5 months

It's so crazy to look back at pictures from a few months ago. Here's a couple that show how big Jay has gotten.

Trying out the blog option from our phone.

Carrie & Jay!!

Lakehouse & Family Reunion

We're a little slow to get these up but we had a great time at the lake a couple weeks ago. Carrie and I spent the first 4 days with my Mom and Dad and then after that moved over to the Lakeview Resort and shared a cabin with my sister, Jenny, and her family. This was Jay's very first time in the pool and also out on the boat. He loved the boat... it rocked him right to sleep. It was a great time!!

Jay goes swimming.

Lena spent the weekend with us while Rick and Pat were out of town so Friday afternoon we went to the pool. Lena captured some nice pictures of our time there. Jay did great in the water not overly excited but at least he didn't freak out either. We're looking forward to lots of fun memories at the pool over the years.

Jay Pics - May 2009

From 8 to 60...

John & I celebrated 8 years of wedded bliss yesterday!! And, as I like to say, "We've really been together for 16 years - dated for 8, married for 8!" John pointed out that this year marks the point where we'll have been married longer than we dated - wow! Our journey has been a blast and I can truly say that he is my best friend! He completes me and makes me a better person in so many ways. I love his smile, his personality, his optimism, the way he cares for others, the way he cares for his family and...wow, too many things to list! I am sooo incredibly blessed.

This past weekend we celebrated by going to dinner at PF Chang's and topped it off with dessert at The Cheesecake Factory! YUM! Thanks to Mimi & Poppy for a great night out without Jay! And last night we grilled out some top sirloin steaks for a special meal at home - complete with eating in the dining room on our china plates! We reminisced a lot of things like places we've lived, cars we've had & vacation memories. It was a special night.

You may still be wondering why 60 is in the title of this post. Just a couple weeks ago we celebrated my Grandparent's 60th Anniversary at Al's Steakhouse in Joliet. 60 years is a LONG time and we are grateful for examples of long-lasting relationships in our life. Cheers to you, Gramma & Grampa! We hope we make it to 60, too! Here are some pics of that night:

My First Mother's Day

Well, it's official - I celebrated my very first Mother's Day! WEIRD! I didn't start the day as you'd typically think because I sang at church...which meant that I set my alarm to get up before Jay so I could shower & get ready before I fed him and ran out the door! Before I left, though, John gave me a very sweet Mother's Day card. Inside he told me that he was planning to take Monday (today) off to have a family day together - how awesome! That really is the best gift I could ask for!

After church we headed down to Joliet to spend the day with his family. There was a lot for Jay to take in with 8 cousins running around and a lot of cameras flashing in his face! Here are the highlights:



God has blessed me soooo much with Jay and John - thank you for making my Mother's Day (and the day after) so special! I love you guys!!

New Toys!

Sometimes I wonder if Jay ever gets bored with his swing, bouncer and play gym day after day. Does he ever long for anything else or is he perfectly content being entertained by the same things over and over and over again?

Now that he is doing so good holding his head up, we've had fun introducing him to some new surroundings - the Rainforest Jumperoo and the Bumbo chair! You can tell he's very intrigued with the Jumperoo and doesn't know yet what to do about the new view from the Bumbo!

Jay and His Buddy

Haven't blogged in a little while...so here's to catching up on uploading some pictures! This is Jay and his friend, Grant! Grant is almost 7 months old and is sitting up and playing with lots of toys now. Jay likes to watch him and is probably learning some tips & tricks along the way! Grant seemed to like Jay as a fun, new toy in these pics...someday they will be able to look back on these and smile!

Week 10 pics

Jay is almost 11 weeks old - can you believe it?! Here's a collage of pictures from this week - of course the smiling never gets old. He does a lot of it - just like his Daddy! And bathtime continues to be a fun experience. It seems like he likes it more and more these days. I can't wait until he learns how to splash! Well, maybe I can, but it will still be fun!