life update

Just in case there is anyone out there reading this who doesn't have Facebook and hasn't already heard - Baby Mohr #2 is due November 2! We are so excited to meet our new little one - only 30 weeks to go! :) We were able to announce our news to our families over Jackson's birthday. Today was my first doctor's appointment and I was so relieved and happy to hear a strong heart beat!! Jackson has been pretty excited so far, and is coming up with some really random statements and questions about the baby....

*He's really excited that when I show him pictures on the internet of what the baby looks like in mommy's belly now, he thinks it looks like a dinosaur!!

*A few nights ago, I could hear him upstairs while Jon was giving him a bath, asking his daddy if he was allowed to "toot" in the bathtub.....and found it hilarious that when he did, it made bubbles! Also earlier that day we had been talking about how the baby lives in a bubble of water in mommy's belly. So of course, he put 2 & 2 together, and now one of his biggest questions is "Is the baby tooting in your belly, Mommy?" I honestly do not know the answer to that one!



I thought I had my memory card in the computer to upload some pictures, but I don't, so that will have to wait for another time.

per request :)

So obviously since Facebook, blogs are happening less often..... well I got a little reminder, so here's a post, finally! We've been busy as usual, this month hosting a 16 year old Japanese exchange student, Kana. We are having a good time even with the language barrier. Jackson was very excited to meet her and her first night here asked "Can you teach me the ABC's in Spanish?"

Speaking of Jackson, the little man is almost 3! Tomorrow we will be having a birthday party with our family here, and then next weekend (his actual bday is the 22nd) traveling to Maryland for another party there. When I asked him what he wanted to eat at his party, he said broccoli. I was pretty pleased with that since he comes from 2 non-vegetable eaters ~ it's much more of a challenge to make sure Jon & I are eating our veggies!

We are still working on potty training - what a joy...... the latest comments have been "I want to wear diapers alllll day!" and just a few minutes ago, "whew, reading all these books made me peed!" (in the diaper, not on the potty).

Well, almost time to eat.....we ordered pizza tonight ~ a cultural experience for Kana and a night off from cooking for me :)

Conversations with an (almost) 3 Year Old

Have I already mentioned how much I LOVE this age? I love listening to the new words and concepts Jackson is learning every day. He just makes me laugh :) Here's a few recent funnies...

*A few days ago, he was helping me make a batch of granola...picked up a plain almond, ate it, and said "Well, my mommy is the best baker EVER!"

*Sounding quite surprised, "I don't have a beards! I don't have a beards or a moustache!"

*Learning to tell a joke - "Mommy, I have a joke to tell you - chicken rooster chicken" followed by hysterical laughter.

*Yesterday, when Jon got home from work ~ Jackson knew we were going to a friend's house for dinner (and couldn't wait to go) ~ "Daddy! Go take a shower! You don't want to go to Jonathan's house stinky, do you?"

*Also to Jon, who was changing Jackson's diaper at the time ~ "Stay away from my poopie! It has germs in it!"

*To the person cutting his hair the other day, who asked him if he likes to make snowmen ~ "No, I like to make J-A-C-K-S-O-N's" (Jon always writes his name in the snow and J just thinks its the greatest thing ever).

What a kid :)

welcome 2009!

seems like blogging is kind of going by the wayside these days for myself and a lot of others now that facebook is more popular. thought i'd at least tell a little about our holidays so we can look back and remember (since my scrapbooking days are gone also...).

Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents and ate yummy chocolate chip oatmeal. jackson had a blast and was so happy and thankful for everything he opened! when we were down to the stockings, he started opening socks and said "oooohhhhh, look, a sweater!" i told him it looked too small to be a sweater, and he replied, "ohhh, a baby sweater!" thankfully he was happy with a new pair of socks. never really knew about his apparent love of sweaters before!

we got the car all packed up and headed to western md to my parent's home. it was a great trip and we were pretty much the only people on the road. we were there for 4 days and got to see a lot of family, some we haven't seen since last christmas!

new years eve we got together with jons family for dinner and game playing....with kids, the days of game playing until late at night are over, and we were home by 9. it was still fun though! jon and i watched a movie, happened to realize it was 1155, so we turned on the tv in time to see the ball drop. i think it's a little gross just how much making out they will show of the people in times square. what's with that?

now it's back to reality. we have been working all weekend on a house project, which i will tell about in more detail later, when i have more pictures. unfortunately i don't know if i have many "before" so you may just be seeing during & after. our christmas decorations and tree are all still up because i like to enjoy them as long as possible! maybe next week.

of course some photos for your viewing pleasure:

hope you all have a blessed 2009!

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!