feelin the spirit

I know it's a horrible thing to say, but Sunday's are horrible. I'll give you two guesses why.

So we always sit in the back in a vain attempt not to ruin sacrament meeting for everyone else. Yesterday we were getting close to the end of the meeting and I had given up trying to keep Jeremiah in his chair, so he is playing underneath it. He starts saying "stuck, stuck" and I whisper to him to get out of there. The lady sitting behind taps me on the shoulder and is all "he really is stuck." She takes Jacob so that I can deal with it. You know how there are those two rungs on the back of metal folding chairs? Jeremiah had gotten his head stuck in between them. So here I am in sacrament meeting on my hands and knees trying to angle his head just right so that I can pull it out of the chair. Everyone around, including me, is doing there best not to laugh too loudly. Just a little humiliating. The meeting did end on a high note though, he fell backwards off of his chair and landed on his bum during the closing prayer. Thank goodness he goes to nursery for the last 2 hours.

graduation

So the last 3 years of my life have involved a lot of doctors, first with Jeremiah's club foot and then with all of Jacob's problems. Well, two weeks ago was graduation day for Jeremiah. He is finally done wearing his brace. It is so nice to have happy feet. We have to go to Primary Children's one more time in a year just to make sure his feet still look good, but for all intents and purposes we are done.

Jacob had an appointment with the gastroenterologist this morning. I was expecting him to say, hey he looks good lets see him in 6 months. As it turns out Jacob graduated too. As long as the labs look good for today, we never have to see this particular Dr again. I am totally doing a happy dance right now.

Right, so I haven't posted anything in a while, again. So here are the highlights from the last month.
My house is finished. We had the final inspection last week, and I have started to rearrange everything. You know how sometimes it has to get worse to get better? Well my house is a disaster, think tornado. Despite the mess, it is pretty exciting to be finished. I don't have to sleep in the same room as Jacob anymore, which is fantastic, my car gets to live indoors, and we finally have space for all of our stuff.

Jacob isn't a baby anymore. He is walking everywhere. He walks around in circles just because he can. He is very proud of himself.

Jeremiah turned 3 last week. Steve was home last week, so we had family over for a little party. Jeremiah got a swingset for his birthday along with some toy cars and construction equipment. He was pretty excited. He calls the swingset his little park and he has been sleeping with all of the new toys which is making his bed ridiculously crowded, but whatever.

 There was some drama with the cake. Jeremiah got a little upset that we were going to eat elmo, but he loves to eat cake so he eventually got over it.

slacker

Wow, it has been forever since I wrote anything. Tons has been going on, but I haven't felt like writing about any of it. What can I say, I'm a slacker. Oh well, here goes a quick update.

Steve started a new job in July. They pay is great, the hours are awful, and here's the kicker, it's in Wyoming. He works for 15 days and then gets 6 days off. We talked about moving there, but have decided not to for now. First of all he is working 90+ hours a week, so we wouldn't see him anyway. Second this job probably won't be too permanent and we don't really want to live in Wyoming.

It really stinks having him gone so much, I kinda like him, but the boys and I have been keeping busy which helps.

Jacob is 14 months old today. He is going to start walking any second now. He thinks it's hilarious to take a few steps and then fall down. He just started eating crackers last week. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but trust me it's huge. I have been trying for a very long time to convince him to eat anything he would have to chew but he wasn't having it. We've even had a speech therapist working with him to try to convince him to chew.

The other day he couldn't find a binky, so he improvised and started sucking on the handle of this wooden puzzle piece. I'm choosing to believe it means he has good critical thinking skills.

Jacob's favorite word is no, and lets just say he says it with feeling. It's weird because Jeremiah talked really early and his words were always so clear. With Jacob I don't know what he's saying most the time unless he's screaming no at Jeremiah.

I can't seem to keep any pants on this kid. He has a huge belly

and no hips/bum. He just crawls right out of them.

Jeremiah will be turning 3 next month. It would be fantastic if the terrible 2's would be over then, but I have a feeling 3 is going to be more of the same. He has been so grumpy lately. He has a really good vocabulary and is totally capable of telling me what is wrong, but he just sits there and does this little whimper/whine thing. It is absolutely driving me crazy. I can be so cute and sweet, but man when he gets in a mood watch out.

He has been holding everything over his head lately, so that Jacob can't get whatever he's holding. Not as effective when he's sitting down.

The house is oh so close to being done. Hopefully, we will be able to move in be the end of Steve's next six days home.

I figured Halloween was going to sneak up on me, so I got the boys costumes done early this year. The pictures didn't really turn out, but lets face it, asking two little animals to sit still for any length of time is just ridiculous.

There has been a lot going on around here the last month. There have been a lot of birthdays this month, so that means I have been making a lot of cake. First we had a party to celebrate Lori and my birthdays. This was our cake.

Then the next week there was a big gathering (38 people) to celebrate Steve's grandma's 80th birthday. I was in charge of the cake, and here is what I came up with. I thought it turned out pretty good.

The next week we headed to my parents house and Jacob got to go swimming for the first time. He wasn't really sure what to think of it at first, but he got into it eventually.

My mom had the most adorable baby sunglasses for Jacob. Of course he hated them and wouldn't keep them on, but it's not like babies really need sunglasses anyway.

The next weekend we had a birthday party for Jacob. He is one year old!

Steve just started a new job which will require him to be out of town a lot. The boys thought they would help him pack. They are nothing if not helpful.

like father like son

Jeremiah went into the crawl space with Steve to "help" him finish the plumbing. He was so proud of himself.

Jacob is making great progress. He is still gaining weight, and he can pull himself up to a stand now. He is getting into absolutely everthing, but hey at least he's cute.

walls

 And then there were walls. So excited, it actually looks like a house now. My mom came up to watch the boys so that I could help Steve with the framing. Basically it consisted of me bringing him studs and helping him stand walls while he did anything that required any knowledge. Don't know that it was actually very helpful, but at least there are walls now. Oh yeah, and I learned that nail guns are scarey. I only had to shoot like 4 nails, but I just about hyperventillated before every one. Hopefully Steve will be able to get the trusses up this weekend and get done with the framing.

I love where we live, but there is one problem, voles. They are like miniature gophers. They dig tunnels all over the place, eat the roots of all of your plants, and generally destroy everything. I'm hoping that these are going to be the solutiong to the problem.

Don't be fooled, I know they look sweet, but they are actually ferocious vole killers in training. They are actually pretty funny. When I let them out in the house they chase each other around and pounce on each other. They are Jeremiah's kitty's and he loves them, they don't always feel the same way about him.

food fight

Jacob and I argue about food a lot. I think he should eat enough to gain weight. He's convinced 17 lbs is a great weight and he should just eat enough to stay that weight forever. I think he should eat the majority of his food during the daytime. He thinks why eat everything during the day when you can eat at night too. I think food should go into his mouth. He feels like mealtimes should be a whole body experience. Any guesses who is winning this fight?

tubeless

 notice anything different?

Last week Jacob and Jeremiah had appointments at Primary Childrens. Jacob is doing amazing, and the Dr said we could be done with the feeding tube. He looks like a completely normal baby now. I still have to be really careful what and how much he eats, but it is so much better without the tube. We still have to see the Dr here a lot to make sure he keeps growing, but with any luck this will all be over soon.

Jacob has finally decided to sit on his own. For a long time when you would try to sit him up he would push back against you. I don't know what has changed, but he doesn't mind it now.

He figured out that if he hangs out underneath the high chair while Jeremiah is eating he can get all of the food falling off the tray. Luckily I have caught him before he has eaten any of it. Jeremiah's food would do bad things to little Jacob's system.

Jeremiah has been wearing a brace every night for the past year and a half because of his club foot. We thought he would have to wear it until he is 4, but his feet look great and the Dr said he only has to wear it another 6 months.

It has finally stopped raining long enough for Steve to get some work done on the house. We have a foundation, and he will be pouring the garage floor on Monday. Then on to the framing. I'm really excited because at that point you can actually tell there will be a house there.

bath day

 Why is it that stuff like this always happens right after you give the kid a bath?

Jeremiah was playing outside while Steve was working. He was naturally drawn to the mud puddle. His pants fell down (even with a belt I can't get his pants to stay up), then he fell into the puddle and got stuck.

cake

So it turns out I'm obsessed with wedding cakes. I have been making another fake cake the last few days while the boys have been asleep (it does happen on occasion). I really like this one.

Now all I need is for someone to get married. It would be so much fun to try to make a real wedding cake. Unfortunately all of the single people I know don't live anywhere near me.

It finally stopped raining/snowing long enough for Steve to get going on the addition. He will be pouring the footings tomorrow. I can't wait. It's kind of ridiculous how excited I am about concrete.

Jeremiah and Jacob are doing really well. All of a sudden Jeremiah has gotten a lot less moody. Is it possible the terrible two's could be over yet? Probably not, but I'll take what I can get. Jacob is growing and doing great. He should be done with the feeding tube in another 2 weeks. Naturally he has pulled it out 3 times in the last week. I can't wait to be done with it. He has gotten so good at getting away from me when I try to put it back in. You would think it wouldn't be too hard to overpower a 17 pound baby, but you'd be wrong.

rain rain go away

Mother nature is really messing with my plans. Steve was planning on pouring the footings and foundation for the addition this week, but it has been raining and snowing so much that it just isn't going to happen. He started to dig the hole, but it got so muddy that the backhoe was sinking.

This is all we have so far. Weird optical illusion, it's actually about 3 feet deep but it doesn't look like it in the picture.

Jacob was making the most hilarious faces today. It turns out he doesn't like fruit, weird. This is the face he makes whenever I give it to him.

Sorry the pictures aren't better. It's hard to feed him and take a picture at the same time.

247

Today is a big day. Jacob is 247 days old today. He spent123 days in the hospital, so today he has been home longer than in the hospital. I'm pretty excited about it. We celebrated be giving him his first taste of fruit (bananas). Up until now he has only had vegetables and a little bit of meats. I thought how would love the sweetness, but he didn't seem to care. Kind of anticlimactic.

He pulled out his NG tube right before this picture. When he rips the tape of, it always takes some of his skin off with it, that's why his cheek is so red. Still, I think he looks pretty good tubeless.

Jeremiah in his natural habitat

We are so excited about spring. We can't wait to get outside. Jeremiah has been running around with his hat on, and insists that Jacob wear his too.

I made a cake yesterday. It was the first time I have ever had buttercream roses work. It was Steve's week to go to church (Jacob can't go so we take turns), so I made it while he was gone. It only looked like this for a few minutes after he got home.

New addition

Ha ha. No, I'm not pregnant. We have decided to add on to the house. We were planning on adding on when we first built the house, but I never thought it would happen this soon. I know it doesn't look like much now, but we should be getting started in the next month.

Jacob is doing good. We saw the Dr last week. Jacob is only on the feeding tube 6 hours a day now, and he said if he is still doing well at the next visit we might be able to get rid of the feeding tube. He is over 17 lbs now, and rolls everywhere. He gets into everything. It's amazing how kids always find things they shoudn't.

He is still working on sitting. He can't stay up more than a few seconds without the boppy.

He loves eating, especially magazines.

Jeremiah is definately two. He is so moody. He has decided that the only food worth eating is ramen noodles. I really hope that phase ends soon. I just can't feel good about him having ramen for breakfast.

I am going a little crazy being stuck in the house all of the time. Jacob still can't go out, pretty sure respiratory season is never going to end. Anyway, I decided I needed a hobby so I decided to make a wedding cake for fun. Don't worry, we won't be eating cake til the end of time, I used styrofoam cake dummies. Actually, Steve was a little upset that there wasn't any real cake in there.