I. want. the. present!

There is nothing like a wrapped Christmas present to motivate a laid-back kiddo to crawl.

Joseph's Christmas Program

The best gifts under our tree

Signs of Christmas

'Tis the Season

. . . . to be sick.
We've taken both of our kiddos to the doctor recently. A couple of weeks ago Jacob was being snuggled by the sweet nursery workers when I picked him up after Bible Study. They said that he hadn't been his normal, cheerful self that day and that he felt warm. He was running a temp of 102.5. It hadn't broken by the next day so Christopher took him to the clinic. Of course, by the time the doctor saw him the fever was gone and they couldn't find anything wrong. Silver lining - since he was scheduled for his second flu shot in two days and had no fever - they went ahead and gave him the shot.
The following Sunday evening we returned home from community group to find Joseph running a fever. He had no other symptoms and said that nothing hurt. The fever continued at about 101.5-102 for the next 24 hours and then he started throwing up. So the next day (Tuesday) we took him to the doctor. They thought he possibly had strep throat although the initial culture came back negative. We were told that we would find out for sure by the next afternoon. We were scheduled to leave Wednesday morning for Nashville for Thanksgiving but did not want to risk exposing our family to strep so we decided to stay put. On Wednesday afternoon we found out that Joseph did not have strep. However, he was still running a fever and was exhausted from being sick for 3 days. In addition, we were now going to be home for Thanksgiving and had no food! There is no silver lining to having to go to Kroger the night before Thanksgiving. His fever finally broke later that night. We had a lovely little Thanksgiving dinner of Honeybaked Smoked Turkey Breast, Green Bean Casserole, Scalloped Potatoes and Pecan Pie. The family of a coworker of Christopher took pity on us and invited us over in the evening for their dinner. Joseph surprised us by rallying and was a total trooper for the meal.
The silver lining of being in Little Rock for Thanksgiving was that we were able to get our house cleaned and all of our Christmas decorating done (except for the tree) on Thanksgiving day. We did end up going to Nashville on Friday morning for a very quick weekend trip.

Joseph's countdown to Christmas

Every morning when Joseph wakes up, the first thing he says (after the appropriate "good mornings") is, "may I check the calendar on your phone please, mama?"

After getting my phone and checking the calendar he makes a beeline to his work table to change his calendar. Then he sings his song about the current day. Today's song will be:
"Today is Monday. Today is Monday. All Day Long. All Day Long. Tomorrow will be Tuesday. Tomorrow will be Tuesday. I can't wait. I can't wait." (to the tune of Frère Jacques.)

Now that we are into the Christmas season Joseph has added three more items to his morning ritual. Second stop: the stocking holder countdown until Christmas.Then we head to the drawer in the kitchen to open a tab on the Cars Advent Calendar. (This was sent to him last year from a family member and since it arrived in a decorated envelope, I just put it under the tree. Since it didn't get opened until Christmas, we are using it this year.
Finally, he heads to our latest Christmas decoration addition - the Advent Tree. Here he takes a miniature ornament out of the appropriately numbered pocket and hangs it on the tree. (I got this idea at Moms N More a couple of weeks ago and was thrilled when I realized I already had everything I needed to make this except for the dowel rod and paint for the numbers. I even had enough mini ornaments for the pockets!)

updates

This blog is in dire need of an update. Yes it's true. Topics that need to be covered?
Jacob was sick. (trip to doctor)
Joseph was sick. (trip to doctor)
Thanksgiving.
Christmas decorating.
Christmas projects.
Jacob turned 8 months old.

I'm sure there's more. The updates are coming. Stay tuned.

Last night at dinner

J1: "mama - what is this?" (pointing to an item in his spoonful of Hot & Sour soup)
me: "that is Tofu."
J1: "mmmmm - yummy tofu."

Fire Safety

Last week we learned about fire safety during story time at our library. The kiddos got to take turns sitting in a fire truck.And we made a fire hat during craft time.

Joseph's vocation

J1: "mama, I need you to come make me some coffee."
me: "you need me to make you some . . . . coffee?"
J1: "yes, 'cause I'm a horse trainer."
me: "you're a . . . . horse . .. trainer?"
J1: "yes, and I need you to make me lots of coffee!"

Good to know that it takes lots of coffee to train a horse.

Mama! Will you take a picture of me and Jacob?!

Quiet Soup

I made this delicious soup for dinner last night. It was perfect for a cold, rainy evening and I served it with Cheezy French Bread loaf (from Kroger) that we tore up as croutons for on it. Seriously. So. Delicious!

7 months old

So I totally missed the 7-month birthday post on Saturday with everything else we had going on.

There is not a lot to add that wasn't happening at 6 months. He has two teeth and is acting like he's working on another one. He continues to be more and more mobile. He is still not crawling forward but scoots everywhere backwards with increasing speeds. He can sit up unsupported for short periods of time but never unattended. He loves to have "conversations" with his daddy and brother. He does have one recognizable word which sounds like "mamamamamom" but definitely means "mama." (yay! This time it's my turn to be first!) And it's usually said while crying and reaching for me. He is still sleeping like a champ and usually sleeps all night unless we mess up his routine the day before . . . which is bound to happen occasionally. He loves almost every food that has been introduced except for peas. I've also begun adding different spices (cinnamon, vanilla, etc.) to his food to improve his flavor pallet . . . and he's a fan. He has also started outgrowing some of his 9-month clothes and we're transitioning into 12-month outfits. This is good as almost none of the 9-month outfits were appropriate for cooler weather.

He is still just a sweet, smiley little bundle of fun and we can't believe he's 7 months old already!

FBC Fall Fest

Pooh is brave and goes down the big slide.

He also got lots of candy for throwing the ball through the hole.

He posed with Clifford - the Big Red Dog!

And went through a maze and down a smaller slide.

He hopped in the state trooper's car . . . .

and turned on the siren. (so many fun buttons!)

His sweet little Hunny Pot brother was very tired. . . . . .

the loot

This is the bucket full of candy that Joseph brought home from school on Friday.Multiply that by 3 to account for all the candy we picked up at church and in our neighborhood today and add that to the candy we purchased in the basket by the front door. Yes. That does come out to approximately a boat load of candy. (aka - too much!)

Lil' Punkins at the Patch

Red George. . . . er Brown George . . . ???

Red George has been loved . . . and loved . . . and loved. The other evening Daddy mentioned to Joseph that Red George may need to stop going along to school and maybe start being loved from more of a distance.
The next morning Joseph brought Red George and Brown George downstairs when he woke up. He said, "I need to start playing with Brown George now . . . but he's a NAKED BOY!"
Thankfully, Mama is pretty handy with a sewing machine and in no time at all (thanks to an old Chick-fil-A shirt) Brown George was dressed!

Almost as good as the real thing!

Joseph giving Red George a big "good-bye" squeeze. (Although Red George is still hanging around for now. We're transitioning. Brown/Red George went along to school today!)

Dinner last night

So I tried a few new recipes yesterday. I didn't take pictures this time around but will try to the next time as we will definitely have this again. I've mentioned before how much I love Budget Bytes and two of the recipes are from that blog.

Potstickers - Mine didn't look as nice as hers but they were incredible! I also couldn't find pre-made wonton wrappers in my grocery store so I looked up a recipe and made my own.
Thai Peanut Rice Pilaf - I had the exactly amount of peanut sauce in my freezer left over from some chicken skewers I made awhile ago. This was so delicious.

Wonton Wrappers - this is the recipe I found. I made the dough in the morning and used my Kitchen-aid attachment to roll out the dough. I cut them out and refrigerated until I was ready to stuff and fold the potstickers.

Kiddos on parade

The Pre-school also had a trick-or-treat parade this morning. Parents and hospital workers lined up around the block to pass out candy while the kiddos took a little walk in their costumes. Joseph used his costume from last year as his costume for this year goes with his brother's. We'll be unveiling them on Sunday! The costume still fit in the body but the hood is a little small. You'll notice that we can't quite get the chin strap to velcro anymore. :)

Pumpkin Patch Contest

These were the various Pumpkin Patches on display at school this morning. Joseph's class is up against some stiff competition!









These were the various Pumpkin Patches on display at school this morning. Joseph's class is up against some stiff competition!