Thanksgiving Weekend

Hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone. I have been off of work for a week and it feels like only a couple of days at best. I think it's because I have not stopped since last Monday. The days before Thanksgiving were filled with errands, grocery shopping, getting food ready for Thanksgiving, cleaning the house etc.

Wednesday night the Goldsmith's arrived from their trip from Maine. Jackson was still up to greet his aunty, uncle and cousin. They did not get much time to hang out because it was passed Jackson's bedtime and Kristin and I were hoping he would get a good night sleep knowing he would not be taking any naps during the day Thursday. After the boys went to bed, the grownups played Farmville (Anthony and Amanda) and watched some TV before heading to bed.

Thanksgiving morning we were up early. Jackson was very excited for the arrival of his guests and to play with his big cousin. Daddy Henry arrived around 9:30ish, just in time for the boys to go down for a nap. He was hoping to get some time with them before the crowd arrived but without fail, they slept the time before our guests arrived.

People started getting to the house around 11:30. As usual, we had a ton of appetizer foods before dinner. This year I changed things up and made a different type of stuffed mushrooms from prior years. The change was that instead of making them with breadcrumbs and cheese, I made them with sauteed bacon and onions and mixed with cream cheese before stuffing the mushrooms and rolling them in breadcrumbs. They were definitely a crowd pleaser with not one left over. Some that will not go mentioned told me they preferred the old version. I'll leave that up to the jury to decide. We also had shrimp cocktail, different types of cheese, spankopita's and Leah's Italian antipasto. For dinner, we had 3 fried turkey's that I had brined for 2 days. I did not get to fry the turkeys because I spent much of the afternoon in the hospital with Jackson (story to follow). I addition to all the typical Thanksgiving meal fixins, I made a sour cream herb mashed potatoes and stuffing with Italian sausage and dried cranberries. The stuffing seemed to be a hit this year! Dessert was bountiful with plenty to select from.

Most of you who follow our blog know that Kristin and I ending up having to rush Jackson into the hospital on Thanksgiving. We ended up having to call 911 because Jackson had a severe allergic reaction to something unknown to us and the doctors. Just before going down for a nap early afternoon, he began breaking out in large white welts all over his body. This followed by his skin turning bright red and swelling. His breathing also was wheezy. Not knowing what was happening or what to do, I called his doctor, who called us back and told us to rush him into the hospital. He was brought to the hospital in an ambulance and was treated for an allergic reaction with steroids and antihistamines. We were at the hospital for a couple of hours before being released. The doctor did not know what caused the reaction. It could have been the new formula he was put on (though he had before when he was first born), peaches in his yogurt (again, had before), perfume someone was wearing that held him or from the shrimp on people's hands that were holding him. It's scary not knowing for sure. We are so very glad he is doing well now but it was nothing less than scary.

By the time we got home from the hospital, we had missed Thanksgiving dinner. We got to spend about an hour with folks before everyone headed home. My cousin who I have not seen in years had also come to our house and unfortunately, I did not get to spend any time with her. I felt bad because she was by herself with people she did not know as my mom followed Kristin and I to the hospital. She did call us later that night to tell us she had a great time though Kristin and I were not there.

Later that night after everyone left and Kristin and I cleaned our house which was a mess, Jared, Amanda, Friendly Henry, Kristin and I played our traditional Thanksgiving night Taboo. As always, we had many laughs, compliments of Friendly Henry. The funny thing is that the laughs are never the result of a joke, rather, it is because of the types of clues Friendly gave to Jared. All I have to say about that is "bomp!"

Friday morning, I cooked us up a big breakfast, which consisted of cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, Kristin's hash casserole, bagels and amish bread. After breakfast, Daddy Henry spent some time with the boys before heading home later that morning. Below is a picture of Papa Goldsmith and his grandboys.

After the boys got up from their nap, Amanda and Kristin headed up to Rhode Island to have pictures taken of the boys for Christmas. Jared and I did not go knowing that the crowd would be ridiculous and seeing we have short patience, it was best we did not go. I am thankful we did not go after hearing they waited in line behind a family of 5 who were getting their pictures taken with multiple outfit changes!

While the girls were getting the pictures done, Jared and I picked up Jackson's prescription and headed over to the Vodoo Bar and Grill in Mystic for some frothy beverages. The Vodoo Bar and Grill is probably one of my favorite places to go around here for food and drink. It's nothing special but had great food that's cheap and always plenty on tap. We stayed for a while and got home just as the girls did. Later that night after the boys went to bed, we had pizza for dinner and Amanda's pickle dip. Later that night, we watched Elf (except Kristin who slept on the couch with her shower cap) before heading to bed.

Saturday the Goldsmith's headed home late morning. Kristin and I put some Christmas decorations up in the house while Jackson napped. Last night we went to Tar-jee and Babie'R'Us. We picked up some Panera before heading home to put the rugrat to bed. Our plan was to go to the Mystic boat parade and dinner but we were both exhausted and did not feel like getting dressed up to go out.

This morning we were all up early. Kristin and I spent the morning putting up the Christmas tree. Jackson was in his glory pulling ornaments out of the box and starring at all the lights on the tree. I spent the entire afternoon decorating the outside, which thankfully is all done! Grammie stopped by tonight because she bought Jackson a train set to go under the tree, which I set up for him. He enjoyed watching it though he was much more interested in pulling the train cars off the track, which I spent a while trying to get on.

All in all, it was a great weekend, though jam packed. It was good seeing the family Thanksgiving and to spend time with the Goldsmith's. As I think about Thanksgiving, I am still awed at the fact that both Jared, Amanda, Kristin and I have kids. It's funny looking back at the holiday's prior to having kids and what they are now.

I am not looking forward to the work week ahead, especially knowing I will be in Dallas for 3 of 5 work days this week. I would love to be someplace sunny and warm with a frosty beverage in hand while I sit by the pool right now. Maybe if I close my eyes and click my heals three times it will come true.....must be the glue I am sniffing right now making me delusional.

Below are some pictures I had taken of the boys playing, riding their fire truck Nannie got them and Kristin watching Elmo with Callum.

This is what we woke up to this morning....




He is growing way to fast, I hate it!!!!

Uncle Adam and Auntie Kimba came to visit today. Uncle Adam arrived around 10 this morning and brought gourmet muffins from the Gingerbread Factory ( i think its called). Big gourmet carrot cake muffins, gingerbread muffins, and strawberry shortcake muffins.

Jackson was sleeping when Uncle Adam arrived, but soon woke up as he was so excited to see him!



While we were awaiting Auntie Kimba's arrival, Uncle Adam fed Jackson and watched his new tricks of crawling and trying to stand. When Auntie Kimba arrived we all headed out to lunch.

Anthony had heard about a Mexican restaurant, Ortega's, that was supposed to be good. When we pulled up we almost didn't go in, the outside didn't look so great...but don't judge a book by its cover cause the food was yummy!! It was really great authentic Mexican food. I think we all had burritos of some sorts and Jackson had a bannana....

We headed home and Adam and Anthony went out for a bit and when Jackson woke from his afternoon nap, Auntie Kimba and I took Jackson and Chelsea for a walk.
When Adam and Anthony arrived home we had a surprise birthday cake for Adam's belated 30th.

It was a great day. Jackson was a happy little boy and gave his auntie and uncle lots of big wet kisses!!!!

Here are the godparents with their little monkey.



And our first family picture with Chelsea girl!



Only a two day work week coming up. Looking forward to Turkey day :-)

Caught Ya.....

Well as you can see Jackson is crazier than every, his new fun thing to do is crawl into the fridge and browse the shelves... His teacher said he has been crawling over to the door leading to the infant room next door and banging on it for someone to let him in to play.

He is also learning the word NO. He likes to crawl over and investigate the carbon minoxide monitor in the kitchen. When he starts heading over he'll pause and look back on us and grin. We tell him NO, he'll turn around and crawl a few more steps then look back and giggle...he is a little terror!

On a different note...

When I was in elementary school around xmas time we used to have this thing called " Santa's Workshop." Bacially mom and dad would send us to school with cash and we'd have the opportunity to do some shopping.

A few things I remember purchasing for mom are some fabulous sparkle stick on earrings, because every woman in their 40's needs stick on earrings. I also remember buying mom this beautiful blue tray with geese on it. The tray was probably about eight inches big...what does one do with an eight inch tray? But mom kept this tray on the top of the oven for years, I'm sure she still has it, right mom?

Things I remember getting dad are a book on bird watching, a pencil holder that looked like a mouse, and of course my clown pictures.

I think its really cute when little kids go shopping for their parents to see what they pick out.

I can't wait to take Jackson shopping for Anthony. I hope he picks out a really funny looking tie or sweater and insists daddy wear it!!!

So Anthony insisted we start this blog back up but seems to me he hasn't done a post since....raise your hand if you want a post from Anthony soon..

As you can see from the pictures below, we have a very strong determined boy on our hands. He just started crawling November 1st and is now already trying ( and sometimes succeeding) in pulling himself up to a standing position. The other night I ran upstairs to change my clothes and Anthony yelled to come quick. Jackson had stood up balancing on his microphone and farm toy for balance. I think we are going to have an early walker on our hands. Slow down Jackson!!!!






On Friday Jackson was a visitor in a new classroom at school. His room now is babies age 6weeks until they start to get mobile. Because Jackson is now moving all around they thought it would be fun for him to play in the next room for the day to see how he did. The babies in that room are anywhere from 5 months to one year. He enjoyed the visit. I'm sure it won't be long until he moves rooms.

Yesterday was a rainy day and Jackson took a three hour nap in the morning. When he got up we did a few errands and got some of our turkey day supplies. Anthony made a yummy dinner or chicken cutlets with lemon sauce and broccoli risotto. We then watched the move Bride Wars.I had a baby shower today and Jackson enjoyed an afternoon with his daddy. They even went to purchase Super Mario Brothers for the Wii!!!

The final picture show Jackson relaxing after a long day of school. An early present from his nannie arrived, Jackson's very own pottery barn chair!!!!

Cold and Flu season is quickly making its way through the Favry house.
This week alone Jackson has been getting over his conjunctivitis and Anthony and I were both diagnosed with sinus infections and viral infections. Its really scary how everyone is so sick this year!!

Jackson received his second dose of the seasonal flu shot on Monday and his first dose of H1N1. He is supposed to go back in 28 days for his second dose of H1N1, however it might not be available. Kind of frustrating that an innocent ( and adorable) 7 month baby can't get a flu vaccine yet all the prisoners got theirs...hmmm. They also gave 500 doses to the big wigs on wall street, wouldn't want them to get sick. Makes perfect sense. Anthony and I attended two flu shot clinics where they ran out of shots and the walk in clinic down here in Mystic hasn't even received their shipment yet, what is going on?

Someone at work summed it up nice. Why is it we keep running out of flu vaccines but never seem to run out of illegal drugs like cocaine or crystal meth. Maybe we should put the drug dealers in charge of the flu vaccines!!!!

Can someone please bring us some soup???

Good Evening. Time for the Sunday night blues to kick in....

This weekend we didn't do to much which was nice as we have all been fighting colds.
Jackson is so busy during the week at daycare that he likes to catch up on his sleep on the weekends napping in three hour chunks. Saturday morning while Jackson napped from 9-12:30 Anthony and I cleaned the house. Now that the little monkey is crawling, we have to make sure the floors are nice and clean as anything he finds on the floor goes in his mouth. When Jackson woke from his nap we did a few errands before going over to Grammie Favry's for supper. Jackson explored her living room, the air purifier was his favorite find, and the adults had stuffed shells for dinner.
Saturday night as soon as Jackson went to bed I was quick to follow. My head was hurting and my body ached and chilled, I needed a good night's rest.

This morning Jackson and I played at home while Anthony made an early morning trip to the grocery store. Jackson took another long nap this morning and I was able to do some more cleaning and resting/catching up on magazine reading while Anthony watched some TV and made Amish Bread.

Amish bread, you might ask, is similar to friendship bread where you bake a loaf and give three starters to friends so they may also bake. Amanda gave me a starter last year and I think I baked a loaf of bread every 10 days for almost a year, it was a bit out of control...welll its back, but this time Anthony is the baker.

Jackson is growing up so fast, it makes me sad. Today he discovered Chelsea's water bowl, the bottom drawer on the island, the carbon monoxide monitor, and Anthony's work binders...he is such a busy little baby. This evening while playing on the floor, he leaned on his toy and stood right up. I have a feeling he'll be walking at nine months...walking with no teeth :-)

Below are some pictures of him playing this afternoon as well as exploring the leaves while Anthony grilled up some hot dogs.








Off to relax a bit before bed. Anthony is taking Jackson for his flu shot in the morning. More to come on that...

Good Evening. Kristin here, my turn for the blog.

Jackson is officially a crawling machine. Since he took off Sunday he hasn't really stopped, he has no interest in sleeping as he'd rather practice his new skill, even at 4am. Look out Chelsea....

Anthony and I were lucky to find a wonderful daycare for Mr. Jackson. We are both very happy with our choice. At first I felt terribly guilty bringing him to "school", but seeing how happy he is there makes it so much easier. Jackson smiles when we drop him off and according to his teachers he is busy and happy all day.....and very nosey, not sure where he gets that from. The best part of the day is going to pick Jackson up and seeing his big toothless grin when you walk into the room.

I think daycare has also helped Jackson become the social butterfly he is. Jackson definitely knows who his mommy and daddy are but is willing to let anyone hold him and play with him. We are happy to say this kid has no stranger anxiety...he made that clear when he let a scary witch hold him on Halloween :-) Guess Santa won't be a problem this year...

Tomorrow is school picture day for Jackson, we will be sure to post pictures when we receive them!

Well, off to watch some TV before bed. TATA

Jackson's 1st Halloween

Sitting down to dinner tonight Kristin and I talked about how long it has been since we updated our blog. After Jackson was born Kristin did much of the blogging because I was going into the office every day and by the time I got home at night, blogging was at the bottom of the list. Getting tired of keeping up with the blog, Kristin stopped and before you know it, just over 4 months passed.

Before updating the blog, I looked back to our prior blogs, and I am amazed at how much has changed, at how much Jackson has changed. The once expressionless baby has blossomed into an easy going, outgoing, good tempered, smiling crazy little boy! Today marked another milestone for Jackson. Today was the first day Jackson crawled and what an amazing site this was. While Kristin was getting dressed this morning, I was lying on the floor with Jackson, taking some pictures of him while he was playing around. I had put the camera on the floor a few feet in front of Jackson and before you know it, he slowly started to charge forward with his hands reaching out in front of him to grab hold of his new found toy. Amazed that he finally crawled I ran and got Kristin. I pushed the camera a few feet in front of him and again he began slowly crawling forward towards it. Almost 12 hours later, he is all over the place, interested in the new world in front of him. While happy to see him accomplish a new milestone, I sat in his room tonight feeding him before putting him down to sleep saddened at how quickly my little baby has grown. I remember the nights sitting in the same chair wondering when the colic would end, when he would smile and laugh rather than scream all the time, when I would have somewhat of a normal life and now, I look at him amazed at how something so beautiful is mine!

So this weekend was Jackson maiden voyage to Maine to see his aunty, uncle and cousin. I was somewhat nervous about the drive up to Maine, not knowing how he would be being in the car for 4-5 hours, but in the end, he did awesome! We had planned to leave early Friday morning during the time Jackson normally goes down for a nap, hoping we would sleep for half the trip. We got on the road at 9:30am and he slept until about 10:30 before getting up and playing for 30 minutes while in his carseat. By the time he started to get fidgety, we were in Kennebunk, which is where we decided to stop for 1/2 hour to feed him and let the dog out. Jackson cried for about 5 minutes when we put him back in the car, however, quickly fell back to sleep for the last 1 1/2 hour of the drive. The drive home was as equally smooth as the drive up. Kristin and I were both proud of how well he did and how thankful we were for paper, the only toy that seems to entertain him! So for Christmas, no need to spend money on those noisy, loud toys that daddy has to put together. Instead, you can bring Jackson a pad of paper!

When we got to Jamanda's house, Jared and Callum were there to greet us. Jackson quickly discovered Callum's toys and Callum discovered the bag full of food and cereal we had packed for Jackson. It was kind of funny seeing the two boys together. Jackson sat observing Callum, and interested in the toys Jackson was playing with, Callum sat down by him. Callum every once in a while took the toys Jackson was playing with, but Jackson did not seem to mind much. It was kind of funny to be honest because Jared and/or Amanda would tell Callum to give it back, which he would do, however, shortly after giving the toy back to Jackson, Callum would take it back again. Below is a picture of the two of them playing.


Here is a picture of Kristin with the two boys and Jared with Jackson:




After Amanda got home from work Friday, Jared grilled us up some burgers and sausage on the charcoal grill. The food came out good and had great taste from the smoke of the charcoals. I have a new appreciation for charcoal grills over the convenience of a gas grill. Later that night after the boys were in bed, the parents did adult like things, which consisted of Amanda and I playing Farmville on Facebook, Kristin reading trashy magazines and Jared making fun of Amanda and I. I remember the times when we use to stay up until 11 or 12 but now, 9pm is the new bedtime!

Saturday morning we had some heart healthy donuts, Amish bread, sticky buns and bread for breakfast. We all went out for lunch at the Mainely Brew, which was this great pub in Waterville. Jared and I had some great brew and the four of us had a good lunch. Jackson even sat in a big boy high chair at the table while we ate. Afterwards, we headed back to the house so the boys could take a nap before getting dressed up to go trick'or'treating. Look at Jackson's pre-Halloween attire:


After the boys got up, we got them dressed in their costumes for some early photos/videos before taking them out. Amanda's Father and Grandfather also came over for some photos. Mr. Jackson was a pirate and Callum a monkey. Just look how cute the two of them were:



Below are some more pictures of Jackson, one of which was taken at our house before Halloween. Notice the picture of Jackson with the witch, which was Cindy who lives next door to Jared and Amanda. This kid is not afraid of anything!




We only took them around to a few homes before heading back to hand out candy. Jared set up shop in the breezeway this year. Last year he and I sat at the end of the driveway enjoying some adult wheat beverages while handing out candy to the kids. This year the weather was so warm and humid compared to last. There was a pretty steady flow of kid, though I did not think as many as last year. Afterwards, Amanda and Kristin put the two boys in the bathtub and gave them a bath. I got a cute picture of the two of them playing in the tub. I cannot wait to show this to them when they are older and have girlfriends! They also had matching PJ's! After the trick'or'treating festivities were done, Jared and Amanda got pizza for dinner and we watched It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.



We got on the road this morning by 8:30 and were home at 1pm, which factored in a 1/2hr stop to feed Jackson. We made good time overall. After we got home, Jackson stayed with Grammie while Kristin and I went and did some errands and grocery shopping. Jackson had chicken tonight for the first time and seemed to like it. Tomorrow he might try turkey. Tuesday he is on to martinis!

So, hopefully we will keep up with the blog. It will sure be fun to look back at all the postings and see a snapshot of our past and look in astonishment as to how much changes so quickly!