Jordan's first Christmas

Well, Christmas was a hit! I had so much Christmas spirit this year - wanting Jordan to experience everything in full. It is the first time in many years that I've enjoyed Christmas this much - and really remembered what it is about. Jordan makes me so sentimental - I'm just bursting at the seams with love for her - and the rest of my family too. We are so blessed, and I want to take full advantage of every moment that we have together!!

So here was our setup - after I got Jordan's play house all put together on Xmas Eve, after she went to bed.

FA LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA LA!!!!!!!

We spent Christmas Eve at BJ's mom's house - and Jordan had a big time learning how to open presents and eating TURKEY!! She LOVES turkey - and pumpkin pie. :) Grandma got her a little doll that talks, and blows raspberries! She is very intrigued by this baby, her favorite thing is to hold it by the feed and bonk it's head on her drum. :)

Even with all of the toys, playing with Grandma was the most fun of all!

She has really learned to enjoy her toys - her motor skills are improving so much! She has just figured out how to reach into a bowl to get things out! She's so cute to watch while she figures her toys out!

We had Christmas morning at our hose, and it was so much fun! I wish that I had bought her some Xmas pajamas - but I didn't, so she's just dressed in pink. Anyhow, she LOVES drums right now, and this one was a hit! Daddy was a drummer in high school, so he was showing Jordan the ropes.

This bouncey horse is a hit when you bounce it for her - she has learned to rock in it a little bit. It is bound to become more and more popular as she keeps getting older...

Jordan here, in typical baby style... surrounded by new toys, but her favorite thing is the pamphlet that came with the little horse!!

New toys are fun, but the old things still retain their popularity. We think she may have a fixation right now..... :)

Christmas night was at BJ's dad's house. We had a big crowd, and Jordan was the center of attention! I can't get over how pretty she is - my little Christmas angel...

Jordan still has a touch of seperation anxiety - though she typically really does enjoy her grandpa! This picture shows the typical goings on, mommy being a total goon trying to get her to smile for the camera!
It has taken a few days for her to really get the hang of the gifts that she got this year - but she is really having a good time with all of them. :)

Most of all, we got to spend a holiday together, enjoying and loving eachother. That's what it is all about. :)

White Christmas

Oh my gosh - there is so much to talk about!! This was a Christmas we won't ever forget - for a number of reasons! Lets just start with the weather... I know that I posted quite a few snow pictures earlier, but things got so much crazier! So here is a picture of what our little house looked like.

So, there are a few things to notice here. #1 -if you look just to the right of the house, you can see BJs truck - hidden behind the little tree that typically stands in the corner of our driveway! It was so coated with ice, that it was bent over to the ground. BJ has it ratcheted up now, and it is attempting to right itself. You can see in the picture below how much ice was coated on the leaves!!The other thing to look at in the picture of the house is the boughs of the fir trees - they are so laden with ice that they are dragging off of the trees. The tops of some of our firs were really sagging - apparently those are called "widow makers". SCARY. Here is a picture of the ice crusted onto a fir bough.

BJ had me stand on the front porch to experience what an ice storm really does. It was eerily quiet, because no one was driving, so there was no car noise. But every couple of minutes you would here a "CRACK - CRASH!" as a branch broke out of a tree, or an entire tree fell on the hillside behind our house. We saw one tree fall and take out two others at the same time. I have never experienced anything like it - who knew that cold weather could be so dangerous!! We had in some cases over an inch of ice frozen on any surfaces. BJ drove one evening, and the antenna of his truck froze while it was bent over in the wind - it was frozen in an arc! Here are a couple of really cool pictures that show you just how much ice we are talking about here!

We were lucky that we didn't end up with any more damage than we did - but we have quite a bit of cleanup to do! Twigs and branches everywhere, and 2 large trees that uprooted in our side yard, taking out our fence...

And just a few more pictures to show some of the damage on the road up to my father in law's house - where we had to camp out for a few days while our power was out.

We certainly did try to make the most of things, being cooped up in the house was an easy way to get cabin fever. Here is just one of the ways that the guys passed the time... :) They got a kick out of this swizel stick...

Just thought I'd try to illustrate how crazy things were! Thank goodness today, most everything is melted off. The car took to the road today for the first time in 2 weeks. I hope that we don't see anything quite so extreme again anytime soon!

Army crawl

Winter

This is the woods behind our house. We have about 3" of snow on the ground - and it is very icy underneath the snow on the roads! So Jordan and I are home AGAIN today... I've only made it to work 2 days this week! As beautiful as it is, I'm ready for this to be over. Although as I sit here now, with a mug of hot chocolate, watching the big snowflakes drift out of the blue, it does feel like Christmas... :) Here are a few more pictures, for the benefit of any Floridians or Carolinians who may be reading this - I understand it is in the 80s and 70s respectively thereabouts.

Our rocking chairs - for perspective. This picture was taken at about 7:00 this morning, and it has snowed most of the day since.


It looks like a winter wonderland around here! I have been excited to take Jordan out and let her experience it - but it is so cold that I don't keep her out in it for very long. I'd like to build a snowman - perhaps if the girl would EVER take a nap I could sneak out and make one for pictures! I did bundle her up and take her out once this morning - with double pajamas, her biggest sweater, and a pair of mommy's earmuffs that I pinned so that they'd fit.


She did "experience it" in the typical baby style - picked it up and put it in her mouth!! :) She wasn't sure what to make of the snowball either...

So we played for a bit, and Cobey had the most fun of all - he really loves to romp in the snow. I think that he slides around intentionally... The cold doesn't seem to bother him when we are outside with him, but as soon as we come in, he stands at the window and gives me his very best pitifull shiver!

Snow!

Well, it snowed overnight - so I bundled Jordan up and took her out! She wasn't sure what to think, and truly wasn't really all that interested... But I snapped away a few pictures anyways!


Until she let me know "Mommy, it is COLD out here! Take me inside!!!"

COLD time!

Well, it is forecasted to be below freezing for the next week. Temperatures are going to get down into the TEENS here in Salem, with the possibility of up to 3" of snow on Sunday! The 10 day forecast shows snow showers for 8 of the next 10 days. I'm not sure that I'll survive... I don't like weather like this... I do wish that I had bought Jordan one of the snowsuits I've seen at the mall, so that I could take her out to play in the snow... But I won't get on the road now, it's only 37, and it is expected to dip down below freezing any time now. It's also RAINING right now, so things will be nice and wet to create ICE - my favorite. Anyhow, we are staying warm here in the homestead, keeping the pellet stove lit 24 hours, and all of the grocery shopping is done, pipes are insulated, and we'll just try not to go stir-crazy in the house!

Jordan was sick last weekend, and she must have passed it on to her daddy and I, because we have both been sick for the last few days. BJ got the worst of it, with a 102 fever, he has slept for much of the last 48 hours. We are both feeling a bit better today, so hopefully we have kicked it.

Jordan has fed herself her last 2 meals. She wanted nothing to do with a spoon... So last night I gave her some shredded chicken, and steamed peas - which she ate in good style. This morning she ate an ENTIRE whole weat waffle! She didn't even want me giving her the water, she wanted to hold that sippy cup herself. Independent little thing. :)

I took a few pictures of our Xmas tree.

It looks pretty kinda bare - but it is all I could afford this year. All of my old childhood ornaments are in Florida, and short of a few Swarovsky collectibles, I didn't have any! So I literally bought all of our ornaments this year from Rite Aid. :( Oh well, it will have to do for this year. Do notice the one ornament front and center... Here is a closeup...


Melissa at Daycare made it for her, and I loved it!



So her are our 2 dependents enjoying the tree for mommy!


And here they are closer up!

We promise to keep you posted! Stay warm out there!

More Florida Pics

I need to share with you a few more pictures from our Florida trip!

BJ was a wonderfully patient man on our trip to Millennia Mall in Orlando. He is also really great at entertaining Jordan - she squeals with utter delight when daddy plays with her... :)

We took Jordan on her first bicycle ride! This was really a good time - and made me wish that we had nicer weather (and maybe fewer hills for an out of shape mommy) here in Oregon this time of year! Jordan looked really funny in her little helmet... :)

Here's Jordan with her "Grumpy" (name can be attributed to Nandy, I won't take responsibility for it). BJ must have taken this picture, since I couldn't have been anywhere in her sight, for her to actually be smiling while someone else was holding her... :) I'm so glad that she got to have some fun with her grandaddy, even if I couldn't be around to see it.

This is Jordan with my big puppy Boomer - who is absolutely the most gentle, sweetest dog I have ever seen with children. He laid his head in her lap, much to her surprise, and just laid there as she tugged at his ears and lips, and scratched at his eyes. He didn't move, didn't even groan. Our younger, more boisterous Cobey would never have tolerated this... It was very sweet!

I like this picture of Nandy sneaking in around the corner for some of the Jordan action! :) The things we will do to interest the baby...

And what proud mommy and wife can resist sneaking a shot of the two loves of her life, slumbering sweetly together. I'm always shocked and pleasantly surprised when Jordan manages to fall asleep without a boob!! :)

Jordan on her very first 4-wheeler ride! She liked the motion, but not the noise. When she gets a few years older, this will probably be a VERY popular activity. :)

Okay - just us being silly... :) Just wanted to share a few of our memories!