Monty Hubert

We welcomed a new addition to our family during our Tree Hunt this year, Monty Hubert. Monty Hubert is one of Santa's elves and he was sent to watch over Jackson from Thankgiving until Christmas. He stayed in the same place during the day, but at night he went back to the North Pole to give Santa a report on Jackson...mostly good, of course! He returned by the next morning, but you never knew where to find him. He's back up in the North Pole with Santa now, but we know he'll be back next year...it's the "where" part that we don't know. Here are just a few of the perches he found this year...

Whew!

This past week has been a non-stop whirlwind, but I love it! Jackson had a wonderful Christmas and really got the hang of the whole "present unwrapping" thing! It was nice this year, b/c we didn't have to cram all of our traveling into 3 days, so we were able to slow down a little bit. We went over to Wilson to celebrate with the Ryans Christmas Eve day, but we were home by 7:30 in time for Jackson to get to bed. We woke up Christmas morning to lots of toys in the family room -- all unwrapped and out of the box. That was good thinking on Santa's part since Jackson has absolutely no patience when it comes to toy removal. (See Uncle Joe below.) I mean really, is it mandatory that they package toys with oodles of twist ties and even screws?!? I guess we are just novice parents who haven't quite mastered this skill just yet.

Christmas morning we headed down to Bladenboro to celebrate with all the Jacksons at my Grandma's house and we spent Christmas night with my parents. It was nice to settle down that afternoon and not have to pack right back up. I felt like we were non-stop packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking for a week. We decided to get back to Wendell Friday afternoon, so that Jackson could play with all of his fun new toys.

It has certainly been crazy these past few days, but man, it's been a lot of fun! As 2008 comes to an end, we are looking forward to lots more GOOD TIMES in '09!!

Santa came to see the Ryans! (He didn't bring Toby, he just insisted on being in the picture.)

Jackson and his sweet new barn!

Nana and Pa-Jack gave Jackson a Gator! He thinks he is one cool dude!! He has already gotten the hang of the pushing the pedal, well, just wide open. He's clueless about steering though...he'll get there soon enough. He loves this thing and wants to ride it every time he sees it! He has had multiple melt-downs when he couldn't. I think we may try covering it to see if that would help... Out of sight, out of mind -- I don't know, he's pretty smart. :-)

This is Uncle Joe trying (really hard) to get a backhoe out of the box for Jackson. He had no idea what he was in for when he offered to get it out. Sean has become very familiar with the pressure Jackson puts on you to get toys out. It's really funny to watch him wait so impatiently!

Mamma and Papa gave Jackson this train set. Papa actually built the train table and it looks great! He did an awesome job on it -- this table will be around for many years to come.

Jackson loves his train table! This is the first place he goes to in the mornings. He loves putting Thomas and all his friends inside the shed and through the bridge. We have already learned quite a bit about Thomas and I have a feeling he's going to be around for a good long time!

So by the time Don and Jen gave Jackson this present Sunday night, he had mastered the art of unwrapping. He knew exactly what he was supposed to do and he got it unwrapped all by himself in record time!

A Christmas Wish

Damien Hammonds is a 7 year old little boy in Lumberton, NC suffering from an incurable form of cancer. His only Christmas wish is to receive Christmas cards in the mail. You can read the full story here. If you would like to help fulfill his wish you can send a card to: Damien Hammonds, 409 Burns Road, Lumberton, N.C. 28358.

The Christmas Frenzy is On!!!

It's 3 days before Christmas and I can hardly wait! Jackson is going to love it! We gave him a little tease over the weekend when we celebrated with my mom's side of the family. It was great to see everyone and especially fun watching Jackson play with two 2 y/o cuties, Easton and Maddy. They all took a little while to warm up to each other, but by the end of the night, they were all ready to play. It's just crazy to me to see all my cousins now, because it seems like it wasn't so long ago that some of them were little babies. It's just a huge reminder of how fast Jackson is going to grow up! I guess feeling like a kid, anxiously waiting for Christmas, is just one way I'm making the most of this age.

Before we headed home on Sunday, we stopped by the DuPont Kid's Christmas Party to see Santa! And Santa...he rolled in on a firetruck! How cool is that?!? (Kid, remember?) This was the first time Jackson has seen a firetruck up close like that. He was mesmerized! As for seeing Santa... Let's start here. I have been saying all along that we would see Santa only if Jackson liked him. I'm not going to force him to sit on Santa's lap. That, to me, is just not right. We saw Santa walking through the mall the other night and Jackson was able to watch him from a distance. He's still not sure what to think of the guy, so I think that helped. When we saw Santa yesterday, Jackson was good with getting close (see below), but thought sitting on Santa's lap was a terrible idea. Then, when he gave Jackson a super cool remote control truck, the visit was pretty much over. The truck at that point, was way cooler than Santa. So, it was pretty obvious to see where his thoughts are right now... "Toy, I want it!!" And BTW, he loves his new truck!! He took it to bed with him last night and insisted it go up with him again tonight. Could it be that it's because Santa Claus gave it to him?

Oh and one more thing... Jackson had his first cheese doodle yesterday. You'll see his cheesy face and hands below in a picture with Daddy. As you might expect, he LOVED LOVED LOVED them! And according to my parents, I survived on cheese doodles until I was 3! :-) We have probably discovered his new favorite "treat"! Oh, that's what we should give him on Christmas in his Advent Calendar!! Good idea!

Merry Christmas!!

Jackson and Pa-Jack on the firetruck!

This is when Santa gave Jackson his new truck. Who does he seem more interested in??

Cheetos Face!

Perfect Sippy Cup -- Results

It's been a few weeks since I bought the four new sippies, so I've given each of them a chance to spill, leak, etc. I'm very excited to tell you that I do have a favorite...and the best part is, it was only $.99!!! It's also BPA free, which is great because of all those negative BPA reports I've been hearing about lately. It is made by Munchkin and I found it at Target. I can't find it online, but if you are in the Target sippy aisle, there is only one cup for less than $1. I did have one leaky incident with it the other day, but I think that was user error. I didn't have the lid screwed on tightly. Other than that though, this cup seems to work well and Jackson likes it. He can drop it and I don't see splatters and he can leave it on it's side and I don't find a pool of milk underneath it. The picture below is of the cup laying on the floor. I picked it up after several minutes and there was no spilled milk. Awesome!! This cup may not hold up to my high leak-proof standards forever, but for less than a buck, who cares!? I'll just replace it!!

Apologies to Jackson

I now believe that I falsely accused Jackson of having something to do with the disappearance of our remote. Sean found it (finally) last night wedged between the mattress and headboard. My half-asleep attempt to place it back on the nightstand must have fallen short and it somehow managed to find the perfect hiding spot. The good news is that we once again have a remote. How did we ever live without these things? Getting up to change the channel -- really?!?

Retraction

I referenced "Amy's keys" in the "Can you find it?" post. I have since been reminded that those were actually Stevie's keys. Not only were their car keys on there, Stevie remembered at the beginning of hunting season that the key to his tool box was on there. Not cool. I cannot imagine what could have happened to those keys. We searched everywhere...including the trash! I'm still hoping to find them one day, Stevie! Maybe they are hiding w/ our remote!

Tree Hunt 2008

We went to the mountains for our annual "Tree Hunt" last weekend with the Ryans and the Pridgens. As always, it was a fun weekend! We hula hooped on the Wii and played Boggle on Friday night. Wow, virtual hula hooping -- who would have thought it could be such a workout? And funny!?! It was hilarious!!! After our tree hunt on Saturday, we played the Right Family, musical chairs, built some structures with presents, and played what was probably the funniest game ever...I don't have a name -- but, it involved oranges and pantyhose! I have no idea where Amy found this game, but it should definitely be featured on Ellen!

It really was a great weekend, even though I started with the nasty crud on Saturday. I felt like poo! (And now, I think I've gotten everyone else sick! Sorry y'all...) When we were out tree hunting, it started snowing. Just a few flakes, but it was enough to complete the scenery! It was really cold, but that is what we were there for. Christmastime in the mountains and a great weekend with family -- a wonderful way to kick off this very special holiday season!

At the tree farm

Jackson and Emma having dinner together!

Mamma helped Ryley and Jackson build a fort!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STEVIE!!!

This is the oranges and pantyhose game! What else can I say???

Can you find it?

...My cell phone?? On the second level on the garage? That's where I found it tonight! And no, I didn't put it there! There have been quite a few things that have gotten "lost" in this house in the last year, Amy's keys, my Marbles card, one particular sock (see below) and the TV remote from our bedroom. My cell phone almost became another, except it comes equipped with a ringer. It was actually on vibrate, but I still managed to "listen" it out. Now, as for Amy's (correction: Stevie's) keys, I still have no idea...Jackson was only about 6 months old then, so he couldn't have had anything to do with them. Really weird though! But these most recent misplacments, I think we may have a little bandit on our hands! We have searched this house over more than once looking for the remote. I have no idea what he could have done with it! I was just about ready to give up on it, but this cell phone thing has me convinced that Jackson has hid it somewhere! Just where? This must be some kind of developmental stage -- hoarding (or hiding) things? Too funny!

** So this is me on a Saturday morning in October, digging through the trash. I was looking for the sock and yes, I found it...in the trash! It was almost a matter of principle that I found that sock. I couldn't be going crazy!

State v. Miami

We went out on Saturday for NC State's final game of the season against Miami. It was must-win game in order for the Pack to become bowl eligible and finish the season at an even 6-6. We were coming off of 3 consecutive wins, including a huge upset at UNC, so we were expecting a really good game. And that is just what we saw! Our quarterback, Russell Wilson, had an awesome game throwing for 2 touchdowns and rushing for another. On Tuesday he was named first-team All-ACC quarterback and the ACC Rookie of the Year! Looks like us Wolfpack fans once again have a quarterback to be excited about! Go Russell!!

Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop cheered the Pack on with us!

What pretty balls you have!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Ryans on Friday and after dinner we all had fun with Christmas balls and paint. Amy had mentioned a Christmas project a while ago and on the way to Wilson from Bladenboro, I found some ideas in a magazine for a candy colored Christmas. One of the ideas was to drop a little acrylic paint in clear Christmas balls to create a colorful, swirly Christmas ornament. We all liked the idea so Amy and I went over to Target and picked up some ornaments so we could try it out. Once we had Jackson and Emma to bed we all sat down at the table together and got to ball making! Pop-Pop, Mom-Mom, Papa, Mamma, Stevie, Amy, Ryley, Sean and me. We were all in on the action. By the end of the night we had gone through a roll of paper towels, had 3 broken ornaments and paint was everywhere, but we had some beautiful balls. I have to say that some are definitely better than others -- sorry Don and Jen, but the one I made for you didn't turn out too good. And Ryley's were my favorite -- very colorful!! It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to see them on our trees!!

This is Jackson first taste of Mom-Mom's traditional Thanksgiving jello "treat"!

Amy and me getting ready to begin!

Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop made some beautiful balls!

Aren't they pretty??

Happy Thankgiving!!

Catching up -- Jackson got sick

I've been a bad blogger lately and haven't posted in a while. I don't want to miss anything, so I'm going to pick up where I left off. We'll start with Jackson getting sick the weekend before Thanksgiving. What I thought was a cold turned out to be an upper respiratory infection that caused him to wheeze really bad. I took him to our wonderful pediatrician, Dr. Chip, on Friday (before Thanksgiving) and he prescribed him an inhaler and a steroid to help reduce the inflammation in his lungs. We spent all day on Saturday laying around with him. He would sleep off and on, but when he was up, he didn't want to do anything but lay on the couch. We watched a lot of cartoons! Mickey, Thomas, Caillou -- we all spent a lot of time together. We also watched the Pack whup Carolina -- how great was that!?! But it was no fun seeing Jackson feel so bad and giving him the medicine was no fun either!
We were supposed to go to an engagement party/shower for Don and Jen on Saturday afternoon, but neither one of us could have left Jackson. We really hated to miss it and heard that it was a lot of fun. I'm sure the oysters were awesome!! And Swaz got there on time, right? :-)
Jackson started feeling a little better on Sunday and by Tuesday he was pretty much back to normal. We are definitely counting our blessings that this is the first time in 17 months that we have had to take care of our sick little boy.

The Perfect Sippy Cup

Does it exist? I'm not so sure. With all the technology out there and all these brilliant minds (mostly moms I'm sure) coming up with great ideas everyday on how to make parenting a little easier and more convenient, you would think that the simple sippy cup would have been mastered by now. Well, in my opinion it hasn't. They may contain spills, but the leaks are ridiculous...and from everywhere -- the spout, the seam, even the bottom! How from the bottom?? I haven't ever counted the milk splatters I clean up off the floor on a given day, because I'd lose count by lunchtime. Since Jackson started on the sippy at about 6 months we have tried at least 10 different cups. He likes them all about the same, but I have found only one that I like, that doesn't leak, called the Nalgene Grip-N-Gulp, but it's only available in 12 oz. and is a little big. This week my frustrations with our current sippy cups reached an all-time high. So after an extensive Google search, I went on a sippy cup shopping spree and now have 4 new sippies, all vying for the title of "The Perfect Sippy Cup". Stay tuned to find out if a winner prevails or if I'm left still searching...

Mommy's Little Helper

Jackson had the best time today playing with the sweeper (and cleaning the floor)! While I was using it, he was a little unsure what to think of it. He doesn't like the vacuum cleaner at all. But after I turned it off, he came over and took it from me. He started pressing on the button to turn it back on and off he went. He cleaned the floor for at least 20 minutes...even getting mad at me when I turned it off so we could eat breakfast! Wonder if he'll feel the same way about chores in 10 years??

The Road Goes on Forever...

...and the party never ends! We went to the Robert Earl Keen show at the Lincoln Theatre on Sunday night with Pat, Amy, Stevie, Don and Jen. He put on a great show, even playing the holiday classic, "Merry Christmas from the Family". The boys have seen him a few times at the Cat's Cradle, but us girls joined the fun for the first time and we also celebrated Amy's birthday. Happy Birthday, Amy!! (Thanks to Mamma for keeping the kids!)

Me & Robert Earl (PA fans, notice the Phillies hat?)

GO PACK!

We all cheered on the Pack today in a win against Wake Forest and even braved a couple of rainstorms. This was Jackson's first game all season, so we were super excited to have him there. When we got out there the weather was great... okay, it was a pretty windy, but it was warm and somewhat sunny. He was so cute in his little NC State overalls (Thanks Aunt Amy!). We met up with Don and Jen at our parking spots, but decided to take Jackson over to Mamma and Papa's spot since it was right next to all the action. As we were walking over there we ran right into the NCSU marching band, so we stopped to watch and Jackson was just in awe! He didn't know what to think of all the banging with the drums. He may have gotten a few ideas, but we'll have to wait and see... We unloaded the stroller (yes, Sean carried Jackson while I pushed the loaded down stroller...I know, a little sad!) and tailgated for a while with Mamma, Papa, Dave, Jean, Don, and Jen. We even ran into John, Chris, and Jonathan. (Jonathan really let me down with his weather forecast!) As the dark clouds started rolling in, Jackson and Papa played with the football, he and Mamma collected lots of pinestraw, and he and Jen watched the band march by again. Once it started raining (Round 1) we took cover under the RBC Center awning, but that turned out to be the perfect time to get Jackson changed out of the overalls and into something a little warmer. After the rain stopped and the sun came back out, we went over to the Fan Zone to drop off our Toy for Tots and Jackson was able to run around a little bit. He did great once we went into the game, even clapping for the Pack's great plays! We decided to take a walk to look for Mr. and Mrs. Wuf during the first half, but had no luck in finding them. We did run into Jason, Tricia, and Dillard, so we stopped and watched the game with them for a while. It was all tied up 14-14 at the end of the half. As we were walking back to our seats for the second half round two of the rain started up. We were somewhat prepared (well, Sean only had a borrowed short sleeved jacket with no hood), but we knew we couldn't keep Jackson in the weather for long. We had just decided we would leave soon when Tricia called to let us know she had found Mrs. Wuf. Tricia stalked her out for us, because she knew we wanted Jackson to meet her. :-) And well, Jackson still didn't want much to do with her. Characters are really big...what else could I expect from a little boy who's only seen his stuffed Mr. Wuf. After that we decided that we'd had enough of the rainy football, so we headed home with our pooped little boy. He was out as soon as we got on the road and went right back to sleep not long after we got home. We heard the Pack score as we were walking through the parking lot, which put the Pack ahead to make the final score 21-17. It turned out to be a great day for the Pack and a really fun day for Jackson!

What a cutie!?!

Don and Jen gave Jackson this cute little sock monkey! He has a monkey on his back!!

Watching the band march by with Jen!

Jackson and Tricia

Jackson and Jason

We finally met Mrs. Wuf!

Zonked after a big day of Pack football!

Jackson's Very Own Table

Jackson woke up this morning to his very own little table and chairs that his Daddy put together for him last night. He was so excited! He sat there, like such a big boy, and colored pictures with Daddy. He eventually moved on from coloring and decided that the chairs were more fun just to climb on.

(BTW, I've had this table since before Jackson was even born -- I got a really, really good deal on it a long time ago and knew it would one day find it's way into our family room!)