M week

M is For

We made the manger out of a toilet paper roll and some moss off of the trees outside the apartment. I read the story about Jesus being born in a Manger out of the scriptures then Jack took over and told it back to me in his own words which was quite the story. Jesus was such a good baby and never ever cried.

 

A good opportunity to put him to work. So much fun doing something that starts with M! 

He lasted two minutes.

The things that Jack found around his room all by himself that started with M.

in Milk and of course chocolate.

How far we have come...

Yesterday was my anniversary of my bone marrow transplant. As posted yesterday by Jason, which was such a surprise that he did the post all by himself.  It was a day of reflection and really to a time to see how far I have truly come. Mom and Dad took me and the boys out for dinner and then Mom brought a cake over to our house. She put three candles on it and I was able to make a wish. I made the same wish that I made that day of the transplant and every year since. To be with my boys and to be able to watch Jackson grow up. That had to be the hardest part of the transplant was all the time spent away from Jack and missing out on being with him every doing the daily routines. I made it my goal to always cherish the days that I had with him and still to this day appreciate just doing the NORMAL things that a mother and child should do together.
Last night we watched some videos taken that Christmas while I was in the hospital three years ago. As I watched I was struck with great awe at how much Jack and I had both grown and changed. We have grown up and developed together. I love comparing pictures, they are a visual reminder of the progress made. I took the first picture of part of  the video playing to see the images of Jack and I three years ago.

Then this one was taken last night after blowing out the candles and making my wish.

There are many memories and things I remember about what was going on three years ago, most of them are not pleasant but the main impression that I get, that has me overwhelmed is the love of all of our family and friends. First of all to my own little family for Jason for being the rock and carrying us through my illness, who continues to make daily sacrifices to help me in my continued recovery, who has always been so patient and kind. To our parents and extended family and all the care that went in to taking care of Jason, Jack and myself. I would not have gotten here without all of your help. You all stepped in and helped which eased so many worries that I had so that I could just focus on getting better. To all dear friends who offered help and the many prayers and support.  It took a village to get us to where we are now and there is just not enough to be said and I am at a loss of words so all that I can say is Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

L Week

L is for 

Which give off great Light

Lamby was our guest. We wore Leis and had punch with Lemons and Limes.

Whit turns 3 today!!!!

Here is Whit with her brother Jake and his miraculous bone marrow stem cells right before the successful transplant on her NEW Birthday 3 years ago.
Happy Birthday Whit.

And thank you Jake for making it possible for Whitney to still be alive and here with Jackson and I.

Soccer Season

 One thing to get used to Winters in Florida means soccer season, which is December through February.
Jackson had his first soccer game today. It was absolutely hilarious. To see all the four and five year olds running and hovering around the balls and the meltdowns...oh the meltdowns! My cheeks hurt so bad from when it was over. This is a good thing for Jack to learn to work on a team. He had a bit of a hard time realizing that there were other people trying to take away the ball from him. There was some pouting and crying but it was the first game and around everyone's nap time so we will see what happens next week when it is earlier in the day. Oh this is just the beginning of all the Jackson's sports games we will go to.

They have practice for 25 min before the game. Jack is warming up he is number 5.

Jack got a little frustrated.Good thing Dad was there to talk to him and calm him down.

Talking to the coach at halftime.

 

 Here is a video to see him in action.

Holiday Spirit

Over the Thanksgiving break the boys and I went with Mom and Dad to check out the decorations at the hotels at the Disney resorts and Downtown Disney to get into the Holiday spirit.

We parked at Epcot and got around to all the hotels via the monorail, Jackson loves the monorail and a whole day filled just riding around was exciting for him.

  The Floridian.

I love this hotel because it has that old fashioned vibe and so beautiful.

In the lobby they had a real Gingerbread house. 

The ingredients to make this huge house and the amount of each.

Being all around that Gingerbread and smelling it we had to have a cookie. On the way to Orlando that morning we read about the gingerbread boy. Mom asked what part Jackson wanted to eat first he had the head then we each took an arm a leg and so on.

Shots of the hotel grounds

Then we went to the Contemporary hotel where they had a tree made of Gingerbread.

We ended the day at Downtown Disney. They had this tree right outside the toy store.

We even experienced some snow.

It's December the countdown to Christmas has begun, Jackson is very excited about this.

A Happy Birthday to Aunt Kate today! We love you!

K Week

K is for

 

 

It was a short week but we also packed in learning about kings,kittens,knights did ketchup art and spent a lot time in the kitchen getting ready for Thanksgiving.

Our four year old these days.

Jack is our little entertainer, he keeps us laughing and on our toes. Some things he has been up to lately.
We go to the playground a lot. We go during the day when most of the kids are in school so Jack has the whole playground to himself and he loves it. It is his own little tree house. We spend a lot of time there, usually when we leave Jackson has rosy red cheeks and begging for a Popsicle, which means it was a good time.

Jack loves to help Pepi in the yard. He gets his own shovel and helps in the dirt. He also gives great encouragement and compliments Pepi for being a good worker. He has always loved being in the yard/garden with both his Grandfathers.

Jack really gets into his movies. Last month it was all about Toy Story 3. He watched it every day and by the end of the movie all of his Toy story toys had joined him for the movie. When Jason and I are talking to each other Jack will interrupt and say it is his turn to talk and then he always says " Did you know that in Toy Story 3 Buzz speaks Spanish, it is so funny." He then asks Jason to speak in Spanish and he laughs his head off.

This weeks movie is Mater's Tall Tales. He gets so excited to watch it that as it is loading he starts to vibrate with excitement. All he can talk about are the different things Mater turns into. After he is done watching he will go into his room and act out all the things Mater does with all his cars. The sounds that come out of that room while he is playing is priceless.

He gets dressed all by himself which leads to some interesting clothing choices. Sometimes he will come to me and ask if the clothes he has chosen match, just like his father does. Today he had his jammies on backwards, both top and bottoms ( I guess I was really tired last night to miss that) and he woke me up this morning wearing the Santa hat. Oh and he gets too excited to sit on the sofa or chair to watch he has to be on the edge of the coffee table.

Jack loves to watch this you tube video. He likes when I turn it up loud so he can dance. Here is a video of one of his dances.

He loves his stuffed animals and calls them his friends. Jason gets home later with this new rotation so sometimes we eat without him. On this particular night Jack came in and told me that we had some guests for dinner. They all sat there through the whole meal and Jack made sure that I included them in the conversation.

I love being able to spend my days with him. He keeps me grounded and going going going. 

My favorite time of the day. Jackson fresh out of the bath and story time. If I am lucky he will cuddle for a little bit, but just for a little bit.

 Jack says the funniest things as all kids do. Some of the recent ones that I love and want to remember,

I had been sick and one night as Jason was tucking Jack into bed Jack mentioned that he wanted to grow up and be a Doctor so that he could help Mommy feel better.

One day while I was getting ready Jack came in and said "Mom you are a girl, I am a boy and Dad is a man." It made me laugh so hard because he put such an emphasis on Man and it was so random.

He is Mr. Chatter box when he is in the car. Usually talking my ear off about what he wants for Christmas, what he did with Gracie while in Indiana, what he wanted to play with when he gets home, what he thinks the name of the song on the radio should be called. One day we were all in the car and he said to me and Jason " When I get bigger I am going to drive you places." I told him that I was going to keep him to that. That on the day after Thanksgiving when he was four years old he promised that he would drive his parents places when he could drive.

His big thing is talking about what he is going to do when he is older. Which makes me really realize how fast he is growing up. I love his sweet little voice and all the time that we spend together and that he actually wants to play and spend time with me and try to cherish everyday I have with this little boy.

Our feast of Gratitude

We spent this year in Florida at Mom and Dad's house. There were a few more at the table this year than last year. Mom produced another wonderful meal and I got to help by preparing a few side dishes. I think I took mainly pictures of the beautful table because once it got down to eating that was my main focus.

Mom's new plates, napkins and napkin holders. Dad did the flower arrangements

They were incredible. Along with the different roses were carrots, leeks, radishes, beets and other leafy greens.

I tried my hand in making homemade rolls this year. They were so good. Jason being the roll lover had at least four during the meal. There really is nothing better than warm, right out of the oven rolls.

Jackson. This little guy was our entertainer. He was so excited to sing some songs from his primary program and also a turkey song we learned. He took a few bites than stated that he forgot to sing his song. We told him that we would do it after we all ate but that little guy would not eat anything till he performed. So Jack and I got up I played and he sung. After each song he took a bow. With the singing done then he could eat.

Jackson and Granddad. 

Jack disappeared during the meal. He had spent his 15 min with us and then he was off to play. Later I went to see what he was doing. This was the cute sight I found. He had coaxed Granddad away to play with the new cars and airplane that he had given him.

It was wonderful feast. What a year it has been and one big thing that was mentioned in our prayer of Thanksgiving given by dad was for all the new additions into the family this year. The addition of a new Brother, Nephew and Sister all who we love so dearly and are SO thankful for.