GO BLUE!!

About 4 months ago, I got in the car after work only to hear Zach start singing the Notre Dame fight song. Apparently there was some secret traning going on for a few weeks and he couldn't contain himself any longer.

I bit my tongue, but I might've just won the war with my own bedtime training that was topped off this week with the introduction of Zach's new favorite toy! Lets hope he doesn't realize it's a beer bottle opener. Even Blake tried to get in the act!

Best Buddies

"Boy, he doesn't stop with the camera, huh?"

"Don't worry, we'll get him back later!"
Taken back on March 9th when Blake was only a couple weeks old, but definitely Kevin's favorite picture to date.

Easter in Review

We began our 4-day Easter extravaganza on Thursday. We dyed eggs-- although did not manage any pictures as there were more pressing matters...like making sure dye wasn't spilled everywhere and the eggs weren't broken!


On Friday we did an Easter egg hunt with some friends in the neighborhood. It seemed brilliant to leave out only empty plastic eggs-- they're all only 2 years old after all, and surely the colorful eggs would be enticing enough?


Saturday we attended another neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Zach, in his infinite wisdom, managed to avoid every egg -- as he had enough empty eggs at home-- and collected only the lollipops and straws which were also stuck in the ground. We begged him to put eggs in his basket (and it was only because all the other kids had reached their 10-egg limit that he even collected any at all!).


On Sunday we had a small egg hunt at home, followed by a brunch with friends, and finally Easter Mass. And finally (after 5 weeks) we have our first family photo of all 4 of us!

Settling In...

The newest addition to the Jarvii household has been nothing but a joy so far. Blake is already 3 1/2 weeks and continues to sleep a bunch, stare endlessly at all things black and white, and cry very little.... We can't get over how similar the boys look at the same age.

Zach has been adjusting really well (helped by the fact that Blake is sleeping so much and crying so little!). Here's a quick clip of a video-- from one of our first days back home-- of Zach singing to his little brother.

Bundle of Joy

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of our latest addition to the jarvii family!

Name: Blake Elliot Jarvis
Born: Wed. Feb. 20th 5:31PM
Weight: 9 lbs. 1 oz.
Height: 21 inches

Sorry it took us 2 full weeks to post!




Blake is still in that sleepy newborn state, so we're enjoying all the snuggly moments with him.

Zach is adjusting amazingly well -- he is nothing but curious and sweet. He is always happy to sing to his brother, announce when he is crying, and welcomes every chance to sit with him and check him out up close.

We're so happy he finally made an appearance (5, yes 5, days late!) and are enjoying getting to know him a little more each day.

Final Preparations

Everyone is ready for baby Jarvis #2. Everyone, it seems, but baby Jarvis himself. The bags are packed and Zach's stuff is ready to stay with friends for a couple days, but someone forgot to tell this baby that the due date was last week! As we rack our brains to figure out what he might be waiting for, we decided that perhaps he's waiting for one final blog of our family of 3. We just can't wait to meet him!

Zach turns 2!

Zach is officially a contributing member of the family- stacking dishes, cleaning messes off the floor, and vacuuming around the house. Our word for him is exuberant- you know exactly what he's feeling at all times. He's the first one at a playdate to announce he's leaving with a "Goodbye! Car, Mommy" when he's ready to go, and he'll declare "Fun!" or "Funny!" over and over again when he's having the time of his life. He loves to test our boundaries, but we're figuring out that the more boundaries we give him, the more content he seems with a predictable world.

Christmas morning... Chef Zach

He still loves to cook, play hide and seek, and he loves trains or anything else that he can roll on the floor, table, wall, and couch. Music, however, seems to be his favorite past time- between dancing and singing and playing musical instruments, he can't get enough! He'll ask us to sing the ABC song, but as soon as we start, he tells us to stop so we can enjoy his solo.


Playing the drums and playing hide and seek

That's the update in our neck of the woods. Hopefully we'll be posting sooner than later with news of the newest addition to our family!

Our Kitchen Helper

Zach has a passion. We really don't know how this obsession even came about since neither of his parents are even close to master chefs, but Zach is CRAZY about the kitchen. Jenny wonders if it is passed down from her own obsession and the fact that no matter how many times she begged, she was never given a play kitchen as a child. (Sorry, Mom, had to throw that in here.)

Zach refers to any kitchen as "Cook", and literally every time we mention any of his friends who happen to have a play kitchen, he immediately responds with "Cook". "Zach", we ask him, "do you want to meet Brady at the park today?" "Cook", he responds. "Yes, Brady does have a play kitchen at home. Now let's go to the park." We have located all the play kitchens on display in local stores where he is allowed to play, and we were almost banned from the nearby Pottery Barn Kids after we showed up 3 times in the span of 10 days. (Side note: since then, we have not been back in over 6 weeks, and yesterday as we briskly strolled by the storefront on our way to another store, Zach melted down pointing and yelling "Cook! Cook! Cook!"... He has an uncanny sense of direction for a one-year-old....)

Aside from the usual activities like getting his 'help' while we attempt to prepare breakfasts and dinners, we have come up with very clever ways to appease his need for discussing kitchens. We watch the Rachael Ray cooking segment regularly-- and we're really hoping that he's learning a lot so he can become the family chef in a year or two. We also have cut out and compiled some pictures from catalogs of play kitchens so we can talk about every detail of each kitchen.

We might need to chat with Santa about helping Zach explore his cooking abilities with his very own play kitchen. This way we can also stop begging out friends to let us come over and play with theirs!....