iJump

Jake at the "jump jump place"

Kendall and Carson
So cute...the triplets just watching Jake jump!

Kaden

All three of the triplets in one shot!! And Mollie, too!

Jake climbing up the steps of the slide...

Gettin' ready to go down all by himself!

...whoop there he went!

From another angle...he LOVED the big slide!

At the end of the day...they were all exhausted!

Jake and I joined the Thompson triplets at iJump this week for some inflatable play time. It was both mine and Mollie's first time going, so we really didn't know what to expect. We had a feeling it was gonna be a little challenging, though, between me being big and pregnant and the two of us managing the four kids by ourselves on the inflatables; unfortunately our help fell through so we had to manage alone. Umm yeah, we only lasted about an hour and a half before calling it quits. I was one big sweaty mess by the end, and I was convinced all my bouncing and climbing was about to put me into labor! :) Luckily, Walker decided to stay put, though, for a little bit longer!

Most of the inflatable stuff was too big for the kids, but Jake did have one bouncy house that he jumped on and a huge slide that he enjoyed going down. The slide was actually probably a little too advanced for him, but we made it work. I ended up having to climb the thing with him just to be safe and slide down, too. Jake loved sliding down all by himself, but he thought it was absolutely hysterical seeing his big ole' mama sliding down right behind him. In fact, a few people found my sliding to be hysterical...like the 100 lb teenage girl working the slide. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I was quite the site to see, but DANG! I ended up asking her if I exceeded the weight limit or something, and she just laughed and said, "No. I've just never seen a pregnant woman go down that slide...and so fast, too!" The things we do for our kids!

One last story from the iJump day...there was this one inflatable maze that Jake kept begging me to go on, but I knew it was way too advanced for him and I couldn't get on it with him. Like a really good mama, I eventually caved in and decided to let him try it anyways. He entered through this tiny toddler-sized hole, climbed up this wall, and slid down a slide; at this point, I had lost visualization of Jake. I waited and waited and heard nothing, so I started to panic...what if he fell and broke his neck and was unconscious in this thing? And then I start hearing Jake frantically yelling "MAMA!!!" at the top of his lungs. I start yelling back "JAKE! JAKE!" and trying to figure out some way to squeeze my big, pregnant self in to the tiny toddler-sized hole to rescue my child; luckily, this grandma hears my cries of panic and runs over to help me. She must have seen the whole thing go down because she immediately asked "is your little boy stuck? Don't worry, it happens all the time." (Really...thanks for warning me!) She then tells her oldest grandson that there is a little boy who is stuck and needs him to help him find his way out. And in goes the kid through the tiny hole to rescue my child; it wasn't long before I saw my precious child again, and I was so relieved! Thank god for that kid and the fact that I didn't have to squeeze through that tiny hole is all I have to say!

Despite almost sending myself into labor and almost losing my child, we did have a good time at iJump. Mollie and I definitely agreed,though, that we probably won't be going back any time soon...at least not without reinforcement!

Jake's 2nd Birthday Party

The "Jump jump"
Jake's first time seeing it...my typical expressionless child.

Trying it out before our guests arrived!

Finally! A smirk!

"Hey!"

Daddy was cracking us up!

MaMa and Granddaddy drove through Atlanta just to get here!

The slide can be a little difficult at times! :)

Little Miss Ellie

"Don't even think about eating one of my chips, Brantley!"

Pretty blue-eyes Brantley

The cake was delicious!! Jake was begging for more!

The party was too much for Drennan to handle! :)
Sydney had a blast though!

Despite the fact that he is again expressionless, he LOVED the tricycle my parents gave him!

He HAD to try it out immediately!

Love you Pa Pa!

Thanks for all your help, Mom!

One tired little fire-fighter!

Sorry for the picture overload, but again, there were too many to choose from. Anyways, here are the highlights from Jake's birthday party. We are still enjoying having the "jump jump" in our garage, and it has been a huge relief for us during these long, cold days we've been experiencing lately! The "jump jump" was by far the best investment we've made so far; I would highly recommend it for those of you with young children!

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate Jake's birthday with us! He had so much fun!

"Snowball"

Jake trying to eat the snow!

About to snow plow!

"JUMP!"

Stick it, Jake!

Brrrr! It's freezing in Birmingham! For the past 2-3 days (at least at our house), we've gotten some snow flurries in the morning. Jake has had a blast playing in the snow, but unfortunately for him, the snow isn't sticking. Poor baby is dieing to make a snowball, and it just isn't happening. Every morning he looks out of the window and says "snowball?" and I have to break his heart and tell him there isn't enough snow to make one. Oh well, maybe it will accumulate enough one of these days to fulfill his dream of making a snowball. By the way, I asked him what he was planning on doing with the snowball, and he said, "tackle Daddy." Ha! The kid has a good memory...he definitely owes Tyson a snowball or 2 in the face from our last round of snow!

Sorry for picture overload, but I just couldn't decide between these. He just looks so darn cute, and he's actually smiling for the camera! I hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying the weekend!

24 Week Appointment

Baby Walker and I had a 24 week check-up today, and everything is looking good so far! My blood pressure and hemoglobin (13.0) are perfect and my weight gain (25 lbs) is alright...I guess. "Normal" pregnancy weight gain is 25-35 lbs, but considering I gained almost 60 lbs with Jake (and lost every pound of it thank goodness), I'm far from the norm. I'm just hoping to keep it under 40 lbs this time, so we'll see what happens! I'm not too worried about that, though, and neither is my doctor; he just told me it was time for some bigger pants. Ha! I should've known my jeans were a little snug when Jake looked at my jeans this morning and said, "tight Mama!" Oh well.

Walker's heartbeat was 138 today, which is the lowest it's been, but he was good and asleep at that time. I'm already measuring 28 weeks along, so the doctor said it's still lookin' like he's gonna be a big one! My OB said we might even get to do a c-section at 38 weeks if all is still going well with Walker's size and so forth; I'm really excited about this because I'm still having some complications and I'm ready for my little boy to be here! I know...I still have a long ways to go. Yuck.

The other big news is that I passed my glucose tolerance test with 119...yay! My doctor thought I was gonna fail it (I guess since my boys are so big), but I passed with flying colors! Such a relief! I'm going back to the OB in 3 weeks, so I'll be sure to update more then. I wish I could post a picture for my 24th week, but I don't think I'd fit on the screen. Ha! Have a great weekend!

Sneak Peak at Jake's B-Day Party

He couldn't get his hands on the cake fast enough!

Best idea ever!

Like I said in the previous post, I am borrowing a friend's computer, so I can't download all of my pictures from Jake's party. I promise as soon as I get my computer back, I'll post all of the pictures. For now, here you go...a sneak peak at Jake's 2nd Birthday Party!

We had Jake's birthday party this past Saturday at our house. My mom and her parents were able to come to the party, along with some of our neighbors and Jake's friends.

We gave Jake a bouncy house for his birthday, and it was a huge hit at the party! (In fact, we are still enjoying having it up in our garage!...best purchase EVER!). Jake got lots of good presents and really enjoyed his cake and playing with his friends...doesn't get much better than that! Thanks to everyone who came and made Jake's 2nd birthday so wonderful!

More pictures later!! For now, Happy Birthday to my 2 year old! We love you, Jake!

Potty Training...Take 1

Jake doing his "down...set...hut" pose for y'all!

Our computer is still away being "fixed," but I know that certain grandparents are going into Jake-withdrawal, so I thought I'd give y'all a few updates. I wish I could post more pictures, but I'm borrowing a friend's computer and just couldn't download the hundred-something pictures I've taken the last few days. More pictures later, though, I promise (especially more from Jake's birthday party).

So as the title implies, I tried potty training Jake this week...key word there being tried. I've been reading these books all about potty training and felt really good about it, but I went into it knowing that potty training might not work right now (boys' bladders can take up to 36 months to fully develop). It was worth a shot anyway with baby brother coming in April. Anyways, on Sunday, we put one of Jake's favorite animals "Baby" into big-boy wear and let him roll-play potty training with Baby. He did great, so I felt good about moving on. On Monday, I fed Jake breakfast and put him in big-boy underwear. Every 15-30 minutes, we checked for dryness and rewarded Jake accordingly; I put him on the potty every hour or sooner if needed. He did great that morning and peed in the potty several times and only had 1 accident. That afternoon was a different story, though; he had tons of accidents and only peed in the potty a few times. He did ask to poop, though, and actually did it!

On Tuesday, the same thing; the morning was great with only a few accidents and he actually asked to go "tee tee potty" AND DID. Again, the afternoon was a different story. He was having accidents every 30 minutes; I just couldn't figure it out. I was trying not to show my frustration, but I hadn't slept well the night before (thanks to baby brother) and my back was killing me. Eitherway, Jake could totally read my face and picked up on my frustration. After one of his accidents, he actually apologized and gave me a "big hug." I knew we just needed to give it a rest after that...it just broke my heart seeing him upset for me. So I put a diaper on him called it a day. His bladder is obviously not ready, so we'll try again later. Well, much to my surprise today, Jake asked me to go "tee tee potty" before going to bed, and HE DID IT! I was shocked! I don't think his bladder is mature enough, but he definitely understands the process.

With all this being said, I'm gonna take it slow for a while and let him lead the way. But he sure is cute in the big-boy underwear, isn't he?