Jacob turns 3!

On March 11th Jacob turned 3 years old! It was a joy to celebrate the day with him! He was so excited for his birthday...For a month prior he would tell us, "my birthday is almost here!" He woke up to balloons, presents and our traditional birthday cinnamon rolls!

Jacob on his birthday morning!

Clothes...always exciting!

His Woody!

Blowing out his THREE candles!

After presents and cinnamon rolls I asked him what he wanted to do next..."Watch Cars!" So thats what we did...watched Cars:)

Watching Cars!

Later that day in our new birthday outfit we headed to the park with our good friend Lily! It was a beautiful day!

Jacob at the park

We then headed home for our favorite lunch of Mac and Cheese! We then took naps and rested up for our special surprise that evening! My dad came over to babysit Baker while we took Jacob to meet Namma in Denver for the big event! We took him to see the Disney show The Imagination Movers. It was basically a rock concert for kids! It was really fun and cute to see Jacob watch four grown men sing about brushing teeth, eating vegetables and getting strong! It was crazy and an absolute free for all...kids running up and down the aisles, standing on chairs, dancing till their hearts content. Jacob was most comfortable just sitting on our laps and watching!

Namma and Jacob at Imagination Movers

After about an hour of overstimulation:) we headed home to a yummy dinner of fish and chips! It was a joy to have my parents spend the evening with us and celebrate Jacob. They blessed him with a big wheel! He was super excited!

Jacob and his new big wheel!

It was a wonderful day and so fun to see my baby be so BIG! It really is crazy how fast they grow. God has truly blessed us!

A week later Jacob got a surprise in the mail from his Grandpa and Grandma Staples...a Lightening McQueen Power wheels! Seriously every kids dream:) He is a loved little boy thats for sure!

Jacob and Lightening!

Just so we have witness that Baker was part of this joyous day!

We're Expecting!

Baby Staples #3 is on his/her way! We are so excited! I am currently 15 weeks prego and due September 5th! In about 4 weeks we will find out if we are having a boy or girl...always exciting! Jacob is adorable with this pregnancy...he recognizes my belly and constantly tells me I am growing BIG! I am showing a lot early with this baby then my other two...did you find this true with your subsequent pregnancies? Jacob loves looking at the App on my phone that shows what the baby looks like at his/her current stage and has wanted us to read the book Angel in the Waters about a million times. "Thats what our baby looks like mama!" So sweet. Baker has no idea, but I am sure he will become more aware soon!

This pregnancy has been my most difficult one thus far. I had to be placed on progesterone with this little guy (more of that story to come later) so I am not sure if that made my symptoms worse. 1st-I am so tired..which is true with all pregnancies...but maybe with two active boys running around I am feeling it more. There has been little to NO housework being done around here:(. Morning sickness, or ALL DAY SICKNESS is still with me:(. Somedays are better then others and I truly feel like I am on the up swing of things...but seriously the throwing up is no fun at all! I have also had several other viral infections which has made life just a little more fun...right! Exercise...what is that?!? I have felt like doing absolutely nothing and can feel myself getting more out of shape by the minute.

But enough of the complaining! I feel truly blessed to have this little one with us and cannot wait to meet him/her! For some reason I am most excited to meet this little one. Baker will be a little over 2 when this baby makes his/her appearance and I am yearning for that little newborn baby again! God is SO GOOD!

Seriously...having kids is so much fun!!!

The Difficulty of the Perfect Picture!

I am sure other mothers have this problem...but it is SO hard for me to get a good picture of the boys! They really are cute I tell myself...why can't they both smile at the camera and at the same time? Sometimes I feel like they are plotting against me! Here are a couple of examples...

Both boys are NOT looking at the camera...Jacob's smile is adorable though!

Baker is NOT looking at the camera

Jacob is NOT looking at the camera...and possibly picking his nose!

Baker is done with getting his picture taken...so is Jacob!

Jacob looking at the camera...and Baker trying to escape the picture!

Where is Baker????

Cute one of Baker...but where is Jacob???

This is the best we got...

Our Story

Dave and I met through FOCUS 7 years ago. We were placed on the same team together at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. He was my team director and I was a first year missionary on a dating fast. I loved my first year as a missionary but it was very difficult at times. I knew that I loved Dave in October of that year...but had a long time until my dating fast was over. That year was amazing in what it taught me; patience, trust in God's will and the love our heavenly Father has for us. That year taught me that before I could hand my heart over to a man I needed to give it fully to our Lord. I learned so much about who I was that year and my relationship with our Lord really blossomed. In May of that year Dave asked me on our first date and on June 2nd, 2005 (after my dating fast was completely over) we went on our first date in Madison, WI during Summer training. It was everything that I imagined...the wait was worth it.

During our courtship Dave lived in Las Vegas, NM and I lived in Atchison, KS. We both still continued to serve with FOCUS. Distance dating is never fun but Dave and I were blessed to see each other once a month. As soon as our dating began I was ready for Dave to propose....seriously it could NOT come fast enough! I knew that he was the man I was going to marry! I truly thought that he was going to propose at Christmas time. I was going to Michigan to spend the holiday with his family. I was picturing a proposal at midnight Mass...how romantic! My mother assured me that I was not going to get engaged over the holiday...but I was still hoping. You can imagine my disappointment when it didn't happen. Poor Dave, can't a guy surprise a girl is probably what he was thinking :)! Life continued and I was really trying to focus on not being so anxious for engagement, just to enjoy the time we dated and to really leave it up to God...and Dave.

February came and myself and my teammates were heading to KCCSC (Kansas City Catholic Student Conference) in Topeka. That Friday night I was sitting in adoration and trying my best to hand over all my feelings of engagement to our Lord (I WANTED TO BE ENGAGED SO BAD its embarrassing!) That night my heart truly released control of the situation and I was ready to just wait, be patient and enjoy my courtship with Dave. That night I had a dream that Dave came to the conference to surprise me. He proposed and when I looked down at the ring it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen and all the diamonds were falling out. I woke up smiling because I knew this was my release of control...this was me handing the situation over to God and letting Him steer the wheel. That afternoon I called Dave and told him about my time in adoration and about my dream. I also said...and I qoute, "Honey, I'm ready to be content with our dating. If you came today to propose I would say "NO" because its just not the right time. I am ready to be patient!"

Now lets step back a few moments and look at things from Dave's point of view. Dave was in the car driving 13 hours from New Mexico to Kansas...and he was an hour away from surprising me (and proposing) at the conference when I decided to tell him about my conviction and my dream. Just a hand full of people knew about him coming to arrange a few things, other then that myself and the rest of the room was going to be completely surprised upon him entering. Can you imagine what Dave was feeling at this moment? Poor guy :(! He tells me now that he was tempted to turn around and blow the whole thing off...but continued with it anyways. That its good for a man to not be certain about a women's answer...to really be asking her and waiting for an answer.

So Dave walked into the conference and I was COMPLETELY SURPRISED! How did he pull this off...drove 13 hours, talked with me on the phone while driving, and I had no idea. It was February 11th so he told me it was a valentines surprise. We sat through dinner and a talk by Matthew Kelly, talked with friends and then we went out for drinks. Looking back I didn't know that Dave was going to propose, I thought he truly had come to surprise me for valentines day...but he was touching his pocket a lot and seemed nervous! We went out to a small restaurant and drank wine and ate cheese curds. It was wonderful to be with him. He then took me to a park...a rose garden to be exact...except it was February so everything was dead. It had a beauty about it though as we walked on the path hand in hand. He then stopped, got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I of course said yes and the rest is history! I was ecstatic...the ring was BEAUTIFUL! Not ugly like in the dream...and it was the right time. In my own heart I needed to be patient and was ready to do that...even if it was just for a short 8 hours!

Dave left the next morning to drive back to New Mexico...it was hard to say good-bye, just like every time its hard, but this time more so. He wasn't just my "boyfriend" anymore...he was my fiance! I was getting married to the man I loved...the moment I could not wait for was finally here!

Our engagement was 9 months and we got married November 25th, 2006! I feel so blessed to have met Dave and to be his wife. He is an amazing man, husband and father. In God's time all things are perfect...and this is perfect!

Dave and I the summer we started dating!

Movie Pick of the Week!

Last night after the boys went to bed, Dave and I snuggled in to watch a movie...one of our most favorite past times! This weeks pick was The Social Network. I was really looking forward to watching this movie for several reasons, first because I am an avid user of facebook and wanted to see how it all for started and secondly because it is up for several awards (which you can't always read in to because sometimes the movies they pick to win are not my favorite). Anyways, as the movie started Dave asked if I minded if he played a game of football on his i-pad...I just rolled my eyes and told him I didn't mind :)! But after five minutes, the i-pad was put aside and his full attention was on the movie! We really enjoyed it...and talked a lot about the movie and the way several characters were portrayed, especially Mark Zuckerburg, the co-founder of facebook.

This movie was based on true events...but who knows how accurate it all is. After the movie ended my heart felt very sad and heavy, especially because of how the friendship ended between Mark and his best friend, the other founder of facebook and because of the secular world we live in and what college campuses are like for many students. I feel as though I live in a bubble and I am so unaware of what goes on, especially on college campuses. I find that I look the other way because I don't want to believe that its true, that people in this world really act like that, drink that much, use drugs, have casual sex, talk with that language and inappropriateness and that women don't care about themselves enough to keep there clothes on. It makes me so sad...but its a good reminder of why my husband and many others do what they do through FOCUS and that I need to pray more...pray more for our college campuses.

All in all it was a really good movie, well directed, well written and super interesting. During the movie I asked Dave if all people have the ability to be as smart as these guys at Harvard? If I, for instance, have the ability and the smarts to have created facebook...(which I do not!) or if its genetics. He just laughed at me, which I think was a hint that he does not think I have the ability :)! How is someone that smart...I cannot even imagine. I cannot even imagine starting facebook in my dorm room with my roommates and having it become so popular and end up being worth 25 billion dollars and having 500 million users...are you kidding me????

If you have seen it, let me know what you thought? And if you haven't...go rent it from redbox! I think you just might enjoy it!

The "K love Challenge"

So I happen to be an American Idol fan :) I haven't had much time to watch it the past couple of seasons...but I always find time to catch the finale! But before there were kids, a bedtime, dishes, etc. I wouldn't miss an episode! Jason Castro was on a couple seasons ago...he was a favorite of mine!

Recently I have discovered a new love for Christian music....I took the "k-love challenge" where all I listened to for a month was Christian rock...it was amazing and totally changed my perspective everyday! I just loved having my car and house filled with songs about our Lord...I loved hearing Jacob in the back saying, "Mom, this is my favorite song!" or hear him sing a long. Melt my heart for sure!

Jason Castro's first album wasn't Christian but he had a conversion while on tour and made his second album for/about our Lord. I purchased this album today and LOVE it! Here is one of my favorites...its the acoustic version, the one on the album is more up beat! Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

...with chickpeas!

Okay, I know that there is some talk about if you should/shouldn't mix and hide vegetables (in this case chickpeas) in your children's food. Some say that when you mix the veggies in they don't know they are eating them so they will never willfully eat them on there own. I get that point and I understand it...I am just saying that my boys will not voluntary eat a vegetable to save there life. Every night (almost every night) for dinner there will be a side veggie and Dave and I have to tell them both repeatedly to take 2 bites..."just 2 bites!" On occasion they will eat the sweet potato fry on their own...but honestly its pulling teeth every night! I wish I had that child that just loved vegetables, like my cousin, her children choose to eat the veggie first. I asked her her secret and she just laughed and said "they always have!"

So with all that said...I do, at times, puree and mix vegetables in with my kids food! A.) because I know they are getting their dose of veggies and B.) because it really tastes yummy!!! We all love it! I get a lot of my recipes from the cook book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. Her macaroni and cheese with butternut squash and butter noodles with yellow squash are a huge hit around here! I also really like her baking! I LOVE to bake and if I can get away with the boys eating a cookie a slightly bit healthier, I am going to do it! With her baking she uses a lot of egg whites as well as brown sugar instead of white sugar. And there always is a vegetable...sounds gross I know, but some of these recipes are really good...and my boys love them! Now... just so we are all on the same page, I do LOVE a good chocolate chip cookie recipe like this one, but at times I do use the healthier one! Depends on the mood I guess :)

Here is the recipe....

Ingredients:

nonstick cooking spray

1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

3/4 cup trans-fat-free tub margarine spread (***I always use butter instead)

2 Large egg whites

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (I put in some butterscotch morsels as well!)

3/4 cups walnuts (optional)

3/4 cups raisins (optional) ***I use

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl beat the sugar and butter until smooth. Beat in egg whites and vanilla, then add the chickpeas and chocolate chips. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, salt and mix on low speed until thick dough forms.

3. Drop the dough by tablespoons onto the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Press gently with fork to flatten. Bake until the cookies are golden brown and just set, 11-13 minutes, do not over-bake. Let cool.

Sorry about the picture...and the cookies are not very pretty...but they do taste good!

4. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Baker liked them for sure!

I really think you will like these! If you try them...let me know what you think!!!