Redskins Tickets

For family/friends that are in the Northern VA area and reading this blog, I have 3 available Redskins games still to sell. I have 2 tickets to each of these 3 games:

September 20 vs. Rams at 1pm (home opener)!!
October 18 vs. Chiefs at 1pm
November 15 vs. Broncos at 1pm

So, if you want to buy the tickets - they are $80/each....just let me know.

ps. I am so ready for some football!!!!!!!

Wagon Ride

I'm not sure if you remember from previous blog posts that when we were in VA about a month ago, Jake was pushing his bears and toys in this wagon at Mimi's house. Well, we got into town yesterday - and after a fun afternoon at Gram and Poppy's house, we headed to The Grove to Mimi and Papa Dee's house. Jake immediately found his wagon - and started pushing it around....and next thing we know, Jake and Papa Dee come barreling around the corner with Jake RIDING in the wagon. So, you know that game lasted a long time....until Papa Dee's back gave out (just kidding). BUT you will notice in the 2 pictures that Dad finally grabbed a dish towel to make the wagon handle just a little longer for him to pull :-) This game has continued today....and I'm sure it will tomorrow....and the next day....and the next.....and the next.... :-)

New Toy for Bath Time

Aunt Katy bought Jake a fun, new bath toy!  It's this star that lights up - and while in the water squirts out more water!  Jake LOVED playing with it tonight....he would bend his face down and just let it spray all in his face.  Thanks Aunt Katy!! :-)  

Fun in the Sun

Today we stayed around the house - but still managed to have a lot of fun :-)  We played in Jake's pool and then ran around for a while...

We threw the softball....
We tried to figure out how the hose works...
More softball throwing....
Then - after Jake enjoyed a wagon ride, he wanted to push the wagon himself (no pull - push)!  That's how he likes to do it....no matter what you try and tell him :-)

More Beach...

Beach with Aunt Katy

We spent a little bit of time at the beach yesterday afternoon.  Jake continues to amaze me with how brave he is with the water.  Yesterday, he kept running and running out to further and further waves - until finally I MADE him hold my hand.  He loved the waves crashing on him - and he was just laughing away.  

We caught him eating some sand......YUCK!  It didn't seem to bother him much, though!

Aunt Katy's Shadow

Here is Jake sitting on (and then in) the bathroom sink while Aunt Katy is putting on her makeup, b/c Jake can't have her out of his sight....it's a wonder she's been able to use the bathroom alone this week :-)  It's pretty sweet - and Aunt Katy definitely has a shadow - and a precious shadow at that! :-)

Quitting the Pacifier...

We are slowly but surely trying to rid ourselves of the beloved pacifier.  We have started NOT using it - except in the car and during nap/bedtime.  However, when we are in the car - I hold out as long as possible in giving it to him, so.....Aunt Katy took a couple of pictures of what Jake has been using as his "pacifier alternative" :-)

SMALL WORLD

So, yesterday I had a dentist appt.  I had an OB appt, too.  It was really nice having Katy here, b/c she stayed with Jake, so I was able to comfortably go to these appointments without worrying about whether or not Jake is/was okay :-)  BUT....at my dentist appt., when the dentist came in to check my teeth, he was asking where I was from, etc., etc.  I told him near the Quantico, VA area.  He said he was very familiar with the area, b/c he graduated from Woodbridge High School (about 20 minutes away from North Stafford - I played plenty of basketball games there).  Anyway, he went on to say that he then went to James Madison University!!  No Kidding!!  SO, here I am in Beaufort, SC - at my dentist office - and he also graduated from JMU!  Small World!  

Snow Cones...

We ended the day with some yummy, refreshing snow cones.  You can tell that Jake in this last picture is saying "mmmm".  It was pretty cute - he said that following most every bite :-)  Fun day had by all - it's great to have Aunt Katy here for the week....and now I can hear Jake snoring over the monitor - and I think I'm going to go snore the rest of the night away myself!!

More Zoo pictures...

Aunt Katy and....the ZOO!

Today was a busy and FUN-filled day.  We picked up Aunt Katy from the airport .... and then headed to the zoo:-)  The rain held off - and the sun stayed behind the clouds, but it was extremely humid, so we only stayed about 2 hours; however, that was plenty of time to walk through and see the animals.  Jake especially loved the nuts and bolts that held together the fences surrounding the animals - and he also liked the ceiling fans in the pavilions (go figure).  He did a lot of "oooo"ing and pointing AND I didn't get it on video, but he waved hello and goodbye to EVERY animal that we saw (real and fake)!!!  It was pretty cute!  A lot of the animals were sleeping - but he did like seeing the giraffes - and he liked the fake elephant, too (you can see Jake petting the fake elephant in the last picture) :-) :-)  We also had to hold on tight to him, b/c he probably would have tried to find a way to go pet all of the animals - and end up in each animals' "pool" :-)  Jake was especially friendly to the growling leopard (something tells me the leopard wasn't impressed with Jake's friendliness)!! 

Big Boy

Although Jake prefers sitting in his own chair, I have found him a couple of times in the past week on the sofa.  I walked out of my room the other day to find him just sitting on the couch - and then laying on it.  He's such a big boy now - it's kind of hard to believe...

Playing with Bella

After the pool...and the playground, we played with Bella in Valerie's yard for a little while.  Jake LOVES playing with Bella and just laughs and laughs the whole time - it's hilarious!  Jake loves throwing the ball to Bella and having her catch it - and Jake also tries to chase her down to pet her as much as possible.  

Jake just threw Bella the ball....
Waving and Bella and saying his infamous "hiiiii hiiiii"

Throwing the ball to Bella (Bella sure knows how to catch)!

Swings

Surprisingly, Jake didn't mind being confined in the swings - in fact, you can tell by his smile that he enjoyed them A LOT!!

Pool and Playground

This afternoon, Jake and I met up with "Miss" Valerie and went to the pool and then the playground.  We were at the pool for a little while, but Jake was all about trying to swim on his own, so instead of letting him be independent in the pool, we took him over to the playground to be independent :-)  That ramp you see him going down....he must've gone back and forth on that thing a million times (no, that is not an exaggeration) :-)  He had a blast!

Playing Ball and More of the Same...

Here are a couple of videos from last night- taken shortly before Jake went to bed.  We threw around the ball for a little while....and then I went in his room to put down his blinds - and I walked back into the living room, and he was standing on his "stage" and talking and dancing.  So, the second video is a little more of the same, BUT....he found a "stage" to do it on :-)   What will he discover today?!  Now, on with our day....more errands this morning - then, playground and pool this afternoon (please don't rain)!!   

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Did you ever read that book as a kid?  I loved it!  I thought about that book today for the first time in a while, too - as Jake and I were all over the place today trying to accomplish a list of things....and never really accomplished anything!!  It was just one of those days where nothing was going our way.  I'm glad I at least had him to run the errands with....and vent to in the car driving from place to place - as we kept getting the runaround when trying to deal with my car issues.  Once we got home tonight, though - and ate dinner....and had a fun bathtime.....and played.....I realized that the day wasn't so bad - even though we didn't accomplish what we set out to accomplish, b/c I got to spend time with this face all day:

LIFE IS GOOD...