Confused

This is Jack's happy face after learning that UNC beat dook last week! He couldn't stop smiling.

We've been busy since the last posting. We went to Atlanta two weekends ago with Josh and Erin Hall (one of my college roomies and her hubby). It was a lot of fun! We went on the Coca Cola tour which was neat. They let you try a bunch of Coke products from other countries. Very interesting/disgusting! I can't remember where this particular soda was from, but if you're ever out of the country and you find yourself purchasing a soda called "Beverly"...try to find yourself giving the soda back and getting your money. It's terrible. I believe someone described it as dumpster juice with fizz. And who names a soda "Beverly"? I'm no marketing expert, but I'm not so sure that the word "Beverly" screams refreshing. Jack enjoyed watching the coke machines fill the bottles, and he danced to all of the old Coke commercials that were playing. We also got to see Jeffrey play in an intra-squad game. I wish we had some pictures, but we were all so busy chasing Jack that we didn't get any really good ones.





These above two pictures may explain why this blog is titled 'Confused.' Jack enjoys emailing in the nude and bathing with his clothes on!

Jack loves bath time more than anything, so usually, when we turn the water on, he'll run to the tub and do this excited little dance/cry until we put him into the water. Two nights ago, we realized after he was quite for a second, that he had actually climbed into the tub, FULLY CLOTHED! It was so funny, but a little scary, too, knowing that he could get in there by himself. He then took his post bath naked run around the house, climbed up into the computer desk chair and started clicking and typing away. He's got things a little mixed up.


Jack made his Mama proud when he showed interest in her shin guards last night. Everytime he throws or tries to catch something, people say, "He's gonna be a baseball (basketball, football) player." No one ever says he'll be a soccer player. Soccer's cool for guys, too, right? I mean, I don't see David Beckham getting any grief over it. Of course, John didn't like the fact that he took a liking to something pink, but we tried to look past that. We both thought the shin guards made him look like a hockey goalie anyway. Either way, it'll be fun to see what he's eventually interested in. Right now, it's Elmo, Mommy, Daddy and raisins!

GO HEELS!!!

Tonight we play dook. CHEER HARD!!! Thought you might enjoy this little picture.

Jackie turns 18!!!

John's sister, Jackie, turned 18 on the 10th! Happy Birthday, Jackie! Her parents were kind enough to host a surprise party in her honor at Berkeley Hall. We think she was really surprised. Unfortunately...I didn't take any pictures! She looked beautiful in her dress! I'll post some pictures if I can get some from Genie. Here Jackie and Jack are posing in her kitchen. Jackie is excited that Jack recognizes her and gets excited when he sees her. By the way, Jackie's going to NC State next year! GO PACK!!!

Chuck, one of John's UNC roommates, got married on the 13th! His bride's name is Angela. Dr. Angela. And Dr. Chuck. Nauseating, really. Just think how smart their kids will be.

The other day when it was 80 degrees outside, I thought Jack might like to mix art time with outside time. And I was right. He colored with his new crayons. The huge ones that are for little kids. And he loved it! He got more on the driveway than the paper, but he did manage to complete his first masterpiece, which is hanging in his Daddy's office. Scout went on the outdoors art field trip, too, as you can see by the hairy paw in the background. Scout and Jack continue to be best buddies. Every time we pull into our driveway, Jack begins his repetitious "doggy, doggy, doggy" chant that doesn't stop until we're in the door and he's received a few licks from his hairy older brother. It's cute.

This is Jack's Elmo doll that he affectionately refers to as 'Melmo'. My Mom and Dad got Melmo for Jack while we were on our vacation over New Years. Since then, he has not slept without Melmo. In fact, he gets fretful near bedtime when Melmo is nowhere to be found. This weekend my parents are coming to town and bringing a back up Melmo with them. Just in case. And I should probably start calling him Elmo instead of Melmo. I don't want to be one of those parents who starts calling people and things what their children do. John would be 'Da-da' and Scout would be 'goggy'. And I would be strange.


Jack is so full of personality these days, and I think this picture shows that. He had just gotten out of the bathtub and was getting ready for his post bath naked house run. It's seems to be his favorite way to dry off.

John and I are doing well. John continues to be busy with work, which is a good thing. Our New Year's resolution is to take our house, room by room, and get rid of the stuff we don't want or need anymore. So far, we haven't made much (any) progress on that, but hey, it's only January, and there's something freeing about that. Like the feeling of a Friday night once you've started a weekday, 9-5 job. You know what I'm talking about. The go to MiTierra's and scarf down an entire chimichanga and glass of sweet tea because no one will care if you are overeating cause it's Friday night feeling. Maybe I'm alone on that one.

Christmas Vacation

This Christmas we traveled all over the place: Greensboro, Las Vegas, Sedona, Scottsdale/Phoenix, and back to Greensboro again! We spent Christmas with my family and then headed to NV on the 26th-2nd. Jack stayed behind with my parents. It was so hard leaving him, but very worth the time spent with my husband and the Ussery and Smith families!


Santa visited Jack in Greensboro. He got a basketball goal, this Superman that sings 'Itsy Bitsy Spider" (John think this emasculates the super hero), some books, an Aquadoodle, a lawnmower, stacking blocks and some UNC shirts. His favorite gift was a singing Grinch that Gammy gave to him. We're on the 2nd set of batteries already.


Here's Jack amidst the chaos.


Gigi, Jackie, Jordan and I posed for a picture underneath the glass pansies in the Bellagio hotel. They had some of the best Christmas decorations I had ever seen. That night we watched the dancing water fountain show in front of the Bellagio. Very Oceans 11, huh? We stayed at Caesar's Palace. I was confused most of the time just trying to find the elevator to our room.

Another shot in the Bellagio. These are all the original Ussery kids plus the 'additions' (Trevor and me). Believe it or not, John and I managed to see Vegas without gambling a penny. We did get to see Seinfeld perform, which was hilarious! After Vegas, we headed to Sedona. What was supposed to be a 5 hr drive turned into about a 7 hour drive due to traffic over the Hoover Dam and a pretty impressive snowfall in Arizona.

We finally made it to Sedona! Jordan had planned a rock climbing adventure for us, but we had to cancel because of the snow. Rats. But we did get to hike some trails. One trail led to this red rock formation. Some of us were more daring than others. John, Jeff, Jordan and Ramsey climbed to the top while the rest of us stayed below (Jackie, who wanted to climb farther, Austin, Logan, Trevor and me).

After Sedona, we headed to our final destination: the Phoenician! What a beautiful resort! Among our activities were: golf, hiking Camelback Mountain, working out, relaxing, Pilates class, bellydancing class, Bocce, ballroom dancing class, lying by the pool, sleeping in, playing Catch Phrase and Pit, kicking the soccer ball, throwing the frisbee, tennis, etc., etc! We had so much fun with the Smiths and Ussery! Thanks for the vacation!!!

Here is Mr. Smith, Ramsey and Trevor teaching a tennis clinic at the Phoenician, which is mainly the reason we were able to go. Unfortunately a nasty cold ran among our group for part of the trip, but it seemed that the Smith men pulled off a great clinic. And I would know because I am a tennis expert. Jordan and Mrs. Smith played Hale Irwin's wife and daughter and BEAT THEM! WHOO HOO!!! I noticed that in order to be accepted among the Smith/Ussery crowd, you have to be at least moderately competitive.

Here's a view of one of the pool decks at the Phoenician. So beautiful. The weather was cool for this time of year. Highs in the mid-sixties. But the pools were heated and you could pull off sunbathing during the afternoon.

This picture was taken about 1/4 of the way up Camelback Mountain.



Why we thought staring directly at the sun was a good idea, I will never know. But, alas, we made it to the top of Camelback. From here you could see over all of Phoenix and Scottsdale. Breathtaking (and blinding)!

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

Jack played, ate, ran, visited and talked the ears off of Mimi and Poppy (the Grandfather formerly known as PiPi). He regained his appetite and along with that a few extra pounds, 4 new molars, some new toys, and another black eye. I don't think he missed us one bit, but we sure were excited to see him again.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Best wishes for a wonderful 2007!

Angus Barn Blowout

Last weekend, John, Jack and I traveled to NC for the Kincaid/Gardner/Ussery annual Angus Barn Trip. My Grandad ("Deda" pronounced DEE'-dah) treats us every year to a fun and yummy dinner at the Barn. It was so nice to see family, feel cold air against our skin, and enjoy a Christmas family tradition. We had this picture taken before we sat down to eat because we knew things could digress quickly having a 15 month old along. It's funny to think about the things we do to try and hold Jack's attention to smile during picture taking. You can tell that we gave up quickly for this photo as we settled for just getting him in the picture.



Look at Anna! Isn't she beautiful??? She entertained Jack for most of our mealtime. He loves his cousins!

Do you like Jack's Christmas pants? They're actually his pajama pants. You're probably thinking we were smart parents for changing Jack into his PJs before we hit the road back to Greensboro before bedtime. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. Jack conveniently had a large malfunctioning diaper episode before our food even came to the table. #2, mind you. After 20 some years of Angus Barn trips, Jack was the first to family member to experience a portion of the evening being sprayed down fully naked in the bathroom. At least I think he was the first.....

If diaper explosions, raisins and light up toys aren't enough to distract Jack, it seems that a dry erase marker is! Lisa transformed the boys to men in a matter of seconds with their 'stashes.

This is a terrible shot of me trying to get a picture of Jack sucking his toe. It's a favorite travel pastime of his. Unfortunately I was a few seconds too late. Jack will always take off his right shoe and sock. Always the right one. Then he'll usually start sucking his toes. Disgusting, really. But funny. And one of those things that only a baby can pass off as cute and athletic. Look at the flexibility on that one! Future gymnast? I hope not. Place kicker? We'll see.

Asheville

John, Jack and I were on the road again...this time to the mountains in NC. We went to the Albert's mountain home outside of Asheville near Mars Hill, and it was so much fun! Thanks for inviting us, Alberts! The girls and Jack played well together, and we all got a small taste of REAL December weather. By real, I mean anything below 60. We had S'mores by the fire, John and Gerrit went hiking and the women n' kids held the fort down at the cabin. So great to relax in such a beautiful place!

On Sunday, the Alberts had to go home, so we took a daytrip into Asheville to the Biltmore! John and I had been before, but never at Christmastime. It was so beautiful and Christmasy and just what we needed to get us into the Christmas spirit. Surprisingly, Jack behaved very well and managed to take advantage of the activities for kids. He had his first memorable Santa experience, which went about as well as most kids Santa experiences go. He freaked. Cried for a few seconds and then spent the remainder of his lap time paralyzed in fear. The only things moving were his eyeballs. Jack also enjoyed the farm village there, where he saw a cow for the first time. He now moos when you say cow. They also had a horse named "Mike." Strange.

The above picture was taken outside of a barn where some people were playing banjos and other moutainy music. Jack did his best knee-bend dance while we were there. I think he's a fan of folk music.





Outside of the Biltmore, John took Jack for a recess period. John was so nice to let me tour the basement of the Biltmore while he took Jack for a run/walk. Here Jack is playing with his phone that he loves! Luckily this was one toy that he didn't throw into the fountain. We did leave the Biltmore one Lion King toy fewer than when we arrived.


Leslie took this picture on the deck of their mountain house. Hopefully I can get some copies of the pictures she took of the kids. SO CUTE in their mittens and hats. Although the best part was watching Jack frantically try to rip his hat off.




Funny shot of my wonderful hands-on husband changing Jack's diaper in the back of the car.

This was Jack's first pitstop when we got back home: his chair! Now he can finally watch his Mickey videos comfortably!

If Jack grows up to despise Walgreens, this is why. I went to have some pictures copied, but ended up taking a few more of my own.

Hope you're all doing well! Thanks for reading!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we stayed home and had dinner with the Usserys and Smiths. John and I were happy that we still qualified to sit at the kid table! WHOO HOO!!! We had a lot of fun catching up with everybody and trying to force feed Jack all of his food since he hates food now. He would only eat the cranberry salad, which is mostly Jello and fruit. Thanks for the recipe, Grandmom!!! On Thanksgiving night, my parents came down for the weekend which was fun.


This is Trevor, Jack's uncle. I wanted to put a picture of him on the site because he's a devoted blog comment writer. Thanks for noticing us, Trev! He got the task of carving the turkey this year. We were both surprised to see how much meat is on those birds! Amazing, really. Kind of makes me respect turkeys a little more than I used to. Which was none.


This picture was taken Thanksgiving Day. Jack wanted to tell everyone that he's thankful for his wagon, remote controls and Cheerios.



It's been a while since I posted the last butt shot. This is a butt shot in action. Jack can get into his housework a little more when he's 'free.' He's vacuuming the house with his Cookie Monster/Elmo vacuum cleaner that either says, "Ah! Me love to vacuum with you" or "Cleaning crew coming through!" Fortunately this is one toy that Jack has not found the ON button to yet.



On Saturday after Thanksgiving, my mom and I decorated the house. John and I went back and forth on do we get a tree, do we not get a tree. We're going to be out of town for Christmas and didn't want the fire hazard of a real tree being in our home over our vacation...and with having a 15 month old running around pulling all of the ornaments off it would be tough...and with Scout trying to drink the water from the bottom...etc. So, we decided on a prelit fake tree that we can use in the future in Jack's room. John and I both love real trees, but it just wasn't worth the trouble this year. (You can tell I'm still trying to convince myself we did the right thing.) Well, if you're used to only having real trees, a prelit fake one just doesn't cut it. No matter how I try to look at it, it always reminds me of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree but sadder. Not only is it pretty ugly, but we can't even decorate the bottom half because of Jack's curious hands. I would put a picture of it on here, but it depresses me. So, here's Jack being tempted to yank the candles out of the window, which he's already done a few time. He'll grab the candle and stand there saying, "hot, hot, hot...."

Hope y'all are doing well!

The Tarheels play Ohio St. tonight at 9 on ESPN. GO HEELS!!!!

MIMI TURNS FIFTY!!!

On November 10th, Jack's Mimi turned 50! Can you believe it? She doesn't look that OLD, does she? Jack and I were able to make it to Greensboro to celebrate with her. We went to her surprise party with lots of our relatives. Everything went perfectly, and Mom was surprised 100%.

After the party, Mom, Dad, Matthew, Melissa, Jack and I headed to the mountains for the 2nd surprise of the weekend. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery and ATV rides (as you can see). Mom even wore a helmet and risked messing her perfect hair up! Incredible! Happy Birthday, Mimi! We were thrilled to spend your big day with you!

John, Jack and I took a trip two weekends ago to Atlanta. We went to the aquarium, which was awesome. Jack loved looking at the fish, pointing to them and saying "fith" which is his version of fish. He picked out a stuffed penguin, which he originally referred to as "Bubby", but now calls "bir" for bird. I'm considering taking him to see Happy Feet, the new animated movie out. I think he'd like it, but he wouldn't be the most quiet movie goer. The above picture was taken in Jeffrey's dorm room at Georgia Tech. Jack liked sitting on his bed and throwing the whiffle ball at Jeff. Jack attempted to say 'baseball' for the first time, which came out like "bay-baw." Close. We got to see Jeffrey several times while we were there, which was great. John and I reminisced about our first dorm rooms and what we missed about college, but again...Jack brought us back to earth and reality with another blowout. I guess a college dorm is about the best place to disguise a blowout. They both stink.

Jack learned in Atlanta how to hold the phone to his head and 'talk.' He walked around most of the time with his Clifford backpack and the phone. I want to apologize if you get any strange phone calls from our home. Jack has already managed to call Gigi on speaker phone by himself, and some random lady in Delaware! AHH!!! The phone bill may come out of his piggy bank this month.

This picture was taken this morning at the beach. After StrollerFit, we headed down to Follyfield Beach with some of the gang from class. Despite the cooler temperatures, it was beautiful. The tide was out and the beach wasn't crowded except for one girl who was apparently from the north and thought 55 degrees was warm enough for her swimsuit. Jack chased the birds talking in Jackese, which is this new language he walks around speaking in. Hilarious!

Jack's New Tricks:
-Words include: Mama, Daddy, dog(gie), hi!, bird, fish, cookie, please, ball, ear, no!, keys....I'm sure there's more, but I can't remember
-Dancing. Anytime you turn on music, Jack either starts turning in circles, waving his hands, or bending his knees. He's definitely a white boy.
-Putting the phone to his ear and pretending to talk to someone.
-Pointing to his ear, hair or tongue on demand.
-Mommy: "What do you think about duke?" Jack will stick out his tongue and blow. We're working on a cheer for the Tarheels.
-Eating books. That's right! Eating them. Requires talent!
-Picking up stuffed animals, blankets, anything soft putting his face in it and saying, "Awww"
-Eating a bite of food and saying "Mmmmm!!!"

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!!

Little Shark of Horrors

This shark outfit is how we chose to torture our son this year for Halloween. The tights are how I chose to torture John. So Halloween was fun yesterday. Jack and I went to a party with StrollerFit friends. He hated wearing his costume there, probably because it was 80 degrees out. Everyone who arrived at the party when Jack did knew that he was a shark, but everyone who came after Jack had shed his shark skin wondered why he was walking around in white tights. It was pretty freaky. He had been reduced to just a boy in tights. This picture above was taken last night when Gigi and Papa Johnny came over to do the trick-or-treat thing with us. The costume lasted longer with the distraction of his glowing pumpkin and his red wagon.



We found out that either all of our neighbors love their candy or don't like children because there were only 4-5 houses (including ours) that had their lights on. We went to all of the lit houses where Jack collected candy for John and me. But he did enjoy a Milky Way or at least the wrapper!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween! Enjoy laughing at these pictures!

Contagious

This picture was taken last Tuesday night after John and I awoke to a strange sound coming from the baby monitor. It was the sound of puking. To spare you some detail, I'll just say that the amount and level of disgust was not small. This picture was taken around midnight, and we stayed this way until 4:30 am. You can see here that Jack was none too happy about his circumstances, and he clutched his Clifford backpack like it was carrying the cure to the nasty virus. However, Jack is now well. He awoke Wednesday morning with a smile and has been okay since. John and I had the misfortune of getting the same virus 2 days later. And then Jack's Gigi and Aunt Jackie caught the same virus 2 days after us. To say that the virus, which has been titled "Baby Jack" by Trevor, is a little contagious is an understatement. In fact, just by merely reading this blog, you may get it. Baby Jack may be traveling through cyber space as well. One can never be too cautious. Go disinfect yourself!


Other than puking, Jack has been up to some hair-raising tricks. Here he's at the playground. We're not sure exactly how it all started, but whenever Jack got near the slides, his hair would stand up! Static in the air or something. Maybe someone slid down the slide in a some nylon/polyester mix or something. Like I know materials (or physics for that matter). But something strange was going on.

On a side note, but still relating to clothing materials and strange happenings, a child came to work the other day and her name was Nylon. No lie. But I made the mistake of pronouncing it like it's spelled. You know, like the patented material that is Nylon. As Dwight would say, "False." And buddy, believe me I was corrected. It's Nuh-LON'. Dumb.


Now here's an outfit to remark on. This was given to Jack by Uncle Trev and Aunt Jordan shortly after Jack was born, and John and I were as happy as kids in a candy shop when we realized that it still fit him this season. We tried to complete the ensemble with the tennis racket, but all Jack wanted to to was eat it.

John, Jack and I took a trip to Barnes & Nobles last week. We were excited to find the Clifford backpack there for him, but John was a little disappointed when Jack took interest in the Disney Princess display. It's like Jack realized that this was not a natural move for him to make and he promptly went to the train set and tried to bite Choo Choo Thomas' head/smoke stack off. Atta boy.


Jack's Mimi and Pops came to visit last weekend! We all had so much fun. This picture was taken on Monday when we went to Savannah. I thought we would be clever in beating the crowd to 'Lady and Sons' (Paula Deen's restaurant) for lunch. Again, false. There was a 3 hour wait when we got there just 15 minutes after they opened! But it didn't matter. We walked River St. and the City Market and made a day of it. Thanks for visiting! See you back at Thanksgiving!

And last but not least....Jack had his first slumber party last Saturday night! Shelby spent the night while her parents cheered Clemson on at homecoming. We all had so much fun! We went to Jim and Nicks where they both played hide-n-seek behind their hands and napkins, they took a bath, they played, they had a blast! Everyone thought they were twins...again! It was so much fun.

"He's Got a New Doggy 'Do!"

...And not the 'do' you're probably thinking about. Scout has a new hair cut! Well, it's really the same style, just trimmed around the edges a bit, which makes him look like the handsome dog that he truly is. When I picked him up from the groomers the other day, the guy said he's one of the most beautiful goldens he has ever seen. He says that to all the dogs probably, but it made Scout feel good. I could tell. John and I found a fun pet boutique store here in Bluffton the other night. Sure, Scout really isn't a 'boutique-y' kind of dog, but they did have these tough chew toys for the bigger breeds, and so far...he hasn't destroyed it! If you know Scout or have ever seen him with a toy of any sort, you know what a huge accomplishment this is for all of us. Scout has been such a great companion for Jack. He'll just sit there when Jack decides to use his face as a step ladder to hoist himself onto the couch. No whimper, no growl, nothing. Scout is the man.......dog. By the way, if you didn't think the title to today's blog was fun or catchy, please sing the words to the tune of "He's got a new attitude" and maybe it will be as thrilling to you as it was to me.)



Nothing like a good butt shot. As you can see, Jack's hiney has lost some of the golf ball-ish qualities that it once had. Jack gets so excited about his bath that he screams from the time you turn the water on until the second his feet hit the water. Here I got him naked in advance because it's such a struggle to do so whenever he's squirming and flipping all over the place because of the running water. Pre nakedness is a mistake. See the glisten on the floor in the bathroom? I think the warm water and the sound of it hitting the tub made Jack's bladder a little weak if you know what I mean. And look who's on the scene to help with the clean up. Gross.





Jack is walking so well now! He's mastered the knee bend, which is huge. Now if he drops something, he can pick it up and keep going without having to fall!

Have a great day! We're off to play outside, Jack's favorite!