Still on the Market & The Johnsons Visit!

Our house remains on the market. We've dropped the price twice and have had tons of showings, but nothing more than that. Our realtor says we are approaching his record of the most number of showings without a sale. Yeah for us! My car is able to drive itself down to my parents' house, as that is where we go when we have showings during the day. We'll keep everyone updated if there are any changes.

My good friend from UMD, Haley and her family, were in town the past two days from Michigan. She has a son, Cade who is 4, and a daughter, Calli who is less than a month younger than Jake. We saw them last summer when they came to the Cities to do some shopping. This year, it was a visit full of fun and excitement. Jake and I met them at the Mall of America yesterday for some fun at Nickelodeon Universe. Calli and Jake had a fun time looking at one another from their strollers. They both were a bit confused when their moms were pushing a different stroller. We had dinner at The Rain Forest Cafe. It was the first time I had eaten there. The food was okay, but the atmosphere was better. Cade did not like when it began to thunder and lightning, nor did Calli. Jake didn't really notice too much. He was too busy throwing stuff on the floor. Thankfully, we had a nice person sitting at the table near us who picked up Jake's cup numerous times. Calli and Jake were both entertaining! They were extremely tired, hungry, and antsy. Mark (Haley's husband) and I took the little ones to go run around in the area around Bloomingdales. I thought Jake would try to run like Calli. She is all over the place! He stuck to his walking. We even rode the escalators to pass the time. Everyone was much happier after the food came. Of course, it took a long time to get the bill, but it was a fun time!

Today, we had a busy day again. There was a slight miscommunication with which museum to meet at. Haley and I spoke earlier in the week and she mentioned going to the Children's Museum. So, that was where Jake and I went. Umm...they were at the Science Museum. I did not want to pay money to get into the Science Museum, so Jake and I spent time at the Children's Museum. He loved that Habitot area, where they had places for toddlers to climb and play. He thought it was great in the Clifford Exhibit. He loved going up and down his tail that was a slide. We were hoping to catch a picture with Clifford, but we missed him. We even took a walk around downtown St. Paul. We all met up at the hotel to play and swim. Jake and Calli both tried napping in the car and in the bedroom, but neither of them slept much. This became evident later at dinner! The two of them had a fun time playing with each other in the hotel room. We went down to the pool. The water was freezing! I really did not want to get in. I had to be a big girl and just do it! We all swam for a little bit before the cold water got to us. We went back to the room, gave the little ones baths, and played some more. I caught some cute pictures of Calli and Jake playing. They played very well together. Calli is a wild girl! She is constantly getting into things she is not supposed to. Jake followed her lead many of times!

After a short trip to IKEA, we met up again at TGI Fridays. Quite a mistake to take tired and hungry kids under 5 to a busy place. If anyone there was thinking about having kids, our group was the perfect birth control. There were tears, screams, items thrown, etc. We sat the babies next to each other and they made much more of a mess on the floor than last night. I could not wait to get out of there! Again, after an even longer wait for the bill, we made it out alive...barely. It was great to spend time with the Johnsons and Haley's sister's family. I have decided that Jake needs a break from going out to eat at restaurants. Oh wait, I need a break from Jake going out to eat! Unless Joe is there to help!

Belly Buttons

So, Jake is obsessed with belly buttons. It is so bad, that he makes you lift up your shirt so he can touch your belly button. I have to admit...I was the one who got him started on this. For quite some time, I had made a "beep, beep" sound when I touched his belly button. I had an aunt and uncle growing up that did the same to us, but they made this odd sound that I was not able to recreate. Jake has now started doing it to both Joe and me. While I was trying to get him to eat his veggies (no luck) he stopped and said "beep, beep", which means, "lift up your shirt and let me see your belly!" Hopefully, he will grow out of this before he starts school. I can only imagine the phone calls.

Happy 4th of July!

What a difference a year makes! Joe's sister and brother, Haley and Ben, made Jake a onesie for the 4th of July last year. This year they each made him a t-shirt. Jake is sporting Haley's creation. We will get a picture of Ben's this week.

We were able to finally get away, as a family, this past weekend. It has been tricky with Joe's work schedule to have family time away from him. We headed to Wascott, WI. Joe's Uncle Jeff and Aunt Becky have a cabin there. We have gone once together in the winter and once on a Memorial Day a few years back. The weather was not nice on either occasion. We were pleasantly surprised that we had FANTASTIC weather! Nice enough to golf, tan, play on the beach, go for wagon rides, etc.

Jake was a bit unhappy in the car when we first started out. We ended up needing to play some "Jake Music" to calm him down. Joe even sang along. This helped Jake calm down. Overall, he was a really good sport in the car. We stopped for dinner in Danbury. Jake had a fun time playing with the silverware at the table. He even walked around to visit other tables. Next, we had to stop and pick up some fireworks. Jake did not like the fact that his daddy went into the store without him. How dare he! We drove a little while longer and we arrived at the cabin. The rest of the family was just sitting down to eat dinner, so we hung out and chatted. We had time to play inside and outside before it got dark. Jake liked sitting and looking at the fire. Before too long, it was time for bed. Joe stayed up much later than Jake and I sitting around the fire.

Saturday morning, Jake was up bright and early. So was I. Joe slept in for a little while. Thankfully, Ben was up and entertained Jake for a while. Most of the guys went golfing. The girls all put on their suits and headed down to the lake to lay in the sun. Jake went down for a nap, which allowed me to get some reading in. After he woke up, I put on his suit and we went to play in the sand. It was Jake's first time sitting in the sand. He is somewhat picky about what he sits on outside, so I wasn't sure how he would like sand. No problem with it! He enjoyed finally using his sand toys they way they were meant to be used! We have used them in the pool, but it was more fun for him to scoop sand into the bucket. Haley and her friend came over to help build sandcastles. Jake only ate a little bit of the sand. I am sure it tasted yummy! Jake was very excited when the golfing was done and he could have time with Joe. They played in the sand for awhile before it was nap time. Later in the day, Jake was able to go for a boat ride. He liked it, just not having to wear his life jacket. His face gets really squished when he has it on. Poor guy.

After dinner, we did our best to keep Jake awake for fireworks. We all piled into three cars to head a couple towns over to see the show. Jake fell asleep right away in the car. Joe's cousin Andrew and his girlfriend had a fun time watching Jake in his car seat. Haley and her friend made a bed for Jake in his wagon, which was very comfy. We just laid him down into the bed and wheeled him from the car to the spot we watched from. He received a few funny looks from people as we walked through the crowd. Joe and Grandma Laurie took turns holding Jake in their laps during the show. He seemed to like the fireworks. Every time I looked, he was staring off into the sky. I think he was too tired to show any emotion! It was a great show for being in a small town. They had a neat firework that included a parachute falling down from the sky. At the end of the show, we put Jake back into the wagon and pulled him back to the car. By the time we had him in his car seat and pulled away, he was asleep! It was an early night for everyone.

Jake slept in a little bit on Sunday morning. It was Joe's turn to hang out with Jake. I was happy to sleep a bit more. We had to get up and get things packed up so we could make it home in time to pick Kirby up from the kennel. It was looking like a nice day and we wished we could have stayed longer. Jake was able to get in some more time with his grandpa, which he loved. We timed our trip home with Jake's nap. He slept all the way to Hinkcley. Then it was time for his music. We stopped for lunch in Forest Lake and made it home. Kirby had a great time at the kennel. He was tired when he got home. He is still laying on our bed and it is almost 11:00!

We hope to have some showings this week. The house needs a cleaning before then. We have another busy weekend. The Knutson family is getting together with my dad's cousins at my parents' house. Joe has to work, which is a bummer. I hope he will be able to make it for part of the time. I need to get going. I hear someone on the monitor!

Growing Up Too Fast

Our baby is growing up WAY to fast. I just read an e-mail update I receive each week on how children Jake's age are developing. They stated that the 15th month is a month of many changes. I realized this, just yesterday. Jake has been walking like crazy! He is spending more and more time toddling all over the room. He spent time playing with Tupperware in the kitchen today, while I was making lunch, and was a walking machine. This is the same boy who wasn't really into this "walking thing" last week. He is also talking more and more. Some of what he says, we have no idea what he is saying, but it is so cute. He likes to say "no, dogs, no" and "no, no, no". Apparently, he hears us say no a lot!

Yesterday, I took Jake to his 15 month check up. Jake was not excited for anyone, besides me, to be touching him. He had two shots, which put him over the edge. I felt so bad for him. He is growing like he should be. Here is a picture of Jake later in the day. He was pretty crabby all day. I bought him some crayons to color with yesterday. He was more excited about putting them into the box and then taking them out. Go figure!

This morning, Jake was playing behind the couch I was sitting on. He started crying, as if he was hurt, so I went to see what happened. He had crawled into his bath seat and was stuck. It was too cute!