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!

Ride that Horsie

"Wow, Mom. This is the best thing EVER!!"
"Oh wait. Let me try to look a little cooler for the camera...I looked kind of dorky in that last picture."
"And I'm over it now...where's Mommy cell phone?"

"THIS is the best thing ever!...time to start prank-calling Daddy!"

I just couldn't resist snapping a few pictures today of Jake riding his horsie; most times he is not in to the horsie at all, but today he had the best time on it as you can tell by the pictures. I hope y'all enjoy (especially the grandparents)! :)

Update

I just got a call back from my doctor...my Hcg levels from 2/19/09 were 42!! I'm so excited! I'm still a little ways from normal, which is less than 5, but that is big progress from 338 on 2/13! I'll have another one checked this week, so I will let everyone know when I find out. Please keep praying, though, because the numbers can still rise at any point even once they get down to normal. Praise God for good news today, though! Thank you all so much for the prayers...they are definitely working!

Where's Jake?

Does anyone know where Jake is? I'll give you another hint...
Give up yet??
There he is!!

I guess Tyson and I didn't do such a great job of child-proofing our house! What do you think? Our little boy is way too smart for the "rubberband around the cabinet door"...no matter how tight we tied those suckers, he figures out a way to undo them! Don't get me wrong, we have cabinet latches on the REALLY important cabinets, but just not all of them. Have no fear, though, more child-proofing is near! And we also now have to get the door things; he LOVES trying to open the doors. He isn't quite tall enough to get them open, but he definitely knows how to unlock them! The boy is going to be Trouble...I can tell!


I can totally see his daddy doing something like this when he was younger!
What do you think Mrs. Pendy?

This is a little picture of Jake's chin vs. the pavement. Our first boo-boo!

(Sorry that the picture won't enlarge...but I swear there's a scratch on his chin! Also, please excuse Jake's wardrobe...Daddy was in charge today!)

Ring My Bell

"SHOOOES"

Tyson worked a half day today, so we enjoyed an afternoon together as a family playing outside. We started out with a LONG walk to the park which involved going down and up a VERY big hill. Poor Jake got a little "stroller ADD" and pitched a fit to get out about half-way up the hill. We caved and let him walk a bit which turned into him pushing the stroller which got us NO WHERE, so he ended up getting strapped back into the stroller despite the high-pitch screaming. We were definitely a site to see! We made a quick little stop at the Sweet Shop to win back over our son's love, and then we FINALLY made it to the park. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay at the park too long because I ended up suffering a concussion (I think) on the playground equipment. No joke...I was trying to get the perfect picture of Jake, so I took off into a dead sprint and ran slap dab into this metal bell hanging above my head. I hit the thing so dern hard that it threw me back a couple of feet, landed on my back, and knocked me out for a couple of seconds! Tyson didn't see it happen, but he heard the loud "DDDOOOOINNNNGGGG" from the bell and came running. Here I am layed-out on the mulch, camera in my left hand, and grabbing my head with the right, and he had the nerve to start laughing!!!! Thank goodness we were the only people at the park at the time or I would have been so embarrassed. Tyson and I laughed the whole way home! Did I mention I have a terrible headache now and I think I might have whip-lash? Have a good weekend!

Jake the Heart-Breaker

Here comes my lil' heart breaker!
The ladies can't resist these moves!....

...or these muscles!

A true playa' always has his cell phone with him...

even when he rides the horsie!

"Ladies!!! My heart only belongs to one woman...my mama!"

Jake's thinking about taking Ryan's cracker...

....contemplating...

SNATCHED straight out of his hands!

Poor little heart-broken Ryan!

The boys being sweet together as they are held by an unidentified greasy lady!

Don't you just love Jake's "Heart Breaker" shirt that his Aunt Amy gave him? The only heart that he breaks these days, though, is Ryan's when Jake steals his crackers! Seriously, Jake is such little thief. Ryan came over today and Jake just kept snatching crackers over and over again right out of Ryan's hands!! You'd think he'd never been fed the way he was acting! Sorry Ashley and Ryan!

Jake is definitely not a heart-breaker with the females, though! We went to the park today and met this sweet little girl who is a month older than Jake; well, Jake and the little girl were playing together so sweetly with a play car when I looked over and he opened the door for her! He literally walked over, opened the door, held it so she could get in, and then closed it once she was in! It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen! I doubt he knew what he was doing, but I was so proud to see my 13 month old be so chivalrous!