Christmas, Santa and Snowmen

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks. Our Christmas was great. We spent Christmas Eve with my family. We got Chinese food and watched "Fred Claus." We always sleep over and do breakfast and stuff there and then head to Jason's family. We had a great dinner with them and went and saw Benjamin Button. That was a good show. Jack had a great time this Christmas and totally caught on to the whole thing. We got a lot of good video too so I am going to have to learn how to put that on here sometime. Jack was spoiled rotten, but we couldn't help ourselves since he was so excited. He has seemed to have loved each gift equally and plays with everything he got. He loves his new bike and it is looking like he will have it down by summer time.

Out neighbor came over one night dressed as Santa and gave Jack a book that I gave him to give. It was so cute. He rang the doorbell and stood out there saying "HO HO HO" and Jack ran up to the door and heard him. He looked at me and when we opened the door, he could hardly believe his eyes. He was a little scared, but still talked to Santa, as long as he didn't have to look him in the eye. He talked about that for days after.

We got a lot of good snow over Christmas this year and the other day Jack and I built our first snowman. Jack loved playing in the snow and I thought it was fun as well. I don't remember the last time I played in the snow, but I know why kids like it so much. I am looking forward to taking him sledding after our next snow storm.

Even though it is almost the middle of January, we are still reading Christmas books and Jack is still wanting to hear Jingle Bells in the car... I wish that Christmas could last all year!! (sometimes). :)

What Can I Say??

I hope that people are still checking this blog. I know that I haven't posted in awhile and have many reasons/excuses as to why... for example, my camera has about 500 pictures on it that I need to get developed and so I haven't been taking as many pictures lately, and I don't like to blog without pictures... I have been working at Seagull Book on Saturdays for the Christmas season and doing transcription so I don't want to look at the computer anymore then necessary. AND... I can't see. For some reason, my corneas have decided to swell up and obstruct my vision.

But, all of these things are in the process of being fixed... I don't work at Seagull Book anymore. YAY!!!!!! It was nice to have extra money for Christmas, but a real bummer to give up all my Saturdays. I went to the eye doctor last week and am on drops to help my eyes. I can see much better now, but he told me that I can't wear contacts for "the duration of my life." I'm going back in tomorrow though, and am going to try to talk him into it and also check out Lasik. I just don't think that my lifestyle supports wearing glasses all the time. Do you think that will work on him?? :) Finally, I have big plans to take my camera into Walmart tomorrow and develop my pictures so my camera can be used again. In the meantime, I do have some pictures to post and will do that later today, hopefully.

We have been doing very well over the past month. Jack is continuing to talk and dance and bring joy into our home everyday. He is fully potty-trained during the day, and that has been super nice! I am also getting ready to sign him up for school this week! I can't believe it!! He is growing WAY faster then I ever thought possible! Jason is doing very well and his job is starting to pick up a little bit with rates dropping like they are. I am busy reorganizing my house and trying to think of realistic expectations for the new year. I think my biggest goal this year will be to really start organizing my life in the kitchen and start doing better with dinner and meal plans. We are heading to St. George this weekend to run the half-marathon with some friends. We are going to stay with my Grandma and take Jack along. It will be really fun! We need a vacay desperately!

We had a great Christmas season and a wonderful start to this year, so bear with me and pictures and details are coming soon!! Hope everyone is enjoying 2009 so far!

Happy Holidays!

We are officially ready for Christmas. We got our tree and the rest of our decorations up this weekend. I looove my tree. We found a great deal at Harmons and now my house is smelling like pine trees. I love that! My shopping is all done for Jack... He is going to be one spoiled kid on Christmas morning, but he is so excited about the whole thing that Jason and I couldn't resist buying him some fun things. I have also started my favorite tradition from my childhood with Jack this year. My mom always did an advent calendar for us and every day we had a clue and we had to figure them out and we got a little treat/present. Jack's clues are very easy (where do we keep the milk etc) and he is loving getting up every morning to find his next surprise. I had a lot of fun getting some cute things at the dollar store and he loves everything I have picked out so far. Like I said, he is spoiled! He will have to learn to share sometime but for now this is his year! We are super busy getting everything ready, attending parties, working, sending out Christmas cards and eating. I love this time of year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am finally getting around to my Thanksgiving post. Unfortunately, we were lame and didn't think to take pictures on Thanksgiving day... oh, well. We had a great day with family and good food. Since we had Thanksgiving in San Diego last year with my family, we joined Jason's family for dinner this year. We had great food and fun. Jack loved the slushie drink that Grandma made and I made our famous "Bacon Water-Chestnuts." It just doesn't seem like Thanksgiving or Christmas without them!

I just have to mention a few things I am thankful for this holiday season...
1- JACK! I can NOT get enough of him these days. He is becoming such a little boy and so much fun. I am thankful everyday to hear him sing, laugh, play and cry! I love everything about being his mom.
2- My hubby, who puts up with endless crazy from me! He is my best friend and such a good daddy. I could not have chosen any better.
3- With the current economic horrors, I am thankful for our house and neighborhood. I am glad that we followed our instincts and moved here when we did and we are so blessed to have such a great neighborhood and house. On that same note, I am thankful for my newish job doing medical transcription from my house. It is a HUGE blessing!
4- Good friends! I have had a lot of good friend time lately! I don't know what I would do without all the ladies in my life, including mom and sisters!
5- Finally, my religion. I have had some really special moments over the last few months and am going into this holiday season with a deeper love for everything that I believe!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I Got Sucked In....

That's right. I joined the thousands of Utah moms and women who went to the "Twilight" premiere last night. My showing was a 12:15 at Jordan Commons. I have to say that I didn't mind the "Twilight" series, but I wasn't a devoted fan like some people are. I decided to go to the movie with some friends and it proved to be a very fun night. We got to the theater around 10:45 and luckily they let us into the theater around 11:00 so we didn' t have to wait out in the lobby. The place was jam-packed with women (and a few guys who looked like they were vampires in real life, or they were wearing shirts that said, "I don't know why I am here). My friend Roxanne and I were a little nervous about staying awake so we had to go get a large popcorn and some Diet Coke to make sure that didn't happen. :) Unfortunately, we ate almost the whole large popcorn by ourselves... Oh, well... the diet will resume today right?

The movie was entertaining and I didn' t have any problem staying awake. I wanted to kill Bella, but I hated her in the books so I guess the actress did a good job. She is just a bad character. What kept the movie (and book) alive was EDWARD! I have to say, I was not a huge fan of his (the actor) before the show, but I have to agree with the masses that he is HOT HOT HOT! I couldn't stop looking at him. There was a little steam ( I could have done with more :) ), but overall the chemistry was good. I'll go out on a limb here and say that there were probably happy husbands at home around 3-4 am when their wives came home! :) Haha. It was worth it.

The Things Kids Say...

I had to post about this because it is too precious for words! I want to remember it and I am tempted to go out and buy a notebook to keep in the house for all these things that come out of his mouth. Yesterday, Jack didn't get a nap because we were playing with friends all afternoon. On the way home from a store, I looked back at Jack and this is what he said...

"Mom, I want to take off my head." (All the while tugging up on his neck and pulling his hair.)
"You want to take off your head?"
"Yes, help me take off my head."
"Why do you want to take off your head?"
"Because it is too heavy."

Oh, the sweet thing! He was so tired.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so fun this year. Jack was really understanding what was going on and he loved every second of it. On Halloween day, I took him to the gym in his costume so he could start collecting his candy. After that, I was trying to think of what to do since he doesn't have school parties yet... so I called my old friends at Wells Fargo and we went downtown to trick or treat. I don't think Jack really got the whole trick or treating thing until candy just started coming at him. He caught on fast after that! He got a huge haul from there and after that we headed to our ward trunk or treat. Our ward is so great. After yummy pizza and a costume parade, we headed out trick or treating with our neighbors. It was the cutest thing to see Jack running up to the doors with all of his friends. I can't wait until next year. (Although it does feel great to have my house clean for the month before Christmas.)

Happy Halloween!