Michelle inspired me to play in Picasa with some of my pictures. I still haven't sat down to read through my camera's manual to learn more about its features. I'm by no means a photography expert. I have no idea what I'm doing...just playing! :)

I don't know how to just highlight his eyes...that's what I wanted to do with this one. In the original picture, his eyes really stick out.

What a sister

Jacob was mad so Anna started singing him "Twinkle, Twinkle" (he had climbed up into the chair and was sitting there whining). Then she went back to singing and cooking :) She's such a good big sister! (sorry the sound isn't very good...the air thing was running)

Sweet Relief

Whew! Jacob slept so good last night. He gave it up around 8:30 I think and I didn't get him out of bed until 8:30am! He fussed a tiny bit early this morning, but didn't last long. I slept so good...it was heavenly! :) Here's to hoping today goes better than yesterday.

This was after her 20 min. complete and total meltdown...over not winning the trike "race"!!! She threw a complete fit on the front sidewalk. Good grief. Oh, she also had another 20 min. meltdown when we got home yesterday. Gracious.

She had fun "planting flowers" on the front porch.

And this one...to say he was grumpy yesterday is the world's biggest understatement!

Don't let his face fool you. He wasn't happy.

Except at the park. We took a trike ride to the park and Jacob loved climbing around on the playground. But he was about to get run over by some big kids playing tag on the equipment, so I decided we needed to go. He loves his trike, so I didn't figure it would be a problem. WRONG! He threw a major fit when I put him on his trike!!! Of course, some kid had ridden off on Anna's trike, so I had to track that down...while Jacob sat on his trike and screamed. Wonderful. Of course, since it was gorgeous yesterday, the park was full. Hello.

So today can't be any worse, but I'm not sure my sanity will be intact if it's a repeat of yesterday...

Sleep...sweet sleep

The last two days we spent back west with family. My grandma is in the hospital, so we went to see her. And guess, what? I FORGOT MY CAMERA. Again. Good grief. Jacob did not sleep well. The first night (we got there late), he woke up at 5 am and refused to go back to sleep. He wasn't particularly fussy, but still...I do NOT do 5am. The next day, he spent some time with Uncle Terry. I'm not sure who had more fun! :) Jacob got to ride up front in the pickup and see cows and tractors and go to a John Deere store! He slept a bit in the pickup, but never took a nap that afternoon. He was falling asleep at supper and went to bed fairly early last night. He woke up screaming at 11 (just after I'd gotten Anna back to bed for the 3rd time!). I rocked, I walked, I let him play (which he didn't want to do...he'd just stand next to me and whine), I laid down with him, I tried juice, I tried food, I tried everything I could think of for over 2 hours! He would fall asleep for 2 minutes and then jerk awake. I finally just put him in his bed and left. I thought maybe he would quickly cry himself to sleep. Not so. Aunt Cara came to check on things. Binga graciously (even though she was so tired herself) offered to try and get him to sleep. So I went to sleep for a few hours (I hadn't been to bed yet b/c I was working on the computer). She said she finally got him to sleep in her bed with her. Then at 5am or so he was awake crying. I took over and the same thing--he would fall asleep for a tiny bit and then wake up mad. He fell asleep at lunch and slept for about 40 min. in the car on the way to the hospital. By the time we got back home, it was too late to try and get him to take a nap. I don't know if it's his teeth (that he's been working on for over a month), his tummy (still that nasty smell!!), a cold, his ears, his throat.........??? So tonight, I passed out in the recliner while Daddy put him to bed. Jacob wouldn't even rock...just screamed. So he just cried it out and finally fell asleep. At least tonight we can let him scream (I know that sounds mean). I really don't know what his deal is...but I do know that whatever is going on is going to cause him to get in the habit of waking up. We shall see how the night goes!

Anyway, all that to say here's a video of him falling asleep at supper tonight (it's a little long). You might hear Anna say something quite funny... :)

Also, you'll notice that the boy does not stop eating, even though his eyes are hardly ever open. I told you he likes his food!

My Montage 2/24/09

Loving the weather

We've had some really nice weather recently and the kids have LOVED being able to play outside!

Jacob got this cool trike for Christmas from my brother & his family. It's awesome because you can attach a handle and push it around! Every once in a while, Jacob gets a little crazy with the steering (which is a riot to watch!), but all you have to do is tip it up a bit and it's easy to steer yourself. He love-love-loves it!

Their faces are just hilarious here! Anna is racing:) She is really too big for her trike (that my other brother and family got her for the FIRST birthday!) but her little legs go 90 mph racing around on that thing! A friend had her birthday party tonight and she got a new "big girl" bike, so Anna might be persuaded to try one out come summertime. Maybe.

Anna brought supplies :) She was cooking and feeding her baby.

Jacob found a wheel...a really BIG wheel! :)

A couple grunts...I think he was telling me how awesome that great big wheel was.

A future helper for Papa?? He would lean over and peek under the van. It was really cute.

Anna loved the step ladder. She would climb up and pretend. Painting, talking, looking for mysteries (she had to have the lights off too!)...you name it! She's still carrying that big, heavy flashlight around. I think the batteries are about dead!

The Big Reveal

This week Mom and I worked on taking the border down and painting the kitchen. It took so much longer than we expected. But...whew! It is done!! I still have to do more coats on the window seat window--but my kitchen is back together. Which is good since my kitchen is also my dining room, laundry room, scrapbooking corner, sewing room and office!

The before--blue and the border. The problem was not the border Mom & I put up 6 years ago (man, was it really that long ago?!). It was the border that somebody else put up 60 years ago and then painted over at least twice!!!!! It tore the primer off the sheetrock in several places and was just a pain in the neck (figurative and literal!) to get off. Well worth it for the end product though!

The before (and messy!!) laundry area.

The first wall we got done. We ended up doing sections. Mom mostly worked on taking the border down (THANK YOU!!!!!) and I followed behind her and primed/painted. This wasn't completely dry when I took the pic, so that's why you can see some spots at the top.

The office section :) Also houses my mini tea cup collection. This is a pretty true representation of the color--natural light and no flash. I love the color--it's called Delta Sandbar--with the white trim (which you can't see in this picture. ha)



The laundry room. We will eventually replace the cabinet doors (which will be white) or paint the existing cabinets white. I'm glad I painted the shelf white (it's always been the wall color before).

Not a very good picture of the wall color, but my awesome cousin Susan printed off this picture for me and framed it! I LOVE IT!!!!! And a trimmer Aaron used to work with made that cross for us (a preview for Aaron's folks for what theirs looks like--sort of)

I'm so glad it's done and it makes me want to paint the cabinets...NOW! ha It is no fun having a non-working kitchen with kids...or a project mess with kids! It would've taken me twice as long if Mom hadn't been here to help, though.

Piano Man

Mom bought this piano for like $5 when Anna was a baby. Jacob LOVES it. Anna hated it, by the way! It scared her. She played with it a little when she was Jacob's age, but not nearly as much as he does. In fact, he plays it so much that he knows when the little song is about end! He heads back to the piano right before the song ends. Aaron was just saying tonight how much he's changed in the even the last couple weeks. I think it's b/c he's mostly walking all the time and he's starting to make more noise (though still not much!)--and facial expressions, as you can see in the video :)

(there's also a video of him playing with the magnets on the washer and Anna & Jacob playing peek-a-boo)

My Montage 2/19/09

Pictures Anyone?

Well, since I forgot my camera on our trip to Aunt Cara's, here are a few pictures from Valentine's day. We had a lot of fun seeing everyone out west and Anna and Jacob loved playing with the tractors and trains! Grrr...I cannot believe I forgot my camera!!!

Seriously, the boy knows how to relax!

Anna and her wonderfully soft heart pillow! :)

Me and my sweatheart! We went to an awesome Mexican restaurant for supper. Thanks, Binga for babysitting!! (Aaron was just starting to get a nasty head cold...he doesn't always look so dazed!). This was also the 3rd picture take...Binga was having a bit of trouble working the camera! hehe

Binga's Here!!!

Binga's here and she brought Valentine's surprises! :) The kids were so happy to see her (their Mama was too!).

Jacob got an awesome car--the hood and both doors open! And of course...wheels!
Vrroooom!

Anna got a HUGE pillow that is oh-so-soft. She loves it and insisted on sleeping with it tonight.

And she brought flowers:) Anna and Jacob got a beautiful bouquet of pink roses. We had to put one in a separate vase so Anna can carry it around.

And Aaron & I got this gorgeous bouquet of red roses and day lilies.

We're looking forward to playing with Binga this week! We might even paint the kitchen! :)

Mom

The doctors at Mayo didn't see any swelling (yeah, what?!). He said to keep going to her ENT at home and treat it with steroids (since that works to reduce the swelling) and to call him back if things change--such as the steroids not working any more or she has to take larger doses to take care of it). They did do blood work, won't know the results until tomorrow sometime. Basically just to double check things. Don't expect to find anything. Soooo, no news is good news? That's it. We love Binga and can't wait to see her TOMORROW!!!!! :)

It's Jacob

Hi everyone. It's Jacob. I wanted to write today and Mama said I could!

Daddy hasn't learned yet--I'm really fast and I really like to unroll the toilet paper. It's so much fun to watch it spin and pile up on the floor!! I'm glad Daddy forgets...it means I get to have a little fun :) Mama never lets me stay in the bathroom by myself. She's no fun!

I got so excited when Mama fixed the big computer! She said something about Papa always being right and she couldn't believe she missed the disk (what's a disk??). I also really like to get up on the table and sit. Makes me feel like I'm king of the mountain!!!

I had a little bit of wild hair after my nap. I was in a little bit of a wild mood, too! haha

Most of all, I LOVE playing with my sister (most of the time!). She's so funny and I know she loves me because she gives me hugs and kisses all the time (sometimes too much). Today, when I fell off the chair (that really hurt!), she came over just as fast as Mama and gave me kisses on my owie. She's a pretty good big sister. Here's a video of us. We were both being really silly. It was so much fun! Mama says I have to go to bed now. :( Don't tell her, but I'm pretty tired. Might put up a fight, though...just to keep Mama on her toes! hehehe

Thanks for letting me talk this time. I had fun. Maybe I'll be back :)

My Montage 2/12/09

She likes to move it...and make brother laugh!

We got Madagascar the other day through Netflix. Anna liked the first one, the second one she wasn't too interested (which is good b/c it's a little too "old" for her, plus a few scary parts). Anyway, the song "Move it" is on the movies and it's funny to hear her sing it. She was entertaining Jacob in the bath tonight (as she usually does every night!). He thought it was hilarious!

Here's a video of it :)

Mom

Mom is heading back to Mayo tomorrow. The swelling is back and the doctor there wanted to see her again if it came back. Pray that they will be able to figure something out!!!

Really???

So Jacob is teething (I'm pretty sure that's what it is--not a cold). Sleep could be worse, but it's not great. During the day, he's just miserable and wants to be cuddled. Last night, he screamed during his ENTIRE bath (Aaron was giving it...whew!). So Daddy gave him to me all wrapped up in his towel. I was getting ready to get him dressed (sitting in the recliner) and I feel something very warm on my leg. Great. So Aaron brings me another towel to put on my lap. I hold Jacob up (buck-naked) so that his hiney is right next to my face. I know, not very smart. But it was for like 2 seconds! He lets one rip. GROSS!!! I'm not easy to gag, but I about lost my supper. (He's having the nasty gas again). Sorry this is a little gross! But I manage to keep it down and then he sneezes and blows snot all over me! All in the span of about 60 seconds. Aaron just laughed. After I quit gagging, I laughed too. It was just one right after the other!!! So when I tell you Jacob is a stinker, I mean it literally and figuratively!! haha

Jacob still really likes watching Anna play games. He is completely fascinated by it.

Watching Dora before church Sunday. Anna hiked her dress up to sit down (all the way up)...better work on that! :)

Such a big boy!

No picture with this post, but for those familiar with our back yard...Jacob walked all the way from the deck (actually, the back door!) to the sand box!!!!! He almost lost it a couple times (there's a slight downward slant), but he made it and was so proud of himself!!! So is his Mama! :)

Crisis Averted

Recently, Anna has attached to this very soft, pink teddy bear that my dad got her over a year ago. We had been to Florida for a family vacation and Mom, the kids, and I stayed longer. So Dad picked us up at the airport. Well, Anna got SICK on the plane. Actually, she was sick (throwing up) the entire night before we left. We couldn't change our plane tickets without paying mega bucks. So we decided to go. She seemed fine that morning. I made the mistake of letting her chug orange juice when we took off and she lost it. Eww. It was everywhere. Anyway, Dad bought this teddy bear for her and had it when we got off the plane. She's always liked it, but hasn't been particularly attached. She never has really had a special animal that she always has to have. Every once in a while, she'll kind of have a favorite to play with, but never one she HAS to sleep with. Until now. Tonight, we couldn't find it. Anywhere. I was bracing myself for a major melt down. I asked if she could just sleep with OinkMoo. No. What about this teddy bear? It's soft. No. I was starting to sweat! But then she says "Maybe I can just sleep with something else that's soft and pink tonight." WHEW!!! So she found a soft, pink cat and went to sleep. I promised to find Pinkie tomorrow. I am SO glad we averted a crisis!! :)

Peek-a-boo

He was having so much fun. I thought it was hilarious that when I asked him about eating the dirt, he tried to ignore me...

(and again, I couldn't get it to post straight to here)

My Montage 2/6/09

Beautiful Day

Today was gorgeous!!! This morning, Jake came over to play! They had so much fun. For lunch, they made their own mini pizzas. (they were Lunchables). FYI--they taste weird! Jake downed them in about 3 minutes! He'll eat just about anything!! :) Anna & Jacob did not like them. I tried a bite...they taste funny. Anyway, they had fun!

The chefs with their masterpieces!

They had fun playing in the sandbox. The only way I got them inside was a snack!! :)

This afternoon, Anna & Jacob had fun outside, again. It was warmer. I think it got up in the 70s today! Anna was explaining to me why she couldn't go play. Something about having a stomach ache.

Jacob is walking a lot more every day (yipee!!). He'll even walk in the yard!

Yeah, he ate dirt. GROSS! And he seemed to like it for some reason.

He was playing peek-a-boo under the grill cover! He is so ornery.

He was playing "catch me if you can" after his bath last night. He found a sticker on the floor and wore it around the house in his birthday suit! haha

Yeah this was at 12:30AM! The other night, he would NOT go back to sleep. He woke up around 11:30 and it was 2am before he was back in bed. Ugh! He was happy, but I wanted to go to bed!!!

And to end with a video that will hopefully make you smile... :)

Jacob LOVES being thrown in the air!