The snowy drive out to my parents house.

Santa ate the cookies and drank all the milk!

First official captured smile on Christmas Eve

Nicki helping Alexis pile her presents in one spot

My Grandpa Denny and Jacob on Christmas Eve
Alexis and her giant stocking!
The much asked for iDog!
New tea set
My dad is laughing because she had just shouted "This is just what I wanted I can't believe you knew about it! I mean I really can't!"

So, this is as much blog as I feel like doing. I figured there were enough pictures to describe the feelings and emotions that I didn't need to write about them. I hope that you all had a great Christmas and are running towards the new year, I know we are!

Bumbo Baby

Just wanted to post a quick update on Jacob. He went in for his two month check a few days ago and is weighing in at 9lbs 9oz! He is growing so fast.

Here are some pictures of him in his Bumbo (thanks Dan and Ori!)

Winter Wonderland

I can't label this as the first snow, but it definitely is the first big snow storm that we have experienced this year or in any years previous. Downtown Spokane got a record of 26'' and in the north end of Spokane, where we live, there were measurements of 36''. I didn't go out front with a yard stick, but I can say that the unshoveled snow on our walk way was above my knees.

As you can imagine Alexis was going crazy waiting to go play. She is a snow freak. She would be out there all day if we let her. Unfortunately it is way to cold to be out there for long as the mercury here is topping off at around 10 degrees! Jake and I had to come in after a few minutes but Alexis and Dad worked on knocking the snow off the swing set and cleaning off the cars.

I have to admit that my image of Christmas would not be complete without snow but this is a little much.

Christmas tree 2008

Today my parents surprised us with a visit AND a Christmas tree. While digging about in the garage for the Christmas decor box we stumbled up our old camera! So, the pictures won't be as great as the previous ones, but none the less they are pictures and let's face it, that is the only reason you come here anyway!

Decorating the tree was slightly stressful, I imagine many of you have experienced the argument and loud sighs that accompany putting the tree in the stand and trying to get the lights on just right. Either way, Alexis was excited and I couldn't keep her hand out of the ornament box long enough to organize the breakables from the "safe" ones.

Jake on the other hand was completely upset that attention shifted from him a bit and screamed every time he was set down.

I got a few candid moments. Enjoy! Oh and Alexis is discovering her photography talents so a few of these were taken by her.

This blog normally would be accompanied by some pictures that would prove my words, but I decided to do a little science experiment with our camera last Monday. What happened was this; The kids and I hitched a ride to Couerd'elene with my cousin to take the holiday cruise. In the midst of almost missing the boat because we could not find the ticket counter, caring the stroller up to the top deck, getting Alexis the bag of chips she had to have, feeding Jake while keeping him warm, and trying to answer my cell phone because Gene was calling I shoved our camera into the pocket of my fleece sweater. I hastily sat down out of breath and a little stressed out when I heard "kerplunk" from the water below. With out even looking I knew it was our brand new camera that I put into my pocket instead of putting into the open diaper bag 5 inches in front of me. So, until we get a new one you will have to use your imaginations.
Jacob is mowing down the milestones and the numbers on the scale. He weighed in at a hefty 8lbs 7oz about a week ago and I have a really good feeling he will be in the double digits on Wednesday during his two month check up. His personality is beginning to peak through as his smile makes more appearances. He is really attempting to laugh but as of right now it just sounds like an out of breath gasp, if you can imagine that. Either way I think he is handsome and I love his undeveloped laugh. He also has discovered rattles and toys that light up or play music when he hits them. He is going to be a handful, I can tell.
Alexis is doing great with spreeschool, as she calls it. She loves her teacher and her "special friend" (the high school student assigned to help her for the day). Her list of friends and best friends is developing and I am pretty sure she has more friends than I do now. She is smart and it is getting hard to hide things from her. She is uber excited about Christmas and Santa. It is fun now that she is at the age that I can tell her that Santa is watching, and she believes and understands me. Can you believe that she is almost 5?!
As for Gene and I, we are doing well. Gene is working a lot, which means that he is gone a lot. Such is the life of a railroader. I am starting to get a little more sleep and develop a schedule to run the house on. All in all things are good in the Young household!
Stay tuned!

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

Last night I have to admit that I was at my breaking point. You see Jacob has been working out his crying muscles quite a bit these last few days and for some strange reason he always decides to exercise these muscles right when I want to do something for myself. Anyway, yesterday I was jonesing for a shower and every time I got the little monkey to sleep he would wake up and start wailing.

On top of his crankiness Alexis was lying in bed yelling out at random intervals"I'm not tired. I can't sleep, Mom, I just want to get up and be with you guys." Did I mention I was at my whits end? Okay so I was over Jacob's crying, over Alexis and her whining, and really wanting a hot relaxing shower. After a couple minutes of slight chaos I decided to mix the two together and see what would happen.

I picked up Jacob and carried him to Alexis' room, flipped the light on and grabbed "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" one of her favorite books. My thinking here was that this has been Alexis' favorite book for all time, leading to her memorization of said book. I plopped Jake down on the bed and simply told Lex to read to him.

Magic I tell you! This worked like a charm. I got my shower in quickly, the crying stopped, and I even got a few pictures to stick in the baby album!

Dancing Princess

These pictures are here not because I think any one on here will find them particularly interesting, but because they mean a lot to me. As a little girl one of the best memories I have is standing on my dad's feet and dancing through the house. While we were visiting my parents last week I turned the corner to find my dad and Alexis doing the same thing. We were packing up our many bags that we require to leave the house, thanks to Jacob, and I just happened to have the camera in my hand. While taking the picture I had the ultimate epiphany: I am a lucky person. Lucky in that I have the best parents in the world and now my children have the best grandparents in the world. It is fun for me to see the way my parents, especially my dad, interact with them.

Anyway these pictures touched my heart and I wanted to put them somewhere everyone could see them

Seven Pounder

Jake is two days shy from being a month old and he has officially reached seven pounds! At our last check up I plopped him onto the scale was so happy/surprised to see the number seven holding the first digit. He has exceeded his birth weight, which is something we weren't sure he would be able to do in the first month.

Jacob has proved to be a strong little man since birth. So far he has battled a breach birth, dehydration, weight loss, jaundice and is now on the defence against a nasty little cold. We are keeping a close eye on him but so far he seems to be handling it well. He is a brave little monkey.

Alexis too had to fight the cold and is now in the final days and doing well. She loves school. Every time we are out and about she sees a person her size and swears they are from her school. There have been a few instances where she has wondered up to talk to a little girl or boy and discovered that yet again, it was not someone that she went to school with. Gene and I find ourselves telling her more than a few times each outing "They are not from your school. You think everyone goes to your school." She is a character.

She is also growing like a weed. Last month we looked at her and saw a little girl, now we look at her and are amazed at how big she has gotten. She has the memory of an elephant (they have great memories) and can count to 100 and sing her ABC's. She insists that she knows karate and that she will one day be a ballerina, a zoo keeper, a teacher, an artist, and a magician all at once when she grows up. I hope that she always dreams that big. She is a special girl.

The Great Pumpkin

Trick or Treat?

Today Alexis' preschool class went trick or treating through the high school where her preschool is held. This means that I had to get up in time to dress her up and get Jake and I ready as well. I took a few pictures before we left, thought I would put them up to give you a preview of Halloween night!

Sleepless in Spokane

This morning Alexis came into my room with a very serious look on her face and her nostrils flared a bit and said "Mom, I think that Jacob is nocturnal." Keeping as straight as a face as I could I asked her why she thought this. "Because on my 'Goodnight Shows' Nina says that things that stay awake all night are called nocturnal." I could not argue with her, in a way she is right. Jake is definitely a fan of the wee hours. So I just answered, " You might be right and you are very smart to recognize the similarities between wild animals and your brother." To that she turned and walked to the living room for her morning cartoons.

These nocturnal nights however, have become my norm and I find myself pacing the living room with a very wide awake 16 day old boy while the rest of the house-and my brain-are quiet and fast asleep. While it is frustrating to be so damn tired it is also blissful to share those private moments looking into his curious eyes.

My body is adjusting to the lack of sleep and other physical demands this new little critter has placed upon me. I am healing well from the C-Section, still not back to my old self, but getting there. In another three weeks I will be able to drive my self around again.

It is now eleven p.m. and Jacob has woken up right on cue. Time to go punch in for another sleepless night.