CyFest

A couple weekends ago the college that I work at threw their annual give-back-to-the-community-free-festival they call CyFest. Justin and I went a few years ago and thought that it would be a lot neater if we had kids.

This year we took Jacob, but a lot of things they had there would still be better for him once he is older. That and word has really spread and it was super super crowded.

Jacob's favorite part was the moonwalk, or bounce house. And they actually had 2 bounce houses - one for kids 3 and under, the other for older kids. He played in it for about 10 minutes right after we got there, and then for another 10 minutes before we headed home.

We thought Jacob would really enjoy the petting zoo, because he really likes animals, but he seemed not to care so much. In fact, all he wanted to do was play with the animals' feed. Strange kid.

I think he actually has feed in his fists which is why they are clinched so tight.

Our big little boy

About a month ago, Jacob wouldn't eat very well while sitting in his high chair. But once we got him out, he wanted to be at the table with us eating. One morning for breakfast we decided to forgo the high chair completely and just stuck him in one of the chairs at the table.

We went out later that day and bought him a little booster seat instead - he is growing up so fast!

Mommy's Little Helper

For as long as I can remember now, Jacob has been entranced by things that make loud noise that I might be using. Especially one of the three mixers in the kitchen, but when my mom was here using the sewing machine, he was equally entranced. He really wants to be up so he can see what is making the noise and what it is doing.

I used to start the mixer and then pick him up so he could see, but as he has gotten heavier and I have gotten more and more exhausted with pregnancy I can't really do that any more. So instead I pull a chair over for him to stand on and see what is going on.

Today I am making bread for the first time in a few months and as soon as the mixer started kneading, of course Jacob needed to see what was going on. Here is my little man, completely captivated by the mixer and "helping". I had to bust out the camera at how cute he is!

Our new ride

The biggest item on our need-to-purchase-before-the-twins-arrive list was a bigger vehicle. Seriously - compact cars really weren't made for anyone with kids and the last 21 months have been tough anytime we wanted to go out of town. Especially when the entire backseat is taken up by a dog and a baby and the trunk really doesn't hold much more than 2 carry-on sized bags and a pack and play.

I know some people feel like they don't want to drive a minivan, as if it gives off a certain impression or something. Justin and I have never felt that way. Maybe we are just too practical, but we always knew that one day after we started having kids we would get a minivan.

We planned to get a minivan by the end of the year and we had been checking prices for the last few months and just getting an idea of what was out there, what we could afford, etc. Then just over a week ago, we were trying to attach a new sun shade to Jacob's window in the back of the Focus and the motor on the window gave out. The window kept sliding down as we drove and we kept having to push it up and closed every time we stopped.

We decided that it just didn't make sense to pay to fix the window on a car we were planning to replace in the next couple months anyway. And yes - we replaced the Focus and not the Civic, even though the Focus was younger and had fewer miles. We bought the Focus 6 years ago because we could afford it and it got good reviews online, but for a number of years now we have hated that car and all the problems we had with it. So we stepped up our search for a minivan.

Justin took the day off work on Thursday, and even though it was a long day (just ask Jacob how long the day was), we came home with what Justin has referred to as our "Seminole van" because of its color.

It is a 2007 Honda Odyssey EX-L with just over 47K miles. We got a really good deal on it and even though it doesn't have some features that would be nice (like a back-up camera), it has every feature we were wanting - including a warranty on the engine and transmission for as long as we own it (which will be a long, long time).

We have already taken a day trip to Austin and we are still in love with it!

Gearing up

When Texas had its back-to-school tax-free weekend, there was one thing that I knew we needed. Lots of diapers. We hadn't announced it to the world yet, but we knew we were expecting twins which means we would be going through lots and lots of diapers.

We ended up spending about $300 on diapers that weekend (so we saved about $24 in taxes plus I had about $25 worth of coupons - I am always of the opinion that if it is something you know you need and not just want then spending money to save money is always smart). We got about 3-4 months worth for Jacob. But for the twins we came away with only about a month's worth. When Jacob was newborn, he went through about 10-12 diapers a day, so we are guessing that a box of 84 newborn diapers will only last us about 4 days.

We got 4 boxes of newborn diapers, 4 boxes of size 1, and a thing of 2's and 3's in addition to all the size 4's we got for Jacob.

We know we have lots more diapers to buy in addition to other things like a second high chair, second pack and play, triple stroller, second infant car seat. There's probably more. Maybe I should make a list.

Privacy

It has been a couple years, so just a reminder that we are attempting to stay a little private without having a private blog. When leaving comments or linking to our blog from yours, please do not use our last name.

Thanks!

This summer

Since classes started yesterday and my summer is now officially over I thought I would write a little something about what my summer was like.

This summer I did not:

• take Jacob out to play as much as I thought I would or as much as I should have
• work on making my curtains
• keep my house as clean as it should be
• organize any of the things I planned to organize around the house
• bake much bread
• work out after July 1st
• pretty much do anything productive
  

This summer I did:

• have about 15 doctor appointments
• spend much of the last 8 weeks laying on the couch
• spend the 4th of July weekend in bed
• take medications from almost the beginning of my summer break until last week
  

What has been going on around here this summer?

Here are pictures of our two little embryos on July 2 - just minutes before embryo transfer.

And here are our two beautiful babies just yesterday. Top picture is Baby B and bottom picture is a profile shot of Baby A as well as the top of Baby B's head.

Our twins are officially due March 22, 2011. We are hoping they don't try to make an appearance any time before February 15th (35 weeks).

Jacob is a nut

Over the last month or so, I've been taking pictures of the strange things our son does.

He loves to put these Rubbermaid containers on his head and walk around. There is one that is too small to fit on his head, so if he picks that one up and it won't go over his big noggin, he starts crying.

He loves to push Colby's big container of dog food all around the kitchen.

We think he likes cake, but he has really only had cake at his birthday and then he got a cupcake leftover from a baby shower I helped throw. What a waste of a cupcake, Jacob.

Lately when we give him his bath, he likes to lay down on his tummy in the tub. It would be much better if he would lay back on his back and let us rinse the shampoo from his hair.

Back in May we moved the coffee table in the living room out from the center of the room to right under the front window make room for tables. Then we decided to just leave it so the room was more open. But when Jacob started doing this recently, Justin moved the table back to the center of the room.

We loaned Jacob's Bumbo to a friend and recently got it back. Ever since getting it back, Jacob loves to sit in it.

And this is when he realized I was taking his picture so he made a cheesy face for the camera.

Jacob has learned how to pull himself up on the piano bench and he loves to play the piano. Let's hope that continues and he doesn't fight too much when I want him to take lessons.

Jacob loves playing with wheels, so someone taught him that if you tip the stroller over, you can play with the wheels. I can pick the stroller up and about 10 minutes later, I hear it crashing back to the floor again.

Jacob is such a nut!

Bad hair day

Last week Jacob woke up with his hair sticking up every which way. After wetting it down and brushing it twice, I finally got it calmed down to this:

18 months old

A couple of weeks ago Jacob turned 18 months old!

Jacob was a little tired and grouchy in this picture. Sundays are rough and leave this little guy without his nap so sometimes this happens on the way home from church:

It took 3 months, but we finally had molar #4 break through about 2 - 3 weeks ago! Now he has started working on getting those canines or eye teeth in. Does anyone else's kids take forever to cut teeth? I hear people say they had a miserable weekend while their kid cut teeth. If Jacob only had a miserable weekend that would be fantastic - instead he has a miserable couple months. Then we only get a couple week break before the next round start coming through. Teething is definitely the pits!

I took Jacob in this morning for his 18-month well check and he weighed in at 22 pounds (7th%-tile), and was 31 inches tall (12th %-tile). There is a little concern over the fact that he doesn't say any words, but he has always been a little more behind on his language development. I'm going to guess that this means he will start talking in the next month or so. And when I say talking I mean say a word or two that we understand because that kid loves to talk his baby babble.

The best thing about Jacob being 18 months old is that he is now old enough to go to nursery at church! The last 6 months have been difficult trying to keep Jacob entertained during Sunday School and Justin used to take Jacob into Primary with him at the end of church so he could be there for their singing time. But he has been a handful because he doesn't usually like to sit still!

I think something alerted Jacob to the fact that he was almost 18 months old and had never had an ear infection. So at the beginning of the month after getting over a cold he started running a high fever and feeling pretty crummy. A trip to the urgent care (because it was a Saturday) let us know he had his first ear infection ever and he started taking antibiotics that night. The next day he still acted like he was feeling horrible, but by Monday his fever was gone. We assumed his ear was getting better but he started having the worst congestion ever - he was snoring so loud because he couldn't breathe well. Finally that Wednesday I took him in to his regular doctor to find out that his antibiotics must not have been doing anything for him at all. The poor kid had to get a shot of antibiotics at the doctor's office and start on a much stronger prescription the next day. Jacob figured if he was going to have an ear infection, he was going to make it a memorable one.

Jacob likes:

• playing outside
• books
• grilled cheese sandwiches, yogurt, french toast, pancakes and taco soup
  
• balls
• cars and trucks
• being in his stroller and going for walks (too bad it is so dang hot here!)
• playing the piano
• looking out the windows
• seeing dogs or playing with dogs
• Wheel of Fortune
• his bath
  

Jacob doesn't like:

• any type of fruit
• any type of vegetable
• juice
• being put in his car seat when we leave the gym
  
• having to come back inside
• for Mommy to leave him anywhere