Christmas!!!

We had a fantastic Christmas! We celebrated the day with Steven's parents, Tim & Pam, Bryan, Sarah, Caroline & Mary Claire, and Zach, Joy & Ava. Matt's gift to us was sleeping until 8 a.m. and giving us a later than usual start to our morning. He immediately asked if his cousins were still here. No. His next question was if Santa Claus was still here. Nope. Santa did leave him a few things and he was delighted to see them all arranged in the living room. He got an awesome Hot Wheels race track that races 4 cars at a time and even pronounces a winner, numerous puzzles and books, a toy microwave, a kid-friendly mp3 player that he can even load his own favorite songs onto, loads of candy, a cool wooden car that comes apart, and some new bath-time friends--Pooh & Piglet. We enjoyed watching him run from one thing to the other and over the course of the morning took our time eating breakfast and getting ourselves dressed for the day.
That afternoon we ventured over to the Rener's house for an evening of food and fun. Ham, Pam's dirty beans, sweet potatoes, cole slaw, green beans, fruit salad and cornbread--YUM! It was all delicious, and Joy even made some of her awesome hot chocolate.

I love this shot of the girls on the couch. Caroline & Mary Claire with their new Leap Frog video games and Ava with her pink purse full of chapstick (or lipstick if you ask her).
Later we let the kids roll out and decorate their own gingerbread cookies. Ava & Matt dumped loads of sprinkles on their cookies. They were all masterpieces for sure, but seeing that the sugar level & mess was already at an unbelievable high we limited them to one cookie apiece.
Those baked, and we opened a few more presents. Matt got an awesome set of blocks from Bryan & Sarah and a pair of new footie pj's that he insisted on putting on right away. He put on quite a show giggling at himself and his Uncle Bryan as they erected block castles.
We forced the kids to eat their sugary sprinkled cookies outside to keep Joy's house moderately clean. They feasted, and then their energy was naturally spent on running around and performing some kind of drama--or comedy, really. We set up our chairs and watched the madness ensue. Matt ran in circles I can't even count how many times, and I heard Caroline do a very convincing impression of a dolphin, and Mary Claire was a seriously demanding queen, and I think Ava got away with being a princess. I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time. Steven caught it on video, and I am oh so glad.

Mary Claire in that gold princess cape and the Fancy Nancy shoes...ah, it's too much. This week we've been recovering from all the fun. Matt has taken 3 hour naps nearly every day and slept in late every morning. I've napped a little myself! Steven took a short overnight hunting trip with his dad and Zach on Friday. Since my freezer is not full of meat it seems that their dreams were not fully realized. Maybe next time. Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas Y'all

We had such a blessed Christmas and pray that you all did as well. Truly the best part is spending time with our family and watching the kids play together. The Christmas Eve service at church is always a highlight for me as well. Matt got to tag along with us this year and I think he definitely enjoyed our bird's eye view on the front row.He stared at all the poinsettias, candles, choir members in complete awe of the whole spectacle and then began to ask where the speakers were. I was nervous about what his behavior would be like through the service, but all in all he did well. That is if you leave out the moment he went prone on the floor a few feet in front of us. He was wiggly of course, and I think the choir got an entertaining show watching our family. Matt also does not understand whispering. "What we gonna do now, Mommy?" "Where's Mr. Mark, Momma?" "Is that a speaker up there?"

At the end of the service we all sing "Silent Night" while the entire congregation lights the tiny tapers they're holding. Naturally, Matt wanted his own and insisted on holding it by himself. So I nervously sat there clutching his little arm that was grasping his lit candle while I held my own in my other hand. He took his task seriously, and when it was time to blow it out he did that by himself too.We came back to the house afterward to gorge ourselves on dessert. Caroline, Mary Claire and Matt all put on their jammies to prepare for the arrival of Santa Claus. After all that sugar Matt was not at all ready to settle down to sleep and nor were the girls. I heard peals of giggling and laughter coming from Matt's room and found him & Caroline diving head first into his frog tent. It was hilarious. Then we got them still long enough to get this cute picture in front of the tree. Matt got to bed at 9 and immediately fell asleep. Our treat was that he slept until 8 Christmas morning, yay! More on that fun later. I've got some fudge calling my name.

33 Years of Steven

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVEN!!! Yesterday we celebrated Steven's birthday in high style with a BBQ lunch at the Salt Lick after church. He always requests brisket, sausage and ribs on his birthday, and that alone makes him sound like he's a man with simple needs--until you ask what he wants for his birthday--and he replies with a truck, a tv and a laptop. Guess he's going to have to keep wishing for those!
Lunch was tasty, but the kids were wiggly. Ours was up and down from below the table taking a bite here and there and eventually deemed he was all done. Then the whining began. This after he knocked my glass of water across the table and then nearly sat in it under the table. Ugh. Seriously, we're taking a sabbatical from eating out.

After Matt's siesta Steven opened his gifts and blew out a candle on a cupcake. Matt ate it. Then we went to church for the Silent Lord's Supper. It was a great day.

Hit the Trail

Wednesday night we headed down to Zilker Park to see the Trail of Lights with our good friends the Reners. We got down there early enough that we didn't even have to wait for a table at Shady Grove. The food was great--the kids, not so much. Matt had his fill shortly after the food arrived and was ready to get down and roam around or else succumb us all to deafening whines and thrashing limbs. Sigh. Looks like we need to take a break on restaurants for awhile.We finished up and walked down to the Trail. Well, Matt strolled. No way that boy would have walked that whole way. Ava is a trooper and walked the whole way there and even ran part of it. The lights display was fantastic as always. I think Matt's favorite was the Winnie the Pooh scene. We stood there for quite a bit. We stopped to watch the dancers perform, and while Ava was mesmerized Matt's main concern was where the speakers were. That's where he was finally unleashed from his stroller. And as you can see, he took off.Eventually we made it to the big tree...I say that because I was well behind everyone else huffing and puffing my way up the hill. Ugh. 5 more weeks, I can do it! Matt thoroughly enjoyed being spun around by his daddy over and over again. His dizzy stance afterward was hilarious.We got home and Matt fell right asleep when he hit the bed. It was great. Next year we'll have a little 11 month old with us! Matt's going to have to give up the stroller and learn how to walk like the rest of us! And next year I won't be so out of breath. Yay!

Good Times

Last Saturday we had an awesome time at Tyler's 3rd birthday party. Not only was it a pajama party, but there were loads of delicious breakfast foods AND cake. A dream come true and really a brilliant idea for a party. Matt came back to his plate repeatedly and continued to graze the entire time. That's really his preferred way to eat a meal--to know that that plate will stay there all loaded up with food when he wants it.And then I had to include this because it is one of the funniest pictures of Ava--she kept charging at the balloons with one arm out and head down. It was awesomely funny. The pigtails and the Lightning McQueen jammies just top it off. I think Tyler had a great birthday, and we were thrilled to be there to celebrate with him!Our son continues his obsession with music. He got all our old cd cases out the other day and examined them and arranged them all. He recognizes a good many of the album covers, it's kind of weird. He's a pro at navigating through our ITunes library and completely takes over if one of us is front of the computer. Now I can really only access the computer while Matt is asleep.
As we were struggling to take our Christmas picture the other day, we ended up with this little beauty. The flash is a little hot and so are the two that are smooching, but my favorite is Matt peeping through upside down. And he did polish off that plate of cookies.
Monday night was Matt's Christmas program at preschool. Thankfully it was brief so as not to torture the children nor the audience. Matt's group was first and they performed 2 numbers, Jingle Bells and Little Drummer Boy. I don't think any of them sang--they ALL stood there and stared out at the sea of people with the exception of one little girl shouting hi to her mom and dad a dozen times. This was the best shot I could get--it's a little far away, but he still looks cute. He did a good job shaking his little bells and banging his sticks together. When he was done he found me in the audience and we watched the other kids performances. That brief stay in the pew affirmed to me that he is NOT ready to sit with me in church. Captain Wiggles.

A silly grin

Today to close out the year we had our Christmas brunch at my Bible study. It was a lovely time of fellowship, food, music, a special speaker, and a brief share time at the end. The childcare workers herded the kids in at one point to perform a few Christmas songs. Matt stood there with a blank stare trying to find me in the crowd for the longest time. I finally navigated my way to the front so I could take pictures and he spotted me. Now, last year if any of you remember, once he saw me he started crying and ran over to me. This year he stood there and grinned all goofy at me and wouldn't sing or do hardly any of the moves. He was pretty cute though.There was another mom there who said she dressed her son in a nice holiday sweater under his UT jacket. Well, before they left the house the little boy removed the sweater and decided to go shirtless underneath his big, poofy UT jacket. Ha! And that is why Matthew is wearing normal garb as well. Not that I'd put him in a santa sweater anyway, but you know what I mean!

Birthday Pam & Tree Trimming

We celebrated Pam's birthday a couple days earlier this year since many in our group would be traveling over her actual big day. We enjoyed some always satisfying Chili's take-out followed by a red velvet birthday cake. YUM! Matthew again thought the singing was for him. Good thing he had privately serenaded Pam a few days before. It was a great night--Happy 30-something-almost-40th Birthday Pam!!!In the blustery cold on Thursday we went to Lowe's to pick out our Christmas tree. The chilly weather enabled us to make a very uncharacteristically quick decision. I think we chose the 2nd tree we looked at. It's perfect! During Matt's nap time I fought to put the lights on it. Pregnant tree trimming presents an entire new realm of challenges--lots of huffing and puffing, but we managed. When Matthew woke up he was delighted to be able to help me put the ornaments on. He only broke two in the process, so I consider that success. Really for the most part he was quite gentle with them and would say, "Whoa Mommy, look at this one--it's a snowman!--I'm gonna hang it riiiiiiight here!" He was extra tickled to rediscover the Pooh & Piglet ornaments. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for me--Matthew is the sweetest, most precious little boy, and I couldn't stop smiling the whole time we were decorating. When we got done I couldn't help but notice the heavy saturation of ornaments toward to the lower front part of the tree. Yesterday after he woke up from his nap he did a great job entertaining himself. I heard him pull out the rocking chair from the wall, so I walked over to see what he was up to. There he was sitting in the rocker with the ceramic baby Jesus in his lap. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "I'm rockin' baby Jesus." Then he gave him a kiss. I'm still laughing at that one. So awesome.

Deck the Halls

Well, like I said, after Matt's nap the other day I asked him if he wanted to help me start decorating for Christmas. Enthusiastically, he said yes. We opened up all of the closets in the hallway and got out all my huge plastic tubs full of Christmas decor and set to work. Matthew said, "Whoa Mommy! Look at all these things! What you going to do with this? Where you gonna put that snowman? Do these lights come on?" The questions never ended, but it was really adorable to see how excited he got over discovering the singing snowmen all over again and unwrapping all my holiday candles.

He carries around my candles like they're trophies. "Mmmm...this one smells good Mommy. It smells like a Christmas tree. I think I'm gonna go put it over here on this table." I put on my Christmas music as we were decorating and he enjoyed that for awhile until he was ready to revisit his old favorites on his own playlist again for the millionth time.

This year, I'm not sure if my ceramic manger scene is going to survive. Last year Matt didn't really touch it even though it was within his grasp. This year he thinks it's fun to rearrange all the figurines and namely to move baby Jesus from Mary's arms to his "crib" as he calls it. I just hold my breath every time he touches it. It's really cute to watch though and I hate to tell him no because he stands there and tells me so tenderly that Mary is giving Jesus kisses. I've tried to encourage him to play with the wooden nativity scene that I have but apparently that one just doesn't have the same charm that the breakable one does. Eventually I heard Matt go get his "big steps" so he could reach all my things that were up on the table better as he said. He stood there for the longest time playing with the new bear Grandma gave him that tells the Night Before Christmas story, rearranging the wooden nativity scene, and huffing my Christmas candle. The kid was in heaven.

Today after nap time we plan to go get our Christmas tree. I think Matt's head will explode.

Thanksgiving Festivities

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We sure did. It was a quieter affair this year, but it was still very nice and the food was delicious and overflowing. It was a Jones family Thanksgiving with the exception of Steven and with the addition of Rachel, a family friend. Poor Steven had to work that afternoon and evening so he was a little sour about having to miss out on the meal and the football game. But--I am thankful that he has a job that he enjoys and provides for us to live the way we do; we are truly blessed. He came home that night and had a plate full of food and watched the entire game on Tivo into the wee hours. Me? I was fast asleep after a day of cooking and keeping up with this guy:Matthew is my helper. He helped me make the sweet potatoes and then helped his daddy deliver a dish to the church that morning. He loves to sit on the countertop and help or watch or interfere (whatever you want to call it!) just as I did when I was little. The boy has some skills when it comes to stirring. I wish I had more counter space to afford us all a little more room, but I am in no frame of mind to renovate any time soon. Can you imagine why? Saturday morning Joy picked up Matt & I and we headed downtown for the Chuy's parade. It's a parade all about children bringing toys to give away to other children and also for the enjoyment of watching marching bands, huge balloons, fire trucks, motorcycles, cheerleaders, dancers, people in costume, music and tons of fanfare. We stuffed the kids in their strollers that they have honestly outgrown and staked out our spot on Congress Ave. Matthew mostly enjoyed the cheerleaders who were doing lots of acrobatics and tumbling. He would say, "I wanna DO that Mommy!" and he'd jump up and down in place and beg to go to gymnastics class. It was funny until it turned into whining. He also liked the marching bands and the dance troops. Naturally, he got antsy standing in an area of 2 square feet and after he had eaten all the snacks I packed for him he got unbearably wiggly and whiny. And here I am pregnant and unable to hold him or hoist him up onto my shoulders like little Ava was doing with her mommy. So, I sat down on the nasty street with my son body slamming me and jumping up now and then to catch whatever was marching down the street. Oh, and he would play with all the toys that people had brought that were sitting in bags piled up all around us. Overall, it was a good time and Matt definitely enjoyed the experience--and I think I would have had a better time had I not been SO very pregnant. Pushing my 35 pounder up a hill in a stroller while lugging 20 extra pounds myself left me a tad winded. I got my exercise for the day. The men were on an overnight hunting trip and missed out on all the fun. Or perhaps they would argue otherwise.

Matt is currently sawing logs in his crib, and I think when he wakes up we might start decorating this house for Christmas! YAY!!!