Christmas Eve

The weather was absolutely horrible today- cold and very rainy!  We ran a few errands in Greenville today before coming home to make cookies for Santa!  Someone was in a really cranky mood and did not want to decorate cookies at all.

We also tried to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa and Charlie in Wyoming, but again someone was in a cranky mood!  He was not interested in opening his presents or talking to them at all.

The rain finally stopped, and we go ready for the candlelight service at church. I was really concerned about taking Jackson and leaving him in the nursery since he was so cranky.  When we got there, he went straight to the lady and seemed excited to be away from us.  He was in the same room as he is for school every week, so I think that helped.  After years of working in a church nursery, I never wanted my child to be that child who cried the entire time!  After the service, we went back to get him, and he was happily playing!  The workers said that he did great.  Of course, he came up to me pulling his hair.  I now hope that means that he has not pulled anyone's hair.

Then we went to my parent's house for shrimp and grits.  Again, Tim fixed us a delicious meal!

After that it was time to go home and get ready for Santa.  As we were driving, I told Jackson to look in the sky for Santa's sleigh tracks!  I used to love doing that on our way home from Nannie's house in Greenville on Christmas Eve.

We got home and got Jackson in his new Christmas jammies.  Then we put out the cookies for Santa and attempted to get some pictures in front of the tree. I wanted to read some Christmas stories about Jesus and some new one's from Grandma, but someone was done.  Off to bed to wait for Santa!

Christmas Tree

Clemson Basketball Game

This afternoon we took Jackson to his first Clemson basketball game. I can't believe we didn't get to a game last year! Jackson had fun though. At first, he was scared, but he liked sitting in his own seat. He watched the game, pointed at the tiger, and enjoyed a shaved ice. We tried to get a picture with the tiger but of course there were tears!

Sandy Hook

I only usually blog about our little family, but this event has hit close to home for me since I am a teacher and a parent. After learning about the shooting at the school, I started thinking about how I was going to approach the situation with my kids (students). Because they are old enough to have serious questions/concerns, I really had to think and pray about what to say to them. On Monday, I only had one student ask me about it, and she came up to my desk to ask privately. I was actually surprised that she was the one who had questions.  She worries about everything, so I was surprised her parents let her watch the news.

Later in the week more and more students had questions.  Some did not want to talk about it all.  We did make snowflakes to the Connecticut PTSA to use as decorations for the new school the Sandy Hook students will be attending.  It is still hard to believe that something so terrible could happen at an elementary school. It has definitely increased discussions on school safety.  I can't even imagine what those parents are going through.  I am so proud of those teachers and faculty members though.  They did everything they could to protect their students.

New Baby-20 Weeks

Wow!  It is hard to believe that I will be at 20 weeks tomorrow!  This pregnancy is flying by! We will find out next week if the baby is a girl or a boy.  This baby loves to kick and flip around!  I know it will be an adjustment for Jackson at first, but I think he will like having someone to play with ( I hope he will any way.)

Hanging with the Iveys

We went to watch Charlotte at her first basketball game.  It is so funny to watch kids that age play basketball. Then we went to eat breakfast at Mama Penn's with all of the Iveys.  With such a big group, we had to wait awhile for a table.  Jackson was entertained though,so he was very good.  He was also good at the table. He enjoyed his usual pancakes.

Later in the week we went to Charlotte's school program.  It was long, and Jackson started to get bored.  He started his favorite game of throw the paci!  After he did that three times plus talked about pee pee and poo poo, we decided that it was time to go.

I am so glad Jackson has some older kids to play with!

Jackson and his Paci

Jackson loves two things and is very attached to both of them: his blanket and paci!  Unfortunately he has a bad habit of throwing paci.  At night his favorite thing to do is throw paci behind the bed.  He laughs hysterically!  He has also gotten very good at hiding them.  When you ask him where paci is, he can usually go find it.  There have been times these past few weeks when he has found another one and put both of them in his mouth! Getting rid of it will be difficult.  I have heard of people sewing them up in Build-a-Bear animals, but I don't know if he is old enough to understand it.

The monkey blanket is still his favorite, but he will use other ones that are made from that same material and have the same type of tag.  He still likes to rub the tag against his face!  So sweet!

Another new thing he loves to do is hide.  He thinks it is hilarious to pop out!  Of course, he can't be quiet for long!

I love this little man so much!