Four Christmases (Part 4)

Our last stop of the day was G'ma and G'pa Parrish's house. Jack got some cute clothes and a Pack and Play crib/play pen. That gift was more for our benefit I think, but very handy with all the traveling we do and all the shared overnights with the grandparents.

It also folds up and came with a great carrying case.



Jack has been trying to crawl for a while, but on Christmas Eve for the first time, he made it to all fours. Now he just needs to get the movement coordinated.


He also LOVES looking at lights, so G'ma Suzanne thought under the tree was a perfect spot for him. I think he could have stayed there for hours.



Then G'pa Doug had to break out the ice cream. Thanks to everyone, I think Jack is already addicted to sweets. G'ma's thinking on this one is: We can rot out these teeth because he has another set coming. Of course she was kidding....but it may not be too far from the truth at this rate!! If you haven't noticed, I post quite a few pics of Jack with some sort of food all over his face.

Four Christmases (Part 3)

Then it was on to my parent's house. My Mom made Quiche, which is a Dawes Family Christmas tradition. It's one of the best parts of Christmas Day!

I got Sofie a monogrammed doggy blanket.


My Aunt Susan also sent Rudi a gift too. It is republican and democrat dog cookies, because Rudi is a "mixed breed".


Jack got some really neat things. My parents got him a canvas painting kit that we can use for him to paint, or just like the picture and use them for his hand prints. What a great gift and a great picture for our home.


They also got him a little firetruck from PB Kids. It also has a little compartment for hauling things too.


My Grandma also sent him a little caterpillar that Jack can practice buttoning, zipping, and tying shoe laces on. What a great gift! Thanks Grams!


I also got my parents a little something too. If you remember my Black Friday, 5am Wal-Mart trip....well I bought my parents a new flat screen. I hope you guys enjoy your new t.v. I love you!!

Four Christmases (Part 2)

On Christmas Day we had three stops to make. Bronson's Mom's, my parent's, and Bronson's Dad's (and in that order). So Christmas morning started early for us. We were at Tracie's at 7am to have breakfast and start opening presents. As you can imagine, Jack had the largest stack of presents there too!

There were 11 people at Tracie's on Christmas morning, so I thought I would snap a pic of the overwhelming number of gifts there were.


For a 6 month old, Jack really got into the present unwrapping. He would grab onto the paper and pull just like a pro. Watch out next year!!


Jack had to take a mid-present opening nap.


Jack even helped Nanny and Pops open their gifts too!


Jack, of course, also helped me open my presents too.


Nanny and Pops got Jack a Radio Flyer rocking horse. Jack loved it!


And of course, we had to get a "Jack in the box" picture. We love to make jokes with his name :)


I also wanted to post a picture of the things that Aunt Bhrett and her friend Alison have knitted for Jack. For Christmas, Bhrett knitted Jack a nautical flag blanket that is "J", blocks that spell his name, a ball, and an adorable stuffed animal. Alison got him a wooden block calendar, a sailboat wash cloth, and also a stuffed animal when he was born. They are sooo talented in their knitting skills, I had to highlight these precious gifts!


"Tante" Finja and Morris also got him Lederhosen!! Can you believe it!? It is so nice having an Austrian Aunt. They are for 1 1/2 years, so we will be taking some pictures next year. Maybe we'll even make a trip to Austria to see Finja..wink wink :)

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

I have so much to blog, but we've been busy....as usual. So, I'm starting with Christmas Eve and there will be many posts to come in the next few days.

On Christmas Eve we went to Bronson's mom's house to celebrate Christmas with Debbie's family (Tracie's sister). Cam and Jenna came home from California and Tom finally got to the U.S., so we had a house full. We ate dinner and then had our gift exchange. Jack and Suzannah got lots of stuff and it was cute to see them together!

Jack made his entrance in a cute liitle santa outfit that my Aunt Susan bought for him.


The outfit was only on for 20 minutes until he spit up all over it, but it was cute while it lasted.


Steve and Suzannah in the princess robe we got her. The hood even has a crown on it. It looked so adorable on her!


Suzannah and Jack were so cute. It was especially cute when Suzannah gave Jack a kiss. She is sooooo adorable.


After we left Tracie's, we went home to have our Christmas with Jack and also watch, It's a Wonderful Life. I still have never seen that movie in it's entirety...maybe next year I'll get to see the first half.

A Visit From An Old Friend

This evening my best friend from high school came to visit Jack and me. Leslie lives in Louisville, KY and doesn't get back to SI very often, so it was a real treat when she stopped by tonight. Leslie wanted to meet Jack, which also gave us a chance to catch up. Her sister Kelley also came too and it has been even longer since I have seen her. It was so great to see them both and I'm glad that Leslie finally got to meet my little man!

More Christmas Celebrations

Okay...so I said there were only 4 parts to our Christmas. I guess that is true if you only count our family, but we are very fortunate to have some wonderful friends too. Last night the Moseman's came over and brought a great Christmas "family" basket with all sorts of goodies. It was great to see James, Brittany, and Isaac! Unfortunately, Jack was already asleep, but Isaac snuck in for several visits any way. He loved seeing Jack asleep in his crib!!



I also have a very dear friend, Billie Jo, who I met because she works with my mom. Over the years, we have become very good friends and I am so lucky to have such a wonderful person in my life. She surprised me today with a VERY thoughtful gift. She gave me an "open heart" ring because she said I have opened my heart to her. I love love love this ring and the meaning behind it makes it even more special! Thanks Billie Jo....love ya sis :)

Christmas With Melissa

Today my best friend Melissa came over and we exchanged our Christmas gifts. Melissa is always such a thoughtful gift giver, and of course this occasion was no different.

Melissa is the person I have to talk to every day. I go to her for advice and with problems. She is always honest with me and is always there for a good laugh. And she, of course, is the Aunt my little Jack would have never had from my side of the family. She is the best friend a girl could ask for!!

Melissa's packages before I tore into them.


This present was so pretty I didn't even want to open it!


She got me a monogrammed wine bottle topper, napkins that go beautifully with my dishes, a great Eco-friendly, reusable bag for shopping, monogrammed appetizer plates, and a beautiful assortment of Christmas ornaments for my tree. What great gifts!!


I got Melissa a one year subscription to House Beautiful and a North Face jacket.



Melissa also watched Jack while I made more fudge. I have been a fudge making machine this holiday season!

A Little Christmas Surprise

Bronson and I decided, so I thought, that we would not exchange gifts this year with all the house expenses. It seemed like a good idea and he out did himself last year, so I really didn't expect, nor did I want, anything this year. But, Bronson and Jack still managed to get to the store to get me a little something :)

They got me an ipod touch. It is something I didn't even know I wanted, but I have to say, it's pretty cool. Brons has an iphone through the company he does work with in Viginia, so I have had a little experience with the itouch technology. It holds pictures, music, and you can also access the Internet from anywhere, along with many other things too! Brons is so busy, I asked him when he had time to go to the store and he said he made a midnight trip one night after working on the house! What a guy!! So, to my boys: Thank you so much. I couldn't ask for anything more than the two of you.

Four Christmases (Part I)

I labeled this post "Part I" because there will be three more additions to our Christmas post. As I stated in an earlier post, we have a large family and therefore many Christmas celebrations. So Christmas for our family actually started this weekend with our Evansville family. It's always great to visit because we loving seeing everyone and Auntie Pam is always our full-time babysitter when we're in town. I actually get to sleep in :)

Auntie Pam and Uncle Mike got Jack an adorable rocking horse which he loved!


Jack helped Grandpa Parrish unwrap the gifts.


Great Grandpa Frank got Jack money (that will go a long way toward diapers and formula) and Grandma Shirley got him a little piggy bank that counts coins and sings.


Finja, Bhrett, and Morris


Auntie Pam feeding my son's sugar addiction. He loved the cool whip as you can see!


A rare picture of us. I'm usually the one behind the camera.


Cousin Jennie and Lyndsey. They both got Jack some adorable gifts. Jennie got Jack a cute little outfit and a collection of Dr. Seuss books and Lyndsey got him a Charlie Brown Christmas book. All were very sweet!

Welcome Back Finja!

Finja, for all those who are not familiar, is Tracie and Stacy's foreign exchange student from last year. She and her brother, Morris, came from Austria to visit us for Christmas. Finja has become a part of our family and we were so sad to see here leave. She was a part of our family birthday celebrations, Christmas, and she was even in the room when Jack was born. Jack will forever know her as "Tante" Finja. That is Aunt in German. Finja's English is definitely better than my German, but I do know a little. They are here through the first week of January and we are so happy to have them here! Welcome back to your home in the United States, Finja!!

Finja was so happy to see Jack again. She left when he was just a week old.


Bhrett (Bronson's sister) and Morris.

Santa Arrives in Marion

Today Santa came to visit my Mom's work. He is actually the Santa at the Marion mall and also a patient at my Mom's office. He came to visit all the children of people that work there, so of course, I took Jack and my Dad brought Sofie.






My Dad and Sofie had matching red sweaters. How cute is that?!

Four Generations

When Jack was born we had some professional pictures taken of our family, including a four generation picture of the Parrish men. I don't think I've ever posted this pic, but I really like it and I wanted to share. It was miraculous that I even got them all together, and wearing the same color shirt, I may add. But as you can see, I think Jack is destined to look like Bronson and his Dad. I don't think my genes could compete with what seems to be very dominate features. But that's okay...the Parrish men are pretty handsome :)

Thanks Auntie Melissa!

Jack got his Christmas gift from Aunt Melissa and as you can see from the picture it is an adorable sweater and matching shirt. You can also probably tell that he doesn't have pants on. I really wanted to see him in his new sweater, but he had other plans. I was lucky to even get this shot of him. He is ready for his cup of hot chocolate at the Alpine chalet! Thanks Aunt Melissa....adorable outfit, as always!

What's In A Name?

I don't think I've ever taken the time to explain the meaning behind Jack's name. Bronson's Grandfather's name was James Dallas Crompton (Tracie's Dad). People always called him J.D. and in his younger years it is my understanding that people also called him Jack. One of my most favorite topics in history is the WWII generation. Jack was a very popular name in the early 1920's and Dallas has never been a really popular name, but was most popular in the 1920's as well. So many men of the "Greatest Generation" have these names. I have always found both names to be very classic and nostalgic. We talked about naming him Jackson Dallas and Dallas Jackson, but in the end Jackson "Jack" Dallas won out because we could call him Jack and his initials would be J.D. So not only did I love both names, but we also liked the family connection and thought it would be a great way to carry on with a family name.

James Dallas "J.D." in his younger years.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Yesterday my Mom came over to help watch Jack while I wrapped some presents and also to make some fudge. It literally took me all day, but I finally got the presents wrapped. But we also took some time out to make the fudge, which turned out fabulously, I must say! My Mom use to make fudge every Christmas when I was younger, but she hasn't in years. I wanted to make her fudge exactly, which turns out is just the recipe on the back of the marshmellow creme jar, but in my opinion is the best!! Sofie also came too and Jack, Sofie, and Rudi had a great time. They all three have to be in the middle of everything!

Sofie making herself comfortable on my new faux fur throw. If she hadn't looked so cute, I definitely would have moved her.


Just some of the presents I wrapped yesterday. We have a large family and A LOT of presents too.