Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Valentine's Day was definitely low key over here. Jake came home from daycare with a couple gifts. He loves his balloon!Friday night, Jake went to his Grandma and Grandpa Bien's house. Joe and I went out to dinner with Laurie's (Joe's stepmom) side of the family to celebrate birthdays. It was nice to go out for dinner. It was probably more exciting to sleep in until 9:00! We had swimming lessons and Joe came with to watch. Jake was excited to see his daddy there!

Jake and I have been coming down with colds, so we have been pretty lazy. The rest of the afternoon, Jake and I both slept. I think Joe did, too. It was nice to be lazy. Joe made a really good dinner after Jake went to sleep. It was an early night.

Here are some pictures from the past two weeks. I am glad they are over, as I had conferences Wednesday night and 8:00-8:00 on Thursday!

I am 10 Months!

Playing in my crib!
Jake is so intrigued by cellphones. He may have broken Joe's =(
Jake was not happy during dinner!

Getting Better

Jake is starting to feel much better. He still has a cough and a little runny nose. His appetite is pretty much back to normal. It is so nice to see him feeling better. Now that we are healthy, we can go to swimming lessons today. We are going to spend some time at Grandma and Papa's house today, because our thermostat is not working. We have no heat! Kirby and I heard this noise last night before Joe got home from work, but did not know what it was. Then, Joe and I smelled something weird before we went to bed, but could not find anything out of the norm. Then this morning, before I got up, Joe realized the thermostat was not working. We have replaced it once already. Joe is in an ice fishing tournament in White Bear today (good luck, Daddy!), so afterwards he will pick up a new thermostat and try to fix it. I plan to be nowhere near the situation. The last time we replaced it, we got into a disagreement. I am going to just let him figure it out. If it is more than the thermostat, we'll have to stay with my parents for a little while.

Sick Day

I had to call in sick for the first time this year to stay home with Jake. Poor guy. He looks so uncomfortable. Saturday night, he started coughing while he was sleeping. On Sunday, we all laid around, which was so nice. Jake started sneezing along with coughing. On Monday, Jake woke up with a little bit of a temperature, but we knew he would be okay with Grandma. We gave him some medicine to help his fever come down. My mom called me after lunch saying Jake was very unhappy and that his fever was going up. Luckily, I had a staff development day and could leave early. We came home and relaxed. Joe was able to come home a little early from work. Jake spent around 3 hours sitting/napping on Joe's chest and shoulders. He really did not want to be let go. Jake got really frustrated when he woke up, too. His cough and temp. were not improving. I was already planning for a sub, but knew I would have to head into the building before school.

Jake slept through the night pretty well. He woke up a few times coughing, but went back to sleep. I acutally had to get him up to check his temperature before I made the decision to stay home. He did not look good. His eyes were really watery and he had a very runny nose. Jake came with me into school and was a really good sport. He hung out on my chest in the Baby Bjorn, which made it easy for me to get things ready quickly. We have been hanging out all day. We took a long nap on the couch together. I miss having Jake sleep in my arms, but wish he was feeling better. He is playing a little bit more and laughing more, too. He is just waking up from a nap in his crib. Hopefully his appetite will get better. So far, he is only taking a bottle and water from his sippy cup. To make the day even better, Kirby thought it would be a good idea to get into the kitchen garbage and drag it all over the dinning and living room! Anyone want him??

I feel bad, because I think I got him sick! I came back from my four day trip with my students to Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center. I started feeling sick on Thursday and came back a little early on Friday. I was so excited to see him when I got back, and probably should have stayed away! Joe stayed home with Jake all week and they had a great time hanging out with each other. I think Joe had a hard time going to work on Monday! Joe had a friend of his cut Jake's hair. He looks like a big boy now, not like a girl!

Swimming Lessons!

Jake started swimming lessons today. We are taking them through community education. The pool is less than 5 minutes away from our house, which is perfect! Auntie Jamie met Jake and I at the pool. She took some pictures of us swimming. She has more on her camera, so I only have a few pictures. Jake had a blast! It was quite the shock getting into the water. Definitely not as warm as Grandma and Papa's pool! I think I had the most trouble getting used to it. It was a pretty large class, with kids ranging from 6 months-4 years. The instructor did a great job dealing with all the people in the pool. We started off getting the kids used to the water. We were going around the pool in a large circle for most of the class. There were songs, bubble blowing, kicking, and splashing. Jake did a great job of "floating" on his back and tummy. He didn't really pay any attention when I was showing him how to blow bubbles. A hard concept to teach, I guess. We were able to play with some toys during the last 5 minutes. He loved scooping water into the yellow bucket. I am looking forward to next week! Jake was asleep by the time we got home...less than 5 minutes!

Jake's First Christmas

Jake had a wonderful Christmas! I am not sure he really understood what all the presents were about, but he loved seeing all sorts of family and friends. We were able to celebrate a little bit early with Grandma and Grandpa Bien, Dan, and Amber. This was Jake's first taste at opening presents. I'll post a video when I get a chance. The camera is in Jake's room and he is sleeping right now =)

Jake received some toys, books, clothes, and a Radio Flyer wagon. I am so excited to be able to use it this spring and summer. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Bien!

On Christmas Eve, we went to Joe's grandparents (on his mom's side). We all scrunched into their new townhouse. It was quite cozy. Jake had a lot of fun playing with his second cousins (maybe first cousins once-removed...) Joseph and Jayden. He had a fun time opening presents, but it got to be a late night. I also forgot to put the formula in the diaper bag, so we could not give him a bottle. Poor guy =(

Here is a picture of Jake with his Great-Grandparents and Joseph and Jayden. Nobody looked at our camera!

We woke up at our house on Christmas morning and Jake was able to see what Santa put into his stocking. He also had a few presents to open up from Mommy and Daddy. We took a video of that, so I'll post that later. We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Knutson's house for breakfast and more presents! Jake had another stocking there and lots of gifts. Many of them make a lot of noise (Thanks!) It was fun to see Paige, Hailey, and Jake playing together. Again, most of this was on the video camera.

Later on in the day, we went over to Joe's aunt and uncle's house to celebrate with the Deters side of the family. Jake had a fun time showing off his walking with Daddy!

He got some really neat animal board books from Ben and Haley, and two stuffed animals from Uncle Dan. We learned that both Joe and his dad have been saying Snuffleupagus wrong for most of their lives. They thought it was Snuffleufagus. Somehow, Dad knew how to say it correctly!

Jake has had so much fun playing with all his new toys. We need a bigger house!

Jake is on the move!

Well, it has been a long time since I added a post. We have been busy around here. We had an exciting Thanksgiving, as Jake crawled for the first time Thanksgiving morning! We knew he would be able to do it by Christmas. Life is way different with a mobile child. I spent the Sunday after Thanksgiving baby-proofing the house. On Thanksgiving, we went to Grandma and Papa Knutson's house. Jake had a fun time with Paige.

Auntie Jamie even tried to color with Jake. He did not really do a good job. Paige was much better! We'll have to work on things before Kindergarten!

We took Jake to his first Wild game at the beginning of December. Joe's mom and step-dad let us use their tickets. We played Vancouver. Unfortunately, it was not a good game for Minnesota. Jake had a fun time. He was tired from a busy day at Cheryl's, so he did end up sleeping through most of the third period. He is a good sport, though!

We put the tree up in the basement this year. Last year, it was in Jake's room, so we had to find a new spot. The ceiling is too low for us to put a star on top. I am on a mission to get it up there! So far, Jake has not seemed too interested in the tree. At daycare, he did rip a little bit of paper off a present. We hope to get to see Santa next weekend!