Catching up with Jacob

It seems that it has been awhile since I did a blog on Jacob sharing about what he is up to these days. We are having such a good time with him at this stage. We laugh so much in this house, it's great! He had his 15-month appointment this past week and he is still around 50% in weight and 79% in height. His growth is apparent when we see him able to reach things that he couldn't just a couple of weeks ago. We need to do some additional babyproofing of door knobs and top drawers now. He officially joins the toddler room at daycare tomorrow, although he has spent a lot of time in there over the last few weeks getting acclimated to it. He has picked up so many new things too since being in there, some good, some bad!

Last weekend I did a switch-out of all of his toys. He was getting bored with what was in our family room. I pulled out some toys that he got for Christmas that he hasn't played with yet and put some away in the closet. I also switched toys out that were in his playroom with what is in our family room so it all seemed new to him. So far, it's working. I'm trying to think ahead for when the baby comes on how to keep him happy with all the change. We're ordering him a chair that he desparately needs and may get him a new toy so he has something to focus on.

Here is a rundown of some changes we have seen in him lately:

*Climbing - he is now trying to get on our furniture and has learned that moving a toy over to use as a step stool helps him up easier

*Learning to use utensils while eating

*Talking a lot more. He babbles all the time, but now several words are recognizable and he uses them frequently (car, doggie, momma, dadda, milk, bye-bye, hello, ball).

*Screaming, and I mean the happy, glass-shattering kind!

*Taking one longer nap in early afternoon

*Learning to go down the stairs (did it without any help the other day)

*Has his first official chore - opening Rascal's crate for us in the mornings after we ask him to

*Is learning body parts and pulls up his shirt and pats his belly when asked

*Is getting his second haircut tonight because his hair is shaggy again :(

*Has begun throwing mini-temper tantrums. We have to watch him because he arches his back and throws himself backwards. He did this on the driveway the other night because I didn't want him touching the dirty license plate on my car. I caught him before he hit the concrete, thank goodness.

*Still only has 6 teeth, but several are ready to erupt, poor guy!


I also realized that I haven't taken many pictures since Christmas, so I have been camera-happy the last two weekends trying to play catch-up. Enjoy!!!


Using a spoon by himself. Also a good illustration of how messy some of his meals get!!

Falling asleep on the floor (a first) after a fun shopping trip with Dad

Playing with his new piano (actually one from Christmas that we've saved until now

Posing for the camera

Showing his 6 teeth


Looking out the window with Rascal

Playing with his "new" farm (only $2 at a garage sale!)

Aftermath of leaving him alone in his playroom for a few minutes

Standing on his ride-on toy (aka step stool)

Playing the hand-game with Dad

Chillin' in Rascal's crate

Talking on his phone (his favorite these days)

Delivery Date Set!

I had my 32-week appointment today and Dan joined me since I was having an ultrasound done. The baby looks great, but we were disappointed at how short a time the doctor spent looking her over. My blood pressure was pretty high during the appointment which caused the doctor some concern along with the fact that my Braxton Hicks contractions are starting to increase. My blood pressure went down some after lying down, which is somewhat comforting I guess. I'm hoping that my stress level from work today contributed to the reading, but now I have weekly appointments scheduled to keep a closer eye on it. He also told me to create my own periods of rest when I feel contractions or feel like my blood pressure is high. I was told this weeks ago as well and haven't followed through on it, but probably need to take it more seriously now. I feel like he is on the edge of putting me on bed rest, but is trying to give me a chance to manage it on my own before he lays down the law. Let's hope for the best :)

I asked him to give us a date on when the c-section would be. Right now it is set for April 6th, but that is only if all goes well. I have a ways to go and know that things don't always go as planned!!

Dinner Trials

One thing I vowed when we decided to start a family is to eat as a family. Easier said than done. I grew up doing this and it was a nice way to connect with everyone after a day of school and work and I want our family do continue this tradition. Now that Jacob is eating like a big boy, I am desparately trying to work on bettering our dinner routine. Most of you know that Dan and I have always eaten late dinners, anywhere between 7:30 and 8:30. Here's the problem.... Jacob is ready for dinner by 6:00, I don't get home with him until 5:30, Dan works out until 7:00 most nights. What I've been doing is feeding him leftovers or something else quick (yet healthy) when we get home at night and then Dan and I wait until Jacob is asleep before we enjoy our own quiet meal together uninterrupted. This has to change and I'm not sure how!! I'm contemplating changing my hours at work so I get home earlier and am able to make a nice meal for everyone by 6:00 (and really also spend more time with Jacob and soon-to-be #2). Just have to figure out how to fit in workout routines that typically occur right after work.

I've been trying to also cook more meals from scratch. I'm not much of a cook or really desire to be, but I don't want Jacob growing up on boxed dinners or things that always come out of the freezer. I've been trying new things on the weekends when I have more time to dabble in new recipes. We used our crockpot for the first time recently and that's another option for making a nicer meal on a tight schedule.

I would love to hear from all of you cooks out there on recipes you like and ones that make sense for a working mom!! Also any tips on how to make this family-style meal a reality would be much appreciated. I have made this my new year's resolution for 2009!!!!!

Just a Nice Day

Today has been one of those days where it has just been perfect. I love those mornings when you wake up on your own without an alarm and feel refreshed. Dan and Jacob slept in for an extra hour after I got up so I got a lot done and enjoyed a peaceful house, which I love. After a breakfast together as a family, I took Rascal to the vet and Dan took Jacob with him grocery shopping. The weather here today was GORGEOUS!! After a couple of months of brutal temps and continuous ice and snow, it got into the lower 60's. All of the snow has now melted and people were taking advantage of the great weather and spending time outside. Since it was nice enough not to freeze outside, Dan was able to finally swith Jacob's car seats to forward-facing which is just awesome for Jacob. While Dan did that, I let Jacob walk up and down our sidewalk a few times before lunch to burn some energy. After lunch Jacob took a nap and Dan and I got caught up on our DVR backlog and I got to read.... outside! When Jacob got up we played inside for awhile and then took him outside in the backyard (after Dan cleaned up Rascal's week's worth of messes) and let him swing and go down our slide. He loved cruising around the backyard! We got to talk to a couple of our neighbors which I really miss during the winter and then we went out to dinner.

All-in-all today was great and I loved being able to spend time with Jacob without the worry of what I wasn't getting done. He seemed extra happy today and I really look forward to more days like this when we can spend time outside and let him play. It's amazing how sunshine and warm temperatures can literally brighten your mood! It reminds me how much God has really blessed me.

You Should See the Other Guy!!

I got a call from the daycare director last Thursday while at work and my first thought was, crap Jacob is sick with the stomach flu. This has been my fear knowing that it's going around. I can deal with him having colds, but dealing with the flu is a whole other story. YUCK!! The director probably thought I was callous when I was relieved to hear he just had one of his many accidents. He was reading at the toddler table and fell out of his chair. He's not used to not having arm rests on his chair and toppled over. Poor guy had a large bump and bruise on his forehead and scratch on his face. Tough little man that he is, he didn't cry much afterwards and bounced right back up. He slept hard a lot that night, but that is probably due to the fact that he spent his first whole day in the toddler room and just wore himself out. I did wake him up every few hours to make sure he wasn't unconscious, but he was fine, thank goodness! Here are some pics....

You can see the bump on his forehead although it the picture doesn't do it justice

Side view

30 Weeks

Well, today marks the 30-week mark in my pregnancy! Things are going along okay so far, although there have been some minor bumps along the way. You can see from the picture that I am getting pretty big. I'm gaining weight at about the same pace as I did when I was pregnant with Jacob though. I told myself that I wouldn't stress out about the weight (not that I'm eating any less!) but it's still hard. I had a fairly easy time losing it the first time (bless breastfeeding) and am hoping the second time is just as smooth. It will help that she'll be born in decent weather so I can take more walks in the beginning and hopefully begin running again sometime in May.

It's strange this time around because at this point in the first pregnancy I was already on bed rest. The exhaustion is hitting me pretty hard right now, which is related to chasing a 14-month old around and not being able to lay around 24-7 like last time. I'm reminded at how big I am when I have to get up off of the floor or when I walk, yeah the waddle shows itself sometimes already! I've been getting some headaches lately and with my history of pre-eclamsia, the doctor is keeping a close eye on me. I'm praying I can escape this problem again because it was a big pain last time and I would love to carry her to at least 38 weeks and not have to go on bed rest again. As a precaution my doctor has ordered that I rest after work and on the weekends. I'd say that I'm "moderately" following his instructions, but will definitely follow orders better if I am officially told to be on bed rest.

Everyone is asking what her name is going to be. We still don't have one picked out although we have a few in mind. However, as we did with Jacob, we're not announcing it until she is born. So if you haven't asked yet, you can save your breath!!

I'll end this with a cute story. Jacob has learned to pat his belly when we ask him where his is. A few times he has come up to me and pointed to mine, can't really miss it these days! Anyways, the other night he kept pulling my shirt up and poked repeatedly at my belly button like it is an on/off button like the TV. He would then put my shirt back down and then lift it back up and repeat. It was cute at the time, but my fear is him doing this to the teachers at daycare! How mortifying would that be?!!