This morning I got up and packed the car with our bags. Then I filled up the water for all the animals and got the stall ready for Kate. Our neighbor boy is taking care of the animals for us like he has for the past 2 yrs. Jacob woke up at ~8:45 and got a bath first thing. I put a couple toys in the water for him and then he asked, "yellow duck, green duck, boat" so I added them toys also. I put lots of bubbles in the water and he played while I folded laundry on the dryer. I put the towel on his head and dryed him off. Then he wanted to run up and down the hallway like superman. We went in his room to get him dressed and just as I turned around to leave, Kenzie popped in and scared us both. I had her take a shower as I got their breakfasts ready. After breakfast we went to the bathroom so I could brush Kenzie's snarls out while they brushed their teeth. Jacob likes to try and spit just like Kenzie. When I told Jacob that Nana was coming over this morning he got really excited and ran around looking for her. He kept saying, "Nana ho hold me" while pointing to himself. Adam woke up so it was time to feed him. Nana got there and I showed her all of my pictures. Jacob was definetly a Nana's boy. He sat on her lap for awhile. When he got down off her lap, Nana went to pick up Adam. Jacob ran over to her and climbed back on her lap. My mom got new outfits for each of them. Jacob loved the fish on his shirt. Mom and Kenzie took apples to the horses and then headed home. After lunch I gave Adam his bath. He really enjoys bathtime and just lays there full of smiles. While I was drying Adam off, Jacob wanted to sit on the counter next to him and watch. Well - this is probably the last you will hear from us for ~2 wks. ONE MORE SLEEP - or 1/2 for us as we are leaving at 1am. We're just a little EXCITED!!!

Adam sticks out his tongue

Jacob and the toad

We took the car and trailer for a test drive today. Jared started out driving and then I took over so he could watch the trailer. It did great. When we got home I was going to get out and have Jared back the trailer into the barn. He said I should try, so I did. I had to pull forward quite a few times but I did it - I backed it from the house into the barn. Kenzie caught a cool looking frog and she let Jacob hold it. He thought it was funny when it jumped out of his hand. Kenzie took apples to the horses and I took some pictures of her. When we got inside she had fun getting the pictures ready for her blog. Kenzie helped me make vanilla shakes and she thought it would be good to put cookies in it - she was right. Jacob kept saying, "More cold cream please, more please". Today my Grandpa, who will soon be 91, had surgery to repair his hernia. They told him the only thing against him was his age and there was nothing they could do about that. I was glad when my mom called to say he came through surgery and was doing well.

Last night Adam slept until 5am. He nursed and then fell back asleep til ~9:30. I stayed up and printed, organized, and wrote on ~150 pictures for our picture books. Jacob woke up at 8:30. We had a nice, relaxing day together. Jared picked up Kenzie from my Moms after work. She is staying with us until Friday. After dinner we all went outside to the barn. Jared tied down the trailer and covered it with a tarp. Kenzie played in the hay and took corn to the goats. Jacob played in the dirt and on the riding lawn mower. Here is a picture of the boys, Jared and our trailer for Grandma R:)

I got both the boys and my bags packed for our camping trip. FIVE MORE SLEEPS!!!!!! After dinner tonight we had to go get a couple grocery things and diapers for our trip - hopefully we are all set.

Adam slept in his room again last night. Daddy lay him in his crib around 10:30 pm and he didn't wake me til 5am. After being nursed he fell asleep and is sleeping as I type this.

Saturday was a nice cool, rainy morning. This morning we went shopping for new shoes for Jared. His old shoes have holes in them and the sole of the shoes have come unglued. They will make nice barn shoes. He has also been having back problems, so maybe new shoes will help. We went to many different stores before he found a pair that he liked and they had his size. After we were done we went to McDonald's and Jacob played there. Jared took him through it first and then Jacob decided he wanted to do it himself. Jared would start to follow him up and Jacob would turn around and say, "No Daddy". When we got home we got a phone call from Mom. Dad wanted Jared to come over and play him in ping pong and said he would buy ice cream if we came over. When we got there Jacob saw my sisters van and said, "Me Me". He was excited to see Hailey and gave her a really big hug. Mom made us dinner and then we had ice cream. While the guys played ping pong we watched the video of Hailey getting her first fish from the other day. Jared and I wanted to go look around Gander Mountain. We left Jacob at Mom's because he was really tired because he didn't get a nap all day. He fell asleep quickly. Jared, Adam and I headed to the store. We stopped at Grandpa's house on the way so I could put his eye drops in. He seemed really happy to see us and I wished we could have stayed longer. It was ~10pm when we got back to Mom's house. Their neighbors, who won millions in the lotto, daughter was having a graduation party across the street. At 10pm they started some great fireworks. We stood on my parents front porch and watched them. We walked to the end of their driveway and watched the finale. These fireworks were as good as the 4th of July fireworks we had seen and they lasted ~45 minutes. When the finale was done we looked down the road and the cars were turning on their lights and honking their horns. During the display I talked to both my sisters and both my nieces on the phone. When we got home, Jared and I went out to the barn to put our sheep rug in some rinse water. We weren't sure how to clean it without ruining it so it hasn't been washed since we got it for a wedding gift. I am really glad to have it cleaned. Adam is 8wks old today and slept in his room all night for the first time. He woke up around 3am to be nursed and then slept til morning.

Sunday: While the boys were still sleeping this morning, Jared and I went outside and took the sheep rug and set it to dry. We then worked on packing the trailer for our camping trip. I made a comfy bed for Truman in the back of the car for the trip. We were able to get everything into the trailer and car without using our cartop carrier. Jacob woke up while we were still packing. I brought him out there and he wanted to sit on the bed I had made for Truman. Then he asked us to close the door. He pointed at the spot next to him and said, "Tru Tru". I opened it up and let Truman sit in there with him. He got out and was playing with a stick. He made a really sad face when Truman took his stick from him (pictured above). In Sunday school today the teacher said Jacob did really well today sitting and listening to the story. In the past he has just wanted to go play with the toys and would not sit and listen. Jacob excitedly told us how he sat down. We made pizza for lunch and when Jacob was done with his piece he said, "More pee pee please".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA R.

It is so nice to have Daddy back. Jacob didn't want Mommy to read him his bedtime stories last night - he ran in the other room to Daddy saying, "Daddy read". Today we went to my Moms to pick up a couple things and drop off her cell phone which I had accidentally taken with me the other day. They were still camping but come home today. While Jacob and Adam were sleeping I went outside to help Jared and a neighbor boy stack hay bales. For the first time it wasn't 90 degrees doing this - that was really nice. Adam woke up when we had only 4 bales left to stack. This evening we went to walk downtown by the tridge. Jacob decided it was fun to walk a long was from us then turn around and run real fast back. We made fruit roll-ups on our dehydrator tonight. They were really good and Jacob kept saying, "More please".

My sister and her dog Champ in his life jacket.

Me and the boys left the house around 8:30am on ~1 1/2 hr drive to visit my parent, Grandpa, and sisters family in Cadillac. They are camping at a campground we grew up camping at. I have many great memories there and was excited to take the boys. The weather was great - cold in the shade and warm in the sun. I loved walking around the park and by the channel. Jacob loved walking under the bridge which took us over to the beach. When we got back to the campsite Jacob wanted to ride Hailey's tricycle. He put on her purple helmet and hopped on her pink/purple bike. He doesn't use the peddles, but can push that thing so fast using he feet. At times he was hard to keep up with walking. We went over to the dock where Kenzie was fishing. She had caught a fish and put it in a bucket to show the kids. Jacob stuck his had in the bucket and the fish jumped up - he thought that was funny and told everyone about it - He smacked his lips and said, "jump, water". Papa took Hailey and then Jacob for a ride around the camp in his truck. In the evening, while Jacob was napping, I took Kenzie and Adam with me so Kenzie fished off the channel. Nana and Hailey came to join us and we decided to walk over and fish off the dock. Kenzie caught a fish and ran with the pole and bucket to get water for the fish. She fell and broke the end of the pole which made her sad. Hailey went fishing for her first time and caught a small fish. The hook was caught way back and they had to work to get the hook out - the fish didn't make it. After dinner we took the boys for a ride in the canoe. They sat in the middle, Me and the dog in front, and Bruce in back. A couple of time Jacob leaned over to look in the water making me a little nervous of tipping, but Bruce garanteed we wouldn't tip. I think I had almost as much fun as the kids. We got back and Jacob rode the tricycle some more then we took the kids to play in the sand at the beach. Mom stayed back at camp with Adam. Just before it got dark, I took Jacob for one last ride around camp and then we said goodbyes to Mel and her family. Grandpa, Mom, Jacob and I sat around the fire. Dad and Adam stayed in the camper where Adam was sleeping. Jacob sat on Nana's lap and pointed at himself saying, "Me yellow" (color of his lifejacket) "boat water". We were on the road for home shortly after 11pm. Jacob was talking alot at first telling me about the blue boat and asking about Daddy. Then he was fast asleep til we got home.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Jacob loves brushing his teeth on the stool that his Daddy made him. This morning I was cutting up more bananas for the dehydrator when Jacob ran over to me with his hand out saying, "Uh Oh". He had something brown all over it. As I wondered what he had gotten into, he said, "I poop" - there I had my answer. We got out his crayons and I sat with him as he colored. He wanted me to draw things on his paper so I drew a sun, star, heart, and then a fish. After that all he wanted me to draw were fish. He kept handing me different crayons while smacking his lips for me to draw another fish.

Monday: This morning Jacob wanted to sit on his potty inside his big box. He kept saying, "Tru Tru come" or "Kate come". I cut out a couple windows in the box that he could open or close. After he was dressed he wanted to paint. I did alot of cleaning and packing things for Copper Harbor. In the evening I got the dehydrater out and cut up bananas on it. Jacob kept pointing at the bananas saying, "More please more". He didn't get a nap all day so he was in bed by 8:30 and fell asleep within minutes.