SNOW...

Sunday night we got our first snow of the Winter Season. This is what our house looked like as we attempted to go to small group. Doesn't it look beautiful?!?!

Our backyard looked like this on Monday morning. A nice blanket of snow!

Jacob, however, didn't think the snow was so great afterall. Here he is all bundled up and ready to play in the snow. The plan was to make a snowman, but the big guy had other plans!

At the steps, ready to go back inside! Ha!

Everytime I would pick him up and walk with him out to the snow, he'd head right back to the door. Funny!

So, I decided that maybe he'd like the snow more if he saw how much Jackson loves the snow. So we went around to the backyard and got Jackson out there with us....But...Jacob just headed right for the stairs to go back inside. Ha!

I managed to get one smile out of him, but only because Jackson was running around and eating the snow. I guess Jackson is pretty funny to watch.

An attempt at a cute picture in the snow with the two boys!

Jacob's first time in the snow...here's what he really thought!

Cookies?!?!

Friday night was a fun night at our house. We decorated Sugar Cookies for Christmas!

Jacob did a good job helping Mama in the kitchen with the cookie cutting. He chose a tree and a train. How cute!

A picture of Jacob's train, pre-oven.

Jacob cutting out his tree!

Once the cookies were cooked and cooled, we sat Jacob in his chair, and asked him what color he'd like for his tree. He pointed to the black. Hum...I guess I need to do a better job there.... :) Jacob loved putting the sprinkles on his cookies. He just laughed and laughed when he shook the container and all the sugar sprinkles went on his tray. Fun!

Jacob decided that he'd like to try the sprinkles first...to make sure they were tasty enough...

The finished products! What a wonderful BLACK tree and Choo Choo train!

This is the look we get when we ask Jacob to smile. He had already put his fingers in the icing and as you can tell, he enjoyed it! Ha!

After little man went to bed, Mommy and Daddy finished decorating the other cookies. We had some serious masterpieces...

Mommy made this one for the Big Guy! He ate it last night. ;)

This was Mommy's favorite! Something about the little scarf... Fun!

Daddy also got creative...this is his black sock, with a gold toe and a hole in the heel. Ha!

Of course, Daddy had to have a train too. What a good job!

We're really enjoying this holiday season with Jacob....What a blessing!

Breakfast with Santa

Last Saturday we had Breakfast with Santa at our church. There were activities that Jacob could do while he waited for his chance with Santa. So he decorated a card, made an ornament, and threw a bean bag at some green cups shaped like a tree. I have to be honest, I was quite concerned that Jacob would HATE sitting with Santa. If you know Jacob, he has a hard time with being separated from Jeff or me. As we were heading down the hallways he had a concerned look on his face because he thought we were going to take him to "bible class" and leave him (similar rooms and hallway as Sunday church stuff). He watched as the other kids sat in Santa's lap and some cried, others didn't. Then it was Jacob's turn...I walked up to Santa with Jacob, placed him in his lap, told him I wasn't going anywhere and that he needed to take a picture with Santa and tell him what he wanted for Christmas.

I slowly walked away hoping and praying that he wouldn't have a melt down...and....Success!!! Jacob even smiled for the camera when we asked him to. What a great kid we have!

When Santa asked Jacob what he wanted for Christmas, he said, "a-deesh," and then quickly said, "I down," and climbed off Santa's lap. So, Santa is bringing Jacob a "dish" for Christmas! Ha Ha!

Have a great day!

Repair Man

The dancing bear toy has been running out of battery for a week or so... it's currently "on the blink" so we called in Jacob the repair man to fix it. At-a-boy!

Thanksgiving in Atlanta

This year Thanksgiving was spent with the Tuley family in Atlanta. What a special time we all had together! We have SO much to be thankful for in our life; Jacob, family, friends, shelter, safety, and the list could continue. God has blessed us with so much and so we give thanks.

Here are some pictures from our week. Enjoy!

When we travel, we try to plan the driving time around Jacob's nap times, even though he rarely falls asleep for long periods in the car. However, this time he slept for at least an hour each way. Yay!

Even Jackson got to sleep in the car too!

This is what the Ladies were doing...spending time in the kitchen preparing all the yummy food. It was so fun! Notice our cute aprons? You'll see why we needed those a little later... :)

Julie and GiGi getting things ready! I was in charge of the green bean casserole and hashbrown casserole...GiGi did the sweet potatoes.

This is what the boys did while the girls were in the kitchen! Ha! This picture is so cute!

All the dogs meeting together outside! They had fun too!

Putting together the candy bags for the children on Thanksgiving day at the Union Mission-My Sister's House.

Thanksgiving lunch is SERVED!!! Green bean casserole, cornbread dressing, hashbrown casserole, sweet potatoes, turkey, cranberry sauce, and spinich casserole. YUM!

Jacob's plate for Turkey day. He LOVED most everything, but ate two helpings of the sweet potatoes.

Jacob...did you miss some spinich there?

The "after eating" face! Ha!

Here's the whole gang in our matching aprons (Jacob had a shirt) made by Gramma, ready to serve. Around 4, we headed down to the Union Mission in Atlanta to serve dinner to the women that live in My Sister's House shelter. It's a wonderful place where homeless women and children can find shelter and rebuild their lives. This is the same place we served two years ago before Jacob was born. What a joy it was to be able to bring him back and witness him serving with us.

Here's Jacob and Jeff giving out the candy bags to the children at the shelter.

The rest of the week was spent watching movies, watching football, and hanging out together. We had a good time. Of course, Jacob decided that he needed to drive Uncle Biggie's sporty BMW. How cute!

Thanks for checking in with us! Have a wonderful week. Stay tuned for a funny video...

Coloring...

Have I told you all how much this child LOVES to color? Well...he loves to sit and color, stand and color, or walk and color if he could. This is a video of Jacob coloring and telling us some of his newest words. In case you can't tell, he says brown, purple, and blue. It's clear to us, but you may have to listen a couple times to really get it. Enjoy!

Pics from my phone

So...I love having a phone that takes pictures and video...because it allows those candid moments to really come out. Often, I just grab my phone and take pictures rather than getting out the camera. It's just so easy. So, here's some pictures that have finally been uploaded to the computer from my phone. Family members have probably seen these because we've either sent them via text or email. Nevertheless, here's some "behind the scenes" footage of the big guy!

BED HEAD! Jacob woke up from one of his naps looking like THIS! I promise, I did not style it this way. It must have been a GREAT nap!

Jacob and Jackson playing together. Jacob loves to lay all over Jackson...they really are the best of friends. I'll try to get a video of the two of them running/chasing each other around the house. It's the cutest!

I snapped this picture a while ago to send to Uncle Biggie. It's Jacob's Delta Airlines shirt. I am not sure why Jacob's hair is flipped out, and why his chin is sticking way out, but he was so excited to show me his shirt!

"Do I have visitors coming?"

Ahh....this is Jacob's latest pasttime....He loves to take his cans of Pediasure out of the box and organize and stack them on the table. Then he puts them back in the box, and out again, and back again, and out...you get the picture?

Update: We had great check-ups with the GI and Pulmonary Docs this week. Both said they are not going to need to see Jacob anymore, except on an "as needed" basis. This is awesome! We are slowly checking doctors off our list. And.....more great news.....drumroll please......Jacob is officially medicine FREE!!!!!!! For the first time in his life, he does not have to take any medication, for any reason. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Jacob, Go!

Thanks for checking in with us today. Hope you have a wonderful day!

Baby it's Cold Outside

This week we went to the park in between therapy appointments and it was a little bit cold outside. Needless to say, as cute as he was running around in his jacket, I thought it best if we not stay out there too long. Enjoy the pics and the video.

We have a busy week ahead...More pics to come!

Halloween Fun!

Here are some more pictures of all the fun we had around Halloween this year. We carved and decorated pumpkins, went to Franklin's Pumpkinfest with dear friends, and managed to fit in a little Trick or Treating as well. Our little engineer did great!

This is what Jacob really thought of the inside of the pumpkin! Ha!

I love that he has his tongue sticking out in this picture. How funny!

See...these are the seeds, we're going to roast them later and mommy's going to eat them ALL!!!!! Even Jackson wants in on the fun!

Daddy hard at work on the big pumpkin!

This is Jacob's pumpkin. We took paint markers and made a face, then allowed him to color all over it. It was a great success! What a good picture too!

Here are all three pumpkins that we carved and decorated.

Jacob's masterpiece (front side)

Jacob's masterpiece (back side)

Jeff, Jacob the Engineer, and Mike at Pumpkinfest. It was super crowded, and Jacob's train was so cute going up and down the street.

Julie, Jacob the Engineer, and Jackie on the streets of downtown Franklin. Thanks Jackie and Mike for such good memories!

Finally, Halloween has arrived, and we are ready to go Trick or Treating for the first time. We only hit a few of the houses on our street, and then went back home to hand out candy to the other trick or treaters. Jacob came to the door and as children were leaving he would say, "Bye Bye." It was super cute!

"Thanks neighbor for giving me candy!"

We're so blessed! Thanks for checking in with us. We'll go to Vanderbilt for two follow-up appointments next week with GI and Pulmonology. Hopefully, Jacob will get all great reviews. Until then, have a wonderful week!