Camping and Updates

Since it's almost June, I though I should update the blog.  We had an extremely wet, but fun, camping trip with two other couples from our church.  Alison absolutely loved her second camping adventure, and Jacob was a real trooper.  He grabbed a nap when he could, and didn't seem to mind the changes in his routine.  We arrived on Friday afternoon and it was just gorgeous - the kids happily played in the tent and we discovered that Alison is a future pyromaniac was a great helper with the campfire. By Saturday morning, it became a very wet camping trip.  However, we had a shelter to play/eat in and Alison loved playing in the rain.

Daddy's little pyro helper!

Nobody could rain on her parade

Our happy little camper

For Christmas, Alison got a dress-up box from her Uncle Nathan and Aunt Christina.  It has quickly become one of her favorite things to play with and has given her hours of entertainment.  Not only does she love to dress up, but she also loves to dress her stuffed animals and have tea parties.  I love her imagination. She has named all of her favorite stuffed animals - "Mr. Bear", "Bear's Brother" aka "Zaccheus", "Sheldon" the Sheep, "Morty" the Moose, "Redden" the Rabbit (she keeps changing her mind on whether this is a male or female), and "Elmer" the Elephant.  Good times!

"Mr. Bear" as a Princess for the tea party

"Morty the Moose" as a Fairy

Jacob continues to be the happiest baby, ever, and I'm not just saying that as a proud Momma.  Strangers are constantly coming up to us, following us around grocery stores and consistently remarking on how he is always smiling.  It is easy to get a picture of Jacob smiling; whereas, it took a miracle to get Alison to even glance in the direction of the camera when she was his age. 

Jacob is the proud owner of 7 teeth (4 on top, 3 on bottom) and he is working on #8.  It makes for a cute smile, but he is a BITER!  Grr!  He's not quite sure what to do with all of those teeth, so I am constantly handing him things that are safe to chew on, so that he stops biting me.  When I used to hear the phrase "He's all boy," I thought I knew what that meant... now I get it.  It means: he crawls as fast as possible to get into trouble; he falls over, bangs his head, whimpers, and keeps going; he finds old food on the floor or in random places and just shoves it in (even when I think I have it all picked up and thrown away); his favorite hiding places are the dishwasher and the dryer; he enjoys the splash of toilet water (gross); he thinks it's his job to clear the table/dresser/bookshelf/etc.; his kisses are always dripping in either drool or snot; and he brings such JOY to my heart.

Spaghetti face

We enjoyed a visit from Uncle Noel (Natalie's younger brother) last week.  He just finished an internship in Washington D.C. working for a Congressman.  Jacob though Noel was hilarious and Alison enjoyed having someone new to play circus, dress-up, you-name-it with.

 

Two peas in a pod!

We are looking forward to the end of school and the start of summer fun!  Jacob turns one on July 6, Alison turns four on July 27, and Natalie celebrates the first Anniversary of her 29th birthday on July 21st.
  

Stay tuned...