Jack is 13 Months!

Jack, all you wanted for Christmas was your four front teeth, which you can see in this picture. You also got tons of other stuff that we now have to shove into bags and haul back to Seattle.

You finally learned to crawl this month with the help of your cousin. Hayden loves having a little guy around the house and he has patiently played with you. He calls dibs on sitting next to you at meals, and he loves helping you get up after naptime.

Jack & Hayden

You also got your first crack at climbing stairs. As soon as we got to Uncle David's house, you went right for them, much to your mom's dismay.

You have new words this month. Jack, you can say ball, are signing & saying more ("mo"), which just means you want some food. You can say up ("bup"), and bear which is any kind of stuffed animal. It's so much fun to watch you learn and grow. I loved cuddling you when you were so small, and now I look at your little cousin and wonder when she's going to do something fun.

Vegas Christmas

The Furber Family headed to Vegas to visit Brian's family for Christmas. One of the best parts was meeting up with Therin who is now (as I accurately predicted) taller than his daddy. While on vaca, Grandpa Ron insisted on some family photos. Here are a couple...

Therinhyde, Jackelbee & Sisamus Prime

Therin

Kylie Lenee

The Cousins: Hayden & Dustin

Update on Daddy

Dad & I

A big "THANK YOU" to all who have purchased tickets for the raffle to raise money for my dad, Jim Treiber. We have been able to raise about $3,000 towards his treatment and unpaid leave from work. Also, thank you for your warm wishes and prayers!

Next week Dad finishes all the chemo and radiation treatments. He took pain medicine for the first time today, he can't eat anything except liquids and everything tastes horrible. However the tumor is shrinking. Praise God!

If you haven't yet, there is still time to donate! One ticket for $5 or three for $10. The drawing will be held on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb 5th. Please contact my aunt, Carolyn Waugh, to purchase tickets for your chance to win $500. 620-515-3314.

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Dear Tucker

My Sweet Puppy,

I'll always remember the day I picked you out. While all the other puppies came running out to meet us, you hid under the truck. My family tried to sway my heart with other puppies, but I wouldn't put you down. When we got you home and gave you your first bath, we were surprised how white you were!

I remember when we lived on the 20 acres in Sequim and you always thought that you were hiding in the forest. No matter how frozen you stood, we could still see your white coat amidst the forest. You were a stubborn puppy.

I remember when we tried to teach you to stay outside at night without barking. I slept outside with you and woke in the morning with a crushing in my chest. I was face down and couldn't get up because you had curled up in the middle of my back.

I'll always remember you keeping me warm during cold Spokane nights. You were the best bed buddy.

I'll promise to remember how you've always kept me safe no matter what sketchy neighborhood we lived in. You faced that stupid 140lb pit bull who attacked you and came out no worse for the wear. You are my brave and yet incredibly gentle baby.

I'll always remember how great you were with kids. I'll never forget you allowing 2 year old Marie walk you around on your leash. You put up with all sorts of hair pulling with nothing more than occasional sad eyes in my direction.

Goodbye, my friend. I love you.

Stupid Pinterest

I attempted to make some fun desserts for Kylie's birthday. It's hard to make gluten-free desserts. This is what you're supposed to get....

Cute, right?

This is what I got....

You can't even tell how bad it was from this picture...

When balloons covered in chocolate explode, you can end up with chocolate on the floor. On the ceiling. On yourself. Pretty much anywhere within 10 feet.

Holy Crap. Who is this kid? And, what have you done with my son?

Dear Jack,

You can't possibly be a year old already. Part of me is in a state of shock that it's been a whole year, and part of me recognizes how much you've grown. You just get more ornery fun. I'm quite sure that I couldn't love you anymore than I already do, Jack.

You love to eat stir fry and pretty much any messy food - gumbo, chilli and don't even get me started on spaghetti! You've decided that the best way to tell mommy that you're done eating is to throw food on the floor for your best friends, Charlie & Tucker.

You don't love sharing your mommy, as we discovered when I helped out at church. I watched in horror as you tried to push a sweet little girl out of mommy's lap. Using her face. I wasn't sure whether to be proud that you loved me or horrified.

You're standing up, dancing and soon you will be walking. I'm not sure if I'm ready for you to grow up, and yet I can't wait for the next season of your life. All I know is that your family loves you.

Lucy

Here's a snapshot of Kirby and her new baby girl. What a sweetheart!

Kirby & Lucy

$5 To Help Fight Cancer

Dad with his favorite Grandson, Jack.

 My dad, Jim Treiber, is currently going through chemo and radiation treatment for a malignant tumor in his neck. Although the outlook is good, dad is having to travel 5 hours each day (5 days a week) to receive treatment.

Luckily, Dad is maintaining his sense of humor. After treatment one day, dad stopped at a Cracker Barrel for lunch. He was wearing a shirt that had different sayings about cancer and when the waitress came to the table, she asked, "would you like some more cancer?" She immediately realized the mistake and apologized saying, "I meant coffee! I was reading your shirt." Dad just laughed and said, "I have enough cancer, but would love some more coffee."

My family is holding a raffle to help alleviate the cost of travel and the dad's loss of income. Please consider purchaseing 1 ticket for $5 or 3 tickets for $10 for the chance to win $500. The winning ticket will be drawn on Feb 5th.

Contact me if you'd like to purchase one! And, feel free to "share" this. Thank you for reading, everybody. Lindsay's Cell: 253.302.2447

Christmas Open House

How Super Cute is That?!

My niece is due November 4th, but I'm kinda hoping she's the casually late type. I want to be there for her big day. Is that too much to ask? Well, no matter what, I plan to be her favoritest aunt ever. Can't wait to snuggle you, Lucy!

Shane, Kirby & Lucy

Jack is Eleven Months!

You've gone all month without seeing your daddy, which is pretty crappy of the damn army but luckily he comes home tonight. I know he is so excited to play with you and see all your neat-o new tricks, and I know you've been missing him.

This month you figured out how to get from laying down to a sitting position. I'm not sure I love that because when I try to force encourage you to crawl you just roll over, sit up and start scooting around on your bottom. You also managed to pull yourself up into a standing position next to the couch, but have only done that one time. Perhaps, because we are doing a better job at keeping fun stuff, like laptops, out of your reach. I'm not going to lie, you manage to get into everything!

After a bath.

Lucky for you, Jack, you're pretty adorable. You have this new courtesy smile where you scrunch up your face. Mostly you do it when you want someone to be happy with you. You love to laugh. Last night you belly-laughed so hard you actually fell over, which made Mama get the giggles, too.

In his PNW gear.

My favorite things you've learned this month is to give hugs & kisses when asked. It's so sweet, even if your kisses are more like sucking on someone's cheek. It's cute... but, just for a couple more months. My other favorite thing is that you occasionally say, "mama". It sounds more like "baba," but I'll take it.

I love you, Sweet Son.
"Baba"

Favorite Furber Things [From the Kitchen}

Bacon Soda

Bacon. It just might be the one thing my family can agree on. One of their favorite meals I've made was sausage-stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon, and one of the few ways I can get my kids to eat their veggies is to cook it in bacon. I never would have imagined convincing them to eat kale, but bacon did the convincing for me. Bacon is definitely a Favorite Furber Thing [From the Kitchen].

More recently I made a leek & potato soup with bacon, which also went over quite well. Here's the recipe, as I remember it. I think. Mostly. I'm sure it's pretty close.

Potato Soup:
2 Leeks
1 clove of garlic diced
1/2 pkg of Bacon
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
5 Potatoes, chopped
2 cups Chicken stock
2 cups milk
salt to taste
pepper to taste
thyme to taste
Finely chopped chives for garnish

Cook bacon in soup pot and set aside. Then remove most of the bacon grease, but leave enough to cook your aromatics. Add celery, carrots, and herbs. Sautee until tender.

In another pot make a roux. Add chicken stock and milk. Most recipes suggest whipping cream or half & half, but I didn't want the calories. This liquid will be added to the veggies and used to cook potatoes. At the last, add the chopped bacon. Hope you enjoy!

Favorite Furber Things [From the Kitchen}

Juanita's.
Have you tried these chips?! My favorite thing about going to a Mexican restaurant is the chips and salsa. Juanita's chips taste exactly like you would expect at a Mexican restaurant. Plus, they are usually the cheapest chips, and as I've said before, I love a good deal.

Favorite Furber Things [From the Kitchen}

Today's Furber favorite thing from the kitchen is sweet potatoes. A couple years ago we learned that sweet potatoes are better for you than regular potatoes (they contain beta carotene, vitamin B6, vitamin C and a good source of dietary fiber) so we tried to incorporate them into our diet more often. We love sweet potato fries (Alexia makes a gluten-free version), baked sweet potatoes, and mashed sweet potatoes. Check out the recipe below for a little Southwestern twist.

Southwest Sweet Potato Mash:
1/2 Sweet Potatoes
1/2 Baked Potatoes
Diced Green Chiles
Honey

I like cooking because it's not an exact science so forgive the lack of recipe. Fix the potatoes like you normally would make mashed potatoes (sour cream, milk, whatever...). Then add green chiles and honey to taste. Super delicious. Everyone who has tried it has asked for the recipe.

Favorite Furber Things [From the Kitchen}

For the next week I'm going to share a few of the Furbers' favorite things from the kitchen. Tonight we begin with Sweet Baby Rays. I originally bought this BBQ sauce because it happened to be the cheapest, and we all know that I love a good deal. But, this great deal ended up making for some delicious grub. Even better, Sweet Baby Ray's is a gluten-free sauce (it lists "modified starch" in the ingredients, but I called the company because that's how much we love Sweet Baby Ray's). Plus, there are several flavors as you can see (below). If you've not tried it, go out and buy a bottle!

No, Baby Ray is not paying me for this post.

Single Parenting This Month

As some of you know, Brian is "in the field" this month. Basically he's away for training and I'm a single mom of a 10mo and 17yo. It's a unique life I lead.

Yesterday morning, I gated Jack in his room in the hopes of getting my shower while Kylie was still asleep. After a quick scrubbin', I jumped out to check on Jack. I wish I had a photo of Kylie's wide-eyed face as I ran out of the bathroom with a towel hastily wrapped around my still-dripping body. I quickly retreated back to the bathroom, and heard Kylie remark, "Don't worry, Lindsay. I'm fine."

Senior Pictures

Thank you, Doug Stoeckicht!

Apparently, there was a bee.

Homecoming Dance

Max escorting Melissa & Kylie to Homecoming

Jack is Ten Months!

Holy Crap! I can't believe you are 10 months old Jack! Someone asked me today and I was still saying 9 months, which explains why this originally posted with just notes to myself about all that you've been learning.

I must say that this has been quite the month. You've learned to clap your hands and to wave when someone comes in a room. Sometimes you get the two confused, but Kylie says that it's nice to have someone clap when she walks into a room. Your new accomplishments are so super cute, and I want everybody to see how adorable you are. Unfortunately, you don't like to perform on command, despite our best efforts to train teach you with treats rewards.

You've definitely decided that scooting around on your bottom is way easier than learning to crawl so I'm back to forcing you to get tummy time. You still just army crawl around, but every now and then I catch you using those abs to lift your body up. I think you're pretty content with scooting & army crawling, and probably I should be, too, since you get around quite quickly.

Daddy had to put in cupboard latches this past week. You love opening drawers and cupboards so we'll have to be kinda careful. My guess is you think it's funny to watch mom sweep behind you and pick up all the messes. I swear your favorite thing about your books isn't reading because you can barely sit still for a book, but you love to tear every book off your shelf.

You're sleeping right now, Jack, which is good because you've had a rough couple weeks. Turns out you have an ear infection right now and it's made you a bit grumpy. It's also made you a bit more of a snuggler, and Mama doesn't mind that part too much. There are very few times when you stop being such a busy lil man and let me hold you.

I love you, Sweet Son, and I can't wait for tomorrow!

Happy 14th!

Happy Birthday to someone who is...

Sweet & Loveable

A Great Brother

Fun & Adventurous

Handsome

A Wonderful Son!

Some Things Only Moms Know

While reading this post, please hum Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know".

How to load a dishwasher.

Where additional supplies of milk, paper towels, etc are kept.

How to fold fitted sheets.

Where to find the best price on kids clothes.

What size Tupperware to use for leftovers.

How to get a variety of stains out of clothes.

How to put a new roll of t.p. onto the holder.

When leftovers can be thrown out.

* disclaimer: Persons other than moms may know some of these tidbits, but on average the aforementioned items are mom knowledge.

My. Crappy. Day.

I like to work while my sweet son sleeps, but unfortunately Jack woke up a little too early today. After snuggling for a bit I thought that I would leave Jack to play in his room while I finished up my office work.

As I sat at my computer, I could hear Jack scooting in just a diaper down the hall. What an adorable son I have! Who knew a hallway could be so entertaining?!

(Sidenote: our poor puppies have the worst gas. We’ve tried changing their food to no avail. I’m open to suggestions at this point!) Tucker was letting loose while I worked and the smell was atrocious. Finally, I decided that he was just letting off a little steam, but perhaps there was a pile somewhere.

Upon further investigation I discovered that poor Jack had had an explosive bowel movement that was now streaked down the hallway and along the walls. Not to mention what covered his back, hands and –dare-I-say – mouth!

I must have screamed because Jack & I just stood there (well, he sat there in his poo) with our eyes locked for a full minute before I finally realized I needed to get Jack into the bath. My son is clean and so are the walls & floor.

Some days as a “Mommy” are better than others.

Flashback Friday

This is quite a couple months ago when Jack first discovered peek-a-boo. Now he is learning new games like cleaning up your hands after lunch is super easy if your favorite puppy is available.

 

Warning: If you are a nursing mother, do  not teach your child "peek-a-boo". Doing so may result in an awkward church moment while breastfeeding.

Wordless Wednesday, But With Words.

I'm using a video for Wordless {but with words} Wednesday because Rachel started it.

Check out Jack's latest trick. Yah, we give him treats for his tricks. It works on the dogs so why not? Don't judge me.

Linking up with

Coca-Cola Chicken

The other night we had one of our favorite meals, which includes beer coke can chicken. Now that Kylie has been diagnosed with Celiac disease, we are using only gluten free options.

Remove giblets from chicken and rub with your favorite poultry seasoning. Include the chicken cavity with rub. Pour some coke (gluten-free option) or beer into cooking device, place chicken onto cooking device (see below).

Poultry Device by Weber

Heat grill to between 350 and 450 degrees, and cook chicken for about 1 & 1/4 hours until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees. Super easy. Super delicious.

Goofy Faces For Grandpa

This is the face I make to get out of trouble when mom yells at me for eating grass.

This is my sultry GQ look.

Thanks for my blocks, Lindsy!

This is Mom's favorite.

Jack is Nine Months!

You've made a new discovery this month and found your tongue! It makes so many cool noises. It's pretty hard to grab, but you keep trying! Jack, you love to talk and often sound like you're saying "dada" or "ky-ky", but it's not on purpose just yet. I really wish you'd say "mama" already.

Jack, you still love bath time. In fact, you've figured out that you can play on your tummy in the tub, and it's pretty fun to splash and make waves. It just might be your favorite time of the day.

Although you've not even attempted a real up-on-your-knees crawl, you've been trying to impress your daddy with a military crawl. Already you are quite mobile and I'm not sure I'm ready for the next stage. At the same time, I'm so excited for what's to come! I love you, Little Man..

My favorite new thing this month is that you lean and hold out your arms when you want someone to hold you. The other day a loud train went by and scared you. Even though you were perfectly fine in your Grammy's arms, you still leaned towards me and it was so adorable.

Grandma Brenda took you camping and you did great without mom and dad. When we saw you for the first time, though, you were pretty excited. You kept kissing my face. At least, that's what I've decided you're doing when you pull me close and suck on my cheeks. You are such a character, Jack!

Hey, Grandparents! Jack is 19lbs and 3oz, 28", and currently wears 12M clothes.

Naked Sunday

Earlier this Spring, Brian came home from a long day of work to discover that I wanted to rip up part of the front yard. I was sure that I'd do it all by myself, but after a few tugs I knew that I couldn't pull out the shrubs. Luckily, my sweet husband who knows I don't like to ask for help trekked outside to help me rip apart our yard.

This year, despite a complete lack of a green thumb, I planted my very first garden. I had have no idea what I'm doing, but have been successful so far. Our family has had a wonderful crop of snap peas, zucchini and a pile of tomatoes on the way... The strawberries seem to need a little more work. Any tips?

Cherry Tomatoes

Linking up with Naked Sunday!

Wordless Wednesday, But With Words.

A couple months ago, Jack and I went up to Seattle to visit my sweet sister. We mostly just tooled around Goodwill looking at cute baby clothes for my niece! And, of course, we got lattes because Seattle lattes are an experience all to themselves. Can anyone tell me why other cities can't make lattes like they do in Seattle?! I don't get it.
Anyway, Jack really loves his Aunt Kirby. Maybe as much as he loves the ruffly flowers on her shirt. As you can see, it made them both giggle. Love these two!

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday {but with words}.