Jack vs. The Potty

So, everytime I have suggested Jack using the potty he refuses. At first I thought it was a boy/girl thing since it seemed he would do it for daddy. Well, I was wrong... It's more of a Jack do it himself thing. This morning I was working on getting Jack dressed and before I did the phone rang and I ended up talking for a bit. I was sitting in the living room upstairs when I noticed Jack going into the bathroom. I decided to wait and see what would happen. After a few minutes he emerged and proudly told me he went pee-pee on the potty. Sure enough he had. So this afternoon I let him run free of clothing and sure enough I noticed him run into the bathroom. I decided to wait. Then I heard the toilet flush. Jack again came out and said "mommy, I went pee-pee" Of course, I was excited and went into the bathroom and asked "where did you go?" Jack proudly held up one of his bath nesting cups and said "in here."

GBR II

Griffin loves his fingers and thumb... He has been quite successful so far at finding them and soothing himself.

Family Life..

We are all settling in nicely with Griffin's arrival. Griffin is a true joy, he is mellow and an easy going guy. He has some special traits already and we joke that we are going to nickname him "goose" since he honks like a goose when he's nursing. He's a good eater and sleeper so far. We decided to try a night without the swaddle since he seemed to be fighting it and the night went very smooth. He's been to the park twice with his big brother, been to his first restaurant and an outing to Target. All were successful without a fuss. We have all fallen in love.

Great Grandma Tigges

Garry's grandma Mary recently was diagnosed with cancer and has gone home with Hospice. She has been suffering with ongoing pain issues since her bout of shingles almost two years ago and hope that with the help of Hospice the pain will be controlled.

Great grandma was able to meet the newest addition to the family this last week and was amazed at how strong he is. Grandma is an inspiration to all of us and we love her very much..

Uncle Justin's Visit

My brother - Justin was in Colorado for his new job with CACI and was able to make it up to Fort Collins for an overnight visit. Jack took to Justin immediately and became his shadow for the entire visit. Jack was spoiled by Justin and all the attention he gave to Jack. It was a nice visit and we were all sad to see him go..

Thank You...

A big thank you to all of our many friends that stepped up to help us during our time of need. Thank you to our great neighbors the Johnson's for coming over Friday morning to take care of Jack until reinforcements arrived, for our balloons and tomorrows pot roast (we are looking forward to it). Thank you to my dear Elexa for leaving work (sadly) and driving up to Fort Collins to take care of Jack and spend the night here!! We couldn't have done it without you.. Thank you to Dustin (firefighter friend) that came to the hospital to properly install our car seat since we hadn't had a chance to get that done.. Thank you to my dear friend Melissa - for your support, for your meals, for your ongoing care of Jack and for your birthing support during the entire delivery. I couldn't have done it without you.. We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful support system around us... Thanks for all the gifts and love everyone has showered us with. Garry, Maura, Jack and Griffin

Griffin Brahm Rickart

Griffin Brahm Rickart is finally here!! Born - May 16th, 2008 at 2:26 pm, Weight - 7 lbs. 9 oz., Length - 20.5 inches. Griffin is healthy and strong. He arrived in this world so quickly (6 minutes) that he had "skid marks" on his head, that's what the nurses were saying... The delivery was fast and furious. I didn't have time to get an epidural, so needless to say it all went so quick. We came home the following day and are enjoying settling in as a new family. Jack is doing great. He proudly showed Griffin his excavators, has given him toys to play with, helped change his diaper, helped wipe his mouth and much more. He has been a helper to mommy, bringing me water this morning without being asked and proudly introducing Griffin to our neighbor. So far so good... We are proud of both of our boys and enjoying our new journey.

Big Boy Jack

Today was a very grown up day for Jack... First at nap time, I said "let's go upstairs and read books for nap" Jack said "no, I do it". He ran ahead of me and grabbed a book, I was putting some things away and heard him talking as he looked through the book, then I saw him jump from the couch run into his room and close the door. I thought hmmm, what's he up to? Then the door opened and he ran out and asked me to take his shorts off. I did. Then he turned around said "night" and went to bed. I just smiled at my independent boy. Then later today - some neighbor kids ran down to our house with their mom and asked if Jack could come to their house and play. I looked at Jack and said "do you want to go to Bonnie's house to play" Jack said "Oh, sure." and walked away. He didn't look back once. I came inside, felt my eyes well up and called GBR. He is not a baby anymore or even a toddler for that matter - he's a boy. We just love this age so much and it is changing so quickly...