My little man turned 4

And as I always do I want to post a letter I wrote for him... my little guy. I sure do adore you in every way!

My Dearest Jacob,

So here we are again, another year has passed us by. In a few days you will be 4 years old. I tell you all the time how I want you to stay “little” forever and you tell me back “no mommy, I can’t, I want to be “big”. I know you can’t and it is so fun watching you grow into the fabulous kid you are today.. but sometimes I certainly wish time would slow down - just a bit.

This past year has been such a fun year for us. I have seen you grown from being a toddler to a little boy. You are certainly my pleaser and always want to make sure you are doing the right thing. You love to help your mom and dad and you are such a fabulous big brother. This year you go to preschool 4 days a week instead of 1 day a week and you even get to ride the school bus. You love it! On the first day of school it took everything to hold back the tears as I saw you walk onto the bus without a worry in the world. After all, mom and dad go to school everyday, why wouldn’t you be anything but excited.

At 4 you still need your cuddle time daily and you still tell me you love me everyday. You still sneak into our bedroom at night to snuggle with your mom and dad.. and I secretly am so glad you still do. You love your “special time” with mom and dad and enjoy the times when Bella naps and we can do “big boy” games.

I know I tell you this at least once a day.. but I have to say it here as well.. I am so proud of you! At 4 I am already amazed by your sense of right and wrong. I am proud of you for trying so hard to do your best, I am proud of you for being a great big brother, I am proud of you for just being you.

As you tell me at night before going to bed.. “I love you all the way up to heaven were Jesus is”.

I Love you,
Mommy
xxoo

o yesterday started the first day of the school year. It was sad to say goodbye to summer, but I am so happy I am working afternoons this year and think it is going to work wonderful for my family and kids. Today I dropped Bella off at 11:20, she ate and went to bed at 12:15 and didn't get up till I arrived to pick her up at 3:30. Not sure why she never sleeps like that for me, but I am glad I won't be missing too much of her day. And Jacob.. he starts preschool in a few weeks and will be at preschool at the same time I will be working M-TH. It just makes me smile how things work themselves out.

This morning I took Jacob and Bella down to the train in Lebanon. Of course they had a blast playing and laughing. They are so so so cute! Bella I just can't believe how busy she is. She is even busier than Jacob was. And Jacob.. he is just sweet as ever. He just got over mono, which wasn't fun.. but it is so wonderful to see him back to his normal self. I can't believe he is almost 4.

Here are some pictures of our fabulous morning...

off to the park!

Have I mentioned that I love the summer? I love going to the pool.. I love Kings Island.. I love the park.. I love lazy mornings... I love cuddle time.. I love family time... oh how I wish the summer could last forever! Late last week we took a trip to Sharon Woods to explore and play. We do this a lot in the summer.. mostly because mom can't stand being stuck in the house all day long and needs to be busy all the time (no wonder I have such busy children). Jacob had a blast pushing around Bella's Bity Baby in the stroller and Bella had fun playing in the creek. :)

Bella's first time fingerpainting!

So I was feeling brave last week and decided to give finger painting a try with the kids. OMG.. what a mess.. but oh so much fun! She loved it. But I am certainly glad we took it outside. (not sure dad was so much.. he had quite a bit of paint to spray down off of the porch.. oops! Sorry dad!)

Jacob's 3 1/2....

ok.. so a bit older than 3 1/2, but better late than never, right! I thought I would do so in a letter to him.. because I always want him to know how incredibly proud I am of him... beyond proud I should say.

My Dearest Jacob,
How to even start.. first off, I want you to know you make me so proud. Everything you do I love and adore and I thank God for you everyday of my life because without you and your sister (and dad of course), life just wouldn't be complete. It amazes me how fast these days of your toddler life are going by. It seems like just yesterday I was watching you take your first steps and teaching you how to put your shoes on.. now you are helping mother your little sister, Bella. 3 1/2 years old has proven to be full of laughs and many many smiles. You have developed quite the personality and are quite funny. Your facial expressions, the way you copy your mom and dad.. just to be funny, and the way you are quite sneaky and pretty good and figuring out how to get what you want. However, even as you grow and develop your own little personality you continue to be the sweet, sensitive little boy you have always been. You love your "cuddle time" with mom and will often ask for it. At night you always cuddle with your stuffed animals. You love to help mom and and dad whenever you can. Especially helping dad clean out mommy's messy car. You even helped dad this past week paint the dinning room.. oh man, were you in heaven! You are very particular about how things should be and if they aren't a certain way sometimes you get a little upset.. for instance.. you hate when you cracker is broken and won't eat it. You won't let us cut your sandwich unless you tell us to. When you color, which you are really great at.. you get a bit frustrated if you color out of the lines. You are doing tumbelbees right now and you just LOVE it! Your favorite part is jumping on the trampoline (who wouldn't blame you). Although you love Bella.. it is a bit hard at times to remember that you need to share with your sister, but most of the time you are the sweetest big brother around. I know you are going to hate this one day.. but you LOVE her babydoll and will often fight over it with her. But that is ok, because she often wants your cars. I always tell you that one day you will make a great daddy one day a LONG LONG LONG time from now (wink wink). You LOVE doing puzzles right now. You can do them all by yourself and you are so proud. I often catch you doing puzzles in your room when you are suppose to be sleeping. ;) Jacob.. I could go on and on, but really what it comes down to is I am so proud of you.. you are such a great kid and we love you very much. I can't wait to see what the rest of 3's bring for you!

I love you!
Mom :)

I am going to end this with an interview with Jacob..

What is your favorite color- Red
What is your favorite food- Cheeseburgers
What is your favorite thing to do with mommy? Play down in the basement and play with my cool trucks
what is your favorite thing to do with daddy? Play with trucks
What is your favorite thing to do with Bella? Share her stroller ;)
Who is your favorite friend? Isabella
What do you like to do with Isabella? Play with chalk
What are you excited about? Mommy and Daddy are home
What do you want to do today? Play with Isabella?
What is your favorite TV show? Mac and Ruby
What is your favorite Toy? Trains
Anything else you want to tell me? I like to play with Bella
What is your favorite things about being a big brother? Hugs... and hugs to daddy... hugs to mommy

It's Already July???

It is so hard to believe that it is already July. We are having a great time It has been so much fun all of us being home. We have hit the pool, Kings Island, Fireworks, cook outs, and many other games of puzzles, sidewalk chalk, and playgrounds.

Bella is getting so big, I can't believe she is 15 months old. She is such a little spunky, outgoing, happy little girl. She is always smiling and whenever we are out she says hi to everyone she sees. She is also such a little peanut, which is funny seeing how big she was when she was born. When we went to her 15 month check-up she was just short of 20lb leaving her at 8% in weight and around 30 inches leaving her between 50-75% in height. Man.. I will certainly take those percentiles. lol! She is beautiful and has her daddy's dark tan skin which makes us all jealous. She loves the pool and will go under water non-stop at the pool, just like her brother did at her age.

Jacob is turning into such a big kid and continues to be such a great kid. I am so proud of the sweet little boy he has become. He is so polite, and most of the time is so sweet to his sister. He is so excited about going to "Big" preschool this fall and is already talking about riding the bus. He loves playing with our neighbor Isabelle and especially likes going to "Nanna's pool" and Kings Island and ride the "rollercoaster". We started a star chart for him this summer for things like going to bed when asked and brushing his teeth, cleaning his room and basement. He has already earned the movie "Dora Pirate Adventure" movie.

Life is great with my kids and all of us being home.. sure wish we could do this year round. here are some pictures....

Lovin the summer!

Oh.. it has only been a week, but we have loved every single minute of summer break (ok.. maybe not the few tantrums and not wanting to go to bed, but most of it). This is the first summer that we are all really going to be home the entire summer. Daddy is not taking classes, nor it mommy. We are all just having a great summer together! AND mommy and daddy are looking forward to a trip to Vegas we have planned for mid July! Anyway.. wanted to stop by the neglected blog to share some pics of my family. I love them so much!!!!

Our special Day

I love "special day's" with Jacob.. it leaves both of us feeling so wonderful! Today I took Jacob to Kings Island. Daddy was out of town and Bella spent the day with Nana. (and I missed her terribly, but she really just wouldn't do well at KI for 6 hours).. anyway.. we had a blast! We road many rides and also made it to the water park and played around. He was in heaven and told me about 4 times that "he loved me" and asked for a hug and kiss many times (he is such a sweet little loving kid). Days like this remind me that days like this create memories for my children.. memories I want them to have when they get older.. only 2 more weeks and it is summer vacation and I can't wait!!! There are so many things I want to do with them... go for a picnic at the park, go paddleboating, hiking, zoo, library storytime, I would also like to do some sort of service project with Jacob.. any ideas?... I could go on a field trip everyday with my kids! anyway.. here are a few pictures of Jacob after our day of fun.. he couldn't go to sleep so I just ended up taking some pictures .. lol! Can't you see the happiness in his smile.. love him!

Bella's Baptism

please mom... no jacob, not until church starts. :)





I love how you can see Jacob and Kev in the background here.




isn't she just precious! I just love having a girl.



I have been such a bad family blogger lately.. looking forward to the summer when I have more time to keep this updated!

Well, Miss Bella got baptized Mother's Day weekend. We went up to Akron to have Jay Groat a very special part of our family baptize Bella. He also baptized Jacob and married Kevin and I. We sure wish we lived closer so we could listen to him speak everyday. He always does a beautiful job. Here are a few pictures of the day.. unfortunately I didn't get too many picutures during the service because I was up with her.

It was a great April.. happy May 1st!

I have been so bad lately about updating our family blog. We have had a fabulous April.. we are all so happy it is starting to get nice out! :) Although, we aren't really liking all of the rain. Anyway, mom and dad are looking forward to the summer where we all can hang out as a family. Jacob is adorable as ever and still just adores his sister.. but at times certainly has some jealousy when I am holding Bella and not him, but for the most part he loves being a big brother. Bella continues to follow Jacob around and wants to do everything he does. Their newest thing is jumping on the cushions of the couch in our office room.. lol.. I don't care because it is an old couch and I just love watching them... here they are



I really have been taking pictures of them like crazy.. just not posting.. Here are a few of my favs of my little man...






and of course, here are some of my little lady....

Back from a great vacation!

milking it for all he can.. lol!


but isn't he cute out of the bath!


my boys!!! :)



I love my family!


totally already a daddy's little girl!


funny girl!

We had a wonderful time in Destin, Florida for our spring break! We certainly are now looking forward to the summer time.. this summer Kevin nor I are taking any classes.. just three months of family fun.. oh boy.. we can't wait! (nor can Jacob and Bella). We had a really great place in Destin and the pool and beach were wonderful. Unfortunately Jacob got sick on the way down, but by the end he was doing great and sure had a blast! Here are a few pictures from our vacation.. yep, a lot are "photographs" .. I still need to upload the point and shoot pics. LOL

My Baby Girl is one!

My Dear Baby Girl,
Well, can you believe it.. here we are one year later. One year ago we opened our hearts to our precious little girl. Never did I think I would be blessed with a little girl. I thought for sure I was going to live in a house of all boys.. well, you surely surprised us. And we couldn't have been happier. You have blessed our family more than I could ever explain to you in words. You bring a spunk to our family that we are totally in love with. You make our family happier with your giggles, smiles, and yes even your pouts. You certainly have your own little personality that we have fallen in love with... the way you follow your brother around wherever he goes and tries to do all he does, the way you giggle and get so excited everytime your dad comes home from work, the way you throw your head back and kick your feet on the floor when something doesn't go your way, the way you give your mom, dad and Jacob head butts as a way to tell use us you love us, just as your brother did as a baby. Everything you do..everything you say.. every look you give.. we love everything about you!

This year has been so exciting... we have watching you go from barely holding your head up, to sitting up, to crawling, to cruising, and now your walking! Amazing how much a little one like you can grow in one year. You have gone from being off the charts at birth weighing a crazy 10lbs 8oz and 22 3/4inches long to being such a petite little girl. You haven't even doubled your birth weight and only weight 18lbs 9 oz and just 29 inches long. You surely don't eat much.. you are way too busy running around after your brother and playing with your toys!

You love being outside, especially now that you can walk. You love pushing your walking toy outside (and inside). You love pushing around Jacob's cars like you are driving them.. it totally cracks me up! You love to feed yourself.. even if it means more of it goes on you than in your mouth. You love cookies, cheese and crackers and some days that is all I can get you to eat. You love your daddy and often say his name.. even when he isn't around. You love your "bunny" and chewing on his arms.

Baby girl.. I love you and everything about you. .. one year later... life couldn't be much better. I thank God everyday for sending you to me.. and all the blessings our family has been given. I look forward to all the wonderful moments we will have together in the days and years to come....

Love you baby girl...
"Mommy"