Happy Half Birthday, Jack!

Jack is 6 months old today! I can't believe a half a year has passed since he was born. Here's how we celebrated:


With pureed vegetables...yummy!

And by starting to sit up, which looks something like this:


And then like this...


My life has never been as full and meaningful as it has in the past 6 months--this has been the best 6 months of my life. I feel so blessed to be watching this little person become and I am so, so blessed to walk this road with my husband.

Jack gave us a gift last night for his half-birthday--our best night of sleep ever. Still not "through the night" but a good night anyway.

Not a Perfect Ten in My Book...

Source: Getty Images (Copyright)

For the record, I will say I am sorely disappointed in the Olympics this year. I'm not sure when, but they did away with the "Perfect Ten" in gymnastics. A perfect 10 just sounds SO much better than 15.26. My best childhood friend, B. and I spent hours upon hours first watching the movie Nadia and then playing gymnastics and fighting over who got to be Nadia (then we got smart and realized her teammate Teadora was way prettier...then fought over who got to be Teadora). Which brings me to my next disappointment--I've been combing the channels for a replay of that wonderful 80's movie Nadia--and it hasn't been on. :-(

Since B. is the only one of us with a daughter, I'm pinning all of my Olympic hopes on her future career as a gymnast. Hopefully they will have brought back the "Perfect 10" by then.

Wedding Bells

My little brother got married on Saturday evening and my parents are one in-law closer to their original plan of having 12 children...(they stopped at 5!). Four down, one to go...and that includes three weddings in 18 months. Way to go Mom and Dad! The wedding was beautiful, the setting was gorgeous (close to sunset overlooking the water), and the bride was stunning. I'm lucky to have added another sister to my arsenal.

Some highlights from the weekend:

1. Beautiful ceremony, officiated by one of my brother's best friends, a rowdy kind of guy, who knocked my socks off with a touching, meaningful ceremony. I'm officiating my little sister's wedding in January--I may plant him in the audience and have him feed me my lines through an ear bud...

2. Teary vows and my little brother baring his heart, which is the trait I love him the most for. Hoping my son (named for him) gets this trait.

3. A sweet entourage of flower girls, of which all three were my adorable nieces, all of whom made it down the aisle flawlessly.

4. Ring bearers who actually got to carry and present the rings. I wasn't so brave at my wedding and my nephew (both a ringbearer then and in this wedding) declaring to my mother that he really didn't know why he was carrying the pillow if there were no rings...

5. Catching up with relatives I don't see frequently, including meaningful conversations with two of my aunts, who I really haven't gotten to know well before. Hoping to hold on to and cultivate the relationships.

6. The unexpected surprise attendance by my best childhood friend's husband (wow, that was wordy!), who is only home here and there for the next few months as he is on worldly Navy SEAL missions. We think about and pray for his safety often!

7. Catching up with said childhood best friend--who amazes me more than anyone else I know--two young kids, she not only holds it altogether pretty flawlessly, even with oft-absent hubby, but does so radiantly.

8. Lots of people getting to meet Jack for the first time.

B. and K.--congratulations! We love you and hope for a love that grows deeper and deeper each day. Your relationship has been a treat to watch grow into the one soul you forged on Saturday. We love you!

America's Next Top Model...

Isn't he cute????

We had a busy, but fun, weekend. Saturday was full of bachelor fun for Jared as he helped my little brother celebrate his LAST WEEKEND as a single guy. They did a tour of local breweries on a party bus which, judging by the pictures and the boys' slurry speech upon return, seemed to be quite the good time. Jack and I also did a tour--albeit of cousins. We started at my older brother's house, visited with Cousins A. and P. and Auntie K. and then headed over to my older sister's for a visit with cousins M. and C. My sister and family have been on a week-long trip to Colorado, during which time I sorely missed her and her entertaining blog entries. At least I was kept entertained by her "In 25 Words or Less" sidebar. Then, feeling rather ambitious and with a fed and rested baby, Jack and I headed over to Babies R Us for some pictures. They turned out great and we were in and out in less than an hour. Can't really beat that.

On Sunday, we took Jack to his first ENTIRE church service since being baptized. All in all, he did great. He was rather entertained by the stained glass and the nice man sitting next to us, who he treated to gummy smiles. We then headed to the Race Track to see the ponies run for a company-sponsored Sunday at the races. It was a lot of fun and made me want to go back before the season is over. It's been a long time since I've been to the races and I forgot how much fun it can be. Alas, no money won but a good time was had by all.