Matt and Jake bond

Matt and Jul visited over the holiday weekend! We had a lot of fun - except for the fact that I got sick, BUT it was still great having them here - and Jake (of course) loved having them on "his turf" :-) Jake and Matt really bonded - and we are looking forward to them coming back and visiting SOON!! I mean, it's not like they have anything going on this year ;-)

Bundling up

Can you believe it snowed here last week? I mean, just heavy flurries, and it didn't stick, but still! It has been COLD! I hear it's the coldest it has been down here for like 14 years or something like that?! Must be global warming coming in.... BUT - regardless, it's hard getting Jake all dressed up nice and warm for the cold weather, but he sure is absolutely CUTE when he gets all bundled up (if I do say so myself) :-)

No MORE bumbo....

Jake has eaten a lot of meals in his bumbo lately - just because of all of the travelling, BUT now that the travelling is over for a while, here is Jake enjoying eating and then playing with his highchair! We've actually been developing a routine of eating ALL AT THE SAME TIME :-) So, it has been nice for the past week having the 3 of us all sit down at the table together for dinner. Jake not only enjoys sitting in the highchair (as long as you keep the food coming), but he enjoys playing with it as well (and you can see it has wheels, so he enjoys pushing it around some, too)!!

Jake is BAAAACK...

I know, I know....I've been bad at blogging lately. It's not really my fault, though (I mean, really...it never is - just ask Chris...) :-) Not only has it been a little bit hectic, but the MAIN reason is because our internet just really isn't working at our house. SO, it takes me like 20 minutes to even pay a bill online - much less upload some pictures! I just haven't had time to really go and get the internet situation worked out. See, we have an aircard that we use, which has been great up until this point, but since we don't get good service here (internet OR cell phones), we are trying to figure out what route we want to go. First of all, I need to go to Verizon to talk to them about the connection, but I just haven't made time to do all of that yet, b/c I've been trying to get settled. Anyway, I'm sure that is more information than anyone cares about - I know you just want to see pictures of Jake, so I'm going to try to upload some while I do other things throughout the day. This is the big birthday week! It's crazy that Jake will be officially 1 on Wednesday - WOW! This time last year, I was just praying it would be anyday!! :-) Hope this blog finds everyone doing great!!

One last look....

Here is one last look at beautiful West Palm....I've done all the blogging I can do for one day - and soon it will be back home and back to unpacking boxes, BUT it has been a nice litte "vacation" from that - in this wonderful city!!

FREEDOM

Jake did a great job during the wedding and reception, but now that he is older (and more mobile), that is a long time for him to be held. SO, Jake was extremely happy when we finally got back to the hotel and he was FREE again!! He was all over the place...and now is sleeping peacefully for the night :-)

Jake with the Great-Aunts

Aunt Beverly (AKA: Mother of the Bride) and Jake

Aunt Elaine with Jake

And Aunt Charline with Jake.....Jake sure does love his great-aunts!

More Wedding Shots

Papa Dee and Jake

My Nana and Mom

GIRL COUSINS (we are only missing Susan....but she was kind of busy) :-)

Jennifer and her niece Rylee (so precious)!

Alan and Jenny (and their niece)

Jake and Maddy

Jake and Maddy sure hit it off today (they are 2nd cousins). :-) Maddy wanted to hold Jake, but as soon as we picked him back up off of her lap, she was like, "He is SOOOO heavy." He IS almost her size!! Maddy has an 8-month old brother, so she was really good with Jake, and Jake enjoyed all of the extra attention!

Susan's Wedding

What a beautiful wedding....beautiful weather, beautiful setting - and especially a beautiful bride and groom! Here are some shots of Jeff and Susan Snow! CONGRATULATIONS!! We are so happy for you guys!

Bellagio

While in West Palm, there is a restaurant called Il Bellagio. Outside of the restaurant, there is a smaller version of the fountains at the actual Bellagio in Vegas. You can only imagine the sheer excitement Jake experienced when the water started shooting in to the air. He was reaching out for it, so I had to hold on to him tightly, but.....he thought it was the coolest thing (and I can't lie...it is pretty neat)!

Destination: West Palm Beach, FL

Well, Jake and I are on the road again! This weekend we headed down to West Palm Beach, FL for my cousin Susan's wedding (which was today...more on that soon). After we get back home tomorrow (or Monday....depending on how well Jake does travelling tomorrow), we are done with the trips for a while - probably until Aunt Katy's graduation at the beginning of May! BUT - what a fun weekend and trip this has been!! Oh, and the weather - WOW! Aunt Jul went to college down here in West Palm, so it was great to be back and show Jake around....and I wish Chris could've been able to come and see it down here - and be here with family and for the wedding. On Friday, we walked around some in West Palm....went to the beach.....ate some gelatos (which Jake LOVED)....and just enjoyed the sunshine!

First day of Work

Have I mentioned how GREAT it is to have Chris home??

Jake is loving it, too. I know he has been home for a few months now, and maybe it's just setting in now that he's actually HOME because life is about to take on "normal" again. Chris checked in to Parris Island, and has started work! He has been working some long hours, so Jake doesn't see him in the morning, b/c he isn't up yet, and Jake is usually getting ready for bed when Chris comes home, but it's SO cute, b/c Jake has clapped EVERY NIGHT the second Chris walks through the door!! Jake and I are just LOVING having him around!! So, this is Chris and Jake on Daddy's first day at work at PI :-)

Wagon Videos

Here are the wagon videos that I have been promising....FINALLY! Jake is having the time of his life. We LOVE going outside on the wagon. It brightens my day to see the fun he has riding around in this thing!

SLAM DUNK

This is Jake playing in his room. Well, not everything is unpacked and organized in his room yet, but as I walked in the other day, I noticed he was slam dunking the basketball, so I quickly grabbed my camera. What I love about this video is that when I first bought this toy, Jake just threw the basketball....with no concept that it was supposed to go through the hoop, which is why when I walked in the other day and noticed that he was dunking it - it was just TOO CUTE!! I have loved watching the progression he goes through when playing with different toys. Of course, he also had to stop in the middle and cheer for himself - such a "ham" is he!! I think Jake may be playing basketball for his winter sport!! YAY!!

E-A-G-L-E-S

This is Jake getting pumped up and excited before the Eagles game this afternoon! Right now, it's a pretty close game....as it is the 3rd quarter as I'm typing this. Hopefully the outcome is a "W" (for the sake for Chris)! :-)

Giraffe

Look at that SMILE on Jake's face while he is riding around on his giraffe that Aunt Becky gave him!! :-)

Look what we Found!!

As we have been unpacking boxes for days now, we had a nice little present pop out of one: JAKE :-) I'm so glad he made it safely to Beaufort, SC!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA DEE!!

We wanted to wish Papa Dee a Happy 59th Birthday (yesterday)!!! 59! Jake especially wanted you to know that he thinks you've still got it .... even at your age - and he can't wait to be passing you those TD passes when he gets just a little bit older!! :-) Wish we could've been with you to celebrate, but we were thinking about you!! We are SO thankful for you - and we love you!!!

Wagon FUN

Well.....we are now back in SC. I have some more pictures/videos to post from Christmas, but who knows if they will make it on the blog or not?! We are now in unpacking mode, which is a LONG, TEDIOUS process! Thankfully, Aunt Becky and Aunt Katy came down to visit this week to help out with Jake (and see the house) while Chris and I got some unpacking done. They have been such a HUGE help, and I really appreciate them coming down for a few days! They also brought Jake presents from Christmas that wouldn't fit in our car on the way back down here.....one of those items was THE WAGON. Here are some pictures (and hopefully video to follow) of Jake getting a ride in the wagon. The boy thinks he is "the man" in this thing - he LOVES it. He is sure to pick up lots of chicks as we stroll around the neighborhood ;-)

Choo-Choo

Mimi and Papa Dee bought Jake a train you ride on, which he thinks is fascinating. Since he can't quite walk, I pushed him around on it (until he fell off, which wasn't exactly pleasant on the hard wood floor) :-( I felt REALLY bad about that, but he has since forgiven me (phew)! Here are some of the pictures pre-falling off!! :-)

Christmas #2

So, on December 26 :-).....we did a 2nd Christmas at Mimi and Papa Dee's house. We just figured we would start first thing in the morning for round 2 of presents! Jake is going to start thinking he gets presents everyday! Again, he got some very fun toys....he liked Mimi's tree better than the opening of presents, too...and he got a little sleepy/fussy in the middle (so he took a little break on Mimi's lap in the rocking chair), but overall, it was a success - and lots of fun for all of us as we watched him laugh and smile at the ripping of the paper and as he started playing with his new toys!!