It's Been Waaaayyyy Too Long!!

I've been gone from the blog-o-sphere for so long, and I'm just gonna come out and say it:

I missed y'all!

Sure, it was absolutely wonderful having a free week off from work without having to use vacation time.

And even though I just knew that I wouldn't be able to handle Jackson being gone for three whole nights, it was really nice to be able to sleep in just a little bit and not worry about wrangling a three year old into the bathtub at night. And in all fairness, Jackson had just as good of a time at Papa and Gigi's. So it wasn't just fun and games on the home front. Jackson got home on Tuesday and Wednesday we had a friend of mine come over for dinner with her daughter. We had a great time catching up and Jackson loved showing them all his gymnastics tricks. Christmas Eve we went to a vespers service at church and then enjoyed dinner at the glorious Waffle House.

And since Jackson hadn't been around for three whole days, everything was ready for a visit from Santa Claus. If only Mrs. Claus knew that Jackson was going to take an hour and a half to actually fall asleep, she would have given him some Benadryl before bedtime. Doesn't every kid know that Santa can't come if you aren't asleep? We finally figured out that Jackson was a little freaked out at the idea of a big fat guy coming into our house while we were sleeping. We calmed his fears and finally Jackson fell asleep and Santa dropped by our house. Look at all these goodies he left for our little man:

The Big Guy must have known that Jackson was just itching to get his hands on a "big ole pirate ship", and to be nice, Santa also threw in a really cool art easel and art supplies, a Superman/Batman cape (that Mrs. Claus wished she was crafty enough to make!), a really cool Buzz and Woody t-shirt, and Candy Land (which Mrs. Claus wished she had known would make her want to pull her hair out later!).

And someone should have told Jackson that since he is related to me, he is therefore obligated to wake up at ungodly hours on Christmas morning due to the sheer excitement of the whole thing. That's what I do did. Our little man had to be woken up at 6:30 when I couldn't stand it anymore! Jackson LOVED his stuff and was only slightly disappointed that Santa didn't bring him another bicycle. I had to explain that Santa knew that Jackson already had a bicycle and after a second or two, a bicycle was long forgotten. Jackson has loved his pirate ship the most of all his Santa toys!

Santa even put an eye patch into Jackson's stocking! How nice of him!

Jackson showing off his cape

And painting his first masterpiece!

After playing with his new loot we packed up and headed to my Mom and Dad's for breakfast and to open presents over there. Jackson was so funny with opening presents and wanted to help everyone out with unwrapping their gifts. From us, Jackson got Buzz and Woody action figures, a smaller pirate ship, some games, and lots of new movies. From Mom and Dad and KK and Jason, Jackson got new Lincoln logs, a sit-and-spin, several books, Hungry Hippos, new clothes and pajamas and lots more!

Buzz and Woody courtesy of Jeremy and myself!

Some of his new clothes!

Jeremy and my big gift was a new Kodak camera. I was thrilled, especially because mine bit the dust over Thanksgiving and I've been borrowing one of my Mom's cameras indefinitely. I was going to save up for a new camera in 2010, but this was a huge surprise. I love it! After lunch it was time to head to Mississippi. We made the trip in record time and Jackson couldn't wait to open his presents again! I wish I had pictures, but the borrowed camera from my Mom got a full camera card, and the new camera wasn't charged yet. Since I don't have pictures, you'll just have to use your imagination!

Jackson got a pair of swords, complete with shields, a play dough set, a cool pirate puzzle, a fireman outfit complete with all the tools a fireman could ever need, a toy motorcycle, more new clothes (including an awesome pair of jeans!), and more! Jackson LOVED everything!

And guess what Jeremy and I got? You'll never guess. We had decidedthat the 13 inch TV in our bedroom (which I've had since I was 13), had served it's purpose. It has been a great TV, and my parent's definitely got their money's worth out of it, but the color was going out on it, and everything we watched was in black and white. It was especially frustrating when I was trying to watch something educational and productive like Project Runway National Geographic. Seriously, how is one supposed to learn something when you can't tell what color it is?

Well, Jeremy's parents got Jeremy and I a beautiful 19 inch flat screen TV for our bedroom. The best part? It's got color!!! In fact, it's so bright that Jeremy and I considered popping some popcorn because it felt like we were at the movies. We.Love.It.

And now that the holidays are over we are exhausted and our house looks like a tornado has gone through it, but at least Jeremy and I are seeing in color! Have a great day!