2 years old!!

Jacob had a great birthday this past weekend. He got lots of cool toys, got to hang out with almost all of his family and got to eat some cake. Thank you to everyone that made it over to our house for his birthday party. We only invited family this year, but that was still 30 people! Some ended up not making it (my brother and his family...the twins were sick, and some cousins could not come), but we had plenty of people and plenty of fun.

Before I share all of the pictures from this weekend, let me share some stats. We had his 2 year check up this morning. Since he is talking plenty (boy is he ever), there is nothing that they are concerned about any more! His weight, height and head circumference are all still 97-98%...so, consistent growth!

Here are the stats:
Weight: 35.75 pounds (98%)
Height: 37.5 inches (98%)
Head circumference: 20.25 inches (97%)

He did get one shot and cried for a second...but literally just a second. :o)

His birthday weekend started with Carrie, Nick and their 4 kids coming over on Friday night to spend the night. Jacob LOVED all of the attention from the cousins since one of them was pulling him to play with them constantly. Caitlyn even read a few books to him, which he loved.



The next morning, he had already eaten his breakfast when the big kids finally woke up. However, when they sat down for breakfast, Logan insisted that Jacob join them. So, he got a few extra Lucky Charms and a seat with the big kids.






Once it was time for the birthday party to start, he was already in birthday outfit #1 which Grandma made him. His cake was beautiful again, mainly because I used the same talented lady!









More cousins!! Jacob was not too happy about taking these pictures. I think he wanted cake.



He loves Yo Gabba Gabba so much...and especially his Brobee doll.



His other favorite thing...when people sing Happy Birthday TO HIM!!












We actually practiced blowing out his candles all week. He did OK and blew out one, and I helped with the other. The only problem was that he leaned so far forward to blow out the candle that his chin dipped into the cake.



So silly...



Now, just some party pics. First, is Grandma. I'm only putting this picture because I know she would not want it on here. Plus, she gives me a hard time for not blogging...so, here ya go!



Next, are the adults (my family) trying to figure out the toy made for a 2 year old!



Sweet baby Molly enjoying a snack.


And her big sister Makinley.



And last, some onlookers waiting for cake.


Laura always does a great job (or tries) to get a picture of her kids with all of their visitors. So, I wanted to get a picture of Jacob with each family before they left. This didn't go over very well, and I quit before getting everyone. Here is what we were able to get. Just know, I deleted about 100 pictures of Jacob crying...

This is the best one of Carrie, Nick and their kids with Jacob.


But we also tried Randy holding Jacob and making it look like Carrie was. This was a fail too.


M and Pa and all of their grandkids. With one REFUSING to cooperate.


This is the best one we got of them...not terrible!


And, when it came time for Laura, Scott and the girls to leave, it really wasn't working.


But I had the bright idea to push him in the office chair (which he likes) and then squat down behind the chair. It worked!



When it was time for cousins to leave, they didn't get out of the house without a kiss from Jacob.






And, one last gift from his M and Pa was a sailor hat they found in New Orleans. He still wears it every single day. This is also outfit #2 for those of you counting!



We had a great time and are so blessed to have such a wonderful, big family!

Now, I'm off to pack (maybe) so don't expect another blog for a while. Sorry, Grandma!!

~ Nancy

Moving soon!

Simply because Randy and I don't have enough going on in our lives with a new baby on the way, a very active 2 year old (ALMOST!!), a new associate vet starting at Lakeside and a renovation/addition starting soon at Lakeside, we found a new house that we both fell in love with an put an offer on. And, they accepted our offer! So, somewhere around August 13th, we should be in a new house. The only problem with this plan is that our current house is not on the market or anywhere near show ready! This should be fun...

We weren't really looking for a house but we were kinda browsing for a house. I hate to say we weren't looking because we were attending Open Houses. We really wanted a bigger house, a bigger yard (enough for a pool and some space for the kids/dog to play) and at a decent price. We found all of that with this new place. And, both sets of parents have seen it and put their stamps of approval on it. Although, they could actually hate it because I doubt they are going to tell us that!

So, it's time for picture overload. You don't have to look through them all, this is for documentation purposes for us! We love to go back and look at the pictures from when we were building this house (and they are easiest to find on the blog).

Front of house (with mom buckling Jacob in the car).



Kitchen from living room.



Closer view



Dining room (which will still be a playroom for a few years). Front door is directly to my right.



Butler's pantry. Dining room (again) on the right. To the left goes past the utility room and into the kitchen.



Living room. Built ins are not finished being painted.


Study with a beautiful ceiling!





Cute little boy showing us what it looks like with the doors closed.


This is just a few feet in the door, looking up.


Half bath downstairs


Master bedroom


Master bath






Guest room, upstairs



Guest closet, LOTS of storage for me!!



Full bath inside the guest room






Standing in the game room, upstairs, looking into the media room. There is a non enclosed area before the media room that will probably have Randy's computer.



Media room



Baby #2's bedroom



Some of the jack and jill bath that Jacob and #2 will share



Jacob's new bedroom



Game room



Part of the back yard. It is oddly shaped but will hold a pool by next summer (fingers crossed).


And, last, Jacob showing off the breakfast area.


As most of you know, Jacob turns 2 on Saturday. I hope to blog again after the party!

~ Nancy

Playing at the mall

Jacob and I needed to hit up a real mall (Katy Mills is an outlet mall) yesterday, so we went to West Oaks Mall. It's terrible and should probably be closed down. However, the kids play area was definitely geared towards Jacob's age, so he loved it!

Here he is climbing in the tree



And then sliding down the slide



And, riding a horse



But then, the funniest thing ever happened. One of the older girls there went to lay down on the ground and put her legs up on one of the climbing structures. Jacob just stared at her and you could tell that he was trying to figure out what she was doing. Since he couldn't quite figure it out, he decided to lay down there with her for a little while.



It was all fun and games until Jacob decided to leave the play area, bare foot, with his sippy cup, looking back at me and laughing. The more serious I got and said "Stop" and "Freeze", the faster he walked. So, I had to chase him which he loved. Then, our playing was over!!

~Nancy

New toys needed

Would someone PLEASE buy this kid some toys? He doesn't have any so he has to play with bags full of dirty diapers. Poor baby...









~Nancy

Happy 23 months!

I know everyone says this, but I truly cannot believe that my BABY is almost 2 years old. Wow is all I can say!

I'll admit, we cheated a little on his 23 month picture. We did an impromptu photo shoot Wednesday night in our backyard for a good picture in his Big Brother t-shirt. After taking nearly 400 photos (no joke) we had about 10 that we really liked. I then realized that the very next day (Thursday), we were going to have to do his 23 month photo shoot (any time we take lots of pictures of him, we call it a photo shoot). Since last month we had to photo shop the sticker on him, why not do it again this month? And we'll probably do it again next month unless he begins to enjoy sitting still, with a sticker on him and smiling (not gonna happen). So, it's not in the usual spot on the couch, but oh well!



At 23 months...

-He is truly saying new words almost every day. I'm amazed, at times, how often he'll repeat the last word of a sentence that we say or that he hears on tv. It also makes you very conscience of what word you end sentences with!!

-He loves books now and can pick out some things in his favorite My First Words book. He calls the ice cream cone a "Yummy", the crib a "Night night", the phone a "Hello" and all dark colored round things a "Yo yo". (The actual yo yo on the toys page is dark and round so he learned it there). There are lots of things that he identifies correctly, but those are boring to list!

-He is still using sign language for more, please and all done. He is learning sign language for colors and can do yellow (sounds a lot like yo yo when he says it out loud) and purple. He can't get either sign exactly right, but you can tell what he's trying to do. The best is that I tried teaching him thank you (hand at your chin and then move your hand out) and he blows kisses instead. I don't have the heart to correct him because it's so. darn. cute.

-I just re-read his 22 month post and there isn't a lot more that has changed. He's getting better every day with a fork and drinking out of a cup. He still dances all day long. He is still in swim lessons and does OK until you try to make him float on his back.

That's all I can think of right now. Hopefully, I hit all of the major things!!

~Nancy