A New Kid

Jake's "serious" face

Jake seems to be a new kid now that he feels better. He's still showing some signs of being "aggressive", but he has been an angel for the most part (well...minus the meltdown in Walmart but I asked for it!). We even played with Ryan today for a little while and Jake only slapped at him once! Maybe last week's "bully" phase was aggravated by his illness? Gosh, I hope so! The ladies at the church nursery yesterday told Tyson that Jake was very sweet and even shared!! We're making progress people! Have a great week!

Does this little boy look sick to you?

Playing on the electrical box in our PJ's at 3 o'clock in the afternoon! What a day!

Ear infection? What ear infection?

Don't be fooled by the long eyelashes and beautiful brown eyes!


He's Trouble (with a capital T)!
Is he a catcher?...
...or a center? Or both?


Jake might seem to be a playful, happy child in these pictures, but these pictures could not be farther from the truth. Yes, we had about one great hour today playing outdoors, but these last few days have been rough. In fact, last night was the worst night of Jake's whole almost 15 months of life. For real. It all started at the beginning of this week, Jake had a cough and runny nose. Over the week, it got progressively worse. I thought it was just allergies at first and then was convinced it was a virus; long story short and only a couple hours of sleep later, we ended up at the pediatrician's office this morning. Another ear infection!! My poor baby. We go an entire year without having the first ear infection, and now we have 2 within 2 months! I feel so bad for the kiddo!



While at our pediatrician's, he and I talked extensively about Jake's behavior. You see, Jake has become the "playground bully." No joke. I've noticed that he has an aggressive behavior whenever we play with our neighbor Ryan, or any other kid for that matter. Jake is that kid that snatches, throws fits, hits, etc. Well, we were at the playground on Tuesday with my friend Libby and her son James when I notice Jake approach one of our little 3 year old neighbors who happened to be playing with a ball Jake had just put down. Jake tried to snatch it, but the little boy yanked away from him so that Jake couldn't reach it. At this point, I start making my way over to Jake to get him before it escalated. Next thing I know, Jake comes up behind the 3 year old, wraps his arms around him in a bear hug, and then tries to wrestle the boy to the ground! Thank goodness the little boy's mom was right there and got to the boys immediately or else Jake totally would have had him on the ground! I feel like the worst mom ever! Where did my sweet, laid-back little boy go? Or better yet, what in the world have I done to create such a bully? My pediatrician basically told me (after laughing really hard at the story) there is no rationalizing with a 15 month old, but I don't need to let it go on excessively and "I bet that 3 year old learned his lesson!" **Sigh***



Dr. Dudgeon and I also talked about Jake's personality...or lack thereof. Other than being a bully around other kids, Jake has the most awesome personality around me and Tyson. Around other people, though, he won't talk, smile, or do anything! Dr. Dudgeon diagnosed Jake as officially being "shy." He laughed again and said he would never peg Tyson or me as shy or having a shy child, but so be it. Again...***sigh***



One good thing that came of today's appointment is that Jake weighed 25 lbs 15 oz! He's growing like a weed!



Tired, frustrated, and already dreading the terrible 2's. Woe-is-me. Good thing my HCG level from 3/24 was less than 1! Yep, I don't have to go back for a whole month since my level is "right where [they] want it!" Praise God! Now lord, please help me with my little bully before we lose all of our patience and playdates!

Rainy Wednesday

"Rain, rain go away"

"Quit taking pictures, Mama, and pull me around some more!"

"This is the life..."

"Seriously...are you done with the pictures yet?" Jake saying "Uh oh" after smashing his finger in the wagon

Daddy styled Jake's hair before bath time...such a stud!

Spring Football Begins!

These two pictures were actually taken at my Grandparents' house last week, but I thought they were too cute not to post. Tyson taught Jake to "spike" a football, and he is soooo cute when he does it! Anyways, I took Jake to his first spring football practice this past Saturday. Last year, we went to 2 scrimmages and the spring game, but I never attempted to go to practice. Well, Jake has really been missing his Daddy, so I thought we'd give it a shot.

Once we got to practice, I was trying to point out Tyson to Jake. Tyson was about 50 yards from us, so Jake had a hard time distinguishing which guy was Tyson. About that time, Tyson yelled really loudly some choice words at his players, and Jake, with the sweetest most innocent face, looks up at me, smiles, and says "Da Da!" I couldn't help but laugh and say, "Yes. That's your Da Da, and we don't EVER repeat those words...ok?"

I wish I would have had my camera with me that day. I had taken Jake in his red Radio Flyer wagon, and he was adorable! I'll definitely try to get some pics when we go back sometime this week!

Playing in the Creek

Ma Ma is going to kill me for this picture, but this is how it all got started...

Spenser says, "You want to go get in the water, Jake?"

Jake says, "No. I think I'm gonna go play in the dirt."

Ryleigh Kate wasn't so sure about playing in the creek either!

Carson wasn't scared!

Jake was very content playing in the dirt...

Hmm...Jake looks a little interested, don't you think?

...not so much! It's COLD!
At least Mommy had a good time!

Spenser loved it so much that he went face first into the water twice!

Yes, folks. We are red and proud!

Ryleigh Kate ended up loving it!...

...but not as much as this little guy!

My Grandparents have the coolest yard ever. Not only is it huge, but it has a fire pit, gazebo, lots of seating areas, a swing set, tons of cool paths, beautiful bridges, and a really fun creek with lots of twists and turns. I remember as a kid playing in their yard and thinking it was the best thing ever; the creek has created lots of "islands" that made for some interesting games of "voyagers" as a kid. We were never allowed to play in the creek, though, which was fine by me. You see, someone (probably my mean older sister) told me that the creek water was sewer water, and dumb me believed it and stayed FAR away from the water. There was the occasional slippage of the foot as I island hopped, though. Anyway, as we were playing in the yard Thursday, my Grandmother put a toy boat in the creek. The kids loved it! We followed that boat from one end of the creek to the other; my Grandmother had to rescue the boat before it went down the drainage pipes, so she got on in the creek and pulled it out! I was shocked!! I've never seen anyone go in the creek (intentionally) before! I guess it's not sewer water afterall! :) It didn't take long before all the kids (and me too!) were in the creek, too, having the BEST time! Jake was content playing in the dirt on the creek bed, but I eventually took off his pants and stuck his feet in. I wish I could say he enjoyed the creek as much as the other kids, but the water was SO COLD that he wanted out ASAP! Oh well, I'm sure he'll be island hopping and wading in the creek one day!

Jake's Spring Break

Ma Ma and Granddaddy with the great grandkids-

Connor (8), Spenser (1.5), Carson (2.5), Ryleigh Kate (3), Chase (6.5) and Jake (1)

Jake decided to taste the bark
Ryleigh Kate thought she was "Hollywood"

My Grandparents' beautiful yard!

Jake looks like he's trying to put the moves on Ryleigh Kate!

Happy first day of Spring! Tyson started Spring football this week and Jake had Spring Break, so Spring is definitely all around us...and the pollen, too! Jake and I went down to my Grandparents' house for a couple of days, and that place is COVERED in pollen! The pollen didn't deter us from having SO MUCH FUN, though!

Jake and I got to spend a lot of one-on-one time (which doesn't happen much anymore with all the kids around!) with my Grandparents and our cousin Ryleigh Kate. Jake thought he was so cute once he realized he could say "Ma Ma", which is what we call my grandmother, he really thought he was hot stuff. And Jake and Ryleigh Kate were just precious together; they are definitely going to be good buddies one day! Poor Ryleigh Kate...I know I say this everytime, but she is the ONLY girl great grandchild out of 6! In case you can't do the math, that's 5 boys and 1 girl! She is tough as nails, though, I'll give her that!

We also got to see all the other cousins yesterday after school. We started out by all going and playing in the swing set in the backyard, and somehow, we all ended up in the Creek! It was so much fun! I'm going to dedicate a whole post on that later because I got so many pictures from it, so be on the look out! Have a great weekend! Thanks for letting us come visit Ma Ma and Granddaddy! We love you!

**And yes, Jake has the same outfit as in the last post. I desperately need to take him shopping for some Spring clothes!

"My Ball"

"Ball?"
Jake loves to dunk anything he can get his hands on!
Oh, and we love to do tricks on our 4-wheeler!
...and we've started making silly faces at Mama's camera!

Up until now, Jake has never slept with anything in his crib- no blankets, pillows, pacifiers, stuffed animals, snuglies, etc. He has definitely been a "self soother"...until now. Last night, Tyson laid Jake down for bed; Jake usually will lay right down and go to sleep by himself. Well, Tyson hadn't been out of the room very long when we here Jake whine, "Mama....Dada...my ball!" Tyson and I died laughing; it was the cutest thing I've ever heard Jake say. The boy is so obsessed with his basketball that he even wants to sleep with the thing! I just love having a little boy!

Jamaica!

Jake's name written in the sand

Yah mon! We're back from Jamaica, and we had the BEST time! We ate a lot, slept well, relaxed, played hard, and just enjoyed hanging out just the two of us! The trip did get off to a rough start seeing as how I got stung by a wasp within the first 20 minutes of being at the resort...man those Jamaican wasp don't play! I still have a nice big red mark on my arm from that dang wasp, but it is now camouflaged by an even nicer display of SUNBURN! Yep, that Jamaican sun fooled us! The first day it was windy and cold, so we stayed bundled up. The next day, it was sunny but no sun was to be had on our poor white ghostly bodies. So on the third day, we (mostly I) cut back on the sun block, and now we're paying for it! I ended up getting sun poisoning for the first time in my life, and now I look like a lobster...for real. Tyson just ended up with some really weird streaks from a bad sunblock job...it's actually quite funny looking!

I think the highlight of our trip was going snorkeling on a coral reef and sailing to this beautiful waterfall. Do y'all remember that waterfall in the movie "Cocktails" where Tom Cruise and the girl have a love scene? Well that was the waterfall we got to see! It was breath-taking! It is on a private beach (Naomi Campbell's land to be exact) that can only be reached by boat; our guide took us there and we were the only people for miles. We spent an hour just climbing the waterfall and playing in the fresh spring water that is known to the locals to be a "Pool of Youth." Needless to say, we took a couple of dips for good measure! It was amazing! I regret not having my camera with me to take pictures of the waterfall, but the wind was so bad that I didn't want to take the risk of losing my camera if we toppled over in the sail boat. Take my word for it, though, it was the most beautiful thing I've EVER seen!

We had a great time overall, but we definitely missed our little boy! Jake was very well taken care of, though, by my parents and my sister...thank you all so much! Oh, and the wonderful vacation was capped off by an HCG level of 3! I got a voicemail from my doctor's office while we were gone that my HCG levels are now "normal" and I don't have to get rechecked until next week! Praise God...or in the words of our Jamaican friends, "NO PROBLEM, MON!"

I couln't resist...check out these old men in their Speedo's! I totally thought about you, Donna! Ha ha ha!