Ranching it in the Hill Country

Tyler and I always talk about our favorite things that Jack does.  There are many, but Tyler often says he loves it when he yawns.  I always say I love it when he does his little, tiny cough.  Well, Friday night Jack developed a bit of a cold and now we get to hear that cough more often than I'd like.  He's been in daycare for two weeks and the sickness has already begun!  Luckily, he was still his lovable & happy self through the snot & sneezes & coughs and he had a great first ranch trip here....

The YO Ranch



We had a great weekend with the WHOLE family (minus Uncle Layne who was in Seattle).  The last couple of years we have done a family dove hunt at the ranch in Vernon for Labor Day.  This year thanks to the distance, heat, & lack of water on the ranch we changed it up a bit.  Last minute, we decided to have a hill country weekend.  We stayed at the YO Ranch Friday & Saturday night and had lots of fun with the family.  It was great place to stay with all kinds of exotic animals (giraffes!!) and a great pool.  It wasn't too crowded there this weekend so we felt like we had the whole ranch to ourselves.

Loved the baby Longhorns...

 and dad loved this goat!

 Jack sleeping away after dinner in his big boy stroller

Hanging with dad on the porch...

and with Uncle Jeff.

The Longhorns outside while we were eating.

Hook 'Em!

This is what Jack did while we all ate.



Saturday we went to the river and grabbed some bbq in Hunt.  It's always fun to see where Tyler went to camp growing up and we drove by Rio Vista and showed Jack where he might be going to camp one of these days.  Afterwards, we headed back to the pool for Jack's first official swim!  It was pretty much the cutest thing ever.  He was hesitant at first, but seemed to enjoy it.  I'll upload a video of it soon.

 Getting ready with Aunt Taylor

 Not sure about what's about to happen...

 Fussy at first...

 then he started to like it

 Cutie!

Saturday night we had a great evening at the rodeo & dance at Crider's.  Tyler and I have been to Crider's each summer since we moved to San Antonio and we love it.  I can't wait to take Jack there some day and enjoy it with him (Grandma Marshall stayed at the ranch and babysat).

 Dinner before heading to Crider's

Love this place!

Janie & Mike dancing away

Sunday after breakfast, we packed up and headed to Fredericksburg for lunch on the patio at Hondo's and a little bit of shopping.

 Jake joined us for lunch

  Jack sleeping away

 Everyone saying goodbye to Jake & Jack

It was Jack's first real trip staying somewhere besides the grandparents' house or the lakehouse and we had to pack SO MUCH but we survived and had so much fun.  We look forward to many more Labor Day weekends with the family.

It's been 10 years?!

I never thought Tyler and I would miss our 10 year high school reunion...and then life happened.  The reunion was a couple of weekends ago at Iron Cactus in Dallas and we wished we could have made it back to catch up with everyone.  Tyler was on call Saturday and Sunday so there was no way for us get back to Dallas with little old Jack. 

So in honor of the reunion I pulled out some pics of Tyler and I from high school.  They are pretty dang funny.  I love looking at old pictures.  I can't believe it's been 10 years!

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

To say that it has been hectic around the Bloomer household is definitely an understatement.  This whole working full time and being a mom and wife is very time consuming and it is going to take me a couple weeks to get into the swing of things.  Tyler was on nightflow last week (he worked from midnight to noon) so it is great to have him back this week.

And amongst all the craziness Tyler turned 29!  Yep...only one more year to the big 3-0. 

 He has had so much going on lately and is currently battling Bell's Palsy.  Everyone please keep him in your prayers and send positive thoughts his way.  It's been 5 weeks and we're ready for him to heal!  Hopefully the month of September will allow him to relax a bit and catch his breath...he deserves it. 

He joked recently that I haven't put any pictures of him & Jack on the blog lately and it's because he's been so busy and wasn't able to do lots of the fun stuff.  So this blog post is dedicated to him.

Jack and I love you so much.  Jack smiles that big smile when he sees you and loves spending time with you.  You are such a great dad and we know you work so hard in school for us and for our future.

This year I give you your 11th birthday card.  I'll never forget that first card I left on your truck at Plano Senior High for your 18th birthday.  Can't believe how much has changed since that day.

28 is going to be a hard year to top, but hopefully 29 is even better. 

HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY TYLER!

Jack's Room - Updated

Update: I played around with my camera over the weekend and learned some new settings so I re-shot the pictures of the nursery and updated the pictures below.  Enjoy!

One of the first things I started thinking about after I found out I was pregnant was the nursery.  But before I could even figure out what it would look like, we just had to figure out where it would be.  We're in a 3 bedroom house and we have to have an office for my work and ty's school. That meant if we wanted a bed for guests, we'd have to combine the nursery and guest room.  Did I mention these bedrooms are tiny? 

Well, we figured out what room the nursery would be and then it was on to the fun stuff of cribs and bedding and all that goes along with it.  I am amazed by these girls that get pregnant and have their nursery put together when they're 15 weeks pregnant. 

That's.  Not.  Me. 

Considering we didn't find out it was a boy until week 21, I was a bit behind on the nursery.  I fell in love with a crib that they said would take 20 weeks to get in when I was 22 weeks pregnant.  Do the math and that obviously wasn't going to arrive before our baby boy was born.  Luckily, my mom was so nice enough to let me use her crib until mine arrived (3 weeks ago)!  Jack did surprise us 2 weeks early...and I was going to get a lot of stuff finished in the nursery those last 2 weeks!

Well, it's FINALLY all put together and here are some pics.  I LOVE it.  Not sure if it's exactly what Jack would want (would he pick out slate seersucker?), but I spend alot of time in there and I wanted it to be my favorite room in the house.  I wanted it to be very light and happy.

We had to fit alot in the room so we did the best we could.  There's just enough room for it all (not much extra).  And we are so happy with everything we ended up with.  I know that I will constantly be adding and changing things as we go, too.

The only thing that turned out a bit different than we anticipated was the paint color.  We were going for much more of a gray than blue.  The paint we ended up with was called Beacon Gray (hence the word gray), but was still blue.  Thank you to grandad Marshall for the awesome paint job...we weren't about to make him do it again:)  We'll only be in this house for under a year so we can change it up when we move.

Quarter Birthday

We call his hair strawberry blonde...it looks very different in different light, but in the lighting I used for today's pictures it has a very red tint!

One of my best friends, Holly, has been known to celebrate her half birthday.  Today we're taking it a step further and celebrating Jack's quarter birthday!  That's right...we've got a 3 month old!  Tyler has said multiple times today that he wishes Jack could stay this way forever because he's just so darn cute.  He gives us the biggest smiles all the time and has become quite the active baby.

I stopped in the pediatrician’s office one morning this week and saw all the new mom and dads in the waiting room waiting on their newborn appointments. The babies were so tiny and it seemed like yesterday I was there with Jack. He has changed so much since that day!

Sleep:
Your sleep is starting to get more consistent…finally. You still have to be coaxed to sleep during the day and like to take cat naps with one longer nap. I definitely notice you are less fussy in the evenings if you have had a good nap day. If you are fussy, the go to things to calm you down are taking you outside or rocking you to sleep while holding you on your side while sucking on your pacifier and swaddled.

At night you eat around 8 and then fall asleep around 8:45. I have been feeding you again before I go to bed around 10:30. You usually wake up once in the night to eat (anytime between 3 and 5) and go back to sleep until 7. I love this! I will love it even more when you sleep through the night, but I am very happy you are consistently going to bed early in the evening (no more of that late night stuff) and that you are not waking every 2-3 hours. It so much easier to somewhat know what to expect.

When you wake up at 7 you are so happy and well rested. You normally just play in your crib and look at your mobile until I’m ready to change and feed you.

Just like during the day, you move a lot in your sleep. Two nights ago you did a 180 in your crib. I checked the monitor and you were facing the correct direction, later your were facing sideways in the crib, and the next time I checked you were facing the opposite direction. You had wiggled your arm out of your sleeve and I think since only one arm was really moving you spun!  I also went in to check on you one morning and you had literally wiggled out of your diaper. You were naked! I learned that I must not have been putting your diaper on tight enough!

Eating:
You eat about every 3 to 4 hours during the day. Since you are starting daycare, I have been experimenting with how much milk to put in your bottles and this past week you emptied bottles with 5oz each during the day. At night you will go 4-5 hour stretches between feedings. You are eating 6-7 times per day.

Sizes:
You are wearing size 1 diapers and are still wearing 0-3 month clothing. You haven’t quite outgrown anything just yet, but might soon. I have so much fun picking out what for you to wear each day and love that everything doesn’t swallow you anymore.

Things you love:
You love to watch your mobile or be under your jungle gyms. You could watch them all day long and just kick and move those arms all around. You also love “watching tv.” We can just sit you up next to us on the couch or face the swing towards the tv and you just watch all the colors and changes and are mesmerized. You love changing colors and all the music that your toys play.

Activities:
You spend most of your day (especially in the morning) exercising. You move your arms and legs all over the place and just kick, kick, kick. You also still run lots of errands with mom in your new stroller. You are able to face me and be much higher up than before and love to just watch me (and give me smiles) and watch everything going on around you. You are so much more alert when we are running around. Previous months you would always be asleep.

New things:
You smile and talk all the time! When you are playing you coo and ahhh and when we talk to you, you make noises back. Not only do you smile, but you’ll open your mouth up wide and make the happiest expressions.

Your neck control is excellent and every once in a while you’ll still bounce around, but for the most part you can hold it up on your own and turn and look around to both sides. We still support it as much as possible especially when you are tired.

You have also discovered your hands. You have started pulling them to your face and sucking on them or looking at them. You grasp things and love to grab on to your blanket, mom’s hair & necklace, or anyone’s shirt when they are holding you.

In the past month you have done lots of travelling. You went with mom to Plano for a week and met all your great grandparents and many of mom’s friends you had not yet met. During this trip you also went to Duncanville & Wichita Falls, out to eat at many restaurants, and shopping with mom and grandmom. You went to Lake LBJ for Rob & Kristen’s wedding shower and then over to Aunt Taylor and Uncle Jeff’s place in Austin, followed by dinner at Guero’s on South Congress in Austin (all in one day!).

Aunt Taylor, Grandma Marshall, and Grandma Bloomer all babysat you while mom started transitioning back to work. You start daycare this coming Monday, August 22nd at the Pineapple School.

Mom finally got you a new Uppa Baby stroller and you love going on walks in the bassinet (putting you in the car seat previously was what I dreaded about going on walks). You have already made a couple of trips to La Cantera in it, too.

You are the sweetest baby and we just love watching you grow, learn, and change each day. 

Happy Quarter Birthday, Jack!

Meeting 2nd cousin Brooks

When we were in Plano Jack had the chance to meet his newest and only 2nd cousin, Brooks Mark Bloomer. Tyler's cousin Josh and his wife Jessica welcomed baby Brooks on July 14 so when we met him he was a little bit over a week old. It was wild how different Jack and Brooks were and they are only 2 months apart! They change so fast!

 Baby Brooks

Jack and Brooks

The proud Grandads!

Going Back to His Roots - Part 2

During our trip back home, we were able to head to Duncanville one day to meet Great Grandma Marshall (Mima) & to Wichita Falls to meet Great Grandma Makins (Nina).  Jack luckily does great in the car so roadtrips are pretty easy.  I was so happy that everyone was able to meet him while he's still so small.  He's growing fast!  San Antonio is just too far away from everyone.

On Sunday we picked up lunch and headed to Duncanville to visit my dad's mom, Mima.  I have so many memories visiting my grandparent's house when I was growing up that it was a great feeling to have Jack there.  I have baby pictures of me on their living room floor and on the couches that I've always looked at and to have my own child there was a bit surreal.  I took Jack and showed him where I had eaten so many holiday meals surrounded by family.  I loved it!  I also loved seeing Mima meet and interact with him.

On Monday we headed to go old Wichita Falls to visity my mom's mom, Nina.  My mom grew up in Wichita Falls and I've been anxious to get Jack there to meet Nina.  We had a wonderful day and Jack was on his best behavior.  After we got in town, we went out to lunch and then picked Jack up a few goodies at Storkland, a children's store that I remember going to each time I visited Wichita Falls when I was little.  I was pretty excited to visit it again now that I'm a mom (is that dorky?).  Nina just loved Jack and the way he interacted with us.  She is one proud great grandma and wanted to meet him so much for the last 2 months.  It was such a wonderful day that I will never forget!

On the days we weren't travelling, we stayed busy taking Jack shopping and to lunches & dinners with the Bloomer and Marshall clan.  Holly had just gotten back her Europe excursion so we were also able to meet up with her one afternoon.

Uncle Layne had been in San Antonio for a wedding but got to see us before we left town.

Meeting Holly!



This was Jack's happy spot during the trip.  Outside, rocking with grandad, listening to the waterfall.

We had a great week that we will never forget (well, Jack won't remember it, but he'll always see the pictures!).  It went by way too fast, but I know we'll see everyone again soon.