Jacob enjoys Lincoln Brewster at Lifelight

I don't remember how to post videos from youtube here, so this is a trial!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMGcYGhfy2M

Then and Now

First family picture together 2 year ago

First car ride - 2 years ago

Precious boy sleeping after his 2 year dr. appointment this afternoon - 2 years after we first met him!

A different angle :) 

Since it is naptime currently I'm trying to play a little catch up and get things sorted, organized....but I need to sit down and reflect on the now.  I just spent time reading our posts from Aug. & Sept. 2008 along with the comments.  I look back and just stand amazed at God's goodness. 

We had his 2 year check-up today - I had no clue where he was with his height/weight since we hadn't been to the dr. since his 18 mo appt.  He came in at 25 lbs 5 oz and is 32 1/4 inches tall.  He's just perfect. 

We look forward to some camping this weekend as we attend the Lifelight music festival.  We haven't used our tent since last year at the festival, so hopefully it goes well.  The weather sounds gorgeous and the music line-up sounds great too.  I am looking forward to getting away, but the packing pre and post trip are not the joys of my life.  I tend to OVER pack - on clothes, food, blankets.....but, it's a high of 75, low of 50, we're sleeping on the ground - not even an air mattress folks, and the food at the vendor stations is way over priced and we can't let dave down, plus, you just never know what J will decide he wants (or doesn't) want to eat, so variety is good.

And by the way, it's SEPTEMBER TODAY?!  wow. 

desperate words

Most people who know us do not mark today as a 'special day'.  It's not our anniversary, either of our birthdays, wasn't the day we brought Jacob home into our family, in fact, Nate probably doesn't even remember why this date is significant...this date marks the date 3 years ago that we were told some very desperate words, that we would not be able to conceive children.  We sat in shock in the dr. office, trying to hold our composure just enough to make it home.  I remember sobbing with each other on our bed wondering what God's plan for us was.  We were devastated.  Eventually work was calling, tear stained faces left each other because I had to go back to teach (I left one assignment a little early to make it to this appointment and would be back to my next appointment after lunch.)  Quite honestly we were blind sided by this news.  We had absolutely no clue this was the news we were going to hear.  It was only through God's strength that I was able to go back to school and teach that afternoon. 

We had already made plans to be away from each other that night - Lifelight was underway and a dear friend of mine and a couple young gals would be heading with us up to Sioux Falls, I couldn't cancel, plus Nate had to work.  It was an extremely difficult 24-36 hour time span.  Nate arrived as soon as he could and we carefully listened to what God was saying to us. 

Fast forward about 2 months - there had been a small glimmer of home - we decided to have a procedure done to see if that would allow us to have children, the procedure did not accomplish what we had hoped...another devastating dr. appointment.  It was some time in November that we had heard that news and proceeded to follow God's calling in our marriage and family...we both felt like adoption is where he was leading us.  We did some research, made some phone calls and within a month and half we were taking the step of faith and starting the adoption process. 

And, if you have been following our blog, the beginning of our blog starts and you know the rest! 

Jacob turns two tomorrow!  Amazing!  Crazy!  Beautiful!  We have the most amazing little boy and are in complete awe of who he is, what he does, what he knows.  This boy is perfect in our family.

So despite the hurts of what today stands for, there is a precious little boy who fell asleep in daddys arms this afternoon and it's so adorable; the childbearing pain, swollen body, the hospital wrist bands, cutting an umblical cord...ya know...the list goes on...we have stretchmarks in many other ways and we still have times where we long to be able to conceive and it hurts.  But we go on trusting.

We look forward to celebrating Jacob's official birthday tomorrow and praying God gives him many, many more birthdays to celebrate!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jacob!

So the real date is actually Monday, but we partied today!  He loves airplanes and adored his cake!  It's so amazing that 2 years ago we didn't even know about this child, let alone where we would be 2 years later with a very handsome, intelligent, energetic boy.  We are in awe of him.

Have a great weekend!  It's a little breezy here, but very sunny and a bright blue sky. 

the tales of summer

Jacob enjoyed some much needed heat relief one evening with our neighbor O on her slip n slide.  They had a blast!

She's teaching him the essentials of summer time fun!

This here is the morning of his 23rd month.  A before shot if you will of what happened later in the day.  He loves bananas.

The precious little one took a major spill while pushing a little ride on toy on the cement.  A fat lip, chipped tooth, and lots of blood...about 10 minutes later he says, I all better, go back outside? 

I cannot believe that Louie let Jacob do this!  The cat was very kind and Jacob thought it was great!

Showing off his Pizza Ranch tattoo.  He's pretty proud of it.

While I had a day away, Nate and Jacob had a fun outing to a parade and then went out to lunch together.  His favorite "float" was the fire trucks.  He still asks to go to the parade to see them.

He's just an all around happy guy  :)

...except on the boat.  He wasn't so fond of the ride this year.

So we dropped him off at our friends parents - he knows them and neighbor O was there, so it was way bettern for him and us!  Then we could enjoy some tubing and swimming in the lake.

A few days ago he found our closet, took the matching pair out, put them on, walked out and said, I ready to go to church! 

Then this weekend we decided to be finished with the crib and get the twin bed out for him.  Nate's old bed, my old bedding, nothing special at all, but he loves the bubble bed!  It's definitely a transition that we are trying to form good habits with.  The first nap is what you see below!  It took a little while for him to settle down and realize he was going to sleep here.  I was so tired that while I was helping him get acclimated I fell asleep and we slept for over 2 hours!  It was very refreshing!

He was so tired by bed time he didn't get out of bed at all and fell fast asleep!  This is how we found him sleeping when we went to check on him before we went to bed.  Tonight on the other hand isn't going so easily.  Shucks!  We'll get there before we know it.  And as I write this, Nate is leaving his room - he's asleep, we hope!

Sadly, this is the eve of the first day of school for me.  I have mixed emotions for sure!  I absolutely LOVE summer to no end and really don't want the seasons to continue.  Fall is gorgeous and beautiful and I love the smells of Fall, but I know all to well that the winter that follows is much to long and I dislike that VERY, VERY much!  So as I long for summer to continue I will write a few of my favorites from the summer...
     *picnics in the park
     *swimming at the pool after nap
     *eating my lunch outside in the hot sun while Jacob napped
     *reading my book after lunch outside
     *chocolate and vanilla ice cream cones
     *vacation
     *fresh green beans (few in my garden this year)
     *garden tomatoes (only a few so far with hopes of more)
     *carrots still growing deep in the ground
     *tank tops
     *the scent of sunscreen
     *Jacob wearing his cute bucket hats
     *golf
this list could go on...

A few things that I did not enjoy from the summer
     *the week with 3 tornado warnings
     *the 2-5 inches of rain that seemed to come with every storm
     *mosquitoes....they were thick this year

But as I close on this entry and look for to what is inevitably here....

...‎'twas the night before school and all through my mind, were visions of ice cream and water of some kind. The summer had gone by way to fast, but I knew the first day would soon be a blast. The kiddos all shedding a tear, the parents all rejoicing, school finally is here!

the good life

that's the saying on the Nebraska sign at the state line. We had a good weekend in the great state of Nebraska. Nate was on a "the not at all annual dudes golf expedition" while Jacob and I spent time with some family. We all enjoyed the weekend away, but it's good to be home and back in our own surroundings too.

we found a snake skin in the backyard

it was taller/longer than the two toddlers!

dropping a locust shell by the snake skin

We had a lot of fun hanging with family and friends.  Now it's time for the Sunday night fire with the neighbors!

a month goes by just like that

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since we posted!  I don't feel like we've been that busy, but it's the daily-ness that goes by and by.  This has been an excellent summer and there have been many highlights.  Here's a couple from the weekend of the 4th.  Jacob enjoyed riding the fire truck and the pony named Jay.  Fireworks were also quite fun for him.  We pulled up a couple youtube videos of fireworks to show them to him before to give him an idea of what he was going to see.  He still asks to watch fireworks on the "poo-dee-der"

Our summer has also consisted of weekly picnics, trips to the pool, the library, walks and playing outside - a lot!  I'm so thankful that the weather has cooperated and summer has truly been summer.  The storms haven't been near as strong as they were in June either - 3 nights in the basement with tornado warnings in 5 days was a bit much in my opinion. 

The golf course is the site of bi-weekly date nights for us.  Unfortunately we've missed a couple - but when we've gone we've made a great team for "couples league". 

Jacob continues to watch attentively at every move we make or others around him.  He can make a pretty full golf swing and make connection with the ball.  He can also hold a bat and ball, toss the ball and hit it with his bat.  We can also toss him the ball in which he sometimes makes contact. 

The gardens are keeping me busy as beans are in harvest and the weeds aren't giving up and the sweet corn in the area is also beginning to be ready.  We spent several hours last night freezing 11 doz ears of corn.  I hope to get more corn and do it again! 

Just a few weeks remain of summer and the calendar is filling up.  We're looking forward to what's ahead!  Hopefully a trip to Michigan, Omaha, lots of trips to the pool, a visit to the lake perhaps, a birthday party for a 2 year old (WOW!) and the kick off of another school year will quickly be on our heals.  Looking forward to each day of the "dailyness" and outings with the lil guy.

For now, nap time is over and he is calling us from his room.  He's ready to get up!