Friday

"Cheese!"
Mr. Serious Face strikes again
Walking down the slide

Feeling the rain

Finally a smile! So you are having fun afterall, Jake?

It might have rained today (Friday), but it was such a beautiful day. You know why?...because I don't have to work tonight!! Yep, this is only 2nd weekend since February that I've had off, and I am thrilled! Thank you football season!!

On the Fridays that I work the night shift, I usually have to spend the day napping when Jake naps (which isn't much these days) and just resting as much as I can. Needless to say, we don't get out much on Fridays. So today, I wasn't going to let the rain keep us inside and stay cooped up for one more Friday. We celebrated the day by visiting Daddy at the office, jumping on the bed, and going to the park. Fun times! Have a great weekend...we are for sure! Love to my girls at the hospital working hard! :)

Lawn Mowers!

Here's Jake with one of his two lawn mowers!
"Look mom! There are men in yard cutting the grass!"

"I wonder why my Daddy can't cut the grass like these guys?" :)

"Let me outta here! I just want to cut the grass with you!"

I can't begin to describe how obsessed Jake is with lawn mowers; it's ridiculous! I remember the first time he even noticed a lawn mower...we were out in the back yard playing with the neighbors, and our other neighbor was out cutting his grass. Jake was so fascinated he just stood there and watched in awe the whole time. I can't remember if it was me or Tyson that first introduced the word "lawn mower" to Jake that day, but either way, he has not stopped saying it since. He says it at least 50 times a day...no joke!

A couple of months before Jake's lawn mower experience, I bought Jake a Little Tykes lawn mower. I didn't realize it at the time, but it is one of those annoying popping ones. Needless to say, we got so annoyed with that lawn mower and were quickly looking for a replacement. Then comes the bubble lawn mower. I thought I could just swiftly remove the popping lawn mower and replace it with the bubble lawn mower, no such luck!! Jake saw me hide it in the stair well and literally stood at the door beating on it until I caved and let him have his lawn mower back. So now he has 2 lawn mowers, and he has been known to push them around at the same time. The story doesn't end there.

When we ride in the car, Jake continuously says "lawn mower...lawn mower...lawn mower" until he sees one and then he says "LAWN MOWER!!" And then the cycle starts back over. And over. And over until we get to our destination. At first, it was really cute, and helpful. Yes, I learned quickly the easiest way to keep Jake awake on the way home from Mother's Day Out was to have him search for lawn mowers. And now it has come back to haunt me. I will admit, though, he is pretty smart and can recognize trailers/trucks from a distance that could be potentially carrying a lawn mower.

On this particular day of the pictures, our lawn crew came out to the house to cut our grass. The poor men...Jake literally ran from the front of the house to the back of the house from window to window to watch their every move. He is fascinated!! I wonder if this means he'll be a lawn man when he grows up?

It is safe to say that Jake's most favorite thing ever (of course beside Mama and Daddy) is his lawn mower. Yes, he's even tried to sleep with it!

Feeding the Ducks

Jake imitating Daddy

Look at the look on Jake's face! I think that was rabies-duck!

Jake is pointing to the "baby" duck

One of my favorite memories as a child was visiting my King Grandparents and feeding the ducks by their house. Granddaddy King would always have a loaf of bread saved up and ready to go as soon as we got there; what a special time that was with my grandparents. I am sad for Jake that he will never get to meet his King great-grandparents, but at least I can honor them by taking Jake to feed the ducks just like they did with me.

Yesterday, Tyson, Jake, and I ventured out to the Hoover Pond to feed the ducks. Like I've said before, Jake isn't really into animals (except dogs), so I thought this would be a good opportunity to show him a real duck. Well, as soon as we pull up, we get approached by this duck that was black and had red herpes-looking-things on his eyes (see pics above); I was so freaked out! It was making this awful noise and kept getting closer and closer! Not to sound dumb, but I actually had to ask Tyson if it was a duck...it looked like a cross between a turkey and a chicken! (Tyson said he thought it had rabies). :) Either way, it was freaking me out, but I didn't want Jake to be afraid, so I pulled myself together and threw some bread farther and farther away from me to get it away. Luckily, it decided to go pester another family after that and left us alone...thank goodness for that because the dern thing bit this man right after it left us!

After the whole rabies-duck thing, Jake was a little hesitant to get near the ducks. I couldn't blame him after what he had just witnessed (the man getting bitten), but he eventually came around. I hope we can make feeding the ducks a pretty regular trip; I'm a little nervous to take Jake by myself after the near attack, so we'll see. Either way, it was just so nice to have that time together the 3 of us.

Super Cuteness Video

Jake was in a really good mood today at lunch and showing-off, so I couldn't resist taking advantage and shooting this video. I can never get enough of his "hey!," "peez," "one more!," and "thank you" (which is an octave or 2 higher than his normal tone). You also gotta love his praying, singing "Ma Ma Da Da," and repeating the tune to Tyson's cell phone. Such a mess!

As always, please ignore my obnoxious Mommy voice! Oh and keep scrollin' down because I added some new pictures! Enjoy!

"Choo Choo" Park II

The head shot right before he almost ate it...face first!

Looking for ants as usual!

Throwing rocks into the creek

Ross Bridge

Here are the other pictures from our day at the "Choo Choo" Park; below the train area is a trail that leads down through the woods, by the creek, and over the bridge. The scenery is so beautiful down there! I tried getting several "portrait style" pictures of Jake by the creek, but my clumsy little fellow tripped and almost went face first into the creek, so I had to stop. Oh well, next time. He did get to enjoy throwing rocks and sticks into the creek, though...such a boy!

Here is a little information about Ross Bridge for you history buffs:

"Ross Bridge derives it's name from the pages of Alabama's history. During the Civil War, the owner of the land at the time, James Taylor Ross, allowed the Confederate Army to build a railroad supply line through his property. In order to complete the railway, a bridge had to be constructed to span Ross Creek. The little stone bridge still stands today over Ross Creek and is marked with a historic site marker."

The Historic Site Marker

"Choo Choo" Park

How sweet is this face?

And this one, too?
Look at how pigeon toe he is! His right foot is doing a 90 degree turn!

"Choo choo!"

I know. Two posts in one day. But I just had to post these precious pictures of Jake from the "choo choo" park today. I actually have a ton more of these, but I will space them out over a couple of days. Anyways, today I took Jake to the park down the road from our house that has a fun little wooden train. Tyson and I actually took him yesterday for the first time in a long time, and he had such a blast, all I heard today was "choo choo!" So after nap-time, we loaded up and headed to the park; I literally had to drag him away when it was time to go. Enjoy!

18 Month Check-Up

Jake went for his 18 month check-up today and was so good. It's usually pretty difficult trying to find ways to entertain Jake throughout those appointments, but today, I was very prepared. You see, Jake loves crayons, but for good reason, he isn't allowed to play with them inside at home. Well, I had the brilliant idea to take some crayons to the appointment to let him color on the table paper; brilliant indeed until that little sneaky rascal snuck away from me as the doctor entered the room and COLORED ON THE WALL! I was mortified! Thank goodness I have the most awesome pediatrician in the world and he just got a good laugh out of it. Oh well, I guess we won't be taking crayons to the appointments anymore.

Oh, and the appointment went really well. Jake weighed 27 lbs. 15.5 oz (65%) and was 33.5 in long (85%). The doctor said he was perfectly healthy and still on track to be a football player! :) It's amazing how many people think we are dead set on Jake being a football player; don't get me wrong, I would love for him to play football and so would Tyson, but it's not a big deal if he doesn't. I wouldn't even mind if he was a cheerleader! :) Anyways, we are just super blessed to have such a healthy little boy!

About the pictures above--Jake and I were waiting in the driveway for Tyson to come home from work the other day, and when Tyson pulled up, he rolled down the window to say hey. Jake immediately took off for his Daddy and was literally trying to climb through the window. We caved and let him sit in his Daddy's lap and play in the car; it's amazing how quickly he found the horn, hazard lights, windshield wipers, etc! Anyways, I thought these were cute. Have a great week!

The Most Serious Kid at the Pool

"Ant!"

Just when I think Jake is coming out of his shell and finally showing his sparkling personality off, we go to the pool and he clams up. I don't know what it is about that place....I can't get a smile or laugh out of him for nothing! I know he's having a good time, but he is just so serious the whole time!! Most of the kids his age are running around the place, jumping in and out of the water, stressing their mamas out, etc. but my little observer likes to just sit there, play by himself, or watch the other kids. I must say, though, it sure does make it easier and more enjoyable for me! :) Anyways, my mom has been begging me to take pictures of Jake in this cute little swimsuit, so I thought I would snap a few pictures at the pool for her. Too bad the only time my subject would smile was as we were leaving the place as he bolted for the car with my keys. Go figure! Have a great weekend!