Oh, he is funny!

So, last night as we were winding down and about to read a few books before heading to bed....Jake was chewing away on his teething ring, b/c they have really been bothering him lately. I notice he will favor them for a couple of days.....and then be okay.....and then a few days later will be favoring them again, so I imagine the pain is on and off, BUT.....as we were talking and I was watching him....I noticed that he decided he really didn't need his hands to hold the teething ring. I mean, why would he hold it with his hands.....when he could be using his hands to play??????? And they say guys can't multi-task...maybe males just have "selective multi-task" syndrome!! I mean, I'm sure if I was asking Jake to pick up his toys (which he can't understand yet anyway), but if he could....I'm sure he would tell me that he needed both of his hands to hold his teething ring at the moment - BUT when it comes to playing - he had his hands free! He cracks me up....everyday with Jake is like a box of chocolates - I never know what I'm gonna get ;-)

Favorite Moments

First smile

peek-a-boo

Reuniting

Ever since Jake turned 1, I've been going over in my mind all of the great moments of his first year. It's really hard to determine a "favorite" moment, because so many of them have been special in different ways (intro to green beans, the low crawl, blowing raspberries, intro to sippy cup, the drives across country, first time at beach, first time to DC, etc). So, I decided that I would share my 3 favorite moments.....one from 0-6 months and the other from 6-12 months and one overall. Probably the best moment of the year was seeing Jake and Chris reuinte after he got back from Iraq. The expression on Jake's face was priceless (and the excitement on the face of Chris, too)! :-) BUT, here are my favorite 2 moments of Jake's first year: 1. Jake's first smile. It happened before he turned 2 months old, which was great, b/c it was before Chris left, and I can remember that Jake was in his boppy (love and miss that thing) on the guest bedroom bed while Chris and I were in there just watching him....and making faces at him....and all of a sudden - SMILE!! I think it was one of my favorite moments, b/c it was kind of like the first time he truly acknowledged us...almost as to say "you guys are pretty cool." Chris and I were just going nuts - and of course we got a picture (because we carried the camera on and ready everywhere....sometimes I still look back at the pictures and think - did I really need 50 pictures of Jake sleeping in this same position on the same day?) I mean, Chris and I were calling our parents, "he smiled he smiled he smiled!!" I never get tired of that smile! Moment #2 from 6-12 months....PEEK-A-BOO. I love it! I love how when I started playing it with him where I would hide my face he would laugh....and then we progressed to where he would duck in his pak-n-play or crib or even behind a couch and chair and play it with me.....and even now, he STILL hides his face behind a blanket or toy to play peek-a-boo with us, SO it's fun that I used to be the one to do it to him - and now he does it to me. I think this is the BEST game ever invented (except over Christmas when we went to get pictures made and the photographer tried to play it with him and he burst into tears....guess Jake plays selective peek-a-boo) :-) SO, those are my favorite moments of the year....I could go on and on with other great moments, but instead of typing, I'd rather go experience new moments now. What are your favorite moments? Not necessarily with Jake.....but with your baby (even if they aren't a baby anymore) or your niece or nephew or little brother, sister, etc. I would love to hear them! This is an interactive post today....just spicing it up :-)

Rare Moment

You are witnessing a rare moment that I was able to capture on film: Jake ACTUALLY PLAYING with his toys. He wasn't trying to get all of my pots and pans out (because I forgot to put the childproof lock back on after I got one out) OR trying to mess in the trash OR pulling the DVDs off the rack OR taking a DVD out of the DVD player (yes, he figured that out) OR turning the TV power button on and off OR trying to figure out how to open the bathroom door so that he can flush the toilet (wonder if that obsession will make potty training easier down the line) OR the many other things that Jake is normally trying to do besides play with the tons of toys he has. I would imagine that Jake plays with his toys 20% of the time and the remaining 80% of the time he spends trying to pull a "fast one" on me. I have to give the boy some credit - he gets an "A" for effort. Each day is a FUN adventure with Jake (in fact, he's sleeping right now, and I already can't wait until morning comes....but not before I get a little bit of sleep and refuel, too) :-) I am loving his vest in these pictures. He looks like such a little man. Taniya gave him that for Christmas - and it has been especially perfect for the weather we are having here now (and by the way...HAPPY BIRTHDAY Taniya! We love you)!!

Thinking about you Nana Ashinhurst!

Jake wanted to send Nana Ashinhurst an extra special SMILE this morning! We are thinking about you and praying for you and have been talking about you this morning as you are having your surgery!! We also have Granddad, Poppy, Tim, and Kyle on our minds, too! We are sending you all lots and lots of hugs!! We love you!!

Sippy Cup Update

As a lot of you know....we have been working at trying to get Jake to use a sippy cup. We introduced it at around 8 months, but with all of the travelling and moving, I wasn't consistent with it. Needless to say, he has not wanted to "give up" his bottle and transition to a sippy cup - no matter all the cups we have bought and tried (Nubby, playtex...you name it) and no matter what we put IN the cup (milk, water, juice) AND no matter what time of day we give him the cup (morning, noon, night) :-) We are slowly but surely working at it....and I am happy to annouce we made progress yesterday - he drank 4 oz. of juice out of his sippy cup without throwing it!!! That is huge - trust me! He didn't do it all by himself - I assisted him some, BUT still.....very exciting! Here are a couple of the FUN shots!

Sunday Afternoon

Nothing like a relaxing Sunday afternoon after church....

Daily Dose of Jake

Here is Jake trying to soothe his 3 incoming teeth!
Upclose and Personal

Jake obviously heard something that caught his attention.

And yes....you are reading that shirt correctly. This is how that dialogue in the store went down when Jake and I were at Wal-Mart:

To set the scene, we were in the baby section getting some Gerber Lil' Crunchies (which Jake loves). We happened to pass the children's clothing and ....

Jake (pointing): "Eh eh eh eh"

Me: "What's up Jake? What are you pointing at?"

Jake (still pointing): "Eh eh eh ahio aahhh aeha"

Me: "Is it that shirt? Let me unfold it and see what it says?"

Jake: "eh eh eh ehe ah ah"

Me: "You're right Jake - that shirt IS perfect. We'll buy it!"

Start Your Engines...

Today is the day....the Daytona 500. We won't be watching it, but in honor of Poppy (who we are sure will be watching), we had a little race with OUR racecars :-) AND...unlike the weather in Daytona right now.....the weather in the foyer was quite nice for a Sunday late morning race! The winner was decided by Jake, of course. In fact, to be completely honest, I'm not sure if any of these cars actually made it to the finish line without "Jake interference". On a different note, in case anyone is wondering why Jake is so mismatched this morning....well, he had khakis on for church, but as soon as we got home - those things were gone....and we put back on the comfortable pajama pants!!

Happy Valentine's Day

This is a two-part post. The first part is explaining that I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. I never really have been. I fall into the category of feeling that it is way too commercialized! Plus, it's just one of those holidays that not everyone enjoys (besides the fact that it falls right after Christmas)....and many of you who know me have heard me say that I don't need 1 day to tell Chris (and now Jake) and my family and friends how much I love them! I try to do that most days.... With that being said, the "second part" to this post is I do have a sentimental side, so I can embrace the holiday, too. I like to send out Valentine's Day cards....and Chris and I usually exchange a card - go out to dinner when he is around (have never really been big on the "gifts"), but as I was going through boxes in the garage, I came across my first Valentine's "gift" from Chris. I decided to post the pictures - for fun. I believe Chris and his family moved to Stafford, VA the summer of 1991. On Valentine's Day 1992, Chris gave me a card and a heart shaped box of chocolates. That was 17 years ago! I was 10 and Chris was 9. I'm glad I saved this card...and cardboard heart shaped box.

Chillin' Out, Maxin', and Relaxin' all cool....

Enough said.

(and yes...that is Chris taking a picture on his camera phone in that last picture....what can we say?!)

HELP!

This is the mound of clothes sitting on my couch that I have to put away (granted I'm killing time blogging instead of putting them away, but that's besides the point). I HATE putting clothes away. I don't mind washing them....and I don't mind folding them - but putting them away.....that's about as bad as having to put the groceries away AFTER you've been to the grocery story. SO....if anyone wants to volunteer to put these clothes away for me, let me know (the unfortunate thing, of course, is that everyone reading this blog lives at least 4+ hours away) :-) Maybe I'm not as "type A" as people think, b/c I probably could leave these clothes sitting on this couch for days (sorry Mom...I know you taught me better than that)!!

Porch Picnic

The weather has been GREAT this week, so Jake and I decided to have a porch picnic....in our pajamas (which is the best part)! I haven't yet "fixed up" the screened in porch yet - but I have some good ideas that are going to make for lots of fun times out on that porch. BUT for now - Jake and I have enjoyed some time out there...just hanging out.

This is Jake trying to figure out if he is going to crawl off the pink blanket (sorry Chris - I just grabbed the top one in the closet). He was testing out the ground to see if it was cold.....

This is Jake just being plain cocky as he has moved off the blanket and is walking around the maze of furniture ...."what's up now Mom?!"

The ups and downs of eating...

Jake didn't so much like the cottage cheese today. I can't say I blame him - cottage cheese is so nasty! So, the cottage cheese ended up a little bit in his mouth - but more in his hair! He was making "green bean gross" faces, too! I hated laughing, but I had to! HOWEVER, I didn't let the torture last too long..... and he was much happier when cheerios started appearing on his tray :-)

Linebacker Look

So, Jake wanted to wear his new Eagle's outfit (Eagles...gross) from Mom-Mom and Pap-Pap and pose as a Linebacker! BUT, I told him that most linebackers don't sport the pacifier (at least not in public). SO.....
He decided this was MUCH scarier :-)

(To me, he looks a little bit more like, "Mom, stop taking pictures and lets just play")! He'll thank me one day, though - maybe :-) And in the meantime, I get lots of brownie points from the grandparents and aunts - but it's not really all about me, I promise :-)

Ahhhhhh!!!!

See this sweet, precious sleeping baby.... When looking at this picture, who would ever imagine that he could do.....
THIS???????? To his crib....

After the nap, Jake was chalked full of cherry wood. All along, I thought he was just sleeping. I guess once you turn 1, you turn sneaky :-)

So, this morning.....I awoke to the sound of gnawing on the monitor. I'm mostly frustrated with myself, though for not getting a cover for the crib railing sooner. I just have been putting it off, b/c he hasn't even acted like he was going to chew on his crib. Jokes on me, I guess!!

Mommy, Jake, and.....Mr. Bear

The picture started with just Jake and me.....but then Jake wanted to add Mr. Bear. It only makes sense, though....since Mr. Bear spends just as much time with us! :-)

So....I'm having a bad hair day. What's it to ya?

Grand Finale

After the cake, presents, and bubble machine....it was time for a ride in the WAGON!! It was a little chilly, but Jake loved being pushed and pulled in the wagon.....and then Gram showed him the ducks in the river! I think Jake wants to turn 1 everyday now!! :-)

Present Time