Santa visit and our lazy weekend

I have learned that once you become a parent lazy weekends become very rare. We are always busy doing something and even when we aren't we are busy chasing after Jackson. . .no more sleeping in and sitting around in our pj's all day. Well, this weekend was different. Susie kept Jackson on Friday night so Kurt and I could get our Christmas shopping done. We only had a few things left to pick up so it was nice (minus the minor allergic reaction that I had to something I ate at Applebees . . .I swear I hate that place). It was really nice to just hang out with Kurt. Usually when we have a "date night" it is with other people so it was really nice to just be the two of us.

On Saturday we took Jackson to see Santa. . .I should have known he would not be quite as receptive as I had hoped. He screamed when we tried to put him on Santa's lap, and Kurt ended up having to sit with him beside Santa.
Even if he wasn't too enthused about the whole experience, hopefully he will be one day when we tell him that the Santa House where he saw Santa was actually built by his great grandad (he is crazy about his great grandad). I feel truly blessed that Jackson has been able to know so many of his great grandparents.

After the Santa visit, we spent most of the day . . okay all day at Grammy and Grandpa's house. Jackson played and played until he finally gave in and took a nap. He looked too sweet not to share the photo.
There is really nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby. . beautiful.

Sunday was another lazy day. . . in fact, Jackson even crawled up on the couch to cuddle with Mommy and Daddy. It was so awesome. . .he is really getting cuddly, and I am loving every minute of it because I know the second he starts walking on his own he is going to want nothing to do with cuddling for awhile. He is too cute. . . he gives us kisses all the time . . and kisses Wrigley all the time. We are truly blessed.

All in all it was a great weekend. . . I know we will not have many weekends like this so we really took advantage of it . . .and loved every minute of it.

Who knows if we'll have time to post again until after Christmas so just in case we don't . . .I hope you all have a FABULOUS and blessed holiday.

Here are a couple of our Christmas Photos. We had them taken with Jackson's one year photos. He did great, and they actually turned out pretty cute. Here is a sample. . .


And here are a couple of his one year photos. . .

Our little Colt

My Aunt Wanda gave Jackson this Colts outfit for his birthday. It's the full deal. . .helmet, shoulder pads, etc. We went over to our neighbor's house for the game today so we thought we would break it out. He was too cute. It's so big that it will probably fit him next year too, but it was so cute that I had to post a picture. Enjoy!

November. . .what a Big month

November was a really big month for the Cantlon family. We celebrated my dad being cancer free after his surgery, celebrated Thanksgiving and our little guy's birthday, and Jackson had his first haircut. I always love this time of year. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love spending the evening with my Aunt Wanda and her family. The last two years we have been unable to make it so I was very excited for Thanksgiving this year. Thanksgiving was also Jackson's first birthday. I cannot believe he is one year old. It's crazy how fast time flies. He just gets more and more entertaining everyday. He is a little lover and we continue to feel blessed to have him in our lives.

We forgot our camera at Jackson's actual birthday party, but we were able to catch a few pictures while we celebrated with my family in Georgetown on Thanksgiving.

Pop Pop and the birthday boy. . .Dad has Jackson hooked on pretzel sticks now so every time we are down there he wants pretzels. I just thought this picture was pretty cute.

Jackson got this really cool activity table from Mom Mom and Pop Pop. He could not even wait to get it out of the box to play with it.
Hunter got him a little farmhouse with animals and letters for him to play with. He love it, but we are finding that the animals are easily overlooked and searching for them every night is getting old already. Oh well. . .as long as he's having fun.
Jackson did not really seem to be interested in his cake. He did touch the icing, but he did not seem to like the way it felt on his fingers. I was so looking forward to him having cake in his hair and everything, and he wanted nothing to do with it. . . just goes to show that little ones definitely have minds of their own. :)

Jackson also got his first haircut on his birthday. His hair was SO long, but we wanted Aunt Denise to give him his first haircut so we waited until Thanksgiving. He did awesome!! He sat really still until the very end, and then he got a little fussy, but it was way past naptime so I was pretty impressed.
The Before:
And the After:
He looks like such a different little boy with his haircut. He doesn't look like a baby anymore. It's exciting, but sad at the same time. Tear. . .

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time with the Seitz's and the Cantlon's, and we're already looking forward to next year.

Thanks for the prayers

For any of you who said a prayer for my dad yesterday, thanks!! His surgery went well. They only had to remove 20% of the kidney, and he is doing well recovering in the hospital. As crazy as it sounds, I am positive that Phillip's spirit was in Mom and Dad's house this weekend. He kept him safe when he fell through the skylight, and I truly believe he kept him safe during surgery, as well. Anyway, thanks for the prayers. We really appreciate it.

Nine days. . .is it possible to just stop time????

Jackson will be ONE YEAR OLD in 9 days, and I just don't know how I feel about it. Obviously I am excited, but part of me is really sad. . . my little guy is growing up. He is developing the sweetest little personality, but I know that with his new personality and soon to be independence (once he lets go and realizes that he CAN walk), he is not going to want his mommy anymore. . .at least not in the same way. I'm planning his party, trying to schedule his one year photos, and trying to find somewhere to get his first haircut, and it just feels like he is no longer going to be a baby. . .I think I need some time to adjust to this. :)

Yes, I know it has been over a month. . . .

So it has been a busy month. The day after I posted last, my dad fell through the roof of a barn. He ended up with several broken ribs and they found a mass on his kidney when they were checking his injuries. Apparently masses in this location on the kidney are cancerous 90% of the time so he is scheduled for surgery on the 17th. That is IF he gets over the pneumonia that he developed after his fall. Ugh. Oh and the day he fell would have been my brother's 32nd birthday. Now, I believe that the fall happened so we could find this mass before it got out of hand, and I believe Phillip held Dad up on the rafter and kept him from falling the other 20 feet to the concrete floor below. If you don't mind, though, say a few prayers for him next Monday morning.

We went down to see Mom and Dad the weekend of the 11th. The 11th is Mom's birthday and we wanted to see Dad (considering he had just had a four day visit to the hospital). We were supposed to go to Hanover's Homecoming on Saturday, but we were exhausted so we just headed home instead.

The next weekend was my 10 year class reunion. . .wow, I am getting old. It was also my 29th birthday. . . I can't believe I will be 30 next year. . scary. Anyway, the reunion was really fun. I got to see a lot of people that I have not seen for years. We had a lot of fun . . .not quite as much fun as some people . . but we probably felt better the next day than they did. :) It was really great to see everyone, and it made me miss being in Harrison County again. .

Okay, now on to the stuff that you came here for. . pictures of Jackson. :)

Our little cowboy. . . visiting Mom and Dad on Mom's birthday weekend. I can't believe how much Hunter looks like Phillip. . . more and more everyday.
Here he is with some major "bed head" and isn't he just adorable. . .

Jackson and I have both been sick this month . . . he was sick from Wednesday before Halloween until Saturday so we did not get many pics of him in his costume. . . here are the few that we were able to get. . .He was a little monster. We were able to get him out to go trick or treating for a few minutes but then he screamed for a couple hours. . .finally fell asleep . . .and woke up screaming again at about 11:30. I was so scared. . . we couldn't figure out what was wrong and I was super close to calling Dr. Forkin . . .then, I thought, "let's try Mylicon." It calmed him right down. . . oh I can't wait until he can tell us what hurts. :) The first one is during the day on Halloween. . . he has a shirt on that says "Don't Make Me Scare You." You can tell by looking at him that he doesn't really feel well.


Kurt has been just dying to see Jackson in his camo pants and orange vest. . . He even wants us to have some of his first birthday pictures taken in it. . . Well, we broke it out the other day and I have to say, he was too precious. Hunting season starts Saturday so I'm sure we'll be breaking it out again next weekend. Here's just a quick peek. . look at him standing up . . .he walks around like a champ . . as long as he's holding on to something. . .just not confident enough yet to let go.
And Finally. . . sorry this has been so long. . .On Monday, October 27th, Hunter was officially adopted by my parents. It has been way too long, but it is a relief that all the craziness and endless court dates, etc. are finally over. Hopefully, that poor boy doesn't have to deal with any more heartache for a long time. In the meantime, we are all ecstatic!! This has been a long time coming. . .