Emoticons : ) : / : (

Yesterday David and I had a play date with Amanda, my sorority sister and college roomie, and her son Davis who is only 6 days older than David. For me it was a much needed diversion from playing at our train table all day, even if David still wanted to play choo-choo's most of the time : ) It took a little while for David to get acclimated to his new environment (despite having been there several times-although he was probably too young to remember) but once he did, he immersed himself in toy heaven-well all except Davis' cool moonwalk castle. David was too afraid to play inside : ( We let the boys play together a little bit, and then headed off to eat lunch and visit a children's boutique where they were already selling Easter outfits! We went back to their house and let the boys play some more all the while trying to get just one good picture of them playing together, but they were not interested in any one thing at the same time : / When it was time to say our goodbyes, like always I asked myself "why don't we do this more often"?

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

Papa John and his grandsons

I cannot think of a single man who embodies this quote more than my Dad- "One father is more than a hundred Schoolmasters." ~George Herbert

Our Christmas Story

Last year during the Christmas season I was preparing for surgery since I hadn't recovered from childbirth three months prior. Even though it was a minor surgery, it had the possibility of some major complications, which had me pretty worried. I remember telling Jason that all I wanted for Christmas was to be healthy and pain free. My prayers were answered and on January 13th (a Friday I might add) I was successfully operated on, and I have not had a problem since.

This year, as always, I had high hopes for the "perfect" Christmas. As usual, God had other plans. Most of you know that we've been having well "issues" which began shortly after we moved in our new house in May. This year, I found myself asking for water for Christmas. Jason finally found a well company who was willing to take up our cause, and on the afternoon of December 21st they began drilling a new well. The next day it rained but they were able to get in another half day's worth of work. They would have the next few days off, but promised to come back the day after Christmas. Jason said "This is good. Since Christmas falls on a Monday this year, we will go to church for the next two days and pray for water." ( I should also add that Christmas Eve morning my sister called to tell me my nephew was sick and she, Drew, and Ben might not be able to see us over the holidays. As disappointed as I was, I didn't want it to end up like it did 3 years ago when we all got a stomach virus. After phone calls back and forth to my mom for motherly/nursing advice we decided Drew would watch Ben at home and Lara would come to the family celebration.) After going to Christmas Eve mass we headed to Granny's house for her gathering. We had a lovely time eating and opening presents with my parents, Carol (David's Godmother), and Granny of course. That night I thought my camera died and I would have no pictures this year. I had just put new batteries in and the camera kept flashing "battery exhausted". Christmas Day we headed to my parents to meet up with my sister, eat, and open presents. Upon arrival I quickly searched for some other new batteries and found they worked so I was able to capture a few good pictures...

Jason and David at Granny's on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day- David playing with my parents toy golf set- I must say he looks like a natural.

David and I in front of my parent's tree.

David petting his rocking horse-a Christmas present from Granny.

Originally we planned to drive home yesterday evening, but after exhausting ourselves by eating way too much, and visiting with our families, we decided to stay one more night to rest. This morning we lingered just a little longer before packing up and heading home all the while holding our breath to see what the well company had to say. We had jokingly been singing Noel, (No well) but today, however, we are singing hallelujah chorus (this link works better if you turn on the speakers to your computer). After months of conserving water by only running the dishwasher once a week, taking quick military style showers/baths in two inches of water, flushing the toilet only when absolutely needed, doing laundry at our families houses, and still running out of water every week-we never have to worry again! They hit water-over 100 gallons a minute! Praise God!

I have come to the conclusion that the best Christmas gifts are the kind that can't be wrapped, but we will still be hoping for a uneventful Christmas next year!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Joseph's Lullaby by Mercy Me

"Go to sleep, my son
This manger for your bed
You have a long road before you
Rest your little head
Can you feel the weight of your glory
Do you understand the price
Or does the Father guard your heart for now
So you can sleep tonight
Go to sleep, my son
Go and chase your dreams
This world can wait for one more moment
Go and sleep in peace

I believe the glory of Heaven
Is lying in my arms tonight
Lord, I ask that He for just this moment
Simply be my child
Go to sleep, my son
Baby, close your eyes
Soon enough you'll save the day
But for now, dear child of mine
Oh my Jesus, sleep tight"

My name is Andrea and I'm an Addict

I've been wanting to read this book for awhile now, and yesterday I finally bought it. I'm halfway through it, and I just cannot seem to put it down. MUST. KEEP. READING.

Ghost of Christmas Past

Here's a picture of Jason and I at Kristin's party three years ago...

Highlights...they seemed like a good idea at the time!

The Hosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future

Host and hostess; Ryan and Kristin (she's due in April)

SJN Friends

Julie and Rebecca trading scrapbooking secrets (I'm trying to get them to start blogging!)

Lana and Bobby

Justin also celebrated his 32nd birthday yesterday!

Last night was Kristin's annual Christmas party. She's been doing this every year since...well... before I can remember (thus the title of this post). We are all friends from our Saint John Neumann youth group days. Its really amazing that pretty much all of us married our high school youth group sweethearts. Granny offered to babysit David, so Jason and I took her up on it of course! (Two of the other couples also had babysitters.) Kristin always has a game for us to play, and this year we played pop-culture trivial pursuit (guys vs. girls). The girls won! We also had our annual white elephant ornament exchange which is always a riot. Thanks Kristin and Ryan for hosting a wonderful party! On a side note I learned that as a housewife and stay at home mom I am not used to censoring myself, and so I was embarrassed quite a few times ...ah well at least these are some of my best friends!

Future Engineer?

And I don't mean the kind that that study at Georgia Tech, I mean the kind that operate locomotives.

Every free moment David has, he walks over to the door leading to the bonus room and points up saying "choo-choo" (he wants to play at his train table).

So we play trains all day long. I pry him away from it for meals, and diaper changes, but all the while he chants "choo-choo". Its driving me a little batty. Jason says "its the best $40 we ever spent!", but I am beginning to think the exact opposite is true...

Baby Evan is Here!

My friend Tara had her baby yesterday. Go on over to her blog for a visit with her cute son Evan...be sure to leave some comments!

Doubting Thomas Becomes a Believer

The day after David was born a volunteer from First Steps came to talk to Jason and I and gave us lots of helpful information as first time parents. I don't remember all that much of it because at the time I was scarfing down my first real meal since giving birth and we also had some good friends in the room visiting. What I do remember is that this woman was giving me lots of free stuff and very helpful advice! The one thing she told me that stuck out was the importance of reading to your child everyday. She explained that this was David's best chance at doing well in school and developing his interest in learning. Now this information is probably not new to most of you since many of you come from a background in education. I studied finance in college and learned absolutely nothing about childhood development. I decided to take her advice to heart and began reading to David before we left the hospital. If nothing else maybe it would create an enjoyment for reading which is never a bad thing. In the beginning it was a way to pass the time, keep him awake, and do something other than watch TV while I held him (since that was the only thing that would soothe him most of the time). Then it became a habit. It was and still is part of our daily nap time ritual. Next, I noticed he actually preferred some books and could pick out his favorite book for me to read. It wasn't until a few days ago that this doubting Thomas truly believed in the gift that is reading to your child...

David has lots of books and loves to take them off the shelf one by one until they are all scattered across the floor. Exhibit A:

Jason and I were playing with David in his room and I began asking him questions about some of his favorite books. I began with "David which book goes 'come little ducklings' mama called one day. 'Paddle on the water with me'. 'No mama no' the ducklings cried. We're too scared!' ?" He stopped what he was doing and I could see the wheels turning in his head. He went over to the pile of books and began searching for the book; Little Quack Dial-a-Duck. He found it relatively quickly. I was impressed, but still not sure it wasn't a coincidence. Next I said "David which book goes 'On Monday he ate one apple. But he was still hungry. On Tuesday he ate two pears, but he was still hungry...' ". He searched and searched until he found The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I repeated this exercise over and over with about 6 of his favorite books and one by one he found them, picked them up, and looked at me for my approval. I am elated and I hope I can keep reading everyday with David and any future children.

Thanks Mom and Dad

"...please don't worry 'cause I'm allright, see I'm staying here at the ritz tonight..." ("Baby Girl" by Sugarland).

Last night was Jason's company Christmas party aka our first night away from David (well make that my first night away). It was wonderful. We were greeted by bellmen in knickers and spiced pecans with hot apple cider. Next we found our room where our luggage was already there to greet us. We dressed up, drank wine and spirits during the social hour, ate like we were really part of a royal family, danced a little bit and then retired to our room about 11 p.m. Our bed was turned down with chocolate mints on the bed, piano music playing, and today's weather forecast on the nightstand. We climbed into the most comfortable bed I've ever layed in and continued to sleep until 10 am!!! The best part of this entire experience...IT WAS FREE!!!

Thanks Mom and Dad for babysitting David and letting us have some much needed R&R.

Learning From the Pro's

I've learned a lesson from Becky's "philosophy on early childhood development"...

... and how to get David to "earn his keep".

Now if I could just have Katie's help "getting the money shot"!

Got Yogurt?

Another Drew's Birthday

Best Buds; David and Drew

Drew and his daddy; Matt

Elmo themed party

Drew content with his cake

Drew and his mommy; Christy

Happy First Birthday Drew!

This concludes our Drew birthday weekend! We've known Drew's parents since we were in high school youth group together and we were all friends but neither of us were dating their respective spouses yet! Once we started dating the four of us were inseparable and we've been that way ever since.

Drew's Big 3-0!

Thursday was my brother-in-law's birthday and we celebrated with the family last night. I always knew Drew was a great husband to my sister, but I don't think I appreciated the man he is until he became a father. The instant Ben was born he became so unselfish and giving; he has created a wonderful and loving enviornment as the head of the household and a faithful servant to God. I have the utmost respect for him, the life he leads, and the company he keeps. Happy 30th Birthday Drew!