Hello strangers!

We've been on a bit of a blogcation for the last few weeks. It has been a mother-freakin' whirlwind in our household!

I got a new job! I wasn't supposed to leave my last job until October-ish, but an opportunity presented itself earlier, so I jumped on it. I'm now in-charge of advising and recruiting nursing students at a local community college. It's an enormous paycut, but the worklife/balance is so much better than my last job! I already miss everyone at my last company, but I guess everyone moves on at some point.

I also got the job 36 hrs before they wanted me to start - YIKES. We were scrambling to find childcare for Jackie Bear and totally stressing out. Our church daycare had an opening, but after enrolling Jack in their program, Troy and I spent the next 6-10 hours FREAKING out about it. Jack was used to being home with me all the time and getting tons of 1on1 attention. The church people were nice, but there were a lot of kids and we were scared that he wouldn't be given 100% quality care.

In a moment of panic, we emailed GAC (Great Aunt Connie) asking if she would be interested in watching Jack 4 days a week. God smiled on us, angels sang, and GAC decided to watch Jack on a one month trial basis!!!!!!!

Uncle Jim and Aunt Connie have been awesome and Jack is always super excited to see them every morning! Connie writes a little diary for us throughout the day, and puts it his diaper bag when Troy picks up J. It's so fun to read it every night, and I really look forward to seeing how J spent his day. I have noticed a dramatic increase in postings that say "Jack and Uncle Jim took a nap together"... =D

Let's see, what else... Jackie Bear is 5 months today! Our big boy is 17 lbs and 2 oz and the happiest little duckie in the world. He loves his Poppa and Momma so much, and adores being naked whenever we give him the chance. His favorite game is "boo!" (not peek-a-boo), and the "squishing game" where we pretend to squish him with a couch pillow. He screams in fake terror and tries to eat our faces when we get close to squish him. He loves to stand and also loves to hit himself in the face with Sophie - his giraffe teething toy which was a present from his friend Kaidin.

We're working on independent sitting, but given that he isn't a fan of bending at the waist, it could be a long ways off. He can roll over like a champ (except when Poppa is looking) and spent about 10 minutes today rolling around on Grandma & Grandpa Q's floor showing off his skills.

Since I didn't post for so long, I've included lots of photos to tempt your "awwww" reflexes.

Reading books with Poppa:

Jack had a playdate with a little no-neck from our birthing classes. Ben seems to have some anger issues, but Jack took it all in stride:

I think Jack's cousin Ashlyn is telling him a secret in this photo:

A reminder that babies, pot, and bathtubs are not a good combination:

And finally, Jack and Poppa doing a dance to the BeeGee's song "Stayin Alive to get some boobie milk: