Wordless Wednesday

This would be Addie's Christmas dress and bloomers!

Christmas Part Three...

Christmas Eve we joined Ron's mom's family at his parents house. Jackson had a great time with his cousins Nick and Tony playing around with new flashlights and Zhu zhu pets. Addie showed off for everyone twirling around the house.

The guys were able to bring Joel downstairs to sit behind the bar for a brief time, I think it was a Christmas present for all to see him back behind the bar after over a year! After the gathering at Jan and Joel's the kids came home to get ready for bed but not before setting out cookies for Santa.

Christmas Day was a beautiful day, my mom spent the night at our house so that she could catch the excitement in kids' eyes as they came down the stairs. Jackson was thrilled to find out that Santa had eaten his cookies and immediately took down his stocking to check out the goodies. When he opened his ladybug pillow pet from Santa he was so happy, he promptly went upstairs and got a pair of pajamas. We couldn't figure out what he was doing until he told us that in the commercial the kids put their pajamas in their pillow pet. Next he opened the monkey pillow pet. Mom and Dad had originally bought Jackson the monkey because we thought he'd certainly like the monkey more than the ladybug. But Jackson continued to ask Santa for the ladybug, and Santa came through for him.

Jackson also unwrapped a digital camera, a Wall-e robot, and best of all the Batman cave he so wanted! Addie opened new pink decor for her room that we'll be putting together soon, more baby dolls and even a stroller to push them around in.

We also had my Dad, Cathy, Blake and Paul over for a lasagna dinner, present opening and a delicious Tiramisu that I've continued to eat this week.  Ron and I are excited about never getting lost and always knowing how far away the closest gas station is with our new Garmin and I'm going to be making ice cream this summer with my new ice cream maker.  That's not true, I won't wait until summer!

It was a beautiful Christmas and a time to remember. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of your own children is an amazing opportunity. Thank you Jackson and Addie for making Christmas memorable for me and your dad.

Christmas Eve and Morning in photos...

Christmas Toys...

After Christmas at my mom's Jackson and Addie had fun playing with their favorite toys. Addie is excited to have her very own baby. The pacifier around the baby's neck, most times is in Addie's mouth. Jackson is spending quiet time playing with his tag reader and learning new games on his Buzz Lightyear laptop.

Snow, Snow, Snow...

And... more snow came before Christmas, as if we needed more. At the end of our driveway are two piles of snow six feet high from all the snow! Jackson had a good time trudging through the snow and even had to holler for dad to help him as he got stuck. He climbed to the top of one of these piles and posed for photos for me. Addie sat in her stoller to watch the fun, if we had let her out she would have gotten lost in all the snow.

Christmas Part One

This Christmas started early with a gathering at Grandma Pam's for an Italian Christmas party. The kids had a great time, Jackson enjoyed playing with cousins Malak and Luke and Tasha too! Addie got loved up by everyone and was mesmorized by Grandma's tree. The kids got loads of gifts and misunderstood how my expectations of saying thank you. Instead of wating until he was done opening a gift to say thank you, he would say thank you before even opening. Sometimes even bringing the small wrapped gifts across the room to say "thank you for this!" It was pretty cute. We sang Christmas carols and Jackson put on a little performance singing Rudolph for the group because when we all sang it, some added the typical additions like, "like poker, like dumbo, etc". Jackson didn't like that we didn't sing it the "right" way so he had to show us how it was done. We were sure proud of our little ham.

Look Who's Talking Two...

From the first list: Baby, Book, Addie, Bye -Bye, Hi, Hello,Yes, No, Milk, Nigh-Nigh, Mama, Dada, Bumpa (Grandpa), Gramma,Tan du (thank you), Go, Socks, Shoe, Up, Dow (Down), Puppy (every animal is a puppy), Banana, Uh-oh, All Done, All Gone, Poop, Ba-ul (bottle), Ball, More, Snow.

And the most recent: Toy, Play, Jaaason, Adeline, Cow, Moo, Quack, Meow, Ribbit, Peeese (Please), Hot, Cool, Banana, Apple, Welcome, Love You, Light.

And she can count to three like this:

Mom, Dad or Jackson: One
Addie: Two!
Mom, Dad or Jackson: One, Two
Addie: Three!

Random Thoughts

Some jokes told by an almost four year old are just dumb and some are actually very funny. 

Addie pooped in the tub on Ron's watch.  Poor Dad.

 I should really update Addie's vocab list, but exciting news: she says Jackson.  It sounds more like Aaason... but it's defintely Jackson

I have four more days to complete a large final project that I haven't even started.  But after that I'm on break for three weeks from school!

I almost forgot goods to put in stockings... being Santa's helper is a lot of work!

Jackson

Jackson is definitely a bundle of energy these days making life a little challenging for those around him.  He doesn't listen and needs to be told again and again to do something leaving us pulling our hair out just getting out of the door.  Every day is a challenge but I'm hoping that these characteristics, while not great ones for a child will make him a very successful adult.

Thankfully when he's at school, it's a different story.  His teachers tell me he is always the first one sitting on the line with a bubble in his mouth (meant to keep him quiet) and follows directions very well.  I don't know what their secret is but I'm just glad to hear he is capable.

I wish that I had the time to write everything that he says down or the memory to hold onto the most entertaining tidbits.  For instance today on the way to school, provoked by nothing he says:

Jackson: I'm going to not live here someday.
Mom: Why?  Where are you going?
Jackson: Someday I'm going to live at college.
Mom:  Yes, you will someday.
Jackson: But it's okay, I'll bring a phone and call you guys.

I then asked him if he was going to go to college in Minnesota or if he intended to go somewhere in another state.  He assured me that he would stay in Minnesota so I didn't need to drive very far to go see him.  Thankfully we have loads good schools to choose from in Minnesota so I don't need to push him any farther from the nest.  It's hard to believe that someday we will be empty-nesters... right now as I look around my kitchen-- it's a mess!  Sippy cups lining the sink, a bucket of snacks under the kitchen table and breakfast scraps on the floor... I will miss all of these things greatly when the kids aren't making their messes throughout my home.

Santa visits preschool

Today was pajama day at school today and Santa came for a visit.

Wordless Wednesday

16 months

Addie's 16 month checkup stats:

Weight: 23 lbs. 4 oz. (50%)
Height: 2' 7" (56%)
Head Circumference: 45.6 cm (35%)

Snowed In...

On Saturday it snowed 17 inches in the Twin Cities ... that's right 17 inches!  Ron's work closed, grocery stores closed down, buses stopped running, the airport closed and people were stranded all over.  The roof of the metrodome collapsed forcing the Vikings to reschedule their game for Monday in Detroit. 

We didn't have anything planned, we spent the morning outside shoveling some of the snow out of our way, playing, making tracks and snow angels. We warmed by the fire with hot chocolate and continue to watch snow drifts three feet up our front windows. It was quite the adventure and the kids once again enjoyed the time outside.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Jackson says to Dad:
"Don't throw that away Dad, we can use that for something." 
-- Love this boy!

Holidazzle

For the first time I was able to see the Holidazzle parade. We left work early to get kids home and fed and then worked our way through traffic to get downtown for the start of the parade. It was quite cold outside and Jackson only complained until Grandma Pam bought him a light up flashy-thingy. Addie enjoyed the music and the lights and bopped up and down in the backpack up on Daddy's back!

A Visit to Santa's Workshop

Hair Done by Daddy




Ron wanted to try his hand at fixing Addie's hair. I think I will need to give him a lesson.

 

Or maybe Jackson could, this is his work.



Our Christmas Elf...

We've had a visitor from Santa... our Christmas Elf. Jackson has named him Elvie and Elvie flies away each night to tell Santa if Jackson and Addie have been good kids or not. He flies back every morning before the kids awake and hides in a new place to watch over the children. Elvie can't be touched or his magic will wear off so he sits high upon the shelf looking down at us.

Mr. Penguin, Our Nebulizer

Ron and Addie have both been pretty sick in recent weeks with an upper respiratory thingy!  I mentioned in an earlier post that they have been using a nebulizer to help their lungs. 

We have had such trouble trying to get Addie to sit still for her treatment.  She kicks and screams and flails her arms and cries non-stop for the ten minutes it takes to give her a dose.  It takes two of us; Ron holds her hands and legs while I hold the mask over her face while pinning her head with my chest and leg... it's quite the ordeal!  And here I thought that because the nebulizer was shaped like a penguin, it'd be a friendly and easy task.  The penguin did not fool her one bit. (The case is made to look like his little igloo!)

Checking the Snow Wheelers

Ron and Jackson took the remote controlled car out for a ride in the snow covered yard earlier this week. Jackson got this car for Christmas last year from Uncle Steve and Kathy and was TERRIFIED of it. Now he happily driving it around our yard.



They warmed up over a heated battle in checkers.  Jackson is learning to play and still needs help to figure out which direction his pieces should be heading.  But give this kid a year and he'll give his dad a real challenge!  I hope that Jackson is more successful at the game than his mom... I have YET to be Ron in a game of checkers and don't even mention Stratego!  But I'm undefeated in Battleship!  I can't wait for the day the kids have the attention span to sit down and play board games with us, we'll have a continuous battle of Scrabble going in this house in ten years.

Random Thoughts

It does me no good to buy wrapping paper at the end of the season for next year.  By the time Christmas comes around I have forgotten that I already own wrapping paper.

I wish I had more time for crafts.

I wish I had more time for a lot of other things too.

As I look out the window, the show is coming down and I'm happy to be "snowed" in with my family tonight.  We'll watch the end of E.T. and maybe pop some popcorn.

The look on Jackson's face when E.T. and Elliot met for the first time should have been recorded on camera.  We laughed so hard we nearly cried.  His mouth was as wide as it could possibly get and then a little wider!

Jackson told me on the way to school that his pants were made of wool so he'd be nice and snuggly warm.  Then he said: "Huh?  Must have been a BLUE sheep!"

I had medicine in the cabinet that expired in 1999.  And that didn't even seem that unreasonable to me.

A Star on Top

Jackson was very helpful in putting up the tree this year, he was my little assistant. If you'll remember last year I was having to defend myself more than I was getting the tree up. We have a fake Christmas tree -- though I do dream of trudging through the snow to chop down our own perfect tree -- but for now we have a fake plastic tree that was handed down and it seems senseless to cut down a perfectly good tree to only toss it curbside come January. I digress, perfect fake tree is now in the living room. Jackson helped to set it up and helped to hang ornaments though we often had to discourage him from hanging ornament after ornament on the SAME branch. Addie even helped a bit this year and took a few ornaments from the box and stashed them in the tree!



And after tree-trimming came gingerbread house making! I thought a bought a kit to make large gingerbreads but I wasn't paying much attention as I was trying to rush through after getting a call to go to urgent care to help with Addie's chest xray (both Ron and Addie have been sick). Instead I bought five mini-gingerbreads. These gingerbread houses are far too tedious for me and considerably so for Jackson and I am proud that we were able to finish one!