December Pics 1 of 2

Here are some pics from December. These are almost all from Jazzy's birthday. My parents came to Nashville to celebrate Jazzy turning 1 and so there are some pics from their visit as well. This is truly 1 of 2 posts as the second post will be posted tonight as well. Enjoy. Note: Captions are at the top of each photo.

One shot of the snow... more to see in my next post.

Too hilarious not to post... This is another baby's b-day party where Jazzy tries to kiss and snuggle the little baby. He doesn't look little but he's 8 months.

Jazzy and mommy at Jazzy's party.

Jazzy and Katie :)

Our sweet friend Ava, Mommy, and Jazzy

Jrew and Katie

I loved making Jazzy's birthday cake starring Snow White. So much fun.

Funny pic of Jazzy but so cute of daddy and Jazzy

This is Papa Mike and Mia. We took a stroll through the

Opryland Hotel for the Christmas scenery.

Jrew just wanted to hug this huge teddy bear.

Unfortunately, we didn't have room to bring him home with us.

Jrew and his photogenic hair while looking at Christmas trees.

However, Home Depot ended up being our Christmas tree supplier this year.

VIDEOS!!!

Here are some cute videos. Enjoy! I'll add a few more tomorrow.

Part 2: Chattanooga CHildren's Museum

A few weeks ago, we decided to take a trip to Chattanooga. It was my Fall Break and it's only a 2 hour drive. We ended up going to the Children's Museum and loved every minute/hour of it. We stayed there for over 3 hours!! It's really not a museum and thus it's not actually named a museum but a Children's discovery center. Imagine a place where you can touch anything and everything you see. You can play in water, make a mess, paint on your own face, run like a wild chicken, and bang on an instrument without getting yelled at.

So, here goes. The pictures are out of order because blogspot automatically reverses the order... grrr. I'll try to narrate your virtual trip. :)

This is an arch made of big soft blocks. It was collapsed when we found it

and Thomas (with his long arms) put it back together.

This was on the roof. This is a swing based on a pulley system.

Thomas was holding Jrew up. :)

Playing in bubbles on the roof.

Getting crafty with daddy.

They had a room setup like a stage with a sound board and everything.

Jrew is running sound...

For Jazzy's dramatic performance in red.

Makin music with Jazzy and Jrew

A harp sized just for Jrew!

This awesome set up had 8-10 instrument Look-alikes with buttons on each of them. If you could hold down the buttons, they would each play a different part of the song. For example, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star was a favorite. Soooo much fun! Jrew is standing outside of the stroller, but it looks like I made him stay in it. BUT I didn't.

Playing the pipes.. with the soles of flip flops.

Playing Catch Up: Part 1

So here is Part 1 of my catch up game I will be playing for a few weeks now. I wanted to try to get up some pictures for you to see before heading to bed tonight. Here are a just a few of the babies. Some of them are from the Chattanooga Children's Museum, which was awesome. We spent 3 hours there and Jrew was so sad to leave!

UPDATES:

Jrew- talking so much. Says full sentences that start with "This is..." "How you doing?" "What's wrong" and "Don't cry". He loves his books and is learning his colors. He knows almost all of them already and is learning how to count objects now. He will usually count say the dogs in a picture and then repeat "3 dogs" when he's finished counting. So cute. He asked the other night for "Daddy put Jrew to bed." He loves Jazzy and is very tolerant of her shenanigans. :)

Jazzy- almost walking. loves to babble, smack her lips, makes a clicking with her tongue, into everything, and loves to eat. She doesn't have even ONE tooth yet but loves crackers, mushy food, bananas, and biscuits. Her and Jrew can put away some pancakes! Jazzy can say mama, dada (sometimes), and bye-bye. She can also blow kisses and wave hi/bye. She has a high-pitched laugh and I am afraid she is destined to have a high-pitched voice like myself. BUT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! :)

Have fun with the pics. Look for more in a few days!

Quick note about the following pic: Jrew pulled ALL of the clothes of this drawer and climbed inside. He knows he is so funny!

Updates

Sorry there are no picture attached to this update. However, for my own journaling purposes, here are some updates about Jrew and Jazz.

Jrew is picking up many full sentences now including: What is it? Who's that? Where is it? I found it. I dropped my... I found my... He is quick to apologize and does so way too often. He will usually say Sorry Mama 5-10 times before moving on. I hate it. It makes me feel so guilty and so I sought out the advice of a friend. The advice was this: continue to give tons of positive attention throughout the day, acknowledge the first sorry, but ignore the rest. I guess I don't need to tell you how hard this is. I just want to hug him every time and remind him that "It's alright". Sometimes, he says sorry for no reason at all.

He's a sweet boy. He is very empathetic and his preschool teacher said he is always ready to help others kids feel better if they are crying when their parents leave. He shares and listens well at school - apparently we are doing something wrong at home. Just kidding. He loves the word NO! but usually responds to correction with "yes ma'am".

Jazz is standing up more often now. She is on the verge of taking steps between objects like the ottoman and the couch, etc... She looks as if she's going to attempt the step, but changes her mind quickly to a crawl. She did step forward with one foot yesterday in an attempt to let go of me and move to the couch. She is a wild one. She loves to growl at you and LOVES to play rough. She rolls on the floor with Jrew all the time. She also loves to pull his hair to which he replies with "Oh Jazzy". :) He couldn't get any sweeter.

Jazz is saying Mama, Bye-bye, and Hi. She also says Dada sometimes. She loves to babble. She is eating some table food. Her dinner a few nights ago included soft green beans, bread, and a vienna sausage. She also loves bananas, crackers, and graham crackers. She is not too good at the sippy cup but loves it very much. She is also doing well transitioning to formula during the day when I'm at work! So sad to know she doesn't really NEED me anymore.

I must go. I guess I have to teach something today. :)

Jazz: 8 months going on teenager...

Jazz is now 8 months old and it's about high time I write a blog all about her and her "awesomeness"! She is truly a sweet darling and I officially named her my sugar bug. I absolutely love holding her, kissing her sweet face, and seeing her light up. Here are some funny and amazing things about her personality and tricks! :)

Jazz has done everything early. She was rolling over both ways by 4 months, sitting up at 5 months, crawling at 6 months, pulling up at 7 months, and now she's starting to cruise around the ottoman in the living room! Unbelievable is what she is! She definitely aims to keep up with Big Brother Jrew - crawling from one room to the other in order to be with him. She also follows me from room to room just because she likes company. :)

She has recently started making this growling sound while smiling, and it is quite funny. When Thomas makes the same sound to her, she jumps every single time: it startles her.

Jazz is a very good napper and very good sleeper. She goes to sleep for the most part on her own. I just give her a paci & blanket and she is good to go. However, if she hears noises like Jrew playing or me talking, she's more inclined to stand up in her crib and play. She is so good at going to sleep on her own it's shocking. Jrew was not like that. He wanted to be held nonstop. She is a busy body and cannot sit still. She'd rather roll around in her crib until she's asleep than for me to restrict her. So when I do get to hold her when she is sleeping, I cherish it and kiss her every second. Those are some of the sweetest moments of my life!

So here are some pics of Jazz and her beautiful face. I would also like to point out that her hair has been curly since 4 months although Jrew's hair didn't start curling up until 8 months or so. Her hair has even grown so much in the past few months that I am starting to fret over how thick it's going to be. :) If I put her hair up in a pony tail, it makes one tiny thick curl - which Thomas said made her look like a sumo-wrestler. Funny, it was half-true. But my baby is not a sumo-wrestler - she's a princess. AND Jrew has started calling her that. He will say "Hey Princess" in a sweet high-pitched voice: just like mommy!

Wait no more! Here are some sweet photos of Jazz over the past 3 months!

Jrew - "You too would look mean to if you were stuck in a stroller in 100 degree heat." Jazz - Isn't she gorgeous?

Straight chillin' like her daddy. She's already learning to be gangsta'

There's that sly grin I see so often. Such a ham.

My sister Amanda graduated high school. We had a good time watching the ceremony from outside the fenced football field b/c we got there on time but I stayed a few extra minutes to feed Jazz in the car. They ultimately locked the gates and refused to let anyone in! Again, it was an outdoor ceremony!!! That is why Jazz look unhappy I assure you.

These two are so close. They are constantly rolling around on the floor wrestling each other. I mean, hugging each other. :)

Summer 2010