Week 72

Jul 21-27

Aunt Caroline and her friend Haley came to visit us!!! Well, I really think they just came to visit Jack mostly. :) They drove all the way down from SC for the second time this year. They came back in March for Jack's 1st birthday. Now he is 16 months and they both were pretty amazed at how much he had changed. The biggest change is his vocabulary and how much more he actually "talks" instead of "baby babbles".

I love having them here. They took Jack out on long bike rides, to the park, and just wore him out! They fed him, bathed him, and watched him while I got things done! He loved having people in the house to play with. I think sometimes he probably gets sick of Ed and I so it's nice to have someone new. Thank you thank you girls! I got my garage cleaned out and organized...and then even had time to fix up the front yard.

On their last night we even splurged a little and went out for pizza! Oh Cibelli's Pizza how I have missed you!!! We had a great time and Ed and I were amazed that we can now only eat half of the amount we used to. We were modest and got cheese pizza with water to drink. It was still absolutely delicious! Having the girls here was so much fun! I wish they could have stayed a little longer, but they had to go back to work...and back to the life of busy 17 year olds. Oh to be young again. :) Haha!

Jack got to see his "Baby Kay Kay" a few times. One morning we took the babies on a little walk. Here they are sporting their ultra-cool shades! We didn't get to walk very long because it got tooooo HOT! This time of year it's pretty difficult to get outside even in the early morning. I am starting to get excited for the "fall" season. Which basically means the difference between "hot" and "unbearably hot". :)

Jack has an obsession with "tummies" and especially "belly buttons" and in these pictures he was showed Kaitlyn his and in turn tried to find hers. She had on a cute dress that snapped at the bottom and he couldn't quite figure out why he couldn't find her belly. HILARIOUS!

They are so cute together! I love to snap pictures when they aren't looking.

He is so interested in her and now every time he sees a baby he points and says "Baby Kay Kay!!". Hopefully he will be equally as interested when we have another baby one day. I think he will make a great big brother.

He is so gentle with Kaitlyn. He brings her toys and puts her pacifier back in her mouth when it falls out.

Two more things to add. The pajamas that Jack is wearing in these pictures are a 3T from Old Navy! Holy cow! Mimi (my mom) had bought them on accident thinking they were 24 months so we have been holding onto them so he can grow into them eventually. Well he suddenly started growing out of some of his old pajamas so I figured I would open these and see just how bad they were. They fit! He has a little bit of room to grow...but I never thought a 3T would fit my little 16-month old!

The next thing. I'm sure you've notice that my posts have been a little "picture heavy" lately. As everyone knows I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to take pictures! I am sooooo glad Ed got me my dream camera for my birthday last year. It was definitely worth every penny it cost. My new obsession lately is to save up to get Photoshop editing software so I can take my pictures to the next level by being able to edit them professionally. I have been just using iPhoto but it basically only lets you do standard cropping and change pictures to black and white. Not much to work with. The software costs around $1000.00 so my idea is to extend my hobby to people who want pictures of their kids or family, charge a small fee, and save up the money towards my software!

I have been taking lots more pictures to really get used to my camera and get new ideas on angles, lighting, posing, etc. I hope you like pictures because there are more to come! Also, if you want to be one of the first "clients" to get pictures taken let me know! I am NOT by any means a trained professional, but I will do whatever it takes to get people pictures they love for a very small fee compared to a regular photographer!

I might even extend out another blog featuring my work. :) Just to make myself clear this is just a side hobby. It's something fun I like to do. I'm not going to quit my real job so don't worry.

Week 71

July 14-20

I'm a little early on this post, but I figured I might as well post while I have the time. So far this has been a very fun week!! :) I continued my orientation in the ER and I am learning tons of new things. One of the days I was at work Ed said that Jack was miserable...due to teething. Poor baby. He has been getting so many more teeth lately! It doesn't usually bother him so Ed knew that he must have been hurting pretty bad. He decided the solution was a strawberry milkshake from McDonald's. Here is a really cute picture of Jack feeling much better!!!

Yesterday I had the day off so I organized a play date with some of our new neighbors. From previous posts you all know Baby Kaitlyn...or "Baby Kay-Kay" as Jack likes to call her. Well on the other side of her we got more new neighbors...twin 2 year olds! Charlotte and Vincent are super cute kids. Their mom is Amy and she used to be a preschool teacher so Tara (Kaitlyn's mom) and I learned lots of new songs and fun things to do with toddlers!! Score!

Jack absolutely LOVED having all the kids over at his house. I was so proud of him because he shared his toys and entertained everyone. He was a very gracious host!! My favorite part was the look on his face when everyone first came over and we answered the door.

He saw all the kids and got super excited! They all played for hours while the mommy's had coffee and chatted. It was lovely! When everyone left Jack cried for about a minute because he didn't want them to leave. Shortly after I fed him he went down for his nap and slept hard for almost 2 hours! Double score!

Last night Ed and I decided to relax a bit and we took Jack out for ice cream! He LOVED it of course. He made an absolute mess out of it too! We went to this place called Coney Island. They are known for their hotdogs and soft serve. It was quite yummy! I got a chocolate ice cream cone dipped in strawberry!

After we got back we decided why not really relax and have a couple of drinks! I know, I know. Insanity does not include drinks on their nutrition plan, but we have been working hard and really needed to relax for a minute. Ed had a few beers and I drank my favorite organic blueberry wine! I LOVE that stuff! I am really going to miss it when we move from here. It is from a local winery and it tastes sooooo good!! I will have to stock up before we leave.

I also have today off and it is SATURDAY! I love waking up Saturday mornings as a family. We went for a bike ride to our favorite little cafe! I brought the camera along so I could get some pictures of the awesome food. I figured since I talk about this place so much you guys should get an idea of what it is like. They are so nice there!

We always sit outside and usually people will come with their dogs. The restaurant provides all dogs with a water bowl (how cute!). They always bring out a high chair, crayons, and coloring book for Jack...and coffee right away for Mommy and Daddy. We always get Jack a pancake and they make it in the shape of Mickey Mouse! He loves the fresh fruit of course.

Jack prefers fruit to anything else. Lately if we are going to serve him fruit we don't let him see it until he eats some of his other stuff. What kid prefers fruit over bread and meat? I guess I should be happy about it. He likes his veggies too. I am glad he's not a picky eater so far because it makes life so much easier.

Week 70

July 7-13

A few happenings in the Storch world. As you all know I have officially started my orientation down in the E.D. (emergency department). It is definitely more high-speed, different, fast-paced, and exciting...and so far I LOVE IT!! :) I am so excited to work as a team again. I forgot how much fun it is to have co-workers!

In other news...we are still doing the "Insanity" workout. We are past the halfway point and are really seeing results. Ed is literally seeing them on the scale (and in the mirror). I am still at a standstill as far as my weight goes, but I am seeing differences in the mirror and with a tape measurer. We are probably going to post before/after pictures to show our progress once we have completed the program. Since that is happening, Ed has requested that I don't post any more pictures of the two of us to keep things a surprise.

I was a little bummed about that because I got some cute shots at the beach today and I can't put them up until later. :( Oh well. I can put the ones with only Jack. He is much cuter than Ed and I anyways.

Lately he has been excited to play with his "baby Kaitlyn" or as he calls her "Baby Kay-Kay". We have been very lucky to get some awesome new neighbors Tara and Nick. Tara and I have coffee a few mornings a week and let the kids play while we hang out. We clicked almost instantly. It's actually one of those things where you practically finish each others sentences, make the same choices at the same time, that kind of a thing. We have a ton of stuff in common as we find out all the time from our chats.

She is going to start nursing school next year and we have agreed to help each other out with school, work, babies, and deployments. Nick is in the Coast Guard and is out quite a bit. Today I mowed her lawn for her. It wasn't long ago when I had a newborn baby, my husband was gone, and I was trying to figure out how I was going to mow the lawn. In this neighborhood if it isn't up to standards we get a letter and if it's not fixed right away they mow it for you...for $50.00.

Anyways...we get along very well and I can't wait to hang out more. The guys have a lot in common too. Nick is interested in volunteer firefighting so Ed is going to help him out with that. It's pretty fun to have someone right next door to be friends with! :)

The other day when Kaitlyn was over here we got out the jumperoo that was stored in the garage and put it together for her. That way she has something to sit in to keep her occupied while she is over here. Jack saw it and wanted to get in it of course. After awhile he was over it and we put Kaitlyn in it for the first time. He kept trying to show her how to do all the activities on it. Here are some shots.

Blast from the past...

One of the pictures I took of Jack reminded me of when he was little and tried the jumperoo out for the first time. This was taken June 2009. Check out how much they grow!!!