Thanksgiving, Wine, Lights, Trees, and Wreaths...and a BUSY 10 month old...

We are a blessed family. I thought of how blessed we are so many times over the Thanksgiving holiday more than I ever have. My family has so much to be thankful for...let me attempt to make a list:
I cannot write one single thing that I am thankful for before my son, Blaine. Blaine in his short 10 months of life has brought so much joy to mine, and Jason's life. I am simply incapable of realizing my life without him in it every single day. Jason and I both have healthy parents that are able to take care of themselves, and that still take care of us in so many ways. Jason and I both have mothers that are the heart of our families...they have created strong traditions that Al and I enjoy, and look forward to every year, and fathers that work very hard to provide for their families. I have a new nephew Jackson Lee that has brought our family even closer together I have to say that 2009 has been so good to the Anderson family. We have been blessed with two happy and healthy little boys that I hope will grow up to love one another, and share even a fraction of the bond that Al and I ( and Melissa and Nathan) share. I realize that they are not brothers, but they are as close as you can get without being brothers. Jason and I both have jobs that we have worked very hard for, a home that is nicer than anything we ever imagined we would have. We have an exteneded family that supports us, and that love Blaine so much. I am blessed that my child stays with someone that loves him nearly as much as I do (probably as close as it can come without being a child's mother). I could go on and on, AND ON...

This week was wonderful, and I'm gonna water it down a bit for the sake of time. My vacation started on Thanksgiving Day. This was Jason's first Thanksgiving off of work in all of the years we have been together, and it was awesome. We joined my Mom and Dad for Thanksgiving lunch...my Mom made collards (one of my most favorite things in the entire world), and cracker cake (my other most favoritest thing) : ) After hanging out with them a while Jason and I came home, rested up, and headed to his Mom's for Thanksgiving supper. Blaine was such a trooper even through the lack of schedule ( we are very schedule oriented, which def. has its downside). Afterward Jason's parents came over to hang out, and ended up helping to decorate our Christmas tree...it was rough, but fun : ) I believe that there are over 2000 lights on our Christmas Tree, and it is beautiful (the picture does not do it justice!!!) : )


Friday we had Turkey Day leftovers at Jason's Mom's and it was delish. Blaine met Rudolph and santa and Jason's Mom's and he LOVED the rudolph...









...and Jason, Blaine and I shopped for outdoor decorations. We purchased a deer, sleigh, and snowman... I still want so much more for the outside...but this will be it until next year. Jason hung a 60" wreath on our upstairs 3 window combo, and a wreath on the door. I am IN LOVE with the upstairs wreath...it actually had plenty of lights in it (surprise)




Saturday Jason and I stayed pretty close to home...we ate with Larry, Jo Ann, Heather and Matt...and we really enjoyed it. We joke that Blaine turns in to a whiny pumpkin at 7:00 (his bedtime) IF he is not in bed. However, even though Blaine def. did turn into a pumpkin we had such a good time with them. Sunday was an unusually quiet Sunday. Jason worked 3rd last night so I napped with him a couple of times today (during Blaine's naps). I did manage to get some laundry done, make a meatloaf for supper, and play with Blaine. I didn't make it to church or Mom's today, but I did make time to do some school work so that my week will go smoothly.

Blaine has been walking everywhere...although still "wobbly" he is doing really well. I am also starting to hear some mimicking with speech going on. Blaine is attempting to say what I am saying, but he is obviously having difficulty putting those syllables together. Today we actually went outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather as I chased Blaine in the wide open space. Blaine LOVES the outdoors!!

I have LOVED this first Thanksgiving...Blaine ate some turkey, lot's of mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes, and still managed to stay on a sort of schedule. : ) Happy Thanksgiving to all, and Merry Christmas too...here are a few random pics from the week...

A tiny bit late...

Whew...I have been spending a lot of my "technology" time working on a top secret project that I'll share soon...BUT I did want to take the time to share a little bit about last week and weekend.

Blaine is busier than ever (which means that I am too) : ) , he spends most of his time now walking all around...with very little crawling in between. Blaine is really enjoying his new found independence and his favorite thing to do is go from the living room to the hallway and into his room and back. I have a video of him that Jason took...it's the longest video that we have been able to capture...






Jason is always good at catching all of the good videos so here is another one of Blaine just laughing...it's kind of funny because Blaine gets so silly when he gets sleepy. : )

Finally a video...all about Blaine...and a lot of pictures...

I usually do not post much about what happens during the week...this is for a lot of reasons. First of all I am totally wrapped up in school Monday and Tuesday nights, and depending on Jason's schedule for the week i am totally consumed with Blaine and laundry...However, this week I was blessed with a midweek break. Because over the weekend Jason worked third shift I was unable to do my "weekend cleaning" so I caught up on Wednesday. When I clean I just include Blaine in the process. I vacuum and Blaine follows me around....I dust...and Blaine....follows me around. Blaine is a part of everything that I do, and I like it that way. From the very beginning Jason and I have made a go of this "parent thing" alone. We made it through the first weeks all by ourselves, because that is what I wanted. I wanted Jason and I to do this together and bond together, and with Blaine...and there is no doubt that that happened. I realize that this is NOT how everyone chooses to make the journey, but we did. Now, I must admit that at times this is not the easy route, but this is us... So I continue to take care of Blaine almost EVERY free moment that I have because he is my son, and my responsiblity, and I want to be the biggest influence in his life....WOW, what a tangent...lets get back to the week...Here are a couple of pictures of Blaine "helping me clean". He had a little infatuation with unraveling the toilet paper as we went along...but he loves the vacuum cleaner too!!




So Saturday Blaine got his first big boy haircut...yep, my (almost) ten month old got his first haircut,and yes for all of you traditionalists (I am NOT) my child got a haircut before his 1 year birthday. Let me say I have a secret dislike of boys with long hair. Please do not ever share this with Blaine because surely he will grow the longest hair ever if he hears that...but his hair was beginning to grow over his ears, and was "straggly" in the front and in the back. There was also the looming "mullet like" thickness around the back too...so I decided to schedule an appointment with our hairdresser...the fabulous Meiling. Jason and I (Jason is behind the camera) took Blaine in Saturday morning and got him all trimmed up, and he looks so precious...here are a few pics from the process....




Blaine did GREAT, and Meiling even used the clippers. Blaine occassionally tried to turn around to see what in the world all that buzzing was behind his ears, but he hung in there for a long time. Let me add that Jason INSISTED that I take some of the hair so that he could tape it in Blaine's baby book. I am not a traditionalist so I was just gonna throw the hair in the trash...guess we'll see if Blaine really cares about that hair in 20 years : )

On Saturday while Blaine and I were playing he finally showed some interest in his Indian gear that his grandma Dawes brought him back from the mountains. He actually kept those feathers on his head for a while. Daisy was a little concerned at one point that the feathers might be a duck so she had to check them out!!! : ) As you will see they didn't last long before Blaine took them off...







I am NOT ready to put all of our Christmas decorations up yet, however my coworker Robert gave Blaine a Christmas Tree for his room, and it had colored lights!!! So Blaine has his very own tree with his very own decorations. Robert has single handedly decorated my house for the fall (Halloween and Thanksgiving) and has now almost taken care of Christmas. Robert gave me window candles for almost all of my downstairs windows, icicle lights for the outside (that I am trying to convince Jason to put up) and other Christmas goodies...for the rest of the house. When you go to Robert's house during the Holidays it is Christmas, and I want our house to feel like Christmas too. I always want Blaine to remember Christmas as a warm family holiday with all of the smells and sounds of Christmas. So a BIG thank you goes out to him for warming our home... I don't usually use colored lights on our "Big Christmas Tree" so I thought that it would be nice to put the tree in Blaine's room. Blaine anfd I had fun putting up the Christmas tree in his room. I know that I'm probably a little "looney" but I thought that it might be a good idea to put his Christmas tree up so that he could see the lights and perhaps we could do some desensitization about it before we put up the big tree...whew...we'll see I guess...OK, so I know that I'm fooling myself it's gonna be rough trying to keep him out of the Christmas Tree!!







It's amazing that I remember this time last year when I was so miserable...I was desperate for Blaine to come, and come SOON!! We speculated about all of the things that he would be doing by this Christmas, and let me say he has already exceeded all of our expectations.

Blaine also learned to clap his hands...When I got up with Blaine Friday morning I was talking to him and Playing with him...I was clapping his hands together and he started to clap them on his own. I know that Blaine's grandma loves to play patty cake with him so I think he is finally catching on...and he KNOWS that I love it!! Here is a little video of him "clapping his hands" : )'




Blaine has been "starting to walk" now for the last several weeks. He is now at the point that he walks a couple of steps and stops to catch his balance and continues... I have been struggling to capture this on video probably because I am ooooing and ahhhhhing while he is actually doing it and not worrying about capturing it on video...BUT here is my first even close to catchin' it...WARNING you'll have to turn your head to see some of it...


So here are a couple of steps.

Tomorrow we have our Christmas pictures with Bill Goode. Blaine is growing so fast and this will be our first family picture since his 3 month pictures. I can't wait!!

Susan's home...

This was a tough week...I don't know if it was the Halloween candy or the fact that I have had the same students long enough to know their faults...either way, I focus on the weekend with my family and leave the rest behind...

Ever since I have known Jason when his Aunt Susan comes home has always been a special time. Susan is Jason's Aunt that lives in South Carolina. Susan also has a husband Haverson, and a son, Travis. Whenever Susan comes home family time is in full swing, and I love it!!

Friday night we all went out to eat at Stacks in Tarboro, for Greg and Cindy's 32nd Anniversary!!! Stacks is owned by one of Greg's golfing buddies...and the location of mine and Jason's wedding reception almost three years ago. We were lucky enough to be seated in the "green" room so Blaine's loud yells (happy yells I might add) didn't disturb others that were eating. When we got home we put Blaine almost straight to bed and i reeelllaaxxxed!!! It was nice.

Saturday morning I shopped with Jason's Mom and Aunt for Jason's grandma's birthday. We went to Belks and then to Kenilworth for their Christmas open house. I loved looking at the Christmas decorations, and being with Jason's Mom and Aunt. Afterward we headed to Amy's Hallmark and Harris Teeter. Blaine was such a trooper, but once were on the way home he knocked OUT!!

My cousin Laurie came to visit that afternoon and we got to spend some time with she and Steven's new baby boy Connor Bradley. Connor is such a cutie and Blaine was quite curious about him. Later on we went to the farm for Jason's grandma's birthday get together. We had an awesome dinner, Blaine was exhausted and fell asleep in Greg's arms...which is very unusual for him...

Sunday was a day of relaxing for us all. I went to church and to visit my Mom. The church pew was a bit bare this week, was just me by myself :( Blaine was in the nursery. Afterward I visited with my Mom for a while and headed on back home so that Blaine could get an afternoon nap. While Blaine napped Jason and I actually watched some TV : ) that doesn't happen often!! Sunday afternoon Brandon and Jessica came over and we grilled some venison on the grill and Brandon made a venison roast, it was all delicious!!

Blaine did a great job trying to walk all weekend and at one point took about 10 steps (that I saw). I noticed that he has learned to take a step, balance and then go on instead of just trying to run and falling. I don't think that it will be much longer before he just takes off. It's gonna be a challenge keeping Blaine out of the Christmas tree this year!! Blaine is also babbling so much, I think that I hear the beginning of words like "Daisy", and "book"....whatever it is that he is talking about he can get really serious sometimes. Still no teeth yet, but boy are we slobbering now...

I also got in the accent chair that I ordered several weeks ago, and I am so pleased with the way that it turned out....here's a pic...
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Too old for this...

In many ways I realized this weekend that I am too old for this...

On Friday I didn't work, and it was WONDERFUL. Friday was a planning day at school and instead of completing the HOURS of work that will be waiting for me on Monday I decided to spend some time with my boys (Jason was off YAY!!). On Friday Jason and I worked around the house..I spent a lot of time with Blaine while I cleaned the house...Blaine just followed me around while I cleaned. Have I mentioned how much EASIER it is to keep a house clean when you have so much more space? Kinda crazy b/c you would think the opposite. Jason and I also picked out our storm doors at Lowes (which took WAY longer than it should have) and went to the downtown trick or treat in Tarboro (Blaine made the front page of the Daily Southerner...check it out here). I love the historic district of Tarboro!! We visited a couple of businesses downtown that are owned by people that are our friends. Candy was being handed out, but we told them to save it for other children that could actually eat it. After we put a tired and very ILL Blaine to bed we had our friends Jessica and Brandon over for a fire on the patio and we just hung out and enjoyed each others' company. We really enjoy hanging out with Jessica and Brandon they are so down to earth and real. I stayed up way too late though, and had an early morning with Blaine...I'm getting too old for this...

I had a bit of a "falling out" with one of my friends - brought on mainly by me. I had been feeling over the last year or so like my friend was not contributing equally to our relationship and I have made a lot of efforts to try and reach out to this friend, I got frustrated. Unfortunately apparently this "friend" did not desire to have the same relationship with me that I wanted. After more than a year of being the only one to call and check in,email to just say how are you I'm D O N E. I will try in the mean time not to allow myself to be angry with her, I realize that some people just don't let people in, they are so wrapped up in their own existence that the only people that are in their lives are the ones that will give give and keep on giving some more...and I realize that I need a friend in return...a relationship that is mutually beneficial. It does make me sad though, that this relationship has forever changed. I have learned a few valuable lessons through the ending of this relationship...

1. Just because you consider yourself close to someone that doesn't mean that they desire that same relationship with you.
2. You cannot make anyone (a friend, a companion, no one) feel the same way about you as you do them.
3. This hurts your feelings, but it's ok once you realize where you stand with the person it is much easier to accept the relationship for what it is and MOVE ON...
4. Confrontation is not always the right way to go about "resolving" this... sometimes if you just leave it alone the end result is the same...the relationship just dies either way...
5. There are some people that think that their lives are harder than EVERYONE around them...and they might be right???
6. I am too old for this...

I will choose not to hold a grudge, but not to invest emotion in this relationship anymore...
I think that in relationships we begin to assess how much we give vs. how much support we get and my cost was far out weighing the benefits, and that's ok...now I know...

Saturday was a nice day...we had a lot of company...Al, Melissa, and Jackson came by early and we all went to lunch - which ended up being quite eventful. Jackson interrupted Melissa lunch for an unscheduled bathroom visit that took a while to clean up : ) ...we did manage later in the afternoon to get them both in their costumes and snap a couple of pictures. Jackson's costume was quite elaborate and he lost his patience fairly quickly. Saturday evening we "trick or treated" at Jason's Moms, put Blaine to bed and Jim and Courtney (2 of our friends) came over and we went to a Halloween party at Chris and Kristy's house. They really put a lot of effort into getting this party together and we enjoyed every minute of it...there was a nice bonfire, a scary hay ride, and good food!!! I hope that this will become an annual event. Jason's Mom was gracious enough to watch Blaine for us on Thursday (we went to the Trail of Terror) and Saturday for the party. I am so blessed with a mother in law that is so helpful, and so gracious about keeping Blaine...we love her...words cannot even begin to explain how fortunate I am that I can lay my child to bed in his OWN bed, and go somewhere and hang out with our friends. When we returned from the party we sat out on the back patio and enjoyed the fire and good company (I went to bed fairly quickly though). I am REALLY getting too old for THIS!!!

Blaine no longer drinks out of a bottle...I know it's kinda crazy for a 9 month old, but this was his choice. We have been working with the sippy cup for over a month now, and I have tried several different types. Blaine really did well with the Platex newby cup and I thought it might be nice to start to give him his milk maybe once a day with the new cup and he did so great that he now gets all of his milk and the little bit of juice that he does get in the cup. Blaine also took several steps that I saw with my own eyes this weekend about 5 or 6 in a row on one occasion. I tried and tried to catch it on video but I was only able to catch a little bit of cute video...no real steps. Here is a tiny bit of all of my tries to catch it...

This first video is our futile attempt at getting video of Blaine walking...it was the closest that we came...


This video is Blaine's new party trick...shutting the door behind himself : )


On Rainy Sunday Jason and I stayed CLOSE to home...we went to Jason's Mom for Chili, and hung out there for a long time (they had a FIRE : ). Now I am winding down the weekend, and preparing for a rough couple of weeks at school .

We have finally finished hanging the mirrors in the bathrooms and the patio is complete...here are a couple of pictures : )


Million dollar Bill Goode pics : )



Master bathsa


master make up area


laundry area


patio





Blaine's idea of getting to know Jackson, poking him in the eye...
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