The Treat of the Trade

.....Or for Black Friday after a day of shopping! Thanksgiving day leftovers can be turned in to a weeks worth of meals. We had our share of ham sandwiches. I snuck in all the pecan pie I can handle until next year. Jaxon has his fill of "punkin breed" Josh has polished off the dressing and i *think* sweet potatoes. I know for sure he polished off the cheesecake and there's one more piece of pumpkin pie. But what we were finding our selves with a lot of was.....TURKEY! You can only have so many sandwiches!! So I figured I would make my pasta salad that I normally put chicken in and used the rest of the bird! It was mighty delicious if you ask me. I made so much last night we are having leftovers of it again tonight!!!

We had his birthday party Saturday with 16 people in attendance. Spiderman cake and vanilla ice cream filled the plates. Balloons and little kids feet filled the floor. More toys took over his room. He wasn't really assisting me in the gift opening...he was to busy posing for pictures! Today was his actual birthday. As much sugar as we have had since last Wednesday I almost wasn't going to get anything today....but my rule is...you have to have something sweet on your birthday!! Toy Story cupcakes it was!! Jaxon, you light up our world more than you will ever know. Your daddy and I are very blessed to have you as our son. I have said it a million times and I will say it a million more...We love you to the moon and back!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

It goes with out saying my little sister Jennifer is the best baker I've ever known. Jaxon and I gobbled up her "punkin breed" Thanksgiving morning and the morning after. Little bit of butter and warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave is perfect for me served with a cold glass of milk. Jaxon likes a big piece cut in squares with "choco meelk". We ate pumpkin bread until we couldn't move. Enjoyed a nice relaxing morning the day after the turkey feast and then took a nap! :) I love my time with him. I love that he snacks with momma like he does! Happy Sunday!!

I have heard stories about Thanksgiving dinners gone bad. Stressful. Full of family drama. Families not having a dinner. Families eating out for dinner. People eating alone. But my story is different. Its my story. Its one I will share with anyone who will listen about the first Thanksgiving Dinner Josh and I hosted. We started the morning off with mimosas. Actually let me back track...we started the morning at 5:45 prepped the turkey then I ran to Wal-Mart for some last minute things and then we had mimosas. Josh and I happened to catch a Food Network cooking show on Thanksgiving turkey ideas and thought we would try it. Turkey can be any size. 2 lemons squeezed inside then left in the turkey. 1 onion cut in 8 pieces stuffed inside turkey and then sprinkle rosemary inside as well. On the outside of the bird we rubbed butter and salt pepper and rosemary mix. Set it in side the pan with another onion cut into however many pieces we wanted and cooked it for 4 1/2 hours at 325. Basting

"No more crib!!" I shrieked in cheer. We got him a toddler bed last week and I have to say...it went very smooth. All the other moms horror stories I was reading weren't true. Well for my little one they weren't. He helped daddy put it together. And also helped daddy take the crib out of his room too. He was excited to be in a big boy bed. As bed time got closer the first night I was a little nervous as to how long he would be in bed and how many times would he get up. Not once. Took it like a pro and stayed in bed all night! We were proud! He slept covered up with his "blankie" all night long. I do have to say the more I work myself up for the next milestone the easier it seems to be on all of us. I really thought the sleepless nights would start over. Nope. I thought he would feel he had a since of freedom since he could climb in and out of his bed. Nope. I thought he was going to stay a small baby forever. Nope.

The BIG TOY BOOKS arrived in the newspaper a few weeks ago. Let's just say he knows how to catalog shop! He knew what pages to go to that had toys for him. Anything Spiderman is topping his list right now. He will sit and watch the Spiderman movie and not move. Not the cartoon either...the movie with Toby Maguire. He would come across the pages that had the barbies and doll houses and anything pink and point at them and yell "JESSIE!!" So I am glad he knows what she likes because she changes her mind every 5 minutes. We will be shopping soon and from the very worn out toy book he has carried with him for the past few weeks now. He points at 3 things every time he opens the book from Wal-Mart...so i know he means business. And the 50" flat screen that he points at and yells "DAAAADDDY" well sorry for your luck son.

Yesterday was his best friends 2nd birthday party and they both opened up the presents together. They had a blast. This is them a year ago on his friends 1st birthday. Boys...you have come a long way!! One year ago on November 11, Jaxon started walking. After walking around the living room 25-30 times with him, he decided to take off on his own with out my help. He hasn't really needed my help in the walking dept. since then. A year later I cant keep up. Hes always on the go! A year ago this month daddy made him an OU fan for life. Saturday College Football games became a tradition for the 2 of them. Always sporting the Sooners. Hopefully in the years to come I will post pictures of them at an actual Sooners game!! Happy Sunday!!

Every time him and daddy go to the store he gets a new hot wheel. Whether it be a new car or a new monster truck...hes excited about it! This is his latest one. Mutt Monster! He was showing me how fast it was going. He loves his BIG TRUCK!! So much that he tries to open them in the store so daddy has to make it a point that that's the last thing he puts in the cart. Or every one will know there's a kid in the store wanting his hot wheel! VROOM VROOM! Happy Tuesday !! :)

I swear he grows an inch every time he lays down to take a nap. He just seems taller and more like a big boy instead of an (almost) 2 year old. He was showing me his shoes in this picture. I ask him if they make him run faster to which he replied..."SEE MOMMA!" and then took off running. He knows all but A,B,P of the alphabet. He can count to 4 but refuses to say the number one. He knows 3 colors...red, blue and yellow (sometimes green). I am amazed everyday with him and how much he is learning and growing and developing. I couldn't imagine my life with out him in it. My grandma wishes she could babysit him for me everyday while I go to work, but I know that would be to much for her. She's afraid of a moment passing her by and to that I am so grateful. He is the easiest kid on the planet to care for but even if he wasn't she would still want to see him everyday. One day he is going to be to big to want to be rocked or to sit in a lap to have a book read to him. I

There's a little dive not to far from home that Jaxon has fallen in love with. We ate there earlier in the month with GG and then went back with daddy and aunt Jennifer came along too. He likes the fact that he doesn't have to sit in a high chair at this place...he has his own little table. He also likes that its beside the window. He people watches. Counts the BIG TRUCKS!! and CYCLES!! (motorcycles) Mainly enjoys waving at people as they walk by. They have Gelato...Italian Ice Cream. They fill that little cup full and he will eat as much as he can. I love lunch dates with him...... and anyone that tags along with us. :)

I remember my younger days when I would watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! I couldn't have asked for a better evening last week when this was on....I created a memory. I started yet another something with him. He laughed at Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He loved that Charlie Brown played football! Looking at the side profiles of these 2, I may have my idea for his next years Halloween costume!! But looking back on alot of things that were popular when I was his age and while I was growing up, it seems some things never change. I had memories created and there will always be certain things I will never forget..and I hope that happens with him. I hope when he is a father he will remember the things me and his dad did with him and instill that in his child(ren). We made it thru Halloween, now we have to get ready for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving!!

This is going to be an annual thing. A picture with Jaxons little sister and all his cousins. There's a few new additions to this years photo. A kitty cat and a pirate! Jaxon understood this Halloween a little better than last years. Although he wasn't happy about it at first. Between the hair paint, face painting and carrying the big pumpkin, he was a little overwhelmed! :) Jillian the pirate! She was soooo happy when I told her to go roll her shirt around in the dirt! I mean...there's no such thing as a clean pirate right? Jaxons first real Halloween turned out not to be so bad for him. I'm glad Grandma gave him toothpaste and a new toothbrush! He will need it. For a little red M&M that's not quite 2 yet and would bravely walk up to so many houses knock as hard as his little fist would let him and yell "TICK TREAT!!"...i think he did alright!! Happy Monday and Welcome to November!!