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?