The Yenchik Family Blog

Jacob attempts a two-wheeler...

2010-06-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

Jacob has been asking for months to get his training wheels off of his bike. Today, we finally did it. It was just too cute to see our little buddy riding his big boy bike with no training wheels. We are the proudest mama and daddy EVAR!! ;-)

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Boo was riding her tricycle but the appeal of a sucker was just too much so she sat and watched for a while.

First nice day and he had to wear jeans (at least we didn't have him in knee pads and elbow pads).

My little sticky princess

There he goes!!

Just as happy as can be!!

We are so proud of you, Jacob!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXO

Jacob's First TRIATHLON!

2010-05-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

Yep! You read that correctly! Jacob did his very first triathlon today! He has been training for weeks now and was so excited for this day to come! He continually asked us if his race was tomorrow and he finally made it today! The Heart of the Valley Kids "Tri-it" Triathlon consisted of a 25 yard swim, a 1/4 mile bike ride, and finished off with a 300 yard run. Let me just tell you, I don't know if you could find a happier little boy or parents that were more proud and happy than we were today!! All that mattered was that he finished the race and had a great time, and he did both.

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Daddy was pumping up Jacob's tires getting them all ready for the race...Jacob was so excited he just wanted to sit and pretend that he was in the race already!

My happy little triathlete

Mr. Cool was showing off his race numbers that daddy had to write on his calf, and we added the arm because that's what daddy does for his races. JJ was still excited, but he had let us know a few times already, "Um, I'm excited, but I'm a little scared." We kept telling him he was going to be just fine! Just have fun! ;-)

Once he put these goggles on, he pretty much didn't take them off. He was so happy to get in his race gear like the rest of the kids.

Jacob's own personal cheering section, minus me (I was taking the picture), the May family (they showed up shortly after the picture was taken), and Paul and Caleb.

He became my little snuggle bug and kept giving me kisses and holding on as tight as possible. I think it was just nerves, but I'll take it!!

Opa was a proud great grandpa today yelling, "Atta way to go, Yenchik!"

Ty surprised Jacob and came to his race. I thought Jacob's little heart was going to burst with joy when he saw his buddy.

It took some coercing, but finally Jacob went and sat with the other racers without his mama and daddy.

Give Boo a sucker and she's a happy girl!

They were asking the kids who could swim without stopping and putting them into the lane lines accordingly. Of course, all of the kids, Jacob included, raised their hands to say they could swim the best!

They were receiving instructions to enjoy themselves, it's not about being the fastest, but as long as everyone finishes and no one gets hurt, that's all that matters. Jacob took this bit of information to heart. He had a GREAT time! ;-)

I don't think he meant to strike a pose for me, but I still thought it was pretty cute how it turned out!

The girls got to go first, and the boys were going to start 10 seconds later. So what was supposed to happen was that the boys were to get into the water as soon as the girls took off...but JJ seemed to miss that memo. He was just happy to be sticking his legs in the water with the other kids!

The boys race started and it took him a bit to get started. But that's okay! He had a great cheering section encouraging him every bit of the way!

My little buddy swimming his heart out!

...and stopping to smile at us...or occasionally he stopped to splash us...

...and back to swimming!

Almost done buddy!! He was SO cute!! When he got to the end of the pool, he stopped and looked around at all of us that were cheering him on. We had to tell him, "Keep going, kiddo! You have to get on your bike! You can do it, buddy!!"

Daddy and Paul cheering Jacob on. He was high-fiving people and having a good ol' time!

Technically, parents weren't allowed in the transition area, but with Jacob being the youngest competitor, Joe still went in with him. The sweet kid is learning to tie his shoes, but he's just not there yet!

Our buff little buddy. ;-)

And so handsome! He gets it from his daddy. ;-)

Taking off for the bike portion of the race. You can see that Joe is just as much of a cheerleader as I am.

He was so calm, cool and collected walking with his bike through the transition area.

Oy. I can't believe he's old enough to be doing this! That's what I kept thinking, so that definitely didn't help keep the tears from flowing!!

Craziest thing EVER to have my baby boy ride his bike out of my sight. Definitely saw my little Bubby Bear grow up a little bit today...although I think he has been, I may have just been in denial.

I think my heart skipped a beat when he came back into view and he rounded the corned to finish off the biking portion.

He's nearing the end of the 1/4 mile bike ride and he was actually going pretty fast...

...so fast that he crashed when he was trying to get off his bike. There was a collective, "Oh! Poor buddy! You can do it!" from all of the spectators around. I wanted to go help him up so bad, but there was no need. He just popped right back up and kept going!

The heart that he has amazes me. Falls off of his bike and gets right back up to finish what he started. I couldn't be happier with him!!

There's our little runner boy starting the 300 yard run! Oh, the look of determination on his face gets me every time!! What a little love!!

Jacob running and his buddy, Caleb, directing him where to go. I thought that was pretty sweet.

We didn't do it on purpose, but it seems like the Jacob Yenchik cheering squad positioned ourselves at every corner and every step of the way so our little buddy would know that we were there and love him.

Here he comes to the finish line! See? The same determination he started the run with, he's finishing with! His daddy is mentally tough and I know that Jacob definitely got that from him.

Almost done, Bubby! You can do it!!

Crossing this amazing finish line and still smiling! He had just as much fun participating as we did watching him.

All the kids had timing chips, just like the adults, so their race time could be monitored.

Seriously. CUTEST LITTLE BOY EVER!!!

Our happy and proud little family

My two favorite handsome, beautiful, gorgeous, amazing, determined, tough, loving boys

Taking the time to pose with his mama...he knows how to make his mama happy. Good job, JJ Bear! We are so proud of you and love you very much! No matter if you win or lose, you are LOVED. You are adored actually. God has blessed us with you and your sister and you are AWESOME. We couldn't be happier with our little family!!

Another AMAZING triathlon and more family fun!

2010-05-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

Once again, we have been busy. A fun family dinner out, bike riding, another one of Joe's triathlons (which by the way---he did AWESOME!!!), family swimming, and a fun-filled field trip with Jacob's preschool class to the Corvallis fire station.

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There is an awesome restaurant in Corvallis where they cook the food on the table in front of you and the kids absolutely LOVE it! Hence JJ's eyes looking elsewhere.

Emma had her first taste of shrimp and just like her mama, she LOVES it!! And YAY!! She's not allergic!! ;-)

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I know, probably not the safest ideas to let her ride her tricycle with her lollipop, but she did fine.

Aren't they just the cutest together?? Such a fun time to have daddy be with us!

These three people make my heart happy.

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Of course, Jacob and I had to take our standard self-portrait on the way to daddy's race! The race this time was in Lebanon and it was an absolutely GORGEOUS day for it!!

See what I mean?? Isn't he gorgeous?? Oh, and the weather wasn't bad either. ;-)

Joe got the lane all to himself during the race!! We don't know how or why it happened, but we were very thankful! He didn't have to wait for anyone or pass anyone, so he could swim as fast as he wanted! He finished the swim in 7:23...so proud!!!!!

Getting ready to ride his new bike. He finished the biking in 35 minutes!!! Apparently his new bike is FAST!! ;-)

It was the perfect place for a race! There was a volleyball sand pit that kept the kids occupied when they weren't able to see daddy to cheer him on!

There he is! Starting the run!!

See? Happy babies rolling around in the sand equals a happy mama too!

It was a little bright for Boo, but she wanted to show me her rock!

Once again, daddy's little buddy got to finish the race with him. I don't know why it looks like JJ is flying in this picture, but I LOVE it!!

Yenchik boys, strong to the finish!!

Our beautiful little family at the end of the race...I couldn't be happier with my little family. God has definitely blessed me with an amazing husband that takes care of his family and loves us so much and two beautiful, wonderful kids that love to laugh and love Jesus!!

Grampa and Jacob

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After Joe's race and a bit of a nap, we went to family swim at Timberhill. The outdoor pool opened up and Jacob swam all around in his floaties. He absolutely LOVES it!

This was the first time Emma used her floaty vest. After this picture, she started swimming around all by herself (with the vest of course). She said, "I wanna do it ALL. BY. MYSELF." And she did. She now enjoys the arm floaties too.

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We went to the Corvallis fire station today with JJ's preschool class. He doesn't normally have class on Thursday mornings, but I am so glad we decided to go on the field trip. The kids and I had a blast!! We all got to go in the fire truck. Let's face it, no matter what age you are, fire trucks are ALWAYS cool! ;-)

He got to get up and pretend to drive the truck too...I think he was a little afraid of how high up it was though because he got down pretty fast.

Sparky the fire dog came out to pass out fire badge stickers to the kids and for the first time, Boo wasn't afraid of him. She actually kept calling him Benny the Beaver, but that's okay. JJ obviously has no problems with him!! LOVE that smile!

She wanted to see him again, so she marched right up to him and just looked at him. And you can see that Jacob wore his fireman rain jacket today too. ;-)

At the end, all of the kids got to shoot water out of the fire hose and put the "fire" out on a house. Emma wanted to do it too after her big brother did it, but when it came right down to it, she said no. When the fireman asked her if she wanted to spray her brother, she nodded and said yes. We all got a good laugh out of that. ;-)

One foot in, one foot out?!

2010-05-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how God can speak right to my heart at the very moment I need Him to. I've been struggling with keeping one foot in the world and one foot in the the Kingdom of Heaven. I know exactly where I want to be and should be, but it's so crazy how the pull of the world can tug at me. Holy smokes! So yesterday I was having a particularly hard struggle with wanting what this world can give me (which by the way is a lot of NOTHINGNESS), and I sat down and opened my bible. I just started the book of Galatians and while I was reading chapter 1, verse 10 really stood out to me.

"Am I trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I still trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Alright God, I got Your message LOUD AND CLEAR. THANK YOU!!!!! It just made me breathe a sigh of relief because I have been struggling so much, but there it is clear as day! So today, I may still have struggles with the world, but with God at the lead, I can keep my eyes on the prize (the Kingdom of Heaven, in case you didn't know)!! ;-)

By the way, this is my new favorite song, and I thought it was appropriate for this post. I hope you like it as much as I do!!! ;-)

A Family That Exercises Together...

2010-05-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

We have become quite the athletic little family. Ha! I don't know how or why, but we have been doing "races" with the kids and I absolutely LOVE it!! I could not be happier with my little family! I love to get outside with the kids and have them know that their mama and daddy are doing everything that we can to stay healthy so we can be the best that we can be! A couple weeks ago, on April 24, Jacob had his first big 1k race. Let me tell you, I was a puddle of tears!! I was sooooo proud of that little boy! The look of absolute determination on his face was priceless. Uh. I'm getting choked up again right now just thinking about it. Anyway, the same day, Joe and I ran in a 5k race together. I love having a supportive, loving, amazing hubby!! He is so motivating to me!! Our time wasn't the greatest that day, around 33 minutes, but today, I ran another 5k with some girlfriends, and finished in 29 minutes!! So in two weeks, I shaved off 4 minutes!! YAY!! ;-) Joe brought the kids to cheer me on and when I crossed over the finish line, Joe's parents were there too!! I am definitely blessed and so loved.

Jacob and I on our way to his big race!!

He got his number and I can't even tell you how excited he was! He wanted to start the race right then!!

Jacob and his buddy, Ty. JJ was so happy that he got to run his race with Ty too.

Paula and I and our "little" boys.

Our little running family (minus Boo because she was home sick with nana).

My hottie hubby and I

And they're off! Look at the look of determination on Jacob's face!! LOVE IT!!

He kept up a great pace the whole time!!

Here they come!!

JJ and daddy strong to the finish!!

Still determined!!

He kept on running even after he crossed the finish line! ;-)

Getting his medal

My little lovey is still smiling!

So proud of this kid!!

It's mama and daddy's turn now!

Yep, I'm still smiling!

Joe and I raced to the finish. He totally kicked my tail, but let me cross the finish line first. Such a good guy. ;-)

Jacob finished off our race while his mama and daddy were racing. Apparently, he didn't get enough running in the first race. ;-)

My daddy was here to cheer me on for my first race. Thanks dad! ;-)

Paula, me, and Missy...the P-town running mamas!

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One of my forever friends, Tiffani, came from Redmond today and did the CARDV 5k race.

My beautiful little boy and I

Yes, I was in pain, while Missy looks like she's having fun!

After we all finished...Tiffani kicked all of our tails! Finished in 21:30, but I'm still happy with my 29 minute time!! ;-)

Benny the Beaver was there and Jacob was SO excited to meet him!! Such a fun, beautiful day today!!

My Sweet Boo Turns Two

2010-04-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

Dear BooBoo Girl,

Today, you turn 2 years old. Wow. I cannot believe how fast time has flown by. You are finally sleeping peacefully in your "tib" right now because you are sick with a virus of some sort. My poor sweet, baby girl. Yesterday, we had your 2nd Birthday party at Walnut Park in Corvallis. Many of our friends and family that love you so much came to see you and wish you a happy birthday! You had a good time I think, but since you weren't feeling well, you wanted your mama a lot. (Don't tell, but I really don't mind that part). ;-)

Over the last year, you have grown so much!! You decided you were going to potty train yourself in March and just today, you decided that you were going to start using the stool and climbing on the toilet all by yourself! You were so proud today when you did it!! All of a sudden when you turned 2, you became such a big girl!! You are talking so well and everyone that meets you is amazed at that. I guess I have taken that for granted because you and your brother have both always talked. I need to be better at cherishing the fact that you are a wonderful, beautiful chatter bug! I do love hearing you say, "Mama, best friend." And oh, the "I love you's" from you melt my heart! You crack me up when I ask you about your dolly, Lola. We have been working on getting you to pronounce your L's a bit better because right now some of your L's are D's. So I say LooooooLa and over pronunciate the L's with you. You still like to say "Roda." When we ask you if your dolly's name is "Roda" you say, "No! Roooooooooooda." You are a funny little one!! And your laugh!! We LOVE to hear you laugh!!! Nothing is better than the sound of happy babies (oh yah, because you and your brother will ALWAYS be my babies)!!!

Not only did you start walking in the last year, but you run/jump/climb/bounce/crawl on ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!!! You are absolutely fearless!! If your big brother is doing it, you have to do it too!! You LOVE to do somersaults out of your little recliner, or just go upside down!! You love squishing your toes in the mud in the backyard and you don't panic when your boot gets stuck. You LOVE to have your hair in piggy tails and you even bring me the comb and piggy tails (rubber bands) for me to put them in.

When daddy gets home in the evenings, you and and your brother get SO happy and you run and tackle daddy! You love to get in on the action when daddy and Jacob play football. Daddy has taught you how to get down in a 3 point stance (I think that's what it's called) and "hut, hut, hut" and take off running with the football! It is just about the cutest thing ever! Daddy is happy because you seem to be his little lefty...for now. ;-)

You love your family, and I know you love your kitty cat, Jelly, but sometimes you have a funny way of showing it. I don't think she feels the love when you are pulling her across the room by the tail, but she does let you know when she is at her limit! You love to play tug with Roy, even though it ends up being him tugging you across the room.

You are such a spunky, energetic, sassy, beautiful, wonderful little person that God has blessed us with!! We know that God has great things in store for you and we can't wait to see what they are!! You are our little doll baby, BooBoo and we love you sooooooo much!!

Happy Birthday, Emma!!
Love,
Mama (and Daddy too) ;-)

Your Nana-Banana-from Ind"nana" came out for the week and made your "Cinderelda"--that's how you say it right now--Birthday cake.

This was your first look at your birthday cake nana made for you. You asked her if you could hold it. Instead we gave you a tiny taste of the frosting.

This was just before we left the house to take you to your party. You were so sad looking, but still my sweet, beautiful baby girl!!

We had to add another layer of clothing to you because even though the sun kept peeking out, it just wasn't that warm. You played in the park for a little bit with Bubby, daddy and I before you went back up and "greeted" more of your guests. You had 48 total guests. You are one loved little girl!!

Another look at your Cinderella cake from nana.

I made two triple-decker strawberry cakes and you kept wanting to just eat the strawberries off the top. Hey, it's your birthday! We just let you!! The cake tasted AWESOME, by the way!

Your big brother Jacob wore himself out running back and forth from the barn to the playground to play with Jared and Audrey. There were a few times that he fell because there were some big potholes in the ground, but it didn't stop him!

These three beautiful babes are three people that you absolutely ADORE! When you were a baby, Jared and Audrey wanted to hold you whenever they could.

Cousin Chase and Jacob LOVE to make silly faces at the camera. You try to make these faces, but you don't have it perfected just yet. These two have had a little more practice. ;-)

When it was time to sing 'Happy Birthday' and have you blow out your candles, you got sad when we were singing to you. Your little lower lip stuck out and I was afraid you were going to lose it completely, but thankfully you kept it together!

You were blowing your hardest to get the candles blown out, but daddy and I helped you just a little bit.

You were such a trooper, sweetheart. You still said "Cheeeeeeese" even though you were in the middle of eating your nummy cake and ice cream and didn't feel well.

Jacob had no problems posing for the camera either. He ate cake, ice cream, jelly beans, gumballs, and gummy bears until his heart's content! That's what birthday parties are all about though, I suppose.

This was our attempt to get a family picture with all of us in it. As you can see, it was hard to do, but at least we're all in it.

You only lasted for about 2.5 pictures, then you were DONE. I don't blame you though. You didn't feel well, it was at the end of your party and the sun was shining in your beautiful blue eyes. You sure are cute though no matter if you're happy or not!

Don't panic, Boo. You are still my number 1 girl, but I'm just holding Miss Maeve for just a minute. I love you the most, so there is no need to be upset. Mama just wanted a picture with Abby & her sweet baby girl, Maeve. Don't worry, I picked you right back up. ;-)

You were happiest, I think, when we were swinging. Right after this picture, you needed to go peeps and beeps (your way of saying you have to go potty), so we went and let you squat in the grass. ;-)

At the end of the day, we had to say good-bye to nana. You were done for the day, so you just clung to me, but your tenderhearted big brother lost it. He didn't want nana to go and he tried to keep it together, but he just couldn't. He told nana, "You're my best friend, nana." Of course none of us could keep the tears away.

When we got back home, we opened your presents and daddy and I decided to give you our present a day early. You and Jacob both LOVED this!! You already love to pretend to wash your hands in the little sink and pretend to get a drink of water straight out of the faucet. You tell me that you like the water hot. ;-) That's my beautiful, 2 year old baby girl!!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

Albany Sprint Triathlon

2010-04-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

This morning was Joe's second sprint triathlon! He did sooooo awesome!! I am so proud of him!! It was GORGEOUS weather and totally different than it was two weeks ago...aside from a screaming Boo. I mean it when I say, next time, she is NOT going with us. Sheesh! ;-) The swim was longer this time, and we actually got to watch him. Let me tell you, he is GOOD. He was the second in his heat, and he passed the first guy AND the last guy!! Seriously. SO good. ;-)

Warming up!!

Just before the start, chatting it up with his competitors. ;-)

Giving his little buddy a thumb's up!

JJ giving it back to him!!

During the race...so proud.

Ready for the 12 mile bike ride.

She wasn't screaming right this second, but she was definitely pouting.

Just got done with biking...lookin' good babe! ;-)

Even though his buddy, Paul, did the race with him, he let him borrow his wheels (and Paul put his wife's HOT PINK wheels on his own bike). ;-)

Joe's dad, the saint, with two of Paul's kids and Jacob.

Jacob ran out on the track to run the last leg of daddy's race. People in the stands were cheering so loud for them. I was crying, of course.

Daddy & Jacob

Almost done...

There's the finish line!!

Whew. They made it.

Good job, Joey!!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

A Beautiful Day for the Mud!!

2010-04-14T21:36:00.001-07:00

Today was an absolutely GORGEOUS day! Even when it is only sunny one day in between several rainy days, I'll take it! Our grass is high, the mud is abundant, and the kids LOVE it!!

Emma is muddy, but this was only the beginning.

Check out those beautiful baby blues!

My monkey boy

I'm in love.

And there's my goofball!!

Poor kid had to be bribed with being pushed "way high" in the swing in order to get his picture taken so much! I do what I can. ;-)

Boo was splattered with mud on the front, but wouldn't let me take a picture from behind...she was COVERED!!

She was REALLY concerned with the mud that she got on her hands. She wanted to wipe them on my pants or JJ's sweatshirt, but I finally convinced her that they would be fine.

She was a beautiful, little mess by the time we went inside for a bath!

Sassy Pants

2010-04-11T15:41:00.001-07:00

So I thought I would share this cute little story about Boo. I was holding her yesterday as we were getting ready to leave a birthday party and she sticks her little arm up and flips her hand as she says, "I not sassy pants!" I guess maybe she has heard that a few times. ;-) We got quite a good laugh at that...but she really is a sassy pants.

Just a glimpse

2010-04-07T13:55:00.001-07:00

As promised, here is just a small glimpse of what we've been up to. These pictures are only from Easter weekend, because if I were to load ALL of the pictures from the last couple months into one post, you would be on Yenchik family OVERLOAD. ;-) So I'll just give it to you in small(ish) doses. Enjoy my beautiful family!! ;-)

Yah, Jacob likes to make this face, but it's the only picture where you can see that Boo is wearing her t-shirt too.

Now THAT is my handsome little boy.

We went out to breakfast beforehand with Mamie & Grampa (Mary & Terry).

With the promise of gum, this kid will instantly smile for me!

With daddy just before his race...it was COLD!!

That's right! I was a cheerleader in high school so of course we had to have signs!!

Little buddy would SHOUT at the top of his lungs, "GO DADDDDDDDY!!"

Finally got Emma to stop screaming long enough to take a picture with her brother. Whew. What a mess she was!!

And there he is!! Done with swimming!! He was the second one to get out of the pool for his heat!! YAY!!

MmmmMmmmm...oops! I mean, there he is! ;-)

Grampa and Jacob were watching daddy change into his biking clothes.

And he's off! Ready to go for a 12 mile bike ride!!

He's back from biking!! Woop! Woop!

Last leg of the race...3.1 miles of running!!

I finally got smart and gave the kids a snack.

Here he comes!! About to cross the finish line!! I was/am the PROUDEST wifey in the entire world!! Great job, my Love!!!!

SO proud.

My handsome triathlete. ;-)

My two cuties on Easter morning, just before church.

Boo striking a pose!!

JJ's turn...handsome little guy.

It's about time...

2010-04-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

...that I get back to blogging. I know that I have family that enjoys seeing pictures of my babies, and I have failed miserably at posting. I am truly sorry. I won't even make excuses, I just haven't done it. I can't even say that I've been the best at taking the silly things! Again, I am sorry.

We have had a lot going on around here lately. The most recent being Easter. We went to a fabulous church service at our church (Living Faith Community Church held in the Philomath Middle School gym) and that gym was PACKED. It was absolutely WONDERFUL!! We were blessed to have Mary, Joe's mom, come with us. The music was awesome, the message was awesome (Pastor Jim LAID IT DOWN), and the fellowship afterward was awesome as well!! Then we went to an amazing potluck (if you can call it that---Opa still brought most of the food) lunch at Mary and Terry's house. It was the first of probably many holidays over there and it was the most comfortable setting we could have asked for. The kids went without naps, ate tons of sugar and loved every minute of it!! I was prepared for the worst because usually when they don't get naps, they are little terrors, but the more sugar we gave them, the better they were!! Hee hee. ;-) I know, I know. Mom of the Year award right there. But hey! A mama's gotta do, what a mama's gotta do! ;-) Needless to say, a 7:30 bedtime was definitely in order and both were asleep pretty much when their beautiful heads hit the pillows!

The day before Easter, April 3rd, Joe did his first Sprint Triathlon, the Beaver Freezer. It was terrible weather, except for the wonderful fact that it wasn't pouring down rain. But the race lived up to it's name. FREEEEEEEZING. I made signs, and t-shirts for the kids and I and we were the best cheerleaders possible. Well, all but Boo. She screamed pretty much for the entire hour and a half that we were out there. God Bless Joe's dad, Terry, because he took her and just walked her around...while she screamed. I was a PUDDLE watching Joe do his race. In case you don't know what a sprint triathlon is, it was swim 500 yards, bike 12 miles, and run 3.1. He did fabulous!! I could not have been more proud of him!!!! To see him cross that finish line...AMAZING.

Jacob has had his swim lessons on a weekly basis and LOVES it. He is a little fish, that if he could, would spend the entire lesson climbing out and jumping back in. I never thought that he would be okay with sticking his face in the water, or that I would be okay with it to tell you the truth, but he now jumps in, and swims back to the top no problem! Whew. Talk about give a mama a heart attack the first time. But he does awesome and when he tools around the pool without holding onto anyone, just with his noodle and backpack, you can see the pure joy he gets from it. Then when he looks over at me and gives me his big, beautiful grin with a thumbs up, I can't hide my own joy!! The thing that makes my heart the happiest, is when he wants to say prayers. Every time, he thanks God for his "wonderful mama, and daddy, and Bubby, and BooBoo, and Mamie, and Grampa, and Nana, and Papa, and Roy, and Jelly, and this wonderful food, in Your Jesus Name, Amen." I love that kid.

Emma has been amazing me on a daily basis as well. About a month ago, she decided to potty train herself! I could NOT believe it! She just decided that she was going to poop and pee on the toilet and hasn't looked back. She still wears her diapers to sleep in, but I'm not going to complain about that in the slightest. She's not even two yet, so to be potty trained before two, I'll take it!! I can't even tell you how cute her little booty is in her big girl undies!! Haha. ;-) She also knows just how to make her mama happy. When you ask her where Jesus lives, she puts her hand on her chest and says, "My heart." Then you ask her where heaven is, and she points upward and says, "Way up there!" Then ask, "Can we see heaven?" And she says, "No." Then I ask her where we can read about heaven and she tells me, "Bible." I am truly blessed by her.

Alright, I think that's enough writing for now. I will post pictures later, but I just thought that I would get some of these wonderful things down. I am truly blessed and know that all the glory and honor goes to God. Without Him, I would have nothing, but because of Him, I am forgiven. What an awesome thing. Have a blessed day!! XOXO

Date Night and My Auntie's Wedding

2010-01-15T14:44:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, my Auntie Sally got married in Eugene. Joe and I took the opportunity to have a much needed date night away!! It was FABULOUS!! We went to the Oregon Electric Station for dinner, then danced the night away at Sally's wedding! The kids were in GREAT hands at home, so we didn't have to worry about a thing. ;-)

This was me before we went to dinner...strike a pose! ;-)

My Auntie in her "pre-ceremony" dress. She was glowing she was so happy!

My great-uncle Ronnie, and what he called two beautiful women. ;-)

Siblings. ;-) (my grandma is the one on the right)

My second(?) cousin Rhonda...soooooo much fun!!

My hottie hubby and I. I LOVE this guy!!

Gramps struttin' his stuff with Sally down the aisle.

Seriously. A GORGEOUS wedding.

Taking their first communion as a couple.

You may kiss the bride!!

Such a happy nerd!! I love her!!

Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Nancy...always up to no good and we LOVE it!!

My Gramps & Gramma

My cousin Megan and her nephew William

Two sisters and a baby. ;-)

My grandma and I...such a trooper. They stayed up way past their bedtime. ;-)

The end of a lovely wedding...and the beginning of a new life for Sally!! YAY!!

Playing Catch-Up...The ENTIRE Month of December 2009

2010-01-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

It has been entirely too long since my last blog entry. I know that my hubby asks me on a weekly basis to update it, so here I am. It's a quiet afternoon with both kids sleeping (yay) and I'm updating you on the what's been going on (in a nutshell) with the Yenchiks! December was quite busy, but very fun too! Nana AND Santa came to town all at the same time!! Although, if you ask me, Nana is way cooler than Santa. ;-) Our little family has been sick off and on since Thanksgiving, and it is still going strong today. I am praying that we get it out of the way now and have a healthy rest of the year!! I am told that the sicker the kids are now when they're little, the better their immune systems will be when they get older. If that's the case, these two will be the healthiest people in the world by the time they grow up!! ;-) Anyway, here are a month's worth of pictures to try to (start to) get you caught up! Enjoy! ;-)

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On the car ride to go see Santa!! Little buddy was SO excited.

Waiting his turn and he can't even sit still! Santa was so close to him!!

Such a different little boy than last year. He didn't like Santa AT ALL last year, this year...BFF's! ;-)

Telling Santa that he wants a motorcycle for Christmas.

Emma was freaking out in this picture, so unfortunately, there are no pictures of Emma with Santa...hopefully next year!

JJ wanted to tell Santa thank you again for his awesome paint set and coloring book that Santa brought him early.

After they met Santa, there was cookie decorating.

He was so happy to be frosting his own cookie!!

BooBoo Girl and I

She walked around licking all of the frosting off of her cookie before she finally ate the silly thing.

After we ate the cookies and watched a Goofy Christmas Video, Jacob and I made candy cane Christmas ornaments.

I decided to try to be Super Mom and had 3 of the kids' friends over and we decorated homemade sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles. Sooooo.....there were 5 kids to be exact and one mama (me) and we had a BLAST. Sprinkles and frosting were everywhere and they LOVED it!!

Jacob frosting the first of his MANY cookies!!

The finished product...before they were consumed.

Emma's new smile, and her finished cookie before it was consumed.

Enjoying the LAST of their cookies after naptime. Yah, I let them eat A LOT of sugar that day.

Jacob and I went on a date. I took him to his first big screen movie, the new Alvin & the Chipmunks Movie. He was such a good boy and sat there the whole time. Of course we had to have popcorn too. Part way through the movie, I could tell that he couldn't quite see the screen, so he came and sat on my lap and we snuggled the rest of the time...sigh. I was one happy mama.

At Opa's house Christmas Eve with cousin Triniti, who is not quite even 6 by the way. Us Yenchiks make them big! ;-)

It is rare that we catch a good action shot, but the excitement on his face was just priceless.

I was pretty sick, hence the pale face, but we still had a good time at Opa's house.

Opa and Jacob. Opa finally figured out that if he was the holder of the popcorn, the kids would come. ;-)

The (store-bought) cookies and carrots left for Santa and his reindeer. We wrote a note to Santa and JJ signed his name. ;-)

When the kids came out, this is what they woke up to. ;-)

Emma refused to sit with Jacob, but he was VERY excited to be sitting there with all of his presents behind him.

Even Roy was excited with his new toy from Santa.

Emma only wanted to sit on her daddy's lap Christmas morning.

Christmas day at Uncle Marvin and Aunt Davona's house.

Boo only wanted to sit on nana's lap now...which was just fine with nana. ;-)

My grandma and I...yes, there were better pictures of she and I, but I thought this was fitting.

Auntie Brandie and Uncle Joshie got kazoos for the kids. One might think we would be annoyed, but our house is always loud, so what's a little more noise? ;-)

Jacob giving nana loves!

Jacob's new quad from Santa...he started showing off right away...I think I'm in trouble.

Oh yes, Emma got one too and she was following right behind her big brother!

Nana and mamie hanging out together. I love that my family gets along. ;-)

My mama and I

Emma was copying her big brother by standing up and riding along. I'm REALLY in trouble.

Relaxing in their new recliners after a long day opening presents.

Bright and early the next morning, they HAD to ride their new quads.

All bundled up and riding. I think she may grow out of this one soon.

Jacob got to have a slumber party when nana came to stay with us. He was SO happy to wake up and have her there!!

Emma liked it too because she got to "boing" on the "attress."

We went to dinner at Tokyo, and nana painted the kids' faces.

At dinner...obviously Jacob has a new smile that he loves to do.

Emma and nana on the morning that nana was leaving.

Emma wanted to go with nana, so she went to her room and got her backpack. I told nana that she could fly free on her lap until she turned 2, so she could take her and bring her back before April. ;-)

Packing her bag to go...

My poor baby girl was sick, and didn't understand why she couldn't go with nana.

She wanted her jacket on too, but that's where I had to draw the line. Broke my heart. We love and miss nana and papa and can't wait for the day that they finally move back here...whenever that might be!!!

Mama's Weekend in Las Vegas!!

2009-11-12T15:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it. I had a girls' weekend in Las Vegas. I was hesitant to go, because it was my first weekend away, without Joe and I was REALLY sad about leaving my little family. So I must say, if you tune into this blog just to hear about the kids, sadly, this one is just about me. I promise this won't happen often, as I don't go away often. Or ever. ;-) Anyway, some of my forever girlfriends and I went to Vegas last weekend and had a BLAST!! Just to have a bit of me time, was amazing. I know that sounds really selfish, but it really was fun and I had Joe's blessing. ;-) So I didn't have my camera with me on the last night, Tiffani had hers, but I don't have those pictures back from her yet. We went to Tony & Tina's wedding (an interactive show) and it was sooooooo fun!!!!!!! I definitely recommend doing that as long as you are willing to participate and want to have a good time! ;-)

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My girlfriend, Tiffani and I on the way down to the Eugene airport. Yep! We flew out of Eugene for cheaper than if we would have went out of Portland and it was a straight, short flight! YAY!!

Jen, myself, and Tiffani

3 mamas ready to hit the town...first stop, burger joint! ;-)

Our free shuttle dropped us off at Harrah's

Tiff & I at Jet

Yah, we like the self-portraits. It was just easier that way

That's me! And yep! That's pink in my hair!

Christina finally arrived. No, she's not standing in a hole...hee hee hee.

Beautiful show at the Mirage

In front of the Gondola ride at the Venetian

Yah, I don't know why Humpty Dumpty is in the Venetian, but we all thought he was pretty great!

We met Jerry Springer! I guess you could say I was a bit aggressive, but I didn't want to just take a picture OF him, I wanted a picture WITH him. ;-)

In front of Ceasar's Palace, I think. We spent Saturday shopping and walking around Vegas. A lot of interesting places AND people to see!!

Pumpkins and Trick-or-Treating!

2009-11-03T14:16:00.001-08:00

The older these munchkins get, the better certain activities are. Pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating are right up there on that list! This year, Emma was actually involved in the carving and she loved it just as much as her brother did! Jacob wanted to make sure that I didn't carve a scary face on his pumpkin, so we made it as "happy" as possible. Trick-or-treating was an absolute blast, even with Joe hobbling around with a boot on his foot (he fractured his ankle). This was the first year that Jacob really got into the trick-or-treating and because he was, of course his little sister was right on his heels. I'm not sure what's in store for us for Thanksgiving, but I do know that as long as we're together, a good time will be had by all. ;-)

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Joe had the pleasure of cutting the tops of our SMALL pumpkins.

Emma loved her pumpkin so much, she gave it kisses. Yuck, I know, but she loved it!

Emma's first "feel" of the pumpkin goop.

And she LOVED it!!

She dug right into it!

My happy boy digging in his pumpkin.

The Yenchik Family carving our pumpkins.

She was so happy with the finished product, I couldn't get her to turn it around and smile with it! She just wanted to look at her pumpkin and hug and kiss it more!

He was SO excited that I put a candle in it!

"What are you looking at, pumpkin?"

My handsome football player, complete with shoulder pads, a mouth piece and under eye paint. He would tell people at the door, "I'm a football player." So cute!!

Princess Aurora (from Sleeping Beauty--even though she's never seen the movie) and the football player.

Yep, she's wearing cowboy boots. They are princess light up boots, and if she could, she would wear them ALL THE TIME.

Jacob is such a good big brother. He held Emma's hand and walk her to the door when we would get to a house.

Princess Emma only wore her tiara half the time.

We ran into the May family when we got back to mamie and grampa's house.

About to sit down and go through their "loot." We let Jacob eat as much candy as he wanted to for about 10 minutes...it's only one night a year, right? ;-)

2009-10-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

Today was a field trip to the pumpkin patch for Jacob's preschool. I was fortunate enough to be able to drive him and bring Emma along with us. It stormed last night, and rained on us a bit while we were there, so needless to say, it was a MUDDY MESS, but so much fun.

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Jacob was showing me how big of a pumpkin he wanted to get.

My beautiful babies

Silly Emma

The 3 of us on the hayride BEFORE we became giant mud balls!

Jacob was soooo excited! He didn't know where to begin!!

Emma picked out her pumpkin and sat down right away and started posing with it. ;-)

My little buddy with his pumpkin.

Yep, that's right. Emma was eating mud. Tried to stop her, but it couldn't be helped.

Emma's attempt at getting the mud off of her boots. I think it was her way of playing more in the muddy water!

The kids enjoying their fresh, homemade donuts together.

Baby Girl Dancing

2009-09-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

So I guess today is the day to get caught up on my blogging. ;-) So here is a link to a video that I posted on YouTube of Emma dancing. We love to have dance sessions around here, and this was an evening that I just happened to have a camera! Check it out! Let me know what you think. ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiX0Zuc5xv4

Jacob's First Day at Pre-School

2009-09-09T13:09:00.001-07:00

Well, we did it. Today was Jacob's first day of pre-school. I have been having a rough go at it the last few days leading up to it, but he just seemed to get more and more excited as the time drew near. Today was no exception. He was ECSTATIC when he woke up and realized that today was indeed Wednesday, the day that he got to go to school. Last night he was so excited, he picked out and laid his clothes out over his chair and this morning, he didn't want my help putting them on at all. When it came time to go to school, we dropped Emma off at Joe's parent's house, and Joe followed us over so he could be there for JJ's first day. Once he was settled, Joe left for work and I stayed for a bit (more for me than him probably). JJ was playing with some play-dough and I asked him if he was ready for me to leave. He said 'yes!' Okay, so I guess it was harder on me than him!! ;-) When Emma and I went back to pick him up, his beautiful little face LIT UP and he ran across the room and gave me the biggest, knock-down hug, straight from a movie. ;-) So needless to say, I have one happy little boy, and I am one happy mama to have my babies home again with me. ;-) Jacob asked if he could go back after he wakes up from his nap today. He LOVED it!!

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Excited at breakfast!!

I had to take the first day of school pictures out in front of the house. That's what moms are supposed to do, right?? ;-)

Excited and ready to go!!

He wanted his daddy to put gel in his hair so he could have his hair done for school just like daddy. ;-)

At mamie and grandpa's house when we dropped off BooBoo.

FINALLY at school and SOOOOOO happy about it!!!

My beautiful baby boy and I for his first day...man time flies!!!

So the sun was a little bright in their eyes...it was a great spot for pictures!! ;-)

This is what I left him doing...I'm so proud of this little boy!!!

Let go, Let God...

2009-08-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

Let go, let God...I find myself saying that a lot lately. Let go, let God take care of my dad and his job situation. Let go, let God take care of my sanity with raising two, small kids. Let go, let God take care of our finances. I have a really good friend that it seems as though we are constantly saying that to one another, Let go, Let God. As a human, it is hard at times to let go and just let God do His thing. However, I know that when I do, it all gets taken care of. Go figure! I stop worrying or meddling with it and it still works! ;-) I just have to let go of complete control and know that He will take care of me AND my family. So that is my prayer, with everything that is on my plate right now, and will be on my plate in the future, to let go and let God take over. I have faith that even if I fall, He will be there to pick me back up again.

Jacob's 3rd Year Check-up

2009-08-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I took Jacob in for his 3rd year check-up. Dr. Shawn said that he looks great and is doing great. He is off the charts in his height, and is thinning out and staying on track with his weight. I may just be his mama, but I think he's perfect! ;-)

His 3rd Year Stats:

Weight: 40 pounds
Height: 39.5 inches

Jacob got a new tick-tock from nana & papa. He LOVES it!!!

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I don't normally bring both kids to each other's doctor appointments, but this particular day, I decided to have Emma come with me. She has been teething and started out with a runny nose. She usually gets a runny nose when she's teething so I didn't think anything of it, but it started turning the yucky colors, but I won't go into detail about that. Anyway, I just wanted to get her checked to see if it had turned into a sinus infection. Nope! Walking pneumonia. I almost started crying right then and there. I know that it's not that bad, but hello?! This is my baby girl we are talking about!! So the doctor got her started on antibiotics, and she seems to be doing fine, but until everything is cleared up, I'm still one worried mama!!

Here she is last week when we took her to the beach. She absolutely LOVED it! I thought she just had a teething runny nose...sigh. I'm just super thankful that we caught it in time!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jacob!!

2009-07-28T21:56:00.000-07:00

My dear, sweet, spunky boy, Jacob,

My oh my! I cannot believe that you are 3 years old today!! You are such an amazing little boy and your daddy, sister, and I love you so much!! Everyone loves you! You look so much like your daddy and you have since the day you were born 3 years ago. People are always saying how handsome you are, and it's true. You are SO handsome! I guess you are going to keep your strawberry blond hair, and I think it's gorgeous!

Right now, you love to do everything that your daddy does. It's great! You just did a Little Hoopsters Basketball camp and did awesome!! At first, daddy and I were laughing at your antics of running and rolling around on the ground, but by the last day, you only did that once!

I am soooooo proud and happy to be your mama. You are my loving, little tender heart. You love your sister, but you don't necessarily want to share with her all the time. You will someday though, so I'm not too worried. You're going to start preschool this fall, and as happy as I am for you to start this new chapter of your life, it is hard for me to let you go, even a little. I know that it's going to be good for you, but you're my baby boy. I love you so much!

I look forward to seeing what God has in store for you. Tonight at your birthday dinner, when you thanked God for your birthday, and for your mama, daddy, BooBoo girl, papa, and your new tick-tock, I couldn't help but smile. You bring so much joy to my life! Thank you for being my Bubby Bear, and loving me unconditionally.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

Love,
Mama

When you woke up this morning, the first words out of your mouth were, "Mama! Where's papa?" It's like you had forgotten that it was your birthday, but you were excited that papa was asleep out in the living room! Once you came out there, you got to open a few presents from mama & daddy. As you can see, you slept in your tick-tock that nana and papa gave to you.

Daddy was still home when you got up and you were so excited to see him too! Daddy is super proud of his little buddy too and loves spending time with you!!!

After breakfast, we loaded up in the car and went over to Newport. First we stopped to see daddy and get adjusted by uncle Paul, then we went to Nye Beach. You LOVED it!! It was like your own personal, gigantic sand box and swimming pool combined!! You had to take your shoes off right away!!

You wanted to get in the water first thing! Good thing I packed extra clothes towels for you!! You ran your little booty off!!

I was very grateful that you would occasionally turn and say, "Cheeeeeze!" for me so I could get a cute picture of you. The water was very cold, but you were such a trooper!!

You tried to help your sister walk in the water, but I got a little nervous about it. Emma didn't want anyone to hold her hand in the water, and I don't think you would have been able to hold her up when the water hit her. I was very happy to see you help her though!! You are mama's little helper!!!

You liked to go in the water with papa. And I must say, I think that he was pretty proud to take you out there. You were all smiles and giggles.

After the ocean, we had to come back to the dry sand and try to get warm. There was a big difference in temperature from the water to the dry stuff!! You got COVERED in sand, even sandy crack. Hee hee hee. ;-)

Thanks for taking a picture with me. I know that I'm always asking for you to take a picture with me and you don't always want to, but trust me. Someday you're going to look back and be glad that I did.

We played until our hearts were content at the beach! You and your sister did not want to leave!!

One of your favorite things was to throw the sand...much to my dismay. But it's your birthday, buddy!! ;-)

Papa took us to lunch at Georgie's. We love Georgie's! You got to pick out a toy from the treasure chest, and you got your usual...peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

After lunch, we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium!!!! Thanks to mamie and grandpa, we have a family pass so we can go whenever we like!! You LOVE going to the Aquarium!!

There you are again, with your papa. I think you were showing him all the bright colored fish in this particular tank.

Jacob vs. the giant crab. You were mesmerized by this silly thing. Your mama doesn't like to look at them, just eat them. ;-)

Here you are on one of your many times that you needed to sit down. You were wearing your sandals and kept getting rocks inside of them. One of the many things I love about you is that you are particular. You like things a certain way, and when those silly little rocks kept getting in your shoes, you had to stop and have papa take them off again!

The bird area might just be one of your favorite places to go into. You actually get to go right next to them, and see them swim and take baths. You stood in this spot for a long time just watching them.

After a long day playing at the beach and aquarium, you were tuckered out on the way home. Your sister on the other hand got a bit of a nap in my backpack, so she kept trying to wake you up.

I think you might have worn papa out too. He snoozed with you in the car.

Once we got home, of course you were all rested from your nap in the car, so papa sat down with you and taught you how to play tic-tac-toe. You loved it!

Instead of making you another cake, because it was 105 degrees or so, we went to Dairy Queen and you got to pick out your very own ice cream cake.

Mamie and grandpa came over and had some cake with you, Emma, papa and I to finish off our night. What a wonderful night it was. You were missing daddy because he was in class, but we tried to make your day as fun as possible!

Happy 3rd Birthday, my little Bubby Bear!! You are so loved and appreciated and you just mean the world to us!! Please never, never lose your tender heart, and always know that your mama and daddy are here for you for ANYTHING!!

I love you!!!!!!

XOXOXOXOXO

Miss Emma's 15 Month Check-up

2009-07-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

My sweet Emma is now 15 months. I find myself being one of those moms that's always asking, "Where does the time go?!" I just try to enjoy every little minute of being a Mama to these two wonderful, beautiful, spunky, energetic, loving, snugly little kids the best that I can. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with them. Because I know that they truly are a gift from Him, and each day I have with them is a blessing.

So, Emma had her 15 month check-up on Friday. She was doing okay, until Dr. Shawn came in the room and she clung to me like her little life depended on it. It was a bit difficult for him to check out her ears and her mouth, but we did it! Once again, he said she is perfect (seriously). ;-)

Her 15 month stats:

Weight: 24 lbs 15.5 oz (you might as well call it 25 lbs) ;-)

Height: 32.5 inches (she's the height of an average 23 month old)

Head: 18.75

She is growing and healthy and is once again teething. Thankfully, it hasn't bothered her sleeping habits much, but occasionally it does mess with her afternoon naps, much to her Mama's dismay. ;-)

She just got up from her 3 hour nap (her teeth obviously didn't bother her for this nap) and she had her crazy hair!

BEAUTIFUL blue eyes!

My baby girl got her Mama's stick straight hair!

Being silly on the couch.

Enjoying her big brother's water, without his permission of course.

Jacob's 3rd Birthday Party

2009-07-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Jacob's 3rd Birthday Party. I cannot believe he's going to be 3 in less than 10 days. The last 3 years have FLOWN by!! Needless to say, it was another great day!! Jacob actually enjoyed having Happy Birthday sung to him, and he enjoyed, for the first time, opening his presents. While it was hard for him to stop playing at the park, he didn't fuss this year about it at all!! YAHOO!! The sun was shining, the guests were amazing as always, and we were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day. It was well worth it all. ;-)

I had to take a picture of him when we were leaving for the park. He was sooooo excited. He actually woke up yesterday morning saying, "It's my Birthday Party day!!" Such a sweet boy!!

This picture was actually at the end of the day. Jacob didn't want to have to get off of his new bike for the family picture. ;-)

Miss Independent at the park.

Daddy and his little girl.

Me and my chocolate faced little boy.

Sitting on his new bike!! He was soooooo excited!!

My brother & I...can't see the family resemblance at all, can you?? ;-)

My girlfriend, Amy, from college.

Miss Tatum wasn't very happy. I think we got her when she was supposed to be napping. Poor kiddo.

Jacob's buddy, Shane, helped him open his presents. When it came time for JJ to open the present that Shane and his brother Drew brought, Shane said, "Here Jacob. Open your toolbox." ;-)

My brother, Josh, and my niece, Jadyn.

My sweet nephew Chase.

My girlfriend Stacy's kiddos, Jared and Audrey. Jacob still has a thing for Audrey...and she's FIVE!! ;-)

Jacob blowing out his birthday candles. I made all of the munchkins their own "Birthday Cake Cones" with Gummy Bears and sprinkles on top. The really liked the top with all of the frosting and candy, but there were all of these half-eaten cones laying around on the tables. ;-) The rest of us got to enjoy the oh-so-yummy, "Holy Cow Cake".

A Fountain, A Tricycle, A Scooter...And One CRAZY Family!

2009-07-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

Joe's Uncle Tom (Bubba as we fondly call him around here) is home from Iraq and leaves again this Sunday. So some of the family got together for a little barbecue at Uncle Ron & Auntie Steph's house. Seriously, this family NEVER ceases to amaze me. The kids love to be around them, and for the most part, I think they enjoy the kids being around! It gives Uncle Ron an excuse to act like a giant kid himself and play with the kids' toys...hee hee.

Once the kiddos discovered the fountain, nothing else mattered!
Auntie Steph has "treasures" in the water that they both liked to "dive" for.

Emma got one!!

She LOVES the water!!

She thought it was soooooo funny to put water on her head.

Emma was SOAKED.

And this is why!!

Uncle Ron and "His Girl".

Uncle Bubba chasing Jacob on his tricycle. Yes, it was VERY hot outside, but when he's used to 115 degree weather, this weather is on the cooler side (hence the need for a sweatshirt, jeans and boots).

Three Brothers and a Baby.

I think one of the cutest things in the world is a nakie baby just learning to walk. Of course I'm not going to post a completely nakie picture of my beautiful baby girl on the Internet, so this is as close as it's going to get.

Emma getting a ride on the tricycle.

Uncle Ron about to get a ride on the tricycle.

This picture makes me laugh!! Look at his face and how hard he has to work to get that thing to go!! We were all laughing soooooo hard!!

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Uncle Ron vs. Jacob...who can scooter faster??

You decide... ;-)

At the end of the day, we were playing with puzzles and unwinding in JJ's room.

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We got up today and decided that since the temperature is supposed to get up to around 90, we would go and play outside in the morning instead of waiting until the afternoon. So, we piled into the car and went to Mamie and Grandpa's house to get JJ's tricycle. Jacob hopped on and rode it from their house all the way to the Philomath City Park (that is 1/2 mile away). We played there for about an hour and then he got back on and rode it back to their house! My baby boy rode ONE MILE on his tricycle today!!!! I am the proudest Mama in the entire world!!!! Needless to say, he is still napping as I type this. ;-)

This was my little buddy leaving the park, getting ready for his 1/2 mile trek home!

When we got back to Mamie & Grandpa's house, we all rested and ate ice cream and played in the water...okay, well I didn't get in, but I rested and ate ice cream. ;-)

They were sooooooo happy to be playing in the water!!!

Picking flowers and painting houses

2009-06-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ah, the joys of summer...I LOVE IT!! Emma is now walking a good majority of the time, except when she realizes she's still faster at crawling. And Jacob has been enjoying helping Mamie and Grandpa paint their house. The weather is gorgeous and the kiddos LOVE playing outside!!

I just thought I'd give you and updated version of Miss Emma walking. She's gotten so much better in just the last week!! ;-)

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Walking AND picking flowers...she's getting quite confident!

Jacob LOVES to ride his tricycle next to Grandpa!

She's not a huge fan of grass, but she does love to pick the dandelions out of Mamie and Grandpa's front yard.

Walking at Mamie & Grandpa's house...so cute now that she doesn't have to crawl everywhere with her dresses on. ;-)

I just LOVE her blue eyes!!!

My little golfer. I promise, this kid has better accuracy and aim than I do!! Not that that's saying much, but he loves to set the ball on the tee and whack it!! He's very good, if I do say so myself.

Emma got her own bike helmet yesterday. Jacob insisted that we put it on her because he actually wanted to share his trike with her!

Jacob helping Grandpa paint his house.

You're doing a great job, Buddy!!

He gets so excited to be able snap and unsnap his own helmet. ;-)

BooBoo on Jacob's tricycle.

My little doll baby and I.

It's a Great Day!!

2009-06-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, I LOVE LOVE LOVE (!!!) being the Mama of these two WONDERFUL children. God has blessed me so much with them and I just love being able to stay home and take care of them. This morning, we all slept in and lazed around the house. It's a GORGEOUS Oregon day today, so we put our sunscreen on and went out back to mow the yard. I know, right? You'd think that wouldn't be that fun for kids, but let me tell ya! These kids are GREAT! Emma rides along in my ErgoBaby carrier and Jacob uses his own "special" lawnmower and mows right along with me! Every once in a while he'll shout, "Mama!!" And he'll be standing there giving me the thumbs up sign. ;-) After we mowed the lawn, we were all hot and sweaty so we (I) blew up the swimming pool and had a good ol' time! I LOVE THE BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!!!!!! Thank you Jesus for blessing me with this wonderful family and this awesome weather!!!!!!!

So, here are some pictures and a short video from our wonderful morning!

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Munchkins playing in the pool!

This was Emma lounging after she played in the pool. Mama got booted out of her chair.

Jacob loving the pool!!

Emma trying to say, "Cheeeese!"

We live on a hill with no flat ground in the yard, so the pool was slanted...kinda like a natural little water slide for them...with a few bumps. :-)

Jacob and his helper dog, Roy filling up the kiddie pool.

I promise I give my kids water to drink, but this was entertaining her while I was blowing up the pool.

See how happy she is?!

This was before she realized she could drink it and make a mess!

My handsome little buddy sitting next to me while I was blowing up the pool. He kept asking me, "Is it done yet? Mama. Are you done yet?"

My smiley guy with peanut butter on his face after breakfast.

This is what I woke up to this morning! I LOVE IT!!!

Random Pictures...all from TODAY!! ;-)

2009-06-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

I got this new Canon Powershot camera today. I think that the kids were thinking, "Seriously. ANOTHER picture? I don't WANT to say cheese AGAIN!!!" So here are random pictures from our day today. And they are in random order to because for some reason my computer won't let me change it. Oh well! Enjoy!!

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JJ jumping on his bed in his new jammies

Emma playing Peek-a-boo (up-side-down).

Miss Happy Girl playing in the tub!

Emma with her beautiful, shaggy hair!

Cheese!

So happy to be sitting like a big girl in Jacob's Elmo chair.

Emma & I sitting in the sandbox.

Emma likes to go up and down the stairs...over and over again...

The view from the top.

My little buddy and I...GREAT smile, JJ!!

Playing on top of the sandbox.

Pretty girl with her cute piggy tails.

I just love this face.

This child climbed up on this chair all by herself...I was definitely NOT impressed.

All smiles after her nap!

Emma and her bedhead. ;-)

Jacob saying "CHEEEEEEEEEZE!!!" while playing with his rocks from Nana & Papa.

Jacob & Emma jumping on his bed together...so cute!!!

Happy girls!!

My handsome little boy with his beautiful baby blues!!

My Sweet Baby Girl WALKING!!!

2009-06-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well, here she is! She's walking!! She's not walking all the time, because she realizes she's still faster at crawling, but I thought this was too cute not to share!! Make sure you turn the volume WAY down because otherwise you'll hear my awesome voice. ;-) Enjoy!!

My 29th Birthday

2009-06-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

I'M STILL IN MY 20'S!!!!! HA HA HA!!! I know, I know. Only for another year, as my darling brother pointed out, but it's true!! I'm not in my 30's yet!! ;-) Yesterday was a great day. JJ woke up at 4 in the morning (I know, right?! What's good about that?!) and when I went in to check on him, he said, "I pulled my covers up all by myself." And I said, "Do you know what today is?" My sweet boy said to me, "Happy Birthday, Mama." I was so happy I didn't care what time it was!! Emma gave me a bit of a different happy birthday surprise...she woke up happy, but covered in poop! Therefore, the t-shirt I was wearing became covered in poop because it was one of those sneaky blowouts that you don't realize is there until it's too late. Ah, the joys of motherhood. ;-) Jacob and I baked a cake called a "Holy Cow Cake" and I must say, "HOLY COW!!" That is GOOOOOOOOD cake!!! I took 4 good size pieces to our dear friends/neighbors/church friends, Tracy & Paula, so I didn't have to have too much leftover today. But wouldn't you know it?! It's still calling my name in the fridge!! SHEESH!!

I feel very blessed to have my 29 years and to have the beautiful family and amazing friends that I do. Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes and for making my last year in my 20's start off beautifully!!

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The Holy Cow Cake...seriously sooooooo good, and I made it!!!!

Joe and I at my Birthday dinner.

Jacob was NOT enthused about getting his picture taken. Not even the idea of Birthday cake when we got home was getting him to smile.

I sat in the very back with Jacob on the way home and LOVED it!! He was finally happy enough to smile for the camera...oh yah. I might have bribed him with a piece of gum...whatever. ;-)

My blue-eyed boy

My blue-eyed girl sitting in the seat in front of JJ & I.

The whole family helping me blow out my candles.

My BEAUTIFUL family

Emma and I...she was wanting another bite of Birthday cake. ;-)

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Emma!

2009-04-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Emma,

Your 1st Birthday was yesterday. I cannot believe that you turned one already. You are such an amazing little person and I am so excited to see what the future holds for you and what God is going to do in your life. Your silly smiles and giggles are contagious and they melt my heart constantly! Right now you are a Mama's girl and I love it! I love snuggling with you, and getting your slobbery kisses. I love that you want me all the time, because I know that one day, you are going to turn to your Daddy and become a Daddy's Girl. But that's how it's supposed to be. My heart fills with joy when I see you crawling after your big brother because you want to play with him and do whatever he is doing. You're not walking just yet, but I'm not worried. I know that one day, too soon, you are going to be walking and running around and I'm going to look back and wonder what happened to my little baby girl. So I am just trying to cherish every moment that I have with you because life is precious and you truly are a blessing.

I love you so much BooBoo!

Love,
Mama

Here are a few pictures of how you spent your 1st Birthday, baby girl!

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We started the day off by Mama and Daddy pushing you and Jacob in your stroller, at a 5k walk for a sweet little girl named Sophie that goes to our church!

After our walk, we went to see Grandpa and played at his house for a little bit. You LOVED the balloons.

You still liked your tiara headband, but you just didn't want to wear it as much as I wanted you to. :-)

You loved playing with the golf balls and the little balls that Mamie and Grandpa keep out for you and Jacob.

You crawled over to see your Daddy, so I had you put your tiara back on...I don't think you were that thrilled with my decision. :-)

You were happy once again with your tiara off and a really big balloon to play with.

Once we got home, you got to open your present from Daddy, Jacob and I. It was a little dolly. As you can see, you wanted to give it your slobbery kisses right away.

You are fascinated with eyeballs right now, so of course the dolly's eyes HAD to be poked!

This is how you spent your first few minutes with your dolly. You like giving her kisses and lots of loves.

Your big brother Jacob was showing you her eyeballs, but you held on tight to her...I think you were afraid he was going to try to take her from you.

After a nice long nap, we got you up and we went bowling and to dinner with Mamie and Grandpa. It was a lot of fun, but you had more fun at dinner than you did watching us all bowl. You got to eat your very own chicken and french fries and the very nice lady that served us brought you ice cream for you birthday!

You loved your first taste of ice cream and everyone that passed you by at the restaurant commented on how you were just the cutest little princess!

Here you are...ice cream on your face, french fry in your hand, and just as happy as can be. You truly are, a girl after your Mama's heart.

I love you, Sweet Emma! Happy Birthday!!!

Emma's 1st Easter and Birthday Party!!

2009-04-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

Why does it seem like every time I get on to update the blog, there are a MILLION pictures to show, or a million things to write about?! Oh, probably because I am so terrible at updating this!! Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures from the past couple of weeks...and there are actually more, but I'll download those later. No need for you to be on Yenchik family overload. :-)

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Our little family at the Philomath community-wide Easter Egg Hunt. Yes, I am wearing my pink, rubber boots because I went last year and KNEW that the grass was going to be wet and MUDDY.

Daddy and the little "Frumpasorus" (he was GRUMPY).

Mama & Emma!

Emma playing with the bunny rabbits.

Nana (my mom) came for the weekend and Jacob was attached to her pretty much the whole time!

Nana and Jacob played with Nana's "face paint" and painted mustaches together.

Little Miss Princess ready for her 1st Birthday party!! (Of course no smiles allowed from her)

What is this thing on top of my head?!

Emma and her Great Uncle Ron

Grandpa (Joe's Dad) putting together a creation that my mom started, but he apparently got roped into finishing. Thanks Grandpa! :-)

Emma's Beautiful Birthday cake (made by Edelweiss Cakes in Corvallis)

My Gramps (BEFORE his awful fall down the stairs), and my Auntie Sally with her fiance, Derek.

BooBoo ready and waiting for her FIRST taste of cake!!

She wasn't shy...she LOVED it!!!

She ate the whole cupcake. :-)

Big Brother Jacob played in the park almost the entire Birthday party and loved every minute of it!!

I finally got to see my little buddy...at the end of the day.

Emma & I with my very beautiful friends from college, Abby (with Miss Maeve in her belly) and Danielle. I heart these girls.

Emma with her ribbons on her head and as happy as can be at the end of the day!

Jacob got a present of his own, so of course he's all smiles now!!

Winking at the camera because he knows he's doing something he's not supposed to (wrapping the balloon ribbon around his wrist).

Emma opening up the rest of her presents.

Her future is so bright, she's gotta wear shades...hee hee hee.

Just for you, Papa!

2009-03-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

So I was chatting with my dad (aka Papa) yesterday, and he said that he hasn't seen any recent pictures of Emma lately. So, I tried to take a few of her (since she is officially 11 MONTHS OLD TODAY--sheesh!) and she just didn't cooperate that well and has a cold. Oh well! I tried! Oh, the first picture is from our family bowling night last weekend. :-)

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Yes, we are all wearing white shirts, blue jeans, and although you can't see them, we are wearing our Nike shoes. Team Yenchik, baby!!!

Emma smiling at her big brother.

She's started this new face that just cracks me up every time!!

Playing with Jacob's cars and watching him chase the dog down the hall.

I LOVE these (slobbery) kisses!!

She hasn't learned to close her mouth for the smooches yet!

Mama's little angel.

Jacob & Mama Coffee/Play Date!!

2009-03-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well, today Jacob and I were supposed to go check out preschool #3. I just didn't feel quite right about this one, and some of the moms I talked to about it said they didn't like it either, so Jacob and I cancelled our appointment. We were going to have a coffee date anyway, so we played at Avery Park and went to coffee afterward. I just love being able to spend one on one time with each of my kiddos! We had sooooooooooo much fun running around the park and can you believe it?! Jacob actually let me take his picture and I got some smiles!!!

Enjoy!

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Jacob in "his" boat saying, "Cheeeeeeeeeeese!"

So happy to be playing in the park!!

Self-portrait of us in Avery Park.

Jacob & I on our coffee date (he gets hot chocolate). :-)

I'm feeling like a bad Mama...

2009-03-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

Am I a bad mom if I don't want to do the Co-op preschool?? I didn't even know what it was until last night, and now I have all of these guilty feelings for not jumping at the chance to be teaching Jacob and his peers once a week! We visited a Co-op preschool this morning (for those of you who don't know what it is--don't worry--I'll explain) and I came away more confused than ever! A Co-op preschool is one which the parents are VERY involved. Please don't misunderstand me, I want to be involved in my kids' schooling, but I don't necessarily want to be TEACHING them. There is a teacher in there and two parent helpers for each class. One parent brings the snack, the other parent is in charge of the activity for the kids. I'm told that you don't have to come up with the activity idea all on your own, they have a meeting every Monday night where you can discuss different ideas for activities. I'm not saying that I think this type of a preschool is a bad thing, I think that it's AWESOME, I'm just not sure if this is what we want for Jacob. Part of the reason we want him to start preschool at age 3 is so he can have social interaction and learn to follow directions from adults other than Joe and I. I guess if I had to rank the preschools that we've been to so far (yep, only two) I like the one yesterday way better! Jacob and I both came away from that one excited, today, not so much. I guess we'll just keep plugging away at it!!

The "Perfect" Preschool???

2009-03-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

Today was our first visit to a preschool in Corvallis for Jacob. It was so much fun and I think both he and I fell in love with it! There are two others we are going to check out, well I think we are anyway. We have an appointment Friday morning for one place, but the other place hasn't called me back yet...hmmm. Anyway, the one we went to today was clean (yes, very important), organized; structured, yet they were able to be creative; inviting; and most importantly, Jacob LOVED it!! The class size is anywhere from 15-18 kids, with five teachers, a couple interns from OSU, and even some volunteers! Since I am new to this whole preschool thing, I felt sort of like an idiot. I'm sure I didn't ask the right questions or do the right things, but I just watched my little boy, that just yesterday was my baby boy, sit at a table and play with other kids and splash in mud puddles outside, and my heart overflowed with joy. Joe and I were unsure if at the age of 3 (in July) he would be ready for the preschool setting. My feelings are, he's going to be in school or working for the rest of his life so I still want him to be a kid and enjoy himself! After observing him this morning, I absolutely believe that we are making the right decision in sending him to preschool next year. The teacher/director and I discussed the structure of the morning and all of the things that they have them do are just above and beyond what I could do for him here. I didn't want to put him in a daycare, and let me tell you, this is definitely not a daycare! So, in our quest to find the "perfect" preschool for our little buddy, this first one is going to be a pretty tough act to follow. :-)

Updates on The Yenchiks!

2009-03-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

JOE:

What an amazing husband, daddy, and friend he is! He is still plugging away at work and school, and even has been doing a few side, drywall jobs when they come along. I never thought that he would do drywall jobs again, but in this economy, I'm thankful for anything and everything!

JACOB:

Such a boy. Last week, he decided to stand on the side of the bathtub and when he tried to step off, he slipped and hit his face. I know, right?! A mother's nightmare!! By the grace of God, his eye didn't split, and he didn't get a concussion. I was scared to death!! We have started the process of looking for a preschool for him next year. I can't believe that it's time for that, but I think that he's going to absolutely LOVE it!!

EMMA:

What a little beautie. She's got such a fun personality. She had two more teeth break through a couple days ago, for a grand total of SIX teeth!! She's trying to chew on everything right now, including me. I've been very blessed with this round of teeth that she hasn't been up all night, but I'm not saying that she won't in the future. She can be Miss Independent when she wants to be, but for the most part, she is a MAMA'S GIRL. (I LOVE IT). :-)

SARAH:

Okay, so I'll actually do a little update on me. While I was the only one around here that seemed to miss any illness, I was hit with the flu HARD last week. For two days, I was down and out and thankfully, Joe's mom came and took care of the kids. I feel FANTASTIC now! And, because I am sort of excited about it, I'll tell you...I am actually down a considerable amount of weight. As of today, I am down 69 pounds (which I only gained 41 with the last pregnancy), and 91 pounds from my heaviest weight! I thought that I was going to try to get down 100 pounds from my heaviest, but Joe and I decided that would be too much. Anyway, I am just really excited and I feel so much better!!! Okay, enough of that. Here are a couple pictures of my beautiful babies!!

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She just couldn't stay awake any longer!

My silly kiddos in the bathtub together. They LOVE to take baths together (for now). :-)

This is my sweet Roy. I just had to add a picture of him on here because since we have two kids, he doesn't seem to get as much love as he's used to. Just look at that sweet face!! ;-)

A Couple Random Pictures

2009-02-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

I decided that I am going to try to take MORE pictures AND post more often on the blog...here's to trying!! :-)

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My sweet girl and I hanging out at Mamie & Grampa's house.

Jacob (after his AWESOME haircut) and Emma playing with some of the tupperware together.

My cutie with her little pigtails, just before church.

WE ARE STILL HERE!!!!!

2009-02-19T16:04:00.001-08:00

It's been a few months since I've done this...life gets in the way of the computer. Ha! My little BooBoo (Emma) is going to be 10 months old next week. She gives hi-5's now, just started giving kisses, is crawling all over the place, pulling herself up on things that don't look very stable, but she does it anyway, and NO. She is not walking yet. But I am just fine with that because I want her to be my "baby" as long as possible!! I can't believe that this year has gone by so fast! I know that my father-in-law wants us to have another baby, but sorry Big Guy. It's just NOT going to happen. We are very happy and content with what God has blessed us with. And I truly believe that I have all that I can handle. :-) Jacob is now 2 1/2 and amazing me on a daily basis. A cute little story about him...last week sometime, he was asleep in his room and I was laying in my bed, and I hear the neighbors' car alarm going off. I was laying in my bed PRAYING for it to stop (because I was NOT ready for the kids to be up just yet), and it finally stops. The next sound I hear is, "Mama. Mama! I'm all done!" So I go into Jacob's room and he lifts his head and says, "Silly neighbors. They pushed the button. Silly neighbors." I busted up laughing! He knew EXACTLY what happened and was grumpy about it too.

Joe is staying VERY busy with work and school right now. Just last week, he had two midterms (Anatomy & Physiology 3, and Pathology) and he passed them both with flying colors!! YAY!! I'm so proud of him. He's such a trooper!! We are "teaching" the 3 & 4 year old kids at church, and while we do feel that it is a blessing to be in there with them, it makes us feel even more blessed to come home to only TWO kids. :-)

Right now, the kids BOTH love the song, "All the Single Ladies" by Beyonce, but Jacob sings, "All the silly ladies..." EVERY TIME that song comes on, Emma starts doing her wiggle dance and "sings" and Jacob dances around with me and sings along. They bring so much joy to my life!!!

Here are a few recent pictures. I'm not going to make you look at pictures of the last couple of months, just from the end of January and well, today. :-)

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Emma on her 9 month Birthday

Emma & I

Jacob...such a beautiful boy...if only I could get him to smile for the camera!

My happy girl!

BooBoo and her first pigtails today!!! Yes, she is wearing JJ's old bib, but I promise. THIS IS EMMA. :-)

JJ and his FAVORITE thing to play with.

That will get him to smile!!!

Emma's pigtail. She's giving me the "Whatever Mama" look.

I just thought they were sooooooo cute from behind too!!!!

More and more and more...

2008-12-01T15:53:00.000-08:00

And here's more pictures from Jim Spencer, Creative-Directions photography.

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Mr. Smiley Pants

And here he's a "frumpasaurus".

She loves her big brother!

My Happy Family

JJ giving Emma some loves.

He's handsome, but he's got trouble in his eyes too!!

Mr. Fun-Lovin'

My BEAUTIFUL babies

My happy girl

Daddy's Girl

More Christmas Pictures

2008-11-30T16:07:00.000-08:00

Here are more of the Christmas pictures from Jim Spencer, Creative-Directions Photography. I LOVE them!!

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My Sweet Emma

Daddy kissing Jacob

Mama & Emma

My HANDSOME boys!!!

2008-11-25T14:49:00.000-08:00

So, one of the patients in the office that Joe works at, is a professional photographer. He had us over this last weekend and snapped a couple (hundred) shots. Here is the first one that he sent us...and I want MORE!!

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Jim Spencer is his name and his company is Creative Directions.

Another trip to the Oregon Coast

2008-11-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

Today, was a GORGEOUS day to go to the Oregon Coast. As usual, I had to call my mom as we came over the hill into Newport to tell her that I can see the ocean first. :-) It probably isn't nice for me to do, but ever since I can remember, we've always tried to be the first one to see the ocean. I think I win every time these days...since she lives in Indiana. :-( Anyway, I convinced Joe's mom and dad to make the short trip over to Newport to visit Joe and play with the kiddos. We had a FABULOUS time and got completely worn out, but it was so worth it!

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My little buddy digging on the sand hill.

Jacob saying, "CHEEEEEEESE!"

Mama & Emma

My fantastic kiddos & I

Self-Portrait of Emma & I

Jacob at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Just another day at the beach...

2008-11-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

This last week was an eventful one in the Yenchik house. On Tuesday, Joe and I got the kids up early and we went to work with daddy (in Newport)! It was so much fun! I took the kids to breakfast, the store (Wal-Mart--don't judge, we don't have one in little ol' Philomath), and then to the beach!! The beach was so much fun!! Jacob got to run his little booty off and Emma and I enjoyed watching him roll around in the sand.

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Jacob digging in the sand and saying cheese!!

Mama and Emma saying cheese!!

My beautiful babies and I

Jacob and the giant ocean

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Of course, Friday was Halloween and this year, Jacob really got into it. I'm not usually a big Halloween fan myself, but it is definitely more fun to see Halloween through your child's eyes. Jacob was so cute as Elmo and Emma was the sweetest pink bunny "wabbit" I've ever seen!! I can't wait until NEXT year!!! :-)

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What did I tell you?! The CUTEST pink bunny wabbit EVER!!

My Sweet Elmo

This is what she did for part of her first trick-or-treating experience, only she was on my shoulder and people thought she was a stuffed animal or an Anne Geddes doll. :-)

He was so excited!!

Our little family at Joe's parents' house

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Tonight, we met up with some really good friends and their kiddos and went bowling and to dinner. It was Jacob's first time bowling and I think that he really enjoyed himself. I know Joe and I did. Jacob only got his fingers smashed by the bowling balls once (I thought I was going to cry, but we distracted him with something else), and he actually got third place with the kids! :-)

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Jacob's first time bowling...he LOVED it!

It's pumpkin time!!!!

2008-10-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, Joe and I took the kids to the Heavenly Harvest Pumpkin Patch on Hwy 20. We didn't take Jacob last year for one reason or another, so this was his first time as well. It was so much fun!! There were duck races, sand-box type things filled with corn, corn shooters, hay bale maze, corn maze, hay rides, and of course--PUMPKINS!!

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Daddy showing Jacob how to get the duck to go!!

Jacob racing the ducky by himself.

Jacob playing in the corn box...he really got into it!

This was the closest thing that we could get to a smile in the pumpkin patch.

The four of us on the hay ride.

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Today, we carved the pumpkins and had an absolute BLAST!!! Emma slept through it, but that's okay. I don't think that she would've understood what was going on anyway. Either that or she would have tried to eat the pumpkin filling...yuck. :-)

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Jacob cleaning out his pumpkin.

Self-portrait...taken by me...it didn't turn out that well, but you can still see us. ;-)

Jacob helping daddy take the insides out of Emma's pumpkin.

Jacob and I digging out his pumpkin.

Emma getting a first look at her pumpkin.

They're matching...each only has one tooth...hee hee hee.

I carved Emma's and Joe carved Jacob's.

Emma's 6 Month Check-Up

2008-10-24T17:31:00.001-07:00

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Emma is going to be SIX months old tomorrow...I can't believe it. Time flies so much faster when you have a second child. She had her 6 month check-up today, and I am happy to report that the doctor said she is gorgeous and perfect (duh). :-)

Here are Emma's 6 month stats:

Weight: 17 lbs, 3 oz

Height: 27 1/4 inches

Head: 17 inches

ONE tooth broke through yesterday

Sitting up (for a bit but she tends to fall to the side and play with whatever is around her)

Gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth...I'm not ready for crawling yet!!

Happy 6 month Birthday, my little Baby Doll!! I LOVE YOU!!!

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She is actually chewing on her tongue here, but it looked like she was trying to smile, so I thought it was pretty cute!!

My beautiful, blue-eyed baby girl

I love my little pink present!!

Her toes are entertaining her!

Only TWO more days...

2008-10-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

...until my parents are here!!!!!! I can't wait!!!!!!!!

Beautiful Kids

2008-09-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to take as many pictures as possible lately (a New Year's resolution, only it's not New Year's yet--just getting a jump start!). In doing so, I realized, I have cute kids and they make me so happy!! :-) I just thought I would share two more pictures of my beautiful kiddos (sorry--I'm in the pictures too).

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Jacob wouldn't actually look directly at the camera! We took about 100 (not really) self-portraits of the two of us, and every time, he would look off to the side. At least you can see his beautiful blue eyes. :-)

She just got done eating her dinner last night and was so happy! Go figure! She just ate green beans for the first time...I think she's more of a carrot fan. :-)

Happy Birthday (yesterday) Miss Jadyn!

2008-09-29T16:33:00.001-07:00

My brother and his wife just had their second baby last night!! YAY!! A happy, healthy, BEAUTIFUL baby girl named Jadyn. She weighed in at 6 lbs, 4 oz, and 19 inches long. It felt like I was just holding a feather when I held her...so little and adorable!!! CONGRATULATIONS big brother!! We love you!!!

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Sleeping Jadyn (she just fell asleep before we got in the room)

LOTS of dark hair!!

We're still here...

2008-09-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a while...you could say I've been busy, but that would be an understatement. You could say that I've been overwhelmed, and I would laugh out loud. You could say that I've been going crazy and pulling my hair out and that would be closer to the truth. We are in the full blown terrible two's these days and it feels like some days I am just trying to keep my fingertips above water. Not even my head anymore, just my fingertips, so at least someone can see that I'm down here. Motherhood: the hardest, most stressful job I've ever had in my entire life, but also the most rewarding. When Jacob and I were outside working in the front yard together and he looked at me and said, "Best Friend." And I asked him, "Who's your best friend?" He said, "Mama." THAT makes it ALL worth it.

So, here is what we've been up to for the last couple of months. :-)

My little monster

So, we went on our first (12 hour) long road trip with the kids. Joe's cousin, Megan got married in San Jose, California and Joe's dad and I loaded up the kiddos and left at 3:30 in the morning so we could get down there around 3:30. The kids did FANTASTIC! We only stopped twice and there was minimal fussing! YAY!

I sat in the backseat between the two kids to help entertain them whenever they woke up. Sometimes it was me who needed entertaining. :-)

I promise she was happy, but this was all I could get out of her.

Joe's dad, Terry, Jacob and myself

He thinks he is "The Baby Whisperer", a title that we (lovingly) gave to him and my mom...

Our cousin, Aurora at the rehearsal dinner...Joe wasn't there yet.

Joe got off the plane in San Jose and pretty much jumped right into the pool with the kids! Such a good Daddy! Emma got to go swimming for the first time and she LOVED it!

The REAL Baby Whisperer :-)

Jacob was showing himself his hair in the mirror when we went to Reno...silly kid.

My Boys!!

Emma's First Cereal!

Jacob was being goofy sitting behind his sister for her first eating.

Her high chair seems a little big.

Cheese!!!

He just looks like he's up to no good, doesn't he??

Jacob's first wheelbarrow ride. Joe's mom and dad were gracious enough to help me out while Joe was at a men's retreat for church. We cleaned up a very weedy area in our front yard and laid bark mulch. We kept joking that we painted our house, cleaned up the yard...the neighbor's are going to think we're moving! :-)

Mr. Serious

A couple weeks ago, Joe was doing some drywall repairs at the office in Waldport on a Saturday. So we loaded up the kiddos early in the morning and we spent the day at the coast. It was the most gorgeous, perfect day that I didn't want to end!! I took the kids to this little greasy spoon restaurant for breakfast while Joe and his buddy, Hector, worked. Then when they were done, Joe took me to this cute little smoothie place that he and Paul like to go to when they work in Waldport (it's called Tropical Treats--if you're ever in Waldport, DEFINITELY check it out!). Paul's mom has season passes to the Aquarium in Newport, so we met up with her and she got us in there for FREE (THANK YOU AMY!!). Jacob LOVED every minute of it in there! We almost couldn't get him out of the shark aquarium area, but thankfully there was another enclosed aquarium right around the corner. Emma even got into it when we went into the tropical fish area. She was kicking her feet, waving her arms and giggling away at the fish in their tanks. SO CUTE! We ended the day at Georgie's Beachside Bar & Grill (another GREAT place you should check out) in Newport and we headed home. I thought JJ would be sad that we didn't make it to the beach, but he was knocked out in the backseat as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot pretty much. What a fabulous day!

Jacob looking at the anchovies.

Jacob and Mama mesmerized by the big fish!

He LOVED the big shark! He kept saying, "WOW!! BIG SHARK!!"

"Look Daddy!"

Stuck to the glass!

Emma finally woke up and seemed to be happy in her stroller...for a little bit anyway. :-)

The Tuna Tank...he kept trying to kiss them through the glass because they were just staying still. Silly kiddo.

Finally out of the enclosed tank areas, now looking at the Sea Lions, or Seals...I get confused.

Couldn't get him to look at the camera, he just wanted to keep looking at the animals.

He liked touching the starfish. When he went to touch the sting ray, he got a little scared.

My little sleeping beauty likes to sleep with her booty in the air.

Jacob LOVES Audrey. He has an old phone of mine that he plays with and his daddy asked him what he was doing one day. Jacob said, "I'm texting Audrey."

Emma posing for the camera. You can't tell that Jacob and Emma are related AT ALL. HA!

My happy, laughing girl!

I think this one is one of my faves!

Jacob got a new kitten, Jelly. He adores her!!

We have to monitor him CONSTANTLY with the cat. He's a little like Lenny, from Of Mice and Men...he just loves her so much!

Jacob helped Daddy paint the front porch (even with the threat of rain--Mama needed a break).

My happy girl just got up from her nap!

So happy!!

A little nakie picture time yesterday.

Joe took Jacob to the Philomath High School football game last night. So we had to bundle him all up before he went. He had a GREAT time! He told his daddy that he wanted to go out and play with the guys. Joe told him that they had helmets on and he didn't. Jacob turned to him and said, "Daddy, buy me helmet."

Super excited to go to the game!

Sleeping Habits

2008-07-31T13:39:00.000-07:00

I've been reading some of my girlfriends' blogs lately and it's really got me thinking about my own children's sleeping habits. When Jacob was a baby, he started sleeping through the night when he was 8 weeks old. I was very strict, I guess you could say, about when he fell asleep when he was being held, he HAD to be put in his crib. I did that so he could learn to sleep on his own and not get used to having someone there to help him sleep. This worked very well. I did the whole crying thing, letting him cry himself to sleep to make sure he could self-soothe. It worked beautifully!! I hated to hear him cry, but I knew that he would be fine, and I felt like we let him know that he was loved and taken care of. I was really worried when we had to switch him from the crib to his big boy bed. You see, in the crib, he was contained. So even when he didn't want to go to bed, he had no choice because he was stuck there. :-) When it came time to make the switch, he was GREAT!! Then in March, his daddy went to Florida for 5 or 6 nights (I can't remember specifically how long he was gone, because to me...it seemed like an ETERNITY). The 2nd night he was gone, Jacob refused to go to sleep on his own, refused to sleep by himself, and just plain wasn't happy about sleeping in his room. So while Joe was gone, Jacob slept with me in my bed (I was 8 months pregnant! I couldn't be getting up at all hours of the night, or worse...sleep on the floor!!). That weekend was the turning point in Jacob's sleeping habit, and the start of a downward spiral.

Enter the new baby girl. That really made Jacob not want to sleep in his room by himself. So he has become even more dependent on his daddy (because his mama is always busy with the the baby--in his little eyes), and Joe actually began sleeping in Jacob's room when Jacob would wake up in the night. Yes that made it so he would go back to sleep, but hello! That is so not a good idea for anyone involved. It wasn't Joe's fault though. The poor guy would get so tired when he would go in to put JJ back in bed that he would fall asleep next to him while he waited for him to go back to sleep.

My point in writing all of this is that because I did all of the "right" things when Jacob was a baby and they weren't working out when he was older like they were supposed to, I haven't been doing them with Emma. Granted, she is a totally different baby than JJ was. She seems to be much needier, cries more, and is quite the snuggler. So when she falls asleep, I let her just sleep on us! She has slept through the night a few times, but definitely not consistently.

When we went to the doctor with Jacob on Tuesday, he told me that we need to get Jacob in a different routine than what we've been doing. (DUH) He said that 2 year olds are creatures of habit, and once a habit is formed (like sleeping on the floor next them or reading to them until they fall asleep) it is very hard to break and we need to start working on that NOW. So I started that day, and I am very pleased to say that in the last 2 days, I just have to tell Jacob that he's going to take a nap, by himself, like a big boy, tuck him in, give him a kiss and walk out! At night time, I tell him that I'm going to read him 2 books, then he's going to sleep by himself like a big boy and he does!! I think the key for him is that he likes to have his door open.

Now my theory of letting them cry it out doesn't work, is shot down the tubes...I have a lot of catch up work to do with Emma, let me tell you! She has only slept maybe 10 minutes today because she just doesn't want to sleep in her crib by herself. It has made for a long day, but I'm hoping that if she doesn't sleep during the day, at least she'll sleep through the night??? I'll let you know...

So I guess what I'm saying is that I really do think that letting them cry it out when they are babies is the best way to get them to sleep by themselves! I know that it stinks because I am going through it right now, but I know it can be done.

Jacob's 2 Year Doctor Appointment

2008-07-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

Jacob turned 2 on Monday...I can't hardly believe it!! Now that he realizes what is going on at the doctor's office, he's not too keen on going. In fact, on the car ride there, he was saying, "Bite Doctor." Great. So once again, we went over the rules. I say them, he repeats them.

Mama: No biting.
Jacob: No biting.
M: No hitting.
J: No hitting.
M: No pushing.
J: No pushing.
M: No kicking.
J: No kicking.
M: No pinching.
J: No pinching...pinch booty?
M: No Jacob, you can only pinch Mama's booty. (smile)
M: If you don't listen and obey, NO SCOOTER.
J: No scooter.

Needless to say, when we were at the doc's office, he cried the ENTIRE time, until Dr. Shawn left the room. Of course he was happy then!

Here are his 2 year stats:

Height: 36 3/4 inches
Weight: 32 lbs
Head: 19 3/4 inches

He grew 3 1/4 inches, but didn't gain any weight...my chubby bubby is no longer my chubby.

I love you little man!!

Emma rolled over!!

2008-07-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

Well, our little princess is growing up...too fast. She rolled over for the first time last night and I actually was able to record one of the rolls. The video isn't the best, but you do get to see her in the end. :-) I can't stand the sound of my own voice on there, and I'm sure you'll feel the same way, but here it is! Every time we watch the video, Jacob is so cute! He cheers for her! I just love our little family.

Jacob's 2nd Birthday Party

2008-07-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

We had Jacob's 2nd birthday party today. I can't believe he's turning 2!! Where have the last two years gone?? He's such a good boy, and I think that he thoroughly enjoyed himself! We had an AWESOME turnout of friends and family for his party today. THANK YOU to everyone for your love and support!! The weather was beautiful, the food was great (thanks to Joe), and the company was wonderful!

Jacob wanted an Elmo cake this year.

We had to have enough cake for everyone else to eat too! :-)

Miss Emma slept for the beginning of the party...she didn't know what she was missing out on!

Me & Emma

Our sweet nephew, Chase

Some of my fantastic girlfriends from college and their families

(Tasha & Tatum, Danielle & Geoff, Abby & Kris)

My beautiful friend, Stacy & her family (I think Jacob has a crush on Audrey)

My brother, Josh & his son, Chase

Poor Jacob just wanted to blow the candles out and not wait for the song to finish.

Getting his first taste of the cake

I think he liked it.

Digging in!

My happy boys

Tatum checking out her little buddy, Emma

Daddy showing Jacob how to use his new scooter!

Abby, Tasha, Tatum, Me (with Emma in the front pack) and Danielle

Jacob playing in the rocks with his new buddies, Hunter & Preston.

My Auntie Sally & I

Jacob using his new scooter in the skate park.

Daddy & Emma

She was all tuckered out.

Our little family at the end of a GREAT day!!