Meet Brooke Avery...

She's here! My new niece, Brooke Avery Scott, arrived on September 4th. Josh, Jake, and I traveled down to Texas last weekend to meet the latest addition. She is beautiful. See for yourself...

Isn't she gorgeous? My sister makes some pretty babies (you too, David.) ;) 

 

Proud big brother - Luke's first time holding Brooke. He did really well. (Of course, that was only interesting for about 45 seconds, then on to something else.)

 

Me and the little sweetheart. Love all the pink stuff and bows - we're not used to that!

Jake checking out his new little cousin. So sweet.

My dad rode down with us since my mom was already in Texas with Paige. So we also got to celebrate Jake's 1st birthday (a little early) with my family while we were down there. (We had 3/4 of us there...that was the best it was gonna get.) I can't wait to share those pictures. The cake smashing was awesome! :) 

It was a really fun weekend celebrating both little ones. Luke, Jake, and Brooke are almost exactly a year apart each. At this rate, there should be another one next August or September. Ryan, Libby? ;)

Another hiatus & a Jake update...

Wow, it's been over 3 weeks since I last blogged. It doesn't feel like that long ago. Time is FLYING! Someone said in Bible study yesterday that Christmas is less than 100 days away now. How did that happen? Anyways, every night after I put Jake to bed, I have this nagging thought in my head that I need to go blog (and I know I'll be glad that I have this little online journal someday), but man, sometimes it's just not what I want to do at the end of the day. I just want to veg on the couch with my husband. Or attempt to make at least one checkmark on the to-do list. I haven't even really been on facebook. Confession: I still have what I like to call a "dumb" phone, so it's pretty easy to disconnect from the interweb as some like to call it. And here's another confession: sometimes it's really nice and exactly what I need. One of the many things I love about kamp. But I digress. All excuses aside, I'm back now. :)

Lots has been happening in the past month. Mostly with Jake, of course. I don't want to forget these fun things, so it's kind of wordy. Feel free to just check out the pics. :) And since there's so much to catch up on, who doesn't prefer bullet points?

• Jake started walking right before he turned 11 months. I really thought it would be sooner b/c he was taking steps for weeks...it just took him a while to decide that was his primary mode of transportation. So the funny thing is, I can't really even remember when he took his "first step." I feel like there were lots of them. Mother of the Year award, I know. I earn lots of those every day. (Hope you are picking up on the sarcasm.) 

• Within days of him walking, he also started signing everything. It's like everything clicked all at once. It's so fun. All those months of me signing "Please," "More," "Thank you," etc. finally paid off. He gets it. And it's precious. Especially thank you...looks like he's blowing you a kiss. Okay, so he was really just clapping in this pic, but it that's basically what "more" looks like...

• The kid LOVES him some water. A pool, bath time, really any running water. He can reach the faucet on the tub in our bathroom, and he turns it on ALL the time. Just turns it on and walks away, as if the water is supposed to be running all the time. If you turn it off, he'll be back in a matter of moments to turn it back on. Exhibit A:
  
  
   
   
  
  
  
• He got sick for really the first time about 2 weeks ago. Pretty yucky head cold and fever. Nothing major. We are thankful to be able to say he almost made it a whole year without a "sick" visit to the doctor. We realize this is a HUGE blessing. But look at that sad little face...
  
  
  
• Funny story (well, funny now...not at the time) coming out of him being sick - Benadryl does NOT knock out our child. Has the reverse effect actually. I don't know why I was surprised by this - by my child who takes the shortest naps and who will NOT sleep in the car. That was a long night, and needless to say, no more Benadryl for Jake. :)
  
• Speaking of naps, we are transitioning to one. At the risk of sounding like a complainer, we'll just say it's a sanctifying process - for me that is. We can just sum it up by saying, he doesn't nap any longer when he's supposed to have one LONG nap. Nope - an hour and this guy's good to go. :/
  
• He loves dogs. He starts barking (well, his version of barking) every time he sees one - in real life, in a picture, on TV...without being prompted. It's awesome. My brother was in for a visit and his dog was in the backyard - Jake was glued to the window for a couple days...
  
  
  
  
• He had about a week where he was terrified by the windshield wipers. It was kind of sad, but hilarious at the same time. I so wish I had taken a video of the first time he saw them running. Pure terror. (That sounds mean, but someday he'll laugh at himself.)
  
• And lastly, the jury is still out on whether Jake is a strong-willed child. So those of you who have one are probably thinking, "Well he's not then because you would know." Well, there are lots of days I have NO doubt in my mind, then the next he is the sweetest, loving little guy. But man, if he gets his mind set on something, he's gonna do it. Now that's he's walking and on the verge of running, you should see him pick up the speed when he knows he's doing something he shouldn't, holding something he shouldn't, when he sees a door open that is normally closed, when he ___ (fill in the blank.) It's not funny, but it is. Praying now for discernment on how to discipline and guide him without breaking his little spirit. :)
  
  
  
  
  
  

Hoping to keep the updates coming more regularly (not all Jake, I promise.) 

Chocolate Pudding...

Daddy always shares the good stuff with Jake. Exhibit A...

Apparently shares his daddy's love for chocolate.

  Begging.

 If this face doesn't tell you how he felt about it, nothing will. Pure joy!

Slow dancing in the afternoon...

{Warning: Cheesy Mom Post Ahead}

I have a new favorite activity with Jake. Well, activity may be a stretch, but however it's classified, I'm going to cherish it as long (or short) as it may last. One afternoon last week, I decided to plug in my iPod and play some Frank Sinatra. (Random fact about me: I love music from the Big Band Era...something soothing about it.) Anywho, I started goofing off with Jake to one of the more upbeat songs and dancing him around the living room. He got a pretty big kick out of it. The next song that came on was slower, and the sweet buddy started resting his head on my shoulder and snuggled with me while I danced around. Important side note: Jake is NOT a snuggler! He snuggles a little bit with me when I sing to him before he goes to bed, but even then, he is so squirmy. The kid is always on the go...no time for snuggling. Well, until now. So you better believe I'm taking advantage of it!

My life is definitely not glamorous. In fact, I lead a pretty simple, small life. (An exciting day for us is taking a walk with friends or running some errands.) But moments like these make all the slow days worth it. So if you come by my house in the afternoon and hear music playing, you might just find me having a little dance session. Just me and Jake (well, and Frank.) :)

Another Pinterest Project...

So I pinned this sign a long time ago on Pinterest and thanks to my super handy husband, we actually made it happen. And it only cost $7. And that's a legit $7 - not "oh, you have to have these 12 things already on hand for it to be that cheap," it REALLY only cost $7. We got the pallet wood from a local interior design place that was getting rid of old pallets (you can find them places, I promise!) We connected them by using 2 long pieces of scrap wood. Then we bought a sample stain from Lowe's ($4) and a Sharpie paint pen from Hobby Lobby ($3.) That was it!

We aren't regular DIY'ers - mostly a time issue - but we really enjoy it when we get to be. I'm pretty pleased with the finished product. It's hanging in our entry hallway. 

Best. Laugh. Ever.

Okay, so that's totally my opinion, but I could keep watching this video over and over, it's that good. We finally caught Jake's belly laugh on video. He laughs all the time, but as I've said before, the camera distracts him as soon as I get it out. Not this time. Daddy's trick was way too funny. And I couldn't have scripted a better ending. Perfection.

Enjoy! And it's okay, go ahead and watch it twice. ;)

The Hiatus...

Sorry for the absence. I took a little hiatus from the blogging world for a couple weeks. Partially just more consumed living life than blogging about it. And partially because of the Olympics. Okay, mostly because of the Olympics. Once Jake is out for the night, we shamefully curl up on the couch and watch 3-4 hours of coverage. Okay, not shamefully - it's justified when it only happens every 4 years, right? There's just something about the Olympics. I have a serious competitive bone in me (not always my most endearing quality, I admit.) I suddenly care a whole lot about sports I normally know nothing about...simply because I want the US to win. And darn you China, how are you still in the medal count race? I still have faith we'll pull away in the end. So there you have it...my excuse for not blogging.

I know I still have several blogs to catch up on...specifically the family reunion that took place almost a month ago. It's on my list, along with several others. In case you haven't caught on to this already, there was basically no point to this post except to keep it from being two straight weeks between posts. So, to make a point...I'll include a picture of our handsome little buddy. Plus, I'm sure the grandparents are needing their fix. More to come soon.