The blog you've been waiting for!

So, here's the update from the past 2 weeks! It's our life in pictures! (a few of the pictures are HUGE...not sure why! sorry!!)

This past Saturday we visited Virginia Tech for the football game...

 My 3 guys walking around campus.

 Jacob cheesing it up while we waited for Zach to pee for the 16th time.

 For some reason this was supposed to scare me. Jake loves balancing on anything (so does Zach but he was too worried about winning the race down the steps to worry about balancing!).

 Rolling down a hill on the drill field.

 Zach was a little bit dizzy from rolling down the hill!

 Jake posing after rolling down the hill.

 Chasing each other on the drill field.

 Chasing Daniel around the drill field.

 The boys and Daniel posing in front of Burrus Hall and the memorial site.

 I'm sure they were saying "We're tired of the pictures mom!"

 But they still had to pose with me!

 It's just too much to ask for a "normal" picture!!

 It doesn't matter how small the hill is...they'll roll down it.

 little hokies.

 Jacob's pregame face!

 Zach's pregaming..

 Daniel and I decided it was MUCH EASIER to jump when they play Enter Sandman when the team runs out without holding onto a kid. Jacob apparently thought it was great, Zach was just worried about his candy. If I would've known Metallica introduced it I would've turned the camera on sooner because that was pretty cool! Have a look!

There was a lot of screaming going on around us...and it wasn't just us!

 3rd down so Jake was shaking the keys!

 posing with a mouthful of popcorn.

 The nice lady behind us volunteered to take our picture together (Daniel was in line for pretzels...I had already made a snack run.).

 Cotton candy! 

 Jake taking the world's tiniest bite of the turkey leg.

 Zach smelling the turkey leg. The child that tried a fried pork rind in the car wouldn't take a bite of the turkey leg. (For the record, he didn't like the pork rind.)

 mmmmmmm!

 Coming back to our seats with snacks! I think they had a potty break too. I took them both to the bathroom once and they declared the women's bathroom boring and only wanted to go to the men's bathroom.

Almost at the end of the game! And yes, Daniel looks goofy.

THEN, on Sunday we celebrated our nephew, Hayden's, 2nd birthday!!

 His mommy requested he have a wiggles cake so thats what I made!

 the Octopus!

 the Wiggley house!

 with the #2 candle

 Daniel, the boys, and their Dee-Daw (Daniel's dad if you can't tell).

 Zach loves to steal Dee-Daw's hat.

 Dee-Daw rescued Zach from the picnic table before he fell.

The birthday boy and his cake!! (might I add that he had pulled ALL of their heads off..look closely and you'll see)

The weekend before, Daniel finished a handrail he was working on, we went fishing, and we had a little party at the house with our neighbors!

 The handrail Daniel made.

 Zach's first fish of a bunch for the night!

 Can't remember if this is the same one or the one he caught like a minute later.

 Jake's first fish of the night! (using Zach's pole)

 So excited!!

 A boy and his fish!

 Everybody's happy! Jake was getting a fish right then and Zach caught one right after!

 The boys and their fish!

 Look at Zach's face!

 The perfect picture!!

The boys were done! Daniel started using Jake's pole at this point hoping to catch a fish of his own...

 Ready to decorate cupcakes at the party!

 Who needs a cupcake when you can just eat the candy?

 YUM!

 The pinata that just wouldn't break. The thing on the top that held the rope ultimately broke and Daniel decided he'd stand there and hold the pinata while a child with a METAL bat swung at it. Pretty sure he hadn't had any beer yet. 

 This is who my children refer to as "Aunt Erin." She hijacked the gator and rode it down the street.

 Daniel, Abby, and Zach on the lawn mower.

The weekend before we had Jake's party in Powhatan and then when we got back the boys had to try out a couple of the new toys..

 Jake's Iron Man cake. I wish I would've been more creative with it!

 He was happy!

 The pinata!

 More pinata!

 Zach was collecting candy from under the picnic table.

 Presents!

 Isn't this how you ride your brother's skateboard??

 It's much easier when someone holds onto you and gives you a push!

 Zach thought this was the best way to ride...

Jake on his new scooter.

Building a new puzzle.

I'd say we've had a really fun past 2 weeks! My fancy camera is off at Nikon in New York getting worked on so hopefully I'll have it back soon. We're still trying to get our open projects finished up on our house before people come up for Thanksgiving. I still have pictures to post from Jake's actual birthday when we went to the Please Touch Museum. Maybe later today or tomorrow (and hopefully not 2 weeks from now... ;-) ).

I keep putting it off!

I know it's been a while since I've posted.. I've been trying to get stuff done around the house. My to-do list is a mile long. We have a ton of unfinished projects that I'm determined to finish before Thanksgiving! I have lots of pictures to post and updates from Jake's birthday...somewhere in the midst of the excitement my fancy camera broke/got broken/just won't take pictures anymore. So, taking it to a UPS store to ship it to Nikon to get fixed is somewhere on my to-do list. I need at least 10 more hours in everyday so I can get stuff done....on the same amount of sleep! Maybe later tonight I'll have time to sit and go through pictures so I can write a better post!!

Jacob turns 5!

At 5:06pm today my sweet Jakey turns 5 years old. I have soooo many emotions about it. I'm happy and excited ..because he's turning 5..but I'm so sad ..because he's turning 5. I just feel like crying!! I seriously have no idea how on earth I've been a mom for 5 years. I remember like it was yesterday going to the hospital with a lot of back pain and having my doctor tell me my best option was a c-section. I cried and cried and cried to Daniel because I had a plan and a c-section was not any part of it! Then I called my mom and cried and cried and cried to her about it. An emotional woman is bad...an emotional pregnant woman 1 week past her due date is a nightmare. My c-section surgery kept getting post poned that day..which made it even worse.
Finally, it was our turn...

After they got his head out I remember the doctor saying "Good decision going with a c-section, mom! He's big!" 9 lbs 1 oz; 20.5 inches long.

 Our first picture. I remember kissing his sweet little cheek for the first time.

 In recovery. Just a few hours old.

 Jacob with Daniel.

 I remember the nurse pushing his little bassinet down to our room ever so quietly and slowly...she wanted us to see him grasping on to the blue bulb suction thing.

 Our first family photo.

 perfect!

 this is one of my all time favorites of Jacob with Daniel.

and an all time favorite of Jacob with me.

and this is probably my most favorite picture of Jacob with my daddy. I need to work on it to get the glare from the lamp out of the picture.

 My mom holding Jacob for the first time. He was the first grandchild for my parents.

 And my daddy holding him for the first time.

 so sweet. The first time I ever saw so much emotion in my dad was when my parents left my house in CT to go back to VA after their visit with us after Jake was born. While we all cried my mom hugged me and told me I was a great mom. I learned from the best.

 Daniel's mom holding her 6th grandbaby!!

 and Daniel's daddy holding his 6th grandbaby.

 My Grandma Gibson holding Jacob. Jacob was the first great-grandchild for all of my grandparents!

My Grandpa Gibson with Jake. I hope Jacob has enough memories of him to remember him forever.

He was such a wonderful man.

 Daniel's grandaddy holding Jacob. I'm not sure that Jacob really remembers him because unfortunately we didn't get to see him very much...we'll have to do our best to tell him about what a great man he was also.

 My Grandpa Zukowski with his first great-grandbaby. Jake calls him GGP ("jeep") and always wants GGP to get down on the floor and play cars with him.

And last but not least, Jake with his Great-Grandma Zukowski. "GG" always gets to read books with Jacob and occasionally build puzzles!

I feel very blessed that both of my kids have gotten the chance to meet and know all of my grandparents. I only really remember one of my great grandparents (Great Grandma Thielk) though I have lasting memories in my head of my Great Grandma Zukowski through the stories I've heard (even though I was too young to remember her when she passed away). I'm sad that my kids won't get to know my Grandpa Gibson since he's gone now but hope that I can create memories for them through stories so they'll feel like they knew him forever. I'm really fortunate to have such a wonderful family. 

Fast forward 5 years.. . . My sweet "little" boy is not so little anymore.

 he likes to help cut the grass..but he doesn't cut in straight lines. He likes to do more of a "freestyle" pattern.

 and he aerates the lawn.

 Well..it'll probably work better when it's on our lawn tractor. Notice it's held onto the tractor's "hitch" with a screwdriver and a heavy duty clip? yep. Apparently that's how we roll.

 in his "climbing tree" as he calls it.

my big boy. 

If I'm so emotional with him turning 5...how in the world am I going to deal with other milestone events...like starting Kindergarten?????????? (At least I have 11 months to figure it out!!)

Hopefully I'll get to post tonight about our Birthday fun! Both kids have preschool in the AM but we have a fun afternoon planned! (and hopefully the "no nap" part of our plan won't ruin the fun!)