Sleep

I just went into Jackson's room to check on him, and this is how I found him!! Poor guy didn't take a nap today, so he was exhausted tonight. As much as he wanted to read his books, he just couldn't handle it!!

Thanksgiving

On Tuesday night, we headed to Atlanta for Thanksgiving to spend it with Nana, Papa T, and my grandparents (Jackson and Harris' Great-Nana and Great-Grandpa). It was the first time my grandparents had met Harris and the third for Jackson. We all really enjoyed the visit, and it went much too quickly.

We ate well (too well, probably), and we had butternut squash soup, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle, fresh cranberries, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, and a chocolate pecan pie. WAY too much food!! I'm not complaining, though... it was awesome, and Mom did a fantastic job!!

On Friday, Mom, Nana and I went into town to look at fabric for a chair and for lunch. It was so nice to have a girls afternoon, an uninterrupted lunch, and time to just catch up.

Thank you all for such a great holiday... we enjoyed our time with you!
Thanks again, Mom, for being such a gracious host!

Bedtime

Mom, Nana and I were all getting Harris ready for bed when he seemed to get his second wind. That boy laughed and rolled and squealed and talked... he was loving climbing the mountains of blankets and pillows on the bed. I think Nana and Mom really enjoyed him goofing off!! Thank goodness the second wind didn't last long, and he crashed hard after that!

Computer

Jackson loves the computer. He has several favorite websites that he begs us to visit (the site links are on my blog, just in case you want to check them out!). My grandpa loves the computer, as well. So, what was better for the two of them than to spend some time surfing the web? Here Jackson is showing his Great-Grandpa the Sesame Street website... probably something Elmo-related!

Bath Time

Harris had his first "big boy" bath over Thanksgiving, and he loved it! I think the best part for him was sharing it with Jackson! They both had a great time, and Jackson thought it was pretty funny to have Harris in the tub with him.

Pictures with the Grandparents

Just some great pictures we took as we got ready to leave...

Mavis

Mom and Terry tried to unload a little "something" on us as we were packing up! Hanna wouldn't have minded, but luckily we caught Mavis hiding before we drove away!

Leaving

Jackson had such a great time with his grandparents that he didn't want to leave Nana and Papa T's house. He cried as we put him into the car. Poor guy... hopefully we'll be able to see them again soon!

Swinging

"'Allo, Nana"

Jackson

Jackson is doing great! He is starting to talk more and more (finally!!), and he is doing really well at school. He comes home daily with projects and new songs. He loves the Hokey Pokey, and he will sing any nursery rhyme. He has been staying once or twice a week for Lunch Bunch at school, where he has lunch with his teachers and plays. There have been several times he has been mad at me when I pick him up 30 minutes early, because he was having such a great time. Yesterday they were playing Hot Potato, and he didn't want to leave. A few weeks ago, it was musical chairs. I can't believe he is doing all of this... I am so glad he is in school! One of his teachers was telling me how impressed she was with him, because he knows his lower case ABC's. Really? We didn't really teach him that... he just kind of picked it up!

Most days, he loves his brother. He gets worried if we do something without Harris. If I tell him it is time to go "bye bye in the car", he will run and drag Harris' carrier to me. If Harris is crying in his crib, Jackson will run to his room to cheer him up. He really is a good big brother... hopefully we will have more of these moments than the fighting ones!

I am really enjoying this age. I know it will keep getting better and better, but I would like to drag my feet and keep him here for awhile!!

Table Food

Harris has started eating table food, and he is loving it. His favorite? Peas, just like his big brother! I honestly think he would sit and eat peas all day if I let him. He is also eating carrots, cheerios, and cut-up fruit. With any luck, he will be a better eater than Jackson!

Harris and Hanna

Harris LOVES Hanna. I was cleaning up the family room the other day and noticed that it was very quiet. When I looked around the corner, I found Harris in Hanna's bed with her, nose to nose, just gazing at her. I watched him watching her for a couple of minutes before he heard me and turned around with this sweet smile.

Glimpse

This morning I caught a glimpse of how life is going to be around here from now on. Jackson was playing with his trains, andHarris decided he wanted to play, too. He started climbing all over the tracks and grabbing at the trains, just like he was Godzilla. Jackson did not like this game at all, so he started to roll on the floor and whine. Harris seized this opportunity to grab handfulls of Jackson's hair. Jackson pushed Harris off, stood up, and dropped the See-N-Say on Harris. You can imagine that Harris started a little fussing of his own. Thank goodness I was able to diffuse the situation with a different toy for Harris.

Ahhhhh... boys. Yes, I know. This is only the beginning.

Healthy

As of right now, we are all healthy! Jackson was sick once last night, but he woke up asking for pancakes and cereal. To make things even better, it seems that whatever alien stole my happy 8-month old has returned him, safe and sound!! For the past two days, Grumpy Harris disappeared, and Happy Harris resurfaced. What a relief... I was starting to have flashbacks to Baby Jackson.

So, I guess (and hope!) that we are back to life as normal... or as normal as we can be!

More Tummy Bug

It continues to run rampant through our house!! Now poor Jackson has the tummy bug. When is this darn bug going to leave us alone??? I am just praying that Harris can avoid it...

Gifts

Great-nana and Great-papa (my grandparents) were so thoughtful and sent gifts to the boys. They were thrilled and had a great time opening the bags!! They both got several new outfits, and Jackson got the coolest crayon thermos. He is so excited about the thermos... it is his cup of choice right now.

Thank you, Great-Nana and Great-Papa! We love you!!!

Bugs

My house has been consumed with bugs for the past week. Not the creepy crawly type, but the other type... the germy bugs. We have all been sick, sick, sick.

I lost my voice a week ago Saturday and didn't really get it back until Wednesday.

Harris has had a 'notty nose since last Monday.

Jason came home Tuesday at lunch time with the stomach bug, and really didn't get over it until Thursday morning.

Jackson came home from school on Wednesday acting puny... a trip to the ped determined that he had an ear infection.

I got hit HARD by the stomach bug on Thursday and didn't get out of bed again until Saturday. Today is the first day I have felt almost normal since.

Hopefully we are finished with this for awhile. I am tired of dealing with sickness. I guess this is all part of having a little one in school, huh?

Labor Vs. Tummy Bug

Why I Would Rather Be In Labor Than Have A Tummy Bug

1. Labor is shorter. At least mine were. Both of my labors combined were shorter than this round of the tummy bug.
2. Hospital stay. I begged Jason to take me to the hospital... several times! No luck. At least there they can give pain medicines, fluids, and let me sleep.
3. Epidural... enough said.
4. The 10+ pound weight loss is permanent after a baby... all that weight just comes right back with the tummy bug.
5. Labor is productive... at the end, you have a beautiful new baby to take home with you. With the tummy bug, nothing.

Lobster Party

We had our first annual lobster party on November 5th to coincide with Jackson's lobster sale. What a blast!! My dad came to help with the weekend (lobster pick-up and distribution, taking care of the boys, food prep...) and to eat his yummy lobsters. I am so glad he was here... he did so much. I hope he was able to relax and enjoy himself some!

We had about 40 people come to the party, and we consumed about 48 lobsters (Jackson sold a total of 97 lobsters... the highest seller at school!!). We had yummy rice, cornbread, hushpuppies, coleslaw, corn on the cob, venison chili (for the non-shellfish eaters), lots of appetizers, and amazing chocolate pie! The husbands had a great time cooking the lobsters, and they did such a great job... they were cooked to perfection!

Thank you to everyone who participated in any way... it was a huge success, and I am looking forward to an even better one next year!

Thanks for the pictures, Nancy!!

Lobster Results

I mentioned awhile ago that I had taken on the duty of committee chair for Little School's Annual Lobster Sale fundraiser. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed it. I sent out reminders every week with a poem, lobster facts, party ideas, etc. on one side, and some sort of lobster recipe on the other side.

Well, something worked. Our goal was for every family to sell at least 8 lobsters, which would be 560 lobsters total. This would exceed our financial minimum goal by just a little. As the totals came in, I was in disbelief!! The families at school went crazy and sold 970 lobsters!!! Can you believe it??? It was the most sucessful sale yet. I think that now people see how easy and fun it is to have lobster parties and how awesome the lobsters are, the sale will just keep getting bigger and bigger every year. What an amazing blessing for Jackson's school!! Yay, Little School!

Recovering

I am sorry that I haven't written in almost a week. It has been quite a week, and I am now trying to recover. When I have a few moments to write more and feel up to it, I have exciting things to tell you about... the TV show, the lobster results (which are amazing!), and our lobster party. But, all of this has totally worn me out to the point that I have no voice at all, and I am having a difficult time keeping my eyes open. So, I am off to rest, and hopefully I will feel up to sharing the good news tomorrow...

Blue Ribbon

Exciting news!! Tonight at 10:30, Turner South will air "Blue Ribbon-Chocolates". This is the episode that features my shop as one of the top 4 in the south. So, if you are up that late and get Turner South, tune in! If you are not a night owl, you can also catch it on Friday, Nov. 4 at 3:30, Saturday, Nov. 5 at 2:30, or Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 9:30 pm. Can't wait to hear what you think!

Happy Halloween!

What a great Halloween we had!! The Lancasters and the Halfords came over last night to eat pizza and trick-or-treat with us. The kids were great and had such a fun time. Harris, Jackson and Spencer were all Thomas the Tank Engine, Eliza was a little pumpkin, and Mary Kathryn was the cutest little angel. The dads took them trick-or-treating, but they didn't last long (not long enough for us moms!). I'm not sure if they were scared or just worn out from the day, but it was probably a good thing... we don't have much candy lying around for little ones to get into. We did get some cute pictures of all of them on the couch... Harris was just in love with Mary Kathryn. I think Jackson needs to watch out or his brother might steal his girlfriend!!

Halloween at The Little School

Jackson's school had a wonderful Halloween program yesterday morning. Jason and I went to school for a family sing-along, where we sang Halloween songs, listened to Halloween stories, and acted out Halloween poems. It was too cute!! Jackson was so excited to see us there, and we were so excited to listen to him sing and see him dance... we never get to see this at home, so it was like seening a different side of Jackson!

After the sing-along, we joined Jackson's class on a parade through the College of Charleston campus. It was so sweet to watch the children wave to and to hear the responses from the people on the streets. While it was hard to leave him (he didn't want us to leave) when it was over, we are so glad that we went and saw the "school" side of Jackson.

Pumpkin Patch Trips 1 & 2

I wrote about trip #3, but forgot to mention trips 1 & 2!! So, here goes...

Trip #1 was really just Harris and I going with our playgroup. Jackson was at school, but that day happened to be his class trip to the pumpkin patch, the same one our playgroup had gone to! So, I got to spy on him while he was with his friends... he was too cute. I didn't see much, but he was enjoying hanging out with his teacher, Miss Way Way. Harris and I went on a hayride (without the hay!!) through a haunted forest with our friends, Dorothy and Mary Kathryn, Aileen and Spencer, Caroline and Fordham, and Nancy and DuBose. We also picked out a pumpkin just for Harris (which later took the plunge over my front porch!). I think Harris really enjoyed watching the older kids play... it will be him running through the pumpkin patch next year!

Trip #2 was as a family. There is a church in town that has a huge pumpkin sale, so we decided to take the boys one evening. Harris was a bit under the weather, but Jackson loved running through the pumpkins, counting them as he went. After posing for a few pictures, we left with a big carving pumpkin and a tiny one to go with it. Unfortunately, the large pumpkin also took a leap from our front porch. I guess the little one wouldn't have really "splat", so the pumpkin-smashers left that one alone.

Anyway, I have had my fill of pumpkins for awhile... I will just now look forward to having them in my pie!

Pumpkin Carving

Jason got home from his fishing trip on Sunday, carrying instead of fish for the freezer, a big pumpkin! It was perfect carving-size, so we decided to make a jack-o-lantern. At first, Jackson wasn't quite interested. Once we got the "guts" out, though, he was ready to participate! Jason and I did the dirty work, but now Jackson is quite proud of his "punkin"!