Cruising on Christmas

Jacoby finally got a tooth in this week - just in time for Christmas! He put it to good work right away, eating ham, potatoes and green peas for Christmas Eve dinner. To work off the good meals we've had the last couple of days (not to mention loads of chocolate truffels, cougar cheese and filberts!) Robert and I harnessed up the trailer to his bike and took a tour of our neighborhood.
Now I love our neighborhood, but while we were out we noticed a couple of "funny" things...
First, there is a couple who regularly spray paints their grass green. I am not making this up.
Now you might think I am making this up, but I assure you I am not. There is a house a few streets down that has a pair of actual goal-posts in their front yard. Accompanying the goal-posts are no fewer than a dozen gator statues, lawn ornaments, and light installations. I'm sorry I do not have photos, I am working on it.

Merry Christmas!

This was was our first Christmas at our own home and it has been wonderful. We all stayed up late Christmas Eve watching movies and then woke up this morning to open stockings. By far the biggest hit was the red Radio Flyer wagon Grandma and Grandpa got Jacoby for Christmas!
He pushed it back and forth across the living room until he nearly knocked over the tree.
I mean he really got going fast!
The only way he knows how to stop is to ram it into something.
He finally settled down long enough to open a few presents.
Keeping his wagon close by to carry his presents in.
It's been a busy morning. We ate a some 'lil smokies for breakfast and then headed out to Aunt Lulu's for a family brunch. It was so much fun to see cousin Kip and of course baby Cory. Jacoby fell asleep in the car on the way home and is now napping in his room. We still have a few gifts under the tree for him to unwrap, but the little guy is wiped! Hope to still fit in a bike ride this afternoon - Santa brought Robert a bike and a trailer for Jacoby.

Little Drummer Boy

Whew! Finally on winter break from school - looking forward to a little "R&R" over the next two weeks...starting with finally sorting through all of Jacoby's clothes and picking out the things that don't fit him any more and putting them in storage. While Robert and I looked through the clothes (was he ever really that small?!?) Coby entertained us with his drum (thanks again Uncle Mo).
Come they told me, pa rum pa pum pum pum...
A new born King to see, pa rum pa pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum

To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum
Last week Jacoby and I did the obligatory trip to see Santa. I had visions of sugarplums dancing in my head and was ready to take the "perfect" picture of my "angel" sitting on Santa's lap. All Jacoby saw was a big fat guy with a cookie problem.
Clearly he wasn't Jacoby's kind of guy...
So he pulled an escape move...
Hope this doesn't leave him without wagons or trains for Christmas. The only way he would even get close to Santa was after our friend Shellayna lured him closer with her cell phone.
Sorry Santa...maybe next year.

Oh Christmas Tree

This weekend we finally went out and got our Christmas tree. When we were looking at houses last spring, I gave them all what our realtor Colleen and I called the "Christmas Tree Test." If I could imagine us putting up a Christmas tree in it, it was a keeper. Obviously our home passed the test and it was a wonderful feeling to be able to finally put it up.

First Robert and Coby put the tree in the stand and made sure it was standing up straight.
Then we got the lights out of the garage. Coby helped us make sure they were untangled.
After the lights were on we started putting the ornaments on the branches - my absolute favorite thing about Christmas is decorating the tree.
Coby's favorite ornament is the OSU Beaver stocking. We hung it on the low branches so he can check in on it during the day. :o) Coby's counting down the days 'till Christmas on his advent calendar. We open up one window every morning before I go to work.
This week we're going to visit Santa at the mall and I have the 5th grade Holiday Program. Only one more week of school and then two weeks of Winter Break - and boy could we all use it!

Getting down on the farm!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas this week in Florida! We've had our heat on all week and have to bundle up when we go outdoors. Coby and I went to Morningside Nature Center this weekend to feed the barnyard animals.

He loved seeing the animals - especially the Jersey cow! She doesn't have any front teeth (kinda like Coby!) so there's no way for her to nibble little fingers. Instead she sticks out her tongue and and licks the hay out of your hand. Coby gave it a try but acted a little grossed out.
They also have chickens...
...and sheep.
The sheep were definitely our favorite. Coby even put the corn in his hand and reached through the slats in the fence to feed the sheep. They were greedy little buggers!
Feeding the animals kinda put both of us in the mood for a little snack of our own so we headed back to the car. A puffed rice cake for Coby and a 7-layer cookie for me. He doesn't know what he's missing yet, so he was perfectly happy with the rice cake :o)

Putting up the lights...

The ONE place I went on "Black Friday" was Target, where I got a 67 foot long string of LED lights for a STEAL! Robert finally got a chance to start putting them up on the house this afternoon.
While Coby was napping we were able to get the lights up around the front of the house.
Coby woke up just in time to watch us plug in the Christmas lights!
Aren't they beautiful? We're the first house on our block to have lights up, although lots of other homes in the neighborhood have decorations. In fact, we got tips from a family a few streets over on how to hang the lights off the gutter. This is their first Christmas in their house too and they have a 2 year old. Maybe a future doubles partner for Jacoby? :o) It's nice to finally be meeting some of the neighbors now that it's cool enough to go walking outside more often.

First Thanksgiving AKA: Thank you for having us over Aunt Lulu

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving! We certainly have a lot to be thankful for...our beautiful baby, the new house, jobs we love and a happy and healthy family.
We're also incredibly thankful to our Aunt Lulu for inviting us over for Thanksgiving at her house this year! Jacoby enjoyed turkey, LOTS of mashed potatoes, cranberry jelly, and a taste of gravy. Yum Yum!
Also at Thanksgiving dinner was our new cousin Cory. He and his crazy daddy Chuck are always fun to pal around with!

Great-Grandma Malcolm was thankful that her two littlest great-grandchildren live so nearby.
And Robert is thankful that he had another day off - tomorrow he's got work to do around the house. We've got to get lights up on the front of the house! Hopefully this little elf will be around to help him...

"Tearing it up"

Since Robert got to go to the Gators game last week, I jumped at the chance to see them play this week when my friend Melissa offered me her extra ticket. We had a great "Mommy's Day Out" at the Swamp - keeping an extra careful eye on #15.
The next day it was back to business as usual. We're still waiting for Jacoby to get his first tooth. Both of us thought for sure something would have popped through by now. EVERYTHING goes in the mouth and he loves frozen chew toys. Today he was just fussy for no good reason so we dusted off the Baby Bjorn (a lifesaver in the first few weeks after he was born) and went for a walk around the neighborhood.
Still no teeth when we got back. Oh well. It'll happen when it happens. He was, however, in a much better mood. We call his super-active periods "tearing it up." Mostly because that's exactly what he does. Check it out...

...and finally he takes a break for a long suck off the sippy cup (by the way, aren't those jammies cute? I got them at Weecycle).
Then, apparently reenergized, he climbed onto the fireplace and continued to "tear it up." The boy has absolutely no fear. Why do I think this might be trouble later on down the road?
Daddy couldn't stand watching Coby climb on the brick, so he didn't stay there long. In fact, five minutes later he was in his crib fast asleep. Let hear it for "tearing it up!"