December odds and ends

Here are some other random things from December.

We went down to Union Station in St. Louis before we went to Utah. Such a cute little historic spot with a wonderful Christmas tree to get in the spirit.

Jacob also got his first "real" haircut from a professional. Let's just say he hated it, and that he might have curly hair... You'd never know with how short I keep it cut. 

Fun with the Loos family:

And fun with Grandpa Kirt. Jacob played with Grandpa Kirt almost every night. They had a riot together. We sure miss him!

Happy 1st Birthday, Jacob!

Happy Birthday to Jacob! 

Jacob turned one year old on December 26th, 2012. We had a fun little party for him that night, complete with pizza, cake and ice cream, and family. Thanks to all of our family who could make it and celebrate with us!

 

Christmas 2012

We went to Utah for Christmas this year. Jacob and I went early in December because I was supposed to teach a class at the University of Phoenix. It got cancelled, but we had already booked our flights so I figured why not go have fun with family! It was so fun to be with family for a whole month! We loved every minute of it.

We did lots of things to celebrate Christmas - family parties with the Loos', went to Temple Square to see the lights with Rita, Dave, Fran and Bill, had a family Christmas party with my immediate family (including facetime with the Florida Sudweeks!) etc. We loved spending so much time with our family and can't wait to be back in Utah to play some more.

On Christmas Eve, we went to great Grandpa and Grandma Sudweeks' family Christmas party and Jacob was a shepherd in the nativity. He was so darling! After much persuading, Steve was a shepherd with him. We didn't get that great of pictures unfortunately. I'll have to see if I can find more pictures from someone else. In the meantime, this is what we've got:

Since this was Jacob's first Christmas, he didn't quite understand the opening of gifts, but he still did great. He even said "vroom vroom" when he opened a pack of cars! He had never said that before and he's never said it since then but it was perfect for Christmas morning.

You're about to get an overload of pictures... I just can't narrow it down. Christmas is so much more fun with kids. I can't wait for the many Christmas mornings in the future!

November Round Up

We had a great month of November here in STL. Life is so fun with a walking boy. He is all over the place and I love every second of it. Jacob loves to pull the boxes of Rice a roni off the baker's rack and haul them around the house. He learned how to open the sliding door to mommy and daddy's room (and consequently thinks that all doors are sliding doors. It's awesome to read his thoughts as he tries to slide open the front door, the bathroom door, etc.) He also likes to unload the silverware from the dishwasher while I'm loading it. Such small and simple things... but they bring a smile to my face every time. I LOVE being a mom.

A lady at church gave me the sweetest compliment the other day. She said that she loves to watch me when I'm watching Jacob - that I'm just in love with him. She's right. I love having this little man in my life. He has been the perfect addition to our home. And sweet Steve is such a cute dad. He just can't get enough of our little man. He takes videos of J all the time, which I'm sure we'll be so grateful for those as time goes on. I love to watch daddy and Jacob interact and I LOVE to watch Jacob give daddy hugs. It warms my heart. I am so blessed.

Here are some pictures from this month:

 At the zoo with our friends. Oliver, Lauren, Brittney, Rex, Jacob and Mommy.

Mostly I like this pic because it shows all of our pictures of J behind him.

 The zombie walk

Ready for bath time

Jacob Is Walking

We have heard that when little ones learn to walk that one day it's like a light switch turns on and they are off and running. Tuesday November 6th was that day! Jacob is now walking every where on his own. Granted he walks around like a zombie, but he's confident enough to go wherever he wants now.
I know everyone says that life gets harder when babies learn to walk, but I can't help loving that I have my hands back. We've spent months and months (since the summer) walking up and down our apartment hand-in-hand. I feel like we both have a new found freedom.

Videos to come soon.

Grant's Farm

We are part of a play group here our ward in St. Louis and for our activity we went to Grant's Farm. I have been wanting to go there for a long time so I'm glad we finally made it. We twisted Steve's arm to get him to come with us, too. :)

We rode a tram through some wild life terrain and saw some deer and buffalo.

But my favorite part was the animals that we saw when we got off the tram. There was a place to feed the goats and boy were they hungry! They would start nibbling on your clothes if you didn't feed them! Jacob was really curious about the goats. It was fun to watch him.

And last but not least, we saw some elephants and camels. Loved them!

Such fun at Grant's Farm!