Tribute to Jaxen...

I know he will kill me for this later...but I had too!!!!! Don't you just want to kiss his little cheeks!??!!? :)

"Clicky Shoes"

Kennedy is fortunate enough to be cousin #6 in the cousin line as far as females go...so we get the benefit of "the sacks" everytime we go home! (Thanks Mark!)
Last month when we went to Ohio...we were given 3 giant trashbags FULL of clothes. I passed some along - but the biggest hit were the 2 pairs of "clicky shoes". Kennedy wears them all around the house. It's also a DAILY fight to put on real shoes when we go somewhere!! She always wants to wear these silly shoes! :) I love that she is such a "girl". :)

New Friends

This week Jon was out of town THE WHOLE WEEK!!! It was my first time alone with the kids for this long...and lets just say I am POOPED!!! :)

It was a great week though...we had something every day of the week to keep us occupied! :)

Monday - We went took dinner to the Andersons, people we knew from West Virginia - who just had their 4th baby!! Kennedy and I spent all day cooking and then took dinner to them.

Tuesday - we went out for Chinese food (Kennedy and I love lo mein) - and then we went to Toys R Us for a good hour and a half! I got tons of ideas for Birthday and Christmas. IT was great fun!

Wednesday - We went to the park with my new friend Liz and her little boy Evan. It was great fun getting to know her better. Was a little crazy b/c I was watching 5 kids (long story) - but we all made it!

Thursday - we went for Coffee with my other new friend Tillie and her little boy, Jacob. KEnnedy and Jacob had SO MUCH FUN! There was a ton to do! Puzzles, chalk, books, balls - you name it! This coffee place was GREAT! HE is 4 - and I have never seen Kennedy play as well together with anyone as they did. He was so patient and kind to her and made her laugh the entire time....very unusual for a BOY! :) HE even asked his mommy if Kennedy could "sleep over"! ha!

Friday - we are home - and anxiously awaiting our missing link to our family! He will be flying in around 5pm...I'm counting the minutes! :)

Halloween

Well - this was our first Halloween in Charlotte. We were so excited b/c Kennedy can kind of "get it!"...but as with anything new for her - she freaked! :) She didn't want to wear her costume...so we had to bribe her with candy. I know its terrible - but I spent $10 on that costume - and she WAS going to wear it! ha!
Jaxen, on the other hand, was a great sport! He let us dress him and take a ton of pictures. He looked soooo cute! You could barely see his little face....but he just took it like a man. ;)

Our neighborhood had a little parade for the kids - so we walked down the the pool area and lined up. It was neat to see everyone's costumes. :) You should have seen some of the houses down there. They went ALL out. HUGE blowups everywhere - music, free pizza...good grief! We were excited to get home and get our new fire pit out and pass out candy to all the kids!
We got home - stripped the costumes off - set up the firepit - ate some home-made chicken veggie soup - and waited....and waited....and waited. :( PRetty soon - the kids got tuckered out - from handing out candy to 0....zero...yes 0 kids! Apparently they don't come down to our culdesac....so sad. We had been told to plan for 85-100 kids...needless to say - we have a lot of candy left...and we had chocolate this year! :) I HAVE to get it out of the house...today. :)

Milestones

Perhaps only a parent could TRULY appreciate this...but this morning when I went in to get Jaxen, he was staring up at me with his googly eyes and silly grin. Most of you that know me - know my kids sleep on their stomachs....what this means is that...HE ROLLED OVER!!! :)

He's also holding his bottle with 2 hands all by himself. It's so precious! These are the freeze frames I try to take w/ my camera in my head - things I want to be able to see clear as day when I'm 80.... :)

Pumpkin Carving Night!

We had a great time - and a great mess! I had looked up all these low-fat pumpkin recipes - b/c I wanted to try to make something - but they all said not to use field pumpkins! Oh well...we stuck with pumpkin seeds!

Ohio and Georgia

We had a HUGE week/end of traveling with 2 children! They did WONDERFULLY! Last minute - we decided to take a trip to Ohio to see Jon's side of our family. It had been awhile - and we are much further now! It took us 10 hours (with stops) on the way...and 11 (with a stop for dinner with friends) on the way back. I couldn't believe how great Kennedy did - Jaxen is easy...suuuch a good baby! She watched Backyardigans, Elmo, Wiggles and Little Eiensteins - picked out trees and cars and trucks and buses...and slept. :) While there - we were able to hang out w/ family and see cousins!


It was great! Jon's sister is getting ready to have twin boys...and man - she is ready to pop!! They aren't due until Dec. 20th - but I have a feeling they will be coming soon!!! :) We can't wait! This will be #15 and #16 of the cousins on that side!! Whew!! Also - Grandma Georgia and Lisa decided to buy Kennedy's 2 year b-day presents early... and sing...she didn't know what to think! :)


We got home Sunday night from Ohio and literally went straight to bed. Monday morning - we got up and re-packed and left for Atlanta. Jon had some work to do there...and one of my best friends lives there now. :) We were able to meet them for dinner - and then her and her husband kept my 2 kids and my new puppy! What a grrrreat friend Mandy is!!! :) I just KNEW she'd have a sleepless night...but all 3 of them slept and stayed asleep until about 7:30am. :) That next morning - Jon went to work and Mandy, the kids, and I - hit up IKEA. Oh my goodness. I forgot how much I looove that place! If you haven't been...make the drive. It's worth it! :) I was able to get some great decorations for our guest room - and some other ideas that Jon can probably make on his own!!! IT's the CHEAPEST place EVER...to get things. I can't even begin to describe...but it makes Walmart look pricey! :)

We are back - safe and sound - after a total of 30 hours on the road in 5 days...
Jon and I were talking about how much we'd LOVE to figure out how many hours Kennedy has been traveling since birth....it would be ridiculous...more to come on that...maybe...