to propel him along all the while his legs drag behind him like he's paralyzed below the waist. It really is a funny site.
Since the last post, a lot has happened, but I know that I'll forget some of it. So anyway, here are some pictures of things that went on this past month and a half.

Jack playing with the blocks that grandma Judy got for him.

Jack doesn't seem to be enjoying his water.

Look at him suck in his tummy when he gets upset!

Jack's first Bills game. We won! Hooray!!!

Jen & Kyle Pierson visited from Virginia.
I love how Kinsley is sprawled out on Jen!

Jack & John Egger (our elder) after Sunday meeting.

My Dad's brother, John came to visit from Florida.
This is the first time he met Jack.
And, of course, Jack puked alllll over him!! It was gross :-/

I had to do some yard work so Jack just chilled on the blanket.
Later, he rolled off the blanket and ate some grass.
I guess it didn't hurt him...hey maybe he had a stomachache.
That's what dogs do, isn't it?!

Jack can sit up all by himself now. He loves those blocks!!

We celebrated Kent's birthday.
Char made snacks and we had some people over to sing and what-not.

We were on our way out the door, when, all of a sudden, Cindy & I heard the street sweeper!
IT WAS DAD! ON HIS BIRTHDAY NO LESS!!!
So we got Jack up on the truck and had to get a cute shot.

On Matt's weekend off, we went to a pumpkin farm that was so crazy. It had rides, food, games, a haunted house, gift shop, etc. It was pretty awesome. Jack will really love it when he's a little older, but we had fun this year too!
This is us among some of the many, MANY pumpkins there.

After a union meeting at the Frank's, Dale McKerrow with Jack and the Willett clan.
The kids love Dale!!

Jack & Kinsley having a few words.
"Jack and Kinsley sittin' in a tree
t-a-l-k-i-n-g"
(If I wrote "kissing" Matt Monnat would probably want to beat me up!)

Jack's first Sabres game. We lost in a shoot out. Boo!
We watched it at Kent's apartment with his family and Joe H.

That's about all for now. I'll have more after Trick-Or-Treating on Friday! Until then, have fun!