Quick trip to the Aquarium

I was so excited when one of my Mommy friends asked if we wanted to go to the aquarium. I love the Monterey Bay Aquarium! We went and and had a great time!

We found a little patch of beach and had lunch

and of course played in the sand. 

The boys loved the aquarium. Jake could have looking at that big aquarium all day, Jack was pretty mesmerized too! What a great day!

A day at the zoo

One lovely morning we went with some friends to the San Francisco Zoo! Grandma and Grandpa got us a membership for Christmas so we love going when ever we can!

Jack, we had intended for you to ride in the wagon with your brother but you were refusing so you got strapped into the stroller. 

The big boys rode in the wagon together. 

We looked at the Monkeys...and acted like them too!

admired a peacock, played on a hippo.

hung out in the wagon, waved at prairie dogs.

fed goats and played on the ground. 

It was a little chilly but we had a great day. 

Note to Jake

Oh my sweet Jake, How I love you so. You have been doing some pretty big boy things recently...nothing huge just little acts that remind me that you are no longer a baby in anyway. You are in fact more a preschooler than a toddler. The other day at the beach you filled a whole bucket with sand that you shoveled into it, then you dragged the bucket around...see not huge but you used the shovel to fill the bucket. You cleaned up your plate from breakfast the other morning, put the trash in the garbage and the plate in the sink...amazing. Today you told me "Mom, we are at Chili's, that's not where we were supposed to go to lunch". We drove past the Chili's on the way to where we were going, before I could tell you where we were going you told me, "Oh, yeah Red Robin is behind Chili's, I forgot!". Impressive to me that you knew where we were and where the restaurant was. You say things daily that surprises me, today you were naming off dinosaurs...the whole name...big long names that I can barely pronounce you were saying with ease! You never cease to amaze me. You are brilliant and cunning and yet still very much a child in need of all the love and care I can give you. There are times I have to remind myself that even though you act as mature as a 10 year old at times, you are just my little 3 year old. For that I am thankful. I still have time with you. To teach you, to love you, to guide you, to hold you. I will soak in each second my sweet. You are amazing. I am so blessed to be given the responsibility to nurture your soul, I will use our time wisely! 

I love you!

Love, Mommy/ I wrote this just after you pitched a big fit...and I am still crazy about you!

Jack is 11 Months Old

I say this every month...but seriously...where has the time gone? 

You are 11 Months old! 

 I know it's a little early for Valentines Day...but I love Valentines Day and next month you will be cake smashing so this month...it's hearts! 

This is probably my favorite picture of you...so stinkin' cute! 

You are growing by leaps and bounds! You have developed a cute little neck that makes you look much more toddler than baby. You are eating like crazy! You love grilled cheese sandwiches and banana's...not together. You aren't walking yet...which I'm glad for, no need to rush. You are a super crawler though. You can crawl so fast and you are starting to try to climb things...you would. 

You now wave Hello and Goodbye. You wave to everyone you see that you deem friendly. We walk through Target with you waving to all your 'subjects' or so it appears. People love to talk to you and always comment on your pretty blue eyes...after they have said how huge you are for your age...seriously people get over it! This month you have overcome the flu...that was an adventure. We all made it! You were the first to get it and the first to recover, you didn't quite understand why brother and Mommy couldn't play. But we did it, we are still alive!

You love to play with your brother. He asks you all the time to play with him and it seems that you understand, you say "du, du" for down and then off you crawl. You love to be included in everything we do. You ate carnitas the other night because we were...you refused any 'baby' food. You also don't like naps that much, you can hear us doing things and you are certain we are having fun with out you.  You pretty much sleep through the night...we just went through a time of screaming. Your brother did the same thing. You were expressing your self, making sure we were serious about you sleeping and napping. We definitely are and you figured that out. 

There are these two moments of everyday that I live for. Right before your nap, I pick you up, we stand in front of your crib and you cuddle into me. I sway back and forth. Sometimes I sing, sometimes I tell you all the things I love about you and other times we just breathe each other in. You take these deep breaths and hum as you exhale, like you are totally content in that moment. I tear up somedays, overwhelmed at our love. I never want to forget those sweet moments. Someday you know a nap is coming and you are fighting it and you get mad and our moment doesn't happen. But most days we both relish that special time of just me and you. 

You are quickly learning what is expected of you. No hitting, no bitting, being gentle, sleeping. And you are listening very well I must say. You are a joy little one. We love having you around. I am so excited for all the things you will begin to experience and learn soon. This is such a fun time! Happy 11 Month sweet Jax!

Love, 

Mommy/ in full party planning, gift crafting mode...for your 1st birthday!

A long night...

This is my second cup...

We had a long night last night. Poor Jax was throwing up most of the night. It started at 12:30. Jackson started crying so I got up to comfort/put him back to bed. When I went in to their room Jax sounded particularly unhappy. I went to put his binky back in and that's when I saw that he had thrown up...all over his crib. Normally I handle night time duty but this required another set of hands, I woke up Erik and gave him the job of holding the baby while I cleaned up the puke...I do puke better than Erik. I got everything cleaned up including the baby and back to bed we all went. I wasn't sure what caused Jack to throw up, he didn't have a fever or any other symptoms. So we played the wait and see/sleep and see. Not even half an hour after we all got back into bed we hear Jack chocking and gaging in the other room. I leaped out of bed shuffling through the toys on our floor then dashing down the hall way. When I got to Jackson's crib he was gasping for air, I picked him up and his body was limp. Oh My Gosh!! I flipped him over he coughed than cried and was fine. I was a wreck. Jake slept through all of this, how I'm not sure but I was thankful someone was getting sleep. I got the little one cleaned up again. Erik set up the portable crib in our room, no way was I going to put him in the other room again! I offered Jack milk, he wasn't interested. I rocked him, prayed for him and put him down in his crib. We woke a few more times that night. His poor body trying to throw up but there was nothing left. Laying in bed I could hear his stomach churn, it made my stomach turn too. Watching your 10 month old on his hand and knees, dry heaving is the worst thing I have ever watched. I felt so helpless. And to top it all off, I might have caused this. I made some banana/pumpkin puree the other day. I took it out of the freezer Sunday morning and brought it with us to the zoo for a snack, it was nowhere near thawed so it stayed in my bag, then I forgot about it until Monday morning, I put it back into the fridge and then fed it to Jack for lunch on Monday. So, he could have food poisoning because I was too cheap to throw out some food...never again I tell you!! My poor boy is doing much better this morning. He breastfed, ate a yogurt (woohoo probiotics!) and an applesauce. Now he is taking a good long morning nap and so far no puking...just lots of hiccups but he has kept everything down! I'm praying it was just food poisoning...and now he's on the mend! I think the little man is awake...time to go snuggle!

Jack is 10 Months Old

Happy 10 Months little buddy! 

Here are your monthly pictures...these were a little challenging to get. I wanted to use the Christmas lights as decoration but it turns out you are really observant and one you saw them you wouldn't leave them alone...so I got a lot of shots of your backside reaching for the lights. I spent most of the time yelling your name or shooting a loud toy gun in the air to get your attention...not proud of that but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. 

Sweet boy...you have amazing skin by the way!

You you are crawling really well...as you can see

You are also pulling up on everything and a recent development, you are walking while holding to push cars...you will not walk while someone is holding your hands...help is for babies!

You are eating like a champ, we have started transitioning you to table foods. You love bread and pancakes and big surprise, macaroni. You also love zucchini, pasta, fries and waffles. You still adore yogurt. Really you want what ever is on our plates. Jake wasn't guided by peer pressure with his culinary choices but you seem to be heavily swayed by what we are eating so I'm going to use that to my advantage. Hopefully we can switch to real milk and wean you easily...I'm praying it will go smoothly and quickly. You are only breastfeeding 4 times a day so I can't complain but, I'm ready to be done. 

Your vocabulary is starting to develop. You can say, "dada", "ma" for me, "da" for dog, "a dun" for all done, "te" for Ted our dog, "Te-dy" for the dog or your teddy bear, I have heard you call Jakob a few things "jay" "kob" "bru" for brother, "ba" for ball, "ga pa" for Grandpa, "nana" for nana and no, "numnum" for food, "yumm" and "pa" for papa. That's all I can think of for right now. I was all excited when you signed to me "All done" I didn't really teach either of you baby sign...why is for another time but, I showed you a few times while signing it and one day you repeated the sign to me when I asked if you were all done! I was shocked! Then literaly the next day you said "a dun" when I asked if you were all done. Now you refuse to sign and will only tell me. Thats one of the reasons I don't intentionally teach you sign...you can tell me already so there's no use. 

little mischievous...

You love to play with your brother and will follow him anywhere. 

You think it's hysterical when we tell you not to crawl somewhere, you giggle and crawl faster!

You have mastered crawling so quickly, you are very fast! I guess you have a brother to keep up with. 

You are napping twice a day for about two hours each time. You typically go down easily and wake up happy. You sleep between 11 and 12 hours at night. Usually you sleep soundly through the night...we have had a few rough nights recently. I think you are teething...You have four teeth but it seems about time for you to get more. 

You love to wrestle with your Daddy and Brother...you crawl on over and jump on them. I think it might be your favorite thing to do. You also love to jump and play with your cars. You love playing in the ball tent with your brother and when you first told me "a dun" it was because you heard your brother get in the tent to play. You quickly recognized the sound started waving your hands, told me "a dun", I got you cleaned up, put you down and you crawled over to play in the tent with him. 

Your little personality is showing more and more. You are feisty and independent. You love to laugh and play. You are also love to cuddle. You don't like being told no and have a little temper on you. I'm slightly nervous for your toddlerhood. 

Well sweet boy, you are well on your way to being one! It will be here before we know it! I remember these last new month flying by with Jake too! I promise to savor your last few months as a baby...you will be a toddler before we know it! 

Love, Mommy/seriously can't believe you are 10 months old!

Dear Jake: a year in review

Here we are Jake, you are a whole year older. It's amazing how much you have grown this year! Sometimes it's hard to see just how much you have changed, being with you everyday, I loose sight of the little ways you have grown up. So, Here is a look back one your third year of life. 

January 2012...sweet little cowboy!

February 2012...new big brother!

March 2012...discovering the world outside!

April 2012...family camping trip!

May 2012...one little monkey jumping on my bed!

June 2012...super Jake!

July 2012...family vacation!

August 2012...Exploring Tahoe

September 2012...started pre-school homeschool!

October 2012...cuddly pajama boy!

November 2012...active boy!

December 2012...birthday boy!

Jake you have had quite a year! You have explored different places, become a big brother, conquered potty training and started pre-school! What a fun filled year it has been! You have become a well spoken polite little boy. You have brought so much joy to your family. Your little brother adores you, your Daddy is so proud of you and I am just enamored with you! You are a very special, very smart little boy. I can't imagine our world with out you. You are so full of life. You love to ask questions and learn new things. You love to explore and use your imagination. You have started telling us stories, and they are wonderfully creative! You love to sing and bob your head to the music. You are a great helper, you always ask to help me with the laundry and dishes. You love to play cars and to play in your kitchen. You are very witty and it sometimes gets you in trouble. You have a sensitive heart, you pick up on peoples emotions and are very compassionate. I love talking with you and hearing about your dreams and the little things that you think about. You are such a wonderful boy Jakob. I really enjoy my sweet little moments with you, while your brother is napping, you and I will cuddle and talk and the world just slows down for us. It's such a special time for me and I will cherish those moments in my heart forever. Happy 3rd Birthday my sweet boy! 

Love, Mommy/ I am so blessed to be your Mommy!