Fly On Our Wall

Ever wondered what it would be like to be a fly on a wall in someone's home?
Me neither. haha. ok. That's a total lie! I am extremely nosey and whether Daddy J will admit it or not, so is he!

I think I will start a series of blogs called "Fly On Our Wall"
So, if you were a fly on a wall in our home, these are some things you might hear. Beware, this first one is a doosey. And come to think of it, since Daddy J is an engineer (and I am very scientific minded as well), you might actually learn a lot through this series :)
Or, you might take up the practice of eye-rolling. See below...

Setting: we're all laying on the living room floor; Baby J is playing with different shaped blocks and small balls, paying no attention to daddy;  Daddy J has a toy hammer, a rectangle block, and a small ball; Daddy J is using the hammer to hit the block [which Mommy J is holding stationary (*i hope this doesn't make me an enabler*)] to make the ball move

Mommy J: "You are going to get him into trouble. He is going to go to kindergarten teaching all the other kids these tricks."

Daddy J: "Good. It's simple physics. He can teach them Transfer of Momentum. When the stationary block is hit with the hammer, the momentum travels through the block to the ball and makes the ball move."

Mommy J commences her frequent practice of eye rolling.

So, if your 1st or 2nd grader needs help with simple physics or simple calculus for that matter, send them to Baby J :)

These are some examples of Transfer of Momentum. Hope you learned something today :)

 

Things We Love About Our One Year Old...

...and some we don't love but need to remember!

• His sweet little voice, full of excitement yelling for "Da-deee!"
• Hearing him so excited to see Da-deee and play with Da-deee
• He has the absolute sweetest and goofiest smiles




This would be a sweet one

 


and this a goofy one

  

• He wakes up happy. All the time. And when he is picked up after sleeping, he lays his head on the shoulder of who is holding him, tucks his arms between himself and who is holding him and just melts. HE IS SO SQUISHY!
• Finding the broken (completely removable) fridge handle never ON the fridge but in random places-like under the couch or in our bedroom.
• Needing to be creative with warning words and ways to say "no" and get my defiant persistent son to respond, appropriately (being the operative word!)
• Taking pictures like this:

he climbed in this
small basket himself

• He gives kisses...yummy! and that makes my heart smile!
• Finding kitchen towels in the living room because they are so fun to continually yank from the oven door handle and drag all around the house.
• Watching him tackle our very fat, docile cat. Like this:

which is actually very comical to watch

• He LOVES playing chase with Daddy and Daddy loves it too!
• We are learning to speak gibberish
• He tries to say "I Love You" which sounds a lot like "ayeeeeoouu" and we LOVE that!
• He can eat people food which makes life so much easier when we are going, well, anywhere
• This is almost constantly what my living room and kitchen floors look like no matter how many times a day or how much energy I expend trying to keep things picked up.



That's why they look like this



• But most of all, we just love this

and how could we not?!?!

Much Love Love Love to Our One Year Old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY J!

(here are a few shots from his party Saturday)

baby j LOVES balloons!

1-2-3, blow!

you mean this is all MINE?!?

oh. wow. this is good stuff.

mmmmmmmmm. and i still have my balloon!

cake and kisses from mommy and daddy

what a stinkin' cute mess!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OUR LOVE!

A Year Ago...

A Year Ago Daddy J and I sat down and began watching Gone With the Wind.
A Year Later we haven't finished what we sat down and began.

A Year Ago I didn't know my water would break at 330am.
A Year Later I think it is really funny I thought I was peeing on myself during coughing fits instead of leaking amniotic fluid.

A Year Ago I wasn't expecting that by morning I would be a Mommy holding her newborn in her arms.
A Year Later I can see the determination and stubborness and activeness that probably led to baby J's 5-week early arrival.
A Year Ago we loved sitting down to watch TV with the fireplace on.
A Year Later a baby gate is secured in front of the fireplace which is rarely used.

A Year Ago we would watch every UK and UofL basketball game that was on TV.
A Year Later we have watched one game this season; the UK/UofL game.

A Year Ago we loved to say, "Let's go see a movie." And we got up and went.
A Year Later we make plans a week in advance to rent a Redbox movie.

A Year Ago we heard every baby cry within hearing radius and it was annoying.
A Year Later we MIGHT hear a crying baby and if we do we turn to look at the parents and give a reassuring, "we've been there" smile.

A Year Ago my house was usually relatively clean and tidy.
A Year Later my house is rarely clean or tidy.

A Year Ago I would have been disgusted to find food scattered on my kitchen floor.
A Year Later I leave food on the kitchen floor until it dehydrates because it is easier to clean up.

A Year Ago I read books that challenged my mind and intellect.
A Year Later I read books that have fur and glitter inside them or encourage me to make animal sounds and teach colors.

A Year Ago I could never have known the feeling of being a Mommy.
A Year Later I could never live without that feeling.

A Year Ago I did not truly know what unconditional love was.
A Year Later my heart lives outside my body, and forever will.

Miracles

who can say they have seen many miracles during their lifetime?
true miracles, that only God Himself can achieve?
those are just coincidences, right?
don't be silly!
WE ALL DO. sometimes it takes a little effort and creative thinking, but WE ALL DO.

every time i look at my son, i know he is a miracle and truly a gift from God because without God's involvement, baby j would not exist. period. [i'll save the whole story for another post, perhaps an upcoming 1st birthday post :) ]

snowflakes that fall and quickly pile up to be a beautiful white blanket on the earth and the silence and stillness that comes with snow falling. 

flowers that pop out of trees that look dead and recently frozen ground tundra. daddy j and i are outdoor people, we love everything nature. we can find a miracle in anything involving nature.
other miracles? near misses on the roadways...we have all been there. where a wreck is so narrowly avoided you KNOW angels were involved.

i want to share an ongoing miracle in our family. i saw my youngest nephew born nine and a half years ago. A-MAZING. when kameron started kindergarten he was sick A LOT, and through that we learned he was scientifically rotten from the inside out :) (I say that with all the love in the world, but it is figuratively and factually true!) on august 6, 2007 he received brand new bone marrow from a complete stranger. more than 2 years later we learn that stranger was from germany, so very very far away but a strong enough match to give kameron new life!
the National Institute of Health (NIH) studied kameron's case and initially determined only 1 other person ever experienced the disease kameron had...then we find out that other person had something different. what kameron has, no one has ever dealt with before. he is truly 1 in 6 billion. but with God's miracles he eventually became 100% donor marrow!

currently, kameron is at cincinnati children's hospital due to a set-back with this disease. his bone marrow was destroyed with chemo before his transplant in 2007. despite all efforts to eradicate his marrow, a few cells survived (boo!) and began to overtake the new marrow. at one point (in october 2010) he was 51% donor cells and 49% kameron's old cells. this was not good news. kameron's donor was contacted by the A-MAZING staff at cincy children's and was asked to give more cells to help kameron battle this set-back. he said he would do whatever was needed to help kameron get better again. an angel. an angel none of us has ever met face-to-face.
just a few months into this, and the latest update being today, kameron has 85% donor cells and 15% old yucky kameron cells and the trend is upward for donor cells! the results for this test came in today but the study was actually done on tuesday, my sister/kameron's mom's birthday. merely coincidence? nah.

he has gone from this:
august 4, 2007, 2 days before BMT (bone marrow transplant) day 

to this:
august 6, 2008, 1 year post-transplant

to this:
Christmas day, 2010 with baby j
2 miracles in 1 camera shot










coincidence. nah. thank you God for your never-ending miracles!

new year, new blog

i did it. i caved. i created a blog. i have some great friends who blog and i love keeping up with their lives through their blogs. so, to begin, i will give some reasons for creating a raker blog:

• it's a perfect way to chronicle baby j's life
• it's a way for me to write, something i enjoy but don't do enough
• one day we can look back and be reminded of things we can't remember
• and like i do with my friends, our friends and family can use our blog to stay updated on all the happenings in the j raker household

happy 2011 everyone! stay tuned to the life and times of the j's raker :)