Santa Pics

Blake and I planned to take Jackson to see Santa for the first time this morning. We got him all dressed up, and got to the mall around 10:15 or so, hoping the line wouldn't be too long. There was no wait, fortunately, and I got Mr. Jackson out of his stroller and approached Mr. Claus. Jackson did NOT want to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas!! Poor little thing screamed and cried. He was yelling "DAAAAAAAAAADAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He would turn around and look at Santa, only to cry a little louder. Blake had our camera taking some pictures as well, but the camera started acting all crazy, and I don't think they actually took. The 5 x 7 photo I have of my boy screaming while he visits Santa for the first time is priceless. I love it!

On a side note, I called Dr. Wiley's office (again) to question why my son has been throwing up his dinner every night since Wednesday, and I wanted to make sure they didn't think he was contagious or anything (I do not want to make anyone sick, I would feel so bad). He seems to think he is having acid reflux, possibly caused by the stomach virus, and he called him in a prescription to CVS. So far, so good. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get the straps on the high chair clean that cannot go in the washing machine, I would really appreciate it!

Pampered Chef(s)

Last night, Blake wanted to make Christmas goodies. I was planning to make gingerbread men and other treats with my mom on Friday, but that didn't work out, so Blake and I made some of our own. We trekked to Super BiLo to buy the ingredients for Oreo Truffles and Chex Party Mix. Our goodies turned out great, and I didn't burn anything. Jackson enjoyed playing in the cabinets with bowls and spoons.

Four Years

My Rose

All bundled up to stay at Nana's house.

Getting ready for our afternoon out


On Wednesday, Blake and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. We had planned on going to eat dinner and go see "Four Christmases." We had a gift card for the movie theater that we got as a Christmas gift last year, and I believe it has been over a year since we have seen a movie together. Obviously, things just didn't work out as planned, so we decided to go out this afternoon for a little lunch date. My mom offered to watch Jackson, since we have decided to keep him isolated from the general population to make sure he doesn't make anyone sick (he threw up again tonight, I am calling Dr. Wiley tomorrow). Anyway, after we dropped Jackson off, we went to J. Alexander's for lunch (our favorite). I had the club sandwich, and Blake had rattlesnake pasta (it's actually chicken). We enjoyed the carrot cake for dessert. It was so delicious. We then drove to Hamilton Place (total chaos), and then picked up Jackson. We watched "The Holiday," on DVD after Jackson went to sleep.

I can hardly believe Blake and I have been married for 4 years, and have actually been together for close to 9 years. This year has probably presented our marriage with the most changes...a new baby and 2 career changes, and all the while we have managed to just fall a little more in love. He's a great husband and dad, and I look forward to the years to come!

Saturday

Today, we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, a Children's Parade, and Elf. Everyone showered. Jackson threw up again. Blake and I ate chicken noodle soup and Club crackers. Didn't have the same nostalgic flavor. I am not sick, but I don't have an appetite due to all of the output I have seen since Wednesday. We continued disinfecting our house. We did get almost all of our presents wrapped, and I took some pictures of our Christmas decorations.

Fa La La La La

Jackson started feeling better Wednesday night. He seemed to be back to himself yesterday...he was playing and laughing all day, and eating some rice cereal, and hadn't been sick in about 24 hours. So, Blake and I went to his work Christmas Party last night at the Heritage House. It was very nice. We had a nice meal, and played Greedy Santa with 40+ people. We walked away with 2 DVDs that were probably released on VHS around 1987. On the way home, Blake said he didn't feel well, and by 10, he was officially sick with what Jackson had on Wednesday. This morning, Jackson got sick again (really bad!), and couldn't keep anything down....so I took hom to the doctor to make sure he wasn't getting dehydrated....He wasn't, so we left with instructions for Pedalyte for the next 12 hours.....Poor baby boys! Pray they both get better soon, and that Mommy doesn't get this nasty stuff! Jackson did let me put him down for a couple of seconds today to unroll a roll of paper towels.

Poor Baby!

Jackson is sick with his first stomache virus. I woke up this morning around 4:30 and commented to Blake that Jackson had slept all night (he hasn't done this in quite some time). About 15 minutes later, he coughed a couple of times, and then it sounded as if he had thrown up. I went into the nursery, and sure he enough, he was sick. I brought him into our room, and nursed him, and a few minutes later, he was sick again...So needless to say, 5 pairs of pajamas and 3 sheet changes later, Jackson is recovering! Poor thing, I hope he feels better soon! The other teacher from Mother's Day Out called to check on him, and none of the babies in his class were there today....they all are sick with the same pesky virus. I have disinfected his room, and our house smells like a sterile hospital operating room. Hopefully, no one else will get sick!

More Christmas Fun!

Saturday: I went to a ladies breakfast at church with my mom. Then, we (actually, just Blake) put up Jackson's Christmas tree in his bedroom. It is a small prelit tree, decorated with baby blue and white ornaments. I found a "Baby's First Christmas Tree" ornament kit at Target last year after Christmas 50% off. Their are just cute little boy type ornaments in the kit. I know he doesn't know what is going on this year, but I wanted to decorate his room anyway! Just making memories.

Sunday: We went to Blake's parents house for lunch, and decorated their tree. We also went to the choir Christmas party.

Monday: Tonight, was the coolest night yet! A girl at work told me about a house in a subdivision, Blackberry Farms. I was very impressed with their very well thought out light display. I am not sure that their neighbors are quite as impressed as we are...but, check it out if you are in the area. The lights are syncronized with a low frequency radio station, 103.5, and there are about 5 or 6 songs to listen to, and lots of lights to look at. It is similar to a video that was going around on Youtube about this time last year.

Tomorrow, I am going to figure out how to get the pumpkins off of my blog template, and get a little festive!

December Days

Blake and I both love the Christmas season. Since we have been married, Blake and I have attempted to do one "Christmasy" activity each day of December. So far, we have had so much fun with our first five days of December.

On Monday, Blake stopped at Books a Million, and purchased Jackson a copy of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." We read it to Jackson, and Blake wrote Jackson a sweet letter in the front of it. Jackson enjoyed playing peek a boo with his new book.

On Tuesday, we went and picked out our Christmas tree. This is one of Blake's favorite Christmas activities.

On Wednesday, we had our families over to our house for dinner, and decorated Jackson's first Christmas tree. I love getting all of my ornaments out...we have a"hodge podge" tree. We have Lenox ornaments, Hallmark ornaments, and multiple "Our First Christmas Together" ornaments, since we were married in December. We purchase one family ornament each year, and one ornament for each place that we travel to.

On Thursday, we worked on selecting our Christmas card.

On Friday, we went to Brad and Lydia's house for dinner (homeade Chicken Noodle Soup), and helped decorate their tree. Jackson left many small handprints on the glass on her coffee table! Their first Christmas tree looks fabulous!

Black Friday

Yes, we are crazy. We got up at 5:00, and arrived at Target at 6:00 a.m. We have no idea why we do it, but we do every year. And we always begin at Target. There is nothing of great interest that we need to buy. We are not looking for that "awesome deal," or hot Christmas list item. But, it is fun....so we go. I did have my list, and did find a few unplanned good deals. I have three people on my list left to purchase gifts for, with the exception of Blake. After the madness at Target, we went to Panera for breakfast, and then headed to the mall. We picked up a few more gifts, and just enjoyed being out in the madness. Kind of puts me in the Christmas spirit. Wish it put that lady that rammed my foot with her cart in the Christmas spirit.

Thanksgiving Extravaganza!

Jackson definitely made the most of his first Thanksgiving! We had a very busy couple of days, but enjoyed every second of the fun with our family. We began our celebration on Wednesday, and continued with our adventure until last night around 10:30 P.M.

Thanksgiving, Part 1: Dinner with the Freeman's

On Wednesday night, we went to Donnie and Darla's home to have Thanksgiving with Blake's dad's family. We had turkey sandwiches. This is a tradition that has been going on in Blake's family quite some time. We also had lots of side dishes, and desserts. We played Apples to Apples after dinner, and decided to play "Greedy Santa" instead of drawing specific names for Christmas.

Thanksgiving Morning: Blake and I woke up and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We took the pumpkin bread that I made to our neighbor next door.

Thanksgiving, Part 2: Lunch with the Ricks'

We went to my parents house to eat with my brother, Nathan, and his fiance, Jill. My mom made a Thanksgiving dinner straight out of Paula Deen's cookbook. It was delicious. I hope all of those weeks of Weight Watchers were not in vain.

Thanksgiving, Part 3: Dinner with the Johnson's

Blake's grandmother's house was the next stop. We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and of course, it was delicious. We drew names for Christmas, and had a great time visiting.

Next Stop: Visit Brad at the Firehall

Brad had to work on Thanksgiving, so we wanted to visit him. All of the firemen were finishing up their Thanksgiving dinner, and we participated in a tour of the fire hall where Brad works.

Last Stop: Back to my parents' house

We finished up the night playing Scrabble with my Dad, while my mom attempted to get Jackson so sleep. He did not want to participate in that activity....too much excitement.

We got back home around 10:30 or so, and Aunt Lydia came to spend the night to get ready for our big shopping trip on Black Friday.

We are so thankful for all the family and friends that we have to share this special time of the year with. We have so much to be thankful for.

9 Months Old and Wellness Visit

On Wednesday, my little Jack turned 9 months old! It's pretty hard to believe that his first birthday is just 3 months away. He is so much fun! His latest trick his waving hi and bye bye to everyone that he sees! He can say "Mama," "Dada," and "Huh"? I never realized how much I used the word "huh?" until Jackson started saying it all the time. For example, "Jackson are you sleepy, huh?," "Do you need your diaper changed, huh?," etc. Now, I will ask him something, and he looks at me, and says, "huh?" We are also adjusting to having to wear shoes....we were able to avoid this the first 6 or 7 months of his life, but he looks a little silly bundled up in a jacket, hood, and hat, with no shoes or socks on. We usually have to do a little scavenger hunt in the car before we get out of the car to look for two little shoes and socks. He is also very mobile. He is not technically crawling everywhere, but he gets where he needs to go by scooting, sliding, and rolling. He can also do the splits! He also has a fetish for electrical cords. He loves to chew on them and shake them. We have unplugged almost everything in his reach, and hid the cords, for fear our child will injure himself.....I thought this was an issue that only my son has, but when we went for his wellness check on Wednesday, a warning was listed on a sheet from the pediatrician (along for a sticker to put on our telephone with the number for poison control) about keeping electrical cords away from children....This must be a common fascination of babies that I was completely unaware of.

At Jackson's wellness appointment on Wednesday, Jackson got a clean bill of health. He weighs 18 pounds, 8 ounces (25th percentile), and is 29 inches long (75th percentile). I forgot his head circumference measurement, but it was in the 75th percentile, as well. Dr. Wiley said that he looked great, and was very pleased with the way his head is rounding out. The flat spot on the back of his head had concerned us a few months ago. Jackson may also begin eating finger foods and some table foods now, so he enjoyed a few treats off of the Thanksgiving table on Thursday.

Until Next Time...

Today, Amy asked me to go with her to Target and Babies R Us to create a gift registry for her baby boy that will be arriving this Spring. We went to Target first, and she scanned many of the essentials....diapers, wipes, bottles, pacifiers, baby wash, washcloths, hooded towels, burp cloths, receiving blankets, etc. We then took a break, and went to Starbucks, and then drove to Babies R Us. She registered for the bedding she is using in the nursery, as well as the travel system, and other large items she is planning to use. We had so much fun looking at all the the baby items!

I couldn't help but think about when Blake and I completed this task about 10 months ago. I remembered how we split this task up into 2 separate trips. I remembered wondering what my little boy would look like in all of the cute little clothes, and how he would like how we had everything set up for him. I remember wondering if he would like the swing or the bouncer. I remembered having a slight meltdown when we approached the aisle with all the the bottles, breast pumps and "accessories," due to my lack of knowledge and inexperience.

It was fun being with Amy today, knowing all of the fun, excitement, and memories she is going to make with her little boy in the months and years to come! We packed up Jackson's swing, Bumbo Seat, and Papasan Chair to loan to her, and hope that her baby boy enjoys them as much as Jack did. I couldn't help but be a little sad when we loaded them into the back of her SUV today. I can't wait to use them again, someday....later.

We ended our afternoon at Chili's with turkey sandwiches....her treat! Yummy!

Congrats Fireman Brad!!

On Thursday night, our family celebrated as Brad graduated from the Fire Academy, and became one of our city's newest firemen. We attended a wonderful ceremony, and are so proud of Brad's accomplishment. We know this has been a dream of his for quite some time. We continued to celebrate after the ceremonies, and had dinner at Ichiban. (Jackson thoroughly enjoyed his first hibachi grill experience). On Friday, we had a cookout at Brad and Lydia's to celebrate with family and friends. Way to go, Brad! We are so proud of you.