My trip to Bloomington

I had a wonderful time meeting up with my college friends and their families. It is crazy how much our reunions have changed over the years. It was so nice meeting everyone's kids and hanging out with all my wonderful friends. I should have taken a lot more pictures than I did, but here are a few favorites.

Jacob just loves "Coke"!

I had to post this pictures, because it just cracks me up. These last several months I have needed caffeine more than I have in a long time, but because it upsets Bella's stomach at times, I try to limit it to when I am in desperate need. Well, anytime I have a coke, Jacob does all that he can to steal as many drinks as he can.. it cracks me up!!! I grabbed a quick picture of him stealing a drink from my "coke".

Our wonderful visit to Akron!

We just got back from a wonderful visit to Akron. It was so good to see everyone!!!! And we were so excited to show off our Bella. Jacob went to the zoo with grandma and grandpa and had a fabulous time! We got to see Alison, Jacob, Lauren, and Kyle, which was wonderful! Jacob has such a great time playing with Lauren! During out trip I took some pics of Alison, Jason, Lauren, and Kyle for them... just playing a bit with my camera, we had fun. Here are a few of my favorites so far! Hope you guys like them!!!
PS... just realized I need to edit out that blue plastic bag lauren is sitting on.. I will do it at some point.

My sweet sweet Jacob! I sure love him!

I wanted to give a 2 1/2 year old update of my little man, Jacob. Even though we are a bit past the 2 1/2 year mark, I didn't want to miss giving everyone an update on him.

If I were to describe Jacob in 4 adjectives it would be independent, busy, curious, and lovable. I am really so so so proud of the little boy he is growing up to be. He is so sweet and I am just so proud to cal him my son. He is still quite a momma's boy (which I secretly love!), but has certainly started to grow quite an attachment to his daddy. He loves helping daddy do all kinds of things. Some of his favorite things to help daddy with is... cleaning the cars, helping with the yard, and anything that involves tools. It is so fun to watch! He also loves being a big brother. He gives Bella hugs and kisses all the time. He also loves trying to give her her binkie.. even though sometimes she doesn't want it. He loves it when she is happy (which is actually most of the time) and will say "Mommy, Bella is happy!". Bella also just adores Jacob! She is so entertained just by watching him. It melts my heart to watch. Sometimes I think she likes her brother more than she likes me - LOL! I pray they will grow up being the best of friends. Jacob also love helping his mom! He favorite thing to help mom with is the grocery shopping. He pushes his own cart and fills it full. Just today when I told him we were going grocery shopping, her ran downstairs to his play cash register and got his fake credit card. LOL! He sure cracks me up! These last few months have been big ones for Jacob. First, he is officially potty trained. It was not hard at all, he did great with it!! As well, he is binkie free. WOW, it has been a great couple of months! He is sooo... independent! He wants to do everything himself! He wants to get dressed himself, poor his own milk, go to the bathroom himself... everything! Just the other day he decided he wanted a golf ball out of Dad's car.. so he went outside, popped Dad's trunk and got a ball out of his golf bag... seriously, what 2 year old knows how to do that... I am so glad he is such an independent little guy! As well, he is sooo... curious! His favorite word right now is "why". The things he knows and understands just amaze me, he is such a smart little 2 year old! I sure love my little man Jacob! Here are a few of my favorite pics of Jacob of the last year!

Bella and a fun hat!

A friend of mine makes gorgeous hats for little babies. She come over last night and brought TONS of fun hats to play with and take pictures of Bella in. I only had about 10 minutes today, but got this adorable pic of Bella in one of the hats! I can't wait to play with them some more! Thanks Christina for letting me borrow your hats... they are so cute!

The Binkie Fairy Arrived!

Well, the Binkie Fairy arrived! Jacob was so ... excited! He was at the pool with Daddy, came home to find the Binkie Fairy had left a tool set for him on the front step with a note.  Jacob and Daddy put together the tool set and Jacob was in heaven.

The "Binkie Fairy" is coming to our house!

I knew we wanted to give up the binkie before Jacob turned 3, but today came the perfect opportunity, so I went with it.. and I am hoping it works.  Today Jacob and I were reading a book before naptime about a little girl who got rid of her binkie... well, I added my own twist to the story and said that she got rid of her binking and put it in the mailbox for the binkie fairy to give to little babbies that needed it.  I said that the little girl didn't like her binkie anymore because they had holes in them (Jacob chewed holes in all of his binkies).  I said the binkie fairy leaves a gift for the binkies...... well, before bedtime tonight we took the binkies out to the mailbox and he feel asleep without them... hopefully he doesn't wake up sad.  Here are some pics from the memorable event!  

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July. Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday! We had a a pretty good weekend except for the yucky weather... of course it had to rain the evening of the 4th. It seems like most every 4th of July it rains, but we had a great time at the Turner's house celebrating Luke's 1st birthday. We are looking forward to another week with Kevin home before he starts his second class. Hopefully this week is rain free. Here are a few 3 month pictures of Bella.. I started taking some pictures, but then my camera died, so I didn't get too many taken, but here is a start. Hope you like them. I will have a few more posted as the week goes on.

Visit to Sharon Woods

Jacob, Kevin, Bella, and I met up with our friend Katie and her two kiddos Charlie and Ella at Sharon Woods. It was a very untypical summer day because it was quite chilly. However, that did not stop the kiddos from playing in the water and having a great time on the playground. Jacob and Ella have so much fun playing together and they get along so well. Thank you Katie for meeting us out there... we can't wait to meet up again, hopefully soon! Here are a few pics of crazy Jacob and Ella enjoying the day! (don't you just love the cheetos on Ella's face!)

Bella is 3 months old!

Our sweet little girl is 3 months old! She continues to be super sweet and a wonderful baby! She has even slept 9 hours a few nights, but most nights it is about 6 hours. Most of the time she is really happy. The only times she really isn't too happy is in the car or when she is tired. Believe it or not we are on a pretty good schedule already. She naps very well in the afternoon and I can usually get both her and Jacob down at the same time, which is wonderful because that is when I usually get my run in. She love love loves her brother and he really love her, it just melts my heart to watch! She cracks us up... when we aren't paying enough attention to her, she will do this fake cough... just makes me laugh. She is super tickelish, i will tickle her and she will just giggle... it is super cute! Bella is also quite the talker! She gabbles nonstop, especially when you are talking to her. I am hoping to post some 3 month pictures in the next few days (after I take some- LOL). I just got a new lens for my camera for an early birthday present and it has been so fun to use!!!