Jake the Rake!!

That was one of our family's MANY nicknames for our youngest brother, Jacob. And, being the sweet guy that he is, he took them all in in stride. Well, we are now lucky enough to have the honor of having Jake live with us here in Albuquerque! YEAH! We were so excited to hear that he was coming. He is so helpful around the house, cleans up after himself, does his own laundry and dishes, loves to play with Oliver, and even babysits for free. Oliver also loves Jacob and even prefers him over me at times. He really is such fun to have around and we hope that he stays here and falls in love with being a dental assistant on our brother's-in-law mobile dentistry trailer.

Libre the Luchador!

Ok, so have you seen Nacho Libre? It's one of my favorite funny movies (and since I don't have the greatest sense of humor apparently, the fact that I even watch funny movies is a feat). Well, Jack Black plays the part of a cook in a monastery in Mexico , but he moonlights as a Luchador (wrestler). I was only reminded of this this week after Christian got Oliver ready for bed. He put his pajama pants on, leaving his onesie undone. So, I did it up. But, instead of taking his pants off, snapping the onesie up, and then putting his pants back on, I just did his onesie up over his pants. Hence, we have Oliver, the Luchador:

Warming up...
"You wanna piece of me?"

T.G.I.F.

Why, you might ask? Why T.G.I.F.? I was just sitting here on my computer and thinking, "Yes! It's Friday!" But, then I remembered that Friday no longer holds a great amount of significance in my life, being a stay-at-home mom and all. But, nevertheless, it still feels dang good- how's that for ya??!! I was checking my email earlier in the day and Oliver was hopping around on the couch behind me, making all sorts of fun noises. A few minutes later, I noticed the noise maker had stopped. I turned around and this is what I saw:


Then, once he saw me peek over my shoulder, the show began again:

Also, on another exciting note, my friends and I have started a weekly lunch club (for lack of a better name- any ideas??). Yesterday was our first official meeting and it was so fun. Among the seven of us we have 5 kids and 2 on the way (and who knows-- maybe more...).

You might be wondering who that girl is that's holding Oliver. Well, she was feeding him some marshmallow and chocolate-topped brownies. Need I say more???

Like a drug...

So I've never been addicted to anything (well, if you don't count chocolate, ice cream, cookies, cheesecake-ok nevermind...), so I don't know what it's like to be on an addictive DRUG, but I can at least empathize a little more with some true addicts after this weekend. Since I quit my job as a personal trainer a few weeks ago, I've been dreading the boredom that I knew would hit like a cold in January. So, my sweet mother-in-law, probably sensing this, loaned me the much-acclaimed Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I put it off as long as I could, keeping myself busy with household stuff- cleaning, Christmas shopping and cards, bills, etc. But, as Twilight lay on my nightstand last Saturday as it had been for over a month, I knew I might as well get it over with. I picked it up, thinking that all the talk I had heard about it being "addictive" would surely not be the case with me. After all, I prided myself on my self-discipline (except for, of course, the above-mentioned cravings). Well, as is the case with all the finer things in life, it only takes one, sometimes two, tastes, as it were, to really begin to appreciate the beauty/wonderment of it. And, so it was with Twilight. After page 100, you could consider me hooked- the drug was fully circulated and I was no longer an agent unto myself. I even let Christian go, by himself, to a movie on Saturday afternoon while I stayed home to "watch the baby." I read all day Saturday, all day Sunday, calling different ladies in my ward that I knew would have books 2-3. And, it wasn't until Sunday night, after finishing book 2, New Moon, that Christian started wondering where his wife was and where his dinner was and what he was supposed to do with Oliver when he cried. So, I decided I should probably get some things done on Monday and Tuesday and so I didn't finish book 3, Eclipse, until early Wednesday morning. But, once I closed that book, it hit me again, like a cold in January- the withdrawal of the drug. I wanted to know about Edward and Bella, Jacob, Alice, Carlisle, and Charlie and what they were going to do next! I missed my little vampire and werewolf friends! I know you're probably thinking, "Wow, this girl is really off her rocker now," but I'm telling you, if you give in to the little town of Forks and the folks whose lives unfold in these books, you too will feel it- at first the addictive drug of these books and then, once it's all over and you can't get anymore, you will feel the painful withdrawal. I love 'em, love 'em, love 'em and I cannot wait until fall when she comes out with her fourth and I can get another fix!

Christmas on Hickory Hill Farm, GA

It was the Jewkes' turn to have us this year, so we made the trek out to Georgia, back to my roots.:) It was a loooonnngg flight, and we didn't arrive on the farm until 3am (Remember, now, that we have a 16-month-old in tow). Thank goodness church didn't start until 1:30 the next day. We were so excited that the Taskers (my sister's fam) had surprised us all by driving from Denver to share Christmas vacation with us- what a treat! Also a surprise, though not so pleasant a one, my Dad told someone in their ward that he would take his dogs- 2 big, white labs. The kids were all afraid to go outside for a few days. The other, smaller dog, Snowball, is my little twin nieces'.



Do you see the look of fear in those little guys' eyes? It's there. My dad tried to orient Oliver and his cousin, Cooper to the labs- somewhat unsuccessful.

Monday, Christmas Eve, went like this: the guys went shopping for their wives (As of Monday, Christian didn't have a single gift for me, except for the ones that I had purchased for myself.) and the girls wrapped presents and chatted. That night, we had a nice program with all the usual Jewkes stuff: Christmas story with actors and all, singing around the piano, and lots of impromptu solos.
Christmas is a bit anti-climactic when 1) you know you're not getting much and 2) you don't have kids around to get all excited about Santa. But, we still woke up around 9:30, took pictures, and dove in. Oliver loved all the presents we unwrapped for him: balls, more balls, trucks, and more trucks.

Oliver, waiting patiently to rip in to some presents!





After a yummy breakfast of the traditional candy cane pastries and breakfast casserole, we vegged for way too long before getting cleaned up for the day. That night, however, we burned off almost all of those breakfast calories with some serious arm and leg wresting.

Me vs. Mom
Christian vs. Jake
Emily vs. Claire

Now, let the shopping begin! I actually practiced quite a bit of restraint this year and did not make a single purchase, except for a few things for Oliver. Point for me! Anyway, the next few days are kind of a blur of laziness, eating, chatting, playing games, and more shopping. We also went out on the lake and played with the dogs, too.





On Sunday, our little nephew, Jonah, was blessed and I just have to say that he is one of the cutest little baby boys I have about ever seen. Weighing in at only 5'14" at birth, he is soooo tiny and has the perfect little features.


Lest I forget, it was my little honey's birthday on Sunday as well. He was sick most of the day with Oliver (both had man colds), but we still squeezed a little celebrating in that night with confetti cake and our fave, Blue Bell ice cream.


Oliver: "Give me that cake!"

Since Christian was sick, I had to do the honors.
Trying on Daddy's hip new glasses.


This same night, Oliver discovered the rocking horse that neighed. He sat on it for 30 minutes, literally.



Oliver and Cooper loved to play with each other, and the train table.

Monday was one of the highlights of our trip to Georgia, with a stop at the world's largest aquarium, in Atlanta. It was huge and complete with a petting zoo. Yep, that's right, we got to pet live stingrays, crabs, starfish, and even a shark! Oliver loved watching all the fishies and pointed with excitement every time we came up to a tank. Some of our favorites were the whale sharks, the beluga whales, and all the tropical fish and jellyfish.






This was a little cubby-hole to peek in on the penguins.

Highlights of the trip: lazing around more than I have since I was a newborn baby, playing games and talking until at least midnight every night, and I think Christian would say that his reading 3 books while were there was the best time of his life, though my sisters were wondering if he "hated our family" because he read probably 75% of our time there.