...on the six month slump

I was just looking back at my blog and, once again, I realized that I have totally been slacking.  So...oops.  I'll try to do better.  You may remember from a few posts back that Jackson turned six months old a few weeks ago.  Six months has led us into what I like to call the "six month slump".  There are so many changes that have/are about to happen with Jack.  He is still trying to get a hang of food which means that we are still trying to figure out what/when to feed him.  Also, surprise!  We have decided to change up our schedule.  Waking up two to THREE times at night (teething? growth spurt?), no nap, three hour morning nap, whatever, etc.  Also, Jack is not quite sitting up yet, which is fine, but it leads me to the problem that if I am not playing with him all the time he spends quite a bit of time on the floor just lying on his back or tummy.  He wants to move so badly but isn't quite strong enough yet.  I'm sure a lot of you are saying "just put him in the exersaucer!"  "my kid loved that!".  Yes, I know.  Most children do.  The only problem is, after working in early intervention for three years I have this picture in my head...  exersaucer=no no.  I can not bring myself to put him in it.  No kidding.  I think he has been in one three times and every time it has been at a friend's house.  Adam's Sister was right, every time you think you have it figured out something changes!  I'm beginning to think that is how it will alway be with Jackson or any child for that matter.  What a grand adventure!!

P.S.  I think that my computer is one photo upload away from death so I am having difficulty getting pictures posted...I'll see what I can do for next time!

...on adam baca photography

For as long as I have known Adam, he has been extremely passionate about photography.  Everywhere we go his camera comes too.  It's kinda like those commercials for the "my buddy" dolls.  "My buddy, My buddy, wherever I go, he goes with me." Anyone?  Er...ok...so naturally this was the next step...  I am so proud to introduce adam baca photography!  Adam's main passion is wild life and nature photography but he also enjoys photographing people and is working on building up a portfolio.  If you are interested in having a photo session with Adam, feel free to contact me at jess@adambaca.com.  For now, everything is free including a cd of the images!  I hope you guys enjoy looking at the photographs as much as Adam has enjoyed taking them!

...on Vegas, baby!

Last week, Adam had a CPE course in Las Vegas and I was fortunate enough to get to tag along on the trip.  The trip consisted of two firsts for me:  1, my first time to Vegas and 2, my(our) first time leaving Jack.  We left him with Adam's parents for three days.  I thought it was going to be just awful and leaving him was, but once the plane touched down I was feeling pretty ok about the whole thing.  He ended up doing pretty well, or so I'm told.  After three days, Adam and I were so glad to come home to our sweet little guy.


















Adam was in classes all day so I was pretty much on my own.  I did a lot of walking and a lot of window shopping with a tiny bit of actual shopping.  I also took a day to lounge by the pool which was so wonderful.

On Thursday night we actually went off the strip to Pete's Piano Bar.  If you know Adam then you are probably not surprised by that at all.  The funny thing was we got to the bar early (about 8) so we could get a good table.  When we arrived there were THREE people there and no, this is NOT an exaggeration.  THREE.  So...we went to this bar called Blue Martini while we waited for more people to trickle into pete's.  The Blue Martini was actually a lot of fun and they had a great cover band there playing songs from junior high/high school. We loved it.  Around 10 we headed over to pete's only to find that now there were about 20 people there.  Again, not an exaggeration.  Here is Adam doing what he does best...dancing.  

So what did I think of Vegas as a first timer?  Well, I think the jury is split.  On the one hand there is shopping for miles, and miles but on the other hand, I can't afford any of it.  Who can, for that matter?  They have a lululemon which is both good and bad.  Good because I am a fan and bad because we can never walk out of that store without spending money.  The hotels were pretty cool and I'm not going to lie, I really wish that I had taken a picture with the two Elvis impersonators standing behind me at a crosswalk.  There was great people watching and coffee bean,

so you have to love that.  BUT...Las Vegas is a dirty, dirty place!  Seriously, everywhere you look there are boobs and butts...all over the hotels, the ground, everywhere.  So here is the conclusion that we have come to as far as Jack and our future children are concerned.  Las Vegas is a myth.  Kind of like Atlantis...it doesn't really exist.  I will never take my child there, especially son, on a vacation as it is a breeding ground for not good things.  So if they ask we will simply say, "oh honey, that place isn't real."

Las Vegas, what an interesting place.

 

...on six months

 I have a question for you.  How on earth did my tiny baby go from this.....

to this....

In only six months!  It is amazing how much he has grown and changed.  Before we know it we are going to a have a little toddler on our hands!  I'm hoping at that point I'll start to feel more like I know what I'm doing.  After all, I did work with toddlers for pretty much my whole career.  One thing I have noticed about Jack's personality is that he is very much an observer and somewhat cautious around people.  He thinks pretty hard before he decides if he wants to smile at you or not.  I view this as a sign that he is going to be an independent thinker which is something that I am so thankful for.  I keep on praying that he will be a leader among his peers and from what I can tell so far, at six months, he totally will be.  I feel like I kind of sound like one of those moms who to everything says, "my baby is a genius!"  Well, he probably is, so it's ok.  He also has a little bit of a goofy side so I'm thinking he'll be a good balance of serious and silly.  

Here are a few more photos from our 6 month shoot.  

...on walking to Starbucks...

...not my brightest idea.  I kept on telling Adam that I wished we had a coffee shop in our neighborhood that I could walk to.  I got to thinking about it and realized that there is a Starbucks not too far away from our house so, yesterday, I decided to go for a little walk.  The walk was about four miles round trip which was fine.  The problem was that to get to the Starbucks I had to take pretty major streets.  I figured that I could stay on sidewalks the whole time and I could but I kept on having to cross the street to find a sidewalk...they kept switching sides!  Very annoying.  So here is my beef with you, City of Albuquerque...you make such a big stink about having bike lanes for the two bikers in this town but you can't have a sidewalk run consistently down one side of the street?  Next time I think i'll just drive.

...on La Cumbre

Several months ago I was talking to a friend of mine and she told me about this new brewery that her friends were opening up here in town.  She said it was a pretty neat place that had excellent beer.  I came home and told Adam about it to which he replied, "cool,' and that was pretty much the end of that conversation.  Fast forward to present time..Adam comes home from work and says that one of the attorneys he works with was telling him about this cool new brewery in town that is really fun and has great beer.  It wasn't a week later that we were at La Cumbre.  You guessed it!  The same brewery I was telling him about months ago.  I guess that's what happens when you hit five years.  Kidding, i'm kidding.  This place is definitely worth an afternoon outing if you are in Albuquerque.  It has a great environment, is family friendly, has great beer, AND, has an awesome burger cart out front with greasy, wonderful burgers (and fried pickles).  Also, the Il Vicino tap room is right around the corner.  I haven't been there but they have a great patio and I have heard that it is a lot of fun.  Thanks, Jen, for the heads up on La Cumbre!  We LOVE it!

How good does that look!?  Healthy?  No.  Delicious?  Yes.  

My boys checkin' out the live music!  Seriously, you need to go to La Cumbre.  

...on cake balls, adam's birthday and mother's day

This weekend we celebrated Adam's Birthday, the big 2-9, with a par-tay!  We invited friends and family over for brats, beer, and cake balls.  When I say cake balls, I mean 240 cake balls to be exact.  I had a lot of  fun making them but I think it will be a long time before I make them again for two reasons.  1) they freeze well and, therefore, are easily accessible to eat.  2) they take quite a bit of time to make.  We had red velvet, chocolate, peanut butter, rainbow chip, butterscotch, and carrot cake.

I didn't get any pictures of the actual party but Adam did take some pictures of the table for me.  So the party was on Friday night and Adam's birthday is today (sunday).  Because we had a big party, I didn't have much planned for today which actually ended up being quite nice.  I told Adam all I wanted to do on Mother's day (also today) was go on a coffee date.  So here is how we ended up celebrating Adam's birthday/Mother's day.

We took Jack to the driving range for the first time!  It was actually a lot of fun.  Jack kicked it on a towel in the shade of Adam's golf bag.  He LOVED it.

Watchin' Daddy

When we left the driving range we went on a family coffee date...one of my favorite things to do!  

We finished off the night by giving Jack his first taste of real food-sweet potatoes!  I think he liked it but it's kinda hard to tell how much he actually ate and how much he ended up wearing.  Those pictures will be coming soon, I promise.  Also, something exciting is coming to a computer near you...stay tuned for the big announcement...

...on awkward moments

Seriously?!  Do you ever walk away from a conversation and think to yourself, "seriously?!"  If you answered no then you are obviously way to cool to be reading this because sometimes I feel like this is the story of my life!  Adam and I went to a nice award's dinner tonight and I found myself having this exact experience a couple of times...in one evening.  Sometimes I feel like my life is that awkward scene from a sitcom where the character keeps on digging herself into a socially awkward situation and you, as the viewer, can hardly watch you are so embarrassed.  Know what I mean?  I'll leave you with one example from tonight.  Tonight, I ran into someone I recognized in the bathroom.  I saw her after I did my thing and upon seeing her/chatting with her, COMPLETELY forgot to wash my hands.  I kid you not.  Keep in mind, I have met this person ONE TIME before and now and am probably known to her as "the girl who does not wash her hands".  We got home from the evening and I thought to myself, "did I wash my hands?"  NO, the answer is no.  I did not.  Awesome.  Someone please tell me that you have had a similar experience at least one time in your life.  Well, here are some photos from the night.  We had a great time-dirty hands and all.  

Me and little bean before we left.  Thanks to Tia and Pappy Jack for watching him!