Big Boy

The last couple of days I've really gotten the vibe from Jake that he wants to do the same things we do.  He was mad sitting on the floor the other day while I worked, and guess what made him happy?

Yes, sitting in my work chair.  Unfortunately that didn't last long since I had so much to do.

Today Jake looked so cute, but so old with his new hoodie and BYU hat on.  Jake's Grandma and Grandpa Olsen got him the hat, and I LOVE it.  So does Jake.  He keeps pulling it off and looking at it.   It seriously makes him look so grown up!

And finally, when I went to give him his bottle before bed tonight, he didn't want it!  He honestly only took a swig or two and would not drink another drop.  He's been eyeing our glasses lately and I've let him try a swig of water from mine, so we tried that for his milk.  And guess what, he drank/ spilled quite a bit more of his bottle and was as happy as a clam using one of our glasses.

My little boy is growing up way too fast!

Summer Swimming

We've been having a lot of fun introducing Jake to the wonderful world of swimming this summer!  I went a ton as a kid (and let's be honest, I still love to go hang out at the pool). 

We bought season passes to the Columbus Zoo and the attached water park.  Jake doesn't mind swimming in the apartment complex pool, but he LOVES the water park.  There are tons of different areas to go in, he can stand or ride around in a raft in the lazy river with me and Andrew.  But his favorite are the areas that he can sit on his own.  He's really got the splashing thing down.

I hope he grows up loving to swim as much as I do!

Jake-Ula

He's too sweet to be Dracula, but Jake-ula seems to fit him pretty well these days.  His fang/K9 teeth are definitely showing, and it's so cute.  He also has the bottom middle two.  All 4 came within a 2 week period.  I'm not sure what's normal since I'm new to the motherhood thing, but that seems fast!

He's not a fan of showing off his fangs, so we have to hang him upside down to see them for the most part.  My Aunt Carolyn pointed out he's like a little bat...

And yes, he LOVES being upside down.

Unfortunately, it's not going to last too much longer.  One of his top, front middle teeth is about to break though.  We love his fangs, though!

All Smiles

While Andrew has been busy studying for the qualifier exam coming up in less than 2 weeks and I have been working away, Jake has been having a lot of fun.

This past weekend we went to my parents house and spent time with my family.  Kim and Darrell are still there until their apartment becomes available next week, so he had fun with them.  We visited Amish Country with Jake for the first time.  We started counting buggies at the beginning and got to over 40!  I'm impressed with their lifestyle, but in the car with air conditioning, I'm super happy to not live like that!

Sunday evening my mom's family came over to see Kim and Darrell while they are in town.  Jake had a lot of fun visiting with my grandparents, aunts, uncle, and cousins.  Unfortunately I only took 2 pictures this weekend, but they are cute with my grandma, Jake's Great-Grandma Coy.

Life is pretty crazy now, and is going to get even crazier now that Andrew is starting T.A. training and is getting ready for the qualifier exam in less than 2 weeks.  Luckily Jake is still happy as a clam and enjoys playing by himself sometimes.  We couldn't be luckier- Jake is the best baby!

7 months!

I can hardly believe my little Jake is 7 months old!  He turned 7 months a week ago Sunday and has been just as sweet and fun as ever.

We took him to his first baseball game with the OSU Stats Department.  I'm not sure he noticed the game at all, but it was fun.  After a few innings, he was fast asleep and didn't wake up until we were back to our apartment.

Jake is sitting like a pro these days, but he's still not crawling- thank goodness!  He does roll and gets to where he wants to be faster and faster by the day.  Life is going to get more and more challenging the more mobile our little adventurous boy becomes.

Jake is also loving his food.  We feed him a bottle when he wakes up in the morning, then his 2nd feeding is both milk and either a fruit or vegetable.  His 3rd feeding is just milk, then his dinner-time feeding is a baby food including meat and more milk.  He's also started eating baby puff cereal (like Cheerios) while Andrew and I eat our dinner.  His last feeding of the day is another 6 or 7 oz bottle of milk.  He's growing like crazy with all this yummy food!

We also took Jake to Lake Erie for the first time recently.  My grandparents stay at a cottage right on the lake for a couple of weeks every summer, so we drove up to visit them there.  The water is even more gross than usual this summer with the heat and lack of rain, so we didn't let him in.  However, we brought a big bowl of water down that he had plenty of fun splashing around in on the beach.  We had a lot of fun visiting with my grandparents and extended family there.

Andrew and I are so grateful to have Jake in our lives and love him like crazy!

Hill Cumorah Pageant

This weekend we took a trip with my parents and my sister Kim and her husband Darrell to the Hill Cumorah Pageant, a Mormon church play in Palmyra, NY.  We had a great time, and Jake did so well, even during the long car ride. 

Our first stop was Olive Garden in Buffalo, NY.  Jake got to sit in the high chair offered by the restaurant for the first time, and he LOVED it.  He was jabbing away and pounding on the table.  We let him play with a breadstick for a minute, but he was having a little too much success getting pieces off.  We very much enjoyed our food, and certainly the company.

Our next stop was the Sacred Grove.  This is where the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith saw Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.  It was neat to think about the wonderful things that happened there and to visit the place that means so much to me, and to see where these events occurred that have really shaped my life.  I am so grateful for the prophet Joseph Smith and for his immense faith and dedication to what he knew was right, even through persecution and to his death.

We then went to the Hill Cumorah where the pageant was held.  We went to the visitors center and then had a picnic while we waited for the production to start.  It was about the Book of Mormon and was very good.  The actors did a great job, and the special effects were impressive.

We made it back to the hotel pretty late, but it was so nice.  Andrew became platinum member with Marriott after we spent a whole summer in a Residence Inn while he was interning at Abbott last year.  We rented the rooms we stayed in with the points we earned, and because he's a platinum member, our rooms were upgraded.  It was fun to stay there, and the breakfast was great.  Although after spending my first trimester pregnant and sick in a hotel, I'm not as excited about them as I used to be.



On our way home we stopped at Niagara Falls.  It was Andrew and Jake's first time, and Kim and I hadn't been there since we were really young.

Our last stop was Maggiano's in Beachwood, Ohio.  YUM!  It's a family favorite restaurant, and we really enjoyed the food, and our leftovers today.  It was a fantastic trip and we are so excited to have my sister Kim and her husband Darrell in Ohio.  They'll be living in Dayton within the next month, which is only an hour away!  Jake adores Kim and is fascinated by Darrell.  It'll be fun for him to have an aunt and uncle around.  We're glad we live close to family and had a wonderful time with them this weekend!