Be Mine? XOXO, Frankenstein

After a couple weeks of great progress, Jameson started refusing to walk for us. It may have had something to do with his ear infection, but he hasn’t picked back up again since. We’re a little disappointed. He was doing so well, and now we get barely 2 Frankensteined steps out of him before he plops back down on the ground.

We took these Valentine’s photos a couple weeks ago, on January 28. He was a good sport in the chair. Or a show off. Maybe he knew he was wearing a “Most Eligible Bachelor” shirt?

But once we tried to take walking shots, he wasn’t a fan. He’s actually crying here. Would you know it if I didn’t tell you that?

(Maybe instead of his ear infection preventing walking progress, he is concentrating on learning other new skills, like sticking out his tongue! He is enjoying imitating right now, and while I was at my parents, I made the sign for “Fan” which we just learned last week, and he swirled his hand too! The next morning, I am pretty sure he signed “more”.)

It’s so very hard to believe that last year, he was posing next to roses (without bothering them). Like this:

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Cheers to 2012!

For New Years this year, we went over to our friends Jonathan, JP & Lisa’s house. We also decided to spend the night there, with Jameson in tow. I am not sure how soon we’ll be doing that again, since Jameson decided to rise at 5 am (I am sure the unfamiliar feel of our pack and play had something to do with it)

Our friends Jason and Lisa were there as well with their daughter Vivienne, and our friend Kyle was there as well (between the 3 families with babies, I am pretty sure we were good birth control reminders for Kyle).

Vivienne is getting so big! I love her adorable cheeks.

Here are the boys, and lady Vivienne. The flash didn’t fire for this photo, but as they say, black and white covers a lot of sins.

We had JP’s famous taco dip (my favorite), a new buffalo chicken dip, and bacon wrapped water chestnuts and mini hot dogs from Brian. For dessert, Jason brought his famous brownies (the secret ingredient is cinnamon). Since my diet didn’t start until the next day… I had four.

Jameson didn’t get to try any of that, but we did offer him cheese, pulled pork, and the homemade macaroni and cheese we all had for dinner. He preferred the crackers though, haha.

After dinner it was play time again! Jameson sat on Jonathan’s new ride on/walk behind car for a little while, but he couldn’t figure out how to make it go while he was sitting on it. He looks like such a big boy here, doesn’t he!? Also, I was completely thrilled to get him and Jonathan looking at the camera.

Jonathan and Jameson got to open their gifts from each other! Jonathan got a bead maze, onesie, and trucks. Jameson got an “mp3 player” and Thomas train that moves when you shake it.

Jonathan was thrilled with the wrapping paper!

Toward the end of the evening, Jameson started to get fussy and it was clear it was bed time. I took his pacifier away to try and get a picture of him on my favorite couch of Lisa’s, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

It took Jameson a while to fall asleep that night because he was overtired and teething, but he finally fell asleep. Vivienne was a night owl and stayed up until midnight to watch the ball drop, while Jonathan fell asleep but got up shortly after midnight to greet the New Year.

Happy 2012 everyone!

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Merry & Happy

Sadly, I am returned to work after some 10 days off at home with Jameson and Brian. It was lovely, and now it’s over, so forgive me as I try to get back into the swing of things.

Hopefully this is not as late as it seems to me now, but I had to share our Christmas fun!

On Christmas Eve, we joined the neighbors for dinner and exchanged a few gifts. Jameson wore his brand new overalls from his aunt and uncle!

Just before we sat down for dinner, Santa and my aunt arrived for a quick visit. However, things did not go as smoothly though as they did for Jameson’s visit with Santa a few weeks ago, and Lily was also beside herself.

Oh well, there’s always next year!

Lily is an expert with the fork and was even practicing before the food was in front of her.

Here is Kelly holding Jameson and Lily was grabbing at his hand. This is why I always leave the camera on so all I have to do is pop off the lens cap.

I made a homemade gingerbread which I used with our mini bundt cake pans (I first used these for Jameson’s birthday you might recall).

It was delicious, and I think that the second day it tasted even better. Brian did the molasses and beer part, and I did the rest. It was actually really easy (just a lot of ingredients) and so rich and wonderful.

Jameson and Lily are really interacting a lot which is adorable. Lily wanted his pacifier, and Jameson offered her his socks in trade for the laptop.

Christmas Day, Jameson awoke ready to open gifts (by now he is an expert!)

However, we only made it through a couple before he lost interest in the opening part and just wanted to play with the new toys that were opened, so we helped him open his gifts.

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

We have decided to adopt the 3 gifts from Santa rule. That is, Santa is only allowed to fill his stocking and bring Jameson 3 gifts for under the tree: something to read, something to wear, and something to play with. This year, Santa brought him a snowsuit, gloves & mittens, and boots which all went together of course; a board book; and a sled!

Midway through opening gifts, we stopped for cinnamon rolls!

Sasha enjoyed some of her gifts as well (some of them are still wrapped up for her later)

But the fun didn’t stop there. While Jameson napped and Brian worked on food, I went to church. Then Jameson woke up just in time for Brian’s parents and sister to arrive to celebrate and have Christmas supper.

He practiced his patty cake with grandma.

And then we dove in with Charlie Brown Christmas in the background (Jameson got it in his stocking along with some snacks and You Are My I Love You board book)

We had a lot of fun and are so grateful for all the wonderful gifts we received. And I think we did a pretty good job this year on the giving. Jameson makes it pretty easy.

Both sets of grandparents got this birth through 6 months digital scrapbook (what do you think I’ve been working on this week? the 6 month to 1 year one… slowly). They also received a family photo on canvas (thanks to Groupon) from Picture It on Canvas. I’ve now used both Canvas on Demand and Picture It, and I’ve been really happy with both results.

I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday as well! I’m sad it’s over, but our lights will still be up through this week to help the celebration continue on!

P.S. If you love my family and adorable pictures of Jameson, here are the rest of our Christmas photos, and a few more cute videos of Jameson ringing bells here and playing with one of his new-old toys here.

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Merry Christmas

I’m a little early, but if it’s December 24 & 25 when you read this, then I’ll be right on time.

I’m taking a short break. Today is my last day working for the year (that sounds so fun to say), and I’m going to take a break blogging at least through Christmas, maybe a little more. I’m going to spend some time watching Jameson without recording (though I’m sure I’ll do that later haha) and enjoy him a lot.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas too.

P.S. Jameson had his one year check up yesterday. He is 18 pounds and change (10th percentile) and 30 inches long (50th percentile), following the same curve he has been this whole year. A healthy almost-toddler. He had to get 3 shots, and blood drawn to test for anemia and lead, as a precaution, though I am sure he is fine. He was a brave little boy through it all.

P.S.S. He gave me two (open mouth) kisses on Tuesday night. How cute and how gross! This morning he gave his daddy one too so he didn’t feel left out.

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Thankful

We spent Wednesday through Sunday morning at my parents’ for Thanksgiving, and it was so nice to have time off from work for the extended visit. Jameson wasn’t teething or cranky, he was cheerful and well behaved and adorable the entire weekend. I’m so thankful!

The family spent Thursday relaxing, playing, eating and sleeping. I spent that time documenting most every moment, so here’s a play-by-play of our Thanksgiving Day (that rhymes, not on purpose):

Mom did the prepping and cooking.

Anyone else’s brother like to ruin good photo opps? That’s totally the dog show in the background. Jameson loved the dog show, it is probably the longest he’s ever looked at a television screen.

We got impatient for the olives and dug in right out of the can.

Everybody started getting hungry.

Grandpa is carving the turkey. Does anyone else have a photo like this? I promise you the knife was no where near his mouth in real life. It’s all about perspective!

The table is full and set. And the dog show is still on in the background.

Jameson’s first Thanksgiving meal! He had a little of everything: turkey (white meat only though); corn; noodles; green bean casserole; stuffing; even the jellied cranberry sauce (he liked it!).

Before dessert, some relaxing (and sleeping) occurred.

Jameson slept past our dessert, but he woke up ready to play. The helicopter was a hit with Jameson and a great distraction to get him to eat some baby food at meal times.

Thanksgiving round 2 for Jameson’s dinner. Then time for dessert!

He wasn’t a big fan of the pumpkin pie. Even whipped cream alone was apparently revolting. Who’s child is this?

Jameson enjoyed playing with “grandma toys” like the blocks, and even his great-grandma’s toys, like the building toy we made into a little car for him. He also enjoyed banging on the piano and getting into mischief. It was a great day, and finally time for him to sleep.

Which meant games for the rest of us. It ended poorly for me.

Luckily, Friday was a new day, and Jameson got to visit his friend Mark again. They’ve both grown so much! I can’t wait to share tomorrow.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Is it too early to celebrate a little Christmas now? I have been listening to Christmas music for at least a week now, as soon as the radio stations started up.

On Tuesday, we made a last minute decision to try and see Santa before our long drive Wednesday to visit Jameson’s grandma and grandpa. There is a place about 45 minutes away from us that lets you take your own photos with Santa, but it ends on Sunday, so if we didn’t see him Tuesday we would’ve missed it entirely.

So we left work early, got everything ready to go, and picked up Jameson from daycare. Luckily, he hadn’t had a good second nap that day so he slept most of the drive.

We arrived with no Santa in sight, but he appeared about an hour later with Mrs. Claus in tow, and Jameson got to see his very first Santa Claus.

Santa was very nice, we were first in line so we got to spend a little time with him. Jameson tolerated him for a while, toward the end though we saw a little crumply face so we grabbed him before he started fussing. He was great, even though it was past his bed time!

In addition to Santa, we saw a lot of lovely trees, part of a big fundraiser they have every year. Jameson loved looking at the lights and people, and even a few dogs.

On Wednesday, we rushed around most of the morning getting ready for our 3-1/2 hour drive, and now we are arrived and enjoying flipping through ads, watching tv, and relaxing. I for one am really happy to be spending Thanksgiving here for the first time in several years.

Jameson is a little uncertain about his grandpa, but loves the two small dogs (particularly the one that likes to lick him because it means that he can get close to pet her). He is spending most of his time playing with the grandma toys rather than his own because they are more fun, of course! He’s even started this week putting toys into other toys, instead of just knocking down and dumping out. Smart boy!

I hope everyone is having a lovely Thanksgiving today and through the weekend!

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Christmas Crafting!

This morning, I woke up to a light dusting of snow in the yard, so it is definitely appropriate now to start talking Christmas crafts.

It is apparent by all my other unfinished crafts that I can only handle one small thing at a time:

  • A table runner for the dining room remains only a vision in my head and some fabric that I purchased
  • A starburst mirror over the headboard of our bedroom is only a vision, and barely that
  • Jameson’s Easter basket will now need to wait until closer to Easter this coming year, but all the materials are purchased
  • Jameson’s birthday garland is waiting for me to complete!

So when I decided I wanted to do a Christmas advent calendar, I already gave myself permission to leave it incomplete this year. In fact, my whole plan hinges on that fact.

The idea started last year in Pottery Barn or one of those other fancy-shmancy stores had a lovely stocking advent calendar garland for sale for some $75-$100 bucks. It never went on clearance, because of course the adorable thing sold out. This year, they’re popping up all over the place.

{from Horchow}

A couple are even on Amazon.

{from Amazon}

I found cheaply made ones on Ebay, and expensive ones on Etsy.

I figured that I could make one that looked great for less though: without making the stockings themselves. That’s key, because I’m lazy, remember? I pinned this lovely idea instead.

{from Canadian House & Home}

Except I really, really wanted mine made of knitted stockings. So I combed the internet. Do you know how hard it is to find anything that looks good when you search “knitted stocking”? I threw in different words to broaden and narrow my search, but Google failed me.

There were a few on eBay that looked promising, but they were expensive and I couldn’t find enough of them. What I kept finding instead were those faux velvet and fluffy looking stockings, but that totally defeats my purpose of looking handmade, right?

Instead, I had a moment of epiphany. My old standby, Factory Direct Craft. They had them, and they had them cheap!

{from Factory Direct Craft!}

Not only will I now have stockings, but I can also use a few mittens, how adorable will that be? I plan on hanging them off the stairway instead of the mantle.

So the plan from here is to work on the cheap: I want to collect ornaments on clearance for the gift part of this advent calendar. I don’t plan on stuffing these with more gifts than Jameson needs year after year. Instead, I want to use the Jesse tree story with ornaments that symbolize different Bible passages.

I first really understood the Jesse tree last year while at church they had all the children hanging ornaments. I love the idea! This will be a great way to celebrate Christmas year after year. I’ll keep you posted on my ornaments finds.

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Candy

Mom requested a photo. Specifically, she requested a Jameson photo, but you know you can’t get everything you ask for.

Here are a couple people I work with, with me on the right. This is what I wore on the day of my big presentation.


Also, we totally have left over candy, and I just ate a KitKat, so I feel better now. KitKats make everything better.

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Halloween

Did you miss me yesterday? I’d love to say that I was making the most of Halloween with my family, but alas, as Brian likes to say: I am a professional mom with professional responsibilities. I had a presentation yesterday to give to the head honchos, which is pretty much one of the scariest things ever on what is supposed to be the scariest day of the year, right?

Oh yes, and I was indeed dressed up for Halloween. Cause I roll like that.

Anyway, that presentation and the time I worked over the weekend is past me (for now), not that I’m bitter or anything at all cause I’m totally getting over it (ironic from just last week). Otherwise, Halloween weekend was a blast.

Jameson went as Tigger, courtesy of my mom who purchased the costume while she was visiting my brother at Disney World.

And this is one of the only pictures I have of him smiling this weekend. He’s too curious about his surroundings now and much less focused on me.

On Saturday, we went to Boo at the Zoo with our friends JP & Lisa, their son Jonathan, and friends Jason and Lisa and their new addition Vivienne.

Yes, Jonathan went as a Tiger too! And Miss Vivienne went as a Strawberry.

We took some group photos early, which was great, because shortly thereafter it got too dark to get photos without a flash.

Oh, and there’s me. Haven’t seen me in a while, have you? I cajoled Brian into taking my picture.

The zoo was decorated with Halloween lights and divided into sections designed for kids: Haunted Greenhouse, Magicians, Fire Jugglers, and Radio Disney was there too of course with Bieber fever crazed girls dancing to Bieber music.

That’s right, the screaming was not in terror, but excitement.

We went through the Haunted Greenhouse, but for the most part we just walked around, saw a few animals, and fed some animals babies.

Jameson finally fell asleep right when we were leaving, so it was way past his bedtime but worth it.

It was a nice activity to do with babies who can’t trick or treat just yet!

Speaking of trick or treat…

Sunday was our neighborhood’s day or trick or treating, so Brian and I walked Jameson around in the stroller. Not for candy, no sir-y, though we did obtain a few pieces. It was more for just letting Jameson look around, and of course to take a few more pictures of him in his costume.

We had a lot more kids than we expected, and ran out of candy 45 minutes in. But that gave us both the opportunity to walk around with Jameson, so that actually turned out well.

In our neighborhood, a lot of people set out fire pits at the foot of their driveway and pass out candy there. I actually thought that was pretty awesome, and Brian added that he’d do it right next year by adding a keg for the few dads that walk around with their kids. I laughed to see Brian get what I called “dad-knowledgement” whenever there was another dad out walking around with his kids.


Brian’s mom is sick with a cold, but she sent Aunt Melissa over with a little goody bag before trick or treat for Jameson which included a new cube toy. He loves it, and wouldn’t let go of it while we tried to take a few family photos.

Then we reached the very end of Jameson’s patience, and we stripped him of his costume and let him go play.

After all, this whole Halloween thing was, yes, pretty much about us this year.

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