Surprise!

Kelly & Abbott drove to Knoxville Friday night for a surprise weekend visit. Mom and dad almost didn't answer the door when they knocked because no one ever comes to their house that late! Fortunately they did open the door and we ended up having a fun weekend. The boys were so excited to see each other. When it was time to leave Sunday Abbott said, "No yeeve." It was so sweet. They'll be back in 3 weeks for a baby shower so we're looking forward to that trip, too. Jack is especially excited since he has already set a place at the table for them and says he's going to watch out the window until they get here. Here's a few pictures from our weekend.

Snuggling with Abbott on the couch.

Sharing some oranges.

Jarred & Kelly playing a fierce game of "Words with Friends".

Smores.

Abbott loved them, Jack liked the one he ate. Abbott would have eaten them all night long.

Gotta get it all!

Mouthful of Smores.

Another mouthful.

This is Abbott's silly face, even though it looks like he's ready to get someone.

Looking suave after bathtime.

All About Jack

I think this blog is about to be transformed into pinkness soon, so I thought I'd focus on Jack for a bit. I'm going to try to take more pictures (yeah, I know) and update a little better about what we've been doing. The problem is, we don't do much! We've been snowed in 2 weekends now, both of which made plans be canceled. We were going to go to Chattanooga this past weekend and meet Kelly, Ryan & Abbott at the aquarium but Nashville got too much snow and our roads were icy. Jarred & I have been busy trying to clean and organize our house to accommodate 2 kids but still be visitor friendly. We've made several trips to goodwill, hauled several bag of trash to the curb and even made a few dollars on craigslist & ebay. Would you believe we still have too much junk?? Well, enough about that. Here are some Jack pictures.

He wasn't sick, he just wanted to watch tv in our bed.

And NOT take any pictures!

He's just a silly boy. He likes to talk about Pink John Deere Jacey. He thinks that she is 4 and that she will be able to walk when she gets here. Jack also has a baby in his belly, but it's a boy named Jack.

When he sees someone on tv or in a picture who doesn't look happy, he asks, "Mommy, why is their face down? Are they not happy?" If someone is happy he'll say, "They are happy, their face is up!"

He has almost mastered using the potty. We have had a week of dry nap times, but he still wakes up wet. He's very stubborn and we hear the word, "but" A LOT! When we say, "No buts..." He'll say, "but..."

He likes to color... his face and regardless of this picture, he doesn't like his hair "crazy". When I try to comb it like this, he'll immediately smooth it down and say he wants it normal.

He's smart. Look, he can color with both hands. He actually can write his name and can write most letters with a little help. He loves going to school and asks just about every day if he gets to go to school that day.

He's crafty, but not very patient. He likes to make things, but doesn't really want to take the time to do it.

He's also loud. The other day he asked Jarred, "Daddy, do I talk a lot?" We just had to laugh and say, "Yes, Jack you do!"

He is excited about his baby sister. I just hope he stays excited. We've got 8 weeks to go, so we'll find out soon! Hope you enjoyed the Jack pics and update!

Getting Ready for baby GIRL!

We rearranged the guest room so that it can be a guest room/baby changing room. Since Jack spent the first 6 months in our room, I figure Jacey will too so there's no need to change this to a nursery just yet. I plan to do shades of pink and some red and this quilt that Wannie made will fit in just perfect! We lowered the rods in the closet and added some shelves to create a little more space. Jack is having fun playing with Jacey's dolls though at one point he put it in a plastic crate, shut the lid and said it was her bed. I guess we have some things to work on. I have 10 weeks to go so we better get the rest of the house in shape!

Here are 3D pictures of both Jack & Jacey. Can you tell which is which?

Christmas Again

We had one more Christmas this past weekend with our friend Bailey. They had fun opening their gifts and playing together. At one point Bailey said Jack was her best friend. :)

Jack got a set of Lightning McQueen towels and a Toy Story Memory game.

Opening their presents.

Bailey got a little Cinderella doll.

Jack said, "Get on my back, Bailey and I'll be a choo choo train." There were a few funny comments made by these two, but Amy & I laughed the most when we were upstairs in Bailey's room. Bailey was pretending to want to take a nap and Jack was reading her a book. Bailey kept trying to get Jack to lay down beside her and he just kept wanting to read to her. Finally she said, "Jack, don't you want to sleep with me?" We decided we'd be more concerned if she made that statement at 16! We had a fun day and we're looking forward to the next one!

Stuff That Makes Me Happy

Here are 2 videos that will surely make you happy, too.

It's a Wonderful Life!

My brother-in-law Ryan's mom, Janet instructed me to have a good time and take lots of pictures. I hope this will satisfy! Kelly, Ryan & Abbott got to Knoxville around 6:30 on Wednesday and Jack & Abbott were so excited to see each other. (We were all excited to see each other, but they were extra excited!) They wasted no time running up and down the halls together. Super Jack & Super Abbott saved the day with their magic capes. We had a yummy gumbo dinner thanks to Jarred's mom making an insanely large pot when she was here and Jarred's willingness to share it! We watched a little Vol basketball and let the boys run themselves to sleep. Christmas Eve we spent a lot of the morning outside since the weather was very nice. Jack & Abbott dug in the dirt and "composted like Popo" according to Jack. Both boys came in for lunch covered in dirt... the way little boys should! After lunch and nap, we prepared the cookies for Santa, and the rest of the neighborhood. Kelly made cookies for someone at her work to give as gifts and overestimated how much to increase the recipe so we had a few to decorate. It's a good thing they were good! Santa ate all that was left for him. Jack & Abbott each got to open one Christmas gift before bath time. They each got new Christmas PJs! After bath, Popo read "The Night Before Christmas" and both were ready for bed by 8. Jack was ready to go to bed so Santa would come, the only problem was he wasn't quite ready to go to sleep. Christmas morning, Abbott woke up first so we woke up Jack and let them see if Santa came together. They both walked into the living room and were happy to see that Santa had indeed found Popo & Moma Jo's house. Jack examined his Santa gifts and then was ready to open what was under the tree. His were all opened very quick and he began to play. Abbott wanted to play with each one right after it was opened. We had a wonderful Christmas Day eating finger food and just being together. Christmas night we played Trivial Pursuit. I made the fun mistake of grabbing the "young players edition" which is the one we played when Kelly & I were younger. We had so much fun laughing and how easy and silly some of the questions were. It was a wonderful Christmas holiday! I wish we could have been with more family, but it was so much fun to be together and watch Jack & Abbott play together. Of course, it always is! I hope your Christmas was just as fun!

Super Abbott & Super Jack

Aunt Kelly taught them how to "clap" the bubbles and get them everywhere!

Fun in the tub!

Playing with Popo under the blanket. Abbott's hair was standing straight up!

Loving on George.

Composting.

Dumping the compost in the yard.

Not sure why he was pouting, but it was cute.

Dumping more dirt and getting dirty.

Eating chex mix.

Getting the cookies ready for Santa!

Concentrating on getting the right amount of sprinkles on the cookies.

Abbott's decorating with a little help from Moma Jo.

Santa should really love these cookies!

Wouldn't you love these cookies?

Abbott made sure the M&Ms were definitely on the cookie.

Of course, you have to try one (or two) to make sure they're good enough for Santa.

He's so excited! They are perfect for Santa!

They have so much fun together and don't fight... too much!

Opening one present on Christmas Eve.

Christmas jammies! YAY!

Pretending to be Santa in the bath.

HO HO HO!

Setting out the reindeer food.

"Twas the night before Christmas..."

Jack helped write the note. That's a good looking plate of cookies!

Beginning to open gifts on Christmas morning.

Abbott got a new puzzle!

He also chose to use some gifts to rest.

I hope Jack got enough stuff.

Abbott got a few things, too.

Firefighter Jack.

Playing with a new top with Popo.

Aren't they sweet playing together?

Don't they look good?

Silly boys!

They might like their Popo & Moma Jo a little bit. Maybe Popo & Moma Jo like them, too.

Christmas night we had fun with some sparklers and bottle rockets. Jarred suggested I get artsy with the camera so I did. Kelly kept trying to make fun designs.

Love.

Merry Christmas!!

Big Love!

Sweet boys snuggling on their last night together.

We had a great time, can't you see!

It's Christmas time!

Jack has been ready for Christmas and to open presents since the day we put up the tree. I can imagine at 3 years old the time is just creeping by. We've started to count down the days now that we're in single digits. This morning he crawled into bed with me and said, "Mom, today is it 5 days until Christmas?" That's what we talked about all day yesterday. I said, "No, Jack. Today it's FOUR days until Christmas!" His eyes just lit up. We did get a little taste of Christmas a couple of weeks ago, Jarred's mom and grandmother came to visit for a week. We took Mamaw to the Biltmore for her birthday and got to experience the candlelight evenings. It is truly beautiful and for a couple of hours you can picture yourself living in the huge house! It would have been fun, I think! We were able to get our presents from Jarred's family and we shopped for Jack. We were going to wait until Christmas for him to open his presents but we decided it would be more fun if he could open them while they were here. He got a game, lego set, another construction set, a guitar and a helicopter. He was excited. That really got him in the mood to open presents. We also managed a trip to Pigeon Forge and picked up a few (or more) things for Little Pink John Deere. (We have yet to determine if this will be her official name). We're spending the next few days getting things ready to head to Popo & Moma Jo's for Christmas. Kelly, Ryan & Abbott will be coming over on Wednesday and we can't wait! We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, too and get to spend time with people you love! Stay tuned for Christmas pictures!

We couldn't take pictures on the inside, but Jarred got this one of the house.

Jack found great enjoyment from the wrapping paper rolls. I wonder why we buy real toys.

We got snow! I posted more pictures of the snow but forgot this one. I thought it was cute of him trying to catch the snowflakes.

Getting to open his presents from Grandma & Mamaw.

What could it be?

His first guitar.

We had a great visit with them!

Of course, we got to see Santa. He wasn't scared. In fact he was very excited to see Santa & tell him what he wanted. The picture looks like he's less than thrilled but he made a very goofy face in the first picture so we told the camera guy not to tell him to smile!

Merry Christmas!