Chase Andrew

Chase is 22 months old. He is almost 2! He is such a joy. He makes Alan and I exchange glances and cover our mouths to prevent us from laughing and encouraging his naughty behavior very regularly. He is such a stubborn child. He says, "No!" and "Stop it, Mommy!" on a regular basis. He has his own agenda and is very adament about seeing it through. He has a glare that he will use on anyone who doesn't please him the way that he thinks they should. He will make himself go limp when you try to pick him, throw himself on the ground, and hit someone with out hesitation if they are annoying him.  

And then there is his sweet side. And what a sweet side it is. He is a little snuggle bug. Anytime he hurts himself (which is quite often since he's the clumsiest kid I've ever seen) he will point to wherever it hurts and say, "Ouch! Big hug?" and put those little arms out! Who could resist!? He will come up and just lay his head on my knee sometimes and say, "Aww!" He gives kisses by sticking his cheek up against mine and making a, "mwah!" sound. His precious laugh could melt the coldest of hearts. He blows kisses to complete strangers sometimes and they give him big smiles in return.

He is passionate about a few things. He is passionate about food. The only way we could get him to comply for family pictures was by feeding him while our poor friend was taking pictures. It resulted in a lot of pictures like the one above but at least they accurately depicted this period in our lives. He is also passionate about books. He loves to read and insists on reading many books every day. He'll read to himself. He'll ask us to read. The first thing he did when we got home last week after being gone for over a week was to crawl up into his chair in his room and read book after to book to himself.

He loves his big brother and wakes up every morning with a smile saying, "Hi Momma! Jack Jack? Daddy?" He wants to know where everyone is and to give them all hugs. He loves preschool and his teachers love him. They are frequently telling me how impressed they are by how many words he knows and how eloquently he speaks them. He has no problem at all expressing himself. I think Alan was hoping for one quiet introvert like himself, bless his heart. It just doesn't look like it's going to happen. ;-)

Chase makes me smile every day and I am enjoying my sweet baby so much. I'm looking forward to the next stage as well because it has been my experience so far that it only gets better, but for now, I'll cherish this moment and this day with my Baby Chase.

Jackson Ryan

My Jackson Ryan is 4 and 1/2 years old. One of my pet peeves is the moms who lament over their children growing up. Yes, at times it feels like it's going by very quickly. But good gosh, at other times it feels like the slowest process that ever took place. =) Jackson is a sweet boy. I enjoy him so much and love the conversations that we have. Sometimes I find myself missing the chubby toddler he was. I find myself wishing that he'd wrap those chubby arms around me once more and say in garbled speech, "I wuv you, Mommy." again. But instead, he wraps his arms that have begun to grow slender around me and says very articulately, "I love you more than anyone. Except Jesus. I love Him the most." We have the funniest conversations on a daily basis. He's constantly trying to understand the world and wants me to be the one who explains it all to him.

He still asks me for hugs. He still crawls into my lap and rests his head on my shoulder. He asks me to pick him up and carry him to bed sometimes. He asks me snuggle him at night and to read him stories. I know that those days are probably numbered so I'm trying to enjoy them while I can. He loves to run fast (faster than ANYONE- according to him). He enjoys preschool very much and constantly is telling me about his classmates and about his beloved Mrs. Donna. He looks forward to treasure box on Fridays very much. He missed it once because he got in trouble and hasn't made the same mistake twice. He is an excellent brother to Chase and is patient with him and holds his hand often. He tries to explain things to Chase that are far beyond Chase's comprehension but that doesn't stop Jackson from trying. He adores his Dad and his face lights up when Alan comes home from work every day. Alan ruptured his patella tendon which has prevented them from wrestling but it hasn't damaged their relationship. Those two love each other so much. He also loves his Gigi and Gpa and Nana and Papa with a special kind of love that makes my heart so happy. =)

I love my Jackson Ryan.

Christmas

We had another wonderful Christmas celebration this year.
We started off at Alan's Aunt and Uncle's House for our Christmas Eve festivities:



Chase was shocked at how much fun he had!



Chase and Auntie Megan.

 Cousin Tanyon.

Cousins Kristin, Jessica, and Tanyon.

Alan, Jackson's back, and I.



Jackson and Tanyon playing a HUGE game of  Hungry Hippo.

  That night we headed to Alan's Granny's house where we spent the night and woke up the next morning to a homemade southern breakfast (biscuits and gravy, sausage, eggs, etc.) and opening more presents.

Jackson was VERY excited for presents.

Waiting patiently...

Chase is quite possibly the only baby I know who LIKES getting clothes. He tries them on right away.



Granny and Debbie (Nana)- two generations of sweet ladies. =)

Nana and Papa helping Jackson open his BATCAVE!

Debbie opening a present.

Sweet brothers.

LOVE Chase's face.

Then that night we left for my mom and dad's house because it was snowing pretty heavily and only expected to snow more. We drove through the snow and it was a beautiful white Christmas. We arrived at Mom and Dad's around midnight. We celebrated Christmas the next morning with the WHOLE family: Mom, Dad, Anne (aaand baby #2 who is due in May if you want to get technical), Danny, Luke, Liz, Matt, Becky, Alan, Jackson, Chase, and I. We didn't get any pics of the whole family but I anticipate quite a few of those in June for Liz's wedding.

Anne, Beck, and Luke

My Mom and Chasey.

First engaged Christmas.

Anne and Lukey.

The cousins!

Storytime.



Gigi and Buzz Lightyear.



Gpa and Chase.




Chase working on his toolbench.

Just hanging out.

This wasn't technically on Christmas. It was the Sunday before Christmas at church. Jackson was an angel in the Christmas musical and Aunt Boo came to see him.



They love each other. =)

It was a wonderful Christmas. The older I get, the easier it has become for me to love Christmas. I know a lot of people don't feel that way, but I do. It has truly become a celebration of Jesus' birth for me. I am thrilled by the songs celebrating His birth that I hear in all the public venues during the holidays. I love that people actually DO the things that Jesus told us to do- like helping the poor (Salvation Army, Angel Tree, The Rescue Mission, etc.). I love that people tend to smile more and that there is a magic everywhere that people can't quite put their finger on. It's Jesus. He permeates the holiday season and brings a joy that those who don't know Him are drawn to. They know there is something special, something better than the everyday lives they know, but they often buy into the materialistic lies that the world tries to sell. I enjoy presents. This year we got an amazing new dining room table to enjoy family meals around! Our old one was a wobbly, old kitchen table that we've had for 8 years (since we got married) and that my parent's used for many years before that. But presents are not what it's about. I loved looking around at my family during Christmas. I loved seeing the joy written on their faces as we spent time together, as we laughed together, shared happy hour together, as we watched the little ones laughing together. We have been blessed and we know every good thing comes from God. Like Christmas.

Tacky Sweater Party...

This year I hosted my first annual Tacky Sweater Christmas Party. I had around 30 lovely ladies who were able to come and it lasted until 2:30 in the morning- can you say, success!?
Here are a few pics from that night:

The trophy and voting booth.

I love Christmas!

My amazing mom who came down to help with the party and drove 4 hours down and 4 hours back in less than one day because she's SUPERMOM!

DIRTY Santa exchange. Some dirtier than others.

JULIE WAS THE WINNER! She had Baby Marley a couple weeks later- such a rockstar for being out and partying that close to her due date!

The four with the highest votes for tackiest.

CHEERS!

Thanksgiving...

Hi. My name is Sarah and I blog...once every three months or so that is. =)
Thanksgiving was at my parents' house this year and it was lovely (as always).
This year we had two new attendees:

Matt Wilkins, my sister's fiancee. It feels like he's been part of the family for quite awhile and we're all very excited to have him for many more Thanksgivings to come. =)


Matt and Liz



...And Stophy. Or Chris McCaffery, as those who haven't known him since he was a baby call him. He is our cousin and we all agreed that we wish we could just keep him for every holiday. Especially Jackson. Jackson was very impressed by Stoph's abilities to rake huge piles of leaves and then to hide in them, as well as his sword fighting. He was pretty devastated to learn that Stoph would not be coming to Christmas.

 

Stoph and I.

This is the table. We had a gazillion people this year. I don't remember the exact number, but a lot. Becky and I set the table, but really we just put things where mom tells us to. Mom can out Martha Stewart Martha Stewart on Thanksgiving any year.



Seeee?




The Beautiful Pierson Family: Danny, Anne, and my precious nephew, Luke.

 


Stoph and Becky played football. Or at least did a great job of faking it for this photo.

Dad made and then carved the turkey. He looked a little scary...uh, intense.

Oh, hey to my ADORABLE mom and baby Chase.

Jackson, Chase, and Gigi.

Post dinner we had a rousing game of spoons. Just like the Murphy reunions of ole.

Mom was pretty excited about her win!

My baby sister and I. Cheers.

Dad taking a pic from outside.

Ending the night with sparklers and fireworks! Naturally. =)

2010 was a year that was easy to be thankful for. God has given us so very much and it's hard to imagine wanting anything more.