Where's Jack?

These days, when things get too quiet, Andy and I will look at each other and ask, "Where's Jack?"  These are some of the funny places I've found him.

I noticed that in each of these, Jack is either wearing pajamas or just a diaper.  I promise that we do wear clothes around here. :)

Just for me

This post will be mostly just for me.  I need to write down a couple of things that are going on right now. Skip ahead if you must... :)
Right now Jack is changing everyday.  His vocabulary is increasing exponentially.  He can now name all his grandparents (even my mom, finally!): pawpaw, mawmaw, gan gan (granna), peepaw (grandpa), an maggee (aunt maggee), ahdrew (andrew), def (jeff), an em (aunt em), mer guh (grandmother), and pop.  He can name his favorite foods: milk, cookie, cacker (cracker), gobert (yogurt), bapes (grapes), manna (banana), red yellow blue (scooby-doo gummies), cake, i ceam (ice cream), gink (drink/water), cicken (chicken), dee-up (dip), chee-up (chip). His favorite tv shows are: claus (Santa Buddies), tom (Thomas the Train), mee mouse (Mickey Mouse), monny (Barney), and elmo (Sesame Street). 
He recently fell out of his baby bed for the first time.  Thankfully, he wasn't hurt.  It scared him and he hasn't tried climbing out again.  He naps for 2-3 hours after lunch each day.  He usually goes to bed between 7 and 8 at night and gets up around 6:30 a.m. 
Jack loves his mommy right now, but prefers Daddy at bedtime.  He wants Daddy to rawk (rock) him.
It is so fun to see his little personality emerging.  I'm afraid he's going to be stubborn...wonder where he gets that? :)  I feel so blessed to be his mommy and I can't wait to watch him grow and learn even more.

BIG Snow 2011

The year 2011 is starting off with a bang! We received a "big snow", especially for these parts, on 1/09/11.  This is the best snow event we've had since the 'Blizzard of 93'.  We made a last minute decision to go and stay at my parents for the snow. The fear of losing power and, most importantly, heat won out.  We hastily packed up almost everything in the house and headed to Granna and Grandpa's.  It was already sleeting when we made our trip over and I must say the anticipation was almost more than we (Andy & I) could bear.  Within 2 hours we had several inches of snow and when we woke the next morning it was a winter wonderland.

 I am guessing we got about 6-7 inches of snow.  It was so beautiful!  This was the first snow we've received that Jack hasn't been too sick to really get in it.  We bundled up and went outside and BRRRR it was cold!  The wind was almost unbearable. 

The snow had a layer of ice on the top and it would literally break as you walked across it.  After a fall and a cut finger on Jack, we went back in and I treated myself to this little bit of heaven. 

I must say this surpassed the snow in the order of exciting events for the day.  Wow!  Too bad I don't have some of those homemade marshmallows Darby told us about. The question is now...how long will we be here????? I'm guessing several days! 

Christmas 2010

Christmas was such an exciting time for us this year.  We were so anxious to experience Christmas through a child's eyes again.  We had so much fun getting ready for Christmas and just like Thanksgiving, we were so blessed to have lots of family to spend it with.  Jack loved his toys and received so much!  We never just buy toys for Jack.  Truthfully, he had outgrown most of his toys and really needed some new toys to play with. On top of all the presents, we got the first white Christmas since I was a little girl.  What a blessed day!

 Here are a few pictures from the holidays...

We spent Christmas Eve morning at my parents' house for our family Christmas.

Jack meticulously peeled off each piece of paper and then was so surprised to see a toy inside. Sweet! :)

We spent Christmas Eve afternoon at the Bryson family Christmas and that evening with the Olivers.  Jack thought he had to help Grandmother open each present.

Christmas Eve before bed in his special Christmas pajamas.

All the things Santa brought...

Jack is rounding the corner about to see all his presents.

 I was manning the video camera and Andy was going to use the point and shoot camera.  He was responsible for getting the shot of his expression when he saw all that Santa brought.  And this is the priceless photo we got...

 Needless to say, we've had a few discussions about this...

Jack and Daddy in his dog tent.

With Mawmaw and Pawpaw  in the Christmas snow.

Jack was sporting his new shoes and fun light toy.

Goodbye and Hello

December 19...a day that will live in infamy, at least for awhile.  December 19 is the day we said goodbye to "P" and HELLO to the potty.  (Just so you know that hello was spoken with great feeling.)  I had made plans all along to get rid of the paci over Christmas break.  I dreaded it like the plague.  Jack LOVED his "P" as he called it and I often joked that he had a love affair with it.  He would say (in the sweetest voice you've ever heard), "Ont P."  I knew when he named it and started asking for it we were in some trouble. I decided on Sunday to see how long we he could go without it. I really don't know why I did this on Sunday.  Sunday is by far the hardest day of the week for us...church, missed naps, trying to be quiet...you get the picture.  We made it though and without too much pleading.  It still amazes me how resilient children are.  I did mourn for the "P" myself.  Without it he seems so much older. :(







A picture made with Andrew, Coby, and Mackey at church on 12/19.





The last picture I have of Jack with his "P".



On a brighter note...we said HELLO to the potty.  We have been talking about the potty for a while and he had used it once, but he hadn't really shown much interest.  Sunday night, at church, Jack said he needed to poopoo.  Long story short, after a humorous demonstration from me, he did it!  I foolishly jumped and cheered around the bathroom!  What an accomplishment!  I can't help but think that maybe he'd never have told me that if he'd had "P" in his mouth. 



December 19, 2010



We are anxiously awaiting Christmas...which is tomorrow!  I cannot wait to see Jack's face as he sees what all Santa brings to him!!! Blogposts will soon follow! Merry Christmas!

Sneak Peek: 18 Month Pictures with Mandy Owens

WARRR EAGLE....HEY!

Let me start off by saying, what a blessed Thanksgiving we had!!  We are so blessed with family that we had 4 family get togethers to go to.  Yes people, I said 4, F-O-U-R! We had a wonderful day, but it was long and Jack was like a zombie by the end of the day.  It truly is a gift from God to have so much family to spend time with...I know of people who didn't have anyone to spend Thanksgiving with. :(  That makes my heart sad and when I'm griping about how many places we have to go, the Lord whispers to me how grateful I should be.

We started off the day at Andy's parents' house, then went to the Brand family Thanksgiving, made a quick trip to the Bryson family meal, and ended up at my grandparents' for the Oliver Thanksgiving.  By the end of the day we were stuffed!  The only picture I managed to get of Jack was from Grandmother and Pop's and this pretty much summarizes how he spent the day.

Acting like a dog...imagine that. :) At least he's the leader of the pack.

What you don't see is Andy or me trailing behind him.  We spent the whole day chasing Jack...keeping him out of trouble.  That boy is into EVERYTHING!!! As I type that the Lord whispers to my heart..."Be thankful he's so healthy..."  and I am.  Thank you Lord for your blessings on me!

As the evening approached on Thanksgiving, I started getting really excited.  We were going to the AL v. AU game on Friday.  If you know us, then you know that I was raised an Auburn fan and Andy was raised Alabama.  For the first few years, when we had just started dating, we'd nearly break up over the game.  I chuckle as I type this because that's in good southern fashion. :)  Thankfully, these days we can be civil, almost friendly, to each other about the game.  We had to pay A LOT for our tickets, but our anniversary was the day after the game so it was kind of an early anniversary present.  Last year we went and we both left happy.  Auburn did great (even though it should've been a blow-out) and Alabama won!  This year, I don't think we both left with that feeling. :)

We went to the game with some great friends, both AL fans, and we really enjoyed spending time away together without little-bit. I almost had an emotional breakdown during the first half of the game.  Andy almost had one the second half.  I'm sure you know that Auburn won...and on that note I'm going to let out a big WARRR EAGLE, HEY! I try not to be an obnoxious fan, but I'm just so darn excited! :)

Andy and Jack in their Alabama gear. (I've already laid claims on baby #2- someday)

I made persuaded Andy to have his picture made with me after the game.  Notice his expression. :(

We should've known an Auburn victory was on the horizon (pun intended) because God painted the sky the most beautiful orange and blue.