Moving, playing, Sunday dinner

Heather and Taylor made their big move this weekend into their wonderful new home. Tyler, Jacob, mom and I went out there a few days last week to help out with packing (and I sat and "watched" the children...at least they're still alive)

Of course the kids loved helping and playing around in the big moving truck.

One of the favorite things at the Waite's new home is their big ol' bathtub. The kids were such big helpers that they definitely needed a bath after helping out so much on Saturday. They sure did have a good time.

Tyler has been a great big brother so far. He really does enjoy his time holding little brother. The other morning he was just holding him and multi-tasking...like a great big brother would ;)

Sunday we had our "family" dinner for the last time...for awhile at least. The Blackwells will be moving this weekend also- to Provo. We have had a bunch of fun doing Sunday dinners and many more dinners before we headed across town. The kids have a blast playing with each other and beating each other up. It is always special to find friends that everyone gets along with. I think that's why we consider the Blackwells family- because we all get along, the kids, the ladies, and the men....that is definitely a rare thing. We are so excited you crazy kids found a job- just wish it was a little closer!

More hospital photos

Well, I thought I'd have all this time on my hands just sitting around, recovering how I'm supposed to...then I realized I still have an incredibly active and loving (aka needy) 2 year old! We're trying to get back into some sort of reality around here and I'm finally getting a moment to upload some more pictures.

Daddy and his boys! Tyler 22 months, Jacob 2 hours ;)

Our little family of FOUR! Loving life (and terrible hospital pictures)

Hello world! Look out- I'm here to stay. Yes, he has lots of hair- and I love it!

I can't believe it has almost been a week already. In some ways it seems like much longer, other times it seems like I just had this little boy. Ryan and I are still in denial that he is really ours. I think the whole planned c-section thing made it seem like it was just a medical procedure so it didn't have the whole time of labor to sink in. However, it was really neat having number two and realizing a little bit more what it means. I got to see the look of a proud dad in Ryan's eyes again the second Jacob was born and started crying. Right then I knew it would be okay, even if things might be incredibly difficult at times also.

Father and son bonding time. Poor Ryan had this horribly uncomfortable couch thing to sleep on. But it was worth it to be with us of course.

Mother and son- just hanging out together. You can see a little corner of Jacob's quilt made by daddy.

We have been home since Friday afternoon. My hospital experience wasn't quite what I had hoped it would be. Basically the nurses stink and don't take care of you anyway so we thought we'd rather be at home with Tyler and that's exactly what we did.

VISITORS :)

Getting love from cousin Maddy and Grandma Denos
Aunt Sarah practicing for her own little girl any day now!
Cousin Ben and big brother getting in some love (and pokes)
Sweet Jolee from the ward wanted to come with her mommy to visit our little guy. She was so sweet with Jacob. Adrienne has taken excellent care of us- and brought some delicious cookies to help sustain us when the hospital food was pretty nasty.

Tyler is adjusting to his little brother. So far he has actually been an angel (mostly). He likes to ask for "turn" to hold his brother. He likes to point out his body parts. He is excellent at giving kisses. Tyler is a little too interested sometimes. One night he even stood up in bed as I was singing his lullaby to him saying "baby" because Jacob was crying. Tyler wouldn't lay down until Jacob stopped crying. It's nice that we have been so blessed so far...I'm just waiting for reality to hit :)

So much fun so far. I love the cuddles and everything that goes with it. We've had very few rough moments so far and I'm hoping it continues that way. Today was a little rough for Jacob- the big "C" at the doc. Ryan and I both stayed in the room for the procedure. The Dr. said only one of us needed to be there but we couldn't decide who would hold less of a grudge so we both stayed...it was pretty horrible, but it's done. Sweet Jacob as been sleeping all day since then and I hope he forgives me some day!

Enjoy the pictures for now. We'll look for another opportunity to post soon!

Here's the proof!

Our sweet little guy joined us on Wednesday and we're finally back in touch with technology so we can share his precious face with all of you :)

5 am Wednesday morning

7:54 am Wednesday morning

Just being cute.

Meeting Mommy.

Bonding with Daddy.

Jacob Boyd Crooks born 7:54am April 15, 2009 7lb 7oz 19 inches

Ready for a big day! T-minus 3 hours and counting

A little comparison

June 2007... 3 days before Tyler

April 2009...3 days before baby boy #2 (we're not being cryptic- we really don't have a name for sure yet) definitely bigger the second time around!

3 days to go!

200th Post! And so much to say

Our fun began with a visit from Granny last week for her spring break. We got to play and have fun for a few days before she headed up to help Aunt Sarah get ready to have her baby too! Tyler loved teasing Granny by saying, "no way" and "chocolate". Don't know why it was so funny, but it would have him cracking up non-stop! We started off the weekend by buying our van (still crazy) and we even made it down to the Merry-go-round at the outlets and let Granny and Tyler have a blast.

We had a whole lot of fun just doing our usual errands. It's always more fun with a grandparent around to let Tyler do his thing a little more. I enjoyed the break from chasing after him in the stores! Granny helped me watch Ben and Maddy on Tuesday so Heather and Taylor could go sign papers for their house. They have since funded and have the keys in their hands! We are so excited for them. Their new house is perfect...except that it's still in Henderson ;)Granny helped us take a little family photo in front of our new van. We had fun washing it as a family this Saturday and getting the two car seats all situated...just in case ;)

I tried to be a fun mom and take Tyler out to his first big Easter Egg hunt put on by our master planned community. We enjoyed free breakfast from Sonic and there was an egg hunt...but Tyler would rather play in the mud apparently. They called for his group to go and he was too excited digging around. It didn't really matter though- there were so many kids that we wouldn't have got any eggs anyway. Oh well! We had fun running into some friends from church and seeing every one's shock at how huge I am (just kidding).

That brings us to today, Sunday. The Easter Bunny stopped by our house since he wasn't much help at the egg hunt yesterday ;) We waited for daddy to get up then let Tyler look outside the front door. Sure enough, there was a basket all set for him to dig into. I love how excited little kids get. He was super cute about everything.

Tyler tore into his basket and then we headed outside to let him "hunt" for eggs in our enormous backyard ;) Tyler had to figure it out at first, but he picked up on it pretty quick. When he was done finding all the eggs he kept pointing around saying, "more?"

Tyler was so excited to wear his new shoes and shirt for church today that he wanted to get dressed before his nap. We were able to convince him to wait- but first thing when he woke up he was saying, "church!". I put him down to go get lunch- I thought- but he headed straight for his new shoes and tried to put them on. While I was helping him with his shoes he grabbed his new shirt and tried to figure out where his arms went. He was so cute getting all done up and loving every minute of it. He even gave daddy a handsome smile to document his Easter outfit.

We sure do love our time with Tyler. I think Ryan and I may be getting a bit sentimental as we know this special chapter in our lives is coming to a close. We love all the squeezes and kisses we get. We love the teasing (most of the time). We love it when he calls for us. We love how excited he gets to hear the garage door open when daddy gets home...and then how he ignores him and pretends he's not excited- stinker! We love how good he is at folding his arms for meal time and bedtime prayers. We love how much he loves unconditionally. We love his funny phrases, his sweet dance moves, and his excitement for life. We have loved our time with just Tyler and we're praying we can be good parents to two amazing, wonderful, funny, outgoing little boys. Wish us Luck!!!

An Ode to the Camry

Our final good bye to the Camry. She was good to us. We got her almost a year to the day before we had Tyler, and now we're trading her in just 10 days before adding another crazy little boy to the family. I figure this is also a good cheater way to get a belly shot up:) 38 weeks- crazy!

My Birthday Present

So you know how on TV shows sassy little 16-year-olds get cars for their birthday all the time? I have never thought that was very unrealistic. But, a 26 year-old...now that's a different story ;) Ryan and I went out to LOOK at different cars on Saturday and, as I'm learning is the norm with my sweet hubby, we came home with one.

Anyone who knows me knows that I stress out about money way too much- but I'm trying to just enjoy an over-the-top, out-of-this-world, one-of-a-kind, gift from my loving husband and one adoring father of-almost 2- sons.

We traded in my Camry. It was good to us, and apparently we were good to it. The appraisal guy complimented Ryan on how clean his car was- and that was with cracker cumbs in it :) I am blessed to have such a wonderful husband.

Our California Weekend

In no particular order... sandbox with daddy, santa ana zoo, family BBQ, and other fun stuff

Here are the fun pictures- I will add commentary and edit later. Busy day :) We are still alive and well and looks like baby is staying put until we evict him in TWO WEEKS!!!