Uncle Lynn

On Saturday we recieved some bad, no awful news. My uncle (my dad's brother), Lynn, had been killed in an accident. He was driving his trike (a motorcycle with 3 wheels) when a deer hit him and broke his neck immediately. It was a huge shock to everyone. At 52, he was invincible.

Although it has been almost 2 years since I had seen my uncle last, due to pregnancy and new baby, I still feel an empty hole in my chest. He was a man that loved life. He was happy, laughing, and loving. He rarely had a bad word to say about anyone and never took anything in life too seriously.

He always called me "Emmy", everytime. I never remember him calling me by my given name. When we were in Wisconsin visiting our grandparents, Uncle Lynn always came to breakfast. I remember his closeness with my grandparents and how much he loved them and took care of them. His love for the outdoors was another thing I will remember. While with Uncle Lynn we never were just sitting around watching TV, we were doing/planning something outside. His love for Old Milwakee beer was another attribute of his. He always brought his own Old Mill if he thought there might not be any. The love of his trikes will never be forgotten and the fact that he ended his life here on earth while riding one seems fitting. His brothers were his best friends. He spent a couple of days a week with Uncle Lyle and made time to spend with my dad as often as he came up to visit. They were outdoors men- with a project or activity always on the agenda. Lastly, his devotion to his daughter, Laurali. In every moment he was doing things to make her life the best that he could.

He was a loving and compassionate man who will be greatly missed by all that knew him. I know in my heart that right now he is in Heaven with his parents wishing we would all move on, laugh, and have fun until we meet him there.

if you smell rotten milk...

Check your car seat, because your child probably spilled a lot there!! Jackson is on whole milk only recently, but it definitely has a different smell when it's expired from breast milk! Icky! My car reeks and it's because of him taking a bottle in the car seat (or sippy cup).

Today, we received our "big boy" car seat! I took apart the infant car seat already and I am going to be installing that big boy asap! I am sick of Jackson arching his back and crying every time I put him in his seat. Hopefully this will alleviate that problem!

AntsAntsAntsAnts

I am so sick of ants. The little teeny ones that sworm onto everything. My kitchen has them everywhere... we spray and they go away for 5 days and then they are back again. We have a pest control company and it has helped... but they still come back.

This evening I came home and found they had invaded my refridgerator. I spent the last 2 hours cleaning out my refridge. My kitty has to be locked in the basement, because the spray will hurt her. Poor kitty kat.

Not only are they all over my kitchen, I feel like I have them in my hair and crawling on me. They are not crawling on me, but I still feel like it.

Tomorrow will be better. No ants?!?!

First Birthday

Last Saturday (July 11) we had a birthday party for Jackson's first birthday! It was a blast and we had lots of friends and family come to celebrate with us! Jackson had a great day: wagon rides, birthday cake, lots of great presents, a bump on the head, and to end the day... puking on mommy. It was a fun and memorable event!

Relief...

I got so much accomplished today that I think this party might go off without a hitch... although my husband will be trying my patience tomorrow when he goes golfing in the morning with his grandpa and dad. They had better be home by 11am. That's all I am saying, because I have to go pick up the cake by 11:30am.

I was so lucky this week!!! First, I got back Jackson's 1st year photos last week and ordered 2 large prints. They came in on Wednesday and I was able to get 1 of them framed by THURSDAY!! I went to The Woodland Gallery in the Village of East Davenport, they always do a great job and of course, they were quick! Andy even got all of our pictures hung up in the living room/dining room this afternoon. It looks great, even if I do say so myself!!!

Secondly, I ordered a picture book from the Camera Corner (free because I had bought a camera there last year) and when I went to order it, they were in the process of doing a change in their equipment... so it looked unlikely that it would be done in time for the party... the guy from Camera Corner called at 6:18pm today and I was able to go pick it up this evening!!!

Everything just comes together. I need to just have faith that it will all be great!!!

Pre-Party Stress

Okay, so instead of working on my stuff for the party tomorrow I am writing a post for my blog. However, I feel the need to vent and my husband is at work, baby is asleep...

1. Jack-man is taking a nap, got fussy at 2:20pm... this is a problem because his party starts tomorrow AT 2:00pm.

2. I have a pile of pictures I want to hang up, but can't do it on my own.

3. Rain, it rained all day and I haven't gotten my outside work done due to it.

4. Because of #1, I don't have the groceries I need to finish my to-do list.

5. In-laws are coming into town, but not until 8pm, sigh. That's a bit late when you have a munchkin that goes to bed between 8 and 8:30pm.

6. Baby has been up at crack of dawn for last 2 days... I am sleep deprived (more than usual).

I am now taking a few deep breaths and sending a little prayer that everything will work out.

Bumps

Jackson is having a rough few days.... his bumps keep getting more and more frequent. Yesterday, he re-bumped his forehead in EXACTLY the same spot as Sunday. Now there is a much bigger goose egg. I love that he is learning to walk, but couldn't he be like girls and NOT fall?

First Shiner

Jackson recieved his first shiner on the 4th of July... luckily it didn't turn black and blue, but his face is just a mess! He fell 3 times on the 4th and ended up with hurts all over his face, the cat scratched him when he pulled her tail, then the next day he fell again and bumped his forehead. Good thing he's learning to walk, otherwise we might be in some trouble! :)

Happy First 4th of July, Jackson!

Today officially marks Jackson's very last- first Holiday! Next week is his 1st birthday and now we have been through the holiday calendar! We were going to go out on the boat, but the weather is just cruddy! So instead we headed to the Bettendorf Parade and brought our tent so we could stay a little dry. We went with the Hansels, my brother Michael, his friends Craid, Amy, and Jim. It was a fun time!It was just a steady rain all morning and hasn't quit yet!

1st birthday pictures

Last Friday we had professional pictures taken by Giraffe Photography in the Village of East Davenport. It was a quick session, but so many of the pictures turned out great! We bought the rights to the pictures so we can do what we want with them... I wish we had done this for the last year... outdoor pictures are just so much better and a professional has so many cool things that they can do to the pictures. Here are just a few of my favorites.