A Wonderful Birthday

Today was my 25th birthday and it was a wonderful day!! Life is not exactly what I thought it would be at 25 but I'm HAPPY to say it is a whole lot better. I never dreamed I would have an almost one year old and another on the way. The Lord has blessed me with an amazing family both immediate and extended. Not to mention amazing friends. Thanks to everyone who called emailed and came to visit, you truly made my day. Thanks also to my moms who made it possible for me to have a manicure & pedicure today. (Mom DeWitt for the gift certificate and Mom Bouwens for watching Jacob.) Lastly thanks Dad for taking the family out for the best dinner every. We went to ON THE BORDER and my mom commented that she had never seen food make me so happy. No, its not because I'm pregnant its simply because On The Border is my absolute favorite place to eat!

Basketball Hoop

Yesterday Jacob got a BIG package from Uncle Dan & Aunt Jayme. His very first basketball hoop! At first he really just liked watching mom play but once he got the chance to dunk he thought the hoop was really cool! Thanks Dan & Jayme!!!

A present from Texas

This weekend Jacob and I got a package from Texas!!! Julie was so thoughtful to send us both birthday presents. (Thanks Jules!!) When Jacob woke up from his nap daddy helped him open his present and boy did he love it! He couldn't get enough of the ribbons and paper. I think he will be ready for his birthday party on Thursday.

Today my cousin Grace and I celebrated our joint birthdays a few days early at Grandma Bouwens house. Grace was born on my 16th birthday. Not such a lovely picture of me but she sure is a cute little girl. Grace and Claire loved playing with Jacob and building things for him to push over.

Jacob also took his first 3 steps while we were at Grandma Bouwens house. (his great-grandma) I missed the first step but luckily caught the last two. Jason missed all of them but will hopefully see some in the near future.

Book Tag

Jayme tagged me in her post the other day to take the closest book to me and turn to page 123, find the fifth sentence and then write the next 3 sentences in my post. So, here I am sitting in bed with many parenting and baby books on my night stand. (None of the junk I use to read before being a mom) Here is goes this is from Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers.

"While I wouldn't suggest that you spend hours slaving over a hot stove for a meal your child might dump on the floor, be creative. Cut bread into shapes or place food on the plate in the form of a face. Try to give your toddler healthy food and a balanced diet, but never force her to eat or engage in a struggle."

Well although I think this is a great book Jacob could care less about what shape his food is. Maybe in a few months that will motivate him a little more.

Ok, my turn to tag some people. My lucky three are:
Kelly: you have to have some baby/pregnancy books sitting around
Julie: I'm sure your reading something or Paul might be
Haley: No just kidding your way to busy with your new little one
Kate: what are you reading these days?

Hopefully one of you three will be able to find the time or use this as a way to waste a few minutes in the near future.

Have a great Friday!

Grand Rapids Childrens Museum

On Tuesday Jacob and I went with Amy and Jada to the Grand Rapids Childrens Museum and had a blast. Jacob just loved all the activity going on. It will be great to take him back once he can walk and get to what he wants without trying to crawl across walkways of running toddlers. Thanks Amy for taking us with you!!!

A Valentines Day Surprise!

We feel so blessed to be expecting our second child in late August. Jacob is going to be a great big brother even if it takes a little adjusting. We pray for a healthy pregnancy and another healthy baby!!

Finally All Feeling Better

Everyone is finally healthy at our house! We know everyone is feeling better because Jason is back to his teasing ways. Lucky me!! As we quickly approach Jacob's first birthday we have been trying to capture him in some of his everyday moments. I think after Christmas we forgot to take pictures for a while. Here are a few pictures of Jacob doing his favorite things.

Jacob loves to climb. He is very good at getting into baskets and and climbing up onto chairs. Jacob is loving his ball popper Christmas present from Uncle Dan & Aunt Jayme. He is also learning a lot by puting many things into it and watching to see if they will pop out like the balls. Yes, in the last picture Jacob is having a dounut hole. These are not normally on his diet but as we were eating them we thought we could make an exception. Jacob enjoyed this little treat almost as much as we did watching him.

It is almost Jason's birthday so we did a little celebrating with my family. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Logan's and then came back to our house for some birthday cake. We tried to get Jacob and Gabe to pose for a nice cousins picture but Jacob would have nothing to do with it so we let him sit by dad and help with the candles. Jason fully enjoyed starting his birthday yesterday as it isn't until Sunday and he informed me that Sunday birthdays are also celebrated on the Saturday before and the Monday after. Now he can say he celebrated on Friday too. Tomorrow we are off to the Red Wings game with Jason's parents to do a little more celebrating. Some of us are more excited about driving to Detroit than others. :) Hopefully Jacob enjoys the game as much as his daddy!!