Jacob's First Steps!!!

Jacob took his first steps today! He has been cruising forever and is finally ready to walk. He is also really starting to experiment with language. He can say dadada, mamama, rarara, bababa, owowowow, and I really really think I heard him say ball yesterday. He is changing so quickly it's scary. Today he managed to dump an entire container of spaghetti all over the floor and then 10 minutes later found my wallet and dumped it out. His favorite games are "So Big" "Peek-a-Boo" and clapping. He now has 4 teeth and is biting everything in sight! He is starting to show us his true colors and I think we will have our hands full very soon!

Megan is starting to become a little more adventurous as well. She loved sledding and playing in the snow. She is great at riding her tricycle and I can't wait to see her on her bike. Today we played in the rain with her new umbrella that Santa brought her. She has been using the umbrella inside since Christmas and was ecstatic when it was raining this morning. She continues to love reading books. Lately she has been on a Dr. Suess kick...the loooong books. She gets to read 2 books before nap and bedtime so we have been reading 4 long Dr. Suess books daily. Her favorites include Bartholomew...Oobleck, The Lorax, Scrambled Eggs Super, and the list goes on! She is also starting to recognize letters. We worked on an alphabet book for 3 nights where she put random things on the paper for each letter (sprinkles, glitter, gum, cheerios, etc.). We used a different material for each one. I will post pictures soon! She is really proud of it! She is also into volcano's right now, she loves to read about them, see them on tv, pretend with them, etc!

Christmas 2009

Christmas this year seems to have flew by, it's already the middle of January and we are still recovering from all of the fun Christmas celebrations! This year Megan really understood how it all works. She had a great time at church Christmas Eve night and she was able to hold her own candle for "Silent Night". She was so proud of herself! Jacob managed to not get burned which is really a feat in itself.

Christmas morning was amazing. Part way through opening presents Megan said "Santa listened to me!!!" Of course Jacob didn't really understand but that's ok. He had fun trying to eat the wrapping paper!

Surprise...

OK, so these pictures are over 2 months old but I am trying to catch up! Unfortunately I only had time to add 4 pictures and there are sooooo many more but alas, Megan would be upset if I didn't show up to pick her up from preschool!

Awww!

I think he looks like an old man in this picture...with his biter biscuit goatee and all!

Smile for the camera!

Jacob and his friend Stella, they are 4 days apart! He really enjoyed having her come and play!

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Wow, where did the year go? I still need to go back and add several pictures from the previous month but these were loaded onto the laptop which makes it much easier to get to the blog updated! We had our pictures taken mid-October and I got the CD last weekend. There are so many good ones, I chose a few favorites to put on here and I will probably add more when I have more time! Christmas cards are going to be late this year...again, but this is something everyone is probably used to!

Jacob and Megan are getting along great still. Jacob is starting to get into all of Megan's things, and Megan is learning where to hide her favorites! Megan is in her first year of preschool and loves it, she especially likes going in the gym to play on the tricycles. She was referred for speech so we are waiting for that ball to get rolling. I didn't realize it was a problem until the speech pathologist screened her at the preschool so we'll see what happens! Megan continues to love the outdoors and would never come in if we let her.

Jacob is a beast. He is all boy and is barreling into being a toddler, he crawls faster than I'd like, he is cruising everywhere, pulling up, and letting go, no steps yet but soon. He is also babbling all of the time, he says ahhhh, dadada, mamama, bababa, rarara; his favorite being dada! His absolute favorite thing to do is take a bath, I end up completely soaked and he crawls all over and splashes, his baths last only a few minutes and I always feel like I need a drink afterwards!

Michael is working for the state. He stays busy with that and the kids of course! He cancelled his World of Warcraft subscription because there just isn't enough time. He is the greatest, he is the most patient person I know.

I am working for PAT and loving it. I still struggle balancing work and home since I work out of our home but I think it will always be a challenge! I managed to take a little time lately to read a Jodi Picoult book and I am hoping to read more over Christmas break.

Merry Christmas!!!

Pictures from Sue!

We have been busy as always. Megan and I enjoyed the Nutcracker this past weekend, a birthday gift from Pop-Pop! She loved it and watched the whole thing, even when another kid kept trying to play with her.

Jacob is finally starting to feel better, he's been sick a lot lately. He's changed a lot in the past month though. He is loving games like peek-a-boo and soooo big. He loves to take his lovie and put it over his face and pull it down for peek-a-boo, his giggles are super cute! He is also crawling away really fast when I say "what are you doing?" He continues to babble dadada and rarara. He is also cruising and taking risks with balancing on his feet. Poor Megan keeps putting things up higher and higher to keep them away from Jacob.

We put up our Christmas tree and those pictures will hopefully appear here soon. Until then, Sue took pictures at Thanksgiving of the kids and our family.

Fall Update!

Megan and Jacob are growing like crazy. Megan is a wonderful big sister and seems to want to help most all of the time. She loves to say "me here buddy" to comfort him when we walk out of the room. She also loves to give him paci's, puffs, and toys. The other day Megan was taunting him with her puppy on a string. She pulled it along until Jacob got close and then quickly pulled it away and started running with it. Jacob loves anything Megan has of course but he is also enjoying shoes (to chew on them of course!), anything with wheels, and musical instruments. His ultimate favorite is finger-walking with daddy. He would walk around all day if we let him, when it's time to sit back down he always cries for a time before settling down to the fact that it's floor time now! They both love the outdoors playing in the leaves and swinging.

We seem to be adjusting to life with two kids at home. Jacob is finally sleeping through the night at least half of the time. Megan is loving preschool and seems to have made some friends. We were able to get the leaves raked in the backyard and hope to finish the front yard soon. Michael did most of the work while I played with the kids and cleaned up all the toys we seem to have collected. Megan helped by jumping in the leaves and Jacob was napping for most of the time!

We enjoyed ourselves at the park last weekend. The weather was gorgeous and we took full advantage. We started the day shopping at the outlet mall at the Lake and then went to the park to play and for Megan to jog of course! Jacob had a blast playing in the leaves, he crumpled them in his hands and swished them with his feet.

The practice updo for Halloween.

Jacob practicing pulling up which he does all of the time now. He is starting to stand by himself for a few seconds before falling down and he is also starting to just let go and balance for a second before falling. It's rather scary sometimes!

Ahhh, his first love....duckie blankie!

It's been a hard day!

Megan wanted Jacob on her lap and I just couldn't resist getting it on camera. She would probably hold him more often if I would stop taking pictures!

Cheese!

Megan and Daddy on the carousel at the Mall. She was funny, each time it came around she would yell faster to the attendant and she also pretended to pet her deer!

More cuteness! In another picture he just had the rattle in his mouth with no hands!

Happy Halloween!!!

Megan decided to be an apple with worms this year. My mom made the costume and Megan seemed to like it; however I think next year she may pick something less cumbersome! Right now she is saying she wants to be a bug. She dressed up 5 different times for the various events including the Downtown Fall Festival, Runge, Preschool Party, Trunk-or-Treat at the Fairgrounds, and finally for Halloween night. You would think she would be completely loaded with candy but she struck out at the first 3 events and the actual trick-or-treating in our neighborhood was the best. Jacob dressed up as a pumpkin for the downtown festival and as Tigger for the trunk-or-treat. He enjoyed the stroller rides!

Here is Megan with Michael at the petting zoo downtown.

This is the best photo of Megan in her costume. She is sitting at the governor's mansion steps!

Megan and I went to the Runge for their Haunted Habitats. It was really cold but she didn't seem to mind too much. We enjoyed the trail complete with the ABC's and a few skits, hot chocolate, art project, and bingo inside.

She's trying to smile but she's cold!

Halloween night. We randomly met a lady who grew up in our house, her sister goes to our church and their dad is the one who built the house! Small world.

Here are Megan's cousins Luke (thunderstorn), Jessi (ballerina), and Adam (Mario)

Here is a random guy at the trunk or treat. Very unique costume!

Jacob all dressed up and ready to go out.

Halloween afternoon just hanging out.

Megan's preschool class! I didn't realize how many boys were in her class until the party!