regret?

I've done something that I may one day regret. I have taught Jasper how to burp. Andrew had no part in this; I single-handedly did it all by myself.  Sometimes he can produce a real burp, sometimes it's a fake burp, but he absolutely loves to burp and then announces to all within a 30 foot radius that he just burped.

Do I regret teaching my precious, innocent, angel how to burp? No way, jose. It's so, so cute. Plus, he's a boy! 'Nough said! :o)

(side note- lest you get concerned that burping is the only life-skill Jasper knows how to do, he can also sing, dance, hum, spin, spit, stand, sit, jump, squat, march, kick, splash, smile, and talk on command. He is a many-varied man.)

Below is a 5 second video of a "burp-on-command" moment here in the Meade household. :o)

Throwing

Jasper JUST discovered throwing.

It's the cutest thing ever.

We spend most evenings "throwing our life away". he, he, he... :o)

Seriously, throwing has skyrocketed to the #1 spot on the list of Jasper's favorite things. Bubbles and marching on the scale are nothing compared to throwing.

Jasper loves to do "high" throws, so as he's throwing objects, he often says "hiiyyy, hiiyyyy" as he's throwing. And so we, of course, encourage him by telling him that he's doing high throws. He loves it. He's in heaven.

The video below is a video we took last night as Jasper was doing 'hiiyy" throws. :o)

Photo Shoot #4

Andrew was home this morn, so we were able to tag-team the mini photo shoot and we got a couple of good ones (the ever-present Fruit Loops helped loads, too!). Enjoy!

Photo Shoot #3

Instead of Fruit Loops (aka "loo loo's" as Jasper calls them), we had Special K Flakes as bribery this morning (aka "akes! akes!") and Jasper seemed to enjoy them just as much as the Loo Loo's. Who knew?!?

Photo Shoot #2

Here are a few pics from our shoot this morning. Once again, the Fruit Loops are what made it all possible! :o)

Photo Shoot

In the true spirit of Christmas, I bribed my son with Fruit Loops this morning in order to try to get some good Christmas pictures of him in front of the tree.

I really, really want some good Christmas pictures of Jasper.

However, in my experience, Christmas photo shoots tend to be very stressful for everyone involved. And I really, really do not want to voluntarily add stress to my life, so I decided to do lots of "mini" photo shoots; 1 very short "photo shoot session" each morning (with Fruit Loops) till I got some good pics that I was satisfied with.

So.. here are the best ones from this morning's shoot.

he's giggling with a mouth full of Fruit Loops. love.

Eating breakfast now after a very "stress-free" mini photo shoot!

O Christmas Tree...

We got our tree up!!

It took the better part of 2 days to get it up, due to lots of snack breaks, nap breaks, emergency pancakes (we saw the syrup while getting out the raisins. Naturally, we had to make pancakes.) runs to WalMart for more lights, etc.  However, it was a blast to do it as a family! Jasper really enjoyed the process, and we really enjoyed watching his enjoyment. He loved "putting" the ornaments on the tree with me; he would kind of throw the ornament toward the general direction of the tree and would eagerly grab another ornament and repeat the process (he was trying really hard to be helpful). Yes, several ornaments did suffer death at the hands of this toddler, but it was a small price to pay to have Jasper's precious help.

helping Daddy conquer the lights

helping Mommy put on the ornaments

saying "hi" to the tree

If ever Jasper forgets about the tree, no matter how briefly, he always runs full blast back into the living room to say "hi" to the tree. And we said many "hi's" and "bye's" to the tree before his nap this morning. How precious.

Jasper is sick

Jasper woke up sickie this morn. Poor, poor guy. He vomited during the night and had "the runs" this morn. Poor baby.

We immediately canceled our plans for the day (fun get-together with my friend Stacy and her kiddos) and spent the day at home, recuperating from the sickies.

So. What did we do since Jasper was a sickie, you wonder?
Cuddles? no.
Rocking? no.
Reading books? no.
Anything involving sitting still? no.

Instead, we:

- did all of Jasper's "favorite things" (IE bubbles, scale, pens, etc)

- watched for birds while standing on the back of the couch

- played the guitar

- went for a walk, with me on crutches

- watched as Jasper stole my crutches

- and looked for airplanes

Basically, we did exactly what we always do. Apparently, Jasper was born with an anti-cuddling clause in his DNA. But that's ok. Standing on the back of the couch while looking for birds is pretty fantastic, too.

Happy Birthday, Andrew!!!

Precious Andrew is 30!!!

Andrew, andrew, andrew... how do I describe such a wonderful, thoughtful, amazing man?

Simple.

Andrew is:
1 part Andrew, 3 parts awesome.

That pretty much sums it up.

He is so kind and thoughtful, very considerate, SUCH a hard worker and wonderful provider for our family, extremely handsome and good-looking, very much loves the Lord, is atheltic, knowledgeable about politics, current events, sports news, and is very, very in tune to me, his self-proclaimed trophy wife.

Not only is he in tune with me, but he studies me, knows me, loves me despite of my many faults, and spoils me. How on earth did I get such a great man??

He was such an amazing man when I married him, and he continues to grow and mature each year. He's so precious!

*side note- where has the time gone?? I can't believe my husband is 30! I feel like I should still be going to the mall with my friends (oh wait. I still do that.) and chatting on IM. Crazy!

Anyway, yesterday was Andrew's 30th birthday! It was a Wednesday, so he had to work, but we made sure to still celebrate, and most of the celebration involved food!! (why ever not??)

Andrew and I enjoyed breakfast in bed before he took off for Wass.

Then, Jasper and I met him at Raising Canes for a yummy lunch and lots of laughter.

Jasper and I had a fun afternoon of hanging out with the newest Weston, Daniel James, and Nana.

Then, Andrew came home and we had a delicious dinner, courtesy of Bonefish Grill (I so wish I could have cooked for him, but i'm not yet able to do much while hobbling around on crutches).

After Bonefish (yum!), we celebrated with ice cream cake (yuk!) and presents!

Then we played "chase" with Jasper around the house, as is our nightly ritual. Or rather, Andrew played "chase" with Jasper while I took videos of them playing together. Be still, my heart.

And then Andrew received his much-anticipated and longed-for tablet and spent the evening setting up some stuff on it.

We hired a sitter (thanks Debbie and Daniel!!) and are going out for a romantic dinner this upcoming Sat, without the little one. The party keeps on partyin'!

It was a great, great day.

Yup. Andrew's a special kind of awesome.

Love ya, babe.

parade and bubble tea!!

This last Saturday, Andrew, Jasper, and I went up north to Marion for the annual "Grandparent's Christmas" which includes my parents taking all the grandkids (and andrew and I, by default) to a yummy breakfast, then the Marion Christmas Parade, and then distributing ornaments to all the grandkids.

It was a blast. And slightly (and at times, VERY) chaotic. But... seeing as how "boring" is overrated, I'll take "chaotic" anytime. I was also on crutches and unable to help corral the little ones, so that didn't help the chaos at all. But nonetheless, it was a blast!

Below are a few pics of our very fun adventure!

We started the morning off at Denny's, for a delicious pancake breakfast. Here's the gang from left going clockwise: Elliot, Mom, Kinlee, Jasper, Andrew, Dad, and Brogan.

After the "Grand Slam" (aka pancakes, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, eggs, and coffee) for the adults and ketchup and chocolate milk for Jasper (his choice, not mine), we headed out and went to the parade.

Jasper's playing peek-a-boo with his cousins while waiting for the parade to start.

Jasper, snuggling in his daddy's strong arms.

Nana and the little ones, watching the parade.

The gang, minus Andrew, after the parade.

Jasper and I, laughing at Brogan's cute antics.

After the "Grandparent's Christmas", A, J, and I headed back south to Cbus and stopped at Matcha on our way home. Matcha is a very, very cool fro-yo (aka frozen yogurt) and bubble tea place. We'd never been before, but after visiting it for the first time on Sat, it completely stole our hearts. We will be back.

Our yummy and very fruity fro-yo topped with jumping beans. Yep. Awesome.

Jasper l.o.v.e.d. it!

My 2 handsome, handsome guys.

Matcha has a neat kids' corner and Jasper really enjoyed playing with the chalk. He didn't draw with the chalk, but he spent considerable time moving all the chalk into just 1 area, instead of having them evenly split between the 2 chalk boards.

I'm thinking engineering might be in his future (that, or a mad scientist. Both good.).

And finally, Jasper "sharing" my bubble tea with me on the way home.

I'm blessed, indeed!