The Thompson Family

Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T09:45:00.001-05:00

Well I feel that I am on a roll. Posting 3 days in a row! Too bad I am off to Atlanta today and not back for a week.

Today is Valentine's Day and I barely got to see my Valentine as he left for work early as I was still sleeping. I took the day off to travel to Atlanta to leave Jake with my mom while I catch a flight tomorrow morning for San Antonio for a conference for work.

I did leave a gift from Cheryls.com for my wonderful husband to open when he gets home.

He left some small valentines for us near the coffee pot this morning.

(Sorry I couldn't get the picture turned the correct way)

Jake and I made some Valentine's treats for my staff on Sunday. I have made these Pintrest treats with Rolos before. This time I used white/dark chocolate kisses and Peanut butter and Cherry m&ms.

Sad to be leaving my family for 4 and 1/2 days but I know I will be happy to see my old friends and coworkers after 3 years and eat some yummy mexican food.

The 411

2012-02-13T20:24:00.002-05:00

So after not having enough time to blog I have suddenly been into linking up with other blogs. So today after seeing it posted in my friend Lynsey's blog I decided to link up with A Complete Waste of Makeup and give you the 411 on our blog.

1. Tell Us Why You Blog

To keep track of our lives. For the life of me as much as I love how cute scrapbooks are I can't find the time or energy to make one so this is a great way to remember milestones as Jake gets older.

2. Tell Us About Your Blog

I originally started to blog just weeks after my son Jake (who is now 3 1/2) was born. My husband works with a college football team and we were currently living in Texas when Jake was born so I wanted to keep friends and family up to date with pictures of Jake. Now its full of memories and so neat to look back at and reminisce as Jake grows up WAY too fast. I hope to use it in the future to tell friends, family and strangers about our path through Adoption.

3. Tell Us About You

I am a mother of one cute little boy, Jake. I currently work as a Member Engagement Director at a YMCA in Marion,NC. I have a batchelor's In Health Promotion and Education from the University of Georgia and a Master's of Healthcare Administration from UNCCharlotte. I met my husband while in Charlotte for grad school.

I have lived in 6 different states (Born in Chicago, then moved to GA, then off to Pittsburgh after undergrad, then Charlotte, NC for Grad School then Troy, AL after marriage and then Austin, TX for my husband's job and now finally have made my way back to Lenoir, NC (near App State). I currently commute almost an hour each way to work but really enjoy what I do as does my husband.

I love my college sorority friends (Alpha Gamma Delta:)) and a wonderful family and go back to Atlanta to visit fairly often. I love to coupon too. I am trying to get the hang of sewing.....its a work in progress:)

4. Tell Us About Your Job

See # 3 I enjoy working for the Y, only wish the commute wasn't as long. But know doubt I love having a job I can take my child to work at and learn about to swim and play soccer.

5. Tell Us About Your City

We live in a small town, Lenoir, NC. I am a city girl at heart and love getting back to the

larger suburbs when I can......

6. Tell Us about your favorite hobbies, activities and things to do

This might be a repeat but I love to coupon and find deals. I love to go to the local greenway near our house and run, walk and let Jake ride his bike. I like to blog and I am starting to learn how to sew:)

I LOVE the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Pitt Panthers and the Georgia Bulldogs!

I love football and think it was meant to be that I married someone who works for a football team.

Working Mom, Crazy Busy Life

2012-02-11T08:44:00.001-05:00

I am for the first time linking up with Kelly's Korner - Show Us Your Life -Working Moms.

For those that our reading our blog for the first time I am a working mother of a 3 and half year old, named Jake and a wonderful husband Josh.

I work as a Membership Director at a YMCA and commute almost an hour each way each day. My husband is over the Nike Account at Appalachian State University along with being the football equipment manager. Our life is BUSY. I am so lucky to work at a flexible job that my son can go take swimming lessons and soccer and I can bring him to work almost whenever I want. Both my husband and I have that luxury. I guess that is why both being working parents with long commutes (his is 40 minutes) works.

But the time constraints is why we are no longer looking to go through the Foster to Adopt program that we had started in January. We had started it with high hopes of adding to our family through going through DSS. Through going through the classes we have discovered that the time and effort that would be needed to be able to do "shared parenting" and taking the child to therapy possibly would not work with our life. We are so thankful to our neighbors and friends (pictured above) Emily and Jimmy. They have supported us in this process and watched Jake while we were in class.

My in-laws were also great about watching Jake for a weekend to help out too.

We are still open to ADOPT. We are going to go the direction of telling everyone and networking and hoping that GOD will lead us to a child when the time is right. So hopefully in the future I will post more about that. Jake goes to Kindergarden next year- I can't beleive it.

I am going to San Antonio this week to see old coworkers (who I haven't seen in 3 years!) and my old Y. I am SO excited. Then its off to the beach in early May for our annual beach trip.

With trips to Nashville for a girls weekend and hopefully a trip to Chicago to visit my grandparents it will be a BUSY year.

Because I don't get much time to update our blog I want to update about Jake. Jake is going through a defiant stage. He has decided to poop in his pants 3 times this week just out of the blue, almost on purpose. He LOVES Spiderman and wears his costume quite often, I bought his Spiderman house slippers just yesterday.

We are also about to welcome another nephew, Daylen!

These are Jake with his cousins so far.....Thea, TJ and Peyton.

Hopefully in the future we can add to the group!

Thanks for reading!

The New Year

2012-01-21T15:59:00.002-05:00

I am finally catching up after Christmas. We had a great time as we first visited Rock Hill to see Josh's parents and sister. We then spent a week in Atlanta which was great because we got to relax and visit with family and friends. We even got to see Josh's Uncle Randall and his new wife Miriam.

This a picture of the New Years party Josh and I attended with my very dear friends and sorority sisters. Lots of fun was had.

We also got Jake a new full bed:) We refinished some furniture that Josh got from his grandmother. The room looks like a big kids room now, it seems like he was just in a crib.

We haven't has any snow here in Lenoir yet but we did make it up to Boone last weekend to get Jake's bed and he was able to see snow.

The last picture is of Spiderman. I made him a homemade superhero cape for him out one of my dad's old shirts that he can't wear since he has lost weight. He ran around the house this morning in this outfit.

I few updates about Jake: he was 36 pounds, not sure how tall he is. He is one of the most loving children always saying " I love you" to Josh and I. Every night we read books and pray and now he gets in bed and says "Love you, see ya soon, night night"a couple of times before actually falling asleep. He love to have us repeat syllables. So he will say " Mom say Dino (pause) saur." He is thriving in school, he is in the 3-4 year old room and has lots of fun.

He also wants a brother. Knowing its not in the cards biologically we have started the Foster to Adopt program through DSS. Our first class is Monday night and we are so thankful to our good neighbors and friends Emily and Jimmy for watching Jake for those 7 Mondays of Classes and for Josh's parents who are going to watch him on 2 Saturdays.

This will be an interesting experience.

Recruiting weekends have started with football, still need a few more coaches since some left for Western Carolina and some no longer work for the time. In the end I think it will be a good change.

Busy around here, get to go to San Antonio next month for work and I am SO excited to see old friends. We also have another nephew on the way, Daylen, who is due in about a month!

Holidays 2011

2011-12-18T22:21:00.005-05:00

Jake and Santa - 3 years old

Making cookies for our 2 Christmas Cookie Exchanges

Jake and one of his best friends - Cole at the Gingerbread house making at the YMCA

Josh took both Jake and his friend Sydney to the gingerbread house making to have some fun.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-18T20:04:00.005-05:00

Jake all dressed up for Thanksgiving

Mom and Jake at the penguins

Jake loved to look at the penguins

Mom and Jake:)

My mom had gotten us tickets at the aquarium. Jake enjoyed the sharks and especially the penguins since he thought it was Happy Feet. We had my sister's inlaws over for Thanksgiving.

Jacobisms

2011-11-30T22:57:00.003-05:00

Just so I don't forget I wanted to write some of the isms Jake has these days....

He currently refers to Bailey (the dog) as his sister and says that he is her brother. One say maybe he will have a brother or a sister one day....

We love the way he prays at night and says " A-MEN" and "TWO-NIGHT " We all three laugh so hard.

When I am 5

2011-11-13T17:31:00.005-05:00

Jake thinks that when he is 5 the world will change. He will be able to drink coffee, ride a motorcycle, pretty much anything he wants, its the magical age. So when he asks to do something and I say no his response is "when I am 5 I will be able to".

He also thinks of Santa Claus and God along the same lines. He thinks they are both watching and tells us sometimes that God told him he didn't have to do whatever I am asking.

He pretends a lot at this age.

A funny story this morning was after Jake and Josh went to church they had to stop by a couple of places to find a newspaper for me for coupons. After the 3rd store Jake says to Josh "Daddy, this is ridiculous" and he wanted to go home. LOL.

Josh will be getting braces in the coming weeks so we will see how that goes.

We are playing Elon this weekend and I am headed off to Atlanta for the week of Thanksgiving and hopefully App will get a bye that week and join me later in the week.

Cousins, Halloween and Soccer

2011-11-01T21:54:00.005-04:00

All of the cousins together (Jake 3, Thea 1, TJ 4 days, Peyton 1)

Jake got his first soccer medal

Most of Jake's soccer team (missing Clara)

Jake and his good friend Paxton (who use to bite him when they were babies)

We went Trick or treating with our neighbor and good friend Emily and her daughter. This is Jake and Sydney at Emily's mom's house. Sydney was Olivia the pig. Have to laugh at Jake's pose.

Jake is lately into saying he has his listening ears on. On Halloween he got a ton of candy and grabbed a tootsie roll pop as we got in the car on the way back to the YMCA. I told him not to open it and he did anyway. I asked him why he did that and if his listening ears were on. His response was that his listening ears are asleep. lol. I told him he better wake them up if he wants to go trick or treating.

I have found Jake's personality to be in many ways like mine. He hates scary stuff and he can find "scary people" in almost every movie. So he will watch the movie once and want to move on to the next one, thanks to Netflix this is possible. He is not a very adventerous kid, very loving and sensitive as I have said many times before.

He loves his teachers, especially Ms. Lisa who is very sweet and Ms. Jeanne. We made snack mix this year for all of our neighbors kids and football kid friends as well as his teachers.

Jake has grown about a half inch since his 3rd birthday 3 months ago. He is learning his letters well. Every night before bed and after bath we read, go through his letter flash cards (he can recognize A-F (upper and lower case) right now along with the words on those cards. and then we each pray.

Carter and Cole Photography

2011-10-28T19:49:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine I met at a Hickory's mommy group over a year ago named Shellie took these pictures. I think she did a great job considering we paid 1/4 of what we have paid in the past for professional photography. We took the pictures in Hickory at Glenn Hilton park.

Stitches

2011-10-01T18:17:00.007-04:00

Jake in the morning. He just got his stitches out yesterday. Recap: last week he ran into his friend Cayden and fell on a chair. After a trip to urgent care and the ER it resulted in 5 stitches. He did well, he just didn't like being "wrapped like a taco". You can't really tell since his hair hides it.

Today Jake was helping me clean. I would show him where the dirt was and he would suck it up with the vaccum.

Jake had his soccer pictures last weekend while I was at one of my childhood friend's weddings, Mike McCollum. Josh's parents were nice enough to drive him all the way to Marion so that he could get his first ever soccer pictures with his team. So cute!

Just for my memory he said something funny today. When Josh is out of town for football I let him sleep in my bed. He said " Mommy I get to sleep in your bed because you are my best friend". Just made me chuckle.

We are refinishing Josh's childhood furniture which was handed down from his grandmother so that we can put the pieces in Jakes room. Its a larger dresser and a full bed, I am excited to spruce them up and move Jake into normal size furniture. His clothes DO NOT fit his current dresser that still has the diaper change area built into the top of it. I will post pictures when we finish the project and move them in to the room.

Football and Soccer 2011

2011-09-11T20:15:00.009-04:00

Our first football game of the 2011 Season - Virginia Tech. An awful loss, but we got some money out of at least.

Jake's first day at his new school

Jake on a horse at Tweetsie, one of our neighbor's works there and gave me 3 free tix

Jake's new school- 1st Baptist in Marion

Jake talking strategy with Clara

This is Jake and Clara. Jake and Clara are best friends, they have kissed on the soccer field and then walked off holding hands. I am only saying this to document this for one day when he gets older:)

Jake is # 3

Jake and Grandma at Tweetsie

Jake taking a break during his soccer game.

ASU kids 2011 Maren, Zoey, Jake and Bennett

Jake 2011 (left)

Jake 2010 (right)

both before the first home game

Jake loves his new school. He loves playing soccer, he just got his first new pair of cleats, Nike of course. They are red and black. This football season has been pretty easy so far now that we have to sit in the stands. Luckly no more strollers to lug around or diapers. He has lots of other kids to play with and as of now there is plenty of room to play where we sit.

Jake refers to his bed as his "beddy" not sure why. He also has an imaginary friend that visits sometimes named Annie (from Little Einsteins).

Updates and 31st birthday Celebration

2011-08-16T20:43:00.004-04:00

my good friend Karen

Sisters

the group

After 12 years I am go glad we are all still friends! (including Jen who had to leave early)

I had a great birthday weekend in Atlanta. I got to spend time with my family, go to JCT kitchen with my college friends and sister and BIL. Then on Saturday I went to my dear friend Alison's wedding to Nic. All in all a good weekend.

My actual birthday I ran some errands, spent some pool time with my neighbor emily and her daughter Sydney who is Jake's good friend and went to eat at the Red Onion. My iphone wont send the pics to my e-mail so no pictures for that day yet.

Jake is funnier than ever as he gets older. He went for his 3 year old check up (on 8/8/11) and he is 36.75 inches tall and 33 pounds, which is about the 50%tile. He seems to be getting to tall I can't believe how fast time flies.

Some funny things he has said lately:

Bailey drank out of his toliet (gag!) and when I told him how dicusting that was he said " Bailey that is uscusting(sp)! You dirty dog, get away!

He is really in to playing soccer and he got his first pair of shinguards. He wore them around the first day and told us to refer to him as "soccer player" and I was "Mommy soccer player".

He is such a sweet boy and talks to anyone that will listen. He will walk up to perfect strangers in the store and tell him what is on his shirt that day or some random story, it is too funny!

He likes to pretend, we just got him a Little tikes grill with some birthday money my aunt Janet sent us and he loves to pretend to grill for us just like his daddy.

He is making new friends at his new school, Bella and Jaxson are two of the newest.

Thats about it for now, I just want to make sure I update so I won't forget these memories.

Jake Turns 3!

2011-07-17T12:11:00.014-04:00

My family at the Bistro for dinner after Jake's party.

Aunt Christie and Uncle Stephen

Some pictures from Jake's 3rd Birthday. How the years fly by......my little man is 3 years old. How can that be?

Here are a few pictures from his Toy Story Birthday at the YMCA. We did a pinata. For my memory: we did chicken nuggets and hot dogs with potatoe salad and chips and grapes and blue berries.

He is a very sensitive, loving little boy. In his daycare portfolio they said he is always comforting other kids in the class, helping them put their shoes on or play. He is so polite. He says "Sorry, mom, or "Thank you, mom, for tying my shoes, buying him a toy, etc.". Last night at dinner he said "Mom, I think your shoes are pretty!".

He is also very stubborn, and throws tantrums. If you ask him what he wants he will say "I want, nuthin!" He loves motorcycles, he call his bike helmet his motorcycle helmet as he rides his little motorcycle.

He loves Toy Story: Buzz, Woody and Bullseye the most. He loves Cars, especially Lightening McQueen and Mater. He loves sports, football and golf, soccer and now basketball since we cleared out our basment and made it more of a living room/playroom and his grandma and grandpa got him a basketball goal.

Here are a few pictures from his party:

He has grown 4 inches in the last year. His loves: chicken nuggets, fruit and veges,hot dogs, A1 and BBQ sauce and salsa; although he has started to dislike a few things: peanut butter, tomatoes (if they are not in sauce or something), and califlower.

A Friend's Wedding

2011-06-26T13:29:00.006-04:00

Jake and I before the wedding, my sweet friend and neighbor Tina, who is a hair dresser did my hair for like next to nothing. I hadn't had it like this since my wedding day. I also hadn't worn the dress since our friend's Dan and Steph's wedding probley 5-6 years ago.

excuse the arm fat....lol.

it was a small outdoor reception at her mom's house.

Syndey (the groom and bride's daugher) and Jake. Neighbors and best friends.

Josh and Jimmy (the groom) and two guys that played football at App at the same time.

Me and Emily

Jake and Sydney dancing

Jake - Almost 3 years old

2011-06-08T10:36:00.006-04:00

Jake with some of the kids in his class - Paxton, Myiah, Cole and Clara. Some of these kids he has been with since he just turned 1. It will be sad for me to see him move on to his new preschool next month. But all the kids will be moving to different preschools.

Jake is coming up on 3 years next month! How time flies:(

Jake with his best friend, Cole.

Jake has grown about an inch in the last 4 months or so. He LOVES Toy Story (which he wants a Buzz party), he loves Lightening McQueen from the Cars movie.

He is very in to pretending to be a car, or Buzz or just about anything. Many of the boys in his class will wear a shirt with a certain sport on it and will say ' today I am a football player or a basketball player". Jake included.

He loves to play outside on his motorcycle and has recently met two new friends down our neighborhood street, Sydney and Talon. He loves to help his dad in the yard, cut the grass and water the plants. He loves to go to the golf course with his dad.

He continues to call his cousins "his babies" and will son have a boy cousin in October:)

ZOO Trip

2011-06-08T10:23:00.006-04:00

The Crew

Thea and I

Trish and Thea

Peyton

A fun time was had by all, even though it was HOT out.

Seagrove 2011

2011-05-13T13:41:00.006-04:00

at the puttering park at Watersound

at the Old Florida Fish House

at Pier Park, he cried the whole time riding and we had to stop the ride

we didn't actually ride the carosel, after this picture he decided he didn't want to

after getting salt water in his eyes

This morning so far we have swam in the ocean, swam in the pool (which he loved this morning), ran on the beach ( I thought we were going for a little walk and he ran probley a mile, that took 15 minutes....it took 30 minutes to get back because even though I told him he didn't realize how far it would be to get back). He wanted to climb the balcony and I told him if he fell he would die. He repsonds " I will bump my head?" I said "No, you will die" He asks " I will get sand in my eye?" haha.

We went to Pier Park yesterday afternoon to ride some rides ( which once we bought tickets he didn't want to do) walk in a few stores and then went to the Old Florida Fish House for dinner.

After which we went to Watersound to the puttering park so hit s few balls as it was getting dark.

I will be hitting up Destin in a bit as he naps and then we will head to the Red Bar tonight for dinner. More pictures to come....

Beach Day 1

2011-05-12T09:59:00.000-04:00

Yesterday afternoon we arrived at my parents condo at Seagrove Beach in the Panhandle of Florida. Here are some pictures. Jake LOVES the beach and playing in the waves. He has already swalled a couple gulps of saltwater but it hasn't detered him yet. We also went to get some icecream in Seaside but I forgot to bring my camera. The water feels like bathwater and is gorgeous.

Easter weekend/Stephen's 30th B-day party (Jake 2 years 9 months)

2011-04-29T20:29:00.007-04:00

Jake helping wash the dog.

Daddy and Jake at Elevation

Stephen's cake that I had made by Cakes Caboodle to look like the invitation

deserts

Octane- where the party was held, a coffee bar in Atlanta

Jake with Grandma and Grandpa

the spread

Christie's pink shoes

the Nipaver Family

the women

the men (minus Stephen, who I managed to not get a picture of all night :( )

Sisters

The Thompsons

Christie with her Mother In Law Becky

We went down Easter weekend to spend Easter with my parents since Christie had planned a large party for Stephen's 30th b-day. About 40 people attended, everyone had a nice time and Jake was able to last through the whole night (until 11:30 p.m.) without a meltdown.

I forgot to take pictures when the party actually started and when we did the Easter Egg hunt with my parents at their house on Sunday morning. I woke Jake up and told him that the Easter Bunny had come. He was so excited he knocked the lamp and phone over getting out of bed. He then preceded to cry when he realized that the Easter Bunny was actually not downstairs as he had thought. A fun time was had by all that weekend with shopping and visiting my best friend, Mandy.

Jake 2 years almost 9 months

2011-04-10T19:40:00.002-04:00

Videos

2011-04-02T20:38:00.004-04:00

Here is a video in which Jake talks about the Steelers, but accidently says that the Packers will win the Superbowl.

This video is of Jake singing take me out to the ballgame and reading a cubs book.

Please ignore the lack of bedroom furniture, as we have a bedroom set now:)

Potty trained:)

2011-03-31T20:01:00.003-04:00

I don't have any photos but have been meaning to write to mark the milestone of Jake being potty trained:) He is 2 years and about 8 months old. He has been doing great in the last two weeks, even through the night and in the car, which I didn't know how we would conquer. It just clicked one day and he hasn't gone back:) I also want to write about a little story that a teacher told me today at school. She said Jake laid his head back and hit it on the ground lightly. He then says to Cole, his best friend, " Best friend, I don't feel good!" and Cole stopped what he was playing and came over and sat next to him. Cole then proceded to kiss Jake on his head where his boo boo was. Jake and Cole then hugged and Jake said " Friend I feel better now". The teacher, who is not normally there, said it was one of the sweetest things she has witnessed. I am only sad that we will be moving Jake to another preschool in July and he will most likely be seperated from his other friends who will also be moving to different schools, including Cole. I truly hope Jake makes more friends at his new preschool. Jake is doing great. He has a boo boo on his leg that we think is excema and have been trying to treat it and put bandaids on it. The doc said just to put hydrocortizone on it and a bandaid but it still is there, so we will see if we take him back to the doctor. On Jake's school report it says that he has taught everyone the app state song, and when talking to another mom, Jake's good friend Clara, she mentioned that Jake taught Clara the song....lol. He loves Toy Story and insists he wants a "Buzz party" for his 3rd birthday party which we will have at the YMCA that I work at. We are still working at getting rid of the paci. My mom just visited this past weekend so Josh and I could go to the football banquet at app and we enjoyed ourselves. Jake likes to act like Buzz and pretend a lot like he is flying to bed at night. He likes to help with chores at home like taking the clothes out of the dryer or helping put them in. He loves his two neices and refers to them as his babies.

Airport Playdate

2011-02-28T18:31:00.005-05:00

Great group of girls from work at Low Country resturant in Marion this past weekend.

These pictures were taken from our playdate with the Hickory Mommies group this past weekend at the Hickory airport. We also went to Pizza Hut and then to the park.

2 and 1/2 years old

2011-01-30T14:15:00.009-05:00

Well Jake turned 2 1/2 a month ago so I am finally getting time to write a post to catch up: He is 3 feet tall (he has grown 2 inches in the last 6 months) and he still weighs about 30 pounds.

Jake does really good peeing for 80% off the time but we haven't gotten to trying underwear that often although he has it at school to try. He also realizes that telling us that he has to pee is also a way of getting out of going to sleep. Here is the potty chart that we have had up in his room for the past 6 weeks:

As you can tell he helped decorate it.

He really likes to play with his tool set that he got for Christmas and he loves doing puzzles and playing memory. He still loves potato salad, chicken and peas and corn along with pickles and olives.

We made a make shift play area in our basement with our old living room furniture and t.v. so he now has a space to play in and for all of his toys that don't fit in the living room or his room. We have a heater for the space so that we can use it during the winter.

Right now he loves watching Despicable Me and Courdoroy among other movies like Shrek. He LOVES Little Einsteins in the morning when he gets a chance.

He is so smart at counting, he talks really clearly ( we tried to post videos but it doesn't work for some reason). He just got his own umbrella for when it rains. He is a funny kid. He is a cuddler. He loves his cousins whom he refers to as his "babies".

He hit his head last week in the bathroom and we had to take him to urgent care for safety precautions. No stiches. Then he had a blow out in Harris Teeter this past wednesday and I had to cart him around with just a shirt and a pull-up. Times are busy and crazy these days but we are enjoying this age. We try to read with him every night and spend quality quiet time playing games. He hasn't understood hide and seek yet but he like to hide with one of us. Otherwise he doesn't hide very well because he lets us know where he is.

Here are some pictures that I took of Jake blowing bubbles that his Aunt Trish sent for V-day:

By the last picture he was done with me taking pictures.

On another note here is a picture of our new bedroom set (not a picture of our room specifically) along with the lamp that Josh bought for the nightstand. Now we have all of our major furniture and we can feel like adults:)

That's about it right now. Very busy last couple of months coming off of football season. Today is the last day of winter gym for Josh and then on to Spring football. Hoping to post more in the future but every weekend seems to be packed. Hoping to get Jake in his new daycare once he is fully potty trained, before August at the latest (since he turns 3 in July).

Christmas/NYE 2010

2011-01-01T21:19:00.005-05:00

This picture was taken before the milk was split under the booth on NYE at Mellow Mushroom and before he then proceeded to throw up all over the floor what milk he had drank. Happy New Year to us....lol.

These pics were taken at Josh's parents house the day after Christmas.

Jake and Peyton with Josh's mom, Jake is almost 2 1/2 years and Peyton is 5 months.

Jake and my best friend Mandy at my parents Christmas Eve GTG

Jake's Teachers

Jake and his best friend Cole Ward at daycare

Jake and his good friend Clara

Christmas was very enjoyable this year. We put a tree up in the living room, we were able to visit Atlanta for an entire week since App State lost in the 3rd round of the playoffs. It was so nice to be able to spend time with friends and family without being rushed. We all received many nice gifts also on Christmas Day. We then left for SC just as it was beginning to snow. We were about to spend time with family there, open gifts and play some in the snow. I left the following morning to go back to work and Josh came back to spend a couple more days with Jake and his family.

Update on Jake:

He is in 2T clothing, he is starting to tell us pretty often when he has to pee pee on the potty so that seems to be going well. He talks really well and has great vocabulary. He can take all of his clothes off, he likes talking on the phone and uses many adult phrases like " I'll be right back, k?" He loves to read books, play with trucks and other pretend play toys. He likes to tell us " You be careful!" if we are eating hot soup or doing something else he thinks is dangerous. He loves to help cook and brush his teeth. I think he is starting to have less tantrums as he is able to tell us why he is upset. He is a joy to be around, to listen to him explain things to seriously yet he loves to laugh and "push your tickle switch". He is sleeping in his bed through the night most nights. He loves to ask "Whatcha doing?" He loves to watch Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Club and loves Toy Story 3 and Shrek.

Thanksgiving and week 3 of the playoffs

2010-12-06T20:36:00.005-05:00

It has been a busy past couple of weeks. We had a bye week the first week of playoffs and went down to Rock Hill, SC to visit Josh's family for Thanksgiving. Then this past weekend played Western Illinois in the snow and won. This week we are playing Villanova at noon on ESPN and it will be crazy as I have a special event at work (Gingerbread house making) and will go straight to the game, but luckily my mom is coming up to help with Jake.

Tonight we finally had time to get the Christmas tree up and Jake loved decorating it with candy canes. He loves the Christmas tree and actually likes Santa this year. We will see how he does when we see him at the mall. So far he has seen him twice and done well.

Potty training is doing alright. He pee peed on the potty tonight before his bath time and I think tried a couple times at school. It cracks me up because we he doesn't have to go he says" There's no water in there".

He loves candy canes but candy doesn't always work for bribing him to try peeing on the potty.

Below are some pictures of Jake decorating the tree, Jake at our Christmas Tree lighting at the Y and Paige and I with Peyton and Jake after church.

Just because this is like a scrapbook for myself I have to put down two memories:

1) Jake putting my sister's my Buddy in time out for kicking him
2) These days everything is "mine" and "a big one". So if its a piece of candy its he says "it's mine and then asks "it's a big one mommy?"

We just got him snow boots at Target yesterday and he loves them so much he wore them to school today and walked around with them on the wrong feet because he put them on himself and didn't want to take them off.

Boone after the game 12/4/10

Jake eating a candy cane at the Y

Jake yelling at Santa Claus

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

2010-11-21T11:25:00.005-05:00

We just got back the great family photos taken this year by Monica Reid Photography, who also did our photos last year. Now it was time to figure out where we were going to get our Christmas photos printed this year....

in comes Shutterfly. They are doing a sweet promotion where they give bloggers like me, 50 free Christmas cards just for blogging about them! Those that know me know I am always in for a deal, especially when it's free :)

So I took a look at their website and here are a few designs I might try:

Honestly, just picking 4 to show only 4 designs I loved was hard. They have so many choices:

Christmas cards

We also are looking at doing a few calendars as gifts:

http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

Ordering and personalizing these cards, calendars and other gifts are so simple. I have so many friends who rave about the ease of using Shutterfly so I am defiently looking forward to using them this year.

So take a look at them for your own family, I am sure that you too will find that there are many choices, the hardest part (after getting the right picture) is finding your favorite card!

Halloween and Toddler Bed, App State 8-1

2010-11-11T13:52:00.005-05:00

For Halloween Jake was Woody from Toy Story. He loves Toy Story these days. We got hom Toy Story 2 last weekend and bought Toy Story 3 to give him at Christmas. We went to 10-15 houses and then went home. He loved the Tootsie-Roll pops he got and the flashlight my mom gave him was very helpful lit up in his Halloween bag.

We also finally broke down and purchased a toddler bed and new sports comforter set that were both on sale at Target. He loves his new bed but we are having a hard time getting him to stay in it at night since its so easy to get in and out of.

App State lost this past weekend in overtime to GA Southern but are at home against Wofford this weekend, a team who is undefeated in the conference. My mom came up to help watch Jake as I had to work. This weekend Josh's parents are coming up to watch the game. Next weekend I am flying with the team down to the University of Florida for the App State vs. Florida game.

Jake is starting to potty train again. He pee peed at school yesterday and again a couple of times this morning before peeing on the floor and deciding he wanted a diaper on again. We are not pushing him but hope that he will be potty trained by February so we can switch daycares.

We are getting some more family pictures taken this weekend for Christmas cards in hopes of getting some where we are all looking at the camera or not scwinting. The photographer was so nice to offer to take some additional ones.

Jake is doing well though. He loves putting stickers in his Toy Story sticker book, playing with his lego fire truck, throwing or kicking all kinds of sports balls. He loves to help in the kitchen, and feed the dog. He can easily open his bedroom door and luckily in our house we really only live on the top level. He loves puzzles and his vocabulary gets better every day. He known almost everywhere by his "hut. hut" as he does it whereever he goes.....school, the Y, the grocery store, Owens Field house.

7 and 0 and Parents visit

2010-10-17T18:20:00.007-04:00

Appalachian State is currently 7-0 after beating Western Carolina this weekend. Jake went to his first away game and did well in the stands watching for Yosef. He continues every time his gets in the car to take his shoes off. He got the hand, foot and mouth disease this past week and I had to stay home with him one day and he went to work with Josh one day. He loves Toy Story and watches it constantly, we are going to have to get him 2 and 3. He is going to be Woody for Halloween.

We are looking at changing his daycare to First Baptist Daycare in Marion once he is potty trained. Due to daycare going up $75 per month this new daycare is $20 cheaper than what we pay now, doesn't have the teacher turnover, they take them to the library and have a music teacher come in and teach, they have a science room and room to run and play inside in other rooms if the weather is bad. I have heard nothing but good things about the school ......The list goes on, the only thing I am concerned about is Jake missing his current friends, but some of them I heard may leave once they are potty trained....so we shall see!

On other notes, the pictures on this post are from when my parents visited two weekends ago We attended the Hickory Oktoberfest as well as the App vs. Elon game. We also had a professional photographer take pictures while they were here.

There are a few up above......

Last weekend Aunt Paige and Uncle Eric visited although we unfortunatly have no pictures of that visit. We also visited our neice Thea who was born on Thursday Oct. 14th, 2010 at 11:55 p.m. to Josh's brother, Tim and his wife Trisha.

Mandy, my best friend, comes ot visit this weekend so that along with the Furman game and trick-or-treating so make for a fun weekend!

Pumpkin picking-Johnny Wilson Farms.....App State 4-0

2010-10-06T21:36:00.004-04:00

Not the clearest pictures but Josh, Jake and I went to Johnny Wilson farms last Sunday and picked pumpkins, a bushel of apples was bought and Jake got to see the roosters eat. It was a lot of fun! The farm was actually featured in Paula Deen's magazine this month.

Anyway, Jake is doing good. Still hates to wear shoes and socks in the car which might get harder as it gets colder. Can recite his abc's, numbers 1-10, his prayers. Is loving Toy Story and Woody and Buzz, so I am guessing that is what he will be for Halloween this year.

We will have a busy October as my parents, Josh's aunt and uncle Paige and Eric and my best friend Mandy all visit.
App State is currently 4-0 and plan Elon this Saturday. Hoping for another win as they are ranked #1 in the FCS division.

Lindsey

Football Season weeks 2 and 3

2010-09-19T18:36:00.004-04:00

After 3 weeks App State is 3 and 0! They just beat NC Central last night and are off to Samford this week for their first away game.

Jake has been enjoying the games playing with his friend Bennet and gets to spend Sundays with his daddy on the football field (see above). Jake has grown 1 inch in the last 2 months! He is growing up so fast! He had a crazy week this week as he started the 2 year old room, fell on the pavement and scraped his head, bit his lip while crawling to get the lawnmower at school (when I asked if he was ok, the teacher who called me said Jake had gotten up and said " I still got lawnmower?" so obviously he wasn't hurt that bad....lol) and then yesterday he closed his pinky in the accordion door where our washer and dryer is, so 3 is a charm this week.

His new loves are pickles and olives (esp. since he learned how to put the black olives on his fingers).

Football Season week 1

2010-09-08T19:03:00.003-04:00

Week 1 at Appalachian was a nail biter.....but we won 42 -41 against Chattanooga! This was a picture of Jake (almost 26 months) before we went to visit Daddy on Labor Day up in Boone. There is finally a spot in the 2 yr old room open and Jake gets to move up on Monday. We are so glad since he has been regressing a bit since his best friend Cole got to move up (because physically he is a bigger kid)he has been doing the whole 2 yr old tantrum thing about everyday since he turned 2, but as with everything else its a phase that shall pass too. Jake loves eating pickles these days along with potato salad. He is in a size 7 shoe, size 4 diapers and 24 month/ 2T clothes. He loves Buzz Lightyear, Mickey and Shrek. He still uses a paci and has no interest in potty training but we are told by the teachers that once he moves up to this next room (which has a potty attached to it) he will potty train easier. So we shall see......

He knows his numbers 1-11 and his ABC's, we are still working on his colors....everything is green. He can put his own shoes on and take his clothes on and off, has a little trouble with his shirt though.

30th bday

2010-08-29T21:55:00.002-04:00

Just a quick recap of the get together my sister and my best friend threw for my 30th bday. It was a nice low key way to hang out with my college girlfriends and I really enjoyed it.

Jake counts to 10

2010-07-28T21:49:00.002-04:00

2 year checkup and pottytraining?

2010-07-26T19:42:00.003-04:00

So Jake had his 2 year check up today. He was such a brave boy for the prick on his toe.....luckily no shots! He is 28 pounds and 33 and 3/4 inches. The doctor said in the last 6 months he has gone from being a little taller than avg to more average and a little thinner than avg to average, so basically gone from Josh's body type to mine...ha.

Either way he is healthy and progressing well. We finally decided to kinda start the pottytraining. we have gotten some pull ups and we have tried pretzel m&ms as a treat. It has worked once so far so we shall see. At school they say he tells them when he is wet and dry and they will take him to the potty to try at intervals during the day. No rush but hopefully sooner than later......diapers aren't cheap!:)
I had to take a this picture when I saw this a couple of minutes ago, obviously he wanted to color with his brithday suit on....lol.

and just for my own memory I want to write that two of the cutest things jake does is say "pee-pee-boo" for peek-a-boo and gives his dad "bones".

Jake's 2nd Birthday Party part 2

2010-07-20T21:11:00.005-04:00

This past weekend we went down to ATL to celebrate Jake's 2nd birthday with my family, Josh's uncle and his girlfriend, and my dear friends from college and to celebrate Karen's 30th birthday. On Saturday my mom and I also took Jake to the local Farmer's Market in Matietta Square where he got to play on the train. We had such a great time and I have such great family and friends!

I also got a chance to go out with my college girlfriends for Karen's 30th b-day....so fun!

Julie and Jake are only about 3 months apart....future girlfriend maybe? :)

Jacob got this cool tricycle from Grandma and Grandpa, he LOVES riding it on the greenway since he is SO over the stroller.

Jacob is offically 2 years old! My how time flys. A little about what he is doing these days.....

Jacob is in 24 month/ 2T clothes, size 6 shoes. Not sure how much he weighs, we go to the doctor soon. He is just starting potty training, he tells us when he is wet or dry but just hasn't actually peed on the potty yet. He sits every so often and then gets up, the same way at school.

Jake's vocabulary is really strong, not sure if its somewhat from all the time that he watches video's in the car on the way to and from daycare. But he speaks very clearly at home and school and the teachers have remarked how clear he vocabulary is.

Jake has started sleeping in a "big boy bed" which is his crib with a railing instead of the side of the crib. Oddly enough since we put it up a week ago his sleeping is so much better, almost every night he has slept through the night, hopefully I didn't just jinx it. ha.

Jake loves bus, cars, trains, motorcycles and trucks and got many for his birthday. He loves Mickey and now Thomas the Train (more than Manny) He wants to watch the same video almost every day in the car, it goes in spurts.....lately it was Happy Feet and these days its Shrek.

He lives his new tricycle and loves playing in the baby pool we got for our house.

His favorite foods these days are still mostly the same, chicken, carrots, guacamole and blueberries.

He has recent had some allergic reactions and we are watching to try to figure out what they are from.

June/July 2010

2010-07-12T20:53:00.005-04:00

Over the past month we have taken many trips. Jake has been to Virginia and Athlanta where he got to spend time with his grandparents. This past weekend we celebrated his birthday in Rock Hill and will do the same this weekend in Atlanta. Within the last month our computer crashed so we have not been able to update the blog, so we are finally getting around to updating pictures.

22 months - catching up

2010-05-16T13:10:00.013-04:00

Busy last month. We went to Chicago the last weekend in April to visit my grandparents and for my cousin Liz's baby shower. Lots of fun and many pics to follow. Visited "Nuts on Clark" and the house I grew up in until we moved to ATL.

There are also pics of the Newton Mayfest that we took Jake to yesterday. He got to expereince his first pony ride, feed some animals at the petting zoo and watch pigs race.

An update as far as Jake at 22 months - He is still in 18-24 month clothing, size 4 diapers and a size 6 shoe. He LOVES bikes, football, golf and the sprinkler. We watch the Appalachian state video highlights at least daily it seems and he is either carrying around a golf club, a football or wearing his helmet (which he insists on wearing backwards) He still loves to push his lawnmower and play in the yard, he says "go outside" all of the time.

He speaks pretty well. He is funny when he says "no, no mom" or "no, no Josh" when he doesn't want us to do something. He wants to feed himself. He is in the beginning stages of going towards potty training. He tells us when he went and talks about the potty, he just usually doesn't have to go by the time he sits on it. He LOVES showers and baths still. He likes music, especially " the wheels on the bus" we sing that just about daily and he likes to play with his friend paxton's bus at daycare. He loves the movie Happy Feet and he has gone from calling it penguins to the actual name. He drinks from sippy cups and now has gotten the hang of juice boxes. He LOVES fruit - apples, oranges, grapes (cut up) and bananas. He says " i love you" all the time and then says "more" meaning I love you more, as we say that back and forth.

He is growing up so fast.

At the park with Nana and Poppy

2010-04-13T20:52:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures from Jake's latest trip to Rock Hill. These are pictures from one of his trips to the park, with Nana and Poppy.

1st trip to the Zoo

2010-04-05T08:27:00.003-04:00

Jake's trips to Rock Hill

2010-03-30T19:52:00.003-04:00

Here are some pictures from Jake and Josh's last couple of trips to Rock Hill. Jake spent Josh's spring break hanging out with Nana and Poppy. Then a week later they help us out by watching Jake when was sick and couldn't go to daycare, so we didn't have to miss any work. During his time in Rock Hill he got to play with Misty, the new puppy.

20 monthes, ATL, Easter Egg Hunt and playing outside

2010-03-27T18:53:00.007-04:00

Jake turned 20 months about 10 days ago. He is growing so fast! He is in size 4 diapers now, LOVES apples, chicken, guacamole and muffins. He talks a lot, he can name many pictures in books, so reading has turned into naming pictures. He likes to sing to the movies he watches, likes to help with the yard work. Still in 18 or 18-24 month clothing, size 6 shoes. He asks for help with things and still loves sports and points out balls when he sees different sports.

2010-02-28T11:47:00.002-05:00

Just some pictures from Jake's valentine's day party at school. The view from our kitchen window as the sun is rising. Other random pictures as Jake tries to smile. His new word right now is"ook" or look and he is LOVING guacamole.

19 months, 6 days old

2010-02-23T20:24:00.003-05:00

Jake is just over 19 months old
Some new words are: help, up and down, he can say all his body parts and is starting to know colors, more milk or juice, hot
He loves apples and nilla wafers
He can throw a ball overhand and kick a ball and run
He likes to help in the kitchen
He likes to mop and sweep
He has a new love of taking showers
He loves books and loves to read
He knows some numbers, just not in the correct order
He can say touchdown
He likes to wash his hands and standing on his own stool

he continues to get bitten by Paxton at school but he also slapped Clara in the face for taking his ball, so he has his own issues

He can use a fork and spoon well
He still needs help up and down the stairs

Pants on the ground

2010-01-27T22:29:00.002-05:00

Jake and Josh and I were playing Jake's room. When Josh told Jake it was bath time he proceeded to drop his pants and try to take them off which cracked Josh up.

18 month check up

2010-01-25T22:13:00.004-05:00

Today was Jake's 18th month check up (he is actually 18 months and 8 days) He was 24 pounds (25%) and 33 inches (75%) (at his at his 1 yr old check up he was 20 pounds, 15 ounces (25%) and the 75% for height or 30.75 inches) so he is on the same curve, long and lean, obviously he takes after his mom...ha ha.

He did really well, he got 2 shots (no more vaccine's until he is 4, yay!) and he cried a little bit but really did well. He passed the MCAT which looks at the possibility of him being autistic and he is progressing like a normal 18 month old except he needs to do better on the sleeping through the night. Dr. Rowland said we just need to be consistant and let him cry and if he gets up give him some milk and put him right back down. So we will see how that goes.......

Jake's Room

2010-01-17T20:38:00.003-05:00

We have finally been able to paint and decorate a bedroom for Jake after living in apartments and having busy football seasons. We aren't totally done but thought we would take pictures of what we have put up so far.

18 months old!

2010-01-17T18:39:00.007-05:00

Jake is 18 months old today!

These pictures were taken tonight as Jake ate Josh's pizza, picking all the black olives off, I guess he must like them!

Jake talks a lot these days. Two of his favorite songs are "If you're happy and you know it" and
" Wheels on the Bus".He still loves his paci and we are trying to get him to sleep with a teddy bear instead of a sippy cup. He still doesn't sleep through the night thanks to our crazy schedule. We are hoping by his second birthday he will......ha.

He eats almost anything, he loves to try to feed himself with a spoonm or fork, sometimes it makes it to his mouth and sometimes it doesn't.

He can follow simple commands such as "put this in the trash". He loves his vaccum cleaner as well as his push toys and he loves to dance.

After bath time he gets out, gives me a kiss on the lips and says "night, night" and "luv you" a couple of times as he is on his way to his bedroom.

He can't climb on the bed yet but he can climb off of it pretty well and he can climb on the couch by himself.

He loves to read books and wants us to repeat books over and over. He loves bailey and her food and her treats and her water. He loves to play in those and loves to tell Bailey "No!"

He is still in size 3 diapers and will get his 18 month old vaccines at the end of this month. He is just over 24 pounds and wears a size 5 shoe.

more photos

2010-01-01T22:12:00.003-05:00

Christmas 09 in ATL

2010-01-01T20:49:00.005-05:00

If you're happy and you know it.

2009-12-18T19:20:00.002-05:00

APP State off to Montana!

2009-12-06T10:05:00.001-05:00

Appalachian Mountaineers beat Richmond 35-31!

2009-11-19T08:40:00.004-05:00

Sweet 16

2009-11-16T20:47:00.007-05:00

Tomorrow Jake will be 16 monthes old. It seems like yesterday I was reading the Gerber info booklet I got when he was born about the first 16 weeks of his life. Now he is 16 monthes.

Jake now says the following:

"my, paci" referring to his pacifer which he loves

"mine" everything is mine or his. Everything.

"no" He says NO to everything, while shaking his head, even if he is eating something he loves, if you ask him if he likes it he says no.

"go" he yells this everytime he watches football. Probably gets it from his mom.

"cracker"

"Bailey"

"bub-bye" is a favorite saying, and he does says "night, night" when prompted

"cheese" for pictures

He loves sports and balls. He loves dog food, or trying to eat Bailey's food. He loves to dance.

He starting to want to do things by himself, he loves the vaccum or hairdryer and makes the "vrroommm" sound instead of saying the word. He loves to brush his teeth and he loves to clean using the swifer, a broom. He picks up trash off the floor and puts stuff in the trash can. He can follow simple instructions.

He eats just about anything. Doesn't really like peas, or at least he throws them up. He loves his popper and pushing things around the house.

He likes to try to help. He loves anything electronic and pretends to talk on our cell phones.

He gets frustrated easily and hits when he is tired or isn't getting his way.

He still doesn't sleep through the night, but every once in a while he suprises us.

He is a very outgoing kid.

These are just a few pictures from our latest family photos, he was probabley just over 15 months. Here is a video of Jake pushing a small rolling suitcase, I think he thinks its like a vaccum.

Cutest little boy. EVER.:)

Please Vote!

2009-10-11T19:49:00.001-04:00

Just for fun I put Jake in the Gap Casting Call contest:

http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/lnipaver/987947217/

The Lawnmower

2009-10-07T20:40:00.003-04:00

The Lawnmower is one of Jake's favorite toys. Too bad tonight he bit the dust and fell on his face on the driveway, the last picture was me trying to get a picture of the bump on his forehead.

The Swiffer

2009-09-30T20:17:00.001-04:00

14 and 1/2 months

2009-09-28T21:50:00.004-04:00

Here is an older picture I found of Jake drinking out of a Capri Sun, the rest were taken this past weekend before the App Football game.

more photos

2009-09-06T09:22:00.006-04:00

Pictures from Blowing Rock with my Parents - Jake 13 1/2months

Fan Fest- App State

Jake eating Spaghetti

29th Birthday dinner with close girlfriend's at the Cheesecake Factory

Cathing up

2009-09-06T09:02:00.002-04:00

Photos from Jake's birthday and other random things.

1st Birthday

2009-07-22T22:35:00.004-04:00

I will post more pictures later of Jake's 1st birthday but wanted to record that today at his 1 yr old check up he was 20 pounds, 15 ounces (25%) and the 75% for height or 30.75 inches

Oh so close 1 year old and have a new camera

2009-07-11T23:06:00.018-04:00

We were out a lot yesterday taking pictures throughout the day. Jake got a haircut, we ran errands to Marshalls and Target and spent some time planning things out at the new house! We got a new camera so I was taking lots of new pictures trying it out. We also put him in his new front facing carseat starting this week.

Fourth of July and golf clubs

2009-07-05T20:53:00.004-04:00

Jake insisted on bringing the golf club into the bath tub tonight. There is also a picture from when we went to lunch at Canyons on the 4th of July and the skunk in our yard where we are renting.

More Jake Walking

2009-07-01T20:25:00.002-04:00

Jake walking

2009-06-29T20:17:00.003-04:00

We finally got Jake to take some steps on his own..... All it took was golf clubs.

11 months old!

2009-06-17T20:43:00.004-04:00

Jake is 11months old today. Things that he has accomplished in the last month:

Crawling up the stairs

First word: dog

Jake loves Bailey and loves trying to pet her a lot

Still in #3 diapers

can escape through the baricade in the living room

Jake loves crackers and mandarin oranges still eats a lot of mashed potatoes

He's personality seems to be that he is cautious but outgoing

when he gets frustrated he shakes his hands in the air

We are excited to move into our first house next month.

Lowes and the Brown Family Yard Sale

2009-06-13T21:25:00.004-04:00

We went to Josh's best friend's Family Yard Sale in Beaver Dam. It was lots of fun and I grabbed some shoes for Jake and a kids balance beam for work:) Then we went to Lowes to look for a refrigerator for our new house and looked at other things we would like to put into our house.

one more photo

2009-06-13T09:13:00.000-04:00

Applebees, almost 11 months old

2009-06-12T23:04:00.005-04:00

10 1/2 months old

2009-05-31T18:11:00.004-04:00

10 months, 1 week

2009-05-24T10:36:00.004-04:00

Like Father, Like Son

2009-05-19T18:54:00.004-04:00

10 months old and house hunting

2009-05-17T10:45:00.003-04:00

So today its raining but because I finally got a job as Membership Director at the Corpening Memorial YMCA in Marion, NC we can start looking for our first house! I am excited and have already got a favorite, so we will see how it goes today. But Jake is 10 months old! Not too much has changed since the 9 month mark. Jake took a very small baby step yesterday but I can't get him to do it again. He stands by himself for a very long time but then sits down if he can't grab on to anything. He is afraid to take the first step.

He likes cruising around furniture and can crawl very fast. They call him their escape artist at daycare. He can clap his hands and talks a lot and sometimes points his finger in the air as he talks. He loves his pacifer and tries to put in our mouthes too:) He still doesn't sleep through the night but we have been out of town a lot and he has been sick for the last month and has two eye teeth coming in so I am hoping it will start getting better soon. Jake loves putting everything in his mouth still, the cell phone, the remote control, etc. His seperation anxiety kicks in as he now cries when Josh dropshim off at daycare.

His favorite foods are probably sweet potatoes and bananas but he eats a good bit of table food these days. Two more months and we can give him regular milk! He wears size 3 diapers still and is in 9 month clothes or smaller 12 month old clothes. Here are some pics I took this morning.

Watercolor Beach 09

2009-05-12T08:50:00.011-04:00

Pictures from our trip to the beach house inWatercolor Beach and dinner in Alys Beach and the Red Bar.

Trip to Tennessee and other stuff....almost 10 months

2009-05-05T09:22:00.005-04:00

A Beautiful Saturday in Boone

2009-04-25T17:05:00.003-04:00

Easter week 2009

2009-04-20T09:22:00.010-04:00

This easter week we spent in SC, GA and Chicago visiting family. Jake turned 9 months and has learned the following things in the last month: how to pull up, crawling, standing on his own for a about 10-20 seconds, clapping his hands, he also looks to be getting more teeth and got his first hair cut.Here are some pics from the past week.

Jake's Easter Photos, almost 9 monthes old

2009-04-11T21:33:00.003-04:00

So I decided that I wanted to finally get some good pics of Jake done and we took him to Sears portait studio, he wasn't scared of the Easter Bunny, just kind of wondered who was holding him.

Jake can also stand by himself for about 20 seconds at a time.

Jake's poor nose

2009-04-10T10:56:00.003-04:00

jake's poor nose from his cold....the nurse said he was a "such a pretty baby"even with the messed up nose :)

Snow Day

2009-04-07T09:49:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pictures from the first time jake has ever seen snow.