Santa's Helper

Jaxson came home from school yesterday with a Countdown to Christmas craft!  Have I mentioned how much we love Ms. Frances?!?! I never imagined in my wildest dreams that my almost 8 month old would come home with a craft already.  I honestly think that I was more excited about the project than he was.  As a child, my mother had a little cloth "Christmas House" looking calendar that we would move a little cloth mouse around each night to countdown the days to Christmas.  I'm pretty sure it was my favorite part of decorating for Christmas.  Jaxson also came home from school with his 1st Letter to Santa, complete with his signature.  I had tears of joy when I saw his letter.  It was one of the sweetest things ever!

Note: Please notice his signature at the bottom right hand corner of the page!  He has such wonderful penmanship. 

I started wrapping presents 2 nights ago.  I figured we have such a pretty tree that needed presents to go underneath.  Jaxson was the first one to have a present wrapped under the tree..go figure!  I think the fact that my little one is a paper monster slipped my mind when I started this adventure.  Note to self:  do not wrap presents with an 8 month old mobile baby hanging around.  HE TRIED TO EAT EVERYTHING!  I couldn't get the presents wrapped fast enough.  

After Landon dropped Jaxson off on Monday morning, he called to let me know that Jaxson will be having his Christmas party for school in about 2 weeks.  Jaxson drew a name for one of his friends at school and gets to pick out a gift for him.  Landon asked Ms. Frances if Moms were invited to the Christmas party.  I think I'm really the only Mom that has expressed interest in ever going because she didn't sound so sure about saying YES.  I guess I will have to accept this.  I really don't want to be labeled as one of those crazy moms that have to be at every event that their child participates in.  I can just imagine myself being the mom that chaperones school dances and such just so I can get pictures!!!!!!!!!!! hahah I'm laughing so much right now. 

"Don't mind me honey I just want a picture of you dancing with Sally Sue Romero....keep dancing!  Ok turn and smile and say CHEESE!"

Independence Day

I have a disclaimer to put out first before I begin any sort of writing for the day.  I am not good at spelling nor grammar.  If there is a misspelled word somewhere in my blog or a misplaced comma, please excuse the dummy. 

I was going to make this a sappy, make-you-wanna-cry post but I decided against it.  It's Friday for goodness sake.  I looked at the calendar today and realized that Jaxson is almost 7 months.  We have accomplished sitting in our high chair without assistance, he has moved into size 2 diapers, he is sleeping in his OWN bed for most of the night, and we are no longer taking a bath in the bathtub "net" as I like to refer to it.  I freak out every time he passes one of these milestones.  Part of me wants him to stay a baby forever and not grow up.  I feel like it's happening so fast.  I remember the first night we brought Jaxson home from the hospital.  Neither Landon nor myself would sleep for fear that we couldn't hear him breathing.  I laugh to myself on occasions on how paranoid we were that first week.  Jaxson slept in the bassinet right beside Landon's side of the bed and he still insisted on sleeping with the baby monitor by his ear!!!! 

Last week we decided to eat out for dinner.  I felt Jaxson was ready to sit in a big boy high chair at the restaurant. It's getting a little hard on me to eat my dinner and hold him while he tries to grab EVERYTHING on the table.  I found the key to this is keeping a toy strung to the highchair so he can't throw it on the ground. Otherwise we just have a very unentertained child who gets slightly moody.  Who would have thought......

On Saturday we went to Home Depot to buy some new blinds.  I figured if Jaxson was physically stable enough to sit in a highchair then we could definitely sit in a shopping cart.  I did buy one of those things that you drape over a cart or highchair that keeps him from sitting on the direct seat.  Genius I tell ya!  It was a good thing I had it because Jaxson tried to put the handle of the cart in his mouth...GROSS!

I cannot wait for the next milestones and tricks that we are able to accomplish within the next upcoming months.  Jaxson is developing into a wonderful little person who is a perfect fit for Landon and I.  I couldn't have made a better baby if I say so myself. 

Monkeyin' Around

Sorry I feel like I've been a little bit of a slacker this week.  Work has been super hectic and I couldn't find the time to write.  Halloween was exactly what I expected.  Jaxson wore the monkey costume for a total of 1 hr and that is being pretty generous.  We started our Saturday by attending the benefit that my sister helped organize for a friend's sister.  The benefit was being held at Mom and Dad's house so we decided to hit them up for trick or treat first.  When we arrived at their house Landon made sure that Jaxson was fed and changed so that he wouldn't have that as a reason to be fussy.  I decided it was Trick-or-Treat time.  Please everyone keep in mind that it had to have been 83 degrees outside on Saturday. 

I think Jaxson truly wouldn't have minded wearing his costume except when it came to putting on the monkey head. 

After seeing this unhappy monkey, I quickly removed all monkey parts.  I attempted to move on down the road to Trick-or-Treat at my grandmother's house but my little one had fallen asleep by the time we made the 5 minute walk to her house.  Grammy pulled through with one of the most clever Trick-or-Treat's a little monkey could have....Banana's and Banana cookies.  Jaxson secretly wishes that he could have Grammy's banana muffins even though he has only tasted such while he was living in my belly.  Maybe next year...

After our Trick-or-Treating adventure, we took Jaxson to his first pumpkin patch.  I don't think he knew how to perceive these huge orange things laying on the grass. 

Jaxson was worn smoooooth out by the time the day was over.  On Sunday we attempted to Trick or Treat again at the Noble's house and at Pop's house.  The monkey costume only made the appearance once.  We were just too tired to monkey around AGAIN!. I think I was just as tired as he was by the time Sunday night rolled around.  Our first Halloween was a success in the face that we were able to wear the costume, take some pics, and make memories for many MANY years to come.

My Candy Corn Kid

I don't know that there are real ghosts and goblins, but there are always more trick-or-treaters than neighborhood kids.  ~Robert Brault

Ask anyone...I'm kind of a kid when it comes to holidays.  I'm pretty sure I won't grow out of this even though I now have my own child to celebrate these special times of year.  I think this is just going to escalate my "weirdness".  Landon has made the statement that Halloween isn't even a "holiday" and I feel there is no black and white answer or rebuttal to his statement.  Halloween is in the gray (one day I will post on my thoughts about the spelling of gray) area for holidays.  What are we celebrating exactly? I looked up the history of Halloween and my good friend Dictionary.com says that it is the "eve of All Saints' Day".  I'm wondering where the scariness of this day evolved from.  Yes, it is technically celebrating dead people (does this make them saints???) but do dead people have to be scary? This makes me think about my grandmother, Mimi, that passed away some years ago.  I would definitely call her a Saint but not in the Mother Teresa sort of way.  I really don't find that she has taken on a scary status by passing away.  Will anybody join me in banishing blood and guts from Halloween?  It really is unnecessary and it would make me feel a little bit better about CELEBRATING this HOLIDAY!   

I honestly don't remember what I was for my first Halloween.  I wonder if my mother does....???  I faintly remember a clown outfit with pigtails and then again a Frankenstein mask that smelled really bad but I don't know what the winner was for my first year.  This year I have spent numerous hours searching for the perfect "First Halloween" costume for Jaxson.  I can't help but imagine the look on his face some years in the future when he looks at these pictures.  This could potentially scar him if it's a bad costume.  After many sleepless nights and nonproductive days at work, I decided that Jaxson is going to be a monkey.   I think this is a very respectable first costume.  My nephew was a monkey for his first Halloween and, even though I was not a part of the family at that time, I am confident that he was a cute monkey.  How do you go wrong being a monkey? 

We are going to take Jaxson trick-or-treating on Saturday/Sunday.  We have alot of treating to accomplish so we need 2 days to make it a successful first Halloween.  Let's hope that I have a happy monkey and not a cranky one.  I will post pictures for all to see! Everyone have a safe and Happy Halloween. 

Inspired

Call me a late bloomer but I'm starting a blog.  I've now made it to the 10th month of the 10th year of the century (too bad this wasnt on the 10th day just to make it interesting) and I'm joining the blog craze.  God gave one of my best friends the gift of words and she uses it to share her adventures to the world.  My blog will be nothing in comparison to hers but I'm giving it a shot.  I'm devoting this mainly to keep everyone in touch with what my little man is doing each day but I will also give my thoughts on certain things that my husband and I have being doing as well.  I can hardly keep my eyes open at the end of the day dealing with the daily stress of work, wifely duties, and motherly duties but I am going to dedicate myself to the success of this blog if it kills me. 

Will someone please educate me on what "blog" means anyway?  According to Dictionary.com, "blog" is a noun (informal) for weblog.  This still doesn't answer my question. 

I have alot to say..at least I think I do because I seem to be talking to myself all day.  I think this will be good therapy for me.  I really am excited about putting my daily reflections out in the open.  Call me crazy but these are my thoughts exactly. 

Enough about me.  Jaxson, my perfect gift from God, is all of 6 months and 14 days old.  Everyday is a new experience with him.  Long gone are the days where I woke up and wondered what I was going to do to keep myself busy and productive.  I must be honest for those who don't know me and my story, I never in my wildest dreams thought I could be responsible for someone else's life.  I have a hard enough time disciplining my dog! I am now 100% devoted to this little bundle of joy.  I have never cried, laughed, daydreamed, worried, or missed sleep as much as I have since Aprl 13, 2010 at 5:27 pm.  My rollercoaster of emotions is something that I am thankful to have.

Funny Jaxson story of the day.  We start our normal bedtime routine around 8:00 pm every night.  I try to keep true to this routine due to the fact that I will have a crazy man on my hands if I deviate away from this ritual.  We go upstairs, his daddy lays out  his PJs, and I give him his bath.  Last night he was a little fussy during bathtime so I rushed to get him out and dried off.  The PJs that Landon laid out were Jaxson's train PJ's and I thought this was a great idea because we haven't worn them in awhile (by awhile I mean like since last week).  I like to put Jaxson in what we call "sleep sack" PJs because it covers him from head to toe so that he wont be cold during the night if he kicks his blanket off.  The train PJs ended up being a little too short but I thought we would try to get one more wear out of them.  BIG MISTAKE!!!!  Around 3:45 this morning Jaxson started fussing so I ran to his room to check on him.  If I wouldn't have been so tired I would have laughed.  He had wiggled both of his arms out of his sleeves and they were stuck inside his train sleep sack PJ's.  He was stuck, confined, trapped.  To make matters worse, he had rolled over to his stomach and couldn't roll make over without the use of his arms.  This made one mad baby.  I guess I would be mad if my arms were stuck in my pajamas.  Needless to say, he ended up in my bed.  Oh the joys of motherhood. 

"Your little arms around my finger and it's so quiet in the world tonight.  Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming, so I tuck you in."~Taylor Swift