HA HA HO..... BERRY KISSMISS!!

Oh, what fun it is..... preparing for the Holidays with a two year old in the house! This is our third Christmas w/ Jaydan in our lives, and while the first two were fun...... mostly for Jeff and I, Jaydan is having a ball this year.
As per usual, we decorated our tree the weekend of Thanksgiving...... I had the "trunk" up and the very top section installed before Jaydan proclaimed it "boomiful". It just much easier to justify all the work it takes to make the house "boomiful" when there is someone around who appreciates it!!! Santa was a no-go last year...... Jaydan would shriek and hide and bawl if he so much as SAW him..... this year, he's pretty much down, as long as he gets a candy cane out of it, he calls him "Kissmiss" and thinks pretty much EVERY old man is "Kissmiss". I still don't know that he REALLY gets it..... they wrote letters to Santa at daycare and apparently all my child wants is candy and fruit snacks. He has enjoyed it all this year, the lights, Santa, the treats and even the corny Christmas specials on TV. He's a big "helper" and has to be right in the middle of anything going on but its fun anyway.
As for our upcoming new addition, things are going well. We had a check up last week and everything seems to be going great! I feel markedly better, this go round and with the exception of exhaustion, am enjoying the experience. Jaydan is excited.... he talks to my tummy and kisses his "sistah" and thinks every small baby he sees is "her". We'll see how excited he is when new baby comes home to stay!

"Tiny Baby" Little

So here is our new addition..... note how "it" stood clear up at one point during the ultrasound as if to say "WHAT?". A little frightening for a Mama who is hoping for a very laid back baby this go-round!

Big News at the Little House

Baby #2 will be joining our family around the end of June! Having some rough days, but over all I feel better, more than I did w/ Jaydan. Hopefully that is a good sign! Jeff is convinced that he only produces boys (you know, based on the ONE boy that he has) and Jaydan is sure its a "Sista". Any takers out there?

Halloween!

Oh, Halloween was fun around our house this year! Jaydan's mind was blown that merely saying "Trick or Treat" inspired people all around him to give him handfuls of candy! My boss and her husband live in a fantastic neighborhood in midtown Atlanta and she had been telling us for years that we need to bring our kids for Halloween. Well they decided to host a little party for the staff w/ young kids..... and they were right! Their neighborhood is just like a movie..... first of all its gorgoeus ..... all beautiuful homes built up high with stone steps. And then they "DO" them some Halloween.... they shut down the streets for several blocks and EVERYONE has their home decorated. They have police patrolling and if you can get them to pull over, they have candy in their saddle bags for the kids. So. Much. Fun. After the kids got their fill of Trick or Treating, they grilled hot dogs. Our neighborhood is Lame-O, so it was great to go somewhere that people were really into it. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Barnes for having us and I hope you meant it when you said we were welcome to come every year. Ahem ;)

Pumpkin Patch 2009

I've resigned myself that the only way to ever get "caught up" with my blog is just to start with the present and work backwards?!? Will that work? I don't know..... but it seems like more fun, anyway!
Jill and Gavin came for a visit over the weekend and we decided it would be fun to take the boys for our annual visit to the Pumpkin Patch. Jaydan had a blast and was able participate a lot more this year. He seemed to enjoy everything but was particularly excited by the animals.


They also do a cow train ride and he got to ride in his own "cow" this year and entertained his Mama with cries of "Whoa Horse" and "Giddyup". Apparently there is a little cowboy laying dormant in my city kid! The boys played great together and Jill and I always do, so fun was had by all! There impending trip to Japan is looming near so we are trying to squeeze out as much time together as possible!


And of course.... it's the now famous Annual Pumpkin Yard Stick Photo Comparison!

The Great Flood!

Wow, what a week for Georgians!! Sunday evening the bottom positively dropped out of the sky and our area got between 10-15 inches of rain, essentially over night, after about a week of steady rainfall. If you've ever been around Georgia clay, you know that once its saturated, there is just simply no where for the water to go and by Monday morning, most of the metro area was on its way to being underwater. My drive to work is normally about 1 1/2 - 2 hours..... Monday morning it took us THREE hours. There was much talk in the carpool about turning around and calling it quits, but we had court that day and it is a cardinal sin to miss work on a court day so we soldiered on! It rained ALL day and by the time I drove home from work that night the sweet little creek that runs along the road to our house was swollen and angry, crossing the road in several places and encroaching on some of our neighbor's front porches! I have always cursed the two large drainage ditches that run down the length of our property..... but on that day, they earned a place in our hearts! The road in front of our house literally looked like a muddy little river! All in all, we were very lucky.....10 people in Georgia lost their lives and countless hundreds lost their homes, belongings, cars, etc. We've had a few days of sunshine now, but are expecting more rain as we go into the weekend. Please pray that we are able to stay high and dry this time!

Chuck E.Cheese

So. We had a couple of REALLY rough weeks at the babysitters. It does NOT make your day, when after an already long day you hear "He was AW-FUL". In fact, our dear, sweet Kate actually resorted to spanking him...... twice (yes, we asked her to if the need arose). You see, he decided at some point that HE should be in charge and that he could spank other kids who were not following the rules. Some of the rules he was enforcing were Kate's.... some where his own. At around this same time, he started to really demonstrate some Smith behavior and began to just swing on however was closest any time he fell down or was otherwise embarrassed. So I resorted to bribes. I read somewhere that "we bribe them cuz we love them" so I figure this doesn't make me a terrible mom..... or if it does, at least I'm not alone! We told him that if went a whole week without getting a spaking at school we would take him to Chuck E. Cheese. Well, judge me if you must but IT WORKED!
This was the first time we'd been to CEC for a good while. We were gonna go when Granny was here, but that didn't pan out (LONG, heartbreaking story..... for Granny and I at least). It was a VERY different experience this time. Jaydan freaked out when I would try to put him in the toddler rides.... you know the ones with Chuck E. or Barney, or whoever. I thought "Oh, great.... here we go with this stage" but soon discovered that his only real issue was the he wanted to ride the big kid rides...... you know the ones that make your mother hold you by the back of the shirt and cover her mouth in horror. This is what he likes, apparently.

Note the full size horse that actually "jumps" and the mud bog thing (I don't even know what to call it) but I'm pretty sure I saw it in the Dukes of Hazzard when I was little. My little thrill seeker is growing up.... no more baby rides for this kid!
As a side note: I am actually writing this blog some time later..... STILL no more spankings at Kates! BRIBE YOUR KIDS.... it works. I'm starting to think that the "anti-bribing" people are part of a large conspiracy to make you AND your children miserable!