Christmas 2007

Five different Christmas celebrations with different sets of family. Piles of toys everywhere. It was a wonderful Christmas. :)

Some highlights:

Jackson was so sweet... after opening a really neat race car from his great-grandparents, he went up to them (UNPROMPTED) and said "Oh, thank you, great grandmomma. It's a racecar! Oh boy!" Wow, he's really growing up. I'm so proud of him!

We had Christmas at our own home for the first time this year. The only other Christmas we had in NC was when Jack was born - but even then, we weren't home as we were still in the hospital. We spent the morning playing with his new toys and games. He is fascinated by his new art easel and in no time had marker ink all over his hands and face. Our den is covered with toys and leftover birthday balloons, no matter how often we pick them up!

When handed a present, Jack kept saying, "A present? For MeeEEE?".

I think Jackson is starting to get that his birthday is over, and that it is now JESUS' birthday celebration. He sang happy birthday to him a bunch, and he can practically recite the stories of Gabriel, Mary & Joseph, and the visitors (aka shepherds & wisemen). I look forward to teaching him more and more about the God that loved us so much that he became "Immanuel" - God with us. Truly the most wonderful gift that could be given!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours

Happy 3rd Birthday, Son!

Jackson at 2 years.

Jackson at 1 year

Jackson at 1 month

and now....

Three years ago you entered this world, my little Christmas baby. You were as boisterous then as you are now. It was hard to believe that I could love someone so much - a love that truly grows with each passing day. I love to see the boy that you are becoming! You have such passion for life. That giggle of yours is absolutely contagious. You are such a people person - you are perfectly content performing in front of a room of people! And, I love how you can pause from all the boyhood rough-housing to sit and snuggle with your mommy!

Jackson, my birthday prayer for you is that you will always know how much mommy and daddy love you. That you would grow to be a boy (and eventually a man) with integrity, love, and that your passion would be for the Lord.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9

Christmas/Birthday part 1

We just returned from Knoxville, where we celebrated Jackson's birthday and Christmas with Mommy's side of the family. Jack was lavished with gifts. It was amazing that Daddy could fit it all back into our car for the ride home! It is still hard for him to understand that its both his birthday AND Christmas... even with different wrapping paper. But, believe me, he isn't complaining. He was so excited about all the presents! Hard to believe my baby will be 3 in just a few days.

So far, there have been some themes to his gifts... books, thomas stuff, puppets, cool new bath toys, a camping set, a big wheel, fun electronic gadgets and so much more. He got a children's digital camera that he loves. He went around the party taking EVERYONE'S picture. Funny thing, though... he's not so good at aiming the camera and a bunch of the pictures are from his height... and let's just say they were not flattering shots of family members rumps and such! While we hope to post some of his pics soon, those will not be a part of that! :)

Jackson also enjoyed playing with "Baby Eweeott" (aka cousin Elliott Kate). He wanted to take her picture a lot. She was gracious to share her toys. It was fun to have another little one at the family gathering!

From the mouth of a babe...

Recent funny sayings:

1. "Hungries" - as in, "I am ready to eat hungries." Oh, he says food, lunch, dinner, etc.... but occaisionally he says that he wants to eat hungries. I love it.
2. I have been giving him a choice between 2 options a lot lately. So, today I get this response: "I want bread ... or more bread", with his hands in the position of 2 scales. Bread was not one of the options I gave. He's a crafty little guy.
3. After prayers the other night when we thanked God for lots of things, Jackson said, "Say 'you're welcome'." As if he were waiting for God to say "you're welcome". I had a fun time explaining that one.
4. He can't say "Snoopy" without totally wrinkling up his nose and making the funniest face. It comes out more like "Sssnooooopy". I'll try to catch a picture of it. You should see me making up things just to get him to say it so I can see the face.

Christmas festivities around town

Yesterday, we enjoyed our community's first annual Christmas Parade. Jackson and his buddy, Ty, really loved it! Their favorite part was the firetrucks.

Later, we enjoyed the town's tree lighting party. Jackson finally decided to go see Santa, thanks to the free candy they were giving out. Doesn't he look thrilled??

Thanksgiving, family & friends

We spent Turkey Day withDaddy's mom's side of the family. We brought our friend, Ayrton, with us, who is from Brazil and has never experienced a traditional American Thanksgiving. He loved it! He took pictures of everything to show his family. We enjoyed our time with him and hearing about his family's Christmas traditions in Brazil. Ayrton has been coming to The Bridge since August.

We also enjoyed our time with family, especially Jackson's great-grandmother, who is 95 & sharp as a whip!

Then, the traveling continued on Friday as we drove to see Daddy's paternal grandfather for a 90th birthday celebration. Jackson loved running around on the farm and sitting on all of great-granddaddy's tractors! That's great-granddaddy and cutie cousin Ethan below.

A frolic in foliage

Jack is really enjoying the leaves falling. On a recent adventure through our neighborhood greenway, Jackson and Mommy collected pretty ones to bring home. He enjoyed trying to catch them as they fell.

He also enjoyed the fruits of Daddy's labor - a big leaf pile to jump in!

college bound?

Does he look like a college boy or what??Just two of the A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E pictures from today's portrait sessions. I'm considering showing more later...

Our Little Musician

Jackson really loves instruments. Daddy brought his guitar home from the office recently and Jackson loves to sit down and play and sing!

"No! No Santa!"

While at the mall today, I was showing Jackson all the Christmas trees and lights - reminding him of the things to come. I was surprised to see that Santa was already there and waiting for children to take their over-priced pictures with him. No pictures were being taken while we were there - go figure. It is still November, after all.

I thought Jackson would be excited to see Santa, so I pointed at the man in red, while we were approaching in the stroller. Jackson immediately had a panic face and flung his arms at me saying, "No! No Santa!". So, I rescued him from the perils of evil and we strolled off in the other direction. I asked him if he was scared of Santa, and he just nodded.

I had forgotten our experience with Santa last year... we met Stacy & Nate at the mall. Jackson was dressed all cute. We heard that they would allow moms to take one picture with Santa WITH THEIR OWN CAMERA - so, Stac & I were up to that bargain. Jack had been talking about Santa for weeks. (Actually, he kept calling him Noah - they look similar in our story books). We had seen him at the mall from a distance and waved and smiled. I thought this would be a treasured memory for him, er.. Okay. For me. Our turn came, and I walked Jackson up to Old St. Nick and HE TOTALLY FREAKED OUT. Loud screams and calls for "Mommy!" followed. Needless to say, no pictures were taken.

It is amusing to me that my boy, who shows no fear of ANYTHING - not Halloween masks, giant mascots, clowns, BUGS, or strangers - is terrified of Santa Claus. Oh, and green vegetables. Go figure.

Little Linebacker

Daddy & Jackson have their own games that they play together. They race cars through the den and into the kitchen and back. They build a "house" out of all the sofa cushions. But, most often they play football. Jackson has learned how to run with the football and hold it REALLY TIGHT, as Daddy constantly chases him and tries to make him fumble. On the occasions that Daddy succeeds in getting the ball loose, they yell "FUMBLE!" and Jackson falls on it as fast as he can. I think Jackson likes the tackling the most of all. It's so funny. GrandDaddy Pete, you would be SO PROUD.

Trip to TN

We took a short trip to TN to visit with Mimi & Granddaddy Pete. Jackson was also able to see Uncle Tyson & Aunt Amanda, cousin Elle, as well as spend time with Aunts Kaye, Inez, Toni & Pat! It was a very busy weekend, but lots of fun.

Mommy was excited to take Jackson to one of her favorite parks when she was a child, but we soon discovered that it has now become a restuarant and yacht marina! We found another beautiful playground on Concord Lake.

Tyson, Elle, Mommy & JacksonAn early birthday present from Tyson & Amanda. It's a toy box, but Jack also LOVED to climb on and in it!

Elle was ready to cheer on the Vols!

Dragon on the loose...

Jackson really got into the trick-or-treating tonight. He gave out good dragon "growls". He was so anxious that he went up to some doors and yelled "Trick or Treat", forgetting to knock first! He was so excited about the candy. We let him have 3 pieces and boy did he get WIRED! So funny to watch. Cousin Ethan joined in for a little bit as a giraffe - so cute!

Costume playdate

We had some of our buddies over today for a costume play date. A little practice for tonight. Getting the whole group together proved to be a very difficult feat! (Jackson loves being a dragon, but did not like the whole picture-taking process - can you tell??)

Ty (monkey), Claire (Bella), Madeline (princess), Ava (sleeping beauty), Jackson (dragon) & Nate (Leo)
[not pictured Ryan (Blue from Blue's Clues), Conor (Batman), Hannah & Vera.]

These beautiful princesses did not have any problem sitting still and looking pretty (Claire, Madeline, Vera & Ava)

Afterwards, we ate cupcakes and "spider cookies" that Miss Lauren Lauren made. We are so fortunate to have such good friends!

Pumpkin Fun - part 2

It has been fun to see Jackson understand more this fall. He really

loves pumpkins and the falling leaves!

Jackson held the jack-o-lantern pattern while daddy cut the pumpkin.

"See da eye, mommy?"

He was mesmerized and kept asking for a candle to put inside it.

Testing it out in the garage with the candle.