Still trying to catch my breath

Hello everyone! In case you are wondering we are still alive and didn't get lost at sea forever. Things have just been very busy the last few weeks. I feel like we have been going non stop since before we left for our trip up North to see Joe's family. Unfortunately, deep in the midst of doing millions of loads of laundry, taking down the Christmas decorations, caring for a husband with a stomach flu, trying to avoid said stomach flu myself, spending a day in Chesapeake and taking my parents to the airport, getting a much needed haircut for a little boy whose hair was so long I could have put it in pigtails, searching for a beach house (with good beds!) for our summer vacation in the Outer Banks, and trying to train for a half marathon, this little blog has started to collect lots of dust! Thanks to my friend Lisa for reminding me! :o) Everyday I have good intentions of downloading the hundreds of pictures and blogging my little heart out. But everyday something else comes up. I think I have finally caught up enough to devote some time to posting a bunch of pictures from the beach and the wedding.

Joe is feeling much better now. Thank goodness it was only a 24 hour bug. I haven't seen him that bad in a long time. I think my parents got scared they were going to get it also, so they got out of town a day early. If we lived closer to the airport they would have left on the next flight. I understand how they feel though. Who wants to be sick on a flight home. Isn't air travel bad enough already? "Bim-py" and "Gi-gi" made it home safely and we all miss them dearly. Jackson keeps looking for them and calling for "Biiimmmm-py". We had a wonderful visit and are looking forward to March when they will come back (hopefully!) and we can go away for a few days without the little guy.

Jackson turned 15 months old on the 4th of January. I still can't believe how fast time is going. His mind is like a little sponge and he will repeat anything you say. His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds everyday. His latest favorite phrase is "Oh pew", from the book Hey Wake Up! He is working on perfecting his dance moves, which is a site that you all should see. He can walk backwards, turn in circles, "hop", and climb on anything that is even remotely off the floor. He loves playing with his cars and "zooming" them around the room. Oh and BALLS!! The boy can't get enough of them. Michael and Paige brought him a big soccer ball for Christmas and he LOVES it. He has started kicking balls too. He has his 15 month check next week so I will fill you in on his stats after that. It doesn't feel like he has grown too much in the last few months. But then again I could be wrong!

I guess that is about all for now. Here are the promised pictures. Enjoy! And hopefully will be better about updating now that the holiday madness is over!

One more thing. Joe's mom has been pretty sick for over two months now and was admitted to the hospital so they could figure out what is causing her problems. She was released yesterday and is doing better. The doctors are pretty sure they determined the cause of her illness and they know how to treat it. Please pray for her speedy recovery and pray for her as she begins the medications that she may have to take for a few years. We will keep you posted.

Digging in the sand with a stick.

Yea for the beach!

Showing Daddy all the shells.

I'm outta here!

Hooray for my friends Benjamin and John Stephen!

Who do you think I get my fashion sense from?

Playing my new saxophone!
Like my new big boy haircut. No more hippy hair!

When will the crazy hair bath pictures end? Never!