Wednesday, September 22, 2010

First Day of School

Jake has started preschool!!!  Well, kinda... he went to his first day on September 7 and then a day later we hopped on a plane to TX which is where we are still for 2 more weeks.  So, he did have a "first day" but it wasn't quite like I had pictured...

The night before, we were all giddy with excitement!  Really, Jake was bouncing off the wall in sheer happiness about FINALLY getting to go to school!  We got his backpack out, colored the picture of the horse he was supposed to bring, laid out his clothes, planned breakfast and said "goodnight."

3:30 am.  Phone rings.  NEVER ever a good thing.  I looked at my phone, saw it was my mom and just knew.  I knew that my grandfather had just met Jesus and it absolutely BROKE my heart!  I was supposed to see him in just 2 days.  Jake and Pierce were supposed to sit in his lap in just 2 days.  I just knew he was "holding on" for just 2 more days.

So I was up crying until about 5:30am and then was finally able to go back to sleep.  Jake woke up an hour later... ready for school!  :)

I put on a happy face, fixed his breakfast of choice- "chicken eggs" and bacon, threw on some clothes... not even remembering the ones I had laid out, all the while saying to myself, "i'm not going to cry, i'm not going to cry, i'm not going to cry- this is such a HAPPY day!  my grandfather is in NO more pain, hooked up to NO more oxygen, able to walk and even RUN and is face to face with JESUS... AND my baby is starting school!  This IS a good day!"

We got to school and Jake was totally ready.  We had been the week before a couple times to an open house all the while knowing it would help him because we would be gone for a month before he was able to go back.

He went right in, found his favorite little place to play... with cars and trucks of course.  And when one of his teachers walked up to me, I completely fell apart.  She knew we were going home to "say goodbye" so I told her that it had just happened.  We hugged, I wiped away my tears, smiled and went to paint for a few minutes with Jake.  I really think that if my grandfather hadn't died that morning there would not have been any tears coming from my eyes about Jake starting school.  I am just thrilled about it and I know that he is ready and that makes me so proud!

Mark and I said goodbye and Jake wanted to "watch us leave" so he went and sat in the big window and waited for us to pull out front and wave goodbye!  So precious!

When I came to pick him up I found his class all sitting underneath a big tree listening to a book.  Jake was perfectly still- thank you Jesus :)!  His teachers all said he was great.  One said, "full of energy", one said "such a sensitive little boy" and another said, "very inquisitive."

We are looking forward to a second "first day of school", including more pictures in a couple of weeks!

Breakfast of choice- "chicken eggs", bacon and "ornoage juice"









"bye mommy and daddy"

ELEVEN months!

Oh dear.  ELEVEN months old.  My heart skips a beat and my eyes get a little teary and my hair turns a little more grey thinking about him turning one next month 
(actually, by the time yall read this, he will be one NEXT WEEK!!).  
I can't believe it's already here.  Seriously, where did this year go?!?

Biggest news about this month... Pierce is WALKING!  He actually started taking several steps at 10 1/2 months but now he is walking about 95% of the time.  Whew!  It's so cute.  I love the little waddle of a child learning how to walk.  I feel like I even saw him try and run this morning!

Other facts about this month (that I know are only of interest to me... and probably my mom- ha!)...
He's still taking 2 naps.  Longer one in the am and only about an hour in the pm.
Goes to bed around 7 and will sleep until around 6:30
Weighs 21 pounds.
Officially done with baby food.
I'm starting to mix his formula with whole milk.
Still will pretty much eat anything you put in front of him.
He's great with a sippy cup.
LOVES books.
Has just started giving kisses which I LOVE!!!
Has the most adorable curls on the back of his head!  Seriously, I have no idea where they have come from but there is NO WAY I'm having those cut anytime soon :)
The last couple of weeks have been pretty interesting and different.  He has become clingy.  He wants to be held all the time.  And if you try and put him down when he is one of his "moods" you would really think that his life is just completely falling apart!  He will cry, actually scream if you take ANYTHING away from him.  I'm just so used to him being happy ALL THE TIME and this "stage" has just sorta caught me off guard.


My favorite picture of him from the beach!

Reading with Papa.

He loves him some powdered sugar donuts!


Look at those curls!!  They are so cute :)



Pierce, I cannot believe that you have been here for almost a year!  I can't imagine our life, my life without you in it!  You bring so much JOY to our little family and we love you SO MUCH!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

A Day at the Beach

A few weeks ago Healdsburg had a heat wave... it reminded me of Dallas!  Believe it or not, after a record "cool" summer with highs in the 70's Healdsburg reached 104!  Mark had to work so the boys and I along with Mark's parents headed to the coast.  It was about 80 degrees and it was perfect.  Not even close to perfect swimming wise but perfect none the less.  Here are a few pictures from the day.  Pierce loved the sand.  I find it hilarious and frustrating at the same time that Jake doesn't stand still long enough for pictures these days... oh well!




the water that afternoon was so clear... frEEzing but really pretty


... and right after this is when Jake decided he had had enough fun :)

Sunday, September 12, 2010

I'm Still Here...

I have like 5 new posts to catch up on but just wanted to let my 12 follers know (ha) that I'm still here and I'm in Dallas for a few weeks.  My grandfather died last week and the funeral is tomorrow (Monday).  I'll try and get caught up sometime this next week.  In the mean time, I am enjoying precious time with my family and trying to savor every moment I had with my grandfather.  I would appreciate any prayers as the next 2 days are going to be a roller coaster of emotions!

xoxo

Friday, September 3, 2010

Like Mother Like Son

Just had to post a couple of these!  
Little Pierce is on track to be a lover of Dr. Pepper too... just like his momma :)


"I think there may be one tiny drop left in there somewhere"

"Ahhh pure deliciousness!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

House Guest

We had a little house guest for about 4 days a couple weeks ago.

A little background first...
Monday morning Mark was greeted by 7 adorable baby kitty cats on the back porch of Arista.  We have no idea where they came from, if someone just dropped them off at our gate and they all wondered up or if they were born on the property.  Mark called and said "you've got to bring Jake up here."

Here are a couple videos of us meeting them that morning...
(sorry for my obnoxiously high voice!)



Anyways, we played and fell in love with all of them... knowing the whole time that they would all become "arista cats" and not a one kitty would come live with us.  The plan was for Arista to keep 2-3 of them but by the end of the day, we had found homes for 5 of them, leaving 2 for the winery. 

Fast forward to the end of the week...  the boys and I came to the winery to play and to see the kittys and we noticed that one of them wouldn't put any weight on her foot.  Cue a trip to the vet.  Turns out the SHE kitty was really a HE :) and he was suffering from a femur fracture :(.  The vet advised us to put her in a bathroom and confine her (to limit her mobility) until we decided on a "treatment plan" (which included a $2000 surgery- ah, no thank you!)  Cue bringing kitty home with us :)  Well, after 4 days of loving on this little guy and realizing that he could now never be "wild" at Arista and could not stay with us, I very cautiously put him on craigslist!  Thankfully, we found the perfect person for him to go live with.

All of that rambling to say, we loved having a little house guest for a few days.  Jake LOVED LOVED LOVED him.  Loved sitting perfectly still on the couch holding him, being ever so careful of his injured foot.  I love hearing him say "kiwee kiwee"