Moving

Hi to anyone who checks this out. I am going to start blogging on my MySpace page instead. You can see pictures there and catch-up. Just search me out on Myspace.com
Thanks!!

A Long Time...

It has been a very long time since my last posting...what all has happened? Jack is now walking. He took his first steps to me about three weeks ago, all the while holding onto his toy cell phone. It was really great!! John was hunting (side note: no luck this year) at the time, so he had to wait to hear the news, and I told EVERYONE!! He is now about 10 and 1/2 months old, and the holidays are quickly aproaching. Last year at this time I had so many unanswered questions about the baby inside my belly, and now I've known him for close to a year and wonder how I ever managed life without him. He got to experience his first Thanksgiving today, and loved the turkey and mashed potatoes. The stuffing and the green beans, not so much. I've continued to run. I just did my 4th 5K this morning and ran my personal best time of 32 minutes and 28 seconds. Im very proud of myself, and feel great. I never thought that running would be something that I would do regularly, but Im proud to be able to call myself a runner. Besides that everything is great and we are Thankful today of the numerous and continual blessings we receive daily.

Has anyone seen my Puff?

I love this picture of him!! Jack is now 7 months old and it has flown by!! He is officially crawling...all over the place. It is awesome, but every tiny little piece of anything on our floors is of great interest to him. Solid foods are going smashingly!! He is like his Daddy, not very picky about what he is eating, just likes a lot of it!! Things are going well for John and I as well. John has started his fall ball league. Monday night church softball took 3rd place in the league. I get to watch him play fall ball, because it is on tuesday nights. Kelsey and I are still working out regularly. We've decided to set a goal for ourselves to run a 5K. We've been really good about running regularly, 3-4x each week. We've been running the entire 5K in around 40 minutes, give or take a few. Im proud of us, it feels good to get my body back. Things are still going well for us and we count our blessings each and every day.

Cereal

Hello! Our Jack is almost 6 months old now and I finally gave into the feeling that he was ready to try cereal. We gave it a whirl yesterday and he did, as I had anticipated, very well. It was more of a big deal for me than for him. I guess that will be true of a lot of things in his life. I've also given him a haircut a few weeks ago, and I think it looks smashing. He is quite the active little guy and he is rolling all over the place. I feel like crawling is just around the corner. Seeing him experience life and enjoy most of it makes me enjoy everything more and more. I've found myself being so thankful that I've been able to work part-time and spend such a great deal of time with him. It is truly such a blessing. I especially treasure our mornings together. We usually wake-up together and we sing or talk or just smile at eachother for some time before we decide to start our day. Auntie Kelsey has motivated me to get myself into the gym more often. It seems as if we have finally connected with eachother. Growing up we weren't the best of friends, and I always wondered when we would be friends. I guess it just took us to go through the process of bringing Jack into the world. She is amazing. We are working out 2-3 times a week. I've began to see some results already, but this sweet tooth I've acquired isn't helping at all. Oh well, 9 months on & 9 months off. I've just been so thankful for everything we've been given. Im trying to learn from my patients at the hospital when they talk about taking the little things for granted. Im trying to appreciate the small things, the daily blessings that often go unnoticed. Im just so thankful.

Four Months and Counting...

I've just spent some time going through my blog and even one year ago I had no idea what I was in for. Having Jack around makes everything better. Im more in love with John that I have ever been, I love working and making new friends. It just seems like because he is here, life in every area is just plain better. He marvels me daily with his good disposition. I cannot keep a bad mood because he is generally smiling and laughing (sometimes at nothing) and it is infectious. I cannot believe that he is four months old now. We have introduced him to the sippy cup. He gets it into his mouth some of the time. The NP we see told me that having him sit with us during dinner and giving him the sippy cup then is a great way to begin Family Dinner. I am a firm believer in the traditional Family Dinner. I did a huge research project on it in college. Everything is good about Family Dinner, social graces are passed along, manners, vocabulary skills, healthy eating habits, and the family is forced to look at eachother and (hopefully) converse with eachother for the duration of the meal. I'll step off my soap box now.... So we've begun the famly dinner! On a last note, I've started my new job at the VA...and it ROCKS!!!!

Jack Tried to be Ella

This is a picture of my attempt to recreate an awesome picture taken by my new step-sister of her beautiful daughter Ella. It didn't work as well as I'd hoped. Jack was antsy to get his hands into his mouth asap and was wiggling up a storm. So, Jack is three months old now and we are in love with him more everyday. He is smiling A LOT and we've even gotten a few giggles out of him. Everyday with him is better than any day before he was here. I am just enjoying him immensely. He is an awesome baby and is just happy being happy. He is spoiled by his family and I think that that is just great. During my maternity leave I learned that the nursing home I am working at will be closing on April 22. It was a sad announcement, but I have found a job at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis, and actually it is only 30 hours a week and that will allow me to spend a ton of time with my little guy. I will start the monday after Easter. This is such a wonderful time in our lives. We are just so happy and thankful for our wonderful families, the opportunities that come our way...we are truly blessed each and every day.

Almost Two Months With Our Guy

We have almost had Jack around for two months and I have a hard time remembering what we did before he was here. He has just brought so much to our lives. Both John and I are totally in love with him. This weekend my mom got married!! She is now married to a wonderful man who loves her dearly. They are so happy, and I am happy for her. This marriage brings together two families of kids and so this weekend I acquired two more sisters, a brother, a brother-in-law and an almost brother-in-law!! Hooray. The best part is that all of the Kids get along really well. I am so happy that we are a part of eachothers lives. There are now two new babies in the mix as well, Jack (of course) and beautiful Ella. She is awesome and I cannot wait to watch her and Jack grow-up. I am feeling overall blessed and just thankful to be a part of such a wonderful family on all sides of my life, my moms new family, my dads family and my in-law family. I feel that Jack will truly be raised my a loving, kind family village. Don't forget to check out the shutterfly website!! www.caseylinstad.shutterfly.com