HHBJ

aka...happy half-birthday jacob! 18 months old is a marvelous accomplishment and a huge blessing to mommy and daddy. going into nursery at church is the best christmas gift you have ever given us. you are a treasure each and every day (even when all you will eat is chex mix.)

some tidbits about Jake
favorite song: Frosty the Snowman & Jingle Bells. (obsessed with Christmas music. J waves his arms like he's leading when he wants us to sing. I've sung the above two songs hundreds and hundreds of times this month.)
favorite foods: Chex Mix (given). Peaches (he even says Peaches which sounds like bee-chez which can sound like something else too haha.) Candy (Christmas did that one.) Lasagna (the only "meal" he'd eat for about 3 days.)
favorite toy: Really into cars and books and his Buzz Lightyear
favorite movie: Toy Story and Frosty the Snowman

Lately, J hates sleeves. They bug him bad. I think he hates the way they feel tighter on his wrists. He's constantly pulling at them and stretching out his sleeves like he's the Hulk.

J leads us to things he wants/wants us to do. I'm forever being pulled away from doing the  dishes by his warm, little hand pulling me toward a toy he wants me to play with. Really, so sweet.

He jumps on our bed any chance he can get. He goes from the ground to Scott's nightstand to the bed in .03 seconds and jumps away. He loves falling backwards in the pillows and wrestling his dad on the big bed.

J reads the Book of Mormon! He is always pulling his BOM off the shelf and flipping through it. Proud Parent Moment: Our home teacher came to visit us. In the middle of the visit, J makes our home teacher hold the BOM and flip through it. Our home teacher is so nice and flipped through it with him, asking him questions. J opened it to the picture of Christ at the front of book, pointed at it to show the home teacher and then kissed Jesus' face so softly. It was THE sweetest thing ever. And very good timing ;) But what that little experience taught me was how much Jake knows and understands and more importantly, that he is already coming to know Christ  and that He is special and means a lot to us.

He likes knocking on doors. Which sometimes freaks me out to hear random knocks at the door at all times of the day. But it's (usually) just my Jake knocking. He picked it up from one of his favorite books "Oh the Wonderful Sounds Mr. Brown Can Do" by Dr. Seuss. The other day, I guess I wasn't paying attention so J got in my face then knocked on my head! I think he was saying, "Hello McFly!"

J loves baths, brushing his teeth and being clean. He gets very concerned over sticky hands at mealtimes. He'll show me his hands and make worried noises like "Oh dear!" (I'm sure I've done that to him by wiping his hands a bajillion times a day.) The minute I say, "Bath time!" He runs to his bathroom and starts ripping off his clothes. He says, "Teeth!" when he wants his toothbrush and he MUST have toothpaste and water on it.

There is so much that comes out of that little mouth and he wants so badly just to say what he wants to say and have us understand. One of these days, he'll just start forming sentences and it will be awesome and sad. Gettin so big!

Happy 18 months Jakey-poo!

CHRISTMAS DAY

J came to our bed around 2am. So we had a little (unplanned) Christmas sleepover! I was up before the boys and so peeked at the tree. Santa came! And he even left a note which read: Dear Jacob, Thank you for the Chex Mix and the candy. You are a good boy. Love, Santa. So thoughtful that Santa. Once the boys were up, Scott filmed J as he entered the living room. And you wanna know the first thing J saw. Santa's leftover Chex Mix sitting on the Santa tray. He ran straight there and ate the rest of the Chex Mix. He didn't even notice the tree, silly kid! We had to physically turn him toward the presents.

Santa left a few unwrapped. Which was smart. It let J know that there were new toys all around him! It was so much fun. The first Christmas where J could actually rip off paper and get excited about what was in the box. J is a good boy. Such a good little sweetheart. He's a titch mischievous yes, but oh so good and kind and sweet. He was definitely on Santa's nice list (and always will be.) He got oodles and oodles of gifts. Toy overload! Which is just a blast.

We opened gifts all morning, skyped with the family, called family, watched A Christmas Story (and Big Bang Theory when J went ni-night:), took pictures, played with all the new toys, and ate glorious leftovers and lots and lots of candy, bordeauxs and butterscotches. J was in heaven. He kept his Santa Pez in his little fist at all times.

And I got to snuggle with my hubby late into the night, laughing away at Big Bang Theory episodes. It was perfect. Merry Christmas!

CHRISTMAS EVE

The cranberry gingerale exploded all over the white tablecoth at Christmas Eve dinner producing very sticky utensils. J wouldn't eat a bite of ham. Joseph's head came off during the nativity reading. I cried over the spilled gingerale. J watched A Christmas Story in his new Christmas jammies and was out by 8:15--which is quite the Christmas miracle. I tiptoed around the house getting everything ready for Santa's arrival. And I may have eaten some of the chex mix left out for the big guy. But after a pretty eventful and crazy Eve...I definitely deserved it. 

Hope your Christmas Eve was merry + bright + gingerale free!

leonard bernstein bear symphony orchestra

Charlotte is truly a great little city. Little surprises are on every corner I tell ya. A family in my mom's ward in CA (who just moved there a few months ago from Charlotte) told us about this little gem at Founder's Hall in Uptown. Dozens of animatronic bears sing and sway and play Christmas music on a snow-covered stage-- in the middle of the beautiful building's plaza-- while wild little toddlers and kids were running around, weaving in between passerbys' legs and trying to get on the escalator. Such was the case with J. He was enthralled with the bears for about ten minutes then realized he could be running.

After the show, we drove to McAdenville aka Christmastown, USA. The entire (small) town was absolutely covered in lights. Simply adorable. I want to live there. We dined on Burger King and chex mix and enjoyed driving 5 miles per hour around cute Christmastown. I'm loving Charlotte.

country christmas train

i love the south. they go all out when it comes to christmas and heralding the true meaning of christmas. and by "all out" i mean that people have trains on their property. a train! and not just any train...a country christmas train! stinkin cutest thing ever. it was covered in lights and inside the old fashioned train christmas music played. as the train made its way around the extensive property, you were told the story of the Nativity. people were in the fields acting out the story: wisemen, joseph and mary, a stable, baby jesus, they were all there. it was awesome. and in between the "actors" christmas lights were everywhere. on trees, on farm equipment, on buildings, you name it. simply adorable and so much fun.

we also waited two hours to sit on Santa's lap. scott and i would take turns with j while the other stayed in line. we got some homemade gingerbread (best i ever had), visited shops and the petting zoo and just let j run around and marvel at all the lights.

what made up for the two hour wait was the experience inside. our little family got about ten minutes with Santa and Mrs. Claus all to ourselves inside their country cottage (hence why the line took forever). j sat on Santa's lap and didn't make a peep. he just stared and stared. no emotion. ha. thank heavens he didn't cry at least! and maybe it was the puppies that kept him so focused, the genius photographer's assistant held live puppies near the camera. seriously, genius. so we got about 20 or so photos from the photographer and j has the same look in all of them. totally in the zone :)

we will definitely be going back next year. (assuming we still live here haha. with us, you never know.)

oh christmas tree

The day after we got back from California (california posts to come after christmas:) we headed straight for the tree lot. The couple running the lot had just brought a fresh grouping of trees from the mountains. So we got to watch as they were all unloaded and de-bagged. It took me forever to decide which one I wanted. J was running everywhere. If that boy sees a wide-open space, then by golly he will run. It made taking pictures a bit difficult. But the lot smelled wonderful and we had fun with the new camera, nonetheless.

When we finally picked the tree we wanted, the lot guys took it over to the tree shaker thingy. Scott asked, "What's that for?" And I replied (hopefully accurately): "That's to make sure we don't take a squirrel home with us in our tree!" I can just imagine having a National Lampoon Christmas Tree incident. I think I would die. 

Scott helped the lot guy tie the tree to the roof of our little, black car while I chatted with the Lot Owner's wife (can you believe this?: she said they have people buying Christmas trees up to the 21st! I guess there's all sorts of reasons for that but it hardly gives you any time to enjoy the tree! anyways.) So the tree is tied down and we head to the car. This is where it gets awesome.

Scott: "Ok, let me hold Jake and you climb through the window first."

Me: "Huh?"

Scott: "You gotta climb through the window."

Me: "Why.....?"

Scott: "Because I tied the tree through the car windows. I forgot to open the doors."

So I had to climb through the window, "laughing all the way HA HA HA!" We got Jake in and then Scott had to become a contortionist to fit through too. It was great. And we probably looked like complete idiots. Oh what a memory. But hey, I'd take that over a squirrel any day.

 lovely, right? taken during a tickling attack.