52 Weeks - We have a 1 year old!

2-1-2014 - Happy 1st Birthday <3

1-31-2014 - Day 365 of Jase's life

Since his birthday falls on a Saturday, he took cupcakes to daycare Friday.  It felt very strange to be the mom sending treats...I liked it :)

Showing off his teeth!

Drinking water out of the tub is funny til he pees in it

My little fishy

2-1-2014 - The big day is finally here!  Our man is 1!!!!!

 

 

Happy Golden Birthday Jase!!!  

(you can read my birthday post here)

 Since I love winter so much (ha!), it's only fitting we got a big storm the night before causing us to move his party to Sunday.  I'll admit I was pretty crushed, but it just wasn't worth asking everyone to drive on the snow packed roads.  So we stayed home and made cupcakes for the party instead :)

While baking the cupcakes, I cut the twinkies in half and decorated them.  The black icing is just one of those tubes you can buy at any grocery store or Walmart...and I bought the $.99 tips to go with it.  The eyes are candy eyes from Michaels - they are completely tasteless, I was surprised, but not disappointed.  The frosting is homemade and the cupcakes are yellow Betty Crocker cake.  Time consuming, but much easier than they look!  So worth the effort!

Grammy's flight was delayed, but she made it in Thursday night and got to see Jase on his actual birthday.

 Hey, can I play?

A positive side of having to cancel the party was that Kiel and I got to spend good quality time with Jase on his birthday.  And I got a little extra time to prepare.

2-2-2014 - The big party day was finally here!  Everyone and a couple more was able to make even with the weather and date change.  We are so beyond thankful to all our family and friends who came out to celebrate with us.  Jase only took a 45 min morning nap, but he was in a great mood the entire party.  I think he likes the attention?!??!?!??!  :)

Jase has loved the movie Despicable Me since the first time he saw one of those yellow minions, so Kiel & I knew we wanted to do a Despicable Me themed birthday party.  A few searches on Pinterest, and I had a bunch of ideas for decorations and desserts.  I'm not going to lie...I had so much fun making everything and setting it up.  I'm really happy with how it all turned out!

The cake is from a giant cupcake mold I borrowed from one of my sister's co-workers.  My mom made the "cookie robots" (chocolate chip cookies) and you already know about the cupcakes.  Pizza and wings were provided so that's really all the food we had to make.  

These balloon weights are just empty 2 liters that I spray painted.  I printed the goggles off the internet and voila!

The banners are made out of paper I bought at Michael's.  I admit, I took to Pinterest to find a template to get the right size triangles, there are hundreds of choices!  I would highly recommend using thicker paper if you plan to re-use the banner.  I will probably end up laminating my triangles since the paper is so thin.  The large circles were traced from a Tervis Tumbler glass and the smaller ones are from a wine glass.  I printed the letters on the white paper before tracing the circles and cut them with crazy scissors to give them some texture.  Used a double hole punch on the triangles and weaved twine through them to hang.  We failed to get a picture of the banner I made with all his monthly sticker pics, but that was made out of layered card stock and construction paper with the same twine stringing each picture together.  The card stock was 5x7, the construction paper slightly smaller, and the pictures were 4x6.  You can kind of see it in a picture of Jase in his walker above.

He was way more interested in clapping than eating his cake.  As soon as everyone would stop, he'd get them to start up again.  And when we finally left him alone, he ate his cake.  Stubborn like his father!

The backdrop is just 3 $.99 table cloths from party city that I cut into strips and tied together at the top so they would overlap.  While putting it up, I was wishing I had a 4th cover to hang in the back or maybe a 4th color to intertwine...just if you want less space between each color.  Super easy and cheap for a better looking background than a white wall!  And I just used mini clothes pins to attach the banner to the backdrop.

 All the minions! 

These goggles are the same ones I used for the balloon weights, I just printed them on card stock so they were a little sturdier for the kids to wear.  I was surprised how many of them were willing to wear them!  We're missing a couple mini minions, next year they'll be big enough to join in the fun!!

We also missed the favor bags that were yellow paper bags with those goggles glued on them to look like minons :) 

Jase really isn't interested in presents yet, so I just opened them with a little help :)  I am totally one of those people that gets irritated when other people's kids are up in the birthday kids face when they're opening their presents, but all the kids were SO good!  I greatly appreciated the help!

As I go through the pictures, I'm really regretting not getting some of Jase with more of the party goers, but all in all it turned out to be such an AMAZING day!  I couldn't have asked for a better celebration of the last year.  One more time...Happy Birthday Baby Boy!  We love you so much!

(video)

2-3-2014 - Enjoying one of his new toys (video)

2-5-2014 - The big 12 month well check!  Since the weather was terrible, the doctor's office was short staffed so we were there a lot longer than normal.  I think I set a record for the most times singing the itsy bitsy spider and playing horsey horsey in an hour.  Totally worth getting his measurements though!

Jase's weight is starting to level off a little since becoming mobile.  He weighed in at 22 lbs 15 oz (73%) and measured 31.5" (95%).  I think that's the same height as 9mo so I know it's not completely accurate, but I really don't think he's gotten too much taller since his pants are still pretty long...short legs!  He's also above average in head circumference...18.8cm (96%)...no surprise there.

I really didn't have a lot to talk to Dr. Proehl about other than the transition to milk from breastmilk.  We are at the end of September's supply so we still have October and 2 weeks of November to get through, but Monday we packed up the bottles and started sending a sippy cup of actual milk to daycare.  I had been mixing his BM with 2% to ease him into it, but Dr wants him to be on whole milk to start off so off to the store I go.  Kyra says he's been doing great with the sippy cup which is no surprise since he's been using one at home for quite some time now.  I was a little worried he'd protest drinking BM in the morning and evening so we could continue using my supply, but he doesn't seem to mind so we're going to continue on that path for as long as possible.  I'm really hoping to get through the BM I have frozen.  Throwing it away just isn't an option after all the work I did to get it.  Fingers crossed it goes as planned!

We were waiting to add peanut butter, corn, and strawberries to Jase's meal rotation until he was a year old since they're common allergens.  He has now had all of them and as of today, he hasn't shown any signs of being allergic to anything (knocking on every wood surface in the house).  So basically, Jase has free reign of food around here.  Everything we eat, he at least tries and so far avocados are still the only food on the dislike list.  He loves pizza (mama's boy!), all fruits and veggies, cupcakes, oreos, tortellini, everything else he's tried.  I will say he isn't always a fan of hotdogs, but I'm pretty ok with that.

Sleep is the same.  Awesome.

It seems crazy to me that he has a vocabulary already, but he definitely does!  He says:  da da, tractor, duck, uh oh, cock (truck & car...just lovely!), quack quack, woof woof, and so many little noises that aren't words, but he is getting his point across.

Despicable Me is still a favorite, but it has taken a back seat to Mickey Mouse Club House.  I know kids his age shouldn't watch a lot of tv and I worry he watches too much, but the way his face lights up with that mouse comes on tv is too great to say no to.  At least it's educational right?!?!?

He's got crawling down to a science and is starting to show a little more interest in walking.  Every now and then, he will let go of whatever he's holding on to and stand for a few seconds.  It's so exciting and terrifying at the same time!  I am NOT ready to have a walker, but love to watch him make those advances.  He loves to play in mom & dad's room, climbing all over the pillows - mostly slobbering on them.  He regularly motions to be put in his crib to play with his deer we keep in there.  He loves when we throw his stuffed animals in there so he can play.

We were also supposed to have a sonogram of his kidneys and check up with Dr. Rhea today, but had to reschedule due to weather.  We'll try again on February 25th.  Come on Spring!

Whew...I can't believe he's 1...what an amazing year it has been :)

2-6-2014 - Here's a video of him playing in his crib...peek a boo is still his favorite game!

-Nicole

Day 366

I'm in utter disbelief...

It's like a broken record is playing over and over in my head...this was the fastest year of my life.  Just thinking about what I was doing a year ago today, brings tears to my eyes and an overwhelming panic that the next 17 will go even faster.  A year ago?  Really?

"JMan" aka "Baby" aka "Jasers" aka "Monkey" sometimes "Hey you" but always...

Jase - 

Watching you grow over this past year has been the greatest experience of my life.  Just the other night, I was putting together some decorations for your birthday party and was floored looking at how much you've changed over the last 12 months.  You are no longer that flailing, tiny helpless infant we brought home from the hospital.  Your eyes are still blue, your hair is still red, and you are still as observant as ever but you're taller, sturdier, and even more loveable...I had no idea that was possible.  Everyday you learn something new and even though the tasks you complete are ones I mastered long ago, it's as if I'm learning too.  Winter may never be my favorite, but I forgot how pretty it can be until we took you out in the snow and your face lit up.  Finally, there is reason to enjoy mornings.  I am still not in love with the time consuming act of cooking, but meal time is more fun watching you learn what you like and how to feed yourself.  Splashing in the bathtub is no longer messy, it's mandatory.  I cannot come up with what I filled my evenings or weekends with before I had you to entertain me.  There are no dull moments...I could sit and watch you for hours.  

You eat with your left hand, snore, and sleep like a rock...just like daddy.  You have an obsession with burp rags, watch tv with your mouth open, and prefer to sleep on your stomach...just like mama.  Who you look like depends on the day, but we sure do hear that you look like Grandpa Gregg a lot lately.  Some days, I feel like you're a clone of my baby pictures and other days the shape of your face is so your father.  You already know the boundaries of things that are not toys and test them regularly.  You love the camera (like you have a choice).  You are the happiest baby I have ever met. 

I have no "we survived a newborn" speech for you...you were/are such a good baby (let's continue on that path, yes?).  For the record, I would love you even if you had made me work for it, but thank you for being a good sleeper and making breastfeeding enjoyable.  Thank you one million times for all of the smiles and snuggles.  Most of all, thank you for making me a mother.  I consider it my greatest accomplishment and promise to always do my best for you.  Please be patient with me.     

Part of me wants to keep you this age forever because I can't imagine life without you reaching for me from the floor or being able to rock you to sleep.  But the other part of me cannot wait to see you continue to change and grow.  So while I am sad that our first year together has gone so quickly, I know we have so much more to look forward to.

Happy 1st (golden) Birthday baby boy!! 

I love you love you!
Mom

51 Weeks - assisted walking/meeting Kannon/1yr pics

1-24-2014 - Kiel & I took the day off to travel to Mascoutah to meet baby Kannon and Bethalto to get Jase's 1 year pictures taken and hang with his future bride to be.  I am SO glad we did as we were able to catch this exciting moment on video before we left...

Unfortunately, when we arrived at the Shemwell's, I discovered Jase had a fever...dun dun dun!  How horrible is it to bring a sick kid into a home with a 7 week old?  I was 99% sure it was teeth as usual, but I restrained from getting pictures of the boys together and didn't kiss on Mr. K like I wanted.  Guess we'll be making another trip to make up for that :)

So glad we got to meet you baby boy!  Keep those cheeks chubby and that head bald til next time!!!

We headed to Bethalto to meet up with DeVries fam for dinner and to get settled in for the night.  I had given Jase a couple doses of Motrin so his fever was down and he seemed to be acting fine...just to be on the safe side, I was prepared to keep him from kissing Reagan if necessary ;-) 

1-25-2014 - He slept pretty good that night, but woke up warm again.  I checked his mouth and discovered a white spot where a tooth looked to be working it's way through :-( 

A little breakfast with Reagan <3

 We started pictures after his morning nap but my ham-for-the-camera-baby was full of nothing but blank stares and little fits of crying pretty much the entire shoot.  I'm sure Suzy worked her magic and got a few good ones of him regardless of his mood.  I can't wait to see them!

1-27-2014 - 50 mph winds kept Daddy overnight.  Jase is really starting to become aware of when Kiel is gone.  I can tell he's looking for him at bedtime and in the morning when he wakes up...melts my heart.

1-28-2014 - His favorite spot (aside from the bathroom, why is that?)

Where's Jase?  hahaha

Playing with daddy (video)

 

1-29-2014 - Our first battle wound!!  haha it's hardly noticeable.  Just a little bump from falling out of a chair at daycare.  I'm sure one day I will look back at this and wish bruises were still this small.

-Nicole