Jacob's 4th Birthday!

My sweet Jacob turned 4 today! For those of you that might not know the story of how Jacob came into this world, here's my stroll down memory lane. For the last few weeks leading up to the due date, Jacob had been in the right position but at the last minute, he flipped upside down and was breach. They don't deliver breach babies and insist on doing C-sections so I was immediately nervous. After a blessing from my husband, I knew that things would somehow work out and that I would at least have a healthy baby boy no matter what. The doctor suggested a procedure called an external version. They gave me an epidural and two doctors placed their hands on my stomach, one at the top, one at the bottom and pushed Jacob around into the right position. They were giving me a 50 percent chance of it working and would only try twice before carting me off for a C-section but it worked! The nurses were amazed and about 4 hours later Jacob entered the world!

Jacob LOVES cupcakes (he asks me to make them at least twice a week and I have caught him putting random things into the microwave only to have him tell me that he was only making cupcakes:)

The lighting of the birthday candles!

Jacob digs in!

Matthew saw me taking the beaters off after I made the frosting and immediately reached for them. He knows what the good stuff is!

These are the race car slippers that I made for Jacob. I plan on making a pair of these for each of their upcoming birthdays. Matthew actually inspired me to do these when he stole the bottom of another pair of slippers that I was making and started racing them around on the floor like a car. I had a Eureka! moment and I thought they turned out really well.

Side view

Jacob models them.

Jacob playing his Letter Factory game with Benjamin

Jacob really loves this DVD so the game was a perfect addition!

He also loved his Monster Bowling set!

Happy Birthday big boy!

Blowing out the candles!

Back to School?

Here the boys are sitting on the front steps and waiting for the bus on the first day. Little did I know what kind of day and week I was in for!

Evan with his backpack on for his first day of kindergarten!

Evan had to wear a tag in case he got lost in the shuffle his first day so Jacob insisted that he needed a sticker too.

Evan with his backpack and lunch box.

Evan and Benjamin ready to go!

So this is what made the first day and week of school crazy. The RASH! So the kids look normal, happy and healthy in the above pictures right? They had been running fevers a few days before school started but I thought it was all out of their system. At 3 pm (school gets out at 3:30 pm) I get a call from the school nurse letting me know that Benjamin has a fever (again!) and he has this rash and I need to come and get him. Seconds later Evan is marched into the nurse's office as well, with the rash but no fever. I got them home and settled them down to rest. In the middle of the night, Evan starts vomitting and keeps it up for about 24 hours, including doing it all over me at the doctor's office! Benjamin's fever was gone and he was feeling fine but the darn rash wouldn't go away for him. So Evan finally got to go back on Friday and Benjamin didn't go back until Tuesday (Labor Day holiday delayed it).

So here is Evan finally coming home on the bus on Friday since he didn't get to do it his first day! What a crazy first week of school! Not what I expected but all is well now. I have to say thank you to our wonderful neighbors who helped me out so much! You know who you are!

Growing Up

Sorry this is sideways. Blogger won't recognize that I flipped it!!! Anyway, here is Benjamin in the $5 suit his grandma found which he will outgrow in another month but he looks very handsome and grown up in it!

Here's Matthew trying to be a big boy!

Jacob came to us on Sunday and announced "It's ready!" He had carefully poured water for everyone and placed them around the table.

Summer Fun!

Summer is quickly coming to a close but we got some fun in when our nice Christian came to visit. We went to Ringing Rocks, a really cool place recommended by friends about 25 miles away. You hit the rocks with a hammer and some sound like bells. Check out the videos at the bottom.

Climbing out to the rocks.

Evan had a really good time with this. It's what he's good at...MAKING NOISE!

Christian and Evan making some music.

Matthew checking things out.

Jacob takes a rest with daddy.

Matthew finally woke up and got into the swing of things.

Evan trying to catch up to Benjamin.

Benjamin loved climbing out as far as he could.

There was even a little dog enjoying himself.

Jacob taking a break before climbing some more.

Christian making papoosas from El Salvador.

They turned out pretty good and we learned some things along the way:)

Jacob climbing

and driving!

The very cool sprinkler!

Matthew wasn't quite ready for this.

We met one of Benjamin's friends from school here for a play date and they had a good time even though it was SOOO hot that day!

Christian and Evan making music

Benjamin ringing rocks

Matthew's Adventure in Chocolate

Ben made Peanut Butter Blossom cookies and Matthew loves cookies (he will even call other things that look like a cookie, cookie). Well, he touched it and got the melty chocolate on his finger and had to keep dipping and come back for more...

Then he decided that he needed to make some chocolate art!

The finished project!

Matthew says "Run away from the daddy trying to clean me up!"

The finished Matthew!
He said "Cheese Mama" for this one. So cute!