Jake- 15 Months

I have been meaning to do an update about Jake since he's 15 months now.. I uploaded some pictures from my phone yesterday... & then I realized that my little baby will be 16 months in just FIVE days!

 

I read my Ryan's 15 month post last night and I could basically copy/paste everything I said about Ryan..

 

Ryan is the best thing in the world- he IS our world. Our world revolves around him, playing with him, making him happy.

 

I feel the same way about Jake.  Jake is so sweet and so perfect.  I catch myself staring at him constantly just thinking about how cute he is.  He is the sweetest and most laid back guy.  He's still a little observer.  He likes to just sit back and watch everything that's going on.  He's so calm and content.  He's always happy and he's so flexible.. he's okay with an early nap or a late nap.  He's okay if we stay out a little past his bedtime.

 

He doesn't talk yet, he doesn't even say any words.  He babbles a few sounds and makes the sound of mama and dada, but they are never directed towards Tim or I.  He's pretty quiet but will make funny noises when you tell him "No!"

 

 

 

Up until Jake was 8 months old, I felt like it was so hard for me to enjoy my time with him because he was always screaming at me.  I spent so much time trying to calm him down and make him happy.  I always felt guilty about that.  Ryan was the BEST baby.  He didn't really give me any problems and everything with him was so natural.  He slept, he ate, he snuggles, he did everything right.

 

These last 8 months I feel like we've been making up for all the time we lost in the first 8 months.  I still spent a lot of time holding him, but he's okay if I put him down.  He runs around and plays on the floor with all the toys.  He will sit on the couch and snuggle with me when I need a snuggle.  He still lets me hold him when he's drinking his milk.

 

Speaking of milk, I started giving him whole milk right before he turned 15 months.  He eats anything we eat.  He is SUCH an eater!  It makes me happy because Ryan's always been picky.  Sometimes Ryan will eat and sometimes he doesn't.  But Jake always eats.  Jake usually finishes his food and then will eat the second half of Ryans food too. 

 

 

 

Jake's bandaids from his 15 month check up.  He was so good during his whole appointment.  He screamed when the needles went into his leg but stopped crying the second I picked him up and held him.

 

 

 

 

Jake likes helping me with the dishes.. (more like playing in the dishwasher.)  He usually will stand next to the dishwasher and roll his cars around in the door.  He likes me to hold him while I cook and he watches every little thing I do.

 

 

He loves to be silly.  He is so silly and spends so much time giggling.

 

 

 

 

Always eating.

 

 

We spend a lot of time playing with cars and going for walks around the neighborhood.

 

Another thing Jake does a lot of is sleep!  He goes to bed every night at 7:45pm and wakes up the next morning between 8-9am.  He naps at about 12-1 until around 4.  He sleeps about 16 hours a day, that leaves only 8 hours of awake time.  I'm starting to wonder if he sleeps too much.  Or maybe he's just like mommy, and loves his sleep!

 

Jake is :

18lbs 8oz (with his clothes on)

29 inches long ... Yes, we make small babies.

 

Wears:

12 month clothes

size 2 or 3 diapers (I have a lot of size 2 diapers left so he still wears both)

size 2 shoes

size 3/6m swim trunks from Old Navy- Does anyone else notice swim trunks run big on toddlers?

 

He has the biggest blue eyes and big cute ears too!  He has 6 teeth- 4 on the bottom and 2 on the top.

 

I couldn't ask for a better toddler.

 

 

I found this picture of Jakey last night on the computer, it's from his 10m shoot.  He's so cute!

 

Easter

Easter 2013

 

The only picture I got of their Easter baskets this year!  The Easter bunny came after midnight so the lighting was bad and I didn't have my regular camera so I had to use my phone.  I love the way the Easter baskets looked on our table.  The kids each got new bathing suits, Jakey & Ryan got new flip flops, and the boys got a few of their favorite snacks & Ryan got a new sippy cup.  Elyse got some candy and other small things.  I was excited for Easter morning :)

 

 

 

My niece, Kylie stayed the night.  Elyse, Kylie, and Ryan woke up pretty early and there was no way I could keep them out of the living room, so Jakey opened his a little later.. and Tim slept in a few more hours because he had an all day event the day before.

 

I always wonder what Ryan thinks when he wakes up on holidays and he just has stuff waiting for him.. He was pretty excited to dig into his basket.  The Easter Bunny was smart thing year and put peanut butter eggs in his basket so he wanted those right away!  Ahh.. I took the rest out of his basket when he wasn't looking... sneaky sneaky.

 

The sleepy, yet excited kids.

 

Checking out what the bunny brought him!

 

Right after the kids were done opening their baskets, Jakey woke up!  I was surprised.. he usually sleeps in longer but has been waking up a little earlier lately.  He liked his fruit pouches the best.

 

Not ready for pictures so early in the morning.

 

Still playing with his basket!

 

I made the kids french toast and cleaned up the kitchen before my parents came over.  We had church at 11.  Tim & I finally found a church on our side of town.  When we were engaged we lived on the opposite side of town 45 mintues away and found a church we loved.. we went there for over two years and have only gone a handful of times since Ryan has been born.  I just felt guilty spending an hour and a half in the car every Sunday when I could have been spending that time at home with my kids..  The week before Easter we tried out a church that is about 4-5 minutes from our house, if that.  We love it and I'm so happy we finally found something so close to home!  It's been nice going every weekend again.

 

After church we all went to Grandma R's house for an Easter egg hunt and some prime rib dinner.  Ryan was pretty good at finding all of his eggs.  Jakey dropped a couple along the way and they cracked.. but he had fun and he liked looking at the eggs.

 

 

 

 

The boys were cute admiring all the Easter eggs and of course, Ryan was counting them, this kid counts everything.

 

 

 

 

 

Elyse is so sweet with her brothers.. She plays with them, reads them stories, lets them sit on her lap, she spends so much time with them when she's here and they both adore her.

 

 

 

 

After we ate dinner, my parents had to leave back to Yuma.. and like always, it's always sad when they go.  We spent the rest of the day outside until it got dark.  Ryan was running around, the girls were playing baseball with Uncle Wes, Aunt Caitlyn blew bubbles with Ryan.  Does anyone else get all warm and fuzzy inside when they watch their familes members play with their kids?  I love to see how much other people love my kids.

 

 

 

 

Poor Jakey didn't take a nap.  I was going to lay him down at Grandma's but she doesn't really have any dark rooms at her house and I didn't think Jake would just fall asleep in a super bright room.  He spent a long time just sitting in people's laps sucking his thumb.  Elyse was enjoying holding Jakey while he was trying to fall asleep.  Finally, Uncle Tom took him and rocked him to sleep and he past out for a couple hours and just slept on the living room floor.

 

 

Our Easter was so much fun.  We got to spend the whole day with all three of our kids, both sides of our family, lots of time for playing and eating a delicious meal.

 

 

Even thought I'm over 3 weeks late- Happy Easter everyone!

 

 

Citrus Lane Review- April 2013

It's that time of the month again!!  Our Citrus Lane box arrived on Saturday, the 20th, but we were out of town so we opened it up today when I came home from work.  Unfortunately, our Groupon promotion is complete so we aren't getting two boxes anymore.  I canceled Jake's box (15m) and renewed Ryan's box (34m) for another 3 months.

For anyone who does not know, Citrus Lane is a subscription box service for babies/toddlers/kids from birth to age 5. Basically, you will receive a surprise box filled with 4-5 (mom approved, top of the line) items tailored to your little ones age.

You can get boxes on a month to month basis for $25/month.. or you can a 6 month subscription for $21 a month! When I signed up, I put in my little one's name, birthday, and gender to ensure that Ryan would receive a  box especially made for him.

Citrus Lane ships their boxes from California on the 15th of every month and arrive on your doorstep between the 17th and 22nd of every month. Did I mention that you also receive free shipping?!

Here we go!  Our box is for a 34m old boy.  I bribed Ryan with cleaning up his mess in the kitchen so we could get his box from the mail.. it worked :)  He was so excited to go to the mail with me and get his box all by himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Plum Organics Mashups from Plum Organics (1.59) 

This is always Ryan's favorite item in the box.  He is obsessed with these little fruit pouches and I still buy him a ton every time we go to the grocery store.  I took this picture first because  he already had it in his mouth and I wanted to get a picture first this time.  This came with a 50 cent off coupon for one item which we will definitely be using.  I am always looking for coupons for fruit pouches.

 

2. Paint with Water from Melissa & Doug (4.99) 

I was pretty exicted to see this in the box as well.  I'll be taking the summer off this year and was (just today!) coming up with a summer bucket list for my kids and this item will fit perfectly into that list.  This is perfect for an almost 3 year old. 

 

3. Keepin Fresh Kids Food Storage from InnoBaby (8.50)

These storage containers are freezer, microwave, and dishwasher safe.  Which is a huge plus since it's so hard to find containers that match all three of these catergories.  These containers will go perfectly with the Skip Hop lunchie we got back in January's box!  We use the lunchie everytime we go out with the kids, so I will definitely be using these as well.  I also got a coupon code for 15% off any purchase.

 

4. Non-Slip Placemat from Oogaa (8.99)

This placemat is super cute with elephants, monkeys, frogs, and octupus all over it.. perfect for my little animal lover.  Something else, is you can use washable markers on this placemat to keep your little one busy before their meal is served.  Ryan actually grabbed a hold of a pen while I was in the other room and drew all over this placemat.. I was pretty bummed.  However, it was super easy to clean with a kitchen sponge.  It also rolls up perfectly to fit inside your diaper bag to take along when you go out to eat.  This came with a coupon code for 30% off any purchase

 

5. Shampoo & Body Wash from The Honest Company (9.95)

This is a full size bottle of head to toe shampoo and body wash for the whole family.  I have heard of the Honest Company recently but have yet to try out any of the products, I'm excited to try this on myself and the boys.  I also have a 20% off coupon with any purchase.

 

 

 

 

Ryan posing with his Citrus Lane goodies!

 

 

 

I am very, very happy with the box this month!  Everything in the box is something we could use and stuff that I look forward to trying out  Would you like to try out Citrus Lane? You can get your first box for only $15 by clicking the link Citrus Lane Sign up. You will get $10 off your first box and I will get $10 off my next order.

 

Do you already subscribe to Citrus Lane? Share your review link with me so I can read your review!

Pre-Easter Festivities!

I'm updating about BEFORE Easter--- Only 3 weeks late!

 

Elyse came into town on Friday, March 30 at 9:50am.  For once, she came early enough in the day that we were able to spend the day together.  Unfortunately, Tim had to leave the day before at 3:30 to get to Chicago- He stayed in the airport for 7 hours before their flight back.  I thought he might be a little sleepy when I picked him up.  I want to be better at documenting our time together, because we don't get much.  In fact, it had been 8 months and 24 days since we had seen her!

 

The boys and I picked them up at the airport- we made a stop at McDonalds to get some lunch & then headed to the zoo.  We only spend about an hour at the zoo because I could tell Tim was sleepy.  We came home so Jakey could nap and Tim could rest.

 

After Jake wokeu up, the first thing Elyse wanted to do was swim. Which wasn't a surprise! 

 

 

 

We headed down to the pool and swam a few hours.  I liked staying a little behind and watching Daddy with his babies.  :)  Elyse helped Tim make pork chops & Elyse loved them.. which was nice because a few years ago she always complained when we made meat for dinner.  Now she eats everything we cook her and tells us how good it is.

 

 

 

The next day we took the kids to an Easter egg hunt at a church down the street... & This is where I get a little sad.  Most of my pictures were taken on my Cannon camera- however, later that day Tim took it to a wedding with him and the videographer STILL has my memory card!  It has all of my pictures from the Easter egg hunt and I'm hoping he didn't erase them and use my memory card at the wedding.  That's why I've been postponing blogging- but I'm getting so far behind so all of these pictures are from my phone.

 

 

The kids were SO cute!  It was Jakey's first egg hunt- which is why I want my memory card back!  Elyse helped the kids fill their baskets and we sat in the grass to check out our goodies.  Jake would NOT let go of his basket.  I took it from him to buckle him in his carseat and he screamed!

 

We couldn't stay at the church too long because Tim had a wedding to photograph.  We didn't get to do any of the jumping castles or obstacle courses but we were able to sit in the grass for a little bit and eat some popcorn.  Or "pop pop" as Ryan calls it.

<3

Taking a self portrait of a family of 5 isn't easy- but we tried and I think they turned out perfect!

 

 

My niece Kylie came over to spend the night and spend time with Elyse.. My parents also came into town because it was their year to spend Easter here.

 

My dad stayed with the girls, Jakey napped, and my mom and I took Ryan to the bookstore for some Easter crafts.

 

 

I love that my phone has a front camera-- Ryan loves to look at himself on the screen and smiles everytime :)

 

 

We came home with pizza and what did the girls want to do?  Well, swim ofcourse!  Jakey was still napping when we got home and Ryan took a nap when we got home so my mom and I took the girls to the pool.  The girls were pretty cute.  They were pretending to be a dolphin and a dolphin trainer and put on a bunch of shows for us.

 

 

We came home and dyed Easter eggs.  Elyse acted like she didn't want to dye Easter eggs and only wanted to do one.. she actually stayed and dyed eggs until there was no more to dye!  Ryan loved it and Jake was pretty cute too.  He loved seeing the cups up close and watching himself drop eggs into the cup.

 

 

 

We ate some pizza on the back patio.. and came inside to rest and get ready for the Easter bunny!