Happy Birthday!

It's official. Jacob's now 2! He can even say he's two if you ask him. We're working on being able to hold up two fingers, but that's a little harder. We're going to actually celebrate his birthday this weekend since Brad won't really be around today. Jacob's been talking about his birthday and birthday cake today, so hopefully we won't disappoint him on Saturday.

A few fun facts about Jacob:
1) Jacob loves to run and jump. If you're ever at our house, watch out because you might be what he's trying to jump on...or he might ask to race you!
2) He is learning to count - sometimes he gets it right, sometimes he doesn't, but we're trying.
3) Jacob sometimes calls his Daddy, "Dear" because that's what Mom calls him sometimes.
4) Jacob loves to help his Daddy work. He will even say, "I help work?" when he sees his dad come home.
5) Jacob loves going to nursery, such a change from 6 months ago!

That's just a few things about Jacob. We sure love having him in our home. He makes us laugh a lot and we are thankful that he is in our family. We love you Jacob!

Messes

This is what Jacob has been up to the last two days.

Don't you think a 2 year old (well, almost) needs a little concealer to cover up those irritating skin problems?

Gotta love blue M&Ms!

Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup

2 12.5-oz cans chicken, undrained
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 C. celery, diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. parsley
2 cups egg noodles

Saute onions in butter for 4-5 minutes. Add all ingredients to pot except noodles. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes (until carrots are soft). Add noodles and simmer for an additional 6-8 minutes until noodles are al dente. Serve.

We decided to have this delicious soup tonight because the weather turned cold and it reminded us of fall. The picture maybe doesn't do the soup justice. It was so good and definitely hit the spot!

This and That

Hello, This is Brad again. This will be my second posted blog, if the editor approves my work. There does not seem to be a real theme going on with the last several weeks of our lives, but I thought it would be nice to get some of our newer pictures up.

We were very blessed to have the opportunity to watch the General Conference of our church this month. We are able to watch it very well with our Internet connection. Each conference we enjoy more and more the opportunity to be together and spend the weekend being spiritually uplifted. As part of our tradition of watching conference every April and October, we have developed our family tradition of having a special breakfast on Sunday morning before it starts. We started this tradition a few years ago with cinnamon rolls, but after a few times, we decided that they are really a lot of work and not worth the labor unless we make a lot. But then the problem is that they are not nearly as good a few days old, and definitely not as good a few weeks old, so most of them would get thrown out. So later we tried making "monkey bread," which is pretty fun, as you might expect from the name, but did not seem all that special. This year, Jacob and I decided to make breakfast pizza. For the most part, we really loved it, but there were a few of us (Becca for example) who just thought it was ok. So we will just have to see what we decide to do for April conference.
It was very nice to be able to watch the conference from home because Jacob was able to run around, nap, and watch his tv shows while we watched conference, which brings us to the next topic.

Tubbies!

Does anyone else have kids that are infatuated with Teletubbies? This is really a weird show that does not seem to do much teaching. These four little characters sort of freak me out, but Jacob loves to watch "Tubbies." He asks for them all the time. In fact, while in Arkansas for 3 1/2 weeks, he never got to see the show, but continued to ask every day for his "Tubbies." I told someone at work about this and she gave me two VHS Teletubbie tapes. So while we were watching conference, Jacob was able to get in lots of quality Tubbie time. Maybe it is bad parenting, but it is the only thing we can put on that he will just sit and watch all the way through.

It is now Fall, which is a time for yard work. Also, it is our last time to really get things done on the yard before we put the house on the market. Jacob and I have been really busy planting flowers, trying to get grass to grow, and enjoying the last of our tomatoes.



Jacob really likes to pick the tomatoes and eat them. I have never known another little kid who likes to eat a tomato like an apple.

Jacob now like to say "cheese" any time he sees a camera. I like the tomato juice on his face.

In conclusion, I have received many (ok, one) requests to post another haiku:

a boy and his dad
so very much work to do
they make a good team

Extended Vacation

September ended up being one big vacation, for Jacob and I anyway. It began with a visit from my parents over Labor Day. One of the days my Mom, Dad, and I took Jacob to the zoo. He really enjoyed the petting part of the zoo with Grandpa.Another of the days we went to the Frisbee golf course (one of Brad's favorite things to do) and played all 18 holes. Jacob's getting to be pretty good at getting it in the "hole".
Since Brad had never been to the Louisville Slugger Bat Museum, he and my dad went together one evening while Jacob hung out at home with the girls.After a great Labor Day Jacob and I traveled back to Missouri with my parents. It was to be my ten year high school reunion that weekend and also one of our nieces was being blessed. The ride went pretty well and we made it to MO without any problems. Brad had to stay and work a few days before joining us late Friday night. Here we are all dressed up to go to the reunion dinner.Brad was such a good sport and didn't complain at all that evening while I socialized with friends I hadn't seen in about 10 years. It was nice to go and see how everyone was doing and what they'd been up to in the last ten years. Sadly, I was probably one of the most traveled out of our class...and that's not saying a lot!

The next day we drove about an hour away to Brad's sister's house to go to church with them where their baby was being blessed. I didn't get any pictures of Lydia since she was napping after the service, but we did get some pictures of the cousins.This is Jacob and Ashely. Ashley is about 8 months older than Jacob and his closest-in-age cousin on that side of the family. They had a good time trying to steal the soccer ball away from each other. Next is David, Noah, and William (from right to left). These guys love being superheros and this is a pretty common pose for them. I think I've posted other pictures of them being spider man, super man, and under dog (respectively).Then came the big change up. I decided that since Brad was going to be on a very busy rotation, not leaving a lot of family time, that I would just stay in Arkansas with my sister for a few weeks and hang out. It was lots of fun and I think it was a great decision. Jacob got to play with more of his cousins and we weren't bored of each other every day.This is Jacob and his partner-in-crime, Trista. They loved the bobbles in the house and even flushed two of them down the toilet one day before we noticed! They actually played pretty well together for the most part...although there were a few fighting matches. By the end of the 2 1/2 week visit, Jacob could put up a pretty good fight!Vicky and I took Jacob and Trista to feed the ducks/geese one day. Trista wasn't having much of that, but Jacob let one of the geese eat right out of his hand. Scared me! I didn't want the goose to attack, so I picked him up and we got out of there after that.For some reason, Jacob really took to Vicky's second child, Spencer. He would wake up from his nap asking for "Fencer!" and all day long he'd go around saying, "Fencer, where are you?".

Jacob and "Fencer" swinging.Thanks to Trista for letting us borrow her old PJs since I hadn't packed any with footies!

We were also able to spend a weekend at my parents house with just us. This is quite an accomplishment with so many kids living nearby. But we had a great time and it was an awesome extended vacation.
We are, however, glad to be back and it's nice to see Brad every evening. It's also nice not to be wearing the same clothes over and over. (Actually, Vicky let me her clothes most days so I had more variety than that.) But it is nice to not live in a suitcase!