Saturday, May 28, 2011

Arboretum

So the Lubbock Arboretum isn't just a whole lot to look at these days... with the lack of rain and all here in Lubbock a.k.a. the dust bowl. It's still a great place to go and let Jake run free though. These pictures were actually taken a few weeks back, but I never got around to posting any. Had a few spare moments and thought I would share. No crazy stories about sitting on cactus or falling in holes, just a fun day had by all. Enjoy!!




I LOVE this crooked smile!!!!!






Monday, May 23, 2011

Another "adventure" with the Peeks...

So we decided to take a last minute trip to Caprock Canyon and do some camping this past weekend. We were all ready for a nice get-away. Although, Mom and Dad never really get away because well, we took their home with us. They are now officially full-time RVers. It has already been an adventure.
They will soon have their own blog up and running where you can check in on them. It should always make for an interesting read!
So our journey started out a little on the slow side. I woke up Sat morning and realized the shoes I had packed for Jake were a bit on the small side. So we got everything packed, loaded up in the car and made a last minute stop at Target. We ran into Target and found ONE pair of size 6 shoes, put them on Jake and he screamed. So we decided to go to the other Target and try again. This time I ran inside and left G and J in the car. I found (what I thought) were the same pair of shoes in blue. Fabulous, J should love them. I get back out to the car, show them to Jake, they're a hit. I show them to G and he points out to me that they are the wrong shoes. They velcro around the back of the heel (just like another pair that Jake has that doen't stay on his feet for anything). So I turn around and run back into Target to get the right shoes. (45 min wasted by this time).
We get to the RV I put the new shoes on Jake (he doesn't scream... YAY) but Grammie points out that these shoes don't touch him anywhere and are slipping up and down on his heel. Yep, she was right. WHY CAN'T EVERYONE GET TOGETHER AND MAKE SHOE SIZES UNIVERSAL?? Why do sizes have to be different with different makers?? ANNOYING! So guess what??... he ended up wearing the shoes I had already packed in the first place. *sigh* I hate wasting time!
So we finally get on the road and actually make it to our destination on the first try. Didn't get lost even once! So far, so good. So we get to the State Park and they tell us they have ONE SPOT left that could run 50 AMPS which is what Mom and Dad's Giant Hershy Bar (aka their RV) requires in order to run both the A/C units they have, one for the front and one for the back. We get backed in and start getting things ready to eat lunch and then for J to take a nap. HA!! NO ELECTRICITY!! We can't get the A/C unit to work and none of the plug ins are working. So G and Dad finally pull the surge protector off the unit and vola' we have electricity... but only enough to run ONE A/C unit. By now, we're sweating and hungry and Jake is tired. Dad calls the park ranger and has a mechanic come out. They come to our spot and guess what??... we have the ONE POLE in the ENTIRE PARK that the 50 AMP is in need of a new part. Do they have that part?? Oh no!.. but it's been ordered!!! GREAT... for the next people to come along. This is the Peek luck I tweeted about. (obviously the surge protector was working and that's why we didn't have electricity... so we decided that it would be smart to put that back on and just run on the 30 AMP). So we spent the weekend alternating who got air conditioning, G and I and Jake sleeping in the back, or Mom and Dad sleeping up front. Luckily we survived pretty well on just one unit, it never got too terribly hot.
After Jake took about an hour nap we decided to venture off on a hike. Unfortunately the really scenic trails were quite a walk from where we were. (We had decided we didn't need to pull the truck with us... a slight mistake, but no biggie). Of course we found J was happy just running around outside the RV. Anyway, we were off. Jake was quite excited b/c they were DIRT trails... HIS FAVORITE!! He would take two steps, stop to play in the dirt, throw some dirt, find some rocks, take two more steps, etc., etc. You see the pattern...
We weren't making it very far, very fast, so G stepped up and gave Jakesters a ride. HE LOVED IT! He thought it was pretty fun being up so high. The canyon was beautiful and really the weather wasn't too bad, a little warm, but not miserable. Jake enjoyed seeing the canyon from Daddy's shoulders too.
I took most of the pictures, one of which ended with me sitting on one of these...
Then turning around and stepping on one of these...
OUCH to both. I ended up with a thorn in my rump and then in my foot, NOT COOL!
Soon we headed back to the Hershey's bar for Turkey Burgers cooked on an inside grill... outside. We were under a burn ban (obviously) So Mom and I being the crafty women we are loaded everything (Mayo, cheese, pickles, bread, chips, ice in glasses etc) up in the tray to carry it outside b/c the burgers were SUPPOSE to only take 5 min to cook. HA.. not with the wind outside, it must have quadrupled the cook time. So anyway, back to the tray, as I'm heading out the door to take the tray to the picnic table I stumble and fall in a hole (PTL I didn't sprain my ankel b/c I sooooo could have) spilling ice all over the lettuce and tomatoe and tumping everything over. But all in all I made it to the table. (forget the fact we had to end up bring much of it back inside b/c the burgers were taking so long to cook) but they were worth the wait, VERY YUMMY! Oh, BTW, we found the beans in the microwave the next morning.. Oops.
So we get Jake down for the night (that was a trick all on its own, not sure WHAT was up with our boy, but he didn't get to sleep until after 8:30 which is REALLY late for him) Anyway, we leave G with J while Me, Mom and Dad head to take showers. HA! We got there and of course there was a line at the womens bathroom. I don't even know how long we sat there waiting for the showers to open, but I'm pretty sure G was about to send out a search party. All in all we slept pretty good that night... after a nice glass of wine.

The next day we got up and just took it easy around the camp site and let J play in the dirt with his trucks, cars and sidewalk chalk. He had a blast. After a mid morning snack we decided to fly the Kite that Granddad had brought. That too went off without a hitch. J really enjoyed watchig it fly. He also enjoyed flying it himself. Pretty cool!! Eventually we left the men to fly the kite while Mom, J and I sat in the shade and watched. It was a great time had by all.
We finally made it back to the RV, got everything settled and ready for the journey home. We had a nice picnic lunch and hit the road. One of the BEST things about traveling in an RV is the BED in the back. J crashed HARD!! We all made it home safe and sound and in one piece. I know I could have probably told this in a much shorter way, but as I've said before, I like to keep the blog as much for me as sharing our adventures with others. (I'm terrible at keeping a journal) Thanks for reading and I hope you had a few laughs on our behalf! We're use to it! HA!!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Time Flies!!

Wow.. I have a lot of catching up to do! Our little Jake-Man is going to be NINTEEN MONTHS OLD tomorrow! I totally skipped his 18 month post. I don't know where the time goes. Of course, I don't feel like there has been a whole lot to share b/c we've spent the past month passing germs around. We've had strep, stomach bugs, sinus issues, an ear infection, you name it. Our poor boy has been sick, sick, sick and we are SICK, SICK, SICK of being SICK!! We've got him on vitamins, probiotics, D3 gummies, Black Elderberry juice, extra vitamin C, you name it! I just have to remember that with each illness his immue system is getting a little stronger. It's tough when he is sick b/c we can't get out of the house and he ends up watching WAY more TV than I want him to. A habit that I then have to turn around and break :-P
Anyway, enough with the negatives, our Jake-Man is getting so big. He of course is still as active as ever and still runs everywhere. He's starting to talk more, so that's been exciting and entertaining. They are still mostly words that only G and I understand, but hey, it's a step in the right direction. Let's see if I can make a list (this is more for me to have written down somewhere)
Momma, Dada, Ball, Juice, Apple, Applesauce (appu-saw), Banana (B-ya-ya), More (Ma), Up (Up-a), Open (o-pa), Bubbles (bu-bue), Paci (BaBa), Bye-Bye, Book (boo), Ellie (E-wa), Blue, and PooPoo. He still does signs for car, airplane, open, blue, yellow, red, orange, help, blanket, outside, water, milk (while saying Ma), hot, cold, cereal, fish, and shakes his head yes and no. He is REALLY good at his non-verbal communication. It's very rare that we can't figure out what he's saying or what he wants/needs. Just this afternoon he was able to tell me he wanted a pillow in his bed just through all his signs and signals. Pretty smart cookie! I know he still gets frustrated not having all the words he needs to communicate, but he's getting better each day. He spends a lot of the time pulling us by our finger to show us what he needs.
We finally got him a sand box thank to some AWESOME friends(Ron and Rhonda) from church! He LOVES his turtle sandbox! He also got a little jump house out back that he spends a lot of time in. It's a great way for him to get all his energy out and get in lots of exercise. Outside is still his favorite place to be and he has recently really taken an interest in the goats down the street. He gets very upset when we drive by and don't stop to visit.
When trapped inside (due to the ridiculous wind here in West Texas) or illness, he still enjoys reading books and playing with cars. Recently we started playing with play-doh. He becomes a little more interested each time we play with it. We still get out paper and crayons at times but they don't hold his interest for much longer than 3-5 min, then he's off and going again.
We've pretty much just been here in L-town for the past few months. We did go out to the Apple Orchard the weekend of his 18 month birthday; he got to go on his first hay ride! It was a beautiful day! Jake is ADDICTED to Apples and Applesauce... no seriously... we have to cut him off. It's crazy!
Other than that we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior on Easter. Jake's favorite book to read at night is the Easter Story. We all get excited and talk about how Jesus is ALIVE!! He's NOT dead!!!
We kept our friends little girl for 5 days over Easter and had a great time. Jake and Ellie did WONDERFUL together. (They made having two, WAY too easy on us). They both played together well (though Jake started this bad habit of GROWLING when she, or any other kid, gets close to what he is, was or was intending to play with). We're trying to break him of that now. I had my friends tell me, it's better than biting or hitting, which I have to agree, it's still not very loving. So we've been talking to Jake a lot about what it means to be a good friend and how we need to love our fiends and others. (I really need to make a picture for him about that.... put that on the to-do list).
Other small facts:
wearing 18-24 mo clothes (mostly 24 mo. shirts and 18 mo. shorts)
shoes size 5-6
sleeping 7:30-7:00/7:45
One Nap 1:00-3/3:30
16 teeth (I-teeth FINALLY broke through)
18 mo. check up he was 25 lbs 5 oz and 35 1/2" tall

Okay... so here are a few pictures, which is why you even look at the blog anyway... right? ;-)