Earning His Keep

Jacob is known to help around the house. Today I stated that Wrigs needs a good brushing. The next thing I see is this...

I should probably try this with Wrigs. He actually sat and enjoyed it. Okay, maybe tolerated it.






He then moved on to scrubbing the floors. I must not be keeping up the house to his standards.

The Big T-W-O

It's hard to believe Jacob is two. The time has flown by and he has grown so much in the last few months. He's been my little buddy this summer and I have enjoyed our time together. For his birthday we started off with McDonald's. He loves their fruit n' yogurt parfaits and hashbrowns. I debated taking him to day care, but they threw a party for him and he got to sit on a helicopter. Better than anything I could have had for him in our front yard. The family came over last weekend and we all had a nice time together. We celebrated Jacob, Katie, and Carol's birthdays. Needless to say we all ate way too much.

The house is coming along. The basement should hopefully be finished in the next couple of weeks. Today I had the pleasure of buying a shower. Never thought that would excite me, but it did. Now we need to pick out paint colors and get the carpet ordered. Who knew carpet was so expensive??!!! I might need to start standing on the side of the 465 off ramp with a sign for monetary donations for my house.

He picked out these cookies himself. He was so proud of them.

With Miss Shelley, his teacher. We all LOVE her. She sends newsletters home and does a ton of neat projects. A woman after my own heart.

Being a ham on the front steps.

It's POTTY time!

Jacob stealing my coffee.

Jacob went pee pee in the potty today!!!! I decided to try it out today and it went great. Of course, we still used diapers and he didn't tell me every time he had to go, but it's a start. We made a huge deal out of it and went and bought pull ups and M & Ms as rewards for the future. Of course I didn't have any rewards at home when he went this morning, so I took him to the pantry and asked him what snack he wanted. He picked BBQ chips at 9:30. Whatever floats his boat. We'll continue to work on it and hopefully he will catch on and it's not just a phase. 

We've had a much better week after last week's prednisone episode. Jake is finally back to his fun loving self.  We had a blast at the park Monday and then had a class at the library today. I signed him up for summer reading and he gets prizes when 8 activities have been completed. Of course that means when Josh and I have completed 8 activities. :0) Jake is starting to string a few words together, two or three, to form sentences. He has also become a bit of a dare devil. He now gets on his riding toy, pushes off, puts his feet up and goes flying down the driveway since it's at an incline. We, of course, catch him before he enters the road. Yesterday, we added a new twist and set up the sprinkler. He then rode through it each time and screamed with delight. He was soaking wet. I am not exaggerating when I say the kid has gone through 6 outfits in the last two days. We have also spent a lot of our days watching the construction workers and their machines. I don't know the names of all of them, so we just call them dirt movers. :0)

Post potty snack. "Mom, I don't need a napkin. I have my shirt!"

We sat and watched this for about 1/2 hour. I know you are all jealous.

Jake's new obsession....water of any kind.

The Big Move

We have finally started to settle into our new house. It has been a crazy few weeks with school ending and moving. The house is SLOWLY coming along. I, of course, want everything in its spot and all of the boxes unpacked. I don't think that will be happening in the near future. We have decided to finish our basement. Work will start on the 14th and hopefully be finished the beginning of July. The kitchen has been tiled and looks great thanks to Chris. He plans on finishing the rest of the house in the near future.

  Jake has adjusted just fine. I was worried with all of the moving around he may struggle sleeping. We haven't had any problems. He did develop a rash this past week. The doctor says he's allergic to something in the new house. Who knows what it is. After being on Prednisone for a few days and a topical foam, he's back to normal. Our A/C unit went out on Tuesday and we just got it fixed yesterday evening. It was a hot few days and the heat intensified his rash. Needless to say, I was on the phone a few times with the HVAC people telling them how frustrating it was to be without air for so many days. The heat and a 2 year old on roids don't mix.

 Here are a couple of pictures of the house and of Jake with his new Sponge Bob fishing pole. He got so excited about fishing, he dumped all of the night crawlers into the pond instead of using the pole. Daddy went fishing for worms instead of fish this evening! At least he caught something, right?

Our new patio we had poured this week. Now we just need some grass and flowers in the backyard. The front looks a lot nicer since it has sod and bushes.

I do like my new kitchen. I'm really enjoying my gas stove.

Bumpa helped hang our new baskets today. They look great and add some much needed color. We found some chairs this evening and a little table. I got excited and took the pictures before I took the packaging off :0)

Gone Fishing

Jacob has found his new favorite pass time.  Grammy and Poppie have a pond across the street from their house. Da-Da now has to take him every evening when he gets home.  At first, Jake wasn't sure what to do with the worms or fish. It took no time at all for him to get the courage to touch them.  Last night he decided the little fish needed some lovin' and kissed each one he caught. There is no question, he is a boy!

We are still set to close on our house May 25. We haven't been there as much lately, but the counters are in and all of the appliances. They are working on the cosmetic parts now. It won't be long. Josh is meeting

with the blind person from Lowes today and we already have the patio people booked. Things are coming along.

Movin' On Up to the Eastside....

We are officially out of our house. Sunday was a very bittersweet day for all of us. It was harder on Josh and me than we expected. It was a great first house! Everyone was a huge help.  It took a little longer to move considering I couldn't move a single thing due to my surgery. Jake and I are now in IL at Nana and Bumpa's until Saturday then we will officially move in with Grammy and Poppy in Greenfield.

Our new house is coming right along. We have a closing date set for May 25. Just in time for the Indy 500!!! The house looks great. They are finishing up our cabinets and banisters this week and measuring for the counter tops.  We have been very pleased with the contractor and we have many upgrades due to them doing more work than they should in some areas; or not enough in other parts.  We look forward to everyone seeing the house this summer.

Below is an assortment of pictures from Spring Break until now. I meant to update earlier, but our lives have been a little busy. 

                                      

Attending his first car race in Anderson. Go #14!!!!

                                                                          

A tea party at the Children's Museum.

It's Zoo Weather!

Jacob had a fun-filled weekend. Nana and Bumpa were in town on babysitting duty. Josh was in another weeding this weekend and they were more than happy to watch Jake. They played outside, went to the park, had ice cream, and went to the zoo for the first time this season. Mom was a HUGE help. She packed a TON of boxes for us and then Bumpa helped us unload them into our storage unit. The walls are bare and it's really hitting us that we are moving. It will be bittersweet. This has been a great house and it holds a lot of special memories for us.

They are still making progress on the house. Our drywall is up and it's now really looking like a home. We are hopeful to move in the end of May, just in time for the 500!  School will be out by then and I can then spend all my energy unpacking and decorating. We will be moving to Greenfield the week of the 25th. It will be nice to live close to Josh's family and get all of the cousins together. They really do have fun playing together. I guess a better way of putting it is, Brody and Trot play, Jake tags along, and Payton watches. :0)

Here are a few pictures. We were unable to make it home for Easter due to me being sick, but mom sent me some of her pictures. I had to include the one of Ellie "talking on the phone to Jacob." She looks too cute!

                                                                        Weeeeee!!!

Riding the choo-choo 

Playing peek-a-boo with the polar bear