Two for the price of one

The other day we went to the outlet mall to shop for fall clothes and I always tell Claire that if she is good while we are shopping she can ride one ride. Well she can play on as many as she would like but I will only give her money for one. I know, cheap mom! Well I realized that most of the rides are built for two kids! How great is that!!!! I don't even have to pay for Jacob. And is there anything cuter than a little boy in Levi's? Nope don't think so. I always get sentimental when fall comes and I put shoes and pants on my kids. They always look so much bigger! Does anyone else feel this way. I seriously almost cried when I put this outfit on him...Ridiculous I know!!!! Maybe it is the hormones...

Claire the Artist

I went to book club with some friends dowtown and had a sitter. When Claire woke up the next morning she sais, "Wanna see what I made!" Sure! She told me all about these pictures and it was the first time I had seen he draw people. I am sure I will keep them forever. Her descriptions were so cute
1-This is Claire because she has red hair
2-This is Daddy because Daddy's don't have any hair (I think she has been spending too much time with Mr. Tim, Maddie and Mackenzie's Daddy who has a shaved head)
3-This is Mommy because she has green eyes and brown hair (Look close you can see the streak of brown amongst the green)
4-This is Jacob because he has red hair and a big head (We had gone the day before for his 15 month checkup and his head measured in the 70% so I think she heard me telling Nate about the appointment and remembered!)

Priceless!

Monkeying Around

We've got a monkey on our hands around here. Thank goodness for Claire and an extra set of eyes. She really helps me when Jacobs gets into trouble. It took Claire three years to figure out how to use the chair to get onto the kitchen counter. It took Jacob 1. I have to be really careful that all the chairs are pushed under the table or he uses them to help himself to whatever is on the table. I heard Claire saying, "Mom, he is going to fall!" I ran into the kitchen and he was hanging on the edge of the table. He had somehow in all his brute strength pulled himself up on the side and was half way up the table! I can't childproof for that!!!! Crazy kid. Here is trying to climb the table while the chairs are still pushed in, in Claire's sink with the HOT water turned on, and inside a toy basket. The kid seriously doesn't ever stop moving. My little princess was always so content to sit still... Oh well. He is the active one :)

Random cuteness

I almost went to bed without blogging! I think that would be tragic. Here are some pictures of an abby sandwich and of jacob cuddling daddy at lunch on the day he left. he has become quite the cuddle bug. don't tell claire she insists that she is the CUDDLEBUG and jacob is the WIGGLEWORM.

First Day of School

Claire goes to Child's Day Out at our church two days a week and they started back up last week. The first day of school was a rough morning. It was one fight after another getting Claire ready for school. I was trying not to rush her so she wouldn't be upset at her first day so it did take forever and we were late. When we got there the kids were finishing up the morning activity of play-doh and she heard the teacher say it was time for circle time. She has this really bad habit of having to go potty when we get to church/school and I just let it slide because I don't want the fight but she had to go and while we were in the bathroom she was crying and sad because she wasn't going to get to play play-doh. So, I explained that when Mom says it is time to get ready we have to listen and get ready so we can make it on time. But today we missed play-doh, come on lets go to class. She looked at me with the sweetest face and tears and said, "wait, mom i have to get rid of my sad face." And my little brave girl wiped away her tears, got a drink and walked right in. BROKE my heart. I hate taking her to school. I enjoy the break but I think about her and miss her the whole time she is gone. I don't how I will be able to do Kindergarten. But when I picked her up she had the best time and was all smiles. AND...we haven't had a problem in the morning since. She gets ready fast and eats and we are out the door in no time. I had to go to Walmart while she was at school and picked her up this game she has been wanting forever. I gave it to her when she got in the car afterwards and she was so excited. Anyways. Enough of me being sentimental. Oh and the reason she picked camel to come to school with her is because camels live in the desert and that is where daddy is. So sweet.

Oh yeah I am pregnant

Phew...I almost forgot I was pregnant. Just kidding how could I forgot. Still nauseous and tired. I am hoping in a few weeks it will be better. This picture was taken at 13 weeks. Still playing catch up. I know ya'll like it when I post everyday!

Deployment stinks

But we always try to make the best of it! This time around Nate picked out two animals for the kids and had his voice recorded with a message that they can press. We also blew up some pictures of them together to put on their closet doors, and he made another video with him reading and singing for them to watch. Here are some pictures from the night before he left when he gave Claire her turtle. He named her Tabby. He got Jacob a monkey named Mookie. The kids think they are great! My good friend Meredith left this basket on my porch the day Nate left! It was sweet and filled with goodies for the three of us. It was a great surprise :)

Add on: I found this picture of the kids watching their Daddy video. If you look close you can see that Claire is following along in her nursery rhyme book while he is reading/singing. This is a book they read together every night and she LOVES it. He gets all into the songs with actions and stuff.

He Walks!!!

This video is about a month old but Jacob is walking! He still hasn't mastered getting up once he falls down unless he has something to pull up on. I love how he sticks his little chest out and teeters around. Too cute. He is very independent and doesn't like to hold hands for help. We were so glad he started walking when Nate was still home. One less thing he had to miss.

Jacob's First Haircut

Jacob was getting a bit of a fro. So we decided to get him a little trim before Nate left. He was so good. First time to have a lollipop and he was in heaven. He looks so cute with his little hairline :)

GeT ReAdY

for a post a day for a while. I have all my current pictures and videos uploaded and still have 1 GB left. Phew. Yeah me for trashing a bunch of stuff :) So these are all from the last few weeks. They probably won't be in order because that takes too much energy to think about. Some were when Nate was still here, some were after he left. These are from a trip to the zoo. We drove to Columbia one day during Nate's 2 week break before he left for 4 months (and some) Claire LOVED all the animals. It was great fun. Pretty hot but bearable. Jacob did okay. He was really tired and didn't sleep in the car on the way and never fell asleep in the stroller but didn't fuss much and enjoyed the air conditioned places best!

Family Pictures

Hello all,

Well I seem to be having computer problems. My hardrive is full again and come to find out so is my external hardrive. So here are some pictures off a CD! We had some family pictures taken before Nate left. In case you didn't know Nate just deployed for 4 months. He left last Wednesday and should be home Jan 15. He will be forward deployed to Balad and will not be flying. Please pray that all is well while he is gone. I am a little concerned because my due date is Feb 23 and I was 2 weeks early with Jacob... But God will sustain us. We will be traveling to Texas some and hope to say Howdy to our Texas friends. I am finally feeling better. I am about 15 weeks now and we have decided to not find out what the sex of the baby is. It is mainly my idea...Nate is not too thrilled, but hey he is gone! We have one of each and everything to go with them. We are not decorating a nursery, since we will probably be moving. So I thought, why not! We'll see if I hold out through all the ultrasounds!!!!

Princess Jacob

Yeeeee Hawwwww

This costume was given to us by a sweet friend. It is for Jacob. Size
24 months. Somebody didn't get the memo.

Eagle Feather

Nate and I attended the annual Eagle Feather on Saturday night. It is a dinner kind of thing for his squadron where they induct a few people into a squadron hall of fame. We eat and get to dress up and get be without kids. It was a fun time. Here is a picture of us before we left. The bump has arrived!

Froghopper

Ever since we told Claire we were having a baby she has insisted it is a baby girl. Not only a baby girl, but a girl named Caroline. She even announced to her Sunday school teacher today that mommy had a baby caroline in her belly. Not sure if you remember her obsession with baby Caroline but, when Jacob was born she called him Caroline for the first month or so of his life. We met a baby at a swim party named Caroline and ever since she has called most babies (real and dolls) "Caroline" Anyways, we have tried telling her that we don't decide what kind of baby God gives us. God does and we are always thankful and love that baby no matter what. She gets really upset and says that she really really wants it to be a girl. We just have been talking about it a lot and never giving in and letting her think it is a girl. Well just now I heard some voices and went to check on who was making them. It is about 10 pm and we put her to bed at 8. We never heard a peep so assumed she was sleeping, wrong! She had all her books in her bed and had taken all the jacket covers off and said they were party tickets. We just couldn't even get mad. So we were both in there cuddling and talking with her and she turns to me and out of the blue says, "Mommy, I was just kidding about the baby only being a girl. It can be a boy, and if it's a boy I want to name it (pause) Froghopper." So I guess we have names out of the way for a boy and a girl! Nate and I just died laughing. So funny.

God is Great

He gives us chocolate cake! Remember that one :) He also is giving us another baby! We are shocked but thrilled. Baby number three will be here towards the end of February. I am about 11 weeks and doing great. I have been nauseous but nothing like the other two. After having to give an academy award winning performance for the doctor to give me Zofran with Jacob, they gave it to me over the phone this time. I love that stuff. It really helps. I have to ration it since insurance only covers 15 pills a month ($30 a pill adds up). Claire will only accept a girl, so it ought to be interesting. Jacob and #3 will about 20 months apart... Oh Lord, please help us! My mom and dad did it so I know we can too!!!! We'll keep you posted.

Jacob Turns One!

Well he actually turned one at the end of June but we just celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago. We were waiting for Grandma and Granddad's arrival. We had a great time and Jacob loved destroying his cake. I can't believe he is already one.

Catch up

Well I emptied my recycle bin so that should give me a few more months of uploads, right! These are from the other day. We were running out of things to do so we went outside and played with water. It was sooo fun. Until Claire dumped about a gallon of bubble mix on the floor and the patio became very slippery. Jacob loved splashing in the water. Claire just dumped hers out and went and got more.