Family Members with Baby Jake

After Jake was born we had a lot of visitors and a lot of opportunities to show off our new bundle of joy.  Here are some photos of Baby Jake with his family.

 

Baby Jake

Mike and I learned we were pregnant with our first child in January of 2006.  It was a very exciting time, as this was the first grandchild for both mine and Mike's parents. 

4 Months Pregnant

6 Months Pregnant

9 Months Pregnant-day before delivery

Ultrasound Photos

It's a Boy!

Profile with Jake sucking his thumb.

Jacob Burrell Smith was born on August 31, 2006, at around 9 a.m. in the morning.

7 lbs 6 oz. and 21 inches long.

This is one of my favorite photos from Jacob's birth.

He is already rockin' out at a young age!

Our first family photo.

Making a Candle by Jake

This weekend we were watching Despicable Me, cute movie by the way, and Jake popped up and said...."I know how you make a candle!"  We replied "really how?"  Jake said,  "Well you get a marshmellow for the big part and you find a twig for the little part and then you just fire it up!"  It was like he had an epiphany, except for an incorrect epiphany!

The next day, which was Sunday, I had purchased marshmellows at the store and later that night I let Jake and Ella have one.  Instead of eating his, he came and got me and said, "mom can you go outside with me to find a twig?"  He was obviously going to make a candle.

It is too funny what he comes up with.

The Walls Are Comin' Down

In both the houses we have owned there has been some weird wallpaper! And people either love it or hate it.  In our first home, it was a wall of rocks with vines growing out of it.....remember wallpaper though.  And in our new house there was a wall of bricks.  The first time we looked at the house we thought it was real brick...it wasn't until we went back that we discovered it was wallpaper.

Last night, we were standing in the back living room discussing how to decorate the room.  Next thing I know, we are taking down wallpaper.  Jake and Ella helped out.  At first Ella didn't like us taking the wallpaper down...she was saying nooooo!

Before Photos

And the walls come down!

She's a Brick House!

(she is crying because she got in trouble)

After Photo-Now we need to paint.

Moving Day

When we moved, we wanted to prepare the kids as best as possible.  They were experiencing a lot of change at that time, so we asked Jake what he wanted his new house to be like.  His answer was, "I want it to have a new super hero custome and a tub of popcorn!"  So doing what we could....we got him a Venom costume and a tub of popcorn for his new room.  We also decked his room out with new camo bedding.  Ella on the other hand, had no care in the world about moving...she just liked the open, empty house to run in.

Our New House

In March of 2009, we moved our family to the city of Edmond.  We were looking for a bigger house for our growing family. We didn't have any specific locations in mind, we were just looking in and around the metro area.  Mike found this house for us at the beginning of our search, but it was being held up by the bank.  After looking at several houses and almost purchasing another home, Mike thought he would try one more time to get the bank to move on the house.  Needless to say, the wait was worth it. 

We have plenty of room now!  Here are some photos of our new house...prior to us moving in so the stuff in the photos is not ours.  We have a lot of work and updated to do, but we plan to be in this house for a while....so we have time.
 

The Man Room

Formal Dining

Master Bathtub

View of back living room from the kitchen. 

Jake's Room

Entry Way

Ella's Room with a Bathroom

Ella's a Baby-Popa's Baby and Cha Cha Chu Chu

Ella is at this stage were she insists she is the baby.  We will tell her she is such a big girl and she says, "No, I a Baby!"  She also says she is "Popa's Baby."  We ask her if she is mom's baby, which for most little girls would be the natural response, but no....she is popa's baby.  You can also here her saying "Cha Cha Chu Chu", which is her train sound.  Here is a clip of Ella talking:

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 was still a little unknown for the babies.  Jake would open a present and would want to play with the present right then.  He didn't understand that he had several presents to open and that he could come back and play with the gifts later.  It was a fun Christmas for Mike and I as it was the first time we actually set out gifts from Santa...it was exciting to be on the other side.



Goodies from Santa!

Christmas pajamas

Jake's first spiderman costume

Ella at Grandpa Burrell's and Grandma Joyce's house on Christmas Day.

Jake and Ella in front of Grandma Joyce's tree.

Jake showing off his new video.



Bathtime Dance

Both of our kids love bathtime.  I just came across this video while searching through photos.  This is Ella's Bathtime Dance!

Our First Home

In March of 2006, Mike and I purchased our first home.  The house was in Moore, Okla., in a neighbor hood called Baer's Westmoore.  It was definitely a starter home.  It had 3 bedrooms and two bathroom and a 2 car garage.  Saying a 3rd bedroom is a real stretch.  It was about 1100 square feet total. 

After looking at several homes in our price range, we were very excited about this house.  We looked at houses in the scariest neighborhoods and houses that were so run down.  We were excited to find this house in our price range...it was a foreclosure.

We did a lot of work on this house for the short time we lived here.  We got a new roof, new wood floors (which Mike and Syd tried to install), new tile, new countertops, new sinks and faucets and new toilets.  We also did some painting and some hardware updates.  Once we moved, we had the house looking pretty good!  With our growing family we had to find a bigger house, however we made a lot of good memories at this house.

Here are some photos of the house before we did home improvements....just for memory sake!

The stone wallpaper!

OSU orange garage, which Mike hated....we never ended up painting it.

If I ever find photos of the post home improvement operation...we will add them.