reach...reach...YES!

I'M

GONNA
GET
MOMMA'S

PHONE...

YAY!!! I did it! :)

We've had a good week at the Tuley household. Jacob is trying to gain more and more independence each day. We can tell that he wants to be mobile, but he's still in the strength gaining mode. But, we know mobility will be coming soon. As shown in the pictures, he can lean all the way over to the floor and bring himself back up again. Coming to a sit all by himself is just around the corner. He rolls back and forth on the floor, and still loves to rotate himself. He can get one knee up and almost underneath him. This is great progress for him! We're happy!

Lately, he's been working on CHEERING the USA in multiple Olympic events on TV and seems to like Snowboarding the best. He grunts very excitedly while the athletes snowboard the half pipe and race each other during snowboard cross. Considering Jacob's extreme start to life, maybe he will always enjoy the thrill seeking sports...For my sake, I hope not! :)

There is not a day that goes by that we don't thank God for Jacob. Yesterday, I was reminded about the day of Jacob's first surgery and the scripture that God led Jeff and I to read to Jacob that day. Matthew 7:7-8. Ask and you will recieve, Seek and you will find, Knock and the door will be opened to you. I am going to continue to ask God for BIG things for Jacob, because that is what God wants us to do...to pray big prayers, and seek and find Him, and to follow when the opportunity comes.

We hope this blog has been helpful to other people that are struggling to find hope amidst the "tough stuff." Hang in there! God will never leave you or forsake you.

Have a great day!

Justin Bieber Hair

Here he is...Teen sensation Justin Bieber
and his look alike Jacob Tuley!!!!!!

Jacob's hair is beginning to get out of control on the sides...so we styled it like JB. Jacob loves to listen to the song "One Time" by Justin Bieber. So here's our tribute to all his fans out there! :)

As for a quick update, Jacob is doing pretty good. You can see from the pictures above that he doesn't really need his oxygen and he is finding ways to be rid of it...with a snotty nose and all. For some reason we just can't get rid of this lingering "cold" so we're disinfecting everything and hoping to get rid of those germs. Spring can't come soon enough.

He's begun to go from a sitting position to his belly, all by himself. He wants to be mobile, but doesn't have the coordination yet. This is the first step and it's pretty funny to watch. Our son, WHO IS NOT THE RISKTAKER, is beginning to take some risks to get things out of reach. Yay!Also, it sounds like he is starting to "copy" words that we say, although they don't sound anything like words, and we can't tell what he is saying at all, but nevertheless we feel like real words are just around the corner.

Thanks for checking in with us. Have a wonderful day. And Jamie...if you're reading this...UPDATE YOUR BLOG ALREADY... you've "had a blog" for a while now!!!! I love you sister! Hee Hee.

Board Meeting

What might they be discussing???

Winter Bugs....Bah!

Well...Jacob's cold has not gone away, and since I last posted Jacob developed a cough that got really bad throughout the weekend. We've been housebound for a while now, except for Superbowl Sunday (we'll get to that later), and the trip to the pediatrician on Monday. So, we are ready for Winter to end so we can get outside and get rid of these nasty winter bugs!



New things he's doing:



Jacob has gotten really good at rotating in his crib...it takes him no time at all now. He has figured out how to bounce while standing and holding onto things. He likes to "grunt" for attention and when answering a question. He is throwing EVERYTHING. Some advice on when/how that stops...please. He can roll a ball back and forth while sitting. He rather enjoys that game (as does Jackson). He loves reading books and turning pages. He listens to Michael Buble and "dances" to the music! :) He copies sounds that we make and tries to figure out change in pitch. He doesn't like it when we "make" him hold something....he would rather do it himself. When laying on his back he lifts his bottom up and down in the air by pushing down on his feet, while laughing! What a goof! He loves Jackson and often tries to imitate his bark with a grunt when he hears him barking.



Here's some pictures of Jacob from this week.



Standing and holding onto the coffee table. He mostly just stands there and looks around. He's not confident enough to move anywhere yet!
Fell asleep in his crib...after about 30 minutes of rotating. This is how he ended up!

Best Buds!

Jacob "singing" and "dancing" to Michael Buble. He thought his sock made a good stage prop, until he threw it on the floor! :)

This picture was my doing. I opened the drawer in his room to see what he'd do. As I was putting things away in his room, he thought it would be fun to pull things out, so I'd have more to put away. Wasn't that thoughtful of him?

Now to Superbowl Sunday...

Our small group usually meets on Sunday nights. So we decided to meet at the Beasley's house and watch the game together. Jacob wasn't feeling his best, but he wasn't horrible either, so we decided to go. Here's a picture of Sam and Jacob together on the couch. Sam loves Jacob and was trying to sit in his lap and play with him all night. Here's a couple of pictures of the two of them. I can't wait for the day when Jacob can run around with Sam on Sunday nights! :)

Trying to hug! :)

Thanks for checking in with us this week.

100th Post...

I'll be honest...I never thought this blog would reach 100 posts. When we started this blog, we weren't sure how long we'd be needing to update on Jacob's health, if at all. However, here we are...100 posts later, with millions of miracles in between. God has been good to us! Thank you for investing your time and prayers on behalf of our family. Here's to hundreds more!



Jacob is still fighting his cold, but we do feel like its getting a little better. Poor guy, he doesn't even know he's sick. He's got snot coming out of his nose and he's just smiling away! He's coughing throughout the day, yet, he plays like nothing is wrong. He's sounds like a frog when he makes noise, but he still makes it...trust me! He's been satting great and has not needed any extra oxygen throughout this cold. What a trooper!



On the developmental side of things...there's only a few things to report about Jacob's progress. He is not "scooting" per say, but he has found a way to maneuver himself completely around in his crib. I walked into his room to check on him during a "nap" and found his head on the opposite end of the bed from where I left him and he was "talking" to himself. :) Here's the pic of how I found him.

He also has gotten alot stronger in the past few weeks and his "throwing" arm (he's a lefty we think) is definitely stronger! He is constantly picking things up and throwing them back down. He always reaches for things just to see if he can tip them over or pull them down. Lovely! Here's a sequence of pictures of him doing just that...

Also, good news...we scheduled our sleep study for April 9th. This will be the true test to see if Jacob will be ready to come off oxygen. You can mark it on your calendars if you want and be praying for Jacob to really show these doctors what he's made of!

Thanks for checking in with us. Have a great day!

Boo....

Jacob has a cold...and not just any cold...a coughing, sneezing, sucking the snot out of his nose all the time cold. We were at Vanderbilt last week 3 times, and I'm sure that's where he got this bug! His first real symptoms showed up on Wednesday evening and it's still hanging around and getting worse in the past few days. We'd appreciate any prayers for our tough guy! We want him to kick this cold to the curb!

Thanks!