Christmas Time Is Here

Merry Christmas to everyone!  We celebrated a wonderful Christmas with our family and friends.  Jackson experienced his first array of presents to open, which resulted in many fun new toys.  He didn't seem to care much about the toys at first though...and as many of you have said, was much more interested in the boxes, ribbons and wrapping paper.  Will any parents every learn? Out of all of his fabulous new loot (a really neat ball popper, little people farm, Legos, various trucks -- fire truck with a really great LOUD siren...thanks Aunt Betty---etc...) his favorite seems to be a toss up between the $5 plastic nesting barrels and a free 2007 hollow ornament that comes apart (thank God Grammy did not fill it with pennies).  Again, will any parents ever learn??  Of course it was magical to see Jack crawling around under the tree on Christmas morning and loving him some Babci and Grammy! 

We might be the only family in New Jersey to actually sit around the piano and sing Christmas carols (just a reminder Grammy, after 12 drummers drumming comes 11 pipers piping...you have 360 days to practice).  Our favorite?  Probably Rudolf!  Later we feasted on much yummy food thanks to Aunt Lauren, Aunt Maggie, Babci and of course Grammy for keeping the kitchen under control.  I don't think I would have had nearly as much fun without you!  Now some pictures...the part you have been waiting for!!!

Snow Day

Just one question.....why do snow days always seem to happen on the weekend and NEVER on a school day?  Aside from that slight annoyance, we thoroughly enjoyed our snow day today.  It gave us a reason to stay inside and relax rather than hustle and bustle to get everything done before Christmas. Since this was Jack's first big snow storm, I, of course, had to capture the moment.  As much as I tried, I only got a few shots.  It was just too darn cold out there!  For the 15 minutes it took us to get bundled up, we were outside for 5 minutes tops!  My sentiments are with Bing today, hopefully some of this snow will stick around and we can have a magical, quintessential "White Christmas". 

The Real Santa A. Claus...and Mrs. A. Claus Too!

The real Santa Claus does not reside at the North Pole like legend and folklore say.  He actually resides (or at least used to for many years) with his wife on Christmas Tree Lane in New Milford, PA.  This is a fact.  Here is his website:  http://www.santa-a-claus.com/  How do I know this you ask?  New Milford is actually my hometown where I grew up.  I am not just sharing this information in spirit of the holiday season either, here is our first Santa story!

Every year thousands of parents take thier children to see Santa.  The parents anxiously wait in line with their little ones anticipating the perfect picture of thier beautiful child sitting on Santa's lap.  The perfect holiday scenerio.  I was not any different on Saturday.  Aunt Lauren and I waited in line on Saturday at the Concord Mall in Wilminton, Delaware with Jackson and Tristan ready to sit on Santa's Lap.  Babci waited outside of Santa Land with the camera aimed and ready to get the perfect shot.  After waiting for awhile, Babci came over to tell us that she thought she recognized Santa.....from church....her church in New Milford, PA.    Aunt Lauren and I were in disbelief that there in Delaware, 250 miles from New Milford, (where our parents live), that we would be seeing the Santa from our own hometown.  What are the odds?  Well I'm not sure the percentage, but I am guess very small.  Call it ironic (there is actully controvery as well but I don't want to ruin the spirit of this post), or coincidince or whatever you like.  I call it a reminder of the truely magical holiday season.  We will always remember Jackson's (and Tristan's) first Christmas for yet another reason.

Happy Germsharing...I Mean Thanksgiving

This year we traveled up to Babci and Dziadzi and Grammy and Grampa for Thanksgiving.  We decided to leave on Thanksgiving morning to avoid the craziest travel day of the year and thank goodness we did.  We made the trip to NEPA in record time and enjoyed a fun filled visit with the family and a fabulous feast put together by Grammy and Babci!  Everything was seemingly *perfect* except for one little thing....everyone got sick (well almost everyone).  It seemed to hit Jackson the worst and then of course me.  Lucky us!  Babies are truely amazing though, admidst a 102.5 degree (after a dose of tylenol) he was smiling, waving and crawling around.  Now almost a week later we are still all slowly recovering from this doozy of a cold!

I also think it is important to share that I am very thankful for my beautiful (generally) healthy, stong, smart and loving Jackson and well as his wonderful (extra large) baby cousin Tristan and the rest of our family and friends.

The World's Biggest Baby

Trying To Keep Up

Ok, so....Jackson is officially crawling!  Let the craziness truely begin!!!  Although he is still alittle camera shy (everytime I try to catch it on video he instantly drops to belly and kicks his legs and if to say NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO don't film me) he is slowly getting braver.....and faster.....and sneakier.  Our house, that I so proudly thought did not turn into a crazy array of utter babiness, except  for a growing very nice basket of toys in our living room, is now deperately in need of MASSIVE baby proofing.  How did this sneak up on us so fast?  Where did our little baby boy go?  He has now turned into the kid who MUST and I mean MUST have whatever you say he can't have!  This includes everything from dirty shoes, to phones, remotes, computers, camera, and array of other things that are not appropriate for an 8 month old to play with.  We even gave him his own cell phone to play with (actually two, a old extra one and an Elmo phone that plays music) which he has zero interest in.  Well, that is until Frank pretends to text with it and doesn't let him have right away, then his interest peeks slightly.  His new favorite thing to do?  Why, pull himself up on our T.V. stand and mess around with the VCR.  (Yes I said VCR...we rarely watch TV....I can at least proudly say that).   I now know why so many working mothers always have a glazed look in their eyes and seems extremely absent minded....they are always just trying to keep up!

Videos to follow shortly!  For now some pics (I know...not quite the same effect...sorry Lynds!)

And we really can't wait for this!

Mommy's Daycare....for a day!

This week, much to our dismay, our fabulous babysitter Betsy's daughter was sick.  That meant that for part of the week, Jackson and the other kiddies had to stay home (or find other arrangements).  So Jenn and I took turns trying to fill Betsy's shoes for the day.  Very big shoes to fill!  On Tuesday Mikayla came bright and early to our house and on Wednesday Jack went to her house.  My babysitting experience was actually a pretty easy one.  I was a little nervous, and not sure if I could handle two moblie little ones (yes I said mobile....Jackson is officially crawling!....more about that later), but they were both so good and they even napped at the same time!  It was WONDERFUL!  Even though Mikayla was a joy to watch, I still felt like I was on my toes all day and I am not quite sure that I am ready to have "another one" right yet!  Hooray for Betsy who is now back in business!

Sunny And Seventy....in November?

After a week of the cold rainy noreaster that blew our way we were greeted with a beautiful 70 degree day today!  It was a great opportunity to take some out door pictures with the new camera that I got (yea!) and am slowly learning to use.  Here are some shots from our week, of my favorite subject of course!  It is hard to choose, I took hundreds!