What a Beautiful Fall Day!

Jacob will be 11 weeks tomorrow, or to be specific tonight at 12:08 AM :) We have been enjoying these beautiful crisp fall days. This past Saturday we had fun pumpkin carving and apple bobbing experience at my parents house. Jacob wasn't in such a good mood that day so unfortunately he didn't get to create the amazing pumpkin I had in mind for him. We will have to set apart some other time this week to make his pumpkin. Still despite his bad mood Daddy was able to create a fantastic Jack-o-lantern and Mommy was able to carve half of hers. Plus we got to dress Jacob up and any opportunity to do that is well worth it. We called him our little Jake-o-lantern. We had a fantastic dinner made by my mom and our first taste of pumpkin pie for the season. Just today Jacob and I went on a walk along the harbor with my mom and little sister and brother, Joanna and Johnny. It was absolutely beautiful and I'm reminded just how lucky I am to live in this amazing place. Everything is so bright and colorful with the leaves all changing. Jacob seemed a little shocked for the walk whenever the wind blew in his face and my little sister, Joanna worked hard to keep the sun out of his eyes. After about 20 minutes Jacob fell asleep and woke only when it was time to get back in the car. He loves movement that's for sure.

What a beautiful walk! Jacob, Joanna, Johnny and I with Lily.

Jacob in his pumpkin outfit.

My sister Jackie and her pumpkin.

Attacking the pumpkins

Mmmmm pumpkin guts

10 Weeks and Getting Cuter Every Day!

Jacob turned 10 weeks this last Wednesday. He's doing so great and every day I'm so happy to be able to take care of him. He's taken to taking his naps in his swing and right now every once in awhile I fight the battle of getting him to sleep during the day in his crib. However, he's just so cute it's torture having to listen to the little guy scream his head off. Usually I give in and he gets to take a nice long nap in his swing. I guess I'll be fighting that battle at some time. The important thing to me right now is that he goes to sleep just fine at night in his crib. He's still waking up once a night at around 3am or 4am but usually goes right back to bed. I'm looking forward to a full nights sleep in the future but for now I'll just enjoy the late night cuddle time.

Recently we just took Jacob in for a hearing test. Right after he was born they did a hearing test on him which failed and had scheduled us for a more detailed test this last Thursday. What they discovered was that his right ear is completely fine but the test in his left ear revealed mild to moderate hearing loss. They said that normal conversation sounds like a whisper to him. This obviously is disheartening news because we want him to have everything including his hearing but we are trusting God and know that He has a plan for Jacob and for us. Jacob's pediatrician is going to refer us to an ear, nose, and throat doctor to try and discover more of why he is having this hearing loss. Fortunately, we were told that this shouldn't affect his speech development because he is hearing fully in his right ear. Please pray that Jacob's hearing will clear up or that we will be able to discover what can be done to heal his little ear. Despite all this news he is still perfect in every little way and continues to smile and coo more and more each day.

Making funny faces!

Almost too big for his car seat at 2 months!!!!Daddy and Jacob with matching foreheads.

Just waking up from his nap.

So sleepy

Tons of Fun at 2 Months!

Jacob turned two months old on October 13th and along with getting older he also had to get all his first immunizations :(. No fun. His two month Dr. appointment went really well and he checks out perfectly. We found out that he now weighs 14 lbs. 4 oz. and is 24 inches long. That means he is in the 97% for weight and the 90% for length. I guess we won't have to worry whether or not he's getting enough food. He's growing big so fast!!!!! So far October has been a blast. We had our first trip to the pumpkin patch already and will be carving this years pumpkins next weekend at my parents place. Watching Jacob grow every day has been a privilege and I have loved getting to know all his new little movements and sounds. My favorite thing right now is that he's beginning to talk back at you when you are talking with him with coos and grunts. SO CUTE!

Introducing Louie and Jacob...Louie's not really interested.

We got to navigate our way through a corn maze.

7 Weeks...WOW!

Well we have reached our 7th week and still doing great! Jacob is getting bigger by the second and I'm amazed every time we hang out with friends of ours that have an infant around the same age how much bigger Jacob is. He is fitting 3 month sizes perfectly and some are even getting a little snug on him. I hope that he doesn't get too big too fast! :) We have had all sorts of fun this last month. Grandma Hanks came up for a visit and Jacob had a blast being held and cuddled the whole time. We took a trip to Portland and visited our friends Seth and Megan who are doing great and make an amazing Pad Tia. Then we spent the day in Portland making it Jacob's first time staying in a hotel room. He did GREAT by the way! Finally we drove south and visited Mark, Katie, Henry and Savannah who was 1 week old. The pictures of her and Jacob are hilarious because Jacob is giant compared to her. We had a blast and Jacob did great for his first really long road trip. So since that time went so well we decided the very next weekend to join my parents at Seaside. We stayed in a cute little house right on the beach and played on the beach. We flew kites and played cards and had a wonderful time. We are loving being parents and daily we are learning more and more of Jacob's personality. Like for instance he hates going down for naps and fights sleep like none other. However he does pretty good at night. Still not sleeping through the night yet but hopefully soon. He has started to smile and I think I almost heard a giggle. I've been enjoying listening to him find his voice and make new and different cooing sounds each day. He's just so cute. Enjoy the Pics!

Jacob with Grandma Hanks

Oh the many facial expressions of our little man.

Jacob cuddling with Great Grandma Alspach.

Jacob hanging out with Max Peterson...best buds :)

Savannah Newman at 1 week/Jacob Hanks 6 weeks/

Henry Newman 18 months :)