The end of a wonderful year

2011 was a wonderful year! . . .









That's really all I need to say in this blog, but I know you all want pictures so here's a recap of the last couple of weeks. I could have titled this blog many different names: Jacob's 1st Christmas, Jacob Meets . . . , Jacob's first trip, Our Travel Adventures, etc., you get the point.

20 weeks old (and ready for his first Christmas)

We rented a van and left for our Christmas vacation on December 21st at 5:30am. Our plan was to put Jacob in the car after an early morning feed and get as far up the road as we could before he woke up for the day. It was a successful plan as we were half way through Georgia when he woke up. We arrived in Charlotte at Kristen(my cousin) and CJ's house around 4pm and our first leg of the trip was complete. This gave Jacob time to play before bed and the adults a fun evening together to chat and enjoy a delicious meal CJ cooked!

Jacob and Kristen

On the 22nd we left Charlotte early in the morning and finished our drive to VA. It was strange initially for Mark and I to have our baby in Blacksburg, but he fit right in :-). We spent the afternoon with our college roommate and good friend Erin and her baby Wyatt. Wyatt is 6 weeks younger than Jacob and I'm sure these two will be buddies (and troublemakers) for life! Thanks for driving to Blacksburg to see us Erin!!!

Roommates (Past and Future)

We spent the next 5 days in Blacksburg. Jacob met his Great Grandma and Great Grandad along with many many family members and friends. He celebrated his first Christmas (which lasted for a few days because of everyone's different travel plans), and was spoiled rotten with gifts and love. He is one very lucky boy to have such wonderful friends and family and will definitely not be bored anytime soon with all of his new toys! Mark and I also attended our 10 year high school reunion while we were in VA. We only went for a couple of hours after we put Jacob to bed but it was nice to catch up with old friends. The best/funniest part of the evening is that we drove a minivan, the same thing we drove on one of our first dates; and we spent the drive to and from the reunion reminiscing about the last 10 years.

My boys, checking out the wildlife at Beep and Pops house.

Showing Maggie his Christmas socks

CUTE!

Meeting Kaitlyn (I used to babysit for her!!!)

Jacob meets Terri and Dave

Meeting Great Grandma (they were instant buddies)


Kisses from Grandad make me laugh

Meeting Great Grandad

These two are trouble!

Laughing with GAS (Great Aunt Susan)

Dogs are so much fun! (Gus was quite the trooper)

Christmas morning in McCoy.

Jacob Henry and Uncle Henry with matching Toms

Hanging out with Uncle Hank

Check out my new ride! I got 2 of these from my wonderful family!

Jacob and Teddy

A quick Mommy snuggle at Great Grandad's house.

Christmas at the Siburts . . . ooo wrapping paper!

All of the Siburt boys. . . looking at bowl picks of course.

Having fun with Grandma and all of my toys!

Talking to Uncle Scott and Aunt Mo

Bailey and her best friend (Peanut). She would really be happy if we brought him home with us!

Hanging out with Beep before bath time.

Kisses from Pops

21 Weeks Old (the date after Christmas)

On the 28th we left Blacksburg and drove to Morrisville (Raleigh/Durham, NC) to Michael and Claire's house. We took a quick pit stop in Hillsville to visit with Claire's brother John and wife Robin who are expecting their little girl any day now. We spent the next 3 days with Michael and Claire and a long time friend Maggie. We ate yummy BBQ, enjoyed the beautiful weather, took walks to the house Michael and Claire are building, bought cloth diapers (that's a whole different post for the near future), went to the Arboretum at NC State, and celebrated Jacob's first New Years (by going to be at 9:30pm). Mark was very disappointed that we didn't see the nut drop (Raleigh "drops" a huge acorn at midnight on New Years Eve). Jacob also decided to roll over again while he was at Uncle Michael and Aunt Claire's house. The first (and last) time he rolled over we were Skyping with them, what a little show off :-). On New Years day we drove back to Gainesville and our first travel adventure came to an end. Jacob was such a trooper and was a better traveler than we could have wished for, but we were all happy to be home on Monday and sleep in our own beds.

Visiting Uncle Michael at his office. Think we have a future engineer?

Jacob napping in his new carrier while we walk around Lake Crabtree.

Hanging out with Aunt Claire and Uncle Michael

Can you tell he's just a little bit excited?


Laughing with Maggie

The van (the second of the trip, the first one was replaced because we woke up with 2 flat tires the second morning).

Jacob's 1st Christmas could probably be summed up like this:

12 rounds of ABCs (although it was probably closer to 12,000)
11 hours in the car (x 2)
10 days of traveling
9 entertaining doggies (Jacob loves dogs right now)
8 dirty diapers a day
7 Christmas outfits
6 not so silent nights
5 Aunts and Uncles
4 different houses
3 car seats
2 Great Grandparents
and one very blessed little boy!


This week we are unpacking and getting ready for school to begin. Jacob and I both start school on Monday and it will be a big adjustment for everyone. I have many mixed emotions about this new phase and am making the most of this week snuggling with my little buddy. It's hard to keep up with the blog posts as quickly as Jacob grows and changes these days but I'll do my best. We are looking forward to all the new things 2012 will bring. Happy New Year everyone!