September 26 - October 2, 2005

(Remember to click on the pictures to see them larger)

I'll start off with some cute pictures of Jacob playing with the toys on his car seat and some of the brothers together. Aren't they the cutest boys! Logan still loves his brother the most and plays with him and talks to him all the time.

On October 2, Jacob was baptised at our church, St. Peter's United Methodist Church. We had gone and talked with our pastor two weeks before about the baptism and we were looking forward to it. Jacob was a little angel in his cute outfit and the whole time we were up at the front, he didn't make a peep. He went with Paul fine (though we forgot to warn Paul how strong Jacob is and he almost bent backwards in Paul's arms). The baptism was very special and meaningful. I didn't cry but I was definitely moved. Jacob never made a sound and just looked at Pastor Paul the whole time when he put the water on him. For a little background, Mitch and I wanted to baptise both boys as babies even though we were baptised as adolescents and could make the decision on our own. In the Methodist church, the baptism ceremony is very meaningful and at the time of baptism, those present promise to help us watch out for the baby and help him to grow up in the Christian way. It is a beautiful thing to know that other Christians will help us watch after our child. Several people came up to us afterwards and told us how special it was to be a part of the service.

Here's the pic of our little family:
Those in attendance from our family - Pop and Grandma Janice (Mitch's grandparent's), Mitch, Me, Jacob, Logan, Gran, Papa, and Granddaddy (Mitch's Dad):

Jacob and Pastor Paul:


Some pics of Jacob in his outfit:




That afternoon, Gran and Papa were sick so Jacob, Logan and I went home. Finally I have some pictures of me with Jacob - guess who took them - Logan did! I also got some cute pictures of Logan playing with Jacob.

September 19-25, 2005

The first few days of the week were the last that Jacob went to work with me. He was starting to get rather animated and loud during the day and since I have others in the lab where I work, this wasn't the best thing. Thankfully we have a wonderful babysitter named Katie who is keeping Jacob and Hunter and so far things are working out great. Here are some pics of Jacob at work in the walker.

Cute story about Jacob for the week - I had him in his high chair one morning in just his diaper. I left the room to do something, came back into the dining room and there he is sitting with his diaper undone. I have no clue how he did it, but he was proud of himself!

At the end of the week, we headed to Mount Airy for my cousin Brad's wedding. We left on Friday and went to the rehearsal dinner that night. It was a beautiful wedding, but I didn't get to sit in the sanctuary because Jacob was pitching a fit. I did get to see the wedding from the back as Jacob finally went to sleep. I wish I had pictures, but the ones I took at the reception didn't come out. I do have a few blurry ones though. Here are some highlights from the weekend.

Jacob in his Troy Aikman outfit (can you tell it's from when Logan was a baby?)

Ma with Jacob

Pa with Logan

The happy couple at the rehearsal dinner - Brad and Brandy

Logan playing with Austin, Alyssa and Austin

I loved Brandy's shirt!

Great license plate! Brandy was commenting on how it wasn't going on her car.

Jacob found out how much he liked sucking his toes this weekend - it was really cute to watch.

Logan likes to go up and down the "mountains" with Uncle Wayne

September 10 - 18, 2005

(Remember to click on the pictures to see them larger)

First let's start with a pic of Logan, Jacob, Gran and Papa.


Next, this was an interesting week. This was the week of Hurricane Ophelia. For those of you who don't live here in Carteret County, you may be thinking what was the big deal with Hurricane Ophelia. I mean this year we have seen the destruction of Katrina and Rita. While Ophelia was only a category one storm (compared to Katrina as a category 4), she was definitely nothing to sneeze at. It was a miserable time for Mitch and I even though we were very blessed and came out with only minor damage. Ophelia was a very slow storm and she battered us from early afternoon on Wednesday through Thursday morning. Mitch and I were both up most of the night because we couldn't sleep due to the howling winds hitting the front of the house. We lost power at 5pm on Wednesday and it was turned back on (but only partly - one of the phases was out for us and several neighbors) at around 5pm on Friday, and finally it was fully back on Saturday morning. Thankfully we had a generator to get our fridge, freezer and some other essentials through. We spent Wednesday night listening to the radio and various people calling in to describe damage and flooding. It felt like Isabel all over again, except we felt safe from flooding, but we spent a lot of time worrying about friends and neighbors in South River. We also spent a great deal of time watching the crazies who were out driving on Harkers Island Road. I can't believe how many people were out. At one point we noticed people kept slowing in front of our neighbors house and going off in their yard. We then saw with the help of headlights that there was a tree down on the road. Later you could tell the ones who had been driving awhile versus the ones who had just gone out - the ones who had been out awhile kept normal speed and went around it, others would slow to a dead stop, think about it and finally go around the tree. Thankfully most of the community was spared, but other areas in the county were hit hard. One restaurant in Salter Path even lost the whole backside of it's building. Finally on Thursday, the winds began to die down. I checked out our house, talked with mom and dad, and it seemed like all was fine. We lost a few shingles on the house (mainly on the upstairs dormer window), a few shingles on the small shed. A lot of limbs and all the pears from the pear tree and the pecan trees. A small piece of siding on the garage was ripped off and a slat of our vinyl siding was pulled back. Thankfully that was all. Here are some pics of our yard after the hurricane.




The week ended on a good note though - my nephew Hunter celebrated his first birthday with a large party for family and friends. Logan also headed off to Myrtle Beach with Gran and Papa for several days. I will update with pics and stories later when Gran writes down the stories for me. I know he had a blast!

Here are some pics of Hunter's birthday party, featuring the birthday boy and then some various pics of Jacob that day.