Funny Pic

We had a great time tonight at Tim, Anna and Ty's house. Jackson and Ty ran like crazy the entire time. Right before we left, Dad put on these funny glasses and Jackson had to try them on to.

thoughts from the cat

This blog has been temporarily hijacked by me, Daisy, the beloved Windley house cat. Remember me? I'm the one who took a little "vacation" a few years ago and made my owners sick? I don't get a lot of press here on this blog, but I know I am loved none-the-less. Who wouldn't?! I am beautiful, tediously clean, very low maintenance, and affectionate (on my terms, of course).

There have been a lot of changes going on around here. For one, the boy is learning to be kind to me. It has only taken 4 years! He finally gets that if he is calm enough, I will come to him and let him pet me. He is good at petting me and telling me I'm pretty and that he loves me. And, he doesn't try to scare me as much just to see me freak out. I don't know why that made him laugh so hard. (Don't tell him I said this, but I kind-of like the chasing game he plays with me).

Another change has been my mom's lap. There is significantly less room there for me, and for some reason she doesn't let me knead her belly. Every night she lays on her side now, though, and makes a "daisy pocket" for me to snuggle up next to her. I love that. And for some reason she sits on the couch more and more, which gives me more time for affection!

The old playroom, also known as my nap room, has been totally rearranged. At first I was excited about this, since I heard mom say she was making a new room for a little princess. I just knew she was talking about ME. But, when she found me in the new frilly bed a couple of times I got in big trouble and was told to stay out. Can you believe it?!

So now I'm hearing more and more talk about a baby. Oh, no - here I go again. I remember when the boy first came to my house. He was great in the beginning. I would even lay next to him on the floor. When he was upset, I would run to mom and meow tirelessly at her until she made him better. But, then he started crawling towards me and I wanted NOTHING to do with that! I'm not so sure about this new baby that is coming. I have a feeling I'll be spending more time in the sock drawer...

Hannah's crib

a sneak preview of the nursery...

We still have work to do and tons of little things to pick up, but having this part taken care of makes her coming seem so real! Mimi is coming next month with her sewing machine to make curtains and maybe recover a glider, if I can find one on craigslist. What the pictures do not show is the piles of junk I'm sorting through to make room for her. I make a little more headway each day. Her room is formerly Jackson's playroom/our storage room, so finding new places for everything has been challenging.

Photos from last week's beautiful weather. This week, not so much... between mommy's sinus infection, the cold, and the rain - we've been like hermits.

I love these photos of Jack and some buddies at the park. You wouldn't believe how many I had to take before I got them all looking at the camera!

Valentines Party at the park. Miss Lauren brought cookies for the kids to decorate.

Cousin Elijah's 2nd Birthday Party.

A Chance to Visit with His Great Aunt Nancy

Jackson has a great aunt, Nancy, who lives in Florida. We don't get to see her much so we made the hour trip over to Wilson to see her and Andy since they made the trip up here to see Great Grandmother Rose. Daddy and Jackson met them at Bill's BBQ and dad got to eat "fatback" among many other southern delicacies. Below are some shots from the visit including one with Great Grandmother Rose at a Valetines Party. Mommy couldn't be with us due to a cold. Aunt Elaine was present, but not pictured!

The name

We are 98.5% sure we've got the name for our daughter - Hannah Elyse Windley. We've tossed around a few other names, but this is the one we always came back to. Jackson took to the name immediately, and he has been insistant that it HAS to be Hannah Elyse. In fact, he refuses to call her just Hannah (even though that is what she'll be called).

Hannah means God's grace or favored grace. It is also the name of a woman in the Bible (1 Samuel 1:1-20) that has had special meaning to me. Elyse (pronouced 'e LEES') is a name I [courtney] have always loved and the name I chose to go by in my French classes in High School.

My sister-in-law, Amanda has been anxiously awaiting this announcement, as she has become the monogram queen! :) Can't wait!

I could just eat him up

The last 2 weeks have been so fun with Jackson. Being able to be more active in this incredibly nice weather has made him in such a great mood. Not that he's normally moody. :) He has just been a funny little charmer the last few weeks.

He says the funniest things that just crack me up...

"I need a haircut. I look like Nick Nox" (dorky character from Imagination Movers cartoon)

"Fire in the hole!"

"Run for your life!" (said after I tell him its time for Rest Time)

"Whew! I had a lot of hard work today." (usually said after an art project/coloring)

"I want to help make baby sister's room beautiful for her. Her favorite color is yellow."

"Can we go to Target and play the game where I am good and quiet and then get to go look at the cars?"

His little imagination works in overdrive and he comes up with the most creative activities and games. Like using a broken piece of our vertical blinds as a race track. He bends it over the couch and make a huge ramp. I can't tell you how many hours of play was spent on that.

EVERYDAY when daddy comes home from work, he hides somewhere in the house and waits for daddy to come find him.

Jack LOVES to help daddy with projects around the house. He especially loves the measuring tape. Mike taught him about inches and they measured all sorts of things around the house. For some reason, though, he now thinks that a person's age is their height measurement. He pretended to measure me the other day and told me afterwards that he was 12 years old and I was 18.

He is taking steps towards reading, which is freaking me out. I haven't pushed this at all - he is just really interested in it. He LOVES games that have rhyming and phonics. And, Jackson now looks at words and tries to sound them out. He can already spell 7 or so words.

Jackson has become interested in cooking and want to help me anytime I'm in the kitchen. Let me tell you he makes a mean PB&J! He has been my "little chef" - getting out all the ingredients for me, helping me stir, measuring, setting the table and cleaning dishes.

And, one thing that hasn't changed is that he still introduces himself to EVERYONE and tells them that I am his mommy. Usually, he will add that we both have red hair. I think he does this because that is what everyone points out when they first meet us.

I am relishing these times when it is just the three of us. Although Jack is VERY excited and anxious for baby sister, I know it will change our family dynamic in many ways. It is such a joy to be his mommy and to have so much time with him.

Little Tarheel

Jackson went to his first Carolina basketball game last night. It was so fun to experience it from his point-of-view. He had an absolute blast! From Mommy and Daddy's perspective, it was a great basketball game to watch. It was not a nail-biter, which made it easier to watch after Jack. Carolina shot the lights out and had many incredible dunks and 3 pointers.

Here's the highlights from the perspective of our 4yr old:

1. Popcorn and lots of it. We knew we could easily keep him still with a tub of popcorn and he was thrilled to take care of most of the tub by himself!


2. Jack also got his first real tastes of caffeinated soda. It was ordered by mistake and there is no throwing it out at that price. By second half (and the whole way home), he was quite the jitterbug and was singing silly songs nonstop.


3. Ramsey, the mascot. Jackson watched him the whole time and would yell "Hi Ramsey, its me - Jackson!".
   
4. Bouncing around during the "Jump Around" song in the beginning. He totally cracked up watching the student section go wild.


5. The bus ride to and from the park and ride.


6. I explained that we were playing against the Maryland Terps, which was like a turtle. When I told him that we wanted to beat them, he exclaimed, "But, I like turtles, mommy!".


7. Fans coming up to him and wanting to give the "little tarheel" a high five.
   
8. When I told him earlier in the day about the special game we were going to together, he asked if he could dress up like a cheerleader. Ha! I told him that we would certainly wear our blue tarheel shirts and cheer loudly.

He did watch some of the game, but by far was more entertained by the environment. It was cute to watch him yell "Go Heels!" Hopefully this is the first of many more family bonding times with our beloved Tarheels!

Real, Actual Snow!

Jackson was beside himself with excitement to see the blanket of white. He couldn't decide what to do first... sled, build a snowman, make a snow angel or have a snowball fight. We definitely did it all today and more! By the end of the day we had around 7" at our house.

Our neighbor, Caleb, (age 8) says "Jackson has the coolest hill in the whole neighborhood!" We spent the greater part of the day out sledding down our hill with bunches of neighbor kids. Cousin David and Madison walked over and joined the fun too! We sled down the backyard hill, the driveway, and even the back hill all the way down to the road! Some of the big kids had a shark sled and did a little bit of snowboarding in our backyard.

Warming up with Hot Cocoa!

Madison, Caleb & Jack decided to play in the back of Mike's truck. They initiated a snowball fight with Mike and Dave.

They lost.

With Granddad at Panera Bread

A few folks from church went to Panera Bread after church today. Both the boys wanted to be with their Granddad!