Baby #3 is on the way!!

Wow, I sure haven't been very good at updating this! A few months ago, we found out that baby #3 is on the way! We are super excited :)

We did plan on trying for #3 soon after Jacob turned 1. Didn't take long! Due on May 8th :) First trimester was a little rough at times, but I survived. I started feeling sick right at the 6 week mark. I wasn't quite as sick as I was with Claire (no throwing up), but I was sicker thank with Jacob. Will be interesting to find out the gender! Ben has been out of town working, so it was challenging at times when I felt terrible and I had to take care of the 2 little ones. Oh well, we survived!

Second trimester has been pretty great so far! I'm currently 17 weeks and feeling pretty good. I have been dealing with some lower back pain already... so I think I'm going to go see a chiropractor soon to get re-aligned. It is too early to be dealing with that already. We have the gender ultrasound on Dec 23.

So blessed to have such amazing kids and another on the way!

Baby #3 at 12 weeks

Jacob is ONE!

I can't believe it has already been a year. Seems like yesterday I first held my little man in my arms. He is the sweetest little boy and I absolutely love being his mama!

He has grown so much in the past year... From being a tiny newborn to the super-active little guy he is now. He's not quite walking yet, but I think it's going to happen soon. He cruises along furniture and loves climbing up the back of my legs while I'm trying to cook :) He is expanding his vocabulary too! He says, Mama, Dada, Hewwo (white holding up a toy phone to his ear), Hay-wee (Haley) and SteenKee (Stinkey).

He loves chasing the vacuum cleaner, eating dog food, and spilling Haley's water. He also enjoys pulling Claire's hair. He still eats more than I do sometimes! It's crazy how much this kid can eat. We had a great Birthday Party for him this past weekend. I did an animals theme (pretty much the cake and cupcakes) and we grilled burgers, brats, and hot dogs. Had around 40 people here. It was a great time! He got lots of great gifts, including 2 John Deere trucks he can scoot around in.

Hard to believe my little guy is one.... and I am so so blessed that God picked me to be his Mama!!

Love you so much Jacob Lincoln!

Jacob-11 Months!

Our sweet baby boy is 11 months! Almost 1 already. So crazy how time flies. He is very much still a sweet, cuddly baby :) He LOVES his Mamma and usually cries when I go out of the room. Whenever he is upset about anything, he wants me. And that is perfectly ok with me. I know it won't last long... so I'm going to soak it in while I can!

He's eating more than me right now. Seriously... this kid is eating A LOT. The other day, he ate 3 big blueberry pancakes. He usually eats half my plate of dinner too. Definitely eating more than Claire... and he often finishes whatever is left on her plate. He's walking along furniture now, and it won't be long until he's taking his first steps. Still sleeping great at night and napping twice a day. I have nothing to complain about! He recently started saying "Dada" and "Mama"... Dada came first :) He also tries to say "stinkey" when I'm changing his diaper.

Love this little man so much!!

Jacob 11 Months

Jacob- 10 Months!

Jacob is now 10 months! He's growing so much lately. He is now taking steps while holding on to furniture or holding my hands. He pulls himself up to anything he can, which results in some tumbles... but he recovers pretty well most of the time :) He is perfecting his waving skills, and recently started shaking his head back and forth like he's dancing. So sweet :) Still eating and growing great!

Claire is also doing really well. She can now count to 10. Actually 12 now... I've been counting with her a lot, and I think Mickey Mouse helps too :) We've started potty training and she has been doing pretty well so far. We've had several accidents (the poop ones aren't so fun), but she's also making it to her potty a lot too, so we're doing good! She loves going outside to see the chickens and play on her swing set. She also loves putting on pretty outfits, playing with her baby dolls, throwing Jacob's dirty clothes in the hamper, helping Mamma with dishes and laundry, and having conversations with Haley :) She is such a smart little 2 year old and we love her to pieces.

Love these babies so much!

Jacob 10 Months

Jacob-9 Months!

Where has the time gone... my sweet baby boy is 9 months! Only 3 months away from being a year old... seems so crazy to me.

Jake is doing so great. He is growing and becoming more active and strong. He just started pulling himself up! I sat him up next to the piano and he pulled himself up to his feet :) I don't know if I can technically count it as pulling himself up on his own since I helped him to the sitting position... but we're close! He sits up great, but doesn't get back down the the ground very gracefully yet, so I have to sit right with him all the time. He's crashed a few times.... but we're getting there :) He just started waving too with his fingers... it is so sweet!

He is a great eater! Loves pretty much everything except for zucchini. If I hide it in sweet potato, he doesn't seem to mind. He recently started eating puffs, and he loves them!

Love my little man!!!

Claire is TWO!!!

Our sweet girl is TWO YEARS OLD! Hard to believe. It really is amazing how fast she has gone from a newborn baby to a very smart toddler with her very own little personality :)

Claire is a great talker. She will repeat anything you say, and she pronounces words very well. We have been working on potty training, but she doesn't want anything to do with it at the moment. We may take a break and try again in another week or so. She is doing very well letting Momma put in pony tails and hair bows now.... most of the time. It's amazing how much older she looks with her hair up in a pony tail! She LOVES reading books and learning new things. Quite a little smarty pants!

She is still a great eater. Doesn't eat a lot of food, but she isn't very picky. She loves eating fruits and vegetables (yay!!) and she especially likes "macaronis" :) She's had a few bouts of sickness this winter... last week she threw up in her car seat on our way to Harrison... all over. That was fun cleaning up! But thankfully it was only that once and then she was fine. She had a rough cold that lasted almost 2 weeks. It has been a long, hard winter... really looking forward to spring time and getting out side with the kids!

We had a very fun Mickey/Minnie Birthday party in the new garage. All of her cousins, aunts/uncles and grandparents were here. We had lots of fun and Claire got some great presents!

So very thankful for my sweet little girl. Can't wait to see what the next year holds!

Jacob-8 Months (and our trip to FL!)

A little late posting this one, since we just got back from our wonderful vacation in Florida!! It was so great to get away and enjoy the sunshine.

Jacob turned 8 months a couple weeks go! He is doing so great. He is making new sounds and "talking" by yelling back and forth :) He likes to do this with Claire a lot. He is army-crawling all over the place, and sits up pretty well on his own. He doesn't like sitting for very long, so I still sit behind him to avoid crashes :) He is eating great! Squash, zucchini, pear, apple, banana, cantaloupe, avocado, carrots... all of the good stuff :) He is still sleeping pretty well. He has been getting up at about 3 am for the past week and won't go back to sleep until I feed him. Growth spurt? I thought it might have just been a vacation thing, being in a different place... but he did it last night at home too. I'm guessing growth spurt, and hopefully it's a quick one because I'm tired! He is such an amazing baby boy... growing so fast. He loves to hear himself talk (yell) and isn't happy when Momma leaves the room. He was so good on vacation too!

We left on Thursday 2/28 at 9 pm for Florida with my parents and the Johnsons. There was a storm going on, so we left a little earlier than planned. Got down to Mammoth Caves Friday morning and met up with the Saxtons. Did a cool cave tour, then went to Nashville for lunch at Wildhorse Saloon. Ben's Uncle Larry met us there, and after lunch we walked around downtown for a bit then hit the road again. Drove to Atlanta and stayed the night there... then drove to Orange Lake in Kissimmee the next morning. Had an amazing pool day Monday when it got up to 82 degrees! Tuesday we went to Magic Kingdom and it was perfect! Had amazing weather and only had to wait in one long line. Wednesday we went to eat at T-Rex Cafe and walked around Downtown Disney for awhile, then headed back to the pool. Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom. It rained all morning, and then cleared up. All of the Yosts and Carriers were with us for the morning. Once it cleared up, it was much better. No lines, and we got to visit all of the big attractions. Friday was a little chilly (65ish degrees and windy) so we walked around the resort pools and shops and the guys went golfing. Left Saturday morning and got back yesterday morning, about a 22.5 hr drive back. The kids did SO good. We got Claire a blow up travel bed that worked great. They had a crib we could use for Jake and he did pretty well in it. It was so nice to be in warm weather, as this winter has been brutal. I'm ready for our next vacation already! :)

Claire turns TWO on Saturday! I can hardly believe it... We're doing a Minnie Mouse party for her here in our new garage! Should be fun :)

Jacob 8 Months

Us at Disney!

Jacob-7 Months

Our sweet little boy is 7 months! Ok... 7 1/2 months. I'm late at posting this. Have been super busy with these 2 precious babes! Jake is doing great! He is officially crawling now :) He pulls himself around with his arms... mostly on his tummy. Sometimes he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. He sits up pretty well, but not quite fully on his own yet. He's eating great... lots of sweet potato (he loves it now!), carrots, pear sauce... not a big fan of the squash, but lately I've been mixing yogurt in with it and he eats it then. Both kids are sick at the moment... they both have stuffy/runny noses and a cough. Jake woke up with a fever after his nap today too :( Have him some Baby Ibuprofen and he seemed to feel better after that. Still no teeth! Heading to Florida in 2 weeks... and Ben finished the garage today! YES! So excited about that. Ok, short post again.... must get to bed.

Jake-7 Months

Garage!!!

Snow!!! :)

Jacob 6 Months, along with some other updates...

Ok, so I've been bad at updating this... truth is, I am a busy lady. We have 10 (well, now 9) chocolate lab puppies and my 2 little darlings keep me running. 

Jake is now 6 months (plus a little)... He is doing great! He's a tad on the small side for weight (10%) but now that he's eating solids, I think he'll catch up quick. I started him on solids I think 10 days before he turned 6 months. New recommendation is to wait til 6 months... but I only tried rice cereal a couple times before then. He did ok... He likes to lock his jaw shut and make me pry open his mouth with the spoon :) So far NOT a fan of sweet potatoes... but he does good with the rice cereal and pear sauce so far. Gave him some banana last night too and he liked that. Tried sweet potato again tonight and he was not impressed! Haha... his daddy is not a fan either :) Still nursing great. He's around 70% for his height and 93% for his head size haha! Just need to get him filled out on his weight. He's not quite crawling yet, but close. He rolls all over and kind of scoots. Close to sitting up on his own. Still loving the jumper and he's doing great grasping and handling toys. He's babbling too... Lot's of baba's and mama's :) Love this little boy so much!

Claire is also doing great. She got a new play kitchen and can spend hours just cooking away. She also just got moved into her own room and big girl bed! The transition went really well. We had her nap in the crib with the railing off a few times and then had her nap in her new room and new bed. She resisted a bit at first, but it only took a few days to get her used to it. Now she goes to bed great! She's a great little helper... she helps me unload the dishwasher. She also likes to try to scoop dog food and it often ends up all over the floor. She's eating great still and eats pretty much what we do. The other day I caught her feeding pizza to Jake. Went in my room for 15 seconds and came back and he had some pepperoni sticking out of his mouth! They sure love each other. They will lay next to each other and giggle... melts my heart :)

The garage is coming along great! I've been parking in there for about a month now, and we were able to move all of our "stuff" out of the spare room so we could turn that into Claire's room. So nice to have all of that extra space now. Ben has built the whole thing himself pretty much. He's had helpers come over a few times, but the majority of it has been all him. All he has left to do is the siding. Oh, he also mounted 5 deer this fall and is going to start on his bear soon. He's definitely staying busy this winter.

Last year I made a "resolution" to read the Bible in a year. I don't usually do resolutions, but this was a good opportunity for me to make the commitment. Finished up on Dec 31st and it felt SO good to read it cover to cover. I learned so much and wish I would have done that much sooner. God is good... so very good and loves us way more than we could ever imagine. I've realized that I need to work on always speaking with love and kindness... even if it's about something I don't agree with/feel passionate about. God loves everyone, even the worst of sinners. I need to do the same. I mean, I think I'm a pretty nice person most of the time, but I'd like to make more of an effort to intentionally be kind and loving... and engaging with everyone I interact with. Genuine. 

Ok that's a little bit of updating for now. Absolutely loving my life with my family and so grateful for everything God has blessed me with!

 Jake 6 Months

My little loves :)