Here's what we've been doing

Celebrating Christmas has made for such a fun weekend (and several more days it seems). Enjoying the excitement of the season has kept me from updating my loyal blog followers (read with extreme sarcasm) and for that apologize (for both not updating & making that terrible joke!) There are too many pictures to share here, so a good sampling are in my December album.

Jack & I spent early last week with some friends at the new Babyland General in Cleveland. And shame on you if you didn't know that was the birthplace to millions of Cabbage Patch Kids until after clicking the link. Anyway, the new hospital is enormous and was jazzed up for Christmas. I wasn't sure how interested Jack would be in the baby dolls. He seemed to gravitate towards the stuffed animals and loved it when we spotted an Elmo doll. His second favorite part of the tour was probably the giant Cabbage Patch doll, Noel. Her fuzzy outfit was irrestible to him! I also managed to get him to sit on Santa's knee, which was a huge accomplishment! He loves Santa from a distance. As you can see, he wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but there were no tears...so I deemed it a success.

On Christmas Eve, we headed to Athens to celebrate with my parents, brother and sister-in-law. Jack had a great time at Mema & Pop's house. He loved his new camera...he's still learning, but looking forward to keeping up with his mommy and his Pop in the photo department! He was over the moon for his new bubble mower, courtesy of Uncle John & Aunt Lisa. We headed to my grandparents for dinner with my cousins. It was a fun night, and Jack stayed awake all the way home!

When Jack woke up (after 8, which was a nice treat), we saw that Santa had come. He left the most fun surprise for Jack...a shopping cart that he has been pushing around for days! Jack finished the morning with a bubble bath with his new Elmo bubbles, a gift from friends!

That afternoon, Josh's parents and family joined us for dinner and more Christmas fun. He loved his talking Elmo and Little People racecar track. He also got his very own rocking chair. We also enjoyed "sort-of" surprising Josh's parents with their gallery of family photos from our shoot with Sue Ann back in October.

The next day, Josh's aunt & uncle and cousins, as well as my parents, all joined us for lunch and a little gift swaping game...which remained pretty tame. I love Nathan's expression in this photo of Ryan opening a set of TV trays! We don't get to see them as often as we'd like, so it was a real treat to get to spend the better part of the day catching up. The kids had a blast. We are looking forward to ringing in the New Year in a relaxing fashion tonight. See you in 2010!

Aloha, VBS!

What a week last week was! With VBS at church, it was quite busy...so, I'm hoping you'll all forgive me for my absence in posting and ignore the fact that the next few posts are all done in quick succession. It's naptime, I gotta get as much done as possible (some of you know what I mean). I'd like to point out at this moment, however, my house is a complete wreck after a week plus of complete neglect and I'm choosing to fill you all in on our life rather than clean up...don't you feel special! LOL...here's a shot after bath time one night last week.

Everyday last week began bright and early for me and Jack. After getting ready and having breakfast, we would stop by Josh's office and pick up Tinsley and Emily, his co-worker Regina's daughters. They came with us each day to VBS. I think they really enjoyed it. The theme was Outrigger Island, so everything and everyone was decked out with leis, hula skirts and flip flops. It was a fun, but exhausting week. I'm very thankful for the wonderful care Jack receives in the nursery at church, but he got spoiled this week. I don't think he was put down for 3+ hours each day. Needless to say, I'm paying the price this week getting him back to reality!

On Tuesday afternoon, we celebrated Regina's birthday. The girls and I picked up a cake, balloon and flowers. We all ate at Johnny's for lunch. Tinsley and Emily had been eager to hold Jack, so they got their chance at lunch that day.


On Wednesday evening, we dined at Pueblo's with some friends. It was a nice treat during a busy week. As usual, Jack enjoyed being entertained by the older little ones around. The big kids usually like entertaining him, so it works out. Tate even wanted to hold Jack. Here are a couple of pictures of him being entertained by Tate and Brit. He was also eager to explore Tate's face. Jack has grown into quite a curious little guy, which is neat to watch.