A December to Remember

I know that our 3 (!) Christmas celebrations will merit their own post, but I thought that I would share some of what we have been up to this December...

Our little star, Jacob, had a Christmas Program at his preschool on the 4th. Justin, Julianne and I were in the front row to receive the repeated waves and "hi, mom!" - "hi, dad!" greetings. He did great! He knew most of the words (they sang 6 songs) and even belted out "Feliz Navidad" in Spanish! Julianne loved to watch all of the kids sing and dance!
The kids have been really into coloring/art projects lately. So, we did a bunch of this...

We went with Justin's parents to see all of the Christmas lights on the Waterway and at Market Street this past weekend. It was beautiful! It was a balmy 78 degrees that night, but it still put us in the Christmas Spirit! Julianne got to ride on Justin and Pops' shoulders for a long time on the way back to the car. She thought it was sooo much fun! Especially when Pops would run around in circles and Daddy would duck under tree branches :). Jacob walked almost the whole time and was EXHAUSTED by the time we got home!

I had every intention of sending out Chrismas cards this year. It just never made it onto my priority list :) Here is what you WOULD have recieved in the mail...Merry Christmas from the Patterson's!!

Sleepy girl

Julianne falls asleep in her high chair on most days. I just can't seem to feed her early enough! We had lunch today at 11:20am and she still started nodding off. I managed to prop the camera up on the counter to record her - Jacob couldn't stop laughing at her! Watching the video made me giggle, too!

New BlogShop

Hi Everyone! I just started an online "store" for some of the things that I have been making - http://kristensfaves.blogspot.com
Go check it out!!

Halloween

Happy Halloween! Here are some pictures from our fun day:

Jacob's Preschool Costume Parade:

Julianne in her Ballerina costume:Jacob the Fireman:
Our awesome family pic: (trust me, this is one of the better ones...)
Julianne and Colt in the Trick-or-Treat wagon:

Our Trip to the Zoo

Since the zoo is free on certain national holidays, this past Columbus Day we celebrated by visiting the Houston zoo! It wasn't too crowded since several school districts had to make up the day from Ike. It was warm, but bearable. Jacob is an old pro, but this was Julianne's first visit! She just kept saying "Woah!" to every animal that we saw :). Jacob did great and walked for the most part by himself (well, beside the stroller), which was nice because he could wiggle up to the front and get a better look at the animals. Some of our favorites were: zebras, elephants, snakes (eww!), giraffes and the petting zoo. Julianne did have an incident with a goat that made her a little skittish around the other petting zoo animals (it nipped at her hand - see our full Picasa album for the pics.). Great day and great naps on the way home! (not me, just the kids :)

Yes, he totally did this...

Leave it to Justin to come up with an odorless diaper change (well, for him, at least!).

Fall Photo Shoot

After breakfast this morning, I took the kids to a nearby park to take advantage of the BEAUTIFUL weather we had today. I've been meaning to take some good pics of them for a while, so I dressed them up (alike, of course) and off we went.

I got a few of them together, but they were ALL over the place! The best ones were when Julianne was standing at the top of the slide and Jacob was crawling up acting like he was going to get her. She laughed hysterically!! They were really having fun and I was able to get lots of great shots!

Here are some of my favorites:





To see the rest of the photo shoot, click here.

Awesome new puzzle...

The Friday before Ike hit I was running around the house trying to do laundry, dishes, find flashlights, etc. and some of my panic was starting to rub off on Jacob. I knew that he needed something to occupy his hands and his mind so I pulled out this puzzle/game that he had gotten for his birthday (in August):Sidenote - I usually put away a handful of presents right after birthday parties and pull them out as we need new distractions in the months until Christmas. It's like making birthdays last for 5 or 6 months - they love it!!

He loved it! It's genius! You put the puzzle together - ours is a cute Carnival theme.
Then you draw from a stack of cards with pictures on them and find those pictures within the puzzle.
Then you use the felt-tip marker that comes in the box and circle what you find! It's really pretty fun. I found myself on the floor with him, drawing cards and taking my own turn! It all wipes away easily and goes right back in the drawer that slides back into the box.


I love hearing about new toys that are fun and educational, so I thought that I would pass this one along!

(Thanks Uncle Nick, Aunt Jaime and Cousin Latham!)

Hurricane happenings...

Well, we survived Ike! I feel like I should make us all t-shirts proclaiming just that. Here's what went down at the Patterson house:

Thursday: Ok, this is real. We should possibly stock up on bread, canned goods, water and batteries. Wal-Mart is insane - made worse only by a hungry Julianne and a bored Jacob. Starting to panic. Justin comes home early and helps prepare. We go to Justin's parents house for dinner with the family since Jim is home from the hospital.

Friday: Watching news CONSTANTLY! Finish getting last-minute items together. Freak out a little bit (freaking out a lot is just not my nature). Turn down the AC just in case the power goes out. Sit outside in lawn chairs and watch Ike roll in. Participate in the Hurricane derby (details, later). Watch more news and go to bed listening to the wind howling outside our house.

Saturday: Power goes out about 2:45 am. We sit straight up in bed. Hard to go back to sleep, Justin doesn't. Kids sleep through it all. (Hallelujah!) Wake up to a horrible amount of rain, wind and bits of house/trees/fence flying around outside. Realize that our front oak tree has fallen over. Pray that family is ok, not able to reach anyone's cell or house phone. Shuffle around in the humid dark of our house trying to keep everything "normal" for the kids. Make biscuits and eggs on the stove - thankful for gas appliances. Sit in the garage after wind dies down just to get fresh air and watch the rain. Have a pow-wow in neighbors garage where they have hooked their cable/TV up to the generator and are watching "Hurricane Ike, The Devastation". Realize that we were really lucky. Decide that the house is too humid to sleep there and head to my mom's in Sugarland. Almost to my mom's and we get the word that our power is back on. Turn around and drive 40 miles back home.

Sunday: Clean, run dishwasher, do laundry and take FULL advantage of electricity. Justin cleans up the yard and helps a few neighbors by mending fences, helping set up trees, etc. Go over to Justin's parents to help clean up yard (they still do not have power). Head home about 8:30 or so. Mandatory curfew is in effect so they will not let us back into our neighborhood unless we show ID. Feel like a 16 year olds because we have a curfew in the first place.

It will be a long time until this city returns to normal. Weeks, possibly months until everyone has power. It's still kind of surreal as you drive around and see fifty year old pine trees twisted and knocked to the ground, telephone poles pulled up and hanging over the road. Fences blown down like they were made out of toothpicks. We have all been helping out where we can, trying to erase the damages from Ike. Please pray for those without power and running water, those with damage to their homes, and those that will never be able to go home again.

The weird, greenish sky right before it got super windy:
Hurricane Derby: Sitting in a light-weight wagon with a giant golf umbrella waiting on big gust of wind that can only be produced by a HURRICANE!
Jacob flew all the way to the end of the street!
The electrical cord running from our house to our neighbor's generator:
Justin making lunch with is headlight (which came in VERY handy!):
Headed out in the rain:

Julianne gets a haircut!

Well, I finally broke down and got Julianne's haircut (really, I was just waiting for Justin to give in...:) ). It was getting kind of scraggly and uneven on the sides, so we just went in for a trim. I was brave and put her in the little fire truck seat all by herself, turning down the offer for her to sit on my lap. She did GREAT!! There were a few tears, but she sat still for the most part. She was just unsure of everything that was going on and she watched the hairdresser like a hawk :). Most of the pictures that I took look pretty pitiful, but once she realized that she could drive the fire truck, I got a few good smiles.

Here is the before picture:

Julianne is sad to see her curly locks fall to the floor...
...and AFTER! (if you can't really tell, just humor me)

J and J check-ups

Today both kiddos had their well baby/child check-ups. Jacob's 4-yr and Julianne's 15 month.
So, we get there and Jacob walks over to the "Well" side and sits down at the table with his Mater lunchbox full of cars. He starts playing with one and then this sweet little boy (maybe 18 mo.) comes and sits down across from him. Jacob looks over at him and immediately reaches into his lunch box and grabs a car for the little boy (whose name we find out is Maddox). He tells Maddox's mom, "I'll share my cars with him. I brought plenty."
Now mind you I'm watching all of this from the front desk where I'm signing in with Julianne on my hip. So proud!
Eventually we end up with Jacob, Maddox, Julianne and a cute little girl named Maddy all sitting at the little table playing cars. Maddy was being a little rough with them and I know that Jacob recognized that there was something a little different about her (she had Down's Syndrome), but he just said "lets all play nice car friends...", and then looked over at me to make sure that I saw that all of this was going on. It was so sweet to watch them all play together! The other moms and I sat and chatted until we were all called back (which took FOREVER, as usual).
Julianne went first and she did great, very ticklish, but great! Still has a big 'ole head, but the Dr. said that she's thinning out and getting taller. Watch out! :)
Jacob acted like an old pro. He sat up there all by himself while I just sat in the chair and watched. When the nurse put the blood pressure cuff on his arm I tried to prepare him for how it would feel. He looked over at me and said, "Mom, I can handle it. I've done this before, you know." I just looked at the nurse and we both burst out laughing!! The four shots that had to go in his thigh hurt him a little more than he expected, though. Let's just say that I have some hearing loss in my right ear.
Busy morning, but now they are both napping, all hopped up on Motrin for the pain.
That's all until Julianne's 18 month appointment! And no more shots for Jacob until he's 10!!! Woo Hoo!!

The end of August...

We have had a roller coaster of a week. I'll just start at the beginning...
Jacob started his preschool back up last Wednesday. He did great! His teachers are just too precious and Jacob comes home with wonderful artwork and great stories to tell of his adventures on the playground, in music class and eating lunch with his friends. This is his last year of preschool and although we are holding him back from starting Kindergarten next year (because of his August birthday) he will go to some sort of bridge class for 5 year olds. Yikes! 5! Ok, let's just not go there yet...

Then Thursday came and thats when we got the news. Justin's dad, Jim, has renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer). This was obviously a shock to everyone. We don't know very much now, but he has an appointment at MD Anderson tomorrow at 2 (praise God that he got in that quickly!!!). I am thankful that we are all very close and can lean on each other to make it through all of this. We all went to church together on Sunday and it was wonderful to all be able to worship together. Every song seemed to take on another meaning. Every prayer seemed to hit home. Rebecca will be able to set up a website through MD Anderson soon and she has started a Facebook group for specific prayer requests and updates "Praying for Jim - the best husband, Daddy and Pops in the world". I will give updates as they come. Please pray for/with our family. I believe in miracles.

Ok, now it may seem weird that I'm putting other "normal" things in this post along with such sadness, but that is how our life has been in the last 7 days - normal and then earth-shattering. So, please bear with me...

Sunday afternoon, after visiting Champion Forest with the Pattersons, we came back home and had a cookout for Labor day. Justin smokes an AWESOME pork butt (I know, sounds gross...) and we had ribs, sausage, and everyone brought a side or two. I made Twice Baked Potatoes from The Pioneer Woman website on the left of this blog. They...were...delicous!! Try them!! I think I just munched and snacked for 2 hours. Ugh. I was SOOOO full! We stayed out late while all of the kids ran around in their swimsuits, I even pulled out Julianne's little pool! She was more interested in playing with baby Evan from down the street, though. He's her new toy :) He just turned 7 months and can sit really well and she will just plop herself down right beside him (sometimes ON him) and just giggle! He loves it!

Now, onto Monday...We didn't really have anything planned but Sunday afternoon Ryan and Laura (also, neighbors) invited us to her mom's 50th birthday/Labor Day party. They live up in Montgomery and have lots of land for the bigger kids to run around on, so we packed a little bag, threw Jacob's jeep in the back of the truck and headed out for the day! Sadly, it was so spur-of-the-moment that I forgot to grab my camera, so we don't have any pictures :(
Jacob had a ton of kids to play with and at one point there were at least 7 power wheels and 3 golf carts running around with various groups of kids/adults on them. It was madness! Both kids fell asleep on the way home so at least we were successful in wearing them out!
We had a great Labor Day weekend!!

Sorry again for the strange compilation of topics in this post, I'm sure the next few months will be filled with ups and downs. I'm just thankful for great friends and family that will be right beside us through it all.

Jacob was being too silly and this is the only picture I got of him on the first day of school:

Julianne and Even in his new wagon. She decided to help herself into it and play with his toys:

Ca-RA-zy hair!!

Julianne's hair is starting to get long-ish and it is getting harder and harder to tame. It doesn't help when she wakes up from her nap looking like this...
And, unfortunately, my kids have inherited the gene that makes it impossible to keep their eyes open in pictures. Sorry, guys.