two peas in a pod

jack has a new little friend down the street who was born just 8 days after he was, and whose name, incidentally, is jackson. last year during many trips back and forth to the hospital, we noticed an "it's a boy" sign in the front yard of a house down the block from us. so we knew these people had a son the same age as jack. we also knew from their hawkeye flag soaring outside that we had things in common ;) but as things go, it's not always easy to meet people even when you think you should and we went an entire year without ever seeing these neighbors. we finally ran into them a couple weeks ago while out on a walk, and set up a dinner date for the boys to play. it was a lot of fun, and so nice to know we have people (our own age) with children (jack's age) in the neighborhood (with whom we have things in common). here are a couple photos of the two 1-yr-old jacks:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Fashion Edition)

Jack received some fun tee-shirts for his birthday, so we thought we'd post some photos here. There are those we love, those we question, and those we...deal with.



We love the mom shirt; thanks Boldischar family! Unfortunately we washed and dried it before he wore it, and it shrunk enough that he probably won't wear it for long :( He's moving out of 12-month clothes now and into the 18-month stuff.



We also love the "I am this many" shirt; thanks Johnstone family! It's comfy and cute. Of course, the first time he wore it he spit up broccoli all over it and left minor green tinged stains, but you can't see it too much.



You can't really read the shirt in this photo (which has already been posted once), but it says: "My good calf is still in the barn." Huh? Thanks Toneys, our Oklahoma farming friends, but what does this mean? He wore it to the State Fair in hopes someone there would be able to explain it, but no luck. Anybody?

And then there's the one we deal with, compliments of grandma Suzi and grandpa John:



Hummph, Nascar. I guess grandparents get away with things because they buy lots of crap for their grandkids. It is a comfy onesie, so we'll let it stay. We told them he would NOT be wearing a Mitt Romney onesie, however.

He also got a cute and soft soccer warm-up outfit from Uncle Adam that was too hot to model as of yet, as well as an adorable outfit from Betty with an orange polo and turtle-embroidered overalls that is in the running for his 1-yr-photos. Thanks for the clothes, friends and family!

the iowa state fair.

oh, the iowa state fair. what a place. people come from far and wide to actually VACATION here at the fair. crazies. growing up in iowa, i have always felt that you see it once, and you can go a good 5 yrs without needing to see it again. it never changes--everything is in the same place as it was when i was 5. i guess there's a certain nostalgic feeling about that, though. we took jack today and it was a beautiful day; not the normal grueling heat i associate with the fair. he fit right in since he, too, only has 6 teeth. no, no, just kidding. we had agreed to do a mullet tally at the end of the day, but surprisingly didn't see quite as many mulleted, toothless, 400lb iowans as we usually do. i'm awful, yes? (sidenote, here: my brother tells me that in the med school/hospital they refer to "iowa units" when giving the weight of overweight patients. i believe an iowa unit is 250 or 300 lbs. adam, if you read this, can you clear that up?)

so anyway, first you need to see the butter:


yep, that's harry potter.


and the famous butter cow.

nothing like characters carved in butter to start the day off right. we then moved onto the cultural buiding, where we saw fantastic art and photography, and a huge sand castle that we can only understand to be dwarfs playing the pipe organ. (?!) we walked through the horticulture/agriculture building so jack could stare at the flowers, and through the gardens outside. he found this misting fountain and loved it:


Pure bliss.

then we walked through the cattle barn and covered the stroller tires with manure. yeah! fair! we saw the biggest bull: this thing weighs a ton and a half! the photo does not do him justice, but here's a shot:


onto the swine barn (biggest boar, named "Big Red" and runner up, "Corn Dog.") and then the horse barns (aww, the only animals at the fair not destined for hamburger, bacon, or a life of breeding). we skipped the sheep and chickens. mike had had enough of showing cattle in his youth so we skipped the shows, too. in the varied industries building we saw herky! yeah herky!


we also got to see a 10-yr-old twirl batons to some sort of rock/hula music (hawaiian roller coaster--what?), and a 5-yr-old play beethoven on the piano. it would've been nice to see more of the talent shows (and maybe a tractor pull or something), but alas, we have 1) a baby needing a nap, and 2) a dog who we try not to leave in his kennel during the day for more than 5 hrs. but of course you are all thinking, "who cares what you SAW, we want to know what you ATE." i won't disappoint! we did partake in our fair (ha, FAIR) share of fried food and food on a stick. we started the day out right with a beautiful homemade carmel-pecan sticky roll ($4) and coffee (25cents) made by the madison county covered bridges team. that was a find--homemade and yummy and not fried? wow. i was next up on the food binge and tried a $5 plate of fried veggies--cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, & zucchini. quite good. later, when it was officially lunch time, mike got a $5 1/2 lb breaded tenderloin on the fluffiest bun i've ever seen, while i had a nice little plate of potato skins (sour cream, bacon bits, cheese, chives, jalepenos...yikes, and yep, you guessed it--$5). as we were leaving, we didn't forget dessert. mike was determined to try a cheesecake on a stick. it was pretty yummy, actually--just a plain piece of cheesecake, dipped in melted chocolate, put on a stick, and frozen. $3.50, but worth it for the frozen yumminess that was actually not fried. we passed up the traditional corn dogs and funnel cakes, as well as the M E A T--turkey legs and pork-chops-on-a-stick, and did not make our annual visit to the cattlemen's tent (besides, i promised a heifer in the cattle barn that i would not eat beef today).

all in all, it was a worthy 5 hr visit. usually i'm dead sick of the fair by the time we go, which i imagine is because my parents used to drag me through the 4-H hall and make me look at everything. and there was the time i got stuck on the Ye Old Mill ride in a dark tunnel as a kid--all the boats piled up in front of us and behind us, but we couldn't see each other. i'm yelling help through the tunnel, freaking the other kids out, and my mom finally has to crawl from boat to boat to get toward the front and yell at the workers to come help us. it was mad. since then, i've not been a frequent visitor to the midway rides. yet my fair memories this year will be happy, as will jack's.

jack isn't into teething devices. anything that is made for a baby to teethe on, is not his style. no water-filled colorful rings, no plastic toys with bumps and textures, nada. what he does like is super heavy duty fleece winter blankets to chew on, and rubber items, and foam. he has taken to the foam door stoppers i've purchased to stick on drawers and such so he can't jam his fingers in them. he takes them off and chews them. rubber, apparently, also offers that nice squishy feel on the gums. he received a pair of rubber toddler spoons for his birthday, and we tried them out the other day. as it turns out, it's nearly impossible to feed him with these as he takes each spoonful as an opportunity to chew the spoon. priceless photo opp., though.

parties and gardens

well, he did it. jack turned one. i'm still in a bit of shock that we are no longer the ones with the tiny baby anymore, but with the 22lb toddler. he had a great party yesterday, attended by around 30 family members and friends. it was a HOT, 95 degree day, but we still made it happen at the park down the street. i went a few hours early to decorate the shelter up with streamers, balloons, tablecloths, and birthday banners. it was a cute space, and perfect for the size of our shindig. jack seemed to be confused a lot of the time, with all the commotion and people and heat. but he enjoyed the cake and the gift opening, with which he was aided by the other young kids at the party. we got most of these important events on our video camera (about the 4th time we've used it since we bought it back in april), but our camera was acting up and we only got a few shots of the cake. i'm hoping to nab photos from friends and family who were shooting them right and left, and if i get some good ones, i'll post an update. until then, here's what we've got:

I made Jack his own #1 cake, but the adults got to enjoy a Cosco, chocolate mousse filled sheet cake


I made Jack a crown, but he wasn't a fan...






He made us very aware that getting cleaned up is a drag.


all in all, it was a fantastic first birthday, with great food and great company. thanks to all who came and celebrated with us! (and jon, if our scanner wasn't broken, i would TOTALLY be showing everyone your homemade card, which was by far the best he received ;)

today we tried to recover from overeating and partying too long in the heat yesterday. our 1 year and 1-day-old baby had fun playing with his new toys. we decided to take a little family trip up to ames to eat at hickory park and visit the ISU-reiman flower and butterfly gardens. my family always went up to hickory park to celebrate family birthdays. this place is a legend in ames for having great and affordable food, and it usually packed with several hundred people. there were probably 75-100 waiting when we arrived, but our wait time for a table was only 8 minutes. they have a huge sundae menu, and come to sing and offer a free sundae to birthday patrons. so jack got initiated:





After our seriously filling lunch, we headed out to Reiman Gardens next to ISU's football stadium, and went in to see their buttefly garden and the train exhibit at the children's garden. Jack knows the word flower now, and likes to wave at them when he identifies them. We thought that throwing in a few butteflies would make it that much sweeter!

Of course, one landed on his head soon after this photo, but I was not quick enough with the camera to catch it. Drat!











as you can see, good times were had by all. i'm thinking i've posted MORE than enough photos, so even if i get better ones from the party, i'll save you from having to see more :) it was a fast, exhausting, sweaty, exhilarating weekend, and i can hardly believe it's over.

nilo! nilo! nilo!

my brilliant son is currently sitting against the wall, watching for my reaction as he repeatedly bangs his head back against the wall. apparently he thinks this is funny. a real knee-slapper (no really, he's slapping both knees and laughing).

anyway, we are having a FABULOUS day of less teething-induced fussiness, and more playing with early birthday gifts! mike put the nilo chairs and table together this morning before heading off for work. here is jack getting to know his new furniture:
figuring out the block chairs
"ooh, the blocks are IN this thing..."
enjoying the new set!

hey, corn!

ooh, ooh, look what i picked today!

i didn't think it was possible. the banana peppers are doing well, too. so is the basil. the roma tomatoes *look* good, but don't taste quite right. a bit woody. the kale is still small but jack is eating it in his morning cereal. onions, eck. tiny. jalepenos and red bells are still to come. eggplant, tiny too. ah well, better luck next year, i guess.

yesterday jack got ALL of my well-coveted gifts for his birthday. putting them together has been half the battle, but here he is enjoying the mio trike:



i've rationalized letting him play with his gifts before his birthday because 1) he'll be 1 and won't know the difference, and 2) i'm just too dang excited. besides, he'll get plenty of other gifts from grandparents on his actual birthday. no need to overstimulate the kids with all the toys at once, right?! which reminds me, to amend my earlier blog-vite to all of you for jack's party next saturday, for those of you who are planning on coming, of course NO gifts are expected. again, he's 1. he has no idea what gifts are. it's more for us, than him, at this point. we just want to have a fun little BBQ with friends and family to mark this milestone of exiting the early baby years and entering the "big boy" years (duh duh dum). by the way, we'll have locally-raised Niman Ranch brats and chorizo, and beef burgers from Mike's parents' farm. eco-conscious meat for all! chips, salads, birthday cake, etc. as well. hope to see some of you there! and as a reminder, if it's too dang hot, we'll move the party to our house down the street into the air conditioning. so if you show up at the shelter house and see no one, come on to our house to find the party (and food).

the nilo table and chairs are still waiting to be put together, spread out in our now-vacant living room. we moved the loveseat out to go to my niece-in-law, or to freecycle. it's only 2 yrs old, but the cats destroyed it. i refuse to declaw them but i also wimp out on disciplining them with the water gun to stay off. so we lost the furniture to them. the couch is soon to follow, as is the coffee table and end table that the puppies finished off. now our "sitting room" is mostly a play room for jack, where his activity table will sit, and his toy chest now resides. there are still two chairs for adult sitting, though :)

we are having a very tough week as jack is apparently teething again. i thought we'd have after his 6th tooth broke a couple weeks ago, but not so lucky us. he's cranky and is not sleeping well. oh boy! but he's doing well considering how uncomfortable he seems to be.

nano what?

and here i thought having a blog meant i was catching up with the times. as of tonight i am REALLY feeling younger...i now have an ipod nano! well, okay, so *i* is not exactly the word to use...it was won and the name called was technically "michael case haub," but you married folks know how it goes, with the "what's yours is mine" etc. etc. so anyway, WE have an ipod nano. all i need now is a myspace account and i'm as good as 20 again. i'm pretty pumped to have a little music to keep me going at my jogging attempts. our stroller also has built in speakers and a place to hook-in an ipod or other mobile musical device, so it will be sweet to put that to use, too (although we use the Ergo at least once a day, and the stroller only once every couple weeks). so the thing is...i have NO IDEA HOW TO USE IT. i mean, it seems self-explanatory enough. but i'm pretty ignorant of this stuff. every person i saw on the subway in NYC seemed to have an ipod, but i never thought it was something i'd want or use. a free one, of course, is a different story. so before i go searching for answers to the following questions, i figured i'd pose a few inquiries to you seasoned ipod users:
1) is itunes the best/only place to download music? what other sites are good?
2) is 99cents the going rate now no matter what site you use?
3) what else do you use this thing for? i see you can put contacts, a calendar, and
other things on there, but i'm not entirely sure what the range of abilities is
for these gadgets.
4) what the heck else should i know about having and using an ipod?
i need to figure out if it will sync well with windows vista, since the nano box says to use windows xp or 2000. hopefully it will. it's pretty cute though, and smaller and thinner than any cell phone i've ever had. the good thing about this is that i no longer have to drive around the surburbs listening to the black eyed peas a little too loudly for someone driving a prius and who obviously looks like a Mom. now i can keep my west coast funk fix to myself while jogging, and the passers by (in their Hummers and other such SUVs here in suburbia-land) can assume i'm listening to jason mraz or some other poppy snazzy diddy. i'm giddy with the anticipation!

he's sleeping. wow.

hi everybody. i've been wandering around for a couple hours now, not knowing what to do with myself because jack has been sleeping since 8:15pm. that sounds like a late bedtime for a baby, but jack has been pushing the past few weeks to 9:30, 10...even 11:30 the other night. it has been trying and frustrating. i'm against the "cry it out" approach for many reasons, but i realized we needed a little guidance. so i picked up a copy of "the baby sleep book" by william and martha sears yesterday and have been picking up a few tips on finding his perfect individual sleep routine. we tried to follow the advice tonight on following his tired signs and it ended up in a much earlier bedtime. happy happy happy. as long as he doesn't get up at 4am to adjust for it. anyway, this leaves me with some extra time to blog, now that i just finished watching the premier episodes of "the two coreys." hmm, much like a boy-boy version of the newlyweds on MTV. i can see why they were left in the '80s...

this past weekend we made a trip to indianola to visit the warren county fair (which mike summed up by saying, "we saw pigs, we ate pigs."), and to see the nightly lift off of the hot air balloons in the Indianola Balloon Classic. i left my camera at home, but it was so beautiful that i had to find a few photos on the web to post for you all to see:





lest i rip off another's photos without assigning credit, i found these on the following site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasoncross/sets/
this guy is an incredible photographer.

other than that, it has been a pretty low-key week. oh, and our little clown tried beets. jack loved beets. for two nights in a row now, he's eaten pureed beets and pureed brussel sprouts. this would be the last meal on earth mike would ever eat, and that would be only if he were literally starving to death.

Birthdays, sore thighs, and democrats--oh my!

Hello all. I'm having a hard time figuring out what day it is, as our schedule has been a bit here and there this week. Jack's and my schedule usually revolves to some extent around Mike's, and his this week was to work the whole weekend, take Mon. and Tue. off, work Wed. and Thur., take Friday off, then work half of Saturday and have Sunday off. It's now the Wednesday he is back at work and I can't keep from asking, "now, what day is it??" We had a nice but way too quick visit to Iowa City on Monday to spend more time with Sarah and Orion during their visit, and to meet Carrie and Rob's new darling, Eleanor. Here are some photos from that all too short day:

Eating lunch at Atlas


Mike's talking drugs, can you tell?
It was a fun trip and we are now reminded that we wish we could see everyone more often.

On Tuesday, I finally broke out the new jogging clothes I bought to inspire me to start running again. Since Mike was off work that day it worked out that I could bust a move in the morning, before the 90-degree weather hit. I can tell you that my legs were verrrry jello-y by the end of that jog. I'm hoping that I can figure out a schedule when I can go regularly. My only options seem to be: 1) get up at 5:45 and go before Jack wakes up to eat at 6:30am (um, if only I was that much of a morning person); 2) go at 4pm when Mike gets off work (HOT, and the best time to work on diss. stuff); or 3)go after dinner or after Jack's last feeding of the day while Mike puts him to bed (if only Jack's schedule was regular and I could count on this time...). So... at this point there is no plan other than to attempt to plan to jog. Sometimes. Hopefully at least 3 times a week. Later on Tuesday we also made a trip over to our local Creative Kidstuff store to check out activity tables for Jack's 1st birthday present. Now it turns out I no longer have just one thing I'm coveting for his birthday, I have two. We are most likely going to buy the Nilo activity table and put it in our living room/playroom for him. This thing is great, and they had one on display for him to try out. Perfect size, two-sided table top, great for trains, legos, crafts, you name it. We found it online with free shipping for $30 cheaper than in the store, but the store has some of the remaining block chairs no longer available online since they are discontinued. This will be an expensive, but totally worth it, gift. I'm also wooing about the Mio trike I saw there, which has a handle for parents to push and steer and a surround-the-seat bar for toddlers who can't yet peddle or figure it out. Then you can remove those things after they are old enough to use it as a trike. He loved it in the store, but at $80, it's a pricey trike. I'm hoping for birthday money from grandparents ;)
Oh yes, and on Monday night we watched the Democratic You Tube Debates on t.v. Watching the debates usually results in a lot of soapboxing from Mike and I, even though we agree on what we soapbox about. I'm pretty impressed with a few of the Democratic candidates this year, although they all annoy me in the traditional ways. I stand firm in my registered independent status, but I nearly always vote Democratic (with the exception of a green party/independent candidate here and there). I want very badly to like Hillary the best, although she still tries hard to tread a thin line sometimes. I feel Obama seems to be the most genuine, along with Edwards, but I think Obama would institute more real change than Edwards. I LOVED Dodd's idea of instituting mandatory service (well, I need to look on his website for the details) for all citizens. I think this is just an awesome way to make people aware of their citizenship and also to get them to serve the people in ways that matter (i.e., non-military ways like community service and social justice action). I realize Clinton started Americorps, but it seemed to me that Dodd was suggesting the idea of getting (making?) all people the option(?) right? to offer some sort of service to "their country" during their lifetime. I'm envisioning this to be like the 2 yrs. of evangelizing Mormons perform, although hopefully this would be shorter and with wider options. Hmm.
Well, enough for today. Have a lovely evening. And all of you dears out there who said you've been reading, please leave me a comment occassionally so I know you're still out there. Betty, that means you!