Going to Town

Jake always has to be chewing (gnawing, as I like to say) on something these days. Lately, he has wanted to be chewing on one of his bath toys that Aunt Becky gave him. He tries to fit the WHOLE ENTIRE toy car in his mouth :-) He gets pretty close, too. He was going to town on this car today. He is like the energizer bunny. He started chewing.....


AND KEPT CHEWING....

GNAWING SOME MORE.....

NOTHING WILL SLOW HIM DOWN.....

Pretty soon, there will be nothing left of this bath toy :-)

Jake with Papa Dee

Jake is around A LOT of females these days (between me, his grandmas, 4 aunts) that he especially enjoys any time he can have with his grandpas. Here is a picture of Jake excited to be hanging out with Papa Dee. Jake is especially looking forward to spending time with his Dad VERY VERY soon......we sure are counting down the days!! :-)

Two good games

Well, my Skins beat the Cowboys today! WHAT A GOOD GAME!!!!! Below was the final score. There were several good games around the league today.....

Unfortunately (for some - not me, though), the Eagles lost! Another good game, though, so the Eagles get an A for the entertainment value - and I do have to give them a little credit, b/c they do have some injured players. Now, I probably shouldn't be gloating - but I'm just on cloud 9, b/c my Skins beat the Cowboys (and I really don't care too much that the Eagles lost), BUT.....since I can gloat right now, I'm going to. Next week is another BIG game for both teams - they play each other!! Those Sundays are always critical times for Chris and me....and our marriage :-)

Scooting = Jake's crawling

Jake has his own definiton of crawling. He knows how to be on "all fours" as you can see from the pictures, but he would rather SCOOT around. He must be thinking to himself that he gets from place to place just fine by pulling his entire body around, so why would he want to try something different? I keep thinking one of these days, he's going to be on "all fours" and instead of going back into his scooting position, he will realize he can lift his knees - and that will be all she wrote, but for now, scooting will do.....(he especially likes to crawl under any of the furniture he can fit through).

Getting Close

I am starting to get really excited about Chris coming home!! All I keep thinking about is how AMAZING it is going to be to see him for the first time. As of today, Chris has been gone for 24 1/2 weeks, 170.85 days, 4,100 hours, 246,020 minutes, and 14,761,212 seconds (but who's counting really)?! So, today.....as I was trying to contain my excitement, I decided to reminisce and look back at the pictures from when he got home the last time from Iraq. I thought I would share those with you ..... I keep thinking how awesome this time around is going to be, too, b/c not only will Chris be coming home and seeing me, but......



he will also get to see this precious, little face. I mean, Jake WAS only 2 months old when Chris left and was just starting to smile ....now, Jake is cutting 2 bottom teeth, is scooting all over the place, blows raspberries with the best of them.....and says DADA constantly :-) So, I'm really looking forward to seeing Chris myself, and am also SO EXCITED for Chris and Jake to see each other, too!! :-) I wish I could go to bed tonight and wake up.....a few weeks from now ;-)

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This was taken after the Redskins won yesterday. The video really says it all......

Jake and "Sweet Caroline"

And of course we took some video of Jake enjoying the music. Note that at this point, Jake had been having so much FUN at this party that he had gotten rid of his socks AND his sweater vest, his shirt was untucked (and unbuttoned).....and he was still partying!! As you can tell from the multitude of pictures, a good time was had by all! I posted so many pictures, because

A. there were lots of good picture opportunities and

B. I wanted Chris to be able to see as many as possible (you were missed)!!

We hope Emily and Kyle have a great time on their honeymoon to Scotland!

Rehearsal Time

And of course we can't forget to talk about the DELICIOUS Rehearsal Lunch (loved that pesto chicken). Here is a picture of the groom-to-be (at the time) and Jake!

And a few more still...

(Jake LOVES Poppy's watch....esp the compass part)!

And some more...

(Jake and me dancing) :-)

THE HAPPY COUPLE!

Wedding Pictures

Here are some more wedding pictures!

Wedding Preview

Kyle and Emily
Poppy and Jake
Jake and me :-)
Gram and Jake

This weekend, Jake and I went with the Ashinhursts to Pennsylvania for Kyle's wedding (Mr. Ashinhurst's younger brother). We had a really FUN weekend, and we are so HAPPY and EXCITED for Kyle and Emily. I will post more pictures tomorrow (or should I say later on today), but here is just a little "sneak peek." *(Just a side note, I took about 30+ pictures of Jake, and I barely could get him to look at the camera, because there was just TOO much going on around him.....he was in "stimulation heaven.")

Wanna go for a drive?

Whether the lawn mower....or a car - Jake is always wanting to drive. So, even though he won't get his license for at least 15 years and 4 months (and that's if the laws stay the same as they are now), he is still ready to take anyone for a drive....who cares if he can't see OVER the steering wheel! He is ready to go.....

Laughter

Tonight Aunt Jenn and Aunt Katy stopped by for bath time! Jake was absolutely THRILLED!!!!!! He was so excited to see them! They played and played with him.....and he couldn't stop laughing! After bath came dinner....and then a little extra FUN before bedtime!! All of the excitement is why he is PASSED OUT in his crib right now (snoring louder than usual). Jake enjoys having all of his aunts close by! He certainly is spoiled by them all! But really....what's wrong with that?!

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Did you see the Redskins game on Sunday?? We were there!! It was such a great home opener (so much better than their first game appearance)!! It was extremely hot, since we were upper deck and next door neighbors with the sun, BUT.....the heat, the traffic....it was all COMPLETELY worth it to watch my boys pull out a victory!!!!!!! :-) I'm still on a Redskins high! What a fun game - and day!! HAIL TO THE REDSKINS....HAIL VICTORY....BRAVES ON THE WARPATH....FIGHT FOR OLD DC! ....... sing along ...... HAIL TO THE REDSKINS....

Story Time

First it was me reading Jake a story.....

Then later, Jake decided to tell me a story (in between putting the exersaucer toys in his mouth). It was such a sweet story - until the end. You will notice that he cut the story short - and I had to stop the video short, because he slammed his mouth a little too hard into one of the toys, and ..... well, he got pretty mad at the exersaucer for a little while after that :-) I spared you viewers from the fall-out!

Never-ending Teething

I have been saying that Jake is "teething" for months now. I probably have already posted about this - who knows. What I DO know is that especially in the past week or two, Jake ALWAYS has his fingers in his mouth and is just gnawing away. I keep thinking everyday that surely "today is the day....he is going to get a tooth." And another day ends - and no teeth. Don't get me wrong, I'm in no rush or anything - and Jake isn't fussy or crying about it, so he's still happy, BUT - I feel bad that he is constantly gnawing on his fingers (not sucking - gnawing). It's hard to get a shot of him these days without the fingers (or hand if he can fit it) in his mouth! :-) So, another day is over and still no sign of a tooth, BUT - luckily Jake still has his fingers.....

Really Cool

This is Jenn's (Chris's sister) new license plate. It is the new "Support our Troops" license plate, and she personalized it. I think it's really awesome!!

Happy Birthday Mimi!!!!!!

Yesterday was Mimi's birthday. We spent a fun day together going on our morning walk...and then we took her to one of her favorite places - Starbucks. The highlight of the day was dinner at Mike's American Grill in Springfield - yummy!! Jake even made a friend. He kept smiling at this 2 year old girl at the next table - and she kept smiling back. It was so funny....they must have been smiling back and forth for over a minute, and then the girl's dad turned around and smiled at Jake - and he started crying!! :-) I think Mike's is now one of Jake's favorite restaurants, too.....Aunt Jul even "popped his collar" to make him cool! It was great being able to spend Mimi's birthday with her!

Eagles Schmeagles

It's not fair!! Seriously, the Redskins get the defending superbowl champs (and a divison rival) for their first game....and the Eagles get the....Rams?!?!?! I didn't even know they STILL had a NFL team! No wonder the Eagles scored 38 points and won their game today. They should've scored twice that many (haha)! BUT.....besides the hard feelings, I stayed "true" to my word, and dressed Jake in Eagles gear today....from the time he woke up, to church, to lunch, to running errands....it was painful, but I did it. Here is the proof :-)