New Looks for the New Year

Happy New Year!!

Happy Holidays!

Disney for Christmas

On the way to the airport for our 6:30 am flight. The kids were beyond excited for this vacation. Spencer had been counting down the months for the past year.


































On the sixth day of trip. Everyone hit a wall this day at MGM. The babies had it made in the stroller.



















Preston enjoyed himself all week. Some nights he melted down but he always woke up ready for more.





































King Louie was our first encounter with a Disney character. Spencer ran straight to him and hugged him. Jack was interested but didn't want to touch him. Spencer wished the characters could talk to him. He is convinced that he didn't meet the "real" Mickey at Disney World bc the real Mickey would have talked to him.






















Spencer has trouble falling asleep at home, so we expected this trip to be difficult at naptimes. Several days he didn't get a nap. Sometimes the grandparents took the babies back to the hotel for naps and Jeremy and I would stay at parks with Spencer so he could do and see more. And four nights we closed the parks with Spencer so he was a tired boy by day five. Thus at the end of day five--he crashed, on the bus ride back to hotel.

















Aidyn was terrified of all characters. But by the end of the week she became more playful around them, actually chasing some of them. She still didn't want them to touch her but she would allow them to be nearby.
























Thanks Ann for convincing us to attend the character meals. The food was good and the kids enjoyed the characters coming to our tables. We had several great meals. Our favorites were the Biergarten in Germany bc the kids got to dance and participate with the German band; and the best buffet was at the Beach Club Resort.
















































































































































Our last morning at hotel. Kids were sad bc we were packing to leave. Fortunately their grandma is an early childhood specialist and she made the tears dry with her songs.



We had a wonderful week at Disney World. The crowds were few. Many times we were able to walk directly onto our favorite rides, especially during the Extra Magic hours and the Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom. We are all spoiled now and will be booking future trips for the same time of year. The Christmas decorations were beautiful. Mary Alice captured many of the decorations. To view her great shots and read her detailed take on our week, please visit her blog
And Chet, Dusty, Mary Joyce, and Katherine were able to join us one evening for dinner. To see Dusty's pics of the kids together, please visit her blog

Disney

To all who have emailed or left messages, the trip was wonderful. I will say more about it when I get my pictures together. Jeremy is out of town for five days of seven and he has the camera attachments for our computer so it may be awhile yet. Plus I only took about 20 pictures from the seven days of Disney bc my FIL and SIL took like 2000 and so I'm waiting to get some of their best pictures to compile them in order.

But for now I can say, we are all (kids included) trying to figure a way to make it back to Disney for another Christmas trip next year. It was the most fun we've had in years. Spencer's preschool teachers said he couldn't stop talking about the trip this week--telling everyone his favorite ride was Pirates.

Why the fingers?

dean and spence, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Why do little kids do this? I did it too so I can't complain too much. Any time Spence doesn't like that lots of adults are looking at him, he sticks a finger in his mouth. Dean's mama captured this great looking duo.

First Thanksgiving

First Thanksgiving, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Happy Turkey Day!!! I'm wearing my sister's hat, bc she doesn't like it. I sure wish I could eat. I watched everyone at the table as they gobbled up their ham, rolls, broccoli, potatoes, mac and cheese, and pumpkin pie. I watched them raise their spoons to their lips and i cried bc i wanted some good food too. Daddy gave me my binky and that helped feel me better.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Thanksgiving Dinner at Spencer's school

See what Spence is thankful for.

See what Spence is thankful for., originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Notice what Spencer is thankful for--look on his placemat.

Spencer's cookies

Spencer's cookies, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Spencer loves to bake. We made pumpkin cookies to give to his friends for Thanksgiving. I did the icing, but he did the measuring, mixing, and cookie-cutting. He was SO excited about these cookies. He told everyone at school that he made cookies for them and he could barely enjoy the party because he was so ready for dessert.

Friends

Friends, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Dean came to play this week. This is Spencer's best friend from school and his first male friend that is his age and unrelated. Here they were playing their version of keep away from the gators that live near Spencer's bunkbeds. And i'm giving up on editing photos on my imac. So frustrating. I make the edits and they never transfer to flickr or blogger. So sorry that they have red eyes and aren't cropped. But aren't they cute??

Vote for Shelby

If you wanna help our friend Shelby win a contest and get to be on the cover of an Atlanta magazine, please go to this website: http://www.atlantakidsdirectory.com/index.cfm/event/photovote and vote for #7. She is in second place now. She is a sweet, sweet little girl, who wants to marry Spencer. And we would love to see her sweet face on the magazine. If you do go vote, after you vote a window will pop up asking you to enter info to receive the magazine--you do not need to fill this info page out in order for your vote to count. Thanks!

Aidyn girl

Aidyn girl, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

yep, i know . . . the hair. we even cut some wispies to try to end this look but Aidyn's hair wants to fall forward. and the girl cannot be tied down by pretty bows. trust me, she had one on her that matched that pretty green and she took it out and stomped on it. oh well. daddy will be pleased if she ends up a tomboy.

Aidyn smiles

Aidyn smiles, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Thanks Aunt May May for taking and sending so many beautiful pictures of our family. I need to hand the website passwords over to you so you can takeover bc your photos are beautiful.

Big Brother

Spencer has been a great help to me lately while we have all been sick. Some examples from this week while Jeremy has been away from home:

Monday we had a "take cover" tornado warning and Spence helped build our pillow tent in the bathroom and helped me keep the babies calm by singing songs to them. He was so brave the entire time we were in "hiding" as he called it.

And last night we needed to make a quick run to the library so I put Preston down while he was upset. I loaded the van and gathered the kids. it took me at least twenty minutes. during this time Preston stopped crying. i came back through the den to discover the screaming Preston had been silenced and put to sleep by his big brother. I grabbed the camera before spencer knew that I had seen them. Spencer had found a binky and used it to soothe Preston to sleep. He was still holding the binky to Preston's mouth just to keep him asleep--like he was holding his finger in the dike.

preston 4 months

preston 4 months, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Preston is a happy, funny baby. He is laughing now, especially when Daddy plays with him. He ate rice cereal for the first time Sunday and he loved it. We are so proud bc Spence wouldn't take it for the first month of trying. We are hoping the cereal will help to spread out the feedings. He weighed 14 lbs 6 oz at his four month appointment.

He loves "riding" in his jumper/swing that my dad affixed to our great room ceiling beam. (of course we have to keep close eyes on his siblings bc they like to push him a bit too high). He also moved to his own room Sunday and he slept through the night in his crib, only waking once to eat. So this week has had some major changes for the four monther.

Wish we didn't have to cancel our Arkansas trip for this weekend bc we are ready for MMKN to meet the little guy. Christmas will be here soon and we promise you guys can hold him first.

Preschool party

miss stephany, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Spence was the first one to arrive to class on Halloween. Mrs. Stephany was in the office and he didn't recognize her. (she was wearing a huge blonde wig that she isn't wearing in this photo) He was a bit scared to go to class with this strange teacher. He really likes Stephany and the boys in his class. Again this year he is the youngest of eight.

Three year olds.

We made fridge magnets with kids' photos on them. They loved decorating their pumpkins.

Jeremy and I were in charge of crafts and were the helpers for Spencer's preschool party. Next time we should get a sitter for Aidyn and Preston bc it was too much of a zoo having them with us and entertaining 8 three year olds. The kids enjoyed themselves and were really wound up for Halloween.

Preston's first Halloween

five halloween, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Trunk-or-Treating with Phillip, Mary Alice, and Jack. Preston is Big Al--his dad's arm is obscuring his Bama jersey.

Trunk-or-treating is Huge in Nashville. All of the churches do this here and it is open to public; whereas in Atlanta our church did one with a fall festival but neighborhood carnivals were more popular. So this was our first experience of hundreds of trunk-or-treaters coming by our vehicle for treats. Jeremy tossed out mini footballs along with our candy so it didn't take long for us to run out of treats. As he blared the fight song from his truck, he made kids say "Roll Tide" instead of "trick-or-treat"--isn't he messed up??

Trick-or-treating

Aidyn is a dragon courtesy of Mrs. Juanita, just hard to tell from this angle. And Spence was the Knight trying to slay her. (sorry angela, that pink dragon costume you bought for her two years ago may not fit for another two years) The kids had fun trolling the neighborhood for treats while Lindsay and her Belmont friends passed out candy and cooked supper at our house. We have really enjoyed getting to see Lindsay so much, and are happy that she isn't any more embarrased to be seen with us now than she was in 7th grade. So Valarie, Matt and Sam, wanna choose a TN college too? and note, They asked to play Apples to Apples.

Sick

We have been sick for the past several weeks. Several of you have emailed to check on us bc you noticed the lack of postings here. Thanks for checking on us and praying for us. I'm the only one still dragging, so hopefully we will have a good week and i can rejoin the blogging world. But for now i will tell you a funny line from Spencer. Tonight we watched the making of Disney World on Travel channel and Spence saw the Tower of Terror ride and said he wants to go on it. (we are going there after thanksgiving and he is Really excited about it. he has learned his months as he has been counting down for over a year.) We told him that he will not be big enough to ride this ride bc the seats are made for bigger people. as the ride was highlighted on tv, Spence told us that we can take his car seat and buckle it into the Tower of Terror seat and then he will be safe enough to ride the ride. hmmmmm . . . . what fun we will have.

Friends

My oldest babies are becoming good friends. These pics remind me of Callie and Spence playing in this sandbox when they were one. Lots of good times spent building roads ands and caves. Now that the weather has finally cooled, Aidyn and Spencer spend their afternoons playing outside.

They are both enjoying school. Aidyn's personality has come alive since she has been going to mother's day out. She likes playing with other kids and gets excited when she sees her building. Her artwork seems pretty forced. Her teachers say she is too busy playing to stop and do crafts. Sounds like art time at home too. She is weighing in at 18 1/2 pounds at 21 months, but her small size doesn't deter her from taking on bigger kids. She is a spitfire.

Spencer likes his school much better than last year. He actually talks about the other kids and all of the fun they have. Last year he never mentioned his teachers or other students so we are glad that he has become more social and wants to go to preschool. His teacher says he loves storytime the best but has yet to take a nap during rest time. No surprises with either of those.

My three boys

FW: IMG00010.jpg, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

hmmmm. . . no wonder we get so many comments when we are out and about, they do look alike, don't they??

Preston's first Football game

FW: 1, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

How sad that all of our kids' "firsts" sporting events have been to see college or pro teams when we (J and M) hadn't even been to pro football until we became adults. when they are old enough to remember all these games we will likely live somewhere without a good team. oh well, they will enjoy the perks as long as we can.

cheerleaders :)

cheerleaders :), originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

Do they know any fight songs?

Who to cheer?

FW: IMG00009.jpg, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

We left from church, so Spencer changed into his jersey once we got to the game. Here you can see he hasn't chosen a jersey yet bc we took both Warrick Dunn and Vince Young. After several minutes of debate, Spencer chose the Titans jersey over the Falcons one. And he chose wisely, bc the Titans won.

Preston turns 3 months

PA050013, originally uploaded by asjdkgl.

I was frying supper and looked over to see Preston looking at this comic book. I think the black and white print held his attention. And i ran for the camera when he started turning the pages.







Weighing in at 14 pounds, Preston is huge to us. He started rolling over sometime in the last two weeks but we still haven't seen him in action. We just look down and find him on his back after we have placed him on his tummy. He loves to talk and coo with us and enjoys interacting with his siblings.