Getting the hang of opening presents with Papa
Found his animal crackers in his stocking!
In my classroom, I have a special needs friend who often repeats things that I say. Every morning we play a hangman type game to see who will be our special helper for the day. I hold up alphabet cards with the letter and picture (like n for noodle). After holding up a card I will say, "Does our special helper have a "n" for noodle in their name? If not, apparently, I will often say, "Not today!" Now when I ask my special friend to do something he doesn't want to do he will say, "No thank you! Not today!" Hmm...
I am often reminded of this phrase when I think I am going to get a task completed at home...and for whatever reason...pregnant, 11 and a half month old, or any other circumstance...it just doesn't happen. One task I have been trying to complete for a while now is taking a Christmas card worthy picture of Jonas. Well, I am happy to say that, after several days of trying and me ending up saying "not today!" that we finally have a picture! The cards have been ordered and now we will have to wait until they come in the mail and then scurry around gathering addresses to get them in the mail...hopefully no one out there is holding their breath. Here are a couple of the pictures entitled "Not today!"
The lil' fam setting up the tree together!
Our newest ornament!1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love wrapping presents with beautiful bows and paper...but sometimes a gift bag works better
2. Real tree or Artificial? REAL!!!
3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the weekend right after Thanksgiving...this year...pregnant, sick, and an 11 month old, working full-time - I think my sister said she would come help next weekend. Otherwise, who knows.
4. When do you take the tree down? Usually New Years Day
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes -but the friend who sent this to me informed me of the tons of calories in it and said something about soy eggnog - might have to try that!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? "My Child" doll - it looked just like me (or so I thought)
7. Hardest person to buy for? my dad or Mal's dad...it's a toss up.
8. Easiest person to buy for? Jonas
9. Do you have a nativity scene? No. But I really want one...still looking for just the right one and a place to put it in our tiny little house. Not a whole lot of table space - especially with an 11 month old climbing up and pulling anything within reach on the floor.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I love sending cards in the mail (hopefully I will get to that this year) and displaying the ones we have received!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? That would be the Red Lobster biscuits my grandmother wrapped up all greasy and put under the Christmas tree! Bless her heart she knew how much I loved them...
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I have sort of gotten burnt out on Christmas movies that I used to love (all the old ones)...I am now looking for new Christmas movies to watch - I would like to see Family Man this year and I was watching a few minutes of Elf earlier.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually in November sometime.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No way! Who does that?!? Ok maybe I have...but I'll never tell.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? pies, cookies, white trash, anything sweet...then all the traditional stuff too!
16. Lights on the tree? yes. we have these pretty pearl ones
17. Favorite Christmas songs: All the hymns - and the fun old ones.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Used to travel before kids - now we stay home...it is so relaxing!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Rudolph, Donner, Blitzen, Prancer, and Dancer, Cupid...hmmm....
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One present on Christmas Eve (new pj's to wear to bed and wake up in on Christmas morning). The rest of the presents on Christmas morning - stockings first!
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Emphasis on "making ALL your Christmas wishes come true!" with a mountain of credit card debt - what about Jesus' birth and the FREE gift of salvation!?!?
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Favorite ornament - Mal and my first Christmas together we got an ornament with our initials on it and the date - this year we will get one for Jonas' first Christmas! (Probably a new favorite!) Our color theme used to be bright red and silver for about 4 years...then a couple of years ago I changed to green, pearl (ivory), and gold.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Broccoli casserole, sweet potatoes (with pecans and brown sugar), stuffing...the list goes on and on.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? a housekeeper would be great! Oh, and great big, huge bathtowels (something that will actually wrap around my body) and our driveway widened, and for Jonas to say "Mama".
We had such a great time visiting with family down in Atlanta a couple of weekends ago (just now getting the pictures on the computer). This was our 2nd year to join them - we always have such a wonderful time visiting and eating yummy food it reminds us of how precious family time is and how much we wish we lived even closer to be able to visit more often! This year we brought Jonas and we also got to meet little Addison (so adorable) - next year we will bring our new addition. Everyone was trying to take a picture of all the kids in their Halloween costumes...we didn't get the memo in time, but can I just say we must have taken about 12 pictures of all the kids sitting on the couch dressed up and...well...let's just say the best one is posted. It was extremely difficult to get that many children to look at the same place at the same time - ahhh...makin' memories!
My first piece of candy! Yum! Yum!
Too much fun on my first Halloween!
Well I had the best of intentions to get Jonas a Halloween costume made last weekend. It turns out that I was missing a piece to my sewing machine and I couldn't just replace it at Wal-mart. This week has been really crazy for me at work...staying late everyday for parent/teacher conferences after school. Sooo...I wasn't able to make it to a sewing machine store, sooo...no special mommy-made costume for Jonas. Maybe I will save it and make it next year (I guess I could plan ahead more)...maybe. When I told my sister, Sarah, I was planning on making Jonas' Halloween costume she said, "That's great! Why don't you just take Colin's Halloween costume from last year home with you just in case - you can have Plan B." What can I say? She was right we needed Plan BEE! Home-made or not - I happen to think he is still pretty cute! We had fun at our church's annual Trunk-or-Treat.
Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to some of your friends including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!
1. What time did you get up this morning?
5:35am
2. Diamonds or pearls?
diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
The secret life of bees
4. What is your favorite TV show?
Project Runway, The Office, Grey's Anatomy, Amazing Race
5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
frozen waffles (berry) and juice
6. What is your middle name?
LaRose
7. What food do you dislike?
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
9. What kind of car do you drive?
Isuzu Axiom
10. Favorite sandwich?
That would be the original chicken sandwich at Chic-fil-a
11. Favorite item of clothing?
hubby's t-shirts to sleep in12. Where would you retire to?
a house on the lake13. Furthest place you are sending this?
Hawaii
14. Person you expect to send it back first?
I really have no idea ...
15. When is your birthday?
Feb. 5, 19??
16. Morning person or a night person?
I used to be a night person until I became a mom - now mornings come early and it is the only time I can get anything done at work.
17. What is your shoe size?
8 - before kids...7.5
18. Pets?
Pomeranian - Bailey
19. What did you want to be when you were little?
Definitely a hair dresser and then a marine biologist
20. How are you today?
tired...first day back to work after a nice week long break
21. What is your favorite flower?
so many to choose...I guess gardenias - for their smell - but too many others to name
22. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
Dec. 29 - Jonas' first birthday!
23. What are you listening to right now?
Monday night football
24. What was the last thing you ate?
bbq sandwich, coleslaw, tater tots, and apple slices
25. Do you wish on stars?
26. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
27. How is the weather right now?
cool to cold
28. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
my hubby
29. Favorite soft drink?
diet coke
30. Favorite restaurant?
That is tough...Blue Plate, Sticky Fingers, Chilis, Big River, Southern Star...I don't know I could probably name 5 more
31. Hair color?
blond with highlights
32. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Barbies
33. Summer or winter?
What about spring and fall!
34. Coffee or tea?
coffee in the morning - tea in the evening
35. Do you want your friends to email you back?
they better or that's it on the friendship
36. When was the last time you cried?
When I put Jonas to bed on the last night of my vacation
38. What did you do last night?
Watched TV with my hubby
39. What are you afraid of?
Jonas being kidnapped or hurt by someone
40. Salty or sweet?
not fair...both!
41. How many keys on your key ring?
who knows - 5 or 6
42. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday
43. Do you make friends easily?
not sure
44. How many people will you send this to?
1,000,000,000
45. How many will respond?
999,999,999
46. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends?
yep
47. What song always brings back memories and of what?
Laila by Eric Clapton - Mallory used to call me Laila when we were dating
48. If you could do it all again...what 1 thing would you change?
I wouldn't have jumped over the fence to get our boxer, Scout - that led to tearing 3 ligaments in my knee and reconstructive surgery.
49. Do you like the people you work with?
I have the best team!50. What are you most concerned about right now?
Jonas LOVES his new ducky bathtub! He has graduated from his little baby tub to this new toddler tub. I love it because (as you can see) he now likes to stand up in the tub, throw toys over the side, and splash like there is no tomorrow - so when he falls there is a lot more cushion in this tub. Oh, and when I squeeze the beak and it makes the "quack! quack! quack!" sound he gets the biggest grin on his face! So I have to squeeze it at least twice during bath time - just to see him smile.
Aren't they so cute workin' side by side? 
There is something disturbingly cute about this picture! 
We are starting to give Jonas more solid food. He is very excited! This is the first time we gave him a solid food. It is called Baby Mum-Mum (basically it is a very light rice cake). He really liked the crunching sound it made when he bit into it...so, he just kept crunching and crunching until he looked like a chipmunk with all the rice cake in his mouth. He is still learning about taking a bite, chewing and swallowing. Now he thinks he can have things like pizza and cheeseburgers!
We had our ultrasound yesterday and found out we are having a little girl! We are very excited! The ultrasound technician said everything looked normal. She said our baby girl has chubby cheeks and she is a wiggle worm! :) I am sure we will be very busy with our 2 wiggle worms...since Jonas is crawling all over the place these days, pulling up on everything, and standing for a second by himself. We are so excited that we will have a boy and a girl! God is so good and we are so thankful for our blessings!
I will try to figure out how to post the dvd of the ultrasound - maybe this weekend when I have more time!
There is nothing like watching some SEC football on a Saturday afternoon. Of course, in our household we are partial to the Georgia Bulldogs...and we are largely in the minority here in Vol country. That's OK with us! Every year I hope to see the Bulldogs play between the hedges. We'll see - maybe someday! It will be so fun when our children are old enough to go too and enjoy the spirit and the energy felt in a stadium on a fall day...until then, we will continue cheering from the comfort of our living room. This year we have the responsibility of raising the next generation of Georgia fans!
I don't have any new pictures of Jonas so I decided to post one of him in the hospital. It is hard to believe that was only 8 months ago. Life sure has changed in so many ways for us over the past 8 months. I am back into the full swing of teaching again...this year I am teaching Kindergarten. Kindergarten is where my heart is...I am enjoying this year (already) so much more than last year. I have a great team of Kindergarten teachers who are so supportive and encouraging. Also, it is the first time in my adult life I have worked at the same job for more than one year. I must say it is nice to know the ropes. Learning new routines, procedures, people, and curriculum can wear a person out. I am looking forward to a great year with my students. There will be lots of laughter and lots of tears - oh...and lots of early nights and even earlier mornings. God has blessed me so much and I am thankful to have to opportunity to work with the students He has brought into my life this year.
On another note, Jonas is getting his 4th tooth, crawling (officially), and pulling up on things! He is so proud of himself! (and we are too!)
Jonas is officially cutting teeth! Although, who would guess from that adorable smile?!? He has three teeth starting to emerge - bottom row in the middle. It's amazing how his little smile and bright eyes can change my whole outlook on life. He is truly a gift from God and we are so blessed to be his parents. He is changing everyday it seems! Some recent developments: his mobility, sitting up and moving to crawling position and vice versa, scooting backwards or any way he can, reaching and grabbing anything he can get his hands on and then shoving it in his mouth, throwing his pacy out of the crib, "talking" and "singing" (he loves music), splashing and diving all around in the bathtub (throwing toys out and trying to get them), cracking up, trying to grab the spoon out of our hand while he is eating (usually resulting in a big mess), giving open-mouthed kisses and trying to get the dog. We have so much fun with this little guy and we love him so much!
Sorry this picture is not very clear - it is a picture of our first ultra sound for baby number two. Our camera was having a hard time trying to focus the blurry image. Hopefully, we will get some better pictures when we find out the gender - in about a month. This little one was quite a surprise! It was so amazing to see and hear its tiny heart beating at 8 weeks. We are very excited and are looking forward to him/her coming around Feb. 21!
I had seen this project before and decided it was my turn to make it. First, I bought some silk flowers, pens, and floral tape. I used my wire cutters to cut all the flowers off the main stem and wrapped the floral tape around the flower and the pen together. I will leave the caps off and stick them in a pen cup on my table at school. My students will get to use a flower pen when they are working on their writing during our small group reading time. Hopefully, they will think it is as fun as I do...
This past Saturday night our little Pomeranian, Bailey, was out in the front yard (it's fenced) barking his little head off at something...which is not unusual. Bailey is very loyal to let us know about any person, animal, or leaf that might pass by our house...which is unfortunate for us - since we live on a very busy street. So I went outside to see what our little Pomeranian was "protecting" us from on this particular night. Well it happened to be another little dog (even smaller and yappier (if that is a word) than Bailey). This dog was right up at the fence and they were having a yapping war with neither one about to give up any time soon. So I went out and scooped up Bailey and brought him inside. "End of story", I thought. I was wrong!
We came home from church the next afternoon and the little yappy dog was not standing at the fence barking...it was standing on our front porch! I couldn't believe it! Mallory promptly went outside and gently tossed the little yapper out of our yard. "End of story", he thought. Guess what!?!? He was wrong! That little dog has some perseverance. It came back time and time again no matter how many places Mallory put bricks so it couldn't wiggle it's way back under the fence.
Ok so now we have TWO yappy dogs "protecting" us. By the end of the night I couldn't take it any more! Just when I thought we were going to drop the little thing off on some other street to "protect" somebody else or call some county service to come and get it...the owner's of the little yapper show up! Apparently, BeBe (yapper's real name) is an inside dog who lives at the other end of our street. Hallelujah! I couldn't believe the wonderful timing - just as I had had enough - they show up and haul the little thing off. "Finally! End of story", Mallory and I thought. We were wrong!
The next morning I wake up bright and early and let Bailey outside. Guess who is waiting on our front porch!?!? I was SO agitated! I stomped into the bedroom and woke Mallory up to let him know that yapper was back. He said, "Uh huh. He came back last night." I couldn't believe our bad luck! How did he get out of his house that fast?
So on and on during this week little yapper would come and go at his leisure. I haven't seen him today...however, I am not about to think this is the end of the story.
So my Grandma has gotten herself a job...she just turned 81 last month and loves going to work everyday. What can an 81 year old do? Well, if it is my Grandma...she can work at the Holyland Experience in Orlando, FL and play a character...hence, the Prophetess Anna. She LOVES her job! She has memorized all kinds of lines and stays in character all day. This is a perfect job for her - you see, way back in the olden days, before she met my Grandad, she was training to become a nun! Lucky for me - she married my Grandad instead!
She came over to my dad's house after work all dressed in her Anna garb.
Here is Colin enjoying another birthday party. He is starting to get the hang of it by now. He says, "Pesents!" He thoroughly enjoyed everyone singing to him and he kept shouting "Happy!" during the birthday song. He had not, however, gotten the hang of blowing out the candle since he tried to touch the fire. My favorite part was when he stuck his finger in the icing and promptly wiped it on my sister's pants! Oops! :)
Oh, I almost forgot! So we were at my dad's and his fiance's house - which is not exactly baby proofed! See the lovely glass china cabinet behind Colin...the one with all the wine glasses in it...yea...well...imagine a 2 year old climbing into it! Oh my! Now we are talkin' about some good times (and that is only one of many incidences throughout our time there).
Sarah and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Florida to visit our mom and dad. First we went to mom's and we had a great time! The ride down was not that bad...the boy's were well behaved and so were we (for the most part) :). The last hour of the 10 hour ride was the hardest...but we survived and we were so thankful to be at our destination.
My nephew's 2nd birthday was on Sunday so we celebrated on Wed. night when we got into town. We tried to get him to call our mom Grammy but it came out "Gammy" and it is so cute when he says it! I don't know who was more excited about the cake, Gammy or Colin! :)
He even said "I had fun at Gammy's house!" Is that not adorable?!?! We also taught him to answer the question "How old are you?" He says "I 2!"