Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful Christmas this past year, despite the nasty respiratory illness than ran through our house! Jackson had a very mild case of pneumonia and Rhett had a respiratory infection a week before Christmas. This is after I had Bronchitis that lingered for almost 4 weeks! Justin made fun of me for having the "black lung", but then he turned around and got the same thing after Christmas. Thankfully we were all relatively healthy for the Christmas Holidays!

We had a nice time visiting with family. Justin's mom came to visit a few weeks before Christmas, which was great! We started the festivities on Dec 23rd, and celebrated Christmas with my mom's side of the family, my dad's side of the family, and then we had our own little Christmas here with the boys on Christmas morning. Christmas Eve was a bit rough and was definitely NO silent night...ha! Rhett was on an antibiotic and with the hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve festivities, I did not give him yogurt to help his tummy tolerate the medicine. That night, he was up crying out in pain many times and I could tell it was his tummy. I felt horrible for the little guy. Needless to say, he was sort of a crank pot Christmas morning, but after some yogurt and a nap, he was back to happy! As for Jackson, he was in  hog heaven this year and it was SO exciting to watch him on Christmas morning. He really got into Christmas this year and both boys were totally spoiled. Santa went all out this year!

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas together and I really enjoyed making memories and traditions with our boys, as well as celebrating our first Christmas as a family of four! We went to the Festival of Lights at James Island County park (which just gets better every year). I LOVE taking the boys here, because I have been going since I was a little girl. We also had our special elf of the shelf "Chocolate Cake" who stayed with us in December. Jackson loved finding him every morning. We had so much fun baking Christmas cookies, decorating our Christmas tree, singing songs, watching Christmas movies (We all know Mickey's Christmas Carol by heart!), seeing the Christmas tree at Marion Square, and making Christmas crafts together. This year was also a particularly nice Christmas visiting with family!

As for New Years Eve, we stayed in and had a wild night of playing on the 3rd floor playroom, bath time for the boys, bedtime stories, and me and Justin were asleep by 11. Yee Ha! Of course I woke up at midnight from the LOUD fireworks in the neighborhood that lasted an hour (ugh!), but thankfully the boys stayed asleep.

2012 had some ups and downs and it is sad to think of staring 2013 without my sweet grandmother and both of Justin's amazing grandparents. Despite that,  I am so thankful for the many wonderful blessings that 2012 brought us. Most importantly, I am thankful a safe delivery of my sweet baby Rhett, and for the health and happiness of my beautiful boys, husband, and family. Here's to a wonderful 2013!

Here are some photos from Christmas 2012:

 Meeting and falling in love with Emerson!

Super Jackson

Jackson's teachers took this photo of his "castle" that he built at preschool today. They were amazed that a 3 year old built this, and they pulled Justin aside this week to tell him that Jackson is really advanced and pretty much already at a kindergarten level. His primary teacher is a retired elementary school teacher and she said that he will most likely be pretty bored in kindergarten. We are noticing more and more that he has a crazy good memory. I know, I know-everyone thinks their kid is a genius, right? :) But the fact that his teachers are always pulling us aside to tell us that he surprises them all of the time with his memory and comprehension is pretty special. What can I say, I am a proud mommy (of both my babies!)

And for good measure, here's one of our "super hero" himself (notice the cape!) last night!

Rhett-8 months old!

He actually turns 9 months old tomorrow (posting late again!), but to go back in time a little, at 8 months old:

-Rhett is finally sleeping better for the most part! He still wakes up to nurse twice throughout the night, but I am finally getting better sleep. Thank goodness. Of course, when he is teething or sick I am up much more often, but I do cherish the good sleep that I get during the time in between.

-He has 4 teeth! Two on the top and two on the bottom. They are just so cute and it has really changed his look when he smiles.

-He started crawling right at 7 1/2 months old and he is a fast and determined little guy. He also started pulling up to standing right at the same time and he is so proud of his new achievements!

-He is starting to show some signs of shyness. He gets bashful at times and will bury into my shoulders or cover up his face if he is feeling shy. He is still my little people watcher, though.

-Rhett seems to be gravitating toward Winnie the Pooh and loves to sing and "talk" to our stuffed Pooh animal. He whole face lights up when he sees Pooh (that sounds funny!) . We are thinking we might do a Winnie the Pooh themed party for his first bday if he continues to seem to favor him.

-He does not want me out of his line of sight. He gets upset if I walk away and he can't see me. He is very much in a "Mommy" phase and has begun reaching for me and grabbing my pants when I walk by. He knows who his daddy is, though, and really enjoys napping in Justin's arms. Me and Justin still agree that his favorite person in the family is still Jackson. I swear Rhett just lights up when he sees his brother and laughs at practically everything Jackson does or says.

-He is still very strong willed, but he seems to be mellowing out a bit and his personality is coming out more and more. He is smiling more and seems more amused lately. I wonder if it has to do with his new found independence due to crawling/pulling up on things.

-He LOVES playing in our playroom. The problem is that he wants all of big brothers toys, so we have had some sharing issues and we have to watch Rhett like a hawk to make sure that he doesn't get any small pieces. We tried making a special place with age appropriate toys for Rhett, but he wants to crawl all over and explore everything.

-He is making lots of sounds with "g" and "b", such as "buh" and "goo". He has also been "talking" to his stuffed animals which includes squealing and singing in a high pitched voice.

-We are going to start including meat baby foods in his diet soon, as well as some finger foods. We have given him small banana pieces and Mum Mum pieces, but he gagged on them, so we will wait a little bit longer to introduce them...maybe at 9 months. He continues to eat well and likes most foods so far. I am trying to give him a sippy cup with water in it, but he is not really interested in it yet, other than to chew on it :)

I estimate that he weights about 22 lbs and growing every day! His hair has been coming in more and more and his eyes are still turning green. We have our suspicions that he might be left handed, but it is still too early to say for sure.

I looked back at the blog when Jackson was 8 months old, and Rhett is hitting his milestones almost exactly when Jackson did, which is comforting. Also, their first 4 teeth came in at exactly the same time, although opposite. Time is just flying and it seems like I blinked and 8 months went by. I love spending all my days and nights with these precious boys!