We don't need Wii Fit...

because we have Samantha Fit!

Wordless Wednesday {Jump}

And a little bit of cousin love, too.

The Girls

Since the weather was so nice while we were visiting Dave and Staci, and since we have the cutest kids, and since Staci and I both like to take MANY pictures and then share them with each other, you get to be the recipient of seeing many pictures from last weekend. So, without further ado, here are "the Girls"


Emma being a helpful big cousin and showing Samantha how to sit "crisscross applesauce"

Fancy Nancy? NO! It's fancy Emma and Fancy Samantha :)

Beans

We spent the weekend in College Station with Staci and Dave. At one point they were talking about Amelia's nickname. What is it? Jelly bean. That has been her nickname since before they even had the sonogram in which they found out that she was a girl. Talking about that reminded me that I called Jacob "Bean" when I was pregnant with him. Only in his case it was short for Mexican jumping bean because he was moving all over the place, all the time. On the way home last night, it occurred to me that his behavior in utero should have clued me in to his personality out in the world, because he is definitely on the go all the time.

I wonder if it always works that way...that you can get a clue as to some aspect of a baby's personality while they are still in the womb?

Anyway, here are the cute beans in our family (who incidentally are only about 9 weeks apart in age. It is so fun to have cousins so close in age!) Aren't they adorable? :)

Eleven

What a great number.
It could be my two 11 year old nephews.
It could be the month we are in, the month of Thanksgiving and Veteran's Day (Which just so happens to be on the 11th day of the month, which is today. Have you thanked a veteran lately?)
Or it could be my sweet, adorable, chubby but getting slimmer, clingy, temper tantrum throwing, busy, very fast crawling, and oh so loved son, who is 11 months old today.


At eleven months, Jacob still has 6 teeth. He weighs 22 lbs 12 oz and wears 18 month clothes (mostly, although there are still some 12 month that he wears, particularly in pants). He has learned to clap (11/2), play pattycake, play peekaboo, cruise all over the couch and anything else he can pull up against, walk holding onto someone's hands, climb up the slide at the playground, make kissy sounds, wave bye-bye (10/28), give great big open mouth baby kisses (11/4), and make bubba sounds by using his fingers against his lips. He started signing "more" on 10/18. He loves his pillow pet and his sister, and he thinks that playing with his sister's microphone is one of the best activities inside the house.

He loves to be outside and take walks (while being carried by Mommy, of course) and he just smiles and smiles when he is in his baby swing. He giggles when someone blows on his belly, and his laugh is just the cutest thing you have ever heard. He loves bath time and thinks that is the perfect time to experiment with exactly how high he can splash and how far he can spread the water into the bathroom while doing so.

He is into exploring everything, from the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen, to underneath the table and inside the shower. He finds everything that is left out and puts it in his mouth as soon as he finds it. I can sweep and mop the floor, thinking that there is absolutely nothing left for him to get into, but he will still manage to find something and put it in his mouth.


He still hasn't chosen a favorite toy, but he loves basically any stuffed animal and he hasn't used his pacifier for 4 full days! (Not since Sunday at church...the next time I try to put him down for a nap at church will be the real test of whether we are truly pacifier free or not.)

Jacob loves to eat and gets better and better at it daily. His favorites are: anything that he can feed himself, fruit and yogurt. However, he certainly doesn't turn his nose up at anything else. He has recently started eating the gerber graduates meat sticks and does very well with those but definitely prefers them to be cold. He still eats mostly baby food, but also has had waffles, pancakes, pasta with parmesan cheese, bananas, strawberries, Ritz crackers (only a few since we don't want him to have too much salt) The only thing that he has tried but would not eat was kiwi. We'll probably try it again soon to see if he likes it on the second try.

Jacob is such a fun, lovable little guy and we are so grateful for another month of him in our lives :)

Locks of Love Do

Since having two pregnancies, my hair has been going wonky. So I decided that it is time to cut it. And I decided that if I am going to cut all this hair (which I didn't think to take a picture of before the cut!) then I should donate it to Locks of Love. So I did...in honor of my friends Ann and Brian, who are currently fighting a battle with cancer, and in memory of my friend Sheryl, who finished her battle with cancer and went to be with Jesus 15 months ago tomorrow.

So 16 inches were donated, (which I didn't think to take a camera and take a picture of!)then another 2 inches were cut off...then the layering and shaping began.
And here is the final result.
My hair hasn't been this short since before I was 5. It is so weird to reach back and feel it...or the lack of it
It will probably never look the same again since I am not a professional stylist, but I do like it a lot today. And surely I will figure out how to fix it well myself with a little practice, right?

The only thing Brent will say is that it will take some time to get used to it. I think that means he doesn't like it, but he is wisely not saying that :)

A Medieval Fairytale

Happy Halloween!