Our "Superhero"

I guess it is just this age, but costumes are not just for Halloween. They are an everyday occurrence. Will loves to wear anything but ordinary clothes around the house. He especially loves anything that makes him look like he has "big muscles". Here are a few pics of his latest "looks". Notice the face the Batman has to make and how Robin is checking Batman out...he's not so sure about him. Even when Will just wants to make a card for his daddy, he dresses up like Spiderman to do so. However, he did have to take off the mask to be able to do a "good job".

Bath Time Fun

One of Jake's favorite times is bath time. The second you walk into the bathroom and turn the water on, he starts squealing with delight. The look you see on his face in the pictures below does not change throughout the entire bath...sheer joy! He loves to pull up on the side of the tub and fall down with a big splash over and over again. Everything gets soaked, but it is hard to make him stop when he gets so much pleasure out of it!

On the Move

Jake has officially been crawling for a month now, and I noticed today just how great of a crawler he has become. In the time it takes for me to fix a bottle (which is not very long), he can get out of my sight. I've always heard mothers say, "He/She is into everything!" I have even said it myself about Will, but I am quickly finding out that I just THOUGHT Will was into everything. Jake seriously IS! He can clear out a cabinet in 10 seconds flat, and he's only 9 months old. What am I in store for when he's 18 months??? I never had to lock a cabinet with Will...I think the most I had to do with him was use safety plugs in the outlets. Will was content to be in my lap or at my side. He did not like for me to leave the room he was in, and if I did, he would cry. Jake really doesn't like me to leave the room he's in, but he will just come find me if I do. However, it is perfectly fine for him to leave the room I'm in....I am in constant chase mode. They really do have two totally different personalities, and it is so weird that you can see it already. Really, I could see it in the first few weeks that Jake was born. Even though they are so different, the love you have for your children is something that only parents can know. It knows no end!!

crawling at 8 months.... (happy to have finally figured it out!)

crawling at 9 months... (notice the look of determination)

Someday I'll Laugh about This...

...but not yet. You see, this past week a very ugly "thing" came to our house for a visit. The stomach virus! Jake started with it on Saturday. He seemed to be doing better on Sunday, but it started back up at midnight Monday. By 4:00 am, "it" decided to visit me. I called my mom (aka "Nana") and asked her to please come and help me. Actually it was probably more like a sobbing cry into the phone...I didn't know how I was going to take care of Jake being sick myself. Of course, she said she was on her way. (She lives 1 hour and 15 minutes away.) I don't really remember much of that day because I spent most of it curled up on my bathroom floor. My mom informed me that Jake made it through the day without getting sick, so I thought he was getting better. Billy took the kids to Rainbow the next day because I was still not feeling so hot, but at 9:30 am Billy called me to say that Jake had thrown up 3 times. So Jake and I spent the day recuperating together. I was feeling much better by that night, so Billy decided to stay home with Jake the next day so I could go back to work. BUT plans changed...Will got the "bug" around 5:30 that morning. I knew that it would probably send Billy over the edge to keep the both of them, so I stayed home also. Let me tell you, I couldn't have handled that day by myself. Billy usually says something like "I don't do sick kids" when Will has gotten sick in the past, but let me go on record to say, "He does now!" (I almost cracked a smile. Maybe I'll laugh about this sooner than I thought.) He really was a trooper and did everything he possibly could to help in this awful situation. Thursday and today were better, but the little guys are still really weak. Billy's mom (aka "Ginker") kept them these last two days, and Billy's dad (aka "Coach") has informed her that she must go straight to the shower when she gets home each day...I don't blame him. However, we've been vomit free for over 24 hours in this house!! (knock on wood, please)

This is Jake on Day 6 of the illness. If you've seen him recently, you'll notice that his cheeks look a little smaller. This little guy has lost about 2 or 3 pounds! As you can see, he is feeling much better, but even after he would get finished throwing up, he would look at you with those big, blue eyes and smile like this. It would just break my heart!


This is Will on Day 3 of the illness. As you can see, he is ZAPPED! Poor baby....

Best of Friends

Under the Rainbow Pre-School always puts on a Christmas program. (I even remember being in them when I went to Rainbow!) I formed many friendships while attending (love ya, Cort!) and it is neat to see Will do the same. These are some of his best friends pictured. (Miller, Will, Wesley, and Nicholas) Miller and Will are just nine days apart and have known each other practically all of their lives. Will went to his first sleepover at Miller's house just this week. I just knew I would get a call to come and get him when it was time for bed, but he actually had no problems at bedtime! Yesterday I took the two of them to Chuck E. Cheese and to see the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. They were both so well behaved. They are growing up so fast! I sometimes wish I could freeze them at this age of innocence.

Will's "Wheels" Arrived from the North Pole!!

Will came home from shooting his BB gun (a surprise gift from his dad) to find that Santa remembered to send the wheels to his pedal race car!!

Christmas with the Keedy Clan

We celebrated Christmas one last time with Billy's family. Jake's favorite present was the "Incrediblock", and Will's favorites were his football costume (we all took a turn trying on Will's helmet!!) and Power Ranger Rescue truck. I have to say that it is much harder trying to take pictures and video two children rather than just one. I had a really hard time keeping up with each one as they opened their presents. Hopefully, Jake will be forgiving when he gets old enough to realize that I didn't do as good of a job documenting his first Christmas as I did with Will!!

Christmas at Home

Jake was feeling a little better by Christmas Eve, so we went to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at Billy's parent's church. It was really nice and reminded everyone of the true meaning of Christmas. When we got home, Will and I got Santa's milk and cookies ready and set out some reindeer food and water for the reindeer. (Will insisted on filling 8 cups of water for the reindeer.) Then it was off to bed!! Christmas morning was wonderful. Will got his long awaited pirate ship with pirates and Jake was still just interested in all the paper and boxes!! Oh, and Will got a special present because Clyde (our elf) told Santa how good Will had been this year. Will got a pedal race car...but Santa forgot to put the wheels on!! He left Will a letter explaining that he would send the wheels as soon as he got back to the North Pole.

Christmas with the Justus Clan

This was the first Christmas that we did not go to my parent's house for Christmas Eve. Needless to say, it was a little different. Jake had a terrible respiratory virus that required breathing treatments, and we didn't feel like he needed to travel and get too much out of his regular routine. So, my parents being the good grandparents that they are decided to bring Christmas to us!! Here are the boys with a few of their favorite presents they received. Will loved the huge black lab stuffed dog, football sleeping bag, and his "big wheel". Jake loved the boxes and paper mostly, but I am sure he will soon love his spin and bounce zebra.

Stepping into the New Year

I'm going to start 2008 with a "bang" and try to be more computer savvy by creating this blog. We'll see how it goes....I just learned how to send a picture via email this past year. (embarrassing...I know!!) I am so bad at keeping people up to date with recent photos of my family, and I am hoping that this will be an easier way!