A Month of Christmas Festivities

So the month of December was pretty full of getting ready for Christmas.  Jack was a lot more fun to watch this year experience everything.

Jack playing basketball in the house

Yogurt time!

Reindeer outfit with his Santa and reindeer placemat

Ready to go somewhere

Maybe out to ride his tricycle

Jack's preschool had a Santa and cookies night.  So we knew this was going to be our one time, for only $4, to get Jack's picture with Santa.  We knew he wouldn't be happy so we thought spending $4 was better than the $25 it costs at the mall.  We got there right as the "older" kids were finishing their program so we were second in line to see Santa.  This was good because Jack also doesn't like to wait.  

Here is Jack's picture with Santa...hilarious!

After his picture, he got to decorate cookies.

His favorite part was eating the sprinkles.  Mommy and Daddy iced the cookies, then ate them later.

Decorating the cookies with sprinkles

One day Jack got a hold of Mimi's Scarf and loved playing with it.  It was furry like his bear that he loves so he liked the way it felt.

Posing

One night we went to church to hear Dr. Wiles tell the Christmas story to all of the preschoolers.  We decided that we would go a little early and take some pictures of Jack in front of some of the decorations at the church, hoping that we would use them for our Christmas card.  

* That, in the end, did not happen.  I was in my early first trimester and did not feel good the whole month of December so I had no desire to get a Christmas card out.  So, don't feel like you weren't special this year, no one was  :)

Before we went to church Jack had some dinner.

Yummm

Gicken (chicken)

Jack by the BIG tree

Bear

Gircle (circle)

A runaway elf

heheheheheh

Stairs!

Jack had his first Christmas party at school this year.  I tried to get a picture of him in his cute outfit to send to Ben but this was as best as I could do.  He was ready to GO, GO, GO!

Another night, our church had a Family Night.  A Christmas concert for families.  We decided to arrive about 30 minutes early.  Mostly so we could get a good seat and so that Jack could "run" around the church, get some energy out and be ready to sit and watch the show.  

The background for the show

One of the cool things was they had a goody bag for the kids. In each bag they had this glow stick, crayons, a coloring book and a few other things.  This was great for times when there was more dialogue than Jack preferred.  He'd turn around facing the seat and color.

There were a few songs that caught his attention.  This was one of the times when Jack was into the Fresh Beat Band so it was like he was watching them live.

After the concert Jack explored the stained glass windows.

Cheese

One of the things I was most worried about this Christmas season was Jack messing with the Christmas tree.  Surprisingly, he never really messed with it.  There were maybe 5 times total where we would have to say "Uh oh, just look, no touch" otherwise it seems like he totally ignored it.  I posted this video below because about a few days before it was taken Jack had randomly gone up to the Aggie ornament and said "Aggie".  Ben and I were totally shocked. 

 One of the things that I wanted to make sure I did with Jack was to bake Christmas cookies so he could decorate them.  So one day I made some and wanted to see what he would do.  I also thought this would get him used to using spoons more.

So... it looks like Jack has iced some cookies....

...but really ALL he did was eat the icing...pure sugar

Here are the finished products

I thought I'd include this...his teachers made this as a Christmas present to us.

I don't really know what this hat is, a Santa hat? elf hat?  I don't know but it was cute.

Good Times with Family and Friends

So December was full of family and friend fun!  It actually started off Thanksgiving weekend...that's close enough to December.  My brother and his new wife came to stay with us.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures with them.  It was a crazy weekend but fun.

First stop Grandpa and Sissy's house.

Jack with Sissy resting after running around and exploring the house

Jack was introduced to the Grinch.  Danny and I had gotten this for my dad a long time ago and Jack loved it.  At first he didn't know what to think (The Grinch sings and shakes his hips back and forth) but then kept saying "again".  

The Grinch was showing his age, his hips started not wanting to move back and forth.  I guess he had arthritis.  

Then off to Papa and KK's house.

3 Goodyear men

Jack giving a hug

Later on in the month my mom (Mimi) and I took Jack to the mall for some Chick fil A (his favorite) and a carousel ride.  

This next event was just a Mommy and Daddy event...no Jack...sorry!  One of our friends was turning 30 so they had an 80's themed party.  Everyone was to come dressed in their best 80's outfit.  I think Ben and I did a pretty good job given that we picked our outfit about 2 hours before the party.

Ben and Me

The girls

Jennifer, the birthday girl...donning her Michael Jackson outfit

Ben and Jerimiah, Jennifers husband

Right before Christmas Ben and I traveled to Long Beach, California for his company's Christmas party.  So while he worked on Friday, I drove up to Venice Beach and met my brother at his work, Google.  He took me around and gave me a tour of their newest offices.  It was crazy amazing.  I couldn't take any pictures to show how awesome it was because, well you know, they have very important stuff they work on.  But we ate at their cafeteria for free.  Yummy food, crazy food.  Looked at their gym and saw the smoothie bar that is also free.  Then I got to stop by Danny and Jacquelynn's condo for a bit before heading back to Long Beach.

This is Danny, my brother on the rooftop eating area.  

Here are the big binoculars outside of their building

Danny and his wife Jacquelynn...blurry picture but still wanted to post it.

My brother and me.

Jack's First Haircut

Jack was 18 months when he got his first haircut.  His hair had been driving me crazy for the past month and I couldn't take it any longer.   Plus it was getting close to Christmas so I thought that was another good excuse.  So we decided to take him to a haircut place just for kids.  It is called Cool Kuts for Kids.  We knew a few people who had taken their little ones there and thought it was perfect for Jack.

I called and made an appointment for a little bit after nap time.  Only when we arrived we had to wait 20 minutes or more.  There were only two people working on a Saturday afternoon!  And they were working on people who were walk ins.  Needless to say, I was not a happy momma.  What is the point in making an appointment if it didn't really matter.  Plus Jack is not the best at waiting.

Finally, it was Jack's turn.  He got to sit in a yellow car and choose any show/movie he wanted to watch while she cut his hair.  There was no question what Jack would want to watch...Dora!  This was also right after he had hit his face on something and it looks like he has a black eye in all of his pictures.

Not sure what to think of what is about to occur.

Getting comfortable...he's in his car, watching Dora, Sucking his thumb and eating Goldfish.

Driving....very focused

Not a fan when she cut around his ear...but who is?

Eating a fish

Wonder what was happening to Dora?

Look at me drive the car!

Big Boy Haircut!!

Trip to San Antonio

We got to take a little family vacation right after Thanksgiving.  Ben had a conference in San Antonio at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort.  So Jack and I tagged along.  

The drive down wasn't as bad as I had thought.  We stopped in Waco at McDonald's for a potty break and so Jack could spend a few minutes stretching his legs at the play area.  Then we stopped for lunch in Temple.  This place had a playground but it was outside and it was pretty cold.  Jack didn't mind, he got upset when we were too cold and were ready to leave.  After that it was nap time and he took a pretty good nap.  He woke up in Austin so we decided to stop at a Walmart to pick up some food for the hotel and spent about 45 minutes there.  Jack walked through the whole store and enjoyed playing with Elmo in the toy aisle. 

Here is Jack having fun in the halls.  I don't think many people were in their rooms  : /

Exploring the grounds of the resort.  

Pretty chilly, Jack learned to put his hands in his pockets...just like daddy!

The first night was a Sunday night and at our house Sunday night is always Pizza Night.  So we looked on our handy dandy smart phone and found a fun pizza place.  Jack had just started liking pizza so this worked out great.  He also enjoyed playing in the game room.

The next day while Ben was in his classes at the hotel, Jack and I drove a little ways to visit my best friend Margaret and her kiddos.  We had a great day.  Her oldest is in Kindergarten so he wasn't with us but the other three boys and Jack seemed to have a good time.  We played a while at their house, inside and out and then went to chick fil a for lunch.  We put Jack's carseat in her car so we could all ride together.  Then we put the kids down for a nap and had some time to sit, chat and relax.

Jack saying cheese in the car.

Jack excited that Daddy is back at the end of the day.  Showing him our patio.

Loves the outside!

I think this was Jack during his night time routine.  

If so, he's watching Dora right before taking his bath.

So cute, so focused.  You can see his poor little thumb.  It was so chapped and raw from him sucking it and the weather being so cold and dry.

I think he's ready for bed.

That night I smashed my thumb in the shower door.  

Here is what it looked like the next day.

 

This is what it looks like over two months later.

The next day...Jack and I strolled around the resort and had snack by the huge Christmas tree.  I texted this picture to Ben while he was in class.

Then we met Daddy near his classes and ate our leftover pizza for lunch.

The last day Jack and I were there, we went as a family to the Alamo and Riverwalk.

Standing in the Alamo

In front of the Alamo with Daddy

with Mommy

Giddy watching a squirrel in the water fountain

Whoa...big cannon

We ate at the mexican restaurant that we always eat at on the Riverwalk but can't ever remember the name. There were so many ducks waddling around.  They would peck at your leg if you didn't give them food.  Jack enjoyed watching them.

Yummm.

The next day Jack and I left and headed home.  Ben stayed one more night and flew back home.  On the way home we were going to stop at a chick fil a in Round Rock for lunch.  I had already planned in my head which towns would be best to stop and had already mapped out on my phone where a Target or Walmart was so that Jack could get out and stretch his legs.  Anyway, Jack had been crying but it was a different cry than normal for the past 20 minutes.  We had just pulled off the highway and were almost to chick fil a when Jack stopped crying....and threw up.  Oh my, I had no idea what to do.  I pulled into chick fil a, cleaned him up best I could and sat there thinking, "is this going to happen every 30 minutes? What am I going to do? we are never going to make it home!"  After changing his clothes and seeing that he seemed ok, I took him inside got some food and then went back out to the car to eat.  I was worried he was going to get sick in the store and didn't want that to happen.  After we ate a little we walked across the large parking lot to a Target.  I decided that I should buy some paper towels and trash bags to put around him in the car. It had been about an hour since his incident and there was no sign of anymore throwing up so I decided that it would be ok to start home again.  Jack took a good long nap.  We stopped in Hillsboro at the Walmart there to walk around for a while.  Then Jack started asking for chicken so we went back to the car and he ate his chicken from lunch.  He had gotten his appetite back.  A few days later we found out that Jack had an ear infection which I'm guessing was the main cause of his car sickness.  Needless to say I'm glad we made it home.