Little Rascal!

Jacob has been quite the little busy body lately and into everything. When I am trying to get ready in the mornings, I can usually contain him by putting him in the pack and play in our bedroom and turning on Elmo, but I think the novelty of Elmo has worn off and he has instead devised creative ways to escape from the pack and play.

He was sick for a few days last week which slowed him down and now Emily and I both have what he had and that, combined with the fact that I am now covering four schools while people are out on medical leaves right at the end of the year when things are craziest anyway, has left me completely ragged. So, I definitely can't keep up with him.

Tonight, he came walking out with the metal toilet dispenser bar in two pieces and a big grin on his face. I looked at him and said, "Jacob, did you break that" to which he proudly responded YES! Jacob started speech through our local ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) program about 3 months ago. One of the things that he has a tendency to do is leave the endings off of words, and "YES" is one of the words we have been working on, so I couldn't help but laugh when he said it with so much pride!

I think this kid is going to give me a run for my money!

Family night fun

On Monday nights, we have been trying to be better about having family night. Last week, Emily informed us that SHE wanted to teach the lesson. I had already planned a lesson about Easter, but I told her that she could do the lesson this week, so she has been very excited about it all week long. She assured me several times that she had it all taken care of and didn't need ANY help!

She decided to teach about temples. She actually did a really great job and pulled out pictures to show us of her favorite temples and told us about why we go to the temple. We were pretty impressed when she said, "You go there to get married and to be sealed." Then, I asked her what it means to be sealed and she said, "You know, like your body gets stuck all together and sealed." You gotta love the 4 year old perspective!

Overall, though, she did a great job and we were so proud of her and happy that she's so enthusiastic about taking her turn to teach!

Jacob's 2nd birthday

I still can't believe that my "baby" just turned 2. We spent the morning (3 hours total) at the doctor's office for his 2 year check-up. The doctor summed it up perfectly - "He sure is a big boy!"

Here are his 2 year stats:
*Height - 34 1/2 inches (75-90th percentile)
*Weight - 34 pounds (95 percentile)
*Head - 50 cm (90th percentile)

We were so excited to open presents first thing that morning. Jacob takes after his dad and is not much of a morning person and was a little bit confused by our crowding around him so enthusiastically. I had gotten a great deal on a little motorized police motorcycle at an after Christmas sale and couldn't wait to see his face when he opened it. We saved the rest of the presents for later.

That evening, we went to Chuck E. Cheese for a family get together. Jacob had a blast. Jason was in charge of the camera while the kids were out playing, but didn't take any pictures, so I'm posting some from when I took the kids over Spring Break.



Jacob is VERY independent and insists on feeding himself and he does a great job.



This year, the theme for his gifts seemed to be "baseball." Uncle Reed and Aunt Jamie got him a baseball cap, catcher's mitt and ball, Grandma and Grandpa Trone got him an Astros outfit, and Grandma and Grandpa White gave him a t-ball stand, bat, and ball. He loves all of them.





He loved his other gifts, too. He couldn't wait for us to open the racetrack that Aunt Andrea, Uncle Jeremy, Ally, and Kaitlyn sent and was getting frustrated that we set it aside for a minute so he could finish opening his other presents.



Even though he's "so big" he's all heart and I love it when he comes up and cuddles up with me. Just yesterday he started saying "love you" and we were so excited to hear it. Here are a few other things that "Jakey" is into these days:

*Cars

*Trains ("Choo Choo")

*Elmo (it sounds like "Memo" when he says it)

*Daddy's truck (I think this is his favorite phrase - when we are driving around in my car, he points to every truck he sees and says "daddy's truck" and when we leave to go somewhere, he gets very upset if we are not going to ride in "daddy's truck")

*Daddy's drinks (Jason gave him some Dr. Pepper one day and now he's obsessed. If Jason leaves one on the counter or island in the kitchen and it's close enough to the edge, Jacob will get ahold of it. The other day when we went to our Dave Ramsey class, we passed a vending machine and I cracked up when Jacob pointed at it and said "Daddy's drinks" Last night, we went to Chili's and he saw the logo for Dr. Pepper on the menu and kept pointing to it and saying "Daddy's drink")

*Baby Signing Time - he LOVES these videos and will do the sign for baby and point to the TV and say "on" when he wants to watch it

*Bananas (he calls them "an" and does the sign for banana) - He LOVES bananas and when we go to the grocery store and he sees them, he goes nuts...he doesn't quite get the concept of having to wait until they're paid for to eat them, though

*Following big sister around everywhere and trying to be just like her!

Easter morning

Easter morning came too early for mom and dad but not early enough for Emily especially. She was sort of excited about the eggs that the Easter bunny left behind, but more excited to find out what the Easter bunny had left in her basket.





Jacob was all about the eggs. He had an Easter egg hunt at daycare earlier this week and was a little bit hesitant at first, but once he figured out how the whole thing worked, there was no stopping him! So, he had plenty of practice and didn't waste any time gathering up what the Easter bunny had left behind.





After our Easter egg hunt and breakfast, we had to hurry to get ready for church, which starts at 9. Here are a few quick pictures we took before we headed out.







Soon we'll be heading out to my parent's house for dinner and then come home to read a children's version of the Easter story one more time before bed. It's been a great day for us and we are grateful for the opportunity that we've had to spend it together as a family and to reflect on our Savior's sacrifice for us.

We hope you all had a happy Easter, too!