Sunny Sunday!

We were excited to see the sun finally come out today... it was actually warm enough to head outside and play. Jacob is attempting to actually run. He takes off because he gets very excited about something, but his feet just aren't quite ready to move that fast. I'm sure it will not be very long... He can dribble a soccer ball quite successfully (thanks to his daddy's instruction) and rarely likes crawling anymore. I absolutely love Sundays. A perfectly lazy day with our family.

This was taken yesterday after a little snow fell. Jacob was watching all of the other kids in the neighborhood play outside while he had to stay in!



Finally outside!

Cheeeesseee!!

Playing on the swingset!


Everyone was squinting because it was so sunny!

Lazy Friday Evening

Tonight was one of those evenings where we felt like doing absolutely nothing... and that is exactly what we did. We had originally planned to go out to dinner with our little man but, because of the freezing cold weather, we stayed in and had some of Mama's chicken noodle soup. I took Jacob with me to the gym for the first time yesterday. There were no other kids in the room when I dropped him off... he immediately began playing with the toys (read: he did not miss Mommy one bit). I went to go check on him after about twenty minutes and another little boy in the room was screaming crying. Jacob was standing right by him looking very worried. As soon as he spotted me, he absolutely lost it. I wasn't quite ready to leave yet so I went into the room for a quick cuddle session, got him involved in the toys again, and was able to finish my workout! He was happy as can be when I came back. He continues to amaze me everyday.

Jacob is absolutely in love with the following books (all of which I could read to him in my sleep now):
1. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (Dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum!)
2. Hanukah Lights (Mmm..mmm.. good!)
3. Touch and Feel Baby Animals (Hello little chick!)

I'm off to finally cuddle with my other man.. a few pictures to share....

Jacob decided he would rather stare at Mommy and Daddy then the camera:


Can I love this little guy more?


Too cold to play outside...


But I want to play on my swingset!


Please, Mom!

School Days

We are excited to visit CDS again tomorrow morning to see the students in action. We attended an open house last weekend and both absolutely loved it. Having attended CDS, I knew that I wanted Jacob to go there, but I didn't know what Phil would think. When we were leaving the open house, I asked Phil what he thought. He told me that he "didn't even need to go back." I wasn't quite sure what he meant until he stated, "That is where Jacob needs to go."

I was just emailed the CDS newsletter and a picture they took of us from the open house is on the front page! The caption reads, "Alumna Stephanie Williams attended the CDS Open House on January 23 with her prospective legacy student and her husband."

Cousins!

My mom emailed me these pictures earlier today and I thought I would share. This was from about a week ago when she was watching both of the grandkids. Jackson will be turning two years old in April.. I'm not quite sure why the little guy is pushing the big kid around! Maybe he is just showing him who is boss! My favorite is the shot that my mom captured of Jacob playing peek-a-boo with her!!

Jacob hard at work...


Cousins!


Peek-A-Boo with Yaya!

Mmmm... Good (Mash Potatoes)!

Maybe it was because I felt bad about the tofu incident, or maybe it was because I thought he might be ready for it, but Jacob had some of my homemade mash potatoes last night for dinner! I figured that, just as we had always licked off the mixers, Jacob should do the same. He wasn't sure of the consistency at first, but then could not get enough of these! "Mmmmm...mmmmm," is what Jacob kept saying!

Pops!

Today's quote in my momAgenda (greatest planner ever) is:

"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value." [albert einstein]

My dad (Pops to Jacob) lives his life being a man of value and, along the way, has become a man of success. He is honestly one of the greatest, smartest people I have ever encountered. How lucky we are to have such amazing parents.

Thank Goodness it's Friday!

I don't know how a four day week could seem so long, but we are certainly glad that it is Friday. Jacob is officially able to stand up and walk from a sitting position. He toddles all around the house, chasing after the puppies, falling on his bottom, and throwing his balls (or really any toy that he has in his hand). While Ellie is ususally up for a play session, Onyx avoids Jacob. I think she is scared that Jacob wants to ride her. You can imagine why my idea to take photos of Jacob with his puppies did not go quite as planned... here is the best I got:

Planning the Party!

Jacob's birthday is approaching and his invites finally made it out today! We are excited about the big day and I am having too much fun planning for it. Because Jacob loves music, the theme of his party is "Jammin' with Jacob!" The little ones will sing and dance during a music class from Robert B. of Robert's Music Together and enjoy some tasty food and birthday cake!

Tasty tofu?

We should have figured that if we weren't big fans of tofu, Jacob might not be either. But I thought the little man might have been getting bored with his usual chicken and turkey for protein, so I cooked him up a little tofu for dinner tonight. The pictures say a million words... I don't think we will be giving him any more of this for a while.

Hmm.. something new.. I wonder what this tastes like...

Here goes nothing...

Yuck! What is that?!

Get that out of my mouth now!

Ugh.. I can still taste it!

Never give that to me again!!

Eleven Months Old!

It is hard to believe this little guy is already eleven months old. Jacob slept until 8:30 this morning (after getting up at 1:00 in the morning last night starving! I fed him six ounces of a bottle and he went right back to sleep!). Of course, this changed his whole nap schedule today. Instead of two naps, he took one nap in the middle of the day for almost three hours! We will see what effect this has on his sleeping tonight. It was special that he got to spend the day with both grandmas. They both commented on how smart he was (I told them they would say that about any of their grandchildren and they both said "but he really is!") Here are a couple of great shots from this past weekend on our deck...

New Monday Munchies!

Our relaxing three day weekend is sadly coming to an end. We had a pretty lazy day today... Phil went to help my sister and mom move some furniture from my parent's house to Lindsay and Jonny's house while Jacob and I stayed home. I went for a run when Phil got home and then we ate spaghetti (Philip's spaghetti is honestly the best ever!). Jacob ate two new foods today. He had a few pieces of cheese (loved it) and also tried some of the turkey burger that we had in the pasta. I asked Phil if he thought Jacob would like it and he said, "Of course he will, he's my son!" Needless to say, he didn't think it was as tasty as his yogurt or chicken, but still ate it. Jacob has officially moved past the "baby steps" phase and is toddling around quite successfully.

Happiest baby on the block...

Still spitting up after his bottles...

But it doesn't quite bother him...

Bath Time

Jacob absolutely loves his bath time. His evening schedule is still the same every night... we have dinner at around 5:30 or 6:00, then head upstairs to his tub for a bath, we read some books, have a bottle, and he usually is sleeping by 7:15. (Although it is 7:30 now and for some reason, he is still wide awake playing.) Jacob's favorite bath toys are his boat and his duck. A few cute pictures from bath time tonight...

Photo Session!

Jacob had a photo session today up at school for his upcoming birthday party. We started out with just the electric guitar, and then headed to the band room to take pictures with the drums and xylophone. Jacob loved making all the music and Katie shot some amazing pictures. Here are a few of my favorites...

Piano Baby

My mom asked me the other day how old I think Jacob must be to put him in piano lessons. I told her he is a little young right now but we are practicing everyday. He loves banging on the keys, staring at himself in the reflection, playing the very low and very high keys, and having me use his fingers to play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Such a cutie. We visited our first of three schools we are looking into for a few mornings next fall. I am not quite ready to give him up for the whole day, but we think a few mornings with some other kids might be good. We liked the school (which is brand new and opens Monday) but we will have to see what we think of the other two places before we make a decision. A couple cute pictures from the day...

Very focused on the keys.

He loves the noise!

One of my favorites from the day.

Look at this cheesy grin! You can actually see all six teeth!