Jacob's 3rd Birthday Party!!

Because of the wedding and all of the fun things going on next weekend we decided to have Jacob's birthday party today.  It was sooooo nice and the weather was an absolute perfect fall day!! We had our monkey themed party outside at Macomb Corner's Park... Jacob was so excited about that, since he loves parks!! We just had some family and a couple of close friends... for a chili cookout, lots of sweets, and FUN! Conrad, Grace, Jacob & Cameron had a really good time!  Jacob enjoyed his cake and even shared some bites with his sister... he later told me his least favorite part was his candle (it was a NUMBER 3 sparkler and he said it was too close to his face and he didn't want one like that again).  He could hardly wait to open his presents... and loved EVERY single thing he got... even the cards! He is at such a fun age and really gets "into" things and people.  He even met a few friends at the park... 

After the party a few of us headed back to play at the Kohl's... the kids (Conrad, Grace & Jacob) always have such a nice time together.  

When we got home and I laid Jacob down to bed he called me shortly after I laid him down... I went back in.  He said "Mom, I need another kiss... thanks for all my presents".  That right there was ALL worth it!! 

He is already talking about his party "NEXT WEEKEND"... I don't think he understands that his real birthday is next weekend, I think he is just loving this party stuff and wants to have another.  

He is such a special little boy... so perfect in everyway!! I cannot believe my little boy is 3... where did time go???  The boy he has become has been so much more than I could have ever wished for or imagined.  He is the light of our lives... every... single... DAY!  

Stay tuned for pictures coming soon!

Grace's 18 Month Doctor's Visit

Well today turned out be very eventful for our little girl... first off  this morning she was strolling around munching on cinnamon toast at Bet's house when Lucy decided she'd like some too!! Needless to say her hand ended up in Lucy's mouth but it didn't break the skin just looked a little red. Since I already had her doctor's visit planned we figured we'd just wait till then to get it checked out.  So... the afternoon came and, OF COURSE, Grace decided she was going to take a good long nap so Mommy had to wake & take her! On the way to the doctor's office I got a call from the physical therapist we had contacted through the MISD about Grace not walking... she was calling to make sure everything was going well and that she was walking/running/climbing, etc.  She then asked me how her vocabulary was... I said "Well she has some words.... Ma, Dada, Doe, Bra (brother), key, see, dog, hi, potty, please, no, bye-ya, teeth, shoe, and I'm sure there's a few more". She asked if she had about 40-50 words.. um No.  Then she asked if she was putting words together... um no! So she then asked if I would be interested in having an evaluation done.  I said SURE, I'd rather be proactive than sit around and worry about it.  So they connected me with the assessment line and we made her an appointment for the 13th of November.  She may or may not qualify but I'm sure its better to have her evaluated than just wait around.  THEN... just about the time I was through with my conversation with them we arrived at the doctor's office.  Grace was so "silly" and made all of her lovely faces for the doctor and nurses.  She weighed 23 lbs 10 oz (25%tile) and was 31 3/4 inches tall (50%tile).  Dr. Kalo said she is just a "skinny" little girl!  She checked out her eyes (which she thought were very beautiful, of course!) her lungs, ears, teeth, bottom, and her hand (which to get back to that... it was just fine). The doctor & I then discussed Grace's biting of Jacob (maybe Lucy was trying to give her a taste of her own medicine)  she basically said to catch her tell her no (firmly) then remove her from the situation.... we also discussed her willingness to go potty on the toilet (we average about 1-2 times a day).  Dr. Kalo was VERY impressed with that, and told me to keep it up... :).  I mentioned I don't push it but since she has been asking we just go with it. She then told me she was up for 2 vaccines & the flu vaccine (if I was interested... which I was!) AND she also said our office is now doing led level blood work at 18 months.  So if I wanted to do that she could write me a script and I could have the lab do it downstairs... so I agreed.  A little blood work, WHILE I was already there... SURE!  So after the screaming we endured with the three shots... she got some stickers and we headed down stairs.  Here is where it went from good to worse (and yes I know I babble and have long posts... SORRY).  So down we went.  While waiting I ran into a parent from Beck and we talked while Grace ate pretzels and milk... she was so content.  A lab tech came out and called a little boy back... when he came back out he looked horrible.  His Mom said to him "We'll get you someone different next time, it never usually hurts that bad right?"  Well just a couple minutes later... the SAME tech came out and called Grace's name... YIKES!  We went back into the room laid her on the table (yes... she started to scream... recent memories of 3 shots) and the tech stuck the needle in her arm... yes... it must have been in her arm and NOT the vein because no blood was coming out.  All of a sudden she is calling in someone else to help hold the screaming wiggling Grace down and still NO blood.  It felt like five minutes... then her arm started to turn purple.  They pulled the turnakit (I have no clue how to spell that) off and by this time her arm started to look very purple and the tech told me um... she will have a very bad bruise there.  So I'm thinking to myself... lets just go... when they tell me to lay her down and they are going to attempt the other arm.  (Apparently they didn't get into the vein and we think they may have nicked the vein causing the bruise and purpleishness of it.  So I pick Grace up and comfort her a little before laying her back down for round 2!!  By this time the tech's have switched spots and the other one is trying to get the blood.  She sticks the needle in and it appears that we have the SAME problem.  They then call a third person in... by the time she comes in we finally have blood that was coming out!! UGHHHHH...what a long, horrible experience for our poor little girl.  She looked so sad when it was all over, she just slumped over my shoulder and looked exhausted (as was MOMMY!)

Jacob & Miss. Katie! Plus Drama With GRACE!

Well today at speech we had an AWESOME day.  He walked in and got to meet some other kids at Mom's school... they loved him! They talked to him for quite a while before we headed to see Mrs. Knauf for his weekly sucker!  He picked one for him & one for Gracie and then we were off to see Miss. Katie.  He went right in (well him and his dog Cody) without even looking back.  He even had a gerbera daisy he handpicked for her from Doe's house.  So cute! I sat at my little table in the hallway and watched him have a good time.  He got to do bingo dabbers (on a monkey picture) and he got to use bingo chips for his cards and when he finished the card he used a magnet to pick them all up!! When his time was up they called me in and he showed me his magnet trip and then he got skittles... yummy *now he LOVES Miss. Katie*.  She talked about how smart he was and how when she showed him a picture of a drum he told her he plays rock band with his Daddy.  She got a kick out of that!! She also said while doing his cards she showed him a picture of a dinosaur and then said to him say "Dino" in which he responded... DINOSAUR. She said.... ok... well we are done with that section of cards!  When we got in the car he ate his skittles and told me about each color... "Hey Mom, this orange one matches my shirt... This one matches Cody's collar".  He asked me why I came in??  Could this be the same boy... now he doesn't want me to come into the room with him, lol.

When we got back to Doe's Grace was already asleep so I laid Jacob down and just a short while later I heard Grace crying.  I went in and picked her up... she feel right back to sleep on me but continued to wake crying approximately every 15-20 minutes.  When she would wake she would rub her left eye too... when she finally "got up" we noticed her eye looked pretty swollen and red.  I decided I better take her in, especially with all that we have going on in the next couple of weeks.  Well it turns out they couldn't identify it but did prescribe her some drops. That and they said we could give benadryl if needed.  It was never goopy or looked of pink eye but that is what they called it.... the doctor mentioned she thought it could be the start of a cold, allergies, or pink eye.  Her nose was a little runny but clear, so I really believe it was allergies.  Bottom line.... they didn't know what it was... which makes me even more so think it was allergies.  

Slight Progress...

We have a little progress with Jacob at school... only 2 tears today! He told me that himself!! It was also picture day... and I heard a child cried the entire picture session.... and FINALLY it wasn't my CHILD!! YEAH Jacob!! He showed me his little smile (and it looked FANTASTIC!!)

He was by far the most handsome boy... with his new spiked hair (that he just loves) and his little dress shirt.  SO CUTE!

BEAUTIFUL Weekend in Caseville!

Doe, Greg, the kids & I headed up north for an AWESOME weekend in Caseville.  There were so many people up this weekend... it was like summer all over again.  Mommy got alot of well needed rest and we even got to go on the beach! I swear we could have even used our bathing suits! On Saturday after Mommy's yummy dinner (yes I cooked!! Gigi inspired me to make Chicken Cacciatore in the crock pot and everyone loved it!) we headed to the county park to check out all the lights and halloween decorations at the campsites. We wished we would have brought our halloween costumes because the kids could have went trick or treating... oh well.  On Saturday Doe, Grace & I even went shopping in the morning while the boys hung out at the beach playing frisbee.  On Sunday after playing outside (having Daddy & Doe make a city out of chalk in the driveway) and spending time on the beach, we ventured back home and it was oh so hard to leave.... we are planning on going up once a month (even though Jacob wants to go every weekend!)  On the downside, Doe forgot to bring her camera and mine had a dead battery... so we have no pictures but the ones on our phones... SORRY!

8 Weeks...

Well as of today I am 8 weeks! I am STILL sick... lost 5 pounds thus far.  It is so different this time because I feel sick all day long.  Also, surprisingly I'm ALWAYS cold.  I don't know what is up with that.  I'm craving anything with carbs and ICE CREAM! I've also been EXTREMELY tired all the time (which never happened to me with Jacob or Grace). 

Grace is 18 MONTHS OLD!!

I honestly cannot believe how fast time is going with these two!! The days just seem to zoom by... as we keep up to savor every moment of "them". Grace is walking soooo good now and beginning to look like she is running (although not very fast).
She loves going to both gymnastics and dance... but I think she has more fun at gymnastics since it is a little less structured. She LOVES somersaults! She is so silly... she loves them so much she has even attempted them on the cement outside... yeah... leave it to our little daredevil.
She is so sweet and loveable yet so sassy! Her favorite words continue to be NO, DOG, & MA (MOM). She hasn't picked up a whole lot of new vocabulary which kind of alarms be but we are patiently awaiting her language explosion. She also says (cheese, Doe, Dada, brother, Down, Hi, Bye-ya, and more... I think that is all but I may have missed a few).
She has really taken a liking to her baby dolls and anything that has to do with babies. She just loves them... it is so precious. She also loves FOOD... she always wants to be eating, and spends most of her time trying to pull me or Daddy into the storage room (where we keep our snacks). She just loves to eat!! She isn't a picky eater either, but if she is done or doesn't want what you gave her... LOOK OUT... it will be everywhere. Her favorites are: pizza, peanut butter toast, pretzels, and pretty much anything that is sweet (fruit included!).
Gracie is into shoes, bigtime! She loves to put hers on as well as get other people's shoes and bring them to them! The changing weather has been hard because Grace loves being outside and she could spend all day just walking around and taking all of natures wonders in... she even tries to help Doe clean the birdbath at her house. What a helper!
One major thing that has begun this month is BITING, YIKES! We never had this problem with Jacob. But luckily to date she has only bit mostly Jacob. But yesterday she got Gigi & Doe too! The scary thing is she doesn't really clamp down but she still leaves a mark. Mostly she has gotten Jacob when he is doing something she doesn't like. That doesn't make it acceptable but I'm understanding what to watch for. Her other new trick is hair pulling... UGH! This girl is definitely our little stinker!

Night At Bets & Pa's AND Pumpkin Patch!

Last night Jacob & Grace got to spend the night for the very first time at Bets & Pa's house. They had fun playing outside (making a chalk city... complete with houses, costco, a gas station, nursery school and park), playing with play-doh, eating, bathing AND Jacob even got to sleep in the tent! The three of them wore their adorable skeleton pajamas...
They both did very good and didn't cry except when Greg dropped them off... not bad!

On our way out to Gigi's on Sunday we stopped at a pumpkin patch to take our annual picture on the GIANT pumpkins! Check out our picture link on the side...we got some really cute ones! After our photo shoot we checked out the other pumpkins and I let the two of them pick out a pumpkin for themselves (just a small one this time as we'll get the big ones when we go on the wagon ride). Jacob just loved the pumpkins he was hugging and kissing them all... you can tell he is an OCTOBER baby! :)

Field Trip To Westview

Today we went to Westview for a field trip with Jacob's nursery school.  Doe, Bets, Mom & Grace all went along too... it was so much fun!! We got to take a wagon/tractor ride to the apple trees and pick some delicious apples.  Jacob did such a great job of pulling them off... he pulled off 6 apples for each of us! After our apple picking adventure we headed to the tent for cider and donuts (which Grace loved) neither one tried the cider.  After the food the kids were able to play on the straw stack, the big play area and visit the petting farm.  Mrs. Lee even gave Jacob some food to feed the goats.  He had such a nice time and I was so glad I was able to be there. The only not so great part of the whole day was that it was really cold (although better cold than cold and rainy, right??) Grace was so cold she almost acted frozen at certain times.  I cannot believe how calm and quiet she was.  She really didn't even ask to get down (which is totally rare for her!). She cuddled the entire time, only to get down and carry her bag of apples like a purse (that almost knocked her over).  

3 Sickies!!

Our sickie total is now 3.  Greg claims his stomach has been bugging him for two days now although he has yet to be "sick".  Grace has thrown up twice so far (once on Monday/once on Tuesday) and tonight Jacob got diaharrea. He told me he had to poop so I ran him into the bathroom and we laughed saying he just barely made it.  Well after a couple of seconds I realized why... he had it twice that night.  To be on the safe side I told him we were putting on "Special Sore Belly Underwear" aka a pull-up.  I hesitated in doing so, but he seemed ok with the idea and I figure better safe than sorry!! Hopefully we'll ALL be better tomorrow....and Mom will stay clear of all this FUN.