My mom and Grandpa stopped for a quick visit on their way from Florida to New York. I was a short, but sweet visit, one that almost didn't end up happening. Anyway, they made it, a day later than planned, but what is important is that they were able to make the stop. (Thanks for letting them know that the shortest way from S. Carolina to NYis through Pgh, Eric)!

My Grandfather recently made it through his first year without his beloved wife by his side and it was so good to be able to hug him! I am so thankful we were able to have this visit!

Jacob had fun playing with his Great Grandpa Len. Jacob thought Grandpa acting like a bee was hilarious and pulling the zipper on his coat up and down was the most fascinating thing...oohhhh to be an (almost) 2 year old! What joy!

After supper, Grandpa rocked Jacob for a bit and read him a few pages in a book. Unfortunately, it had been a long day for Jacob and he was tired and started getting a little cranky, so this moment didn't last very long. 

 Then this past weekend Nana Ann was back with us for a long weekend!! She came in on Thursday night so that Aaron and I could go to the Fleetwood Mac concert, which was absolutely amazing! I love Stevie Nicks, she is beautiful!
My mom and I took Jacob to his follow-up ENT appt. on Friday (his tubes are intact and the fluid has finally cleared up. We have been waiting for this for over 2 months now. He had a hearing test too while we were there and everything checked out just fine).  Then Jacob and Nana got to spend the whole day together and had what my mom calls "Friday Fun Night". As a kid this used to consist of a movie or game and popcorn and ice cream soda's. Jacob loves popcorn, but now I think he may love ice cream soda's more. LOL!

Saturday was a gorgeous, sunny,  70 degree day so we all got on our bikes (Jacob has a Co-Pilot seat on the back on my bike) and we went for about a 4 hour ride around the city. We have a really nice bike path along the rivers here and it's a nice way to get a tour of the city. We even got to go on a few routes that I've never been on before. We had an awesome lunch at a new seafood restaurant that I've been wanting to try and then had ice cream at our favorite old fashioned ice cream place in the Strip District. Later that afternoon we went to my niece, Riley's birthday party. Needless to say, it was an action packed day and we were all exhausted by the time we got home! All in all, we had a wonderful visit with Nana Ann and can't wait to see her again soon!

 Finally, to wrap up, I will leave you with my favorite picture of the week....

Peace, Love and Family!

Well, it has been at about 9 months since I have posted anything on here...I apologize for the hiatus. As poor of an excuse as it is....life got in the way....or maybe I let it get in the way. Regardless, I have decided that I should try to make more of an effort to keep my family and friends involved in my life and there seems to be no better way right now than this blog.

Life has been complicated lately, but we are working through it. Thankfully, we have Jacob to help us keep a smile on our faces. I honestly don't know what I would do without my little boy....and that's just what he is these days..a little boy.

Sooooo....I have decided that instead of backtracking about what has evolved over the last 9 months I am going to pick up where we are currently, with Jacob's latest fascination....   

He is totally and utterly OBSESSED with vehicles in general, but seems to have a particular interest in construction equipment and monster trucks. A few weeks ago, over Easter, we made the trip back to Rochester, New York to visit my Dad and Step-mom. For those of you who may not know, I grew up on a Christmas Tree Farm, so my dad has a tractor and a pretty sweet riding lawn mower. Now, when I was growing up I remember my dad commenting on how stupid people were for allowing their children to ride on anything that had a spinning blade, so I just want to make sure that it is clear that the blades were off and my dad had a tight grip in Jacob the whole time. We were not distracted by cutting the grass, we were takin a joy ride, that is all.....and Jacob loved pretty much every minute off it!!! We started small..with the mower, but Jacob quickly decided he was ready for the Tractor!

March 2013

We also visited with my Aunt Sandy, Uncle Russ and Papa Joe...my Aunt had some toy trucks that she let Jacob play with while we were visiting and among them was a tractor....needless to say he claimed that tractor as his and thankfully Aunt Sandy and Uncle Russ were willing to part with it! Thanks again you guys, he is still playing with it!

When we got back to my Dad's after the visit with my Aunt and Uncle, my Dad and Jacob raced trucks and tractors. I absolutely love this picture! I have never seen my dad like this before, he is 61 years young and was crawling around on the floor with a 11/2 old! Unfortunately, we don't get to see my family as much as we would all like and we had not seen my dad since the beginning of January...and Jacob has developed a lot since then so this was the first time my dad has been able to interact with him now that he is actually playing with things. His communication skills and attention span have also evolved a ton since they last saw each other. Needless to say it seemed as if my dad was in his glory and it was heartwarming to witness the bond that they have started to form.

"I can't reach it Papa, can you?"

 

Some other "new" things are Jacob's love for his bike. He has always been fond of this $1.00 thrift store find that his father bought when he was like 3 months old... but more recently he has been asking to ride it pretty much every day. He has rode this little bike down to the park about a 1/2 mile away twice now and rides it around the block nearly everyday. Its the cutest thing, really....