Videos!

So it actually let me post them directly! Yay! Maybe it is tired of my complaining. :)

Ready for spring

I think this is cutest picture yet!!! This is Jay's new face he makes whenever we go anywhere that he feels he has to carefully examine....this was after lunch today in the parking lot. Making his face in lowes the other day but i didn't catch it quite as well as the one above.

Another new game: watching the trash collectors...he stands there in amazement every time they come around. he also does this with the mailman. And when Wes comes home from work...then they play a game of peek-a-boo.

just playing....

I have a few pictures and some videos to post, still with minor glitches to work through, so bear with my ignorance as I try to convince this brilliant piece of equipment to do what I say. I cannot edit videos anymore so they will have to do "as is" which means some may be a little dark but I think you can still them ok.

I have realized that my pattern has been more videos than pictures lately and I'm sure you know why-our sweet little Jay refuses to stay still for longer than a second, no matter how hard I beg. This means it takes 3 or 4 times longer than it used to when I post on the blog which is very difficult when Jay makes it his sole mission to destroy the computer as I am typing. Right now he and Wes are napping so I decided to take the chance while I had it.

We are counting down the days until it is warm again and have been surprised this week by a few sunny afternoons so even though it is still chilly we bundled up and spent some time playing in the yard. Wes is building some duck houses for the pond and Jay, unfortunately, is not scared of the drills/saws so I spend all of my time peeling him off of Wes so work can actually be accomplished. Wes is waiting for the day when Jay can help him with all of his projects but until then we will have to just avoid any injuries. Of course, I spend half of the time reminding Wes that he, too, needs to be careful because I am counting on those hands to make me a lot of money one day. That being said, I have asked him to build Jay a toy box and then a sand box before the summer so those hands will be in the "high risk" zone for a few months.

Jay is doing some new stuff as of this week: he dances now. Soooo funny. I have a few of his dances on video and am working on getting those up. Basically when I turn the radio on or when his toys start playing music he twists and shakes for a little while and I just sit there laughing, and of course, dancing with him. :) he is also signing "more" now! Yay! that only took a year of training but it is totally worth it because now he can tell (show) me that he wants more food. I caught it on camera a few days ago but it isn't as good as he usually does so he will have to show it off in person. And he is still walking, more steady now, but he still is scared to try any longer than a few feet at a time. His new game is riding in the tonka truck. The other day I looked over and saw Jay sitting in the back of the truck looking at me like, "when are you going to come play?" so Wes and I spent the next 20 minutes pushing him back and forth. He loved it and will just go plop down in it whenever he is ready for a ride....this will be a problem tomorrow when I am here by myself so the truck may be in hiding until Wes gets home. :)

That is all for now. I have several videos so it may take a while but I will post them as soon as they are ready.

More videos

Here are two more videos that I tried to post yesterday but couldn't do it. It is another of Jay walking (the first time he actually took steps by himself) and then of him eating with a spoon, of course, you will see that he really doesn't accomplish anything but we are trying. :) YouTube - 102_2023.MOV

YouTube - 102_2029.MOV

YouTube - 102_2029.MOV

Walking

Here are two short clips of Jay. We were able to get him clapping before he walks which I think is so funny....like he has to get himself motivated. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sFxqsxA5W0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCXfsTfe70o

Me verses technology

Sitting in a pot....I couldn't resist plopping him in it. I was going to recycle the old phone books but maybe I should keep them around for entertainment...

My big boy facing forward in the car yelling about something important, I'm sure

I cannot tell you how many times I've tried to post videos of Jay with no success this week. Last week our computer, for lack of a better word, crashed, and Wes had to do a recovery program that basically meant we started from scratch when the computer recovered. So, all week we have been reinstalling every program we had on here. This doesn't seem so bad except that in the process of 2 moves we had no idea where half of the cd's were that we needed to "complete installation" so this has been our life for the past several days. We completely emptied our junk closet, including every box that was labeled manuals or computer stuff, which ended up being an endless supply of programs that dated back to our college days (why we felt the need to keep them all I have no idea). Then, waited patiently as our dinosaur computer completed the many processes to get everything back up and running so that I can get on the computer without fighting the strong desire to just chuck it in the pond and tell Wes Jay did it. Finally, everything is working again but we have decided that a new laptop is now in our future (It's very sad to me that the computer we bought just 3 years ago is completely outdated). I seriously don't know how we lived without technology for as long as we did.

On a brighter note, Jay is finally walking!! Well, if you count walking as taking 3 to 6 drunken steps toward me or Wes. I am posting some videos showing the new skill off. He knows it is something to be proud of because every time he does it he claps, both before and after the feat. We walk all day long and it is so fun watching his giant smile as he gets better and better each time. So cute, in fact, that I tried to get him on video walking towards me this morning but, to Jay's dismay, couldn't catch him when he fell and he scratched his face on the rug leading to a pretty bad carpet burn and a very betrayed baby. I felt really bad so I'll have to wait until Wes is home to get a video from that point of view.

We spent most of the weekend outside (it was finally sunny and comfortable) and Jay loved it so I know we will have a good spring and summer doing all kinds of outside games. We both needed some fresh air and Wes even had the weekend off so we got some yard work done also. Saturday morning Wes and Jay went on an outing to home depot so I could get the house clean without interruption. I blared my music and spent the whole morning doing all of the chores that I used to despise but that day had so much fun. It's sad, I know, but to be able to get 3 hours of work done on my on schedule is such a rarity these days. And, of course, the boys had a great time out.

Then today Hannah and I took the boys to the library for story time for 1 year olds just to see how they would like it. And what do you think Jay did??? Sat in my lap and quietly listened to the lady read books??? Of course not, he crawled around in front of everyone yelling and waving as if they were all there just for him. Then, after she finished the book and we all clapped, he sat up proud and tall with his smile that says, "thank you, I know I am great!" That was until he saw the huge truck in the corner (AKA: another child's stroller) and spent the rest of story time pushing it around the room leaving me to sing "The itsy bitsy spider" all by myself. Yes, I was very proud. So, that has been our week. Here are a few pics and when the videos are done uploading I'll post those too.

The Birthday Boy!

The birthday boy sporting his party hat. Getting kisses from Aunt Carrie...

Papa Rich and the birthday boy

Smiling at his Mama Ross...

Thirsty baby from eating all that cake!

I know this seems like a lot of pictures of the same thing but I just couldn't decide which ones to post. Sunny did an awesome job getting all of Jay's little expressions.....

Before he realized that he likes birthday cake. haha

A little confused in the beginning... This was in the middle of us all singing....does anyone know who he was smiling at? This is him judging all of us...apparently we aren't that great of singers....

Here are some of the pictures we have of Jaybird and his birthday cake. He was so funny to watch as he tried to figure out exactly what all the fuss was about. My mom and Mrs. Lynn threw a great party for Jay and we loved getting to spend it with all of our family. We feel like we miss out on so much so to be able to spend our baby's first birthday with everyone was so wonderful.

The best part, to me, was watching his expression when all 50 of us stood around the table and sang "Happy Birthday." He looked at us like we had all lost our minds. Then to watch him explore his cake and proceed to make a huge mess while everyone cheered him on (instead of me fussing and wiping him down like I usually do) was so fun. And, of course, everyone went against my "no gifts necessary" plea and spoiled him rotten once again. Which ended up being good since I am pretty sure he was in such a bad mood last week because he is getting tired of his old toys....yesterday he was very entertained with all of the new ones! And as I went through all of his new clothes went we got home I decided that I cannot wait for spring to come so he can show them off!

The only bad part of the weekend was that it was just a weekend, we really didn't get to spend time just visiting with our parents and were exhausted by the time we made it home Sunday night. But, of course, it was completely worth it. :) We could not have asked for a better first birthday and are so thankful for all of our wonderful family who drove over to celebrate with us. It really made it perfect. We love you!

Videos

Here are some videos I made over the week... Jay loves looking at himself and why not, he's just so cute. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djh0e7p4ED0 These next two are of him "walking" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDfHNQW3CV0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IKKKFk_6QE This one was when I walked outside to check the mail and stopped to wave at him through the window, then he decided to play our favorite game....it was sooooo funny! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTYGRrq3Oco

Growing up

This is my last week of having an "infant" even though I have considered him a toddler for several weeks now due to his increasing hazardous behavior. Even so, I am missing my sweet, cuddly peanut (well, ok, maybe not peanut as much as mini-sumo wrestler) that I used to hold for hours on end just watching him sleep. Of course, he gets more fun every day and I love the fact that we can actually play with each other, make each other laugh, and that I get to watch this precious child learn new things every day-it is truly amazing. And there are moments, brief as they may be, that he curls into me and lays against my chest like he used to--that is until he remembers that there are very important things to destroy and leaps out of my arms before I know what's happening. So, I guess you see my inner conflict about my BABY turning one year on Saturday. And grandparents, before you even think it....yes, I know that having another baby would solve this problem but don't get your hopes up just yet. I'm not sure Jay (or Jake for that matter) will tolerate sharing any attention just yet. I am trying my hardest to convince Jane and Katie to have babies soon so I can just hold their babies when I need my fix...without success so far. Until then, I will just have to look back at the millions of pictures I have of that perfect baby that I fell in love with so quickly and somehow love him even more every day. For those of you that listen to country music, Brad Paisley has a song out called "Then" that I cry to every time I here it and if I am at home grab Jay, no matter what he is doing, and just dance with him. He has no idea what I am doing but tolerates my emotional moment only because I twirl him around. I love the song so much because it is so true about your love for your children. Wes and I think back to when he was a week old and we were so overwhelmed by how much we loved him then....and then a few months later how much more we loved him then....and a few months after that even more...and now, I don't see how I could love him even more but I know that next year I'll look back to his 1st birthday and say, "And I thought I loved you then..." My parents told me growing up that I would understand why they, in my words, "were so over-protective and strict" once I had a child and now I see that. Now that he is starting to grow up I just want to keep him in a bubble so nothing bad ever happens to him. Not just physical danger but my heart breaks to think about the day he comes home crying because some kids at school made fun of him. Or when he gets his heart broken by his first love. Or when he makes the losing error in his baseball game. Or when he gets turned down by his dream job. Or just thinking about him graduating college and stepping out into the mean world on his own. I see now why our parents want to be so involved in our lives, even now. Because the idea that anything bad will happen to your child, your heart, is so heart-wrenching that you can't even breathe when you think about it. Now that I have a pit in my stomach from thinking about all of this, I am just going to end by saying that I truly fall more in love with my precious Jay every second and I am so thankful that Wes and I get to experience this miracle every day.