Parenting

Christmas Day 2011

by Jessica on December 28, 2011

On Christmas morning, Knox woke up around 7:30, and I took a picture of his cute bed-head in his Christmas pajamas and sent it to Trevor- I knew he’d be missing his boy at work!

We ate a quick breakfast, then headed over to my mom and stepdad’s house. My mom called for our ETA because she wanted to capture Knox’s reaction to his “big” present right as he walked in. Sure enough, we were greeted by a crowd of paparazzi right at the door! Luckily, it was worth it- he was absolutely thrilled to his see his life-sized black lab dog!

Can’t you just feel the joy radiating off of him? When we were crib shopping for Brody, Knox saw this dog in the baby store and freaked out- he tried his darnedest to drag it around the store with him. I told my mom about it, and she had to go get it for him for Christmas. I wish so hard I had filmed his reaction! He squealed, danced and talked like crazy for about 15 minutes about it.

After he calmed down, we sat down and started to open presents. By that point, Knox knew the drill! He had quite a pile to get through, too, so it’s a good thing he was pretty efficient.

He was very excited to see Rock ‘n Roll Elmo! For the record, it is MUCH less irritating than Chicken Dance Elmo!

I helped him open the rest of his gifts- he also got some adorable clothes, a Little People Fire Station and a dashboard (with steering wheel for realistic driving). After Knox was finished, I moved on to Brody’s gifts, then mine- I didn’t see much of anyone else opening their gifts because I was so busy with the boys’ presents! Brody got lots of sweet clothes, a couple stuffed animals and also the baby monitor we needed, which was amazing- thanks, Mom! My mom gave Trevor and I some gift cards (you really miss shopping when you’re on a stiff budget, so we love to get them!!), some clothes and she gave me a pretty cross ring that I love. We bagged up Trevor’s gifts so he could open them when he got home the next day. We definitely got spoiled!

Knox had a fabulous time playing with the piano.

He was so funny to watch because he really thought he was playing a song and took his playing so seriously- my brother filmed this video, which cracks me up at the end when he finishes his song with a few higher notes, ha ha! I literally laugh every single time I watch it- I think he will grow up to play some sort of instrument, for sure.

The highlight of the morning for Knox, though, was his strawberry Ring Pop. He really never has candy, so he was pumped to eat this thing and sucked it down to nothing in no time!

He also found a brand new box of Nilla Wafers in my mom’s cabinet and helped himself to opening them!

We stayed for a very good lunch, and my mom sent us home with more food and tons of dessert. Knox took a short nap, then it was off to the fire station to visit Trevor. Trevor got temporarily relocated to a new station (only for a month or so longer), so it was our first time seeing it. Trevor showed Knox around the bay where they keep all of the fire trucks, and shockingly (or not), Knox was quite pleased to get to touch every single truck he saw! This station has a lot more trucks than Trevor’s normal station because they’re in charge of Haz-Mat (hazardous materials clean-up) in this area, too.

Trevor let Knox “drive” the big fire engine and even turned on the lights for him. He liked it, just a little bit.

After visiting Trevor, we headed home to eat dinner and relax after such a busy day. I don’t let Knox watch much TV at all any more (maybe 20 minutes a day while I get ready), but since it was a holiday, we splurged and watched his new DVD of “The Princess and the Frog,” which is inexplicably one of his absolute favorite movies.

It was a great, and super busy, day, and it was great to get to spend time with my family since I couldn’t be with Trevor all day long.

Monday we managed to pack up all of the Christmas decorations and get the house almost totally back in order. With the influx of new toys, I also went through all of Knox’s old toys and pulled a lot of things out to donate. I have decided to do this yearly after Christmas! I filled up an entire trash bag with toys and also took a few large stand-up toys, as well. I feel like we have a little bit more space, now!

Well, if you made it to the end of this post, good job! That was pretty long-winded, but I want to make sure to remember all of the little details from the day. I hope you guys had a great Christmas, too!

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Our Christmas Eve

by Jessica on December 27, 2011

Christmas Eve was more like our Christmas Day this year, since Trevor had to work on the “real” day. Santa came to our house early, though, and delivered the goods for Knox. Trevor had me cracking up when he was explaining to Knox why Santa was coming early (not like Knox understood a word Trevor was saying!). He got a “phone call” from the big guy, then told Knox that Santa owed him a favor, so he would be able to come a day early to our house. Apparently, the elves were doing some welding in the workshop and caught the place on fire (because elves are terrible welders, you know). So, Trevor, like a good firefighter, went and put it out for him- hence, the favor owed. LOL, it was a riot to hear him tell the whole story to Knox!

So, Christmas Eve morning, Knox woke up and we ate breakfast together before heading into the living room.

We definitely did not go crazy, and I am so glad, because just that stack of gifts was overwhelming for him! He is so serious in all of the pictures, and I know it’s because he couldn’t figure out what to look at/ play with next. We’ve talked about starting to do just three gifts on Christmas (that’s how many baby Jesus received), and we may do that next year, especially since Knox’s birthday is less than a month away!

He really likes the new basketball goal and was actually shooting baskets last night- like shooting, not just dropping the ball in, and I was so surprised! He also got a box of Melissa and Doug wooden cars, a road rug to drive them on, a MagnaDoodle, small firetruck, M&D Wooden Tool Box and M&D farm animal sound blocks (I stock up on M&D toys throughout the year when they go on sale!). His stocking had a few matchbox cars, cookies, little things like that.

Over the course of two days, he became an unwrapping pro! He even opened all of Trevor’s presents for him yesterday morning.

He LOVED the MagnaDoodle! Do y’all remember drawing on those when you were little? I used to love mine, too.

We played with the new toys for a while before getting dressed and ready to head over to Trevor’s parents’ house. Knox brought his new fire truck and scared Trevor and I every. single. time he pushed the siren button- it sounded so real! We planned on spending the day with his parents before going to his grandparents’ for dinner. Once we walked in, it didn’t take Knox long to spot his gift… which he played with ALL day long! I’m sure his Grandpa and Daddy had sore backs from climbing through those long tunnels with him!

He got kind of excited when he saw the Elmo guitar…

Getting some help from Mimi

We had such a fun day hanging out over there. I LOVE my in-laws (I know everyone is not so lucky)! We ate a delicious lunch, then Knox played until he passed out and took a nap (thankfully!) on his Grandpa and Mimi’s bed. For our Christmas gifts, Trevor’s mom picked up all the necessities for after Brody’s born, and what a HUGE help that was!! She got me several nursing tanks and new pajama pants for the hospital, and they gave us a huge bag of the essentials we had yet to buy for Brody, like a crib mattress cover, sheets, sound machine, baby wash, breast milk storage bags, etc. I was so excited! Of course, Trevor got some man things, too, like a new watch and other gadgety things because men don’t care much about breast milk bags, LOL.

When it was time to head over to Trevor’s Nan and Pop’s house, Trevor’s mom, Knox and I went ahead while the men fixed up the hayride for later that night. Knox had a wonderful time being the center of attention in front of Trevor’s whole family! He was such a little show-off!

For dinner, we do finger foods (I made hot bacon dip and s’mores dip… both are awesome and SO easy!) which is my favorite thing ever! After we ate, it was time for Knox’s hay ride. Trevor’s dad hooks up a trailer to their lawn mower and fills it with hay, then he rides around the pond. They used to do this with a bunch of the kids when Trevor was little, but so far, Knox is the only one, so he rides with his Daddy!

Christmas Eve was a fantastic day, and I could not have asked for anything better. We attempted a family picture, but as usual, Knox had other ideas!

We went to bed right when we got home because Christmas was going to be a busy day, too! I’ll post on that tomorrow. I hope you all had an amazing and very blessed Christmas holiday!!

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Ho, ho, ho!

by Jessica on December 22, 2011

We took Knox to go see Santa Clause last night, and I am so happy to say that it went much better than last year when Knox stared at him for a while then did this:

Knox was actually pretty amused by the jolly old guy this year, at least from a distance. He was NOT going to sit on his lap, even with much cajoling from Trevor. Finally, we just plopped him down, and Santa had to really try to hang on to the wiggliest child ever. These pictures crack me up because you can see Santa’s mouth in motion trying to convince Knox to look at the camera and be still… nice try!

The winner, crazy hair and all:

Santa insisted that I come over for a picture with him, and I insisted that Knox come along with me! Here is our first picture of Knox and Brody with Santa Clause. I love Knox’s face of “why are you touching my mom, old dude?”

I am so happy with our decision to avoid the “big” mall in town and visit an older, smaller one because our wait was (get this) ZERO minutes! We were in and out in ten minutes, which was amazing. We also got to use our own camera and take as many pictures as we wanted. We will be making that decision again next year, I do believe!

I am so looking forward to this Christmas, now that Knox is a little older and is actually reacting to things and getting excited. We’re planning on doing our “Christmas morning” on Christmas Eve since Trevor has to work on the actual day (boo). After we do the Santa experience at our house, we will head over to Trevor’s parents’ house for lunch, gifts and general merriment. Then, that evening, we’ll head across the pond (not the ocean… literally it’s a big pond) to Trevor’s grandparents’ house for their traditional Christmas Eve get-together with the family.

Christmas morning, Knox and I will head over to my mom and step-dad’s house for gifts and lunch. I think my mom may be a *little* excited to have me back for Christmas morning… but she’s way more excited for Knox to be there! It’s okay, I know my place- standing behind my child. Ha ha! After lunch, we’ll head home for Knox’s nap, then we’re off to the fire station to hang out with Trevor for the rest of the day. His station is doing a big low-country boil (huge pot of shrimp, sausage, corn, potatoes… YUM) for dinner and invited the families of the firemen on duty to join them. I’m so glad that we can at least see and hang out with Trevor on Christmas, even if he can’t be at home with us. We found out Trevor works EVERY SINGLE holiday next year, too (thanks, leap year, for screwing up the rotating schedule), so we’ll probably be repeating this schedule again next Christmas, just adding another boy to the mix.

If I don’t have a chance to post again before Sunday, I wish you all a very blessed Christmas!!

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Temper, temper, temper!

by Jessica on December 20, 2011

Oh my gosh, where has my sweet little Knox gone? In his place is a highly grouchy little thing that loves to launch himself onto the floor to kick and scream at the drop of a hat. I do believe the terrible twos are in our midst. Over the past few weeks, we noticed Knox getting gradually more dramatic. If he doesn’t get his way, he will collapse into a heap on the floor to cry. Now, we’ve reached the point of full-fledged “GIVE ME WHAT I WANT RIGHT NOW” hysteria. Not that it works for him. If he decides to throw a hissy fit, we just ignore it until he’s finished. With no reaction, he generally stops in about thirty seconds, so at least he is starting grasp the fact that temper tantrums will get him nowhere fast, but I tell you, this is a trying phase!

It doesn’t help matters that this incredibly slow teether is finally getting his molars… all at the same time. He had four teeth break through his gums in the past week, so I know his little mouth is sore, too.

He pitched the mother of all fits this weekend. We had gone to a local restaurant for a family Christmas get-together, and they happened to have a big fountain outside. Knox was in love with this fountain. We watched it for a good 20 minutes while he squealed with delight every time the jets shot up higher in the air. After we ate, it was quite obvious that Knox wanted to watch this water show again, but we had to leave, so the fountain was passed up for the car. To say he freaked out is the understatement of all time. I couldn’t get the kid in the car! He was arching his back, writhing around and crying hysterically. It took Trevor and I both to buckle him into his car seat. He fell asleep approximately 1 minute after that, so obviously exhaustion played a part, but I tell you, these fits are rough!

In front of his beloved fountain:

Yeah, baby, shoot that water!

Despite his grouchy demeanor as of late, he can still be the sweetest little man ever when he wants to be. His new favorite thing to do is play in a big bowl of dried beans. It’s kind of an indoor sandbox with much bigger sand that’s a LOT easier to clean up if they dump it all on the floor (which they will do). We give him a few different measuring cups and spoons and let him play while we supervise… because apparently lima beans look like candy to him. The other night, he and Trevor were playing with the beans, and he kept putting his face into the bowl! It was so funny, but we still have no idea why he was doing that, other than to make us laugh.

By far the funniest thing he has done this week was this weekend. Trevor went to go take a shower, and Knox was NOT pleased that he shut the door to the bathroom. So, he stood there and jiggled the door knob for about a minute until he managed to open the door. Then, he ran to the shower, pulled back the shower curtain and INSISTED that Trevor wear his toy orange hard hat. It was a riot! Knox was leaning over the edge, jabbering, holding up this hat to him, and when Trevor finally succumbed to his request and put the hat on, Knox was thrilled!! Apparently, the shower can be a dangerous place and you need to wear head protection when you’re in there!

A G-rated picture of this event:

He never fails to keep life interesting!!

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22 Weeks and My Preschool Boy

by Jessica on November 3, 2011

How far along? 22 weeks and 5 days
Total weight gain/loss: Around 20 pounds. For real. I feel gigantic, but my doctor is happy with my weight gain so far.
Maternity clothes? Yep. So excited to be breaking out the comfy maternity leggings and boots!
Sleep: Really nice. My back hurts all the time, though, so I had to give in and start making myself the infamous pillow recliner so I can lay on an incline in bed. Feels so nice!
Best moment this week: Seeing Brody move… I can’t believe how strong he is already!
Movement: Yes! My favorite part of pregnancy is feeling him move around. Trevor commented last night that it feels like he remembers it did with Knox, like a little ball rolling around under my skin.
Food cravings: Fruit popsicles. Oh my gosh, I cannot get enough of these “Power of Fruit” frozen bars made from whole fruit. It’s like a flavor-ice popsicle for grown-ups. AND they only have 28 calories and .12 grams of fat. Yeah. That’s a lot better than the brownies I had to eat daily when I was pregnant with Knox!

If you see these at the store, buy them, please. I like the original flavor best. Also, I am loving chocolate milk and Laffy Taffy.
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: No thank you. I can tell the shots make a difference- I will be starting to get more Braxton-Hicks towards the end of the week when it’s time for my shot.
Belly Button in or out? Out. All the way out. Ick.
What I miss: Being able to twist and crack my back. When my back didn’t feel like it was breaking in two all the time. I think it’s from lifting Knox and bending weird to compensate for the belly and him.
What I am looking forward to: Getting the nursery painted so we can start setting things up. We have the crib, but it’s still all wrapped up, and the glider is coming in this weekend.
Weekly Wisdom: Tell your husband you love him a lot because you are very hormonal and kind of mean.
Milestones: Seeing Brody’s movement and watching my whole belly move around.

Knox also had a great first day of preschool yesterday! He was in the best mood all day. Trevor loved getting to spend the day with him, too, so I think this is the start of a very good thing! Trevor said he would just melt because Knox would be sitting on the window seat in the playroom looking outside, and when Trevor would come up next to him, Knox would put his arm around him and smile at him. How sweet is that?! That boy adores his Daddy!

Now that he’s a preschooler, I went ahead and ordered Knox a toddler-sized backpack. I’ve been wanting to get rid of the diaper bag for a while now since we don’t need all that space anymore, so I figured this was a good time. I bought this one from Pottery Barn Kids (on sale!) and had his name embroidered on it:

I just love it! And it’s very appropriate considering his deep love for anything with wheels. Hopefully he has another great day today, and at least I didn’t cry today!