Christmas Eve Eve Update

Since the next few days will be busy I thought I'd take a few minutes to update a little now. This year we are really stretching Christmas out as long as possible! Since we will be heading to Maryland on Christmas Day, we will not be seeing Jon's family that day at all - so we've been exchanging presents with them over the past few days :) It's been kind of nice not having everything over & done with in one day!

On Friday, Joelle & Marc came over - they were pretty easy to shop for this year considering they have wedding registries, but our favorite thing that we found for them (which was NOT on their registry!) was - "Pimpin' Steins" - I kid you not. These lovely matching Bride & Groom goblets were covered in bling, and the box said something about being a true pimp. I definitely think these should be used on their wedding day, don't you? :)

Joelle's surprise bridal shower was Saturday, and she was actually surprised! It was a fun time with friends & family and it was great to see all the fun things she will have for her home!

Saturday evening was an attempt to do something fun ~ watch a Christmas movie and then have a family sleepover in the living room beside the Christmas tree. Jackson was pretty excited but at around midnight decided he'd rather go sleep in his own bed! We couldn't believe it, especially since lately he begs to sleep with us every night.

Sunday was another family get-together at Jon's Uncle Fred & Aunt Sue's house. It's always a fun time - this year it was a little different because Jon & I were in the midst of a huge rivalry football game - Steelers vs. Titans. Unfortunately the Steelers played terribly and lost, but here's hoping we meet again in the playoffs!

Tonight Jon's parents came over for dinner and to exchange presents. Jackson was so thrilled with his gifts, especially his new Cars MegaBloks set. (I think Jon was just as excited about this!) Jack loves to build and we decided to put away the baby MegaBlocks and go for the 3+ version ~ he is already loving them!

Tomorrow we have a lunch with the family where the kiddos will exchange presents. Church tomorrow evening and then back home, where J will be allowed to open one present ~ new PJs. Christmas day we plan to eat breakfast and open presents here first, then travel to Maryland to be with my family until the weekend. It's such a busy time of year but we never want to lose sight of the true meaning - the best present of all - God's gift of His Son!

One more week!

I cannot fathom how fast this month is going! One week until Christmas! I am so excited and I think Jackson is just going to LOVE Christmas this year!! Not anything totally important to blog about, but I haven't for awhile and I'm waiting for my oven to preheat, so it's a good time. :)

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas, have been sick a few times (thankfully Jackson hasn't gotten sick, just Jon & I), have had our Sunday School Christmas party here, cookie baking, etc etc, so it's no wonder it seems like the month is flying by.

Jack & I made cookies the other day - I cheated (and splurged!) and bought the Pillsbury sugar cookie pre-made dough. I do not recommend it! J had so much fun using cookie cutters and making stars and trees, but when I baked them, they flattened out so much that they just look like huge blobs. Oh well. He did have fun decorating them, especially because Jon was home to help us with that part!

It is so fun watching Jackson grow and especially hearing the new and random things he says each day. A few days ago, he was pretending to be a fox. He said, "I'm a fox! Don't worry, foxes don't eat people. Foxes eat flies - or something!" Last night he was up in his room, supposedly going to sleep, but we heard him going "BRRR
BRRR!!!" Jon went up and Jackson said, "Dad, I'm freezing!!" Jon said it felt tropical in the room but J heard the spaceheater shut off and wanted it back on. It's just so fun to be able to have real actual conversations with him!

And soon, he may be blogging on his own....I found him doing this the other day....

(Spelled out his name with magnets all by himself!) It should also be noted that the same day, I heard him saying "H - P - R - T - S - D - M - that spells HOT DOG!" He is trying at least! Spelling is his latest phase - he is continually asking us how to spell words. Its so much better than his last phase - stripping down and going to the bathroom in his room during nap time! :)

Thanksgiving Weekend with Tracy

My blogging has been lacking again lately! Since I'm averaging only 2 posts a month lately, I thought I'd try to get an early start in December. We had a great Thanksgiving weekend, although Jon & I both ended up with the 24-hour stomach/flu/yuck bug.

We were so happy to be able to host an International Student for the long weekend. We did this through Hope Community Church, and a few other families from our church joined us as well. Tracy arrived Thursday morning and we were so excited to have her with us! She is from China and currently attending Fairfield University in Connecticut to get her MBA. She has only been in the US for 3 months so this was obviously her first Thanksgiving and even the first time she had eaten turkey. We had quite the busy day! We went to Jon's parents for dinner, then later to his aunt & uncle's house for more food! After that we went to Chocolate World, because how can you visit this area without going to Hershey?! On Friday I decorated for Christmas and Tracy had a day trip with the other international students to visit the Amish. We then met back at Hope Community for a HUGE potluck dinner (my favorite!). Also, each country represented gave a short presentation. Here's an interesting fact we learned that night: People in Australia do not actually say "G'day." The Austrailian student said she has never heard of that until she came to the US!

Saturday was not quite as great! I woke up feeling sick. Jon, Jackson, and Tracy went to the Fractured Prune and I stayed home to throw up. I was feeling terrible, and so sad because we had planned to get our Christmas tree that day. Jon started to feel sick later too, although not quite as bad. Tracy ended up spending the day with the Hixon's and their student. I was sad we missed that day with her, but I am so glad she was able to have fun with their family and bake cookies for the first time ever!

We had to take Tracy back to the church to meet the bus on Sunday afternoon. The weekend went way too fast! Jackson was especially sad to see Tracy go. At one point while she was holding him, she said "OK, bye bye Mommy and Daddy!" He cried when the bus left, saying he wanted to go on it. It's no wonder, because Tracy was so sweet with him all weekend. We hope she is able to come visit us again!

Here's a pic of Jackson & his new friend!

Jon and I are both feeling better. I am still not 100%, but good enough. We got our Christmas tree last night and planned to decorate it, but it was still a little wet, so we will decorate it tonight instead. Yay for Christmas! I just love the whole month of December, with the decorations , lights, and Christmas music!

One of These Things Just Doesn't Belong....

Here's a picture of the bookshelves in Jackson's room. Do you notice something odd about them?

Yes, that's right. A Dwight Schrute bobblehead. The little stinker totally stole it from my computer/craft/misc room and proudly displayed it in his own room. I don't condone stealing (especially MY stuff) but this was pretty funny - so I told him he could keep it in there for the day.

Here's the little guy himself, looking quite innocent.

My Little Monkey

Jackson was a monkey this year for Halloween - although it was amazing how many people thought he was a bear. I guess they didn't notice the banana! Here's a few pictures of him in all his cuteness...

And of course with all the trees in our yard, we've been able to play in the leaves a lot! Jack has really enjoyed that this year. He loves to play hide & seek and be completely buried in the pile.

Quick Story

The other day I put Jackson down for his nap and came back downstairs to get some work done. I heard him whimpering off and on but stuck to my guns and let him stay by himself. Eventually I heard nothing, so I knew he was asleep. Several hours later, I heard him screaming, "HELP!!! Help Me!!" at the top of his lungs. So I went up to see what was going on and was greeted by him standing on his bed, naked except for his pajama shirt. Upon closer inspection, his socks, pajama pants, and diaper were on the floor.....and his bed was soaking wet. Evidently he stripped down, fell asleep, peed and woke up to wetness which scared him, because it took me about 1/2 hour to get him calmed down. Luckily I was planning to wash his sheets anyway because of his sickness. I wasn't planning on washing the mattress pad and scrubbing the mattress though. Oh and Monkey-Monk, one of his "guys" that he sleeps with, got a nice warm washing machine bath too. Just a quick story, hopefully you got a laugh out of it!

The Sick House

In the past few days, all 3 of us seem to have gotten bad colds. Well, I thought they were all bad colds....some of you by this point have already gotten a phone call from me warning you that my child may have exposed yours to pink eye! So yeah, Jackson had what I thought was a cold earlier in the week, and we noticed on Wednesday before church that he was rubbing his eyes, but he tends to do that when he is sick or sleepy anyway, so we didn't think anything of it. When we picked him up from Puggles, his eyes were all gunky, and to make a long story short, I took him to the doctors the next day and he not only had pinkeye, but a double ear infection to go along with it! I felt so bad! He is one easy-going guy though, and really wasn't acting sick at all. The doctor was amazed that this is the first time he's ever been on antibiotics.

Last night we were still able to go out to dinner for an early birthday date, thanks to my MIL who kept Jackson for us. Neither of us felt awesome so we were back to pick up J before 8 and came hope, all took medicine, and went to bed! Thankfully we are all feeling better today, because tonight is INSOMNIA.... our youth group all-nighter!! This is something Jon and I honestly look forward to every year. It is such a fun night...starting at the church at 830, going to Carlisle Sports Emporium for gocarts, roller skating, laser tag, etc, and then Bowling, then back to the church by 6 am. I am praying for continued healing so Jon and I can both go and stay the whole time!

Here's some pictures of my sweet sick boy....taken today after I put some cream on his poor runny/stuffy/chapped nose. Even being sick he of course still had to be silly for the pictures. He's been in a great mood all day and it is hilarious listening to him singing in his crackly sore throat voice. He is a trooper!

It's The Thought That Counts

The other day I woke up really motivated to be a good wife & mother, get a lot of stuff around the house done, and have dinner made good and early so that i could just pop it in the oven when I got back from my dentist appointment. Oh the plans I had. If they all had worked out, it would have been magnificent!

Unfortunately, I spent a good portion of the morning on the phone for various reasons....MOPS planning stuff, making appointments, etc. (and of course chatting with a friend). I then decided to be a "good wife" and make Jon some iced tea, because I knew he would be excited. (I am lucky that he is easy to please!) I boiled the water, steeped (is that a real word?) the tea bags, added the sugar, and let it sit out on the counter for a while to cool down. I poured myself a glass and put the rest of the gallon in the refrigerator so it would be good and cold by the time Jon got home from work. I had a few more things that needed to be put in the fridge, and as I added them on the shelf, evidently I was pushing to make them fit a little too hard...and all of a sudden, the entire gallon (minus one glass) of iced tea had tipped over and was pouring out. A gallon didn't look like that much when it was safe inside the pitcher, but when it was all over my refrigerator and floor, it looked like an enormous flood. I ended up having to take out 2 shelves and 2 drawers full of food, wipe all the food off and shove it (carefully this time) on one of the top shelves that were still dry. The shelves and drawers were so sticky they all needed to be washed so I stacked them up in the sink and tackled the floor next, while at the same time trying to keep the dog to stop licking it up and running around in it.

After I got the floor unsticky, it was time to wash out all the shelves and drawers. As I stared at the massive heap in my sink, my eyes drifted downward and I had to laugh - somehow the way the sun was shining through all the glass, it had created a rainbow on my floor - God does have a sense of humor! I tried to get a picture but the rainbow disappeared too fast.

Finally after everything had been washed and dried, I could put everything back in it's place. I had to roll my eyes when I saw this printed on the shelf the iced tea had been sitting on originally:

Evidently Whirlpool did not take iced tea tsunamis into account while labeling the shelves.

In summary, the unexpected refrigerator cleaning took me most of my morning. The eBay packages I needed to send just had to wait until the next day. I did get dinner made (a yummy asparagus and chicken casserole) but it had to wait until after my dentist appointment. And thankfully, Jon and I each still got a glass of iced tea out of the day.

PS...the good news is that while all this was going on, Jackson was playing away in his toy room, and only came out to say, "mommy, you made big mess. whyyy?"

2 1/2 years ago...

2.5 years ago I was in the hospital enjoying my baby boy's 1st day in the world! Actually, more than likely at this time, I was stuffing my face full of the delicious hospital food! (Not a joke....I think most people who have give birth at Womens & Babies would agree with me).



Anyway, not my point. My point is that my sweet baby boy is 2 1/2 years old today! In some ways, it doesn't seem possible that it could be that long, but then again, in some ways I can't imagine life before Jackson! And then when I think 2 1/2 is halfway to 5....wow! :)


So for those of you who don't get to see Jackson as much as we'd like....here's what he's been up to lately:

*He LOVES to pretend. And I LOVE to just sit outside the room listening to him making up conversations for his animals or Little People. It's hilarious!

*He still reads like it's his job. His latest thing is reading out-loud to us. Sometimes he makes up stories (and words) and sometimes he has the book pretty well memorized and will and least get the main ideas across.

*Can be heard singing about 85% of the day

*Current phrase: "Two more minutes!" Said pretty much anytime it is time to go to bed, get his diaper changed, etc.

*Favorite song: the ABCs - and many other made-up songs that are sung to the tune of the ABCs, also is enjoying Sunday School songs, especially Deep & Wide...("Deet - Wide!")

More Jackson cuteness to come at a later date, but for now I need to go get dinner ready.

Cedarville Alumni Reunion

On Saturday we went to Blackrock Retreat in Quarryville, PA for a Cedarville Alumni gathering. We had a good time with lots of our church friends who have gone to Cedarville - the Witmer, Nicklas, Feucht, and Griest families were all there. Good food, fun hayride, and a scarecrow making contest....although we were a little disappointed that our Mr. T scarecrow didn't win! Here's some pics of us with Mr. T.... (and note in the first picture, the one over Jon's shoulder is the one that won for funniest. Funnier than Mr. T? I don't think so! Just because it had a Jeff Beste name tag....argh.)

Fun Fort Friday

Since Jon worked long hours out of town this week, he had today off! He and Jackson had some male bonding time while I went to MOPS this morning. When I got home, we decided to go to the Fun Fort. When the Fun Fort was built, Gramps had a fencepost engraved for each of the grandkids. It was Jackson's first time there and of course we had to take his picture next to his Daddy's name!

Fun Family Weekend!

We had a really great weekend! Saturday evening, Jackson got to spend some time with Bobby & JoJo while Jon and I went to our friends PA wedding reception (they got married in Michigan). I was excited to get a little dressed up and go on a date! To give you an idea of how long its been since we've gone somewhere dressed up....we had to go shopping Friday night because all of Jon's "nice" pants have cargo pockets :) Anyway, we had a fun time at the reception and laughed a lot sitting at a table with our friends!!

Sunday we decided to go to Hershey Park - even though it was SO HOT, we had some free tickets to use and didn't want them to go to waste before the end of the season! It was Jackson's first time at Hershey Park and he had a BLAST! Can you believe this kid and how much he loves rides? He officially now goes on rides that I refuse - aka The Scrambler. That's great - my not quite 2 1/2 year old is braver than me! He did mostly the kiddie rides, but his favorite was definitely the Scrambler. I can't believe his size could even go on it, but he could! Jon said Jackson just laughed out loud the entire time! We spent several hours in the park, but when Jack almost fell asleep on a (pretty tame) kiddie ride, we decided it was time for a little break. We went to (air conditioned!) Chocolate World and got a yummy milkshake! It was a great day!!!

I wanted to write a caption for each pic but did the layout wrong....so as you can see...

#1 - Jack and Daddy rode lots of rides together!

#2 - Sleepy guy drinking our milkshake

#3 - Ready for the Scrambler! (Daddy taught him how to hold his hands up on the rides!)

#4 - Almost a Hershey Kiss, but just a Miniature for this year!

ChuckECheese!

Last weekend we all went to visit Joelle at college, do some shopping (yay, IKEA!), and take the boys to Sesame Place. Unfortunately, it poured all day Saturday so we improvised and went to Chuck E Cheese instead. It was a hit....thanks to Jon and Joelle getting multiple 100 ticket winners, the boys each got to pick out some cute new toys!

Another big even that happend recently is that our house is now pacifier-free! Jack has been using his paci only at night since he was 1 and I've been dreading taking it away. I noticed a tear in it, so I just cut the tip off and gave him a little speech about how sometimes when babies grow up to be big boys, their pacis sometimes break. He saw his paci and said "EWWWW....it broke!" He threw it in the trash! He has been doing pretty well without it....at night it just takes him a long time to fall asleep without it. The first night he slept through the night, but last night he woke up twice. The biggest problem has been naps....he's been not as sleepy for naps as it is lately, and now he really has a hard time. I am not ready to lose nap time, since that's when I get the majority of my work done! So today he is upstairs "resting quietly" and reading books in his bed.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a fun weekend with friends at a cabin near Williamsport, PA. The kids enjoyed playing outside together and getting dirty! The adults loved putting the kids to bed early and playing games!! Here's a few pics....

and for your enjoyment.......

Again with the freakish faces when I tell him to smile! (I know, I shouldn't have called my own son freakish!)

PS...I had a dentist appointment today and although I am sometimes still in some pain, the report is that I am much improved after only one week! I go back again in 3 weeks for another checkup.

NTI for TMJ

I kind of wish I had a picture for this post, but none yet. Just wanted to give an update for those of you who have seen my facebook status and are wondering what is going on and why I have a lisp! :)

I have been having mild jaw pain for quite awhile now, along with my jaw popping while chewing, and feeling like it would lock if I opened it too wide. My dentist has been monitoring it, but this past week the pain was getting really bad. Yesterday it was terrible, so I called so see if I could get an appointment, and they took me in right away! I was pretty impressed with that!!!

So I went in and my jaw has definitely gotten worse. I can only open my mouth about 1/2 the amount of what most people can. (Dad, if you are reading this, I can already hear the snide remarks about how much I open my mouth!) End result....I now have a prescription for muscle relaxers and also a little mouth guard, called an NTI, that fits over my front teeth and basically makes me look like Bugs Bunny. Most people only have to wear it at night, but I am supposed to wear it ALL THE TIME, unless I am in public. Praise the Lord for that "unless!"

Last night when we got back from our youth leaders meeting, I put it in and Jackson started laughing. I said, "Does mommy look pretty?" He honestly replied, "No, mommy looks EWWWW!" I said, "Oh, that makes mommy sad!" The poor kid started BAWLING, and said "No, mommy pretty!!!" I hope he is always this tender-hearted! :)

Hot Dogs, Anyone?

Our yard sale this past weekend went really well! I was slightly disturbed when I opened the garage door Friday morning at 715 to finish putting things out and there were 5 people milling around in my driveway, and money left on the table for stuff that was already gone! (The yard sale was supposed to start at 9!) Friday we were really busy with constant customers. I had made cookies the night before and sold all of them, so that was exciting too! Friday night I thought I'd be smart and make a double batch of cookies, knowing that they would sell too!

Then Saturday came....Saturday was a strange day. Jon had planned to make hot dogs and sell them, because he had heard from a friend that they always make more $$ selling hot dogs then the junk from their house! Around 10 am, a guy came and, without looking at anything else, wanted to know if we had started the hot dogs yet (I had put this in the Craigslist ad)....we hadn't but Jon threw one on the grill quick. The guy said "I'm starving...just slap it on the bun cold!" So we did and asked him if he would like ketchup or mustard. His response was, "I don't need that crap!" He left as quick as he came.....just for the hot dog!

The ironic part....that hot dog was one of the 3 that we sold! We ended up eating more than we sold. And, about the cookies....not a single one sold!! We did end up doing very well overall and sold a lot of our stuff. The rest, we boxed up for the next yard sale in a year or so!

E-Town Fair

We went to the E-town Fair tonight and I thought I might as well go ahead and post some pics while I have a few minutes. We tried to win Jackson a goldfish but failed miserably. Luckily, he thought the fish were there just to say Hi to....he never realized he could have been taking one home!! He loved the rides again (some he even got to ride with Jon!)....his favorite was the Ferris Wheel! I think he is too young to have fear! We did have some good luck with the ride tickets though...just as we were about to buy some, a lady approached us and sold us her leftovers for half-price! Yay for bargains, even at the fair! :)







In other news, not much has been going on. I have been getting stuff together for our yard sale this weekend. Stop by and see us! Friday 9-? and Saturday 8-? I'm hoping to get rid of a LOT of stuff!

Fair Side Note: Evidently the Garrett County Meat Rabbits sign is not as sick as I thought....tonight I saw a 4H stand about the same thing. I don't know if I'd want to eat a rabbit, but I guess you never know!

The Zoo!

Yesterday my parents took Jon, Jackson and I to the Pittsburgh Zoo. We had such a fun time - even though Jackson has evidently deciding that throwing up on the way to the zoo should be a new tradition. He is now 2 for 2 (see my earlier post on Lake Tobias!) Jackson loved everything about the zoo and was so excited at seeing each new animal. There were 2 new baby elephants born this summer, and the Daddy elephant was named Jackson, which he is still talking about! Here's just a few pics from the zoo....


We made it home this afternoon and Jack was happy to see all his books and toys but was sad to not be getting all the extra special attention from Pap and Grandy!
Thanks Dad and Mom! We had a fun week! Next time try and make it a little warmer so we can swim ;)

Fair Pictures

We had a great time at the fair yesterday. Jack loved seeing the animals - especially the pig and duck races - and really LOVED the rides!!! Here's a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

(Yes, that sign means what you think it does....anyone have any good recipes?)

Thoughts & Happenings of the Week

I really wasn't looking forward to the Olympics. I thought maybe I'd watch some if nothing else was on TV when I actually wanted and had time to watch it. Now suddenly I am addicted! It started with the opening ceremonies - we didn't watch the entire thing but I have always found it interesting to watch as each country marches in. This year it really hit me as amazing that so many countries come together peacefully for these games! And of course my heart melted when the Chinese walked in and the little boy walked beside Yao Ming to carry the flags. If you didn't already hear the story, the little boy was a survivor of the earthquakes that hit China a month or so ago. 20 out of the 30 children in his class died. He not only freed himself from the rubble but went back to help rescue 2 classmates! What a kid! And of course he is totally adorable.

I am currently in Maryland with Jackson at my parent's house for the week. We have plans for most of the week and I'm hoping to squeeze in a few visits with friends as well! Jon is coming up Thursday night and we will all go to the Pittsburgh Zoo on Friday! Today's big adventure - Walmart! (Note: I am from the boonies.) I just love how around here, going to Walmart is an EVENT! (also note: I am not making fun of the boonies. I love the boonies.) Anyway, pictures to come at some point this week.....it is Garrett County FAIR WEEK after all, and that is a much bigger event than even Walmart!

Expanding Vocabulary

Said by Jackson today to the dog before going upstairs for his nap - "Night night, Jakey. Night night, Sweetheart." I wasn't sure where he picked up "sweetheart" but I found out tonight when Nana walked in and said to Jackson "Hi Sweetheart!" J has since realized that mama thought hearing him say sweetheart was pretty funny, and has begun calling everyone and everything by that name!

New Favorite

Jackson's new favorite activity is playing in his toy box. Every day he crawls in and sits, sometimes for an hour or more, playing and pretending with all his toys. I love listening to him pretend! I hear him making up entire conversations with his little people, dinosaurs, or veggietales. I am loving how great he is getting at entertaining himself!

Beach Pics

For some reason I haven't felt like blogging lately, so I have a little catching up to do. I already posted beach pics on Facebook, but for those of you who don't have facebook, here's a few from our recent vacation to Bethany Beach, Delaware. (and sorry about the last one, I couldn't get it to rotate, so just tilt your head!)