Bella got a new headband!

I have been looking and looking for a fun headband for Bella. It is so hard to find one for little ones. Well, I found this at crewcuts... it is too big, but you can't really tell unless you see the back of her head. I will be playing around with more pics of her in this, but this is all she let me get from her today... just a few minutes. It is way to fun having a girl!!!!!

Great time on vacation!

Jacob LOVES his Aunt Jana (and Uncle Chris!)







Love this pictures of Jacob and Kevin building a sandcastle together!


How fun is this... Kevin was jumping over Jacob, he thought it was hysterical!

We just got back from vacation yesterday... we had a blast! Kevin and I had gone to Wild Dunes for our honeymoon 6 years ago . We have always talked about going back. Well, when we saw that they were offering 40% off their rates, we had to jump on the opportunity. We had so much fun and what a great place for kids! They have daily activities planned for the kiddos... Jacob did a few, but was a bit too young for many of them. Every evening something was going on at the grand pavilion... they had bands several nights, which was so fun because Jacob would just dance all night! Jacob's favorite thing to do by far was play in the sand! He did not stop. I really don't know how he has so much energy, but he really does. He went non-stop the entire week and still only slept a half an hour on our 10 hour drive home. I think he missed home a bit because he said a few really cute comments about missing home when we were gone, but there is no question.. he had a blast! Kevin and I didn't get much time at the beach together... I guess that is what happens when you have a 4 month old you only bring down to the beach in the morning and evening, but we have decided we are going to go there next summer, just the 2 of us for 4-5 days! We can't wait! Although, I do have to say... it was sooo.. much fun watching Jacob have so much fun on vacation! The trip would not have been the same without them. We are now looking forward to our spring break... we are going to go to Florida... just trying to figure out where to go. Bella will be a year old.... so it should be even more fun!

Bella is 4 months old!

(wipe away tear).. I can't believe it


such a happy little girl!


I love close up pics of babies... I wish I had a macro lens for these.


I wasn't sure at first if I liked this picture, but then I was reminded by a friend... A mommy studies every little detail of her child's face. She takes in each little detail... not necessarily all together, this is what this reminds me of!



Oh my goodness.. I can't believe how fast my little girl is growing up! She continues to be an amazing little girl! When pregnant, I honestly didn't have a preference of whether I had a little girl or boy, but I am SO THANKFUL that Bella came to be my little girl, I can't imagine life without her. She is ALWAYS happy... seriously, she is very rarely upset. The only time she is upset is when she is in the car and can't see her mommy. If I am sitting back with her, she is fine, but if I am driving she screams, it is stressful for both of us. She giggles, smiles, and talks all the time! I am pretty sure she is going to be quite the talker because she babbles all the time! She just adores her brother and laughs and giggles at him nonstop. Jacob also loves her so much.. he is constantly giving her kisses, is just melts my heart!

4 month stats... 26 inches (97%) and 15lbs 3 oz (80%)... how do I have such tall kids?!?!?

Summer is fun! (please don't end!)

what can I say.. I love my little man!


how funny is this... he was taking pictures of Bella with his camera!


Summer is not complete without getting your hand dirty eating a popsicle!


We are having such an amazing summer! I can't believe it is August! I don't want summer to end! Once August rolls around I feel like summer is over, but I shouldn't, we don't start school till the 26th (I think that is the date). We have kept really busy... going to the pool, playing outside, going to the park, going to the children's museum, running, laughing, and enjoying each other. It feels so good to know that my kiddos will always have an amazing summer with both their mom and dad at home to play and laugh with! I am going to be so sad to leave my kiddos when it is time to start back to school. I know Jacob is certainly going to be fine.. he can't wait for me to go back to school so he can go play with Addie at "Miss Jen's House". My sweet Bella, I sure will miss her, but at least I only work half of a day and will only be away from her for about 4 hours. And our sitter is wonderful, she will be taken great care of! (thanks Jen!) Here are some recent pics to show what we all have been doing to enjoy the summer! :)

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.