2010 Title

Catching up again in 2010!

2010-02-08T20:34:00.002-05:00

Sorry it has been so long! Busy times for sure, but we have to do better. The boys are growing up so fast! It is amazing how much they are changing before our eyes. Bryce has been crawling for over a month now. Jake is putting together small sentences, and cracks us up all the time. Bryce will celebrate his 1st birthday next month, and despite his early start (6 weeks) we have been blessed with a very healthy little boss. We call him boss because he always lets you know what he wants immediately - and it is usually his mama. Jake will be 2 years old in April, and has been a perfect older brother. He takes his frustrations out on the dog, but hey, we all need an outlet.

Abby and I have been fixing up the house... we bought a lot of new furniture lately to spruce things up, and I have been finishing the basement. It is ready for the drop ceiling and carpet as soon as we have the extra money. I received a promotion last week and a nice raise, so we are very thankful that God has provided for us as he always does. Well, we hope everyone is doing well. Take care-

A little bit of everything...

2009-10-22T15:54:00.008-04:00

It has been one busy year for us, and the last two weeks were no exception. I had my knee surgery on Tuesday, which went well, but it looks like I will need a second surgery to replace a big chunk of cartiledge that broke off between my patella(knee cap) and femur. The doctor said it may require an implant. My knee feels worse after the surgery, but we'll just have to wait and see. I go back in 2 weeks for the next appointment. In the mean time, we have been doing lots of things with the boys. Here are some random pics that I'll try to summarize:

Jacob was Winnie the Pooh last year, so we bought him a Tigger suit for halloween this year, since Bryce will be Pooh.

Jake is very interested in my walking boot, so I strapped him in.

This is Bryce's "I'm ready to Eat" stare.

Jake getting ready to go outside.

Jake noticed the spiders immediately on my neighbors house and repeated "bug" about 150 times while pointing at them.

Mama helping Jacob look for "Scoot" in the yard. Jake can't quite say Scout yet, but he says Scoot all the time.

This was my reward for playing with Bryce after he just ate... it was so thick that it stuck to me like a beard! I can't wait until Bryce can keep his food to himself!

The boys have started taking baths together to save time at night.

This was the breast cancer walk in Ann Arbor on Saturday. I am a pacesetter for GM and have raised over $8,000 so far this year. I didn't actually walk because of my leg, so we sold Lions tickets at the GM tent instead. After the thanksgiving game I will be the #1 pacesetter for GM in donations raised - and 3rd in the country for corporate sponsors!

We went back to the orchard to get some pumpkins after the breast cancer walk.

This was Bryce taking a peak at mama while she made his lunch...

Busy Week

2009-10-10T16:37:00.007-04:00

I am the chairman of the professional managers network (PMN) at my plant. We had a down week scheduled, so we planned a bunch of activities for the salary workers who still have to report to work during the down weeks. Tuesday we went to Mongolian BBQ for a charity event. Our staff grilled the food for us, and we had about 50 people show up for the event. Abby came down with the boys for the event. Everyone loved the boys, and kept pitching in to help feed them and take them around the restaurant afterwards. Wednesday we went to the Wixom plant where the build the high end corvette engines... no pics from that one, but it was awesome. Thursday we held a 3 on 3 tournament after work. We had 8 teams in a double elimination tournament. Lots of people stayed after to work to watch. Friday we had the leadership members from PMN over to my house after work to build 2 bat houses. Sounds kinda weird, but they are actually really cool. They roost inside the boxes, and each one can hold as many as 250 bats. We are going to put them up on the property at our plant. It will fulfill another commitment from GM to improve the environment in our community. Then this Sunday we sold 250 tickets to the Lions vs. Steelers game. We get them for a great price from the Lions so that we can sell them for charity. This is the second game, and we have already purchased 500 tickets to the Lions vs. Green Bay on Thanksgiving day. So if anyone is gonna be in Michigan for thanksgiving let me know, cuz we have lower level tickets for only $25 per ticket. So, it has been a very busy week... but we had a lot of fun. Here are some pics.

This is my sister's family: Dan, Rachel, Daniel, Reagan, Rebekkuh, and Rylan

Bryce's new thing... he loves hanging that tongue out.

Fall is upon us...

2009-10-03T11:51:00.008-04:00

We are enjoying our days with boys more and more. Jacob is 17 months old now, and Bryce is 6 months old. Bryce is a little behind where Jacob was at 6 months, but if you subtract 6 weeks beacuse he was early, he would actually be ahead. Jake continues to stun us with his expanding vocabulary and learned behaviors, and Bryce is starting to sit up on his own and eat some solid foods. His first teeth are just about to come out as well.

Good news about the leg... they cut my cast off already and gave me a walking boot. So no more crutches. It hasn't healed at all, so we are not quite sure why, but hey, life will be easier. I am having an MRI on Sun afternoon and go back on the 14th to see the orthoepedic surgeon to find out about knee surgery. I added some pics of the break - it is called a Fibula spiral fracture. Technology has really changed since the last time I broke a bone - they gave me the x-ray pics on CD.

Bryce is our snuggler of the two boys, but it will usually cost you your shirt. He fell asleep on me here, but not after puking on my white shirt about 5 times first. We can't wait for him to grow out of the acid reflux phase like Jake has.

Jake loves his little trike bike. He navigates between the cars better than mama... seriously, I think I trust Jacob more than Abby on this one... haha. He can reach the pedals now, but he still likes the "flintstone" method.

It was raining most of the day, so we found a little break in the rain to go outside. I am glad it didn't start raining on us because Jacob turns into satan-boy when you try to take him off of his bike. I am so glad I am off the crutches so I can go play with him outside! We were all getting cabin fever.

Jake loves the swing. So much that I didn't even know I put him right into a puddle of water in the seat. He never made a peep.

"Oh Scout, leaf me alone..."

This is the wood left from our tree that went down last year. Some people would call this a wood pile, but we call it Scout's toy rack. Nothing makes him more happy than stripping the bark out off of a log. It is very annoying to pick up the left-overs everyday.

Another of Jacob's favorite things is to sit in the drivers seat of my truck and press all the buttons. His favorite word the past 3 months has been "car." He even calls his shoes cars because we always put them on before we take him out to truck.

Jake and Scout are becoming best friends - Scout really watches over him closely when we are out in the yard.

Jake ate 3 blueberry pancakes this morning.

Bryce's seat...

...now Jacob's seat. The "jealous brother" signs are showing up more lately, but he has been really good with Bryce for the most part.

Bryce loves the jumperoo, just like Jacob did. This was funny because he was really hyper, jumping all around and figuring how to make all the toys work, and the next thing we knew he had fallen asleep in the seat.

End of Summer

2009-09-25T16:57:00.014-04:00

It has been a busy summer for us... there are lots of pics so we'll tell the stories as we go.

This was my 30th b-day with the boys.

Bryce is changing so fast... we love his facial expressions. He truly is a happy boy.

Abby's hands are full.

Jake is at his playful stage... he cracks us up every evening.

"Bewwy-button" one of his many new words.

Jake hanging with our neighbor Riley.

He loves putting on our shoes - we were shocked that he could acually walk in these big boots.

This was an afternoon at the orchard. Jake had his first airbrush tattoo, rode the wagon train, climbed on the wooden train playscape & tractors, played in the sandbox, and saw all the animals. Sounds like fun right? He whinned all day - mostly since he missed his nap that mid-morning. Another valuable lesson learned, no matter how fun the trip may be.

This was an elaborate feeder for the goats... you put food in a bucket and pulley it up with a rope to the goat waiting above. Kinda wierd, but it was funny watching the goat hop up there.

Bryce was a good boy - but the stroller tends to tick them off after a while. He's really starting to look a lot more like Jake did at his age.

I'm doing my best to smile here but I had just scraped my forehead on the corner of the roof before we took this picture... more injuries to come...

Check out that happy smile Jacob has... haha. This was the last stop of the day.

Jake loves the computer - we lock the touch pad and put a video on so he thinks he is doing something. He's looking at the blog here... He is just getting big enough to sit on the stools and it cracks us up to see him on there.

The boys just before bed time...

Bryce is so stiff and strong, he never seems to relax even when he's laying down. So we say that "he is small but he is fierce"

Good night kiss from big brother

From sleepy...

...to scared. Poor Brycers

Jake always finds a silly way to sit when he is getting sleepy... this was one of many.

Our little finger chomper - hands in the mouth 90% of the time.

Censored for your viewing...

... this was just a random shot while Jake was punching the balloon.

Jake had just enough time to give Scout a little tug here while he was going crazy with this balloon.

Saying goodnight to the balloon... so sad.

This was the summer of weddings for us... here is Abby at yet another bachelorette party with her friends.

And finally... the Lions game. I sold 305 tickets for GM to raise money for breast cancer. Despite the fact that the Lions are the worst team in NFL history, we all had a lot of fun. A lot of our friends were able to come with us.

Sidebar - doesn't Ryan Kunc look like Spencer Pratt from the hills here... too funny.

Lions game tickets: $50

Tailgating Supplies: $50

Breaking your leg on the walk back to the car: Priceless

So I have a severe high ankle sprain, spiral fracture in my fibula, and torn meniscus in my knee that will require major surgery. All from rolling my ankle on the edge of curb and falling very awkwardly. It will be a Lions game I will always remember... Funny how these things happen walking down a sidewalk - but not in all the football games I have played in. At least Jacob has some fun new toys to play with.

And last but not least - cornhulio! Hope everyone is doing well - take care.

Long time, no post, again...

2009-09-17T19:24:00.012-04:00

Hey everyone - sorry it has been a long time again. We have been busy... Jake is working on talking, learning about 5 new words a day. He is quite the handful, but we love the many laughs he gives us. Bryce is going through his chubby phase, gives us the cutest smiles, and loves to snuggle. I turned 30 in late August. And no, Abby is not pregnant... for the first time in a long time. Here are some pics from mid-summer. Many more to come-

4th of July at our house

Our first camping trip... Jake loved going out on the boat and especially driving. He did so good walking around the boat that I thought I would do a little fishing. Abby was busy holding Bryce, but I figured Jake would be fine. He reached for a little rope on the side of the motor and leaned over the edge - he fell in face first right next to the motor. I don't know what was more scary - seeing Jake fall into and diving in to get him, or facing Abby's wrath when we got back in the boat! I guess both are experiences I won't soon forget! He was fine though. The camping was much better, and both boys slept well in the tent. Jake and I made a sand castle at the beach while mama cooled off.

We took a trip to Ohio to see Abby's family there. It was a blast.

They made sure it was lots of fun for the kids.

Jake's little bear blanket.

Jake and Bryce Video Montage

2009-06-30T15:45:00.003-04:00

Here's a short video montage of Jake and Bryce.

Second Anniversary

2009-06-30T13:02:00.008-04:00

Yesterday marks our second anniversary. It is crazy that we have 2 boys already in these two short years! We are so thankful for them though. Abby and I have a had a wonderful start to our marriage, and have learned a lot about each other and how we tick. Like any other couple we have had our moments, but overall we are best friends and really have fun together all the time. To celebrate we decided to go to Splash Village with the boys... not exactly a romantic getaway, but we figure that starting next year we will be able to go somewhere by ourselves (hopefully back to Cabo), so it would be fun to take the whole family this time. Before we left we went to Sydney's birthday party (our neice). I take pride in being a great gift giver, and we seemed to have done well again. We bought her a slip and slide, water baloons, and some squirt guns. That was all the kids played with for the rest of the party. Jake wasn't too crazy about the cold water from the hose, but he jumped right in with his cousins. We are a little water logged from our weekend at the beach, on the slip and slide, and then to the waterpark... but Jacob loved it. Bryce cries when you first put him in the water usually, but he seems to really like it too after getting used to the water temperature. Jacob was fearless at Splash Village, even taking some trips down a small water slide by himself. No pushing either, he just scoots his way to the edge and goes for it. We were proud of him. He is our little independent guy now, always looking for his chance to escape and explore. It is fun to watch him go, but it can be exhausting chasing him all over the place. Here are some pics from the weekend:

Jake brushing his teeth before bed... he was so excited to be there that he didn't go to bed until about 12:30 a.m! We were so happy about that after a very long day!

Bryce loved the water swing...

Jake's first trip down the water slide by himself...

Jake took a snooze on the lazy river with me for about an hour.

Found him on the table after leaving the room for about 10 seconds at grandma's house.

Summer Catch Up

2009-06-27T18:44:00.013-04:00

We're sorry for not blogging in a while. We have been really busy with the boys, but I guess you just get in a funk about doing it once a certain amount of time passes. We want to keep up with it for the boys so they can look back on it when they older, and of course for our millions of subscribers... haha.
So anyways, we are doing very good. I am layed off from work for 6 weeks (only 2 more to go) but have been very blessed in spite of the challenge. I receive 75% of my pay while I am off, which is nice, and to make up for the rest God has provided a lot of roofing opportunities for me. The first job in itself was enough money to cover the missing income, so we have really been thankful for the opportunities. Abby has been able to stay at home now, which disappointed her friends at work... but we both really wanted her to be able to stay at home with the kids. It is awesome to see how things work out, even in this economy! We are getting much more involved in the church, Abby works in the nursery, I teach the youth group Sunday lessons from time to time, and we both are on a committee for our young married class. I play softball on Mondays, and our team is undefeated. I was even nominated for a possible position as a deacon, but I have passed on it for this term as we are so busy with the boys and I wasn't quite comfortable taking that step just yet. As the old Sunday School song goes... "God's still working on me." But I took that as a nice compliment.

The boys are incredible. I love being able to be around them so much this summer - and Abby likes it most of the time... haha. Jacob is 14 1/2 months old now and is really growing fast. I am pretty sure the following pictures will surprise you since you haven't seen him in 2 months. His list of latest achievements includes climbing on the couch by himself (and everything else he can climb on or in), brushing his teeth, babbling all day long and a lot of it actually starting to make sense, touching door knobs (thankfully not opening them yet), going down slides by himself, eating everything, climbing the stairs in about 10 seconds, screwing on bottle caps and saying "yeah," etc... One other thing is his sudden love for stuffed animals and snuggling. Jake almost always sleeps now with a stuffed animal under each arm, and he hugs and kisses them. It cracks us up. Bryce has really been changing too as little babies do. Bryce is 3 months old now. He looks a lot like Jacob did, and has caught up in size since his small beginnings. Bryce is much more alert to his surroundings and is starting to give us some really good smiles. He still has problems with acid reflux and throws up a lot, but Jake did the same thing. They are both really healthy overall. Although we have not been blogging, we have been taking a lot of pictures, so here are a bunch from our last 2 months. Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

Jake loves the tractor at my parents house

These were taken at our nephew Braden's graduation party

What can I say, he takes after his mother...

Here's a turtle I found crossing our yard to lay her eggs

Jake is the king of being silly, so we knew he'd like this

This was the big roof I did (2 of my cousins helped me out) 43 Squares of fun!

This was the last day on the job (9 days later)

Our flowers are looking great this year...

...and we replaced the tree again since the first replacement died.

We made out well in some garage sales to get the boys some toys for the backyard

Jake loves reading his books finally - he used to just eat them

This is what happens when you leave Jake alone with a pudding cup...

Jake is very sweet to Bryce, always giving him kisses

This is his "what did I do" pose

Scout is very "familiar" with Jake now

Bryce is getting chubby

Jake is preparing to "powerbomb" Scout's head here... thank God Scout is a very patient and sweet dog!

Jake climbs in or on anything he can... usually stuff we never thought he could have

Too big... but we had to show him of course.

Bryce's first time in the jumper... he didn't seem impressed.

Gotta love them... Abby found Jacob like this after she took Bryce up to change his diaper. Jake took his diaper off and got cozy in front of the TV this morning.

We went to one of the local beaches here today at Lake Fenton.

First trip to zoo with the boys

2009-04-26T18:11:00.007-04:00

We had a great time taking the boys to the zoo yesterday, until the thunderstorms came in that is. Jacob's favorite DVD is a baby einstein San Diego Zoo video. The Detroit Zoo is a little run down like the city, but it was good enough. He loves the animals, so we thought he would get a kick out of going to the zoo. It took him a minute to realize what was going on, but once he saw the first animals he caught on quick. Here are some pics-

Jake's favorite animal is the tiger, and this guy gave us a good show jumping from rock to rock and into his swimming hole.

Mama showing Jake the snow monkeys

Checking out the random peacocks running around

These rhinos were my favorite... they chased each other around for about 10 minutes. I had no idea how fast and powerful they were.

Merkat exhibit

Grizzly bear with toe nails like abby... haha.

Bryce after the thunderstorm

Mama and Jake after getting wet... we had to run to the food court, which was pretty funny since we both had flip flops on.

Snow Fox

Seal exhibit

The underwater walkway was a lot for Jake to take in at first, but he liked it.

Our soggy family after the zoo at our nephew Joshua's 3rd birthday party.

Our Silly Guy

2009-04-26T16:10:00.010-04:00

Jacob continues to explore new things around the house. He cracks us up usually, but we are starting to get into the defiant stage as he has proven to be rather stubborn. Here are some more pics of Jake being silly around the house.

Bryce is doing great. He has gained a pound in his first month, and is becoming very alert now. He is just about out of his preemie clothes now.

We have some temporary end tables from Abby's mom and Jacob was quick to explore how he could go inside the doors and sit in the magazine rack. He accomplished this in less than 10 seconds as I went to the garage to get some tools.

The garage was beginning to make me sick with stuff scattered everywhere, so I spent last saturday afternoon building these shelfs to help us get more organized.

Bryce is happy here - he just spit up on my chest a few seconds before. Nice kid huh?

Cousin Sydney

Jacob "jibber jabbers" constantly now. He is very expressive with his hands, as you will see in many pics below. He just rambled with me for 5 straight minutes while I was typing this.

Wrastlin' with uncle Steve

Great-Grandma Hunkin

Super-little-man

Typical mac-n-cheese supper

Cute little sleeper...

Discovering the fridge...

...and the cantelope in it.

I put his jammie bottoms on his head, which he obviously loved... poor kid.

We think he looks like a little pirate here.

The other end table is fun too...

Jacob's 1st Birthday

2009-04-14T21:18:00.007-04:00

We had a great Easter Sunday celebrating Jacob's Birthday. It was also the first time we brought Bryce to church. There are a lot of pics, so I will keep it short. But we wanted to thank our entire familyfor making it such a special day for Jacob, especially my folks for hosting 28 people. We love all you guys-

Jake's Easter morning bath with his new tub toys

Dropping him off at the toddler nursery for the first time... he loves being around other kids.

He's the youngest one in the nursery, but he is a big boy as you can see.

My cousin Ally and her brother Beau were visiting from Tennessee

My little cousin John-John loves picking up Jacob

Morgan, Hanna, John, Sydney, and Josh

Uncle Steve-O

Everyone was hoping I would trip here... for $10,000 on AFV I should've staged it

The first bite (handful) of cake

Too bad he didn't like it...

Adult piece of cake demolished in under 2 minutes

The throw away easter outfit...

Mom and Dad's house

Walking off that cake

Grandpa Stew

Jake was given this nice wagon and lots of other cool gifts... I tried to get him to cry for the TV... but Grandpa wasn't having it

Sydney and Bryce

Morgan taking Jake for a ride in his new wagon

Jacob eating his first b-day cake

2009-04-14T20:39:00.003-04:00

Hanging Around the House

2009-04-14T17:02:00.007-04:00

I had to post some pics from Saturday before I did one for Jacob's B-day. We were just hanging around the house all day and had some fun playing with Jacob. He definately keeps us entertained-

Jake loves daddy's glasses - especially taking them off my face and dropping them...

Just lounging around in his birthday seat

Fighting another nap...

Trying to get my shoes

Trying to bite Mama's stinky toes...

... and then paying the price for it.

Jacob going into destructo-mode as we call it.

No place is too tight or too small once Jacob gets his eye on an electrical cord. How he even got in here we don't know...

... this is his "I just got caught" face...

... this is his explanation face.

Scout was a victim of the new glasses as well.

Snugglin mama by the fire...

More mischief...

... and his new favorite trick - climbing on everything.

Jacob Swinging Outside

2009-04-10T17:47:00.006-04:00

The snow melted yesterday and with the sun shining Jacob, Scout and I went for a walk and played outside. I put his swing up in the tree for a while, which he liked doing for the first time. Jacob's birthday is easter Sunday, so we are gearing up for that. We are having the party at my mom and dad's house because 28 family members are coming. Nobody loves the little guy I guess... It will be a lot of fun to be able to play with him outside this summer, but as I expected he heads straight for the pond. The grounds slopes downward all around the pond too, so he wouldn't be able to stop even if he wanted to. We will have to keep a close eye on him when we are outside. I was considering using the electric dog collar, but Abby has some objections to that... something about abuse she said. Anyways, we can't believe how fast time has flown by with Jacob. We took some time today to look back at our posts, and we are glad that we will have this site to show Jacob when he is older. Bryce is doing really good - his jaundice is almost all gone, and he hasn't shown many signs of the acid reflux giving him any trouble. We love having the two boys home, but it sure has altered our sleep patterns once again. One baby crying wakes up the other, and before you know it one of us is up until 3:00 in the morning... and not always Abby - I have done it once or twice... haha. Well, Happy Easter everyone. Enjoy the time with your families and remember what Easter is all about... easter eggs, bunnies and candy right? Take care-

Oh yeah, I am turning 30 this year, and my age is starting to show. I had to get glasses last week. The eye doctor was curious as to what caused the trauma he found in my left eye... when we were at Taylor the football guys had the stupid habit of yelling out someone's name and throwing an apple, orange, or other object at their face. If you know me, you would know that I would never had participated in such a barbaric game. Anyways, so as retribution for a nicely aimed bannana to the head, John Jenkins (Quarterback) threw a bottle of hot sauce at my face. I was taking a drink out of a glass when it exploded in my hand. I piece of glass got in that eye and tore it up. So thanks QB Jenks for causing me to need sexy specs. I also burned that eye playing semi-pro football when they lined the field with lime and I rubbed the sweat out of my eyes with lime covered gloves on. Lime is a base and I can tell you how painful base burns are... lime is the stuff you put in your septic tank to neutralize all the good stuff in them. I hate wearing glasses, especially the safety ones at work. But the doctor told me my left eye was going to be "lazy" if I don't wear them. Not wanting to be the guy with the lazy eye, I guess I will have to suck it up and wear them.

This was the beginning of a great battle between Jacob and Scout for a stick.

A little break in the action when a second stick was discovered.

Jacob claiming victory after the battle!

GM-Segway "Puma"

2009-04-10T14:18:00.003-04:00

This is a new city vehicle that may go into production in a partnership between GM and Segway. I don't know how practical it would be, but it is kinda cool. It goes 35 mph, and is battery powered. The two wheel balance technology is really impressive though. Here's a video showing the Puma in the New York City streets.

GM Message About the Bridge Loans

2009-04-09T07:26:00.003-04:00

I am not sure how all of you feel about GM, but since I work for them I thought I would share this video. It explains what GM is doing to try and recover, and how they will be using the government money. If you don't know much about GM or maybe have had a bad impressions, you will find this video informative. The media and car magazines have historically been very unfair with GM, but in spite of this, GM is finally getting some recognition for making some of the best vehicles in the world. Public and consumer confidence and perception are fragile things, and GM is starting to break down the false conception that foreign companies like Toyata, Honda, etc... make better cars. You would be surprised to see how many categories GM and Ford lead in over the foreign competitors - especially in recalls and warranty work. So if you drive a foreign car or are looking for a new one, check this video out. Thanks-

Bryce's Homecoming

2009-04-06T10:36:00.006-04:00

We finally were able to take Bryce home yesterday afternoon! He is over 6 lbs now, and is eating his milk well. He does have reflux, but so far it does not seem too severe... mostly hiccups. Jacob had some interesting reactions to bringing Bryce home... jealousy revealed through temper tantrums. But that was somewhat expected - although we had hoped he might have been young enough not to have those feelings... no such luck. In his defense he was overly tired yesterday, and he has been our superstar for a year. He turns 1 next Sunday, so we are excited for Jacob's 1st bithday party. Here are some pics from the past few days-

An early birthday present - "Cars" chair and bed w/ sleeping bag. He doesn't even know what "Cars" is yet, but he likes it. Like everything else right now, he calls his chair "da da."

This was Bryce on Saturday.

The three amigos!

It looks like a marshmallow, but it is a cap to a bottle. He loves them for some odd reason, which is of course very dangerous due to the choking hazard. We were living on the edge to keep him happy I guess in this moment.

The first stare down...

Our "bundle of joy"' in the car seat for the first time.

Scout's introduction to Bryce went well. Scout immediately went into protection mode - coming over to us every time the baby made a peep to make sure we knew, and laying on the floor below Bryce wherever we put him. It was cute.

Three Sleepy Musketeers

Jacob is a handful usually, and won't lay on you unless he is absolutely spent... so this behavior was very unusual. I tried to put him down and he came right back to me and cried until I picked him up. He never does that... in fact he always does the opposite and wants to run around and play. It was cute, even though it was jealous behavior.

Here's Jacob in his "Cars" jammies. We love when he gets in his jammies and goes wild before bedtime. He has a few trouble spots in the living room like the DVD player and the gate in front of the firplace. We learned very quickly last night how having 2 boys and a young dog will change everything for us. So much for relaxing!

Jacob's favorite game is chase. I tell him I'm gonna get him and he takes off running and laughing hysterically. I go and hide behind one of the couches, but he doesn't know which one. As he walks between them I jump out and tickle him. He could do this all day. We love how he cracks up. He has also learned a hilarious growl now too from his cousin Josh, and he knows how to use it. I can get him to growl even when we are in different rooms because he loves to copy me. This was a shot of him as he was running by me.

Jacob's New Room & Bryce Update

2009-04-02T22:33:00.006-04:00

We have had a lot of time on our hands these past 2 weeks while we were both off from work. So I had time to finish Jacob's new room. Bryce will get Jacob's old nursery - old by 11 months anyways. We had fun decorating the room - and by we I mean me of course.... I know you women know what "we" means when you are talking to your husband about getting something done. Anyways, here are some pics of his new room - still needs a few more things and don't mind the strange lady in the photo frames... Abby wants glamor shots of the boys! haha

So, the doctor broke our hearts again today. We thought we were taking Bryce home tonight once again, but he had another heart-rate alarm this morning. That was the bad news. The good news is that they don't think Bryce is alarming because of Sleep Apnea, but rather Acid Reflux. If he alarms again they are going to put him on anti-reflux medicine, watch him for a day or two and then release him. If no more alarms, we will be able to take him home on Sun or Mon - but will probably have our pediatrician put him on anti-reflux medicine anyways. We are both so excited to take him home, but also nervous that he may have a problem while sleeping and we wouldn't know about it. So we are continuing to try to be patient and just wait for the right time to take him home. Thanks for all the prayers, nice comments, and cards that we have been given these past 10 days. Bryce continues to gain weight daily and is feeding well. He still has some jaundice, but nothing that has to be treated. My parents came to the hospital tonight to visit with Jacob and Bryce. Here are some new pics from tonight. Have a good weekend everyone-

Debbie Downer...

2009-03-30T22:54:00.003-04:00

Today was a sad day for us. We were hoping to take Bryce home today, but he broke another heart rate alarm earlier in the morning, so it could be as many as five more days until we can take him home. His heart rate dropped for ten seconds, and they had to jostle him to get the heart rate back up. Of course we want the best care for him, but it sure is hard to leave him in that hospital everyday. He seems so alone in that nursery every time we come. The most frustrating thing is that no one will give us a straight answer on when he can come home. On the bright side, he is doing better everyday, and has gained weight consistently for 3 days now. We know it is in God's hands, so we will have to wait for His perfect timing. It is just hard to wait for such a precious little guy. Thanks for every one's prayers and please continue praying for Bryce.

Bryce Update

2009-03-27T21:58:00.005-04:00

It has been a long week preparing for Bryce to come home. We have had lots of help from family getting the house ready and watching Jacob. Abby has been making several trips a day to the hospital to feed little Bryce. He has been doing great. He gets more and more alert every day, and has been feeding well. All that feeding leads to one thing... and he got me good today while I was changing his diaper. He loves me so much that he did both kinds on me. Needless to say I spanked him immediately... haha. Gotta love being a parent. We are just happy that he is healthy. We are hoping to take him home next Monday. It is amazing how big Jacob seems to us now after having Bryce. He went with us to the hospital this morning, but he has only seen Bryce once because Jacob has been sick. Here are some pics from today:

Jacob was flirting with one of the nurses outside of the nursery here...

Sitting in the stroller was too boring, so he took the stroller for a stroll...

Proud papa feeding the little guy

Checking out daddy with those blue eyes

He has a lot of soft blonde hair

And blonde eyebrows too

That binky really shows you how small he is right now...

Visitation Day

2009-03-24T19:14:00.008-04:00

We had a busy day today on the phone with friends and family, and hosting lots of visitors at the hospital. It is so nice to have so much family and friends around the area. Our awesome neighbors, the Wood family, have been taking care of our dog Scout and were there for us last night to watch Jacob as we rushed off to the hospital. Bryce has slept most of the day, and is doing great. He is still feeding through an I-V but is getting stronger and responding well to the "skin' time with Abby. He is a beautiful boy, and just can't wait until we can take him home. So far so good, but we would appreciate everyones prayers for Bryce over the next week or so. Abby has recovered wonderfully, and is looking great. Jacob spent most of day entertaining everyone at the hospital by roaming the hallways. He is a true adventurer, poking his head into everyone's room and gabbing "DaDa" if we didn't stop him in time. He lit right up when he first saw Bryce. We can't wait to see the boys interact as they get older. Here are some pics from our visitors today:

Grandma Franz

Ryan Slocum

Grandpa Stewart

Grandma Stewart

Great-Grandma Gray

Aunt Gretchen

Aunt Holly

Amanda Lang

Nick Lang

Surprise!!! Bryce James Stewart has arrived...

2009-03-24T01:37:00.005-04:00

Wow, what a night. We took Jacob to Urgent Care around 8:00 pm for a high fever. We came home and Abby started feeling contractions. We made a mad dash to the hospital and made it by 10:00 pm. To our great surprise, she was fully dialated when we got there! Bryce James Stewart was delivered at 11:00 pm... one hour later. He was 5 weeks early, so we were very surprised. Bryce is 5 lbs 15 ounces and 18.5 inches long. A little peanut compared to Jacob! But thank the Lord, Bryce is completely healthy. He will have to stay in the hospital nursery for at least a week, so we will have to wait to take him home. Here are some pics:

New Jacob Video Montage

2009-03-18T20:40:00.008-04:00

We have been having so much fun with Jacob these past two months as he has been growing up so fast. Here is a short movie I put together to share some of our funny moments with you. (It's about 6 1/2 minutes long, but lots of videos combined.... it's a must see!)

Back to the blogging... sorry it took so long!

2009-03-12T17:52:00.011-04:00

Well, Jacob is 11 months old now. In the last month he has changed more than ever. He has 4 teeth and he knows how to use them. He went from stair climbing to crawling to walking and now almost running! He can eat just about anything now - and while he will put everything in his mouth once, he has been surprisingly picky when it comes to eating good food. Baby proofing the house has taken on a whole new meaning - he is quite the escape artist. He gabs all day, mostly saying DaDa - which I thought was awesome, until I realized he calls everything DaDa. He has a whole new awareness for our dog Scout, and plays cat and mouse with him... even when Scout isn't playing. He also loves Scout's dog food, more than Scout. What's more, Jacob loves to feed Scout from his high chair - so Scout is glued to his chair now everytime we feed Jacob. He loves music and animals - and has some pretty sweet dance moves and head bobs when either of the two are around. Jacob has learned to give high fives and does what we call "ET" - he holds his finger up and touches mine... very cool. We had a serious battle and many sleepless nights getting him to sleep in his crib again after we let him sleep in our bed when he was sick. We are about one month away from having our second son, Bryce James Stewart - and we can't wait to have another little buddy in the house to love on.

Well here are a ton of pictures to catch up on. This first set are pics of Jacob playing and getting into mischief.

He loves turning the TV on and off - which was very cute... the first time.

On this night we went to Saganos - a Japanese steak house - with some good friends for a birthday party. They cook all the food in front of you and keep it very entertaining. Jacob had his first pieces of steak that night.

Jacob with Nick, Amanda, and Alex Lang

Like I said before, we had a very hard time getting Jacob to sleep in his crib, so here are a few examples of the kind of naps he was taking.

When Jacob's teeth came out he really became interested in his tongue. He twists it around and sticks it out all the time.

Another funny thing is Jacob's index finger. He points at everything, and almost always that little finger sticking out. We're just glad it was the index finger... haha.

Here's our wild-man in the crib. He always has a huge burst of energy right before he gets tired enough for bed. He took a big fall reaching for those stuffed animals.

Jacob learned to climb the stairs before he could crawl. He can go up the stairs in less than a minute now - and he always tries to do it. It has also been the place where he has taken the hardest falls, usually after deciding to turn around and come back down.

We have a bunch of new videos that we will post in the next few weeks, so check back in. Hope everyone is doing well - and for the Northern families... spring is almost here! We had snow on the ground for all but 3 days this entire winter!

Jacob getting into mischief

2009-01-18T20:00:00.006-05:00

We have been having a blast with Jacob, but as we have said he is a handful now that he is mobile. Abby has caught him in the act with the video camera a few times lately. Here are a few clips we threw together. Enjoy!

New Toy Box

2009-01-17T11:39:00.010-05:00

After Jacob's first Christmas we started experiencing the overwhelming joy of having a cluttered house. We thought we could just move a few things to store in the basement that he no longer plays with, but the sad fact is that this kid has a lot of toys. I love to build things, so while I had some days at home I decided to build Jacob a toy box to match his nursery furniture, and help us get organized again. It took a few days, but it turned out really nice. It has caster wheels hidden on the bottom for easy movement and strong friction spring hinges to avoid any ouchy fingers. He loves the long sturdy side and lid handles that give him something else to hold onto when he is going on another stroll. Jacob can clearly walk and stand on his own now, but is yet to gain the courage to just let go. We are in no hurry to get him walking as the mobile crawling phase has been taxing enough.

Thanks to everyone who voted on the names - we agree that Bryce James Stewart will most likely be the name of our next son this April. And thank you to everyone for your nice comments concerning Abby's father. The funeral was very special. The patriot guard came and held up American flags lining the entrance to the church, enduring 10 degree weather and high winds. It was a nice way to enter the church, although most people were choked up after walking through their awesome display. The PGR is the group that was formed to stop the despicable protesting at funerals for veterans. I am sure you have all heard about them on the news from the past few summers. Over 300 of Thoms's friends and family came, and was a great tribute to the man that Thom was.

In memory of Thomas Franz 1946-2009

2009-01-05T18:30:00.012-05:00

On Sunday morning we received a phone call from Marty, Abby's mom. She told us that Thom had awaken this morning and was unresponsive. The families all gathered at their house to be with Thom. He made a few gestures that he was comfortable and that he knew we were there. We took turns talking to him, and listening to one another throughout the morning. The congregations of the three churches our families are members of were all praying for Thom and the Franz family at their morning Sunday services. Thom slipped away to paradise at 1:00 p.m. that afternoon. Although his death was not sudden, it was all too soon. Thom was 62.

Thom was diagnosed in August of 2006 with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." He had been having symptoms since 2003, but as ALS is difficult to diagnose, he had to undergo many tests at many clinics and hospitals to discover it. ALS is a disease that degenerates the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movements. The muscles weaken and begin to atrophy. It is not known definitively how the disease is contracted, but in Thom's case it was more than likely due to exposure he endured during the Vietnam War. Thom served in the 1st Air Cavalry Army Division and fought in the war from October 1968-December 1969. There is no cure, and it is almost always fatal. Thom traveled to Washington D.C. in March of 2008 to speak in front of congress as an advocate for Veteran benefits for ALS. The bill was passed and the benfits are now being paid to thousands of ALS diagnosed veterans. An alarming number of our veterans from World War II to the Gulf War have been diagnosed with ALS. Our local news did a story on Thom just a few months ago to raise awareness of the disease.

One of my fondest memories of Thom was the night I went to see him and Marty to ask for their permission to marry Abby. After babbling on to fill any awkward silence, Thom interrupted me and asked "if there was something I wanted to ask them or if I was going to beat around the bush all night!" It was classic, and he was right on as usual. Thom was the best father-in-law I could have asked for. He was a man who was direct, and lived a life of integrity. His iron clad friendships were evidence of that. It could be said that Thom enjoyed some of his best times in the past few years, despite suffering from ALS. He led a bible study with a group of men, where his courage and selflessness inspired many of them. He was constantly on the go, never allowing his limitations to interfere with enjoying life. Dinner with friends one night, a stroll down the local walking path the next afternoon - followed up with a trip to the movies with a group of his buddies. Many people would feel self-pity and anguish after being diagnosed with ALS. But not Thom. In Thom's own words he saw it as "a blessing that arrived in an unexpected package." Like Job, Thom never questioned "Why or Why me?" He embraced ALS as God's will for his life, and made the best of everything. He experienced some amazing things because of his illness, surrendering himself to the things that really matter in life. What an awesome and inspiring man he was in my life. We are comforted in knowing he is walking again in heaven today. He leaves behind his wife, four daughters, and 6 grandchildren. He will be sorely missed, but the memories of Thom Franz will live on. Below are some photos of Thom that show a small glimpse of his life.

Thom with Abby before a highschool dance

Thom with the family in the early 90's. They moved to Michigan in 1984, but were originally from Ohio. Marty actually worked in the hospital that I was born in.

Thom was always willing to give a helping hand. He spent several days with me helping me paint our house before the wedding. This was extrodinarily hard, but he insisted on helping in spite of his difficulties.

Thom with his three grandaughters Sydney, Hanna, and Morgan

Thom walking Abby down the aisle at our rehersal

thom toasting and saying a prayer at our wedding

Practice makes perfect...

Proud mother and father of the bride

The ALS Walk at Belle Isle

Thom holding Jacob right after his birth

Thom with Jacob at his first church service - Thom and Marty became members of our church in early 2008

Thom getting silly at the Shupbach's for Josh's birthday

Thom fishing with Sydney down the road from their house. I used to fish in this pond as a boy before their condos were built there.

Thom with his grandson Josh

Thom and Jacob enjoying a July 4th party at our house

Thom's pillow case of all the grandkids

Jacob with grandpa on Christmas morning

The Franz Family Christmas Picture 2008

Frankenmuth with the Family

2009-01-02T21:23:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone,
We hope you all had an awesome Christmas and New Years. We had a good time with our family. My only complaint was that awful roof that I decided to do during the cold, snowy, icy, and windy last 2 weeks. I finally finished it yesterday and no one got hurt. It took 9 working days - I estimated for 4 days! I have done about 150 roofs now, and this one was the worst... by far.

So last Monday my family met up at Frankenmuth for lunch. Frankenmuth is a unique German town nearby that has really good food and lots of cool stuff for the kids to do. The whole entire town is German themed - the employees even wear lederhosen. My brother and his family were still in town, so my grandma, parents, and uncle Tom's family all came. Abby had to work, so I came with Jacob. Here are some of the pics:

Jacob sucking down a noodle from my soup

Halie, Gavin, and John enjoyed taking Jacob for some laps around the restaurant - this is by far Jacob's favorite thing to do lately. He wears us out at home making laps around the house. We FEAR that he will be walking very soon.

We stopped for a picture under one of the many Christmas trees

I guess I should feed him more! This was really cute though - he just loved his cousin Landon. Everytime he got near him he would try to bite or kiss him. That is my brother Tim holding Jacob.

Jacob checking out his 2 new teeth with Aunt Angela

Jacob hates it when I take him to new heights... I am that dad who likes to scare people by throwing my son in the air and holding him up with one hand. He really does love it though. I have to get him ready for roofing in the Michigan winters...

All the kiddos in a sleigh

Halie was starting to grow tired of the photos here...

The whole family

This is the Bavarian Inn where we ate - our wedding reception was right down the road.

Jacob's 1st christmas!

2008-12-26T14:26:00.009-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone. We enjoyed a lot of good times with our families. Christmas eve we went to church and then to my grandma's house for dinner and some early presents. Christmas morning we went to Abby's parents house and spent the day with the family. We ended the night at my parents house where my brother and his family are visiting from Tennessee. Jacob was such a good boy both days, and did pretty good opening up presents... except the paper and ribbons were more fun to him than the gifts themselves. Here are some pics from our last few days. I am in a wedding tomorrow, so the crazy holiday schedule will continue... but it is nice to be off of work. I have 3 weeks off! Happy holidays to everyone, we can't wait to share more of our life with you in 2009. Thanks to everyone for getting us involved in the blog world. We have really enjoyed catching up with some long lost friends.

Jacob and his cousin Hayden sitting with my mom on Christmas Eve

Jacob and my DadJacob loves other kids - especially his cousin Landon. He is trying to give him a kiss - or bite his nose... you never know

My brother's family: Tim, Angela, Gavin, Halie, Landon, and Hayden

One of Scout's Christmas presents to chew on

Scout loving the snow

Jacob's Christmas morning bath

Grandpa Franz - this was a pillow case of all his grandchildren

Jake and I with Uncle Steve and Cousin Josh

Jacob's 1st present - right in the mouth of course

He actually unwrapped most of them

The ball popper - he loves this one

Jacob loves driving Grandpa's chair

The polar express train...

Jacob loved this

With my nieces pink hat on I took the kids to play in the snow...

This was the tunnel we built

Jacob the builder with his cousin Landon

Gavin and Halie - Gavin is only 9 years old and is up to the middle of my chest already. He is going to be very tall! His daddy is 6'5".

Jacob and Hayden in their "Handsome" sleepers

Jacob looking like a little wrestler They are going to be good buddies - Jake is only 2 months older than Hayden

Me and the boys

Moving on up...

2008-12-10T17:59:00.005-05:00

Jacob has been growing so fast that we can hardly keep up - whether larger diapers, clothes, shoes, bottles... or just keeping an eye on him now that he's crawling. He is very strong, and likes nothing more than walking around the house while you hold his fingers. He can stand up on his own if he has something to pull himself up with, and is so fearless that he will take a few steps toward a certain crash if we don't catch him. So this was how Abby found Jacob the other day in his crib. He actually had a foot up on the railing just about to fall out when she first came in. Needless to say my first chore last night was to lower the mattress in Jacob's crib. Here are some pics from a re-enacted escape attempt.

Scout's new favorite napping spot.

Getting ready for Christmas

2008-12-06T15:14:00.006-05:00

We are getting prepared for Christmas as I am sure all of you are. Jacob is crawling all over the place, especially towards our Christmas tree. We put the tree up and all the outdoor lights last weekend. We have had snow 6 times this year already, and right now we have about 6 inches. Global warming has yet to reach Michigan I guess... or anywhere else for that matter. Jacob has definately cut his nap schedule down, but in return he tends to fall asleep in cute places, sometimes while playing. We just love how he snuggles up to us. Abby's favorite thing is how Jacob crosses his feet when he is sleeping. Here are some pics from the past few weeks.

Poor Scout has injured his paw and has used this injury to pusuade us to let him sleep on the "good" pillow. How could we resist?

Our first present of the year under the tree.

He's just showing off here...

Yes, he is actually flying! He will dive for any electrical cord he can find. We definately have to keep are eyes on him at all times now that he is mobile.

If you can't see them in this picture, I lined the entire roof, chimney, porch, and garage with white lights again this year. Due to the early snow it made for an interesting time on the roof, but I was able to get it done without taking a fall. My neighbors all call me Clark Griswald! But I love doing it. I am actually planning on doing a roof next week down in Dearborn... doesn't give me that warm and fuzzy feeling to say the least!Happy Holidays everyone! Thanks for visiting our site.

Jacob Laughing at Scout

2008-11-23T00:07:00.004-05:00

Jacob has always loved Scout. Lately he has started cracking up whenever Scout does anything. Here's a clip with Abby and I getting Scout to jump up on us.

Jacob Tries to Crawl

2008-11-22T23:32:00.002-05:00

Jacob is almost crawling. We just love watching him figure it out a little more each day. We are trying to entice him with his toys. Here's a short clip of him trying.

Big Scream

2008-11-22T21:32:00.007-05:00

Jacob is always so full of energy. In this video he is playing with a Leap Frog stand and play and lets out a big scream.

Our Little Pooh Bear

2008-11-05T20:18:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone! It was quite exciting celebrating our first Halloween with Jake. Jim and I went to Babies R Us to look for a costume and Jim saw one that he wanted to get him right away. We jokingly agreed he resembles Pooh Bear so we thought it would be the perfect costume for him. Of course it ended up being about 70 degrees that day, so he got a little warm bundled up in his little costume. Anyways, we took some cute pictures that we thought we'd share with you! We hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween.

We gave him a taste of what Halloween is all about!

"Oh bother" Apparently Halloween is a little overrated for Jake.

All of the children ready for some treats!

Here's his 9 month costume that was just a little snug!

Me and my little Pooh Bear

Apple Orchard

2008-10-25T20:31:00.004-04:00

Today we finally made it to Spicer's apple orchard. It was cold and windy, so we couldn't stay outside too much since Jacob is getting over a cold. We love their honeycrisp apples, donuts, cider, honey, and kettle corn. Jacob has been eating baby food now for a week and loves most of it. I gave him his first bite of a donut at the orchard. Today we bought some biter biscuits, and Jacob absolutely loved it. They are messy - but it kept him busy in his highchair for quite a while. Jacob will be trick or treating as pooh bear, so we are excited for that. I hope the weather gets a little better in Michigan this week or he will be going as a polar bear. It is almost as cold as our economy here! Have a great week-

Jacob making leaps and bounds

2008-10-21T19:05:00.006-04:00

Jacob is really changing every single day. He is eating baby food, and showing signs that he will be crawling any day now. The doctor says he is going to be "very tall." That isn't much of a surprise to us, but it is surprising to actually see him grow so fast. We are amazed at each new ability he discovers. He is bouncing back on his heals, almost crawling, and then timber... he falls to his forehead and just stays there for a while. His laughter and baby talk melt us instantly. He has mastered every fake fart noise you can imagine, vibrating his lips all the time. That really gets us going. He will sit and read a book with us in amazement now instead of just trying to eat the pages. We are very blessed to have had such a wonderful experience thus far. Other than a chest cold and a clogged tear duct he has been perfectly healthy. Here are a bunch of pics from the last week or two. I hope everyone is having a great week. Take care-

Grandma Gray's 80th Birthday

2008-10-06T16:51:00.008-04:00

This past weekend we celebrated my Grandma Gray's 80th birthday. She has lived quite a life. My mom put together a scrap book of pictures and cards from all of her friends from all over the world. Cards came from Switzerland, Germany, Israel, all over the US, and even one from President Bush! Some of her friends were able to make it so we had a feast at Frankenmuth. Frankenmuth is a very unique German town here in Michigan. It is one of her favorite places to go. I was able to hi-jack two huge crates of kodachrome slides from my grandma's basement (over 5,000 of them) and get some of them developed for a DVD slideshow at the birthday lunch. It was really amazing going back through all the slides. Here are a few of the special pictures:

Bob & Ruth Gray - they met at Wheaton College in the late 1940's.

Here is their wedding photo.

My mom is the baby in this photo. They are in Washington D.C. where my Grandfather was finishing up his service in the army. The man on the left is my Great-Grandpa William McCarrel. This is my grandma's father, and he died just a few days before I was born. I was given my middle name after him. He was a famous evangelist in Cicero, IL just outside of Chicago. He even sat down with and witnessed to Al Capone, regularly! Grandma Gray was the second youngest of 8 brothers and sisters. She certainly has a rich family history.

Again, my mom is the baby here. She is sitting with my Grandpa's parents. My great-grandma lived to be 93 years old. My great-grandpa was murdered when my mother was just a child. He was an inventor / machinist. He created one of the first machines to put metal tops on coke bottles, and another machine that folded up the cracker jack box. His murder was very hard on everyone. He was killed by a drifter for no reason that had wandered into his shop.

My grandparents loved to travel. This is the Badlands in South Dakota. They traveled the world though - going to Israel 13 times, Egypt 6 times, China, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Spain... you name it they had been there. Along the way my Grandpa would tell you every detail of every place.

This was graduation day for my mom at Washington Bible College. My grandfather spoke at the commencement. He had earned his doctorate from Moody Bible Institute. With my Grandma at his side, they started a Church in the basement of their house that eventually grew to over 400 members. They lived in Westchester, IL and my grandfather pastored the church there for over 40 years! The line at his wake stretched out to the street and down the block. My grandparents touched the lives of so many, and my grandma continues to serve today at our church.

Grandma was always there to have fun with us kids. this is Tim and Rachel in Yellowstone. I was too little to go, but I heard the stories of this trip so many times that I swore up and down that I had been right there with them.

Here are a few photos of me at my first Christmas. Do you see why everyone calls Jacob my carbon copy! He is definitely my little guy.

This was my first trip to Cape May, NJ of many. They took us there every year just before school for a week. The hotel behind us is the Christian Admiral where my grandfather preached at their conference every summer. Almost all of my childhood birthdays were celebrated here.

My grandma was my biggest fan. Many of you may remember meeting her. She was able to travel to a lot of my games at Taylor, Hillsdale, and my 3 years of Semi-pro. She even went to Orlando with me for an all-star game, treating the family to Disney. She would be the first to tell anyone, especially the coach, that "we could have won if you would have just played my Jimmy the whole game." I couldn't have agreed with her more... ha ha.

There are no shortage of babysitters here with all the family we have around, but Grandma Gray is one of Jacob's favorites. Every Monday my grandma drives 30 minutes to our house to watch Jacob while Abby & I work. She will hardly let us thank her, always saying, "I should be thanking you. I love that little guy so much!" She is the proud grandmother of 3 and great-grandmother of 9, well soon to be 10! If you were nice enough to read through all of this then you deserve to be some of the first to know that Abby is expecting again. She will be due next May. And yes, we are well aware that they will only be 13 months apart!!! What can I say. This last photo below was taken at the Stewart family reunion in Tennessee last July. Jacob loves his great-grandma. I wanted to post this and share it because I think family is so important, and I encourage all of you to get to know your family heritage from the best sources - our grandparents. I love you Grandma - Happy 80th birthday!

Mom & Dad's 25th Church Anniversary

2008-10-05T12:09:00.003-04:00

A few weekends ago we celebrated my mom and dad's 25th anniversary with the church. Since the whole family was in town, my grandma Gray treated us all to some fun at the Frankenmuth Splash Villiage. It was a blast having everyone there together.

Landon, Daniel, Jacob, Hayden & Gavin - All the Stewart boy grandkids.

Jacob with my mom.
The whole family together for dinner. 9 grandkids!
Jacob takes his first swim with mommy and loves it.
Jacob and my mom take some laps.
Jacob kicked his little feet the first time we layed him out on his belly. We had a blast with him at the water park.Jacob attempts his first dunk.

Catching Up!

2008-10-05T11:19:00.005-04:00

Sorry it has been so long. Here are some pics to catch everyone up:

Jacob's first fire at home... he couldn't keep his eyes off the flames, unless his new favorite toy was around - our dog Scout. Jacob will turn and twist in your arms until he can get a look at Scout. He loved the fire and kept his eyes glued on it, no matter what positions I put him in.

Jacob is about the happiest kid we have ever seen. We get to enjoy big smiles like this with very little effort on our part. We love to tickle our little guy.

This is a pic from the harvest fest we went to this past Saturday morning in Flushing. We just love his little hat! Jacob picked his first pumpkin out... and then tried to eat it. Just about any object is fair game when it is near his mouth. Just this morning he was trying to suck on scout's paw! We will be starting him on baby food this week - se hopefully we can calm the cravings.

Green Bay Packer fan already... this football was the first gift I bought him at the hospital gift store. Big surprise huh.

Puppy Luv, Packer Fan, Jumperoo, First Cereal, & Late Bloomers

2008-08-20T17:02:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

It has been a while since we posted, so I'll pack a bunch of things into this post. Here are some photos from last Saturday... you can tell mommy was definately at work since she won't let our dog Scout within 5 feet of Jacob. He has been nothing but sweet to Jacob though, and surprisingly leaves the baby items alone.

My good friend Mike just bought a new puppy named Lambeau. She is a 8 week old golden retriever. Mike is a huge Green Bay Packer fan. Last fall he went to a game so Abby & I watched his mom and dad's dog Kirby, another golden. To thank us for dog sitting, they bought Jacob this Packers outfit. It is sized for 12 months, but he has no trouble filling it out already. I am helping Mike finish his basement, so I brought Jacob over and littleLambeau snuggled right up to Jacob.

This is Jacob in his new favorite thing, the Rainforest Jumperoo. It bounces, spins, lights up, plays music, and has all kinds of eye candy on it. He can't even touch the floor yet, so we gave him a telephone book to prop up his feet.

Jacob is 4 months old now, so he is ready for cereal... supposedly. He is 18 lbs and 28" long now, so eating has not been an issue for our buddah. But the first attempt at feeding him cereal didn't go so well. He does like it in his bottle at night, but the bowl and spoon method is gonna take some work. His face says it all...

We replaced the tree that went down with this small dogwood. It went dormant early, but should be fine by next spring. That little garden was a lot of work, especially getting the stump and roots out from the 40' tree that was there before.

Here's a beautiful Hibiscus - we have about 8 more ready to bloom, so they will be nice.

Thanks for visiting the site. We hope everyone is having a good end to their summer. Take care-

Boogity boogity boo!

2008-07-23T22:18:00.000-04:00

Here's a little video from a few weeks ago. Jacob had just taken a bath and Mama was saying hi after getting home from work. He is smiling all the time now and starting to make lots of different noises. Mama has the magic touch when it comes to getting smiles from Jacob.

2008 Stewart Family Reunion

2008-07-23T17:39:00.001-04:00

What an awesome trip to Tennessee! The Stewart family reunion was hosted at my aunt and uncles sprawling custom second home on top of their own mountain overlooking the Nolichucky river. They have over 100 acres, including riverfront property. Each family was able to have their own rooms as their beautiful home has over 10 bedrooms! So we weren't exactly roughing it in the mountains of Tennessee. The house is not even completed yet... which is even more amazing. They rushed to get things done just so we could all gather there. Almost everyone was able to make it, except for 2 uncles. One is over in Iraq serving us proudly with the Marines and the other hurt his leg at work and couldn't make it. There were 42 of us in all. What a beautiful place! Here's a few of the things we did: shoot skeet, fish & swim in the river, campfire and cookout on the river, horseback riding, go carts, movies, canoeing, paintball, airsoft, Nintendo Wii, board games, shopping, hayride and lots of good food. Our family has been blessed with lots of beautiful children to keep everyone busy. It was truly special to see everyone there in one place and to get to share in our rich family heritage. This trip was a lot of firsts for Jacob, Abby, and I. His first road trip (10 hours each way through the middle of the night), his first time swimming, his first campfire, and his first appearance with most of the family. My brother's youngest son Haden is just 2 months younger than Jacob, se we had fun dressing them up like twins. There was no shortage of babysitters around. The only injury during all the activities was when I sunk a barbed treble hook from a fishing lure into my stomach. With about 15 kids standing around I had to cut the hook off and then pushed it through with pliers to pull it out... all without crying too since the kids were looking. All in all it was a wonderful trip, and despite all the activities it was very relaxing. Thank you so much to David and Jamie for hosting the reunion, and for Grandma and Grandpa Stewart for raising 8 kids that have followed in your legacy. We are all grateful for your constant love, prayers, encouragement and sound advice. At the bottom of the page I have included a slideshow with all the pictures that we had taken. Here are just a few of the pics from the reunion:

July 4, 2008

2008-07-05T01:49:00.000-04:00

Happy Independence Day! As a history major, I do have to point out one interesting fact. The US actually gained it's independence on July 2, 1776 from Great Britain when the act was passed through the legislature. The date July 4th celebrates the publication of the Declaration of Independence which was completed to explain to the people what independence from Great Britain would mean. So anyways, we hosted both sides of our families for the festivities today. It was a beautiful day, and everyone had a great time. We had a feast as usual, and my grilling skills were certified once again. Besides the burgers, brats and hotdogs - my marinated pork tenderloins with sauteed shitake mushrooms and onions were the big winner. Everyone pitched in to make a great meal. The kids caught frogs and fish in the pond and played all sorts of sports, which gave the adults time to relax and enjoy the day. We ended the night with a surprisingly good fireworks show from the Silver Lake park in Fenton. It is so nice to have so much family around. We really are lucky. I hope everyone had an equally nice holiday. We took so many pics, so I will just add them as a slideshow at the bottom of the page. Here are a few to wet your whistle though:
These frogs are ridiculously huge. Little John loves them... so I caught this one for him.
Hannah banana hanging out in the only tree we have left.
Sydney teaches Scout to tango.
Jacob getting all happy with his grand-pappy Franz. He has been giving those cute smiles like crazy lately. Look at those chunky cheeks...

He loved the show! He stared at the fireworks the whole time and was never scared by the loud bangs. I love being a daddy!
Josh learns to swing the bat after a quick lesson from my dad and gets a big hit.

1st Anniversary 6-29-08

2008-07-05T01:16:00.000-04:00

Wow, has it been a year already! We celebrated our anniversary by going to a Tiger's game and staying at the Westin in Southfield. It was a really fun night, and was the first night away from Jacob. He stayed with my parents and did really well. We had VIP tickets in the 9th row right behind home plate. We parked about 100 feet away from the entrance and had a nice dinner in the Tiger Club Skybox restaurant during a few of the innings. The Tigers pulled out a win in the bottom of ninth with 2 outs, so it made it very exciting. They also had a fireworks show after the game. A lot of people say that the fiirst year of marriage is the hardest one, so I would say that Abby and I are doing really good. She might have a different point of view though... haha. Have a good weekend everyone!

Jiggity Jacob

2008-07-05T01:00:00.000-04:00

Here's some pics from the past few weeks of Jacob. It seems we have a real gangster on our hands. We couldn't pass up that little tigers outfit when we saw it at the game on our anniversary. This first one was just a table napkin from my cousin Jordan's graduation party. Is that a gang sign?

We're starting him off right... that look is priceless.

Father's Day

2008-07-05T00:42:00.000-04:00

This is a late post, but I wanted to share it anyways. My sister is away in Arizona, so we started planning on doing something together for father's day. My dad is a very busy man, and when they built their house 8 years ago he became even more busy. There was one last thing he had hadn't finished yet, a pond that he had started a few years before. Between my sister Rachel, myself, and my Grandma Gray we all pitched in to cover the costs. I took a few days off from work while my parents were away at camp with the kids from our church to surprise them. It was a big job, especially running the electricity out there and hauling the rocks, but with some help from my cousin Jordan we were able to get the job done in the short time we had. True to my dad's love for fishing, he has since stocked the pond with about a dozen blue gills and some lilly pads. Here are a few pics of the pond.

So much for the nice yard...

2008-06-27T06:29:00.000-04:00

Well, yesterday was one of the worst days I can remeber in a long time. I woke up late for work, and was driving in my car pool - so I had to rush out the door and still had to stop to get gas. About half way to work I realized that I never fixed my hair. So I had to stop at 7-Eleven and buy a 4 ounce $5 tube of hair gel. At work we lost power for a few seconds and the resulting surge blew a lot of electronic equipment and shut down production for a good chunk of the day. The A/C never came back on, so my office was about 85 degress by mid-afternoon. I had a presentation at 1:00 in front of our plant's staff to report out on a few workshops I have been teaching. Come to find out, the person who trained me never explained about 50% of the data I was suppossed to be capturing in my workshops, so I was unprepared for the criticism I received to say the least. As I was wrapping things up at work, my wife called and informed me that the neighbors called her at work because our 40 foot hawthorn tree in the front yard had blown over in a 5 minute wind storm. It was the only large tree in the entire neighborhood, and was one of the many reasons we loved our house when we bought it. If you haven't experienced a hawthorn tree, it is a tree with tiny leaves that blooms white flowers in the spring and is covered with thorns. On top of all that, the storm knocked out the power. So on the way home I picked up a generator and chainsaw from a friend and spent the rest of the evening cutting the tree down. As bad of a day as it seemed, we were extremely blessed. The tree fell directly across the driveway into our neighbors front yard. If Abby had been home our new Chevy Malibu would have been crushed. If the tree had fallen towards the house, it was tall enough to crash right through the roof into the nursery! So as sad as I was to see that beautiful tree go down, it good have been a lot worse. We just had a little damage to the gutter on one side and it ripped a light off the front of the garage. We were also blessed by our neighbors and friends. Everyone came over to help us cut the tree up and we finished most of it by 9:30 p.m. So thank you to everyone who helped us out. I am thankful that no one was hurt and life will go on as usual in a few days. Sometimes it is hard to see the blessings that are embedded in the bad things that happen to us, but God was surely looking over our family on this day. Have a good weekend everyone.

The flowers have arrived...

2008-06-25T21:58:00.000-04:00

This spring we had the sad discovery that our once beautiful sod lawn had been destroyed by the acidic urine of our dog Scout. It took us about 2 months, but we finally have the yard back in good shape. The flowers have really come in the last few days. Last year our pond was covered with scum half the time. This year we have kept the fountain on all the time to keep it aerated, and it is looking much better. Here are some pics that we have taken the last few weeks of our house and gardens. Have a great week everyone and thanks for visiting our site.

Sydney's Birthday

2008-06-25T21:42:00.000-04:00

We spent last Sunday afternoon with the Franz family for our niece Sydney's 9th birthday. We had a really nice time, and were able to bring Scout along for the day. Here's a new picture of Jacob - he has started smiling and even giggling on a regular basis. It just melts our hearts to see that little guy smiling. There is a complete slideshow of "Sydney's Birthday" at the bottom of the web page.

Jacob at 7 weeks old

2008-06-05T19:34:00.000-04:00

Here are some pics from today after we ate supper. Our little guy is changing so fast. He will be 8 weeks old already this coming Monday! Thanks for visiting our site.

Memorable Memorial Weekend 2008

2008-05-26T20:50:00.000-04:00

What a busy weekend! I had Fri and Mon off, so we seemed to have lots of time to relax and enjoy ourselves... but we know how that usually goes. I did a small roof on Friday to kick things off. I ended up having to replace half of the boards, so it took twice as long as we thought. The next day Abby went back to work for the first time since Jacob was born. So I took Jacob to my Grandma's house and did some spring clean-up work at her house all day. Abby came and met us just in time to go to a cookout at her sister's house. We had a great time with her whole family there, and finished the night watching the Pistons and Red Wings in the playoffs at home. Sunday morning we went to church. They had a wonderful DVD tribute to all the veterans from our church. They included all the pictures they could get of our current and former service men from the church. Sunday afternoon we spent the day at my parents for another cookout. We were able to bring Scout with us to my parents house which was nice. That night we met up with Abby's parents and went to see Indiana Jones, which we all liked. My dad and I made plans to go fishing Monday morning, so Abby and I decided to just stay the night with my parents in Flushing. They were more than happy to have more grand-baby time! With bad weather in the forecast, my dad and I slept in to wait it out. The bad weather never came, so we convinced Abby to come with us. I caught 2 small walleye, but we didn't fish very hard or long and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. Scout also went on the boat with us, and behaved himself pretty well for once. His first encounter with the fish went bad for the fish - he took a monster bite of the fish on the head, but was able to survive the gnawing. Abby sat back in her chair and got some sun while we fished... only she got too much... and is glowing red this evening. Poor girl. We had supper with my parents and grandma at an outdoor patio mexican grill restaurant. Even Scout sat with us out there. Now we are home watching the Pistons and Red Wings again. Jacob just had a huge projectile vomit all over me and the couch. That was his first big one, so it scared me a little bit. He is sleeping good in his crib after mama gave him a bath. It is amazing to see how fast he is growing. He is getting tall and those little thighs are filling right out. The doctor says he is in the 90% percentile for size. We have so many pics from this weekend that I will just add them at the end of our page as a slide show called "Memorial Weekend 2008." Have a wonderful week everyone, and thanks for visiting our site.

Baby Dedication 5-11-08

2008-05-13T16:05:00.000-04:00

We dedicated Jacob this past Sunday in front of our church. It made for an extra special first mother's day for Abby. The service was really nice. We went back to my parents house for lunch where we had 24 people from my family and Abby's family all together. It was really fun, and as always my mom made us a feast. I helped by cooking the food on the grill, but still felt bad that she had to entertain so many people on mother's day. She is so used to it being a pastor's wife, that it didn't seem to bother her one bit though. We are excited to find out how much Jacob weighs tomorrow at the doctor. He is definately growing fast. I can't believe he is 1 month old already! This time of our lives is sure going fast. Here are some pics from the dedication service. Have a good week-

Up on stage with several new parents

My dad handing us the certificate...

The proud parents

Jacob and Daddy

2008-05-07T18:54:00.000-04:00

Our buddy sleeping so peaceful...

But dad just got home...

"All right dad, I'm up!"

Jacob loves to fly... look at that strong neck - he's only 3 weeks old!!!

Before we know it, this strong man is gonna be walking...

Dean Stewart's Truthtale Series

2008-05-04T23:12:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,
I just wanted to show you something really cool my dad has been up to. He has 2 books completed of a 4 book series that is published and available at Barnes and Nobles. The series is called "Truthtales" and are real stories from my dad's childhood that teach children good moral lessons. He donated all of the profits from his first book to the church building fund - which has since been completed. It has provided a great opportunity for my dad to reach out to the local community - reading his book in many of the local schools... which is a tremendous accomplishment considering the way our country is turning it's back on anything related to religion. The books are fun to read - written in a "Dr. Seuss" style of rhyme. I promise you will love them if you get a chance to read them. Here are a few pics of the book covers:

This is the first book - Turtletown. To read about the book visit this site:

http://www.mayfairbible.org/turtletown/turtletown.html

Here's a link for info on the second book:

http://www.mayfairbible.org/books/places/places.html

The Mayfair Bible Church website is under construction, so if you try to navigate off of those links it probably won't work. Below is a link to Barnes and Nobles if you are interested in buying a book or two. Contact me first though, because I happen to have an "in" with the author and may be able to get you a better deal... They are great for your church library or as a gift for your little loved ones. I hope you enjoy them!

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?AUD=JUV&kids=y&WRD=dean+stewart

Take Care,

Jim

Jacob goes to church...

2008-05-04T15:08:00.000-04:00

Today was a beautiful day in Michigan. This was Jacob's second trip to church, and again he did very well during the service. The grandma's all take turns holding him if he gets fussy before Abby and I even know what has happened. We are very lucky to have both of our parents and grandparents living in the same town and attending the same church. Next Sunday Jacob gets dedicated in front of the whole church, so we will have to post some pics of that. Well, have a wonderful week and thanks for checking out our site! Here are some pics from today... he has grown quite a bit already:

The Franz Granparents

Grandpa Thom

The Stewart Grandparents and Great-Grandma Gray

Jacob tries out his Nike gear...

2008-04-22T20:33:00.000-04:00

"I'm giving you the stink eye!"

Singing the blues to mama.

Jacob loves his swing and Scout loves playing guard dog.

Scout gets ready for the circus...

2008-04-22T20:20:00.000-04:00

Scout learns a new trick...

Success! We were dying when he jumped up here.

That's all folks!

Jacob and Scout Bonding

2008-04-21T11:40:00.000-04:00

Last night Scout snuggled up to Jacob on the bed. I had to take this pic!

The First Family Photo

2008-04-17T19:37:00.001-04:00

Jacob Thomas Stewart 4-12-08

2008-04-17T15:38:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

Well, what an amazing day. Abby went to work Saturday morning feeling pretty normal. By late morning she was starting to feel contractions, so we went to the hospital. She almost killed me because I continued to go to home depot after the first call, thinking I had lots of time. That little shopping spree was cut short when her second call made the situation seem very clear! After the intital check at the hospital the doctor did not think she was going to have the baby yet. She told us to walk around for an hour and they would check her once more before sending us home. That doctor did not know about the Franz women! After walking, Abby was well on her way as the contractions went from 10 minutes apart to 2 minutes apart in that hour. She struggled through some tough contractions for a while before begging for the epidural. After have the epidural she described it as a "miracle drug." I got a good laugh out of that. About an hour after the shot Abby was ready to push. She only had to push through 5 contractions, and our little man entered this world. It was incredible... I was right there calling out the contractions and telling her when to push. I cut the umbilical cord and quickly followed the nurse to clean him up. He weighed 8 lbs 8 ounces and was 20 inches long. He was 5 days early. Abby was very blessed with a great epidural and fast labor. She was able to breast feed him within the first hour, which has helped with that tremendous task! 24 hours later we were on our way home. We were nervous about introducing our 11 month old golden retriever "Scout" to Jacob... but he has been very sweet. He even lets us know the minute Jacob is getting fussy. Jacob has been a perfect baby, sleeping decently through the night and rarely crying unless he's hungry. Thanks for visiting our site, we will updating it regularly.