Jacob is 1 and a HALF!

Jacob turned 18 months on Saturday!
It was a nice cool morning on Saturday, so we got up and went for a walk and stopped at Carl's Jr. for breakfast. Then later that afternoon we went to the Orchards mall, did a little shopping, got some lunch, and let Jacob run around the playground.

It was cute- he kept climbing up and then sliding down this leaf

He also loved waving to the people on the little train. And he even liked these weird clowns that were walking around- everyone else was scared of them because they had really freaky faces, but Jacob kept smiling and was so interested in watching them walk around.

Later that night we got a babysitter for Jacob for a few hours so that Luke and I could go to Stake Conference that night, but he was still up when we got home, so we let him dig into his half-birthday cake!
I was too lazy to decorate it and couldn't find any of my candles- but he didn't care, it was still yummy!
He even got lots of presents! Well, actually I got lucky there was a "Just Between Friends" kids sale that I've gone to a few times, but they had another one just a few days before he turned 18 months. And now that he's moving up into 18 month size clothes and we're hitting the new cooler season, I had a lot of clothes I needed to buy for this little guy!
So I ended up finding a winter coat, one jacket, one hoodie, snowboots, 3 pants, 7 t-shirts, 2 nice church shirts, one sweater, and 4 pajamas! Actually I probably had 10 more shirts I wanted to buy but I held back, and just picked out my favorites. And they're all in really good condition- and the most I spent on an item was $8 for the coat! I love cheap stuff for kids :)
Jacob did a little modeling for me- boots fit good! I know it could snow anytime in the next month- so now he's ready! Too bad the coat is still wayyy too big though! Haha poor kid- he has a lot of growing to do this winter!
Speaking of growing, I also took Jacob to the doctor today. And I am proud to announce Jacob is officially over 20 pounds! Finally! He is now 20 lbs 12 oz, and 32 inches tall. So even though he's gained just over a pound in 3 months, somehow he's still moved up the scale in percentile- between the 3rd and 10th is all the doctor said. And then he's still 50% in height, so that's good!
Jacob also has all his teeth except for the two bottom back molars I think- it's hard to see, but that's one thing he's got is a rack of big teeth!
He's also been great at picking up new words here and there, still working on a lot of little words I've been practicing with him, but he's probably got a vocabulary of about 30 words now!

And we are alllmost off that pacifier! That has been a goal I've been working slowly towards for the past few months. I've just gradually taken it away more and more and we were off it completely for a few days, but then he got sick and had babysitters for 2 nights so I gave back in. But we are just about there, and so far he's been handling it very well! He can still fall asleep without his pacifier and won't even cry, which has been great!

So I took Jacob out Sunday to get some pictures of him and I had a hard time getting him to cooperate! Like this picture above- he refused to look at me! I don't know how people do it. And it didn't help that I decided to try a different camera and it didn't work out as well as I hoped, but I still managed to get a couple cute ones of him running around.

This little guy keeps me busy but this stage has also been so much fun as he's been learning and doing so much more! Love you Jacob!

Our Labor Day Weekend

It was so nice to enjoy the long weekend with Luke- he actually didn't have to work that weekend, and had half a day on Friday, and Monday off- yay! So the first order of business was to go to the pool! We hadn't gone together with the 3 of us all summer, and we figured it was our last chance!

I had taken Jacob swimming twice but this was the first time to hang out with his dad. We took him in the bigger pool first with his floatee and he is such a good little kicker! And while Luke went down all the water slides (he was all excited like a little kid, haha) I held Jacob so he could splash and kick some more. But he also loved walking around in the little kiddie pool! He did fall a few times and was under for a second, so we had to start holding on to the back of his shirt so that he wouldn't fall when he tripped. But you could tell he felt like such a big boy :)

Then Saturday night we actually had some of my family drive back through Denver. I know-I've been spoiled seeing my family so much this year!

My dad and Andrea helped James drive out his escort to BYU-Idaho from Maryland. This is the same car I got on my 17th birthday and it's been passed down through 5 kids since! We were all a little worried about it making it across the country, but they finally made it into Denver their second day of driving, just after midnight on Saturday. So we only really had Sunday together, it was a short visit. But we went to church Sunday morning, then came home and relaxed a bit, then had pulled pork sandwiches for dinner that Luke had smoked up the day before, and then played a couple rounds of Rook. Afterwards, we headed to the Loughe's house to visit and for some dessert. My dad was good friends with the Loughe's when they lived in Maryland several years ago, and it's just a coincidence they are in our ward now and live just down the street.

So we had a good time visiting with all of them, and Andrea made good friends with Tori and Shannon! Unfortunately this was the only picture I took all weekend with them here, but it was still a nice little visit- especially to have family come visit me!

Then since Luke was off Monday too, we went to the Taste of Colorado downtown. They had a big carnival on the streets with rides, games, and all sorts of food stands from restaurants. Luke was interested in trying Famous Dave's BBQ. We got a taste of their ribs and pulled pork and compared it to what we had made the day before- and wow, theirs was so much better! Luke's bbq is good, but I guess they're famous for a reason. We walked around the shops and stuff too and I even found some pretty bed sheets for only $20.

Anyways, so it was a good relaxing weekend and fun to see family too. But to be honest, Luke and I each had things that we would have rather done this weekend!

If it was up to Luke, and my family wasn't coming in, we would have driven four hours west to the other side of the mountains and stayed a day or two in Rifle, CO so that we could have gotten Palisade Peaches. And I would have been happy picking some peaches, but maybe next year.

What I really wanted to do was go Labor Day sale shopping! I've been kind of going crazy because there's so much stuff I want to buy and do for our house but Luke just wants me to wait a little and not go crazy! But not having the go-ahead to buy anything is actually making me more crazy!

I've been really wanting a chair for our family room to fill in a big gap in the corner of our room. We have brown leather couches but kind of have a reddish cherry tint so I thought I could get away with a red chair. I really like the color of the first one but it's a little expensive, so I found this other red chair that I like that was on sale. But looking back at it, it does seem reeeally red, so maybe it's good for me to think it over a little bit more.
And Luke and I don't really have intentions of getting another couch yet, but I know it won't be much longer until I'm ready for one either. One front living room is so empty, it really would be nice to have a couch! And then I found this one!
It's pretty cheap with this Labor Day sale and it was soo soft and comfy! And I like the nuetral color, and look at the texture of it! So now I really want this set even more than I want a chair!

Sooo I'm not sure if I should go for it or not, just because they are on sale or if I should wait until we're "ready" to get more furniture. There will be other sales right? I'm not sure, but in the meantime my next project is to have all my baseboards, window sills, and door frames painted white! Now the questions is whether to pay a lot of money to have someone do it in 4 days, or try to get as much done on my own for the next few months to save money but waste my time? I'm indecisive so I'll probably think about it for awhile, but I'm getting anxious for something to do and something new!

4 years...

Yup, Luke and I just celebrated our 4 year anniversary! It really is amazing to think how much has happened since then and how fast it's really gone! And it is a little weird to me that even though Erika and I are so close in age and were only one grade apart in school, she got married almost exactly 4 years after me! And it makes me a little sad to think that they aren't planning on having kids anytime soon- because my kids are going to need cousins their age! But oh well, that doesn't matter right now...

Back to our anniversary! I mentioned before that Luke and I were lucky enough to go to the beach to celebrate our anniversary this year. I like the idea of having at least one night out of the year away from kids, so I hope that can become an anniversary tradition. Our anniversary was actually one week ago on August 26, and we went to the beach exactly one week before that, but celebrating one week early isn't too bad. And it worked out nice since we were already in town with family that we could leave Jacob with all of them and I felt comfortable enough between my mom, dad, James, Julia and Andrea that he'd be just fine!

So we left that Thursday morning for Rehoboth Beach- which is the same beach we honeymooned at! And we stayed at this really cute little house/hotel on the same block as the boardwalk and only 3 blocks north of Main Street! So it was right in the middle of everything so that was a really fun and memorable place for us to stay!

So after figuring out where we were staying, and checking in, we headed straight for the beach! It was a smidge cloudy when we got there, but after getting lunch at Grotto's Pizza a half hour in, all the clouds were gone! So we got a fair amount of sun time, which was really all I cared about.

But Luke did get me to go into the water too- and only because the waves crashed before our knees even got wet. Otherwise I don't think I would have made it- I've seriously developed a strong fear of ocean waves. Even when I got in that first day I was clinging onto Luke like crazy because I guess the waves got bigger when I went in and needed some help jumping them- and the water was cold! But I was still proud of myself for getting in since I swore I wouldn't!
So then at about 6:00 we finally left the beach, changed back at our place, and headed out for dinner. We drove around a couple places first but in the end we ended up parking back at our hotel and walking back to Main Street to find a good place to eat. By then it was getting a little late and we were starving but we found a nice restaurant that had ribs and pulled pork for Luke and fish for me- so it was perfect for both of us! Then we walked back along the boardwalk and stopped at the arcades and we each played a game of skee-ball, but neither of us won haha. Then we walked along the sandy beach back to our hotel- I know, so romantic.

The next morning we checked out of our hotel and then went out to breakfast at this cute little breakfast diner. Then, back to the beach! Friday was such a beautiful beach day, it was pretty hot and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky!

And the coolest thing was that whole afternoon we spotted probably a hundred dolphins! I'm not even kidding, there was a huge school of them swimming really close to shore, and they were showing off tricks and everything!
You can see how close some of these dolphins got- there's at least 3 right there beyond those kids! Anyway, that was really neat because everyone would just stand along the beach and ooh and ahh at the dolphins flipping around and swimming up and down along the shore.
And usually Luke is the one begging me to get in the water but I was the one that kept begging him to get in that day because it was soo hot! And the water was so low that I actually really enjoyed being in the water! So I needed a picture to prove I got all the way wet ;)

We had to leave the beach around 4:30 or so that day since we needed to return our parking pass by 5. Then we shopped at the outlets on the way out of town and got some clothes for Jacob, and a new swimming suit and shirt for Luke. Then we picked up some Grotto's pizza again for the ride home, and we also picked up a Rita's ice. Everyone out east had been talking about Rita's so I just had to try it, and it was yummy!

So we made it home a little after 9 that night, and we had a great time! It felt a little fast but we definetly enjoyed our time and were able to relax while we were there! We thought about Jacob a little bit but didn't really have enough time to miss him ;) But we were happy to see him when we got home! Jacob did just fine while we were gone of course- here are some pictures I found of him while we were away.
I guess this little toy ring kept him occupied for awhile :)
Apparently he really loved playing with my dad- Jacob was laughing like crazy when he was around!

Playing with Julia- she had been such a great helper with Jacob the entire vacation!

Jacob also loves to play with Andrea since she's so much fun too!

Forget mom and dad, I'm just fine!
When we got home I tried him in one of his shirts from Rehoboth beach, but it's still too big!
So on our real anniversary a week later Luke and I got Jacob a babysitter and went out to dinner at Maggiano's in downtown Denver. We had a great coupon where you each pay $13 for a meal, then we each got to take another meal home for free! Then we also had a dessert coupon for $2! So by the time we left we had 2 boxes of leftovers, another 2 full meals to-go, and this beautiful chocolate mousse cake!

Yea that was pretty awesome. While we were at dinner Luke also saw Ubaldo Jimenez, who plays for the Rockies but he said he's one of the best pitchers in all baseball. I tried to get Luke to go over and say hi or get a picture with him, but he was too embarrassed and didn't want to bother him while he was on a date. But it was still kind of neat.

Anyway, I feel like this years anniversary was a lot of fun! 4 years down and several more to go!

Rounding up our trip...

Wednesday was our last day to really all hang out together since Tyler and Erika were flying back to Idaho Thursday and Luke and I would also be taking off to the beach. We were thinking about going downtown but it ended up being another cool and rainy day, so we went shopping again!

We fooled around at a couple stores, and everybody got a little something somewhere. Julia was a great shopping buddy for me since I really needed her help to spice up my wardrobe. My goal was to find some cute cardigans for the fall- I haven't used them much but I'm really not sure why since they totally fit my simple style! Julia even helped me pick out a really cute scarf, and with her guidance I think I could pick out a couple more cute ones for the fall too!

I like to say Julia saved my life- she seriously gave me so many great tips! She's going to be so great at interior design at college!

So on Thursday Luke and I took off for the beach (without Jacob!) to celebrate our anniversary, and then came back Friday night. I'll save all that for my next post though. So Saturday was our real last day since we needed to leave early Sunday morning to catch the first flight back to Denver.

So first my dad took Andrea, Julia, Luke and I on a little walk around Centennial Park, it was actually a really pleasant day.
Later on I caught a early dinner with my two best friends from home- Katie and Amy! I always love catching up with them! It usually ends up being only about once a year or so, but it's always fun to see them when I'm home!

Later Saturday night there was a big preseason game on- Redskins vs Ravens- battle of the beltway! Lucky for Luke his parents flew in that afternoon so while I went to my dinner with my friends he took Jacob and picked up his parents at the airport and then I met up with them to watch the game at his grandma's house.

Luke was so excited to watch the game in his new Redskins coat that he found at a thrift store a few days earlier for only $8! I admit it's a great price, but I think the jacket's a little hideous, haha. But we also found this shirt for Jacob when we went shopping at the mall earlier that week- and this picture is so funny to me because it says it all!

So we had a good time hanging out together one last night. Actually the whole trip was so much fun! Just going back and blogging about everything and looking through all the pictures just made me smile-and laugh! We all really enjoyed our time being home with family and it's hard going back home to Denver after spending so much good time together! Hopefully it won't be too long before we can all get together again!