Gators and Slip-n-Slides

This past weekend we went up to Josh's mom's house in McBain. Josh's sister lives up there, too, so Jack got to spend plenty of time with his cousins Dru and Jacob. Jack learned how to "drive" the gator, but he refused to slide down the slip-n-slide, even if it was a Toy Story one.

A family portrait. Too bad Jack isn't looking. He was apprehensive about Ruger (the Great Dane). He is a super friendly dog but his size intimidates even a dog lover like Jack

Even though Jack wouldn't go on the slip-n-slide, he still like splashing in the water it sprayed up.

Jacob was a pro on it!

Dru and Jake also have a little toy 4 wheeler. You can see Dru riding it in the background of this picture. Jack liked to sit on it and pretend he was driving it

Dru and Jack are so much alike sometimes.

And here's more pics of my little California boy

Well, that's about it for now. Sorry that I had so little to write. I mostly just wanted to get caught up on posting pictures. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to add next week. We are spending the next 5 days in Escanaba. Can't wait!

Swimming and Summerfest

I took Jack to our apartment's pool last week and he had a blast. He loved sitting on the stairs and splashing the water and kicking his feet. He even let me take him out into the deeper part. I took his arms and would swing him around through the water and he would giggle with delight.


I can not get over how awesome he looks in his swimming gear. He looks like he could be on a brochure enticing people to go to California.

Jack also had his first experience with carnival rides, a parade, and fireworks during the Mt. Pleasant Summerfest. If this is any indication as to how the 4th of July is going to be, it's going to be awesome. Jack was such a ham during the parade, waving and shouting loudly at all of the police cars, fire trucks, and kids. About half way through he realized that the more he waved, the more candy he got, so his waves got even more enthusiastic. As a matter of fact he was still waving to random people and cars as we headed down to the park after the parade.

At the carnival, he was enthralled with the kiddy gator coaster and would scream and raise up his arms like the "big" kids riding it. He kept pointing to it and asking if he could ride it but he had to stick to the carousal. The roller coaster is actually what he's looking at in this picture. But Jack loved riding the carousal despite not being able to ride the big kid rid He rode it once with mommy and once with daddy.

Fun in the park

On Thursday nights, my sister-in-law plays on a volley ball team down at the park. The past couple of weeks we've taken Jack down there so he can watch and play with Jaden and Ellie. There isn't much to say about it except for the fact that it's an opportunity to get great pictures. Speaking of pictures, you should check out the new wedding blog I've made to showcase my wedding photography. It's nicoletakesphotos.blogspot.com.

Every week this puppy is there and they love petting him.

Both Jack and Ellie were rockin out in Papa's sunglasses.

And just because I love taking running photos of Jack...

Dow Gardens

Alright! I caved in and went to my mother and father in-laws to use their internet to post some pictures (thanks for offering the use of yours, Melinda! I just knew that I had a lot to do and didn't want to tie up your computer for that long!)

A couple of weekends ago, Josh's brother Ron was in town with his kids as well as his friend Rhonda's kids. With 6 kids in tow, we headed to Midland so they kids could walk around Dow Gardens. I had never been there before and was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, it was hot and Jack was a little cranky. But overall a good time was had by all. Jack particularly enjoyed the "kids" garden as they had huge tubs of bubbles and these gigantic bubble wands.

I particularly love this photo of Rachel for some reason.

In other news, Jack can now say "MOO!" when you ask him what a cow says.

No Pictures? Oh My :(

I am extremely frustrated with our lack of internet. Tethering the Droid worked wonderfully at first but now I'm lucky if I can connect at all, let alone at speeds fast enough to allow me to upload all of the great pictures I have taken. So, I must settle for writing a picture-less update from work.

So where to start? I have lots of little stories to share so I guess this is going to be pretty random.

The other night we had a pretty bad thunderstorm. I woke up several times because every window in the apartment was rattling. I remember being shocked that it didn't wake up Jack up. Well, apparently it did. In the morning I noticed that Jack's door was open (apparently Josh left it open for some reason). I peeked in on him and much to my surprise, he wasn't in bed! I ran out to the living room and there he was, curled up on the couch snuggling Mr. Pickles. I have no idea at what point he got up and wandered into the living room. He couldn't have been scared because he never made a noise and strangely didn't come into our room. Needless to say, we will be double checking that his bedroom door is closed from now on.

Jack is finally starting to understand the concept of "indoor voices."  Yesterday we were eating at Subway and he was very excited and kept squealing with delight. I kept saying "Shhh. Indoor voices" and he'd smile and start "whisper squealing." I don't know how else to describe it. Additionally, last night we went to the carport to look at the birdies and he being really loud. I put my finger to my mouth and said "shhh. You'll scare the birdies." So then he kept putting his finger to his mouth and saying "Shhh. Shhh." When I told Josh this, he said that he did the same thing the other day when Josh dropped him off at Stephanie's and Cara was still sleeping. It's beyond adorable.

Jack's vocabulary is starting to grow and his words becoming clearer. He says "Jack Jack" when pointing to himself. Well, sometimes he says "Jack Jack" while pointing to himself. Often times he'll point to himself and say "Mama" or "Dada" and then smile really big like he knows that isn't true. He also says "Bubbles" whenever he wants to go outside. And "ball" anytime he sees something round. Yesterday I was drawing shapes for him with sidewalk chalk and he kept trying to say "Star." And Jillian will be pleased to know that he hasn't forgotten "JaJa."

Jack seems to have become rather possessive of me. He gets very jealous of Josh when he has physical contact with me. Whenever we hug, he starts whining and if we pick him up to join in on the hug, he pushes Josh away. He also tries to wedge himself between me and Josh if Josh is scratching my back or giving me a back rub. I wonder if this is typical behavior for toddlers. Whenever Jack gets upset over it we tell him that it's ok, mommy and daddy love each other, so I'm guessing he'll grow out of it soon.

Well, this has been a lot of text and without the adorable pictures of Jack to break it up, seems excessive. Hopefully soon I'll be able to create a post of a bunch of pictures.

Busy Busy Busy aka Where does the time go?

I haven't posted in 2 weeks. :(
I keep meaning to, but there always seems to be something else to do. Even this is going to be a pathetic attempt at an update, but I'll do my best.

Last weekend was a rarity in that every "Martin" cousin was together at once. They all spent the entire afternoon playing at the park in Rosebush during Kayla's graduation party. They all had an absolute blast. In fact, some of them had a little too much fun with both Xander and Dru throwing up from go around too many times on the merry-go-round. Dru was extremely proud of this accomplishment and made sure that everyone, even strangers, knew that he threw up all over the merry-go-round.

I got a lot of great photos of each of them and put together a little collage. From left to right, top to bottom: Xander Martin, Brianna Martin, Rachel Martin, Jack Martin, Dru VanEpps, Jacob Van Epps, Ellie Beltnick and Jaden Beltnick.

Jack's favorite thing to do at playgrounds is definitely go down the slides. It's funny to watch him because since slides are now plastic and Jack has so much hair, the static electricity makes it stand on end.

Today Jack got even more cousin fun when we went to Marion for Jacob's 5th birthday party. Jake and Dru have a power wheels police car and Jack loved going for rides with his cousins in it. He also spent much of his time throwing rocks into the pond with Dru. I wish I would have brought my camera because there were lots of cute moments shared between Dru and Jack. They really have many of the same mannerisms and at times looked so identical.  Jake got lots of Toy Story items much to Jack's delite. Jake's grandparents have bunnies so I used the opportunity to teach Jack a new animal. Now when you ask him what a bunny does he says "Hop! Hop!"

It's really amazing to think how quickly time flies by. Seeing Jack running around like one of the big kids and being able to keep up with his older cousins often astonishes me. There are times in my mind that he should still be just a little baby, unable to do the things that he can.  I admit that my heart beats a little faster as I see him follow his cousins up the stairs, or when he rides around in the police car, or when he goes down the "big" slides by himself. Silly as it is, however, during these times when I feel myself getting overly protective, I  remind myself of "Finding Nemo" (which we appropriately watched today) and how I can't prevent him from doing anything just because I'm not ready for it. Whenever Jack does these things, there are plenty of adults around, and I just have to remind myself that he needs to be able to feel a sense of independence, explore the world on his own, and experience new things. 

As some of you may know, I've made the leap into wedding photography. Yesterday was my first "real" job for a couple from Essexville. It went extremely well and I think they are going to be very satisfied with the end product. The whole process was really natural for me and I think this is the start of a very promising career for me. I have 7 more to go this summer. I'm hoping that I eventually can get to the point that I make enough supplemental income from my photography that I'd only have to work part time. I think that in a couple of years that is a feesable goal to attain. It definitely helps that Josh is so supportive of this endevour.


Aside from family and weddings (Josh and I attended a long time friend's wedding last weekend) I've been consumed with updating my resume', job searches in the Lansing area, writing cover letters, and looking at Lansing real estate. I know this move is going to come up so much faster than we anticipate so I'm trying very hard to remain on top of things. Hence the MIA from blogging. I'll be much more relaxed about the whole thing when I get a job.

And now, just because there was way too much text without a picture, here's Jack!

Memorial Day Weekend in the Yoop

Josh and I got to take Jack up to Escanaba for a long weekend. Jack spent nearly every waking moment outside. Both of my parents have huge fenced in yards with tons of flowers, ponds, fountains, and tons of areas to explore.

He got to help water the flowers (and the fish) and feed the fish Cheerios at Grandpa and Grandma Borden's.

While at Nana's Jack got to sleep on a big boy cot rather than in his pack'n'play. He loved it! I think he felt so grown up and in control over when he got to go to bed. Twice he climbed up onto the cot on his own to take his naps! But little boys who can climb into bed can also climb out. On our last night, I was sleeping out on the couch (my allergies cause me to cough all night and I didn't want to keep Josh and Jack up). In the morning I awoke to the pitter patter of little feet running around the house. I got up and looked around. Josh was still asleep. My sister and mom were gone. I went into the family room and there was Jack chasing the cats. He had decided to get up all on his own.

Because Jack liked it so much, as soon as we got home we took his crib apart and converted it to the toddler bed. When he saw it he said "Ooooh!!!" and immediately climbed up on it. His face was just beaming as he sat on his boy boy bed. I even got a little teary-eyed watching how excited he was about it. He's growing up so fast.

Jack's weekend was filled with all sorts of other "firsts" as well.  At Uncle Dave's and Aunt Carol's Jack got to go on his first boat ride (he even got to drive!)

He also went swimming in a lake for the first time. At first Jack loved being in the water. It was super warm and their were little minnows swimming all around him. It was like a giant bathtub. That was until he fell face first in the water. He wanted out, like now. We eventually coaxed him back in with bribes of buckets, shovels, and seashells, but from that point on he refused to move from his spot. His feet were firmly planted and no one was going to cause him to fall over again.












On Sunday we had a cook-out at Aunt Carol's and Uncle Duane's, and it was there that Jack decided what he wants for Christmas this year: a golf cart. Every five minutes he was asking someone to take him for a ride around the yard. Jack also sang karaoke for the first time, although Jack's version of singing is more like beat-boxing into the mic and throwing in a few shrieks just to make sure you're paying attention.

Needless to say, it was very difficult to leave. The U.P. is heaven in the summer and I wish we could spend every day up there. I think Jack misses it too. He got used to being outside so much and being able to wander around and explore wherever he wanted. Today he wanted to be outside every second. More than once he went to the door and just stood their crying because he couldn't be outside. And when he was outside, he no longer listened when I told him he had to stay to the confined little space of our little lawn. At least we'll be going up there again for five days over the 4th so we'll be able to see all of these smiling faces in less than a month!

These Boots are Made for Walkin'

I bought Jack a pair of Toy Story cowboy boots last week. The smallest size they had was a 7, but they were on clearance so I figured I'd get them for him to wear this fall. I thought it would be cute for Jack to have boots like Papa's.

Jack had other ideas, however. He doesn't want to wait until the fall when they would fit them. He wants to wear them now. 

He is always asking Josh and I to put them on when he goes out to play. He looks absolutely ridiculous clomping around in them. The other day Josh dressed him in a t-shirt and mesh basketball type shorts.  Guess what shoes he wanted to wear with them? Josh tried to convince Jack to wear his sandals so he wouldn't have to explain to the babysitter why Jack was wearing cowboy boots, but Jack was persistent. Luckily Jack took them off in the car on the way there and Josh used the opportunity to switch the boots out for sandals.

And just for some more laughs, here's another one. As if he didn't look silly enough, note the Mickey Mouse sticker stuck to his inner thigh. Yep. That's my boy.