A Very Cersey Christmas

Before I summarize our Christmas festivities let me just say that I am terrible at remembering to take pictures, so there aren't many good shots of us here. Please don't deem us as boring and not festive based on these pictures. Consider us boring and not festive because I admit it is the truth. Shortly after Thanksgiving (no, I didn't take any Thanksgiving pictures. I'm terrible.) we started getting our Christmas decorations out which really is just our fake pre-lit tree and its ornaments. I don't get into holiday decorating much. Anyway, we had a good time as a family decorating the tree and listening to holiday music.

On December 13th we went to our nieces' Christmas performance and afterwords Santa showed up. Jackson was in such a hurry to see him that he beat us to his lap and we weren't able to get a picture of it, but Justin, Drake, and I all got shots with Santa.

On Christmas Eve we went to Justin's sister, Jennifer's house in the afternoon to spend time with his whole family, and then to my parents' house for dinner. My mom made meatloaf for Christmas Eve dinner. She tried to make it look festive, but in my opinion it just ended up looking... well you can see for yourself.

On Christmas morning we opened presents at our house. Justin and I don't spend too much on gifts because the kids are still too young to know the difference and we know that both sets of Grandparents will spoil them rotten anyway.

Then we went to my parents' house. We ate a nice breakfast, opened stockings, and then presents. Jackson got a V-Motion, clothes, and more train stuff. Drake got clothes and some fun baby toys. Noonch the cat got a Mrs. Claus hat.

Later we headed down the street to Grandma and Grandpa Cersey's house. All of Justin's sisters and their families were there. Jackson loved playing with his cousins just as much as he loved opening more presents. Both boys got more clothes and toys. Jackson got his favorite movie, Polar Express and a basketball hoop. Justin and I both got new cell phones (our numbers are the same), and I got an awesome feather comforter which is my new favorite thing!

We had a great Christmas. We hope you did too!

Update on the Boys

I never posted Drake's 4 month stats, so I'll go ahead and do it a month late. He was 27 1/4 inches long (97%), 16 lbs 12 oz. (79%), and his head was 17 inches around (68%). He is following in the footsteps of his older brother who had almost exactly the same measurements at 4 months old.

The boys are both doing great. Drake cut his first tooth a couple of days ago. Jackson's new favorite phrase is "I can't" which, after each utterance, I quickly instruct him to never say again. Drake is once again waking up multiple times each night, but we still hope to break the habit soon.

In the picture below Drake had spit-up and then immediately plunged face first into it.

In this picture of Jackson you can see the friendly reminder that we need to place on Jackson's back so that Dad isn't tempted.

My Birthday Party!

Last Saturday night I had an awesome birthday party. The party was at my in-law's house. They have the perfect basement for parties (thanks Mom and Dad for letting us take over your house for the night). Carey Fox made a suspicious looking, yet very tasty cake (thanks Car). Of course we had Chick-fil-a nuggets (thanks for bringing those Mom) and some other great snacks. We played my favorite games, Rock Band and Trivial Pursuit. Jill Frailey livened up the night with her amazing vocals. Ryan Horsley and I took the mic a couple of times as well. No one was all that excited about playing Trivial Pursuit except Justin and me, but they all stayed and played anyway. I think it turned out being one of those rare times when everyone is stuck playing a game that they hate, but surprisingly they end having a lot of fun anyway. All in all, there was great company and a lot of laughter. I couldn't have wished for a better party. Thanks Justin and Jess for helping to put the party together, and thank you to everyone that came. I hope you had as much fun as I did!

Family Pictures

On Monday, my birthday, we had Justin's sister, Jennifer, take some family pictures for us. The boys were being a little uncooperative, but we got a few good shots. Then on Tuesday, just to cover our bases we had my mom and Justin's other sister, Jessica, take a few more pictures. They all did a great job, don't you think?

 

Good Night, and Good Luck

So, tonight I am overwhelmed with disappointment. The dumb masses of our country have spoken and the entire country will pay a steep price for their ignorance. It is unfortunate that some people voted just to make history and neglected to acknowledge the issues that are the real reasons to vote. It is unfortunate that this election has brought more attention to the differences between races than it has done to eradicate them. It is unfortunate that this country is now on a road toward less freedom, the discouragement of hard work, and immorality. I do not dislike Obama as a person, but I strongly dislike the future that he has proposed for our country. I can only hope and pray that my children will be strong enough to combat the added trials that will inevitably confront them as a result of this election. God bless America, we need it now more than ever.

It has started already. I just heard gunshots outside my house. Ok, maybe they were fireworks...maybe.

Trick or Treat!

Last night we went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Grandma Pearson, Jess, Andy, Megan, and Lex came to trick-or-treat with us. Drake had a nice nap while the other kids collected their candy, but their was one neighbor who insisted on giving Drake his own goody bag. Jackson lasted about 30 minutes and then we went home to pass out candy. We had a good time even though a lot of our neighbors weren't home. And yes, I did let Jackson eat some candy.

At about 2:00am Halloween morning I was awakened by Jackson coughing and then vomiting all over himself and his bed. Justin and I worked together to get Jackson and his bed all cleaned up and then put him back to bed. Just as he was beginning to fall back to sleep he threw up again, so we had to repeat the process all over again. And then again, after everything was all cleaned up and he was on the verge of sleep he threw up one more time. Luckily there wasn't much left in his stomach, so it didn't take as long to clean him up the third time. We all finally got back to sleep at 4:00am. He is better now, but we won't soon forget our poor baby's puke filled night.

Trunk or Treat

We had our annual Trunk or Treat last night at Church. Jackson was a gorilla, Drake was a dragon, I was Sarah Palin, and Justin was a hard working husband who took all of the pictures. Jackson was kind of a grouch last night so we didn't get too many good pictures of him. The reason Jackson was a grouch was twofold, he was tired and we wouldn't let him eat his candy. He was not allowed to eat any candy last night because he didn't eat his dinner and because mommy told him if he didn't take a nap yesterday (which he didn't hence the tiredness) he couldn't eat any candy that night. I am evil I know, but once you make a threat you have to stick with it or else you end up with a manipulative brat like I was/am. I won a prize for my awesome costume and so did Jessica and Andy (they were vampires). Towards the end of the evening we got a little crazy and started adding things to the kids' costumes. Jackson became a Republican gorilla and Drake, well... just check out the bottom right of the collage.

Cersey Halloween Party

On Saturday, October 25th Grandma Cersey threw the most awesome Halloween party ever! We all had a blast and here are some pictures to prove it. Grandma and Grandpa rented a big inflatable jumper and put it in their backyard. It resembled a large dog. At first Jackson had a great time jumping with his cousins, but after a few hours all of sudden he was terrified of the jumper exclaiming "the doggy is going to eat me!" We don't know if one of the other kids put this idea in his head or if he came up with it himself out of the blue. Anyway, it was fun while it lasted.

Grandma Cersey made some awesome festive food. Not only do you never go hungry at her house, but you eat in style as well.

Grandma also made an awesome haunted house for the kids. It had eyeballs and brains to feel and candy bowl that put up a fight. Jackson was begging to go inside until he got his turn to go in and then he was begging to get out. He was most afraid of the candy bowl. Drake didn't know what to make of the whole thing. He started crying after the candy bowl tried to grab him too.

We painted pumpkins and decorated haunted gingerbread houses. I was on my own with the gingerbread house because Justin was watching the BYU game and Jackson was getting tired, but I had a good time.

Out of nowhere Jessica and I decided we wanted to get our limbo on and before we knew it the whole family got involved. We turned on some 80's tunes (fitting for Halloween I think because the 80's rendered some of the scariest music of all time) and limboed until we couldn't limbo anymore. As you can see I was really excited about it.

We had a doughnut on a string eating contest. We were not suppose to use our hands, but as you can see Jackson doesn't play by the rules.

We are a fun and crazy family. We had a great time and we hope that this becomes an annual tradition. Thanks Grandma Cersey!

To see more pictures of this event check out the Dollar's blog.

Our October, So Far

Ok, I get it people. You would rather I stick to family matters instead of ranting about politics. Fine, but before I get back to the mundane let me just point you in the direction of another political article that is worth reading. It can be found here and I highly recommend reading it if you have a minute.

Alright, so a few weeks ago the boys and I went up to north Georgia with most of the Cersey side of the family. We had a great time hiking up to Anna Ruby Falls and when we got back down Grandpa bought us all popsicles which is why my tounge is blue in the picture below. We also walked around Helen for awhile, which is a cute German tourist town. To see more pictures you can visit my sister-in-law's blog. She took more pictures than I did.

Last week we went to Randy's Pumpkin Patch which had become somewhat of a yearly tradition for us thanks to Jessica and Andy (sis-in-law and her husband). We have gone almost every year since we have been married. There are a ton of pumpkins of course and a bunny petting zoo, which Jackson loves. I have put together this little slide show with pictures from our evening there. Be sure to watch to the end so you can see some of Jackson's hot dance moves.

Last Saturday we went over to Brindi and Ryan's house to carve pumpkins and eat dinner. We took the boys, but they were not interested in the festivities. Jackson watched Polar Express (his favorite movie) and Drake slept. You can see in the pictures below all of the awesome pumpkins that were carved. See if you can identify what Justin carved into our pumpkin. Some might consider it to be a little erotic, but knowing Justin I would say that it is actually quite mild.

All in all we have had a good October so far. Autumn is my favorite season. The wretched Georgia heat is behind you, and the holidays are just around the corner. Below is another slide show of our little family. Enjoy!

Here is a video of Jackson singing some songs a few weeks ago. Sorry it is so blurry.

Weak Neck and Nursey

Drake is growing so quickly! I think he is a little behind on his physical abilities development though. We had some friends over last weekend and Nicole brought her 7 week old baby, Maggie. Maggie was able to lift her head while lying on her stomach. So, I put 3 month old Drake on his stomach and he remained face down on the floor screaming and kicking until I picked him back up before he suffocated. So we have not met the "can lift head 45 degrees when laying on stomach" milestone yet, but this is surely my fault since I rarely put him on his stomach. But, in my defense, would you want to put a baby face down on the floor if he screamed bloody murder every time you did it? We have figured out the hard way that the Zantac is really helping him. We have forgotten to give him his medicine a few times and the days after we have forgotten to give it to him could definitely rank on the worst day of our lives list. This picture of me and the boys was taken at the end of one of those terrible days after we forgot to give Drake his medicine. I had not showered or changed out of my pajamas all day because I was trying to console the Dragon.

Here is Drake with his Dad chilling out on the couch after a long day.

I never did post anything about Drake's nursery. Below are some pictures of Drake's room. This was also Jackson's room when he was a baby, but I think it is more fitting for Drake because he is Asian. No, but actually I have gotten teased a lot because I wanted a black and red oriental themed nursery for my babies, but it was really a practical choice because all of the furniture is reusable for a more "grown-up" themed bedroom. Anyway, there are quite a few dragons featured in the room so it is more fitting for Drake (name derived from Draco meaning dragon).

New Pictures

Here are some pictures that were taken this week. Our boys are pretty cute, don't you think?

Bigger and Happier

Drake is getting bigger and happier. We took him in for his 2 month appointment on Aug. 22 and he weighed 13 lbs. 6.8 oz (78%), and was 24 inches long (77%). He is a little bit bigger than Jackson was at his 2 month appointment. The doctor made some recommendations on how to help relieve Drake's fussiness. One was for me to stop eating dairy for a week which I did and it seemed to relieve some of his gas, so I guess I'll continue to limit my dairy. She also recommended trying him on Zantac because he seems to have a reflux problem. He has been on Zantac for 5 days now and the past couple of days he seems to have been much happier. He is smiling a lot more. He still cries when he wants attention and when he wants to be held, which is often, but at least the majority of the pain seems to have gone away. Justin and I have been branching out and spending time with new friends. We have spent a lot of time with Ryan and Brindi Horsley the past few weeks. Above are some pictures from the Braves game we went to last week. We also got some new games for the Wii, so we have been having Wii parties lately too. It has been really nice to have some adult interactions. Thanks Brindi and Ryan for saving us from insanity, and thanks Grandma and Grandpa Cersey for watching the boys and letting us use your house for our Wii parties!

The Last 3 Weeks

So it has been a while since I last posted. In that time some of the things we have done were went to Six Flags, blessed Drake, and went to Chuckie Cheese's. Jackson loved Six Flags because there was an area called Thomas Land. Jackson rode the Thomas train but was actually kind of bored with it because it went in 2 small circles very slowly, but he loved the Wile E. Coyote Canyon Blaster roller coaster. He is probably one of the few 2 year olds that is tall enough to ride that ride. Drake and mom didn't have quite as much fun as everyone else (we went with Justin's family). Someone please remind me not to go to any theme parks next time my new baby is only a few weeks old and it is 100 degrees outside.

Here is Jackson on Thomas the Train

We blessed Drake on Sunday, August 3rd. Justin gave him a great blessing and little Drake was surprisingly calm through it. Below is a picture of Drake with all of the guys in the blessing circle. From left to right: Max Bowens (2nd counselor in the Bishopric), Grandpa Pearson, Darron (my cousin), Justin holding Drake, Grandpa Cersey,Uncle Albert, and Uncle Andy. Last Saturday we took the boys to Chuckie Cheese's. It was really crowded but Jackson had a good time. Coincidentally, we saw Jackson and Drake's cousin Ellie there. She was there for a birthday party but was nice enough to take Jackson by the hand and play some games with him. Here is a picture of Jackson riding a Barney ride. Drake is growing every day. He is still sleeping quite a bit but his wakeful hours are definitely lengthening and most of that time he spends crying. I wish that I could say that he is a happy baby, but unfortunately it just isn't the case. He seems to be uncomfortable most of the time and we still haven't quite figured out the cause of his pain although most of the time we think it is probably gas. Those rare moments that we catch him smiling are precious. We love our new little boy, but we will be lucky if we are able to keep our hair until the end of his infancy. Here are some pictures of the little Dragon.

Boys' Stats

Jackson had his two year old check-up back in the beginning of June and I forgot to post his latest stats. He weighed in at 29lbs, 3.4 oz (63%) and he was 37.4 inches tall (97%). So, his growth hasn't slowed down much despite his obstinate eating habits. Jackson is talking like crazy. We can understand what he is saying about 90% of the time, and his sentences are remarkably well formed. I am never sure if my believing he is really smart is because I am a bias mother, or if he is actually learning faster than other kids his age. Regardless, we are very proud of him. Drake had his 1 month check-up last week. He is perfectly healthy and right on track with his growth. He weighed 10 lbs, 13 oz (69%) and was 22 inches long (59%). He eats constantly, the complete opposite of Jackson, so I won't be surprised if his weight sky rockets by his next appointment. He still isn't letting mom get much sleep at night, but hopefully that will change soon. He has a swing that he seems to like most of the time, but sometimes only the arms of mom or dad will sooth him (like right now).