Finger Food

Jack reached right for his first Finger Food Fruit Puff (tm) this morning.

It was a hit!

Yummy...
And now on to cereal.
Mmmpppphhhhffff!
Thanks, Mommy and Daddy!

Sorry we didn't update very much this week. We've been busy as heck. Jack is getting over his cold, but as you can see by the photos, there are still some lingering boogs.

We're changing over to invite-only on Thursday (Cousin Larissa's birthday; though we didn't plan that!), so don't freak out when you log on and can't get right in. Just check your e-mail for an invite and register. If your name isn't on the post from the other day, make sure you let me know your e-mail address. I've updated the lists several times as new addys are sent over.

Peace out,

The Vrbi

There Once Was A Cute Little Boy Who Caught A Bad Cold & Wouldn't Take His Bottle Much At All & Worried The Heck Out Of His Mommy & Daddy & Babysitter

We're all a tad tired tonight here at Casa De Vrbi, so forgive us for the lack of posts this week. Jack caught a nasty little cold last weekend and we're trying to get him healthy again. He refuses to take his bottle, has an icky cough and his nose is pluggered and snot-tastic.

He's been up several times every night because he won't eat during the waking hours, so he gets hungry (as you can imagine). He'll be sleeping just fine, start coughing and wake himself up. It's been a tough week for him. His mommy, daddy and daycare provider are a little worried about the lack of eating by this little man-dude-person. He's still in pretty good spirits considering...

And Daddy and Mommy are slightly exhausted.

Daddy went to Lincoln Monday night and stayed with Aunt Emily and Uncle Mike. He had to report for Federal District Jury Duty bright and early the next morning at the federal building in downtown Lincoln. He wasn't chosen for the five-day trial that would have followed jury selection, but it was still a waste of a day. He is working this Friday to cover the sales hours he missed that day. He did have a great time at Mike and Emily's though, chatting with Emberly. We'll probably do it again next week. The jury service period is over at the first of February which CANNOT come soon enough, folks.

He's started his new job and LOVES it, but is overwhelmed a bit by the amount of info an RV salesdude professional needs to learn--and he's determined to do a great job so he's working on it. He's really looking forward to the sales process. He's getting the info down but there's a lot to learn, and jury duty days off don't help matters. At all. Especially when there's not an overabundance of sleep in our house too. He really likes the folks he works with though, so that makes a difference. They're pretty dang fun! It's been a great change. It really has. And with plenty of Diet Mountain Dew, who needs sleep to function, right?

Shameless Plug Time: (By the way, if you know someone in the market for an RV, send them my way! I'll make it worth it for ya! How does a $25 gift card sound? Huh? Sound enticing? Great. It's a deal then! Send someone my way and I'll reward you accordingly--when they buy. Where else are you going to find a deal like that?)

Amy is right in the middle of progress reports and some other paperwork she was laboring over tonight. She is definitely looking forward to the weekend since we are kinda bushwacked right now. We were going to start the Dave & Amy Challenge this week (we'll give you more info on that later) but we're not in the mood. Seriously not in the mood right now.

And housework? Cooking? Fuggetaboudit!

Sleepily and somewhat wearily but definitely going to carry on and be just fine,

The Sick, The Tired and The Law

(THE VRBI)

Register Now!

Hey y'all!

I found out a little bit more about how the site will change in the future. In order to view the site, you will have to be invited to see it. That means I need a collection of your e-mail addresses. If you send me your e-mail now, I'll send you an invite to register on the site. What you'll have to do is register with Google, which is very easy. Then, after you come to the site, it will say the site is only available to those invited to view it. Log in and you can see us!

Again, this change will happen on January 25, unless we can get it done sooner thanks to folks like you. E-mail me now so I can start updating the blog with addresses to send invites on to. As soon as we get them all, I'll change the site to login only.

Here is the list of folks who will definitely receive invitations on the 25th because we have their e-mail addresses:

Granny Janny
Grammy Tami
Aunt Susan
Grandma Elaine
Aunt Emily
Uncle Dan
Uncle Jake
Aunt Heidi
Tori
Aunt Missy
Aunt Sarah
Julie & Jason
Craig, Bec and Dax
Aaron, Cara and Cam
Lynn, Jen and O
Tony, Melissa & the boys
Trade West folks
Candace Edwards
Stephanie King-Witt
Joann Stainbrook
Tina Muth
Rebecca Allen
Oletta Adams
Terri Trejo
Stacy Cutinella
Heidi Anderson
Anita Lewandowski
Gale & Peggy
Minnie Gail
Justin, Cricket, Sawyer & Kieira
Tina & Kerry
Vanessa
Lisa & Hank

Uncle John and Aunt Karlene

Genny Sides

Aletha

Aunt Vera

Jan Riley

Shelly

Zach & Corey (sp)

Jan Collins

Karess Mailander

Susan J

Larissa & Shane

Folks we'd definitely like to send invites to, but need e-mail address updates for:
Aunt Nancy
Aunt Dixie
The Ferguson Dudes
Connie & Gregg L
Sara W

If we've forgotten you, it's because we don't know you've actually been here. I know Jack has many other fans who check daily or weekly, but we are drawing blanks! Leave us a comment with your e-mail address or send an e-mail to dave@richsonsrv.com or davejavu2@yahoo.com

Thanks! We're going to feel better once the site is secure. If we get your e-mail addresses before the 25th, we'll make the site secure that much sooner!

The Management
D, A & JP

Happy Birthday To You!

Tomorrow is Grandpa's 53rd Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Grand-Pappy V!

All our love,

Dave, Amy and Jack-Jack

Hangin' With Tha Boyz Again

The Heartbreakers Band:

JP at the mic, CamMo on the guitar and O-Dawg showing his dancing skillz.

(We'll put Dax on drums when we get together with him!)

Step by step, Owen's already taking on the stairs!

Babiez Gone Wild! Camden had already been in his jammers a while before Jack and Owen decided to get dressed up to take a ride to Sleepyville.

Camden and Jack-Jack

Happy Jack

Jack and Cam...hangin' out...bein' dudes...the usual...

Jack's buddies playin' hard.

Play time was interesting to watch, needless to say. Jack was the only one immobile. He sat and talked.

A glimpse of Baby Land.

Camo plays while O-Dawg and Jack-Jack discuss who's going to share the green block the most.

Man, just when you think these three can't get any more fun to watch, they totally prove you wrong!
Owen really liked Cam's easel thingy.
"No, Dad, I'm playin' with it!" Owen hangs on to the toy for dear life.

We went over to Camden's house last night so Camden, Owen and I could have more happy fun play time. The 'rents enjoyed a taco bar, chips & salsa and diet Mexican soda (Corona Light). Cara even surprised us later in the night by bringing out something she'd been working on for a while: Fried Ice Cream! It was muy delicioso, amigos. Muy bien, Senora Wade. Gracias!

After dinner, we all retired to the lower level of the Wade's beautiful home to engage in hearthside chatter and play with Camden's toys (by the way, we ended up with the shaky toy Jack's playing with in the third photo from the bottom; let us know whose it is and we'll get it back to ya! Promise.)

It was a great time! Can't wait 'till the next one, buddies.

-Jack Jack

Eye On The Prize

Tori's Got It!

Thanks to our connections at The Breeze, we have this exclusive color shot of Tori (#35)snagging the ball during her varsity game against Aunt Amy's alma mater, Southwest (okay, she graduated from RV, but same difference, right?), last weekend. Tori snagged two steals and tossed in five points. It was the first time she scored in a varsity game! Yay! Totally wicked. Helping her out is #20, Gina Geier. That Southwest chick is TALL! Now that Dave has Friday's off in the future, he and Jack are going to try to attend some Friday evening hardcourt contests!

Thanks, Tina Louise! You're the BEANS!!!

New Security Feature

We're not going to make this change for another two weeks, but we're warning you today so it's not a shock when it happens...

As you know, we live in a wacky world, where everyone has access to the internet. Since everyone includes all kinds of miscellaneous freaks and ne'er-do-well deviants, we need to make sure we're doing everything we can to protect our child. With the site being what it is now, any sick perv-o can find our site by happening upon the main Blogger site. We don't know how many people accidentally happen upon our site from the other blogs, but if you've seen some of the blogs out there these days, you might become concerned. We've avoided putting our last name, location, identifying details on the site, but you can't be too safe. Which is why the following is happening:

As a security feature on this site starting January 25, we are going to make our site accessible only to people we know. So in the future, you'll have to log in to see photos of Jack-Jack. It'll take two or three seconds at the most. That means you'll need to simply register with us once, we'll let you in as soon as we get word from Blogger that you've requested registration, then you can log in as many times a day as you wish. We'll keep it updated just the same, we'll just feel safer knowing it's private.

And you can feel honored that you are among the elite allowed to see pictures of our little bundle of joy!

Thanks,

THE MANAGEMENT

(Mommy and Daddy V)

PS - The lack of comments lately is totally depressing, folks! Snap to it!

Top 52 Photos of 2006, Part 6 of 6

5. We were taking his holiday card photo, set him up against the pillows on the couch, draping his white blankie over the pillows. He sat up for a few seconds, then leaned over so he looked cool. He obviously knew he was lookin' cool!

4. How could you possibly find a sweeter picture than this? This was the day he was born, after getting cleaned up and poked and prodded in the nursery. He fell fast asleep and Daddy picked him up for this photo. He is so little in Daddy's hands, and looks nothing like the Jack Parker you now see on this site every week. Isn't it crazy how much they change in 7 months?!

3. I cannot get enough of this picture. This was Jack's first official bath after we got him home. He was not pleased by the water, the soap, the camera flash, etc... This is a classic photo and the camera angle made it perfectly clean--just like Jack was!

2. Man oh man, is this a great picture. We have posted several pictures of these two buddies, but this one takes the cake. This was during the Christmas trip to Des Moines and we were at Susan's. She snapped a couple photos of Jake and Jack and this by far was the best! It's such a great photo, in fact, it was almost #1. But the following photo just barely beat it:

1. Best. Photo. Ever. 'Nuff said.

Top 52 Photos of 2006, Part 5 of 6

10. Aunt Missy took this picture of Jack sitting on the floor with his Mommy when we were at Gramma 'Laine's house this fall. You can't beat this picture--he's so sweet.

9. I love the look on his face in this picture. (He's looking at his Mommy on the right.) Aunt Sarah left a comment on this picture that she put this as her wallpaper on her computer 'because he looks like such a happy munchkin!' Dave had the rock beside him made by one of his clients at the newspaper long before he was ever born. If we'd have had a girl, we probably would have been e-baying that sucker. Good thing the ultrasound was accurate!

8. Coming home from the hospital after being born, all bundled up...in June! We just love this picture. The colors are good and he looks so trusting and teeny.

7. Aunt Susan caught this photo from afar when she and Gramps and Grams K visited from Des Moines. Mommy was holding him and he was stretching out being cute. Again, great natural lighting in this photo, but we picked it mainly 'cause it's so dang cute!

6. Dave caught this photo just recently and it's a winner! Jack was sitting in Gramma 'Laine's highchair and Peyton just came over and started posing with him. It is impossible to get a smile out of that girl in photos and she just volunteered. It's like she knew it was going to be #6 on the countdown! We're amazed by how much their smiles match their dads when they were little.

Tomorrow: THE TOP 5!

Bath Time = Fun Time

Kickin' and splashin'
Splashing water with my feet is so fun!
I'm still smiling...and kicking.
Clean and smiley.
We sat him up on the changing table (standing nearby for safety's sake) and he immediately went for the hand sanitizer. Yeah, bad idea...

Top 52 Photos of 2006, Part 4 of 6

20. This is where it all began. This is the first picture of Jack where you can see his face. He was not a happy camper at this point. Probably 'cause his 8-month camping trip came to an abrupt halt when the doctor pulled him out of Mommy's tummy. Yep, that'll usually do it.
19. You would not believe the vomit that came out of that boy! The shirt as you can see is soaked with spitup, but that was not the worst of it by far. It was brutal and hilarious! This was after we got back from the teething nightmare that was Thanksgiving. He wouldn't eat the whole time, so when Daddy got him to take 6 oz. the day after we got back, we thought we were in heaven. Not for long though...
18. The Popeye Smile. Jack had just taken his first whirl in the Johnny Jump Up, we put him on the floor in his room and he started making funny faces. I love this picture. It will be in a frame someday. Probably in 2o15 when we have a spare moment to worry about frames!
17. All the cousins together for the 4th of July. Jack, Tori, Matthew, Kenna, Luke and Peyton all in front of Joe's fireplace. Nathan would arrive two months later. They all look so darn funny! Except Tor. She just looks like Tori. And look how little Jack is! Matthew even looks dinky...for Matthew!
16. Jack always looked so funny in this little terrycloth jumper. This is one of our favorite pictures because of his mood that day and that silly little jumper. He was loving having his Mommy rub his lotion on right before this.

15. Gotta love this shot. What a great moment, angle, lighting, and the lawn looks REALLY green outside in the backyard! Jack really liked that book that Granny Janny brought with her.
14. Jack's first Halloween costume was a winner. He was a baby bird. I love how excited he looks in this picture! Sorry, kid, no trick or treating this year.
13. You just can't beat this picture with a stick. This was also at the pumpkin patch in October (hence the pumpkins behind the kiss). We like to kiss our kid. Can you tell?
12. I absolutely LOVE this picture. Jack with Grammy Tami and he looks like he is really telling a humdinger of a story here! And that smile is just so funny. You can tell he knows he's pretty darn special! I cannot get enough of this picture.
11. Mommy snapped this one day when Daddy was gone somewhere. This was back when Jack wouldn't take his pacifier anymore and just sucked his thumb constantly. He was very good at self-soothing, thanks to that thumb. You could hear him rustling around in his bassinet, then he'd just go to town on that thumb. What a great moment she caught too. And now Jack takes the pacifier all the time.

Tomorrow, we'll take on numbers 10-6. And on Thursday, you'll get the TOP 5! They're all great photos, but the top ten really rawk!

Sharp-Dressed (Little) Man

We got this little getup at Babies R Us in Des Moines while we were there. It was definitely a good purchase. He is lookin' sharp! It had a little red tie with it, but to get it clasped, it became tight on his neck. Psycho Protective Daddy said no go.

Just sittin' here, bein' a dude, playin' with my dog...you know, the usual...