Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Man, Jacob is on the move, and he's not even crawling yet! He ROLLS all over the place! I can lay him on a blanket pallet in the living room, walk out to get something, and by the time I get back he's half way across the room on the hardwood! In a short few months, I'm really gonna be hopping!

James Thomas Dart

It's another BOY! Congrats to the Dart family! James was born yesterday! He weighed 8 pounds and 15 ounces, and he was 22 inches long! He ALMOST gave Jacob a run for his money! I tell you, the couples at Valley Creek have some BIG babies! We took Jacob to meet James today. It seems like just yesterday Jennifer and Tyler were coming to the hospital to meet Jacob! Time goes by so fast when you are having fun! Here are a few pics of Jacob's newest buddy...

Look at those sweet hands! And such a cute face!

Me, Jennifer and our boys! Jacob was only 8 ounces bigger when he was born!

The Dart Family! So sweet! And Jennifer already looks GREAT! Then again, she looked great pregnant!

Wayne showing James to Jacob!

I'm so happy for this sweet, sweet family! Tyler and Jennifer will be wonderful parents! Now, James needs to get a little bit bigger so we can have our play dates we've been talking about for the last 9 months! I am so blessed with my friendship with Jennifer, and I wish the same for our boys!

SoUr Face

Look at this face! The picture itself is horrible because it was taken with a cell phone, but the look on his face is priceless! We were out to eat last night with my folks, Dana and Aaron, and Dad rubbed his finger on a lemon and let Jacob have a taste! He would make this face and then want some more! It was so cute! Can you believe it Angie? I let him have a taste of something the doctor didn't tell me to! :) Well, I can't take too much credit, it was done before I realized it!

A Lot Rolled Into One

First and foremost I want to say that I'm sorry for all the long posts lately. I always spend the weekends with my boys, and during the week I use this as my "me time" while Jacob is asleep!

This post goes back to last Thursday...

Our day started out wonderful! Remember the job Wayne is next in line to get that I posted about recently? He called me Thursday morning to let me know he had his next interview that afternoon! We were so excited! We called our parents and asked them to be praying. It went well, but we know they aren't getting in any hurry. This process has been going on for 6 months now! UAB takes forever. Plus there is a freeze on jobs for the state. Wayne's boss is trying to get this job for him before the freeze comes up. Please keep this in your prayers if you think about it. It would be such a blessing for our family! I'm so proud of Wayne and all of his accomplishments!

That was the good thing that happened Thursday. The bad thing...I got a bill in the mail from a bank in South Dakota (let me remind you, I have never been to South Dakota). I called immediately, and quickly realized I had been a victim of identity theft! Luckily, not much had been done. I mean, I have no income personally, so there is only so much I can get on my own in my name. I'm sure these people figured this out quickly. The scary thing is they had ALL of my information. Social, address, phone number, Wayne's name, etc. Luckily, besides his name, they had none of his! So, the rest of my day was spent filling out "victims of fraud" papers. NOT FUN!

What happened Thursday was nothing to what happened Friday! When Jacob woke up, he had a fever of 102. He has never been sick, and it broke my heart! I started crying because his moans and whimpers broke my heart. When the doctor worked us in that afternoon, he found that our little man had an ear infection. Poor thing. He's on antibiotics and Tylenol. His fever finally broke Sunday morning. Needless to say, none of the Peoples in this household had sleep this weekend! I have had several nights when I didn't get much sleep lately, and Wayne took over the duty both nights this weekend! THANK YOU SO MUCH HUN! I cannot tell you how much I needed that bit of sleep! I finally feel refreshed!

Friday night, Jacob was feeling a little bit better, and it was time for him to have baby food for the first time. He loved his green beans! (We were also able to add Applesauce by the end of the weekend! He is doing very well so far!)

Saturday morning, we had another exciting adventure. We met with a contractor. He came to discuss adding on to our house. We absolutely LOVE his ideas, and cannot wait to get the estimate back from him! We are both pretty sentimental about our first home, and I just don't think we're ready to move yet. It's all going to be based on what he comes back and tells us! We're both hoping to be able to stay here another five years or so! Who knows, our house dilemma might have just solved itself!

Sunday, we all got together for the January birthdays in our family. If it wasn't Wayne's birthday, we probably would not have gone, but we couldn't miss Daddy's birthday! I had Jacob's little hat that covered up his ears for when we were outside, and I think he did ok. He slept most of the day.

Our little man is feeling much better today, and it's back to the daily routine. Lots of laundry, cooking and cleaning to do! I love this life!

God Tube

God Tube is such a neat site! Last year, my Dad's church did this skit, and my sister was the girl. It's powerful! Still gets to me!



As many of you now know, Candace Cameron Bure is such an inspiration to me! I found this on God Tube too. It's a little bit about her Christian walk.



If you've never been to www.godtube.com, you should check it out! God bless you and your families!

-CP-

Surprise!

For Wayne's birthday last night, I gave him a surprise party for two! I made plans the day before for Papa and Grandmollie to keep little man (only the second time since he's been born that we've done something just the two of us!), and I had us a candlelight dinner (almost) ready when he got home. I even pulled our fine china out of the box for the first time!

(This is not the completed picture. I didn't have time to take another one! And, I know, we need a new table! That's the next thing on our list along with a china cabinet!)

I made some of his favorites for his birthday: fried pork chops (funny on fine china, huh?), English peas, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, rolls, Cesar salad and peanut butter corn flake candy for dessert! We had such a wonderful time just the two of us, but I must say, the topic of choice for the whole 2 hours was Jacob! How funny is that? He definitely has our heart!

I once read that the best thing parents can do for their children is love each other. I feel as though we have that down pat (mainly because we know you always have to work at it.) In fact, after we have our family complete, we want to renew our vows in front of our children to promise them that Mommy and Daddy will love each other until the day the good Lord takes us!

The next thing I want to work on is Dave Ramsey...

Can you imagine not having any debt at all? I can't, but we sure would like to know the feeling! Who knows, we might decide to stay in our little house for a while!

January 20, 1983

On this day in 1983, my husband was born! Happy Birthday Hun! I love you! In honor of your birthday, I gave Jacob a mohawk! :) (This is not something I'm crazy about. In fact, this is the first time I have ever done it, but Wayne seems to think it's funny!) On another quick note, as much as I want Jacob to look like Wayne (he was such a cute kid), I just don't think it's happening. Most of the time people say he looks like me, and every once in a while we get that he's a mixture, and even less often than that someone will say he looks like Wayne. Well, I found an old baby picture of mine....just see for yourself!

This absolutely has me floored. Anybody else see a resemblance?

~CP~

Another Long One

Wow! What a week we have had! It all started last Wednesday when my sis showed up to spend a few days with us! I was so glad to see her. This was the first time since she got back from basic that she was able to come and spend a few nights with me. We had a blast! We were truly bums though. We just hung out with Jacob.

On Thursday, Wayne left to go for the annual hunting retreat that my Dad leads in Opelika. He looks forward to this every year. He told me before he left this time that he was looking forward to some "good spiritual guidance and good huntin'!" I think he really had a good time. His Dad goes with him, and he looks forward to spending time with the men in our families every year.

Thursday night, while my sister and I were hanging out at the house (she swore to protect me and Jacob while Wayne is gone; if you've ever seen my sister you know why this is funny), she started a new addiction for me! ARMY WIVES!!!


She has the first season on DVD, and we started watching it on Thursday night. We had to take a break to feed little man. Bless his heart. Aunt Rie got it all over him!

He kept giving me this look like, "Seriously, you're really letting this crazy woman feed me?"

(Notice we finally have his booster / high chair. This is the only thing that has been shipped to us on time since he has been born. I wish you could choose who shipped your packages. No offense to our nice delivery man who wears brown.)

Well, after this little event, we got Jacob cleaned up and in his jammies, and got back to business! I could not quit watching this show! We stayed up until 3 AM (something I have not done in a very long time)! Then, Jacob not caring that his mom had had 4 hours of sleep, woke up at 7 and I started watching it again! I watched the entire first season. The reason why this is so astonishing to me is because I am NOT a TV junkie. In fact, I never watch anything. Now, I have my one show to watch on Sunday nights.

Enough about that! On Friday, we headed to my mom's to spend the night with her. She always looks forward to seeing Jacob. Then on Saturday morning we got up and headed to Auburn. We had Amsterdam Cafe (my favorite place to eat of all time), and then went our separate ways. I headed to the Grizzle's. Katie ran errands with me all day. (I had to get Wayne's birthday gifts.) Then, I dropped her off and headed to Jim Bob's (my other favorite place to eat there). I met up with Katie Mundie and stayed with her and Daniel on Saturday night. Katie, thank you so much for letting me and Jacob crash your routine! It was so great seeing you and spending time with you! Now you have a little idea of how busy being a Mommy is! Sunday morning I headed to Trinity with my folks. For many, it was the first time they saw Jacob! It was so much fun seeing old friends. Wayne went with us to church on Sunday night and then we headed home. Ahhhh! HOME SWEET HOME! My favorite place to be.

What did I learn from all of this? I will NEVER take Jacob out of town again by myself. I am completely worn out! Packing and unpacking all of those times was exhausting! You just don't understand until you have a baby that you do have to take the kitchen sink with you when you go out of town.

Now, I'm trying to get us unpacked and getting ready for Wayne's birthday tomorrow. I think I might get Grandmollie and Papa to babysit. (This would only be our 2nd date in 5 months! I do not like going anywhere without Jacob, but we need it! Every marriage needs alone time!) I still haven't decided though.

After all this, I think I might be a hermit for a while and go nowhere! If only that were possible! We have four birthdays in our families within a week of each other! WE NEED A VACATION! I don't want to go anywhere for it either. I just want to be at home!

House Dilemma

Recently, Wayne and I have had much discussion about selling our house so we can get a bigger one. Actually, this discussion has been going on since I was pregnant. We have looked at houses with a realtor, the same realtor came to our house so she could tell us what to list it at, and we've spent countless hours in the last year looking on the MLS at houses. We'll find a house that we love, and then have to remind ourselves we can't get it until we sell our house. Then we remember we can't sell our house until it's actually on the market! This is where our dilemma comes in. We can't put our house on the market and look for another one until we decide where we want to live. There are 4 schools within 10 minutes of where we live right now, and we can't decide which would be the best to send our kids to. Why are we thinking about schools when we are five years away? Because we probably won't move again for quite some time. I have moved my entire life, and I'm sick of it! Everyone we talk to has their own opinions about the schools, and every one's opinions are different! We haven't got a majority on any of them! Here are our options...

Option 1: McAdory Schools (the school where Wayne went, and the zone we're in right now) Our pastor's children go to this school. I trust their judgement, and I know they would try to send their children to the best school possible. The problem with us? We really want Jacob to go to church and school with the same kids, and none of the babies his age are in this area.

Option 2: Hueytown schools (this is where our church is) This school is the main one that nobody can agree on. I have talked to people who absolutely love it, and I have talked to people who have said they would never send their kids there. I really don't know what to think of it. This is the one we had decided on for a while (we can get a heck of a house for the money in the area), but now we don't know.

Option 3: Oakgrove Schools (this is where Wayne's parents live now and where his niece and nephew go) Mainly, I have heard only good things about this school. I have only had one person say something negative about it. In fact, Wayne's parents REALLY want us to build on their land. (They would deed us a small portion.) This offer is SO generous! I cannot tell you how thankful we are for the offer! On the up side, we could put all of our money into the house. On the down side, we are both worried about jeopardizing our wonderful relationship with his parents. I've always been told to never live too close to your parents when you're married. Another down side...for me, it's in the middle of nowhere! Most people don't feel like it's that far out, but the school really is.

Option 4: Brookwood Schools (we have a friend who teaches here) On the up side, you can really get a LOT of bang for your buck house wise, but you're gonna live a little out.

See where our dilemma is? I honestly think we have too many options! I don't do well with making decisions, and neither does Wayne. Where we differ is, I want to hurry up and make a decision and Wayne could think about it for forever! We were talking about putting our house on the market this summer, but who knows. Hopefully, we will make a wise decision, and one that is best for our family. Plus, there's always the option of private schools..... Anyway, I would love some feedback and your opinions on this. Maybe it will open our eyes to something we haven't thought about! Otherwise, if you know someone looking for a house in the Eastern Valley area, keep us in mind!

Thanks for reading. I needed to vent, and I'm sure Wayne needed a break from my venting! :)

4 Month Check Up

Little Man had his four month check up yesterday! It turns out, I should be calling him Big Man, not Little Man. He was 17 pounds 15 ounces and 27 inches long! I was pretty impressed, but Dr. Walley was even more impressed. He walked in laughing and said, "This boy is a hoss!" He said he was literally the size of an average 7 month old! He then started telling me that we were seriously gonna have a big boy. He then clarified that he didn't mean fat but tall! I was thinking, "Tall? Where in the world did he get that from? His dad and I neither one are tall!" Then I remembered, most of Wayne's dad's side of the family is tall. (Wayne got his height...or lack there of...from his mother's side.) Jacob got his birth weight from that side of the family (all of Nana's children were over 9 pounds, and NOBODY told me this until after I had Jacob!), so why not his height? I think it's funny (and Wayne does not) that Wayne will most likely have to "look up" to his son! :) On the down side, he also had to get another 4 shots! Like last time, he whimpered for about 2 seconds, and then he was fine. It's truly amazing! Even the nurse comments on how well he takes them every time! I don't think I could take 4 shots as well as he does! Another downer...I have to stop using baby powder! And it's one of my favorite things! Out of nowhere, it seems he is having a reaction to the baby powder! :( On the up side, I can give him baby food in 2 weeks!

As I was thinking about how big he has gotten, I started comparing pictures. The first is at the hospital, and the second was on New Years...BIG difference!

He is still as cute as ever though, but that's coming from his Momma!

I'm Running Out of "Weekend" Titles...

Well, it has been another crazy weekend at the Peoples' household! Jacob was officially 4 months old on Friday. Time is going by too fast! It seems like just yesterday he was born! Not only is he all of four months old now, he has learned a new trick! We pretty much spent the entire day at the galleria Friday, and he started reaching for the toys on his car seat! Too bad, we're about to swap car seats! Did I mention he is growing too fast? :)

We finally started heading home about the same time Wayne got off of work. We met at the house to go grab something to eat and head to the grocery store. When we turned onto our street on the way home, we saw about 3 fire trucks and who knows how many cops with their lights on in front of our house! I could not believe what I thought I was seeing! I just knew our house somehow caught on fire! (Yet again another example of me always thinking the worst!) When we got closer we realized it was actually a tree in our neighbors yard. SHEW! That had us scared for a minute!

About the time we pulled in our driveway, we realized just about the entire neighborhood (including a buddy of Wayne's) was gathered next door. It was too cold for Jacob, so I took him inside while Wayne went to check it out! You would not believe what he found! The original fire truck that came to the scene had missed the driveway to the house and got stuck in the ditch! You hate to laugh, but it was pretty funny! I'm just glad we all have our houses still! Poor guy who was driving the truck cost the fire department $3,000 in damages! I bet he had a rough rest of the night at work!

On Saturday morning, we were up and getting ready for Jonathan to come help Wayne with something. Little man was right outside the bathroom in his walker, and look what he was doing...

He was playing with the flowers! It must be neat to feel all these different textures for the first time!

While Wayne and Jonathan worked, I had Jacob and Gage for a while. I got a taste of what two would be like one day. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought. I won't tell Wayne that though. He's already wanting another one next year! I love him, but I'm not quite ready for that yet!

After they finished, we headed to Wayne's parents house for Wayne to go hunting. We visited for a while, and enjoyed each other's company.

We got up this morning for church, and Wayne had a horrible migraine! I ache for him when he gets these. You can tell how much pain he's in. He just wanted to rest, so Jacob and I headed to church. We had a good sermon on Hell. Not a happy one, but one that we needed to hear.

We were suppose to go to a hockey game tonight, but obviously that might not be a good idea! Hopefully we'll get to go soon!

Tomorrow is Jacob's four month check up and I can't wait to see what he weighs! He's absolutely huge! Next weekend is the annual men's hunting retreat, so it's off to Opelika! I'm looking forward to being in my old stomping grounds and going to Trinity on Sunday, but I'm not looking forward to spending two nights away from Wayne.

Whew! This is a long one. But what do you expect? Wayne is sitting in the dark with a migraine and Jacob is asleep. What else was I suppose to do?

It's Official...

I'm starting photography classes! I'm so excited! Because we knew this was such a passion of mine, when I was pregnant Wayne and I invested in a good camera. (My mom has the same passion, and she's going with me!) I'm in all the legalities of starting a business, but most importantly, we cannot wait to enhance our abilities! So many people have been telling us both to go to school for it, and we're finally doing it! I couldn't be more excited. This will definitely be a sacrifice for me to go anywhere without Jacob, but I know it will be well worth it! Wayne is so supportive! We're buying some more props and backdrops this month, and next month begins the classes! (I'll also hopefully have a website posted soon!) Here are a few pictures I have taken over the last few years. Hopefully in just a few months, we'll see lots of improvement!

Blessings From Above

As Wayne and I were eating dinner (chicken alfredo...yum!) last night, we were talking about how much God has and continues to bless us so much! The list could go on and on. We have a wonderful marriage, a precious son, Wayne has a great job....and almost didn't. He has received promotion after promotion since we have met, and the latest one would be another change of jobs. He works in the HVAC field at UAB. He is currently employed by Siemens and works as a contractor at UAB, but he has been in the process of seeking employment with UAB. Boy am I glad we decided to start this process months ago! Last Friday ALL of the Siemens employees at UAB were laid off...except for Wayne! The only reason he didn't get laid off was because they are already in the process of hiring him! PRAISE GOD! Can you imagine? No job with a newborn? My heart goes out to all of the families whose husbands just lost their jobs. It made me sweat just to think about it!

As we were talking about how much God has blessed us, I was reminded of something. Something I read earlier that day, but something that has been thought about for some time now. Wayne and I both have a heart for children, and through the past few years have both had ideas of how to be in ministry with them. The problem? Our ideas never coincide with one another. At one time, I wanted to be a foster parent (and still think it's a WONDERFUL thing), I've wanted to be involved with Sav A Life, I wanted to adopt, we wanted to do family mission trips together, Wayne wanted to get involved with The Big Oak Ranch (after hearing John Croyle speak). Anyway, the list could go on and on. The point? Yesterday I was reading Candace Cameron Bure's blog and she was talking about giving. I started thinking, "Is this what you want God? Do you want us to give more?" As I continued reading, she was talking about how giving is not always about money, but giving of your time can be just as important. This is where our flaws start to show! We have such busy lives, yada yada yada. You've heard the whole song and dance. For us, it's easier to write a check than it is to give up a day we could spend with each other and our son for the glory of God. I cringe as I even write this. This is something I am very ashamed of, but I'm getting it out right now.

I've been rambling for quite some time now, so what is this about? Later Yesterday, I was looking at The Big Oak Ranch website. For those of you who know nothing about The Big Oak Ranch, it's ran by the Croyle family (Brodie Croyle was the previous quarterback for Alabama). They take in children who have nowhere else to go. Wayne said that John Croyle told them there are more times than he can count that a Mercedes has dropped off a kid and never looked back. For so many, this is not about money. They just don't want these poor children. Can you imagine? I have been shown love every day of my life from my parents, and I cannot even begin to imagine what some of the kids have been through. Well, they have way too many children for just the Croyle family to tend to, so they have "house parents." (After hearing him talk, this is what Wayne was all about. Of course, this was before Jacob.) They live at The Big Oak Ranch in their own home, and take care of a certain number of children. When I was reading yesterday, I found that you can be what is called a "relief parent", and 4 times a year you go and give the house parents a weekend break and keep these precious children. See where I am going with this? I mentioned it to Wayne last night, and we are definitely going to be praying about this. In fact, it was weighing on my heart so much I couldn't sleep! Thank you to those friends we have that are already praying before I even ask! Please pray about this decision. Pray that God will make it VERY clear what He would like for us to do (whether it be give of our time or money)! If this is what He wants, I don't want to be able to say no!

It's so easy to say that you want to be in the center of God's will (who wouldn't say that), but saying and doing are two totally different things. Whether it be this or the next thing that comes, I want our family to be reaching out to others as a family! Thanks for your prayers!

VIDEOS!!!!

FINALLY, I got our videos on our computer. Here are just a few. The first is when Jacob started cooing about a month ago. We oh so quickly will look and sound like idiots to get a reaction out of him!

This second video is Jacob being our little orchestra director. Poor kid. These are the type things his Daddy does to him constantly. I must admit, it's quite funny. :)

Well, I was gonna put some more on here, but this has taken up half of my morning. Maybe some other day! I'm ready to spend the day with my boys!

Bring on 2009!

We had SO much fun for New Years this year!! Katie and Cory came up for New Years Eve. We went to Surin to eat, which is one of my favorite places. I never would have thought that I would like Thai food, but the Thai Noodle is to die for! I gave them several places to choose from that they don't have in Auburn, and much to my excitement Cory wanted Thai! After that, we came home and watched the crazy men jump things in their trucks and motorcycles. How can someone seriously be that stupid? I guess I value life too much! Here is a picture of me and Wayne, Katie and Cory, and then you can see where they put poor Jacob when we went out to eat.
When we got home, Cory became my new best friend. My sister-in-law and I have spent HOURS trying to figure out how to get our videos on our computer, and Cory did it in about 10 minutes! Now, I just have to figure out how to get them on here and on a DVD. Then I'll be cookin'!

We were such a wild and crazy bunch when we got home. We were all in our pj's by midnight, and Wayne started begging to go to bed by 10! Bless his heart, he had to work the next day. Well, after Wayne got home from work on New Years Day, we went to his parents. (They always do a New Years get together.) We Met Aaron and the rest of the Owenby's there. Here is a pic of us on the front deck, and then one of just our family.

That night, Jonathan and Chelsey came to the Peoples', and we had a great time with them! Here is a pic of me and Chelsey and our boys! Gage is such a cutie!

Then something VERY exciting happened! Our doctor told us we could give Jacob rice cereal (with a spoon) for the first time on New Years Day! Chelsey was my photographer, and she took a ton of pics for us. All in all, he made a mess with it that day, and he still does! I can't decide if he's still trying to figure it out or if he just doesn't like it. We go to the doctor next week, and maybe he'll tell me I can give him something else! Here's a pic of one of Jacob's first bites!

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years! Hopefully really soon we'll have some precious videos on here!