Some new pics

Jacob - He is busy 3 year old learning all kinds of new things! He loves his sister and enjoys playing with her (or bugging her). It must be a big brother ingrained kind of thing... At his 3 year doctor appointment he weighed 29.7 lbs! He was 39.5 inches tall. That makes him 35% for weight and 70% for height and not even on the chart for BMI. Oh well, the doctor has run all his tests and everything came back normal. His words to us this appointment were, "As long as he stays on the curve he is following we won't worry about it." Finally!


Ellie - She is growing like crazy. She can now sit up by herself for brief periods of time and is ready to be on the move! I am not sure I'm ready for her to be on the move yet! Her favorite people in her life are her daddy and her brother. As much as Jacob picks on her, she loves him and laughs at him more than just about anyone else. At her 4 month appointment she weighed 16lb 2oz and was 25.5 inches long! That puts her at the 80% for weight and 60% for length. The doctor kind of chuckled as he looked at her numbers and said, "Hmmm. She really is the exact opposite of Jacob isn't she?" :)

Ellie

Ellie had a checkup yesterday as a follow-up to when she was in the hospital. She is back to normal - everything checked out fine. While we were there, they weighed her and Jacob also got a shot. She weighed 13 lbs 7 ounces on the 8th when she was admitted to the hospital. Yesterday (a week and a half later) she weighed 14 lbs. 6 ounces! She is still packing on the pounds. At this rate, she'll weigh the same as Jacob by Christmas! :)

Elsa Kay

Elsa Kay (Ellie) was born on May 11th at 10:48 am. She weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 21 inches long. Today is her two week birthday and she is growing and making plenty of dirty diapers for Mom and Dad to change. She also really loves to eat. Jacob loves his sister most of the time. Yesterday he told us we could take her back to the hospital. I told him we couldn't do that because all of her things were here and her bed was here. His response - "Send them all with her." After telling him that she was part of our family and was staying with us he agreed to "let" her stay. Two minutes later he was mad at me for not letting him kiss her as much as he wanted and he was commiserating with Baby Ellie about how mean Mommy was! Ah, the mind of a 2 year old!

Pics

Hopefully, I will get back into the swing of blogging again soon - even if it is only to put up new pictures. With all the youth stuff, remodeling stuff, and just being plain tired from being pregnant I have not had time or the inspiration to blog. Here are a few pictures from our lives the last few months. Currently, we are awaiting the arrival of Elsa Kay Kissinger in the next two weeks or so. Jacob is very excited to meet baby Ellie face to face and bring her home so he can watch her grow and change "just like I did, Mommy!".

Happy Birthday!

September 11 has become a day that holds many meanings for our family. David and I remember the attacks and exactly what we were doing when they occurred. I had just started college and was getting ready for block with my roommates with the morning news on like always. I remember watching in disbelief as the second plane hit the towers, not really understanding what was going on. Today will always be a day of remembrance for our country.

But it is also a day of celebration for us. Today our little boy turns 2! Happy birthday Jacob - your mommy and daddy love you very much! We are very proud of the little boy you are growing into and are excited to watch you continue to grow and develop and learn. Thanks for teaching us that sticks and rocks are more fun than toys and that little boys are tough when they fall down as long as there is a band-aid with Elmo on it nearby.

So while we remember we also celebrate. May you celebrate the life around you today and remember those who have made it possible.

Big Mess!

This is what I found when I got Jacob up from his nap yesterday. It was the second time he had gotten into the powder. Hopefully, there won't be a third time!

Big Boy Bed

Jacob is now in a toddler bed. He is staying in it pretty well and was very excited to sleep in a bed like Mommy and Daddy. Here are a few pics from today's nap. You'll notice the papers next to him. Everyday he finds something else in his room in his reach that he just has to sleep with. One day it was the CD player, another a pair of shoes. In other news, we are headed to Mancelona Camp for the next week where we will be serving as co/assistant directors of the youth program. It will be great to be at camp, but probably not as relaxing as in past years. Jacob is sure to have a great time with the sticks and the bugs and the dirt. What little boy wouldn't? :)

More Pics

Lately I haven't felt like I have anything particularly witty or inspiring to say, so I haven't written anything. This will be another mainly pictures blog. Why? Cuz it's so much easier and less time consuming. A few of these are from our mini-vacation to Kentucky/Indiana for a wedding and to go to Mammoth Cave for a day. The rest are from our yard today trying to beat the heat!

Our life in pictures for the last month...

Mel's Graduation

Memorial Day Parade

Anniversary rose bush
Flowers we planted at our house
Dow Gardens - traditional yearly waterfall pictures

Hearing Test

Yesterday was Jacob's hearing test. We are being cautious due to the family history (David has hearing loss and one of his sisters has a cochlear implant). Jacob did really well through the testing. And the results? Normal! No reason for concern! They want to see him every six months to make sure no problems develop, but for now everything is good. Yay!

Busy

I haven't blogged in awhile mainly because we've been so busy lately. I am still doing a recipe a week in our meals, but I just haven't found the time to blog about them. One week we did Crock pot barbecued chicken which absolutely yummy! Maybe I'll be able to get back into the regular blogging swing again(but don't count on it!). With summer quickly approaching, weddings, graduations, youth stuff, Mancelona Camp, etc. we just don't have a lot of free time.

Jacob is continuing to talk and learn new words daily. His latest favorite toy (besides his trucks) is his babies. I got out two of my old dolls for him and he is very sweet with them. He puts them in bed and pushes them around in his little wagon. Very cute! He has also discovered the joy of watercolor painting. I will post some pictures when I have a few more minutes. We are taking him to have his hearing checked a week from Monday. David and one of his sisters have hearing loss that may be genetic in nature. David's hearing began to deteriorate at the age of 7 and then stopped. His sister was born with a hearing loss that continued to worsen. She is basically deaf and she has a cochlear implant. We have not seen any signs of hearing loss with Jacob, but we are being cautious. The doctor recommended we get him checked because of the family history and it will help us establish a baseline of his hearing which we can compare with later on to see if it is changing. Hopefully everything will turn up normal!

Easter Pictures

Somehow, we managed not to get a picture of Jacob in his Easter outfit. Grandma Kissinger did however, so we will have to get a copy from her. Take my word for it - he was super cute and my little man in his tie and vest. Here are a few pictures of the Easter egg hunts and Easter basket hunts we did over the weekend.

At our house with the neighbor girl

At the Masonic Home Easter Egg hunt
Super crazy with lots of kids in a small space!
Easter baskets at Mom and Dad Kissinger's
Easter eggs at Grandma Koeppen's
Easter eggs at Mom and Dad Shidler's
Completely tired out!

Mmmm...

We decided to color Easter eggs last Saturday. The eggs were all ready and we were dissolving the tablets into the vinegar. I put a spoon into each cup to stir them and help them dissolve faster. Jacob crawled up into one of our dining table chairs and was "helping." All of a sudden, we hear this sound coming from his direction - "mmmmmm." What?!?! He had one of the spoons in his mouth and a strange look on his face. His lips were a disturbing shade of orange. And he still says "mmm". We've been trying to get him to try new foods and we'll say "yum" when we put it in his mouth. Apparently, he decided to try it for himself, starting with colored vinegar. What else do you do with a spoon but put it in your mouth? :-)

Smile for the day

Last night we got Taco Bell for supper. Jacob had a burrito. He started eating it really nicely - he was picking it up and eating off of one end. All of a sudden, he flipped it around and was going to take a bite out of the other end. David and I didn't really want him to do this (since it would be a big mess!) so we told him "no". That started a huge crying fit. When Jacob calmed down, he started to do the same thing again. Again, we told him no. Again more crying. After he calmed down, David and I decided it was more important that he eat and we would clean up the mess later. Jacob went to flip the burrito around again. He looked at the nice folded end, then told himself "no" and proceeded to the crying tantrum phase again. David and I could not stop laughing! Supper was pretty much a lost cause after that. :)

Doctor's Visit

Jacob is officially back on the weight charts! He had his 18 month check-up today, where we learned that he weighs 23.1 pounds. This puts him at the 25th percentile. He gained 3 pounds since January! He is staying on the curve height wise. He was 35 inches tall. The weight is very good news - the doctor is no longer concerned about it and making us feel like we starve our child! He is exactly where he should be developmentally - he is talking non-stop! Although in public, you would never know because he turns shy. We are blessed to have a healthy, happy, growing little boy!

More pics