Tis the Season...

Christmas time is so much fun, especially with little ones. I tried to soak it all in and partake in as many festive activities as possible. Some of the yearly traditions include a trip to the mall to visit Santa and baking Christmas cookies. As well thought out as going to see Santa was, it certainly did not go as planned. We timed it right after Emily's long morning nap, got the kids dressed up, and headed to the mall. Jackson and I had been talking about going to see Santa for several days beforehand. On the way to the mall, he talked about it excitedly with Bobby and Pa. We arrived and were surprised to find that the line was very short. It was finally our turn. Toby was carrying Emily towards Santa while I was getting the camera cued up. I thought Jackson was right behind me. I turned around to find him standing stubbornly, holding on to the railing at the front of the line. He refused to come see Santa. We finally got him to come sit with us when Santa hid behind the chair. We then decided to tell Santa to come out thinking Jackson would be over whatever was bothering him. We were certainly wrong. He refused to talk to him and as we were walking away he threw a huge tantrum. As a side note, Emily was pretty much crying the whole time too. It was all a huge disaster! Needless to say, I did not get my Santa picture this year. Oh well! That was the only low point we experienced. One extremely high point was watching Jackson in his Christmas program at his preschool. Jackson and his classmates sang several songs. He did such an excellent job. We had been practicing and singing them around the house for weeks before. They also spent a lot of time rehearsing at school. We were oh so proud of him and his performance. Another fun memory was going with Jackson and some of his preschool buddies (from his class last year) and their moms to buy gifts for a few children off the angel tree. It is nice to be able to start teaching Jackson the real meaning of Christmas! I'm not sure if he really understood what we were doing but it doesn't hurt to start teaching him anyway. Here are a few of the highlights...

In line waiting to see Santa....

Goofing off with Pa!

Rolling out the cookies

Cutting them out

Putting them on the cookie sheet

Before his Christmas program

Jackson performing with his class

Our little angel

Jackson with Pa after the show

Our best attempt at a photo of Bobby and Pa with the grandchildren

 

 

 

One year check up!

Yesterday morning Emily had her one year old well visit. Conveniently her eye started acting up again on Saturday, so the MD was able to see what it has looked like lately. As we were expecting, we got a referral to the eye doctor to have this clogged tear duct issue evaluated. Most likely she will have a procedure to dialate the tear ducts. Our appointment with the eye doctor is next Tuesday so we will have more details then. Other than that the doctor says she looks great. She has definitely become increasingly difficult to take the doctor, as she now hates being examined and reacts more to the shots. She received three yesterday, one in each arm and one in the leg. Poor baby :( We now have Emily on full whole milk feedings morning, afternoon, and before bed. We are working on cutting out the bottle completely. She still prefers the milk from a bottle.

Her stats were as follows:

Weight: 19 lb 4.5 o z (42%)
Height: 29 inches (44%)
Head: 17.9 inches (64%)

Emily's first birthday party

We celebrated Emily turning one with a party here at the house. We ended up having about 24 people, not counting our family of 4. It was pretty much our close circle of friends and their kids along with Uncle Bob and the Gladdens. So basically all of the kids that attended the party were Jackson's friends! I was a bit worried about Emily getting overwhelmed like Jackson did at his first birthday party, but she didn't at all! She just crawled around the house the whole time watching the chaos around her. And chaos, it most certainly was! Out of the 24 guests, 11 were young kids. It was cold out so we were confined to the indoors. You can just imagine what that was like. It all went really well and a good time was had by all. We served up hearty appetizers and drinks. Amber made Emily the most adorable smash cake that was in the shape of a HUGE cupcake. Emily didn't dig into it like I thought she would. She was vey dainty about the whole thing. In fact, she made much more of a mess out of her tiny one bite cupcake that we gave her on her actual birthday. Some pics to enjoy....

Cousin Hug

Party décor...

This banner has a photo of Emily from each month of her first year

 

Crawling around the house, during the party, in her tutu that we made for her

 

Party chaos...

 

 

Ready for cake...

 

 

 

Some of the kids eating their cupcakes

Opening a gift, the next day, from the Gladdens

All the kids decided to help

 

 

What a difference a year makes....

 

 

 

Happy first birthday to our beautiful, sweet, feisty little girl!! Before you were born, I clearly remember thinking to myself, how could I possibly have enough love to give to another child. Now I cant imagine our lives without you. You have brought so much joy and chaos at the same time. I wouldn't have it any other way. What a year it has been! The familiar saying, "they grow up too fast" couldn't be more true. It has been quite a whirlwind though considering we have moved twice since you were born! We have been on a couple big road trips and flown all the way to California.

At one year you aren't walking yet but you are cruising along the furniture and stood on your own for about 10 seconds Thanksgiving Day. You aren't really making many sounds yet although I have noticed you saying something similar to "more" when you want me to feed you more. Today when we had daddy on speaker phone you were saying, "da da da da" over and over again.  You love your brother to pieces even though he seems to torment you constantly. You love to dance. Anytime you hear a beat of any kind you start to bounce up and down. You love love love to eat. Pretty much anything at any time. We finished nursing about a week and a half ago. You are now taking half formula and half whole milk. We are trying to transition to a sippy cup but you are still finding comfort in the bottle. You love to play outside especially in the leaves. Often times, we catch you trying to eat them. You absolutely hate having your diaper changed and fight it hard. It has gotten to the point where I can barely do it by myself unless you are distracted by your bottle. And like most children, you hate when we tell you no or pull you away from something that you are getting in to.

I think Toby said it best as we left the hospital with Emily, "our family now feels complete." We love you so much Emily and look forward to watching you grow!!

O' Christmas Tree!

We started a new tradition this year. It is something that we have thought about doing in years past. This year we made it a reality. The day after Thanksgiving we took mom and dad and headed up to Boone to find and cut our own Christmas tree. We have been talking about it with Jack and he was so excited with anticipation. The night before we went we showed him the first few minutes of National Lampoons Christmas vacation where they go cut their own tree. Hilarious! Anyway, we found a nice little tree farm with some beautiful Frasier furs. We borrowed a saw, trekked up the muddy hill, and found "the one".  Its beautiful and full, fitting the room perfectly! They helped us strap it to the top of the car and off we went. It was a fun and special day spent with family!

The tree farm

Searching for that perfect tree

Gotta make sure its not too tall

This one is probably too short, Jackson!
 

Emily even enjoyed it!

Getting ready to take it home!

The finished product!


 

Happy Holidays, everyone!!

Thanksgiving 2013

We had a pretty simple and relaxing Thanksgiving. To do this day, I have yet to host and prepare the big feast. Maybe next year will be the year? Anyway, I'm thankful for a mom who does all the cooking. All that I did was make a salted caramel apple pie and some balsamic green beans. The pie was such a production that as I was making it I thought, how on earth could I prepare a whole meal by myself?! Toby has always had dreams of frying a turkey so this year we took the first step and bought a fryer. We decided to buy a chicken instead though since mom was roasting a turkey. The guys got the fryer out but couldn't get it working in time so we ended up frying our chicken for dinner the next night instead! After the big feast we helped mom decorate their tree. The holiday season has officially begun! We certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year and every year!

Jackson wearing the head dress that he made at school. The teachers gave him an Indian name of "Curious Fox"

Checking out the stuffed turkey

We tried to get her to pose with the turkey. No such luck!

Emily standing on her own for the first time. She lasted about 10 seconds!

Tree decorating....

California Vacation

The first week of November we went on our first family vacation, just the four of us, to California. We all had such a great time. The kids traveled better than expected and except a few minor illnesses popping up toward the end, it was pretty much smooth sailing! Granted, the time change especially messed Emily up. She was up around 5 a.m. every morning of our trip. It all worked out though because we came to expect it and just took turns waking up with her. For a couple weeks after we returned the kids were sleeping in about an hour and a half later than normal. It was great while it lasted.

Anyway, we started our trip in San Francisco at Chris and Hannah's. Boy are they wonderful hosts. We didn't waste a moment so that we could take in as many as the sights as possible. We really enjoyed hanging out with them and sweet Cy too. We went to some amazing over looks, a few parks, the marina, the Golden Bridge, and just bummed around the city in general. We ate a ton of delicious food while there as well. Jackson finally got to enjoy his much anticipated cable car ride. He even got a front row seat!

After the first few days with Chris and Hannah we took a trip up to Napa to see Ron, Mary, Rhonda, Cassie, Janet, Jada, and Alexis. The drive up there from San Fran was just gorgeous. Up in Napa, we were able to catch up with a lot the family that we hadn't seen in a very long time. Many of them were meeting Jackson and Emily for the first time! We drove through some of the vineyards and even stopped at one to partake in some wine tasting. We also toured a brewery that afternoon which was really cool.

After leaving Napa we went back to San Fran for a couple days and stayed with Chris and Hannah again. On our way back to the city we drove down the coast. The views were breath taking! We also walked through Muir Woods, where we got to see some big redwoods. Not the largest ones in California by any means but definitely the largest trees Toby and I have ever seen.

We had an amazing trip leaving us with lots of wonderful memories. Even though he is only 4 hopefully Jackson will remember it as well. We hope to go back in a couple years!

Cy enjoying the park

Checking out the Golden Gate Bridge...

Jackson helping Uncle Ron with some chores

We couldn't get Jackson off this thing. It belonged to Alexis and Jada when they were little.

Jackson with Uncle Ron and his homemade wine

Cassie and Jackson

Most of the crew the morning we left

Sightseeing on the way back to the city



We took Jackson on a cable car our last day there...

He got a front row seat

Alcatraz from afar

We played and had a picnic in the city...