Sunday, November 30, 2008

Battle of the Christmas Tree.

Last year I was worried about Jackson and the Christmas tree since he was only 15 months, however this year I believe we have it worse (not to mention Garrett). Last year, Jackson would knock the ornaments off of the tree and AARON OR I would have to pick them up and put them back on the tree. This made us frustrated last year, but I think this year is actually worse.

This year, Jackson takes them off of the tree and THINKS he does a good job of putting them back on the tree before getting caught. However, what we find is a bunch of ornaments all shoved into one part of the tree. I will happen to notice a big empty space on the tree and then see ornaments shoved way back into the tree.

Once upon a time the ornaments were all nicely spaced out on our tree.....now....not so much!

1) Garrett working hard to get the ornament off of the tree -

2) Garrett succeeding at getting the ornament off of the tree -

3) Jackson THROWING the ornament back up onto the tree -

4) Jackson standing back waiting for his brother to get in trouble -

Random Pictures -

Look at the drool on Garrett's shirt! Maybe we are finally working on getting that first tooth...



Jackson playing peek-a-boo with Garrett -

Aaron decided to take Jackson on a special trip this morning to the doughnut store. He even got to go "In Daddy's Truck" like he always wants to do. My car is boring to him since he is always in it. Every time I ask him if he wants to go somewhere he says "In Daddy's truck?" No Jackson....just Mom's car....
Doughnuts with Daddy -
Coloring with Daddy -

Friday, November 28, 2008

Random Pictures from home....























































It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

It feels like Christmas at our house! We put our Christmas tree and decorations up the day before Thanksgiving and the house lights will be going up one day soon....

Today, I have several packages arriving and I LOVE it! I feel like a kid. Aaron and I bought ourselves a new, fancy Nikon D40 Camera for our Christmas gift to each other. We hate the camera we have now. Our old camera will still be the "throw in the diaper bag and go" camera, but we wanted a good camera to be able to take nice pictures of the boys. The camera was just delivered (I had to sign for it....that's when you know you got something good!) and it is now charging. So....give me time to play with it and then I will be posting pictures soon. Forgive me though, I am sure it will take time for me to learn how to use it (PROPERLY) so don't judge the pictures too critically yet! :)

More packages show to be arriving today as well....lots of gifts that I ordered for the boys (Santa asked me to store them at our house. The North Pole is running out of room, so I told him it wouldn't be a problem to keep them here, and then Christmas Eve he can place them under the tree) When the boys go down for their nap, I am going to play Christmas music and start wrapping presents. I love it!!

Are you surprised I am not out finding bargains at the "Day After Thanksgiving Sales"? I just can't do it. I have been obsessed with great deals lately, but I just can't bring myself to fight the crowds today. It's not worth it to me. Crowds stress me out and make me extremely grumpy (Aaron and my mom could tell you that...)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure enjoyed ours! We had lunch at Aaron's parent's house and dinner at my parent's house. My mom and my mother-in-law are both fabulous cooks, so today...well....I really shouldn't eat much. I feel like I have enough calories stored in my tummy from those meals to get me through the rest of the year....haha. Awww, how I miss being pregnant during the holidays. We really enjoyed spending time with our families. I know at Thanksgiving everyone says that they are thankful for their families (which they probably are) but Aaron and I really do both come from great, loving families. I think now that we have our little family of 4, family means more to us than ever before. I am just happy that Aaron and I are both as close to our families as we are and we are able to raise Jackson and Garrett around good, loving, caring people.

Okay...I will stop being sentimental now and go check to see if the battery is charged yet on the camera. Fa la la, la la la!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I went on a date today....

with my oldest son!

Today I decided to have some one on one time with Jackson. I thought a "Mommy and Me Day" would be good for him. Since Garrett's arrival, Jackson still gets plenty of attention and has never shown an ounce of jealously. However, I know there are many moments when I can't give Jackson the attention he would like to have because I am taking care of Garrett. ("Mom hold Bubba anymore" does occasionally come out of his mouth though...)

I had a hair appointment scheduled for today, so my mom was planning on watching both boys, but her job got cut in half when I decided to take Jackson with me. So, she got to have one on one time with Garrett instead. (Which now that I'm thinking about it, it was probably nice that her and Garrett had some bonding time. She took care of Jackson when I was teaching, so her and Jackson got lots of bonding time.)


Jackson and I started our day with going to my hair appointment. I was only getting my hair cut, so it didn't take long. He did great! Then we went to North Park. I got to use the little single stroller. Wow....that thing is light! First, we had lunch which was rather easy with one child. It was at this point I realized how much Jackson was enjoying our day just by the way he would look at me and smile. We had a nice conversation (if that is what you would call it ) over lunch. Then we did some shopping, he danced in dressing rooms, he would say "No, Mom" to things that I would try on, we saw Christmas decorations and "Ho Ho Trees" at the mall, and then headed home.

I truly feel like he enjoyed his one on one time. Tonight his attitude towards me just seemed refreshed....I can't think of another word. He was more patient with Garrett and I both and in a wonderful mood. I have always known that one on one time outside of the home is important, but I just have trouble leaving one child behind. However, after seeing how happy he was today, I am really going to try to do it more often.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

OMG! I have a new hero...

Best website EVER...I must share!
http://www.yourcouponbuddy.com/

One day, I will be like her....

Just a little update about my savings -
I have been saving the most by looking at what is on sale that week and sort of planning our meals around that. They are not abnormal meals; they are just things our family normally eats. If there is a big sale on something, I will stock up. On average, I am saving around $38 a week. Plus, I normally leave the store with $3 to $5 off of gas.

The way I see it....if I were still teaching (you know teachers get paid the big bucks...), paying childcare for a two year old and an infant, spending more money on fuel to get to work everyday - what I would actually profit from working (which wouldn't be much after childcare), may one day be what I can SAVE at the store. I will do it......one day, because I have a new hero! :)

AND...the lady who cuts my hair is having a baby. It is her 2nd baby, but 1st boy. I am giving her some baby things that we no longer need and in exchange I am getting SIX free haircuts (about $215 value!). However, being the good, kind hearted sister that I am, I am using 4 of the haircuts in exchange for her to do all of our hair for my sister's wedding. I am a sweet sister aren't I?

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

This isn't just a turkey, as you can plainly see.

I made it with my hand, which is a part of me.

It comes with lots of love, especially to say,

I hope you have a very, Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Love, Jackson

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The reason why Santa is bringing Jackson a Microphone for Christmas...

Aaron and I are loud people. We have 2 young children who create loud noises. We have a yappy dog. The last thing we need to add to our house is a microphone, right? Watch the videos below to see why Jackson will be getting a microphone from Santa for Christmas... (If he is a good boy, of course....)

PS...in case you are wondering, he has a "boo-boo" on his face. He fell down.

He is yelling, I mean singing "My Hallelujah Song" if you can't tell what he is trying to say/scream/sing/yell.




I just came across this video and I am CRACKING UP LAUGHING! I didn't know he had my camera, but this is the reason why he will be getting a "kids digital camera" for Christmas too. Here is what he is saying in case you can't understand: "Turn on....hmmmmmmmm....turn on."

This video was taken last week when the Country Music Awards were on TV. It was right before bed and I was feeding Garrett, so our living room is kind of dark. If you can't tell, he is using the baseball bat for his microphone again. This time though he uses his harmonica as well.

Here are some pictures of my little toothless cutie pie! He is almost 8 months and hasn't got his first tooth. At 9 months, our doctor tells us to let him have the things we eat (minus the things babies can't eat until they are older: nuts, honey, cows milk, chocolate, shell fish, berries, eggs, etc.) and to stop letting him have baby food. This is going to be a challenge with no teeth!



My Favorite Story Time Ever.

I have been taking Jackson and Garrett to a story time that is about 30 minutes away from our house at Border's bookstore. I recently found out through a friend/old co-worker about a story time at our local pubic library. My friend's sister lives near me and that is where she takes her daughter. The library is about 3 minutes from our house (There is normally nothing neat close to our house...) so I really hoped that we would enjoy it. I have been dying for Jackson and Garrett to be around other kids.

It was FANTASTIC! I am so excited about it. We got there about 10 minutes early, so Jackson joined a group of other kids that were playing with puzzles. There were so many kids around Jackson's age. You could tell that all of the moms were stay at home moms and have formed a relationship from attending story time. The librarian who led the story time used to be a first grade teacher, so she had a lot of fun activities planned for the kids. She started by reading a few books. Jackson is 2.....he is a boy......he is an active 2 year old boy......but well behaved (most of the time). During a story I don't expect him to sit right in front of the reader and be still for that amount of time.....and the good thing is, they don't expect the kids to do this either. They are toddlers! There were a few older kids and some young girls who sat with their legs crossed like perfect little students during the story (Garrett was actually part of the "sit and listen" group...kind of), but then there were some of the toddlers who wanted to climb on and off a chair during the story, play with a puzzle, walk around, try to sit in the librarian's lap while she was reading (yep, Jackson tried that!) etc. and all of this was okay. They were all listening to the story.....they were just multitasking quietly!

After the story, she sang a turkey song with the kids. Jackson loved this! It was a very cute song! Then all the kids held hands in a circle and did a dance to some song about Thanksgiving.

Next, we moved to tables and the kids did a real craft! They made a Pilgrim out of a toilet paper roll and felt paper. The librarian even took a picture of each child's face to put on their Pilgrim. The project was very thought out! After the craft, it was snack time. She passed out little waffle cones and filled the cones with Fruity Cheerios. It was a cute little snack! Then I let Jackson check out some books to bring home with us.

We had such a good time. I loved it, Jackson loved it, Garrett loved it.....it was wonderful! Jackson was telling everyone "Bye" when we were in the parking lot leaving like they were his new best friends. The story time is only the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month, but I am going to be sure we never miss it. It is so good for the boys to socialize with the other kids and I enjoyed talking to other stay at home moms. It was an A+ Story Time....and it is by our house!!!!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

My sister is getting married....very soon!

Here are some pictures from my sister and Ricky's wedding shower -
And just for the record.....they are having a VERY SMALL wedding, so don't be offended if you didn't get an invitation. I am glad we made the cut. :)

Sis and Ricky





My sister and I

Who knows?! Just being silly...it was a fun night!

Aaron and I


Me, Sis, and Mom
My sister and Aaron. Aaron always loves it when she does this...can't you see the excitement in his face. haha.
Me, Heather (she's pregnant!), Timisha, and my sister. The three of them are childhood friends and I was "the little sister..." So, when we took this picture I said, "Awwww, I get to be in a picture with y'all. I never got to do this when we were young." :)
The Shower Hosts