Silent Night... maybe...

Today we bought Molly her big girl bed. It's still a toddler bed, but it seems huge with her laying in it. We took her to Ikea and let her climb around on various beds to see what she liked. She didn't really care which bed we got, she just loved climbing in them and laying under the covers. It was so cute! We found one that we all loved and it was even 40% off! Score!

When we got home, Jason and I got straight to work on taking down the crib and putting up the new bed. As soon as it was done, we brought Molly up to see. She loved climbing up and down on it and laying in it (as you can see in the photo's).

Next came bedtime. We did our usual story time, singing, prayers, and hugs and kisses. Unfortunately, this was followed with clinging and crying. She wanted nothing to do with the new bed. So I turned off her light, turned on the noise maker......... and put her in bed. She screamed and cried for a little bit, but I was still nice. I rubbed her back and sang for a bit and (since she hadn't had a nap that day) she fell asleep quickly.

Then, it came time to leave the room. Normally, we leave the hall light on for a little while for Jackson to fall asleep. Unfortunately, as I left the room, the light cast right onto Molly's face and woke her. I quickly turned the light off and returned to settle Molly one more time. We shall see what the night brings.

Sunglasses in December

Both of my kids absolutely hate to have the sun in their eyes. The minivan has sunshades, but sometimes that just doesn't suffice. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I decided to get them sunglasses. They each got to pick out their own. Molly picked an adorable pair with yellow daisies all over them. Jackson selected a pair of Spiderman glasses. To my amazement, they both wore them for the entire ride home. Soon the sun was right in their eyes but, thanks to their sunglasses, not a complaint was to be had. It was wonderful!

We seemed to have a little bit of springtime in December as well. (I like to think of it as God giving me a mini vacation from the tortures of small children with cabin fever.) So we spent an afternoon playing outside and truly putting our sunglasses to the test. Both kids rode their bikes, ran around, and slid down slides.

I'll miss you, sunshine. But we're prepared for your return.

Christmas Plaid

We seem to be developing a tradition of plaid in Jason's family. We often teased Jason's dad for all the plaid he and Jason's grandpa seem to wear. (I've asked Jason when he'll join in.) A couple Christmas's ago, Papa McGinthy bought Jackson his first plaid flannel shirt. The two of them looked adorable together! The following Christmas, both Jason and I received wonderfully warm plaid flannel shirts.

For this reason, I was thrilled when Baby Gap came out with a new line of plaid clothes. Included in this was an adorable dress! And so, in honor of family, I had to get the dress. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be quite that easy. First, I went into our nearest Baby Gap only to discover they were out of the dress. They checked near by stores and all were sold out. I was told that the online store had over 100 of them, so I went home to order it. Not being able to find it online, I decided to call the phone order line and was soon told that they were completely sold out. The wonderful woman on the phone informed me that, if I found it at any other Baby Gap store, I could have it shipped to me. I did just that!!! Three days later, I had this adorable dress!!!

Cooking Fun

I realize that there are zero November posts. We've been busy having fun!

Recently, Jackson and I had our first cooking adventure together. We

made pizza! Yeah, I know there isn't much to it, but Jackson loved it! If you asked him, he would say that HE made

the pizza and "Mommy helped." It was a very yummy dinner. One of our next tasks will be making cookies for Santa!

Jackson now asks if he can help me make dinner every night!

Jackson has also turned into quite the helper in other ways. He's newest "chore" is helping Mommy move the laundry from the washer to the dryer. I'm not sure what exactly he sees in it, but he seems to think it is hilarious! I just get a kic

k out of listening to him laugh every time he throws laundry in the dryer. And it sure helps in getting some laundry done. Now, if only he could hang up his own clothes.

To recap November, since I didn't post anything, it was a very, very busy month. The first weekend of November, my mother come up and then drove with me and the kids to Madison, and then on to Milwaukee for a wedding. We got home Monday and then left, again, Thursday to go over to Jason's dad's for yet another wedding. Again, we got home Monday and the following weekend, we had a birthday party for Jackson! Some how, twenty-seven people (twelve of which were children) fit in my home. To this day, I don't have any idea where everyone fit. (None the less, it was a very successful party and thank you to everyone who came to celebrate Jackson's 3rd birthday!)

Next came Thanksgiving! After all of our earlier travel, we chose to stay here for Thanksgiving. We went over to a friends house and had a wonderful, almost quiet, dinner. Nothing is ever really quiet with Jackson around. :)

The next thing I knew, it was December and I had not blogged for the entire month of November. I will try to do better, but I'm not making any promises! :)