Look What I Can Do!

My little Jacob is growing up to be quite a little character! His favorite thing to do lately is get the vacuum out and pretend to vacuum. He likes to try to "help" me vacuum also. He grabs onto the vacuum and wants to help me push it along. He kinda slows down the process, but he's learning right? Hopefully he'll still be enthusiastic about it when he can actually do it the right way and really help me out!




Another vacuum story. Jacob likes to sit right in the middle of the vacuum hose while I'm trying to vacuum. I don't know what it is he likes about it. Maybe it's like his own little play space and he feels safe inside of it. Sometimes it will get a little tight around him and he cracks up so hard! He's crazy!




Another funny thing. Jacob was eating his froot loops one morning and decided it would be fun to stick his finger inside the hole of the froot loop and eat them that way. I guess it was easier than using his spoon! When he got one on his finger, he smiled so big and was so proud of himself! Funny little dude!

Mia's 3 Months Old

Just wanted to post a bit about Mia. She's actually 3 and a half months old. She likes to play peek-a-boo, pat-a-cake, and sing Itsy Bitsy Spider. She's starting to grasp toys and bat at her toys in her play gym.

She looks just like her big sister with her big blue eyes and her big cheeks.

Here's Asia at 3 months:


Here's Mia at 3 months:

They definitely look related! Mia's even getting the fuzzy hair look that Asia sported for 6 months!

Mia has also found a new talent like her big sister; sucking her thumb!



She loves it! She will even suck both thumbs, not at the same time, but she will alternate. If one thumb is covered up, she will find her other thumb and suck it. I used to suck my left thumb and Asia sucked her right thumb. I think she sleeps so well because she can pacify herself with her thumb. She will sometimes be just in her crib in the morning, sucking away at her thumb, just content as could be. What a little sweetie.

She's getting to be very ticklish on her neck and sides of her belly. She will nurse about every 4 hours and will sleep 10 to 12 hours at night, with 3 naps during the day. She's a very happy, content baby and we love our Princess Mia!

Happy Heart Day!

I know, I'm playing catch up once again, but that's just how I am I guess! Love it or leave it! We started off the festivities on Wednesday since that's when Asia's party at preschool was. She even put all of the names on her valentines all by herself. She loves to write words and read books. What a little smarty. Totally different than her big brother. Although, Ethan put all of the names on his valentines too this year. And he didn't even complain! Big change from last year!

Anyway, Asia decided she wanted to have me put hearts in her hair for her preschool party. I tried, but didn't have enough time to get it quite right. Also, not enough time for a picture. Oh well. We tried again on Friday with her friend Mara. It turned out better this time.




Later that afternoon we invited some of the kids' friends and we decorated heart cookies. They were so yummy! It's become kind of a tradition now I guess. Fun times.






Valentine's Day was a fun day, especially since it was on a Saturday. Mike and I went out Friday night so we could spend the whole day with the family. We started out with yummy heart shaped huckleberry pancakes.




Then I HAD to cut the boys' hair. They were all getting some unruly mops. Then I got to go shopping with my friend Emily. Kohls was having 25% off their clearance so I got a couple of things 80% off and then 25% off that. I found some great deals and had great company. I got back in time to do my neighbor's hair for the sweetheart dance at the school. Then my neice called and needed her hair dome too. It's fun to do hair. I should've went to hair school. Maybe later.

Anyway, then we went to Dave and Emily's for a night out with the kids. I made heart shaped pizzas for the kids and we had a lovely steak and potato dinner. Then we watched the 3-point shoot-out and the slam dunk contest. It's crazy what these guys can do with a basketball, especially the little short dude! Unbelieveable! So, all-in-all a fun, low-key v-day. Just the way we like it! :)

Another Cheer Camp and Another Visit From the Tooth Fairy!

Asia got to go to another cheer camp a few weeks ago with her friend Mara. She really enjoys it, although she's not very flexible and doesn't have any rhythm! She's pretty shy also, but when they did their little performance, she performed her little heart out! We'll just have to work on the rhythm thing!



Notice her friend Mara on the left. Mara's 4 months older than Asia, so you can see how tall Asia actually is. I will have to get her into basketball next year instead of cheering for the basketball team!



A couple of weeks ago, Asia lost another tooth. This time it was her bottom right tooth. It had been loose for a couple of months. So when her cousin Breanna came over and showed us her missing teeth, Asia wanted hers to come out too. We tried a couple of times to yank it out with a tissue, but it wasn't quite loose enough. I yanked on it one more time and it popped out but we couldn't find it! Luckily it had just fallen onto her pants. It was such a tiny little thing! We put it in the tooth fairy pillow and the next morning she had fifty cents under her pillow. What a brave, tough little girl!

Ice Skating

On one of Mike's days off, we decided to go ice skating as a family. We invited my friend Mikki and her kids and we had a great time. It was a perfect winter day with the sun shining and no wind! Asia and Ethan both have their own skates and so do Mike and I. We went to a free outdoor rink by the zoo. It's a pretty fun, cheap way to hang out with the fam. Ethan and Asia are getting to be pretty good, actually moving a bit without falling on their butts! Jacob just liked sliding in the sled and the hot chocolate afterward. We brought his "bob" skates, but didn't put them on him. Maybe next time. He also liked pushing Mia in the stroller. Mia just hung out in the stroller and eventually fell asleep. She's such a great baby!

Mia is 2 Months!!

Time really flies by! Mia is actually almost 3 months old but I need to post some pictures of her when she was 2 months old. She's starting to smile more and has big chubby cheeks like the rest of the kids had at this age. She loves to be sung to and loves to play patty cake. I can almost get a giggle out of her by clapping her hands together. So cute!

More About Ethan

And as if you thought the birthday celebrations were over, here's one more to add to the list. Since Asia was able to go to Blast Off for her birthday, Ethan had to go there for his. He invited 6 friends from school and they all had a "BLAST". They played in the big jungle gym thingy, went rock climbing, and played lazer tag. I think Michael had the most fun playing lazer tag!





In between all of the playing we ate pizza, ate a Spiderman birthday cake, and opened presents. He even got a chance to go in the balloon blast and win prizes. After everyone left, Ethan and his dad got to play one more game of lazer tag and used his tokens to play the video games and win even more prizes. I think he had a pretty good time! Next year I think we'll have to scale down the parties a bit! Maybe just one for each kid. I think that will suffice! We did have some fun times though!

Ethan is 7!!

On Ethan's real birthday, he had a basketball game which they won. What a nice present. I think he even actually got the ball a couple of times too! When we got home, he decided we would have chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. Not the homemade yummy chicken noodle soup. Just the condensed kind that comes out of the can and you just have to add water. That's what he chose! Don't ask me why. He loves it and so does Asia! I can't complain, it was an easy meal to fix for him.




Then his cousins Weston and Kenna came over with their mom. We opened his presents and then we all had banana split sundaes for his chosen dessert. He loves chocolate sauce and caramel sauce on his sundaes. He even got to stay up an hour past his bedtime: 9:30 p.m.! What a party animal!

Ethan's Special Day

We decided that this would be the year to start a new tradition. On our kids' birthdays, Mike and I are going to take them out with just mommy and daddy on a special date. They get to choose whatever they want to do (within reason). So, Ethan's birthday was coming up and he decided he wanted to go to Winger's and Gameworld. We went to Winger's and he ordered the penne noodles with alfredo sauce and root beer. He also got to have their ashpalt pie and they sang a little "Happy Birthday" ditty for him. He was so embarrassed! It was fun to see what Ethan would choose to eat and what he would like to talk about. He liked being able to talk about anything he wanted to without being interrupted by his sister. We talked about Karlie, the girl he likes, and when they would get married! He likes to learn about everything, so he asked a lot of questions that I can't remember. We also played tic-tac-toe on his kids menu. He couldn't figure out how I kept winning!




Then it was off to Gameworld. He LOVES to play video games, so he was in heaven! We started off by riding these bumper car thingys. They were pretty fun. Then Ethan wanted to play the video games. He loves the ones with the guns and the fighting games. Don't ask me why. He went around the whole place and scoped out the games that he wanted to play. Then he found the ones with the guns and the fighting! He and his dad had fun shooting wild game and fighting the bad guys.




We all had so much fun! Ethan can't wait for next year to have a date with us again. We may have to do it again for his 6-month birthday!

Sledding!

We were able to go sledding during Christmas break. James and Cynthia got to come with us too. We went to Freeman park and the snow was so packed down that it was pretty much ice! There was a playground at the end of the hill on one side and a big picnic shelter on the other. Since it was pretty icy, it made it very hard to steer. We all had some close calls with both road blocks! After this adventure we all had some yummy hot chocolate. We need another good snowfall to be able to go again. It was pretty fun!








We even ended the day with a beautiful sunset.