Mealtime with Jack

I have been meaning to document Jack at meals for a while but always forget. Yesterday the camera was on the table so I took advantage of it. Jack is so funny at meal times. He is a true two year old. He can't sit still and he is always all over the place. This is a five minutes worth of snap shots...this is how crazy it is everytime we sit down to eat.

So... sometimes I am not so crafty

This weekend after Grace and Jack were tucked nicely in their beds and the boys (TJ and Jason) were downstairs playing wii. Cami and I made gingerbread houses. We had picked out some great candy earlier at the store and were eager to get started. We used graham crackers instead of gingerbread due to time constrants. Things started out great I had done my tile roof it was on..I had my windows up with little flower boxes below. I was having some difficulty with my door and after fussing with it for a while it finally held but then the walls started to buckle the roof sagged and my cute little gingerbread house fell to pieces.

(the picture of my almost finished almost destroyed house)

And...here it is a second later..gone gone gone! At least the frosting was great!

The building process

Cami and her house. Look how beautiful it is! It even has a car port, a brick walk way and cococut shaving snow.

A close up of the masterpiece.

So I have to say that sometimes I am just not crafty...I tend to start out with good intentions but sometimes the end result is not what it should be. Plus on the positive side Cami had a degree in this stuff so how can I even compare? It was a really fun time with Cami though we ate a lot of candy and had some great conversation and we have cute pictures for some proof that I attempted it all.
On a sidenote... to redeem myself I have to say I made a dang awesome wreath today out of pine cones and it DID look like the one in my holiday Martha Stewart book.

Whitney Turns ONE!

Saturday I celebrated my "birthday"...it was my one year mark from my bone marrow transplant. When I got my transplant last year the doctor said now what is the date today to which I replied December 6th and he said your new birth date so a year from now you should be having a big celebration. When I was sitting in that bed on that day getting my brothers cells I could not even imagine what my life would be like in a year...if I made it that far this second time around. So it was quite the day this year when I woke up healthy, happy and having hair to celebrate this day where a miracle truly occurred. We had a big party at the Archer's house and it was a celebration in every sense of the word. Cami had decked out the house in balloons and had everything ready for the big party. It was great to have my family around me (both near and far) to celebrate. I just want to say that I have the greatest family the Balls,Brenchley and Archer families all made me feel so special. I have a great husband who showered me with gifts all weekend. I am blessed, blessed, blessed and truly had a wonderful 1st Birthday.

Cami and I after her toast...even mom and dad joined in all the way in Florida..but mom of course had diet coke instead of sparkling cider.

T.J the man pouring the glorious sparkling cider...Jason and I have consumed quite of bit of this the last couple of weeks....we get them for such a great deal at Sam's Club there is no reason not to.

The Balls crew all ready for the USU/BYU game. I did not attend due to the fact that I get crowd rage especially when we play certain teams*

The flowers Jason gave me to celebrate on the 4th one year since my last Chemo!

The "Birthday" sign on Cami's Garage

Sacrificing Sleep for Stories

Jack is now talking like crazy. It is actually sentences that you can understand. He is such a great mimic as well. He likes to help in the kitchen and he helps clean. One of the best things i have found of watching your child grow up is noticing similarities of yourself in your child. Jack has always loved his binkies and blankets. He always has to have at least two in his hand. Something that I did for several years. Lately one thing that I have really loved seeing is his love of books and stories. When he was little and I was going through my recovery from my spinal surgery I could do very little but I could hold him and read to him. He would often fall asleep in my arms as I read. Something that only I could do. It was so great to know that there was at least something I could do that no one else could take over and do while I was sick. I have loved every moment that we have gotten this last year at home when Jack climbs up into my lap with a book and we read together. He usually throws in one last request for one more story before I put him in bed. Last night when I went in to check on him at 10:00 Jack was sitting on his chair with a stack of books next to him just flipping through a book. He looked up at me casually and said "hi mama, read story?" So we read one of his favorites and I guess that is all he wanted because his eyes were closed as soon as he hit the pillow.