Family Update/Memorial Day

A little Father/Son study time...

Watching morning cartoons together in the laundry basket.

He took a chunk out of a crayon and got mad when Mommy took it away.

Move over, Backstreet Boys!

Just in case you haven't already heard, John finally got his grade back on the section of his CPA exam that he took back in April. It is my privilege to announce that HE PASSED!!! He got an 82! He takes the last two sections this weekend--one on Friday (he has to go to Lubbock for this one), the other on Saturday. If he passes these two sections he'll be all done! We are so grateful to all of you who have supported John and kept him in your prayers all this time. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family members and friends in our lives.

My dad called from Israel yesterday. (Only four more days until he comes home!!!) We passed the phone around and even let Jonathan talk to his Paw-Paw. It was one of the sweetest moments! I wasn't sure if Jonathan would actually talk to him, but he carried on a full conversation. Of course, I was only able to hear one side--mostly "Yeahs" and "Okays", and he even ended with "I love you" and "Bye." I asked my dad if Jonathan actually seemed to understand him and he said that Jonathan responded appropriately to every question. His talking is really improving!

Jacob is officially crawling, and he is all over creation! He discovered the dog's food and water bowls the other day. I walked into the kitchen just in time to catch him take the water bowl and pour it all over himself! I was hoping at least one of our children would ignore those bowls, but (unfortunately) it looks like both of our boys have been fascinated by them.

Today was Memorial Day. Usually our family has a cookout or something, but with my dad being gone and John having to spend the day studying, we didn't plan anything special this year. The boys and I put on patriotic shirts, and we went with my mom and my Nana out to the cemetery to visit my Paw-Paw and put flowers on his grave. Since he was a Vet, we took a small flag to put out. Jonathan got to hold onto it until Nana was ready to put it in with the flowers. It was kind of a special time for me because I haven't been out to the cemetery in a while, and it was the first time the boys got to "meet" Mommy's Paw-Paw. Afterwards, the boys and I went out to eat with Nana, and Mom got ready to go to her parents' (Grandmama & Granddaddy) house. At the restaraunt, Nana called my cousin, Lacy, on her cell. We got her voice mail, and Jonathan left a special message for Cousin Lacy: "Hi, Lacy."

Milestones

Well, Jacob has achieved another new milestone in his young life. Little man is now officially mobile! He finally started crawling the other day!!! I am so proud of him. The little guy has been working so hard lately to get his chubby little legs to cooperate with him, and he finally tasted the victory of success! I have a short video of him starting to crawl for the first time. The video on our camera doesn't record sound, though, and Jakey gets a little shy when the camera is on him. I can't find the USB that connects the camera to the computer at this moment, but as soon as I find it, I will post the video as well as a few new pics of the boys at play. Now if I could just keep the boy away from our glass coffee table...
I'm nervous now because both of my boys are going to be constantly on the move. I now have not just one I have to keep constant tabs on, but two. I see good times ahead! Oh, and one thing more--Jacob finally got two more teeth in on the bottom! Now he's evened out: 4 on top, 4 on bottom.

Jonathan has a new game he likes to play--"boucnin' on Mommy!" (It's really more like tackling than bouncing...) I thought rough-housing was something boys did with their daddies. Jonathan will rough-house with John somewhat, but lately I'm the one he likes to pounce on. It's fun for a while, but I don't know how much more of it my poor body can take. I think I'm going have to nip this particular game in the bud before somebody gets hurt. "It's all fun and games..."

John is set to take two sections of his CPA exam this month. He takes one on Friday, the 29th (he has to go to Lubbock for that one) and another on Saturday, the 30th. If he passed the last section he took (which he still has no grade on), and if he passes these next two sections and the grades come back in time (it only gives them 3 weeks to get both grades back)--he will be completely done and will officially be a CPA!!! Please pray that God will give John the strength that he needs to get through this and (should it come to this) the will to keep pressing on.

We are less than a month away from Marshall & Kristin's wedding! John's already been fitted for his tux, and he's already booked our hotel room for that weekend. Vacation Bible School starts the Sunday we come home, and I'm teaching a 1st & 2nd grade class. We'll probably get back into town around 2:00 that afternoon, and that will leave me with three and a half hours to get my room decorated and line up with my kiddos to march in. Whoo-hooo! This will be Jonathan's first real year in VBS, and I hope that he's going to have a wonderful time. My dad's in Israel right now. (This is like his fifth time over there.) He went so he'd learn how to lead a group on his own, which he's planning to do Spring Break of 2010. I got an e-mail from him this morning, and he's having a blast!

Love to all our family and friends out there!

Mother's Day

This was my third Mother's Day, and I just have to say I think it was the best one yet! My gift from John and the boys arrived at our door on Thursday afternoon: two dozen beautiful red roses, bubble bath, shower gel, bath caviar, and a little box of chocolates! (Do my guys know how to spoil me or what?!?) Jonathan and Jacob even made cards for me with their little handprints on them. During our worship service Sunday morning we had a dedication ceremony for all the parents who wanted to dedicate their babies ages two and under. (This is something our church has done for the past several years now.) John and I were thrilled to dedicate Jonathan on the Mother's Day after he was born, and this year we were just as thrilled to dedicate Jacob. There's just something about dedicating your child on Mother's Day that makes that day extra special. For lunch we all went to my Nana's house and my dad made steaks on the grill. For Mother's Day presents this year John and I got our moms little heart-shaped music boxes (I'm not sure I could even tell you now what song they played), and we also got our grandmothers a little something. My grandmothers each got a little heart-shaped plaque with a special saying on it, and since this was John's first Mother's Day with his biological grandmother, she got something a litte more special--a jewelry box that plays music and has a special saying about grandmothers on it. After lunch we spent the afternoon delivering all the gifts, then we headed up to the hospital. Our music minister's wife got an extra special Mother's Day gift this year--a brand new baby boy! It was a long day--for all of us--but it was a good one. We hope all of the mothers in our lives had a good Mother's Day. You're all so precious to us, and we love you very much!!!

Jacob's 9-Month Check Up

Jacob had his 9-month check up yesterday. I am pleased to report that we had an easy--and perfectly healthy--visit! Little man has dropped off a little in the height and weight department (he's now in the 25th percentile for both), very much like his big brother did. Jakey now weighs 18 lbs, 15 oz. and is 27 in. long. He's still gaining and growing, but not quite as rapidly as he has been up until now. (I think he gained only a little more than a pound and an inch over the last three months. Of course he did get pretty sick in the middle of that three months...) Even though he still looks a little chunky to me, it's looking like Jacob is going to be on the skinny side--like his brother. Just to make sure he's not just having trouble gaining weight, we're going back in next month so his pediatrician can do a weight check. There was only one thing about Jacob's visit that made me a little nervous. Dr. Hoving checked his eyes once during the visit (like always), but before she got up to leave she grabbed the flashlight and checked them again. I asked if his eyes were okay, and she told me they were fine, but Jacob has a condition (I can't even tell you what the medical term for it is) where one eye appears to turn inward--though it really doesn't. The doc can tell that his eye is normal because the light is symmetrical on his eye, so the whole inward thing is just an illusion at this point. She said as he grows the problem should correct itself. But if it doesn't (or if I notice that his eye looks like it's going inward all the time) he could possibly develop a lazy eye. It's nothing to worry about now, but it is something we need to watch out for.

Jacob is up to six teeth now (4 on top, 2 on bottom), with more on the way. He is eating a wide variety of foods now--including more table food. He loves toast, cheerios, mac & cheese, animal crackers, banana pudding, and even some chicken! (Yes, we're starting to add meat to his diet now!) He's not too wild about scrambled eggs; mostly he just picks at them. Whereas Jonathan is our picky child (about the only thing I can get that boy to eat well these days is peanut butter & jelly sandwiches), Jacob is a little more open to trying new things. Hopefully he won't be as much of a picky eater. We're also trying to get Jakey used to the idea of drinking from a sippy cup. He got so grabby with Jonathan's cup that I went out and bought him a couple of transition cups. I try to give him a little juice a couple of times each day. He mostly just plays with his cup--if he acknowledges it at all. But I'm hoping he'll move to a sippy cup faster and easier than little Jon did.

The boys are getting to the point where they are actually starting to play together. Jonathan is still not too big on sharing, though. I've got my work cut out for me, I guess. This summer I'm also going to try to "homeschool" Jon a little bit. We've got a new Christian bookstore in town that sells materials to help parents work with their kids on things like the alpahebet and numbers and colors...I think I'm going to try and sit down with him and see how far I can get with that. He can already count to 5, and he can tell you how old he is; he can even recognize a few letters of the alphabet. As far as his colors go, I still don't know which ones he can actually see and which ones he only has memorized. (We still don't know to what extent--if any--he's color blind, and we may not know for sure for a couple of more years. And we get to go through all of this again with Jacob!) John and I are still talking about the possibility of preschool for Jonathan. He also starts AWANA in the fall, and Vacation Bible School is only a month away. I want him to be able to actually "do" the things other kids his age may be doing.

The boys were also supposed to have their first official sleep-over this weekend. John and I are going to Midland next month for John's brother's wedding, and my parents offered to keep the kids. The only problem is that we're going to be gone for two nights and three days--so my parents would have them all weekend. They've never spent the night away from home before, and we're not sure how they'd do. This weekend was supposed to be a trial run, with my parents having the option to call us if the boys are having a hard time getting through the night. However, both my dad and John are sick right now, and passing germs back and forth is probably not the best idea. My dad is going back to Israel on Tuesday, and we really don't want him getting sick while he's over there. If we're still going to do the trial run overnighter before we leave for the wedding, my mom may be going at it alone. (BTW, neither John nor my dad appears to have the swine flu--or any other flu for that matter. Both cases sound suspiciously like food poisoning.)

Anyway, I think that just about covers everything that's been going on with us here lately. It's time once again for me to handle the lunch rush around here and get the boys ready for their naps. Until next time, lots of love and hugs and best wishes!