Saturday, December 27, 2008

Jackson's first Christmas

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did. Little did we know that last Christmas would be our last Christmas as a duo. Jackson has  been such a wonderful addition to our family and he made the holidays all the better this year!

Our Christmas celebrating started on the 23rd with Marty's side of the family. His brother Stephen and his wife came in from Virginia and his brother Tom who has been in Minnesota came in however we didn't all get to get together. Tom and his wife Andrea tried to make it up but ended up getting stuck in Wilsonville and had to turn back around. It was a bummer that we couldn't all get together but the time we had with everyone else was wonderful. I ended up forgetting my camera so I will have to try to get some photos from Marty's mom and hopefully take more when we get together again tomorrow before Stephen and Kayleen head back to Virginia. 
We stayed the night with Marty's family Tuesday night then headed back to Dayton for Christmas eve evening with Anna's family. This is the first year we have not made a Christmas eve service. The services at our church were cancelled and it ended up taking us 3 hours to get back to Dayton so we were just tired and Jackson had enough so we stayed in. We had a great time wrapping presents. The boys spent a lot of 'boy time' in Anna's Dad's shop. It was fun to hear the loud man laughter coming from the shop while the girls took care of stockings, and watched more Christmas movies.
Christmas morning we woke up, read the Christmas story, opened presents and stockings, and had a yummy breakfast. Jackson got a lot of really fun presents, he is such a loved little man! Marty was thrilled that Jackson got some more books to add to his book collection. Marty is a bookaholic so is eager to pass that on to Jackson and so far, he seems to LOVE LOVE LOVE books!
We had Christmas dinner at Anna's Grandma's house. As always the menu was grand and we had VERY full bellies by the end of the night!
Here are some photos of our day. I have not been able to upload all photos yet as we have been taking photos with 3 different cameras the past few days. 
Blessings to you and your families! Stay warm and have a very Happy New Year!!

Some last minute gift wrapping in the shop

Singing Happy Birthday to Anna's youngest sister, Tasha. She is a Christmas baby.


Reading the Christmas story on Christmas morning.

The first present Jackson opened.

Daddy helping Jackson open his presents

Jackson with his stocking.

Jackson with some of his stocking presents

Happy boy on Christmas!

Ready to go to Great Grandma Dorothy's for dinner!

Mama with her baby on Christmas

Daddy with his little man on Christmas

More December fun

We have had a WONDERFUL December and hope you have too.  After our nephew's birthday party we got snowed in in Dayton. By the time the roads were decent again we would have to turn right around for more birthday celebrations and Christmas so we have just stayed. It's been wonderful! Here are some random photos of the last few weeks.

SNOW! Little did we know it would keep on coming, we measured over 17 inches on the 21st.

Jack hanging out in the wrap. Were helping/watching Mima make yummy Christmas candy!

After being stuck in the house for probably a week, we made a trip out to Walmart with Mima and Papa.

The snow was coming down pretty hard and Jackson was loving watching out the window while being cozy with Daddy.

We swaddle Jackson for bedtime and naps, he LOVES it. One morning we woke up  and one of his cute little hands had made an escape!

We took Jackson out to take some snow photos and he was soooo tired. He ended up just falling asleep.

Happy boy

Marty and Anna checking out the crazy snow

This is the play structure in my parents back yard, covered in snow.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

More December fun and SNOW!


The December fun continues!

Thursday our sweet nephew, Ronnie turned 1 so we had dinner and celebrated with my brother and his family. Stay tuned for a blog with photos from Ronnie's parties.

Friday we had our December Friends gathering. We had a wonderful meal, hung out, did a gift exchange, and had some yummy deserts! I am kicking myself for not taking more photos. I didn't even get the camera out until we opened Jackson's present from Mike and Carol which was a cute cute hat. Reid, Jackson's buddy also got a cute hat so we HAD TO take photos of the babes in their new cool hats.

Saturday we had Ronnie's official birthday party. Lots of fun. (Again stay tuned for photos of that)

Sunday we got SNOW!! Yay! It has been coming down on and off and actually sticking!

Here are photos of our last few days...

Jackson and Reid in their new hats

Jackson LOVES books. He actually pays attention and kicks his legs, moves his arms, and talks while he is read to.

Our cute, crazy haired, baby.

Bright Blue eyed boy

Enjoying the snow

Can't get enough of those cheeks!

Such a happy little man

Sunday, December 7, 2008

December fun...

December has been a pretty busy month for  us and were only a week into the month. We have several birthday's on Anna's side of the family, church events, Christmas gatherings, and other random traditions. We LOVE it!

Jackson is 9 weeks old now and we are enjoying him so much. He is usually a pretty laid back kid, almost always has a smile for you, and is just so darn cute! He has rolled over quite a few times but Anna refers to it as, "Tipping over." Either way, he has done it! Thursday Jackson had shots, it was definitely much harder on mom then it was on baby! Jackson did great, he cried after the first shot but we gave him his binkie so we think that helped him not freak as much. Mama picked him up as soon as they were done and he was asleep just a few minutes later. We were advised to give him Tylenol BEFORE his shots so we did. we have nothing to compare it too but he did pretty well. He felt a little warm that evening but we kept Tylenol in him for 24 hours following the shots and he seemed to be ok. He sure slept a lot though.

Saturday we did our Annual Gingerbread house making get together with Marty's best Friend, Eric's family. As always it was a blast! Eric's mom loved on Jackson while we made our house then afterward we all went to McMenamins Imbrie Hall for some grub. Good Times!!

Here are some photos..

Jackson in one of his pairs of winter Jammies. Too cute! They say, "Lil Man."

Jackson was 'rapping' a little Christmas jingle for us... ;-)

Jackson reading with Mama. He loves to be read to! 

Wearing his overalls for the first time.

Our Gingerbread house!

Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Sunday, November 30, 2008

WONDERFUL Thanksgiving weekend!

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday weekend and hope you did too! We spent Thanksgiving with Anna's family. There were about 30 of us at the Everett house, the food was amazing, and we are ever so thankful for our family! We are especially thankful for the newest addition to our family, Jackson. 

Here are a few of the almost 200 photos taken this weekend... :-)

Bath time @ Mima and Papa's

Giving Papa a high 5. His shirt says, "Grandpa is my hero" Jackson LOVES his papa!

Our nephew Ronnie LOVES Uncle Marty!

Jackson helped us make our annual Pumpkin Pie.

Happy boy on his first Thanksgiving

Our little family on Thanksgiving. SO Thankful!

Civil War Saturday... The boys were LOUD and PROUD! GO DUCKS!

Clearly, Marty is a proud Duck fan.

My boys. Daddy loves his little man! (Sunday @ a birthday party)

Mama loves her baby! He's a happy boy!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Meeting Uncle Tom and Aunt Andrea

Marty's older brother Tom has been in Minnesota since August working toward his Masters of Divinity degree. Thursday Tom flew into town, Andrea picked him up, and we all met up in Wilsonville so that Tom and his wife Andrea could meet their first nephew. It was very wonderful and Jackson LOVES his Uncle and Aunt!

Uncle Tom holding his nephew for the first time

Jackson clearly loves his Uncle

Aunt Andrea, Uncle Tom, and Jackson




Thursday, November 20, 2008

Our growing boy...

I have been informed that it is desired that I update the blog at least weekly with photos of Jackson so here I am... :-)

Jackson is 7 weeks old now and is such a fun little guy. He is returning smiles all the time, is very interactive when you talk to him, and likes to stick as close to his sleep schedule as possible. He is a good sport when we are out and about which we are so thankful for. We have always been "get up and go" type of people and Jackson tags right along. However, if he doesn't get at least 2 big naps a day he does get fussy, fussy for him anyway. 
Jackson LOVES his baths which are the beginning of his bedtime routine. In his first week or so we were doing sponge baths and he screamed through them but now that he can actually sit in the water and relax and LOVES them.

I was looking through photos last night on the computer and can't believe how much Jackson has changed in just 7 weeks. While Jackson was never small, he looks so tiny in the photos of his first few days. I always say that time is flying and it is so we are making sure we cherish all the little things, special times, highs, and lows of parenthood. We are loving everyday with our little Jack man.

Here are a few photos of the last week and a half...

All ready for Church

Bright eyed boy

We think his eyes might stay blue...

Happy Boy

A random fun shot

Jackson loves to lay on his changing table and look around

One night Jackson was a little fussy so knowing Jackson gets gassy every once in awhile, Marty decided to burp Jackson and here is what happened. Needless to say, Jackson was MUCH happier after this. 

Bath time! Yay!