Tess and Jake

Tess is almost 6 weeks and has been busy growing!  We had to go in to the Dr's today and she already weight's 9lb 12 oz!  So there is a reason that all those newborn clothes are so tight!  I thought she might be around 8lb 8oz or so boy was i off!  The Dr. was amazed that she is doing so well, and no wonder why she always seems hungry!  The other night I fead her for 1/2 hour or so and then put her to bed only to have her wake up 10 min later and ask Chris to rock her to sleep and he ended up feeding her a bottle of 4 more oz's!  Crazy girl  Jake never drank 4 oz of anything till he was 10 months or so!  

The Monster and the Duck!

She also rolled over last week from her front to her back, 3 times in a row, but of course hasn't done it again since.  Then again its been a busy week and we all know no one wants to do tummy time when your running around to Christmas party's.

Boy is Christmas fun and tiring with two little ones,  Jake loved helping Tess open her presents and surprisingly likes playing with some of her toys more than his right now, but then again they are simple, light up, and play music and who doesn't like toys like that right!  His favorite right now is the big train that goes around our Christmas tree, he knows how to run it and blow the whistle and its good and loud when its running full speed which is alot of fun.  He loves to put one foot on each side of the tracks and yell TUNNEL as it goes under him!   So funny!

We know how to wrap don't we!

snuggle

at grandma janets

Mr. Fix it!

Jake is officially 2 1/2 yrs old some of his's stats:

# 2ft 9in tall

# Favorite things to say - Whatcha Donin?   Ahhh Nope!

# Loves his new balance bike.

# When counting to ten always skips 3, and 4!

# Repeats everything we say to Tess including calling her Honey Buns 

# Mimics mannerisms he'll put his hand on his chin even if he's not leaning his elbow on the table like u.

# Love hammering everything

# Jumps from place to place

# Hates eating dinner most nights!

# Hates sitting on the potty!

# Can Hike the football but likes to balance on his head when he does!

# Remembers everything

# Will go and lay down on his bed on his own when he needs a break

# Can open his door with a childproof lock on it!

Tess is almost 6weeks

*9lb 12 oz

*Coo's and i swear says Hi

*Starting to smile in the last few days

*Poops so loud you can hear it in another room

*Sleeps 6hrs at a time most nights

*Loves to be held when she's awake

*Starting to bat at things

*Had no idea it was Christmas!

Miles and Tess

Baby Tess

SHE has arrived!   Tess Lauren Carnell weight 6lb. 14 oz.!!  I'm calling her tiny Tess!

She is  doing great, sleeping all the time, and being very understanding of her big brother kissing and talking to her all the time!!  Jake i'm afraid can't get enough of her, he loves to bring her her binky, diapers, and toys.  We are having a tough time deciding where the line is between sweet, and a little too close, not the worst problem to have.

I am happy to be home, from the 4  days in the hospital, and love remembering all the cute cuddyness that newborns bring.

Baby tomorrow!

This was Jake and I yesterday at Jack's  house listening for some excitement out of the little brother or sister!!

We are headed to the hospital tomorrow morning at 8 am and by 1 they say I'll have a baby and be waking up in recovery!  I'm a little nervous just hoping for a healthy baby and a smooth surgery.  And alot excited to meet this little one.  I have a feeling by morning.  I'll be a lot of both!!!  Wish us Luck!!

Thanks to Ricki for the  pictures since i haven't taken any this pregnancy!!

July Fun

We have been loving the pools and water these last few weeks since the temp has been averaging over 90 most days and i'm so excited to see how much jake has become a crazy water kid!  The pools around AA are so fun to splash and he is loving going under the water in them.  At home he's finally laying on his belly and kicking, not to mention trying to blow bubbles in the water too.  We had a few friends over today to play and me and my friends Katie and Ricki kept saying how excited we were to see our kids actually play with each other.  This is such a fun age when they copy each other instead of the old independent play where they didn't care who else was around them.  One of them does a belly flop they all do! 

Jake has also been lucky enough to have the biggest "sand box" on the block since we tour out our drive way 2 weeks ago and still have yet to poor another one.  However this does lead to alot more baths which are messy as can be! 

Jake still loves Kayaking and this weekend at my grandma's cottage he brought his squirt gun with him and squirted all the boats that passed us by!  We were out for over a half hour and he played the whole time a new record for us! 

Last weekend we went up to see Chris' mom in Tawas and beach time was great the first day anyway so we had alot of fun!

Jake loved riding on with with Daddy!Corn on the cob is alot easy for jake this year too!  He usually can't get enough of it!He also decided that the funnest thing to do at the beach is to "Hunt" Seagulls with his squirt gun!  I can tell you we never got pooped on! 

River Kids

Oddly enough i can't find my camera cords again to load up new pic's but one of my fellow River Kids took some great pic's of us in our fun new class we're doing.

Here we our during our first of 4 weeks of class on a paddle boat on the Huron River.  It was a little scary to think that Jake can sit still for 45 min in a paddle boat but he stood still pretty well looking for turtles and fishes! 

The second week we invited Grandma Janet to join us in a Kayak which was also alot of fun it was a gorgious day and jake was really excited he got his own paddle!  He also supprised me on how well he can listen in the 1/2 hour start of class when we learn about an animal that lives in the river and make a craft about it.  Picture Jake with a glue stick in one hand and tissue paper or a marker in the other.  He did great staying on the paper and not getting it on the floor too!

Next week we are supposed to be fishing in a Canoe!  Wish us luck!  Its so fun to have a new adventure everyweek.  I know i'll be sad when its over.  Especially since we meet at a great park with a wonderfull sand area and fountain to play in with other kids our age.

Jake at 20-22 months

Well we've always known Jake was a climber from the start but thanks to grandma's membership to the hands on museum in town jake now love to do the "real rock climbing"!  Thanks for the boost grandpa!  I never really thought the museum would be that much fun for him but there are alot of great things to discover even at his age.  He of course loves the water tables, the fire engine and for some reason scrubbing a stone!  Ahh the fun you can discover!

We were also lucky enough to dog sit for Denny and Colleen and Jake just loved Bella!  As you can see he could fit in her bed and everything.  Bella for the most part i think had fun with jake except when he would (constantly) put her food into her water bowl!  Ah well worse things could happen right?

Jake, and I must admit Chris and I have a new love of back yard golf.  Jake of course plays with the big boy clubs when ever possible and we try to hit the ball into his club house, up the slide, bounce it off the roof, what ever sounds fun at the time, if you have the equipment i highly advice you try it!

I can't believe we're getting so close to his birthday but i must admit its so exciting as so many people have said to hear him talk more and more everyday.  At dinner sometimes chris and i just look at each other like i've never heard that before have you?  For example he actually said thank you with out me asking  him too.  I know i know a big accomplishment!  :-) 

 Can't wait for summer!

Jake's been busy

Jake is still suprising us everyday with what he comes up with!  Recently he's loved to just get up and grab his boots and hat and telling us good-bye!  So saterday i finnaly put his coat on too and just opened the door to see what in the world he wanted to do,  this is what he came up with!  Boy do our neighbors think we're crazy or what!  Looking good Jake!

Jake is also a hockey fanatic! He didn't go anywhere with out a hockey stick for a good month or so now i'm glad to say he has his own hockey net and him and Chris play almost everynight but he has also moved on to basketball aka b-ball in jake's terms and baseball.  he loves to carry around a mit backwards too!We convinced him to "sled" too he wasn't a big fan of the snow but as you can see if dad was working hard enough we got a smile out of him!We went up to visit my sister and her family in Grand Rapids and I had so much fun playing in the snow with them this picture is of them building a sheild to hide behind so i couldn't get them with snowballs!  I forgot how much a good snowball fight is with a 7 yr old and a 4 year old!  They were so much fun after everytime i tackeled them we just said there's nothing left to do but to do a snow angel!  My excuse to catch my breath!  Jake of course went in early and played with Aunt Liz and Makenzie! 

I know I have talked with most of your guys about my Niece Makenzie, she is 3 months younger than Jake and has special needs.  This is a very exciting walker that she borrowing that supports her so that she can exersize her legs.  She holds her head up these days for 5-10 seconds and pushes off her feet when motivated by a good game of peek-a-boo!  We're all very proud of her!

Florida Weekend

We were lucky enough to tag along with Chris on a last minute work trip to our old stomping ground of Long Boat Key.

Jake did great on the plane and on the sand.  Our first day after chris got done with work in Tampa we drove over to Clearwater beach and enjoyed the 75' sun shine.  Jake was reluctant at first to go in the water but then we litterally had to chase after him to get him out.  Water temp was only 55'!  He even threw a few shells so hard that he fell down got his shorts all wet but didn't even flinch got right back up and started chasing birds!  Jake of course quacked at them and we loved it! 

The weather however went down hill the next few days and the last day may have only been 60' and windy but to the beach we still had to go, don't worry jake got creative and found a warm place to hide!

Climbed in here on his own of course and just laughed and laughed at himself!

He did great on the plane they were both during his usuall sleeping times but still it gives us hope for our long trip to hawaii to see aunt Julie!

It was fun walking around our old condo, and seeing how the town has stayed exactly the same, yet our lives are so different with baby!  Our old stomping grounds weren't all baby friendly!  We missed you Cocktail Lounge!  Yet the beach has never been as fun on a 60' day when you get to watch Jake do everything he can to eat sand, run into the water and climb a lounge chair in totally new ways!

King Jake

Grandma Tres signed Jake up to be a King in her Church play/fundraiser so we were more than happy to hot glue an adorable outfit for him.  He had fun except for the hat and all of the patient sitting around inbetween the action.  We were all proud!

Christmas is a rap!

Christmas 09 is a rap! We had a lot of fun driving all over the place.  Jake got to meet some new cousins and played great with some other crazy boys 4 and 2.  I think he liked his presents but was not into the unwrapping!

On Christmas day we had a good old fashioned christmas with Grandma Janet. His favorite toys, a shovel, tools, and an air gun that shoots foam disks!

He loved his big Power Wheel when he opened it but i'm afraid now that its at our house he doesn't like getting near it!

Then a one of a kind christmas on the 26th with Grandma Tres and Grandpa Lee at the Water Park.  It took him an hour or so to warm up but he had fun playing with the wheels and splashing the younger girls.  He even took a trip around the lazy river once or twice with me in a tube!