Then and now

Here are a couple of pictures we took at the zoo and the comparison from a year ago.

Ok, ao this proved alot harder than I thought because I have no idea how to format pictures on here other than my large and down the middle usual. So, basically you get the point, this years pictures on the left and last years on the right. And then just because he's cute...

I'll be back soon

Here's a quick post about a few things I didn't want to forget about the kids right now.

*Jackson will constantly ask me to get something for him or tell me he can't carry something because he is "full of hands". I stopped correcting him after the first time because it reminds me that he is still little and I love it.

* Anna is so independent all I hear all day long is "Anna!!!"(the three exclamation points don't due it justice, she is serious!) and "Anna do". She recently went so far as to try to pat her own back and hum the song I sing to her the last two nights.

*Anna is obsessed with blue because she has learned to label that color consistently and now wants everything to be blue.

*Jackson is obsessed with the new found joy of playing Daddy's video game and we have used this to our advantage to use as a reinforcer for staying in his room quietly until 7. Our life has changed, enough said. If only Anna was into the XBox.

Ok, the computer is about to die and I am too lazy to go get the cord... that's all for now a real post, or many real posts to follow soon.

Finally some snow

We finally got some snow here in NC. It was actually some sleet, ice and snow. This of course caused everything to come to a grinding halt in the world of North Carolina. No church Sunday and no school Mon, AND Tues(high of 45 with rain that day) and of course a delay in the morning of Wed. Poor Jackson hasn't been to school in almost a week. We did have fun though playing in the snow and having a sleepover with Kaysha and Patrick overnight Friday night.

I love this picture because it reminds me of the one from last year when we had snow. If I knew how to link to that blog I would.Jackson flying down the driveway backwards on the fastest sled which was a heavy piece of plastic that covers a quilt or pillow when you buy it. That one was the best, other ones we tried were a box folded up and Anna liked the storage container.

Racing down the driveway... Jackson got a headstart.

Fun.

Anna: version 1.5

I meant to get this post done when Anna turned 18 months, but I'm still within the same month, so that's pretty good for me. Here are some things about Anna right now:

She has recently become obsessed with what she calls "baby, gorilla" which is one of those "Your Baby Can Read" movies that has words and objects and of course babies and gorillas. It is the first thing she has ever attended to on TV and I have to say I think it's awesome. Twenty minutes of no one hanging on your leg is priceless. She requests it the minute we: walk into the house, get her out of bed in the morning, touch the remote, or basically make eye contact. She claps her hands and runs over to her rocking chair to climb in as soon as we start to put it in.

She knows about 11 body parts and can say 8 of them. She loves labeling them on you and will not stop until she runs through the whole line of them on you.

She is obsessed with playing with spices and will shout for them as soon as I get the container out. Not really sure why, she just kind of holds them.

She loves hats, but really she loves skirts and the diaper covers that come with dresses as hats much better and has one or two on more days than not.
She loves to be naked and is getting better and better at getting all of her clothes off and this includes her diaper. She can no longer wear zip up jammies to bed. This all started about three weeks ago when we forgot to turn the heater down on her space heater when we put her to bed. I heard her cry around 4:30 and then being the attentive mother that I am I realized around 5:30 that she was still crying. I went in there and she said only "water". Poor girl, it was probably 95 degrees in there. I gave her a sippy which she downed, turned off her heater and then put her back to bed. It was still pretty warm in there but not horrible. She cried for about 10 minutes and then it was quiet. When she finally woke up at 8 I went in there and she was completely naked laying down. Poor girl had to strip down to avoid heatstroke, but impressive problem solving don't you think?
She loves to talk and labels everything. This is our conversation in the car,
"Mom, Mom, Mom" "What Anna" "baby" (she's holding a baby)
"Mom, Mama" "Yes Anna" "hat" ( the baby has a hat)
"mom" "what" "milk" (also has some milk)
"mom, mom, mooommm"
"What Anna" "hi", "Hi Anna" "hi"
It's cute 4 minutes in, not so much 40.

She has to kiss everyone at least twice before bed, even if they are not family or even if she doesn't know who they are.

She has discovered the thrill of the tattle and will run into the room to tell me "Mama, Jackson, head" or "Jackson, baby" ( he hit me on the head, he took my baby).

She has about 15 babies and stuffed animals and two blankets that she insist on sleeping with every night, I've had to slowly hid them because she was running out of places to sleep. They are all usually on the floor by the time we come get her.
She can say her name really well now and labels everyone just so she can say her name and get praised. She has also begun to use the term "Anna's" when she sees something she wants or wants to make sure no one else gets.

She is a big tease and will take a toy from Jackson and take off running because she loves nothing more than to be chased. (Preview for the future...?)

Anna LOVES to throw things away and will yell "away" at you if you try to throw her diaper, orange peel, or dryer lint away with out letting her do it

Shoes have been very important to Anna since she was little, she loves them and has very specific ideas in mind on what she should be wearing. These two are her current favorites, never worn matching, always one of each. These shoes are both size 2, she has freakishly small feet.
Anna loves wipes and will play with them forever, she will hold one the enitre time in Walmart wiping the cart. She also chased Patrick around the house last week because she spotted his runny nose, went and got a wipe and chased him around the house yelling "mose!" at him.

Anna told her first joke two weeks ago and was also one of her first two word spontaneous phrases, it went like this. Anna tooted and I said, "oh Anna that's stinky" She looked at me pointed and said "Mama, stinky" this of course got a big laugh from Mom and Jackson so then she proceeded to label Jackson and I as the culprits.

Ok, I know that is way more than anyone cared to read about my little Anna, but this way I will remember it all in 6 months when she is a completely different person.
She really is a doll and we just love our "Anna-goo" to pieces. She is nearly always smiling and still as easy going as she was a year ago. I can't believe my baby is becoming a toddler.

Christmas

Here is the it's almost too late to even post, post for Christmas. In my defense we switched internet providers and for some reason it will not let me upload pictures. Everytime I try it knocks me off and then I have to reconnect and try again and again one picture at a time... ok I feel my heartrate rising just writing about it. Hopefully this will be resolved soon, in the meantime, here are the pictures I could get to load.

Jackson's much anticipated green lightsaber and star wars jammies set to go with. He spends 3/4 of his life in jammies so this was a good gift to receive.

I love the true to life reaction of Anna opening her doll from Santa. As soon as she got the wrapping off she said "off" to get the box off. The baby has a bottle that makes sucking sounds and then cries when the bottle is taken off. She loves it and pats her saying "ahh" and telling us to "hug" her whenever she cries.

The tutu's I made were a big hit and she said"on" the minute she saw them. As soon as she had one on she cuddled her baby and kept insisting, "All done, eat" every time someone would open a present or give her one to open. She was done and wanted to get to her favorite pastime, eating.

It was a great day and so fun to have a Christmas morning with two kids who were excited to open gifts and get into the whole Santa part of Christmas. Jackson even set out carrots for the reindeer the night before and insisted that we not only set them outside, but in a bowl in the middle of the yard because,"The reindeer can't come inside and the sleigh won't be able to fit on the porch for the reindeer to reach the carrots". So true. Ahh, writing the blog makes me excited for next year already :)

Christmas cookies

Making Christmas cookies with the family. Now outdated pictures of us making cookies.
This picture is of Jackson's first cookie with a full go ahead on the sprinkles. After I "encouraged" him to use less sprinkles, or "killed Christmas" as Dustin put it by reigning in the sprinkle use, it was smooth sailing from there.

Our Pretend Christmas

The day after Thanksgiving we flew home to Nana and Papa's house for our "pretend Christmas" as Jackson called it the whole time. The kids were angels on the two plane rides down and I thought to myself, this trip is going to be a piece of cake, I should travel with both of them by myself more often! Apparently they were just sucking up for all of the non-sleeping they were planning once we were there. Anna was the worst and once she figured out that I couldn't let her cry and wake up the whole house she was up every hour and would calmly lift her arms stop the I must be ready to die screaming and say up as soon as I entered the room. Aww, how quickly behavior is shaped. Once we were sleeping at my Mom's house three nights later and she had a good dose of cry it out, she was much better and slept to a nice late 5 am every day :)

We did have a blast at my mom's for pretend christmas making gingerbread houses, opening gifts on pretend Christmas morning, and playing with lots of cousins. Anna loved Nana and Papa and would yell for Papa anytime she heard him coming only to be picked up and held for an instant and then want back down. They did get in some good cuddle time when Mom and I went to the movies and she decided she wasn't sleeping in her crib. Jackson hardly said two words to me the first few days that we were there he was so busy playing. It was great to hang out with my family and sister, but only made me miss my family more. I'm still pushing the North Carolina is a wonderful place to live, but so far no one is biting.

Although we missed Daddy and were sad he had to stay at home (I'm sure he was too, all that free time and endless hours to sleep in total silence can be such a drag), it was fun to get to spend lots of time with two of my friends with out worrying about him being entertained. (Love you though hon) We spent the night with Stefanie Nilson and Jackson played with his buddies Micheal and Savannah, and Anna loved the dress up chest and endless supply of dolls. I also got to spend not nearly enough time with my dear friend Ella. Everyone should have a friend who you can talk to about nothing for 3 hours straight and then call back twenty minutes later with something you forgot to say that no one else would care about. She is that person and I hate that we live so far apart. Anyway, we tackled some sewing projects together and mainly watched our children while chattingMan, she really loves dolls.

Dressing up for the first time in Savannah's drees up clothes was a big hit too! She can play rough with Jackson, but she is definately a girlie girl.

It was a great trip and went by way too fast!!!

Thanksgiving with Grandpa

Here's some random and somewhat lame pictures from Thanksgiving day. Kurt's dad came to visit us for the week which was the first time he has flown in almost 20 years. We are so glad he made the trip and loved having him.

Notice the Thanksgiving friends on in the background, we watch them all every year.

Jackson and Anna loved spending time with Grandpa. Especially Anna who by day two was reaching out of our arms to be held by Grandpa and bringing him toys and books all day so that he would pick her up and look at the book with her. She definately loved her Grandpa.

First Time Cooking with Mom

Anna is still little enough to sit in her bumbo and she loves to, so I put it up on the counter and we made some banana bread together. She loved it and so did I. I'm sure this is the first of many cooking experiences together.

I'm not a bad mom, we don't use eggs because of Jackson's allergy :)

This began Anna's obsession with spices. She now goes crazy and says her approximation of spices everytime she sees me open the cabinet. I don't really know why but she loves to hold three at a time and walk around with them and put them in and out of things and roll them around. I couldn't find garlic salt the other day and Jackson found it for me in the living room coffee table drawer. Thank goodness for his memory, if he sees something one time he does not forget it!

Halloween, better late then never

A picture is worth a thousand words right? I'm trying to catch up on two months of posts so, here's some Halloween pictures. It was fun, Jackson ate a lot of candy much to my dismay, and Anna had her first taste of candy, a lollipop and a tootsie roll (Kurt says it's her first taste that I know of). We had a red M&M and Anna Banana.