Jack's 2nd Birthday

My big guy is now officially a 2 year old! I cannot believe it! It seems like just yesterday we were planning his 1st birthday party...This birthday party was so much better than his first and I will tell you why--
1. It wasn't HOT outside! Last year we were all sweating to death trying to watch the kids play outside in the bounce house. This year it did get a little chilly as the night wore on but I will take throwing a jacket on over having sweat run down my back!
2. We had a smaller crowd. Last year we invited more extended family members and friends. This year we kept it to immediate family and close friends. Even though my sister didn't think the crowd was any smaller I sure did! We are very fortunate to have both sets of family in town and a great group of friends. The smallest group we can have was the group we had this year.
3. Jack understood that the day was about him. When he got up in the morning I sang him "Happy Birthday" and when I was done he said, "I get presents!". It made me laugh. I told him he does get presents because today is his birthday. He loved playing in the bounce house (even got a private bounce house experience before his nap). In fact, we couldn't keep him out of the bounce house all night. He would get in there with the big kids and jump away. Luckily for us the big kids kept an eye out for him and he only ended up with a couple of bruises. :)  We would laugh because we would get quick visits from Jack all night when he left the bounce house and quickly decided he wanted back in. I would try to make him hug as many people as I could see before we lost him again.
4. The cake wasn't a nightmare. He actually sat and let everyone sing to him (only touching the cake a couple of times) and he tried to blow out his own candle. Gabe had to help on the 2nd try, but that's what Dads are for. :)  He ate his cake and wanted seconds on his ice cream (which he got). Jack didn't each much quality food but he got his calories from chips, ice cream, and cake. Oh well...we will call it his cheat day! ;)
At the end of the night Jack was pooped! He had a great day surrounded by the most important people to him. Thanks to everyone who came over to make his day so great!

Cinnamon rolls for the birthday boy!

He loved carrying his balloons around before nap time. 

Ahhhh...the joy of having the bounce house all to yourself!

Had to have a Mickey Mouse cake!

I love that Jack is wearing his Mickey Mouse hat!

The Hulk hands were a big hit!

Reading his new Mickey Mouse book with Nana

Captain America saves the day!

Halloween

This has been the best Halloween yet! Last year Jack wasn't much fun...sorry, but he wasn't. He was just getting comfortable walking and we dressed him up in his monkey costume just long enough to take pictures. This year we would ask Jack every time we went to the store what he wanted to be for Halloween and we always got the same answer, "Ironman". 

Gabe and I went back and forth on what he should actually be for Halloween. Jack has never really liked to wear hats and he HATES wearing masks. This was going to be a problem for the Ironman costume...We ended up taking Jack to a Halloween store and letting him run around. While we were debating on what costume to get him Gabe decided to torture Jack and put the Ironman mask on him. Well, that backfired on him because Jack absolutely loved the mask! Gabe and I could not believe it!! Since he was being so good with the mask we decided to throw the entire costume on him to see if he would wear it. Not only did he wear it, but he wouldn't take it off so he wore it out of the store. I could not stop laughing because he look so cute!

Jack striking a pose in the store.

We compromised and he wore the mask on the way home.

When Halloween finally came I was hoping Jack would be as good as he was when we bought his costume. He didn't disappoint...He loved it! Wore the costume all night and had a blast. He went down 3 streets carrying his bucket and saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" and even had to pull the wagon. He was so much fun! I didn't mind the fact that he was up an hour later than normal because he was having a blast. :)

This was the moment of truth...would he wear it???

Success! (And yes, he carried his Elmo bucket!)

Ceci got him a glow in the dark pitchfork to carry around. 

Not scared to walk up the the doors by himself!

Pulling the wagon and holding his bucket of candy!

Jack loved his costume so much he had to wear it the next day as well...

This was the best $30 we have spent in a long time! :)

Pumpkin Patch

I have been such a slacker with my blog lately! Now that season has ended I can finally start to play catch up before Jack's birthday and the holidays start to roll around!
Gabe, Jack, Ceci and I went to Tomlchoff Farms here in town to have the pumpkin patch experience. Jack has been so much fun this Halloween season because he has loved seeing pumpkins. We would have to walk around the neighborhood at night so he could see them all and point them out to us. Ok, back to the pumpkin patch...We arrived around 9:30 am and stayed for a couple of hours. Jack got to feed the goats, horse, see chickens and pigs and of course pick out his very own pumpkin! It was a great day and we got out of there just before it really started to get hot! (Gotta love October in AZ!) Jack was very proud of his pumpkin and kept wanting to hold it...the bad part is he thinks it's a ball and wants to drop it all the time. Next year we will try carving a pumpkin... :)

Potty Time

Jack went "pee-pee" on the potty for the first time today! We are just trying to get him used to sitting on the toilet right now...we will start potty training hard core around Christmas time. He likes to sit on the toilet and play with the toilet paper but this morning he actually used to to go pee! We were all so excited when he did it. I have tried several more times today without any luck but at least he is asking to sit on the potty! :)

Jack's New Playroom

We have converted our guest bedroom into Jack's playroom. We were tired of having all of his toys clutter the living room and we never use the guest bedroom. We got rid of the bed and made a couple trips to goodwill to get the room ready. We got a bookshelf from IKEA along with a rug and his room came to life.
Jack loves his room. He is fully content to play in there by himself. You will occasionally hear, "Mommy" and then when I answer he says, "Hi Mommy". I think he is just making sure I'm still in the house. It's nice to sit in there when he plays too. I don't have the distraction of the TV or anything else so we get some good play time.

Getting started on the bookshelf. Jack has to help...

Jack likes to drive his cars on  his new rug.

Out of all the toys he has in his room he likes to pull the bin out and sit in it. Go figure!

4th Annual Terry Bourland Golf Tournament

The Terry Bourland Memorial Golf Tournament is an annual tournament that is held at ASU and it is to fund an engineering scholarship in Terry's name. Terry's former company, Aztec Engineering, always does a great job planning and preparing for this day. Gabe also has a big part in it when it comes to decision making and finding gifts to auction off. This day of golf normally brings in about $10,000 when it is all said and done.

I love driving around and watching Gabe and the guys golf. They get so excited when one of them hits a great shot and make fun of each other for all of the terrible shots. This year Gabe played with Scott, Joe and Craig. 

The day was absolutely gorgeous! (The best weather we have ever had on this day). It was overcast and humid but it wasn't hot. There was rain all around the valley but it didn't hit the golf course until 9:45 am. It didn't just rain either...it POURED! The rain didn't let up and there was lightening so the golfers weren't allowed to finish their games but the party just continued at the clubhouse. The golfers sat outside under the patio and drank and had lunch. I had to leave for a volleyball tournament but it is always great to see so many people playing for such a good cause. 

Joe, Gabe, Scott, and Craig

Getting Caught Up!

Holy cow I can't believe it has been over a month since I have blogged! School and volleyball is in full effect so my time has vanished. After August being the month from hell with Gabe working nights and having volleyball after school I haven't had any time to relax until now.
My schedule is pretty hectic while Gabe's has started to slow down. My day consists of getting up at 4:30 am to go to the gym, heading straight to the school to shower and eat breakfast (I kinda feel like a homeless person), teaching classes, then having practice or a game. On an early night I am home by 4:45. I have to try to rush to get quality time in with Jack before he goes to sleep and then get ready to start another day. Gabe has started Daddy Day Care and has taken on my Pinterest projects and is getting ready to start on Jack's play room. I am so jealous of the time that Gabe gets with Jack while I am at work, but now I know how he feels all baseball season. I have to remember that Jack doesn't hate me even though he now turns to Daddy for everything. (Breaks my heart a little...)
Gabe has taken on the never-ending task of painting all of the doors black. It might sound a little weird but it looks really cool! He thought it would take him a day to get it all done but once he started he realized just how hard the job was. Paint doesn't go on well and there are so many doors! You never realize how many doors you have until you decide to paint them! He is also going to convert the guest bedroom into Jack's play room so we can finally clear some toys out of the living room. It will be nice to have a house that isn't so cluttered anymore.
Jack has been talking up a storm! You really have to watch your mouth in front of him now...he repeats everything, even the bad words! He is putting together sentences and some of his OCD tendencies are starting to come out. He has to close all the doors and turn the lights off (which includes the switch for the fan) and he hates it when he has dirt or crumbs stuck to the bottom of his feet. He sits down and wipes his feet off if he steps on something. The weather is finally starting to cool off...high 90's instead of triple digits so he is able to help Gabe do the yard work. It is so cute to watch Gabe and Jack mow the yard. Jack has a bubble lawn mower that he pushes in the same lines that Gabe cuts. I swear he is his father's son!

First ASU game of the season!

Jack knows who Sparky is.

We moved Jack into a booster seat at the table with us. He was climbing out of his high chair. He  loves it!

My sister gave us this table that her kids grew out of. Jack likes to color at it and play with his stickers.