Stick a fork in us...............We're Done!!

Summer has officially arrived for Jace and Mommy! Mommy has enjoyed the latter part of the day engrossed in a steamy romance novel----this is the life! If severe weather ever leaves Jace's neighborhood the tons of fun waiting to be had will begin! Until then Jace and Mommy are just enjoying having extra spare time!

This is how we feel about summer being here!

Jace has been catching up on some reading as well...........

This kid seriously spends half of his days looking at books (the other half is spent pushing his cars around).

Jace's obsession with shoes continues--Mommy will say it again---He is a DIVA! He was bound and determined the other day to wear his size 3 cowboy boots from last fall. First of all, he is pretty close to a size 5 now. Second of all, it is 85 degrees outside and he is NOT going to wear cowboy boots. Yeah right---and now imagine a 17-month-old child throwing himself on the floor, screaming as if he is being stabbed! Please note: Mommy did win this battle and the cowboy boots will be hidden to avoid future confrontation! Back to the picture at hand: Jace decided if he couldn't wear the boots he would put them on Daddy. Hmmmm, do those come in a 13?

Jace is insistent that he is going to walk up stairs the 'big boy' way. The problem lies in the fact that he has short little legs that won't allow it. Recently Jace has been displaying some of what Mommy likes to call 'Keenaness' (referring to Jace's fearless cousin Keenan) and throwing caution to the wind. On this particular day at the park, Jace did fairly well, as he had something to hold on to.


And finally, Jace has now had his 6th---yes 6th haircut in 5 months! He seriously could be a celebrity child with the long, flowing locks those little boys love if we so desired. Jace looks much better with the shorter disheveled look though---people are still constantly telling him "My hair looks that way too after I've just woken up". Mommy smiles politely and gives herself a mental reminder to use just a little more gel next time!

Thankful

After tornadoes ripped through and destroyed many neighborhoods very near Jace's house (damage started 3 miles from his house) last Sunday, Mommy began thinking about all that she is thankful for. After seeing destruction and hearing horrifying stories of coworkers and strangers alike, Mommy realized that many of the everyday things that cause her stress really are not important in the grand scheme of things. For instance, Jace's 'hitting phase' (yes, Mommy is referring to it as a phase because it too shall pass right?) isn't SO bad. The fact that he has reached the terrible 2's a full 7 months early won't kill Mommy and Daddy--will it? Mommy has decided to focus on what she is thankful for, such as having a happy, healthy little man who had decided that sleeping until 7:30 just in time for summer break is a grand idea!!! Amazingly, she is thankful to be able to go out for a 10-mile run on Sunday morning (with her biggest worry being making it to the water/bathroom stop). Mommy is thankful to have a job that she really enjoys with plenty of time off for Jace. Mommy is thankful for having family and friends that are always there (and always there to dote on Jacer!). Mommy is thankful for her wonderful, how should she put it......protective, dog Ozzy. Of course, Mommy is also thankful for Daddy and all that he does around the house and with the J-Man. So in the end, Mommy is such a lucky gal and of course Jace is a very big part of that. She couldn't ask for a better little guy (ok maybe just 1 less swat at her per day would be nice!).


As mentioned above, Jace has plenty of doting family members and he has had the opportunity to see a great majority of them in the last few weeks. This weekend was no different as Aunt Rita was in town from South Dakota. Jace enjoyed spending time with her and her dog Macie. Jace is such an animal lover. Give him a truck and a dog and he would be in bliss for hours! Anyway, the weekend was swell but limited in pictures (mostly because Aunt Rita felt pictures of her and Jace were "unnecessary"). Jace did get to check out the free petting zoo for the first time and although small, was a nice way to spend a 1/2 hour on a warm day. He also spent nearly 2 hours (sigh) with Aunt Rita while Mommy ran on Sunday morning. Apparently he was neither aware, nor bothered, that Mommy was gone. So to sum up, here are the very few pictures taken recently:

Looking at the birds at the petting zoo. For some reason, Jace kept going back to them over the other animals??


Doing the running man!

Busy Man!

Jace has been busy, busy, busy the last few days. His cousins Maveric and Keenan, Uncle Eric, Aunt Alisa, and Grandpa Steve all came to town on Thursday night. Of course Sasha came along for the ride as well and was able to stay with Ozzy at his house until Monday night. Ozzy isn't going to know what to do tomorrow! Anyway, Jace's weekend started a little early and lasted a little late. Friday morning he got to get up and spent the morning at the hotel with Mavi and Keenan swimming (well sort of) while Mommy went to work for a couple of hours. Friday evening Jace went back to the hotel to have a pizza party with his cousins AND Nana and Papa Cook! Since there is no rest for the weary, Jace and Mommy got up Saturday and headed down to Grandma and Grandpa F's to attend Jace's cousin Cory's graduation party. Talk about visiting ALL of your family in 48 hours! Oh no, Jace wasn't done there though--Sunday morning he and Mommy headed to Anamosa to Great Grandma Austin's and hung with even MORE family! Whew! Needless to say, Jace was a tuckered out little boy Sunday night. Of course it was an extended weekend, which means extended fun right? So Monday, Jace had his friends Davon and Haley (and their Mommy and Daddy) over for a BBQ. He had a great time once again and completely zonked out Monday night. It may take him several days to recover from all of his fun! So enough jabber---here are some cool pix from the weekend:

Making friends with Sydney (who is just a few days younger than Jace) at Cory's party

Loving on Aunt Alisa at Grandma Austin's

Posing with Cory Saturday night

Ozzy and Sasha loving life together!

Ozzy being sad that Sasha is going back to Colorado (and catching up on his zzzz's)

Jace and Haley playing ball

Jace and Grandpa Steve pushing his new 20 car back and forth

Running from Grandma F.

Mavi and Jace on a dirt pile (getting very dirty)

Jace enjoying some BBQ on Memorial Day

Jace LOVES Maveric. If Maveric jumps, Jace jumps, if Maveric yells, Jace yells......you get the idea

Jace, Mavi, and Keenan jumping on the bed and loving every minute of it!

J-Man missing his cousins already!

J-Man Update

There isn't a lot new to report on as of late. Jace and Mommy are working on finishing up the year and moving on to the good stuff-----work-free! This shall include, but not be limited to: swimming. playing outside in the yard, going on walks, hitting the library, traveling a little, going to the park, watching Daddy (the volleyball all-star), and of course playing with Ozzy. For the next couple of weeks however, it is business as usual as Mommy's work year winds down. Jace was able to get a little fun in his life over the weekend as he attended his cousin Ali's graduation party. He is also looking forward to the end of this week when his cousin's Maveric and Keenan arrive--with Sasha in tow much to Ozzy's delight. We will undoubtedly have many pictures to share from their visit but until then here is the latest and greatest to tide you over!

Dusting off the jogger! Jace still loves it although he continues to be a little diva! If any sort of sun gets in any part of his eye Mommy hears about it!

Jace in the jogger at this time last year! So sad!

J digs the warmer weather!

Jace wishing Mommy well as she heads off for another training run.

Smooches for Daddy. Awwww.

Good Genes..............

Yes indeed, Jace does have good genes! No, Mommy isn't talking about Jace's handsome genes (see below) but rather his smarty pants genes. It was inevitable that he would become cognitively stellar as he has many relatives that are achieving academic milestones this spring. His cousins Ali and Cory are both graduating from high school in the next couple of weeks. Both get props from Mommy because Cory will be attending UNI (go Panthers) and Ali will be going into Speech Pathology (yay for the greatest job ever). Jace's other cousin Tracy and his Fabulous Aunt Kay both have earned their Master's Degrees this spring as well. Congrats to everyone---and thank-you for passing your smarts on down the line (we hope)!


The next generation of Smarty Pants!

Time Flies.................

Exactly 2 years ago today Mommy and Daddy found out that they had a bun in the oven. Little did they know that a mere 24 months later that little bun would turn into a much larger, much crazier, much ornerier bun by the name of Jace!






In honor of Jace's 2-year birthday (as a fetus that is) Mommy wanted to document some of Jace's latest and greatest skills, talents, and silly actions. Again, this is not only for your reading pleasure, but also for Jace and Mommy to look back on when Jace is an even bigger bun.

-Jace now likes to use his highest soprano voice and say 'ooooh bubu' to Ozzy. Apparently he picked up on the voice and intonation from Mommy who admittedly does talk to Oz in a slightly higher than normal pitch.

-Jace loves to point out Daddy in pictures and say dada. The other day he even went and got Mommy and Daddy's engagement picture and said dada and then rubbed his hair. This is open to interpretation......it could be that Jace simply was pointing out Daddy's hair. However, it could also be that our little observer noticed that Daddy seemed to have much more hair than normal in that picture (taken 4 1/2 years ago)!

-Jace loves to run naked and look in the full length mirror at his 'boy parts'. He now has to do it this way since his belly is too big to see anything below it!

-When Jace is getting dressed in the morning after his socks go on he says 'shoes'?. After his shoes are on he waves bye bye.

-The other day Jace was trying to tell Mommy he wanted the radio on downstairs. He first tried signing 'please'. Mommy knew what he wanted but decided to let him try and tell her. Jace improvised and signed 'please' and then danced a little!

-Jace loves to use silverware but needs help getting the food on.

-Jace is likely going to be a hall of fame pitcher (for the Cubs of course). He has a great arm--watch out for flying balls from point blank range!

-Jace screams like a school girl (much to Daddy's dismay) going down slides at the park but wants to do it over and over......and over.

-Jace can bark like a dog, meow like a cat, and roar like a lion.

-Jace was eating breakfast the other morning and trying to tell Mommy something by pointing to the neighbor's house out the window. Mommy said 'yes that is a house'. Jace then vroom vroomed and waved bye bye----meaning they had just went bye bye in their car.

-Jace can now point to his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, belly, hair, and feet when asked.

-Jace still likes to suck his thumb and twirl his hair but if Mommy is holding him he twirls her hair instead.

-A recent discovery has been that Jace lays in bed for up to an hour before falling asleep at night!

-And last but not least, Jace is so loving! He loves giving hugs and kisses to most anybody!

Superstar Jace

Introducing the new, the improved, superstar sleeper......................JACE!

Yes, you read correctly! Jace is indeed a superstar sleeper now! Jace decided to visit Grandma and Grandpa F. again this weekend because Aunt Erin was in town. Jace was a rockstar sleeper not complaining ONE SINGLE TIME! He even napped without any trouble at all. He was such a good boy that he just sucked his thumb and thought (about who knows what) during some naps if he wasn't tired! You go Jace! Anyway, Jace enjoyed some wonderful weather and bonding with Uncle Reggie, Aunt Erin, and Grandma and Grandpa F. Of course it is probably needless to say, but Jace also visited some of his favorite eating establishments as well.

Jace was able to 'help' Grandpa mow the lawn. Actually Jace almost zonked out right on the spot. Nothing like a little vibration after a big breakfast to relax a guy!

Jace also hit the park with Mommy, Aunt Erin. Grandma F, and Aunt Kay. Aunt Kay even brought Jace his very own REAL cell phone. If he didn't think he was hot stuff before he sure does now! He's such a girl---he talked on his phone most of the way home!

Aunt Erin tickling Jace's funny bone at 10th Street. Please note the very large pictures in the background of you-know-who. It's funny that whenever Jace is in town visiting Grandma and Grandpa F. 90% of people that see him say, 'Oh it's great to finally meet you--I've seen so many pictures!'

Jace loves..............Jace! He loves gathering Grandma's pictures of himself and lining them up so he can check himself out! What a goof!

Proving once again he's going to be trouble for the ladies. Notice Aunt Kay digging in her purse for money to give Jace for the fountain!

Back at home----Jace missed Daddy a lot! He had to give him a big hug right away and put his hat on!

Jace giving Daddy his hat back. Ooooh look at the wonderful flowers in the background--Great work Daddy--keep it coming!