The Life of the Jake

Playing with a new fav, The Bus

Hiding in tuuperware cabinets
Loving his own reflection

Eating markers, but LOVES to color

Singing songs, I love how he always gets excited to point to his face and smile

More Decorating Fun

I'm having so much fun decorating. I am slowly turning my house from a more eclectic, contemporary style into more french country. Take a look at the kitchen before and afters.

Before

After ( so much brighter)

BeforeAfter
No more stained glass!!! Woo hoo! I also couldn't wait to hang up some of my mom and grandmothers china!!I like to be surrounded by things that remind me of her. It makes my home somewhere I want to be all the time!! There is so much more I want to do, but I am trying to take my time and do it right.

Finger Painting and Picture Framing

We spent the morning with our friends Irene and Drew

The boys did what they do best dumping

Cheese
We decided to do some edible finger painting...
Clean Up Afterwards!

Also, here is project #2. Some pictures still need to be added to the frames. Originally, I was going to continue adding frames into more of a rectangle shape. I think this is kind of fun though. What do you think??? The picture below is for comparison. (not my house)

Boys Weekend and Painting

Jakes favorite thing..
Notice the water guns...boys...

Jon had a few friends in this weekend and it was full on boys weekend. They immediately broke into competition and did not stop until they left. It began with a game of Uno that seemed to last hours, PIG with Jake's mini-basketball net, pool games, cards, Uno again I think, more pool games and they ended the night with a six hour game of Poker. They are gamers that is for sure. Jon had a wonderful time and it was nice to see him enjoying guy time. Jake and I stayed busy running much needed errands and I painted the kitchen! We had a very nice man named Sam from A-1 Painting come and take down our wallpaper. I am SOOO thankful that we did not try it ourselves. What a job and what a mess! Our kitchen just looks 10 years younger just from removing the wallpaper. I love painting, but it is definetely more time consuming with Jake running around. I have been working on the kitchen at night and during nap times and finally I am 90% finished. We have blue and white counter tops that are not my favorite, but I'm trying to work with them. SO, my plan is to do a yellow, blue and white kitchen. I love plaids and toile so I'm going to try and work those in somehow too. I wanted to do a pretty yellow on the walls and then do blue and white accents. Yellow is tricky! I looked at samples for a few days before picking the right color. I wanted it to be bright but not too bright. Now that it is up... I think I picked a good one. The kitchen looks so much bigger and brighter. Now, on to my next project... picture colleague in the playroom.

BEFORE

AFTER (stained glass still needs to go)

Photo Shoot with the Boys

We have had a crazy fun week over here. My sister, brother in law and baby Sean came to visit. We went to the shore and spent a few days and then spent a day or two here at home. It was so nice to just be with my sister and the babes. We broought the boys to Penney's to get their pictures taken. It was interesting... Jake never stopped moving so most of his pictures are action shots. And he had no interest what so ever in holding Sean. By the end of the shoot my sister and I were sweating and exhausted. I am happy with the pictures though. Here a few from the shoot. I'll post some from the weekend later!

Juice break!

Mischevious look

Random phone pics

Playing on the beach at 8:30 AM... that's right... have kids...your day begins early
Fascinated by Uncle Rick and Aunt Janet's Pond

Amazing... to say the least

I consider myself a pretty simple person. I am way more impressed or excited by Jon bringing me in a flower from the yard (if he were to do that.. hehe) than a bouquet of expensive flowers. I would much rather have family over to eat and have fun making a homemade meal then go to a big fancy restaurant. The thing that makes me the most happy is being with family and close friends and listening to music while I do it. So, Saturday was a great day. My brother, Katie and my close friend Lauren came down from NYC and another best friend Nicole came up from Charlotte, NC. I had some of my favorite people together and listening to some of my favorite music. The concert was well... amazing. I can think of nothing better than standing and singing my heart out while Billy plays his piano. Elton was great as well. Benny and the Jets...your song...classics... Dream come true! And so not an over-rated concert!!! I would go to see the show again anytime. Recommend it highly! Thanks to all for a wonderful day, especially my hubby who stayed home to watch the babes!

My cute "little" bro

Crazy Ol' Nicole

Mike and Katie

Lauren, my city mouse

Recent Videos of Jake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT_-05XrefQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8EC99ZP5Zc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1RdwdDFFE8

Concert Crazy

This week has been so much fun! I am a huge lover of music and listen to it whenever I get a spare minute. I pretty much love all music and I can already see that I have successfully passed it on to Jake. Whenever we are in a restaurant or store and he hears the music he sways or dances just like his mommy. We have a daily dance off each day during lunch. The kid has moves! It is so much fun and I love that I have a partner in crime now. Last night, Jon's dad watched Jake (thanks again!) and we went to a free concert with friends. It was a Dave Matthewscover band and they were great. Tomorrow night I am going to see Billy Joel and Elton John and I cannot contain my excitement. I LOVE them. I added my fav Billy song to my blog playlist for the week... hope you enjoy!

New Friends, New Experiences

My neighbor and I have recently started hanging out and she is wonderful! We both have little boys around the same age and they get along great. Today, she invited us to go to Borders story hour. I was a little nervous because Jake is a busy boy. At home he loves when I read to him and he is always reading books in the car, so I thought let's try! Well...it was... funny. The boys did great for about 5 seconds. It was a wonderful 5 seconds and I sat as a proud mom thinking this is so nice! Then the boys noticed they could stand and that there were toys in the vicinity. It was over. So, after 10 minutes of attempting to redirect them, we scratched the idea and went to Oceans and Motions. It is an adorable indoor playroom full of fun toys. They loved it. We topped the day off with some pizza and home for naps. I know he is a little young for story hour, but I'll keep trying because I love the idea of him sitting nicely listening to stories.

The Jakester

I am having so much fun with my little man lately. He is saying so many new words/phrases and learning how to help around the house too. It is wonderful! Just yesterday he started repeating some words when I say them. He has never been a repeater or much of a show off. So, I always have a hard time getting him to say or do things when I want him too. However, lately he is so curious and wants to be able to do more. He will wave goodbye and hello now and give kisses and hugs to anyone. It used to be just mommy and daddy. He runs around the house asking, "What's that?" and "Watch this!" ALL day long. Sometimes he will ask and then repeat what you say. I just love watching him grow and learn. I'm sure with our next child I won't have the time to wonder and awe over these mini-milestones but I am loving it right now. Jake also helps clean up with my duster his favorite tool and puts his own shoes on (kind of). I found him the other day on top of my bed with his shoes over his feety pajamas. I started laughing and so did he. Then, he said," out please..."Adorable, I just picked him up and we went right out, feety pajamas and all! Another new thing around here is learning to share and care for others. We are really working on this. Jake is very loving but needs more practice sharing and playing with others. So, I am making sure I have at least one play date a week so we can have fun! This week he learned how to touch nicely. He will stroke your face really slowly and then clap for himself afterwards. So cute. he also learned how to do a somersault all by himself. Funniest somersaults were on the beach! Well, off to catch some reading time before he wakes up! Here are some recent pics.

Lounging eating grapes
Sleeping with Blankie, who he love now

Excited scream while playing with his buddy Drew

Pointing to planes... What's that??

Eating an Apple, looking very much like Daddy

Favorite activity at the beach, no change needed just a wheel

Park Time, He looks so Old!

Cute little nephew

Here are some recent pics Nikki sent me. Sean is too cute! He has already changed so much. I can't wait to see him again!

Collars up!