Take Me to the Zoo, Jerry.

I feel our life has been a zoo lately and how fitting that we took Will to the Omaha Zoo after Labor Day weekend!

Labor Day weekend- went to John and Melissa's house so they could watch the Sqawks.  I then met up with my good friend Lara and her hubby at Granite City.  Always great catching up with friends.  Sunday we were supposed to go to the pool with the Polking fam but it was way too chilly so we went over to the Frick's for a party.  After being at Sonya's all night, Will now calls Kayla's kitchen, "my kitchen" and when we went to pick them up the other day he got excited and said - "MY KITCHEN" when pulling in the driveway.  It's funny how kids remember things about houses.  For instance:

John and Melissa - trains
Jenna's house: Airplane (first thing he looks for) and now fish as they have adopted their neighbors fish.
Tara and Glen - fishie and crab, although both have gone to toilet bowl heaven - he'll be there next weekend so I am sure he will come up with something he loves there.
Mom and Dad's - cows, farm and tractor as my Dad took him there one time and hasn't forgotten.
Tom's Dad and Linda - every boat he sees it's "Papa's boat"? 
Mary - we drive by Mary house just about every day and he always says "Mary's house"!

We took Tuesday off after Labor Day and took will to the Omaha Zoo.  Do you want to know what he remembers out of the millions things he saw?  A banana - as in, a gorilla eating a banana.  He talked about the fishies and the sharks so many times before going to the zoo and he could have cared less about them.  He was more excited about the dump trucks/construction truck.  That crazy boy. 


The following weekend we went to a couples shower for our good friends Kelly and Nolan (who are getting married next weekend) and Saturday the Cyclones beat the Sqawks and for those of you that know my hubby, you know he is a obnoxious/trash talking big Hawk fan.  This honestly is the hardest day of the year on our marriage.  When I first met Tom he totally downplayed his love for the hawks which was smart on his part because after ISU beat IA, paired with a few drinks . . . that was bad news bears.  But anyway . . . let's discuss the Cyclone win some more.  My sister's hubby couldn't go to the game because of his back so she took me along with Ali and Ben.  We had a blast and what a great game to be at.  It sure did make me miss my college days.  Afterwards we celebrated at my families tailgate and then I got to go home to a bummed (perhaps that is putting it lightly) out hubby.  At least Will was happy.  :)

Last weekend we went to my parents house on Friday night to watch the Cyclones beat Ucon.  They had a big party at their house so Will and his cousin's had a blast.  The next morning we had bunkers dunkers of course and Will stayed with my parents so Tom and I could clean out the garage . . . which took forever!  My parents dropped Will off at Gary and Linda's house and when I went to pick him up he had them dancing to what sounded like Lawrence Welk songs.  If they tried to sit down he would grab Grammy's hand and then Papa's hand and say dance.  Can't say no to him.  He is so lucky to be so close to both set of grandparents! 

This week we got our house ready to put on the market and today it is officially on the market.  It's definitely bittersweet as we have made so many memories in the house and have great neighbors, but we need some more space, so it's time to try to sell our house.

This weekend we are headed to Chicago for Tom's Grandma's 90th birthday.  Wish us luck with the long drive and a toddler.  On the way home from Omaha we timed it with Will's nap, sure would have been great if Will actually napped!  What kid doesn't sleep in the car?

Have a great weekend!

Summer is Flying Right on By

A little bit of catch up here!  We have been fitting in some fun things the last part of the summer so here is a recap:

Hit up Jethros for their to die for Pulled Chicken Nachos . . . Will decided to just lick the cheese, no need for the tortilla chip.

A trip to Grays Lake which turned out to be way too hot and I wore THE ABSOLUTE worst shoes.

My good friend Ebban, hubby and little girl Emmie who now live in Switzerland stayed with us for a night.  Will and Emmie had a great time playing together and we loved being able to catch up with Phil and Ebban for an entire night!

Fit in a pool day with the entire Polking family on an extremely hot and HUMID day.

Tom and Bryce were gone one Saturday so Tara invited us over to her house and we had a blast.  Pools, trampoline, tractor rides with Uncle Glen, huge park, neighbors swing set, good eats = great time and worn out Will.
 

We made a trip to Altoona to check out the aquarium at Bass Bro Shops.  Will FREAKED out with excitement when he saw the fishies and shark (a huge catfish, hey, it kind of looked like shark).  He then freaked out again when he saw all the boats and 4 wheelers.  He sat and "drove" every one of them.

 

We had Polking family pictures in J-town (in which Will wanted no part of) so we made a day/night of it.  We ate lunch and then the guys went golfing (for 7 hours, no joke - they played 27 holes).  The ladies had drinks (Mom was all over the strawberry daiquiris), kids played in the pool, ate some apps, talked and watched after the 6 crazies.  My parents made a great dinner and of course Bunkers Dunkers was for breakfast the next morning.  SO GOOD!

This past weekend we had Mary and Brad over for dinner and of course broke out the singstar.  Bon Jovi and Billy Joel were definitely calling my name!  Saturday we went to Walker Johnson Park - if you haven't been there with your kids, you need to go.  They have a pond that has geese (that are almost too friendly), fish and frogs.  Will also talks about fishies non stop so he was very excited to feed the hungry fish.  They have a different kind of play gym that Will loves as well.

On Sunday we went to "Papa's Boat" with the Jackovin family and Will loved EVERY. SINGLE. MINUTE.  He talks about Papa's Boat just about every day so imagine how excited he was when he got to go on it again.  He pretty much takes over the captain's chair and makes those with weak stomachs sick, with his driving in circles.

This week Tom was in Maryland so Sonya and Kayla came over one night and Krista, Cole and Jenna came over the next night.  Will loved having his cousin come over to play!  Made our week go by very fast!

And  here are a few random photos . . .

Will thinks he is pretty awesome sitting in a big chair!

He puts his hat and shades on and then puts the keys in the ignition

No need for a description . . .

2 Years Have Flown Right on By

What a fun couple weekends it has been!  My birthday was 2 weeks ago which we celebrated by Tom making dinner and unveiling Will's new bed.  Will was a little hesitant at first, but then decided he loved it.  A HUGE thanks to Gary (Tom's Dad) for making it.  Yes, you heard that right, Gary made his bed!  He is very talented and I have already told Gary that I am sending Will over to his house when he is old enough so he can teach Will his skills.

Ladies and gentleman THE bed . . .

 

Eventually we will loft it like below picture.  I must say, Gary's version is way better.  He even matched the dresser we bought. Seriously, he rocks.

On Saturday John and Melissa watched Will so we could go out to eat for dinner. We went to our favorite restaurant Trostels, followed by dessert at our new favorite place Yo2Go, which is conveniently located right by my office AND home.  Great.  Sunday was Will's birthday party at Lake Panorama and everyone had a blast.  Perfect place for 10 kids and a very hot/muggy day.  Will loved playing in the lake, sand, eating all the frosting he wanted, opening gifts and the attention.  

His actual birthday was on July 13th. We got him a doughnut for breakfast which he only ate the frosting.  The kid loves frosting.  After work my friend Sarah stopped over and had pizza with us and Will instantly grabbed her hand and wanted her to read him a book.  Can't turn down the hand.  :)  My good friend Kristina gave Will a cupcake so he got to eat more frosting and blow out his candle - 3rd times a charm, he finally figured out how to blow out the candle.  :) 


We then opened the rest of the gifts from Mommy and Daddy which were books, boats AND . . . . 

 

Will's new wheels.  Pretty awesome, right?  He thinks so as well.

That following weekend we went to our first I-Cubs game with Will, went to the pool with my family, relaxed on Saturday night and played in the pool at home on Sunday.  So it's been a fun couple weekends!


 

I feel like a broken record saying this, but I can't believe how fast these two years have gone.  We have definitely had some ups as well as well as some major downs, but thankfully we had Will to get us through those downs.  During Will's first year we both lost our jobs . . . AT THE SAME time with no severance, no insurance, NADA, Will was only 10 weeks old and during Will's 2nd year we went through 5 weeks of hell not knowing what was going to happen to our precious baby Jack and then losing him at 17 weeks.  I am hopeful that this year will have no downs, I think we deserve one year that is not stressful.  :)

Hope you all are having a great summer!  A Will update will come soon!  :)

Love, the Jackovin's

Let Freedom Ring!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend!

Our past week/weekend was a busy one.  Last Sunday my parents took Will until Tuesday as our daycare provider had the week off.  We took that time to paint Will's big boy room.  It was a little sad painting over his polka dots, but I am very ready for his big boy room - it is going to be so cute (pictures to come next week)!  We took a break and went out for dinner.  When without a child, do things you would not do with a child. :)  Monday night John came over to help move one dresser out and the new dresser in.  After that we went to Granite City for dinner/drinks and called it a night.

On Tuesday we picked Will up from my sister's house and boy was he one tired boy!  3 days of not napping the best = one crabby Will.  The next morning Will woke up with a fever of 103.3.  Wowzers - first time he has ever had a temp above 99.  We made an appt and nothing was wrong.  Just fighting some bug and that he was.  He slept most of the day and that night we changed his diaper every hour (I am NOT exaggerating).  By Thursday he was feeling better so I took him to the pool with my sistas/kiddos for about an hour to get him out of the house.  I was hoping for a full day at the pool, but being a good Mom is far more important than being a tan Mom.  :)


Friday afternoon Tom's good friend, Brad (from Chile) came to town and stayed with us.  Will instantly found a new best friend and reached out to Brad the second he saw him.  When I got home from work, Will was sitting on his lap reading books.  Brad is one of those guys that everyone loves and Will couldn't agree more.  :)

That night the boys grilled up some Steaks, twice baked potatoes, garlic bread, corn on the cob and broccoli - add some cold beverages to that and you have my favorite meal!  

Saturday morning Will and I were up early (well compared to the boys that stayed out late) and filled up the pool.  Usually it takes Will a while to warm up to the pool, but this was not the case - he dove in, pajamas and all.  So I let him play in the freezing cold water for a while and then came back out later that morning and again after nap.  That night Will FINALLY ate something other than mac and cheese.  Thank goodness.

Sunday we were up and ready to go to the pool with my family and of course it starts sprinkling.  Can't rain on our parade though, we stayed there until 2 and then went back to Krista's house.  We had the whole pool to ourselves which was worth the cloudy day.  Will had such a great time swimming and had a dance off with his cousin Jenna.  Those two crack me up.  His new thing is grabbing people's hands to take them wherever he wants to go and this was certainly the case on Sunday.



 
Monday we went to the boat with the Jackovin's and then went over to Gary's after Will napped.  Will has Gary wrapped around his little finger.  He would take Gary's hand and drag him all around and if Gary tried to let go, Will wouldn't have it.  Will was not at all happy with me when it was time to go home and threw a fit . . . that fit continued until he got to watch his new favorite show Bubble Guppies.  The kid goes insane when this show comes on.
 

Today Gary is bringing over his new bed and tomorrow Tom is picking up the mattress.  I. Can't. Wait.  What's left is hanging up the decor (although still waiting for the prints to come in that ordered, it has been 5 weeks!!).  Will got a sneak peak at the bed last night when we stopped over to say hi to Gary and he was trying to climb all over it.  I think his big boy room is going to be a hit!

Tomorrow I turn the big 28.  Birthday's just aren't exciting once you get past 21.  Saturday night Melissa and John are watching Will so we can go to dinner and then Sunday it's Will's Birthday Bash at Lake Panorama.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Love, Laura, Tom and Will

Only the Good Die Young

I have been a bad blogger lately!  Here's a short long recap of what's been going on in the Jackovin's household.

2 weekends ago we went to Chicago for our good friend's Rob and Katie's wedding.  My parents were able to pick up Will in Des Moines so we headed to Iowa City to break up the trip.  We were able to go to Graze for their chicken lips and we were both in heaven.  We so wish Graze didn't close in Des Moines.  We love us some chicken lips! 

We got to Chicago on Friday around 1:00 and of course I was out the hotel room door in a matter of seconds to go shopping.  After shopping we went to the rehearsal dinner which was at a reaaalllly good pizza place.  The kind of Chicago pizza place that leaves you stuffed after only ONE piece!  So good.  Saturday we went and walked around, had breakfast with Gary and Linda and then Tom took off to get his sexy on, rocking the tux with the Groom and the rest of the wedding party.  I met up with my new friend Julie and we went shopping and to HAPPY HOUR with her sister.  I love happy hour if you haven't caught on from past posts.  :)  The wedding was beautiful, so much fun and the drinks were of course flowing.  Shocking, I know.

Will had a blast with my parents and didn't really care that we were home.  He went to the Bell Tower Fesitval (which happened to be my 10 year reunion - at least he made an appearance for me, right?), went to a pond that has so many feeeessssh (fish), played outside, went to a parade, snuggled with my Mom, you get the picture - he loved every minute.

Mr. and Mrs. Naurath


The Hubs and Me ( I do have a dress on, I promise)


That following Monday brought some sad news.  My good friend, Sarah's (high school buddies) mother had a stroke and by Tuesday she had passed away.  She was only 61 and was so healthy.  It was absolutely devastating news.  Sarah has 4 other siblings and it just breaks my heart that they lost their Mom at such a young age.  She was super Mom, Grandma, Wife and Friend to so many people and had the heart of gold.  Her heart of gold was definitely passed on to Sarah and we thank Mary Jo for that.  My friend Ebban flew back from Switzerland and was up at Hyvee and somebody said to her, "You are such a good friend", Ebban replied, "no, Sarah is a way better friend".  Ebban couldn't have put it better, Sarah is one of the most selfless people I have met and it breaks all of our hearts to see her go through such a terrible loss.  It just isn't fair.

On Wednesday night I went to Jefferson to see Sarah and her family.  While I was there Sarah got a call from the organ donation coordinator and Mary Jo was able to donate EVERYTHING except her heart (which had the tinniest flaw).  I can't even describe the feeling in the room - it was something I will never forget.  They were all so proud of their Mom and even though she was gone, she continued to be selfless and giving to others in need.  Because of Mary Jo, somebody will see again, somebody will be taken off dialysis, somebody will be able to breath again, someone will be given another shot at a normal life.  She is a hero in every sense.  Mary Jo, your life was taken to soon. 

Sarah, Mary Jo and Sarah's sister, Lisa

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a fun, but super busy 3 day weekend!  Friday night our good friends from Chicago got to town for the weekend.  Tom met them at Centro for dinner so Will and I hit the mall(if I am going to spend 80+ on dinner, I want to enjoy it, no offense, Will).  Guess what I found at the mall?  Under Armour finally has toddler clothing.  I am not sure if that's a good thing or not.  For all of you that know Tom and me, we love us some UA and UA isn't exactly cheap.  Will and I had some great Mommy/Son time at the mall and I even let him play at the germinfesteed-toomanykidstocount-playarea.  He was NOT happy when we left the play place.  After the mall, Tom, Rob, Katie and our old neighbor Jarrod came over for some much needed cocktails at the Jackovin Pub.

Saturday morning we took Rob and Katie to the Des Moines Farmers Market and of course it started raining.  Umm, not such a good job on the forecast Jerriann.  We then came back and lounged and then Rob and Katie had to get ready for a wedding and we had to get ready for the annual Mitchell Memorial Day Kegger.  Mitchell's are our good friends/neighbors across the street and their annual party makes for an annual hangover as the beers, jello shots, wine are flowing and then the game of flippy cup starts.  Flippy cup is ALWAYS a great idea at the time . . . at the time are the key words here.

Sunday we went out for breakfast with Katie, Rob and Amanda and Scott.  There is a new cafe that opened up by us so we thought we should try it out.  It was delicious and I am anxious to get back to try all of their smoothies, coffee drinks and shakes!  Yum.  That night a few Adpi girls were in town so we all got together for Mexican and then hit Saints to sit outside on their patio.  I MISS YOU GIRLS SO MUCH!  We had a great time gossiping, reminiscing and catching up.

Monday we stopped by Jack's Memorial which turned out awesome and is right next to Tom's Mom's Memorial.  These were the only picture we took all weekend!  My camera battery was dead and Tom isn't the best at getting the kodak moments with his phone.  After that we walked around and then headed over to Krista's house for a pool party and then went over to Mary's house for a bbq.  Needless to say, when Will is around his cousins he doesn't sit for longer than 5 minutes and that's only because I am trying to get him to eat.  He didn't have a nap that day so he was WORN OUT and so were his parents.  :)

Kind of creepy statues that Will was very interested in.  Here he is trying to hold her hand.  :)

Hope you had all had a great weekend!