photo friday

even our little cheerleader couldn't help the patriots win in the playoffs... better luck next year!

my target is getting remodeled, and i am so excited. i love the new carts...

what i am not excited about is the coyotes i have been seeing in my yard... they scare me!

graham is not excited about being put in a pink bouncy chair... i don't blame him. i didn't want pink, but it was the only one they had at the time. i keep it upstairs, so he doesn't get embarrassed when all his friends come over. :)

bubble baths usually help sick boys feel better...

graham is all smiles these days, well except for when he is in a pink bouncy chair... i just love him!

snow days and sick days

ok, so i know i live in new england and i shouldn't be shocked by snow, but come on... we have had 1 or 2 storms every week since christmas. at first i loved it, but now there is nothing special about a snow day. it's kinda cramping my style.

and in between the days we have been stuck at home with the snow, we have had some sick kids. first mason had the stomach bug, then graham had a horrible cough, followed by mason spiking a random fever for 3 days and now hadley's nose is pouring.

i actually love the winter, don't mind the snow, and enjoy staying in my pj's all day watching movies, but enough is enough.

let's put it this way, the snow is so deep the kids can't even play in it. mason lost his boot in the snow this afternoon after i warned him how deep it was, but he wanted to see for himself. the benefit of living at the end of the cul-de-sac is that we now have incredible snowbanks for the kids to play on.

today's agenda included baking a cake, building with legos, and playing in the snow. after the boys clean up their legos i'm going to put a movie on for them.

now that all the cute spring clothes are in the stores, i am ready to move right along... but we are still in january, i don't think that will be happening any time soon.

not too much going on here these days...

not a whole lot going on here in the jacobs family...

* Twilight - yes, i am late to the twilight party. i did want to read them a while ago. i just couldn't get into the first book, so after 100+ pages i put it down. fast forward to right before christmas, i was wrapping and nothing was on tv that i wanted to watch, so i tuned in to the first movie. to my surprise, i liked it. a couple weeks later i saw the 2nd movie, and then i was hooked. i watched the 3rd movie the next night and was left wanting more. since the final book hasn't been made into movies yet, i had to suck it up and read it. it's a thick book too, but after staying awake way too late, i finished it friday night. now i can't wait to see the 4th movie when it comes out.

*3 hours - that's how long graham goes between feeding during the day. i feel like i am on this schedule and i am amazed with how fast the day goes by when i have to stop every 3 hours and feed the little man. he is also staying awake for longer periods during the day too, so not so much free time to get things done. at night my perfect baby is still sleeping like a champ! love him, love him!

*sahm - since i stay home with the kids, i really try to be involved. craig is awesome with all the sports, and is always willing to help the teams out. i enjoy being involved with the schools. i am the room mom for mason's class, and i am also co-vice president on the parent board. this has been taking up a lot of my time lately. we are trying to organize a spring auction, and even though there are 40 families that go to the school, the same 5 parents seem to do 99% of the work. i am actually really excited that hadley is going to go there next year! just 2 days a week for 2.5 hours, but she will love it!!! i want to become more active in the elementary school, but haven't yet. maybe next year when both boys are there, i will. honestly i can't believe mason will be going to kindergarten next year!!!!

*snow, snow and more snow!!! - we have got hit hard with the snow this year. last week we had two more storms, and now they are predicting another one for next week. i can't remember a winter that we had so much snow. and on top of all the snow, the temperature is dropping. i think we are heading into the negatives.... brrrrrrrrr!

*mason had his first sleepover - he got to sleep over my neighbor's house on friday night. they have a daughter skyler who is mason's age, and an only child. we get along great with their family. last time i picked mason up i made a joke that i should just pack a sleeping bag since he never wants to come home. i guess skyler heard me, and asked if he could sleep over. i think he's a little on young side, even carter hasn't had a sleepover with a friend yet. since they live next door, and mason is sound sleeper (once his head hits the pillow he is usually out for 12 hours) i figured it would be ok. worst case, we get a call and had to walk next door to get him. i am happy to report all went well! they had a great time! on friday night, while he was over their house, we brought the other kids out to eat. we used to go out to eat all the time, but right before graham was born i was so annoyed with the way the kids behaved that we haven't done it since. the boys bicker, and hadley throws her food... and i didn't want to push my luck with a newborn. going out to eat was a hit, and we loved the new irish pub in town. i am looking forward to trying it again with all of us!

see, nothing too exciting... just trying to keep warm!!! boring i know, but boring = no drama! :)

got snow???

too many?

i saw this status on facebook and it made me chuckle. but it also got me thinking... how many kids are too many?

To the lady with the 6 screaming kids all under the age of 9 at the store: If you're asking how that box of condoms got in your basket, you're welcome!

i get asked all.the.time. if we are going to go for #5... nope, nada, ain't gonna happen. four has always been my personal limit. and as much as i would LOVE to be pregnant again, and have another newborn, i also know my limits, and i am there.

having four kids in my house, is not a problem. we have our routine, and life is good. it's figuring it all out when we are out and about. it's not hard, but it does take planning, and i often wonder if it is worth it before we do something. hadley is the tough one right now... she is two years old, and doesn't let us forget it. she goes from a happy and funny little girl, into a full tantrum. the boys never went through that stage, so it is new to us.

anyways, i often wonder at what number does it go from a large family, to a crazy (as in they lost their marbles) one? i have always been drawn to families with four kids... i think having five is entering the world of crazy, but six and beyond is just nuts. right now we only have 2 of our kids in school, sports and activities... i can't imagine what it will be like when graham starts. i never want our kids to be the one without either of us there.

ok, here's another one i saw on facebook that made me laugh...
women should not have children after 35. Really... 35 children are enough.

2 months

i can't believe my baby is 2 months... it is going way too fast!!!



graham is such a good little guy!


he is smiling now, and it just melts my heart... i have yet to get it on camera, but i am constantly calling for craig or one of the other kids to "come see his smile"... you would think by the 4th time i wouldn't get so excited about the milestones, but i do.


ever since christmas night, graham has been sleeping through the night. he goes down after his 10:00 bottle and sleeps until 7:00ish. i couldn't ask for anything more!!!


as of yesterday he weighed in at 12lbs. 2oz. he's moving out of his 0-3 month clothes... it makes me so sad. i love him so so much!!!

calm. cool. collected.

this afternoon has been quite a challenge. it was the first time i have really been tested as a mom of four... up until today things have gone smoothly. not that everyday is filled with rainbows and lollipops, but today i had to put my multi-tasking and prioritizing skills to the test.

around 2:00 mason started to complain he didn't feel well. sometimes he says that when he is tired, and we had a play date earlier today, so i thought he just needed some down time, so i let him put on the tv. 2:30 graham starts screaming for his bottle, but after taking a little he falls asleep. 2:45 i need to get carter off the bus. by 3:00 we were all back in the house and settled (so i thought). graham decides it is time to finish the bottle and as soon as i sit down with him i hear mason cry and carter yell for me. as i walk up the stairs i can hear mason puking all over the bathroom floor. i was trying to tell him to go to the toilet, but he was scared and just continued to puke everywhere. usually i would jump right in to help, but i have a baby in my arms, so that didn't happen. i put graham down in my room (where he screams) and try to assist mason. at this point he is done, so i just grabbed towels, threw them all over the floor and shut the door. really, i didn't know what else to do.

once everyone seemed to be settled, hadley woke up. i tried to keep her and carter away from mason in hopes that nobody else gets sick. then the drama continues, and by this point i have no idea what time it is... mason, is puking again, this time in the bonus room where i had him set up on a blanket with a bucket. as i was going to run up to help him, i heard a loud crash, a couple of bumps and then hadley scream. she fell down the stairs. good lord! she walks up and down the stairs all day with no issues. man, when it rains it pours. and to top things off, craig is crazy busy at work, and not only can he not come home early, he is working late.

it is now 8:00 and all four kids are asleep. craig just called to say he is on his way home, and i made it through the day with not having a break down. i'm pretty sure if i were a wine drinker, i would be pouring myself a large glass right about now. but nope, instead i will be tackling the large pile of puke filled laundry and gearing up for grey's.

it may not sound like a lot, because really i didn't go on and on about every little detail of puking, crying, yelling, etc. (all while taking care of an infant, assisting with homework, making dinner, and doing the bedtime routine by myself) but i am proud that i stayed calm, and handled all the situations today as best as i could.

i am also proud of carter, because he really did try to help me out, and he didn't make things worse, which is sometimes what happens.

i'm praying mason feels better tomorrow and nobody else gets sick... i don't want to see what my breaking point is.

everything else can wait...

today i had so much i wanted to do... so many things to cross off my to-do list, but guess what? it didn't get done. why? one word - snuggles.

after i dropped mason off at school this morning, i came home ready to tackle my list, but after i fed graham he just snuggled into my arms. i just couldn't resist. hadley was playing soooo good, and i was just enjoying the moment.

graham is my last baby... and he is growing so fast! who knows how long he will want to cuddle with me, so i am going to enjoy every last minute of it.

our life is busy, and this year i really want to make time to enjoy our day to day activities... i want to enjoy my family and remember these everyday moments before they are gone, and the kids are another year older.

hadley's big girl room

hadley's big girl room is ready and waiting for her. i am really hoping she will want to move into it sooner rather than later, but i also don't want to just kick her out of the crib. right now she sleeps so good, and i am hoping that will continue once she transitions.

happy new year!!!

today is the first day of the new year... 1-1-11

we rang in the new year last night with friends, and had a great time. to keep things simple, we ordered in pizza, and made ice cream sundays. i also made a yummy strawberry champagne punch... it was so good!!!

enjoying ice cream

i was shocked that all the kids stayed awake until midnight... with no melt-downs!!! (and they all slept in today! yippee!)

today i spent a good part of the day cleaning and organizing. all the new toys have a home, and the basement doesn't look like a major disaster.

this year i don't have any major resolutions... let's face it, i usually don't keep them anyways. i want to continue working on making only one meal at dinner time, and not being a personal chef for everyone. i also need to get my ass on the treadmill. i'm really involved with mason's school, but this year i would love to become more involved with the pto at the elementary school too.

when looking back at 2010, the main highlights would probably be my pregnancy, delivering a healthy baby boy, and our family trip to disney.

the hardest part was that my dad's cancer came back, and he has been dealing with radiation, chemo, surgery, and more chemo since the spring. he should be done with treatment in february, and then hopefully we can put this chapter behind us. i just want to see my parents happy and healthy in the new year.

i am really looking forward to watching my family grow in 2011... there will be so many milestones to experience and cherish.

here's a flashback of hadley and i ringing in 2010 last year...


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!