Family Pictures!

I finally did it! After nearly a year of talking about it I decided Livia isn't getting any younger so I finally went ahead and scheduled the family pictures. Such a dreaded thing, I know. I chose Becky McArthur from yellowskinnyphotos to be the lucky one to do it and am so happy with the results. Both her and her husband do it together and what a fun, talented couple. They did an awesome job. Great photographers, great price, great quality. Got to love it! They very nearly made the experience painless, although outfits weren't exactly easy to coordinate. But, we survived and are excited to have them. They took a lot of pictures and here are a few of them from our session. I had a hard time choosing which ones to post so I did quite a few...enjoy!

Diamondbacks Game

Meet Janie. This little girl is amazing. Of course, it's in her blood so how could she not be right!? At only 18 months old, Janie was in need of a liver transplant. Luckily for our family, she didn't have to wait as long as most and she received her new little liver just before she turned 2. Janie was a miracle. Not long after her surgery, when most were still flat in bed, this little girl was larger than life and JUMPING in her hospital bed. Now 4 years later at 6, Janie is still jumping all over the place, hardly ever holding still. If you met her, you would never know she had a transplant unless of course you ever watch the news, or go to the donate for life d-backs game. Janie is our family celebrity. Last year at the d-backs game Janie was able to throw the opening pitch of the game. She did awesome too, hiked her leg up and everything. So, anyway, that's what this day is all about. It's becoming tradition for our family to come to the d-backs game every year because she is part of it. This year she was interviewed during one of the innings and was on tv. Her mom (my sister) is also a volunteer for the Donor Network and they have been able to do lots of things. If you aren't a registered organ donor, we might not be able to be friends anymore. Just kidding, but seriously if you aren't you should be. It saves lives and gives cute little kids like Janie a second chance at it.

On our way to the d-backs game. Olivia loves her sunglasses and likes to wear them while we travel. She also likes to take this enormous christmas bear with her. It's bigger than her but she loves it and sleeps with it every night.


At the game. D-backs vs. Phillies.

Bryan, Me, and Olivia.

Olivia and Daddy! As you can see, the game started right at her naptime and she was ready for it but wouldn't dare close her eyes until the end for fear that she would miss something fun.

This is my other sister's little girl Annie. She is so cute and is only 4 months younger than Olivia. Right now they go for the same toys and just sort of fight when they are together but I'm sure the older they get the better friends they will be.

Olivia

Nannie and Papa with baby Gunner. There were quite a few of us there!

After the game we stopped in globe for some yummy Mexican food. Olivia loves chips and was pretty excited to be out of her carseat!

It was a pretty fun day. We are all looking forward to going again next year. Oh ya, the d-backs won by the way which made it even funner.

P.S. We got word that Bryan is accepted into the Nursing Program starting Fall 2010. We are pretty excited to be that much closer to his career.

Yes...we are still alive!

Let's start with the sad truth:

1. I am a really, really bad blogger.

2. Everyone knows it.

Although these facts are pathetically true there is an up-side to this sadness. You see, the best part about it is if I do post more than once every 6 months I'm making huge progress...right?? I'm all about trying to better myself so I like to start simple (like blogging twice a year) and then I feel better about myself if by some luck I manage to do it more than that. I've even tried silly things to make me HAVE to update each month such as holiday backgrounds but if anyone is still bothering to look at my page anymore they have seen that we are still celebrating halloween at our house. I really considered leaving it to save myself the trouble of having to change it in another six months! Hopefully now that life is slowing down a little I will be better about posting. No promises though...

For the most part life has been pretty good for us. We have moved up to our front house and have spent ALL of our spare time, and then some, fixing it up. We have scraped walls, painted, laid new flooring, painted, created new rooms, painted, torn out cabinets, painted, laid new countertops, painted - did I already say that one?! I feel like I have been painting everyday for the past three months. I am so sick of painting and I'm not even done yet. We still have plans to paint the outside in the next few weeks and then have two more rooms that need redone. It looks so much better so I guess it was worth it in the end. Just recently we finished our kitchen. Bryan did such a good job I thought I would include a few pictures just so you could see how bad it was. Here are some before shots.

Don't you just love the flooring?? It was always our favorite! And now I am proud to show you what the kitchen looks like now... tadah!

Bryan completely re-arranged the existing cabinets, created an island for us, relaid the countertops and then I helped with the sanding the cabinets and painting everything. Just this last weekend we both laid the flooring together and now we have just a few odds and ends to finish before it is complete. So much better. It is so nice to be married to someone who knows how to do EVERYTHING! I am so lucky.

Bryan and I are also really into food storage/bottling and I also do coupon sense so we have a huge amount of stuff without a place to put it. So, we created one. It is our food storage/laundry room and I love it. It's kind of hard to explain what we did exactly but we pretty much cut a long, weird shaped mud room in half and created two normal looking rooms. This room is connected to the kitchen and has a door to our back porch/grilling area. It is the perfect setup. Here is what it looks like.

Anyway, remodeling has kept us busy while trying to juggle it with every day life. Bryan is looking forward to his summer break coming up and has put in his application for the nursing program so we should be able to find out in the next few weeks. He has completed all of his pre-requisits and his co-requisits so if he gets in he will have the program classes only. If he doesn't get in this semester he gets a longer summer break because he has nothing left to take. He really doesn't care either way...I think he wants a break but I would prefer to get on with it. Whatever happens happens I guess.

As for Miss Olivia, she is as cute as ever. She is growing up so fast it's almost sad. She is about 16 1/2 months now and EVERYWHERE. She talks a mile a minute, most of which I can't understand, but is actually starting to make a little sense. We are able to pick out a few words here and there. She doesn't just walk anymore, she runs and she is so independent and stubborn. I wonder where she gets that from? At least she gets her looks from her dad. I have actually been pretty bad about taking pictures lately so the ones posted here are from the past 3-6 months. I just cleared my camera card and vowed to take lots over the summer because she changes so fast. For now these are all I have. Enjoy!

Just before her 1st birthday

Olivia and Mom around Thanksgiving time.

My mom has this goofy looking expandable ball that Olivia loves to put around herself. She also likes to capture Daddy and get kisses from him. They are crazy about each other, it is so cute to watch.

These pictures were taken only a few months ago. She looks like a toddler now, it makes me sad. She is so stinkin cute though!

Easter at Nannies. Trying to decide which egg has the best chocolate in it.

That's all I've got for now but you should all be hearing from me again soon. I'm quite proud of myself for how long this blog is. That ought to count for something right?! Until next time...see ya later!

BATH TIME

Olivia absolutely loves her bath time. All I have to do is start the bath water and she comes crawling as fast as she can. She would play in there for hours if I let her. I love these pictures but I must warn you now, there is a cute naked bum shown below!

Blackmail pictures! I love them. She is so dang cute.

OLIVIA IS ON THE MOVE!

Just a day before Olivia turned 7 months, she started crawling and there's no stopping her now! She is into absolutely everything. I spend all my time chasing her! She also pulls herself up along the couches and coffee table. Recently she found my silk tree and has turned the moss at the base into a dang confetti machine. She throws it up in the air and giggles. She also loves pushing the on and off button to the T.V. over and over and over and over again, especially while Mom and Dad are trying to watch a movie. Let me tell you all how much fun that is. Actually, I'm sure all of your kids have done the same thing. I'm just finally starting to catch up to the rest of you. These pictures are taken a few months ago and as of now, Olivia has taken a few steps. She isn't walking yet but she is definitely flirting with the idea. I'm sure it's only a matter of time. Then the fun will really begin ?!

Our Summer in a Nutshell

The 24th celebration was so nice this year. We had a lot of fun spending time with our family and friends. We didn't make it to the parade but we did go to the dinner and fireworks show afterwards. It was a lot of fun.

The fireworks show was awesome this year. They always do a great job and Bryan was able to get some really cool pictures for me. We were a little unsure of how Olivia would do with them but surprisingly enough, she loved them. She just laid on my lap in amazement! It definitely made the evening more enjoyable to not have an upset baby.

Bryan turns 28! Such an old guy! His birthday was July 6th and I got him one of his favorite movies...So I Married an Axe Murderer! Funny guy!


Olivia is just STUFFED with personality. She is constantly making us laugh. She had quite the time one afternoon in her Jenny Jump Up and I was able to catch a few pictures. Such a fun girl!

This summer was our first Jacob Family Reunion. We all drove up to Alpine and camped for 3 days and had a blast. The weather was beautiful and we were right in the middle of a meadow by a creek so everyone fished and played games the whole time. It was so much fun. So relaxing! Everyone was able to make it which included 8 grand kids, 5 of us kids with their spouses, and my mom and dad. We all can't wait to go back next year!
My mom found this adorable beenie at the Children's Place for $0.19. I absolutely love it. There are matching gloves as well.

All of the grand kids with Nannie and Papa!

By day 3 everyone was pretty dirty but the nice thing about going camping with my dad and brothers is that you camp in style. Because they are outfitters they have the equipment and capabilities of making camp the most comfortable it could possibly be. We had it made! My dad even scrubbed out the back of his horse trailer and hooked up a nice hot shower in there for us. It sounds kind of weird but it was and felt FANTASTIC! Olivia, however, got the blue bucket bath and absolutely loved it. It made for some really cute pictures and she soaked us all as she played in the water. We all had such a fun time camping together and are really looking forward to going back next summer.