Ava Mae

While I'm at it, I thought I better post a little note on my sweet little baby Ava Mae, who is not much of a baby anymore! She is a walking talking little bundle of toddler joy! She insists on drinking out of big kid cups without lids, which is a maid's (that's me) worst nightmare, she eats cereal and milk quite impressively with a spoon (I think Kiara was 3 before she did that!), and she can carry on a long nonsensical conversation with anyone. She is saying a lot of real words too though. The other day I offered her some yogurt at breakfast, but she pointed insistently at the pantry and said, "Cereal." She is very good at communicating clearly what she wants and needs! For her husband's sake, I hope that remains with her for a long, long time.

My Kate

Congratulations to Kate for earning her purple dress! We went through a little phase (cross fingers it’s over) where she was writing with markers on things (such as sofas, floors, walls) and sticking stickers and the same such items. One morning when I was letting her have “unstructured playtime” I came upstairs to find my postage stamps stuck all over her shirt and my address labels stuck on everything and colorful drawings on my kitchen floor. Mom (as in me) had some words with Kate. Kate started sneaking her markers and stickers around until Mom put an end to it by gathering up stickers and markers into the “gobble bag.” Grandma pitched in and told Kate that she could earn a new dress if she could go 2 days without writing on or sticking stickers on anything but paper. It took a couple of tries, but she earned the dress!

Bless her little free spirit heart, there is just something inside of her that wants to make the world more beautiful by "decorating" it!

What Hope Sounds Like

Hope sounds like going to your daughter's elementary school and hearing the entire school reciting the pledge of allegiance with their hand over their heart and going straight into singing the Star Spangled Banner, first and fourth verses. What percentage of the American population knows the fourth verse? Here it is, for the 99% of us that don't recall ever hearing it:

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

This makes me a crying mess every time! I was also really proud of Kiara for getting "Builder of the Month" for her grade at this month's assembly. She is in the lower group for reading, but her teacher expressed how hard she tries and she does it with a smile. (Kiara let me in on her little secret that might give meaning to the smile. She came home the other day saying that a boy, whom shall remain anonymous, is in "oneth" grade and comes to her reading group and that she wants to kiss him and marry him. We'll just let her teacher continue to think she just has a really great attitude.) She has come a long, long way on her reading and I am really happy for her new confidence.

Her whole school has the theme of being a builder from this great poem that even my little kindergartner has memorized:

I saw them tearing a building down

a dozen men in a busy town,

with a ho-heave-ho and a lusty yell

they swung the beam and the side wall fell.

I asked the foreman if these men were skilled

Are these men you hire when you have to build?

He gave a laugh and said, "No indeed,

Common labor is all I need"

I can easily wreck in a day or two

what it took a builder a year to do.

I thought to myself as I walked away

"Which of these roles have I tried to play?"

Am I a builder who works with care,

measuring life with rule and square?

Am I shaping my life to a well made plan,

patiently doing the best I can?

Or, am I a wrecker who walks the town

content with the labor of tearing down

I've made my decision; I'll start today.

I'll be a builder in every way.

What a great theme for a school. Are you a builder or a wrecker? By the looks of my house most of the time, we are wreckers!

Happy

Tonight we went to the Chik-Fil-A Kids Night, where all the splendor of fast food dining is laid before you in child friendly fashion complete with helium balloons, free kids meals and ice cream, cheerios while you wait, and yes, even face painting. Face painting is not a parent's choice of activities. Your child is so excited to be transformed into some creature that you then have to come home and scrub off as your child cries because their disguise is being washed down the drain. As we drove home tonight I was contemplating how I would break the news to them that although, yes, they look splendid as a kitty and a poodle, you can't sleep with that stuff on!

I was happily surprised, however, when I told Kiara to go wash her face while I put Ava to bed, and she was actually excited to wash her face. After laying Ava in her crib, I went into the bathroom to examine if I could tell Kiara, "Well done" on her face washing and she was just staring contentedly in the mirror at her newly cleaned face. She said, "I wanted to wash my face, Mom, because I would rather be me." I told her, "You are a beautiful girl. Do you know that?" She said, "I don't want to be beautiful. Barbies are beautiful and I hate Barbies!"

I came away from the exchange feeling happy that my daughter would rather be herself than a kitty or a floozie Barbie. There is no one else I would rather have my daughters be than themselves because I love them just the way they came!

Seasons Greetings

Here's wishing you...

JOY

LOVE

and PEACE

Love,

The Jacobs Family

Do You Ever...

Find things where you did not leave them?

Go to buckle your baby in her car seat and find a horse buckled in instead?

Or have you ever gone to put away your folded laundry and found a princess in every fold?

Isn't it wonderful?

Cutie Patutie

Latest photos of the precious one are in high demand for the Grandmas.

Baby Blessing

It's Hard to Be a Baby

Why must I wear and bonnet and bracelet? Life is so hard!

Ahh! Much Better!

Dear Utah

Something great about Utah? You can go from here...

to here...

in 290 miles. Can you do that, Idaho?

FREE Weight Loss Solution

Trying to keep that New Year's resolution to lose your holiday weight? Don't "weight" any longer! Come on over to the Jacobs residence and catch our stomach flu bug. Reap the benefits of only 1 WEEK of misery and lose up to 10 pounds! All of this for FREE!

Heavenly

Falling asleep rocking my newborn today=heavenly. There is simply nothing better.

Bedtime Battles

Every night we put Kiara and Kate to bed and try to guess how long they will play before drifting off to dreamland. To them going to bed=unsupervised play time! From the video monitor in our room I can watch Kate swing like a monkey from Kiara's bed. I can hear Kiara teasing Kate, "You wear diapers" and Kate screaming back, "No I don't!" And tonight I heard Kiara say, "Kate, I love you." Maybe sharing a room isn't such a bad idea after all.

A couple of days after Christmas I heard Kate crying in the next room saying, "Santa ate my cookies."

The Verdict

A lot of people ask us who Ava looks like. Kiara or Kate? What do you think?

Kiara

Kate

Ava

I think the verdict is that they are all unique!

How Kiara Grew Up in 5 Easy Steps

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5

Happy 5th Birthday, Little! How did this happen? The passage of time is most evident when you are raising children! It seems like I was just holding my firstborn and marveling at how one tiny human being could could change my life so much!

Thank you for all that you teach me every day, Little.

Welcome Back, Sara

I nearly forgot about Sara. I almost sat on her once because I couldn't see her and Kiara burst into tears. Today Kiara started to talk about Sara again. Dereck and I asked where she has been and Kiara said she has been staying at a condo. So, welcome back, Sara...I hope you are better behaved than you were before. When Kiara used to disobey she said that Sara told her to. I'm glad Kiara has a friend, even if none of us can see her...

Reminded

Yesterday when Kiara ate a red styrofoam berry off of the floor because she thought it was an M&M it reminded of the time my sister Alicia ate our bunny Cuddle's dropping off of the car floor because she thought it was chocolate cake, and I laughed.

Christmas Scenes at My House

The precious Ava Mae playing Santa Claus:

Kate & Dereck playing with the new dollhouse:

The beautiful miniature nutcrackers my sister Alicia painted for Jessie's family:

The Christmas tree, Kiara painting on her new easel, and Daddy having the traditional Christmas afternoon nap:

And after opening all of the Santa surprises, Kiara held Ava and said, "Ava is my favorite toy."

And to You the Merriest!

I happened to capture a photo of our living room right after Santa went up the chimney.

This is when we finally let Kiara come out of her bedroom. She woke up at 2:30 and 4:00 and wanted to know if Santa had come to our house yet. Kiara very patiently waited for Kate to wake up to open her presents (It was 9:00).