Somewhere, there is a picture of me at an Easter bonfire in Hannover, Germany.  I think the year was like...1998.

I am moderately intoxicated and cheesing it up for the camera with several friends.  We all have little white things on our noses.  Those little white things are the caps of our little mini bottles of schnapps, which we were drinking by gripping the neck of the (tiny; like vanilla extract size) bottles between our teeth and tipping our heads back.

They told me, my friends, that you have to take a picture with the cap on your nose.

So, we did.

In the fifteen years that have passed since then, I have matured considerably.  (She said, convincingly.)  I am 100% sure that I would definitely still drink schnapps that way at an Easter bonfire in Germany.   No doubt.  

But in contrast, I will also take Jack to a Hill Country Oktoberfest to make sure he's adequately exposed to his roots.  And their sartorial history.

Enter the Lederhosen.

This is Jack at the recent Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, Texas.

He is wearing a vintage pair of grey suede Lederhosen that, I believe, were purchased by my dear departed grandparents in Germany in the 1950's as a gift for my brother, who was then a wee bairn.  (We're Scottish, too.) (Yes, we're spaced out quite a bit.)

Let's just say that the fans were a little gaga over that sweet guy in his Lederhosen.  We bought the hat at the festival, and it definitely added some snap to his outfit.  The little bear is also in Lederhosen.  We named him Freiderich von Lederhosen, but Jack has taken to calling him "Freeder" for short.

Hope your outfit really reflects who you are today.

Talk soon,
Heather

this one's courtesy of the who

My dear brother, nephew, and son playing kickball on a fine spring day in Austin not too long ago.

I can't explain how my brain works.  Because I looked at this picture for a while, and then this happened:

Even in the backyard

He can beat your best.

His uncle leads him in

And he just does the rest.

He's got little feet of fury

Never seen him fall...

That little Jack Attack kid

Sure plays a mean kick ball!

Not that Lindy and Eli don't also play a mean kickball.  But you know, I'm partial.

Hope Roger Daltry inspires you today.

Talk soon,
Heather

wearing my heart on my wrist

Aunt Jenny and I took Jack to the playground the other weekend.  

(This is the first in a long line of posts where I catch you up on ALLTHEFUNSTUFFLIKEWOAH that we've been doing.  This is me starting at the beginning, which is a very good place to start.)

We went to Central Market.  It's one of our favorite places.  We were there before the mad crowds on a lovely Sunday morning.  Jenny and I got coffee.  Jack got a smoothie.  Some pastries were eaten.  (Apple scone blew my mind a little bit.)

Jack keenly spied another kiddo with a balloon, and immediately and irrevocably decided that he needed one.  I totally get that.  So does Aunt Jenny.  So, off we went.

We found the Balloon Lady and she was happy to give Jack a green balloon.  He wanted yellow, but they only had purple and green to choose from.  On a lesser day, this could have caused a serious meltdown.  On the great day that was this day, Jack happily chose green and we went on our way.

Three minutes later, the green balloon was bobbing in the rafters of the store.

We went back to the Balloon Lady and she was happy to give Jack another green balloon.  He had forgotten all about wanting a yellow balloon, thank goodness.  He now just wanted ANOTHER BALLOON to replace the First Green Balloon that had surely been the Best Balloon Ever.

So, we got another one.  And Jack was happy.

Jenny and I were happy, too, because this one had a slip knot in the ribbon, so we could secure it on Jack's wrist.

We went back to the playground, because we had lots of errands to run that day and weren't quite ready to start being all efficient yet.  More playing was in order.

Jack:  "Mama, can you hold my balloon?"

Me:  "Uh...sure, buddy.  Here, give it to me."  

I removed the balloon from Jack's wrist and put it onto my wrist.  He ran off to play.  I kept drinking my coffee, and turned to Jenny for some more playground sister talk.

She smiled at me.

Jenny:  "You are a good mom."

Me:  "Aw.  Thanks!  That's sweet of you to say."

Jenny:  "No, I mean it.  And, it's so clear how much you enjoy it."

Me:  [melted from truth bomb and love of son and sister]

Hope you have an apple scone, a balloon, and an awesome family today.  

Talk soon,

Heather

Birthday, Part Three

Yup, this is the last installment of birthday mania.  For Pete's sake, this birthday got more blog posts than the kid has years.  Ah, what's a proud mom to do?  

This last segment is brought to you by the noble dinosaur.  Remember how I told you the theme of the party was dinosaurs and pie?  I wasn't kidding.

Dino on a homemade triple berry pie.

Stegosaurus on a (store bought) chocolate cream pie.
I'll have to make my first cream pie another day.

The whole gang, including T Rex and uh, that other one on a homemade pumpkin pie.

As the party wore on to pie time, Jack wasn't sure how he felt about it all.  So, Dad and Jack tackled the birthday song and the pie segment together, as guys and dads like to do.  Oh, Bunny also helped.

I made Durel wear that hat.  And he made me say that.

Let the pie feasting begin!

It was great.  Dinos, pies, silly paper hats, and all.

Hope your day has some pie in it,
Heather

Weekend

This weekend, we'll be celebrating!

No huge party, just family.

No cake, just pie.  (Jack really likes pie.  So do we.  So, we're having lots of pie.  Made sense to me.)

My favorite kind of pie.

Jack and Pop's favorite kind of pie.

Durel's favorite kind of pie.

(Pie suddenly seems genius, doesn't it?)

No theme, just a lot of random dinosaurs.

I'll be back with a full report on Monday.

Hope you get some pie this weekend,
Heather

Christmas Toddler Frenzy

It is high time for a Christmas update from Jack land.  Why? Because it's now 2012 and I have *new* things to say.  About me, about my new year's resolutions, about everything.  Stay tuned; those things are coming.  Right now, it's all about Christmas 2011.

So, Jack LURVED Christmas.  And we loved Jack loving Christmas.  And Grammy, Pop, Nonna, and PapaDu, and Geri and Uncle (Dustin) loved Jack loving Christmas.  It was a veritable toddler frenzy of awesomeness.

That awesomeness led to these pics.  And I'm not going to lie, taking pictures was so not my priority.  Enjoying the moment was my priority!  So, this is what I got when, in the throes of enjoying the moment, I also snapped a picture:

Unwrapping frenzy.

Car toy frenzy.

Tricycle frenzy.  (And for Pablo, a tail wagging frenzy.)

T-Rex/New Pajama frenzy.

Whoville Impersonation.

(Because, the red eyes make him look even more like Cindy Lou Who, right?)

Even though Jack doesn't grasp the concept of Christmas yet, or the concept of Santa Claus  yet, he knows that it's fun to have his family together.  He knows that it's fun to open presents.  He knows that everyone was happy and the spirit was festive.  He knows that he got some cool-ass (sorry, some seriously biscuit) toys to play with.  And that he'd like to do it again, say, next year around this time?

I'm in.  Until next year, Christmas.  It's been fun.

Heather

Guero's

In the fair city of Austin, Texas, there is a restaurant named Guero's.  It is a ridiculously cool place, on the ridiculously cool South Congress Ave.  When friends and family visit, we take them to Guero's.  Many of you are reading this and nodding your heads.  

Jack has decided that he loves Guero's, too.  We've been before, when he loved it less but did really like our waitress.  We went on Friday night with Nonna and Papadu and Uncle Dustin.  It was a success.

Why?  Because Jack ate queso for dinner.

And then got to wear the chip basket on his head.

Hope your day is full of cheese and cool hats,
Heather

Grammies are the Best

Aren't they?  Jack thinks so.

Hope this finds you well.
Heather

Flashback: Visit from Delaware!

When Aunt Jenny and Uncle James came to visit over the summer, a good time was had by all.  

Aunt Jenny loves Baby Jack!

Jenny sees something interesting to the left.  Jack sees a ceiling fan.

Did you see my helicopter suit, Aunt Jenny?

Durel enjoying watermelon at the Fredericksburg Crawfish Festival.
Summertime, and the livin is easy...

Mudbugs 101:  James and Durel suck the heads.

Happy times!

I am NOT ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.

Bad boys.  What you gonna do?

Visits from family are the best, aren't they?

Hope this finds you well.

Heather

Jack's 9 Month Update

Yesterday, Jack and I took a little field trip to the pediatrician.  I told the teachers at school that we were going for S-H-O-T-S.  I'm not really sure why I decided that I needed to spell it out, but it's probably a good habit to get into?

The checkup went great.  Here are the deets:

How big is the baby?:  Jack is 18 pounds, 11 ounces.  He's 29 inches long.  He's right on track with length, but could eat a bit more.  We are entering the "try everything" phase!  (Which is also known as the "hose down the kitchen afterward" phase...)

Teeth:  One bottom tooth is in full effect.  In fact, Jack has a habit of pulling off his socks in the car on the way to school and chewing on them.  This week, I found that one sock had a suspiciously "tooth-sized" hole in it when we got to school!

Food:  Purees are becoming passe.  Yogurt still rocks, but we're about to blow Jack's mind with all of the fun things to try!  We started with scrambled eggs last night.  He wasn't thrilled about anything, following those
S-H-O-T-S, but we did pretty well.

Crawling:  Yes, and fast.  He's everywhere.  That is all.

Sleep:  Yes, and well.  Thank goodness.  That is all.

Words:  There's been a lot of babbling lately, but last night, I heard "dada" loud and clear.  I'm calling it!  Dada is his first word!

Dogs:  Lucy is Jack's Bestest Doggie Friend.  She likes to lick him.  He likes to crawl to her.  They are buds. Pablo is also Jack's Doggie Friend; however, true to Pablo's personality, he's a bit more aloof.

Friends:  Jack has a regular posse at school.  They include:  Gabe, Linley, Jazmin, Mac, Eli, Emma, Lucy, Mason, Liberty, and Aksel.  The Rosewood Oaks Gang!

Jack is 9 months old and all is well.  Hope all is well with you, too!

Heather

Family Time is Fun Time

Jack has a big fan club.  Of this, I am sure.  For this, I am very glad.

Parents and grandparents notwithstanding, Aunt Geri and Uncle Dustin are the Co-Presidents of the Official Jack Bernard is Awesome and You Know It Fan Club.

See?

Someday, I will get to explain to Jack that he went to Aunt Geri and Uncle Dustin's wedding in mommy's tummy.  And that we did the Second Line.  But that's a story for another time...

Hope this finds you well.
Heather