LOOK MA! and FIRE!

NO HANDS!!! Jenna has been balancing more and more lately. She did stand up from a squat successfully on Sunday too.

She likes to try and stand up in the bath tub. I have to continually tell her "Jenna, you CANNOT stand up in the bath" to which she replies with a smile, "BAAA!" We repeat this over and over until the bath is finished.

Jacob has a new favorite toy. His sticks have kept him entertained for hours the past few weeks. He goes around "weed-eating" with them. Well, a friend of my mom got him this bubble gun. It doesn't work well for bubbles but it makes a cool sound (like a weed eater says Jacob) so he goes around "zapping" things like weeds, leafs, bugs, etc.

Jacob and one of his sticks.

Sunday was a big day for Jacob. He was playing in the backyard and Jenna was inside so I was going back and forth when I kept hearing this loud humming noise. I would hear it when I was outside and inside. Eventually I wondered to the front of the house and the noise was even louder. Finally, I opened the front door and parked right in front of our house was a fire truck!

I ran to the back yard and told Jacob, who of course immediately came running (now I know how to get him to come inside for dinner). We all went outside to check it out. Our neighbors informed us that our neighbor across the street had a close call with her refrigerator. The motor shorted out and started smoking. She ran outside and got our neighbor who grabbed their fire extinguisher and put out the "fire" before real flames erupted.

While we were talking, one of the fire fighters saw us admiring the truck and invited Jacob to come check it out. He was in HEAVEN! He must have spent 15 minutes or more in that truck. Eventually, the rest of the fire fighters came out of Ms. Patti's house. Jacob got to meet all of them. He wore their helmet, put on their earphones, shined their super bright flashlight, sat in their seat...Eventually several other neighbor kids came down to check it out, but they were in and out. Not my boy. I kept telling them they were going to have to kick him out or he'd stay all day!

Of course my camera was inside. If I had known that he would sit there that long I would have ran inside to get it but I didn't want to just dump my child on the fire fighters and take off! Oh well. He did get a full set of the Wylie Fire Rescue trading cards. The guys (and one girl) were so sweet to let my little Jacob's dreams come true!

9 Months

It's been a busy week! Jenna turned 9 months yesterday. I cannot believe 9 months have passed since I first saw her precious juicy face. I am so incredibly blessed and I love her more than I ever thought possible.

Jenna FINALLY learned how to clap. I worked with her on clapping a few months ago and she was NOT interested. But for some reason this week, she decided it was time and started clapping.

She has also been playing a new "arms up" game. The way it works is she will pull herself up on something, usually the door or the ottoman, then lift her arms above her head and see how long she can balance. Sometimes it's only a second, other times it's 5-10 seconds.

She is also starting to try to stand up from the squatting position.

Jacob enjoys playing leap frog over his sister. He loves to throw food on the floor for her. I have to be very careful with giving him snacks because he purposefully either gives Jenna his food or leaves it for her to find. This morning he got a lollipop for going potty. Jenna really enjoyed it. There was a puddle of drool on the floor and sticky drool all over her arm from sucking on it.

My sweet boy can tell you what street he lives on and both his parent's names. I guess address and phone number are next. He cracks me up non-stop...I need to start writing down the crazy stuff he says. He is VERY strong willed and VERY sensitive which is making the "2's" challenging. But from what I hear if it's not the terrible 2's it's the terrible 3's or 4's so I'm happy to get it out of the way.

Although we have enjoying playing in the rain, we are looking forward to a dry week. We have lots of errand running to do before vacation!

Jacob and Jenna at 9 months

Climber

Not only does Jenna know HOW to climb the stairs, she also knows where the stairs are. Her brother likes to sit on the landing and encourage her to climb up. Oh, kids! What am I going to do with you?

Oh! Happy (Mother's) Day!

What a great Mother's Day I had! It began Saturday night when Brian brought me dark chocolate covered almonds. YUM! Then, Sunday morning I got to sleep in. Life is good. When I woke up, I was greeted at the bottom of the stairs with this sign.

Then I was adorned with many gifts including 5 shirts, a digital frame keychain, and a "mommy" charm for my bracelet.

We had a fabulous brunch at church. It was a great time of fellowship and the food was great. The kids were our waiters and they did such a great job! After church, we headed over to my parent's house for ribs, baked potatoes, veggies, and more. Brian's mom and my Grandma came over too so we had my dad's mom, my mom, Brian's mom, and Jacob/Jenna's mom. Oh, that's me. Still seems weird that I'm a mom.

Just the girls: my mom, me and Jenna

Me and the kids

The whole family.

It was a great day! I feel so blessed and loved and appreciated. Can we have Mother's Day every month?

Tooth, Dada, etc

Our internet was down for a few days and I was already behind...here comes a catch-up blog!

Jenna's 3rd tooth broke through the gums (top right) last week. She also started saying Dada about a week ago. Whatever. It's so funny to watch her do all the things Jacob did at her age. Like playing with the spring door stops. Or watch her reflection in the oven door. You can't go anywhere without her on your heels. She helped Brian do the laundry yesterday.

Jacob has become quite the helper with his sister. He enjoys keeping an eye on her and gently correcting her when she is doing something wrong, like eating a piece of grass or whatever. His favorite phrase is "thanks, mom" and he says it so sweetly! He also says "swing with me mama" about a hundred times a day. He likes to swing in the big boy swing and have us push him.

He is very excited about going to see Mickey Mouse in a few weeks! That's right, we are taking him to Disney World, but only for one day. We have been so BLESSED to be given a place to stay for FREE in Clearwater, Florida. My dad found some super cheap flights so we will be soaking up the Florida rays at the end of the month for a week. I am STOKED!

Jacob and Jenna in a tunnel race.

Jacob found a real basketball in the closet the other day. He immediately wanted to go upstairs and play basketball with it. I explained that it would be too big for his basketball goal. WRONG. Now he loves to play b-ball with it.