Playdates

We've done a lot of fun outings the last little bit - I just haven't had the time to post about them. A while ago we went up to Jenn's house and had lunch, played, and went on a walk to see the baby sheep. The kids fed the sheep and some ducks.

We also all met up at the Children's Museum one day too. It was extremely crowded so we didn't stick around too long. But it was so much fun to spend time together. The girls had a blast together - as always. I sure love getting together with my sisters.

Brad & Heather came into town a while back so we got to see a lot of Ella. While they were house hunting in Albuquerque, Gma & Gpa Holbrook met us at the park so Emily and Ella could play. We had pizza and played soccer. I love the video of the girls seeing each other for the first time in a long time.

Then for FHE a couple of days later we had a scavenger hunt that ended at Gma & Gpa Holbrook's house. Emily got to see Ella and Maggie and play around for a bit. We also had yummy ice cream before heading home to bed.

The next couple of days Ella came to preschool with us. I co-oped so while Gma Holbrook watched Jacob and Maggie, I took Ella and Emily to preschool. The girls loved it. Then the following Thursday we had a field trip to the Children's Museum and Heather and Ella joined us. These girls sure love each other and have a lot of fun.

Before leaving town Maggie had her 1st birthday!

With Ella back in Virginia we started playing with the Newman cousins again. We got together on Cinco de Mayo for some yummy cafe rio. The kids ran around outside in the warm weather for a long time. Emily, to no one's surprise, became the ring leader and put the other three in jail. What was surprising was that all three totally listend and didn't everything she told them to.

They all sure love aunt Lisa!

4 Months

So as I went to make this post I realized that I've taken more video than pictures lately. Oops. They don't scrapbook as well, but they sure a fun to watch. Jacob has now hit what I refer to as "the fun stage." He is all smiles and has been laughing quite a bit. I love it. There is nothing like a baby's laugh. He can hold his toys pretty well now and seems to try and get as much drool on me and his toys as possible. A major change the past month has been that Jacob is now napping in his bed!!! I absolutely love my new found freedom and wonder how I ever got anything done before. But oh do I miss all that snuggle time! He is so yummy and if I could I would hug and kiss him for hours.

Emily continues to be a great big sister and adore her little brother. Jacob is now taking a bigger interest in his sister and loves to watch her run around and play. Emily is pretty good at getting him to smile and laugh. She is also an awesome helper. If I turn my back for a second she is right there with his bottle or a spoon to feed him. She's also very good at racing for a burp cloth when she sees him drooling... and it happens a lot!

We had his 4 month check up on the 12th. Jacob's happy and healthy and continuing to grow like a weed. He's still 75% in height (25") and is now 90% in weight - coming in at 16 lbs 1 oz. After hitting a growth spurt at about 3 1/2 months we started him on rice cereal.

I LOVE it when he sticks out his lips! It's my favorite.

He's now happily enjoying sweet potatoes, squash, applesauce, pears, and oatmeal. He is not a fan of peas however. And I think I have to agree with Jeff on this one - I don't blame him.

We still don't see much interest in rolling and I'm wondering if he's going to master sitting first. He LOVES it and is always pulling himself up straighter. He doesn't have all the trunk coordination and balance yet, but he's getting there. He also loves to talk - especially when it nears bedtime. I love listening to him go on and on. He still has such a little husky voice.

Why does life get so busy?

Every time I turn around I see something that needs to be done. I'm exhausted just looking at how long my checklist is becoming. I had to get out of bed twice last night to write things down so I wouldn't forget them. Am I the only one that is this busy??? Or do I just not handle it as well everyone else? How do you do it?

Easter, Conference & a Birthday

The past few days have been quite busy. Easter was fun - but a bit hectic. I'm not sure if I like having it on conference Sunday or not. It was so nice to not have to worry about getting up and getting ready for church and dealing with primary, but the day still seemed pretty crammed. As any 3 year old would be, Emily was so excited for her basket and an Easter egg hunt. We've been playing egg hunt and taking turns being the Easter bunny and the little girl for the past week and a half. The Easter bunny left some good spoils again this year. We got "The Princess and the Frog", a Mickey Mouse movie, a coloring book and a puzzle, a new toy for Jacob and of course plenty of candy. Emily also got a new swimming suit - the shorts and shirt kind - and when she saw it she said, "Mom, look! It's modest!" She's such a good girl!

Emily was very happy about her chocolate bunny

Jacob was all smiles all day

He was really liking Spencer

Sunday night we went up to my sisters house for a yummy dinner and another egg hunt. Ally got the golden egg this year - with $10 in it. The kids all loved it and thank heavens it was ok weather. I don't know how we would have hid 90 eggs inside. We decided to try something new this year - an adult egg hunt. Sam hid one egg with $16 (and a free burger coupon) and he did an excellent job. It took quite a bit of searching and a couple hints on which room and then what area of said room before it was finally found. It was really funny to see so many adults frantically ransacking Jenny's basement. And the winner was... Lisa! I love Spencer's winning smile as well and Matthew's pouty face that he didn't win.

Saturday and Sunday's conference sessions were awesome. Luckily Jacob pretty much slept through all of them so we were able to watch a lot of it. And thank you sugardoodle and the internet for helping me keep Emily occupied. She had fun gluing the first presidency and apostles pictures on papers, coloring their ties, and posting their pictures on our 'conference wall'. She colored A LOT of pictures and did several mazes.
Of course I think Jeff and Emily's favorite session was when I had bowls set out with different words taped to them and every time they heard that word they could eat what was in that bowl.

Playing with balloons that were in Easter eggs and

having a picnic lunch between sessions

I loved all the talks about family. I especially enjoyed Sister Beck's talk on mothers and personal revelation. And I so love listening to Elder Holland. He is such a good speaker and so passionate. I can't wait till my Ensign comes and I can read all the talks.

I had a bridal bouquet to do on Monday (my birthday), but other than that, I basically did nothing. It was so nice. The house was a mess, as it usually is after a holiday and a weekend spent running around. But I decided it could wait one more day - who wants to clean on their birthday? I played with the kids, talked on the phone and I think fell asleep watching Tigger and Pooh with Emily.
That night we had a fancy dinner - wendy's on the china. Emily was SO excited. She loves any reason to celebrate.

Then Jeff and Emily sang happy birthday and I opened presents. Emily had packed up a bunch of Jacob's toys and books and a package of wipes in her suitcase as one of my presents. I also got some stackable cooling racks, a rice cooker and an awesome set of pans (it counts as mother's day too). Oh, and I can't forget the sweet notes (and pictures) they all wrote and colored for me.

Jeff and I also went out to celebrate last Friday. We had an amazing dinner at Tucanos. Yum. I don't like pineapple, but I could eat a whole one if it was grilled like that. We then went to see Blindside. Oh so good. I love Sandra Bullock. A huge thanks to my mom and dad for watching the kids for us for several hours. I don't remember the last time Jeff and I went on a real date - meaning more than just dinner. I wish we had something to celebrate (and babysitters) so we could go out every weekend. Thanks to everyone for the birthday phone calls, emails, texts and wishes. It's always nice to be remembered.

3 Months ... A Little Late

I've been meaning to make this post since... well, since Jacob turned 3 months. I know I'm a bit late, but I want to remember all the things he learned in the last month so it's better late then never. As I blogged about before, Jacob has a hard time napping in his bed. He is awesome at napping in my arms though. This has been very frustrating, but at times a very good excuse to get extra snuggle time. He has become more interested in looking at things and has started playing with toys. Towards the end of the month he started grabbing at his toys and trying to bring them to his mouth. He smiles a lot and is always happy to see his daddy when he comes home. Jacob is very good for Jeff and its nice to know that he is just as good for him as he is for me. When I'm gone I don't have to worry that only I can calm him down or feed him. I also pulled out Jacob's next set of clothes the beginning of March. It was sad to pack up his 0-3 month clothes, but it wasn't as hard as it was with Emily. I still can't believe how big he is and how much he's grown. When I looked at some of those 3-6 month clothes when I first got them they seemed huge! And now he's wearing them. It's crazy.

Those awesome dimples.... I'm in love!

Emily

Emily is such a good big sister. She completely adores her little brother and is such a good mommy to him. She is always so willing to help feed him, get him dressed, and entertain him. Jacob in turn loves watching everything she does. Emily has never resented having a sibling and always makes sure Jacob is included - we can't ever skip him when it's his turn for family prayer. Whenever he is crying she always races to give him his paci or hold up a toy for him to play with. She totally mimics everything I do and say.

Over the past 6 weeks the effects of a baby have started to sink in though. Emily is more emotional (but then what 3 year old isn't) and isn't listening as well as she used to. She has become more clingy to me as well. Every Tuesday and Thursday we battle about preschool. She is constantly saying she doesn't want to go to and that she doesn't like it. Whereas before we could bribe her with anything if we said she couldn't go to preschool. We've tried several approaches to try and make it a more positive thing, but unfortunately I think it's only time that will make it better. I wouldn't 'force' her to go each time if she didn't love once she was there. Every night before bed, Jeff talks to Emily about her day and then sings to her. It's their special daddy and Emily time. Well yesterday Emily asked when we were going to have just mommy and Emily time. I'm sure the fact that she doesn't have my attention all day long anymore is to blame for the whining and preschool battles. I guess I just need to carve out more time for just the two of us - and hope that that will end the whining.
(Emily had to include Jacob in this picture)

Emily has pretty much done nothing but color for the past two weeks or so. She has LOVED it. I have to sharpen her colored pencils every couple of days she colors so much. We are very impressed with how much her coloring skills have grown in such a short period of time. I love how she always has to give them away too. She'll write who the picture is to and sign her name at the bottom. I love all of her letters. Most of the pictures end up being for me, Jeff, Jacob, cousin Ella, or a gma or gpa because those are the names she knows how to spell. But she did give one to my visiting teacher on Sunday.
I had to include this last picture. To me it looks like they're planning something- something mischievous. I can only imagine what these two are going to be coming up with and doing in the coming years.

We sure love our little Emily. She is so smart and such a happy girl. She loves helping with anything and everything. She tries so hard to choose the right and please us. She is so sweet and sensitive. We are so proud of what a beautiful girl she is. I am so lucky to be her mom and her best friend.

We Finally Know...

Yesterday we found out where two family members are going to be living for the next 4-5 years. Jeff's brother, Brad, and my sister's husband, Spencer, are both in medical school and are starting their residencies in June. Brad and his family will be moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico for an OB/GYN residency. Spencer and Lisa will heading back East to New Hampshire for a 5 year orthopedic surgery residency at Dartmouth.

We're sad that neither will be 'home,' but we're excited for their upcoming adventures. We're also looking forward to having excuses to visit a few new states. Congrats you guys! We're all so proud of you!!

Jacob's Blessing

Due to conflicting schedules and our families never-ending travels, we ended up squeezing Jacob's blessing in on March 6th. Due to our Stake Conference we held the event at Jeff's parents house. Everything turned out really well and it was an enjoyable evening. Jacob ended up crying through most of the actual blessing and then was all smiles the rest of the night. We missed Jeff's two brothers and their families, but were grateful for all of those that were able to be there.

The Utah Holbrook's

The Newman's - minus 2 that were sick

Jacob's grandparents & great-grandparents

I was so busy talking to family and such that I wasn't able to get any great single pictures of Jacob on Sunday. So the next day I snapped a few at home. He was a pretty good sport. However I just can't seem to get any pictures of him smiling. He'll only smile if I coax it out of him and the second I pull up the camera he stops looking at me and the smile disappears.

This is the closest I could get to a smile

We are so grateful for our little Jacob. He is such a joy. We are so blessed to have him as a part of our family and we all love him so much.