Halloween

So I gave a hint a few weeks ago about what Jake was going to be for Halloween. He was a shark!!

Jabberjaw from the late 70's Jabberjaw 2010

Now, I will admit, buying a full body costume for a 2-year-old is risky. But I just can't resist them! Plus I figure I'm on borrowed time before he picks out his own costume. When I tried the costume on him, he cried & wouldn't wear the head piece. I figured all well, sharks sometimes cry too.

On Friday, Jake's daycare had their class parties and wore their Halloween costumes. I wasn't able to go, but I left our snap-&-shoot camera for his teachers to take some pictures with. I was pleasantly surprised. He was actually wearing the full costume in the pictures! Class picture (my shark is in the back row)

Daycare trick-or-treating

Afterwards (back in their street clothes) they went & picked out pumpkins

On Saturday, we all went to Zach & Kim's to let the kids trick-or-treat together.

Jake & Addie had fun waiting on trick-or-treaters to come by This shark is eating Smokey

Jake & Connor getting ready to go trick-or-treating

Such a sweet looking shark, bumble bee & train conductor!

Trick-or-treating

Jake LOVED trick-or-treating. We were pleasantly surprised. You never know with him. I was scared he would be too shy to go up to people's houses, but he loved it. He would say "trick-or-treat" & "thank you". He insisted on carrying his own bag. He drug it door to door. I think he just liked the attention & knew that he was getting candy!

Daddy & Jake

Mommy & Jake

Afterwards we had dinner & hung out at Zach & Kim's. No, Addie did not get into the chocolate candy! Kimberly made a dirt cake for dessert. Can you tell the kids liked it?

Happy Halloween! On Sunday, Jake was excited to see what all candy he got

I wonder when he will figure out that mommy & daddy already ate all of the good candy?

After we take the suckers (his favorite) away. He is an absolutely nightmare with suckers. (They get stuck in his hair, he tries to bite the sucker off, he chokes himself with it, etc...) We've conveniently already disposed of the suckers!

On Monday night, Jake's daycare had their Fall Performance

Singing If You Are Happy & You Know It. I was way in the back & didn't have our zoom lens.

Afterwards at the house

After he crammed a whole apple slice in his mouth

Watching Sid in his poor man's recliner

So, I'm not usually a fan of licensed clothing, but Jake loves Elmo. I figured he would freak out if I bought him these pajamas. He loves them. He does look pretty snuggley.

Good Night

Football Season 2010 - Week 8

Jake spent the weekend with my parents so that I could go to the Auburn / LSU game. (Not that hanging out at the RV with Jake is not fun during the game.) I love the big games because it means big tailgates with lots of visitors & food. Fun!!

This was only some of the food

Robbie's sister Andrea brought the cake
The inside of the cake. One side was blue & orange and the other side was purple & gold.
A get well message from the group to Summer. We are happy to report that Summer is out of the ICU and has been moved to a rehabilitation center in Birmingham. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. Summer was one of the 4 original members of the tailgating group and everyone sure does miss her. But we are cheering her on & counting down the days until she is back. We love you Summer!

Katherine & Doug

The Owens

The Hall's

Robbie's sister Andrea & her friend

There were a few people at the game. I will have to say that was a great game to be at. The crowd excitement was amazing. Lots of fun.

The Bush's

Since Alabama still has to play both teams & both teams were undefeated, either team losing was great in my book. Since I was probably one of the few people not screaming their head off during the game, I got to do a lot of people watching.

I saw our friend Zach's Doppelganger

Sweet love after a first down. This couple kissed throughout the entire game. And I don't mean a quick kiss. These were long passionate kisses. They celebrated everything with a kiss. To make things even weirder, they appeared to be sitting with his parents. And to be even weirder, there was some girl sitting behind them taking pictures of it!

You know you've brought your A-game when it includes a huge purple velvet hat with leopard trim. I felt bad for the women sitting behind him trying to see over.

I was scared this woman was going to beat me up for taking her picture. She was not happy with the loss.

Football Season 2010 - Week 7

Happy Birthday Granddad! We were in Auburn for the Auburn / Arkansas game. One of Jake's favorite things is to walk Bruiser.

Jake & Granddad. As you can imagine, it's loads of fun to walk with Jake when he is walking Bruiser.

Jake with his tailgating buddy Henry

4 Generations of Auburn Tailgaters

Jake & Daddy

Football Season 2010 - Week 6

Since the New Orleans trip the week before was so crazy, we had to use the following weekend to recover. We took it easy & just hung out around Chattanooga.

On Friday night, we took Jake to a McCallie football game.

He watched so intently.... For 5 minutes. We spent the rest of the half running around the track.On Saturday night, Zach, Kimberly & Addie came over. I just love these 2 little munchkins.Jake's girlfriend in her pajamas to spend the night. Just kidding!! No overnights with girls Jake until you are married! Nothing like dancing in your pj's

My sweet little guy

Sign #47 that your hair is too long. A slinky gets hung in it. Sign #47 that your mom is mean. Making you stand with the Slinky in your hair crying while she runs & grabs the camera.

Why buy your child one of those cute little personalized chairs from Pottery Barn, when you can buy them a $12 potty to lounge on?

During the following week, he got pink eye. Evidently you can get pink eye on the inside & the outside of the eye never turn pink. He did enjoy the 2 days off of school to get to hang out with mommy & daddy though!

Football Season 2010 - Week 5

Week 5 of football season, we decided to forgo our usual activities & head down to New Orleans with our best friends from here in Chattanooga. Since Margaret is from New Orleans and they all went to UT they decided way back to head down for the game. Even though Robbie & I are not UT fans, how can you pass up a weekend get away with awesome friends in a great city?!?! So we all dropped the kids off with relatives & flew down to New Orleans on Friday. Margaret was a great host and planned dinner at amazing restaurants.

Friday night, we took a trolley to dinner so we could see different parts of New Orleans. We passed sooooooooo many beautiful houses.Margaret, Andy, Zach & Kimberly

Friday night we had dinner at Jacques-Imo's. Oh my goodness. Such amazing food. You could definitely tell we don't get out much without the kids! We had such a good time at dinner. I do feel like I should apologize to everyone that was there trying to have a quiet dinner though. The restaurant is very small & the tables are close together. We were definitely having a good time! Group shot! Andy, Zach, Margaret, Kimberly, Lally & Sam (friends of our UT friends from Chicago) and Robbie & me

On Saturday, the boys & Lally headed over to Baton Rouge for the game. Margaret, Kimberly & I stayed in New Orleans to shop & just relax. We had such a good time just wandering around the city. (It was great being with someone actually from NO who could show us different things.) It was also very nice to go at our own pace. No rushing back for naps and having to leave a store early because of a crying baby. We just walked, talked, ate & had a great time. Saturday night, since the boys were still on their way back, just us girls had dinner at the restaurant EAT. I highly recommend it too! It was another very small & intimate place. It was a fabulous dinner with fabulous friends! Unfortunately, our camera sat in the bottom of my purse all night. I kept meaning to take pictures, but then I would get distracted & forget. So no pictures from Saturday:(

On Sunday, we all flew back to Chattanooga. We all had so much fun and appreciate Margaret for being such a wonderful host for her hometown! Of course we were super excited to see the munchkin. He spent the weekend with Uncle Johnathan & Aunt Andrea. Thank you guys so much for watching him!

Updates

1) Computer: Our computer kicked the bucket & could not be revived (it was just 4 years old!), so we had to get a new one this week. So that blog update over the last 3 weeks is going to be a long one! I hope to get it updated this week.
2) Potty Training: Stinks. Literally. Jake did so good the 1st night with the potty. I should have known he was fooling us. He still loves to sit on the potty, he just doesn't like to pee or poop in it. We are not pushing him, as I feel like it is still too early. I'm just trying to get him accommodated with it. Tonight after dinner, I figured we would try it. Because I'm lazy, we've still got it in our den. (Which is probably why we haven't been too successful.) He sat on it for a while, but didn't ever pee. After a while, I figured he wasn't going to go, so he got up & started playing. Next thing I noticed he was standing in front of the TV peeing. (Thankfully just on the floor & not on any toys.) Of course by the time I scooped him up & put him on the potty, he was done. So I cleaned it up & I figured he had it all out of his system for a while. Well, go figure, a few minutes later we look up & Jake is squatting, pooping on the floor. (Again, thankfully, just on the hardwood floor, not on any toys.) I don't get it. He was just sitting on the potty & would not go. Robbie said at least he knew to squat. So we are pretty much 1 for 5 right now & are going through a lot of floor cleaner.

Prayer Request: Please please please keep our dear friends the Vaughan's in your prayers. Summer had a stroke on Friday & is in the ICU in Atlanta. Our thoughts, love & prayer goes out to Summer, Gary & their 2 precious little boys. Summer is an amazing & strong woman and we are just wishing her a speedy recovery & praying for God's miraculous hands to heal.

No Pictures :(

I actually have quite a few pictures. A weekend ago, we were in New Orleans & then this past week we hung out around Chattanooga. Unfortunately, our laptop decided to die. I don't know what happened to it. Saturday I was working on some decorations for a shower for friend when Jake woke up from his nap. I got him up, played with him & then an hour later, went back to my project. The computer had shut off & will not turn back on. ARGH! Robbie is taking it by Best Buy to see if it can be saved. Fingers crossed!

So I'm having to use my work laptop, which means no pictures. But, I do have some funny Jake stories. (Well, funny to me.)

We were shopping over the weekend & I sneezed. I told Jake that when someone sneezed, you should say "Bless You". And since mommy had sneezed, he should say "Bless You Mommy". Jake thought that was hilarious. So I kept saying it. Then he started saying it. Over & over again. It was so sweet. He gets it backwards sometimes though & will say "Mommy Bless You". (He doesn't actually say it that clearly though, it sounds more like "Ma-me Bess You".) It melts my heart every time he says it. (Of course, just 30 minutes later we were in TJ Maxx & he was throwing a fit in the middle of the aisle. For no particular reason. I had not told him no or anything. He just decided to lay on the floor & whine. The joy of a toddler mood swing!)

Speaking of shopping, I cannot begin to express my disappointment in all of the toddler clothing designers. There must be a conspiracy. Not only do toddler boys start in the hole because there is 1 toddler boy rack to every 5 boys racks & every 10 girls racks. As I dig through my 1 measly rack, who are these people designing for?!?! A 10-year-old thug? My child is 2. He doesn't even know what a skateboard or crossbones are! And the color combinations are hideous.

But back to funny Jake stories. I've felt for a while that he was ready to start potty training, but honestly, I was waiting for the daycare people to start it. He'll wake up from his naps dry & he is fascinated by watching people use the restroom (uncomfortable I know!). He also loves to talk about the potty, pee-pee, etc... I was at Target & decided to pick Jake up a potty. When I got home, I just put it in floor in front of the TV, took off his diaper & let him play on the toilet. (Pretty sure that's not how they tell you to do it in any books.) Jake would laugh, get a toy, sit on the toilet & laugh some more. I stopped paying that closely of attention. Then I noticed he was playing in the bowl of the potty. I knew he had not peed, so I figured he was just playing. Then I heard splashing. He had peed! I didn't even realize it! I was so excited! (Then I was grossed out because he had been playing in his pee for who knows how long.) Maybe this was easier then I thought. Of course, then I put a diaper on him, and he completely soaked it a few minutes later. So maybe it is tough. We are in no hurry. I just figured I'd let him start getting used to the potty. (It might become a little more urgent though if Jake keeps growing. We are in the largest size of diapers & they are getting tight.)

I'm off now to go check on the little munchkin. I got a call at work that when Jake woke up from his nap, his eyes were closed shut with eye crust. (Gross!) They wanted me to take him to the doctor in case he had pink eye. (Okay, bad mommy moment. He actually woke up this morning with that crust. His eyes were not red though, so it didn't cross my mind that he might have pink-eye. I just scrapped the eye gunk off & off we went to expose everyone at school to it. Oops! And double oops that I did all of that, and never washed my hands afterwards. So I'm really hoping that my immune system is ready for a fight.) Robbie met me at the doctor & finished the appointment so I could go back to work. Sure enough, Jake has a mild case of pink-eye. Poor little guy. We've got some eye drops for it & he can return to daycare 24 hours later.

Football Season 2010 - Week 4

Not a lot of pictures this weekend. Lots of fun, but not a lot of pictures!

So we don't always follow the best diet on tailgating weekends. Who says a cookie is not a great breakfast?!

Jake with his best 4-legged friend, Bruiser
Henry & Jake

(To my family... don't worry!! Pictures to come soon of him in his other team shirts!)

Videos of Talking

Jake talking, saying some of my favorite words.

Naming the people in our family. He has the grandmothers & cousins down. Sorry grandfathers & aunts, we're working on it!

New words he added this week... cheerio (or cereal, we don't know which he is referring to because he says "cheerol") & mommy (which I LOVE!! Sounds more official than ma-ma).

Happy Birthday's!

September 22 - Happy Birthday Mimi!! We love you so much!

September 23 - Happy Birthday Robbie!!

(Birthday pictures to come)

September 24 - Happy 21-month Birthday Jake!!

(I've got some videos of Jake talking, but the videos are taking FOREVER to load. It's 1:30 AM & I've got to get up at 5:30, so I don't have time to wait for them to load. I'll upload them when I have more time:)

So what would a perfect day at home be like for this 21-month old?

He would wake up & mommy would rock him while he drank his milk & she read him a book (Llama Llama or any Eric Carle books)

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Then we would go outside. We'd play on a swing set & anything with a ball. Then we would come inside & make sure every door was closed. We'd play with a cell phone. (Not the old ones that don't work anymore. It must be the one we currently use.)

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We'd have a snack of bananas or Mandarin oranges (& probably read more books)

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We'd let him take a nap while watching either football, golf or baseball

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We'd then stick our hands under running water. And splash. For hours. Then we would sweep the garage floor. And finish up by washing our hands multiple times, each time insisting that we use soap too.

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Once it cooled off, we'd go sit in the car & play. We'd watch a little bit of Sid the Science Kid on the car DVD player. Maybe even have a second snack of goldfish in the car. (Note: the car cannot move while playing. It is only fun to play while the car is parked, turned off & he doesn't have to sit in the car seat.)

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Play with the wii remote. Push buttons on the TV controller. Sit in mommy or daddy's lap & read more books. Have someone drop ice on the floor so that he can pick it up & put it in the sink.

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Have mommy rock him to sleep (the last one is just as much mine, as it is his!!)