Word-free Post (well mostly)

So, here's what we did last week. Celebrated Jack's birthday with his buddies at school. Broke in our new train table (a b-day gift from Jack's great Aunt Cindy & Uncle Roger). Finally, had a complete meltdown at the thought of having to get anywhere near Santa after waiting approximately 20 minutes in the freezing cold outside the Mauldin House. Oh, well! I did manage to get him to give St. Nick a high-five.

How did we get here?

Yes, I'm perplexed. In so many ways, it's hard to remember Jack not being a part of our family. It just seems like he always been around. In other ways, I'm awe-struck to think at how quickly the last two years have flown by. Just over two years ago, Jack was born and so was a brand-new mom! Some days it all comes together...child fed, clothed, a day at the park or trip to the store and dinner on the table. But, most days I still feel like that brand-new mom who is still figuring things out as I go. I'm hoping that's typical!

Anyway, here's a walk down memory lane (whether the lane seems long or short is dependant on the day!)...

How did we get from here*....




to here*...

and finally here*?


Yes, our boy is two and will soon add big brother to his list of accomplishments. Can you believe it? The smallest things these days remind me of what an incredibly fun journey it's been. I remembered the other day that he used to say "coo-coo-key" for cookie. He clearly pronounces it "cookie" these days and I don't even remember when it changed. He still has some pretty cute ones like "Cookie doc-ter" for "cookie monster," "Buff" for "Jeff" and one of my favs "Mom-us" for "Thomas." Before long, those will become crystal clear too...in the meantime this mom will keep figuring it out as I go. But, what a fun learning experience it's been!

*Each of these pictures were captured on November 28.

Cute Little Indian

Jack's preschool hosted their annual Thanksgiving program today at school. All the parents came to watch the kids sing songs, and everyone enjoyed a meal together. I managed to snap a few shots of Jack grinning ear to ear and also shushing a crying classmate. He seemed so proud of his headress.




Once he realized the buggy had passed his mama and he wasn't permitted to get out, it was full blown misery. Here he is wailing in agony to get down and crying for his mommy. It was a bit comical. As soon as he was safe in my arms he was all smiles again...clapping and dancing along to the music. Can't believe this baby of mine will be two in just about 9 days now!!

Scenes from the week

We spent last Monday at the park with Gus, Mack, Davis & Carson. Oh, and their mommies too! It was a great day to be outside. We have been having such wonderful weather these last couple of weeks. Our time at the park was full of play, picnics and laughter. I wanted to pick up a few things at the grocery store while we were out. As you can see, despite the fact that Jack got his standard free cookie from the bakery...it was just too much to stay awake!




We're staying busy getting ready for the holidays, and Jack has a birthday coming up. So, we are gearing up for a Choo Choo Train party.

Showing off the lungs

So, as I previously mentioned we spent the day in Athens on Saturday. After the game we had dinner at my parents' house and sat around and enjoyed some more football. Jack has finally gotten to the point where he can say "Go Dawgs" pretty clearly. So, Saturday night he had an audience and some of Pop's sweet tea and was feeling it. Here's the result...notice the passion in the last one (or at least the last one I recorded...I was giggling so hard at the fact that he had spit on himself!)

Nevermind, the dawgs weren't even playing in the game he was yelling at!

Family Times

What a beautiful weekend it was...in more ways than one. The weather was wonderful, and we had the opportunity to spend it with family. Josh's family journeyed over from Rome on Friday evening, and we all traveled to Athens for the game on Saturday. Jack enjoyed some time with Memaw and my sister joined us at the game.

Afterwards, we grilled out at my parent's house. It was a great chance for Jack to chase his cousin Sean around the yard. It was so nice to be able to relax and enjoy the company of those so close to us. Here are some snapshots from the weekend.

Enjoying a game of football with cousin Sean

Getting a photography lesson from Aunt Kristy

Peek a boo!

Here I am!

Boo!

It's been a week full of costumes, unpacking, packing, flying and so much more. Thursday was costume day at Jack's preschool. He dressed as a turtle. At first, he wasn't a huge fan of the costume, but he warmed up to it. He wore it again on Saturday to the fall festival at my sister's school where I hear he enjoyed some fun games. According to his grandparents, he was a busy boy all day long barely stopping to nap.

Josh and I flew down to Jacksonville to catch up with old friends and catch a football game. Other than our already late night flight being delayed about an hour, the trip was pretty smooth. We had a blast seeing Mike & Liz, some friends who live in Charleston that we don't get to see enough. The Walshs are expecting their first child in December. Ironically, Liz & I had on the same UGA maternity shirt! We were quite the pair. We also joined up with my cousins Paul & Tammy before heading into the game. The tailgating was fun; the game not so much...but I had pretty low expectations. Overall, we were still glad we made the trip since we had such a good time seeing friends, and it's always nice to getaway. The last time UGA won (in 2007), I was pregnant...so actually it was kind of a relief that we didn't win (lol!) So, in case you are taking notes me being pregnant does not automatically mean Georgia will beat UF.

Tonight Jack helped me with dinner. Last week, I was looking for a way to get him involved with dinner and thought he could help mash the potatoes. He had such a good time that I made them again tonight. He is great at putting in the butter, sour cream and pouring in the milk. His absolute favorite part though is the salt and pepper. Here he is in action (and just in case you were wondering we didn't put NesQuik powder in the potatoes.)

Also, I just finished catching up on some of my photo uploads. There are new photos for the month of September (warning: I didn't take many pics in September), the month of October & even Project 365 (captions to come).