The anticipation.....

I have been so bad about posting stuff on here...I will really be surprised if anyone even checks this anymore!! Our camera is broken so we haven't been able to take pics like we normally would; thus, the lack of cute pictures from the rest of the summer. But....baby is coming soon!!!! I am currently almost 37 weeks pregnant, which means I have about 3 weeks until my "official" due date of October 19th. WARNING: I'm about to get a tad personal here with preggo stuff so be preapred. I am already dilated to 3cm and having tons of Braxton Hicks contractions so doc thinks that I will probably deliever earlier than my due date! So, the waiting game is on. I'm hoping to make it at least past 38 weeks so that baby boy can fatten up a bit. Jake was only 6lbs, 6oz so we expect junior needs all the "cooking" time that he can get in order to gain some more weight. We are pretty sure on a name, but Phil is not ready to announce it yet, so I'm not going to post it yet on here. I'm hoping that I won't need to be induced this time, since I'm already dilated, and will get to experience the whole "water breaking" and real contractions naturally this time. Jake definitley senses that something is going on. He has been super clingy and really needing "mommy" attention more than ever. (Even though he gets it every day!) He often pats my belly, kisses it, and will say, "Hi brudder!"...of course, after I tell him to do so. I think he will eventually be a great big brother and be very gentle with his baby brother as he is really good with kids younger than him. I worry that there is going to be some major jealousy issues at first as Jake gets used to sharing his mommy with a baby. But, we will get through it! I don't have any maternity pictures to post since our camera has been broken. But, I did get some done professionally and am just waiting to get those back. I will post once I can. We have not been nearly as diligent at taking pics this time of my growing belly! I am officially on break from teaching Stroller Strides right now and will resume teaching once baby boy is 6 weeks old. Phil is getting the baby room painted this weekend and I'm so excited to see how it will turn out. We'll post pics once its done!! Here are some random pics of my boy...

Estes, Colorado trip

We had an awesome vacation in Estes Park, Colorado with family. We stayed in a cabin right across from the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National State Park. We shared a cabin with Grandma and Grandpa Truitt. My cousin and her family, "The O'Leary's" stayed in the cabin right next to us so we were able to have good talks over coffee while admiring our view of the mountains. My brother and his girls also met up with us and we enjoyed hiking with them. We were there for the Bennett family reunion. We did lots of hiking, enjoyed seeing the beautiful dear and elk, and loved the weather and wonderful company. Jake seemed to enjoy every minute of it and really enjoyed being the leader on our hikes. It was an aweosome trip and we look forward to doing it every year!!

Estes, Colorado trip

Its been so long.....

It has been 6 months since I have posted anything on this blog! I hope I'll be able to keep up with it when I have 2 munchkins! Wow...so much to say...so much has happened in the last 6 months. In March, I lost my sweet Bailey Boo, my 12yr old yellow lab. He passed away outside in the back yard one day. He hadn't been feeling well and wasn't acting himself for a couple of weeks. I miss his sweet face dearly but know that he's happy in heaven. We still have our 5 yr old lab mix, Sammy. He's doing well but probably hating this heat. We don't get to play as much! We found out that were having another boy! And only 3 months to go! Still no name yet, but were working on it. We are excited to see what how similar or different this little boy is going to be from Jake. We still have so much to do in terms of getting the house ready for our new addition. We have to convert a messy, cluttered, office/guest room into a cute baby room and somehow find room for all the stuff that was in that room! Oh boy...I don't think that Jake really knows whats happening yet, but he does notice and play with my expanding belly. He likes to rub it, tap it, and blow rasberries on it. Pretty funny. Jake's vocabulary has really taken off in the last 6 months. I feel horrible b/c I should have been writing down the words as it started saying them...and now I forget. For a while, he was really into saying "hi" to everyone and over and over again. Then it changed to saying, "mommy and daddy" as much as possible, which was adorable. Now, its almost anything you ask him to say...he will try to say it! We are really communicating now. He can tell me better what he wants to eat and drink, where he wants to go and who he wants to see. His favorite tv show is "Little Bear" and we have a DVD of it, and now he brings us the DVD remote to turn it on and says, "Little Bear?" Or, in the morning, he likes to watch "Blue's Clues" and he will say, "A Clue? A clue?", whcih means "turn on the tv so I can watch my show!". So funny. He can basically count from 1-10 now! I owe that all to Stroller Strides. During class, he will count down and up with me and shout out the numbers. He can also point to things on his face and name them (nose, mouth, ears, hair,etc.) His favortie songs to sing are "Twinkle Little Star" and the "ABC's". He's doing pretty good at saying some of the letters of the alphabet too. We think he's pretty smart but of course were biased. Lets see...what else...we started swim lessons about a month ago, and they haven't been going so well. He doesn't like to be held and doesn't seem to like the structure. He does awesome though when he's in the water and he can touch the bottom on his own or at a "splash" park environment. He'll go up and down the slide and into the water over and over again. That reminds me...the other day at a splash park he slapped the bottom of another little girl there....I told Phil he needs to watch what hes doing around Jake! I'm still teaching Stroller Strides and enjoying it. Its just been so hot that classes have been moved inside and so attendance drops. Plus, lots of moms go on vacations during the summer. Phil went to Tennessee for a week of fun with old friends. He had a blast! He is doing well and is still really busy with work. Jake has been calling him, "Phil" lately...it cracks me up. I think that's it for now!! If anyone actually reads this, I hope it wasn't too boring!!!

July '10

July '10 cont...

First, here are some random pics of Jake when he was sick. He was very cuddly with his big puppy dog and then built an awesome tower! He's a pretty good architect. Jake and mom flew to Florida for a week to visit both sets of grandparents in Cape Coral and Sarasota. We had lots of fun! The plane ride was not fun and probably not the best idea, but we survived!

More June pics

South Carolina pics with the Dean and Truitt family. .

June '10 - Busy, busy!

In June we had a visit from Grandma Truitt and rode the train, celebrated Fathers Day with some hiking, Jake tried corn on the cob and loved it, we went to a Cubs/Rangers game, and we had a family meet up in South Carolina. Lots of fun!

May '10

We had so much fun with our good friends, Jo-Jo and Adrien on the Fort Worth train. The boys had a blast together and loved every minute of it. After, we enjoyed the playground and then dinner at Central Market with live music. It was such a fun day!

Were Pregnant!!

Its true! Jake is going to be a big brother! I am 10 weeks pregnant and am due October 19th. Were very excited but nervous at the same time about the idea of juggling two kiddos! I am starting to feel better now. I had a rough first 3 weeks and was very nauseous. Now, I'm just tired all the time and looking forward to more energy. Jake started going to a school at our church two days a week, about a month ago. He seems to be adjusting okay and having fun there. He gets to participate in music class, gym, and chapel. We thought he would enjoy having the interaction with the kiddos and more stimulation of other activities during the day. Recently, his language development really seems to be taking off. He is copying words all the time, not only the inflection, but but also getting the sounds down pretty well. New words include: car, (said like caw), hot, potty, cracker, neigh (horse), and moo (cow). He doesn't say all of them all the time, but will sometimes just surprise us with it. He is a climbing machine right now and loves practicing climbing all over the playground, the couch, the fireplace...you name it, he will climb it. Exhausting!He's also become really skilled at stacking his blocks and building towers with his legos. And he even helps put the legos back in the bag - but, he makes sure to take all the legso apart first before putting them in the bag. (Very methodical, like his daddy.) He is alot to keep up with right now but such a joy.

Fun at River Legacy - Nature Center

Recently, we had a play date at the River Legacy Park - Nature Center. They have a "Nature School" there for kids 3-5 years old where they learn about weather, bugs, trees, and everything having to do with nature. It looks like a blast and I can't wait till Jake is old enough to enjoy it. I know he will just love it. Well, they allow anyone or groups to come in and explore their center. We went there with a group of moms and kiddos and had a great time! Jake enjoyed working on a craft called "leaf rubbings" where we used crayons to run the imprint of different leaves on the paper. He also loved running around the room with big blades of grass, mushrooms, and a giant bumble bee. And he enjoyed the turtles. Most of all, he enjoyed our nature walk outside on the trail where he got to walk around without being in a stroller...independence!

Jake is such an engineer....

Jake has figured out how to open up the baby gate to get into the kitchen. Somehow, he figured out that if pushes on the mesh part of the gate with a lot of force, a couple of feet away from the door, it dislodges the hinge on the bottom and then he knows how to open the hinge on the top. Just crazy! We've clearly never done that so I don't know how he figured it out...but I do think its genius! Such an engineer..... We will try to get a video of that... He is still saying hi and bye-bye alot...especially at the grocery store. He also recently learned to say "car" and "potty", although it sounds more like, "pie". He can point to my nose and mouth when I ask him to, but is still learning his own. When we ask him if wants to take a bath, he runs to the bathroom and bangs on the door, ready for his bath! Also, when I tell him that we need to go change his diaper, he runs to his bedroom door and waits for me to open it. He has really picked up associations and what things mean. He has 4 teeth on the top now and 3 on the bottom. His hair is getting really cute and curly in the back. The snow was fun but we are SOOO ready for some warmer weather. Jake just wants to go outside and play and most days it is just too cold and windy to go out for a good amount of time. So, he gets antsy...understandably. Spring could not come any sooner!!

Playdate at the Library with friends

We had a blast with our friends at the local library for storytime. They had singing, a story, a parachute, and muscial instruments and blocks. Jake had a hard time staying seated for the story..he just wanted to walk around and explore everything and and say hi to his new friends.