Cake smash pictures

A friend of Rachel's graciously took some pictures of Jake a couple weekends ago for a Cake Smash shoot. It was lots of fun, though he didn't get as into it as I hoped. But I wasn't shocked he didn't dive in. He is not that kind of kid. He is methodical and studying. Hmmmm, wonder where he got that from????

Enjoy a few of the zillion that Kelly took!

Jake's first haircut

Derek and I decided to get Jake his first hair cut today. We went to Little Chops and he sat in a race car and "watched" Baby Einstein. He did really well. Derek found it to be "uneventful" in his own words. Apparently, that means he didn't cry so it wasn't as enjoyable for Derek???? However he did say that as he was looking at him in the chair, that he could see him grown up. That brought tears to my eyes. Of course I welled up while he was getting his hair cut, but no tears exited my eyes, so I didn't officially cry! It is funny how a little hair cut can make a baby look like such a big boy! Our little guy is growing up...Here are some videos (sorry they are kind of long) and pictures for ya. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas to All

Too much excitement was had for Jake and Daddy Christmas Eve. They passed out together on the recliner. Aren't they precious?

Happy Birthday Jacob Michael! (And Daddy too)

Happy birthday my favorite two guys. As the cliche goes, time has flown by. But it is really true. I don't think you fully understand it until you are a parent. Every day something new and exciting happens in their world. Seeing the world through your baby's eyes is just amazing. The wind blowing the trees, or a dog barking in the neighborhood brings such excitement to a little kid's mind. I am just in awe of him. He is amazing to me. We are just so lucky.

As a little update, here are the things that Jake is into these days:

walking everywhere, practically running
rolling around in Scooby's dog bed (We swear he thinks he is a dog)
waving
saying hello, bye bye, mama, dada, that and possibly puppies
shakes his head no and nods yes, less than no, but does it
signs more and eat, and I think milk
eating more adult style food daily
holds his bottle when he feels like it
sleeps from 8-6 (THANK GOD!)
laughs when you blow raspberries in his arm pit
wiggles so much when you are getting his jammies on you need two people
feeds the dogs out of his high chair
climbs the stairs
goes down the stairs by holding the Bannister rails and on his bum
giving kisses

This time last year...

I was curling up in bed anticipating waking up early to wrap the final Christmas presents and hitting Safeway to get Derek all the fixings for Eggs Benedict for his 31st birthday breakfast. Who would have thought that just a bit more than 24 hours later I would be bringing into the world the best thing that has ever happened to me?

Today has been full of remembering the last year, plenty of tears (of joy and longing) and just hugging my beautiful little man. Today he sprinkled us with a new word, "bye-bye" accompanied by a wave, mocked Lily as she scratched her back on the carpet (he did the same thing as her laughing the whole time), and sleeping in a whole 30 extra minutes, which was heavenly for Mommy and Daddy. Yesterday we had his pirate birthday party, I will post some pictures later of it, my camera is being a booger. I do have his 9 mo pictures finally back from the photographer, so you can enjoy those. I'll post more tomorrow. Just wanted to reminisce...

11 months is coming in like a bang!

Hey all. Every day I am more and more amazed at how wonderful it is to be a mom. The littlest of things are so amazing to babies. For example, a few days ago Derek and I were blowing kisses to Jake and he was laughing so hard. How can anyone have a bad day when they have a laughing, loving muchkin to come home to? Since our last post, Jake took a hiatus from walking. But over the last few days, he has taken a few more steps. UNTIL TODAY, where he is walking like a champ, finger in the air for balance. Here is a short video, he was tuckered out from practicing. Also, we were playing after school and he stuck my finger in his mouth and lo and behold, there was a TOOTH on his bottom! Haven't tried to get a pic of that one yet, but when I do I will post it. I guess that explained the diaper rash out of no where and waking up an hour early a few times this week. :)

Happy Halloween!

Jake's first Halloween was quite eventful. We started the morning off picking up our Bountiful Baskets and then went home. Exciting...But THEN Jake was cruising on the couch and decided today is a great day to take independent steps to me! He took several steps before he launched himself onto me. Then he did it over and over as we made him act like he was a trained monkey. :) I need to get it on video. My brain didn't even go there I was so excited (and yes, I cried...C'mon it is ME after all!). He did it about 7 or 8 times for Derek and I. It was amazing.

Then we went to Gymboree and shared the great news with the class and the grandparents. Here are some pics from Gymboree. The Sunshine is Giovanna, the world's cutest little girl.And some pics of us hanging outside handing out candy to the trick or treaters. Jake's Yoda was a big hit.

Enjoy and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!