Brian was gone for the evening, and so were 2 of my friend's husbands so I invited them over for dinner. After a long day of being at home with the kids it was nice that the kids could play together and I could have some company. Thankful for friends who can help each other out.
My parents took Jaxon with them after the birthday party for a few days and then we joined him for thanksgiving at my parents. I was glad he was able to enjoy some extra time with them.
My sister and her family were at my parents too. It was so nice to all be together and see the cousins playing with each other. Since it was a full house Brian and I slept in the basement with Kaelyn. I wasn't sure how she would do sleeping in our room, since the basement is one big room. So we decided to stick her pack and play in the bathroom. Greatest thing ever. We also were able to visit with my dad's family.
We went shopping on black Friday with the kids and Jaxon found something to try on while I was looking at boots.
Fell asleep on the trip back home.
We celebrated our 6 year anniversary in December. We decided to get away for the weekend. I am thankful that my inlaws could watch both kids. We spent the weekend in Boone at a Bed and Breakfast. I was worried about leaving the kids since my nephew had RSV over thanksgiving, I was worried the kids would get sick before we left or while we were away, I was weaning Kaelyn, and was worried about her sleeping at my inlaw's house. But they both did great.
It was nice to have a weekend getaway with Brian. It was the first time we had gotten away in over a year. It felt a little weird not to have the kids with us but we had a great time.
We had no schedule, enjoyed some yummy food, went shopping, enjoyed the Christmas parade, went hiking, and had some adult conversation. The kids had a great time. I had packed bottles for Kaelyn. She ended up not wanting them. So after we got back she no longer wanted to nurse at night. It was kind of sad but I was finally done nursing.
We were already in December and we hadn't put up any decorations yet. I didn't really want to get everything out because it was going to make a big mess, but I'm glad we did it, Jaxon loved decorating his own little tree and got excited about plugging in our trees everyday.
Brian was home on break for 2 weeks which was nice. We are able to spend some extra time together and get some things done around the house. After we returned from South Carolina, the week of Christmas, Jaxon got a fever for a few days and Kaelyn was a little congested and it rained nonstop. We had to cancel a few of our activities and we couldn't do anything fun outside. So it was hard to get in the Christmas mood. We did have some nice weather before it started to rain and we were able to enjoy the outside.
We spent Christmas Day in Asheboro with some of Brian's family and then opened gifts that night.
Jaxon still doesn't know about Santa, he hasn't asked so we haven't felt the need to explain. He sees Santa in the decorations and he says, look mommy there is Joseph. So its kind of funny.
He knows its Jesus' Birthday on Christmas and we want him to get excited about that instead of all the gifts and what he got and if he was a good boy or not.
We know we cant shelter him, he's going to find out, but we would rather keep the focus on Jesus right now. I know we may be the odd ones not doing Santa, but I'm sure we aren't the only ones. there are several of my friends that aren't doing Santa either and we don't mind being different.
We got the kids a few gifts. After the kids got up from their nap on Christmas Day we opened gifts. I decided to hide Jaxon's gift and gave him a few clues to go find them. Of course Jaxon saw Kaelyn's gifts first under the tree not wrapped and he got excited over them first. We got Jaxon a plasma car which he loves. It started out inside and he was doing laps around the house and donuts. It didn't take long before we decided it needed to have a home outside. Our very kind neighbor gave us their old glider from their swingset. Jaxon loves going to his friend James' house and riding their glider. Its hard to get him off of it. All Brian had to do was replace the ropes. Jaxon loves it. I also got Jaxon and Brian matching helicopters to fly together. We've gone to the park a few times and they have had fun flying them. He also got a piano from Brian's parents which he loves. Kaelyn got a matching chair just like Jaxon's and a few ride on toys that she loves. She is just starting to figure out how to ride them.
We went to my inlaws house on the Sunday after Christmas and spent the night. Jaxon decided to poop in the potty 2 days in a row and he got so excited. So he knew that he earned a treat (a trip to the dollar store) This is a big step for him. For some reason he has been scared and always goes in his pull up at naptime or in his undies.
I knew I wanted to be productive while Brian was home for break so I made a list of things that needed to be done around the house as well as fun things to do as a family. Some of the fun things didn't really get done because of all the rain we had.
We did go and see some Christmas lights around town.
We went to a Christmas Eve service at our church. We went to the later service because we didn't want to interrupt their nap which meant they needed to sit with us in the service, because they didn't have childcare. They did pretty good until towards the end.
We made Jesus' birthday cake and Jaxon helped decorate it.
I knew I wanted to be productive while Brian was home for break so I made a list of things that needed to be done around the house as well as fun things to do as a family. Some of the fun things didn't really get done because of all the rain we had.
We did go and see some Christmas lights around town.
We went to a Christmas Eve service at our church. We went to the later service because we didn't want to interrupt their nap which meant they needed to sit with us in the service, because they didn't have childcare. They did pretty good until towards the end.
We made Jesus' birthday cake and Jaxon helped decorate it.
We made and decorated sugar cookies for the neighbors and Jaxon helped me deliver them.
We finally lowered Kaelyns crib. The weird thing is she doesn't sit up or stand up in her bed. When she is sleeping or when we go in to get her she is laying on her back. So really there hasn't been a concern of her falling out of her crib.
We made a gingerbread house, well we decorated it. Jaxon had fun with that.
"Uncle" Eric came over for dinner one night and gave the kids their Christmas gifts. He gave Jaxon, well really it was for Brian and Jaxon, a micro lite quad copter drone. It lights up and they have been having fun flying it at the park and in our backyard.
Kaelyn loves to give kisses and she will on command.
She loves to eat and gets excited when its time to eat
she still sleeps through the night and sleeps in until 9-10am- I usually have to go wake her up then naps after lunch for about 3-4 hours (usually while Jaxon naps too)
she is starting to cruise more
She is getting more teeth
She loves splashing in the bathtub and is fascinated by the water coming out of the faucet.
She has started to walk with her walker
She loves bread, sweet potatoes, oranges, grapes, eggs, and yogurt with applesauce.
She loves to play peek a boo.
She loves to wave bye or simply just raise her hand.
Jaxon says he wants to share her toys. He got excited and enjoyed her Christmas gifts.
Jaxon is very bright and has good reasoning skills. He is saying longer sentences. He constantly amazes us about how much he pays attention to things. He doesn't miss a thing. He loves going to the park and learning new things.
We love having people over and so on Brian's last week of vacation we hosted 3 nights in a row. One night we had our life community over for New Years Eve. Kids were invited and we all had dinner together. Then the parents could get home in time to put the kids down and maybe watch the ball drop if they don't fall asleep first. It was kind of crazy with all the kiddos over but we had a hear time.
Brian decided on the weekend before he went back to work that it would be a great idea to graduate Jaxon from zip up Pjs worn backwards to regular 2-piece Pjs. That way he could get up and go to the bathroom by himself instead of us having to take him all the time. Well I think he decided to test the system because every night he would get up and go to the bathroom multiple times within a 2-3 hour time frame. So then he doesn't settle down to sleep until 10-11pm. Before we let him do this he knew he wasn't allowed to leave his room. Now we just have to teach him he can only leave his room if he needs to go potty. I'm not wanting my little boy to grow up so fast and be Mr. Independent. I don't think this was a great idea.
Also for the past week Kaelyn has been getting up several times during the night and is just not sleeping well, which is not like her at all. Thankfully Brian has been home and has taken his turn at night. He finally has the touch. She has also been congested and pulling at her ear some. I'm so glad I decided to take her to the doctor on Sunday afternoon because she had her very first ear infection. I believe this was the first time she has gotten real sick.
