A fun filled Weekend

Sunday night Jacob decided he would finally climb the stiars...and he did! Right to the very top. Now there's no leaving him alone.

We went to the Shark Reef Aquarium while Jen and Nate were in town. It is in Mandalay Bay and the boys all loved it.

This past weekend Jen, Nate, Jack, and Baby Ethan stopped by for a visit. Nate's brother was getting married in the Vegas temple. We were so excited to see our cousins for a quick trip. The last time we saw them Ryan spent the majority of the time in the hospital.

These three boys (Jameson, Tyler, and Jack) are all within 8 months of eachother in age. It was so funny to see them take over Mandalay Bay. Jameson is Nate's Brother's little boy....and they happen to live in Aliso Viejo...we're just a little jealous!

Mom and Jacob- it was fun to have Ryan with us to have a picture to prove that I'm still alive ;) and someone is actually taking care of these boys. Jake was a champ and endured some crazy rides being carried in the stroller up and down broken escalators because the elevators were broken too... fun times.

We got to watch Jack on Saturday during the wedding ceremony. Tyler LOVED having someone to play with. Here they are with the sweet train track they built being tunnels for the train to go through. I loved to see them use their imagination (and tempers) with each other. It really was so fun to have them around!

Jacob- 9 Month Stats

Is he really 9 months old?! Time has gone way too fast. I only have a quick second, but wanted to write these down before I forget or lose the paper.

Height: 29 1/4 in. 75-90%
Weight: 20.9 lbs. 50%

Total stud muffin!

** just for fun here is Tyler's 9 mos stats too 29 in. 20 lbs. The Dr. even referred to both Tyler (at 9mos) and Jacob (today) as "long and lean" I wonder if these two won't turn out to be more alike than I thought!

George is in trouble

Tyler has been consistently waking up too early so I tried asking him what was waking him up. His answer, "George"...with a cute little smirk on his face.

Hey George- you're going to get kicked out of the room if you don't cut it out

Definitely Brothers

I never thought the boys really looked alike. Until I started looking through some old pictures.... Here's Jacob(8 mos.) 12/ 09 and Tyler (7 mos.) 1/08. I guess they're brothers after all ;)

Being Mom

sometimes it's tiring being mom. Well, most of the time it is tiring being mom.

My boys have been very demanding the past few days and I have been so exhausted that I have been very short-tempered. Then, when I get to put them down for naps and Tyler falls asleep while I'm rocking Jacob and singing lullabies...it is all worth it...and I feel terrible for being so impatient. Kids are so angelic when they're sleeping!

Poor Tyler is "learning" to listen- and struggling. He is still adjusting to needing to do things on someone else's schedule now that there is more than one kid around. I am also adjusting to needing things done now instead of whenever and trying to be practical with my expectations.

Tyler has also started saying some pretty cute things too. Some of our favorites are:
"No leaving daddy" when dad is leaving for work
"I do it a self" all the time
"my step stool" when he wants to cook with me
"miss you daddy" *this one can melt your heart. He'll go give him a big hug too
"miss you mommy" usually said after he takes a long nap- and he's good for the first 15 minutes he's awake ;)
"no crying little brother" whenever Jacob is sad

Jacob is getting closer to his jabbering making words. I swear this morning he said "brother" and "tyler" but we'll see if there is ever a repeat occurrence. I wouldn't be surprised is "Tyler" was his first word because that one word is said a whole lot around here!

Jacob is army crawling all over and he's fast. He is also getting a little too daring with the stairs and almost tried to go down them today. He has yet to pull up on anything but he's happy just scooting all over (or getting pulled all over) the floor.

Jake also found the sliding glass door and thinks it's hilarious. I remember Tyler first finding the door and being so confused that he could see outside but not get there. Jacob likes to feel how cold it is in the morning and watch Tyler make faces while he's outside and we're still inside. That will get big old belly laughs out of Jake.

With all that being said, I'm working on my resolution to be a better mom. I have a lot of work to do- but I'll keep trying. At least I have a great husband at my side to attempt to get this parenting thing figured out.

Resolutions

I usually stink at resolutions, but I figured I should write down the few that I have in mind before I forget them...

-be better at journaling (blogging) the fun things about the boys that I want to remember

-less TV time, more structured play time. That means actually planning some fun things to do each week.

-budget again. this one has been scary since buying our home (over a year ago). It seems like money just leaks out so I've been afraid to really look, but it is time since it appears that we'll most likely have to save up a 20%down for another house since this one is in the crapper...stupid economy. At least we'll have a long-term investment and we'll keep it as a rental until the economy recovers in 50 years ;)

-do some sort of exercise at least 2 days a week for me. (sad I know, but we're starting off realistic here)

That's all I can remember for now. Crying baby- gotta go be a good mom.

Best Buds

These are Jacob's new magnets from Christmas. Jacob will find his way over to the fridge and Tyler usually isn't far behind to help him push the button to make the letter sound or play a song.

Since learning to move this sweet boy is always on the go. He heads straight for the camera once he figures out what is going on. Love his cute little face.

Tyler wanted to play with one of his Christmas presents too- these blocks. We must have built 10 towers that morning and he decided he wanted a picture with this tower since it was taller than he was. Fun to see Tyler actually play and build on his own.

The other night I was cleaning up dinner in the kitchen and I hear Jacob and Tyler cracking up- Tyler had got up on my chair and started feeding Jacob the rest of his peas that he hadn't finished for me.

Jake had no problem eating more for Tyler. Tyler would even make some great train and car noises so Jake would "open the garage". It was so funny...and messy. These boys are going to be trouble.