Jacob

Finally, pictures of Jackson's 2nd Birthday! We had a lot of fun celebrating. Marcia & Dave Zacheis were in town from Moberly so they got to celebrate the actual day with us by taking us to Junior's restaurant and then back to our apartment for cake and ice cream. The following Saturday we had a couple of Jackson's friends from the ward come over with their parents for a dinosaur party. That was really fun for the kids and Jake made an AWESOME dinosaur cake! You can see Sydney especially loved it. Right after his birthday, the kids and I went to Missouri for a few days to escape the busy, cold, city life. When we got back, we got to spend a WHOLE 24 hours with Joe, Heidi, Kayla & Isaiah!!!

Sydney is crawling and cruising all over the place. She's very stealthy...she likes to sneak up on us! She's eating lots of solids now. It's really cute to watch her using her little forefinger and thumb to pick up little Cheerios. She's still our little sweetheart! We can't wait to show her off to the family in 2 weeks.

Jackson is talking non-stop still. He is getting more and more polite (trying to say please and thank you) but he still shouts commands...which we're trying not to acknowledge. He is a LOUD KID! He's fun and a really good kid, but he gets into EVERYTHING. I'm sure he'll have fun teaching Sydney all of his mischievous ways. The other day we were getting ready to leave and Jackson opened up the door and with his hand out said, "Shall we?" Sounds like Jake and Paul! He amazes us with all the things he can identify and shocks us when he spits out these long sentences.

Jake is entering his last month of classes. His internship is almost over too. There are some job prospects for the summer creeping up, including a very promising interview with a financial group called KBC. He'll interview with the head of the company in the next 2 weeks.

My biggest news is that some of my family was in town this week and I got to do some sightseeing with them. We went out to the Statue of Liberty and Times Square and saw the Broadway musical Wicked. It was so fun!

We're heading to Utah for Tricia's wedding in a week and a half! We can't wait! It will be SO FUN to spend time with everyone and celebrate Tricia & Tristan's big day...and go to Cafe Rio!!!

Life has not disappointed us lately and has stayed sufficiently busy. January flew by with unseasonably warm weather. But don't worry, Mother Nature made up for it the past couple weeks and we've been beaten with blustery, frigid, temperatures. Even JAKE has been cold! Now that's saying something. We're surviving though. The kids are getting a little stir crazy, but we make frequent trips to the church so Jackson can run around the cultural hall and swap germs with all the other little pent-up kids!

As seen in the pictures above, we celebrated Jake's THIRTIETH birthday! Melanie Grover (yes, Kelly & Anita's daughter--she goes to Brooklyn Law with Jake) and her boyfriend watched the kids for us so Jake and I could go out to dinner to celebrate. I made a red velvet cake and Jackson helped Jake blow out the candles.

Thursday our little Jackson turns TWO! I can't believe it! He's getting so big. He talks non-stop now and we can understand about 70% of it. He's doing good, but still has trouble with some of his consonant sounds. We'll keep working on it. He loves watching "The Incredibles," " The Lion King," "Madagascar," "Cars," and "Monsters, Inc." I generally wouldn't let him watch this much tv, but with the cold weather, it's nice to have something to keep his attention and distract him from the fact that he only has about 100 sq. ft. of floor on which to run and jump. Jackson's biggest news is that he is now permanently sleeping in his big-boy bed! He's done so well there & Sydney now sleeps in the crib. We're all happier with this arrangement.

Sydney is getting so big! She is sitting up very proficiently now, though she's still not trying to crawl. She sucks her thumb like her brother, but not nearly as vehemently. She still sqeaks and squaks, and tonight she was even making a noise that sounded somewhat like a bark! She gets so happy and excited when we pay attention to her. If she can catch your eye, she will draw you in! I'm sure she'll have no problem wrapping Jake around her finger!

Jake is working at the New Jersey Attorney General's office in their Securities Regulation department. With that and a pretty busy school schedule, he's stretched pretty thin right now. He's applying for summer internships right now with several financial firms as well as a couple government agencies. It will be interesting to see where he ends up. We're hoping for a little bit of a break between school and the internship though. It would be nice to have some down time.

Besides that, we're getting excited to finally make a trip back to Utah in April. We're excited to eat at Cafe Rio and Crown Burger...oh yeah, and to go to Trisha and Tristan's wedding. ;)

Merry Christmas from Brooklyn, New York! We really miss being with family right now, but we're enjoying the down time here at home. Jake JUST finished finals on Wednesday! Just when he was about to relax, he ran off to New Jersey for an interview with the Attorney General's Securities Bureau office. The interview went well and it looks like there may be an internship opportunity there this winter/spring.

Last Saturday was our ward Christmas party. As you can see, the kids got to meet Santa! It was fun and Jackson was so enamored with the gift from Santa that he didn't have time to be scared. Sydney just liked tugging on Santa's beard.

Jackson loves the song "Frosty the Snowman" and will say "Frosty snowman...jolly happy soul." It's very cute. He also has his own little Nativity set which he simply calls "Jesus" and he carries around all 7 pieces. He's getting so excited seeing all the presents building up. We're trying to keep them put away so he's not too tempted to open them.

We're so excited for Christmas. We have a fun gift for Jackson...an activity/work table with lots of PROJECTS! He and Jake are going to have a great time with that. We're hoping to make it into the city tomorrow so we can visit another Santa and maybe even take a carriage ride through Central Park.

Last week my mom (Jackie) came to visit for my birthday, knowing Jake would be tied up with finals. It was fun to have her here. Jackson LOVED having her here...another playmate to sit in his room with him! Mom watched the kids so Jake and I could go out for my birthday to a little French restaurant called Bar Tabac. The food was good and the little French band was great! Jake wants to go back for his birthday! Jake gave me a ring for my birthday...it's a beautiful little silver band that looks kind of like a twig or stem is wrapped around my finger 4 times. On my birthday, my mom took me to Red Lobster in Times Square for Coconut Shrimp...YUM! We also did some Christmas shopping and a LOT of walking. Her BEST gift to me though, was doing my laundry! (And the pedicure gift certificate that I'll enjoy sometime next week!) It was a great week and softened the blow of turning THIRTY!!! YIKES!!!!

We'll be thinking of all of you this week and wishing we were all together! We love you and are excited to hear about all the fun things you're doing to celebrate the season.

Wow--how the time flies! I can't believe it's December already. I've been so fixated on Thanksgiving and having Ben & Britt here that December really snuck up on me. Having Ben & Brittany here with their girls for Thanksgiving was one of the highlights of my year! We had such a great time with them...seeing sites, eating lots of food, relaxing, and lots of laughing. I feel so lucky that we had that week with them...I only wish we could have a week alone with each of you. Jackson rekindled his love for Ben on the trip and was constantly yelling for him. He also got his first "action" from Brittany...I KNOW he misses that! He still talks about Jessie and Trina everyday and today was even "talking" to them on his play phone. I wish we lived closer so we could see each other all the time. I know he would have fun with ALL his cousins. We're SO excited to have Tricia and Tristan here for New Years!!!

I've posted quite a few pictures this time since it's been so long since we've posted any...plus it's easy for me since I don't have to email them to someone to post! But that's as it should be as we have the cutest kids of all! (sorry...did I just sound like Joe?!) I put captions on the photos so I wouldn't have to write about each of them but you still get an idea of what the kids have been up to. Jackson is so smart. We have a big book full of pictures of everything from apples to zebras and he can name everything. He loves to read to me and be read to. He's definitely becoming a curious, energetic boy, but he still has a sweet, tender heart. We put up his toddler bed just before Ben & Brittany came for Jessie to sleep in, but Jackson has yet to spend a night there. We tried once to get him to sleep there, but he finds it's too tempting and easy to just get down and run out to be with mom and dad. We'll start pushing it more after Christmas so Sydney can start sleeping in the big crib.

Sydney is rolling all over the room these days. She is such a sweet baby...she gets so excited when she sees us. She is definitely Kathy's granddaughter...she's SO HAPPY in the mornings! Sometimes Jake and I will put her in her swing after her breakfast hoping for an extra few minutes of sleep. She'll just sit in there and talk and sigh and laugh...meanwhile Jake and I lay there hoping the other will be overcome by her cuteness and get her so the other can sleep. She had her 4 month appointment this week (a couple weeks late) and she's weighing in at 14 lbs. 8 oz. You can see from the pictures that we're not starving her!

I'm doing my best to keep up with the kids. I've been working on a couple Christmas presents lately in the evenings which has been fun. I'm hoping to catch up on a lot of my scrapbooking over the Christmas break when Jake's around more. Besides that, we keep busy running errands, taking walks, going to play group and keeping the house running. Hold on to your hats, but I'll be THIRTY in two weeks! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jake only has 3 days of class left before finals! He's been burning the midnight oil lately staying up at school late to study and complete end-of-term assignments. Once this semester's finals are over, he'll officially be HALF-WAY through law school! It really is flying by. Now his efforts are really going to concentrate on that all-important internship that will hopefully lead to a job after graduation.

He and Jackson finally finished the briefcase they were working on and now Jake enjoys taking it to school and telling his friends that he and his son made it. It really looks beautiful...you can tell a lot of time and effort went into it. It will be fun for he and Jackson to be able to spend lots of time together over Christmas. Jackson LOVES to spend time with his dad!

Well, here we are just one day shy of our little Sydney's THREE MONTH mark! Wow, how time flies! She and Jackson are growing by leaps and bounds and yet it seems like Jake and I are standing still. I guess it's good that we're not growing as much as they are!

Over conference weekend my parents made a road trip out to see us and some of the church sites. We had a lot of fun with them. (Click on the road trip link to see photos of their trip.) While they were here we made a trip into Manhattan, walked around Brooklyn, and took a short overnight trip to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. We were also able to go to IKEA, a big furniture store, and get a new kitchen table and a new computer desk for a very reasonable price. They make our home seem a lot more "put together."

Jackson is learning more and more everyday. He's taken an interest in the TV recently and loves to watch Sesame Street, especially Elmo, "momo." He also loves the movie "Curious George" and we have to watch it at least once a day now. Luckily I like the music (it's all done by Jack Johnson) so it's not COMPLETE torture. As Heidi heard the other day, he LOVES frogs and loves to YELL about frogs...but it comes out more like F**K! than frog! There's an animated frog on MSN messenger and he will stand at the computer and yell "f**k!, f**k!, f**k!, f**k!" until I play it. I can't help but laugh.

Jake has been working on a wood & leather briefcase and Jackson thinks it's HIS project too. The moment Jake gets home Jackson is ready to pull out the drill and "sit up." He also loves to "sit up" when mom is cooking in the kitchen and he will sit on the counter to "help." Believe it or not, this little twenty month old is capable of simple tasks like retrieving objects and putting together one-step assemblies. He can even string beads on a pipe cleaner and recently vacuumed the entire floor - and did a good job too! He's a very focused and intent little guy.

Sydney is turning into quite the charming little girl. She's a lot happier now and will smile and even giggle! It's hard to get mad at her when I have to get up at 5:00 AM to feed and change her when she flashes a big grin at me and coos and sighs. She's a very curious and observant little girl and loves to ride around in the Baby Bjorn, enjoying the view from mom's chest. (Not OF mom's chest...you dirty, dirty minds!!!)

Hello family! Last weekend we were in New Mexico with my family for my nephew Brian's wedding. The plane rides were a [Jake's expletives omitted] challenge and Jake and Jackson were sick. But it was an overall, great experience.

Jake is busy, busy, busy with school. It seems like never ending reading, but I guess that's typical for law school. We're taking it in stride...Jake's putting up with all the reading and I'm getting used to having 2 kids all to myself. We both work on taking time for the family, though. Jake is good about getting his homework done at school so he can play with us when he's home. Friday we went into Manhattan to explore the upper East side. We took Jackson to FAO Schwarz...a HUGE toy store (the one in the movie Big where they do chopsticks on the piano that you can walk on) and he just LOVED it! He couldn't contain the excitement when he saw the aisles and aisles of stuff animals as big as full size cows and the Thomas the Train table where kids play with wooden trains on hundreds of feet of wooden track. After that, we had fun just going into some of the posh boutiques in the area. It's fun to press your nose up to the glass that separates us from the upper class! Jake and I just chuckled at all the alligator skinned, enormously augmented, sun glassed women in their Gucci and Prada. I guess we don't understand them and they don't understand us. Wonder if they make Dolce and Gabbana robes in heaven. Gotta' git me one of them.

Jackson and Sydney are developing so fast. Jackson is growing more and more able to understand what we want and sometimes even obey. For example, Sydney was, as usual, screaming. Jake, who was in the kitchen, asked Jackson to go shut the door to our room so that we didn't have to listen to her scream - no motions, no slow explaining, no help or hints at all. Jackson turned on his heel and walked straight to the bedroom door and tried to pull it closed. It didn't work though because he tried to close the door by holding it at the edge, not the door knob. It won't shut with your hand in the door! But he understood! We're now able to give him some choices and let him decide what he wants. Of course, his favorite response is "no, no"...as he shakes his head. He looks more and more like a little boy every day...instead of our chubby little baby. Sydney is taking on that role!

Sydney is still pretty high maintenance. She spends 90% of her time in her swing. She even sleeps there. After feeding, burping, a new diaper, and cuddling, if she isn't happy, she goes in her swing. With Jackson we didn't realize how happy he was all the time. But with Sydney, every moment is an eternity because she's always screaming. Things are getting better though. She's starting to smile and, on occasion, will lay contently. She gets cuter and cuter all the time. We're sure that she'll become more content too.

Tomorrow both kids have Dr's appointments...they're going to hate me! They both have to get shots too...so it will be a traumatic day. Hopefully they'll forgive me eventually!

We're finally getting our lives back in order here in New York City. It's been a big adjustment to leave with one baby and come back with two, but Jake has been home a lot to help with the transition.

For those of you who didn't know, we spent the summer in Missouri with my parents while Jake completed an internship in commercial real estate leasing for the in-house legal counsel at Orscheln Industries. It was so nice to be there and have my family to help us with Jackson and Sydney and to have some relaxing down time away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

We returned to New York last week and have spent our time since then reorganizing our apartment and cleaning out bags and bags of old, unworn clothing. We're going to make some homeless Salvation Army shoppers very happy and warm this winter!

Jackson is getting so smart! He learns and demonstrates something every day. Tonight he was washing himself in the tub and singing "wash, wash, wash...wash, wash, wash." His favorite words are "cookie" and "candy." I think Jackson may rat me out when the pediatrician asks what I'm feeding him!

Jackson loves his new little sister Sydney, or "Sissy" as he calls her. He took to her right away with kisses and hugs when we brought her home. He gives her lots of kisses and loves to tell everyone to "shhhh" when she's sleeping. He also likes to hold her hand while I'm feeding her and he leans his head up against hers and sucks his thumb while she's sleeping.

Sydney is such an adorable baby, but she is very high-maintenance. She wants to be held all the time and she prefers me to be standing while I hold her...and when I say "prefers" I mean she screams until I pick her up and stand up! :) When she starts screaming in Jake's arms, he says "she must be hungry" and hands her to me. It's a good thing I'm there too, because when she screams and I'm not around, he feeds her a bottle, changes her diaper, puts her in her swing in the bedroom, shuts the door and turns Discovery Channel up really loud until she's screamed her self to sleep. I'm sure (at least I hope) it's just a phase and she'll (and he'll) mellow out soon. We'll let you know.

Jake starts his second year of law school tomorrow. He's already started his horrendous schedule of hours and hours of reading. He's currently sending out resumes, looking for an internship for next summer. The job hunt is like a full time job in addition to his school work.

My life is basically just taking care of the 2 rug rats right now. I take the kids to the park every day. Jackson plays in the spraying fire hydrants and Sydney lays in her stroller until she realizes I'm not standing and definitely not holding her. On Mondays and Thursdays we go to "play group" with ladies in the ward. You know that song from Music Man, "pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little?" It's like that, but at the park. My best friend in the ward just moved away, so I'm trying to find someone else who likes to go into the city and to Target as much as I do!

Last night we decided to check out a new grocery store that was supposed to be just a ten minute walk away, according to my friend. ("But I walk fast, so it may take you a little longer" Yeah right!!) This new place was supposed to be cheaper and more like a regular store. FORTY minutes later we walked into the parking lot of the new Brooklyn Fairway. It was a nice grocery store...nothing like what we're used to around here, because all the nearby grocery stores are tiny little specialty shops with high prices....and it has a great view of the Statue of Liberty, but I don't think we'll be frequenting that one. We took a cab home because it was a LONG walk for us and the kids.

We miss everyone so much! I'm so glad we got to see a lot of you this summer. Our week in Missouri with you was so fun! We look forward to hearing from everyone. Email me updates and I will post them on the web for all to read!