Christmas Eve AKA The Day of the Blizzard

What a crazy Christmas Eve! Like everyone else in Edmond, we were basically snowed in beginning early afternoon. Luckily, Jack had spent the night with my parents and my dad came to pick me up early that morning so that I wouldn't have to drive. If you're going to be snowed in somewhere, it may as well be at my parents' house, where the view of the snow was so pretty with all of their trees! Plus, Hayley and Nick were there, so it was a day of family. We baked cookies, finished wrapping presents, and just spent time playing with Jack.

Unfortunately, Randy had to work that day (long story). When he left work around 3:00, the roads were getting really bad and he spent a lot of time helping other people get their cars out of the parking lot before leaving himself. Then, because we had decided it was better not to get Jack back out that night, he had to go home to pick up all of our things to spend the night before heading to my parents' house himself. The whole ordeal took several hours and much stress, but he made it safely!

Once Randy arrived, we all just relaxed and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. We opened presents and then set out cookies for Santa Clause. Jack was in awe of the whole thing! Last year, he was a little too young to understand what was going on, so this year was like watching him experience Christmas for the first time! It was so sweet and memorable.

Jack and Baby Jesus

We spent a lot of time this year trying to explain to Jack the true reason for the Christmas celebration. He is just now old enough to understand and enjoy all that is going on this time of year and we were so excited to watch him learn the story of Jesus' birth and how important that event was in history. He really took it all in and was excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday when Christmas finally arrived. Here is a picture of him with his Little People nativity set and a baby Jesus that he made in Sunday School.

Aidan's Birthday Party

Jack's friend Aidan turned three a few weeks ago and Jack had a blast at the party! It was held at Oklahoma Gold Gymnastics in Edmond and the toddler area there is just amazing- packed with trampolines, foam pits, slides, swings, and even a zipline!

Music School Program

Jack performed in his second Hickman Music School Program on December 17. This, of course, was the Christmas program, featuring snowflakes, candy canes, toy soldiers, and hot chocolate girls, among other things. All of the little ones were precious in their costumes! Jack was a reindeer along with three other little boys and he was so cute! Unfortunately, he didn't sing and I think his costume must have itched pretty badly because he spent most of the program scratching his leg (when he wasn't trying to pull ornaments off of the Christmas tree costume of the little girl next to him)! Not quite as adorable as his performance in the summer program, but adorable nonetheless. He seemed pleased with his performance so that's all that matters! And he was so excited to have Mumo, Papo, Bebe, Grandad, Gigi, and Hetty Sue there watching him. Here are a few pictures

Names Are Set!

After going around in circles on the girl name, we have come all the way back around to one of our very first choices! And for the boy, we've finally gone from two names to one. Our final name choices are:

Graham Arthur Biggs
AND
Evelyn Kaye Biggs

I think we're serious this time and let me tell you, I glad to be done talking about names!!

Pregnancy Update

I am officially down to my last month! Baby Biggs is due one month from yesterday and we are very anxious to meet him or her! This weekend, I sent Jack to Gigi and Papa's house in Tulsa so that Randy and I could have some time to get organized for Christmas and the baby (you know, in case the baby comes early (yeah right), one can only hope!) He, of course, had a blast, and although we missed our little guy, Randy and I did manage to get quite a bit accomplished. I'm feeling very prepared for labor and ready for a new little one. And I CAN'T WAIT to find out the gender!! It's difficult for a planner/Type A personality like myself to not be able to buy everything, decorate the room, etc. But, it will be worth it.

As for the doctor/midwife situation, we officially decided to stay with our current doctor and therefore deliver at Mercy as originally planned. I just wasn't comfortable making a switch this late in pregnancy and I like the idea of Mercy being so much closer to home. Plus, Mercy has lifted its visitor restrictions, so now Jack will be able to come meet his little brother or sister in the hospital!! It was breaking our hearts to think that he wouldn't be able to do that, so we are very excited by this news.

In naming news, I am pleased to announce that our boys names have stayed the same for over a month now (this is big for us...)! So we are positive that our baby, if a boy, will be named either Henry or Graham. We'll probably wait until we see him to pick between the two. As for girls, we've wavered and added some more options. Our new favorite is Sylvia, with the nickname Sylvie. Will it stick and beat out Vivian and Eliza? Guess we'll give it another week or so and reevaluate (again)!

Here is a recent pic- 35 Weeks, 5 Days

Our Little Reindeer

Jack's Christmas program is coming up on Thursday the 17th!! We have been putting him in his costume most evenings so that he is used to it for the program. So here is a preview of our adorable little reindeer!

Visit to Santa Clause

Last weekend, we took Jack to visit Santa Clause at North Park Mall. I personally love North Park because it is never as crowded as the other mall, and they are non profit, so the prices are cheaper! Not to mention, their Santa actually wears a red coat instead of some ridiculously busy shirt like the one at Quail.

ANYWAY, Jack was so excited to see Santa this year! We are having so much fun with him because he is beginning to truly understand what is going on and is very excited by everything. When it was finally our turn, Jack ran to Santa as fast as he could and jumped right up into his lap. He proceeded to tell Santa that he would like a cat and a basketball (two items that had not previously been mentioned to Mommy...uh oh). Then he smiled for the picture and that was that. Overall, a much better experience than last year!

Here is a picture we took. The "official" picture is better, but our scanner isn't working.

The Real Christmas Story

A couple of weeks ago, Crossings held a Christmas event for toddlers, called the Real Christmas Story. All the children came in their pajamas and watched a live nativity performance. Then they could play games, make ornaments, decorate cookies, etc. Randy and I really wanted to go, but we had our last Bradley Method class that night, so Bebe, Daniel, and Adrienne offered to take Jack. He had a great time! He just loved seeing all the other kiddos and especially loved eating the cookie that he decorated. Here are a few pictures:

If You're Happy and You Know It... Don't Clap- UPDATE

So, I posted a few weeks ago about Jack pretending to play the piano and humming to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It. Randy and I have been so confused because when he would play this song, we would always clap our hands at the appropriate time, only to be scolded for it. Jack would say, "Don't clap!" and then something that sounded like, "Put your toes around the edge." Of course, I had NO idea what he was talking about. But this continued; every time we clapped, he would get frustrated and repeat, "Don't clap. Toes around the edge." ??????? Finally, I decided to email Kathryn, Jack's music school teacher to see if she had any idea what he was talking about. Turns out, he wasn't singing If You're Happy and You Know It at all. He was singing Put Your Toes Around the Edge of the Rug. Apparently, each morning at school, in order to get the kids lined up on the rug to say the Pledge of Allegiance, the teachers sing this song:

Put your toes around the edge of the rug!
Put your toes around the edge of the rug!
Put your toes around the edge,
Put your toes around the edge,
Put your toes around the edge of the rug!

Ah, that makes so much more sense! Check out the video to see Jack getting frustrated with Randy.

Jack Helping Elmo Go Potty

Jack Playing His Footboard Piano

Hayley's (Jack's??) Birthday Party

On Sunday before Hayley and Nick headed back to Dallas, we celebrated Hayley's birthday. Technically, it's not until the 13th but they won't be back in town until Christmas. I think Jack must have thought it was his birthday, either that or he just needed a warm up for February 9th. Check out the way he dug into the presents, candles, and cake!

Papo modeling the new musical Santa hat and Rudolph nose

Jack's Turn

Helping Hayley open presents

Apparently he likes cookie cake

Jack and his Mumo

Thanksgiving at the Ranch

For the past few years, my family has begun a new Thanksgiving tradition of celebrating at my aunt's house, which is on a ranch in Wetumpka, Oklahoma. Last year Jack was a little young to realize where we were, but this year he realized that he was in heaven. Little boy heaven, anyway! Not only was his favorite person there, my 8 year old cousin, Cody, and lots of yummy food within reach at all times, but there were also horses to ride, tractors to drive, etc. He was in awe and just had the time of his life!

Of course, the rest of us had a great time too. I always love getting together with the whole family and this was the first year in awhile that both Daniel and Adrienne, and Hayley and Nick were in town for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to spend time with everyone! We all went to see the movie Blind Side on Friday afternoon and went to the Thunder basketball game that night. It was a busy, but enjoyable weekend!

Jack snacking

Playing pool with Hayley and Nick

Playing in Cody's room

He discovered his passion for the guitar!

Eating at "the little table"

Heading down to see the horses with Daddy

Meeting Trigger with Grandad

Jack can't be anywhere too long without cleaning the place up a bit

Collin and Cody

Riding a tractor

An attempt at a family pic

Jack's first ATV ride. Mommy was very nervous

Somewhat better family pic

My parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents

Showing Hayley how it's done

Snuggling with Uncle Nick

Here is a video of Jack playing the guitar for the first time:

And one of Jack's first horsie ride: