Jacob at 3 Years

It's hard to believe that Jacob turned three a few weeks ago. He is growing up really fast. He is such a great boy, fiercely independent, but a fun personality.

Here are some tidbits about Jacob:

*He is ALL boy! He is very active and will jump off anything that has height. We caught him jumping off the stairs, four or five steps up the other day!

*He is a big fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Dora. These shows are literally his bribe to do anything we need him to do. We've had to limit him to two episodes at once because he would probably sit in front of the TV all day.

*He is also a big fan of games. He currently has Candyland and Memory and could play them all day if we let him!

*He talks like an adult at times and says the craziest stuff sometimes!

*He is very strong headed and independent and we are working hard at not letting him run all over us sometimes. We've stepped up our attention to things and are working on being more consistent with things and holding him to threats if we reach "3". We are also learning to pick our battles.

*He is starting to pretend and practice his imagination. He has an imaginary house and airplane that he talks about. He also sees Swiper (from Dora) all over the place. I think it's great that he is going through this stage because it's important to his development.

*Potty training has not progressed passed it's point months ago. He refused to poop in the potty and never tells us when he needs to pee. We've tried underwear and he doesn't care when he poops in them, so back to pull-ups we went. The laundry isn't worth it to me! I keep waiting for that moment people say he will have when he gets it. I'm really not stressing too much about it, but as he gets older, it gets harder to wait on.

*He has been starting to skip his weekend naps, which is frustrating at times, but a reminder that he is growing up. It does make it easier to plan things for the afternoons though.

Bailey at 20 Months

Well, I started this blog two months ago and never finished it. Bailey is really changing fast and cracks us up all the time. Here are a few things about Bailey at this age:

*She's becoming independent and wants to do things herself or her way now.

*She is a feisty little thing and can express pretty strongly what she wants.

*Her vocabulary grows each day and she has been phrasing for a couple of months now.

*She can now sing along to parts of songs.

*She still loves to dance to any music. The video below is a fun one of her dancing to some of the singing toys the kids have.

*She's growing like a weed and is outgrowing her clothes all of a sudden. At her 18 month check-up, she had the following stats ---- Height - 33 1/2 inches (73 percentile) and weight - 22 lbs 16 oz (16 percent)

*She now has 10 teeth, but is still missing her outer four bottom teeth for some reason. I'm worried she will never get these!!

*Her eating is pretty awful at times. Still no vegetables and could live on bananas, bread, potatoes, and yogurt. She's a carb-girl!!

*She has been expressing interest in potty training and actually goes about 50 percent of the time when we put her on it.

*She is starting to exhibit the desire for routines just like her brother. She has to read the same five books before bedtime AND in a particular order.

*She's discovering her surroundings and loves to point things out now as we drive, like buses, Christmas lights, and dogs. All in all, she is a lot of fun to be around and she still loves to snuggle, which is a bonus for me!!

November's Highs and Lows

Phew!! I'm glad today's the end of November. It was a whirlwind of a month that was very busy with lots of ups and downs. I love my life, I really do, but sometimes normalcy is a good thing. I'm hoping that December goes as planned and is fairly easy-riding, despite Christmas festivities (which I have a head start on and believe to be in control of!). Look for future blogs on several of the events below :)

Highs:

*Seeing a lot of my mom's side of the family for the first time in years, although the circumstances were less than ideal (see below).

*Throwing my Dad (along with Sharla and Debbie) a surprise 60th birthday party.

*Dan and I celebrated our 10th anniversary.

*Celebrated Jacob's 3rd birthday with our own family party on his birthday and another family party with my Dad's side of the family a few days later. We also celebrated briefly on Thanksgiving with Dan's family.

*Celebrated my grandparent's 65th anniversary with lots of family and their friends. We surprised them with two separate gifts. The first was a quilt made by their five great-grandchildren. Each decorated two squares and my cousin, Shannon sewed it all together. The other was a scrapbook from their 10 grandchildren. Each grandchild put together a couple of pages and then Sharla and I assembled it. Both gifts turned out perfect!

*Celebrating Thanksgiving twice, once with my family and the other with most of Dan's family, including all of his siblings and their families. It was a great time and it was fun to watch all eight grandchildren play together.

*Jumped into the Christmas seeason with getting all of the Christmas decorations up, most of the presents bought, Christmas celebration with Dan's family on Thanksgiving, Christmas cards ordered, and a visit to our local Festival of Trees.

*Got the house cleaned and in order after being gone so much, which makes me feel like a new person. When things aren't clean and are disorganized, my mind goes into a frenzy!!


Now onto the lows:

*My grandma (mom's mom) died at the end of October and her funeral was the first. This brought up a lot of suppressed emotions of losing my mom eight years ago.

*We had to put Rascal down on the 20th. Sad, sad day. He began having back pain at the beginning of November and he ended up rupturing at least one disc in his back. He was in and out of the vet's animal clinic for two weeks. Unlike his other back episodes, he would take one step forward and then two steps back. The vet discovered that he was also suffering from liver disease, which was causing his abdomen to bloat and cause additional pain. On the 19th, he seemed to be improving and actually took a stroll around the yard. A few hours later, his back legs became about 90 percent paralyzed and he lost the ability to go to the bathroom. We knew this was his time and decided to end his suffering. It was a rough day, which was the same day we celebrated Jacob's birthday and my grandparent's 65th.

*Illnesses - Bailey and I got the stomach flu at the beginning of November, all four of us got bad colds the second week of November, Bailey's cold turned into a sinus infection and she was home with a fever for three days, and Bailey developed an allergic reaction Thanksgiving weekend and broke out into hives (likely from her diapers).


Here's to December being an easier month!!

Fall 2010 Photo Shoot

At the end of October, we went to Miller Park for a family photo shoot to capture Jacob at 3, Bailey 1 1/2, and a family picture that we could use for our Christmas card and in frames. I absolutely love going through other people's photos on Facebook and getting ideas. I'm still anti-studio at the moment and really like the outdoor shots instead. My dad and Debbie came up to lend a hand so someone could take our family picture and help with the kids. It was great having them there and we all had a good time, despite the cool temperatures (which is Bailey has a very pink nose in the pictures!).

There is a special picture for my dad in the midst of the album, so happy hunting!!

Fall 2010 Photoshoot

Dad's Surprise 60th Party

We threw my Dad a surprise party for his 60th birthday. It was a lot of fun to plan and have for him. Both our and Debbie's family came and it was a great group. Sharla and I had a great time preparing for it and decorating their house. Below is a photo album of the party and several shots of the decorations.

Dad's 60th Birthday Party

Halloween Events

The kids had a great Halloween this year. It started off with their parade and parties at daycare and then pumpkin carving and trick or treating coupled with a fun visit from Aunt Sharla.

Halloween 2010

ISU Homecoming

We enjoyed a fun ISU Homecoming parade with my friend Amanda and LOTS and LOTS of candy. The next day Amanda and I teamed up for the Great Urban Race held here in town. I said this last year, but if you ever have an opportunity to do this race here or in a city near you, DO IT!! You need to be in decent shape because it requires a lot of running around, but it is sooooo much fun!! I think we ran around 10 miles, but it was a blast.

Parade

Amanda with the kids

Stanley Cup made an appearance. I'm not a hockey fan, but I thought it was pretty cool!

Picking up candy

Candy loot


Amanda and I before the race in our costumes