Last Post of 2011

Reflections of 2011:
~Bailey has grown so much in the past year.  It has been such a joy to watch her grow.  Some of her favorite things right now are baby dolls (obsessed with them!), taking baths, playing outside, saying "no!", telling me where her ear is, dancing, watching movies, her Daddy...and Mama!.  She is doing new things everyday and is getting so big!  Her hair is getting so much longer too...John calls it her "girl hair" ;)
~Jackson is getting so big too! I can't believe his 3T clothes are getting small...time is just flying by!  His favorite things right now are watching movies, playing "smashin toys"..he got it from Gnomeo and Juliet, playing outside, LAWNMOWERS or "mon-mowers", any sort of big boy help he gives Dad, tools, dancing, and arts/crafts.  Things he is not interested in...sleeping, eating, getting dressed, going potty, brushing teeth, cleaning up toys...ya know the things we have to do EVERYDAY...ugh!!  He has been extremely challenging lately.  He gets out of bed about 10 times a night before he finally goes down and he has been going #2 in his pants a LOT lately.  I really don't think there is much worse things than potty training and your child just doesn't want to do it.  It has been a full year and 2-3 months and he is STILL not doing it all the time.  Hope things get better before they get worse...pray for me to have patients...b/c I need it!
~We lost a very good man this year, my Grandpop Stout.  I know he has been watching over my little ones since he has been gone. I miss him & hearing his voice.
~We went to Destin, FL ; Amelia Island, FL ; Gulf Shores, AL ; and Helen, GA.
~John and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary
~Nicole got married...and is having a baby in May 2012!
~Allie got engaged and is getting married in April 2012!
~John made me a toy box, a new pantry, and new shelving for my laundry room.
~Jackson turned 3 and Bailey turned 1

Last years resolutions-I did accomplish most of my resolutions...
~I lost all my baby weight a then a few more...would like to loose more of course and start exercising.
~ummm Jackson is pretty much still not potty trained.  Or at least not the way I want him to be. He never tells me he has to go potty, I still have to tell him to go.  He also still fights me about #2 and goes in his pants on occasion~he has been doing that a lot in the last 2 weeks.

~I made a picture wall in my living room and I love it!
~And yes, John and I went on many more dates in 2011 thanks to our baby sitter Karyn who lives across the street...not sure what we would do without her!?!!!
2012 Resolutions 
~Get in shape...I think that is on almost every persons list! LOL
~Get my closets more organized
~Paint our old bed white for Bailey Boo when she starts to climb out of her crib ;)
~Redecorate the downstairs bathroom
~Do more craft projects with Jackson
~Learn how to use my new flash and serger sewing machine
~And have even more dates with John! LOL

Tellus Science Museum

 We went with Opa and Nana to the Tellus Museum in Carterville and had so much fun!

 I couldn't believe it, but BOTH kids sat through an entire 35min. planetarium show and were so well behaved!

Christmas 2011

 This was the kids big gift and they love it! It even goes completely up our driveway...if you have ever been to our house you know how amazing that is!!!

 This is me and Asya (I hope to call her my sister-in-law some day!) we always get the same gifts from my Mom and it's just a running joke we have :)

 I made oreo truffles for the first time (thanks to pinterest!) and they turned out great!  I also used my new flash to take a bunch of the pics from Janet and Johns and it works awesome!

 Everyone is laughing b/c Bailey is so serious when she plays...she has so much intensity :)

 Pointing to Mimi's eyes!  

 The Ballard grandchildren!

 Partners in crime for life!!!!

 I am PUBLISHED!!! Well...only for one book...and it's to keep at our house! LOL.  John got my blog turned into a book and I LOVE it!!!  It is 245 pages long and that is only up until 2010! John said it shut down the web site when he uploaded it! LOL  

 The is my the kids new toy box!!!!  I could not be happier!  It is HUGE and best of all...John made it. 

 Grandma and Grandpa's!!  I made the kids shirt and Bailey's bow :)

 Playing with his new train set

 John's big gift from his parents, my Mom and Dex, and Maureen and my Dad...oh and me too! He was so excited!  You can tell when it is a true John smile :)

 I made ornaments for all the Grandparents and my brother...they turned out great!

 The kids are always spoiled rotten by their grandparents!

Princess Bailey Boo ran over and took a book to Grandpa for him to read to her...melts your heart!

We all had a blast...but sadly we are all nursing colds right now...ugh!!!  Jackson woke up about 15 times last night from coughing and choking on his mucus..yuck, poor little man.  We are all trying to get back into the swing of things while trying to feel better.  At least John is off until the 3rd!!  It is so nice that he has such a long break!  Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

Grandma and Grandpa's!

 Bailey pointing to Grandpa & Grandma's Elf!

 Playing sneak attack with Grandma!

 Copying everything Grandpa was doing!

 Grandpa got out some of his tools for Jackson ;)

 Yep, you can tell we were there!  This is pretty much what our house looks like too on a daily basis before we clean up for bed!

My Girls Christmas Dinner

 Alijeh hosted this year's Christmas party for our whole group :) She had decorated beautifully!  Everyone brought something for dinner and it was so good!!

Still can't get over that we are as close as we are :)  I am very blessed to have theses girls in my life!

Elf and Jackson's Christmas Program

 Bailey finds Elf on the Shelf everyday and it's sooo cute!  She yell's "ELF...ELF!!!!" all day long! I kinda feel bad I didn't do it for Jackson at a younger age, I had no idea how much Bailey would be into it too! :)

 Jackson had his school Christmas program the other day and the above picture is when it all started going down hill.  If you notice...he sees us.  Then the picture below is how he spent the whole program. Unfortunately, he SCREAMED in front of everyone (the only one in the whole bunch that didn't at least stand up there) and threw a fit and just had to sit in Dad's lap.  Needless to say, it was hard not to be disappointed and completely embarrassed that we missed seeing him singing with his classmates.  He preforms for me daily.  In fact, he did the Christmas performance on his bed that very afternoon when he was supposed to be taking a nap (see the pic below of his monitor).  

 This is how cute all the kids in his class looked! Love it!

The Pink Pig!

I road the Pink Pig as a child and I remember loving it! In fact, they have the old one on display inside too.  It is now like a train ride and still very small, but no where near as small as it originally was~thank goodness! The kids had a good time and we got to meet up with Melanie and baby Isabelle, who couldn't have been any cuter!