Bad Mommy Moment

Jeff has been out of town for a work meeting this week so it's been a bit off at night getting the boys bathed and down for bed. I am still nursing Chase only before bed so it takes me a while to tend to him. Last night Jake wanted to stay in the bath while I layed Chase down. It didn't take too long so I came in and checked my email on the computer. Usually when Jake is needs us he'll just call out for us to come and help him with whatever he needs so I was figuring he was having a good time. I was only checking email about 5 minutes literally and then got off and went into our bathroom where Jake was still in the bath. He was just sitting there with his big brown eyes full of tears. I asked, "what's wrong baby?" and he said, "I was wanting to get out and you weren't here." So, I said, "well honey, why didn't you call for me?" His response was so smart and so sweet, he said, "I wanted to but I knew if I yelled for you it would wake up Chase." I just melted. Normally I wouldn't have felt bad, I would've thought it was sweet that he was being so considerate of both his brother and myself (HA!) and I would have thought it was a good lesson in patience but, since I was just sitting on the computer I did feel bad only because I could just imagine him sitting there wanting to get out and wanting to yell for me but knowing he couldn't and not knowing when I was going to be back. How sweet is my little boy! I don't know many four year olds, and I have know lots over the years, that would think that far outside of the box. So, for that moment I felt like a bad Mom, of course he got over it quickly but I was reminded that before I stop to do something so unimportant like check email, I need to make sure my children are tended to and have what they need.

The Zoo

Just wanted to put up some pictures of our trip to the zoo this weekend! It was a fantastic day to go, weather was beautiful and the fall colors were on full display. The boys had fun feeding the peacocks, ducks and seeing all the animals. I think they especially enjoyed having daddy at the zoo with us as we usually go to the zoo during the week while he's at work.

Loving Two

When I found out we were pregnant with Chase, Jacob was literally the first person I told. I came running out and yelled, "we're having a baby" and he stood up on the bed and jumped up and down with pure excitement at the thought of having a baby sister or brother, at least to the extent a two year old can put it all together. At first, Jake was set that it was a baby sister. He would always says, "it's a sister" even if you asked, "what if it's a boy?" The first picture he saw, which was the 9 week ultrasound, he looked at it, looked at me, I said, "that's the baby..." and he said, "no Mama, that's not a baby that's a fish!" He watched my belly grow, he talked to it, he rubbed it, kissed it, felt the thumps and bumps, accidentally kicked it at times but he was in love with this little being that he didn't even know. It was so sweet. He was fine when we found out it was a boy. I really thought he was going to have a hard time but he quickly adapted to saying, "it's a brother" from all those months of "it's a sister." As the time got closer to Chase's arrival I found myself getting kind of sad. Still excited but sad that it wasn't just going to be Jacob and I or Jeff, Jacob and I. It was soon going to be a family of four instead of a family of three. I would lay with him and find myself wondering if we had done the right thing by bringing another baby into this perfectly fine threesome we had although I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt we were giving Jacob the best gift two parent's could give a child, a sibling. Being an only child myself I knew how special that was as I longed for a sibling my entire life. So, Chase came, and Jacob did great! He loved that baby with all his heart. He acted out towards us a little but that could have been the terrible 3's, who knows, but I do know he loved Chase. Now, I see them becoming great friends and beginning a friendship and a relationship that I always longed for. Sure, they fight and Jake gets frustrated with him but that's normal. I was just now going through some old documents on our computer and I found this poem, "Loving Two". I had found it way back when I was pregnant with Chase. I read it again now and just can't believe how true it is. I mean, I never really had the problems with Jake like the poem talks about, I put that pressure on myself, he was fine, but all in all the poem is so true. It's so sweet and beautiful. I hope you enjoy and I hope my boys always know how much I love them and how much they have each, individually and together as "brothers", touched and blessed my life.

Loving Two
I walk along holding your 2-year-old hand, basking in the glow of our magical relationship. Suddenly I feel a kick from within, as if to remind me that our time alone is limited. And I wonder: how could I ever love another child as I love you? Then he is born, and I watch you. I watch the pain you feel at having to share me as you have never shared me before. I hear you telling me in your own way, “please love only me”. And I hear myself telling you in mine, I can’t, knowing, in fact, that I never can again. You cry. I cry with you. I almost see our new baby as an intruder on the precious relationship we once shared. A relationship we can never quite have again. But then, barely noticing, I find myself attached to that new being, and feeling almost guilty. I'm afraid to let you see me enjoying him as though I am betraying you. But then I notice your resentment change, first to curiosity, then to protectiveness, finally to genuine affection. More days pass, and we are settling into a new routine. The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast. But something else is replacing those wonderful times we shared, just we two. There are new times only now, we are three. I watch the love between you grow, the way you look at each other, touch each other. I watch how he adores you as I have for so long. I see how excited you are by each of his new accomplishments. And I begin to realize that I haven't taken something from you, I’ve given something to you. I notice that I am no longer afraid to share my love openly with both of you. I find that my love for each of you is as different as you are, but equally strong. And my question is finally answered, to my amazement. Yes, I can love another child as much as I love you, only differently. And although I realize that you may have to share my time, I now know you'll never share my love. There’s enough of that for both of you. You each have your own supply. I love you-both. And I thank you both for blessing my life.
Love, MOMMY

My peaceful car rides

Gone are the days of my car rides of just listening to the radio or having peaceful conversations with my son while our other son listened, QUIETLY and contently. Nope, Chase has decided to be a pterodactyl, you know the dinosaur. He literally sounds like a pterodactyl. He screams for no reason, just to hear himself make noise. I don't know why it surprises me at all giving Chase's personality...BIG!! Of course once he starts, Jacob starts with something which usually begins as laughing, which in turn gets Chase going even more, and then, once Jacob decides he's had enough, he starts sreaming and whining for Chase to stop. So enjoy this video, or at least get through it and the next time you have that quiet peaceful ride home, think of me!!

In all honesty, I do love to hear the boys in the back laughing at each other and talking to one another. It really is so fun to watch this little sibling relationship unfold. That being said, I will be happy when our pet pterodactyl leaves and we have our sweet baby boy back!!

Oh, and in case you are wondering, Jeff was driving on this particular day so when the noises started I thought I'd pull out the video for memory sake!!

Balloon Fiesta 2008

We have never taken Jake to the Balloon Fiesta. Not because we don't want to go, but our house is in a neighborhood that is so close to the Balloon Fiesta Park, the balloons fly right over our house and usually land in our streets and for sure in the parks and the fields on either end of our subdivision. We have always figured why deal with the traffic, cold, crowds, etc. when we can just drive down the street and get an up close view of the happenings. Well, this year, we decided Jake really needed to experience the actual Balloon Fiesta. So, we got up and out the door by 5:15 am and headed over there. We met up with the other Wyatt's and our friends EJ and Katie and watched. It was fun. We didn't get as close to the balloons as we should have and if we ever go again we will definitely have to keep that in mind. It always makes for some great pictures when your actually on the field so we do have those. As far as the experience, I'm not so sure Jake got so much out of it. He wasn't as excited as I really thought he'd be. We'll see, now that we know a little more about what to expect and do, if next year is a little more exciting!

What an imagination!

Today after working out at the gym I took Jake swimming. He's been totally into the "butterfly" stroke after watching the Olympics this summer. He tries to do it, and it's very cute what he does, though I can't even begin to describe it. Today, he was doing his butterfly. Then he said, "Mommy, this is how a shark swims." I didn't really see what he was doing that was any different so I told him he could put his hand on his head like a shark fin and swim with the other. He didn't like that idea so much so then decided that a shark swims "fast" and it looked about the same as his regular swimming. Later, he asked "Mommy, do you want to see how a jellyfish swims...?" "show me," I said. So, he thought, first he said that yo have to twist your legs together and that's how. He quickly realized that was not very easy, even with floaties. So, he let his legs and arms dangle in the water with his back curved around like the head of a jellyfish. Cute. When it was about time to leave he was at the opposite side of the pool and asked if he could swim to the steps. As I watched him swim I saw him doing the strangest thing with his hands. He had each hand tight with all of the fingers touching. Then he was touching the fingertips of one hand to the other and then pulling them apart again but with the hand still tight. I finally asked him what he was doing and he replied, "swimming like a crab." WOW! He has such an imagination on him, I would have never thought to do that. I know, crabs don't technically "swim" but still. When he was almost at the stairs he said, "look Mommy I can be a different kind of crab too," and he now was swimming and pulling his fingers and thumbs apart and then putting them back together like you would do if you were mocking someone who was talking a lot. He is just so darn cute and I just wanted to remember this story. It doesn't do it much justice without the visual so really this post is more for me than anyone else but I hope you were able to picture it as much as possible and enjoyed it in some way. Wouldn't it be great if we all maintained the imagination of a child!!

Really, no more thumb!!

So my previous post was about Jacob deciding to give up thumb sucking. I wrote it with some hesitation, thumb sucking is suppose to be a hard habit to break. Not for Jake! Once he decided he was done, he was really done! Even when he's asleep, that thumb never goes in his mouth. I am so impressed and have decided, from looking back at big milestones in Jacob's 4 years of life, that once he decides to do something, he does it and does it full on. He did it with walking, he did it with potty-training he's done it with the thumb sucking. We can ask and push and talk about it but he won't do something until he's ready and when he does that's that, there's no looking back. So, I guess we can say good-bye to the thumb, it was a good friend while it was here but Jake's a big boy now and doesn't need it anymore!
Oh, but don't think that let Dr. Y off the hook. No, no, when you tell Jacob you're gonna do something you better do it! We called like we said we would when he first said he was ready to be done. They couldn't get us in for the appointment for a few weeks, which ended up being yesterday. I was worried that Jake would give up and not be excited to do it anymore in that time but as I said, he quit. So we went to our appointment yesterday as planned and as promised. Dr. Y talked to Jake and gave him this whole plan of attack that we have to do for the next week. Jacob listened very intently like he was still needing this process to stop and needed to know how to do it. So, we left, with the whole hoopla of thumb sucking gadgets in tow. Jake is excited to still do it and Dr. Y has done a fabulous job entertaining him with it (he put a whole thing together and he is having Jake call him every night for a week! He's awesome!) although we all know he's over it!

Chase's 1st Birthday

Well, it wouldn't be right for me to not post birthday pics of Chase's first birthday celebration. We had a small get together with close family at Mammy and Grampy's house. It was fun. Chase was not so sure at first about the cake but then got into it a bit. So, here's som pics!!

No more thumb...

Well, a few months ago when we went to see the Dentist, Dr. Yarbrough he told Jake that when he was ready to stop sucking his thumb to call him and he had a whole program for him to do and in the end Dr. Y would come to our home and give Jacob a surprise. He isn't always sucking his thumb, mainly when he has his Teddy, "to smell Teddy" he says is why he does it. He wraps his tail around his fingers in a very specific way, puts his thumb in his mouth and has Teddy's tail up by his nose. Strange what kids do but it's pretty sweet. Anyway, Dr. Y had noticed what the call a cross bite forming on Jacob due to his thumb. No biggie but not a great thing either. Well, we've asked him here and there about stopping and he always says "tomorrow". The other day, he told me "Mommy, can we call Dr. Y and tell him I'm done sucking my thumb?" He's mentioned this before only to see about the surprise so I kind of let it go but then he asked again and again and said he was really ready!! So, we have a call into Dr. Y and we'll see what happens. He's actually been doing pretty well these last few days. I've seen him catch himself and pull his thumb out of his mouth and he said he can just hold Teddy's tail up to smell it without his thumb! We'll see but this could be a big step!!

Child Labor

Don't hate us, but we believe in child labor around here. I mean, what's the point in having kids if they can't help around the house, right? We get them started early. Chase is learning how to do the laundry, clear the dishwasher and make a family dinner.

Good Times at the Lake

A few weeks ago Jeff and Jacob went to the lake with our great friends, Russ, Joy and their three boys. What a great time they had!! Why you ask did Chase and I not go? At this point in time Chase is an absolute terror who is into EVERYTHING and for some reason, having a one year old like that on a boat just didn't appease to me. So, we stayed home and did some things around the house. Maybe next year we can join in the fun and what fun they had as evident in the pictures!

No Sour Face

We have a lemon liker!! One day we gave Chase a lemon to see the funny face he'd make when given something sour. We waited and waited and waited with every little suck or bite with anticipation of the funny moment (don't pretend you've never done this, every parent does purely for entertainment!), NOTHING! Okay, I guess a little shudder at the new flavor but nothing like I have seen with other children. Now, whenever he sees a lemon he wants it and he wants it NOW! So, I put a couple pictures up to prove it. Yes, I am fully aware of the damage lemons can do to tooth enamel and I think about it every time he eats one!

We have a walker...kindof...

Last week on Friday, one day after Chase turned one he took a few steps, three to be exact! Then he took two more, I think to humor me as I had missed the first three and Jeff got to see. He has sence reverted back to crawling and thinks it's great fun to tease us by standing up very proud making us anticipate a step and then quickly plopping to his tush with a big "gotcha" grin on his face!

"F" is for Fuzzy

Each week at Jacob's school they have a new letter of the week. On Wednesdays the children are able to bring in a "show and tell" that starts with the specific letter of that week. This week was "F" week. So, on Tuesday Jake and I were talking about what he could take the next day that started with the letter "F". We were having a hard time doing this for some reason. He had planned on taking a frog that is a part of a game he has at Mammy's house but he lost it. He was trying to think of something and much to his dismay most of the items did not actually start with the letter "F". Then he says "I know Mommy, I can take my teddy!" He holds him up very proudly. "Well, honey, I say, "that's a good idea but teddy starts with t-t-t (this was me sounding out the letter "T" for him) T." His response was priceless and might I add truly genius, "yes Mommy but he is fuzzy and fuzzy starts with the letter "F"!" Now, how is a mom suppose to argue with that kind of reasoning and logic! Brilliant!

Two Brothers Meet

This is truly one of my all time favorite photos, nothing fancy but the innocence and sweetness of it is enough said...

Baby Chase...

MY HOW YOU'VE GROWN!

Loving every minute of it!

Happy 4th Birthday Jacob!

Since I am on the laptop and ALL of our baby pictures of Jake are on here I thought I'd put a picture of his first day here four years ago, September 2, 2004! What a sweet baby he was and what a sweet boy he still is! We have been so blessed to have him in our lives. Such joy he brings to us everyday. I can't believe it's been four years ago. It seems like yesterday we began this journey as parents and yet I can't even remember life without these boys! Thank you Jacob for the past four years, you are an amazing blessing and we thank God for you everyday!

Happy 1st Birthday Chase!

Okay, so, a year ago this morning I looked like the pictures below, a year ago at this point in time, 9:10 pm, I was just getting home from the hospital after a long afternoon that was only suppose to be a regular appointment. I was told to stay by my doctor, didn't want to, wanted to be at home so the doctor on call let me go. I'm a crazy lady like that, don't like hospitals, medical stuff or anything else that has to do with any of that. Thanks to my Hubby and wonderful sister-in-law Hannah for humoring me that night! Anyway, so I was just getting home with mild contractions, took a shower watched some TV with Jeff and WOW did the contractions start!! Water broke here at home at 11:15pm and Baby Chase came into this world at 11:37 pm. Yes, we made it to the hospital all thanks to my awesome Husband and his amazing, but crazy, driving that usually freaks me out but not this night!! I am on our laptop right now which don't have pictures of this amazing time but when I get a chance tomorrow I will put some "then and now" pictures up. I guess since it was so late most of our pictures are from the 19th anyway and for quite some time after he was born I would have to catch myself when people would ask because I had it in my mind that he would be here the 19th but he wanted to come just a smidgen before! HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY sweet Baby Chase! We love you with every ounce of our being! We thank God for you EVERYDAY!!

This time last year...

I looked like this...which I thought was pretty cute...Really...I thought I was cute? Seriously, if you think a giant belly coming straight for you is cute! YIKES!! Ahhh, the things we tell ourselves to get through pregnancy!!

Prayers and Congrats for the "H" Family

So, I can't quite spill the beans yet BUT we have some very BLESSED news! Some of our dearest friends who have been told by doctors that they would never have a child on their own without medical help have been blessed with a little bean in that belly!!! It is a gift from God, as all children are, but when you are told it will never happen and it does without even trying, what a miracle!! I can't share the name or other info yet but I do ask that you lift this family up in prayer and ask God to make this a VERY smooth and healthy pregnancy. When I get the go ahead I will share all the amazing news and just HOW much of a miracle this is, in more ways than one, but for now please keep them in your prayers and know they are appreciated!!

Daddy and Jake get some quality "guys" time

Jake and Jeff had a good boys day out a few weeks ago and went fishing at a little place here in town called Shady Lakes. You know, one of those places that has about a million fish in a lake the size of a kiddy pool you buy at target so you're guarenteed a fish. Anyway, it's quite pretty and on a slow day it can be peaceful too. I enjoy it and usually would have been up for going however for some reason taking a crawling, stubborn (yes, I called my baby stubborn!) 11 month old to a place like that just didn't seem appealing to me this day. So, I told Jeff he and Jake should have a "boys day" and off they went. Jacob was so thrilled to have this special time with Daddy. He got to drink lots of soda, eat candy and catch some fish, what more could a boy ask for!!

And the "fun" at the stables

While waiting in line for the horseback riding they had games for the kids to play. Horseshoes, toss the ball through the hole, and they had other horses and animals to look at. The boys loved looking at the animals. Chase wasn't so sure at first since he's never seen an animal that big up close but he quickly warmed up and gave the horses some love. Oh, and the "ball toss" should have been called "toss the soaking wet with nasty dirty water ball through the hole" game as evident in Jacob's face in one of the pictures. Apparently the kids don't understand the process of squeezing the water out of the ball. Nope, instead, they just threw the ball drenched in brown, dirty water and who knows what else and didn't care what or who was in it's path. Nice! And, apparently my son doesn't understand the concept of GETTING OUT OF THE WAY!! I finally gave up! Here's some cute pictures.

Jake goes horseback riding

While my Dad was here Jeff found a great little place that was giving free horseback riding and fun for families here in Albuquerque. All you needed was a little patience to stand in line and deal with the warm New Mexico air. It was lots of fun and Jake, as you can see on his face in the pictures, was SO excited, it was pretty cute!!

Papa came...and then he left again...

As most of you know my Dad is working in Iraq. He's been there since October of 2005. Basically, as I was saying goodbye to Dad we were welcoming Jeff home. Anyway, he came back for a 2 week visit in August and we had a great time. Jacob is now at the age that he knows Papa and LOVES him so much. He kept trying to figure out exactly how many more days we had with Papa until he had to leave again. A few days before he left Jake and I were talking before bedtime about him and how he was going to be going back to Iraq and we were going to be saying goodbye at the airport. Jake's big brown eyes filled with tears. I asked him what was wrong and he said nothing, I think a little embarrassed and trying to figure out where this flood of emotion was coming from and if it was okay to feel this way. I then asked, "are you sad Papa's leaving?" He said yes and buried his head into my chest which of course broke my heart and caused my tears to flow. Not only was sad that my Dad was leaving again but I was heartbroken that my son was feeling this hurt of having to say goodbye to his Papa! He is such a sweet boy!

Chase was loving having Dad here too! The last time they saw each other, which was also the first time they met, was back in November when Chase was only 2 months old! What a difference 9 months makes!! Dad and the boys had a great time together and we loved having him home for a while!!
WE LOVE YOU PAPA/DAD!!! COME HOME SOON!!!