Trike, Swing, and Casey Rae

Mine and Tyson's shadows (and Walker, too!)

We haven't had too many warm days around here lately, but as soon as the sun comes out, so do we! Jake has really been trying to get the swing of riding his tricycle lately. He can only peddle a couple of times before wearing out because his feet aren't quite long enough to really reach them to peddle effectively. Bless his heart, though, he tries! And how funny is he in the helmet? Tyson can't stand how it looks, but I am a stickler for him wearing the helmet, so I win. :)

**Oh, and if Jake's hair looks greasy in these pictures, it's because my little smarty pants thought it was a good idea to put butter in his hair!

How sweet are these pictures? Tyson and Jake were playing on the neighbors' swing, and I just couldn't resist snapping these precious faces Jake was making. I just love this little boy so much!

This is Casey Rae, the best friend, babysitter, and nurse...I love her to death. She came and kept Jake last night so that Tyson and I could go on a date, so I forced her into taking this picture. I feel like I talk about her a lot on here, so now you can put a name with a face. Anyways, Jake loves Casey Rae to death too; in fact, the first thing he said this morning was, "Miss Casey?" Too cute! Thanks, Casey Rae (as usual) for being so kind and helping us out! Love you!

Jake's New Room

This is Jake waking up from his first nap in his big boy bed!
He was a little cranky when he first woke up!

Well, we're only a couple of days into Jake sleeping in his big boy bed, but so far so good! Gosh, I hope I didn't just jiinx it! Anyways, we have not had a single problem at night with him in the bed...knock on wood. We've been going about our normal bedtime routine, which includes reading a book, saying our prayers, and then singing "Jesus Loves Me" as I rock him, and then he gets into his bed and goes right to sleep. He hasn't gotten down a single time, and when he wakes up in the morning, he just calls for us to come get him. Nap time, however, has been a different story.

The first 2 days of sleeping in the big boy bed for naps was a struggle; in fact, I don't think he even napped at all on Friday. School days are hard on Jake anyways and naps are always very difficult because he's usually so wound up, so I should have known better. Long story short, he played in his room the entire length of his nap and somehow got into some ointment for his eczema and made a huge mess with that. Thankfully though, he has done much better napping this weekend in his bed for Tyson.

We ended up going ahead and taking down his crib because he refuses to get in it now; it worked out well, though, because we were able to completely finish decorating his big boy room (minus hanging pictures). It's amazing how much more room there is now that that big crib is gone! And no, we are not using Jake's crib for Walker. Jake's crib had some parts recalled, and I just didn't feel good about it, so we bought a new, inexpensive crib for Walker. Here is a picture of Walker's new crib and bedding:

We are slowly putting Walker's room together, so I don't have any more pictures of it right now to post. We are not painting his room, so it will remain the same boring khaki that is in the rest of the house. Poor Walker, he isn't even born and is already getting the shaft...cheap crib, leftover mis-match furniture, boring wall color, hand-me downs for clothes. Oh well, such is life for the 2nd born, right? Thank goodness he has this awesome new bedding all for himself, though! I have an amazing friend who bought all of this for baby Walker so he can have something new all for himself! I LOVE IT!!! Thanks friend!

Here are some pictures of Jake's big boy room. Keep in mind we haven't hung anything on the walls yet, so it isn't completely done. I am probably going to leave the "J-A-K-E" letters hanging above his bookshelf, but I'm going to rearrange those football pictures of my dad, Tyson, and Tyson's dad. I also have a really cute baseball bat lamp and some mini-football helmets from all of the schools that Tyson has worked at (Presbyterian, Troy, Georgia, Georgia Southern, and UAB) that I am eventually going to get around to putting out. Anyways, here it is!

Jake's closet...aren't you impressed, Mom?

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I hope to have some pictures to post soon of Jake and Tyson's adventure to the McWane Science center this weekend, so be on the look out for those! I worked all weekend so I couldn't go with them, but I had a good weekend at the hospital and had some eye-opening experiences. Here is one little story from the weekend:

I was taking care of a 14 year-old newly diagnosed cancer patient who was one of the cutest and sweetest kids I have ever taken care of in my 8 years of nursing. Anyways, he was there for his first round of chemo but he was having lots of complications. I was in his room assessing him when the care assistant (nursing assistant, tech, whatever you want to call it) came in to take his vitals...his blood pressure was elevated and his heart rate was high, so the care assistant asked if he was in any pain. He looked at her with the sweetest little face and said, "No, I feel like a million bucks." I almost started crying...it was the cutest thing I've ever heard a patient say...especially knowing his situation. What an amazing attitude to have; it definitely helps put things in perspective!

Big Boy Bed

We have had lots going on this week at the Summers' house, but unfortunately, I don't have many photographs to share. I'll try harder on that, Grandparents! For now, here is this week in bullets:

• I can't remember what happened Monday, so let's start with Tuesday...
• Tuesday, Jake and I woke up and headed downtown to my OB's office for a quick visit. While we were in the area, we decided to pay a little visit to Tyson's office; unfortunately, Tyson was in a meeting, so Jake and I had to find a way to kill some time. We'll just play on the football fields...
• We get to the practice fields, but they are locked. Easy...we'll just "jump" the fence. Ok, easier said than done when you're 7 months pregnant, but we both made it over without breaking my water. I'm sure we were quite the site to see on University Blvd!
• We played on the practice field for about an hour and decided it was time to head in. At this point, however, I wasn't feeling as well I was when I originally jumped the fence, so I sent Tyson a desperate plea for help. He can't leave the meeting.
• I spot one of the new GA's (graduate assistant) and ask for help jumping back over the fence; he looked at me like I was crazy. I asked him to just help Jake over and then turn his head so he couldn't see me and my big pregnant-self jump the fence. We both made it over safely, but it wasn't pretty by any means!
• As we walk into the office, I tell Jake he has to be quiet because Daddy is in a meeting...he enters the front door and yells "DADDY!!!!" at the top of his lungs. He then precedes to run as fast as he can toward our head coaches' office.
• I eventually catch up with my quick child and find him stealing candy from Coach Callaway's personal stash...nice. We bolt before anyone notices.
• We decided to hide out in Tyson's office while the meeting wraps up. At this point, I'm exhausted and doing everything in my power to rest as much as I can (or as much as a 2 year old will let you) so Walker doesn't make an early entrance. I know...shouldn't have jumped that fence!
• While I'm "resting," Jake precedes to draw all over Tyson's walls in red marker, draw all over Tyson's recruiting paper work, and then he destroys some poor high school players recruiting DVD. Tyson's office looked like a tornado had just been through it! Again, we bolt before anyone notices.
• Tuesday afternoon ended up being a beautiful, so after the little tornado awoke from his nap, we played outside for a while. Jake has finally grasped the concept of riding his trike and scooter, so we did that for a while. I wish I had had my camera, Jake was so cute riding his trike!
• Wednesday=SIGNING DAY! Jake went to school on Wednesday and missed out on the festivities, but after I went to the dermatologist that morning, I joined Tyson and the rest of the UAB staff and their families for our annual Signing Day lunch. It was so much fun...again, no pictures.
• Did I mention that I went to the dermatologist? I had this mole cut out on my head, which I was very excited about until after the procedure when they drop the bomb...no pain meds except Tylenol because I'm pregnant. I walked around all day with a splitting headache!
• Signing Day is capped off with a Social that night to announce our new signees; for the first time in 4 years, I wasn't able to go. It's just getting to hard to keep up with Jake all by myself being this big and pregnant, so I made the tough call not to go. Tyson said it was the best yet- big crowd and lots of excited fans! Yay! Go Blazers! And like last year but unlike the year before that, Tyson said his speech went well! :)
• And that brings us to today...oh yeah, I skipped Sunday. As you know from my previous post, we went to the circus on Sunday. I don't think I mentioned, though, that I worked Saturday night, so Tyson had Jake for most of Sunday while I slept. I also haven't mentioned that poor Tyson has had to drag poor Jake to all the recruiting events for the past few weekends while I worked...that's a whole 'nother post in itself. But here is a cute story...Coach Callaway called a staff meeting on Sunday morning, so Tyson lined up a babysitter to watch Jake during the meeting. Well, the meeting got pushed up at the last minute, so Coach Callaway told Tyson to just bring Jake in the meeting. Umm, I haven't been in this business long, but there are parts of college football that are kid-friendly and parts that aren't (ie. staff meetings). Tyson didn't have any other choice, so Jake attended the staff meeting. Things went well for the most part except when Jake decided he wanted to sit in Coach Callaway's lap and DRAW ALL OVER HIS PAPERWORK! Tyson said he almost died, but Coach Callaway was really good about it all. :)
• So Tyson has today and tomorrow off, and we have lots planned for his time off. We took Jake to school today (Thursday) and got a lot accomplished in a short period of time. We are turning Jake's room into his big boy room, moving the guest room furniture to our bonus room, and turning the guest room into the nursery. Trust me, I'm not doing much of anything but telling Tyson what to do, which is what I'm really good at. :)
• One thing that we got accomplished is that we got Jake's big boy bed put together, which leads to another story...

Tyson and I had agreed that we would put Jake's big boy bed up but still leave his crib in his room until we decide "it's time." We've got a lot going on the next couple of days (including more working for me), so right now isn't the best time for this new adventure. Well, we picked Jake up from school and brought him in for his nap, and wouldn't you know that Jake insisted on sleeping in the bed for his nap. I wasn't prepared at all, but he kept climbing out of the crib whenever I would put him in there. (Up until now, Jake has just threatened us with climbing out by throwing a leg over the side or something, but he never physically climbed out...until now.) So I had no choice but to let him try the big boy bed.

He was so excited when I put him in it, that he couldn't stop smiling. I tucked him in, took my chances, and walked out of the room. Soon after, Jake followed me right out of the room. It took 2 more times of him gettin' up and opening the door before I called for reinforcement...the child safety lock door knob. It worked like a charm. He definitely talked for a little while, but he didn't get out of bed after that. He slept for about an hour (which is normal for a school day), and then he yelled "Mama, wake up!" :) So proud of my big boy...we'll see how it goes tonight!

The Circus!

"Round and round!"

Tyson and I took Jake to his first Circus this weekend, and it was a huge hit! He LOVED it! From the second we got there, his eyes were glued the entire time! I was afraid he would be scared of the clowns and some of the acts, but he loved every minute of it. After we left, we asked him what his favorite thing about the circus was, and he promptly answered, "Eatin' popcorn." A man after his mom's own heart right there! :) His second favorite thing was the Elephants; he was so excited when they came out that he screamed "elephants!! elephants!! elephants!!" (in Tyson's ear) the whole time! It was too cute! The other thing that was a big hit for Jake was the motorcycle cage; he kept yelling "Round and round more please, Mama! Round and round" Too funny!

We had such a great time at the circus. It's very rare these days that the 3 of us can actually go to something together with both mine and Tyson's crazy work schedules, so I'm glad this worked out that we could go. We don't have much longer for it to be just the 3 of us; we've got to make the most of this time together. Such a fun time at the circus for the Summers family!

27 Weeks

This was taken right before Ryan's b-day party when I was right at 27 weeks.
There is his chubby little face!

That is his foot in the middle and his hands on both sides.

And in case you were wondering, he is definitely still a boy!

Baby Walker and I had another check-up today, and everything went well! Because of some issues, I'm now going to be seeing the doctor every 2 weeks, so be on the look out for some more frequent baby Walker posts!

One of the issues I'm talking about is that baby Walker is HUGE! I'm 27 weeks and 6 days today, but that little (I mean big) rascal is already measuring 33 weeks!!!! I knew there had to be a reason for me to be feeling so miserable (ie back pain, not sleeping, not being able to breathe, etc) lately! Dr. McKee went ahead and got an ultrasound just to make sure everything was looking ok, and it was! Walker actually doesn't have too big of a head (it only measured 2 weeks ahead), but he is just big all over. Knowing that Jake was such a big baby and that I'm definitely having another c-section, they don't seem to be too concerned about him measuring so big; it sounds like we just have to keep a watch and make sure my fluid levels are ok.

I was so glad I got to see Walker on ultrasound; it seems like so long ago since I had my last ultrasound and got to see my lil' man! He was super cute on the ultrasound...he was yawning and playing with his toes the whole time! His head is up, which I could have told her...he sits right underneath my right rib cage and makes no qualms about head-butting my ribs!

So praise the Lord for another great check-up and a healthy big boy! Oh, and just to answer some questions I've already gotten: 1) How big is he? They didn't give me an estimated weight, but Jake didn't start measuring this far ahead until the end, and he was 9 lbs 8 oz. at birth 2) Does this change my due date? Even though he is measuring ahead, we will still stay with my original due date for lung maturity purposes. 3) You look great...how do you do it? Hahaha just kidding...just had to throw that one in there! 4) What in the world do you do to get such big babies? Well, I attributed a lot of Jake's weight to my high-consumption of Big Mac's, but that isn't the case this time, unfortunately for me and McDonalds! Seriously, Tyson was a big baby (9 lb 2 oz, right Mary Ann?) and has big babies on his side of the family...like 10 and 11 lb babies! I guess with genetics and my higher than normal weight gain (29 lbs total this time so far), that's what happens! Like I said, the doctor isn't too worried; his exact quote was, "it's looks like you're gonna have another big baby!" I'll guess we'll see in about another 11 weeks or so! Just please pray Walker isn't an 11 lb baby...I don't know if my body (and back) could handle that!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Granddaddy!

Watch...Jake is gonna make this ball disappear!

Ready....

He blew it away!!!

Where did it go?

"Gone gone!"
Is it behind Jake's ear?

"Ta da!"

"Did you see that Mom? I made it disappear like 'Di Daddy' does!!"

Jake has become quite the magician these days thanks to my Granddaddy! You see, my Granddaddy has a trick where he can make things "disappear" by "blowing them away," and Jake just loves for Granddaddy to do it. Granddaddy says Jake is the only one out of all 5 of his grandchildren and all 7 of his great-grandchildren to actually know where Granddaddy makes things disappear to...there's no fooling my little magician! Anyways, Jake has become obsessed with Granddaddy's little trick and does it all the time! In fact, we were playing on the playground a couple of days ago and Jake met a new little girlfriend; well, in an effort to show-off and win her over, Jake the Magician showed her his little magic trick. It was so cute (even though the Mama had no clue what my child was doing), but it was just funny that that is what he chose to do to win her over.

Thanks, Granddaddy, for all the little things you do for us (like your magic tricks) that leave such a lasting impression on us...that is what makes you so special!

Here are some other things about my Granddaddy that I will never forget:

• "S-T-zero-P"
• The time we went to see the "Big hole in the ground"
• The rides on the back of his scooter
• The tire swing he made for me
• Dancing together at my wedding
• "I bet you don't know my secret"
• How he still calls me "Beth Marie"
• Taking Jake on his first lawn-mower ride

Of course, I could probably think of a hundred other things, but these things will always make me think of my Granddaddy. Happy 83rd Birthday, Granddaddy (*today and tomorrow)! I'm sorry we can't be there like we were last year, but we're thinking about you on this special day! We love you more than you'll ever know!

*Granddaddy actually has two birthdays- the doctor and his birth certificate say he was born 1/27/1927 but his Mama said he was born 1/28/1927. He usually celebrates on the 28th, but I think he enjoys having both recognized. After all, how many people do you know have 2 birthdays?

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Birthday boy!

Jake ate his way through the party!

So sweet...Jake trying to catch a glimpse of Ryan and the cake!

Woah Mama!

Daddy and Jake

Jake trying to be like Daddy and putting a toothpick in his mouth!

A "Happy Birthday" hug!

Jake's best friend, Ryan, turned 2 on Friday, and Jake has celebrated Ryan's birthday all weekend long! On Friday, Ashley brought Jake and Ryan's class brownies to celebrate, and then yesterday, Ryan had a party at his house.

Ryan was so cute at the party; when it came time to sing "Happy Birthday," Ryan bashfully covered his eyes and laid down his head. I have never seen him get so shy, but it was so cute! I wish I could have gotten some pictures of it, but there was a big crowd around him and let's face it...I'm not at a point I can squeeze through a crowd anymore! :)

Jake had a blast at Ryan's party! I wish I could have gotten some more pictures from the party, but I just couldn't keep up with the kiddos. Thank goodness Tyson was there to help me keep a handle on Jake!

Happy birthday, Ryan! We love you!

Driving Miss Daisy and Doctor's Appointment

Bo and Luke Duke?...
...or Thelma and Louise?

Jake's turn to drive!

Bogged down!

Jake had his 2 year check-up yesterday and everything went well! And he didn't even have to get any shots, yay! He even said, "thank you Dr. Dudgeon" at then end! Too cute!

Jake weighed in at 34.5 lbs (95%) and was 35 inches long (75%). Dr. Dudgeon said he was "solid" and "all muscle." Ha! Jake has a little peanut head, though; his head circumference was 19.25 inches (50%). All in all, he said Jake was a healthy little boy, praise God!

And praise God for some warm weather...finally! Jake has finally been able to get out and play with his "new jeep" that Santa brought him for Christmas. The jeep is definitely a little too big for him, but he is enjoying learning how to use it! You should see our yard, though, it looks like someone has been doing doughnuts in it! :)

Jake has been really sweet and let his friends Ryan and Brantley ride in his jeep and drive it a few times; Ryan likes Jake's jeep so much that his poor parents are having to buy him one for his birthday! Ha! Sorry Mike and Ashley!

Life at 2 Years

Here is what our sweet little Jake is up to at 2 years old:

• He is a great sleeper! He goes down every night around 7:15 pm after I read him a book and sing him his favorite song "Jesus loves me." I actually sing "Jesus loves Jake" and he thinks it is funny every time I replace the "me" for "Jake." Too cute. He sleeps until about 7:30 am.
• He is a not-so-great napper compared to some of his friends. He usually only naps for about 1.5-2 hours a day.
• He is still sleeping in a crib, but we are gonna do some rearranging soon to make room for little brother and attempt a big-boy bed!
• He is still a thumb-sucker when he is starting to get sleepy.
• He is a really good eater! He usually eats anything I put in front of him; however, vegetables are definitely getting to be a battle these days. French fries are by far his favorite food!
• He loves milk! He would drink it all day if I let him; other than milk, he usually drinks one juice box a day and lots of water.
• I don't think I've ever mentioned it before, but Jake is the non-messiest eater. He is so good with a spoon and fork, and I rarely have much to clean up behind him. I still put him in a bib, though, because I'm nuts like that.
• He loves to brush his teeth! Anytime I change his diaper, he automatically gets his toothbrush and toothpaste before laying down.
• He is saying so much these days! Once Tyson got to spend more time with him over Christmas break, Tyson looked at me and asked, "does he ever shut up?" Ha! It's not meant in a mean way, but the kid is constantly chattering! I wouldn't say he is speaking in complete sentences, but he is getting there!
• My favorite thing is says lately is "Ready...set...go!" except "ready" comes out sounding like "weady." I crack up every time! I love the way he mis-pronounces his R's!
• He is obsessed with trains and cars right now! He has one in his hands at all times.
• He loves to tackle pretty much anything in his path (including his friend Ryan).
• He is wearing 2T pants and 3T or 4T shirts.
• He has 16 teeth (I think). He hasn't gotten his 2 year molars yet.
• He is by no means potty trained, but he is suprisingly more interested in it and better at it than I thought. There have been several days he requests to wear big-boy pants and actually does a decent job of keeping them dry and using the potty. He's even asked to go potty a few times at school!
• He loves his Daddy but Jake is definitely a mama's boy.
• He is such a sweet boy and very well-mannered. He is very good with his please's and thank you's and is working hard on his sir's and maam's. He is very quick to recognize when he needs to apologize and will give the sweetest "sorry" without any prompting.He loves Barney! Mama and Daddy...not so much. Oh well, he has learned a lot from Barney (especially his sweet "big hug" that he loves to give out), so I guess it does serve some purpose...I guess.
• Speaking of his big hugs, Jake has been so affectionate lately. Just out of the blue, he will give you a "big hug." I love it! I hope he never grows out of it! Yeah right, huh?
• Right now, his temper tantrums are under control. We had a bad spell there for a while, but it only lasted a few weeks, thank goodness. I think it is a combination of football season being over and having Daddy home a little more, having my one-on-one attention again, and us just understanding how to handle things better. By the way, I just read a great book "Making the terrible two's terrific" by Rosemond that I would highly recommend for those with toddlers. It has definitely helped us deal with the "terrible two's!"
• He is really good with his colors. He can pick out pink, blue, green, and yellow almost every time; we're still working on the other colors. His favorite color changes pretty frequently, but pink was a strong contender for a while there despite Daddy's attempt to redirect him.
• He has no interest in counting at all whatsoever. He loves the number 2 and can tell you when there is 2 of something, but he refuses to count to any other number. I guess he's not gonna be my math kid! :(
• He is pretty good with recognizing letters of the alphabet; his favorite letter is "S" and gets so excited everytime we ride by a big sign with an "S" in it...especially CVS. :)
• He loves to "tickle, tickle" and to get a "tickle, tickle."
• He is developing a cute little sense of humor; for instance, on the way home from school we always pass this school bus parked at the school, and I always ask, "what color is the school bus?" Jake will answer "yellow!" and then jokingly change his answer to "green" just to cut up with me. We go back and forth the whole car ride "yellow...green...yellow...green!" It's the simple things like that that are so darn cute.
• He has the best hair! Tyson and I constantly ask "where does he get this fine, blond hair from?" Aunt Amy, of course! I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but I just have the hardest time cutting it; it is so cute! "
• It's kind of hard to put a label to his personality, so here is my best shot: he can be very serious but yet cut-up at times, too; he can be the center of attention but he also doesn't mind just watching what everyone else is doing too; he can be so wild yet so mellow at times; he follows directions well yet will act like a little boy at other times; he can be so sweet but can get so rough. Get what I mean? For the most part, he is pretty easy-going and just adapts to whatever setting we're in.

I don't know what Tyson and I have done to deserve such an amazing little boy; we are just so lucky. Tyson says it all the time, "Jake is the most loved little boy (and spoiled, too)" and it's just so true.