The Blankie

For several months now, Jack has been very attached to his blankie. He has been easy to wean from other things, but I'm afraid the blankie and pacifier will be the last to go and will be more difficult. He has two knitted blankets that were baby gifts and they are his preference. Lately he has been wanting to wear his blanket as a cape.

Like Grandpa Clayton

This morning before we ran to the store, Jack reminded me of Grandpa with his overalls, hat, and hooded sweatshirt. Grandpa doesn't have the "weasel" (pacifier) or crocs of course. I'll have to find a picture of Grandpa so we can post them together.

Our Weekend

When I don't play at church over the weekend, I always have grand plans of great accomplishments. I didn't play this weekend because I needed to get caught up after Jack had been sick the last week and Craig was in the nursery this weekend.

Last week, it turned out I had won a drawing for a free dinner at Button Factory. I was very surprised. I had signed up for free groceries a couple places in town, which is where they got my name. When the lady called, she said we got free dinner and just had to watch a fire safety video at the end of dinner. I was excited to get out with Craig and have free dinner! The phone call was a little misleading. When we got to dinner, we were guided to a room full of other winners. Dinner had already been ordered for us and we listened to an hour presentation about fire safety. It was very informative. We set up an appointment with the presenter to have a walk-through of our home. He came Saturday morning at about 8:15 and was here until 10:30. We did end up with some new smoke detectors that detect fire much faster than what we had.

I then ran a couple errands and a lot of my Saturday was gone already. Yesterday I was tired and spent most of the day playing with Jack. Craig accomplished a lot outside.

Now that Jack is well, and we could go outside, it is cold and we may even see some snowflakes today.

100%

Things are back to normal around here. Jack has been happy, playing, and eating like a horse, for which I am very thankful!

A LOT BETTER

I think Jack is over the hump. Yesterday and today he has acted totally normal and is eating well. I did go ahead and take him to the doctor yesterday and they wanted me to collect a stool sample. I was thrilled. :) A watched pot never boils...Jack hasn't had a dirty diaper since we were at the doctor. I was so hoping he would while Craig was here so he could do the collecting. Of course it didn't happen that way. I am loving the weather and hope to get outside with Jack today.

Exhausted

We are tired here at the Butler house! After talking to a friend this weekend that is a nurse-practitioner, we are pretty sure that Jack has Rotavirus. He still is vomiting once in a while, and having A LOT of dirty diapers that are very nasty very often. I am constantly doing laundry. She said there isn't anything we can do for it other than make sure he doesn't get dehydrated. He acts fine most of the time and is drinking liquids and eating a little. We are just ready for it to be over. My friend said that it can last 9 days. We are pretty sure he picked it up at the nursing home last weekend while visiting Craig's grandma. You can't tell from these pictures today that he feels any different than usual. He's been a little trooper!

Wishful Thinking

Jack seemed to be much better yesterday. Craig came home from work last night sick and was sick throughout the night. He went to work this morning. Since Jack had been better, he and I dropped off things we have cleaned out of closets at Stuff. The more he rode in the stroller, the more I didn't think that he looked like he felt good. As he was eating a snack this afternoon, he threw it up all over the high chair tray. He is taking a nap now. Grandma called and she has the bug too. I hope it all ends soon!

The Last Couple Days

The first couple pictures are of Jack looking for a certain toy. The last picture is of Jack feeling better. Yesterday morning, I thought he was feeling much better. He vomited again yesterday afternoon and then wanted to sit on my lap or lay on the couch. He slept well last night and seems MUCH better today. He has an appetite which is a good sign. Maybe we can take a walk today and enjoy the weather!

Long Night

Last night, at about 12:00, Craig and I woke up to the sound of Jack gagging and vomiting. This continued until about 5:30 this morning. He never did have a fever. He wanted so badly to go to sleep. He was having dirty diapers too almost every time he vomited. I felt bad carrying him to the changing table when he was half asleep. He seems to be better this morning. He is just a little weak. He is sleeping now and I am tackling the mound of laundry while enjoying the sunshine from inside. :)

Our internet was down for the last week which resulted in no blogging. I have my camera ready to catch some cute pics of Jack this week. He is doing a lot of very cute things. We are excited about the warm weather this week and plan on spending some time outside!!!

Content!!!???

In the last few weeks or couple of months, God has really worked on my heart in several ways. One way is that I have reached a place where I am content in our current house. Craig on the other hand, has had a new resolve and motivation to get all the projects done so we can move on. We live on an alley and have some neighbors that can be pretty rowdy. A sign of the change of seasons and warmer weather are gatherings at the neighbors. It already started last night! They were pretty loud until about 12:00 am. I know I shouldn't be shocked but there are always several little kids over there too. We even had some of the older ones looking in our windows last night before I pulled the blinds. I'm working really hard to love people and allow the Holy Spirit to change my heart. I have to admit I wasn't feeling much love last night.

Trying to Get It Together

Why is it so hard to go to bed early? I want to get there early so I can get up early. Each night, when the time comes, Jack is in bed and then I want to get more done, or have some time to myself. I end up staying up too late. Then I can't get up when I would like to go work out. Then I end up going to work out during the day and grandma watches Jack. This isn't that big of a deal but takes a lot of time out of my day when I could be accomplishing more at home. I know all of this in my head and each day resolve to make it different and it still hasn't happened. That's where I am today - working on self-discipline!

Daddy's Shadow

Jack was glued to Daddy all weekend. Craig tried to work on the house outside. Jack would run window to window depending on where Craig was outside. He wanted to go out so badly. Sunday afternoon he did go out for a while and then of course, didn't want to come in. This morning he has been going to the back door and saying, "Daddy, Daddy?" I've tried to explain that Daddy isn't outside in the yard but at work.

Kind of Funny

For a while now I have been trying to figure out the recipe for the coffee cake my mom made often while I was growing up at home. She would make it for company and special weekends. I had some of her recipes here and looked through all of those. When I was home a couple weeks ago, I went through ALL of her hand-written recipes. I pulled out a couple and made each one. They were good, but were not the coffee cake I remembered. One day this week I thought, "If I can't find it written down, maybe it is from a cookbook." I looked through my old church cookbooks, but didn't find one where I thought the ingredients sounded like they would taste like what I was looking for. Then today, I tried a recipe from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. That's it!!! It is the buttermilk coffee cake and I am so excited! Now if I could just figure out her meatloaf.

Comfort From Daddy

When Jack was very small, Craig would turn and music and sway him to the music to calm him down and put him to sleep. Ever since, Jack has loved music. Even now, he will point to the stereo and beg to have the music on, then lift his hands to Craig for Craig to pick him up and dance to the music.

Our week

Jack and I have been very busy this week, so today we are staying at home! Monday we ran errands in town, mostly to get groceries. This always seems to take a lot longer than I anticipated. Tuesday, we ran to Iowa City to drop off my flute. It is supposed to be checked, cleaned and maintained once a year. I hadn't had it done since 2000 or 2001. It's kind of expensive so we had put it off. Instead of waiting around with Jack all day, we came home and went back to get my flute Wednesday. Yesterday was Bible study for me and playtime with great grandma for Jack. We usually have lunch there with Grandma after my Bible study. Jack seems to have caught cold in the nursery last Sunday and shared it with me so we are both feeling kind of under the weather. I'm hoping to get some cleaning/organizing and baking done today. I have to take advantage of days with no lessons. I have 3 more students starting next week. We are so thankful for the extra income, but it does make days very full!!!

Easter Sunday 2008

Jack and His Basket

Easter

Craig hid eggs around the living room Saturday night. He left a few in the middle of the living room floor to get Jack started. He figured it out right away and had a lot of fun finding eggs. (especially when he figured out there was candy inside:))

Ready To Shop

When I got Jack up from his nap yesterday, I told him we were going to the store (which he loves!) I told him it was warm outside and he could wear his big-boy hat but we had to change his diaper first. While I was finishing changing him the phone rang, so I put him down to go answer the phone. When I was done on the phone I found him at the back door waiting to go to the car with his hat on. He just didn't have any pants on yet! So funny.