Here we go again!!!

Jake and I are very excited about our soon to be newest addition.  Our third baby will be here sometime after Christmas.  By my calculations I think the due date is Feb 7, 2009 but if this baby comes as early as Brooks did it could be December or January!  How fun if it was born on my birthday... when I turn 35.  When I was pregnant with Jacob I did not have nausea and was feeling pretty normal except more tired and always cold.  Do you remember that it was still a confusion and did not get real confirmation of pregnancy until I was 10 weeks along???  And with Brooks I felt plain worn out.  I was always felt like vomiting and then went to Argentina to make myself feel even worse.  This time- I feel great.  I know I am only a few weeks into this but I am not as sick feeling but I am cold a lot of the time again.   

Boy or Girl??? Who knows.  I think I want a girl this time because it would be so fun to teach her all the things I would love for her to know.  I love all the bows and ruffles.   Boys are great too, I think the 2 I have are fantastic.  Yesterday we did finger painting  and they loved to get the paint all over themselves... faces, belly, shirt, table and glass window.  I will be happy with another boy or a girl.  

I will keep you updated...  

RoughRiders Baseball....

Tonight was so much fun.  We had tickets to go to the baseball game and took Jacob with us. We asked our friends Melissa and Anthony to watch Brooks so he was able to play with their son, Beck.  Jacob had a blast watching all the action and danced at the fun music he heard.  We got him a cotton candy, got sticky, sticky, sticky and laughed at how easily it wold melt in his mouth.  Jake and I love the age he is at now because he stays up late easily and that allows us to be able to take him with us to events like baseball.  His bigger than life personality shows in all he does and you can see it in these pics.  He was trying to get all the people around us to play with him... it worked.  I am going to put a few up here and the rest of them will be in Picasa.  If you like more pics... click on the link.  http://picasaweb.google.com/kathleenmcraven

 

No More Boat

The last ride on the boat.  So being financially responsible is hard sometimes.  Very hard.  One of the best days in Jake's life was the day we bought the boat, he was so happy.  A few weeks ago we took the boat out and for the first time I backed the trailer and boat to and from the water!!!  We really enjoy taking it out and having a blast with each other and the kiddos.  2008 has been a great year personally but the reality that money does not grow on trees is evident.  (Dad, are you reading this?) Anyway, we got hit with a very large tax bill and then our washer and dryer went out.  The living room fan went out.  Who can afford gas these days?  We have an awful SUV that sucks gas like crazy (and our last payment is this month- yippee)  What else?  Oh, the garage door is bit temperamental.  I can't think of anymore right now,  just wait, by the time I am done with this post I will think of another thing we need to replace.  Anyway... as responsible adults that are trying to remain debt free we decided that the boat should go.  We put an ad on Craigslist and the next day we knew we had a buyer.  He looked at it on Sunday and that was it, he drove it away and now we have a few bucks to put in the bank.  Jacob understands now that John is not bringing the boat back and tells me that when the washer is older we can buy the boat back.  Good thinking kid, you are right.  We will buy another boat later on, as long as I can keep Jake off the Ski Nautique web sites we will wait at least another few years.  

Spring is here!!

Jake and I spent this last weekend in our yard getting it ready for the summer.  We planted flowers, moved shrubs, leveled the grass, spread a yard of dyno dirt and scalped the lawn.  The picture of the back yard with all the square muddy spots are from my job, I used a tamper and pressed down all the high spots so we can mow those areas this year without putting 4wd wheels on the mower!!!  Wow- we did a lot but it was worth the hard work and hopefully we will have great green grass in a few weeks to play on.  Jacob loved the whole event from sunrise to sunset and was working very hard right next to Jake and I.  Last summer Jacob's favorite Friday morning event was mowing the lawn with Jake, or should I say, on Jake's back.   We have a carrier for when we go hiking and it was awesome to mow the lawn with him but I think that sweet tradition may have passed because now he enjoys mowing behind Jake with his small mower.   We thought Brooks may like it but let's be honest, he is not a light kid weighing in at almost 30 himself!  I am very happy to have the warm sun around again and listening to the boys in the yard playing.  What was Brooks doing while we worked?  Practiced his walking, riding his bike and... sleeping in his swing.  I think he may take after me.

The boys share a room with success!!

The day finally came and Jake and I decided to move Jacob and Brooks into the same room and experience the sharing room deal that you always hear about.  Now we have more space in the 3rd bedroom for the treadmill and toys and I really like the change.  It's been a little over a week and it is going great- sometimes!!!  Naptime is easy because both boys are serious about sleeping, especially Brooks.  Nighttime is a different story...  Brooks is ready for bed around 7:00 and Jacob is not ready to sleep until 8:00.  Normally we let Jacob read for a while until he is ready to fall asleep which will sometimes wake Brooks up, then Jacob will get out of bed to visit and then a big ugly sleep process starts.  We are in a trial and error phase right now and hopefully in another week the boys, Jake and I will have learned how to get this right.  Here are the pics of the bedrooms.    Do you wonder what happened to Brooks in the cloudy picture?  That is what my boys do when they find baby powder- they make a total mess.  

Potty Trained!!!!

Can it be true?  Free of diapers?  Well, at least one of our boys is trained.  Many of you know how I started the training with Jacob but for the rest of you, here is the story.  

One morning I decided I was going to teach Jacob how to "pee-pee" in the potty. He did not do well and 2 hours later I threw in the towel.  A few weeks later I tried again and that stuck until lunchtime.  Can you tell I am not patient?  I kept thinking, it HAS to be easier then this- it can't be this hard.  Do I read another child book on the subject?  Interview every mom I know for hints?  Let him stay in diapers until he realizes that a 5 year old should not have diapers on?  I decided to let time pass and I waited until after all the holidays when the house is back to some state of normal and try again.  It was a Monday and from the very first time on the potty, he got it.  Simple. Not an accident the whole first day, the second day looked pretty great as well.  Here is the funny part... he would not, would NOT go in public.  So I am admitting that I was that mom stopping the car in random places to find a tree or bush to let him to his thing.  I tried to keep a sense of humor about it because what else could I do?  The best story was at the post office and they would not let us use the bathroom.  (Are you kidding?!?)  He could not make it home by the looks of him holding himself and crossing his legs.  So out we went to the side of the building when I noticed an area where the brick makes kinda a "hiding" area -and he did his deal.  While he was going I thought to myself... could we get in trouble for this???    

So today another potty milestone we hit is the big #2.  He has not done well in this area until the last few days.  Today was huge because we went to the library this morning and he went #2!! Yippeeeeeeeee.  I cannot tell you how happy I was.  At home I actually do a whole dance for him when he goes #2 but I was afraid if I made too much noise we may get arrested.  

How awesome!!  I am very proud of Jacob.  The pics say it all... 

More Pics of the Snow

Snow day....

When I woke up this morning (at 6am- thanks to Jacob) I did not realize that we would have a HUGE snowstorm.  Kristi called me and told me about the weather headed toward us.  Typically I would blow it off because, hey, we live in Texas and really- how bad could it be???  Thankfully she called because I was not prepared at all.  By 11am I was out the door to WalMart and by the time we were done around noon the snow was already here.  I was so happy to see the big snowflakes that I felt like a kid again.  After I got the boys to sleep I was ready to wake them up again to play outside with me!!  So these are the pics of the snow day... 

Brooks got his first haircut

Ohhhh,  he's not a little baby anymore.  I know he is 15 months but come on the first haircut is a big deal.  We took Brooks to the same place we took Jacob when he was 16 months.  Brooks sat there and let the girl cut off his sweet baby curls. 

 She asked me twice if I was sure I wanted 

to cut the curls off and then said again that once they are cut, we can't put them back.  Jake said I looked sad.  I don't really know why it was so hard but I do feel like Brooks is my little baby and now he has a big boy haircut- he is growing up.  After the haircut we ate a picnic dinner in the gazebo and played around while the thunderstorms came in. It was a fun evening!  

Jacob now gets his haircut with Gdad every few months and then goes to pick out a donut which is a fun tradition for them.  We asked Jacob if Brooks will go with them now and he said no because Brooks is not big enough yet!!!  Jacob will be 3 in April and is showing jealousy toward Brooks so I am sure sharing that special time with GDad will be hard.   

This last picture is Jacob at his first haircut at the same place when he was 16 months old.  It is really fun to see how different they are!

Jacob and Brooks

Here are a few pics of the boys for mom, dad and Deirdre and Grandma.  I also put a really cute picture of Jacob and Kennedy singing a song together.  (This was before the fall that took her to the ER for stitches!!!)  

A Whole New Toby

We got Toby groomed and I think he lost half his body weight!!! We can see that is is gaining weight but it will take time for him to fill in the way he should.  He is also more Cocker than anything else which would explain a lot about his personality.  He is so great with the kids and we all love him a lot.  He likes to be out back with the boys and I and will play fetch as much as I am willing to throw the frisbee or balls.  He loves to play on the trampoline and go down the slide which Jacob thinks is soooo funny.  I am posting pics of him before grooming and then some I took today.  Another funny thing-  he likes to find the pacifiers and will play, toss and roll around with it!  Gross, I know!  

A dog named Toby

We did it!!!  We added a dog to our home this weekend.  We named him Toby and he is 9 months old.  We are not sure of his exact breed but we think a Schnauzer/ Poodle mix and maybe a bit of Cocker in him too.  He is the sweetest guy and seems to be fitting in here very well.   When we asked Jacob what we should name him he mentioned Sadie, which is cute of him to think of her.  Then in our long list of names he picked out Toby so we chose that to be his name.  I will download the pics from our camera and put one of him after his bath he got last night.  

Painting Again!!

Yesterday, Jake and I must have been crazy because we decided to finish painting the living room and continue down the hallway.  But then around dinner we realized that we have a lot of paint left.  Why don't we just do Jacob's room too???  The thing is- we did not need to paint yet, we have a few other things to do.  I scraped off the caulk in the kitchen so we can redo it and we also have paint for the front door that we have been thinking of doing.  But in true Craven style, we choose the BIG job to prove to ourselves  that we still can still undertake these jobs with 2 kids!! I finished Jacob's room this morning.  I was going to make sure that we would finish today because Jacob was NOT going to sleep with us again.  Jacob thinks he lives on a farm and that he should wake up before the sun and then make sure we are up too.  His bed and all contents are back in order.  I can't wait until bedtime because I am wiped!!

Jacob's Birthday Song To Everybody...

So on the night of my birthday,  Jacob picked up the guitar and sang Happy Birthday.  Just in case you can't understand him, he started to sing then said no, louderFirst he said to Mama, the whole family, Brooks then to make sure he had us all he said, "for everybody"  ... and RaRa!!! How cute to watch him grow up!!  The video is too large to post but I will try to figure out a way to make it smaller and get it up there.

I never thought I would be 34.

Tomorrow is the big day. I am going to be that person I always thought was pretty old.  I think I am ok with 34 because at this age things are still pretty good, I am still in the adding stage in my life.  I am going to be married to my best friend Jake for 6 years and have two awesome boys, Jacob and Brooks.   We may add a new dog to the mix this year and maybe the thought of another baby will turn into a decision to have another baby.  We are running a 10K in March and have a vacation planned to see the Canadian Rockies.   Right now things are pretty good and age is just a number, right?  I will blog tomorrow and let you know how I feel!!!

It's January 2008

So as I have promised to my family many times, I have finally gotten a blog. I am very aware that the reason people will read the Blog is to see what's up with Jacob and Brooks but I will try to keep you up to date with Jake and I too!
Here we go, I will start with a recent picture of us.