holidays – Page 6 – Myriad & Sundry

Memorial Day Friends

June 3, 2013 No Comments

We took Jameson to see the doctor on Saturday over the holiday weekend and found out he had strep throat and an ear infection, but thankfully he wasn’t contagious 24 hours later, so we still were able to get together with JP, Lisa & Jonathan on Sunday in celebration of Memorial Day and Brian’s birthday. (Mmm another ice cream cake!)

I love this close up of Jameson; he was hamming it up for the camera, which is rare for him. He still moves very fast so I took about 20 of these hoping one would be in focus. To get his natural smile, I made him laugh a little by asking him to show his teeth (that’s what this pose is below)

He may have had strep, but that didn’t stop me from getting one of the two of them together. It was still on the cool side so everyone was in long sleeves but I loved the opportunity to get Coraline next to Jameson outside. She’s getting ever sturdier and is a little less intimidating for him. He was willing to put his arm around her.

When I laid Coraline down in the yard in our limited shade with her blanket, Jameson had to get his and join in as well.

We enjoyed bratwurst and burgers with JP and Lisa’s pasta salad and corn on the cob. Jameson is an expert at eating corn this year, but he did lose his first piece on the patio. Oops! Good thing we made extra.

The boys only sat at the table for about 5 minutes before they joined us at the adult table; luckily there were plenty of chairs.

After dinner, we all played outside for a while. Coraline got a little antsy and over tired though. It didn’t stop the party though!

Jameson and Jonathan decided it would be great fun to go down the slides head first… Clearly a lot of fun! The slides aren’t too high and they don’t get much speed so we all enjoyed watching the boys find this new way to play.

I love seeing Jonathan and Jameson play together. Jameson was so excited for him to come over and kept saying “Jonathan play with me?”, and even though by the end of the day he was exhausted and cranky, undoubtedly in part because of being ill, it was so much fun.

children, life with baby

Easter Weekend

April 5, 2013 No Comments

For Easter this year, my mom and sister came up to visit, and we enjoyed family all together on Sunday for Easter supper. This was Aunt Holly’s first opportunity to meet Coraline!

The weather was looking up a bit, so we spent some time outside on Saturday with Coraline all bundled up.

Jameson loved playing basketball with Aunt Holly (it was mostly just throwing and playing catch, but Jameson has taken to calling that basketball).

Meemaw brought the extra large bouncy ball! It quickly blew through the yard on the windy day, and I’m pretty sure Jameson encouraged some of that blowing away so they could run down the street chasing after it.

On Easter morning, Jameson very quickly saw an egg and understood the name of the game. He took a quick break to eat some breakfast midway through (thankfully, since he enjoyed eating a jelly bean or two from each of his eggs).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqNM1ROJj4U]

After finding all the eggs (18 eggs, filled with jelly beans, chocolate which he insisted he didn’t like, and 3 little cars), then it was time for the Easter baskets.

Both Jameson and Coraline have Easter baskets; Coraline’s basket is gray and pink, and Jameson’s is green and white, made from loopy chenille which is now a discontinued product and hard to find. The yellow basket you see in the photos above is my basket from my childhood.

Coraline got a giraffe hooded towel (kid-sized, so I expect Jameson will use it before it fits her!), a baby toy with mirror, small stuffed bunny, bunny rattle, puffs and yogurt drops for when she is introduced to food, a bunny rubber duck bath toy.

Jameson’s basket had pez and animal crackers, a shark hooded towel, coloring book, 3 mini reading books, flashlight, puzzle, and Finding Nemo. Finding Nemo did not overtake his love of the Lion King, but he did sit through most of it.

Meanwhile, Brian made a breakfast casserole for us. After all that activity, we didn’t make it in to church, but I did have everyone dress up for our first family photo post Coraline’s birth.

Contrary to this lovely photo’s appearance, it was much much harder to get everyone looking at the camera and smiling.

And by everyone, I mean Jameson and Sasha (I didn’t expect Coraline to be looking at the photo, though by some miracle, we captured a photo of her looking at the camera and not screaming). This was actually the only photo we got of Sasha in the frame as well, since she kept insisting on laying down.

Jameson was concerned about Coraline crying and the rush of the photo, and kept sticking his hand in dad’s pocket until we let him take a few of the photos himself.

I think everyone (including my belly, which was stuffed into those pants temporarily) was relieved when we managed to capture a couple good photos, and we were finished. These family portraits are important though, and I am happy we managed to take them at least twice a year.

Brian’s parents and sister came over then for supper. They brought over more Easter goodies for Jameson and Coraline, including clothes and toys and candy for Jameson.

Jameson’s fascination with spinning things made these tops a hit.

For supper, we had ham and turkey, salad, potatoes and green bean casserole, and fruit pizza for dessert. Coraline was sleeping off her own supper time in the bouncer.

After taking a couple photos of Jameson’s stash of blankets and toys on top of Coraline, I came back just moments later to find her head actually covered up under two layers of blankets. Ooops! We had to tell Jameson he can’t cover her head.

It is so nice of him to share his toys though, so we encourage that particular behavior and I love the way he wants to keep her warm and seems to believe it will help her sleep, just like they do for him.

After our nice family dinner, Meemaw and Aunt Holly had to leave and we relaxed for the evening. Everyone was exhausted!

life with baby

Coraline’s First Week

March 24, 2013 No Comments

We all enjoyed Coraline’s first week at home, but I am getting antsy to get out some more and hope the weather turns around soon so we can all go on walks together in the evenings.

Coraline as I’ve mentioned seems pretty laid back. So far, she hasn’t taken to the pacifier but its still early. Mostly, shes pretty content while awake. She is usually awake for a couple hours at a time, and gets frustrated when she can’t fall asleep or when she is really hungry or cold. She smacks her lips and makes little baby grunts at night when she’s hungry, which I awaken to, for now, since she’s right next to our bed in the bassinet.

My mom came up on Sunday through Friday last week, which was convenient and enjoyable, especially for providing a little extra entertainment for Jameson while he was home from school ill. Coraline wore her green for St. Patrick’s Day most of the day, before she had an accident!

My mom also helped me take newborn photos of Coraline, who only really messed on the blankets once (but it was a big one! Thankfully mom got the stain out!) She didn’t want to fall asleep, no matter how hard I tried! She was just like Jameson, wanting to stay awake for her official photo shoot. I only got to use the new backdrop stand a little, but it seemed to work really well. I was happy with how her photos came out, and have already ordered her announcements.

It is a good thing we moved so quickly on her newborn photos, since she gets bigger by the day. She was back up and over her birthweight at 4 and a half days old (7 pounds, 3 ounces) and she matches Jameson’s weight at one month old of 7 pounds 6 ounces at one week.

Coraline had her first tummy time, but she was so exhausted from her photo shoot earlier that she passed out right there.

I love her little swirl of hair on the back of her head. She also has a birthmark on the back of her head there and on her forehead and eyelids which will all disappear by one year old. The sweet little eyelid marks are cute though, and I wouldn’t mind if they stayed. Her forehead mark is only apparent when she gets angry for the most part, but it is a pleasant reminder that even though she has a lot of similar features to Jameson, she is her own sweet little person.

Brian also was home from work all last week. We aren’t able to have him home extra like we had off for Jameson, so we are disappointed he has to go back today. Although, Jameson thrives on routine, so it will be good to return to that normal time of getting up and going to school.

She eats really well, which is such a wonderful difference from our first, and she was a little greedy the first few days of life which means my supply is still adjusting to her demand, but it hasn’t been too bad.

Coraline did not enjoy her first bath, but I did better with her second one keeping her warm with water down her back and wash cloth over her chest. It was almost as if I had forgotten how to bathe a newborn (I really had). Her cord still hasn’t entirely fallen off yet, but its still quite a bit easier than dealing with vasoline and a circumcision!

We also got to visit her Great Aunt Carol and meet my cousin Carrie who was in town. It was a lot of activity for our little one week old!

It was our second outing, after the doctors, to go visit Great Aunt Carol, who just had hip surgery. She loved seeing Coraline, and even put her to sleep without a rocking chair or swaying. She has the baby touch!

We were sad to say goodbye to Meemaw on Friday, but we’ll see her again this weekend for Easter, and Coraline will get to meet her Aunt Holly too! The time, as ever, goes quickly.

children

A New Year

January 18, 2013 No Comments

I’m finally nearly caught up with all our holiday events! Here we are at New Year, and for the record, I did stay up until about 12:07 and then collapsed into bed. Last year, we stayed over at JP & Lisa’s house. This year, recent sleep troubles and changes (oh, I can’t wait to share details about that!) caused us to decide to make our way home well before midnight for Jameson’s sake.

It took us a while to drive there; the snow that evening was a little unexpected and the roads weren’t great. Luckily, everything was pretty clear by the time we left that night.

Jameson and Jonathan played with Jonathan’s new Christmas gifts, which included a grill. They both were partial to the hotdog.

They exchanged gifts, and Jameson loved his Elmo hat! For two seconds anyway before he took it off. It’s big enough we should be able to use it for a year or two to come as well!

We enjoyed an excellent, kid friendly spaghetti and meatball/sausage dish for dinner, and Brian and I brought over our gingerbread, a favorite go-to dessert.

The boys loved the ice cream part!

Then? It was playtime! The boys ran around with cars, slid down hallways with the dads and otherwise made mischief.

We did have a car injury, which Brian and JP were happy to fix!

Later we enjoyed some celebratory champagne, and Jameson and Jonathan had sparkling grape juice. Jonathan gulped his right down while Jameson lingered sipping. They both wanted more though we thought more sugar that evening would be a bad idea!

We had Jameson and Jonathan give each other hugs goodbye, and while most of them ended up with the two of them in a heap on the floor, we did capture a few cute moments. Jameson actually did a good job hugging back!

Jameson, as per usual now, didn’t sleep in the car even though it was 10:30 and well past his bed time. We had him home and in bed before the ball drop, so we were able to see the New Year just Brian and I before heading to bed ourselves, exhausted.

Exhausted will probably be one of my words to describe this year, I’m sure!

children

Visit to Great-Grandma’s

January 15, 2013 No Comments

Our last family Christmas outing was to great-grandma’s on the Friday after Christmas.

Jameson was a totally nightmare in the car, but thankfully Aunt Melissa rode with us, and we are also thankful for the ipad.

Jameson insisted on trying a good four of five cookies, but didn’t really like any of them. He ate the most of the pistachio one which was funny!

We had lasagna and salad, which Jameson squirmed his way through. Since he didn’t really nap that day, he was extra wired!

I don’t do so great with the cats in the house (I’m allergic), but Jameson loved them! He tried to catch a couple but he was not quick enough.

Here he is, sitting next to me relaxing for a moment. I look really pregnant.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9LkYs4Z8uA]

He also loved playing with his cousins and their toys (probably mostly their toys — filled with small things and sophisticated levers and big-boy-awesome.

He wouldn’t let great-grandma hold him this time, but he was happy to blow kisses and give her a high five!

We left after dinner and opening a few gifts. Jameson got a puzzle and baby got some clothes from Uncle Chuck and Aunt Sue! It is always nice to see great-grandma happy and surrounded by family. What a nice holiday!

children

Home for the Holidays

January 7, 2013 No Comments

After returning from my parents, we had a second Christmas at home the following morning. These were the gifts from us to Jameson and to each other.

First up was Sasha, since her gifts are partially unwrapped so that she can see them, she got very excited!

She tore right into her first “buddy”, and opened 3 of her 4 new toys.

Jameson’s second gift was a hit: as soon as he opened it, he didn’t want to open any more gifts!

Jameson ran around with his broom and wouldn’t put it down! The only way he would open more gifts is if he could hold onto his broom. This little cleaning set was my idea, so I was tickled that he loved it so much!

We got Jameson a new RC controlled Thomas the Tank Engine. He has a car, but it only used one button. The new toy has two buttons, so it’s an upgrade! Also, it makes real steam. I was surprised that it actually works really well on carpet as well.

Jameson also received a build-your-own firetruck, which has nuts and bolts and will be one to grow into; and an Elmo play-doh shape maker, which occupied him for about 15 minutes one day (that’s a record for a sit down toy)

Last but not least was a set of classic wooden blocks; Jameson used the gift as a launch pad for jumping!

Later that afternoon, we dropped Jameson off at Brian’s parents and I had a doctor’s appointment, for which we drove very carefully through the snow for for all of a 5 minute appointment. But we are thankful things continue to go well, and I’m now measuring on schedule.

After returning to Brian’s parents, while grandpa finished cooking, we opened a few gifts at a time with Jameson to keep him occupied.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my265guNM9U]

There was a lot of hiding and peek-a-boo.

Swinging and going upside-down.

And playing of the harmonica. That harmonica got more action than the whistle party favors from his birthday. It sounds just as gross though when he sucks his spit back in. I haven’t been nauseous for this pregnancy for a few weeks now, but that always makes me gag a little.

Jameson’s big gift was a table and chairs set! We haven’t decided where to put it yet but are looking forward to lots of arts and crafts there.

We are also excited that Jameson got a bike seat for the summer; Brian will love taking him out for rides. (I might be a little jealous, since I plan on being left behind with the newborn). What a blessed Christmas we had! And it wasn’t over yet. We still had a few more days off to enjoy family.

children

Christmas

January 4, 2013 No Comments

Christmas Eve we relaxed at my parents house. Jameson really started enjoying the dogs and wanted to pet them all the time. They are quite a bit more tolerant than Sasha is at home!

Jameson skipped a nap; he may have fallen asleep for about 20 minutes or so but all the activity downstairs had his attention. A couple of my dad’s friends came over, one bringing a huge locally smoked ham for our dinner that night.

You would never know that Jameson had skipped a nap though. He was cheerful and running around until the end of the day! He did so well sleeping at my parents house in the big boy bed.

(Here he is wearing my brother’s socks which he actually put on all by himself!)

For a few moments he sat still, playing with my brother and dad’s old cars. I was excited to take a few photos without flash for it.

We all attended church post Jameson being in bed, rotating with my parents. It was a little too much for me to imagine taking him to the service. Maybe next year he will be better at sitting still!

And then Santa came!

Santa brings Jameson 3 gifts (plus a stocking). This year, Santa brought him new eyeball shirts for spring, new Dr. Suess books, and his very own laptop. He’s pretty funny with the laptop. It’s a little outside his age still but he will sometimes sit with it on his lap like mom and dad do.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF7XdCghxT8]

He wanted to put on one of the eyeball shirts, but when he noticed there was a sticker on there, he wanted the sticker instead!

Jameson got a lot of great gifts, and he just loved opening everything. He continued to be a very neat unwrapper.

He wanted to help Uncle Tyler put batteries in his brand new music player! And Aunt Holly played with his new pegboard.

My sister, brother and I each got a beautiful handmade quilt from my mom, made from our t-shirts. I thought the big sister shirt, saved from when I was 4 years old, was adorable.

Then it was time to open stockings, and as soon as Jameson saw his first prize, he wanted nothing to do with anything else!

Goldfish are always a hit.

He has also been pretty entertained by his very first slinky! (Once we rounded him back up from hiding with his snack, anyway)

We watched Jameson’s new movie, The Lorax, which only captured his attention for about 15 minutes. We were all entertained by it though!

By early that evening, we were packing up to leave. There was a blizzard warning to start overnight; not wanting to get caught in that, we headed out.

Not without a few family photos first!

For being such a good sport with photos, he got a slice of bologna!

(Yes, those are batman pants! We call them his lounge wear, and he gets to wear them most weekends.)

(Yes, he is trying to put a sock on his hand. What a funny kid!)

It was such a nice visit, and great to spend it with my side of the family for the holidays this year.

He didn’t sleep at all going home though, which made the ride tough! He has begun asking for “itsy bitsy ipad” (an app I have), which makes me laugh. I am not sure what parents did before the ipad!

children

Woodland Lights

December 31, 2012 No Comments

Sunday night before Christmas we went to the Woodland Lights as a family. We told Jameson he was going to see the lights, and talked about how pretty they were! He was pretty excited just to get outside, I think.

While we had just gotten a lot of snow where we live, there wasn’t any at my parents’, so it was easy and not too cold to walk around that evening.

Jameson took hold of Aunt Holly’s hand right away and walked with her almost the entire time!

Aunt Holly and Uncle Tyler, waiting for tickets to get in!

We took a few family photos before getting too far. Jameson really wanted to walk though, he wasn’t too interested in standing still for photos!

We had one more task to do though before we could leisurely walk through the rest of the lights; we had to see Santa!

Jameson already saw Santa once this year, but there was no line so close to Christmas, so we decided to go ahead and see him once more! Here’s Jameson and Meemaw:

He still wasn’t willing to sit on Santa’s lap, but he sat next to him just fine.

Aside from lights, there are a few animals to see. Jameson got to see chickens (which was great, since he only wants Owls and Chickens on his farm when we sing Old McDonald recently).

He also saw fox and the stars of the show, reindeer! Jameson tried to feed the reindeer the candy cane treat he got from Santa, but dad rescued it.

Jameson did great. He didn’t ask to be held much at all, and loved walking around and seeing all the pretty lights.

Last stop was to see the gingerbread houses inside. There was even a farm gingerbread house!

We all enjoyed visiting the Woodland Lights. It was their 20th anniversary, and we had gone a lot as kids but not for a long time, so it was nice for everyone to do it together, for Jameson!

Oh, and for the record, he did enjoy his first candy cane. I thought I might get to eat it, but alas, he ate near half the small treat before he was finished.

children

Celebrating December Birthdays

December 30, 2012 No Comments

Last Saturday, we headed down after swimming lessons and lunch to my parents house. (After being dunked for the first time! Thrice!) It was my mom’s birthday, and we were due to celebrate not just hers but three December birthdays at once. Holly is first on 12/4, followed by Jameson and then my mom on 12/22.

Jameson was okay during the trip. He no longer sleeps in the car, as we discovered several times throughout longer car rides this holiday season, but with plenty of snacks, books and the ipad, he was okay. He was excited to open gifts when we arrived. I am pretty sure he thinks December means an endless supply of unwrapping gifts.

No one had a problem with allowing him to assist in opening all the gifts, not just his own.

Jameson got a few Disney gifts including a plate and new hat from Meemaw and Grandpa.

I was surprised that he took right to his meemaw, grandpa, uncle and aunt, since it had been awhile. I guess we talk about them enough that he felt he already knew them! Although it should be no surprise he took right to Aunt Holly since he is around a lot of young ladies working at his school!

My delicate unwrapper neatly tossed all the wrapping paper to the nearest adult to put in the trash.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIStGepFx44]

Jameson opened a new eyeball shirt from Meemaw and promptly did a monkey imitation, complete with eee eeee ooo ooo and hands in armpits. We tried to get him to do an instant replay for the entire rest of the holiday. No dice!

No birthday celebration is complete without dessert!

Meemaw enjoyed a red ice cream cupcake and painted her lips bright red with it. (I was smart and chose white for Jameson and I, haha!)

The following day was spent in relaxation and enjoyment of the entire family together for the first time in a long while for Christmas. Jameson loved playing with his relatives, and created new games.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQpXOb9au48]

He played “pokey carrots” with grandpa, which had us all in stitches, at least until the 6th or 7th round when we wondered how long the game might last.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpyrxZ4rdVg]

He also played with Uncle Tyler and Grandpa’s old matchbox car set.

That night we went out to see Christmas lights at the nearby recreation center, but that’s to come!

life with baby

Merry Christmas

December 24, 2012 No Comments

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!

christmas-card

We are spending our Christmas at my side of the family. Jameson is enjoying Aunt Holly, Uncle Tyler, Meemaw and Grandpa this holiday season. We can’t wait to share with you upon our return in a couple days.

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