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!

A Trip to the Zoo

I don't know what Jake was looking at, but look how big his eyes are! It must have been scary whatever it was!

The animal trainers were feeding the lion and tiger...it was amazing! The lion let out the biggest "ROARRR!!" and Jake preceded to go "woof woof" at him! Too funny!

"Woof woof" to the Giraffe

Neither of my boys were very excited about getting their picture taken as you can tell!

Tyson, Jake, and I spent the afternoon at the Zoo...like every other person in Birmingham! Man that place was crowded! We really enjoyed ourselves, though, despite the massive crowd. This was Tyson's first trip to the Birmingham Zoo, and I think he was kind of impressed with our little Zoo. Jake definitely had a good time! In the past, Jake hasn't really noticed the animals, but this time, he said "woof woof" at EVERY animal that he saw! I thought my briliant child could already distinguish dogs from other animals...turns out, "woof woof" is the only sound he can make so apparently everything must be a dog, right? Oh well, it was so cute! We are gonna have so much fun going to the Zoo this Spring and Summer! Have a great weekend, and enjoy the pictures!

14 Months Old!

As I type this, I just realized I didn't do a post for Jake's 13 month birthday. Such a bad mom! Today Jake turned 14 months old, and he really isn't doing a ton more than he was a month ago...just saying a few more new words. I can't remember what I've written on here as far as his vocabulary, but here is a quick list of some words that he says: mama, dada, bye bye, yea yea, shoe, nana, push, brush, ball, sock, juice, woof-woof, dog, night night, truck, baaa ball (basketball), book, no, doo doo, tee tee (don't ask)...and I can't remember anything else. He is so funny with the "SH" sound; he purses his lips and drags it out for a few seconds. He also articulates "BAALLLL" very well...it is too funny! We've been working on learning animals and which sounds they make; I haven't really emphasized the dog very much, but out of the blue one day we saw a dog and Jake said, "Dog! Woof-woof!" So now at the site, sound, or mention of a dog, Jake always busts out with a "woof woof." Jake will also bust out with an occasional word or phrase that he hears us say (back pack, head butt, etc.), of which he may never repeat again, but it's hysterical. We have already begun spelling if you know what I mean! :)

Jake still loves to play with doors and play hide-and-seek. He doesn't sit still much anymore and won't stay in one room too long; he is always running around the house from room to room. Needless to say, he is wearing me out these days! The only thing I can get him to do for very long is to play basketball; he loves to dunk the basketball over and over again on our little basketball goal set that we have in the living room. He also loves to dunk the football, but that's ok. Tyson has really enjoyed playing ball with Jake lately; he can't catch the ball, but the boy sure can throw it! It's so exciting to see them finally be able to "play."

Jake has QUITE the appetite! No joke when I say the boy can as much as I do, which is a lot! If you can't tell from the pictures, Jake has quite the pot-belly; our new favorite nickname for him is "chubby bunny."

I don't want to make it sound like he has ADD all the time and runs around like a crazy child, he does love to get his favorite books, crawl in my lap, and let me read them cover to cover. And he is SOOOO good at school and at the gym and church nursery. His teachers and the nursery workers always brag about how sweet he is, so he must not be too crazy afterall. Don't get me wrong, he's not an angel ALL the time...he's now started to have melt-downs once Tyson and I walk out of site, but he recovers quickly. Eitherway, Jake really continues to impress me every day. He is growing up way too quickly!

Hcg Level Update

I FINALLY heard back from my doctor's office today, and my hcg levels from 2/26 were at 8! That's really down from 42 the week prior, but I'm still not back to normal (less than 5). To be honest, though, I'm kind of disappointed. I am so ready to be back to "normal"; it has almost been a month since the miscarriage, and I still have this hanging over my head. Don't get me wrong, I'm EXTREMELY grateful that the levels are dropping (and dropping so quickly) and that there's a good chance that I don't have cancer, but I am just ready to have this behind me. I know that even when my levels do return to normal, I am still gonna have to go in for bloodwork often, but this is pure TORTURE! I'm gonna have my blood drawn on Thursday, but I'm not gonna be able to update for a while because we are going to Jamaica!! Yep, just me and Tyson for 4 days in the Caribbean! Needless to say, my Hcg levels will be the LAST thing on my mind next week! Thank you all so much for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. The support we have received has been tremendous, and we are so appreciative! The end is definitely in site! Thanks again!

Snow!

Snow Angel? Snow plow!!

I wish I could say that I woke up to a Winter Wonderland today like everyone else in Birmingham, but unfortunately, I was at work last night when the snow started. I have never seen it come down that hard before...well, except when I was in Colorado skiing. It was so exciting! I was so tempted to call Tyson in the middle of the night to wake him up and tell him to look outside, but I let him sleep. I couldn't wait to get home this morning to see Jake play in the snow for the first time ever; Tyson knew I was tired and wanted to go to sleep ASAP, so he already had Jake dressed and ready when I got home. We didn't stay outside too long, but Jake was a site. As you can tell by the pictures, Jake wasn't a big fan of the snow. Oh well, good thing we live in Alabama and only see snow once or twice a year! We'll try again next year though!