December is Crazy!

The past two weeks have been super busy and super crazy! We have been shopping, wrapping, and baking in between work and chasing after a wild little boy!

Grove Park Inn
A few weeks ago we headed up to Asheville with my mom to visti the gingerbread houses from the National Gingerbread Competition at the Grove Park Inn. It is a beautiful hotel, and the gingerbread houses were again amazing! There were children caroling in the lobby, and we of course had to try to take pictures in the sleigh. Jackson was pretty good while we were looking at the houses. He did get a little bored, but he enjoyed when we let him run around for a bit. After spending a few hours there, we ate lunch at Fuddrucker's. I know there are plenty of great restaurants in Asheville, but this was easy with Jackson. Tim had to be back at work that night, so we headed back to Greenville.

Making Cookies and Ornaments
We attempted to make some cookies and ornaments last week. Jackson did really well making his hand print ornaments. They turned out great. I used a salt dough recipe that I found online. It took forever to bake them though! He loved decorating the cookies though. I put the frosting on there, and he put the sprinkles. I think he enjoyed sticking his fingers in the icing more than anything. He did add lots of sprinkles though!

Annual Cookies for Santa plate
This year we tried a place in Clemson for our Cookies for Santa plate. Last year Jackson slept through most of the plate-making experience. He did good with his handprints this year but then got really bored. Tim and I took turns walking him outside. The plate turned out really cute though.


Santa's Sleigh Ride
We spent the last Saturday before Christmas shopping and eating! Jackson was so good on all of our errands that we headed to downtown Greenville in hopes of finding Santa's sleigh. He was right there on Main Street. Since we had the stroller, only one of us could ride with Santa and Jackson. Since I am the one who has been wanting to do this, Tim let me ride with Jackson. We hopped onto the sleigh with some other families. At first Jackson did not like sitting still. Then Santa got on board and star right in front of us. I thought Jackson would freak out, but he didn't. He loved the ride. He would point to the lights, trees, and other cars. He even talked to Santa when he turned around. When we got back, Jackson even posed for a couple of pictures! It was a lot of fun and hopefully we can add this to our yearly traditions.

Living Nativity
We also took Jackson to a living Nativity at a local church. He really liked seeing the calf, sheep, and the donkey. He was less impressed with Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus!

Jackson's 18 month check-up

Jackson went for his 18 month check-up today.  He is doing great! Of course, the tears and screaming started as soon as Dr. Hart walked into the room.  We do have to seriously get rid of the paci now. He only had to get one shot this time, so that was good. We don't go back until he turns 2!  I didn't even get a picture this time!

Weight: 26lb. 1 oz (73rd percentile)
Height: 31. 75 inches (23rd) percentile
Head: 48.4 cm (76th percentile)

17 weeks, almost 18-New Baby

I went back to the doctor last week to check on New Baby.  I will be 18 weeks tomorrow, and all is well with New Baby.  The heart rate has been anywhere from 150-170.  I have gained around 10 pounds and can still fit in my "fat" pants. My next appointment is January 2, and that is our big ultrasound!  We are definitely finding out if New Baby is a girl or boy.  Tim and my mom think it is a girl.  I just don't know.  I don't have any feelings either way.  This baby seems to move around more than Jackson did. I usually feel this baby when I finally crash at night.

We have some names picked out.  We like Elizabeth Kate for a girl, and we will call her Ellie. If it is a boy, we like Hudson or Hampton. We don't have a definite boy name yet.

We are excited to find out about New Baby!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

We have been so busy getting ready for Christmas!  It is hard to do with both of us working and me finishing up my classes.  Thankfully I am done with my classes, and we have two weeks of school left.  December 21 cannot come soon enough!

Even though it is almost the middle of December, it has been really warm here.  It has been in the 70s!  We got our tree earlier this week, and it was kind of hard to decorate it when it was that warm.  We just decided to go up to the Concord Produce Stand to get our tree since we were running short of available weekends. Jackson especially loves the big Frosty on the roof! He was not that into decorating the tree though.  He really wanted to throw the ornaments.

We also went to the Greenville Christmas Parade. It was downtown, and all of the lights were beautiful, but the parade itself was kind of boring. There were tons of people, and I am not sure I would go back.

We also went to Roper Mountain to see the lights.  We took Noni and the Ivey kids along with us.  We started out with dinner at Frodo's and then headed to see the lights.  We got out to walk around first.  No one wanted to see Santa.  The Tiger was there though.  The Ivey children got their picture taken with him, but Jackson wanted no part of it. We rode through twice.  Of course no light trip would be complete without Krispy Kreme Donuts!

Murphy and Maria had a program at school, so we went to watch them.  Jackson liked seeing "Phe" sing!

One of the local churches has a drive-thru Nativity, so we took Jackson to that. I took him out of his carseat so he could see it, and it kind of freaked him out!  I think he liked looking at the animals.

We also went to Fountain Inn to take a carriage ride through some of their downtown area.  Jackson was excited about seeing the horses.  As soon as we got on the carriage, he got a little fussy.  Crackers helped that, and then he was his charming self.  He was giggling and putting on a show!  We also went to the train depot for a Christmas train display. Santa was there, but Jackson was not interested in him.

Jackson's elf, Colin, came to visit him today too.  He showed up on our railing!  We have lots more Christmas stuff planned!

Jackson's First Haircut

Jackson had his first haircut today.  Even though it was short in the front, it had gotten really long in the back and over his ears. I love how the back would curl, but sometimes it just looked like a baby mullet! Ha!We took him to see Mrs. Connie.  I was really worried he would cry, but he didn't. He actually sat pretty still and now has a big boy haircut! By the way, I didn't cry either!

Jackson is 18 months old!

I can't believe my little man is 18 months old!

Jackson:

• walks everywhere!  He is a lot to handle now!
• talks all of the time!  He says: Mama, Da, Noni, kitty, eyes, teeth, Phe (Murphy), pee pee, poo poo (wonder who taught him that?), bye, hey, go, car, bird, choo choo, no, uh oh, okay, oh no
• can identify and point to body parts: eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, ears, hair, belly (He has been doing this for awhile, but I don't think I have mentioned it.)
• wears 18m and some 24m
• wears size 5 diapers
• has lots of teeth and loves to brush them!
• loves to eat grilled cheese, Pastina, cookies, bananas, Yo Baby yogurt, pancakes, waffles, grits, pizza, Cheerios
• hates milk!  It is almost impossible to get him to drink any.  Of course, I hate milk too, so he gets that from me!
• loves to read and will bring us books to read to him
• will watch TV and likes Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Chuggington
• loves the iPad!  It is amazing how he knows how to use it!  He mainly just likes the apps with music
• will dance when he hears music.  He loves the "Hot Dog" song on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
• is still attached to his paci and blanket. We are trying to get rid of the paci.
• love to play with toys especially trains, cars, and trucks!
• goes to Story Time each week at the library.  He loves to throw the crayons!
• has started to really like school.  Apparently he is a little comedian at school too! He now stays the whole three hours.
• still goes to therapy.  We are working on stairs and hope this is our last month!
• loves to climb up our stairs and will do that any time he gets the chance
• really likes to dogs (I guess we need to get a puppy!)
• loves to laugh!
• tries to avoid naps, but still likes to cuddle
• loves to swing, but hates to walk on grass!

I am just amazed at how much he has changed in the last few weeks! He looks more like a little boy and acts like one too. He is so silly and loves to laugh and joke.  He has this "evil" giggle (as Charlotte calls it), and I can't get enough of it!  We are so blessed to have such a sweet and precious little boy!

These pictures show him playing with his felt tree Noni made for him.