Home Renovations

Chris has finished up this round of home renovations successfully! Our over the range microwave sounded like a fantastic and fairly simple job when we got started (especially when you factor in the fact that we scored it for $68 with all the Black Friday deals). Three trips to Home Depot (one included the trip to actually purchase the microwave) and several websites later, it is done! We found ourselves marveling over how on earth people ever did home renovations prior to the internet!

The process began with a small bit of demo; removing the old, ugly hood that was once above the stove. That project revealed the hood had been hard wired and no outlet existed. Trip #2 to Home Depot included purchases of a kit to install an outlet. This was Chris' first experience in this house with cutting holes in walls and playing with electricity. He did great and got everything on the first try!

Uh-oh...no outlet. Off to the store...

Back from the store and cutting a hole in the cabinet and wall to make space for the new outlet.


Jacob enjoying playing in the box for the new microwave.


Diagram is mounted and ready to start screwing on brackets. Note the off white outlet cover peeking up in the right hand cabinet above. Electrical work is successfully accomplished.

Brackets are up and the next diagram is hanging above. Time to drill more holes in the cabinets... And off to the store for trip #3 to get blocks to fill in the recessed cabinet space.


Jacob checking out the new microwave. It made a neat drum!


All the amazing new counter space I have without the old microwave taking up space!


Ta-da! Mission accomplished! It looks like it has always been there! I love it!

I am so proud and thankful that my husband persevered and accomplished this task. It was a two day project, but he did it and learned much along the way. Needless to say, I don't think we'll be taking on any other home projects for a little while.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We spent our Thanksgiving weekend together as a family. Chris hit the Black Friday sales and won himself a brand new laptop (woo hoo!!) and an over the range microwave for me (double woo hoo!). The deals were too good to pass up. He arrived back home with his finds, breakfast from Chick Fil A and a poinsettia for me. What a dear man.

After the shopping excursion, Chris got down the Christmas boxes and I spent the morning and afternoon decking our halls.

As I type, Chris is tackling major home projects with the installation of the new microwave. Can't wait!

Here are some photos of our post Thanksgiving Friday together. What a great time just spending time with family. We are so blessed...

Chris and Jacob climbing the ladder to check things out in the attic. Bringing down the Christmas decorations.

Chris had the great idea to entertain Jacob with a fort while I put up decorations. It is amazing what a card table and quilt can do to provide entertainment!

A sample of our completed decorations....

My gorgeous Willow Tree Nativity; a treasured gift from my mother in law last year. I love this!

For some reason this picture came out dark and does not do the tree justice. I will try again during the day. I made the bow for the top this year (a first for me) and wrapped it with the same ribbon as garland. I am happy with it!

Merry Christmas and remember, JESUS is the reason we celebrate the season!

Gratitude

I just wanted to make a post to publicly say how filled to overflowing I am with gratitude for all God has given me. I have a husband who is seeking after Him and in so doing, loving me more everyday. I have a son who brightens my days and is healthy, happy, and growing. I have a free life and all I could ever want or need.

Thank you, God, for your graciousness to me. Thank you beyond words.

Melmo!

This story was too funny and cute for me not to share it. Last night, I was working late teaching classes and Chris was home with Jacob. It was bath night, so Chris gave Jacob his bath and let him play in the tub with some toys for a period of time.

Some of Jacob's current favorite bath toys include cups (he has discovered he can dump water back and forth in them), a Cookie Monster toy, and an Elmo toy. Jacob is a big fan of Elmo--really any of the friends from Sesame Street will do. If any of them have the same type of eyes as Elmo, he calls them Elmo, so Cookie Monster is Elmo, etc. Well, I should say, he calls them "Melmo."

Usually when Mommy does the bath, he gets clean, plays, hands over the toys, brushes teeth, and gets out. Daddy does much the same, however, Daddy lets the water out of the tub before removing the toys. Last night, Chris started letting the water out. When most of the water was gone and Jacob had told it bye-bye, he then turned in the tub and saw his Elmo toy getting washed closer and closer to the drain and he started to exclaim, "Melmo! Melmo!" Poor dear, he thought Elmo was going to get washed down the drain!

Oh to understand all those processes going on his brain! Needless to say, Melmo was saved and placed snugly back in the basket of toys for future use. Daddy is Jacob's hero!

The Battle of the B

I realized the other day that it has been a while since I've posted an update on our Operation Bye-Bye B. Progress is being made...slowly but surely.

Jacob is now totally "B-less" during the day at home, including family worship time. The B resides solely in the bed and does not come out during the day. When we go in to get Jacob out of bed in the morning, he is usually standing up, holding his B. As soon as he sees us though, he will greet us and throw the B down, knowing he can't come out of the bed if he has it.

Jacob is "B-less" in the car and at Miss Donna's house. These seemed to be the easier transitions for him.

The "B" is no longer the boo-boo fixer and Mommy and Daddy will generally suffice, unless the boo-boo is significant.

Jacob has attempted to go B-less at church for the last four weeks and has had three weeks of not using it. I will not call them successful weeks, however, because I think he spent much of the time at church crying, asking for the B, asking for me, or refusing to be put down by the caregiver. Church is slow progress, but we are making progress, just the same. We have not had to try at BFG recently, so there has been no progress there.

Now for the big news....this Sunday, I had Jacob take the road rag out of his diaper bag, give it to me, and say, "bye-bye B!" The road rag has been tucked away on a shelf and no longer comes as the safety net or back up in the diaper bag. I thought if he knew it wasn't in his bag, perhaps he would do better about it at church. I have yet to prove whether or not this theory really works. The removal of the road rag was greeted with a few tears and some whining, but he did finally obey and hand it over to Mommy.

Bless his soul, it rips my heart out to see him so sad and to take something away from him that he loves and adores so much. I hate for him to be without me and his B--both things that I know will cure the lonesomes pretty rapidly. But, I know what we are doing is right and good for him. I know he is growing because of it. It is bittersweet to say bye-bye to the B, but ever so surely, we move one day closer to Mommy taking that sweet, snugly blue and while blankie and tucking it away in a keepsake box.

Our boy continues to grow up........

20 Months

Today Jacob is 20 months old. Do you realize what that means? Only four months from today and our baby boy will be two! How is that even possible?

At twenty months, Jacob is a bright, happy toddler boy and loves all things b-o-y! He is obsessed with backhoes, lawn mowers, and weed eaters. He loves to "read" books. He is becoming a good eater and will tackle just about whatever we present to him--current favorites include pomegranate and pears. New words arrive almost daily. Some of his current word obsessions:

• Gee, ga, GO = Ready, Set, GO!
• No
• Hi
• Gee Goo = Thank You
• Hoe = Backhoe
• Bop = Bob the Builder or Bob the Tomato
• Didl, didl, didl = Cookie
• Ninl, ninl, ninl = Again, or yes, what you are saying is correct!
• Schoosh = Truck
• Mull = Milk
• Ma Mow = Lawn Mower
• Wee Wee = Weed Eater

He waits at the window eagerly awaiting his Maw Maw Burris to arrive on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and truly believes his Maw Maw Ruth resides in the computer on the web cam. He can remember places he has been and points out the place we go to feed "guckies" and will tell me Maw Maw takes him to the library for story time. He still hates to go to church, but loves to participate in Family Worship at home. The current favorite praise song is "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy down in my heart. Where?! Down in my heart...." He loves any song with a catchy tune and especially those with hand motions! Jacob is an outstanding hug giver and has even begun to "pat" me on the back when giving hugs. Kisses are generally abundant as well and he has even begun offering unsolicited hugs and kisses, which, in my opinion, are the best kind.

Jacob is our pride and joy. Twenty months ago we brought a tiny little bundle into this world and somehow, that little "blob" of joy, has turned into a vivacious, energetic, happy boy filled to the brim with personality. We love him, oh so much!

Dear Jacob,

Today you are 20 months old. Mommy and Daddy don't have the words to tell you how much we love and adore you. You make our hearts sing and our mouths rejoice in praise to God for the gift He gave us in you.

You are a good boy and you are so precious to us! We love you!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Two Date Nights!

Chris and I were so blessed this week by our friends and family! We were given the gift of TWO date nights, back to back! For people who are lucky to go out child-less even once a month, two date nights in a row was serious spoiling to us!

First, Thursday night, we were blessed by some friends of ours at church, who sweetly gave us two tickets to the UK Basketball game. It was a great time. The last time I went to a UK game, I was miserable. We sat literally one row from the tip top of the arena and I felt as though I needed to hang on for dear life. It was crowded and well, just not all that enjoyable. That was about five years ago. This time, was a totally different experience and well worth the five year wait! We were given lower arena tickets and sat so close to the floor I almost felt like I was in the game! We were near the student section, so we got to enjoy their excitement and passion for the game. We got to sit in squishy seats with backs. Ahhh, yes, it was well worth the wait. Thank you, sweet friends, for the gift of the tickets!

Jacob got to stay home on Thursday and enjoy some much anticipated Auntie Fred time! I told him early in the day that Auntie Fred was coming over to play and read stories. Every time I said Auntie Fred, he would look at me and say, "Doe?" I used to think "Doe" was for Joe. Now I think "Doe" is representative of the entire Sisson Family. Today he was pointing at pictures of Andrew, Joe, and Jennifer and saying "Doe" to all of them. Anyhow, I think they had a nice evening together. Thank you for coming out to play on a "school night" Auntie Fred and blessing us with the opportunity to go out. You are the best!

Friday night was a Parents Night Out event at church. If we had been good and signed up, the church would have provided us babysitting while we went out. However, we failed to sign up. Some of our friends did sign up though, and asked us to go out with them. So we rounded up our own babysitter and joined them. We went out to eat at P.F. Changs with two couples from our church. I can't remember the last time we have gone out with other couples without our children. It was so fun to fellowship together over a delicious meal none of us had to prepare and none of us had to cut up into a million pieces for a little one to eat!

Friday night, Jacob stayed in with Aunt Jenn-Jenn, who now lives just a hop, skip, and a jump away from us in a neighboring subdivision (yay!). Jacob was so happy to see his Aunt Jenn-Jenn and they had fun reading books and playing in the bath tub. I also told Jacob his Aunt Jenn-Jenn was coming and he asked "buppy?" (puppy). I am sure he was a bit disappointed that "buppy" didn't come, but I am sure Max the Cat was pleased we opted not to invite "buppy" over. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Jenn, for watching Jacob while we had a grown up evening out! We are so thankful for you!

God has truly blessed us with the gift of our friends and family. During this season of Thanksgiving, be sure to tell those special people in your life just how much they mean to you!

Guckies!

Chris has discovered a new, fun place to take Jacob to play this winter, Joseph-Beth Book Store. Not only do they have a "nain" (train table), they also have "guckies" (duckies) who are all too happy to be fed by sweet little toddlers, such as Jacob!

We went to Joseph-Beth today as a family outing. Jacob seemed more interested in the machines that the "guckie" food comes out of, rather than feeding the "guckies," but we'll try again. I have pictures to share of the outing, but no patience to load them tonight, so they will have to wait for a future post.

Jacob has been to Joseph-Beth a total of three times to feed the "guckies" in the last two weeks. After his first trip, whenever I would drive past the store (which was often, since it is basically on our way to everything in town), he would loudly proclaim, "GUCKIES! DADDY!" How does he know these things? I think he has a super duper internal GPS. Yes, Jacob, you went to Joseph-Beth to feed the "guckies" with Daddy. You are right!

Life is so fun through the eyes of a toddler!

Keep Christ in Christmas

I know, it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, and I am always one to loudly proclaim that Christmas has its time and place; after Thanksgiving. However, we all know that the preparations for Christmas begin well before Thanksgiving (if you are an early bird, like me). Tonight I addressed our Christmas cards. I have yet to write the Christmas letter, but I need to be inspired to do that.

Anyhow, let me get back to the point of this blog. I received an e-mail forward today that seemed like something worthy of being passed on. Please understand that I hate forwards. I usually do not read them, but for some reason, I read this one and decided it was worthy of being shared.

Twas the month before Christmas*

*When all through our land,*

*Not a Christian was praying*

*Nor taking a stand.*

*See the PC Police had taken away,*

*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*

*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*

*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*

*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*

* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*

*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*

*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*

*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*

*Something was changing, something quite odd! *

*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa *

*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*

*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*

* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*

*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*

*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*

*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*

*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*

*Now Daschle, Now Darden , Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*

*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*

*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*

*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*

*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*

* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*

*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*

*The reason for the season , stopped before it started.*

*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*

*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*

*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*

*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,

not Happy Holiday !*

Please, all Christians join together and

wish everyone you meet during the

holidays a

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christ is The Reason for the Christ-mas Season!

Daddy, Can I Help You?

For those of you keeping up with the blog, you know we recently had a case of a quitter oven. I am pleased to announce, our oven is quitter no more!

Thanks to Chris, who was assisted (if you can call it that) by Jacob, our new element is installed and working wonderfully. Ahhhhh, such bliss to be able to cook again!

To celebrate I baked a big batch of oatmeal raisin cookies. Mmmm.....

Pajama Party

Chris was out of town this weekend to kick off hunting season with a friend of his, so that meant lots of quality Mommy and Jacob time.

Aside from doing all that Christmas shopping I mentioned in a previous post, we also had time for a Pajama Party. We both got into our pj's at about 6:30, popped some popcorn (Jacob's first experience with it), and put on a Veggie Tales. Jacob wasn't a huge fan of the popcorn (which probably isn't a bad thing, given his digestive issues of late), but we were both big fans of Moe and the Big Exit (about Moses and the exile). Jacob snuggled and when all was done, said, "ninl, ninl, ninl?!" (not to be confused with didl, didl, didl) which means again, again, again!

Yes, sweet baby boy, we'll do this one again...

Christmas Craze

Christmas is a magical time of year, but is it magical for all the right reasons?

I have been sucked in this week by the Christmas Craze. What is the Christmas Craze? It is the deep, burning desire (and personal commitment) to complete 100% of my Christmas shopping prior to Thanksgiving. It is the marathon of all marathons, the Iron Man of Holiday Shopping, the Olympics of Christmas...well, you get the point. It is a feat that I have attempted many times and achieved only a handful of times (and I honestly think the times I did achieve it were pre-marriage and pre-motherhood).

I've been putting a dent in it, but there is still so much more to do! Jacob has been along for the ride, too!

While I have quite honestly been sucked into this Christmas Craze and have been on fire with my Christmas shopping (and spending) this week, I am reminded what Christmas is truly about and what I want my child to understand Christmas to be.

Christmas isn't shopping, gifts, Santa, lights, trees, decorations, etc. While those things are nice and magical and add a special spirit to the season, they are not the whole picture. What I want most of all this year is for our little boy to begin to learn and understand that Christmas is about the birth of Christ and without Him, we would be lost eternally.

Christmas is about one bright star, one young girl, a betrothed man who understood the meaning of commitment, and one small child; God in the form of man. It is about the miracle of life. The life of Christ and the gift of eternal life we are granted through His death on the cross. Christmas is magical. Let's keep it magical for all the right reasons this year.

So while you might be like me and have all your shopping done or you're the polar opposite and put it off till the last minute, please remember this season to step back from it all and enjoy Christmas for all the right reasons. Don't let Christ get lost in the shuffle.

Manners

We've been working on Jacob's manners these days. It started off with signing please and now saying please (which is "b" or "bees" in Jacob-ese).

Recently, we have been working on his table manners. He now eats at the table (in his high chair, but with the tray removed and pulled up to the regular table). That has been a trick by itself. Jacob got very used to putting his feet up on the tray of his high chair and quiet honestly, that never bothered us. Putting his feet up on the kitchen table, however, is another story. We've had many meals where the exchanges go something like this:

• Kate: "How was your day today, Chris? Put your feet down, Jacob."
• Chris: "It was a pretty busy day, we.... Put your feet down, Jacob. We had a bunch of orders come in all at once right at the end of the day."
• Kate: "Put your feet down, Jacob. Well, did you... Put your feet down, Jacob. Did you get it all... Put your feet down, Jacob! Did you get it all done in time or do you... Jacob, put your feet down! Do you have more to do tomorrow?"
• Chris: "Yeah... Jacob, put your feet down. Yeah, we... JACOB! Put your FEET down! We got it... PUT YOUR FEET DOWN! We got it all done. How was your day?"

Yes, sometimes general conversation is difficult to manage. Amazingly, I think he is figuring out he cannot put his feet on the table, kick the table, or make any contact with the table with his feet in general. It only took a gazillion times of repeating it.

Last night, Jacob was really whiny before bed and wanted his "mul" (milk) so Chris went to get it for him. While Chris was out of the room, I told Jacob to tell Daddy thank you for getting his milk. I said, "Jacob, say thhhhhhaaaaannnnnnkkkkkkk yyyyyyyoooooooouuuuuuuu." And would you believe that whiny little boy looked me in the face and said, "Dan doe." Are you serious? I couldn't get him to repeat it, but now I know there is yet more in his arsenal of manners.

We just might make him civilized yet....

Quitter Oven

Our oven is a quitter. Sunday it just decided to up and quit getting hot. The nerve!

Sometimes being a grown up isn't all that fun.

Chris is going to fix it himself, but has to order a part. The question is, how long will all of this take and how long can we last doing our primary cooking on the stove top, microwave, or toaster oven?

Hmmmm...I see take out in our future! At lest one good thing can come from all this!

Cousin Coincidence

Jennifer and Andrew joined The Burri for dinner Thursday night to celebrate Jennifer's birthday. By coincidence, Andrew showed up with the exact same shirt on that Jacob was wearing! So cute!

Jacob adores his cousin Andrew!

Mmmm...Fun with Cake!

We had a great time celebrating Jennifer's OVER THE HILL birthday this week. Let's just say, we all had fun (who doesn't have fun when Jennifer is around?).

CAUTION! CAKE CRAZINESS BELOW!
DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU ARE FAINT AT HEART OR EASILY FREAKED OUT BY BIG PIECES OF CAKE AND BIG OPEN MOUTHS!


Black candles and lots of black candle wax! Things are pretty tame still.


The cake craziness begins... Just getting warmed up.


Chris and Kate join in with the cake craziness...


Whoa. Andrew is serious about cake craziness...


Not to be outdone by his nephew, Chris shows off just how crazy he can be about cake. That is one serious piece of cake!


Even Jacob wants a part of the cake craziness now!


Hmmm....Jacob is starting to realize this is all craziness.

So yes, Jennifer had a nice birthday bash with the Burri. Cake craziness and all!

Happy Birthday Big Sister!

Happy Birthday today to my oldest sister! It's a big one...shall we say....she is now...

OVER THE HILL!

We have had a fun time helping her celebrate the day! We started the morning off by doing a sneak attack to trash her car with black balloons! Now we are preparing a delicious meal for dinner tonight since the birthday girl and Andrew will be joining us (Joe is out of town for work today!!). And to top it all off, we shall have a scrumptious birthday cake, complete with black candles!

I'll try to remember to post pictures tomorrow!

Happy, happy birthday, sweet big sister! I love you!

And the Answer Is....

For those of you sitting on the edge of your seat to find out the answer:

• Bop=Bob the Builder
• Hoe=Backhoe

Jacob has discovered Bob the Builder on our local public channel and thinks he is totally cool!

Bop?

Move over "ma-mow!" There is some new competition for Jacob's attention in town! Competition known as "Bop!" and "Hoe?"

I'm going to give all you faithful followers a chance to figure this one out for yourselves. What on earth could "Bop!" and "Hoe?" be? Post your guesses as comments to this post and I'll let you know if we get any lucky winners.

Oh, and just so you know, this is serious competition for the ma-mow. This morning my greeting consisted of, "Hi Mommy! Bop! Bop! Bop! Didl didl didl!"

Can't wait to see all your guesses.........