jana and jacob

So Jana's been whining about wanting to take our website down because she's let it go stale and claims she doesn't know how to even use SiteWrench anymore. I say pish! We're getting back in the saddle.

So what's new since July 3? Lots.

I started working out in August, determined to shed the fat suit I had been carrying around for 10 years. I started working out 3 times a week and really focused on my diet. After about 3 months, I was able to lose right around 25 pounds to get me back to a healthy and comfortable weight.

Then on Wednesday, October 7 at 7:15pm we had our second kiddo, Cole. He's a healthy, happy little boy and we're having lots of fun (though not lots of sleep) with two. Some of our nicknames for Cole: Coley, Cole-man, Cole-train, Co-Co. He smiles and laughs and is a cute little kid. Jana will have to post some pictures up since that's her jurisdiction.

A couple months later we had our first Christmas with Santa. Audrey made Christmas cookies with mom and set them out for the big guy. She was VERY interested to see the clean plate and empty coke can Christmas morning. Fun.

And now for 2010 our big news is Audrey's successful completion of potty training. Sorry, Costco...no more big boxes of size 4's for us.

We'd love to hear from any of you out there. Drop us a comment or fill out our form to say hello.

-Jacob

We have officially hit the hot part of the Memphis summer and I am feeling it! It's not that I'm overly huge yet, since I'm only 6 months along, but it's different this time with Audrey being almost 2 and VERY active. I am busy trying to find activities for us to do that don't involve being out in the heat too long. Audrey has a "I'm a big sister" book that she has become very attached to, and I think she is grasping the idea that we will have a new baby in our house before long! I admit that not knowing the gender this time hasn't been quite as fun because I can't really do a lot to the nursery just yet. But I know that we have all the basics we will need when the baby comes so I'm trying to let that go!

Jacob and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting another baby! We found out that we were pregnant on February 5, 2009, and got to go see our baby's heartbeat on February 25th at which point we were 7 weeks along. I am currently about 11 weeks, and that means we can be expecting our new little one to make it's arrival around October 13th! This pregnancy  has been a whole lot better than my last one so far, and I am so thankful to not be quite as sick since I have a 20 month old to chase around!
Here's our first ultrasound picture:

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to take a trip to Austin, Texas so I could be in my friend Joanna's wedding. We have been friends since we were four years old when we both lived outside of Seattle, WA, and have remained good friends all through out life's various phases. I was thrilled to get to be a part of her big day. She was a beautiful bride, of course! I wish her and Aaron a blessed marriage!

This past weekend Jacob's sister Regan got married! She married Leif Goranson in a beautiful ceremony at Germantown Baptist Church where Jacob and I were married almost 4 years ago! All of the festivities leading up the wedding were a lot of fun, as we got to meet all of Leif's huge family for the first time. He has 8 siblings!! Both Regan and Leif wrote their own vows for the ceremony and they were so good. Audrey wore a really pretty pink dress her Mamaw made and got a lot of compliments. She was pretty cute.

Jacob's brother Andy and sister-in-law Amanda just had their third boy yesterday morning. They named him Wesley Ward Savage and he was 8 lbs 2 oz. and 20" long. We took Audrey up to the hospital for a visit and she loved meeting him and kept telling him "Hi baby" She is going to love having a new little cousin around to kiss!

So, our little Audrey is probably the cutest kid around, and yes, she does look a whole lot like my hubby, Jacob.  I don't mind this at all, but admit to the fact that I do search for things that she has or does that might resemble me! For instance, I know she has my tiny feet ,and oh what beautiful feet they are. I have also been hoping for awhile that she might end up having curly hair. I can't say that I have enjoyed having curls all that much, but for some reason, feel like it would be fun for her to have them! I have noticed lately, as her hair gets longer, that curls are appearing on her head, especially after bath time. I had to get a picture the other night, because it brings me a smile!

In light of the holidays, I decided to send some Christmas cheer to the neighbors in my cove and bake them Christmas cookies. I bought cute little tins to put them in, and set off this week to do my baking during Audrey's daily afternoon nap. The first day went really well, and I enjoyed the time listening to Christmas music and pretending to be Betty Crocker. I managed to bake enough to fill 4 tins. Day 2 was a little less successful in that my attempt to make Snickerdoodles completely flopped. They were crunchy and full of holes. Day 3 I made some really good lemon cookies from cake mix. Not very "Christmasy" I know, but I thought people might appreciate the variety. I also made some oatmeal, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. The dough was amazing, but they were not so good once I baked them. They were completely flat and paper thin. I have come to the conclusion that my baking soda is old and therefore not working anymore. I can't figure any other reason because the cookies without baking soda turned out fine. Luckily I had some dough in the refrigerator from Costco, so I finished up my cookies using that. It may seem like a sell out, but I was ready to be done! Overall, I had a good time, and I hope the neighbors enjoy them. Next year, I will have new baking soda.

Bright and early last Saturday morning we had our Christmas pictures taken by my friend Ashleigh Peak at Memorial Park Cemetery. Since we were over in East Memphis, it was a good excuse to head over to Gibson's Donuts afterwards for a little treat. I had never been there, and since I'm supposed to be a "Memphian" now, I figured it was past due. Audrey got to have her first chocolate frosted donut with sprinkles (one of my favorites as a child). Turns out she's a fan of donuts herself! Her Dad and I indulged as well and I had an amazing apple fritter which would do my mom proud since those are favorite.  Yummm!
 
We also took time to carve our pumpkin this past week, and by  "we" I mean, Jacob. I just captured the moments as Audrey watched her Dad's carving skills in action for the first time!

 
Three weeks ago, we went to Tom's Farm in Rossville, TN with our community group from church, to pick out our family pumpkins for the season. Audrey had her first experience on a hayride which took us all out of the pumpkin match to choose the pumpkins of our choice. We had a really good time!

Well, it's football season once again, and so that means that we are saying a lot of "ROLL TIDE!" It's definitely Bama country around our house this time of year, even if we are in Tennessee. We try to offset all the orange we see around here by wearing our crimson every Saturday. Audrey is no exception, and although she hasn't mastered the cheers yet, she is sure cute in her outfit!