Halloween 2007

Happy Halloween to all our Friends and Family!!!  As usual we went the rounds at Microsoft (notorious for its quantity of Halloween candy, it did not disappoint) and Kate is starting to believe that all Mommy does at work is go trick or treating.  Kate made quite a candy haul without even having to perform a trick.  Jake charmed everyone with his smiles.

Jake started out this morning not in costume, as we were concerned that drool soaked Darth Vader would be too slippery to contain.  But I couldn’t have him dressed in just anything, so we did the Kiss t-shirt homage.

Miss Kate on the other hand, has been a princess all day and has still refused to take off the Cinderella dress.  This photo was taken a mere 5 minutes after she woke up.

The day would not be complete without photos of mini-Darth.  As you view these last 2 photos please hum the Imperial March quietly to yourself.

Pumpkins have landed

Grandma Roo was kind enough to bring us two enormous pumpkins last week and so she was invited back this weekend to assist with the carving.  Kate chose her design with care and Jacob kept laughing at the snaggle tooth so we went with his instincts.  See the results for yourself below.

Hey mom!!  Look.  Look at what I did!

Kate’s kitty pumpkin is on the right

My pumpkin twin!!!

The kids proudly display their creations on the front porch.

The Little Man & Firefighter Kate

If there is one thing I’ve learned a few months after starting this blog, is that you cannot satisfy the masses   Not a day goes by that someone isn’t asking for a new picture of Kate or Jacob.  Welcome to October 25th, and with that comes a new picture of Jacob. 

And while this is not a new photo of Kate (it’s from February 2005), it is fitting given the fires in Southern California.  Here is Kate trying to imitate her Uncle Troy, a firefighter in San Bernadino.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone struck by this tragedy, especially our family and friends in the area. 

Back to the Rat Race

It’s been two weeks since I finished up my six weeks off, taking care of Jacob.  And here I am thrust right back into the thick of it.

We are right near the end of the product cycle when everything gets cranked up and the finishing touches are made, the last bugs are fixed in the product and we all get to sign off and ship that which we’ve worked on for the past 2 years. Needless to say it’s been crazy since the minute I got back to work.

Jake’s 6 month check-up & Kate’s new glasses

Oh, does it actually seem ages ago to everyone else that I was in a panic about Jake’s weight gain?  For those of you who have intelligently blocked this Mom panic attack time from your mind, let us just say I may be finally able to banish those first month threats of failure to thrive and multiple weigh-ins per week from my elephantine memory.  Jake is amazingly healthy, on point for all developmental goals, and a moose   I say this as only a parent can; which of course will lead to psychiatric visits down the road.  But that’s my job, right?

Weight:     18 lbs. 15 oz.  –  75%  (yes folks, this is only 1 lb shy of when he can’t use his current car seat)

Height:      28″  –  97%

 

And our beautiful Miss Kate has some equally beautiful new glasses.  Kate describes them as “red with a touch of pink.”  For those who haven’t heard about the fluke situation that led me to have my daughter’s eyesight checked, please know that having your child’s eyes checked by a professional as soon as they’re reading letters/numbers is a good idea.  Kate has been diagnosed with Anisometropia Amblyopia (http://www.strabismus.org/amblyopia_lazy_eye.html).  It is a relatively rare disorder where one of her eyes has had such bad eyesight from birth that her brain quit receiving input from it.  Effectively Kate is blind in her left eye.  We have an appointment with a pediatric opthalmologist on Nov. 1 to go over the treatment plan and proposed assessment schedule.  We will let you know more as we do. 

Stylish yet warm

Jake is a lucky boy in many respects, but who can say that they have a personal knitter?  Grammie has been busy recently working on this colorful and stylish hat that will keep little man Jake, who is still lacking the long locks his dad has sported for years, warm this winter.

Jake DayCare update — the Champ!

Jake has now completed his first full week at Tim and Lisa’s where he’s already an old pro.  He’s now sleeping through the chaos and the happiest little guy they’ve had from the start in a while

Lisa was able to capture another tongue moment (like we’re lacking in these) that she shared with us.  So without further ado, let’s intro Nascar Jake sticking out his tongue at you.

The Men in my life

Nothing of note going on today but I was able to get a wonderfully sweet photo of the men in my life that I wanted to share.  Love to all!

Jacob starts Daycare today!

Today was Jacob’s first day of daycare.  Mommy and Daddy finally get to figure out what the daily routine will be with two kids going to two different places each day.  Kate really wanted to go back to Tim & Lisa’s when she heard that Jacob was going there today.  Next week sometime we’ll make sure she gets to visit with them.  Once I got to daycare, Jacob was nice and calm, and I handed him off to Tim without any problems.  Hopefully the rest of the day was as easy for him.

Kate and Jacob getting ready for the big day

Jacob all buckled up and ready to go

Jacob playing around in an ExerSaucer at daycare

Jacob hanging out at daycare