Christmas 2009 - Part IV

Extended Family Party



We had a great turnout for our extended family party which included the always fun White Elephant gift exchange.

Christmas 2009 - Part III

Christmas with Nana was all about the kids this year. Jason had so much fun with his cousins, Kassidy and Mckinley.


Crafts and Cookies










Leapster





Presents




Karaoke

Christmas 2009 - Part II

After Christmas morning at home, we had to wait a little bit to let the sun melt some of the snow on the roads. Then we headed on over to Mimi and Papaw's house to continue our Christmas festivities with Mimi, Papaw, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Josh. We only hit one patch of ice on our long (6 mile) trek across Keller and we arrived safe and sound.

Our contribution to Christmas dinner was a pork tenderloin and cranberry sauce.



We had a lot of fun opening stockings and presents.



It was also Uncle Josh's birthday, so we made sure to reserve time to celebrate birthday style. Jason is obsessed with helping others open presents and loves cards.



Then we headed outside to play some hoops on Jason's present from Aunt Sarah and Uncle Josh.



And let's not forget playing Wii.

Christmas 2009 - Part I

We made an effort this year to make Christmas really special for Jason. I felt like it was important to do so, since this would be his last solo holiday. We probably went a bit overboard, but I think he really enjoyed all the attention.

Here are some pictures of Jason at his school Christmas program. (Sorry about the quality of some of the pictures, this was before we got our new camera.)

We are not entirely certain what the costume was supposed to be, some sort of elf ears with a Christmas hat, but paired with a lei, since they were singing Mele Kalikimaka. I'm not sure Jason sang a word, but he knew all of the hand movements. This was a vast improvement over last year's performance when he refused to leave his teacher's side and get on the stage.



We made a trip out to the Gaylord Texan for the Ice Show. The theme was the Grinch, so of course Jason loved it, as we love everything Dr. Seuss.



This was an unusually snowy winter for Texas. We were treated to a very snowy Christmas Eve.



We spent Christmas morning at home opening presents and eating monkey bread for breakfast. As you can see, Jason had a lot of fun and really enjoyed his gifts.

Happy Holidays!

Well, it's been a while since we've posted, so this might be a long post. First, we hope that everyone had a nice Christmas holiday, and that the New Year brings everyone health, wealth and much prosperity. And now for some updates and pics from the last couple of months, which have been a whirlwind of activity.

Here is a picture from Jason's 50s dress up day to celebrate his daycare's 50th year since its founding. We thought he looked pretty cool!




Here are some pictures from Jason's Thanksgiving Feast his class had up at school. He was the only child in his class with both parents there. It was fun to sit and have lunch with him, and to see him interact with his teachers and classmates.



Oh, and I almost forgot! I have proof for the future when Jason tries to tell us that he does not like vegetables. Here he is eating (and enjoying) brussel sprouts!


We celebrated Thanksgiving this year up at Uncle Josh and Aunt Sarah's house. Nana, Justin, Jason and I traveled together all the way to Collin county for the feast. Sarah and Josh did a wonderful job putting everything together and Sarah even saved the boudin ball/loaf. Justin, Josh and Jason even got to enjoy some playtime in the backyard (although I think it made them miss some of the Cowboys game.) Once Jason decided it was time to go, by throwing a fit, we trekked back over to Tarrant County and dropped by Matt and Erin's house (our Aunt Lindsay's sister) for a visit. There, Jason was able to play with his two cousins, Kassidy and Mckinley, and their cousin Ella.
Jason had a Christmas Program the next week, and we made sure we had good seats in order to watch his class perform "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" Unfortunately we did not get to see him on stage because he insisted on being held by the teacher during both songs. Oh well, maybe next year.

Mimi's birthday was next, and we went to church and had lunch at Christina's to celebrate. Jason was a little cranky, so Justin and I had to eat in shifts.

You may have noticed a recurring theme so far with Jason being fussy and having tantrums. He is still our wonderful happy little boy, but we have entered the much talked about terrible 2's, so sometimes Jason is a bit of a short fuse. In his defense, we have introduced a lot of new things to him recently, including moving to a big boy bed and beginning potty training. We feel he is adjusting well, but he is also continuously testing his limits and boundaries, and we are all learning together.

After Mimi's birthday we met up with Rebecca, Vince and Jacob to take pictures at our neighborhood clubhouse. Which reminds me, we still need to pick up those pictures. It was a memorable experience, as Jason cried the minute I put him in Santa's lap. I bet the pictures will be funny.

Next, we had a Christmas celebration over at Nana's house. It was a lot of fun to have 3 toddlers (Jason, Kassidy and Mckinley) all opening presents up in the same room at the same time. The kiddos also got to decorate pine cones and frost and decorate cookies. Jason's technique was superb - frost then eat. Then we all got to go and enjoy Kathie's choir perform their Christmas program which included dancing, singing, and even an appearance by 3 live camels. Jason really enjoyed all the music and lights.




Oh, and here was the wonderful Christmas card we sent out this year. Jason's frowny face cracked us up.
Jason has been obsessed with happy faces and sad faces lately, as I think they represent the two main emotions he identifies with right now. He has us draw them repeatedly on his Doodle Pro and Aquadoodle, and he likes to act out his own happy and sad faces. He also wants to make us happy, so if he does something he thinks we'll be proud of, like eating his vegetables, or putting his head on his pillow at bedtime he'll ask "Mama/Daddy happy?"

Here he is sporting one of his happy faces and his Santa hat, which he loved wearing.


We had two really fun events over at Deborah and John's house this year, a vocal recital of Sarah's voice students and a Christmas dinner party. Both were really fun. We even got to sing the 12 days of Christmas song at the dinner party because we had 12 adults at the table, and each of us had our own line from the song!

Christmas morning was a lot of fun too, as Jason loves opening presents and tearing tissue paper. He even enjoys picking up all the discarded paper. We also had wonderful celebrations at Mimi and Papaw's house on Christmas Day and the Saturday after Christmas.



We brought in the New Year with Rebecca, Vince and Jacob and we all decided to stick close to home this year and spend time with our kiddos. It has become a tradition to celebrate this holiday together, and one which I hope we will continue for many years. Here are some pictures of Jason and Jacob.

We were also very excited for Mimi and Papaw who traveled to Atlanta to watch the Tigers play in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. They had instructions to cheer loudly for us too, and it must have worked because the Tigers played a great game, beating Georgia Tech with a final score of 38-3. Here's a picture of Mimi and Papaw at the game.


Hope everyone has Happy New Year and GEAUX TIGERS!