Won't you please, please help me?

Jacob is a great helper. He always wants to help me wash the dishes, empty the dishwasher and sweep the floors. My visiting teachers told me that I should take pictures of him doing some of these things so that when he is a teenager I can prove to him that at one point he WANTED to help me... without me even asking! So here is the proof:

Sometimes the task at hand may take much longer with his "help" than it would if I just did it myself, which makes it easy to be temped to say, "Mommy doesn't need help with this" or "not this time". So when Jacob wants to help me I have to stop for a second and remind myself that if I want him to help me in the future I have to let him help me now. Then he feels good about helping me and will (hopefully) be more willing to do the things that I ask him to do. Besides, I have learned to get more creative and let him "help" me by sweeping the floors while I work on getting something else clean in the kitchen.

It was a cloudy, windy day today, so we didn't get to go play outside. Instead Jacob and I worked together to build this lovely castle while Ephraim napped. I bet you can't even tell which parts of it I put up, and which parts were added by Jacob.

Monkey See Monkey Do.. and I Coo for you--Take Two!

It's been a fun and busy morning. Today the weather is finally gorgeous! (sunny without all the wind we had this weekend) This morning Jacob and I put in a load of laundry and went outside to work in the garden. I have been weeding the strawberries while Jacob plays in the yard and Ephraim just hangs out in his bouncy chair. Then I hung the laundry out to dry and we had lunch. It wasn't until after lunch that I finally got to take a shower.

It's funny how kids see the things you do and try to copy you. I put deodorant on after showering, and saw Jacob in the bedroom looking at himself in the mirror while pantomiming putting on deodorant. I can't even describe how hilarious it was watching him with one arm in the air and the other waving around by his armpit. 

Also hilarious is this picture I took this morning of Jacob after we came inside and he took his hat off. Nice hair, huh?

This weekend we had a good time together as a family. We went shopping and bought some plants for our garden. I am so looking forward to fresh tomatoes! I just hope that the weather gets better soon!

On Sunday after church my friend Stacy came to visit. She got to see Ephraim and told us what a cutie he is. She also wanted to see Jacob, but he was napping. I took her to his room, and this is the sight that greeted us:

Aren't kids adorable when they are sleeping?

After Stacy left we got a cute video of Ephraim talking to his daddy. For some reason he especially likes the sound of his daddy's voice. Joe can get Ephraim to coo really well, so he talked to Ephraim and I shot the video. So in this video you can hear him cooing much better than the previous video (plus Jacob was still asleep, so there is less background noise!).

We love our little boys!

I Coo for You!

While putting up videos of Jacob, it occurred to me that I haven't posted any video clips of Ephraim yet. I told Joe it was because he doesn't really do anything interesting yet. I guess Ephraim decided to prove me wrong because he has started cooing and smiling a lot this week. So here is Ephraim's video debut:

Doesn't that just melt your heart? He is such a sweet baby.

Jacob has decided that he will allow me to take pictures and video of him without a fight. For a while there he just wanted to see what you were looking at behind the camera. I have finally convinced him that you have to stand IN FRONT of the camera before you get to see yourself in the little screen on the camera. Here is a video of Jacob saying his name (and at the end he requests that I sing "If You're Happy and You Know It" to him):

Joe has started riding his bike to work since gas is so expensive. Jacob thinks that daddy's helmet is interesting, so I showed him that he has a helmet too. 

Here is a picture of my bicycle boys. 

Jacob's vocabulary keeps improving and he keeps putting more words together. In the past week he randomly told me "Baby Eper... wake up... middle night" and I told him that Ephraim does wake up in the middle of the night. Pretty smart kid, huh?

 Now he can also tell me all about what he wants. For example, the other day he told me "want tractor". I told him that his tractor was right over there. That prompted him to tell me "want new one... big bucket loader". I told him that maybe Grandpa Devereaux would bring him one (his daddy's old one) when he comes to visit. Now Jacob is constantly telling me things that he wants. Today he told me "want fire truck" and the other day he told me that he wanted a "motorbikle". Sometimes I tell him that maybe he will get one of these items for his birthday... and occasionally he will ask "papop bring you one?" Isn't that funny? Apparently Grandpa will bring you whatever your little heart desires.

Ephraim at 6 weeks

Ephraim is six weeks old today. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. Here is a picture that I took today of Ephraim with Brown Bear. I took it just after I fed him, so that's why his little tummy looks so big! :o)

If you go back and look at the other teddy bear picture you can see how Ephraim's legs, arms and face have really filled out. (click on the label for this post that says "brown bear" to find the other one).

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Ephraim from the last six weeks. I like how well you can see all of his hair in this picture... and his eyes are open! Isn't he absolutely adorable?

Ephraim has started to smile and coo at us. It melts my heart when he looks at me and gives me his dimpled smile. I know there is more of this interactivity to come, and I am looking forward to playing with Ephraim. And finally... here is a picture of mommy and Ephraim. Usually I am the one taking the pictures, so yesterday after church I had Joe take a picture of me with my baby boy.

We are both doing well, and look forward to seeing everyone when we have the baby blessing in June!

Jacob loves to...

Every day Jacob asks me if we can go "play outside". He loves to play in the sandbox and run around on the grass. He has learned how to kick a ball, and sometimes we kick his big ball around the yard together. Sometimes during the day he will ask me to "go on a walk" with him. He is usually heartbroken when I tell him it is time to go back inside. It is also hard on days when it is windy and cold because I don't really want to go outside even if Jacob does. 

Here is a picture that I took of Jacob last week on his little car.

He likes to ride on the little car as well as push it around the yard. Here is a video that shows Jacob's driving skills (and my video taking skills, or lack thereof):

Joe helped me figure out how to compress movies from our camera so I can put longer clips online. So go and check out the video of Jacob singing "If You're Happy" again because it is longer now. Thanks honey!

Believe it or not, Jacob also enjoys being tickled. We tell him "I'm going to tickle you" and he'll run a short distance before falling to the floor to await his tickles. He even asks for it! He will come up to Joe or me and say "wickle you", which means he wants us to tickle him. Funny boy!

I also figured out how to get Jacob to go where I want him to. For example, in the past if I asked Jacob to go to his room so we can change his diaper he would just say "No". Now I say, "I'll race you to your room" an off we go. Now he asks me to race him places, and even says "ready, set, go!" It's pretty funny.

This morning I was out working on the strawberries in our garden and of course Jacob was "helping" me. He had his own spade and was digging in the dirt with it while I was weeding. I showed him the strawberry plants and told him not to step on them. A short while later he was getting a little too close to the plants. So I told him to be careful and look at his feet. So Jacob proceeded to sit down on the dirt and pull one foot up with both hands so he could look at the bottom of his shoe. I laughed so hard! What can I say, he did exactly what I told him to! 

Grandparents are Great!

This evening we got a visit from my parents and grandparents. They were in Utah to attend my cousin's wedding at the Bountiful temple. I told my mom that they were close enough that they should come visit me. Everyone thought it was a great idea, and they made it to our house after braving the rush hour traffic in Salt Lake.

We had a fun visit. It has been over a year since I had seen my grandparents, so it was nice to have them at our house. Of course Ephraim got passed around so everyone could hold him.

Here is a picture of Ephraim and his Great-Grandpa Heiner:

Nearly the entire time they were here Jacob sat with Grandpa Heiner. He brought book after book for Grandpa to read with him. Jacob loves his grandpa, and tells us about "grandpa's airplane" all the time. So dad gave him a business card with a picture of his airplane on it so Jacob could see it whenever he wants to. Here is a picture of Jacob and his grandpa.

Ephraim slept through the entire visit. I guess he wouldn't remember their visit even if he was awake, so it's a good thing we have pictures. Here is a picture of my mom and Great-Grandma Heiner holding Ephraim.

Playgroup at Arctic Circle

Remember the beautiful weather I told you we had on Monday? I posted a nice picture of our apricot blossoms and a visiting bee (what? you didn't see the bee?! go look at the picture again!). Well since then it has gotten cold again. It froze yesterday, and now our apricot blossoms look like this:

Not all of the buds have opened yet, so hopefully we will still end up with some apricots... providing the weather cooperates! We are getting pretty sick and tired of the cold and wind. What ever happened to spring?

On a happier note... each week we get together with some of our friends for playgroup. Jacob really enjoys playing with the other kids, and I enjoy talking to the other moms. We haven't been able to go much since Ephraim was born. Now things are a little more settled, and we all went to playgroup at Arctic Circle this morning. They have a play area just like other fast food restaurants, however it is smaller and easier for little kids to play on.

Here is a picture of Jacob going down the slide. He likes the slide when I can get him to go down it. (Sometimes he wants me to "come too").

Here is another picture of Jacob. It looks like I got him to pose for me, but actually I just got lucky and caught him laying there.

I didn't take any pictures of Ephraim on this outing because he just sat in his car seat and slept the entire time. Isn't he a good boy? Later in the day I put Ephraim on his tummy so he could exercise his neck muscles. Of course, Jacob wanted to participate so here is a cute picture that I snapped of my two boys.

Ephraim is growing like crazy. He will be six weeks old soon, which is hard for me to believe. I will have to post another "teddy bear comparison" photo soon.

A Hint of Spring

Today was gorgeous! This is the spring weather that I have been waiting and waiting for. Our apricot trees are in bloom and the air is alive with the chirping of birds and the buzzing of insects (which I don't mind as long as they leave me alone).

I finally got to hang out my first loads of laundry to be air dried.

Brenda and Alyssa came over to our house after their prolonged absence (due to sickness and our new baby). Apparently getting up close and personal with Ephraim is something that is not restricted to Jacob:

I guess Ephraim is simply irresistible. The kids wanted to share their toys with Ephraim, which was adorable. And who wouldn't want to share with a boy this cute?

Jacob loves his little brother

After initially ignoring Ephraim all together, Jacob has decided that he likes his little brother after all. He seems to be fascinated by Ephraim, and constantly puts his face right next to his little brother's. Of course that is only a problem when one of your kids has been sick. It was quite a task to keep Jacob away from Ephraim while he had the croup. Now it's not such a big deal, but we do have to tell him to back off when he gets a bit too friendly.  Here is a picture of Jacob "holding" Ephraim:

It has been an adjustment for Jacob to have to share Mommy with Ephraim. I have tried to make this easier by reading with Jacob or singing him songs while I feed Ephraim. Jacob LOVES for me to sing songs so he can do the actions. He is so enthusiastic that it makes me laugh. 

Jacob's vocabulary amazes me. He isn't even two years old yet, and he can already speak in 4 to 5 word sentences. Some of his phrases are so cute that I smile every time he says them. Whenever he gets hurt Jacob tells me, "Mommy, tiss (kiss)  it better". Whenever we get out something that he doesn't like or is afraid of (ie. the nose bulb or scary cow flashlight) he will say, "Daddy, put it away". Today I was working on the laptop computer and Jacob wanted me to play with him. He told me to "Mommy, turn Tuter (computer) off.... put it right here" while pointing to the piano bench. He is one smart cookie!

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

I have the best baby ever! Last night I fed Ephraim at 9:30 p.m. and then put him to bed. We went to bed shortly after that, and I fell asleep pretty quickly. I woke up in the middle of the night when Ephraim started to cry. I looked at the clock, and can you believe that it was 3:00 a.m.?! I was so excited. I ended up feeding him then and again at 6:30 a.m.  Now if only Jacob hadn't woken up at 5:30 a.m. to come tell us that he was starving! :o)

I can't believe that Ephraim is doing so well with sleep so young. I just hope he keeps it up. Someday (hopefully in the near future) we will achieve the ultimate wonder and every new mother's dream... sleeping through the night. 

Speaking of sleep, I took the most adorable picture of Jacob while he was napping the other day. Isn't it just precious? Sometimes I don't know how he sleeps in such strange positions.

Here is a photo of my two boys that I took last night. I have to say that Joe and I sure make cute boys, don't you think?

Well, Ephraim is one month old today. Can you believe it? Right now both of my boys are napping. Here is a picture that I just took of Ephraim:

He is getting so big! He is a really good baby, and we are lucky to have him in our family.

Sick of being sick (and of the weather too)

The past week has been a bit crazy at our house.Sunday (March 30th) after we put Jacob to bed he woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and a nasty sounding cough. He was crying because his cough was "owie", and we gave him some Motrin and it took a while to get him to bed. He had a runny nose for a few days before that, but I wasn't sure if he was sick or just getting his 2 year molars. I guess my question was answered. So on Monday Joe stayed home from work in the morning and took Jacob to see the doctor. Turns out he got the croup. They gave him a steroid to help him get better, and he slept most of the day.

The next couple of nights were pretty rough. Tuesday night when we tried to put Jacob to bed he got so upset that he started crying, and then coughing... he coughed so hard that he threw up all over himself, his bed, and me. Then Wednesday night it happened again... twice. We finally got him to sleep at around 11 p.m. after all the trauma and clean up. The good news is that my mother came to visit on Wednesday, so we have had someone to distract Jacob from being sick the rest of the week. We ended up taking him back to the doctor on yesterday, and they gave us some cough syrup to give him at bedtime so that he can sleep instead of cough. Thursday night he went to sleep without incident, which was wonderful.

Here is a picture of Jacob and grandma:

So we have been a bit worried about Ephraim getting sick. So far he just seems to be a little congested, and hopefully that is as bad as it gets. Having Jacob sick was difficult enough! Lucky for us, Ephraim is a really good baby. He has only been getting up twice at night... once around 1:30 a.m. and then again around 5 a.m. It varies, but it's much better than it was the first two weeks!