Party #2

Saturday was Jacey's day. We started out watching Tennessee beat Kentucky in basketball, which always makes for a good day, and snacked on fruits, veggies, chex mix and cupcakes and watched the Olympics. It was a very laid back, casual shower which was pretty nice. Jacey got lots of goodies and we should be ready for her arrival soon. Jack and Abbott had a blast together as usual and it was a very fun weekend. Even though Kelly lives just 3 hours away, it's always a little sad when it's all over! I'm trying to get her to come back for my birthday and make some more cupcakes! Here's the rest of our weekend in pictures!

Snacking.

My party food fixers.

Decorating the goodness.

Icing is soooo goooood!

Hoping they're a success. Since they're all gone now, I'd say they were!

Strawberry cupcakes on the left, red velvet on the right.

Look at the tower of heaven.

What a beautiful presentation!

Abbott approves of the cupcakes. Jack was not a fan because they are so messy. I really don't know what's wrong with my kid. He had carrots and fruit instead.

Tim & Janet came all the way from Nashville to help party!

Jack helped open presents. I think he got a little tired of all the pink.

Lucky for him, he got a few gifts, too! Puzzles from Jennifer, a Lightning McQueen book from Janet and a new John Deere movie from Aunt Lissa.

Checking out the goodies for Jacey.

It can't ALL be pink, even though she did get a pink Tennessee outfit!!

I think it's almost impossible to pass up cute pink baby clothes!

Popo, Moma Jo & the boys.

Abbott was "stuck" under Jack. He said, "Help, tuck!"

Riding the choo choo train.

Ryan's whole family was here, but Ryan was missed. :(

These boys love their Moma Jo.

Maybe they're a little worn out from all the playing and running?

Abbott took some time to "cheese" for me.

We went through some old boxes to see what old baby girl stuff we could find and we found this old house with all the accessories. They had fun with this for a little while.

Jack has a pretty nasty cough and has all weekend so he was kinda worn out from that and the playing. He's been pretty still today, which is NOT the norm!

Despite coughing and a few other incidents, the weekend was a a success and we had a ton of fun. All the other little things are insignificant.

We also found out that the benefit and auction that was held for my uncle's kidney transplant was a MAJOR success, they raised over $50,000! It is so amazing! He has his transplant on Tuesday, so please keep him and his donor, Barbi in your thoughts and prayers. I'm sure it will be a very emotional day for everyone involved.

Party Weekend!

Kelly & Abbott have come to Knoxville to PARTY! Tonight we started with a "kidney transplant party" in honor of Uncle Don. His surgery is Tuesday, March 2... which coincidentally is also Texas Independence Day. Since we can't go to Houston to be with them, we hosted our own party to celebrate Uncle Don getting a new kidney, and celebrating his donor, Barbi. Now, what goes into a kidney transplant party?? Lots of kidney beans!!

We started out with Bean Puree and Avocado Shell and Bean Dip a la Dr. Pepper for appetizers. For our main course we had Texas Bean Pie. A party is not complete without desserts so we had jelly beans and Kidney Bean Chocolate Cake. Yep, we made a cake with kidney beans and it was pretty good! We had fun and joked about how many beans we ate tonight, 4 cans of kidney beans total in all the recipes. I hope the good vibes we had at our kidney party will make it all the way to Texas for a successful transplant and recovery for Uncle Don & Barbi.

We love you Uncle Don!

Top to bottom: Cranberry juice- it's good for your kidneys!, Texas Bean Pie, Bean Dip a la Dr. Pepper and the stuffed avocados are on the bottom.

An assortment of jelly beans and Kidney Bean Chocolate Cake.

If you'd like any of these kidney bean recipes, just let me know! :)

Our next party of the weekend is a baby shower for Jacey Rose tomorrow!

Hello, Sunshine!

We have been short on sunny days in the past months so when this past weekend was sunny and warmer, we took advantage and spent time outside! Jack was so happy to get outside and help Popo clear some brush and weeds and dig in the dirt. The sun only stayed a few days and we're back to snowy, dreary and cold. Spring can definitely come back now!

The next photo session will have to include pictures of Popo and Jack!

My Valentine

Every time we talked about doing Valentine's for Jack's class, he'd ask, "What is a Valentine?" I'd tell him a Valentine is a card we give to our friends to show them that we like them. Then he'd say, "I want to give you a Valentine, Mommy!" Isn't that just so sweet? I know someday he won't want to give me Valentines, but it still made me feel good. I had every intention of helping him make his own Valentines to take to school, but he spotted the Lightning McQueen ones at the store so I let him get those. He did write his name on every single one, though. I did make a fun jello snack for his class that I saw in a magazine. Mine aren't as cute as the ones in the magazine but he loved them anyway. His class also learned a special song to sing for an elderly visit to his school. I managed to bribe him to sing it for me so you can enjoy it, too. I hope you all have a very Happy Valentine's Day!

My jello hearts.

My goofy Valentine.

My silly Valentine.

My super suave Valentine. What ladies wouldn't love him?

Here's the video. Hope you enjoy!

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!