Outside Fun!

Jack absolutely LOVES being outside! It's been cold the past couple of weeks, but we're having a warm front right now. So, I took Jack outside yesterday for a little fun. I figured it'll be one of our last times playing outside before the weather turns cold for good.

Jack really enjoys playing in this car that YaYa got him. He loves for me to push him up and down the driveway in it :)

Yeah, so Jack eats a leaf in this video. I was trying to watch through the camera and make sure he was still in the shot and couldn't quite see exactly what was going on or respond quickly....whoops!

Time...

So this was our first "fall back" experience with Jack. Normally, I LOVE to fall back...it's way better than springing forward! Who wouldn't want an extra hour of sleep?? (Or what usually turns into an extra hour of being awake....) Jack, however, has had a little bit of a tough time adjusting. Yesterday morning he woke up at 6:55am - WAAAAAY to early! But we had to get ready for church, so we decided to go ahead and get him up.

This morning, he woke up at 6:45am -even earlier!! After a while of fussing in his crib, he FINALLY went back to sleep and woke up again at 8:45am. Much better :) Hopefully he's adjusted to the new time for good and will be back on his normal schedule.

Just a few updates....

In case you were wondering what Jack's doing now:

• Jack says, "Mama" "Dada" and "Dog" (which he pronounces "Doh")
• He's got 8 teeth
• He's starting to stand on his own a little more now
• Jack took one step Saturday night and one step Sunday...and I (Laura) missed them BOTH!!
• He points at everything
• He loves being outside and loves to play with leaves and sticks (and tries to eat them, too)
• He dances to music a lot
• He rarely will let us feed him anymore...Big Boy Jack has to feed himself
• I think if he eats another grape he'll turn into one - BY FAR his favorite food!
• He'll be one year old in exactly 1 month and 2 days - I can't believe it!!

Jack's such a happy baby and a joy and blessing to our lives. We couldn't love him more!

Happy Halloween!!

The Moms with the Babes on their first Halloween

Cutest lion I've ever seen :) Love my niece, Sophie! Jack and Olivia - she kept trying to give him a kiss....he kept moving away! haha

TRBC had a whole area set up like Willy Wonka. Jack LOVED the bubble room!!

All of us together - I guess getting the kids to look at the camera is out of the question.

Sophie and Jack having fun on the trampoline. Neither of them was tall enough to hold on to the bar and bounce. (Although they did enjoy some bouncing - watch the video)

Jack couldn't quite figure out that he was supposed to crawl through this.

Sliding with Daddy

Jack started to pick up a duck......

...but then dropped it when he figured out there was water he could play in.

The duck he started to pick up had a #1 on the bottom...1 piece of candy :) Yeah, we're hott! :)

"Jack's" (aka - mom and dad's) stash at the end of the night (pretty sad, I know. Hopefully he'll do better next year!)

AND NOW FOR THE VIDEOS.......


Jack and Sophie having fun bouncing on the trampoline

Jack going down the slide...

Sophie going down the slide (sorry it's sideways)....

Fun times with Jack

We got Jack's bouncy seat back out because we had some friends coming over for dinner who have a small baby. Turns out Jack still loves his bouncy seat, just in a different way! We've kept it out and he loves getting on it all the time!

Without anyone showing him how, Jack just started doing this the other day. What a funny kid :)

Run For Their Lives

Luke and I had the wonderful opportunity to run/ walk a 5K yesterday. This was my (Laura's) very first race ever. This particular race is not about winning. It costs $24 to enter the race. That's the exact amount that it costs to purchase a Thai girl's freedom for one day from sex trafficking. Basically what Freedom 4/24 does is pay for a girl's freedom for the day and then they take that day to show them that there's another way. They show them the love of Christ. I can't think of a better reason to run. Here's how our day went:

Brett and Jack having a little pre-race fun. Jack loved playing with the balloon, so someone ended up tying one to the stroller he was riding in.

Luke about to cross the finish line. I was SO proud of him! He hasn't run in a really long time (like since high school) and he ran the entire race! He finished 67th with a time of 27:37:00!! He did 8:55 miles. Needless to say, he's feeling it today :)
Now, I have NEVER been a runner. In fact, I dislike running...a lot. It hurts. But I did end up running some parts of the race. After the halfway turn around we were going slightly downhill, so I just let go of the stroller and ran behind it. It's amazing how much more momentum you have when you use your arms! :)

Jen came and helped me push Jack up the final (very steep) hill.

Almost to the finish line! Snagging a quick picture with Luke (who helped quite a few women push their strollers up this final hill).

That's me on the left. I decided to sprint the last straight away, passing a few people. Suckas!!! I finished in 511th place with a time of 45:20:00. Now, that sounds a little worse than it actually is because there were about 900 people running/ walking the 5K. I did 14:37 miles; which is better than I do when I walk around our neighborhood (I usually do about 20 minute miles...but hey, it's a hilly neighborhood!).
Luke with Jack by the finish line.

Please Pray

Please pray for my cousins (who will remain nameless). They are leaving tomorrow (Tuesday) to travel to the Middle East to be missionaries. They'll be traveling for 30+ hours. Please pray for safety in traveling and a smooth transition as they adjust to a new culture and learning a new language. And of course pray for the people they'll be in contact with :)