Ash Wednesday

Today is the beginning of Lent and I always feel the strongest in my faith during this time of year. It is hard not to eat meat on Fridays, to fast on certain days, and to give something up - but when you think about why you are doing it and how little these sacrifices really are, it's not so bad. This year I decided to give up facebook during the week. I can't quit cold turkey, so I am allowing myself to catch up on the weekends. I'm hoping that my small internet addiction will start to go away as well. Doubtful considering that I have a million blogs I love to read and I like to keep mine up to date too! I thought about giving up the internet completely - but that just wouldn't be fair to you guys. ha! Plus there are some days when the only communication I have with my husband is via email. Tom decided to give up drinking beer. If you know Tom at all you know this is going to be extremely difficult for him. However, he was not willing to give up alcohol altogether. We made a rule that if he is going out and will be drinking all night, beer will be allowed. Once again, if you know Tom you know that him drinking hard liquor all night is not a good idea. Jack is giving up diapers and whole milk. ha ha, can you imagine? That's all for now. I'll keep you updated on any withdrawl symptoms I experience from lack of facebook.

New Kicks

I bought these shoes for Jack this weekend at the MOA. How awesome are they? He loves them.

Congrats Morris Family

Mike and Elissa Morris welcomed their second baby boy into their family early this morning. Austin Jere Morris was 7 lbs 4 oz and 20 inches long. We can't wait to see pictures. Congratulations Mike, Elissa, Logan, and Austin!!!

Trip to the Zoo

Today we went to the zoo and it was PACKED! We went with my cousin Emily and her twin girls (2), my aunt Annie and her friends daughter Anna (2 or 3?), Kelly's girls (2 and 1). Yes it was crazy fun! At first we met up in the giant sandbox which was so crazy. There were kids in their bathing suits who seemed a little too old to be playing in a sandbox, but oh well. Jack does not do well in crowds, so this whole sandbox idea was just not going to happen. Luckily Emily and Annie and the girls had been there a while to enjoy the sand so once we got there we just headed for the trails. Jack was a little fussy, but nothing a bag of animal crackers couldn't fix! We ate lunch there and then saw the fish and dolphins. Jack slept all the way home and then he slept for an additional two hours when we got home. Yea! Enjoy the pics.

Anna, Annie, Jack, Hailey, Ruby - Jack is not a happy camper

The youngins

The Monkey

Ruby entering the mini cave

Hi Ruby!!

Mommy, Mommy - I made it through the cave!

Ruby scoping out the snacks for the little ones - she chose the animal crackers

Hannah Banana

Jack likes Ruby's ankle and Ruby likes Brooke's snack

PS - on the way home, Kelly called me and said she asked Ruby what she saw at the zoo. Ruby responded, "Baby Jesus". Jack and I must have missed that exhibit. I love my God-Daughter.

Haircut!

We gave Jack his first big haircut this weekend. He had a little trim a few months ago, but this time we really cut a lot. I can't believe how much older he looks now. We had a great weekend. Tom reminded me while we were eating our delicious dinner he made for us on Saturday night that our first date took place nine years ago exactly on Valentine's Day. We both aren't even fans of Valentine's Day, we never buy gifts or cards for one another so it's funny our first date took place on that day. We were not even that serious at the time, in fact I had a choir concert on that same Valentine's Day and Tom didn't even go. ha ha. What a wonderful valentine. Don't worry, he's made up for it throughout the years.

Here is the before picture (please pretend you don't see that beer bottle on the kitchen table)

During the haircut, have to have the mr. freezie to keep him occupied

After, what a big boy!

Where did our baby go?

Happy Valentine's Day!

I finally got around to uploading some pictures and videos. Enjoy!

Daddy hugs are the best!

Helping mommy sweep the floor after lunch

Pulling the plug
Bath time

Making daddy a valentine (enjoying the crayon a tad too much)

Jack and Bailey are BFFs

Remember Jack's earlier model pose? Here is a standing version

Future NHL player?

Jack's new thing is spitting out his milk, it's really annoying but kind of funny.

Jack and I went to ECFE playtime this morning and had a really fun time. Hopefully that can be a weekly occurence for us, we go with The Blair girls too - it's nice to have familiar faces in the room.

We are hoping to have a pretty low key weekend just the three of us. On Monday Jack and I are going to the MN zoo - apparently they have this huge indoor sandbox and other things. We are going with my cousin and her twin girls and Kelly and her two girls. Jack loves being the only guy, he's really good with the ladies :-) One of my best friends Elissa is due today with her second boy and we are so excited for them! They live in Virginia, so we won't see them until this summer, but we can't wait to see pictures! Have a great weekend everyone!

The Napping House...

...Where everyone is sleeping. Yesterday I had one of the best naps of my life. I put Jack down at about 12:45 and I decided I would treat myself to a little snooze as well and to my delight, we both didn't wake up until 2:35! It felt amazing. My sleep last night however was awful - maybe it was the full moon or just the fact that I slept for 2 extra hours during the day! ha.

We had a fabulous weekend with one of Tom's friend from the Air Force Academy, Lindsay. I'm really bummed we didn't take any pictures though. Then on Monday night we celebrated Cookie and Teri's birthday by having dinner at our place. Did you know that my mom, Cookie and Teri all have the same birthday?!? How crazy is that? We didn't celebrate with my mom because my parents are in Mexico - what an awful place to spend your birthday, right? Here are some pictures of that night.

Here are the birthday girls

Here is a funny picture of Jack
The menu included caesar salad, lemon marinated chicken, twice baked potatoes, green beans, and brownies for dessert. YUM! Not much else is going on at the Starkey household. We are going to have a low-key Valentine's Day this year (as usual, we aren't a huge fan of this holiday). Jack has started mumbling a lot more, it just started about a week ago. He is quite loud to be honest. He calls Bailey bbbbbb, which is different than baaa for ball. Everytime my phone rings he says dada dada - probably because Tom is the only one who calls me, and I'm like, Jack dada is calling. It's my fault that Jack will grow up thinking the phone is called Dada. ha. It's funny. Well I really need to take some more pictures and get them on here. Thanks for reading!!! Have a great Wednesday.

7 Deadly Stereotypes of Motherhood

Mothers & More created a list (a few years ago) that included the 7 most common deadly stereotypes of moms - here is the list -

Bon Bon Eating Mom
Stay-at-home moms don't do anything all day but watch TV and eat bon bons. Stay-at-home moms are loving and nurturing but their brains are mush.

Career-Crazed Mom
Working moms are selfish careerists who neglect their kids. Working moms are competent and intelligent but cold and uncaring.

Supermom
Supermom is the perfect nurturing mom - always attentive to the kids, doesn't miss a school event, bakes the brownies from scratch -- plus the Do-it-All Mom is the perfect professional career woman -- always available for work, stays on the fast track and makes it to CEO - plus she has a perfect marriage, perfect sex life and perfect kids.

24/7 Bliss Mom
Good mothers love every minute of it, never feel ambivalent, never have a bad day, never yell at their kids, and are always smiling, relaxed and in control.

Martyr Mom
Good mothers always put their family's interests ahead of their own. Good mothers do not have their own needs and interests, and do not seek their own fulfillment.

Glam Mom
Good mothers are glamorous; young, attractive, perfectly fit, designer dressed, perfectly coiffed - and so are their children.

Domestic Goddess Mom
Good mothers love to do housework, are obsessed with cleaning. Only mothers are capable of housework. Good mothers have a spotless house and do everything from scratch; home-cooked meals, perfect birthday parties, and crafts.

What stereotype do you think the world sees you as? What one do you see me as? Please don't say Bon Bon. ha! I'd like to think that I'm a mix of a few different ones up there.

Quote of the Day

"Diaper backward spells 'repaid.' Think about it." ~Marshall McLuhan

How many dirty diapers have YOU changed today?

Why don't friends with kids have time?

A case of the Mondays

The weekends go by WAY too fast! We were able to escape from Jack for a while on Saturday night so we could go and see Dan and Jenny's new house (Tom's cousin). We then had a super relaxing Sunday and got to sleep in since we went to church on Saturday night. I like going to church on Saturday night except they don't have the nursery open so we have to sit in the crying room with Jack. We weren't even there for 5 minutes and this other little boy smacks Jack right in the head while holding his shoe! Jack just stood there in shock and then made his huge pouty face and screamed. I couldn't blame him though. We also watched the superbowl at my parent's house. Now it's back to the grind....

Last week I was at Target and was reminded how rude some people can be. Jack was getting a little fussy towards the end, but then he started sucking on the back part of the seat. I know this is gross and I was trying to get him to stop, but we were almost to the checkout line, and I got over it. Then this lady walks right over to us, gives me this nasty look, and proceeds to grab Jack and turn him around facing forward and says "you don't want to do that, germs are bad" and just keeps walking! I'm sure she had good intentions, but I would never do this to someone else's child. What a weirdo. Why is it that strangers feel the need to share all of their opinions with you if you are either pregnant or have a small child? Drives me crazy! That's like when I was pregnant, like 36 weeks, and I was shopping and everyone and their mother kept coming up to me and saying, oh you poor thing you must be due any day now, huh? And I'm like nope, I've still got another month, but thanks for reminding me how huge I am! ha! Hope you are having a great Monday!