They're at 'The Grandparents' Again!!!

I really don't wonder WHY they are always asking to go to Mimi and Pop Pop's.... I know the boys love them VERY VERY much, but I do believe there is a little incentive / bribery in there too....
Exhibit "A"
Ice cream on the way home... Jake actually ate all of that!

Exhibit "B"

Donuts for breakfast... and it would appear they get the entire tray!!!!!

I actually think they're getting scared to send me too many pictures anymore! But I honestly couldn't be happier that there's that bond between them... food or not - nothing's better than a close family! (And, just for the record, there's the same kind of love to the other grandparents too!)

Sam loves his Pop... wants to be "just like him!"

LMBO!!!!!

When I asked Sam to show Jake how we smile for his (school) pictures, this is what he gave me!

I told him that if he does that for them and this is what they send me home, I'll get him a prize!

We Knew It Was Coming...

Jake loves to 'be naked.' That's no secret around here! When he gets out of bed, he undresses and comes into my room.... naked! But he brings his underwear of choice, and this is how he prefers to go about his day. I do get him dressed each day - multiple times a day... and he always wears clothes when we go somewhere, of course! If you're a parent, you know that some battles are worth fighting, and some hills are worth dieing on. This is not one of those battle or one of those hills that I choose!!!!!!

So, all that being said, we knew that one day, questions would arise about his scar on his chest. Things like this never happen when you're 'prepared' for it, but tonight, the 'real' questions came up. Sam pointed to his chest and asked why Jake has holes in his tummy. Then, my sweet, innocent Jakey (who believes his chest looks normal), pointed to his belly button and asked what the 'hole' was for!!!! I told him that was his belly button, but that the other 'holes' were from when he had his heart fixed. Sam then pointed to all of the scars on Jake's chest and we discussed what exactly caused the holes (the multiple chest tubes, incision, etc). It was a brief conversation, but as they were walking away and moving on, Jake asked, "Is my heart broken?"

Oh, my sweet, sweet boy! "NO!" I quickly answered him!!! "NO WAY!" I told him his heart was fixed and perfect. He looked back and said, "Will it break again?"

Oh my!!!! "Absolutely not!!!!!!" Mommy's heart couldn't handle it! ;-)

He's laying down here, and the scar is barely visible!!!!! We honestly think of it as our visible reminder of how GREAT our God is! And what a MIRACLE Jake really is!!!!

Here he is sitting up - now you can see what we're talking about with the 'holes' in his tummy!
And yet again - we are reminded (not that it doesn't happen on a daily basis anyway!) how blessed we are and how great our God is! Thank you, Lord for my little Jake... and his perfect scars and his beautiful story!

One Last Day of Fun in the Sun!

We took the boys to Lake Lanier Islands last weekend for one last fun 'summer' day! It was a great day... except that Jake got sick the day before! On Saturday morning, he wasn't awful, but he definitely wasn't 100% either.... when we mentioned Jake and I staying home, Jake got so upset - both boys had been looking forward to the water park for a while!

So we made the decision that any other well-meaning parent working for their "Parent of the Year" badge would do - we loaded up the fam and off to the water park we went! Jake puked right before we got in the car... didn't stop us... he puked again on the way... still powered on!

[Pardon the camera phone quality pics... didn't want to mess up the 'good' one!?]
When we got there, he ate a banana... Sam quickly made friends...

But still played by himself or with us - and kept coming up to Jake to ask him to come play!

Here he is 'waiting on Jake to come play' --- sweet boy!

Jake puked up the banana... and this is how he stayed (once he got out of my lap, that is)...

We went and ate lunch - he ate a few bites of his hamburger and a few chips. When we got back to our umbrella and chair, poor little guy passed out....

Sam and Daddy played in the kiddie wave pool and kiddie slides - taking a break here!

Back to it!

Mommy got in on some of the action too!

Going 'up' the slide...

Trying to figure out how these work...

Sitting on the water...

In the wave pool (kiddie of course!)...We took him to the big wave pool - not interested... we took him to the top of every water slide ['just so he could see it', bc he had 'never seen it before.'] - and walked ourselves back down!!! Ohhhh, my cautious little guy - I can only imagine Jake if he had felt better; he would have been begging to go down ALL of them!!!! I'm cool with cautious - most definitely!!!!!

Still asleep...

Still waiting on his little brother to wake up so they can play!

FINALLY... waking up...

Slowly...

That was just what he needed... and it made us feel less guilty for taking him! The next morning he woke up feeling great! Of course!!!! By the time Jake woke up, it was time to leave [even though Sam said he wasn't leaving until it was time to go on our next vacation!?]! But we'll be back next summer! Sam is already working on 'when' we will be going!!!

Stream of Random...

As I think it, I write it... which becomes a stream of randomness!!!

Sam got bit by a spider at the pool... we thought it was an ant bite until it looked like this the next morning. I took him to the dr (bc Cathy and my mom encouraged me - in hind site (and looking at this picture), I am ashamed it didn't occur to me to take him immediately!). The dr said it looked more like a spider, but not Brown Recluse since it bit multiple times (three in this spot and once under his arm). My poor baby! He still thinks it's an ant... which I am thinking I regret not telling him it was a spider bc he is now scared of ants in the pool. A little over a week later, we returned to the pool (the delay was not fear, but circumstances - also called life).... and darned if my poor boy didn't get bit AGAIN! And again, I thought ant until he woke up the next morning with a large raised spot (only one bite this time, so it wasn't quite as large this time!) This kid has some sweet meat.... and I have no clue WHERE this spider is coming from! There is no common denominator with when he got bit... besides the pool. But I'm there, and Jake's there - and we're not getting bit - thank the Lord! He's brave, though!

Sam had his 'noculars' out looking across the room at me (pardon the dark camera phone quality here.... but it's a cute picture!)

This is BJ's favorite shirt, and he would love to find one for himself! It says, "AwesoME / Awesome since birth / No artificial Awesomeness!"

Jake telling his Daddy that he's glad he is home from work!

Jake on the ride home with his big boy bed... again, pardon the camera phone quality and the blurriness.... I was actually driving here! Can I get a ticket for that too?

I could say he's listening to music, but he's actually pretending to talk to his daddy on the phone!

My little Jake was sick for about a week with a fever. Nothing more, nothing less. Here, he said his head hurt, so I made him an ice pack and laid him in my lap. He fell asleep this way. You know it's bad when he A) Stops talking and/or B) Sits still!!!!

I cleaned the windows inside AND out... sorry BJ... WE cleaned the windows inside and out! Ahhhhhh.... the house is so much brighter!

Oh... there's my cute child ---- in front of those clean windows!

And my other cute child watching t.v. Probably Wall-E. That's their latest favorite! When Jake was sick, I think I played it through five times in one day (don't judge... I wanted minimal movement/activity for him!!)

The look - sorry to disturb you!

Here's a smile... now leave me alone!

Stormie listens... kinda... well, not really!

In other happenings... I hosted a bachelorette/lingerie shower for my best friend, who is getting married in October. It was a blast, and get this... I decorated with my lingerie! Too funny!

Jake is doing well in his big boy bed. We don't even have to put the baby gate at his door because he stays in there just fine, and when he wakes up, he comes out and finds me. It was in fact easier this go-round.... like I mentioned before, it could be the fact that he's almost three, not 19 months, and/or because I don't have an infant in the house this time!?

We have been to the beach! Lots of fun, funny stories, and of course pictures.... coming soon!!!

FREEDOM!

Ever since September 11, 2001 - this has been the sound and sight of freedom in my eyes...

Those days after attacks were so eerily quiet to me with no air traffic... but pretty much everytime I see something like this, I pause and am thankful for our freedom!

Sam and Jake are BOTH in School!?!?

This was a few days ago when we went to meet their teachers... sooooo cooperative!
Their teachers are great (and veterans), and both boys seem excited about starting! Jake's teacher asked for a 'get-to-know-you' email from him, so here is what she got:

Hi Mrs. Cindy and Mrs. Mary!
My name is Jacob Robert Laterveer, but I go by Jake (most of the time - sometimes I refer to myself as Jakey. Mostly because my mommy and daddy and brother call me that a lot!) This is my first time to be in school, and I am super excited about it. Mostly because my big brother, Sam is in the 4-yr-old class and last year was tough when mommy would drop Sam off and I couldn't go! I pretty much adore my big brother... Especially when he's being nice to me! I also have a doggy named Stormie. She's really sweet, and I love her a lot. She gets upset, though, when I love her too much!
My mommy and daddy are two of my favorite people. Daddy plays with me and tickles me - I love to be tickled! Mommy loves to cuddle with me and they've called me a "mama's boy" more than once. I'm not ashamed for loving my mommy!
I had open heart surgery when I was 6 days old. I was supposed to die - and I did - but I'm what Mommy and Daddy call a miracle! After being in the hospital for the first month of my life, I came home on minimal medication and a feeding tube. I yanked that feeding tube out and haven't looked back! I got rid of all that medicine too. That was too much to make my mommy keep up with - and this way you don't have to worry about it either!
The doctors say that I will know my own limitations insofar as physical activity. So far, my mommy hasn't seen any limitations! See? I'm a miracle! I'm a dare devil, and am afraid of absolutely nothing!!!!! That scares my mommy sometimes, but I think it's funny!!!
My favorite color is green. I'm not sure why, but I am pretty consistent about this.
I've been potty trained for well over a year, so don't worry about me - I'll tell you when I need to potty! I sleep with 'night time undies' (mommy calls them Pull Ups), but those are always dry, so I don't know why she insists I wear them at night!? Speaking of nighttime, I just got a big boy bed with McQueen sheets! I love my big boy bed! It was a lot more work to jump out of the crib to go wake mommy and daddy up in the mornings. I find this bed much easier! I don't know why they didn't move me sooner!? I'm the baby of the family, so just between you and me, I think mommy doesn't want me to grow up too fast!!!!
She can't stop me! I'm smart, if that's not being too proud! I already know my colors and letters and shapes. Oh. And it might be fair to warn you - I REALLY like to talk! I honestly can't stop! Before your start groaning, I'll go ahead and apologize! If I'm well-rested, I'm usually a really good listener, so I think we may have a chance for success in school! Mommy said I'll have to go to bed early on school nights!!!
I'm really looking forward to meeting you both and learning new things from you!
Love,
Jake


All weekend, we have been talking about school and how much fun it will be. Sam got sick. Physically ill, and we believe it is because he is nervous about starting in a new class. He was so comfortable in his "3 Class" and is having a hard time understanding why he can't have the same teachers! I hope this isn't always how his body will react to stress! He threw up, and his tummy has been torn up too. Poor baby!


This morning, was their first day of school! Sam is in the 4-yr-old class, and Jake is in the 2-yr-old class (his birthday is just a month shy of being able to be in the 3 class!) We took it easy this morning, in hopes that Sam wouldn't get too nervous.....


I let them watch some TV after breakfast...

I got Jake dressed and his pictures made (Sam ended up on the potty again!)

Jake's really not wanting to stand still for pictures... hence the fake smile! He sure does love his McQueen book bag, though!

Sam posing with his book bag... he really wanted me to see Iron Man on his backpack!!!

Brothers... off to school together... [I realize Jake looks scared - that is due to Sam's arm around him, not the thought of school!]

Much better!

We rushed to the car and off to school... my 'time line' got interrupted several times, so we still ended up in a rush - whatever! I tried!

We're in the carpool line! Waiting...

Time to get out... Jake kept telling me all weekend that he wanted mommy to walk to class with him, so I was wondering how this would go!

And off they go...

Bye mom! [You can barely see Jake's feet under the door - he was off and running!] Piece of cake! Jake never looked back! :-( And time for mommy to let the tears flow!

Well.... I (I mean, they) made it through their day! I was so excited to get back to pick them up. They were yammering away when they got in the car, and I got distracted and forgot to put the car in park while I got out to hug them and buckle them up! Seriously! The car was on JUST ENOUGH of an incline that it never moved! God was watching over us! Can you imagine if the car had started rolling away with them? Geez!

Sam told me he liked it and was excited to go back tomorrow! Here is a bag of goodies he took with him to share with his class and his teachers for them to get to know him: Whew.... Jake liked it and ate a cupcake for (someone's) birthday! Sam told me that Jake cried when they got into the building. :-( Jake told me that he wanted Mommy. But that he had fun in his classroom. I bet his teachers went, "whew..." when he left - he's such a talker! Hebron Preschool will never be the same again!

What did I do while they were in school? [besides leave my brain at home?] Oh! Well.... you're looking at it! Maybe I'll get some actual work done another day!!!!