Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving week was a busy one, but it was wonderful! My sisters, brother (in-law), and nephews came and we had a great, crazy, noisy, rambunctious, food-filled time. :) Here are just a few pictures...

Jacobi loved playing in the leaves as much as the older boys--they were throwing leaves and he wanted in on the action too, of course. :)

This was the planned bath after our foster son's birthday party--lots of red icing to be cleaned off. :P

This was Jacobi's second bath--totally his own idea of course. Water left in tub + 1.5 seconds + busy boy=boy dressed in pajamas in bathwater getting 2nd bath of the night. (and one annoyed mama who couldn't help but laugh anyway)

Xander, P (foster son), & Kingston loving the leaf pile

P's birthday cake--a firetruck! It's not perfect, but I am still quite impressed that my usually un-artistic self managed to pull it off...and it tasted yummy, too! I'll also admit that it was quite fun, especially when the birthday boy can't stop talking about it and was totally thrilled with it...except he kept asking it if could move since it had wheels...hmmmm, now isn't that asking a bit much?! ;P

and a few more pictures...

Loving these beautiful fall days!

wanting to be independent with eating...we're working on it!

Spaghetti makes me happy!!!

hmmm...maybe this birthday thing is okay after all ;)

Oh my...I'm a bit of a mess!

1st Birthday

One-handing his bday banana muffin
Not sure about this blowing out the candles thing, but that light sure is neat.

Playing with Papa

That's It! I'm off to Grandma's...

With Mimi & Papa on Sunday

Wow--how did I get so far behind on the blog again? Don't know why I even try to keep it up really...I'm thinking about just letting it go. If you can think of a reason why I shouldn't, please leave it in the comments so I can consider it. :) If you're on Facebook, you see most of the same pictures as here anyway...but maybe we have several readers who aren't on FB and then I can see that I might need to keep it going. :)

Anyway...Jacobi turned 1 a week ago! We can't believe that our little 7#8oz bundle of joy is now hovering somewhere near 25# and almost 3 ft. tall and has been the center of our attention for a whole year already! He's still a bundle of joy, of course--and also energy! He loves to eat, thinks it's incredibly fun to play in the toilet water, loves anything with wheels and can now make a car noise, loves to be outside, and has the cutest laugh I've ever heard. :) Of course there's more, but I don't want to take all day writing this...I only have a limited amount of time while he's happy in his high chair. :P His latest antic was to lose the tracker ball to the computer mouse here in the office...it has simply disappeared. We searched everywhere and it hasn't shown up yet, but maybe it will yet. We got a wireless mouse instead so he can lose the whole thing. :P No, now we can put it up on the shelf above the computer where he can't reach it when we're not using it. He can still reach the keyboard which makes doing anything on the computer when he's awake almost impossible unless he's contained somewhere else. I'm not complaining, though, because I know these days will be past all too soon and I'll be wishing he wanted to be right next to me as I go about my day before I know it.

He's enjoying playing with our 4yo foster son and they get along great most of the time. They've both loved the new toys a birthday brings and have managed to share them quite nicely so far. Of course there have been moments...but that's expected. I'd be shocked if they got along 100% of the time.

Jacobi is starting to fuss to get out of his high chair so I'd better call it quits. A year later, we're still the luckiest people on the planet to have such an amazing boy for our son & will never forget the day or the way that he came into our lives! I've been working on "Jacobi's Story," the story of how he joined our family, since he was about a month old...I NEED to get that finished and printed so I can start reading it to him! It's nothing fancy; I just kind of forget about it from time to time.

Stopping now...hopefully will add some pictures before I publish this. We have 1 more Birthday party left with the Spinar side of my family this next weekend, so I'll have more birthday pictures then. For now, here are a few from when my parents were here. :)

Visit with Jacobi's Birth Family

A week ago, we went to visit Jacobi's birthmom & brother. We had a great few hours with them and enjoyed seeing them again. It was fun to watch the boys play together. We took a cake and birthday party fixin's to have a small "party" to celebrate all of our birthday's while we were together. The boys loved the balloons and of course we all enjoyed cake, so I guess it was a hit. :) Here are a few pictures from the visit...realized later that Ryan was the only one behind the camera and we didn't get any pictures of all of us together, but with 2 busy boys and a limited amount of time it was just hard to stage pictures at all.

New to Us

This post is about a couple of things that are new in our lives lately. :) I'll have to download pictures from the camera someday soon and post some new ones of Jacobi...but for now all you get is me blabbing. ;P

I started a new venture recently to promote literacy and a love of reading. I became an independent consultant for Usborne Books & More! I'm very excited about the possibilities, but mostly about filling our bookshelves (it may take a new one, since our existing ones are full already) with awesome and exciting books for our children! If you've never seen these books and are the least bit curious, feel free to check out my website. :) I could go on forever about the great features of these books and all that Usborne has to offer, but I'll leave it at that. If you have questions or want to know more, you know where to find me. :)

The second thing that is new is that we are now a licensed foster home! Our final walk-through was on Friday and we are ready to go...well, our home is, anyway! We are excited but I have to admit that I'm a little nervous, too! There are so many uncertainties and unknowns--but we're thankful that God does veil the future because we might not be able to handle it if we knew all the details in advance! We know it will be a memorable journey, to say the least--and hopefully we can touch lives in a positive way, whatever direction it takes. :) We didn't get an emergency placement call over the weekend and I must say that I'm grateful for that. We'll see what (or should I say who) this week brings, if anything! :)

I guess that's the most of our new news here. Jacobi is growing and mastering the pre-walking skills, although he hasn't taken any steps on his own yet. I'm not going to push him, either. That will come soon enough! He has also discovered that there's this awesome water in the toilet, just great for getting both hands in and splashing (yuck!) and that the toilet paper does this really cool un-spooling thing when you spin it. :P Also, he can fall into the tub and finds that fun, but he wants help to get back out. Needless to say, the bathroom door just stays shut most of the time now...this mama isn't very sensitive to the exploration needs of her boy where the bathroom is concerned. :P The tupperware cabinet, though, is open for business. ;) He's also getting pretty good about backing off of the bed, couch, futon, etc. when he wants down--I'm pretty impressed with that new-found skill; hopefully it will save a few bumps. One other thing I should mention is that he has become quite the impressive imitator of sounds, too. He prefers burps, coughs, laughs, and other obnoxious sounds but also imitates pretty much any short phrase or word that we say. It's not the word that's imitated, exactly, but more the tone, syllables, and general sound. It's pretty cute and we love imagining that he tells us he loves us, etc. :P Guess there was more newness in our house than even I realized when I began!

Have a great week

Just Hangin' Around

Thought I'd post a few new pictures for our faithful blog followers (if there are any left). :P Jacobi is moving faster than ever and is loving being able to stand up and hang on to anything and everything. He's also recently been enjoying climbing (the futon in the office is a favorite due to it being low enough to actually get up on)...and taking lots of tumbles, of course.

Loving this inverted tunnel--borrowed some climbing toys from a friend and they are getting great use here these days!

Stuck under a kitchen chair--this makes me laugh just remembering; he doesn't sit still ever--but this had him stuck in one place and crying for help, which he got right after I snapped the picture. :P

New favorite toy...need help searching for something?

One of my Craigslist purchases--1/3 the price of a new one and in just as good shape; I was thrilled!

Discovering any little place to hang on to--the furnace/ac closet ledge in the hallway here...

Family Pictures

Okay, so this crazy thing wouldn't let me type text above the pictures so I'm adding a new post to explain the one below. :P I have been wanting a "formal" family picture--something more than a snapshot taken at random. Our friend Jordan wanted a picture of our family and we had some time on a Sunday afternoon...so we both got what we wanted! :) (Thanks, Jordan!) Here are a few of my favorites with captions to explain why. Feel free to weigh in and "vote" if there's one you like more than the others--we're wanting to print one for our wall and to send to family, etc. We need to mess around with black/white and sepia tones as they look good, too, but this will give you the general idea. :P

Family Pictures

The back of our house in the background makes this not my favorite picture for a "formal" one, but I do like it otherwise.

We were having fun. :)

LOVE Jacobi's expression and "thumbs up" in this picture!!! Nevermind that his thumb was really just on the way to his mouth. :P

This one is our favorite--I think it's the one we'll have printed.

Happy 4th of July...a week late! ;)

Wearing the star hat Zaden made and checking out his new environment at Papa & Mimi's house! :)

We planned this photo shoot with all 4 of the boys and didn't get one picture of all of them smiling and looking at the camera, but I think Ryan got several good ones anyway. Here are a couple of my favorites. What did I expect with boys who are 3, 2, 1 and and 8 mo with LOTS of energy?! ;P They are also LOTS of fun!

Jacobi wasn't quite awake here--but I love pictures of the cousins all together. :)

Chewing on a mango seed--and LOVING it! He was so mad every time it slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor-and he loves mangos! Speaking of mangos--if anyone has a Sam's Club near you, see if they have the Ataulfo mangos--they are seriously Delicious! They puree and freeze really well, too! :)

Our Little Ham

Jacobi has always been an expressive little guy and it's fun to capture his personality in pictures. Here are a few I took on an exceptionally goofy morning late last week. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have! :)

Jacobi's First Trip North

First, a picture of my super cool husband--shhhhh, don't tell him or he may just decide to delete it. :P

We went to WI last weekend for the first time since Jacobi was born. He did WONDERFUL on the 10 1/2 hour trip Friday night (we drove through the night) and again during the day on Tuesday...although that was almost 13 hours with a few breaks and more traffic! We saw a lot of people in a short amount of time and had a very good trip. Jacobi got to play with his cousins Elliot & Liam as well as several 2nd cousins or something, maybe once removed--however that works. :P Here are a few pictures for fun.

Jacobi & Grandma Becky

Dressed for Sunday meeting--figure he will probably not wear this shirt again, so might as well get a picture. It's too warm for long sleeves here!

Jacobi & Grandpa Del

Ryan's birthday pie made by his mom. Rhubarb Strawberry--mmmmm!

May Happenings

It's been awhile since I updated and I'm not sure where to start. Oh, okay--Jacobi's 6 month check-up would be a good place! He weighed 20 1/2 pounds on Monday and was 30 inches long! He is still in the 75th-90th for weight but getting further off the chart for height every time. The above picture is of him with his friend Alligator who he just thinks is hilarious. When you press its foot, it giggles uncontrollably and Jacobi loves that...plus, it giggles even if you chew on its foot...or tail...or nose... :P

We've had lots of company lately. Ryan's grandparents were here on their way to TX last week; my mom, sister (Tasha) and nephew Kingston were here last weekend; and Ryan's grandparents were here for a couple of days this week on their way back home! It was great to have family here! It was also nice to celebrate Mom's birthday with her when they got here Friday night and Mother's Day on Sunday! I thoroughly enjoyed my first Mother's Day and am so thankful to be Jacobi's Mama!

Who're you callin' "Cute" ?!?!

Click for full effect.