18 Months

Jack turned 18 months last Wednesday and he had his check up this morning. I absolutely HATE going to the doctor's office with a child. You wait way longer than you are supposed to and your kid cries bloody murder throughout the entire exam, well at least my kid does. It's like first the nurse takes you in the room, gets the height, weight and head size. Then she leaves. Jack calms down a little bit. Then it take another 15 min for the actual doctor to come in, which prompts Jack to start screaming again. They try to talk to you about his development, etc. and ask if you have any questions. Even if I did have any questions, Jack is screaming so loud I don't even want to ask them. They check his ears, throat, lungs, etc. And then they leave. Then you wait another 10 min for the nurse to come BACK in to give them their shots. It's so annoying. Today Jack got his shots in his arms. He didn't seem to mind them as bad as in the legs, so that was a nice surprise. Anyway, here are his stats

Height - 32 inches - 25-50%
Weight - 24 lbs - 25%
Head - 48.5 cm - 50-75%

Last time at 15 months
Height - 31 1/2 inches - 50-75%
Weight - 22 lbs 9 oz - 25%
Head - 48.5 cm - 75-90%

Everything else checked out great. He doesn't have to go in again until his 2 year, but we'll go back in the fall for a flu shot. She also recommended me and Tom get a flu shot this year because of the new baby and with the stupid H1N1 virus, they are predicting a bad flu season. I've never gotten a flu shot before, but I think this season I will! Great. Alrighty - well I've got my 15 week appointment this Thursday so I will make sure to update then.

Cabin Time!!!

Jack and I left on Wednesday afternoon for our cabin after lunch and my mom came with us (Tom and Bailey came up the following afternoon). I was extremely nervous for the 3.5 hour long car ride and I was hoping that by going over naptime would really help us out. To my surprise Jack was awesome in the car. He napped for the first half and the last half I kept him entertained by singing, playing peek-a-boo and bribing him with weird gadgets and toys. We had to make a quick stop at Target in Grand Rapids, and Jack enjoyed running like crazy man through the entire store.

The next thing I was super nervous about was bedtime and napping at the cabin in his pack n play. Since we live so close to both of our parents, Jack has been spoiled and he rarely spends the night anywhere else than his crib. The first night I put him down to bed, he cried for a while - but soon fell asleep and slept until 8:30 the next morning. We had a fan blowing in his room so that it would drown out some of the noise. From that point on - Jack napped every day for at least an hour and a half and went to bed every night around 7 PM. We only had one early morning where he woke up at 6:30.

We couldn't have asked for better weather up there. It was so hot and sunny Wed, Thurs and Fri. Saturday was the only gloomy day - but you have to have one lazy day when you are up north, right? It was so nice to be up there. Last year, Jack was only 6 months and he wasn't even crawling - so this year was so different, as I'm sure next year will be (with a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 month old....HOLY CRAP). Oh speaking of our second child - Tom is obsessed with the name Finn if it's a boy. Please leave your comments about that name. I'm not sharing my opinion about it as I want to hear what YOU all have to say about it :-)


Enjoy the Pictures!

This is a typical family photo. ha ha

Brotherly Love

It's not hair gel, it's sunscreen. ha ha.

Man's Best Friend

We were all playing croquet, and Bailey comes out of the woods with THIS! So typical!!

Finally a nice pic of the two of us (well three of us, I guess).

Chillin

Father/Son

Pool time

Love this pic

Mommy and her little man

Thursday night fishing crew - not so lucky.

Weekend Pool Fun!

We had such a nice weekend. The weather was amazing. We were able to go to my parent's pool both Saturday AND Sunday. On Sunday, we attempted to put Jack into this one piece swim suit called the Body Glove that has a floatation device inside it. We thought he would hate it, but he didn't mind it at all. He looked hilarious!!! Kind of like an action figure. His little tushy looked so tiny and he even had a swimmer's diaper on too. When we are inside the house, he wants to go out to the pool. And when we are outside at the pool, he wants to go inside. It's a constant battle - but what isn't with an 18 month old? We set up his mini pool that he can play in too. By Sunday he was a little more daring with the big pool. I'm sure he will be jumping in by the end of the summer. Enjoy the pictures!!!

This is a new face

Playing with uncle Brendan's camera

Watering the plants (or the dirt)...

Look at the tushy, ha ha. Notice how his arms don't go all the way down.

Such a BOY!

Throwing the ball into the pool

Getting in the pool with Grandpa

Splish Splash

Swimming with mommy

CHEESE

Giving kisses in his superman pjs!

Getting sleepy after a fun filled weekend!!

Belly Bump Watch-12 weeks

Here is my belly at 12 weeks. What do you think? ha ha. I've been feeling great still. I keep waking up in the middle of the night. I can still kind of sleep comfortablly on my stomach, but I know I shouldn't - so that wakes me up. Then I know they say not to sleep on your back - but I like to sleep on my back, so that sucks too. I'm just enjoying not having a huge belly getting in the way of everything. Oh I am not looking foward to that again.

Jack has been driving me CRAZY this week. I swear, I don't know if I can make it through the days some days. I don't know if he is teething more, or if it's just the terrible twos - but it is not fun. He wakes up at 6:30 and only naps for an hour. This is not enough sleep for my liking. Oh and he also locked himself in our bathroom the other morning. I have never spaazed so much in my life. Luckily I figured out how to get in there with a screwdriver. That was a great way to start out the day! ha ha. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this weekend and we can spend some time at the pool!!!

Ariana Lynn Starkey

We have a niece!!! Ariana Lynn Starkey was born on June 10, 2009 at 11:39 PM. She weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long. She looks just like her mommy, Teri. Unfortunately Teri did not have an easy labor. They left for the hospital around 10 AM. She also pushed for 2 hours and was threatened to get a c-section. But she pulled through and got her out naturally (with the help of the epidural of course) :-)! We are so excited for them and know they are going to be amazing parents. It's going to be so much fun having a girl in the family now. At least we know that the Starkey men CAN actually have females! ha ha. Here are some pictures!

We have a love/hate relationship

Some of you might remember this picture from our other website when I was pregnant with Jack and Bailey was our only "child" - this picture just cracks me up. It was taken in Omaha and I have no idea what she was doing. Anyway, I figured I should probably dedicate some space to her on this blog - so here goes. First, I will share my complaints.

1. About 3 times out of the week, I will come downstairs in the morning with Jack and see a full bowl of food. This means that if there isn't puke downstairs already - at some point during the day, there will be. If Bailey doesn't eat right when she is fed, for some reason or another she pukes during the day. Call it anorexia, call it being bulimic - whatever it is, it drives me crazy.
2. When I let her outside, since we don't have a fence - just a little clip on leash - 60% of the time her leash will get caught under the deck, around a rock, or around a tree in our yard. This requires me to go outside and unhook her. This isn't so bad in the summer - but sucks when it is -25 degrees outside. We need a fence.
3. She has stained both of our couches. And she has started to claw our couch downstairs. You know when dogs dig into the carpet, trying to make their bed or something ridiculous? She does this on our couch. I have resorted to sewing up the couch - yes me, sewing. She has ruined my work 3 times (don't say it's because of the quality of my sewing). So now, every night before bedtime - I stuff a blanket into the cushions that she tends to ruin.
4. Her farts are deadly. Any of you who have experienced them know this is NOT an understatement.

Now the reasons I love her despite all of her flaws

1. She is Jack's best friend and he has a hay day with her every single day (well unless it's a puking day, then she sleeps all day and is no fun). Oh and he doesn't usually mind when Bailey ruins his toys - except last week Bailey chewed the face off of his rubber ducky. When Jack found the duck, he looked at it, looked at me and started bawling. It was so cute, yet so sad. Damn you Bailey. OK, on with the postivies:
2. Jack would be deathly afraid of dogs if it wasn't for her.
3. She's our first baby and our family wouldn't be complete without this black lab.
4. She still cuddles with me

OK I now realize complaining about her is a lot more fun! ha ha. I really do love having a dog, and she is a good dog. I mean she is still only 2 - so just remember that the next time you come over here and she licks your face constantly. Oh Bailey, what would we do without you?

Amazing Recipe

This recipe is from Lund's/Byerly's and it is SO DELICIOUS. You must give it a try. It's super easy to make, trust me!

Thai Peanut Pasta Salad

• 3/4 lb grilled chicken breast
• 1/2 lb uncooked spaghetti pasta
• 1/3 cup shredded carrots
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 TBSP white vinegar
• 2 TBSP peanut butter
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 2 TBSP sesame seeds, toasted
• Dash crushed red pepper

Slice chicken into julienne strips. Break pasta into thirds. Cook pasta in boiling salt water until tender. Drain. Rinse with cold water.

In large bowl, combine chicken, pasta, carrots, green onions and peanuts. Combine remaining ingredients in a different bowl until mixed. Toss into chicken mixture. Refrigerate, covered. Serves 4-6.

ENJOY!

What we've been up to

This is what happens when I'm away...