My 30th!

Wow! So hard to believe that I am now 30! I had a fantastic day and what made it extra special was the fact that it fell on a Saturday, so Jack, Ryan and I got to spend the day together! I went to one of my favorite aerobics classes in the morning, enjoyed a nice, relaxing pedicure, enjoyed another ice cream cake from Ryan and Jack (I love ice cream cake! I better watch out now that I am 30!), opened presents and cards from friends and family (even a card from Baylor the dog), was surprised with a bouquet of flowers, and received messages and phone calls from friends and family. The day ended with Ryan and I going to Brenner's (a steak house) for a nice, romantic dinner. We had a great time at dinner except for the fact that Ryan was told by our waiter that he looks like Joel Osteen, which happens one too many times for his liking. We always get a good laugh out of it or, at least, I do!

Indy Visit

........ playing with bubbles at Grandma & Grandpa's house

...... Grandma, Gretchen, Rachel, Joe, Olivia, Grandpa, David, Jack and Luke

.......... Jack and David (they are only 3 days a part!)

.........Grandpa with Jack and Rachel at Crooked Stick

.....Aunt Lisa (the photographer of the family; she took all of these great pics!) and Jack

Jack and I had a great visit to Indiana! We enjoyed spending time with Grandma & Grandpa K, as well as his aunts, uncles and cousins. As usual, the time went by too quickly! Jack enjoyed his first hair cut, and I was able to do some birthday shopping with my mom. I also got some quality sister time and was able to have some girls nights out with Katie and Lisa and then again with all my sisters and mom. Jack played with his cousins, watched them in amazement and even tried to chase and keep up with them a time or two. He loved playing with all of the cool toys at Grandma's house. What made the trip even more special was the fact that I was able to celebrate my birthday with my family. I have not done that in over 10 years! We had my favorite cake....an Oreo ice cream cake! Yum! We all even enjoyed a delicious lunch at Crooked Stick, while watching my dad complete the club tournament. Jack took a tour of the locker room with his Grandpa and was able to check out his Grandpa's golf locker. Jack was fascinated with his uncles and Grandpa and referred to them all as "Da."

Jack's 1st hair cut

Before....

During....

Baby Mozart....

The Final Product!

Jack had his first hair cut last Thursday! He looks like such a little boy now! Jack has always had a full head of hair since he was born. I tried to trim it myself from time to time but it was beginning to look like a fine mullet, so during our visit to Indy Grandma K and I took Jack to Cookie Cutters for his first official hair cut. He behaved so well! Of course, Baby Einstein's Baby Mozart (he loved that DVD and had not seen it in a while!) was playing on the t.v. so that helped to keep him distracted from the scissors.


Check out the link for his certificate: http://www.haircutsarefun.com/Certificates/preview.asp?CertificateID=5994


We had such a great visit to Indiana! Jack enjoyed his time with his Grandparents, aunts, uncles and many cousins. I will post more about our visit later!

Rodeo Round Up

Here are some pictures we took of Jack yesterday at the ranch in his new Wranglers. To get him to laugh and smile, we were clapping our hands saying "rodeo round up." We probably looked ridiculous, but he loved it!

Camp Grandma and Grandpa M

Jack had such a wonderful time with his Grandparents while Ryan and I were in San Diego! He enjoyed riding around the ranch with them, playing with Grandma's Tupperware, looking at Grandpa's birds (he even learned the word "bird"), snuggling with Grandma and Grandpa, petting Baylor, and he even got to enjoy the rodeo on both Friday and Saturday night. His Great Grandma, Great Aunt Debbie and Great Uncle Dean even came in for the weekend to enjoy some time with him. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa M for taking care of Jack and providing him with so much love and care!

San Diego

Ryan's good friend from high school in Alaska, Dan, got married this weekend in San Diego. Ryan and I decided to make a little trip out of it, while Jack stayed with Grandma and Grandpa M at the ranch. We had such a fabulous time! We had a romantic dinner together Friday night over looking the Pacific Ocean, we lounged on the beach all day Saturday and were joined later in the afternoon with another good friend from Alaska, Ryan a.k.a. "Thomp," and we enjoyed the wedding festivities Saturday night. It was a quick trip but well worth it! The weather was perfect, and Ryan and I decided that San Diego is the perfect place to go in August to get away from the hot, humid temps of Texas. It is beautiful there! Enjoy the picture I took from my cell phone from when we first arrived!

The Mergler

Well, Jack is now 10 months old. It is amazing how quickly the time has gone by and that I am already beginning to think about and plan his 1st birthday. He is such a blessing in our lives! Ryan and I stayed up late last night talking in bed about all the wonderful and neat things that Jack is doing now. He loves his Mozart cube and seems to sing a long with it while it plays...singing "OOOooooOOOooo." He loves placing his toys on the window sills, ottoman, coffee table, laundry baskets, kitchen chairs and then taking the toy back down again. He loves balls, bubbles and books. He says "Da" when he sees Ryan, "ball" to his ball, the "p" sound when we point to his planets, and he calls me "Ball." I must look like a ball or something or maybe since he loves his ball so much, he is letting me know that he loves me as much as his ball. ;) He also loves trying to say the word "wow."

Well, you are probably wondering why I titled this post "The Mergler." As many of you know, Ryan loves creating nicknames for people. I am Snackies, his mom is Ollie, his brother is Critter, Blake is Stottletots, Erin is Ezzzy, Molly is Molybdenum, Marc is Dirtbag, Jesse is Javelina and the list goes on and on... Anyhow, Jack somehow got the name Mergler and it has stuck. Ryan will text me during the day, "how is the merg?" I will text things back like, "the merg is napping." Even our moms call and ask, "how is the little mergler?" I am not sure how this name came to be and why it stuck, but I suppose it is some form of affection that we show to Jack, the mergler.