Harry's First Outing

Hey All,

Well, better late than never...we thought we'd update you on our first camping trip with Harry....in a nutshell, it was GREAT!. Man going back to tent camping will be difficult after our weekend in Harry. Jason didn't hit anythign while driving and no one was ran off the road, so that part of the test went great. All major systems functioned and we could figure them out in Harry. So it was great. Below are pics of the boys handling the plumbing - which I can already tell is Jason's least favorite part of camping! Also are pics of Jacob's play area and bed. Also, a pic of the inside/kitchen taken about 3 hrs after settling in. I thought it was amazing how quickly the place gets turned upside down and we have toys on the stove! Just like home.

We had a fun time at the beach -Jacob's first trip. But it was really rainy, hailing, windy, overall lovely April Oregon weather. Jacob loved it the most. Ethan brought a cool kite and enjoyed flying it. I think Jacob will love this summer's trips in the camper and going to the beach.

One other note, Jacob turned 10 months old on Sunday. Another unbelievable day. He is loving standing up by himself and can go about a minute before losing it. He's really cute when he does it and gets proud of himself, he gets so excited he falls down. He's also getting 2 more teeth - so he will have 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom.

Everyone Meet Harry

Well, with our impending sabbatical coming in August, we decided to bite the bullet and get a traveling home that we can take on a 21 day road trip.

Everyone meet our trailer - I'd like to hall him Harry. Harry the Traveling Trailer or Harry the Jayco Bird or Harry the Jewett's Jewell, I haven't decided. We are very excited to have him and make many family memories together. There will be room for visitors if anyone wants to come camping with us. We will be trying to get in 3-4 more trips before we leave in August to make sure we know how to RV before we're stuck in the boonies and not know how to turn on the heater or something:)

We thought that he was a reasonable size, until I saw him behind my truck, then I realized we might have gone a bit large, but this is the floor plan we wanted so that's what we have. He's 28 ft long and sleeps 9! Jacob and Ethan have bunk beds and I already put a children's gate on Jacob's bed so it's all ready to go.

Have a great week. I'll post pictures of our first camping trip this weekend!!

Easter, Eating Peas & Skiing

Woohoo! I know you have all been waiting for another blog. I apologize for the delay.

I was in China last week (no turtle this time). We were meeting with a new supplier and working on the program that I am managing. It is in a town Shenzhen which is directly west of Hong Kong, we flew into Hong Kong, then drove over. The company employs 300,000 people at that site, it was huge. We had some good food and did some bag shopping, so that was cool.

Jason held down the fort with the boys and did a great job despite he and Jacob having colds and Jason having finals. He taught Jacob to give kisses (to the air) when we make kissing sounds, it's really cute. He doesn't get that you give the kisses to people though and tends to stop if we lean our cheeks in, but will do it if your face isn't in his. Very funny. He's also rolling around alot more and is slightly enjoying a bit of tummy time, so that's a good sign.

I have pictures to share of Easter, our spring break skiing trip and of Jacob feeding himself peas. I hope you enjoy the pics.


I guess Easter morning came too early for Jacob:) He looks a little dazed.


Aren't they the cutest. This little suit used to be huge at christmas time, we had to squeeze him into it for the trip to the mountain. We all skied one day while Jacob stayed in the nursery. The next day Ethan and I skied and Jason Jacob-sat.

Ethan is trying to feed Jacob snow, but he didn't want to eat it...too cold.

Hanging out after skiing. I'm beginning ot think that Jacob's head is as wide as Ethans! You can see he si definitely getting more hair though, it's cute.

Jacob loves to eat most things, cheese is his favorite. He's shoveling the peas in pretty good, but this is nothing compared to the cheese he feeds himself. He doesn't like grated though, only little chunks. What a funny guy.

Jacob's First Steps (assisted)!

Woohoo! I've been trying to post for days, but for some reason it wasn't giving me the right stuff.

The pictures above are when he was playing around with Jason the other night. He loves the remote and phones - like all other babies:)

Today is Jacob's 9 month birthday. Seems like just days ago I was amazed at the 8th month. We took him for his Dr. appt yesterday (no shots this time...yeah!) He weighed in at 20lb, 12 oz (56th %), 29in (75%) and 91% head. So the head is definitely the challenge in the whole crawling thing. We are also very excited that his weight is back in the normal range and praise God for his grace and wisdom in helping us get through 'project Beefcake' and get out little guy right on track.

Anyway, now to the exciting stuff.

Jacob has really taken to walking and standing this week. At church on Sunday when I came into the nursery he turned from his play table he was standing by and took a step towards me, we all did a dive to catch him. Silly guy.

He's really into standing and will push our hands away when we're holding him, then he wobbles for about 5 seconds, sometimes longer, then the large head takes the tower down and we catch him, which he thinks is fun.

On Tuesday night, he took his first assisted steps without us. See the video below. He walked all the way from the living room to the kitchen and acroos the living room a few times. He goes a little too fast for our liking:)

Pictures

After complaits for on last week's post of no pictures, we took some to share. Jacob will turn 9 months on Thursday. Today he was so funny, he learned to roll a ball back and forth with me and was so proud of himself when he pushed it he would laugh and wave his arms around, like he does when he's excited, it was so fun. This week he tried cottage cheese and seemed to like it quite a bit.



Ethan and I had fun playing with Jacob in the tub and soaping him up.




Today he was having so much fun jumping in his little saucer that I thought I'd take a video. He's so funny.

1/2 in 1/2 out

HA! You are most likely going to think we're weird. But most of you know we are anyway.

We realized today is Jacob's 1/2 in and 1/2 out birthday. He's 259 days old today and he was also alive in my tummy for 259 days (if my calculations are correct). So, we've created a new 'hallmark day' called 1/2 in 1/2 out day:) HA! Happy 1/2 Day Jacob.

This weekend was good. Friday night we went to check out campers and RV's at the RV show, pretty cool things there!. We are wanting an RV or camper for our sabbatical (8 weeks paid vacation) this summer. We are trying to determine to rent or buy. Then on Saturday morning, Ethan had his last basket ball game. It was so exciting. Ethan is great at defense, but hasn't scored all year, so the entire team was trying so hard to get him the ball to score. He had some super close moments, but nothing was going in. It was so sad because he wanted it so bad - he was on the ground going after loose balls and causing turnovers and shooting. At the end of the game we were all in tears, but he's recovered and ready for next year. What a fun game.

Saturday afternoon, Jason and Ethan went with a neighbor on his new boat and got the experience of going 75mph in a boat through Downtown Portland. I'm sure the fishermen loved them. They had a great time though.

Jacob is up to 3 meals a day and loving it. He's eating cheese, saltines, cheerios, dried apples and a boat load of cereal and veggies and is pretty much just likes pears for fruit. He's walking all over (while holding onto our fingers) and is starting to let go of us to try standing on his own. He wants to walk so bad, it's really cute. He is absolutely loving Ethan. We are cool, but Ethan is the best ever in his book. He just laughs and looks at him and looks some more and laughs. It is so wonderful to see them bond. Ethan loves it too, of course. He's mentioned getting ready for another little one, I guess it's pretty cool to be some one's hero!

Well, that's all the update, just wanted to mention our new thought! - 1/2 in 1/2 out Day!

Oh, I almost forgot the other big news. Jacob's teeth #3 and #4 made an appearance this weekend. The top front 2 teeth are here. He's doing much better with these than the first, so that is good. He is going to look so different with his new teeth. I still haven't gotten over how cute the bottom ones are, and now he's changing again. How amazing.

The Basketball Question

I am passionate about basketball....although I am not great, I have very inconsistent streaks, hitting 3-5 NBA 3 pointers in a row and always delivering a heavy defense (I usually foul out).

I didnt start playing until I was 28 yrs old, at Fujistu when I was a process engineer. We used to play during lunch...it was great. When I was 30yrs old, I tore my ACL playing basketball.....and it all went downhill since....4 knee surgeries later (I am now 38, so ~ average 2 years apart)...my knee is strong...but my body is starting to feel old....longer recoveries...

Before Jacob was born, I had back surgery for a L5/S1 herniated disc...which after surgery...pain was gone, but I had a pinched nerve. This nerve is still prevalent, and epidural steroid injections havent really helped.....alas....surgery may be in the horizon.....it certainly hurts sometimes playing basketball when I extend myself.

Well, today, playing basketball, I rolled my ankle....it is swollen up and the top of my foot is in lots of pain. I was wearing cruddy running shoes/cross trainers...and the ankle just rolled. I was in so much pain at the time...havent been able to walk since. (9 hrs ago).

In reflection...I think I play football when playing basketball. I use my body and sprint to intercept balls ( like today when I hurt my foot). I think that at 38, I need to tone it down some. I need to get the right shoes and equipment when doing sports. Am I getting clumsy since I was 30?

So, basically in a nutshell...I need to stop playing basketball, and if I do play, I need the appropriate gear.

My wife isnt happy with me! She doesnt want to take care of two babies! Ha!