Lots of Love

The girls LOVE their little brother. Elizabeth's favorite way to show him how much she cares is to "pet" his head and talk to him in a very strange voice. Emily likes to get right in his face and love him up close. Sometimes they love him so much it makes him cry. One thing is for certain, he is easy to love. He likes to smile at us, coo and babble at us. There is nothing better than rescuing him from his bed and having him look up and give you a squinty smile. I have a feeling that he will keep all of us wrapped around his finger for a very long time...

I'm an alien-I think

Elizabeth has been making Valentines for everyone in our family and her friends at school. She won't tell me that they are for me, she tells me they are for "aliens". I guess she believes that she is misleading me and will have this big surprise for me on Valentines Day. I am playing along and find it quite endearing when she loudly whispers to Jeff that "alien mom gets two Valentine hearts". Evidently, he is in on the secret and is not an alien. During her outpouring of love she is making them for every friend in her class. God bless that child and her sweet spirit. I hope and pray (as I am choosing to believe every anxious mom does) that her friends will accept these homemade Valentines with excitement as she has labored over them all night. She traced, cut out and wrote every child's name on the hearts and picked out specific colors that her classmates would like. We are taping a lollipop on them for the party because this mom knows a little extra somethin' won't hurt.

Getting Ready

We are experiencing the joys of getting our house ready to sell. I love our little house and will be sad to move but reality is we are out of room.
This is a house of firsts: first time home buyers, first time car owners (two paid off!), first time parents (as well as second and third times), first time "hunkering" down for a hurricane on our own (not one but two), along with many other small firsts that come with growing up, being married and paying bills. The experts say to clean out, add fresh coats of paint and try to hide all of the living that has goes on in the house. Yes, I will do that but what I would like to show is that this house has seen our family grow, which potential home buyers won't see because I am told to put away family photos. They won't see the fun because Jeff is painting over the crayon on the walls, the skid marks from the ride-on firetruck, push toys and walkers and patching the holes from various objects being catapulted from toddlers hands.
I am holding out as long as possible on cleaning out the girls room and bath toys. The obvious reason being that they might kill each other if they don't have something to play with but also because part of me thinks potential home buyers might find comfort in knowing that the bedroom holds one million toys and that 5 bath time Barbies, a mesh bag full of foam letters, two things of bubble bath, Cowabunga Coconut shampoo and one extravagant Barbie mermaid slide, all fit quite nicely in the bathtub corner shelf.

The Ups and Downs of my 32nd year

I turned 33 on Tuesday, which was also Groundhog Day. The girls make it impossible to be disgruntled about getting older and frankly, I found it quite enjoyable and relished their celebration of my birth! I was bummed that the furry rodent saw his shadow because I am ready for some warmer temps.
It has been a busy year for us in the Jacobs household this past year, with many ups and some downs. They are listed in chronological order

Ups:
-our first trip to Disneyworld
-finding out we were having a third child (while very surprising at first)
-having the opportunity to work 1.5 miles away from home
-watching Elizabeth play t-ball
-finding out we were going to be the parents of a BOY!
-watching the girls learn to swim (for real) and Elizabeth jumping off the diving board
-seeing the pure joy on Emily's face during her dance class

-Elizabeth playing soccer was priceless
-giving birth to our sweet Charlie and knowing that he has completed our family
-celebrating nine years of marriage
-finding out we will have our first niece in June

Downs:
-leaving dear friends and students at a school that I love
-comforting Elizabeth over the death of her beloved frog Hoppy and holding back tears myself even though I strongly disliked having an amphibian in the house
-saying goodbye to our sweet dogs Roscoe and then Cooter (much harder than I could have ever imagined)

I can only imagine that this year will be full of exciting things along with disappointments and growing pains. While I hope the time goes slowly because I am realizing that what they say is true "time flies"; I also can't wait to see what year 33 holds in its grasp.

Miles of Smiles

We have had many reasons to smile the last few weeks and have received them from EVERY member of the family. We started with Emily's 4th birthday party at The Little Gym. 18 energy-filled kiddos who had previously been trapped inside due to bad weather, had a grand time running, jumping and playing in the gym.
The girls had their Christmas concert at Little Lambs and we were very entertained by the dancing and kid watching. Listening to three and four year olds sing about Jesus' birthday brings a smile to everyone's face and when you couple that with a great rendetion of "Pharoh, Pharoh" (dance moves included) one can't help but laugh.
Jeff was all smiles when his three week vacation started the morning of the 11th!
Our family attended the Christmas Eve service at Second Baptist Woodway, it was beautiful. The candlelight at the end of the service was breathtaking. All three kids were perfect during the service. The girls sat and stood at the appropriate times and Charlie slept through the whole service.
Charlie gave us his first smile on Christmas Eve which was the best present two parents could ask for. It has now become our mission to make him smile at every opportunity.
Christmas morning brought many smiles from the girls. Elizabeth was ecstatic that Santa brought her a Batman Cave and Emily loves her Mermaid Barbie doll and slide for the bathtub. The slide is for the doll, not Emily.
We are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Birmingham Bosche clan, due to arrive this afternoon. The girls can't wait to play with cousin Alex and spend the night at Nana's. The sleeping bags are already waiting by the front door.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

It snowed!! Well, it fell from the sky and then disappeared before it hit the ground. We didn't have it stick out here in Cypress like everyone else in Houston and the surrounding areas. The girls were bundled up like Eskimos and sent out to "play" in he snow. This equated to them trying to catch it on their tongues and then deciding it was a lot like rain. While they were impressed at first, they quickly realized there would be no snow-man building adventure. Emily held out hope for this all day and even part of the next morning. All she would have been able to build was a mudman! While there are no visible snowflakes in the posted pictures, there are two adorable, bundled up girls trying to catch the snow!

Who needs a parka in December?

Well, November ended with a bang-literally. Jeff's two feet came crashing through the ceiling in the kitchen. (Picture shows patched up temporary fix.) He was in the attic in search of the cause of "the smell" otherwise known as a dead rat. He found one corpse right before the misstep. He was unharmed for the most part. Unfortunately we can't say the same for the kitchen ceiling. The departed rodent was discarded, however there must have been more than one because the smell still remains.
December started with cold rain and a chance of snow this week. While I think that will be exciting, the fact that my two oldest children are without heavy coats will be a problem. I mean, who needs heavy coats at the beginning of December when you live in Houston? Evidently we do! As I headed out to JC Penny in search of parkas (surely there are some left on the racks) I discovered that other moms of girls wearing 4/5 were aware of this need before I was because there are none to be found in my girls' sizes. So I will continue with the search tomorrow. How awful it would be if they were denied play time in the snow because they are without a parka. I do realize that in the off chance it does snow and they play in it without a heavy coat, they will not catch a fatal disease. This is Houston after all, which means it "snows" for 20 mins and melts the instant in touches the ground.
I have put up and decorated the Christmas tree with some reluctance-from myself. The kids presents are wrapped and under the tree, although I am some what regretting that decision since they are inspecting them at every chance as well as interrogating me about the contents. I have figured out that the in plain view presents do offer some parental leverage. I caught myself saying this to the girls today: " Every time you girls fight you will have a present removed from under the tree." A lofty threat that will most likely not be followed through on but seems to be effective for now.