Chicago

Jack Laughing II

Turkey Bowl 2007

Thanksgiving

Pere Marquette

We modified our plan for a family hike at Pere Marquette after driving through icy rain to get there. Instead, we played on the giant chess board and had a nice lunch.

Connie's Birthday

Damon did an excellent job of surprising Connie on her 30th birthday. I was lucky to be included in the surprise - he flew me out to Orange County to be a part of it. When Damon brought Connie to his restaurant on her birthday (it was a Friday night), she was surprised to see me, Kathryn (from Denver), two of her sisters (from Denver), Damon's parents, sister, and brother-in-law (all from Fresno), and Damon's brother (from San Diego)! She was shocked! After much celebration and amazing food the final surprise arrived. Connie's parents walked in the door (after their late flight from St. Louis)! The weekend was filled with great food, good conversation, a spa day, and all-around fun. I felt like it was my birthday too!

Goofing Off

Just a few random pictures of Jack . . .

A Cardinal fan for all seasons:

"Mom, you're too silly!"

Here he is practicing "Baba O'Reilly." He thinks he is the next Keith Moon . . .

"OK, I'm bundled up. Let me out!"

Halloween

We made sure Jack wore a Tigger outfit at every opportunity around Halloween. He had two Tigger outfits: One was more plush with bigger ears, but had no tail (who's ever seen a Tigger without a tail?). The other had a tail, but was more of a sleeper than a costume.

Here is Tigger at the Botanical Gardens with Lily and Patrick on Halloween. I guess they forgot to wear their costumes.


On Halloween night, we took Jack out and visited some neighbors.

Along the way, we ran into a life-sized Tigger!

Notre Dame

On a beautiful fall day in late October, we took Jack on his first trip to Notre Dame. Here we are in front of my old dorm, Morrissey Manor.


We stopped in front of the library and saw the Word of Life mosaic (aka "Touchdown Jesus").

We brought Molly's cousin Mark, a junior at St. Louis U. High, up for the game. We had great seats. Unfortunately, there was no good football to see, as USC pounded ND 38-0.

Jack laughing

First Crawl?

You decide . . .

Attack of the dresser!

Always a Bridesmaid...

Last night we went to a Halloween/Birthday party at Bill and April's. Jim and I made beautiful bridesmaids. We are available for any upcoming weddings. It would be no trouble at all - we already have the dresses and the flowers! Unfortunately, the pictures have been censored from this web site. If you are interested, we can show them to you by request.

Happy Birthday, Bill!


Tigger was partied out by the end of the evening!

Six Month Pictures

These pictures were scanned in, so they have lost some resolution. But Jack still looks cute!

Laundry Basket = FUN

Who knew a laundry basket could be so much fun? I put Jack in the basket after putting away his clean clothes today. He was having a good time.
Then he was able to knock it over (no harm done).

" Maybe I'll crawl out of it."
"Or, I could try to flip it over."
"Yep, much better."
"Now, I'll eat my toes. Yummy!"

New Haircut

Last weekend Jack got to spend some time with his two Great-Great-Aunts (they are twins). Mary Jane came in from Texas and Rose Mary from Chicago. This weekend, Jack stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Saturday night while Jim and I went to Keary and Mary's wedding. The celebration was at the Randall Gallery downtown, and it was very nice. Here is a picture of the happy couple. We checked out the sculptures in the basement. Jim sat down for a hand of poker.

No one was surprised to see karaoke (or Keary-oke) at the reception. Keary sang "My Girl" to Mary (as he did when he proposed). Jim and Keary sang Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young."
We decided it was finally time for a haircut. His hair was getting in his eyes, so we decided to give him a little trim.

We think he is going to be crawling any day now. He likes to get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. He can move his legs, but he hasn't learned to move his arms yet. He just moves his knees, then falls, then pulls himself forward, and gets up to do it all over again. That movement, in conjunction with rolling, allows himself to get where he needs to go (which is usually to some yummy object on the floor that is not intended for one's mouth).
When we checked on him after he fell asleep tonight, this is the position he was in. I cannot imagine this is very comfortable, but I shouldn't knock it until I try it.We had such a nice weekend together. We didn't go out of town, and Jim didn't have to work all weekend. This hasn't happened in over a month! We are currently making plans for Jack's first trip to Notre Dame. Jim is anxious to show Jack the campus.