When your child is quiet...

... it can mean an array of things.

1) the most wonderful is, the blissful quietness of a sleeping baby
2) you've got a child that loves to read books by themselves
3) the curiosity of a child leads them to do things they know they shouldn't

Now, I have experienced all three of these, but on this day of course it had to be the last. I hadn't heard a peep from Jackson in roughly 5 minutes. So I searched the house up and down calling his name....no answers. Now Jackson has this new thing where he will hide but when you call his name he says "I hiding". On this day I didn't even get an "I hiding" response. SO, the not so cool calm and collected side of me starts to panic. Are the doors locked...yes...are all the serious cabinets with dangerous stuff in them still closed.....yes. WHERE ON EARTH (or in this house) could my child be?!?!?!?! Then I heard something, something coming from a place I failed to look.... our linen closet!!! I open the door to find this....





















He's got vaseline in the closet with him...






















smearing it all over his face....
















.... who me?!?!?!

My Top 8 in 2008..

( I stole this idea from my friend Sam and I think I am going to make it a ritual!) In no particular order....

1. That Rick still has a job in the state of our economy (for those of you who don't know he is in residential home building).
2. Disney World trip
3. Jackson turning 2 (holy geez!)
4. My new camera
5. California trips
6. Getting an awesome part time job while Jackson is at school
7. Having the best family in the whole wide world!
8. Finding more friends in our area

Christmas...

I love the season of Christmas! I love the reason we celebrate, the smells, the decorations and yummy food! I get so sad when its time to take down all the decorations and my house looks naked!
Of course we started off the Christmas festivities on Christmas eve by going to church. Then we went and had dinner at a local Chinese restaurant which was a tad different from our usual but thats perfectly okay! Christmas morning we woke up at 9am (or I should say we woke up when Jackson did) and ate a yummy breakfast my mom had prepared and then opened gifts. Jackson is at a great age for Christmas this year, although he still doesn't get the whole Santa thing but he will I am sure next year. Then we headed up to my cousin's house to have an early dinner and celebrate with my mom's side of the family. We played the game "rock band" for a good portion of the time which was a ton of fun. We were home by 7pm and were able to just relax and watch some Christmas movies.

I don't like that I live far from half of my family, but I especially don't like it around holidays. It makes me sad that I can't magically get everyone together to celebrate every holiday. You would think I would be used to it by now coming from a split family but I am just a sucker when it comes to trying to make a holiday a win win situation for all! I hope each of you had a joyous holiday with your family and celebrated the true meaning of Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Disney World....

We went to Disney World for a week with my mom and brother last week . We stayed at the Grand Floridian, it was a gorgeous hotel with a life size ginger bread house that made the whole hotel smell yummy! My family would probably call me a Disney freak, but I would just say that I am mildly freakish about Disney. I hardly have any Disney decor in my house but I LOVE LOVE LOVE their theme parks. SO, needless to say I was SUPER excited about taking Jackson to his first Disney theme park experience! We drove there, 16 hrs there and 14 hrs back (not as much stopping on the way home). Jackson was such a good boy the whole car ride and trip to be honest. But we will NEVER drive there again, it is just too long! At the park Jackson loved all the outdoor rides and would have preferred us to skip the indoor ones since they all seem to be really dark. He also wanted nothing to do with the life size characters at first but by the last day was a champ at greeting them all. Rick was beyond excited to take Jackson on all the rides (sometimes I couldn't tell who was more excited Rick or Jackson). Everyday we would get up relatively early and head to the park but then come back around 1ish so Jackson could nap (which was often 3 hrs everyday) then we would have dinner and either head back to a park or somewhere else on Disney property. It was nice to relax and not have to cram everything in, Jackson even got to go swimming twice! I think letting Jackson rest during normal times helped keep him a very happy kid the whole trip. We can't wait to take him back, luckily there is Disney Land right by our family in California so I have a feeling it will be sooner than later!

Snow in Houston...

That's right you read it correctly! It snowed here on Wednesday night...I was beyond shocked to see it snowing here! We were so excited to get Jackson all bundled up to go outside and see his first snow! I totally felt like a little kid, I even made our neighbors come outside and hang out in the snow with us. It snowed for a good 6 hours, it stuck to everything but pavement. Jackson thought it was great for a whole 30 minutes and then he kept saying "cold" over and over and I have never seen him so excited to be going inside. It made it feel even more like Christmas around here! It probably won't snow again for 5 years but we sure enjoyed it while it lasted!

Playgroup Christmas Party...

Last Monday we had the playgroup over here for a Christmas party. One mom researched what it would cost for Santa to come to the party and it was $20 a mom, which works out great because A) at the mall it costs about $20 for a picture w/ Santa and B) we could take as many pics as we like! SO, Santa (and Mrs. Claus as a bonus) came to the party. All the kids loved him, he read stories, Mrs. Claus did balloon animals, passed out presents (that the mom's bought) and candy. I thought it was worth every bit of my $20. After they left the kids decorated cookies and made ornaments for family members. Then we capped the party off with some pizza! Jackson loved every bit of the day!!

Thanksgiving...

There is so much to be thankful for every day of the year to me. God has graced us with so many blessings I think we often forget how literally everything in our life is a blessing.
In a short list because I could go on for days....I am thankful for God, His unceasing love and relentless faith in me allows me to try and live my life in a way that makes Him smile. Rick, the hardworking provider of our family, whom is not only my best friend but my soul mate and a perfect father to our son. Jackson, the joy in my heart, the most glorious gift from above. My parents, who have shaped me to be the person that I am today, I truly cherish our close relationship. My siblings, who put a smile on my face and a tear because they are growing up too fast!...as I said the list can go on and on!
I try to count all my blessings daily but I know there are plenty that I forget. But on Thanksgiving I try extra hard to remember all of things that I am thankful for and let the good Lord know that I appreciate all He has given us.
This Thanksgiving we spent it up at my cousin's house (an hour north of here) with my Aunt and Grandpa as well as my cousin's inlaws. It was good to be with family but we were for sure missing our other family who we could not spend the day with. It was a bittersweet holiday because of the passing of my grandma Shirley on November 4th as well as my grandma Arlie who passed away 7 years ago on November 19th. I know they were both looking down on us that day and celebrating their own thanksgiving in heaven.
I am enclosing pictures of Jackson that we took before we left to go to my cousins. He is doing this silly thing now where he imitates me trying to get him to look at the camera (i.e. snapping fingers, flailing arms in the air etc.) It is hilarious but also frustrating at the same time. I hope each one of you had a joyous holiday and counted all of your blessings!