January

I didn't realize that I have not updated in so long so here is a post for the month of January. 

First, we received more snow in January so we had another chance to get out and enjoy some fun making snow angels, a snowman, and just playing.     Here are a some pictures from our snow days. 

We also moved Jacob from his converted crib/toddler bed to a twin size bed.   He was so excited to get a "big boy" bed and get to use the cars and trucks comforter he received for Christmas from Nana and Grandpa.  

After the snow and ice melted, we had some really nice days so we decided to enjoy our local state park (in the middle of town) one Saturday. Jacob played on the playground and then we took a hike around the lake.

We also took some time and took Jacob to his favorite pizza place, Chuck e cheese .   

Jacob also had fun attending one of his friends birthday parties at Bouncerific but he would not bounce on any of the bouncy things.  He just had fun running around playing with all of the other toys.   

I am sure there are other things I could include in this post but at the moment I can't remember anything in particular.    

Christmas

Christmas Eve  Jacob actually received one of his presents early.  He received a joint present from his Nana and Grandpa and his Grandaddy.  They bought him a new swingset.   His Daddy and his PaPa put in their part by putting it together for him on Christmas Eve.   I did my best to keep Jacob in the house so it would be a surprise when they were finished.    He was surprised and LOVED it.  The swings were not on before they had to stop working for the day but his PaPa finished that part while we were out of town in Arkansas. 

After the exitement of the new swingset we got ready and headed to church for the candle light carol service.

We celebrated Christmas 4 times this year and had a great time at each celebration.  
The first celebration was at home with just our little family of 3.   When Jacob was born both Wayne and myself agreed that we would make it a point to always be in our home on Christmas morning so Jacob could always wake up in his home that morning.  When he gets older if he wants to go visit family then we will rethink but for now while he is little it is important to us for him to be at his home on Christmas morning.  
He had a rough night sleeping the night before and was up part of the night, of course Santa had already been to the house so Wayne had to get up and cover everything with blankets so the surprises would still be surprises.   When we got up Christmas morning he was so excited to see that Santa had left him a power wheels 4 wheeler, a race track, and lots of goodies in his stocking.  Some of his favorite things he received from mommy and daddy were a few Max and Ruby dvds and a bunch of Hot Wheels cars.   

After our time at home that morning we headed over to Jacob's MaMa and PaPa's house (Wayne's mom and step-dad) for Christmas dinner and more presents. We had a great time with MaMa, PaPa, Aunt Lady, and Betty.    

 We also took Jacob's 4 wheeler so he could ride it around their yard.   

Jacob received several great presents that afternoon like some great tools  and an  Olivia dvd but one of his favorites was a bubble gun.  He giggled and giggled over this gun and shooting people with bubbles.  

The next day we drove to Edgefield to celebrate Christmas with Jacob's Grandaddy (Wayne's dad).   We also were able to celebrate with Jacob's great aunt Ruth and great uncle Kevin who were down visiting from Kentucky.  Once again he received many great presents but again a few of his favorites were the dancing Mickey Mouse, a John Deere musical band toy, and a remote control car. 

The next day (the 27th) we headed out on our 2 day trip to Arkansas to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family.   On the way there we ended up sitting in traffic in North Carolina for over 4 hours.   What should have taken us about 45 minutes took us about 4 hours.  After sitting in the car for what seemed like FOREVER we finally made it to the rest area right before the Tennessee border.  We let Jacob take a little bit and play in the snow.  He had a blast.  

After a long drive to Fort Smith we arrived at Nana and Grandpa's house (my parents) where we were greeted by the entire family to include all of the cousins and my brother, sister, and sister-in-law.  
Once again he recieved a bunch of great presents but some of his favorites were a truck with a bunch of little cars inside, some Max and Ruby books, and a suitcase called a Trunkie that he can ride on as well.    

We had a great time at all 4 Christmas celebrations and are so blessed to have such great families on both sides of our little family.  

finally another post........what Jacob (and the rest of us) has been up to these past few months.

The things he is learning.....

Jacob has become such a "big boy" lately it seems like he wakes up everyday knowing something new. Over the past few months Jacob has become very interested in the alphabet and has managed to learn all of the letters and wants to identify which letter is which on EVERYTHING! This is most of the time a great thing but can slow us down alot when he is constantly stopping to tell me what letters are on a box, sign, poster, etc. He is still interested in his numbers and shapes but his big interest has moved on to the letters. He loves to sing the alphabet song while playing with his toys.

We are also in the process of teaching him his name and our names. After working many years in retail and asking many lost little children what their names were or their parent's were and getting no answer I made the decision a long time ago that if I had children they would learn their names early. There were many times I would ask a child what their parents names were and would get the answer "mommy and daddy". Jacob knows his first and last name as well as both mine and Wayne's first and last names. He still gets stumped at times when asked but will eventually give you the right answer. On a funny note he spent several weeks telling us his name was "gobble gobble" when we asked him. He knew he was being funny and would just give us a huge smile when he said it.

I also think he has probably grown at least an inch if not more over the past few months. I don't know if we will be able to keep him in pants that are not too short if he keeps growing like he has been. I plan on measuring him at some point in the next few days so I can know exactly how tall he is now. I know in October he was exactly 36 inches.

The things we have been doing....

In November we traveled to Arkansas for my niece's wedding. Jacob was the ringbearer and did a great job. He looked so handsome all dressed up in his suit and red tie.

We were able to spend a little time visiting with my family during the week we were there but then the Saturday after the wedding we had to head back to SC so Wayne could attend a conference for work in Charleston.  Jacob and I tagged along with him on this trip and were able to spend the week in Charleston just enjoying some down time.   While there we took Jacob to see the lights at James Island State park one of the evenings.  He loved walking around looking at the Christmas lights. 

After the week in Charleston we came back home for a few days and headed to Savannah, GA to spend Thanksgiving with Wayne's Grandmother.  We all went out to eat at the Pirate's House and had a enjoyable dinner.  (we are now so very thankful for being able to spend Thanksgiving with his grandmother).

The weekend after Thanksgiving we headed up to Bristol, TN with Jacob's MaMa and PaPa to see the lights at the Bristol Motor speedway.    We were able to drive around the speedway and look at  a ton of lights and then got to drive on the track to the center field where Jacob was able to enjoy riding some rides and a visit with Santa.  

Jacob says this picture is MaMa and PaPa

Next we headed back home and were finally able to decorate our Christmas tree.  Jacob LOVED decorating and is really loving all of the decorations he sees for Christmas.   

We also had to say goodbye to Wayne's grandmother this week.  We were so glad that we got to spend some time with her on Thanksgiving.  She was her normal self that day making jokes and giving people a hard time.   We had no idea that day that it would be the last holiday anyone would get to spend with her.   Anice Evans you will be missed and I thank you for your part in helping to mold your grandson into the man I married and love with all my heart.   Jacob did wonderful with our 2 trips (in 3 days) to Georgia.  He was such a trooper and did a great job sitting at the hospital, a catholic mass, visitation, and the funeral.

  He really is a great boy and we are amazed that we were chosen by God to be his parents.  
On a lighter note we also have a new addition to our family.   We brought back a kitten from Arkansas named Sally.  Jacob tells us that Sally is his cat and she has proven to be a blessing with providing a companion to our other cat, Pepper. 

On the 3rd day God created the Trees and the pine cones too.

In our Puggles class(Awana) on Wednesday nights we have been learning about creation. We have learned that on the 1st day God created Light, on the 2nd day God created the sky, and on the 3rd day God created the trees, the grass, and the flowers. Well today on the way home from church Jacob was telling me about the trees and I reminded him that God made the trees on the 3rd day. He immediately replied, "and the pine cones too mommy!" At first I just said a simple "yes, Jacob and the pine cones too". But then as I thought about Jacob being excited about the pine cones I was reminded that as adults sometimes we need to take time and see things in a child like manner. Too often as adults we take some of the most simplistic things and make them difficult. We need to take time and enjoy the simple things in life and just let simplicity be simple. We need to take time to marvel at the wonders of some of the little things in our lifes.
Yes, on the 3rd day God did create the trees and pine cones too. Have you ever stopped to really think about the details of a pine cone? Pine cones are things that as adults we view as a simple object that we use for kids crafts, decorations during certain times of the year, and also a sometimes being annoying if we have a bunch in our yards. Well, God took time on the 3rd day to construct even the smallest of details of the pine cones with a purpose in mind. God has also taken time and created each one of us with a purpose in mind. We are each created in his image but with different details that are uniquely ours. Are we taking time to explore our unique details and live our lifes for God's purpose? Are we taking time to relect on the small and simple things in life? It is often through the simplest of things that we hear God the clearest.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch today to pick out some pumpkins to carve for Halloween. We have bought our pumpkins from a pumpkin patch the past 3 years and love taking Jacob to pick out his own.

The 1st year - Jacob at almost 6 months.



The 2nd year - Jacob at almost 1 1/2 and with a scraped up face.



The 3rd year - Jacob at almost 2 1/2.




This year it was hard to get Jacob to be still long enough for some good pictures. He is certainly a very active 2 year old, even when he is sick. He currently has an ear infection.

No more diapers!!!

We have entered into a new phase of the toddler years.....POTTY TRAINING! I attempted to potty train Jacob back during the summer without success. It was so frustrating and overwhelming that I decided to stop for several months. I realized that neither Jacob nor myself were ready so we went back to diapers. We did however keep his potty out and accessible for him to see and sit on when he wanted. We also let him watch his potty dvd "Go Potty Go" which he actually enjoys watching. I had already decided that at some point in October I would try again but was not sure exactly when in October. It was not until this week that I decided the time was right. It was at MOPS on this past Tuesday that I was informed Jacob had told the childcare workers that he was potty trained and wanted to go to the potty with the other kids. They had no clue that he wasn't telling them the truth so they took him and quickly realized he was not trained. (He had also pulled this stunt with some nursery workers at church a few weeks earlier). I decided that day that if he was telling people he was trained then it must be time to start the training. So far it has been a great success. I know we still have a long way to go before he is completely trained but today is day three and we only had 2 accidents and even went out to eat and to a few stores.
I did realize that it is not only very important for the child to be ready but the parent also has to be ready as well. This is a HUGE commitment and takes up a good amount of time. We have practically spent the last three days at home and our day has been scheduled by a timer.
I am so proud of my big boy and the progress he has made in just three days. I can't believe how much he has grown and am a little sad at the same time.

Jacob's 1st College Football Game.

We had the opportunity to take Jacob to his first college football game on September 18. We traveled to Athens, GA for the Georgia/Arkansas game. We were truely a house divided that day with myself decked out in Arkansas attire and Wayne in his Georgia attire. We did however let Jacob represent both teams.

We all had a great time at the game despite it being so hot. Jacob even napped almost the entire first half of the game (even with myself and Wayne cheering for our teams) In the end only one of us could leave happy and for the first time in several years it was me. Arkansas won the game! Looking forward to taking Jacob to another college game and who knows maybe we can make going to this match up a family tradition.

September 2010

Since I have not really updated in a while I will do my best to detail a little of what we have done in September.
In early September we went to visit Jacob's Grandaddy. While there Jacob took a ride on the big John Deere and went fishing for the first time. Wayne helped Jacob cast his fishing pole and with the first cast he caught a fish. Not bad for a 2 year old, especially since I have never caught a fish.






































We also went to the Riverbanks Zoo in September.