Thank you, Mr. Snow!

Fun-Filled Weekend Nights

I don't bathe Allison near as much as I bathed Jackson. I think that's how it goes with firstborns versus secondborns. I wash Allison's bottom in the sink every day because I always rinse her with water after she poops. It's easier and cleaner with all of those rolls and folds. I wipe her face and neck often, so she just doesn't get that dirty. Tonight wasn't her first bath...I have bathed her in the bathtub before, but it was her first time to have a bath with a purpose other than bathing - PLAYING. She LOVED it. She loves the water. Whenever I turn our sink on, she gets so excited, starts breathing fast, and kicks her legs vigorously because she thinks she's getting her hiney washed! (I'm raising a bidet lover.) I love this girl!

After Jackson and Jason came in from another snow-filled day, Jackson jumped in with Alli. It was their first bath together!

Jackson wanted all of his cars in the tub so that he could show Allison how to play with them in the bath.

After baths, we popped kettle corn sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar, moved a mattress into our living room and turned on Stuart Little (a movie Jackson fell in love with at the ER). Tonight will be our first time to sleep in our living room by the fire! (This picture was the best I could get.)

Snow Days = Fun Days

S'mores!

Our neighbors' driveway is awesome in this weather:

I had Alli ready to go out with me. I sat her in her swing so that I could put my coat on, and she decided swinging in a warm home was better than cold snow:

Down to our neighbors for hot chocolate:

Eye boogers, snot and a chocolate mouth...that's us this winter!

Lainey:

Emma and Lainey

Snow angel time:

And just because I can't resist her smile:

Wish you were here!!!

Pack Light?

We're packers. I guess we've taught him well!

Oh, I almost forgot. He's Mr. Safety too! He's sportin' two reflective belts:

And not to leave out our sweet pea and her daddy...if you look closely, you can see where her tooth is coming in on the bottom!

Happy Sunday!!

Bye-Bye Toothless Grin

Guess what I found in Allison's mouth this morning?! A tooth breaking through! I couldn't believe it. I should not have been surprised. She's been chewing on everything in sight and salivating excessively, but I still didn't think they'd come this soon. Jackson did the same thing but his first tooth didn't show up until 6.5 months. When I felt her tooth, I felt a range of emotions. I didn't know whether to say, "Stop the press! My baby has her first tooth." or "Pass me the Kleenex. My BABY already has her first tooth." It's one of those times when you feel excitement over growth and the coming phase yet sadness because you know this phase will soon be gone. It's her bottom left tooth (the central incisor) and I can see that the right one will make its appearance any day.

Here's another exciting thing for Mommy: she is starting to understand signs. I signed with Jackson and he picked it up quickly; but, I didn't start until he was a year old. I know that babies can sign as early as 4 months, so I told myself that I'd try to start sooner with Alli. I just started using signs this past week - signs that are meaningful to her like "change" her diaper. (She hates having a dirty diaper. Would you believe that she already knows what it means?! She hasn't signed it herself, but the minute I make the sign, she'll go from fussy screams to happy and excited grins with legs kicking. It's amazing. Here's the book that I read and then used their approach to signing:

Nighttime Negotiations...Or So He Thought

About a week ago, I posted this about nighttime negotiations. I had to study tonight, so it ended differently:

Jackson: "Daddy, are you gonna spend time tonight?" (...spend time with Mommy)

Jason: "No, buddy. I'm gonna sleep with you and give you hugs and kisses and snuggle with you all night."

Jackson: "Woo hoo! Thank you, God! Thank you, God! Thank you, God!"

I just love that he's already thinking about thanking the Lord whenever he's blessed in some way. Thank You, God!

Colorado/Utah Highlights

It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, it's a good thing I'm recapping this trip in pictures; otherwise, I'd never finish writing the post! There are lots of photos!

At a gas station on our way to Colorado Springs:

We left our house at 3 in the morning, so we were a little delirious and gas station toys provided lots of humor!

Jackson loves him some Skittles (but we didn't buy them because I'd already made yummy stuff for the car):

Michelle had a train circling her Christmas tree. That train was a huge hit! Jackson turned it on and off, on and off. He hitched and unhitched the train cars a billion times. And it did take many journeys around the track.

Wrapping packages with Michelle:

Trying for a photo in front of Michelle's Christmas tree:

"Jackson, what did you do?"..."I just touched her."

Ready for ice-skating:

Jason took him out first:

We helped hold him up at first. We didn't want him to fall and hurt his broken arm.

When Jason left to get different skates, I tried getting him to skate by himself. He insisted that I hold him "like Daddy did it." I really wanted him to try it on his own. I persisted.

Then I had the girls (pictured behind him) talk to him about what it was like when they skated for the first time. I asked them if they fell a lot. They said they did. I told him it was okay to fall. And then, because he talked to the girls no doubt, he went on his own.

He did like feeling the ice:

And licking it as well!

Just to document the ice on his booty:

In March, we went to an AF Hockey game. Jackson LOVED the Zamboni. He remembered it when we got to the rink and asked to sit on it and watch it. He watched it clean the entire rink.

Steve's and Jackson's silly faces:

We were at the AF Academy's hockey rink for Michelle's group Christmas party. Michelle took Jackson to see Santa:

Allison was enthralled by his beard:

After the party, Steve and Michelle drove us by a house that had the most amazing light display I've ever seen. It was Clark Griswold to the max, except everything was related to Christ...not Santa. There were like 11 manger scenes and one was life-size. There were all kinds of lighted words and phrases like, "Your best gift to Him is you. Whose birthday is it anyway? I love Jesus. Jesus is the reason for the season. No room for Him. Do you have room?" There were a lot of lights. It was a sight to behold.

In Utah, we walked around testing out his snow boots:

All bundled up while Jackson and I attempted to make a snowman (but we didn't because she was not content to sit and watch):

Shoveling snow for the snowman we never built:

Running in puddles of melted snow...what more could a boy ask for?!

Back at Steve and Michelle's, and one day after the strike of the stomach bug, we decided to make a gingerbread house. I had planned to make the gingerbread and icing myself, but quickly realized (with help from Michelle and Danielle) that I was trying to do way too much. We had a great time making it.

Allison sat on the table while we decorated our house. We wanted her to be a part of it too!

The mess on Michelle's dining room table:

The finished house with a very out-of-focus smiling boy:

Funny story: We were leaving the next day and obviously couldn't travel with our house, so Michelle was going to put it as a decoration on a table in her living room. Later that night, Jason (not knowing) took the candy off and put it in a ziploc bag. He thought we were going to trash it and he wanted the candy for snacking on. I was so upset (not at him but at the situation). Sorry, Michelle!

We had a great time with the Madrids. We love them so much and were so happy to share part of the holidays with them. We hung out, shopped at outlets, made cookies, vomited on their master bedding, and did everything mentioned above. It was a great time!