Letters To Jack- 23 Months

 

To My Sweet Jack,

 

The craziness of the past two months has made this letter two months overdue so I will try to overcompensate with details.  The past 65 days since my last note to you has brought change, growth, and self-reflection to our family.  You of course being sweet, innocent, and just Jack has per the norm taken everything in stride and adapted along with us.  The news of your brother or sisters impending arrival came mid-July.  It was a Sunday evening and you were splashing around in the tub when mommy found out she was expecting.  You were actual the first one to know not your dadJ.  I remember looking at the pregnancy test and then glancing over to your sweet little face and my heart and eyes filling with tears of happiness and emotion.  My first reaction was “Jack is going to be the best big brother ever”.  I went over to you and held you in my arms relishing in the moment for a few minutes while it sunk in that our little family of three was too soon be four.  These days the only time you are still is when you are watching a movie or just before bed when I am holding you in my arms.  This moment of stillness sitting with you after learning of such a wonderful blessing is a moment I will hold dear to my heart forever.  While you don’t quite understand that you are going to be a big brother and what that exactly means right now, you do know there is a  baby in mommys belly and you like to give he/she a kiss whenever we remind you of this.

 

 

Your growth has been incredible the past few months.  I say it each month, but you never cease to amaze us.  Your growth in terms of body weight has on the other hand not been that great.  You are a little string bean!  Your 2 Year doctors apt. is in two weeks and I am so curious to get your most recent stats.  You  still wear 12-18 month shorts and 18-24 month shirts are still running a bit big despite you almost being the big “2”.  You continue to get better at counting and your ABC’s every day.  Your colors are a bit choppy,  as  you can pronounce them all but in most instances you think everything is red.  Your vocabulary is excellent.  While you speak in your own Jack language you are extremely articulate.  I love hearing your little voice, it is so sweet and innocent like music to my ears.  We have been working on your manners and you are very good at please and thank you so we are starting to add in sir and ma’am to continue on your path to good manners and respecting others.  Your listening is improving more every day.  We read a book called 1,2, 3 Magic that was recommended to us and it works remarkably well.  I am very pleased and so proud of the little boy you are becoming.

 

I also love how well rounded you are.  I don’t think there is an activity you don’t like or take interest in these days.  You are obsessed with golf lately which makes your dad extremely happy and you have an excellent natural swing according to your dad.  He is planning on getting you your first real set of golf clubs for your birthday and I am sure you will put them to good use.  Your other favorite thing is play doh.  You know exactly where the craft bin is in the house and every morning and afternoon you want to play with play doh.  The way you say play doh is so cute I have a hard time turning you down, you certainly have us wrapped around you finger.  Well you definitely have your nana wrapped around your finger as she was your play doh partner in crime a few weeks back when she was visiting.  I will say there is something special about sitting across from you at your mini table just enjoying the simple pleasure of playing with something so simple.

 

Other things you are fanatical about include trains, finding Nemo, swimming, your water table, Elmo, Woody and Buzz and being outside. Mimi just bought you another part to your small set of tracks for your birthday and you have been playing with it non-stop.  You are going to be Woody for Halloween and daddy is going to be your best friend Buzz, Palin is probably going to be the dinosaur from toy story to round out the family costume.  Your swimming is amazing for your age.  At least we think so.  The problem with you and the water is that you have no fear.  You just want to dunk under and literally dive heard first off the side of pools which stresses us out.  While I want a pool, at the same time I get a bit nervous about your fearlessness.

 

 

You started with a new school a few weeks back and so far have really been enjoying it.  For the first time in a long time you don’t cry when we drop you off.  It surely makes it a lot easier on us, as any time you cry it breaks our heart.  Your teachers love you and you have been doing great thus far.

 

You are also quite the ham.  You sing, you dance, and you make silly faces constantly and it cracks us up!  You are seriously the greatest ever.

 

 

Jack, you are my sweet lovable little boy and there is nothing I love more than your little arms squeezing around my neck and the sweet kisses you give me on the lips and on the cheek. I love how you say “I love you mama” and how you just mimic your dad and I.  It is funny as you just don’t know what will come out of your mouth.  You are very smart and in tune with your surroundings.  I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming.  Your voice, your laughter, you are full of life and innocence and you make our life so much sweeter by being a part of it.  Happy almost 2^nd birthday my love.

Baby News

This post was written on July 14^th saved for October.  I can’t even begin to describe the last week but will do my best.  Before we left for Europe my first deal at work was set to close when we got back, a few folks had asked for sellers disclosures and an offer was on the horizon to sell our house.  By last Friday everything had seemed to fall apart.  Monday I traveled to Houston and got word that we needed to drop our house another $25k in order to have a chance at selling it.  Tuesday my deal started to unravel due to miscommunication on my part with the group I was working with. A learning experience would be an understatement, I am hoping when I actually publish this that the deal actually does end up closing but you never know (Yay it did! perserverance).  Regardless downhill to Friday where John also underwent a very difficult day at work.  To say the least our emotions were running high and the stress that was filling our minds was putting us over the edge.  Friday night we  joked that we would end up being pregnant.  All this past weekend John and I were consumed with thoughts of questioning the decisions we had made, and wondering what to do next.  Related to so many different parts of our life.  It was seriously one of the hardest weeks ever.  Just when we thought things were turning in our favor to be a little easier.  See we both have over the top positive attitudes and outlook on life and there aren’t many days or weeks mind you that get us to that point.

 

Sunday morning we went to church hoping for some peace and clarity.  Instead we left half way through mass with a screaming baby and just sat in the car with tears in our eyes holding each other’s hands.  Over Jack’s nap John and I continued to analyze our life and all of the pros and cons.  We pride ourselves on the team mentality to our marriage but on this day wished someone else could just tell us what we should do next.

 

With me headed out on a three day business trip the next day John headed out to the grill to cook for the week and I headed up to give Jack a bath.  While my little peanut splashed around I found a pregnancy test in the closet and decided to see if this day and our life was soon to get any crazier.  And as you know it both lines were red indicating that our joke was actually a reality.  As I looked at Jack splashing around in the tub, my eyes filled with tears and a calmness that I hadn’t felt in a week crept over me.  As well as feelings of shock and disbelief.  Without actually trying again we were being blessed with this amazing gift.  While John had the same feelings as I did when Jack handed him the pregnancy test we could not be more thrilled about this addition to our family. 

As I fly high in the clouds off to a meeting in San Diego my emotions are filled with joy and happiness that we are having another baby.  Yet nervousness as what is to come and how we will handle it all.  I have faith in Team Semmy and know we will be fine but also know we are faced with more decisions on what to do next and what is best for our family.  In the mean time I pray for a healthy baby, and am going to do everything in my power to have the healthiest, happiest pregnancy possible.