2009 Is Just Around the Corner!

I have just spent quite a bit of time reading different blogs. I wanted to put something special together for my final 2008 blog entry, but after reading everything that everyone else wrote, I don't have any idea as to what I really want to write about. I did find a common thread amongst all of the blogs: Everyone wants 2009 to bring more financial stability for the nation, and everyone wants the best for their family & children. What more is there to say? Who doesn't want that, right? :)

Fun Facts for 2008:

• Jacoby Cade Rogers was born on 01/02/08.
• Addyson Shealeigh Linder was born on 01/10/08.
• Jacoby ended up with RSV a few weeks later, and overcame it with no long term effects.
• Jacoby rolled over for the first time in April at just 3½ months of age.
• We found out that we were pregnant...and a few months later, found out it was going to be a girl who will be called Jilian Cate Rogers.
• I started working at A Advanced in early May.
• Jaydon graduated from Pre-K at Glenview Christian.
• Amanda & Ameet celebrated their 1-year wedding anniversary on 06/02/08.
• Jaydon lost his first tooth in July...and he has since lost 5 teeth total.
• Jacoby started crawling and became a "mover & a shaker" VERY quickly.
• Jaydon started Kindergarten in August, and is doing very well.
• Sarah Grace Garvey was born on 09/02/08.
• In early December, we found out that Jaydon was NOT Autistic - what a relief!
• Jacoby started taking steps on his own in mid-December.
• Ava Jade Sandhu was born on 12/22/08.
• Jacoby has now had 4 ear infections as of last week, and 2009 may bring us tubes for the little man. :(
• Jeremy & I finally came to terms with the fact that we will never be rich, but we will always be rich in love for each other, and our children. I can't think of anything more important.

We hope that 2009 brings many blessings to all of our family & friends...

Happy New Year!

Christmas Fun

Christmas Day has come and gone...and it all happened so quickly!

On Christmas Eve, Jaydon was so excited to get ready for Santa's arrival...
First, we went outside right at dusk and sprinkled the yard with reindeer food so that the reindeer could find our home. Then we came in and baked chocolate chip cookies for Santa. "Mom, Santa needs 6 cookies." Oh - you couldn't be more right, son - you must know Santa really well! (SCORE for mom & dad's midnight treat!) When those were ready, we poured Santa a cup of milk in a Christmas mug, and we put a bowl of water out by the fireplace for the reindeer too. "Mom, the reindeer will be thirsty just like Santa." Absolutely, Jaydon!
Then we had to make sure the chimney was open - he wouldn't let us forget a thing!
Once he was in bed around 9:00, we read a Christmas bedtime story. Then we had to pray so that Santa wouldn't get into any accidents, and so that his reindeer wouldn't get sick. It was too sweet to see Jaydon's mind racing with Christmas joy.

On Christmas morning, I awoke at 7:15 to find Jaydon in front of the fireplace on his stomach not making a sound. It was the cutest sight - he was just staring at his 2 Santa gifts. (No, not every gift comes from Santa - he can't fit that much in his sleigh - DUH!) You see, just 2 days prior, he had gone to sit on Santa's lap and he asked Santa for a robot and a gingerbread house. Miraculously, Santa delivered! (Thank you to Tia Jessenia for playing Santa this year.) He was just amazed that Santa brought him exactly what he asked for. Then of course he wanted to open the gifts...so we let him.

Jacoby woke up soon after that, and we hung out at home. Tia Jessenia came over around 8:30 and we opened the rest of the gifts. She loves watching the boys open their gifts. Both kids got a lot of stuff from toys to clothes, and everything in between.
After that, Tia left, and we spent the morning cleaning up. Aba came over at 11:00 to finish helping us cook lunch. At 1:20, Jessenia came back with her boyfriend Tom, and his sister Stacia. The 6 of us (plus 2 boys) ate a most delicious lunch which consisted of turkey, white rice, fajita meat, guacamole, salad, rolls, tamales, and then 3 desserts - crazy pecan pie, pumpkin bread, and Oreo chocolate cake. The first two were homemade. EVERYTHING was so good, and it was nice to be in good company. Jacoby really enjoyed the tamales. That boy wants to eat table food so badly - he is nothing like Jaydon! (Oh, and my turkey and guacamole "leftovers" sandwich today was SO, SO, SO good!)
Aba stayed to help clean up, and then left around 4:30. That left us alone for the rest of the evening. Jaydon watched 2 new movies he got earlier in the day, and played with his robot. He played with his new trains too. Jacoby played with his new push toy and he loves it. That boy will be walking in a few weeks. He pushes that thing all around with such ease. We regret not buying it sooner. He even lets go and has taken as many as 12 steps (that I have seen/counted) on his own!

Typically on Christmas day - in the evening - we go over to Jeremy's side of the family to celebrate. This year, it was just going to be too tough. They don't have people over until 6:00, and that's too late for us. Aside from that, it tends to be an older crowd - no younger children besides ours - and it's just boring. (This is nothing that we all don't know - it's not me being rude.) They tend to favor girls...okay, they REALLY favor girls, so our boys don't get much attention. (We need to live in China or India where they cherish boys. We are in the wrong country!) ...and on top of it all, we were broke as can be and just couldn't afford to buy gifts for everyone like we usually do. We REALLY need to do a name draw next year and since Christmas is at my house next year, I think that we will! :)
Both kids were asleep by 7:00 on Christmas day, so we are glad that we didn't go because it would have been stressful for all of us. There isn't anybody for Jaydon to play with, so it's not like he missed it, or asked about it anyway.

Overall, our simple Christmas suited us JUST fine. We have spent the entire day at home today just relaxing and hanging out together as a family. Jeremy washed both cars, he & Jaydon played baseball outside in the 30 mph winds, and Jacoby & I watched.
Then this evening, we made Jaydon's gingerbread house. Surprisingly, Jeremy, Jaydon, and I were all virgin gingerbread house makers. It was a simple gingerbread house with just a little bit of candy, but we got as creative as we could considering it wasn't from a box. It was the perfect end to the Christmas season. :)

We hope that you had a good time as well...

PS: We got a few videos in on Christmas Day since it was Jacoby's first Christmas, but my husband decided that he would videotape the boys with me in the background. Let's just say that no bra & pregnant while sitting down does not make a pretty backdrop for a Christmas video. The videos will just have to be kept on our flash drive - not accessible to the public. ;)

Jaydon at his Kindergarten Classroom Christmas Party

Reading his Christmas book before bedtime on Christmas EveSCRUMPTIOUS cookies for Santa!

I guess Santa was hungry...

Opening the 2 gifts from Santa...

Jacoby LOVED the wrapping paper! (I don't know why we bought him gifts?!?)

Brotherly Love

Good times!

The Very First Rogers Gingerbread House

Click on this one to enlarge...On the left is Jaydon at 13 months in 2003, on the right is both boys this year - 2008.

Jaydon getting to put the last decoration on the Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago...

Ava Jade Sandhu Has Arrived!

Ava decided to make an appearance...FINALLY!
Amanda was due on December 16th, and Ava decided to arrive on December 22, 2008, at 1:10AM. She weighed in at 7lbs. 2oz., and she was 20.5 inches long. Everyone - including the doctor and the sonograms - thought that Ava was going to be an 8.5-9lb. baby. She shocked us all!

Jeremy and I went up to the hospital on Sunday night and spent 6 hours there waiting for her to arrive. NOTHING compared to the nearly 24 hours that Ava's mom & dad waited! I went back up to the hospital today after my doctor's appt. which was right across the street. (More on this in a second.) I just had to hold her. Ava is so precious!!! I can't wait to do things with her, Amanda, Jilian, and me! They definitely got the best Christmas present ever!
Amanda, Ameet, & Ava are all fantastic!

My appt. went well today. This was just a check-up, no sono. I am 35weeks, 2 days. I am still at 7-8 lbs. weight gain. I saw another doctor in the office today who happens to be pregnant, and she says to me, "So what's your secret to such little weight gain?" THERE IS NO SECRET! I EAT LIKE A HORSE, OR MORE LIKE A COW...JUST CALL IT LUCK! That's what I wanted to tell her, but I just smiled and said, "I don't know."
My stomach is measuring perfectly, and Jilian's heart rate was 147. All is good there! I go back next week, and every week until I deliver. My next - and final - sono is on January 5th.

Congratulations to the Sandhu's!
Enjoy the pictures below!

Precious Ava getting cleaned up...

Look...Already wrapped around Daddy's finger! :) The proud Daddy!

Smiling Mommy!

This won't last long, Sandhu's...enjoy it while you can!

Letter to Jilian

December 21, 2008

Dear Jilian Cate Rogers,

As I sit here today, waiting for another very special little girl to come into this world, (Ava Jade is her name, and she will be one of your best friends one day. Amanda, one of your mommy’s dearest friends, is having a baby today!) I think about you…

I cannot believe that in just one more month, you will be resting in my arms, waking me at night when you are hungry, eventually chasing your brothers around, and taking charge in typical girl fashion!
I have to be honest with you, Jilian – I have wanted to be a mom to boys ever since I can remember. Perhaps it was because growing up, I only had one sister. Perhaps it was because out of 15 cousins, only 2 of them were boys, and the rest of us were girls. Perhaps it was because my mother was (still is!) such a girly-girl, that I knew nothing else. Who knows why, but I have always wanted to have boys.

As you will soon find out, I was blessed with 2 lovely boys…
Your oldest brother, Jaydon Cole, who is now 6 years old…he is such an intelligent boy. He soaks up knowledge like a sponge, and is one of the smartest 6 year olds that you will ever meet. Jaydon is going to shock us all one day with an invention, or something of the like. He is a wonderful big brother, and I know you will look up to him one day.
Then there is your other big brother, Jacoby Cade. Jacoby is 11 months old, and starting to walk. He is the polar opposite of Jaydon in every regard. You & Jacoby will be sharing a room soon. I have a feeling that the two of you are going to have me going insane – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Then there will be you…Jilian Cate. Did you notice that all 3 of you will have the same initials – “JCR”? We didn’t want any of you to feel left out. We wanted to make sure that if anything, those initials would give the 3 of you a special bond for life.
I cannot wait to see what you look like, smell your sweet baby breath, feel that baby soft skin, and see if you have the same nose as your daddy – just like your brothers do. :)

Jilian, it took me a long time to accept the fact that I was having a girl. I know…your mommy is different. Every other woman that I know wants/wanted a little girl. I think that God made you my 3rd child because He knew that I needed time to accept a little girl. God works in mysterious ways because he has given me enough time now. I know that my 3rd and final child will be a girl for a reason…
You see, they say that little boys love their mommy’s, and little girl’s love their daddy’s. What happens when you aren’t little anymore? Those little boys will soon have things in common with their daddy’s that their mommy’s will never understand. Where does that leave me? WITH YOU! :)
Once those little boys are too big to share things with their mommy, I will have you to share things with. I will have you to tell me if my outfit doesn’t look right, or if my hair makes me look old. …and you will have ME to do the same things for you. We can play make-believe with big poofy dresses, jump on the trampoline at night and try to touch the stars, comb each other’s hair, have tea parties, paint each other’s toe nails, (I promise to wash my feet first!) and I will even show you how to play baseball. This way, you won’t have those boys telling you that “you throw like a girl”!
Then when you are grown, you will have me to lean on when that mean boy next door breaks up with you for the ugly girl, or when you need some uplifting because you got your first pimple, or when you just want someone to talk to. ...and Jilian, if one day you just want to sit in silence and drink hot chocolate, (your mom doesn't like coffee) that's just fine, too. :)

I hope Jilian that you soon realize how special you are to me. I hope that I can raise you to be an outstanding citizen, a compassionate soul, an avid reader, a girly-girl at times, but a tom-boy when necessary, and a loving child.
I hope that you & I can both teach each other things that we would have never learned about without one another.

Jilian, I cannot wait until you are here. I know 3 other boys who feel the same way. You will never have to worry about anything, because you will always have 2 big brothers to protect you, and a mommy & daddy to love you with all of their hearts.

Thank you for helping me realize that God does things for a reason!

Love,
Your Mommy

New Slide Shows!

Check out my two new slide shows above!
They each have about 20 pictures. The top one has all brand new family photos, and the bottom one has mostly new family/friends photos. I kept about 5 old pictures that I just couldn't bare to part with. Aren't my boys (all 3 of them!) just adorable? :)

Yesterday was Jaydon's class party at school. I went up to the school to help out with this. They made reindeer food for Santa's reindeer. The recipe is: oats, chocolate chips, and sprinkles (or glitter). The sprinkles make the food glitter so that when the reindeer are flying overhead, they can see it and land at your house. Pretty cool, huh? (I thought it was cool!) Make sure you make some with your children before Christmas Eve, and let them sprinkle it out on the lawn that night!
At the party, they ate cupcakes, goldfish, ice cream, and juice. Jaydon only drank the juice, of course - picky child that he is! They got a wrapped present from their teacher which Jaydon will open on Christmas Day. (It's a book, and a Christmas tree ornament with their picture in it.) They also got a goodie bag filled with stuff. Jaydon was too busy playing with his goldfish to take pictures, but I got a couple in.
I was there for an hour, and I got to observe all of the children. At one point, the teacher was putting their dots on their calendar so of course, I discreetly walked around the room and looked at each child's calendar. There are 21 children in the room, and I can HONESTLY say that my son is one of the better behaved. There were only 2 children - both girls - in the ENTIRE class who had all green dots this six weeks. Jaydon came in third place with all green dots except for one orange. (He and another little boy got into a scissor fight one day, and he got moved from green to yellow to orange...more about this in a second.) Anyway, it was shocking to see all of the colors on their calendars. I have heard through the "PTA grapevine" that Jaydon's teacher has the toughest class, and I can honestly say that she probably does. One little boy had ALL orange or red. When you get to red, you go to the Principal's office. He is in there 3 days per week - minimum. That is just scary to me that a 5 year old could be sent to the office that often. Although in the hour I was there, I could definitely see why! THIS is the little boy who instigated the scissor fight with my son, and caused his only mishap this six weeks. After seeing the rainbow of colors around the room, I will never get upset with my son again for his minimal color changes. Nobody is perfect, and we all deserve to "bend the rules" every once in a while. I'm a firm believer in discipline, but to a certain extent. I will remember from now on when I'm upset with him, that it could always be worse!

That's it from here! I have spent the past 3 hours redoing my slide shows, so I hope people notice! I'm pooped!

Good night...

My Baby Shower for Jilian Cate Rogers

My baby shower was this past Saturday. My Mom & sister co-hosted this event at my Mom's house in Bedford. It was really cool to hang out with different friends and family. Let's start at the beginning...

The baby shower was supposed to start at 4:00. Yes, "supposed to" are the key words here. Knowing fully well that it wouldn't start at 4:00, I didn't even get there until 4:20. (TYPICAL Hispanic thing to run late!) I thought we would run about an hour late, but we ran a little over an hour late. Excuses for the delay were as follows - Such & such got lost, such & such cancelled, it's too early to eat, the food isn't quite ready, my mom isn't dressed with make-up on, "just let people talk & get to know each other" <---my mother...the excuses were endless, but nothing that I am not used to. There were some margaritas that people drank, which I think helped.

This baby shower was also a co-ed affair, so men & children were welcome. At 5:20, we finally started eating. I personally feel like the wait was worth it because the food was really good. My mom & sister bought 40lbs. of beef, (I called it BEEF - are you happy, Andi?) 10lbs. of chicken, and she had someone make tons of rice & beans and some empanadas. Then we had some homemade (spicy a$$!) guacamole. I didn't hear any complaints on any of the food. Usually when people don't like stuff, they will pick at it and not say much, but everybody's plates were empty, and I caught a few people going back for seconds.

After eating, we finally got to playing games. Mind you this is like at 6:30. Most "American" baby showers don't last more than 2 hours, right? I think we played games for a good hour. There were games that were new to me, and a little strange. Some of them were funny though. Then we opened gifts...that felt like it was endless! I guess when there are 25+ people there - some of whom you've never met, it's hard to get through gifts and know what is from who. I got a lot of clothes and a lot of diapers which is what I needed. If my math is right, I will not have to buy ANY diapers until Jilian is 4+ months old! To those faithful blog readers, I thank you for your gifts. I couldn't show favoritism towards gifts, but if you are reading this, then YOUR gifts were my favorites...really! I think you know who the 5 of you are! :)

After/during the gift opening, we ate some Tres Leches (Three Milk) cake. I was surprised that my gringo friends liked it - so they were either being nice, or they really liked it. Tres Leches is one of my personal favorites.

My mom decorated everything very nicely. She really tried her hardest to make it look good, and I think she succeeded. She's like me when it comes to hosting with the mindset of "you can never have too much".

So the ending time of the shower...9:00! Yep - 4 hours! I think Jeremy & I left around 9:30. We made a run to McDonald's for Jaydon and 2 other little girls who hadn't eaten, and brought that back to them. Jaydon had not eaten since 12:00, so I knew that he was hungry. He ended up eating a 10-piece chicken nugget meal. Poor kiddo! We tried to get him to come inside to eat more than once, but he wouldn't. At least he was having fun playing with the other kids, right?

Oh - and the BEST part of my night was what my husband did. I have to brag about Jeremy because he always amazes me with his sweet gestures. After all of the gifts had been opened, my mom said that Jeremy was going to read something to me IN SPANISH that he had written. Jeremy doesn't speak Spanish, so I was in awe. Below is what he wrote, translated to English. He had over half of the room in tears, including me. I cannot believe he got up in front of a room of 20 women (and a few men) who speak Spanish fluently, and read this to me with Jacoby in his arms, and Jaydon standing next to him. He got emotional, and it completely melted my heart. That is one thing I love about my husband...that he isn't scared to show his love for me no matter where we are...
Jessica, I want to thank you for the handsome & healthy sons that you have given me. I want you to know that the new little girl that is about to arrive is going to be as beautiful & intelligent as you. You are a wonderful & special mother and wife. I love you with all of my heart, and I thank God for putting you in my path.

Tear jerker, right? It was for me anyway, as you'll see in the first picture below! (If you click on it, you can see the tears!) You really had to be there. It was such a special moment, and I will treasure it in my heart forever. Thank you honey! (Jeremy and my dad were conspiring all week without my knowledge, and my dad translated that to Spanish for Jeremy. Thanks to you too, Dad!)

Thank you Mom & Jessenia for making my final baby shower so special! I appreciate everything that you did to make sure that everyone was fed & enjoying themselves. :)

*A HUGE thank-you to Ameet Sandhu & Andrea Linder for taking the pictures. I know that I will be able to make an AWESOME book with all of the great pictures. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! *

Emotions taking over while Jeremy was reading to me in Spanish...

Grandma Feliz (Jeremy's Mom), Me, and Aba (My Mom)

Ameet, Me, & Amanda
Me, Grandma Rogers (Jeremy's Grandmother) & Aunt Pam

Ally & Me

Andi & Me
Sis & Me

Mom & Me

Jeremy the smart a$$ - getting in the way of the games! It was really funny though!

Sarah & Me - Sarah is my sister's friend, and I've known her for about 15 years.

Jilian is spelled with a "J", not a G - the spelling got lost in translation...literally!

2 Days Too Late...

Jaydon lost his "snaggle" tooth this morning. I'm an idiot and I thought that he lost it last night, but Jeremy just reminded me that it fell out this morning while they were in the shower. Anyway, the tooth fairy will be bringing something for him soon. We explained that the tooth fairy doesn't always show up that same day. (Nice way to get some extra time to figure out what to get him.) Yes, most people leave a dollar or something, but I'm exaggerated on all that I do, so he will more than likely get a train which is all that he has asked for.
Now he can really sing, "All I Want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth". So cliche, I know - I'm a dork! :)

We had an ARD meeting today to discuss Jaydon's evaluation for Autism. He has been screened by various people off and on for the past month or so. Thank the Lord that all seems well!! It was such a nice feeling to hear that he is "okay". He is behind on his vocabulary and social skills, but nothing too bad, and nothing we weren't aware of. He actually tested average or above average for all of the other tests that they gave as far as intelligence/education.
Then on the Autistic assessments, he was normal or mild. After all of the numbers were calculated, he was right below the cut-off for the Autistic Spectrum. They are going to reevaluate him in 2010 - after first grade - and see where he is at then. They don't want to "label" him without needing to. So for right now, Jaydon is just considered as having a "language delay" and nothing else. That was a major blessing to hear! We are even going to nominate him for the EXCEL program which is the gifted & talented program at the school. The 6 people in the room all thought that he would qualify, so that made me feel good. They upped his Speech services to twice per week - 40 minutes each session - so that was good, too. We just pray that he continues to do well and improve like he has these past couple of years.

I volunteered today at the school and that was...hmmm, I guess the word is "interesting". There was a shopping village where the kids came in with a certain amount of money (whatever their parents allotted) and they got to buy things for family members and/or friends. Some kids came in with $40 or even $60, while others came in with $1 or $2. A few kids had so many people on their lists it was unreal! I ended up spending close to $10 out of my own pocket for the kids who didn't have enough. THIS is why I can't volunteer for stuff! How do you tell a 7 year old that they can't buy the $3.50 picture frame for their grandma because their mom only sent $3? So inevitably, I would fund them whatever they were missing. Good karma - I'll be repaid for my kind deeds one day.

That's it from here.
Good night!

Weekend Chaos

It seems like I haven't been able to sit down and relax for weeks now. It's just one thing after another.
...and to think we are about to add another child to this craziness!?!?

This weekend, we went to Jeremy's company Christmas party. In preparation for this, I had to get my hair done, ($$$) nails and toes done, ($$$) and then find a dress to wear. ($$$) Finding a dress when you are pregnant is no easy feat! I guess it doesn't help that I'm SO incredibly particular. I also didn't want to spend more than $60 on a dress - that was my limit - that I would only be able to wear one time since I'm pregnant and all. I must have looked at 5 different stores for the dress, and I finally found one at Motherhood Maternity for $39.99. What a steal! I buy most of my maternity clothes there anyway, so why I didn't go there first? Who knows.
Anyway, the Christmas party was not as fun as I thought it would be. Usually they are a blast, but this year was quite boring. The food was good, and we were in good company, but the games and awards were not fun. They gave away a good $30K in prize money - from my calculations. It might have been a little more or less. Good times for those who won the money! Since Jeremy is in management, he doesn't qualify for the awards, so that kinda bites. (Ok - it sucks massive donkey balls!!)

Today, we went and got our family pictures done at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens. That was a cute spot! Thanks to Mrs. Linder for taking those for us. What a nice friend that she is!!
It stinks that we don't get a nice autumn here like in the northeastern part of the country. If the leaves actually turned a color other than brown here, that would DEFINITELY have made everything much prettier.
My children were EXTREMELY ornery (Sp?) today, and neither one was cooperating. Then my hair kept getting wind blown so I kept having to get it out of my face. If I didn't ruin the picture with my constant hair movement, then one of the kids did by not looking at the camera. Jacoby would not smile for anything, and he didn't want to stand outside. Maybe it was that he isn't used to shoes? Then my handsome Jaydon smiled too big, and that crooked tooth was so horrible looking. ...and you HAVE to catch Jaydon at the right time or he will make silly faces or close his eyes on every picture. He is very photogenic/GQ, but only at the right times. It just wasn't pretty. Had we been there to get action shots, it might have been better. I needed posed shots for Christmas cards though! I know Andrea was thinking that we were the most difficult family that she's ever taken pictures of, but things just weren't going right. I pray we got a few good shots in though. I can't wait to see them.
Oh - and I had to stop at Target because I didn't put mascara on. How in the world did I forget mascara? My eyelashes are dark enough to where it's not that bad, but mascara sure does help! So thank goodness for the Target pit stop to buy the mascara, or I would have been that much more frustrated.

This upcoming week isn't going to be so pretty, either...
Monday, Wednesday, Friday - work from 8:15-2:00.
Tuesday - volunteer at Jaydon's school from 8-12. Then an ARD meeting at 2:30.
Thursday - volunteer at Jaydon's school from 8-3.
Then I still pick Mark up at 3:15 and take him home daily.
I know I don't "have" to volunteer, but I don't feel right if I don't help. Other than the field trip I went to with the Kindergartners, I haven't volunteered at the school this year, so this will make me feel better.

I must go...laundry calls, and I need to make sure that the boys' bags are ready for tomorrow.

Tootles...

Jacoby at 11-Months

In just one more month, Jacoby Cade will be a year old!
We here at the Rogers household are in awe at the changes that Jacoby makes daily. This past month has been a lot of fun. It seems like we have started to transition from "baby" to "toddler". I'm not sure what the age for toddler is, but I'll bet we are almost there.

11-Month Stats:
Weight - 22.4 lbs.
Length - 29½ in.

Not too shabby for a little guy who came into this world at only 6lbs. 6oz. Considering he tripled his birth weight at 9 months, I think we are good to go as far as the weight is concerned.
Thank goodness that we have a growing, healthy little boy on our hands! :)

This month, Jacoby has started becoming a little too observant of his surroundings...
If we leave a room, HE has to be the one to turn the lights off. If we pass the doorway, he will grab hold of the side of the door and hold on. He'll make us go back so he can turn the lights off himself. If we don't turn around, he throws a tantrum so we always give in.
...and speaking of doors, he is completely intrigued by them! He loves to open them and play peek-a-boo. He will shut the door, and we'll put different things in front of it every time he opens it. He gets a kick out of that. (He doesn't shut the door completely since he obviously can't reach door knobs.)

He is moving around everywhere!
He stands and goes from the couch to the coffee table, or from the window sill to the table in the kitchen. This is only about two steps each way without holding on to anything, but it's definitely a start. I am trying not to compare him to Jaydon who was already running at this age, but it's so hard with them both being boys. He is actually kind of lazy with his walking, and if we try to "make" him walk, he just plops and resorts to crawling. Oh well, he'll walk soon enough.
We bought child proof locks for all of the cabinets in the kitchen because my back couldn't take lifting him to get him out of the kitchen cabinets any longer.

He now has 6 teeth, (3 top-3 bottom) and it seems like his molars are coming in. He sticks his fingers in the back of his mouth constantly as comfort. He also has 2 more about to break through in the front - one on top, one on bottom. I can't wait until all of his teeth are in! The Tylenol around here disappears very quickly.

We feel like he has associated "da-da" with Jeremy, and "ma-ma" with me. When Jeremy gets home from work, Jaydon will go to the garage to meet him, and Jacoby follows. As soon as Jacoby sees him, he says, "da-da, da-da" and gets VERY happy, insisting that Jeremy lift him up.

He has also started to wave hi and bye. It's not always "on cue", but we think he understands the meaning of both.

...AND THE BEST PART OF THIS MONTH...
We think that Jacoby is going to be a lefty!!!
Jeremy and I are both left-handed, my dad & sister are both left-handed, and Jeremy's dad is left-handed. When Jaydon turned out to be right-handed, we were very surprised. Jacoby grabs his spoon with his left hand, he waves with his left hand, he always rolls toys to us with his left hand first, and it just seems like that is his dominant side. I guess only time will tell, but look out Major League Baseball because you'll have a fine pitcher on your hands! :)

Enjoy the pictures below of our ever changing boy, and we hope the video brings a smile to your day.

We'll update you again on January 2nd, 2009!

Love from our family, (J5) to yours...
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Turn up your volume...

The Haltom City Hillbilly

It has been over a month since I last blogged! Can you believe it?
I have been getting harassed by about 5 different people (how sad that only 5 people read my blog) about my lack of blogging. Today is December 1st - a whole new month - so I will start blogging again.
We will just forget about November...okay, maybe not...

In November:
1. Jacoby turned 10 months old on November 2nd.
2. We (Jeremy & I) were off from work the first week in November, and we rearranged bedrooms. Jaydon's old room now belongs to Jacoby & Jilian, and Jacoby's old room now belongs to Jaydon. We painted and set furniture up. It all looks AWESOME! We have not put the final details on yet, but once we do, I will upload some pictures. We will have everyone over sometime next year to see the changes, and to meet the new arrival.
3. Jaydon turned 6 years old on November 11th. (Veteran's Day) Happy Birthday to the best big brother on Earth. You are our little angel, and the best thing that happened to us in 2002. We couldn't have asked for a better boy!
4. We celebrated Jaydon's birthday at Main Event in Grapevine on November 15th.
5. Jaydon was the STAR student in his class the week of November 17th-21st, and again on November 24th & 25th. (Picture below)
6. My best friend from childhood and high school that I've known for 20 years now, Cristina, turned 30 on November 21st! (Oh gosh - that means that my 30th is next!) Happy Birthday, Stina!
7. On November 22nd, Jacoby took a couple of steps on his own. NOTHING major, but it was cute.
8. I had a sono on November 21st, and found out that Jilian Cate Rogers was doing very well. She is moving like crazy, too! I've only gained something like 6lbs. as of that date, (over half of which was baby) so I'm REALLY pounding on the calories these last 8 weeks. We'll see if Ms. Jilian comes out weighing more than both of her brothers!
9. Jaydon had a dentist appt. on November 25th, and the dentist crowned him with "perfect teeth". (You won't think that after seeing the pictures below...more details to follow.) The dentist is always SO impressed with how clean Jaydon's teeth are and how he has no signs of cavities. Jaydon is doing much better at the dentist, and actually allowed them to take all of his x-rays and put flouride on his teeth for the first time. He's growing up!
10. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Jeremy's family on November 27th. Good food and a nice time with family. Aba & Tia were in Miami for the holiday.

So you are now all caught up!
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My poor little Jaydon is losing more teeth. He has already lost 3 bottom teeth, and now his top 2 front teeth are on the verge of falling out. We have tried to jiggle them out, but nothing is working. I know they will fall out on their own with time, but they are SO loose! In fact, his adult tooth is already halfway out behind one of the teeth. The problem is, we have pictures to take this weekend. (hopefully) Lets just say that with the way his mouth looks, we might as well use a cabin in Kentucky with a mountain as a backdrop, light up cigarettes, grow some mullets, roll up our sleeves, and name our children Bud and Sissy because his teeth look like Hillbilly Heaven! You'll see below...and the pictures don't EVEN do it justice.

I think that's it for today. It will take a while to upload the pictures that I want to upload, so I'm calling it quits. Oh - do y'all like my new background?
Thank you to Andrea for helping with that.

Talk to you tomorrow for Jacoby's 11-month update!

Star Poster - All About Jaydon

(Click on the picture to zoom in and read the poster.)

He'll be comin' 'round the mountains when he comes...