This Warm December...

Well, things are still a bit rocky on the wellness front, because Jack has brought home another great and more complicated illness from daycare, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Imagine giving a 7 month old child a dosage of medicine through a nebulizer. Now, imagine doing that to a 7 month old screaming bloody murder. Make sense?

We keep telling ourselves that we made the right decision by putting him in daycare, because he's going to have one heck of an immune system one day! We just didn't know he would be at the doctor's office every other week. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas! As you can see, Jack's excited, really excited!

December 6th, 2008: First stop, Santa! Heck yeah, let's start this month off right! Let's put Jack and the big guy toe-to-toe to discuss Christmas gifts. Jack had a long list of things made by Fisher-Price and Leap Frog to share with the man in red. Jack thinks that Santa's a big NC State fan. Why else would his suit be that color, right? Our neighbors invited us to their church for "Breakfast with Santa." A chance to meet Santa and eat some delicious pancakes. As you can tell, Jack thought that this dude was pretty cool and will be even cooler depending on how December 25th shakes out!

"OK Santa, here's the deal!"

December 8th, 2008: The Card! So, when Mommy shared with Daddy what she wanted to do for this year's Christmas Card he chuckled and shook in fear. No matter how experienced he was at taking a few pictures there was no way this would ever happen, ever! However, Santa & Papa Roger must have been keeping a close eye on this shoot, because it happened and it happened fast. Seriously, 10-15 minutes tops, including getting dressed, posing and that was it!

Daddy was amazed and in shock. Snoop thought he was relieved of card duty this year, but we sucked him back in one more time and he rocked it. As for Jack, mad props to the little guy for not making this a nightmare. Many of you have received the card by now, so we thought you would enjoy the out-takes!

So, here you go......and yes, this is the actual course of events!

"Jack, you sit here." -Mommy

"Ha, this is kind of fun. Can you see my belly?"

"Ha, ha, you can see my belly!"

"Get outta here! I can't eat these cookies?"

"Ha, ha, ha, that doggy has on pajamas too!"

"Snoop, do you think they'll notice if I grab a cookie?"

"Almost there.....Gotcha!"

"Yummy! Yummy! Yummy!
Does this mean no more smashed peas and carrots?"

"Cookie Monster, eat your heart out!"

And, the final product.....
Happy Holidays!

We'll update you on Christmas in a few weeks!

November Rain...

No, this will not be a review of the new Guns N' Roses album, Chinese Democracy. However, after 15 years of waiting for that album we're so greatly disappointed! This is another recap of an entire month, even though you probably just read about the first half of December. As always, we'll start at the beginning! The month started off pretty rocky after Jack's big costume victory back in October and hasn't really let up. We pretty sure that Jack will have a room named after him at the pediatricians office when 2008's over!

November 7th, 2008: Arghhhhh, I'm a pirate! We woke up to Jack pretending to be Captain Jack Sparrow, but Halloween was long gone. Come to find out he had conjunctivitis in his left eye. It didn't really seem to bother him in spirit, but it really cut down on him checking things out on the left hand side of his body. Easily treated, but highly contagious. Can you guess who was lucky enough to experience this same beauty? Yep, Daddy, but it was a few days later.

[Enter Sigh Here. He's going for sympathy.]

November 8th, 2008: The big race. Many of you probably received my email about our participation in a 5k Race for Lung Cancer. OK, ok, you can stop laughing, because we all finished and lived to tell about it. That's right, chalk up another first for Jack! What started out as a cold rainy morning turned into a sunny semi-warm race day. We had a great time for a great cause. As you can tell, Jack was bundled up for the cold, fought through the rain, and really liked his trip around NC State's Centennial Campus courtesy of Mommy.

Seriously? Really? You know it's raining, right?!?

November 15th, 2008: Play date with Thomas. Daddy and the boys had a guys weekend planned in Charlotte to checkout a Carolina Panther's game and who only knows what else. While the boys headed to Charlotte, Patsy watched Thomas and Jack for a few hours. By looking at the pictures I'd say they had a good time.

You gotta problem with us?

November 22nd, 2008: Go Pack! Jack was excited that his NC State WolfPack crushed those little Smurfs he saw on TV! Final Score: Pack 41 - Tarheels 10. Uncle Jeff & Daddy had a great time at the game!

November 27th, 2008: Thanksgiving. Another trip? Really? Jack really doesn't understand why Mommy & Daddy want to go, go, go, so much! Thank God he's like his father and likes to sleep in the car for hours on end, because it was time to head to Fayetteville for Thanksgiving with Brad's family. AKA, Jack being man-handled by his relatives. We decided to stay overnight to be able to take in Thanksgiving, play some games, drink adult beverages, and allow Daddy to indoor skydive on Friday. All-in-all the trip was a success. Jack was a big hit with the relatives who only get to see him every now and then, and he got to spend Thanksgiving with his Great Grandma Snipes.

Brad's Grandma Snipes & Jack

November 28th, 2008: Indoor Skydiving! Brad & his family went for their 2nd flying experience at the indoor skydiving facility in Fayetteville. Out of his entire family only 4 were brave enough to fly, again. Brad swears it's one of the best feelings and he can't wait to jump out of a real plane. He was also asking the instructors how old someone had to be to participate. Somewhere between 2-3 years old is what he came up with. So, guess where Daddy wants to have Jack's 3rd Birthday? Check out Daddy and Jack scoping out the wind tunnel!

Daddy, where are her strings?

This is a good summary, but we forgot to mention the rest of Jack & Daddy's trips to the doctors, including a cold (Jack), dry skin (Jack), and Bronchitis (Daddy)! The winter's only begun!