the little terror, Jack!

Jack crawling under the tv...

Jack's attempting to use the sippy on his own!
Battling Jack with the kitchen towel....

Jack was standing up in his crib. Phew, I am not and was not ready for that yet!! Missed on getting a picture of him. Dang it. Needless to say, we lowered his crib last night. It's as low as it will go.....

He is getting on his hands and straightening his legs so that he's nearly standing. He does this all throughout the day. Oh boy!

Getting Jack changed is challenging these days. He certainly won't lie still and constantly tries to roll over on his tummy and pitches a fit b/c I won't let him. He's a little man with an agenda that DOES NOT include fresh diapers or a change of clothes!

back from Whitby

The country house.... Whitby Abbey
Looking down at Whiby from the abbey....
The North Sea
Mommy and Jack in the courtyard of the house
In the house's lounge.....

We got back from Whitby late afternoon on Sunday. We had a good visit to the coast (North Sea). We decided to stay the night so we left York on Saturday. We stayed at a country house just outside of Whiby in the Yorkshire Moors. The English countryside and Moors are beautiful. It was nice to get some fresh air. Very peaceful and relaxing. Whitby was nice. Typical harbor town although we were a little surprised to see amusements and arcades. Would be pretty without all that....Still it was nice. Lots of pubs. We stayed for a few hours walking around, had coffee, then drove back to the country house we were staying at. Only a five minute drive from Whitby. You could see the coast from the house. Who knows hold old this house was.....pretty darn old!! We had dinner in the house's pub, as children under 5 are not allowed in the restaurant for dinner. Food was good. We let Jack crawl around in the grassy courtyard. He didn't know quite what to think about the grass - that was his first time being put down on it!

Sunday we drove back to Whitby to visit the Abbey. Pretty impressive to say the least. The abbey is perched on top of a cliff overlooking the town of Whitby and the sea. Historians believe the Abbey dates back to AD 657 and was one of the most important religious centers in the Anglo-Saxon world. We had tea and cake in the tea room, packed Jack up and left for our drive back to York. We stopped in the little village of Sleights and had Sunday lunch at the Plough. Local pub. Josh went for the local Sunday favorite - Yorkshire Pudding with Lamb, gravy and mint sauce. I had cheese and vegetable bake. Not quite what I expected, but still good. In England on Sunday's, pubs do carvery's, so you can guarantee you can get Yorkshire pudding.....

Trip was nice. It's good to get out of York, even if it's for just the night.

Sorry, no photos of Josh. He manned the camera.

little man's crawling!

jack started crawling two Saturday's ago and now the man's into everything! he goes room to room with no problem. no relaxing around the house now. i am constantly having to keep an eye on him making sure he's not into something he shouldn't be! and he loves anything with strings. so he's always after the strings on the rug, the wires on the tv (guess he thinks those are strings!)....

it's raining here today, so we won't be getting out in town. at least we got out for a little while yesterday. made it to M&S to get some groceries.

we are going to Whitby this weekend. hoping the weather will be nice. it's a small fishing town on the coast of the North Sea. will be a nice change of pace to get out of town.

it's almost Friday. yippee! that means Jack gets to spend some good, quality time with daddy and mommy gets a little break : )

Happy Father's Day!

Josh's first Father's Day! Jack is so lucky to have such a great father. He is such a gracious Daddy. We went through several sleepless nights of false labor contractions with Jack and phew, I wouldn't have made it through them without Josh! He was my saving grace........he was so strong.

We celebrated this special day with lunch at this nice bistro complete with a little champagne.

This Father's Day was special for me as well. I now have two Fathers and they are both wonderful. Grandpa and Grandy are two special men that bring so much to our lives. I only wish Jack was able to be around them. Makes me sad to know he has these two great Grandparents and he doesn't even know them. But he will, soon enough. We'll be home next April and they can both spoil him rotten then.

He has Daddy though and I can't say enough how much he loves Jack. Jack gets so excited when Daddy gets home in the evenings. He knows it's 'Daddy time' and that means playtime in the tub!

trip to Scotland....

My parents visited us in April and what a fantastic time we had! We went to Scotland and stayed at this beautiful log cabin on Loch Ness. Didn't see Nessie though..This was the first time my parents got to meet their Grandson, Jack. They were absolutely thrilled to finally meet the little man. Not to mention how thrilled I was. Last time I saw them was when Josh and I married in Italy (Oct 2006). We stayed in the Highlands for a few nights, then drove down to Edinburgh. Scotland is amazing and the Highlands are like nothing we've ever seen. The land is rugged, pubs abundant and the people are graciously kind. Edinburgh is a town deep with history with a bustling Royal Mile......

I only wish my parents could have stayed longer. The trip went by too fast and Jack misses Nana and Grandpa! So does Mommy.....