Happy Birthday Jack

Dear Jack,

Today is your second birthday. I remember October 23, 2006 like it was yesterday. I remember driving to the hospital with Daddy. We were crying as we drove because we were so excited for you and we were talking about Grandpa Ron. The next thing I remember was walking into the Labor & Delivery area of the hospital. We were led to the first room on the left. The nurse handed me a gown and robe. After I was on the surgical cart and prepped, Daddy changed into blue scrubs. We didn't have to wait very long before the nurse came in to wheel me to surgery. Daddy had to stay in the room until another nurse would allow him into surgery. The surgical room was very close to the L&D room. I remember watching each ceiling tile go over my head and waiting for 2 sets of double doors to open. Once through the second set of doors, I was in the surgical room. I received my spinal block and Daddy was allowed into surgery; it was 7:00am. Dr. Wierda entered the room and said hello & asked me if I was ready to be a mommy again. I said, "yes!" Daddy sat next to me and his face was close to my face. We didn't say too many words, when at 7:09am we heard Dr. Wierda announce, "I see a dark head of hair!" And seconds later we heard you cry. You were so red - and you had a lot of dark hair. You had an angel kiss on your nose. Daddy and I cried and cried. The nurses cleaned you, put a cap on you, wrapped you in a blanket and handed you to me. I held you and said, "hello Jack." You and I (with Daddy close behind) were wheeled back into the L&D room. Grandma Dolly was in the room when we arrived. As soon as I knew it, Daddy and Grandma Dolly scoped you out of my arms and started taking picture after picture after picture of you. I had to abruptly yell, "hey - can I have my baby back?" They were so excited for you that they just couldn't leave you alone. You must have been kissed a thousand times that day. It is a day I'll never forget. I love you, Jack. You will always be my baby.

XOXO

Mommy

Daddy's Gone

Daddy has been gone for 12 days. The boys and I miss him terribly. We've kept ourselves busy and mostly out of trouble. While daddy was in Little Rock we baked cookies, made halloween ghosts, went grocery shopping, and had fun in the tub.

Papertowls, crumpled newspaper & some string = fun halloween ghosts.

We love the little shopping carts!

Christmas In Early October!

Every once and a while, Joe and Jack will receive a gift package in the mail. Every time they receive one of those gift packs, it is from good old Uncle Brad and Uncle Stuart. This time around the boys were sent goodies such as new coloring books, candy, a new DVD, new T-Shirts, amoung other items. As you can see in the pictures, the boys didn't waste any time tearing apart the package to get to the goodies that were sent to them!

One of the items that was sent to the boys was a DVD of Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. This has become one of Joe's favorite DVD's to watch. He loves Snoopy and loves the way Snoopy laughs! Last weekend when Grandma Val watch the boys Joe colored a picture of Charlie Brown. At his tender age of 4, he is far better at coloring than his father ever has been. Keep up the great work Joe and keep the gift packages coming!

Thanks Uncle Brad and Uncle Stuart!!!

Take Jack Out To The Ballgame....

Baseball always has and always will be the #1 sport around the Jacobson house. Joe began playing baseball this past summer and his little brother Jack enjoyed watching Joe play. It seems as if Jack enjoys watching any baseball whether his brother is involved or not.

This past Wednesday, the Cubs were playing the Mets on ESPN. We had just finished having dinner and Joe was helping me clear the table and clean up the kitchen. When we were finished, we went downstairs to find Jack sitting all by himself watching the Cubs game. He was planted on the floor, right in front of the TV and barely flinched when I came down to take these pictures of him.

Here is Jack working on his catcher's stance

Jack thinking, "It's gonna happen. This is the year of the Cub!"

October is right around the corner and our Cubbies will be marching their way to the World Series. So get comfortable Jack!

Questions

Joe asks question after question. And some of his questions are hard to anwer for one reason or another. Some of his questions make me laugh and others make me cry. He has asked if Grandpa Ron is in heaven. He has asked if Grandpa Ron is with Lucy (our old cat). He has asked if heaven is in the future. He has asked if the future means his birthday party. He is insightful and getting so smart in his old age (almost 5). Anyway, I'm going to start sharing his questions on this blog. This weekend he asked me, "when I was in your belly, did I know how to kung-fu?"

5 Second Rule

(Life for the Jacobson's has been busy. And apparently life has been too busy to allow for blogging.)

I saw this cartoon - and it made me think about all the rules we have at our house.

We really don't have a rule about food on the floor - as Chance & Wrigley are quick to pick up any bit of food that falls to the floor. A mac-n-cheese noodle, once falling to the floor, usually is caught by Chance before it reaches the ground.

Here are some of our rules:

No Wrestling In The House

(Nobody listens or abides by this rule.)

No Sleeping In the Kitchen

(This is Jack after he refused to sleep in his crib. We found him one morning sleeping in the kitchen. We have since purchased a toddler bed. He doesn't sleep in the toddler bed either. I found him this morning sleeping behind the rocking chair in his room.)

No Leaving the Group - Stick Together

(The toddlers at school took a field trip to the zoo. I volunteered to help. Jack refused to ride in the buggy with the other kids. He refused to ride in anything with wheels. "I walk. I walk.")

Trip to the zoo

There were friends in town a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy the pictures!

One small step for man, one giant leap for Jack!

Every parent's worst fear happened at our house on Sunday. Jack escaped from his crib. There were no witnesses, so it is still unclear how a short, 22-month-old got out of his crib. All of Jack's possible methods (climbed, leaped, catapulted, hurtled, propelled and slung) keep me awake at night. It is not like he is a rock climber and he has on a helmet, a safety harness & propelling ropes.

Now, we don't know what to expect from the little guy. Sunday night and Monday night there were no escape attempts made. And his crib-mates, Tigger, Porky (the porcupine), and Curious George, were all in the crib at lights out - and were found in the crib at wake-up time. One would figure if an escape attempt were in-process, the crib-mates would be in on the scheme.

Case# RG5690sB

Name: Jack Ronald Jacobson

Known Alias: Jack-a-Roo

Accomplices: Tigger, Porky, Curious George

Suspect is short but strong. He has no tattoos, but likes to show-off his belly button. He should be considered a flight risk.

Fort Jacobson

Matt and I have been debating getting the boys a swingset / adventure center / "get-outside-&-play-boys" destination. It has been a hard decision. We wanted the boys to be safe and the latest and greatest adventure sets are filled with ropes, chains and high towers. All of which seem, to their mom, to be a death trap. Our discussions often left Matt and I feeling selfish, in that we didn't want to ruin the grass in the backyard & still wanted our announcement of "we're going to the park" to be taken with excitement and glee. We figured if we installed an enormous playset - then the grass would die & we'd never have a reason to travel to our favorite park.

So, we think we settled on the perfect playset for the boys: A FORT. I think "fort" screams boys & adventure. And wouldn't you know, Matt and I found a fort. We bought it and brought it home and even built it. We think the boys will love it.

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July. It was nothing fancy or overly patriotic, but it was fun and relaxing. Matt's family came over on the 4th to BBQ. We visited, laughed and were entertained by the boys. There was, of course, some baseball played and we, of course, ate pie. We lit a few sparklers. Joe didn't want to participate in the sparklers. He wanted to be a "spectator" only. Jack was very interested in the sparklers - although he wanted to touch the hot-sparkler part. The weather was great. And we ate & ate & ate. Enjoy the pictures.

Jack the baseball player.

Matt & his mom by the grill.

Family with *STAR* shaker wands.

Joe with his *STAR* wand.

Mama kissing Jack's little toes.

JRJ Book Club

Both Joe & Jack really love books. We read each night before we go to bed. It is one of my favorite times of the day. In the spirit of Oprah's bookclub, we present the JRJ bookclub!

We really love anything by Sandra Boynton. Our favorites are:

Our favorite letters are "W - weasels whistling"
and "G - gophers grinning"

This book is really one big song.

This is the last book I read to Jack every night.
"The moon is high, the sea is deep, we rock and rock and rock to sleep." Goodnight Jack

This used to be the last book I read to Joe every night.
According to Joe, he is too big for baby books now.
"So hop into bed & turn out the light. You can have a party in your dreams tonight." Goodnight Joe

This is one of Jack's favorites. It is too cute & fun to read.

This is one of Joe's favorites - especially during the winter.
The illustration/art is amazing.

This is another of Joe's favorite books.
It has smelly stickers - readers get to smell a rose, peach, strawberry jam, pickles, etc.

Everyone loves Maisy! And so does Jack. We read this book almost every night. Jack points to the pictures, "eight ducks" swimming in the pond.