MM & PP's First Visit with Kate

Last Tuesday, Sean's grandparents, Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop, came in from PA for Thanksgiving. On their way to Wilson, they stopped by to see Kate. They were both so happy to finally see her! MM couldn't wait to get her hands on her!!
Kate was quite the charmer, too! She was full of smiles! So of course, Mom-Mom was just eating it up!

Mom-Mom did finally share her with Pop-Pop. :-)

Jackson was excited to see them both, too!

The Holiday Season is Here!

Whew! We have had a very busy, but very exciting few days around here. Here's the run-down...

• Mom-Mom & Pop-Pop came in and met Kate for the first time on Tuesday
• Thanksgiving Day Lunch w/ the Jackson's at Joe & Marie's house
• Thanksgiving Day Dinner w/ the Roberts' at my parent's house
• Celebrated Thanksgiving with the Ryan's on Friday
• NC State v. UNC on Saturday -- GO WOLFPACK!!!!
• Kate's Baptism and celebration on Sunday

So I obviously have a ton of pictures to post and I really want to get them all up this week b/c we are heading to the mountains this Friday for our annual Tree Hunt! (There will be even more fun pictures to share next week!) It's going to be another busy week around here -- lovin' this time of year!

First Smiles!

Kate recently reached one of her first milestones (at 6w /1d) -- SMILING! This is such a great milestone since there is nothing better than seeing a great big grin and knowing that she's so happy! She is usually full of smiles first thing in the morning. This picture was actually taken outside (in the afternoon) and she was lovin' it! I don't know if it was just being outside or what, but she was certainly feeling good about something!

She'll Melt Your Heart

Enjoying a Sunday afternoon nap with Daddy...
And cozied up with her Papa...
Oh, she's such the little angel!

Happy Birthday, Amy!!

We had a great time celebrating Amy's birthday Saturday night and Sunday. After a yummy dinner of crablegs and chicken wings, us "kids" went over to Buffalo Wild Wings for a couple of drinks. Thanks to Mamma and Papa for staying home w/ all the little ones!
Since it was a little past the kiddos' bedtimes Saturday night when we finished our dinner, the birthday cake was saved for Sunday morning! Who says you can't have birthday cake for breakfast!?!

Amy ~ Hope you had a great birthday!!

Fall & Football

We went out for another Wolfpack game last weekend, but this time the result didn't turn out quite as well. Despite losing to Clemson 23-43, we still had a good time while we were there. We stopped by the Fan Zone before the game and Jackson donated a toy for Toys for Tots. I wondered if he would be more concerned with opening the toy and playing with it, rather than understanding that it was to be donated to a needy kid, but he had no problem sharing. In fact, he proudly carried it as we walked from the car and even put it in the collection box all my himself. Such a big boy!

He even chatted with the Marine who was there, even though the music was way too loud!

Since Veterans' Day was last week and the Marines' were there collecting for Toys for Tots, we were hoping for a F-15 fly over. Unfortunately, this is all the "fly over" we got...

But as usual, Jackson had a great time!

Kate did great, too!

The cheering didn't faze her at all!

And of course, Jackson was happy to see Don (& Jen)!

A Wolfpack Win!

{ I've been trying to post these pictures all week and it's now Friday. My apologies for my tardiness. Two kids. You understand, right?? }

Last Saturday, we went out for another Wolfpack football game. Jackson loves it and was so excited to go back out there! It was a little windy, but other than that, the weather was great. We had club seats again (Thanks, John & Chris), so it was perfect for Kate -- no sun or wind to deal with.

We tailgated for a while with Mamma and Papa and before we went in, we walked through the Fan Zone to see what was going on. We didn't see much the last game, but there's always the chance of running into Mr. Wuf.

Here's Jackson at the football toss... The lady in front of him took a few tries. Jackson...first try! :-)
And here he is collecting his prize!
We didn't see Mr. Wuf this time, but we did catch up with his better half! (Check out the motorized cooler and the jacked up Dodge in the background -- only at NC State!)

However before we found Mrs. Wuf, Mamma did have a little run-in with the Giant Taco. He grabbed Kate's stroller from her and pushed Kate around a bit. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that!




Before the game, Jackson spent a few minutes going over some plays with Papa, in case the Wolfpack needed him to go in.

First, he got a lesson on throwing the ball...
Catching...

Looking deep before you go long...

Making the big run...

And your touchdown dance!!

So as is turned out, the Wolfpack didn't need Jackson this time. He'll be ready when they do though. Freshman Class of 2024, here he comes!

One of Jackson's favorite parts of the game is the band! He loves seeing them march by!

GO WOLFPACK!

We only stayed for the first half b/c we were seriously cutting into Jackson's naptime. This kid loves his sleep! But before we left, we had a chance to hang out with Don & Jen and Swaz & Jenn for a bit. Remember, Jackson loves him some Jen! When he first saw her as we were walking up, he ran to her, arms stretched -- "Jennnnnnnnn!"

Don is apparently already working on being Kate's favorite!!

And this was the first time Swaz and Jenn had met Kate. You know, with them getting married and all! :-)

So as you can see, it was a great day! Especially considering the Wolfpack held Maryland off, 38 - 31. However, what you can't see (since I didn't get a picture) is those two little ones fast asleep in their car seats when we got home. It was only 3:00 or so, but they had both played hard! And we'll be doing it all over again tomorrow! Go Pack!

Just a Good 'Ole Boy

My parent's neighbor and good friend of our family, was featured in an article in Sunday's Fayetteville Observer. Check out the online version here. I have to wonder though, is it really about the backdrop, or is just about slowing down to enjoy the finer things in life. I know I could certainly use a little more of that every now and again! Johnny, next time we're home, we'll be stopping by to 'sit a spell'.

The Coupon Game

A couple of weeks ago I told you about my new online addiction, reading blogs. One of the blogs that I was reading was Stretching a Buck, one of the many couponing blogs out there. I've always considered myself a moderate couponer. I actually remember clipping coupons before I was grocery shopping. I would clip the coupons out of the paper for my Mama, even though she would never really use them. I guess I've just always been into the idea of, not necessarily "saving money", but just not spending any more than you have to for a particular item. My friend Ashely recently started couponing, so when I asked for suggestions of other blogs to read, she shared quite a few with me. As it turns out, these couponing blogs are great! These women go around in search of the best deals and the best coupons and match it all up for you, so all you have to do is shop! Today, I went back to Target to get some marshmallows, because I decided that Jackson and I should make some Rice Crispy treats and also to help Santa out and pick up a toy for Kate (that I of course had a coupon for!). While I was there, I picked up a few other things that we needed and most of them matched up well with coupons. I was quite proud when the cashier gave me my total for all this... $17.91 (The toy for Kate retails for $19.99, mind you!) And aside from the two honkin' pieces of red velvet cake that I got for FREE, these were all things I would have bought either way!

Silver or Bronze?

I mentioned in an earlier post that Jackson is fascinated with playing with money, especially coins. Not surprisingly, today he asked me for some money. I said I didn't have any, as I was sitting in the chair feeding Kate. So he proceeded to walk over to the closet, pull out the diaper bag, dig around for my wallet, then bring it to me, again asking for money. Seriously?! Anway, I noticed then that he had a stinky diaper, so I bartered... You stop and let me change your diaper and I'll give you some money. (Diaper changes can be quite the battle these days.) So $.13 later he had a clean diaper. Well, he went about his business playing with the money in his bulldozer. A few minutes later, I noticed a funny look on his face. And he said, "Money?" I asked where the money was and he pointed to his mouth. I freaked out for just a moment -- he was breathing just fine -- then started questioning him more about the money. Soon it was clear where the money was and we weren't getting it back. Well, we would, sort of.... When I told him the money was gone and that we weren't going to play with money anymore, you would have thought I had taken away his favorite truck. He was so upset. And he should have been! Why do kids do things like this?? It's not surprising that his next request was for some juice -- and he chugged it. So now I'm left to wonder... Did he swallow the dime or a penny? I don't plan to "search" or anything, but I wonder if I'll notice an extra shiny poop in the next day or so???? I'll let you know if I find out.

He's making his list...

Checking out all the latest toys in this year's Toys R Us Big Toy Book.

Can you believe it? Christmas will be here before we know it! I was in Target today and noticed the shelves are already filling up with all things Christmas. We've been using the ole, "You'll have to tell Santa that you'd like that!" line when out shopping with Jackson for a few weeks now. And for the first time ever, I've already started shopping! That's right! I think having kids around just makes Christmastime so much more exciting! I can hardly wait!