SO much going on!

Well, Let's see since my last post a ton has happened! There was Jacob starting to walk like crazy in his walker.  Wow does he love it! He zips around the downstairs and chases the dogs, pulls the towels off the oven handle, tries to "help" empty the dishwasher, examines the food in the fridge, and touches the books on the bookshelves.
Then there was Uncle Frank, my brother, came to visit. He came during Mother's Day weekend so that was really fun!  For Mother's Day Frank, our mom, and I went to some botanical gardens where we saw and played with Venus Fly Traps (totally creepy!).  And then we met Chad, Jake, and our dad for brunch.

I put Jake in the laundry basket as I unloaded the dryer! He loved it.

Jacob had his first experience in a pool. My best friend, Sara, has a pool at her condo. So Jake and I headed over and he was unsure about the whole experience...I think the water was a bit chilly for him. However, he still had fun just hanging out pool side!

Jake and Morgan, our crazy dog, got more acquainted...

And now we are packing up to head for a 10 day trip to Moses Lake, Washington to visit Chad's family! We leave Saturday.

I have put a link on the left side of this blog at the top for our photo album. There are a ton of pictures there so check it out!

(one last thing...So You Think You Can Dance has begun....I'm so excited!!!)

Cousin Heidi's Craft Thing!

Every month Heidi, Chad's cousin, has a thing on her blog where she challenges her readers to a craft using a certain item. I have been wanting to join in, but with a baby it hasn't happened until now. I just happened to already have something for this month's theme "ribbons".

In decorating Jacob's room, I realized that I had nothing to go above the changing table. And I also realized how sad it was going to be to box up the clothes that he grows out of. So I took some ribbon, 2 nails, and some clothes pins and put this above the changing table.
The great thing is that I can change which clothes are up there. So around the holidays I can pull out any of his holiday outfits and hang them up. It's fun to be able to look at how little he was once and to be able to "redecorate" a little.

Sick!

We are all sick. Well, not the dog, she is her normal crazy self. Jake had his 6 month doctor appointment last Tuesday. He weighed 19 pounds (75%) and was 26.5 (55%) inches long. He is doing all the things developmentally he should be doing. Then on Thursday last week he woke up with a runny nose, not too bad though. Then on Saturday, Chad and I started getting sore throats. Now we all have full blown colds. No fevers, so that is good. Hopefully, we won't be having to deal with this for too long. Jake is pretty much acting normal, just a little more clingy and more snotty! This is Jake's first cold.

Please pray that we all get better soon!

Birthdays and other things

Well, I turned 27 last Wednesday. I was thinking about the previous year April 8th 2008-April 8th 2009....here you go...(not really an order)

• went to Asheville, NC with Chad for our 4 year anniverisary
• went Oregon in June for Travis and Eva-Lynn's wedding
• quit my job in September, waited around 5 weeks to go into labor, watched the whole series of Gilmore Girls in that 5 weeks
  
• painted my pregnant belly like a Jack-O-Lantern
  
• Painted paintings for Jake's room
• went through 63ish hours of labor to get our wonderful baby out!
• became a mom
• realized that when you have God on your side you can love your kid through anything
• gone out in public with a screaming baby
• gone out in public wearing my newest perfume...eau du stay at home mommy (any combo of: spit up, pee, poop, drool, and wet dog oh and formula or breast milk)
  
• added baby food to that perfume
• Mastered getting a shower as a mom (if you are a mom, you know how hard that can be!)
  
• cried tears of joy, frustration, sadness, and hormones
• laughed a lot, but not nearly enough
  
• learned that you can never be too prepared
• had lots of fun with lots family
• traveled to Pittsburgh to introduce Jake to my family
• and realized the life is good with Jesus no matter what.

Now, onto a different note...some pictures...
We took this picture for Chad's mom's birthday (the same day as mine!) and I made the party hat for Jake!

Our Easter Eggs

We took these pictures on Easter/Chad's birthday:


This is Jake in his new highchair, I think this highchair is great. It isn't pictured with the tray on. But it just straps onto a chair and has all the features that a big highchair has and it's only $55 as opposed to $100+.

And for those of you who are missing our dog, Morgan, she is doing well and is still the unique dog that so many of us have grown to love!

I've also been making baby food. Here is a list of what I've made Jake so far...peaches, apples, carrots, pears, and peas. The next foods I plan on trying out on him are avocados and bananas and maybe sweet potatoes!

I am thinking of revamping my blog again! Only this time I'm asking for suggestions! So if you have a suggestion for a blog title let me know!!!

My birthday

I had a good day today:

Birthday lunch with dad at City Tavern...awesome tortellini!

Jake rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time today while he was "napping". He pretty much was falling asleep and wiggling and rolled over and then did it again. He ended up being totally awake and excited about his new trick. He also reached up and grabbed the top of the crib side...so we lowered the mattress. Now we have to crawl in and out of his room so he doeasn't see us!

Then a yummy birthday dinner with mom, dad, Chad, and Jake.

And of course an amazing desert that I will probably have more of for breakfast!

Goodnight.

Just a few things...

Here are just some random things...

• Jake turned 5 months old on Saturday!
  
• I have re-awakened my love for video games...Chad said the other day "why don't you play zelda and I'll hold Jake." I jumped on the chance and I had a blast!
• Jake is a real boy! He loves his "exersaucer" and his favorite thing is to bang one of his plastic toys on everything. He also loves to hit anything. He has a soft cloth book that makes crinkle noises and if he were strong enough I'm convinced he would rip it to shreds. I can see him now building tall block towers just to knock them over and watch the destruction!
• We fed Jake peaches for the first time and he absolutely loves them.
  
• I am trying to make homemade baby food and the peaches worked out great...thanks to the Magic Bullet!
• Morgan has had 2 baths in the past week. Once because she ran through the woods and in the creek...came back covered in mud. And again because she ran into the woods...came back covered in poop!
• Jake has decided that he likes to hear himself screech, squeal, scream, and make any noise he can.
• Jake loves my cell phone and if it wasn't a solid phone, he would have broken it by now!
• We are waiting on the edge of our seats for Jake's first tooth to break through...he's not enjoying it.
• We thought we were going to have a hard time breaking Jake of being rocked to sleep, but he has broken himself of it. He just doesn't like it anymore and would rather be laid down. He sometimes cries for a few minutes, but soon falls asleep.
• I am almost 27. April 8th is the big day. 1 year closer to 30...wow.
• Jake is almost sitting up by himself...he can for very short periods of time.

I think that's all for now! I'd love to hear about how your lives are going so leave a comment or email if you know my address!

The past few weeks!

Nana (Chad's mom) and Aunt Angie (Chad's sister) were here to visit for a week. We had a great time together! It was so fun for Jake to get to know them more and vice versa. Here are some pictures from that week. We went on walks and played and hung out together it was very relaxing!

Right after Nana and Aunt Angie left, my mom, Jake, and I left for a trip to Pittsburgh, PA and then over to Ohio and back home. It was a lot of driving, but worth it. Jake met his Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Grubbs. He met his Great Uncle Jon, my cousins Josh and Jeremy. And saw Great Aunt Patty and my cousin Beth again. We went over to Ohio and he met his Great Great Aunt Joyce. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Josh, my cousin, and Jake

Aunt Patty and Jake
Jake's St. Patty's Day outfit!

My cousin, Beth and Jake
Uncle Jon and Jake, and Beth

Jake and his Great Grandpa Grubbs
Jake and his Great Grandma Grubbs
Jake and his Great Great Aunt Joyce
We also met Levi, a very important little boy! Levi was basically adopted into our family by Aunt Patty and Uncle Jon. He's not actually adopted, but he spends a lot time with them and we all think of him as part of our family. I wish I had gotten a picture of him with Jake, but Levi was too busy being an active boy to be in a picture!