He Is So Yummy...

... Sometimes I just want to eat him

8 Months

My how time flies. Jacob turned 8 months last week and is continuing to grow up quickly. He has been able to grab food off his tray for a while now but wasn't really able to get into his mouth. He can now successfully release and feed himself. Yeah! Jacob has also become a mommy's boy. He definitely prefers to be in my arms, which is frustrating at times but heaven when I get such a happy welcome whenever I walk into the room. He loves to bury his face in my neck or chest and that smile of his just melts my heart. He does like his daddy when he first gets home from work. But after a couple minutes he's leaping to get back in my arms.

Jacob has been a bit more fussy the past few weeks and Jeff thinks it's becuase he's frustrated and just wants to move. He has been so close to crawling for a while. He will go up on his hands and knees and then hop like a frog a few times and then drop down on his stomach and do what we call "the penguin." It makes me laugh every time. He's also learned to sit himself up. Then the day he turned 8 months it all finally clicked - he's now completely mobile and crawling all over the house, pulling himself up to things and trying to do everything his sister does.

Working hard @ the penguin

Warning: May Start Crying At Anytime

We plan to list our home in the next week or so. For the past month I have been emptying drawers, cupboards and closets and boxing up things we don't use on a daily basis. I'm continually amazed at how much stuff we have succeeded in cramming into our little home. For a couple of weeks we were continuously winding our way through a sea of boxes. When you're already tight on space, you quickly run out of places to store boxes. So after a while I was stuck. I couldn't pack up or move forward until we moved some things out. We asked a few close friends in the ward and my dad and brother to come help move things to storage. I couldn't wait to free up my hallway and office and finally have my home 'back'. But the next morning I realized that Jeff moved more than just boxes the night before. He took a part of our home with him. I've been missing a part of me ever since. Upon this realization I scrambled to look for something that was still intact and could give me stability for the upcoming months till we officially moved out and were prepared to start a new chapter in our lives. Naturally I turned to primary.

~~~

We had a special stake meeting to realign ward boundaries on Sunday. And when they said realign, what they really meant was they were dissolving our ward and breaking us all up. With no warning we were all just suddenly released and shipped off to different wards. It's not like we've just been released from our callings - because when that happens you can still see everyone on Sundays, even if you're not still working with them. And it's not like we've already moved away from the ward and can go back and visit friends. No, it's much worse than that. We have no where to go back to. My complex and one other (that only has a handful of active LDS homes) were not only sent to a different ward, but a completely different building. No passing a familiar face in the hall. No seeing any of my primary kids anymore - Emily is the only kid moving into this new primary. I've cried for several days. I just wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.

~~~

Our new ward has already had 3 functions this week. They're making a great effort to help us feel welcome and included. Which is really nice. But I have to admit I'm kind of grudgingly accepting it. I miss my primary kids. I miss my presidency. I miss my Bishop. I miss my friends. I know change is a necessary thing in life. I've received confirmation that listing our house and moving is right. And I've also received confirmation that the ward breaking up is right. However it doesn't mean any of this is easy. We have several months of limbo ahead of us -not fully putting our hearts into a ward that we'll be leaving in a few months and living in a house that's only partially here. I never do well with waiting. Maybe that's why God keeps testing my patience.

The Great Outdoors

We decided that we should probably do some kind of a trip this summer and given our time and money restrains we thought camping was a good option. My parents were willing to go with us and bring their trailer. So we headed up to the Uintah's and spent a couple of days with the mosquitos. Emily's first experience camping was Bear Lake last year and she absolutely loved it. So whenever you mention camping (or sometimes a family trip) she thinks of sleeping in a tent. So while Jacob and I slept in the trailer with gma and gpa. Emily and her daddy roughed it in a tent. Jeff took the camera with him our first night and the two of them seemed to have quite a good time snapping pictures in the dark. I love all the bug eyes as well as Emily's attempts at taking pictures of Jeff - remember this was in the dark so she couldn't see what she was taking. I think she did a pretty good job. Our trip was purely for relaxation purposes. We all read plenty of books, tooks naps and swatted at mosquitos. Gma brought a fun craft for Emily to do and Jacob quickly tired of the selection of toys I brought for him. He spent a lot of his time sliding around the narrow walkway in the trailer or rolling around on Gma and Gpa's bed. We did go on a few brief hikes - one of which Emily threw a fit and started heading back to camp all by herself. Boy she sure is stubborn sometimes. And we of course had a campfire with marshmallows and smores our last night up there.

(waking Gpa up our first morning)

(Moosehorn Lake and Mt Baldy)

Emily's Fit - caught on video (sorry, I was way zoomed in so any slight movement was pretty dramatic)

(Jacob loved the fire)

(Emily fishing - with no hook or bait -
and visiting the provo falls)

Thank you mom & dad! It was a great trip and fun to spend time with you! (Oh, and sorry about Jacob crying at night.)

Pioneer Day

We spent the morning of the 24th with Jeff's parents at the Parley's 3rd neighborhood breakfast. After bacon, eggs, pancakes and our fill of chocolate milk, Emily followed the neighborhood firetruck around the block in a parade. Then the firetruck parked and sprayed the kids and street for a good 10 minutes. The kids loved running around getting sprayed. Of course Jeff kept quoting - "You get to drink from the firehose!"
That night we had dinner at my parents house. My parents were watching Nick & Stacy's kids so Emily got to run around with Jackson and Lucy. They played on the water slide, rode their bikes and jumped on the tramp. Cameron and Jacob were enthralled with each other and kept giving loves. It was cute. Those two boys are going to have so much fun together in the coming years.

Then the next day we had Sunday dinner at my parents house. Emily and Jackson got to play again - but this time Sara was there. All those kids have so much fun together. They rode bikes and Emily took charge as usual and had Jackson, Sara and Lucy all lining up and taking turns with things. Cameron, Jacob and Grace had fun with the Duplo's inside. It was fun to see Jacob interacting with his cousins - but unbelievable at the same time to think that he's big enough to sit on the floor and play with them.

Once it got dark enough we pulled out some blankets and fireworks. Jacob was jumping all over and loving them as much as last time. Emily and Sara were in their own world playing princess and who knows what else while they watched the fireworks. Grace bounced around from blanket to blanket and eventually wanted to hold "the baby." It was funny to see her try and hold Jacob - who weighs as much as she does, if not more. It was a fun, festive weekend, made even better by the time we got to spend with family.

Our Little Fish

We decided it was time Emily learned how to swim so we started swimming lessons for the first time this summer. We ended up doing 3 sessions - one being with a friend from preschool. Emily learned a lot and is still timid when it comes to putting her face in while doing a stroke. But she'll actually go all the way under and loves it when I count how long she can do it for. It was fun to watch her learn, but I must say that I was definitly ready for the lessons to end after six weeks.

Twins?

I've had several people tell me I have cookie cutter kids. What do you think?

7 Months

Wow! Where does time go? I can't believe the year's half over, July is half over, and that my little guy is already 7 months old! It has been so much fun to have him around and to experience all of his first holidays. Jacob is still such a happy baby and will smile at anyone and anything. He's starting to become a bit 'shy' sometimes though and will bury his face in my shoulder or chest after a big smile at someone. I love it. He's also starting to show a preference for someone and will lean towards them when he wants them to hold him.
Shortly after turning 6 months he learned to blow raspberries. That new love didn't last long though because he quickly learned to scream. And when I say scream, I mean scream. It wasn't a little squeal. It was a high pitched, ear ringing curdle. It drove me nuts! After listening to it day in and day out for a couple of weeks and trying everything I could possibly do to get him to stop, I prayed for inspiration on what to do. The next day his screaming diminished and he started blowing raspberries again. Oh, I never thought that I'd be so happy to see spit coming out of his mouth!

(A sample of some mild screaming--doesn't come close to doing it justice)

Jacob also loves to move. Since mastering his rolling skills he is now taking after his sister and rolling every where he can. Emily is quickly realizing what it's like to have a somewhat mobile sibling and that if she doesn't want him playing with her Barbies, she better move them. When being held Jacob likes to jump, twist, squirm, bend, slide and any other possible movement he could possibly do while in your arms. When placed on his hands and knees he will now hold the position. I'm thinking it'll only be a matter of time till he becomes completely mobile. Ahhh! I don't know if I'm ready for that stage again.

Long Lost Friends

The other night we met up with the Lloyd's for dinner at the park. We used to do something with them about every week - till they moved across town. Now we're lucky to see them twice a year. How sad is that? Why is it that if you're not family and you don't live within 10 minutes or so of each other it's so hard to get together? Well, even though it'd been a couple months, Emily and Hayden had no problem picking up where they last left off and having a good time. They ran around the park chasing each other and playing prince/princess and jail (take a wild guess at who picked what game).
Jacob got to try out a slide, a swing, and dad's shoulders. He seemed to like slobbering all over Jeff's head the best. :)

(The Prince & Princess...and little Xander tucked in the corner)

4th of July

With the 4th on a Sunday this year we had several celebrations. Saturday evening we went to my parents house. We had pizza and then spent the night relaxing. Emily played on her slip-n-slide and we just sat out back watching (it was gorgeous weather and the perfect temperature). Jacob loved the hammock. He was so relaxed I thought for sure he'd pass out, but I guess Emily was too intriguing.

After giving the kids baths and getting them in pj's we had dessert - a yummy strawberry trifle. Then we headed out front for some good 'ol fireworks.

We weren't sure what Jacob was going to think of the fireworks. We were hoping he'd be ok with him, but we weren't expecting him to love them as much as he did. He was so enthralled. Even with being extra tired and way past bedtime, he was quiet as a mouse and wouldn't take his eyes off them.

(Emily's first sparklers)

Sunday Jeff's parents hosted us all for a yummy bbq dinner. My parents and brothers came and so did Niki & Mike. After dinner we played games, hung out, and ate Dave's homemade root beer ice cream. It was SO good. Then we headed off to the country club for fireworks. While waiting for it to get dark enough we played football, frisbee, and soccer. Then we all snuggled in for an amazing firework show. Again, we wondered how Jacob would do with the noise of the big fireworks, but he loved them. He didn't move at all and just stared up at them. It was so cute. It was a great weekend and I'm glad we got to 'big' fireworks. I just love going to the club every year. It's such a fun tradition and Jeff and I are glad we can share it with both our families.