Jake's First Birthday

I just wanted to finally post up a few fun pictures from Jake's birthday party. Thank you so much to all of you who were able to make it out for the big event.  We had so much fun, and Jake loved having all his little buddies over!! 

I think that all in all, the party was a success. I mean, I didn't burn the food, my mom was there, and Jake was a well-behaved, classy little birthday boy.  (seriously, he behaved so well it was shocking!)  We did a "Cars" theme, which is fairly obvious from the following pictures.  I love my little guy, and my Wesley, for being such a trooper with the whole themed party thing.  A lot of people don't think it makes much sense throwing a big party for a one year old, because they won't even remember it 2 days later.  But you know what I say? The party is more for the parents anyway at that point, so why not use the excuse?  And Jake DID have fun, and so did we!! here are a few pictures :)

Pre-party pictures of the food.  Thankfully, my mom arrived just a couple hours before the party, and was able to help me lay it all out in true "Schindler" fashion. Thanks mom!

So happy to have grandma there!

I opted to bake cupcakes instead of a cake this time. Can you see the little Lightning McQueen and Mater sugar charms on top? So cute!

My mom got Jake a little Lightning McQueen remote control car.  He loves that thing! I think he looks like such a big boy using that control, even though mostly he just pushes random buttons and the car will go about 2 feet before he makes it go backwards again :)

Opening his first present.  The other boys were happy to help him unwrap a little quicker :)

Jake was truly in rare form that day.  He was such a good little sharer, and let all the other kids have a turn on his new car! (I wish I could say he is always this generous, but I would be lying.)

Jake "showing" Boyd how to drive ;)  This picture gives me hope that he'll be a helpful big brother when the time comes!

Driving his car in front of his new garage/tent. I told ya the theme was pretty obvious :)

About to blow out his candle.. Actually about to make a grab for it.  Can't you just see the resolve in his eyes already? 

All he did was poke his cupcake until dad broke it into little pieces for him.

All the mommies and Jake's friends at the birthday table!

More to Come

Ok, I'm feeling some pressure because I haven't blogged in a month, and in that time: 

a. We took our new family pictures. (thanks Syd!)

b. We celebrated Jake's Birthday

c. I got my mom for a short but fun filled week

d. My big sister finally had her baby.

yikes! And we are going to San Diego next weekend for a wedding in Wes's family.  The fun continues, and the new pictures and stories are piling up.  I had every intention of blogging all about the last month, but instead decided to spend the afternoon working on my tan.  Now, sitting here with a mild sunburn, it seems I'm out of time and need to start making dinner.  So rather than knocking it all out at once, I'll just chip away at the ever growing pile of fun.  For today, you get to see a few of the new family pictures. I hope you like them, and I'll try to be more on the ball with my blogs.  Next time, I'll tell you all about my son's very first birthday party, at the very least :) cheers!

Closing in on ONE YEAR!

We are less than 2 weeks away from Jake's first birthday, and I have been finding myself thinking a lot about the past year, and about all the things I was doing last april.  I remember feeling so strange when April 1st rolled around.  I knew that I was probably starting my very last month as a childless woman, and it was so surreal! It was difficult to imagine what the upcoming months would have in store for me, and I don't think any books or friendly advice could've prepared me for the journey ahead.  This past year has been so life-changing.  I've had more trials and struggles than ever before, but at the same time, I have felt the spirit more fully and felt an overwhelming sense of love for my family.  My marriage has gotten stronger, and I just feel so thankful to Heavenly Father for allowing us the privilege of raising such a sweet spirit.  We feel so blessed to have Jake in our home.  He has brought us more joy than we could have expected.  Ok, so thats my little spiel on how much i love my kid.  Sorry, I feel like I do this on every blog post, but I can't help it! The old saying is true i suppose--you won't understand how much your parents love you, until you have a kid of your own.  It's amazing how just having jake rush over to give me a hug, or watching him cuddle up to his dad can actually make my heart ache in such a good way.  I'm a total sap--it's a good thing my mom is a good listener, because i feel like i am calling her daily to tell her the most trivial things about jake's progress, and she seems to be as excited about it as me! thanks mom!  

(if you squint you can see his two new teeth on the bottom)

In other news, the last two weekends were such good ones. I mean first, conference weekend, which is such a great spiritual high.  I love love love conference, so that was great.  Also, my aunt and uncle came down from oregon to visit Jerai, and they invited us over for breakfast.  Not just any breakfast either--my uncle Dennis cooked, meaning..swedish pancakes...and they might as well be manna from heaven because holy moly were they good! I love family reunions, even the 2 hour kind. 

And then, of course the next weekend was Easter.  Syd and her roommate Rachel came to stay for the weekend, and it was so nice to have a full house for the holiday! We had a yummy german breakfast and a roast for dinner! family + good food + good weather=my kind of easter.  we even dyed eggs! yay to us for being go-getters. 

I think Jake had a good time too--my mom sent him an easter package and we let him eat a big chocolate bunny after breakfast.  He started looking pretty stoned toward the end and about 10 minutes later he had a killer sugar rush and then passed out for 2.5 hours. it was awesome. 

All in all we have been having a lot of fun.  As Jake gets older, he is becoming more excited about toys, which makes it hard to resist spoiling him rotten.  Because if i'm honest with myself, he isn't the only one being spoiled--I have about as much fun watching Jake flip out about new toys, as he has playing with them.  There is this giant stuffed dog at the toy store, and every time we go, Jake tries to grab him--I know one day he will probably want EVERYTHING at the toy store, but at this point in his life--Sammie the Dog is the number one priority.  But I'm a mean mommy and couldn't wrap my head around buying such a huge stuffed animal..I mean where do you keep that sort of thing? A few days before Easter I was picking up something at the store, and Jake had a rather tearful goodbye after his little visit with Sammie.  I told Wes about it, and sucker that he is--he caved.  So Jake got his very own giant Sammie dog for Easter! And no, he didn't get tired of it after ten minutes--He has spent most of his time with him for the last 3 days. (Also, I blew up Jake's kiddie pool and put it in the living room for the weekend.  He is having so much fun in there, I don't think I have the heart to deflate it.. my house looks like a 3 ring circus.)

The day after Easter Wesley's sister Melanie brought Jake's cousin Scott over to play, and the fun continued. We were trying to get a nice picture of the boys to send to their grandma, but Scott was only interested in running around, and Jake does everything scott does. It was pretty funny. But we did get a few shots of them playing with sidewalk chalk for the first time :)

Ok, so I'm sorry that I bombard the blog world with so many pictures every post, but lets face it--All I do is play with jake, and I just think he is hilarious and so cute, so I take millions of pictures. it would be a crime not to share at least SOME of them with you right?  Ok, so just a few more before I close this post--These are from the park last week. 

He was chasing the ducks..

I've always been an avid duck chaser, so we know where he gets that from..)

He really likes pushing his stroller lately.. actually pushing anything--Highchairs, toys, playpens.. you name it. 

Ok, so thats all folks! Unless I am super ambitious, Jake will be ONE YEAR OLD, by my next post!!!

Spring Forward

Spring is here! It's hard to believe that this is Jake's second spring.  We are coming up on his first birthday next month! Every day I am amazed by how old he looks, how far he has come, and how much he is learning.  He took his first steps a little over a month ago, and is already doing more walking than crawling.  He is just under 19 pounds but has a huge head. (20th percentile weight/90th percentile head size).  He is babbling non-stop and has recently started imitating sounds that i make, which leads me to believe that his first word is coming soon! When he is super-alert, he will even copy intonation, whispering when I whisper, shouting when I shout. It's so cute, and I love him more and more every day!  Also, he dances sometimes.  My current phone ringer is the theme song from "the office" and every time he hears it, he starts bobbing his head. 

What a happy kid!

I love watching him walk, it's so cute!

Jake is also becoming a lot more dramatic. The pre-tantrums have started...dun dun duuunnn!!! He will often scream and arch his back when we try to move him away from something dangerous (like electrical outlets) or take something away from him (like my cellphone).  Pretty much anything we do to "throw off his groove" gets a pretty big reaction.  Mostly I just think it's hilarious, and maybe sometimes kind of obnoxious.  

Classic tantrum face

In the last week, Jake has become fascinated with putting things into things, and taking them out as well.  He has a bowl in his ballpit that he will fill with balls and then dump over the side of the playpen.  When he gets bored of this, he puts the bowl on his head or just launches the balls out one at a time.  He empties all my bookshelves and any drawer or cabinet he can get his hands into.  Just this morning, Jake was in his high chair eating some blueberry puffs.  I was drinking a glass of OJ and he was eyeing it like he wanted to have a taste.  I brought the glass to his mouth so he could drink, and with a mischievous look in his eye, Jake quickly dumped a handfull of puffs directly into my juice.  

Its not all mischief though.  He is getting good at following simple directions, and when prompted, will often bring me whatever he is playing with. And most importantly, he will walk over and give us hugs when we hold our arms out.  After being stiff-armed for the last few months, this little milestone is definitely one that melts my heart every time he does it. 

(this picture is from Jessica's baby shower--It was so fun having her visit!)

It's so fun watching him discover his world more each day.  The weather this past week has been so perfect, and we have definitely been taking advantage of it.  (after all, in Utah, it can be 70 degrees one day, and then snow the next...)  The other day I laid out a big blanket full of toys on the driveway.  Jake was happily entertained for awhile, and then all of a sudden he took off crawling. He seemed to be a man on a mission, and I couldn't figure out what he was after at first.  He would crawl just a few steps, then pause and lean forward slamming his hands on the ground. He did this again and again, working his way across the concrete.  I realized what he was doing.  It was late afternoon and the sun was casting very large shadows.  Much like Peter Pan, Jake was trying to catch his shadow, but with each step, it got further away.  He never did catch it, poor guy. 

 

We are enjoying Jake more and more each day.  The relationship he has with his dad is so awesome to watch--it's obvious he has a hero.  Every afternoon his ears perk up when he hears the garage door opening.  It doesn't matter what else he's doing--he drops it and runs over to our gate, waiting expectantly.   As soon as he sees dad he starts waiving furiously, shouting random things to make sure he is noticed.  Pretty much, if Wes doesn't give him the attention he "requires"...he'll start crying, looking very betrayed.  The hugs and kisses between my husband and I have to include Jake or total panic ensues.  What can I say? He definitely has us wrapped around his finger! 

We love him and are so happy to have him in our family.  I can't help but feel so blessed these days.  Life isn't perfect, I mean, Jake and I are suffering from our second cold in a month, but seriously, I couldn't ask for a better family.  He and Wesley are so good to me, and I just feel so loved.  Thanks guys, for making my life so rich. :)

Walking!!!!!

So, I finally figured out how to upload videos on here! I've been trying to catch jake walking all week, but he really likes my camera, so he always drops down and crawls over when he sees it.  So far all I have gotten are these 3 steps.  But his personal best is 10! yay Jake! He is getting better every day :) 

road trip, got sick, new toy, new trick

Just so you know... this is kind of a wordy little post, but if you read the whole thing, there is an exciting little tidbit at the bottom.  And NO, it's not that I am pregnant, and no, it won't be that for a long time thank you very much. But I hope you like it anyways!

The last couple weeks have been pretty eventful for us.  We decided to take a last minute trip down to Arizona, for one thing!  Wesley has been wanting to get me down to Phoenix ever since we got married to show me around his old mission stomping grounds.  I knew it was only a matter of time before we would make a trip once my dear sister Jessica relocated last fall.  Truth be told, if Wesley could settle down anywhere in the continental US, Arizona would be his top choice.  We had so much fun, and felt so comfortable in nate and jess's cute apartment.  It rained for half the visit, but we didn't really care--it was just nice to get out of the subzero utah snow.  It was my first time visiting the area (other than the grand canyon when I was little), and I've gotta say, I actually really liked it down there! I do think I would need to come back in a few months to get a realistic feel for the place.  That's when it becomes unbearably hot and miserable.  Still, the winters might just be a fair trade in my opinion!  

So anyway! We drove down on a Friday afternoon, and after a 10 hour drive, got there around midnight--Jake did fantastic in the car, we couldn't have been happier.  The trip was wonderful up until the day before we left when Jake caught a terrible cold, and we were up all night with our poor jakey and a 102 temperature.  We felt so bad for the little guy, but he was such a trooper!  Those couple of days really showed us what we were made of because we naturally got sick too, and then had to do the long drive home with our miserable baby, and our even more miserable selves.   We had booked a room in Vegas to cut the trip home into two days.  We were glad to stop and rest, but I wouldn't say that walking around the hotel in our jammies with a crying baby until 2 a.m. is my idea of a vacation.  BUT! we survived and are now home and recuperating.  So, that was our trip to Arizona.  We didn't take very many pictures, sorry! but here are a couple.

Jake was so excited to see his Aunt and Uncle! Pretty soon he'll have a little cousin to play with when we get together!!!

 My favorite thing about Glendale? In-N-Out!!!!

(we went twice...totally worth it.)

  

Two more random things:

We went to ToysRus on Valentines Day to pick out a present for Jake.  (Since we were all sick peas in a pod, we told Jake he could be our valentine too.) We ended up picking out the most random thing, which Jake actually loves! We turned his playpen into a ballpit.  So really it was a present for me because anything that keeps Jake entertained in his playpen is a winner in my opinion!

And the Grand Finale announcement.....drumroll please...

Yesterday, February 16th, Jake officially took his first steps!!!!!!!!!!  Wes and I were mostly ignoring him and watching Jack Bauer kicking butt on 24, and Jake was walking along the edge of the couch, around our legs.  As if he did it all the time, Jake nonchalantly took two steps all on his own!  He did it again a few minutes later.  He has yet to walk when I call him (he gets too excited and crawling is faster!)  I will keep you posted on his progress.  Speaking of progress, Jake is still sleeping through the night-- 8+ hours all by himself! hooray!  I can't believe my little baby is already learning to walk!  Time flies huh?