"The View from Here": February 28-March 6

Here I am, almost a week behind in posting last week's "View From Here". Like most weeks, I am not really sure where the time went. Although this week seemed particularly busy and the days just flew by!

Since I have been such a slacker blogger, I really want to commit to posting these weekly summaries. Even if they are WAY behind. I know that I will appreciate the effort years from now when I can look back and get a glimpse into what our life was like.

So, here goes...our "View From Here" for Week #3:

Monday, February 28:

Sometimes Jacob refuses to put clothes on when I try to get him dressed. On this particular day, I decided not to fight with him and instead let him walk around for awhile in just a diaper and socks. Oh, and he added one my flip-flops to make the "outfit" complete!

"Where is your sippy cup?" - that question is one that comes out of my mouth quite often because Jacob will take his cup and walk around with it and then drop it somewhere in the house. On this particular day, I could not find it anywhere! I searched every room in the house and looked under and around toys, but didn't see it. Then, once I got him another cup, the first cup magically appeared and he decided he was going to use both! I wonder if he had it hidden in a special hiding place that Mommy doesn't know about?!

Tuesday, March 1:

Recently, Jacob hasn't wanted to get out of his crib after his nap (or sometimes in the morning). When I go in to get him up, he says "Stay in Bed" and starts jumping around. If I try to take him out of his crib, he puts up a fight. So...instead of fighting him, I just let him stay in there! He will jump around and play with his toys (or throw them all out!). And sometimes he asks for a book. One of his favorite books these days is "Love You Forever", a book that will make any mother tear up while reading it. On this particular day, he sat in his crib and flipped through the pages for a good ten minutes! I love my little book-loving kiddo!

Wednesday, March 2:

On Wednesday morning, Keith left for PA to be with his mom who was having surgery on Thursday. She ended up having half of her liver removed to rid her body of the cancerous tumor that was growing there. Since he was going to be away for several days, I took the opportunity to take Jacob to visit my family in Richmond.

On Wednesday (and Thursday) afternoon, after Jacob woke up from his nap, my brother, his dog Rhea, Jacob and I all ventured over to an elementary school playground that is not far from my parents' house. Jacob and Rhea both had a great time running around!

We were the only ones there so Rhea was able to pretty much go wherever she wanted. At one point, she followed Jacob up the steps of the jungle gym!

Since it is an elementary school playground, there aren't any baby swings. Jacob LOVES to swing and he kept asking about it, so I put him on one of the regular swings.

He didn't do too bad at first, but he was having trouble keeping his balance while sitting on the seat. He kept either falling forward or backwards while I was pushing him. And, I was getting nervous that he was going to fall off.

At one point, he thought it would be really fun to purposely lean back and fall backwards off the swing! Good thing Mommy was there to catch him!

Thursday, March 3:

I didn't take any pictures on Thursday, but I did get this cute video of Jacob and my brother, Mike. Even though Jacob still has a little anxiety around people (even family members), he really enjoyed spending time with my brother and sister-in-law (who recently moved to Richmond and are currently living with my parents). It was really great to see them since they have been in NC for the past few years. I'm really glad that they are living so much closer now!!

On Thursday evening, we got a really great surprise when my grandma, aunt and cousin knocked on my parents' front door! They live in Rochester, NY and they had driven nine hours to surprise us with a visit for the weekend! It was really great to see them!!

Friday, March 4:

We were blessed with beautiful weather for the weekend so we tried to spend as much time outside as possible. Jacob is really enjoying riding his tricycle right now even though he isn't able to really pedal it himself. It has a handle which works well so that someone is able to push him.

Four generations: my mom, Jacob, my grandma and me

On Friday afternoon, my sister Karen and her family arrived and we decided to take a Sierra and Jacob for a walk to the playground in my parents' neighborhood. It is nice to have a playground that is within walking distance (it's about a 1/2 mile walk) and the kids love to go for a ride in the wagon.

My aunt Julie graciously pulled the wagon

My cousin, Rachel, pushed the kids on the swings

Jacob found a basketball and had fun playing with it

Saturday, March 5:

On Saturday, my sister had a party at my parents' house for my niece, Chyler's 1st birthday. Since everyone was going to be there, Mimi and Papa got out the awesome Bounce House that they recently purchased for the grandkids to play in. It is huge and so much fun! I wish I weighed 150 lbs less so I could play in it too! :)

Jacob absolutely loved playing in the ball pit! He really enjoyed throwing the balls and jumping around.

A shot of most of the family enjoying lunch at the birthday party

The beautiful birthday girl!

Later that day, Jacob asked Papa to read him a story ("Just Me and My Mom", which is one of his favorites these days!) and Pierce joined in too!

One of the really cool gifts that Chyler received was the Gazillion Bubble Machine. It really does make a gazillion bubbles and the kids had a blast playing with it.

Sunday, March 6:

Sunday was another day that I didn't take any pictures. It was a pretty run-of-the mill day hanging out at my parents' house. I did have my first Tastefully Simple party with my friends, Dee and Lisa. I had a blast! It was fun to talk about their great products and to set up the taste-testing. I am very grateful to my parents who took wonderful care of Jacob while I was gone.

I had planned on us returning home on Sunday evening since Keith was supposed to be coming home too. But, he got delayed because his mom ended up in ICU with some breathing troubles. Since he was not coming home, I decided to stay and visit with family for a little while longer!