Wrapping Up 2010

I thought I would wrap up 2010 with our pictures from Christmas. We had a wonderful Christmas, and we’re still trying to get things back in place and cleaned up. Our house almost looks like a tornado went through a Toys R Us!

Enjoy the pictures!

Jackson and I riding the train at the zoo to see the Christmas lights

Our last Christmas as a family of 3

Jackson’s lego creation

Papa and Gigi with Jackson at Bass Pro Shop

Papa working on Jackson’s shooting skills!

Jackson getting Santa’s snack ready: Fudge and milk for Santa, a can of corn for the elves (per Jackson’s instruction) and carrots for the reindeer.

Jackson had to make sure Santa’s milk was good!

And then he had to sniff the carrots to make sure they were okay!

Jackson checking out his Santa loot!

He loved his new ball and mitt!

His new pirate ship!

Jackson and Gigi!

Jackson with Papa and Gigi

Jackson with Nana and Tata

Our future Tiger football player!

Jackson with his football uniform on, complete with his first pair of roller skates!

And now that my pictures are done, I’m giving myself a bloggy break for the rest of the year. I think I deserve it! I hope you have a wonderful New Years, and I’ll catch up with you in 2011!

Happy Birthday!!

I want to wish my favorite Dad in the entire world a Happy Birthday. I have been so blessed with amazing parents, and my Dad is awesome, and I love him so much.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

Today my brother-in-law also celebrates his birthday. Adam is a great guy, and we're so glad he's a part of the family.

Happy Birthday Adam!!!!

16 Weeks!

How Far Along: 16 weeks

Size of baby: 4.5 inches. The baby is the size of an avocado.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: -2 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Still in regular clothes, although I bought a really cute grey crew neck maternity shirt at Kohl's for only $13 that I'm going to wear to work, even though I don't look pregnant at all. It looks more like a regular t-shirt, but it's just a bit longer. It's beginning to bum me out that I can't see any difference, but I know that before long I'll be eating these words.

Gender: We find out on January 3rd. Only 5 more days! And may I take this opportunity to say that y'all are killing me on my gender poll. At first it was runaway for a boy, but now it's staying about 51% to 48%, which doesn't do me much good! I need a landslide winner as far as gender guessing before our appointment on Monday morning! I want to see how accurate y'all are!

Movement: I've felt movement a few times now, just some fluttering. I love it!

Sleep: Completely normal this week, unless you count me having to deal with Jeremy's episode of sleepwalking last night.

Symptoms: Nothing this week.

Cravings: Still fruit. I'm all about grapefruit and blackberries this week.

What I Miss: Absolutely nothing.

Best Moment this week: It's been a pretty normal week with nothing much to report.

What I am looking forward to: Finding out whether we are having a boy or a girl on Monday. I'm so excited!

I Wish I Had More For You...

I had been thinking tonight about what I was going to blog about, but sadly I've been battling a 4 year old for most of the evening over what pajamas he's going to wear. One would think that 3 pairs of pajamas to choose from would be enough, but you would be wrong. Too bad for Jackson that the pair that he really wanted to wear were in the washing machine, about halfway through the spin cycle.

So we battled.

And I won.

And then he went to bed.

And then I rewarded myself with a big chunk of fudge and a glass of ice cold milk.

But just so you know, it wasn't me that wanted the fudge; it was requested by the baby, in case anyone out there was wondering.

Christmas Really Is The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

We had such a wonderful Christmas here at Wade's World. Jeremy's parents came up Thursday evening and spent time with us until Christmas morning. We loved having them here, and Jackson just had a blast with his Papa and Gigi. Christmas Eve we headed over to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa Claus one more time, made fudge, and relaxed that afternoon until we went to our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service, which was really nice. We went home and Jackson went to bed relatively easily, especially considering how excited he was!

After Jackson went to bed, Santa's little elves began getting things ready. Jackson's big gift from Santa Claus was a wooden swing set with a fort (just like he had asked for!). Unfortunately Santa was so busy on Christmas with all the deliveries that he had to make, that he wasn't able to set the swing set up. He left Jackson a really nice note with a picture of the swing set, and special instructions for Jackson to help his Daddy build the swing set! Jackson also got some puzzles, coloring books, games, and a Toy Story 3 Woody guitar from Santa.

Jeremy and I got Jackson a Batman cave (just like he asked for!), a Batmobile, some legos, books, and a few other things. All in all, Jackson racked up! He got more books, puzzles and games, animals, a new pirate ship (which he loved!), a barrel of monkeys, an Auburn football uniform and helmet (to get him ready for the BCS Championship game on January 10th!), and so much more! Our house looks like a tornado has gone through, and there are probably a million toys that I haven't mentioned.

We had such a wonderful Christmas with family and friends, and I'll post pictures really, really soon. I think the best moment of Christmas day for me was just after Jackson opened up his presents Christmas morning. He was busy running around wanting us to get all the presents out of their boxes when all of a sudden he dropped everything and ran over to me, gave me a huge hug and kiss, leaned in really close to my ear and whispered, "Merry Christmas, Mama! I love you!"

For me, that was the best Christmas gift in the world, and I couldn't have asked for more!

Merry Christmas!

This is it for me until after Christmas. I hope that each of you have a wonderful Christmas, and I'll be back on Monday with lots of fun stories, I'm sure!

Merry Christmas!!!

15 Weeks!

How Far Along: 15 weeks

Size of baby: 4 inches. The baby is the size of a apple.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: -2 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Still in regular clothes, with the exception of an occasional pair of maternity khaki pants. They are a little saggy on me, but I'm too lazy to iron my other khaki pants.

Gender: We find out on January 3rd. I'm so excited! Less than 2 weeks!

Movement: I've felt movement two times now. Both times I had been running around the house trying to get stuff done, and when I laid down in the bed I felt fluttering. Love it!

Sleep: Completely normal this week.

Symptoms: Just nausea from sinus drainage this week and heartburn.

Cravings: Nothing much this week. I did crave some nachos last night at the zoo, but they were very disappointing.

What I Miss: It's been a pretty normal week, just super busy with Christmas being right around the corner.

Best Moment this week: Feeling the baby move. I just love that, and I can't wait to have it happen again.

What I am looking forward to: Finding out whether we are having a boy or a girl. I can't wait!!!

His New Favorite Word, But Not Mine

One of the school aged kids from Jackson's daycare recently taught him a new word: be-be's. I'll give you two guesses as to what body part that word might refer to. We've stuck to our "Mommy gets dressed behind closed doors" policy ever since the Big Hangy Down Thingies incident of January, and so far it's worked out well for us, until the other night.

I was enjoying a bath before bedtime and I thought that the bathroom door was closed tight. Apparently I was wrong because Jackson came busting into the bathroom to ask me a question, without warning. I immediately tried to discreetly cover up all the important parts, but it was too late. Jackson targeted in on "the" parts, walked over to the edge of the tub and said something that I'll never forget, even if I wish I could.

Jackson: "Mama, those are some big be-be's!!"
Me: "Jackson, get out of here. I'll be done in a minute."
Jackson: "No really, Mama. Those are some really big be-be's!"

It was at that time that I wished that I could just go down the drain with all the water, except that obviously my be-be's were too big for that.

The Elf Needs A "Come To Jesus" Meeting With Me

We've had our Elf On The Shelf, Buzz Lightyear, since last December. He's been a great addition to our family, until just recently. If you are not familiar with Elf on the Shelf, it's a story about an elf that comes to stay at your house during the Christmas season, and every night he returns to Santa to report on the child's behavior. When the kid wakes up in the morning the elf is always in a new place. The rules are simple enough with the elf; they cannot be touched because they will lose their magical power, and they can listen to the child talk, but the elf can't talk back.

Things had been going great with Buzz, but Jackson seems to have gotten the idea that Buzz is staying in our house so Jackson can tattle to Santa on what Jeremy and I are/are not doing. I've tried telling Jackson that Santa doesn't visit Mommy and Daddy, but it doesn't seem to matter. Every time we turn around, Jackson is running to Buzz to tattle on us, and quite honestly, it's getting old. If Jackson gets mad for a second you hear him running to Buzz and telling him things like:

"Buzz, you need to tell Mommy and Daddy to let me get some candy. They're being mean, and that's not nice!"

"Buzz, Mommy just told me that I can't hang from the ceiling fan with my stuffed snake. That's not fair, and you need to go tell Santa!"

"Buzz, Daddy isn't letting me watch my movie like I want to, and that's being mean and I don't like it one bit!"

As if all the tattling isn't bad enough, it seems that Buzz is now giving Jackson some very bad ideas. In the last few hours, Buzz has convinced Jackson to write on his own face with a marker right before church, and then to open one of his Christmas presents from under the tree. When asked about it, Jackson's only response was, "But Buzz the elf made me do it!"

So now both Jackson and Buzz have been warned that if any more presents are touched before Christmas, Jackson's hiney is going to be worn out. Santa may put the fear in Jackson, but I'm going to end up putting the fear in Buzz!

Free Friday Fun

These have got to be some of the funniest youtube videos that I have seen in a long time. Enjoy!

14 Weeks!

How Far Along: 14 weeks

Size of baby: Right at 3 1/2 inches. The baby is the size of a lemon.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: -3 lbs. According to my scales here at home I lost a pound this week.

Maternity Clothes: Still in regular clothes, with the exception of an occasional pair of maternity khaki pants. They are a little saggy on me, but I just make do.

Gender: We find out (if the baby cooperates) at our next appointment on January 3rd! I have a quiz on the left side of the page for you to vote whether you think we are having a boy or girl. We'll see how many of you readers are right soon enough!

Movement: Not yet. but hopefully soon.

Sleep: Other than some really weird dreams that make absolutely no sense, things were pretty normal this week.

Symptoms: Some more dry heaving, but only one time to actually get sick this week.

Cravings: Nothing much this week. I still really want blackberries, but I'm trying to hold off. They're just so expensive!

What I Miss: Nothing really. It's been a pretty normal week.

Best Moment this week: Jackson saying that he would be okay if he were to have a baby sister.

What I am looking forward to: Finding out whether we are having a boy or a girl. I can't wait!!!

9 Years Ago Today...

I married my best friend. Jeremy is an amazing husband, father and friend, and I'm so blessed that he is part of my life. I love you Jeremy, and I look forward to a long and happy life together!!!

Happy Anniversary!!!

I’m Guessing Jackson Thinks He Belongs On The “Nice” List

We took Jackson to Bass Pro Shop Monday night to go see Santa Claus. Jackson was so excited, and couldn’t wait to tell Santa that he wanted a swing set for Christmas. Actually, he wanted to tell Santa that he wanted a space ship with a skateboard wall and climbing ladder and fort with a swing and a four wheeler with pirates that can skate down the slide. Just to make things easier for Santa, I told him that a swing set might be easier for Santa to remember (hint hint!).

And then Jackson dictated a letter for me to write to Santa. Apparently Jackson decided that it was important to stress how good he has been, while at the same time throwing all his friends under the proverbial sleigh.

In case you can’t read it, it says:

Dear Santa, I have been good. Please bring me presents, except not for my friends at school. They have not been good. I have been good.

Sincerely,

Jackson

So apparently my kiddo feels that tattling on all his classmates will improve his standing with the big guy. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

A Wonderful Wedding Weekend

My family has known the Webb family since I was 4 years old. We lived next door to each other and us 4 girls were practically inseparable. I was 2 years older than Allison, who was 2 years older than Kellyn, who was 2 years older than Crystal (when she came along.) Mr. Robert and Mrs. Sharon are practically my second parents, and I love Allison and Crystal like sisters.

Life has taken us in many different directions over the last few years: Allison now lives in Italy with her husband and 3 boys, and Mr. Robert and Mrs. Sharon live in Denver. They got transferred out there just after Crystal graduated from high school, so Crystal lived with my parents when she was home from college. She has stayed with them off and on for the last 6 years, and now it seems that my parents finally have an empty nest.

This weekend my 3rd sister Crystal married her high school sweetheart, Tim. The wedding was a beautiful event about an hour away from where we live. Crystal looked amazing, and her dress could have been made for her it looked so perfect. It was an outdoor wedding, and unfortunately rain was in the area. We had just gotten to the wedding and got seated when it started to rain. We quickly went inside for a few minutes and then the rain stopped. We sat back down, and the rain started again. It quit for a few minutes and we headed back outside, and the weather cooperated for just enough time.

The wedding was great, and the only glitches, other than the rain, were that the unity candle wouldn't stay lit because of the wind, and Tim forgot Crystal's wedding ring in the trunk of his car! You read that right; the groom forgot the bride's ring. We were seated on the third row and as I realized what was happening when they got to the ring portion of the ceremony, I quickly slipped off my wedding band and handed it to my Dad to run it up to the alter for Tim. It was so funny! I'll always remember that moment, and it's so funny that Crystal got married to Tim wearing my wedding band!

Here is a picture of Crystal with her bridesmaids, Allison was the matron of honor with the red and white roses, and then an engagement picture of Crystal and Tim.

I want to wish the new Mr. and Mrs. Smith the best! I'm so very happy for both of you. Welcome to the family Tim!

What Pregnancy Taught Me This Week

• Being told by your OB that what you thought was just a very sore knot on your lower back is in fact a "fatty lipoma" will make you feel like a fat heifer. It doesn't help that your overweight dog has fatty lipomas too. Then, when you google "lipoma" you find out that they normally affect people who are middle aged. Talk about adding insult to injury.
  
  
• Finding out that you are still at a negative weight loss for your pregnancy will make you one happy camper! Well, you will be happy until you find out that you have a fatty tumor on your back.
  
  
• That the most delicious peppermint hot cocoa will taste the exact same when you are throwing it back up.
  
  
• That my body pillow is my best friend, until 3:00 in the morning when Jackson decides to visit our bed, and there isn't room for Jeremy, Jackson, the pillow (I've come to think of it as a 3rd person!) and myself in our queen sized bed. So sadly, the pillow doesn't get to stay with me all night.
  
  
• That buying yet another $4 container of blackberries will make you question giving in to your cravings, but not so much that you end up not buying the blackberries.
  
  
• That heartburn is a helacious force of nature that strikes without warning. That, my friends, is completely unfair. Something that strong should come with a warning label.
  

The Kid? He’s So Much Fun!

Jackson has been obsessed with singing to us lately, but what’s funny  is that he doesn’t ever remember the words! I got him to sing part of Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas song for you, but he wasn’t done being filmed!

Happy Birthday Miranda!!!

I want to wish one of my best friends, Miranda, a very Happy Birthday today. She is such a wonderful person, a great mother, and an amazing friend, and I'm so blessed that she is part of my life.

Happy Birthday, Miranda!!!

12 Weeks!

Ultrasound from our last visit a couple of weeks ago. You can see the forehead, nose and chin already!

How Far Along: 12 weeks, 5 days

Size of baby: Just over 2 inches. The baby is the size of a plum.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: -2 lbs. I've gained 1 of my lost pounds back.

Maternity Clothes: I broke down and wore a pair of maternity pants to church on Sunday because I was being too lazy to iron my regular pants which still fit just fine. May I confess that I did enjoy the elastic waistband!

Gender: Nothing official, but I have my suspicions. We find out for sure (if the baby cooperates) at our next appointment on January 3rd! Jeremy and I are both so excited. It seems like this pregnancy has flown by so far, and in less than 4 weeks we should know what we are having.

I put up a quiz on the left side of the page for you to vote whether you think we are having a boy or girl. We'll see how many of you readers are right soon enough!

Movement: Not yet.

Sleep: I'm doing better, but still pretty tired by night time.

Symptoms: Some dry heaving, but only one time to actually get sick this week. I think it scared Jackson since we were home alone, and he wasn't too happy with the baby for making me sick. It was really sweet that he was so concerned, but I just tried to make him understand that everything was fine.

Cravings: Blackberries! I can't get enough, which is funny since I couldn't get enough strawberries when I was pregnant with Jackson. Pretty similar cravings, huh!

What I Miss: Nothing really. It's been a pretty normal week.

Best Moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat at our appointment. It was 160 beats per minute, and it's the sweetest sound I've heard in a long time!

What I am looking forward to: Finding out whether we are having a boy or a girl. It will be soon enough!

Nothing Says "Merry Christmas" Like Disco Dancing Elves

A Little of This…A Little of That

I feel like it’s been forever since I blogged, and there is so much that I haven’t told you. I mentioned last week that we had a computer virus, but I didn’t get to tell you how much fun that was! We got a pretty nice Trojan virus from Facebook, and luckily for us, we have a great friend named Tim who got the virus off for us. He’s the best! While the computer was being fixed, I have to say that I enjoyed having a break from computer stuff. I always blog Monday through Friday, and to have a few mandatory days off was a nice change, and one that was probably pretty good for me.

In baby news, I am now almost 13 weeks. I had another ultrasound a few weeks ago and I haven’t had the chance to upload the picture of it. The baby is growing perfectly, and we got an amazing profile shot of the baby’s face. You could already see at 11 weeks the outline of the forehead, nose and chin. The baby had the hiccups the entire time we were getting the ultrasound, which may or may not have been compliments of the Mountain Dew I drank before I went to get rid of a major headache! And guess what? I wore my first pair of maternity pants to church on Sunday, not so much of out necessity, but more out of laziness; I didn’t feel like ironing my regular pants!

On the Christmas front, we have our house ready for Christmas with the tree up, lights up on the house, and Christmas cards ordered, but I have miles to go before I sleep as far as gifts are concerned. I’ve almost got Jackson taken care of, but that’s about all I can say. I got a new Christmas CD last week, and all Jackson has wanted to listen to since then is Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas song. He loves it! I absolutely adore Christmas music, but I wish Alvin had more gift ideas than a plane that loops the loop, and I don’t think I know anyone (other than Jackson) that would want a hula hoop for Christmas.

Y’all have a great day!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Jeremy and I want to wish my Mom Happy Birthday today. She's such a wonderful woman, and we love her very much. I hope she has an amazing day!

Happy Birthday!!!

I Promise I'm Alive And Well, However The Same Cannot Be Said For Our Computer

I'm around, however we have a virus on our computer right now that is taking some time to sort out. I'll be back with lots of pictures and updates when we get everything cleaned up. Take care!

P.S. People who invent computer viruses should be strung up and shot.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving from my favorite little Indian! Have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend, and don't forget how truly blessed we are. Take care!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

I told you yesterday that our church is in the middle of an amazing revival. Our speaker, David Ring, has cerebral palsy, and his testimony is incredible. Last night at church David sang one of my favorite hymns, Victory in Jesus. I could not believe how much he touched me with his words. I found a video clip online, and I know that if you watch it you will be blessed. Have a great Wednesday!

So Here's What's Going On...

We are in the middle of an amazing revival at church. Our speaker, David Ring, has cerebral palsy and has been blessed with one of the most incredible testimonies that I have ever heard. I searched YouTube for him, but most of the clips on there were really old. So instead, I found part of an interview with him just to share with you a little bit about his story. Please watch the video below, because I promise you will be blessed! If you ever get the chance to see David in person, you will not regret it.

So because of the revival we haven't been getting home until well after 9:00 at night, which with a preschooler, has made life interesting around here. He hasn't gotten into bed until after 10 both nights, so blogging is being put on the back burner for right now. I'm sure you understand! So I'm going to leave you with a clip of David, and I'll be back tomorrow. Have a great day!

My Rootin’ Tootin’ Cowboy

We had a super busy weekend around here. Saturday morning my Mom and I took Jackson on a quick photo shoot in the downtown area to get some Christmas pictures. I had his entire outfit planned out, and literally at the last second my eyes glanced on something in his drawer and I changed his entire outfit. I dressed him in a vintage cowboy shirt, complete with black cowboy hat, his bootcut jeans, new cowboy boots, and as a last minute thought I added his holsters to his leather “Jackson” belt. The  best part of this to me is that the cowboy shirt and cowboy hat were what I wore to my 4th birthday party, way back in 1984, and I was able to get Jackson’s 4 year old Christmas pictures in the same stuff. I ended up loving the pictures, and I’m going to have such a hard time deciding what shots to go with. Between Mom and I, we ended up taking over 200 pictures! Here are a few shots:

Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ll never be able to make my mind up! Have a great Monday!