We're back

Sorry for the long absence, but don't fret: we're back in action!

These past few weeks Jacob has traveled the country and met every single aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent, and great grandparent! He's been very busy what with all the cooing and getting his cheeks pinched. Fortunately, he's a great sport and smiled for every related cheek pincher and random stranger passing on the way. Jacob grew so much while we were there that we had to laugh at how squished we all felt flying back to Phoenix with him on our laps as opposed to the trip to NC!

Our travels took us first to North Carolina where he met the Atlantic Ocean, then some raleigh time, and then on to Green Pond, NJ (which is actually a gorgeous clear lake as opposed to its name). Rather than blab too much, I'll just explain some pictures :)

This is Jacob with his two cousins Colby ( 1 month younger than Jacob) and Samuel ( 16 months) at the beach(house).

Catching up with our sweetest friend Ashley. What's Jacob wearing you ask? Well, the baby is sporting an Enloe t-shirt thanks to Ms. Scarborough, Daniel's high school theater teacher.

And now he's being swallowed in his dad's panther hat. Daniel just really wanted a picture of he and my dad with their Panthers attire on...and wanted to include Jacob. Jacob wasn't as excited as Daniel.

Like Grandpa like baby. Jacob always sleep with his arms thrown above his head, so his grandpa was giving is a test run to see if it helped you sleep better.


The boy really doesn't sleep that much, but we just don't think of grabbing the camera when we're so actively playing with him! As you can see, he has now figured out how his hands work and has taken a liking to his star friend. The little boy made it in a 10+ hour car ride from NC to NJ in large part thanks to this toy (and naps).

Happy Birthday "Crazy Uncle Dana" and also to his great grandpa and great uncle:) Yes, he really is a our chunky monkey.

We hope you enjoyed those...there will be more and updated ones to come soon!

Here are some fun shots of my boys: (and Jacob is 10 weeks old!)


Using Daniel as a baby jungle gym was Jacob's way of celebrating Father's day.


This is Jacob's newest discovery: a motorcycle-esque pose of the arms, flared nostrils, and a duck-bill looking top lip. All of this is done with frantically kicking. It's absolutely hilarious!


What better way to start a day then to get to sleep in mom's spot next to dad in bed!


Again with Jacob's friend Yertle. Jacob's nearly always happy when he gets to sit up and look around!

Movin' on up

Well, we're not so much "moving on up" as we're just starting the summer of moving. Despite living in summers of 110+ heat, Daniel and I seem to have made it tradition to have at least two moves. You'd think we'd learn....there's always next year :)
We're in the process of moving out of our apt and into the home of daniel's parents until we make the official move to Berkeley in early August. As we'll be on the East side of the country (WAHOO!) from this wednesday through July 7th,and Daniel will be in Mexico for a week in July, paying another month of rent seemed like a waste. And fortunately, we have some very loving and accepting family to take us in for the time being.
Jacob doesn't seem to mind living with his grandparents as it means more people to laugh at and play with daily. Or, as it was yesterday, nightly too. Jacob proved to us just how aware he is of his environment- on moving day he took 2 naps for about 20 minutes each. Daniel and I yearned for a nap and Jacob refused to sleep or be out of one of our arms.

There will be some pictures to share -but as of right now, the website won't let us upload them. Until then, we can't wait to see NC folks in less than a week!!

Rolls and all

Here it is 2 months since Jacob was born and we continue to fall in love with him more every single day (chub rolls and all). He's got a doctor visit on Monday, so I don't technically know his present weight; however, I am confident in guessing he's well beyond 11 pounds. He's also now long enough to kick his dad while buckled in his car seat- which he seems to really enjoy. I'm not looking forward to the tortured cries of this little boy as he receives his many shots...but I'm sure we'll report his 'stats' and how he did at the pediatrician sometime next week!

For your updated pleasure on the two month old version of Jacob:

-He's learned how to pout, and cry. He'll give several warning pouty faces before he actually cries, but his cry is still pretty much him yelling at us to figure out what's wrong with him and it never lasts more than about 1 whole minute.

-He's a smiling fool! Never has a toothless grin been so rewarding- or elusive when a camera is brought into the picture. We've tried to capture the smiles to post here, but our camera has a little light that shines and distracts Jacob nearly every single time we snap a shot. You'll just have to take our word for it, he smiles all the time!

-Jacob is really starting to sleep well at night- there have even been a few 6 hour stretches. Typically, he goes to sleep between 9:30 and 10:30pm, wakes up twice to eat during the night, and is then wide-eyed and ready to play at about 8 or 9am.

-He's a firm believer in cat naps. He so much love looking at his environment, family, and digital alarm clock faces next to our bed, that he forgets to go to sleep. His typical total nap time during the day ranges from 2 to about 5 hours....truly, he just to busy to sleep!

-Bath time and naked time are still adored. If we've tried everything to make the grumping stop to no avail, we just have to get him completely undressed and he'll begin the cooing and smiles.

This past week, Daniel sold my old reliable and efficient Saturn to a young couple from Israel here to site-see for 6 months. The following picture is possibly a terrible picture, but it just seemed too funny...you be the judge.

Hey, we had to include at least one picture where Jacob had some clothes on....

Quality mom time

Since last Saturday, Daniel has been at a camp with middle schoolers (yikes!), so Jacob and I have been staying with Daniel's dad (known to Jacob as Didi). Daniel's mom has been at the same camp since Sunday, so there's been some serious male bonding in the evening for these two guys as seen below.


But, during the days it's all Jacob and mom time! The weather has been pretty mild, so we've been spending a lot of time outdoors taking walks, swinging, and just looking at nature. For some reason, this little guy insists on trying to stand on things despite barely being able to hold his own head vertical.


Instead of letting him spend too much time trying to stand in a swing, I've been laying him on the bed, floor, couch, lap, anywhere so he can furiously kick his legs and happily flail around. (Don't worry, I don't let him flail on an elevated surface when I'm not around....;) )

He's growing bigger and more alert by the day....and though it's barely visible in pictures, he's working on a mean blond mullet. Much love!!

Return to the Big Screen

Every summer has a blockbuster, and this might be the one of 2008.



This video is dedicated to Ashley, the best wife and mother a family could ask for.

Approaching 6 weeks

Yesterday, we attempted to have our friend Vicki take some family shots at a nearby lake. Key word in that sentence would be "attempted"! Jacob was so adorable, but so not into the idea of smiling, cooing, or generally being the typical morning-version of himself. Regardess, there are aways some cute shots when enough pictures are taken and the person behind the lens has a great eye!

Here's the story of how the morning progression via pictures:

Jacob not thrilled, but okay.

Now, he's pushing things away and getting grumpy- even rejecting the daddy kisses!

(Just look at the size of that melon- this kid's got one big ole brain!)

And now he's just had it. All hope was lost.

At this point, we just appeased him with a pinky while finishing off the film.

Dont' worry about this kiddo though because just as the last picture was taken, he returned to the happy, smiling baby once again. It's as though he sensed that he was no longer being documented....he's too smart already.