While We Were Away...

While we were away, Jack was having a great time with his Nana (Daniel's mom), his Aunt and his Great Grandmother. We had a couple of texts back and forth, but it was nice to know that he was in good hands and that we didn't have to check in. We could just enjoy our retreat.

The funniest text correspondence was between me and Daniel's sister, Amy:

We laid Jack down about 15 minutes ago. No crying. He just laid his little head down and hugged pooh. Sweet boy.

My response:

Great. We thought it would be pretty easy :) Hoping "pooh" was a stuffed animal.

Saturday morning we received a cute photo of Jack at breakfast time from his Nana.

I know that Jack enjoyed all of the extra attention and it was great to be able to go spend some time on our own. Jack even convinced his Aunt Amy to practice high fives with him – he's getting pretty good at it. 

Saturday evening Jack was happy to get to eat cake as we celebrated Grandmother and Amy's birthdays. Our boy loves cake – he has spent the last couple of days polishing off what was left of the Buckwheat Bundt Cake that Amy made!

A few more antics from Jack...

 Playing peek-a-boo.

He recently started plugging his ears. 

I think he has discovered that it dampens sound when he does it. 

He thinks it is hilarious.

 Playing in the fridge.

We certainly missed Jack, but it was nice to get away. 

Spring Retreat

It has been several years since Daniel and I had the opportunity to attend a retreat. I think our time in Cookeville, TN (8 years ago?!?) may have been the last time we got to have some time to reflect and grow in a retreat-type of setting.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to go and spend some time getting closer to our class from church by studying God's word together and sharing a time of fellowship.

{this was the picture texted to us at breakfast on Saturday morning}

This was the first time Daniel and I have left Jack for more than a few hours. Jack was able to spend some quality time with his Nana, Aunts and Great Grandmother while Daniel and I did our quick overnight trip down to the Hargis YMCA camp in Birmingham, AL. 

The general focus of the retreat was building community with a specific look at how prayer, our calling and the need to encourage one another play into the community that we are a part of. Daniel and I felt blessed by this time with this group of friends and we look forward to continuing to grow closer as we get to know each of them better.

When we arrived home yesterday, we grilled out and spent a little time with Daniel's family celebrating his Grandmother and sister's birthdays. Jack had a blast and I think we can consider a longer getaway for me and Daniel in the near future!

See Jack {late February/early March 2013}

This is an ongoing series of videos that I am sharing so that our extended family can keep up with how Jack is growing and changing in these early years.

  

See Jack discover how to open and close the straw on his sippy cup.

{late February}


See Jack attempt to put on his sweater.
{late February}


See Jack eat with a spoon. He gets better at this skill with each passing day.
{late February}


See Jack climb into a chair for the first time.
{late February}


See Jack play peek-a-boo with his daddy's hat.
{early March}


See Jack discover the joy of playing with a tape measure.
I love his sweet giggles.
{early March}

Jack in the Garage

Jack is definitely his father's son. He LOVES the garage. We have been spending more of our time outside (he loves the outdoors too), but if the garage is accessible, watch out! He will be in the garage in a heartbeat.

He loves to explore and look at all of the (many) tools and touch as many things as we will let him. Daniel encourages this, even letting him turn the handle on the vice that is attached to the work table.

He really enjoys it if we set him on Daniel's little mechanic stool and spin him in circles. If we don't sit him on the stool, he will stand beside it and spin the seat himself. He also likes to look under the stool – so inquisitive.

Daniel has been spending a lot of time in the garage lately. He is in the process of upgrading(?) the sound system in his car. This involved taking apart every door panel, removing the back seats and disassembling the dashboard. Recently Jack has been hanging out in the car with Daniel, observing as he puts everything back together. 

The other day Daniel was putting a door panel back on the inside of the driver's side door and he used the palm of his hand to bang it into place. After a minute Jack proceeded to bang on the car with his hand. He is very observant and funny! We had a good laugh at his desire to do what his daddy does.

As for the outdoors... our house sits on 3 acres and Jack has explored almost every inch of our property that is not wooded. This past weekend we introduced him to dandelions. He thought it was great fun to watch us blow the seeds into the wind. He now marches around the yard and picks the heads off of any dandelion that he finds and giggles. His Great Grandpa Lock would be proud!

We are really enjoying these warmer days. I think Jack would spend every waking moment outside (or in the garage) if we let him!

Mr. McGregor's Spring Farm Days

One of the best things about having a kid is that we get out of our comfort zone and try activities that we had never considered before.

This morning we got up and drove to Huntsville for Mr. McGregor's Spring Farm Days at Burritt on the Mountain in Huntsville. 

This was our first visit to this historic park, complete with restored historic 19th century houses, barnyard animals, numerous playgrounds for little people and an excellent view of the city of Huntsville and the mountains of North Alabama.

The park is set up so that you can walk through historic homes but also offers a twist of fun for children by incorporating games from favorite nursery rhymes in the form of the Whimsical Woods. 

Jack really enjoyed seeing all of the animals. I'm pretty sure his favorite thing was visiting the sheep. He has now added the sound "baa" to his repertoire of words/sounds. It is so sweet to hear him say this because he would whisper it to the sheep!

We saw ponies, a cow, pigs, goats, sheep and chickens.

We also watched a farmer shear a rather large sheep. It had quite a coat of wool to keep it warm this past winter!

Jack had fun playing on at least three different playgrounds throughout the park. 

I think his favorite playground activity was when Daniel helped him climb up a climbing wall.

And the slide is always a big hit!

Jack also seemed to enjoy the more educational parts. He was mesmerized by the fire in the blacksmith shop and appeared interested in the demonstration of how they cooked in the 19th century.

We all enjoyed our visit to Burritt on the Mountain – though we skipped out the touring the eclectic mansion. Perhaps we will see it on our next visit.

I don't know that our family would benefit from a yearly pass to the park, but we had a great time (and wore ourselves out) visiting on one of the special Mr. McGregor's Farm Days today!

See Jack {late February 2013}

This is an ongoing series of videos that I am sharing so that our extended family can keep up with how Jack is growing and changing in these early years.

See Jack open and shut the TV armoire door. 

This is currently a favorite pastime of our toddlers. 

{late February}

See Jack shred a paper towel.

It doesn't take much to entertain this guy.

{late February}

See Jack play with his tunnel. 

He loves to play with his Daddy in the evenings.

{late February}

See Jack test out a new pair of tennis shoes.
He is uncertain at first, but now he is an old pro 
and the rubber soles keep his feet protected on the playground. 

{late February}

See Jack test out the slide at the park.
He still hasn't quite mastered going down by himself but he loves to slide.

{late February}

Easter

Easter has come and gone. Over 2000 years ago, Friday was an excruciatingly sad day for believers but every day we can have hope because Sunday came.

This is my favorite depiction of what Easter is about. This video was played during an Easter service at our church in Charlotte several years ago and it really spoke to me. It still gives me tingles today.

Daniel and I have been having a lot of discussions lately about what holidays should look like for our family. What traditions do we want to start or continue? What commercial aspects do we buy into? What things do we let go? 

This Easter it was just Daniel, Jack and I. We didn't do anything special besides go out to eat. We were about the only people eating at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants (not typical fare for Easter!).

I did have a moment when I felt a small twinge of guilt yesterday. It was during the "meet and greet" part of our church service. A woman (someone's grandma) was sitting next to me asked Jack (really me) if the Easter bunny had come that morning? I told her no and felt a bit awkward.

...Crickets...

Daniel and I struggle with telling Jack about the Easter Bunny (or Santa Claus) because they aren't real. They are fictional characters. 

On the one hand, we don't want Jack to grow up feeling gypped about his childhood. On the other hand, we want to emphasize what these holidays are really about. Easter Sunday is about hope and triumph over evil in our risen Savior.

I have read about how some parents choose to tell their children that Santa and the Easter Bunny are pretend, and a part of the game is to not tell other kids that these characters are make believe. I think that in the future, this is an idea that Daniel and I can work with. We can share in the fun of fictional characters without having to go against our consciousness by pretending that these characters are real.

If you are a parent that loves the Easter Bunny (or Santa), I don't want you to feel like I think any differently of you. I think we all parent differently and I respect how you choose to do things. Really, I do. I will do my best to encourage my child not to accidently break the news to your child :)

We will probably never do gifts from Santa or the Easter Bunny, but we will participate in other fun parts of these holidays like Easter Egg hunts. We may even go visit these characters at the mall. I don't see how that is any different from going to see at Disney character at WDW.

Most importantly I hope that we are doing our best to share with Jack that Easter is about the power of the resurrection of Christ. I hope you had a happy Easter – however you chose to celebrate it with your kids!