Lazy Weekend

We had a lazy but fun weekend. Friday afternoon, Jonathan and I went to the Church at Rock Creek to play with Mrs. Karen, Katie, and Megan in their climbing tubes. What a neat play area. Katie and Jonathan had a wonderful time running and playing and being silly. Karen and I sat at the bottom and played with Megan while they ran around two stories above us! Jonathan was Soooo worn out by the time we got home. He just sat on the couch and veg-ed out for a while. So funny!

Saturday we went for a drive. We went down to Bryant and looked through neighborhoods. We are wishing for a new house. Not going to happen right now, but we thought we would start looking at the neighborhoods to see if we found any that we liked. There were a few nice ones and we found a great brand new elementary school that we loved. Here's hoping that we can move down there to a better school district for Jonathan in the next three years!

We had lunch at Chick-Fil-A which is always nice! They have a great indoor play area that Jonathan had a great time playing in. He fell asleep in the car on the way back home, just wore him out! Saturday night we went to Cozumel's for dinner. I had bought a gift certificate from Restaurants.com for $25 that I paid $2 for. That's always nice. So we had a good dinner and even got dessert as a special treat. It was a nice dinner and we all had a good time doing something as a family. Unfortunately, I have been paying for it all night and all day. Something did not set well with my stomach. And only me, as both Mark and Jonathan are fine. Wierd, but still not much fun.

We went to church today and Jonathan learned about Nathaneal. Jesus knew he was coming to see him even before he got there. Jonathan just loves all the stories and songs and activities that they do at church. We all took a LONG nap after church which was really nice and relaxing. We just hung out the rest of the day. It was so nice and so relaxing. Now, back to the grind tomorrow. Oh, and the Jeep is making a noise every time you put it into gear. So, off we go to the mechanic tomorrow. Who's excited? I hope everyone has a great week!

Our Trip to Atlanta

We had a wonderful time on our trip to Atlanta. Here's the breakdown of the trip...

Friday morning, we got up early and completely packed the car. We picked up Jonathan, in the dark, and very, very quietly put him in the car. He was sound asleep the whole trip through the house. As soon as the car seat snapped, he looks up and says "where going, Mommy?" So funny. All that work for nothing. We tried to get him to go back to sleep on the way to Memphis, but no go. He was up and ready for the day. It was freezing when we got to Memphis, and of course, Mark had thought it would be better to pack our coats so we wouldn't have to tote them through the airport. Not the best of ideas. Luckily, I had not packed Jonathan's coat. We got through the Memphis airport and security fairly easily. Security was hilarious as we took everyone's shoes off, broke down the stroller, took the sippy cups and other liquids out of our bags, and pushed the car seat through the x-ray machine (it did not quite want to go). We flew AirTran which was definitely low cost and NO frills. However, Jonathan was completely enthralled with the airplane. He watched all of the planes land and take-off for an hour before we left. He would just shout and jump up and down and was so completely honestly happy. It is such a joy to watch him learn and grow and see new things.

We got on the plane and Mark did a great job strapping the car seat in the airplane seat. We put him by the window and the car seat put him at the perfect height to see out the window. It was also great to have the car seat on the plane. He is so used to being strapped in, that he never fought being put in it or staying in it 'til the plane landed. He loved looking out the window as we took off. He colored for a while and then watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Mark's Ipod for the rest of the flight.

Once we got to Atlanta, we rode the subway between the terminals. Jonathan loved riding the choo-choo train. It was almost as exciting as the airplane! Uncle Russ picked us up in baggage and we strapped the car seat into his car for the trip to his house. We had been talking up going to see his cousin, Lucy, for weeks and Jonathan was way excited to see her by the time we got to the house. He runs up to the front door and is walking towards her when he gets in the house. Around the corner comes their cat, Tinkerbell. That was it. The cat won, poor Lucy. Jonathan loved the cat, I mean really loved the cat. Luckily, she is a very good-natured cat, and never got mad at him. He chased that poor cat for three days. He was very sweet to her and very soft when he petted her. He eventually did come talk and love on Lucy as well.

We took Jonathan and Lucy to a park near their house that afternoon. Jonathan had a wonderful time playing on everything. They had a twenty foot slide that scared me to death, but he went down the silly thing like it was no big deal. Several times. Russ cooked us a great dinner and we had a nice time visiting with them and the baby.

Saturday, the rest of the family arrived. Mark's parents, sister, and aunt & uncle had all come in for the weekend, as well as Katherine's Mom. It was a house full! We got to babysit Lucy that morning while Katherine did a workshop and Russ went to the practice for the baptism. She is a sweet, even-natured baby and a blast to play with. Jonathan liked sitting with her in Mark's lap. We ate lunch at a tea room that was a lot of fun. The food was really very good. After lunch, Katherine, Kim, and I went for manicures and pedicures. It was a great chance to take a break and do something girly. (They were also super cheap!! Why can't I find someplace like that here in LR?) We went to a steak place for dinner Saturday night that was really good. After dinner, we drove over to Mark's Great-Aunt's house. She had only met Jonathan once before when he was a baby, so we were very excited for him to see her again. I had never been to her house before and it was so neat. Her husband had traveled all over the world selling airplanes with his job. He had brought home some of the neatest things. Jonathan loved seeing his Great-Great Aunt Gerald and playing with her frog toys! She had bought him the cutest tooth pillow for when he is older. It was such a great present as we did need one, and I had not found one that I really liked.

Sunday was Lucy's big day for her baptism at church. Katherine's dad made it to the church in time, so the whole family was there. Russ and Katherine had asked Kim and Jonathan to carry in Lucy's banner to the church. It was a special honor and he did a great job helping his Aunt Kim. She did a great job keeping him on task and happy! I was so proud of Jonathan, he was such a big boy during the church service. He colored, played with his toys, and snacked, but didn't hardly make a sounds. Thank goodness!! Lucy did great as well. She did not even cry when they put the water on her head. We took a ton of pictures, and then went back to Russ and Katherine's house for a reception. She had bought a ton of food and everyone had a nice time. Katherine's Mom plays the bagpipes. She gave Jonathan a mini-concert after the reception. It was wonderful and he really enjoyed her playing. He kept telling her "more-more" after every song. She eventually had to stop as it was freezing outside and they were all icicles!

Russ took us back to the airport and we did a reverse of the way down there. The only exception was the much more complicated security checkpoint in Atlanta. The line was not long, just windy, especially with all of our stuff. The return flight went well and Jonathan and I had a great time talking about everything we saw on take-off and landing. We watched a bunch more planes take-off as Mark put the car seat back into the car and finally left Memphis. We stopped in West Memphis for McDonald's (and Taco Bell for Mark). Poor Jonathan was so very tired, that he fell asleep with a chicken nugget in one hand and a french fry in the other. This time he did stay asleep between the car and his bed.

It was a great trip and we had a ton of fun being with our family and meeting Lucy. Hopefully we can see her again soon. And thank the good Lord that we were not on that airplane in New York. God is so good. And many prayers of Thanksgiving for the safety of the people on that plane.

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P.S. Happy Birthday to my Daddy, Jonathan's Grandad, today. Jonathan called him on the phone and told him "Happy Birthday" and "I love you Grandad" today. It was very sweet. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see him today, but we will soon I'm sure!

Leaving, on a Jet Plane!

Well, here it is after midnight, and I think we are finally packed and ready to leave. We have two suitcases (our new ones that my parents bought us for Christmas) packed to the max. One carry-on bag full of snacks and toys for Jonathan. One umbrella stroller with bag to gate check. One car seat with bag to put on airplane. One Daddy, one Mommy, and one two year old little boy. Are we missing anything?

I hope that everything is packed. If it isn't, then we are probably out of luck. Oh, by the way, we are going to Atlanta this weekend. Our niece and Jonathan's cousin, Lucy, is having her baptism this Sunday. We have not met her yet, so we are all very excited to go see her and be there for her big day. We are leaving by 6am in the morning and driving to Memphis (2 hour drive). Flying from there to Atlanta (1.5 hour direct flight). Russ is picking us up and taking us to his house (1 hour drive). I think it is going to be a long day...

Will write more when we get home. Please pray that we have a safe and fun trip!

Happy New Year!

What a week. While I went back to work this week, Mark and Jonathan stayed home. They did not do anything that exciting, but they did have fun staying home and just spending time together. It was very nice to have them both home when I got home. They also met me for lunch one day which was a very nice treat. With Mark being in Pine Bluff, we very rarely get to have lunch together.

New Year's Eve we went to a friend's house. We took Jonathan with us, thinking, 'We'll stay for a few hours and then go home when he gets tired.' The funny thing was, he was fine...the whole night. We took Mark's IPod with us with episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Tigger & Pooh on it. They have a huge black lab, Monte, that Jonathan just loves. He chased "Momt-me" all around the house until Monte had to go lay down and take a nap! They have a Wii, so we all had fun playing Guitar Hero and Wii Fit. Jonathan had a good time doing the downhill skiing on the Wii Fit. It was so funny to watch him try and play these games. (It was also funny to watch Mark play these games!!) So between all of this stuff, Jonathan managed to stay up til midnight. He walked around at midnight and gave everyone a kiss, so sweet. We thought he would fall asleep in the car on the way home, but no, he sang to us the whole way home. "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle la la way! Happy New Year!" It was hilarious and we truly enjoyed spending time with our friends and most especially with our little man.

The rest of the weekend was rather uneventful, but good quality time. Our garage door opener broke, so we did spend time at Sears picking out a new one. We picked out a nice one with a battery back-up and Mark had a good time playing with his tools installing it. (Like father, like son!) Mark has also been putting new kick guards on our outside doors and adding two new flood lights on the back of the house. We have had several break-ins in our neighborhood lately, so we are trying to improve the security of the house. According to the LRPD, break-ins are becoming a serious problem throughout Little Rock.

We went to church today and Jonathan had a good time playing with his friends there. They have been singing the "B-I-B-L-E" song and he is starting to learn it. It is lots of fun to hear him singing songs, especially church songs. He is such a sponge and we are amazed at how much he retains from his Sunday School lessons. Today was about the Wise Men and he told me they brought Baby Jesus presents. Pretty good for a two year old!

Well, we are all going back to work tomorrow. I'm sure it will be a long day for all of us as no one has been getting out of bed that early! But I'm sure Jonathan will be glad to see his friends and teachers at school. We picked out a new Elmo shirt to wear tomorrow that he is itching to show off to his friends.