Back with Lots of Pictures!

Hello all! We're back, ready to tackle the piles of post-Christmas and post-vacation clutter that have infiltrated our home. I decided to make you guys a priority, though, and blog before I get to all of that :) I've got lots of fun events to catch up on, so I'll just start where I left off. Get ready for lots of pictures!

We celebrated cousin Maggie Beth's birthday on December 16 at her house. Christa LOVES her cousin Maggie Beth, and they are starting to play together more as they get older. She was so excited for her favorite girl cousin as Maggie Beth opened her birthday presents. Later, we ate at the mall, and the two girls held hands the entire time. It was adorable, and I was so sad I didn't have my camera with me.

Giving Maggie Beth a big hug!

Making a mess out of the Elmo cupcake topper!

Next, we had two very special play dates with some of my college friends. One of my favorite things about Christmas is catching up with people you haven't gotten to see in a while, and seeing our kids play together is the best! Unfortunately, *that* camera is somewhere amongst the large piles of post-holiday clutter mentioned above (I hope). So my dear friends will get their own extra-special post as soon as I find it. (This works out well, actually, because I have a really cute title in mind :)

Anyway, here we are on Christmas Eve, which we spend with my side of the family.

Christa enjoyed helping all of us unwrap our presents! It's true what they say - no presents needed - just boxes to unwrap! (She got all of her toys, anyway, for those of you who were wondering if I decided to return anything from a few posts back. It was a good choice - she got a reasonable amount of new toys and clothes and is having a blast with all of them!)

She seemed to like this fleece pull-over, that was actually a gift to me. Uncle Brandon (my sister, Alicia's husband) helped her try it on.

Here we come to Christmas Day. Funny story here. We have taught Christa some minimal sign language in recent months. Nothing fancy, but enough words to tone down the whining. Well, Cline's brother, Cleve, who is a senior in high school, thought it would be funny to teach my daughter the sign for "poop" one day while I was out doing some Christmas shopping. I returned home to my sweet little girl saying "poop" while making the sign. (For those of you who are interested in teaching your children this amazing trick, the sign consists of wrapping your right hand around your left thumb, and then pulling your thumb out in a swift motion. There is a demonstration available on "Meet the Fockers.") At any rate, both Cleve and my too-young-to-be-corrupted daughter think this is hilarious, and Christa says "poop" while making her version of the sign every time she sees Cleve.... or a picture of Cleve.... or hears Cleve's name mentioned. Then, she proceeds to throw her head back, laughing hysterically.

What does this have to do with Christmas morning, you ask? Well, we got everything set up in the living room where there would be plenty of sitting room. We invited both of our families over to see Christa react to Santa's gifts, and had a room full of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Cameras are rolling, and I am anticipating a beautiful, family Christmas morning with lots of hugging and smiling and tender Kodak moments while my child plays with her new toys in amazement. Everything is perfect, and Cline and I go upstairs to retreive Christa from her room. We carry her down the stairs, excitedly awaiting her response. We get to the living room, and who is the first person she sees? Cleve. And my family Christmas video is now PG rated, because all it shows is my sweet daughter saying and signing "poop" multiple times! (We now officially call Cleve "Uncle Poop").

Here Christa is making the sign.

Christa was excited, but didn't know what to think of everyone watching her.

Later, at Cline's parents, she got this great toy! It plays music and was a big hit!

The day after Christmas we left for the beach with Cline's family. The trip was a much-appreciated Christmas present from his grandparents. We had a great time, and Christa enjoyed playing some football with her uncles.

Also, her 18-month birthday was on December 28, so I had the good fortune to get some beach pictures for this occasion!

And now I'm off to go put some order to my house and figure out my new Hoover floor mate that Santa left for me! I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope 2009 brings many good things to us all!

Merry Christmas 2008

**Because I am too lazy to print and enclose our Christmas newsletter this year, here it is via blog.... cards are in the mail...***

Dear friends and family,

We hope this letter finds you well and looking forward to a wonderful Christmas. We are especially in the spirit of this holiday season with our busy 18 month old who is oh so easily entertained by all of the decorations. (Christa has to point and say "tree" every morning as soon as we wake up.) I am having a blast shopping for her, as it's been a while since I've had a good excuse to visit Toys-R-Us at 5 am on Black Friday. I was wondering if she was still a little too young to rip apart wrapping paper and squeal with delight over her presents until her cousin's birthday party this past Saturday. After watching Christa tackle her cousin's presents and smile just as wide, even though the presents weren't for her, we can't wait for Christmas Day! Here's a re-cap of our year.

If I could describe 2008 in two words, I would have to say it was a year of mixed blessings for us. We celebrated some long awaited milestones as Cline completed his formal training in Augusta, graduating from the Medical College of Georgia's Emergency Medicine Residency Program in June. We celebrated Christa's first birthday appropriately at our apartment complex where she spent her first year. The very next day, we packed our things and said goodbye to Augusta, some very dear friends, and having a convenient Target to shop at. (I'm still making my peace with leaving behind those last two :) We returned to our hometown, where Cline started his first job as a "real doctor," and got settled into our freshly purchased house, where we are still learning the ins and outs of home-ownership. The house we picked is in a great neighborhood with lots of kids, right down the road from Jessica's parent's house. This arrangement has come in handy on more than one occasion... mostly when Cline has been at work at 2 am, leaving Jessica to discern the strange noises that come from the basement. Thank goodness for Dads that don't mind panicked, late-night calls, and Moms who will happily babysit at a moment's notice!

In the midst of our moving excitement and graduation pride, July brought some sorrow when we lost a baby who we called "Teeny-bear" early on in pregnancy. It was definitely the most difficult experience we have been through as a family, but Christa's hugs and kisses helped so much, as we tried to make sense of the situation. We were also grateful to have supportive family and friends and a loving God who continues to bless us in spite of this pain.

In October, we had the pleasure of serving as volunteers at the Lighthouse Family Retreat, a ministry that takes children with cancer and their families to the beach for the week. This was a new experience for us, and one that we hope to repeat many times. We met some incredible people, and had a wonderful time playing with the children and interacting with new friends.

We are looking forward to a week at the beach with Cline's family the week after Christmas and good things in 2009. Christa continues to be a joy and delight every day, and is developing her own little personality. Her favorite past-time these days is running around restaurants, waving and showing off her bellybutton to innocent diners. She already has a Southern accent, which is especially apparent when she waves excitedly and yells "baaaa" (bye). She also loves her Elmo DVD, since she now "asks" to watch it about three times a day by bringing me the case. I don't know what it is about that little guy, but I thought I was buying myself 15 minutes to do dishes one day, and now my child is an Elmo fanatic.

We hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love to all,
Cline, Jessica, and Christa

Christmas Traditions

Hey guys!! So I've been feeling a bit guilty the last few days. I don't necessarily think it's a completely rational guilt, and Cline says it's Satan trying to stir up drama and take away some of my joy this Christmas season. But it's there, nonetheless, and it's sparked a couple of interesting discussions with Kimberly over at The Tinneys, who suggested I blog about it. So here it is.

I have really been into the Christmas "stuff" this year. You know, the decorating, the present buying, the cookie-parties, the pictures... I'm loving it all! I think that I'm probably more excited than usual this year because Christa is at a really fun age for all of the festivities, and she can at least point to the trees, even if she doesn't understand why we put them up. (Actually, come to think of it, *I* don't know the reason we put them up. Anybody??) At any rate, I didn't mind when the Christmas decorations went up right after Halloween, and even felt a little behind when I didn't have mine out by Thanksgiving. I've had fun making lists and shopping, and I'm almost done, but I find excuses to go to the mall anyway, because I like to see people out and about this time of year. In the midst of all this excitement and decorating, I have tried to make an honest effort to not go overboard buying things for Christa. We are blessed with a lot of family around who will buy her a good many toys, and I want to enjoy my part without teaching her that the purpose of Christmas is opening gifts for two days straight. I think I did OK. I ordered her a bookshelf with toy bins, and let's face it - that's really for me more than it's for her :) I did a little all-night shopping on Black Friday, where I picked up a Little People dollhouse, a book to go in her bookshelf, and a Mr. Potatohead set that was on a good sale. I "impulse-bought" her a Christmas outfit on sale at Gymboree, and later an Elmo DVD to go in her stocking.

And that's it - I was done buying Christa's presents... until Cline and I went to Wal-Mart together where we saw a cute princess wand and an Elmo remote control that looks just like our real one. So we decided those would be gifts that Daddy picked out for her.

All was well until I was reading a blog the other day that was talking about whether or not "Santa" is an appropriate celebration of Christmas. This particular blog (Bring the Rain) always challenges me when I read the entries, and usually messes with my head a little bit, even though it's a great blog. The author stated that they do indeed have a Santa tradition in their home, but ONLY because their kids don't think of Christmas as a holiday about presents. Their children understand the true meaning, and if that were to ever change, so might their tradition.

And in came the guilt for buying the princess wand and Elmo remote along with a nagging worry that perhaps *I* am too excited about the presents this year.

Do I think I have an extravagant number of gifts for Christa?? No. I don't. Well, maybe I do compared to the kids in Africa or something. But by American standards, I'd guess I'm pretty average. I mean, it's not like I went out and bought her a Wii. It's a few plastic toys that will probably get lost or broken before she's old enough to realize she has them. Do I think it's the worst thing in the world to be excited about my daughter's first Christmas that she can help open presents and show excitement about them?? No - I agree with Cline that Satan is probably trying to steal some of my joy and discourage me from reading a blog that gives me good ideas about how to instill Christian principles into my daughter's life. But does Christa really NEED the princess wand and Elmo remote?? No, she doesn't. And I'm sure there are other kids out there who would appreciate those items a lot, who won't be getting lots of things from their grandparents.

So I am a little torn. Do I keep these little things, knowing that none of them are very expensive, and that I'm analyzing this way too much? Do I pick a couple of her gifts and return them or toss them in the nearest Toys for Tots bin? Or, do I order her the Little People Nativity in addition to the things I've already gotten her and call it a day?? (It's hard to find and currently available and ON SALE until Dec. 10 at the Fisher Price website for those of you who may be interested :)

I haven't come to any final conclusions (and would appreciate your thoughts), but I have definitely been motivated to start talking about the Christmas story more with Christa at the very least. We've started reading a pop-up nativity book together that she got for Christmas last year, and she seems to enjoy that. Kimberly shared with me a tradition they do in their house to teach their kids about Christmas. They don't put baby Jesus in their nativity until Christmas morning. I thought that was a really neat idea. A friend of hers limits their number of presents to three per child, to represent the three gifts the Wise men brought to Jesus. That is appealing to me in many ways. The pastor at church on Sunday suggested that we read the Christmas story directly from the bible every day from now until Christmas. I like that idea, too. So, what traditions do you all have in your families that demonstrate why we celebrate Christmas? (I reserve the right to steal any and all good ideas :)

Alright Already, Here are the Pictures!

Sheesh, you guys are impatient!! It is nice to be wanted, though. Maybe I should enter Christa into some modeling, since pictures of her seem to be in such high demand :) Here they are, finally! We took some Christmas pictures today, but you'll have to wait until I get around to ordering and mailing those! If you are not on our Christmas card list, and would like to be, please e-mail me your mailing address. But hurry - I'm ordering cards in the next few days.


Not even two years old, and already a redneck! Grandpa got her her first four-wheeler a few weeks ago. Since Cline won't ever let her ride a real one, I guess she'd better enjoy this one while she can fit on it!

I think it's a winner!

We went to a cookie-exchange today for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers), and had a great time! Christa, surprisingly, was more interested in the crackers than the cookies. Go figure!

Here are a couple of our friends from Kindermusik, who were also at the cookie-swap today. Christa and I both love Kindermusik - it's one of our favorite things to do each week. We are about to move up to the toddler class in January, so we will miss little Mattie and Gracie. But that's what play-dates are for, right??

Alright, it's getting late, and I have metal hooks and small ornaments not approved for children under 3 to go clean up. Good night!

Because Ali and Anonymous Asked...

Hello all!! We are, as usual, doing well. Things have, as usual, been busier than I'd anticipated, and we're getting excited and ready for Christmas starting this week! I've already been looking through catalogs for toys for Christa, and I can't wait to get her a few "big girl" things now that she's leaving the baby phase (which makes me very sad, but I can at least appreciate the silver lining). I wanted to get her a matching stool and toy box - something really girly or kiddish and preferably wooden, painted, and something we'll have for years and years. But I can't find anything that I really like, and I'm thinking that she may still smash her fingers in a toy box, so maybe I'll wait for next year on that one. My other idea is a book rack. One Step Ahead has a really neat one that holds lots of books and has some toddler-friendly toy bins underneath it. That may be more age-appropriate for this year. But I'm also tempted by the tricycles with parent handles and plastic kitchen sets, so who knows what we'll end up getting her? I love that her birthday is in June, so about the time she starts out-growing her toys, she gets more from family and friends! We're definitely at that point now - her toy bins are still full of teethers and rattles. What are you guys thinking of getting your kids this year??
Christa is definitely keeping us busy these days. She's decided she only needs one nap each day and wants to walk all over the house when she's awake. I thought I had a handle on some sort of cleaning system, but that's all been scrapped since I spend most of the day chasing her around and telling her to quit eating paper and cardboard. She is quite funny when she does something she knows she's not supposed to do, and then looks straight at me with a devious smile, waiting for my response. Her favorite "rebellions" are eating her books and pushing the buttons on the phone or remote-control. She also thinks it's hilarious to run away from us once she's been "caught."
Speaking of Christa, I need some advice. She still takes her milk from a bottle, and this bothers me. The good news is that she's been drinking water out of a straw cup since she was 9 or 10 months old, so she's not opposed to the concept. She still doesn't like juice, although she's developed a fondness for Mommy's coke :) But she's so particular in that she refuses to drink her milk from anything but a bottle. I've tried sippy-cups, straw cups, 3-stage trainers, and have run out of ideas. I've let the whole bottle thing go on a little longer than I'd planned because she was at the bottom of her percentile for so long in the weight category, and I didn't want her to miss out on the calories and nutrients from the milk. She's now in the 50th percentile on weight and nearly 18 months old, so I'd like to pull the plug on the bottle soon, but so far my efforts have only led to her not drinking much milk. Any suggestions on this??
Well, Ali and Anonymous, I hope I kept you busy for at least a few minutes. If you really need some entertainment, I have a whole house that needs to be cleaned and a whole yard that needs to be raked!! If neither of those things appeal to you, I am looking for some Christmas-shopping buddies, if you're interested :)
Have a great day, everyone!

Christa is 6 months!

Cousin Maggie Beth, Aunt Bethany, and Christa on Maggie Beth's 1st birthday!

Getting ready to go see Lights of the South

Having a small, family Christmas in Augusta


(I will post more pictures later. I went to download them, and realized my new battery is dead, so it's charging. Apparently, my laptop doesn't have a card reader, so I have to install some software to download from the new camera. Here are a few from my Kodak until I get a chance to do that)


Hello again. Well I've obviously been wasting my time! I spend hours creating the perfect post and get maybe 1 comment. I hurriedly throw something up there about how I don't have time to post, and get 3 comments on the first day!! LOL! Well, I'm writing anyway, even though I know that all 5 of you who read this blog just come for the pictures :) I guess I'll start with our Christmas! God smiled on us and worked it out for Cline to have Christmas off, even though he had the last 2 years off. So, we went to Rome for a very fun, but hectic few days. We learned that Chas and Bethany (Cline's twin and wife) are having a little boy! We are very excited, as this will be the first grandson for the Jacksons. (We have 2 girls so far - Christa and cousin Maggie Beth). A funny thing happened while we were home. Christa sucks her thumb pretty much constantly now. Even when I'm feeding her baby food, she sucks her thumb in between bites. I have a feeling we may be in for some dental work later on... At any rate, she spent our time in Rome sucking her thumb as usual. Her cousin, Maggie Beth, who is 1 year old and a pacifier baby, must have noticed this because our last night there, Maggie Beth started sucking her thumb, much to her parents dismay. It was hilarious to see her "copy" Christa and to think of my child being a "bad influence" at 6 months of age. (Sorry about that, Chas and Bethany:)

My favorite gift for Christmas was my Canon Digital Rebel. The majority of people I polled recommended it, and said I couldn't go wrong. They were correct. We saved a few bucks and got the 8 megapixel, and I am very pleased so far (except for that dead battery I just discovered - we did use it a lot over the weekend, so I'll hold off on ordering a spare). It is sooooo much easier to catch Christa's cute facial expressions - it takes 3 pictures per second! Christa's favorite gifts so far are a Mother Goose book (I read all 120 pages to her yesterday, and she just listened and looked at the pictures), some rubber blocks, and a Sesame Street pop-up-singing thing. She is starting to interact more with her toys, but shows little interest in learning to sit up by herself. I am not worried about this - she's always been a laid back baby who is perfectly content to sit in a bouncer and suck her thumb all day. She's getting stronger for sure, but every time I try to sit her up, she just rolls to the floor after about 2 seconds (if I haven't mentioned it before, she has her mother's lack of patience and persistence:) She also got lots of adorable clothes (she'll be wearing LOTS of pink for the next six months, but I love pink, so that's OK) and other toys we can't wait to play with.


Since we got home, I've been very busy finding room for all of our gifts and catching up on the laundry. It's always nice to go to Rome, but there's a ton to do when I get back, especially at Christmas time. We're definitely looking forward to next year when we can just enjoy being with our families without the hassle of traveling. It was nice to run into Shanda at Longhorn while we were there - Gracie is too precious - I can't wait to get to know her better :)


Well, that's about it for now. I'll post some more Christmas pictures and Christa's 6 month photo later this evening. Have a great day!

Oh Christmas Shrub....

Oh Christmas shrub, small Christmas shrub

How tiny are your branches

Oh Christmas shrub, small Christmas shrub

So tiny are your branches

My 4 foot treeeeeee dreams, they're untrue

We're careful noooottttt to step on you

Oh Christmas shrub, small Christmas shrub

How tiny are your branches

I need a miiiiiiicroscope to see

Your ornaments, oh tiny tree

Oh Christmas shrub, small Christmas shrub

How tiny are your branches

Next year we'll haaaaavvvvve the best tree around

In a house that haaaassss yet to be found

Oh Christmas shrub, oh Christmas shrub

We're grateful for your (tiny) branches

Official Chrismas 2007 letter coming soon - as soon as I get these cards addressed and mailed :)

Christa is 5 Months!!

Hello all! We've had a very busy and fun week! Where to start.... well, we had a great weekend in Rome. On Friday, I went against every motherly instinct I have (once I got permission from some of you) and drug my little baby daughter into 3 hours of 30 degree weather for a football game. Darlington made the second round of the playoffs, which was great, but sort of messed up my personal weekend plans. Long story short, I had to choose between Atlanta traffic on the busiest shopping day of the year, or frigid cold. I chose the cold.

Saturday we headed back to Atlanta so the guys could go to the GA/GA Tech game. Christa had her first Varsity experience (which was crazy crowded - whose idea was it to go to the one right next to the stadium???), but it was fun. The girls watched the game from Chas and Bethany's Atlanta condo, then all of the family went to the undisclosed location of the "Jackson Family Christmas Picture Taking Experience." I have a funny story about that, but I'm sworn to secrecy until the cards go out. For those of you who aren't familiar with this tradition, Cline's family does a themed card every year, complete with the perfect picture, a corresponding slogan, and an original signature from every member of the family on all 200 cards that are mailed. Creating this masterpiece is the highlight of my mother-in-law's year, and it's quite an experience to see how it all comes together. Friends of mine, if you'd like to be added to the Jackson Christmas Card list, e-mail me your address, and I'll see that you get one. We returned to Augusta late Sunday, and Christa's pretty much been sleeping since we got back. I think we wore her out, but she was a trooper, and we had a blast seeing all of the family.

Speaking of Christa, she perfected her rolling over skills yesterday. She doesn't get much floor time because she loves her bouncer, takes long naps, and we don't have a whole lot of floor for her to lay on. But when I placed her on a quilt trying to get a cute picture last night, she worked at the rolling over until she mastered it. She had a big smile on her face as I clapped and "yayed" for her new accomplishment. I was lucky to get it on video!

This weekend we're headed to Rome again to spend some time with my family. I suspect mom and I will squeeze in some Christmas shopping, and on Sunday we have our first appointment to see a house! I am so excited to start this process. Time is going by so fast - June will be here before we know it!

Well, I'd better wrap up, as this is getting long. This will likely be my post for the week unless something amazing happens in our family before tomorrow. I may add an official 5 month picture later today. Have a great weekend!