Sophia's Birthday

I am sorry I have not taken the time to blog lately but we have been very busy in the Beeson Household! First of all, in February my baby girl turned 4!! I can't believe it!! This year she asked for Barbie's and Bitty Babies which was a big change from what she asked for last year...a Mini Cooper! Although, after her birthday she did say she wanted a car like Marc's. That would be a Honda S2000. I think my girl has good taste!! Anyway, we had Sophia's birthday at another bounce place but this time we had our own room for the party. It made the party a lot nicer. Here are some pictures.

Sophia's Birthday cake that she designed.

At Sophia's yearly doctor's visit we found that she is 42 inches tall and weighs 42 pounds. I think it is funny that she weighs the same in pounds as she is tall in inches. She could be a square. ( At what point do you stop reporting weight? Can you imagine if I posted mine and Jim's weight every time I reported that we went to the doctor!? ) Sophia is constantly amazing us with all of her interesting questions. She wants to know everything. She continues to be most interested in anything medical and loves school. In school, she is the child that the teacher puts in charge when the teacher is not going to be there. She continues to be active in swim, ballet, art class, and Gymboree Sports class. This spring she is also going to try t-ball and tennis.

James is also staying busy. In addition to school, he is in soccer, swim, and Gymboree class. He is going to play t-ball with Sophia in May. He is really doing well in school and is the child that is everyone's friend. His teachers make all over him every time they see him. He is quite the charmer. Back in August when school started, it only took two weeks before he knew everyone's name. Not bad for a two year old. James recently started to ride a bike and it didn't take long before he learned that he can go fast. He needs to learn how to stop at the end of the driveway though! He is Mommy's little helper but if I don't give him enough attention in a day or two, he definitely lets me know (can we say terrible two's!)

This is a very quick video of James on his bike for the first time.

Jacob is doing awesome. He turned 9 months old earlier in March. He is almost 25 pounds of LOVE! He is so cute! He has mastered crawling and is now getting into everything. Unfortunately he is very interested in electrical sockets and is always pulling the CO2 detectors out of the walls in the bedrooms. At the beginning of Feb. he started clapping (see video) and just two weeks ago he started to cruise around on furniture. He is also amazingly strong. Thankfully he is easy going and handles going to all of the older kids activities well...as long as he gets his naps in! I don't really know if he has any favorite foods right now but I do know that he does not like cottage cheese. Surprisingly he loves french fries and ice cream. :)

Jacob became a bubble magnet at Gymboree. Bubbles were ALL OVER his body!

Finally here is a picture of all three kids playing together on the playset.

Jim and I stay busy keeping up with the kids. Jim's work has gotten even busier so when he comes home from work he is really tired! Jim stayed home and took care of the kids while I went on a much needed girl's trip. Mom came to help out (Thanks Mom) and everything at home went smoothly while I was away. I even came home to a clean house with laundry done. For those of you who don't know, I have an awesome husband! My girl's trip this year was for Leann's 40th Birthday. We took a cruise through the Caribbean. Other than being able to sleep in and have meals at a leisurely pace (and have adult beverages!), the highlight was swimming with dolphins. It was SO much fun! The weather was great the whole trip and I was happy to come home to be with my family. Luckily I had international phone and texting so I talked/texted to Jim about 10-15 times a day. It was like being at home but without any responsibility! I would add a picture here of the trip but I don't have them uploaded yet. Maybe next time!

Disney on Ice

Jim and I took Sophia and James to Disney on Ice this year. I took Sophia last year to the Princess's show and this year it was Toy Story. I LOVED IT! The show this year was even better than last year. We had 11th row seats and saw all the action. Barbie and Ken were hilarious and I loved all the characters. Sophia wanted to meet Jessie. When she saw Jessie come out she started yelling, "Jessie! Jessie, Bullseye!" How cute is that! Both James and Sophia went dressed as Buzz Lightyear and Jessie. They got a lot of attention. Above are some of the pictures I took with my iPhone. The kids enjoyed Disney on Ice as much as I did and it was Jim's first time too.

The only down fall we had with Disney on Ice was that the kids were sick. James got sick last Saturday (day 6 of illness by the time Disney on Ice came) and Sophia got sick on Tuesday. We all had been looking forward to Disney on Ice for so long that we decided to give them Tylenol before we left, take ibuprofen with us as well as ear numbing drops. It worked out fine because we carried the kids in, they sat on our laps or in their chairs the whole time, and then we carried them back out to the car. They fell asleep on the way home and we put them in bed. That all worked out great but this virus is kicking our butts!! Saturday James was so sick he took 3 naps (he usually takes zero naps), had only one wet diaper all day, and wanted me to hold him the whole day. This was tricky because Jim was working and I still had to take care of Jacob and Sophia. James' temp was 103.8 most of the day. Poor guy! Today was Sophia's worse day with a fever of 103.1. They both have had fevers ever since they got sick and they are lethargic and are barely eating. It is really pathetic. Now Jacob is starting to get sick and with his laryngomalagia, he sounds like he has been smoking 3 packs of cigarette a day. Actually Jim and I have been joking that we think our house sounds like a TB quarantine! Below is a picture of Sophia this morning.

New Years Resolution

As most people, I have come up with some New Year's Resolutions. The only thing is that I have made them for the entire family. Some are more for Jim and I but they will impact the entire family. I wrote some of them down and the others I was keeping in my head, except that I keep forgetting the ones I was keeping in my head :) So, I am writing them down. It will be interesting to look back at these in a year and see how we did!

Ok...so here we go!

Resolution #1: Visit someplace new with the children. (We have a family goal of visiting all 50 states together.)

Resolution #2: Continue to work on getting out of debt. (I can't wait to get this house paid off!)

Resolution #3: Save xxxx amount of money in savings.

Resolution #4: Lose 15 pounds. (Ok, so this is really for me. I figure it took me 4 years to gain the baby weight so I will take 2 years to take it off.)

Resolution #5: Invite more people over for supper.

Resolution #6: Workout at least 3 times a week.

Resolution #7: Go out on date night at least once a month.

Resolution #8: Do not get a speeding ticket. ( I have had this resolution for 6 years and so far it has kept me at the speed limit.)

2010 in Review (as written by Karen)

Jim: Well, 2010 was marked by too much work and not enough travel. I guess that is the way life is with young children. I have enjoyed good health this year and continue to enjoy working out and running Mini-Marathons. I have reached my personal best (under 8 minute miles) and now have told Karen I will run for pleasure. I did enjoy a wonderful trip to Big Bend National Park in Texas. The hike was nice and quiet! Since having Jacob our house is quite loud now. I play with the kids as though I am one and continue to feel very blessed to have such a beautiful wife ;) and three healthy children.

Karen: This year has been a full one for me and I feel very blessed in deed! The beginning of the year I felt like a tic being pregnant with Jacob. I felt worse and worse as his due date approached but that didn't stop me from staying active with the kids. In fact, in March I took a girl's trip to Orlando and got some much needed relaxation. Jacob was born in June and the labor was fast (4 hours from start to finish) and luckily the whole process was painless! Jim teases me because I was shopping on the Internet while the OB doctor waited for me to finish so I could start pushing. Pajamas were on sale and James needed a pair...what can I say? Since Jacob's birth, the house has gotten loud and I have had to check my patience at the door. I always tell myself, God doesn't give you anything you can't handle, right?! While having three children under three is a lot of busy work and my house isn't as clean as I would like for it to be (and there is always laundry to do!), I do feel very blessed to have three beautiful, healthy children. God Bless!

Sophia: I turned 3 years old this year with a fun party at Monkey Joe's. It was so much fun and Mom made me a Princess Tiana Castle cake. I got lots of Barbie stuff, which I love! School has been fun. I am learning a lot. At the beginning of the year I was at one school but now I am at another. I have lots of friends but I have trouble remembering all of their names. I love to help Mommy, especially when taking care of Jacob. I feed him his bottles now at the table and I am good at feeding him his food too. I can't wait for Mommy to have more babies. I want a sister names Cecilia and maybe some more brothers but Jamesie yells a lot so maybe just two more brothers and two more sisters. I have decided that I want to be an ER doctor just like Dad. I think being a doctor is cool and I practice looking in Jacob's ears with the otoscope. I have lots of growing pains but that is just part of getting big.

James: I continue to try to rule the house! I am the big brother now but I want to still be Mommy's baby but just as a big boy, not a baby. I have decided to stop going pee in the potty so I can still be a baby like Jacob, only a big boy. I don't like to be told what to do but all I want is to have fun and play. I really like it when I get to go somewhere with Mommy or Daddy by myself. I also like to try to do things by myself but Mom says I can't do all the things I want by myself. I love going to school and I know all of my friends names. I have lots of friends, except one of the girls keeps biting me. I have learned lots about God this year at school and now I know that God is my friend and He is with me always. I don't want to learn to ride my tricycle yet but maybe next year. I moved to my big boy bed this year (a toddler bed) and can count now. I am also good at singing songs now and I like to play the piano. I like playing with my cars and trucks and love playing dress up. Today I rescued the princess and slayed the dragon while being a knight. Playing is fun!

Jacob: Sleep, eat, play. That is what I like to do. My Mom is awesome and I love smiling at her. She tickles me on my ribs and it makes me laugh. I also like it when she plays pat-a-cake with me. She gives me lots of kisses. I love looking at Sophia too. She makes me smile. She tries to talk like Mom and I like that. James makes me want to be a big boy. I want his cars, except I tasted one one day and it didn't taste good. I can sit now and stand while holding onto the ottoman. I really like it when Daddy puts me to bed at night. He tells me stories and sings songs to me while I have my bedtime bottle. Yummy bottle! I get excited when I see my friend Bottle and I am not going to like it when Mommy is going to take it away!

Jacob is 6 Months Old!

Well, my little baby is 6 Months old. I don't know where the time has gone. I do have to say...I LOVE this age! I always do. Around 5-6 months old, in my opinion, is when the babies become fun and enjoyable. They usually start to sleep through the night by now, they can sit but can't crawl. They can entertain themselves and don't have seperation anxiety yet. They laugh and are so darn cute! I love it! If babies could be born at this age, I would have a million of them! :)

So at Jacob's 6 month check-up, he weighed 19 lbs. 15 oz. and is 28.5 in. long. Big Boy! Here are his latest pictures:

Our pictures of the kids have always been taken by Celebrity Kids Portrait Studies. In fact, all of the kids have been in their advertisements! Anyway, we got a call last night that they are closing their doors. I am very sad. Hopefully we can continue with one of the photographers there and keep have adorable pictures and great Christmas cards.

Broken Tailbone

Wow, it has been a while! Sorry! I will have more updates tomorrow because Jacob is now 6 months old (where does the time go!) and he has a doctor's appointment. I can't wait to see how much he has grown. I think it is always so much fun to find out.

Anyway, I am writing with a surprise on me. When I had Jacob, my tailbone was extremely sore for about 2-3 weeks after his birth. My OB thought I had just bruised it. Well, it still hurts. I had Jim take a little peak and surprise...it is broken. Apparently Jacob broke my tailbone when he came out. Now, every time I sit for too long or if I sit in a booth or on a seat that is really soft, I rebreak the tailbone because I am not giving it enough time to heal. Let me tell you...sometimes it really hurts! Aaaaah, motherhood is always surprising!

Halloween Pictures

We had a great Halloween except Sophia got a fever. We still let her go Trick-or-Treating though (she didn't act like she was sick). I have also found that she is a bit of a hypochondriac. If we told her she had a fever she would have told everyone and then complained the whole time. Instead she had a great time and slept well that night. James got sick then and is still sick. In fact I had to get him from school on Thursday (he had a fever of 102.7) and now has a stomach bug. Yuck! The stomach bug has been pasted onto me now. Hopefully Jim won't get it or Jacob. So, other than the sickness that has been running throughout our house, we had a fun Halloween. Here are some pictures:

Jacob is sitting now. He can't get there by himself but if you put him up he will stay there.

Morning after Halloween

Sarah Bielski (dressed as This And That), Sophia, and James

Buzz Lightyear and Jessie

Jacob (My Little Peacock)

First Cereal

Jacob had his first cereal today. I will post a picture later or at least have it on Snapfish. He really liked it. It didn't take long at all before he was opening up his mouth to take more when he saw the spoon coming. I think he is going to be a pro! Hopefully he will be a clean eater like Sophia was. She always has eaten well. James is more of an expressive eater and a picky eater and sometimes a non-eater. :)

The Beeson Castle

Well, last week we got our playset put in. We choice a Rainbow Playsystem from Recreation Unlimited. The specific one that we selected was the Super Rainbow. It is Super too!! The kids love it and so does Jim and I. It is actually big enough that Jim and I have fun on it. Jim works out on it. I love swinging on the buoy ball, climbing the Jacob's rope ladder, and sliding down the slide. The playset is cool. There is a racing car tire that is actually from a real Nascar race car. It is the left front tire of the number 6 car. You can tell it has been driven on too. Very cool! Here are some pics:

Here is the set being installed. Two men did it in 4 hours.

The kids and I watched all morning.

Here is the finished product from our sitting room window.

Here is a view of the back of our house and the playset.

Jacob is 4 Months!

My little Jacob is now 4 months old! It is hard to believe but thank goodness we made it through the first 3 months. Wow, those are hard! Jacob is now 16 pounds 9 ounces and is 26.5 inches long. So big! He is wearing 6-12 month clothing perfectly now. I love his little laughs and smiles. He is full of them. He also loves to talk but his talking has decreased some lately becuase he has an ear infection. Jacob is handling it pretty well though. He is rolling over both ways now and gets his body all contorted. He is so much fun to watch. He loves his Gymboree class too. What a joy he is!

When I compared Jacob's size with Sophia and James at this age, it stacked up like this:

Sophia 15 lbs 10 oz, 25.5 in.

James 15 lbs 15 oz, 26.25 in.

Jacob: 16 lbs 9 oz, 26.5 in.

Looks like in our family, the more kids we have, the bigger they get!

The pictures above are from his 3 month photo appointment. So Cute!!