16 & 17 Months

My goodness...where does the time go!  It is honestly difficult to sit down and create a monthly update by age!  Guess I need to catch up at some point so, here it goes...

Jake had his 15 month checkup at 16 months because a cold virus hit our house and stayed!  The three of us passed it back and forth for way too long.  Jake was pretty average all around with the exception of his height...yep, he's tall!  It is so funny to me.  His 18 month pants are exactly the right length - meaning, they won't fit next week.  I don't know where he got this gene!

Jake is the sweetest little guy; sharing hugs and kisses constantly.  He is also wild at the same time; tossing anything he can get his hands on and "talking" at the top of his lungs.  He is a ham to say the least.  Jake does not meet a stranger.  If he is ever shy it only lasts seconds and that is rare.  He still loves for everyone to clap for him.  I am curious why he needs so much approval and to have everyone proud of him - and then I realize he MAY just like to see that he can control the room. HA!

Jake Can...
crawl up the stairs
walk up the stairs with help
get off the couch and bed by himself
reach a doorknob (YIKES!)
stomp his feet, clap hands, and turn around when asked to
"roll the cake" in patty cake and "turn the wheels" in the wheels on the bus
dance (especially to Thomas the Train)
when he watches tv or hears us talk he often tries to sound out parts of the words we say


Jake's Vocabulary...
up, dog, fish, boo, cookie, daddy, mama, nana, bebe, duck/truck "uk", wow, ostrage "ost-ige", please, eyes, and probably a handful more that I cannot think of of the top of my head...  This is one of the neatest phases to me.  I find it so interesting to watch him learn and pick things up.

17 MONTHS

16 MONTHS

Christmas 2011

We had a Merry Christmas and hope your family did as well!  Last year Jake was just 4.5 months old so this year was a different parade!  He was really able to enjoy our Christmas traditions this year...

We make our way up to the NC mountains the weekend following Thanksgiving and cut down a tree each year.  It is so beautiful and we love to catch up with the Harrell family while we pick our perfect tree.  This year we just bought one since we have a toddler running around thought I must say he was really good with the tree!  Here are a few photos from out trip...

Christmas Eve, our tradition is to read The Night Before Christmas before bed.  Somehow we pulled that off last year, but this year - not so much.  We were worn out!  So, we will have to revisit that tradition in 2012. 

Christmas Day was such fun, but busy as well!  We started the morning with the surprises Santa left Jake under our tree (just the three of us).  Then, we headed to Budroe and Bebe's for gifts and lunch and then back to our house for dinner and gifts with my side of the family.  Christmas Eve morning we celebrated with my mom at her house and that was a relaxing treat as well!

A few holiday moments...

Our tree on Christmas morning!  I wish it wasn't so dark, but it was early!
Some of Jake's gifts included a workbench, a tunnel, a choo choo, books, a bath boat, and more!

Bethy & I relaxing by the tree...
actually, making sure Jake & Allie don't have a wrestling match over  the Fisher Price farm!

Jake trying out his new broom!

Allie & Jake enjoying their chairs from Great Aunt Barb!

Budroe, Neal, & Bob conducting some serious baking!

Mr. Potato Head aka Mr. Sneaky!

We hope that everyone had a great season and a Happy New Year.  May 2012 be a year of blessings!

Tree Hunting

I am quite behind, but I'm sticking to the good ol' philosophy "Better Late Than Never"!  Really, I thought about skipping right to 2012, but this is for Jake more than anyone and we have a few more memories from 2011 that must be recorded.  With that being said...

Happy Tree Hunting...

We have been driving to the mountains for the past several years cutting down a tree or two for the holidays and we love this tradition!  This started before Jake was born and we will continue it out.  He was such a trooper on the 3 hour drive there and 3 hour ride home.  

 We always enjoy catching up with Mr. Harrell and his lovely family!  Our tress are, without a doubt, beautiful, and the freshly hunted food that we purchase from them is great as well.  We couldn't find a better spot for our tree hunting tradition!

As usual, my camera is always pointing at Jake and I realized that I don't have one picture of our tree!  We decided to only purchase one tree this year and to turn the playroom into the "treeroom".  Nevertheless, Jake was wonderful around everyone's tree this year.