Baby # 3 on Board

We're expecting again!!!!!
I found out on my Birthday, the weeek of my 60 mile walk!!
This little one was definitely wanted and already giving us a run for our money. It took us 11 months to get pregnant and we've already had 2 scares but at 12 weeks everything looks good!!

Sanders #3 is due June 27th!!

We told the kids yesterday and they are super excited!! They loved spreading the word today. Jacob told his teachers, friends and the school director. Anna told her dance teacher and everyone else we saw. Everyone made a big deal about it and they were both so excited/proud.

It could be a long 6 months.....
The kids have spent a lot of time arguing back and forth because Jacob wants it to be a boy and Anna wants it to be a girl. I told them God will pick but they still both want to be right.
Anna has told me to Shhhhhhhhhhhhh numerous times today when I was talking because the baby was sleeping in my belly and I was being too loud. Are you kidding me!! I'll be on the phone or talking to someone and she'll Shush me!!!! Unbelievable!!
This of course does not work the other way around. If I tell the kids to be quiet because of the baby (thanks for the idea Anna), they look at me like I'm crazy. Figures.
Again, it's going to be a long 6 months

Anna woke up this morning and the first thing asked was, "is the baby still in your belly"? She also told me this afternoon she wanted to sing to the baby because it was sleeping and sang Jesus loves me. So sweet. For her age it's kind of impressive how much she "gets" it and is excited about it!!
Jacob has been busy picking out lots of names such as Sparky, spark, cat, back, elf, bonk, etc. We're a little concerned he thinks we are getting another dog, not another baby :)

Oh yea, one last thing. The plan right now is for the sex of the baby to be a surprise. Although I have MANY people (including Jake) trying to talk me out of it I'm really excited about it!!

Christmas Program at church

This is the Christmas Program at Church. The kids (in general) were a little wound up as you can see. This choir starts at age 3 but Ms. Priss (Anna) worked her way in. We have practice every Wednesday night and she does great, just as good as the big kids and she loves it. Well............. she barely sang at all last night and looked pure ill! When I asked her why when it was over she looked all ticked off and said she didn't sing because everyone else was singing too loud. Our little diva apperantly wanted to be heard. Jacob stood perfectly still and sang his little heart out. I feel so blessed, I can't believe these amazing kids are mine. I'm a very proud Mommy (even if a certain someone didn't feel like singing)!!!

Thanksgiving Talent show at the Sanders

Anna singing her ABC / Twinkle combo

Jacob singing the Auburn fight song and doing a Turkey song

Dancing Fools :)

Jacob and Anna at choir practice

Anna in dance class

Jacobs big little sister

Anna and I went to Jacob's school for his Halloween party. I heard him talking to his friends. Someone asked him how old his baby was. His response was...."She's not a baby, she knows ballet and can sing the ABCs all by herself". He was so serious, it was hilarious

Good Neighbors 2010

Communion for Jacob, October 3, 2010

Jacob received communion for the first time today. Instead of dipping his bread he THREW it into the cup. I start uncontrollably laughing while staring at this floating bread . I panic, fish it out and put it in his mouth. Pretty sure this is not the correct response. Inappropriate laughter strikes again!

Pledge

Jacob has know the pledge since last year (although obviously it's a little off). This week his "job" at school is to lead the pledge so he has been reciting it constantly, he takes job very serious

Funny stuff

Jacob came out of the bathroom this morning and said Mom, did you hear my bottom sound like fireworks? I know, TMI but it was hilarious

Twinkle Toes

Anna testing out her new tap shoes (our floors will never be the same)

Jacobs soccer

Jacob scored 4 out of his teams 5 goals today, he did great!! Look at my little man!
He gives me thumbs up at the end, love it

Go Auburn!!

Potty training success

I am officially considering Anna potty trained!! She wears big girl underwear all day and hasn't had an accident in at least a week. She even stays dry at night!
Is it possible? After 4 years, 2 months (with 1 year of 2 in diapers at the same time) I get a break from diapers??!!!

Whooohooo!!!
So proud of her, such a big girl!

My sweet boy

This pretty much sums up Jacob and his sweet personality. He was running a high fever yesterday and last night. At 2:00 in the morning he threw up on the floor while trying to run from his room to ours (from drainage). He also sweat through his PJs multiple times because of the fever. He was really sick. This morning he seems to be doing MUCH better thank goodness. He came up to me this morning out of nowhere and said "Mom, I'm really sorry I woke you up when I threw up last night". Are you kidding me?? He's crazy sick and worried about ME and waking me up :). Little does he know I had checked on him about every 20 minutes last night so there was no sleeping anyway. Jacob's always worried about keeping everyone happy, he is the sweetest child. Off to the Doctor

Frustrating potty day

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO....... we are working on Anna and potty training.
As far as TT she is doing great. She even stays dry while she sleeps. Poop is another story. We spend HOURS going to the bathroom every 5 minutes (because she tells me she has to go) only for her to be too scared to try. Even when we are out we CONSTANTLY go to the bathroom. She says she has to go, I scoop her up and run through the store like a crazy person to the bathroom only for her to say "I don't need to go". As you can imagine this is getting old and I'm a little scared to leave the house. At home she does the same thing. Once she FINALLY goes she is completely normal the rest of the day and only says she has to go potty when she really has to go. These videos are after a LONG morning of trying with no success. I was extrememly frustrated because she kept screaming she had to go and then wouldn't even try. She knew I was mad. I put the camera down (she didn't know it was on) and sat with her while we were eating lunch. I wasn't really talking to her because my patience was shot. She kept looking up at me without REALLY looking at me and then asked if I was mad. I just think it is so funny. The next video is just a little chit chat over lunch

First week of 4K

Jacob started school 5 days a week!! I've been pretty sad about it all summer but I know it will be good preparation for next year when he's in BIG school everyday for a much longer day.

Good news is, he loves it!!! All his friends from last year are in class with him again and he hasn't even noticed he goes every day compared to 3 days last year. When we pick him up he tells me EVERYTHING (litterally) that they did that day. He's full of excitement and really interested in learning. He will even get to go on field trips which I think he will love (and I'll get to chaperone). I can't wait to see how the year goes!

Anna and I keep busy while he's gone, the one on one time with her has been nice. We will do kindermusik, library story time, playgroup, and I will do a bible study (which means she gets to hang out with her friends that day too). On Jacob's first day of school Jake asked her what we did that day and she said, "we had girls day"!

We sure do miss our Jacob, picking him up from school is definitley the best part of our day :)

singing

The kids love to make up songs. Jacob really gets into it!

Summer, Sanders style

We had the best summer ever.
For starters, both kids had a birthday
We now have a 2 year old and a 4 year old
Anna turned 2 on May 6th and Jacob 4 on June 30th
We celebrated with friends and family at the park in Trussville. It was perfect!!

We of course went to Disney right after school got out which was the best trip ever and we are all ready to go back again!

We took a couple weekend trips to the river which was great. Both kids went on jet skis, boats and water slides. Waking up and having their friends there was super exciting for them too. We also spent a weekend in GA. The kids loved seeing everyone and we had a great time swimming, at the Laser show and GG’s party

The rest of the summer we pretty much spent our days at swim lessons, free movies, library events, lots of Birthday parties and just hanging out with our friends. Jacob did amazing at swim lessons; the difference from last year is amazing. Anna will start lessons next year; we always got to hang out in the pool too though. They actually both sat pretty good through a movie (with enough snacks) which was nice and most importantly air conditioned! Their ages this year were perfect!

It really was such a fun fast summer! Time flies when you’re having fun!

Typical Dinner

Dancing fools

Bye Bye Escape, Hello Mini Van

The rumors are true, I am now the proud owner of a mini van!! I know, we all saw it coming. I'm a little sad to see the Escape go. I have had it 8 years and it was the first big thing I bought right out of college. Two days after we got the van we were riding down the street and Jacob bust out crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said he wanted my old car back. It was crazy, especially since he thinks the van is super cool. These days whats cool to a 3 year old is cool enough for me, I LOVE IT!!!! Sooooooooooooo..........
Bye Bye Escape

Hello Mini

Disney World

Disney World was so so fun. The kids did amazing considering every day was 10 to 12 hours long. They loved every second of it, Jacob cried the day we had to leave. Here are a few pictures, many many more on their website

Some short videos from out disney trip

Anna dancing while watching the Lion King show

This was at Epcot. When we got to USA they were doing a parade and wanted some kids to help out. I told Jacob to hold Anna's hand and they could go. Well, Anna took off and somehow ended up the line leader while Jacob was the caboose. It was so stinking cute. They are holding the Declaration of Independence. In the last one you can see Jacob hanging in the back. He never could quite get into it after Anna snuck away

Disney

More Dancing in the streets at Disney

Disney World - Stunt show

Disney World Dancing

Jacob just finished up his first year of preschool. I can't believe how fast it went by. He is super shy at school but he loves it. These are from his last day of 3K.

Singing Happy Birthday to Uncle Keith.

Anna wanted to sing a solo Jacob had no intention of letting her steal the spotlight

Jake got anna this big singing balloon for her Birthday, the kids had lots of fun with it!

Jesus Loves Me

Every night before bed I sing Jesus loves me to/with the kids. Jacob was laying on the couch. I guess Anna thought he was trying to go to sleep, so she started singing to him. She thinks she's his mom. He says about 100 times a day, "Anna, you are NOT the mom". Funny stuff

Jc driving the lawnmower

Riding with Daddy on the lawnmower. Look at that sweet smile

Weekend away, Jacob steps up

Jake and I went to a wedding at the beach and Nana and Papa came to stay with the kids for a long weekend.

As we were leaving Jacob said to me, "Mom, if you need me just call". Who's the grown up here, hilarious!

The kids had so much fun, Nana and Papa said they were both great. After they left, I told Jacob and Anna how proud I was of them for being so good while we were away. Jacob pulled me aside and said "Anna wasn't THAT good". So funny (and probably true :))

Jacob is so funny these days even when not meaning to be.

I missed the kids terribly but we had a great trip!! Thanks Nana and Papa!

Jacob smile

Anna trying to get Jacob to turn around and smile for the camera. She does things like this often. Always telling him what to do.

Jacob dressed up as a construction worker and sang at church. This was for a church wide celebration in honor of the construction that will be starting there. Here are a couple pictures of our construction worker and his sidekick. Also a little video of him singing.

Bye Bye Paci

Our big girl will be 2 years old in one month, it is time for the paci to go. Since her 1st Birthday she has only used it when she sleeps but she LOVES it. Not only does she have one in her mouth but she held one in each hand too. SO, I pretty much had to take away her comfort item. I would never think about taking Jacob's blankie away, well that's pretty much what I had to do to poor Anna.

I've heard of people packaging them up and having their child actually give them to a baby they knew. Made sense to me. Anna's a little mommy and we know tons of new babies.
But......... Anna being Anna I was afraid she would still hold a grudge against that poor baby in 15 years. Seems wrong to ruin a child's high school days because Anna is bullying them about something they didn't even know they were a part of :)
SO no tricks, just told her that big girls don't need paci's and tried to force a blankie or stuffed animal on her to hold.

Nap #1 - She screamed for an hour that she wanted her paci, I mean SCREAMED!!! Anna knows what she wants and she wanted her PACI!! She finally screamed herself to sleep on the couch, wore herself OUT.

Night #1 - No screaming. She is so verbal that I can actually talk to her and reason with her. We talked about it all afternoon. Going to bed she told me she was a big girl and big girls don't have paci's they have blankie's like Jacob who is a big boy. Kind of tricked me, I gave myself a pat on the back and decided I was in the middle of a HUGE parental accomplishment, the fastest paci removal ever. Not so much. After all the talk and "understanding" every time she crawled in bed those little hands would search her pillow for her pacis which were always sitting there waiting for her (all 3). No screams, just sadness. She seemed a little lost, it was really pitiful. SO after 2.5 hours of rocking, talking, singing, in and out of bed she finally fell asleep. Then woke up an hour later and took another hour to get to sleep. Mom's tired.

Nap #2 - After 2 quick tries she fell asleep. Yes, I realize this is directly related to the fact that she lost so much sleep the night before.

Night #2 - Took 2 hours but once she was down she never got up.

I'm considering the worst to be over. I'm so proud of her, she's so grown. I can't believe 2 is right around the corner, such a big girl. The word Paci is now forbidden at our house. Lets hope an innocent child doesn't get tackled the next time we're out and see someone with a beloved paci :)

Palm Sunday

Soccer

Jacob helping his team score a goal

Random things

A few things I want to remember

The sweet
- Anna now wants to help me put Jacob to bed at night. She sings "Jesus loves me" and does prayers with him. She rubs his back the whole time trying to get him to sleep, it is the sweetest thing to see. I think she actually thinks she is older than him. She is such a little mommy. Jacob's a good sport even though half the time he's rolling his eyes. He knows after I get Anna to bed I'll sneak in and give him a "big boy" goodnight.

- I was doing something the other day and Jacob came over and gave me a hug. He said, "I'm really proud of you mom".

- He is such a genuinly sweet child.

- When he started school this year I told him a couple times to make sure he was always nice to Everyone and never makes anyone feel sad. He gets in the car everyday and tells me he was nice to everyone and talks about his day. I think he really goes out of his way to be around every child and be nice to them. For those of you who know me this is a dream come true. I can't stand people to be mean for no reason, even toddlers (I have SO been "that" mom who defends thier child on the playground, mom vs. random kid).
The flip side to this of course is that he is sensitive and if he thinks someone is being mean to him he gets really upset.
No worries, with Anna around he'll have plenty of practice with "bullies":)

The Funny
- We have had a little bit of trouble with Jacob blurting out whatever comes to mind, now it was Anna's turn
- we were at the store today and someone had a child on one of those leashes (that's kind of like a backpack). Anna screams out "Look mommy, a doggy". Thank goodness it was an older sibling holding the "leash" and she started dying laughing. The poor child being "walked" (who was probably older than Jacob) did not think it was very funny. It was actually hilarious!!!

Why Jacob is late for school

Thanks Uncle Ru, these have given us hours of entertainment!!

Dramatic bite

Jacob has been doing this nightly lately. Food has become a battle. Notice I had already given in and let him have a sweet n sour sauce for his chicken. That worked for the chicken. As for the potato, it took 10 minutes to get this one bite down. SO dramatic!!!

The Blessing

Saying the blessing before (during) dinner

Daddy's in trouble

When I picked Jacob up at school the teacher told me that he had coughed and sneezed a lot but that it was OK, they knew he was sick because Daddy let him play outside without a coat or shoes. HA!!!

Sunday when I got home I found Jake and the kids hanging out on the deck. The first thing I said was I can't believe you have them out here without a coat or even shoes, now they are going to be sick. CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY AROUND A 3 YEAR OLD.

Apparently when his teacher asked if he felt OK he said he was SICK b/c Daddy let him out without a coat or shoes. Who knows what else he has told his teachers!! They thought it was hilarious, they told Jacob Daddy was in trouble and he thought that was the funniest thing ever!!

Hoki Poki

Anna's favorite thing to do is the hoki poki. We do it about a million times a day. This was early in the day so Jacob was into it. By the end of the day he is OVER it and crying/screaming I DON'T WANT TO DO THE HOKI POKI because Anna has asked him to do it ALL day long. I'm not going to lie, sometimes I want to scream the same thing. Good times.

Yes, Anna has 3 ponytails; the more the better to her. Yes, I realize it looks ridiculous. Jacob always tells her her hair looks beautiful, she loves the compliments.

Dinner

I broke out the camera b/c Jacob was being SO dramatic about not wanting to eat his dinner. He was whining, gagging, making crazy faces. Annoying but hysterical at the same time. I missed all the good stuff (gagging, etc.), he completely toned it down once the camera was out. I have flashbacks to me as a kid every time I try to make Jacob eat dinner, I was as stubburn as they come. I thought I'd post anyway b/c what this video does show is how OLD the kids are getting. I can't believe I have an almost 4 yr old and an almost 2 yr old. I also think Anna's face when she is taking a bite of chicken is funny and I love how she is always brushing her bangs out of her face, such a big girl.

Jacob now says ANYTHING

Jacob now says ANYTHING that is on his mind. Yesterday the lady checking us out at Walmart had red spiked hair and Jacob said she looked like a rooster. Today a sweet elderly man was at the library and Jacob said his face looked weird. He of course said both of these very loud over and over. So embarrasing (yet innocent on his part). He also thinks Presidents Day was presents day and has been throwing pretend parties ever since :).

Some of Jacob's dance moves
One of Jacob's (MANY) made up Valentine's songs

Anna singing Bringing home my baby bumble bee
Robot Anna "I'm a robot"

Kids singing. First clip is them getting upset b/c Anna wants the spotlight. After that they each got a solo. Anna with her ABCs (kind of) and Jacob with a song he made up (and you can't understand)

Snow was in the forcast for Trussville and we were SOOO excited! We did a snow dance hoping it would come. As you can see snow came down and the kids were SCREAMING with excitement!!! Unfortunately it was all a tease, it barely stuck and was just a mushy mess. We're holding out hope that it will come again (for real this time)!

Anna doing her animal noises. In the middle of her book she decided to kiss the book. Jacob thought this was hilarious.