MacK is Back!

MacKenzie spent Thanksgiving and the days after with Jackson's co-worker, Stefanie. Stefanie and her family really took to MacKenzie and hated to see her leave. I, for one, am pretty happy to have my little buddy back! She's worn out from all of the excitement and has taken her post on Jackson's side of the bed. She'll be keeping it warm for you, babe!

Uptown

Sunday we headed to Upland to have lunch with my folks before Jackson had to head back to Boston. Their giant Schnauzer, Addison, has gotten SO BIG! Jackson loves playing with her. She had a milk jug that she thought was a great toy to play tug-of-war with and Jackson agreed. They had a great time playing together.
I personally prefer little Madison--it looks she was telling Jackson what she thought in this photo!
Seriously, pictures cannot capture just how big Addy really is! The funny thing is that she has no idea that she's not the same size as all of the other little dogs so she still tries to climb in your lap. That's an uncomfortable position- ask Jackson! HA! :)

We love being in Upland. It is always so nice to be home. I just feel so relaxed when I am there. We headed back to Indy and got Jackson to the airport only for his flight to be delayed. He got as far as Washington-Dulles before he had to sleep in an airport hotel. He got back to Boston at around 11 the next morning. He went to work from 12-5:30 and then caught a flight to Chicago that also got delayed. The poor kid was just exhausted. He has work training until Thursday evening just outside of Chicago in Downer's Grove. He says it lives up to its name. :) I stayed in Indy for an extra day for a secret mission. Only time will tell if this mission was worth my time or not. Stay tuned!

G-force

Saturday morning we went to see Grace play basketball for the 5th & 6th grade team from her school. She did a great job and reportedly goes by the name "G-force" during these games. I laughed.
She even got the line!
G-force had quite the fan club at this particular game- 9 people were there just to root for her! That's a lot at a little girl's basketball game, let me tell you. We had fun cheering for her. One little girl on the other team thought they were playing football, but she stayed away from my Grace or else I would have been forced to storm the court. She fouled out. That's pretty bad!

We headed back to Indy on Saturday morning. We had fun catching up in the car. Susie introduced us all to a new game for our iPhone/iTouch devices called "Wurdle" and it became a bit of an addiction. I think we will be calling each other with our high scores for months to come. It is so fun! We got to go to our church on Saturday and see my good friend Laura. She is working at the church and teaching full time. I don't know how she does that and stays sane, but she was great! After church we hung out with Heidi and Andrew. We always love seeing our friends when we're home. I ran out of time on this visit to see as many people as I would like to have seen.

Black Friday & Babysitting

We were able to convince my sister to let Alex out of the house for the night on Friday and we took him out for Mexican food. Yum! He loves the duck that I got for him. :)
He loves to look at Gracie. She's always doing something funny! He was such a good boy at dinner and only let out one yell. I still don't know what that was all about. I was a nervous wreck watching him and felt quite relieved to return him to his mother's care when the clock struck 9 p.m. (his curfew!).

We got up at 2:30 a.m. on Friday to go shopping. We being me, Kathi and Susie as Jackson, Tommy and Grace decided to actually sleep for more 3 hours! HA! We went to Kohl's first and waited in the cold. Susie spotted exactly what I had come for just as we were giving up the hope of finding it. She got a gold star for the day for that find. We then headed to Target and stood in the cold for over an hour. My toes almost fell off. I will remember next year to wear my Uggs! We got a lot of great deals and had a lot of fun. We were finished there by 5:30 and headed to Starbucks for a coffee and bagels. We hit the mall and did some serious damage there, too. It was really fun! Jackson and I went back out later in the day after I took a much needed nap. I love black Friday! There is just not another shopping day like it, people. If you're an online shopper, I'm sorry but you're missing some of the thrill of the chase! :) Friday was a really fun day!

Thanksgiving

We are so fortunate that our sisters live within 2 miles of one another and get along famously so that we can see both of our families when we are home. I love hanging out with Alex and Grace at the same time. It is like my heart cannot take anymore love!
Jackson was SO excited to finally meet the little guy that I've made a fuss about for 8 months (tomorrow! Happy 2/3rds birthday, baby love!).
He got comfy towards the end of the evening in his footy pajamas. I couldn't deal with the cuteness!
A very rare photo of my sister and me actually smiling. HA! :) (I'm fully aware that we do not look alike, but people at work couldn't believe that we were even blood relatives when I showed them this photo. HA!)
Alex is small, but he looks REALLY small sitting with Jackson!
I got him a new Thanksgiving bib that he used to the fullest! I tried to feed him, but I was "going too slow" and he was losing interest. Whoops! I'm such an amateur.

I lost my Grandpa

I got the call on Wednesday evening while boarding my flight home to Indiana that my Grandpa had passed away. My Grandma was at his side and was able to say that she loved him before he passed on. I cried. A lot. I just couldn't stop thinking of my poor Grams having to spend Thanksgiving without him for the first time in many, many years. Thankfully, she had plans with some friends and was not alone on the holiday. My Mom is down in Florida now and will be bringing Grams home to Indiana for a visit on Thursday. I'll be watching my Grandpa's memorial service via the internet on Saturday evening as trying to get back in time was proving to be a real nightmare. Please continue to keep my Grams in your thoughts and prayers.

There's no place like home for the holidays...

so home is where we will go! While I think that song is really meaning Christmas, I'm going to make it mean Thanksgiving. (No, we still have no idea where we're going for Christmas vacation yet, but it is not "home.") Jackson is so excited to finally meet Baby Alex (!!!!!), see Grace play in a basketball game and finally see Kathi & Tommy's "new" (they moved in Christmas '08) house in Newburgh. I cannot believe that he hasn't been there since Nick and Kylie's wedding! Wild.

We'll get to spend some of our time in Indianapolis seeing friends, too. We're pretty excited to get away from work for a few days. I seriously tried to login to my blog with my username from work. That, my friends, is how you know that you've been putting in too many hours at the office! Ugh. Anyway, at 3pm tomorrow my office closes (Jackson's office closes at 2!) and we'll be headed for the airport. MacKenzie is staying with Jackson's co-worker, Stephanie, and will be spending Thanksgiving in Rhode Island (where Stephanie's family lives). Stephanie is ready to play ball and share people food from the dinner table so we're certain that MacKenzie will take to her just fine. :)

We wish you all safe travels and a very happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for nothing, Peyton

We both have to show our faces at work tomorrow only to be taunted by our co-workers thanks to Peyton Manning's pick at the end of the game. We were really thinking there was going to be a great comeback there and then NO! Sigh. It is going to be a long day tomorrow!

Cutest of cute

I hate Santa (see previous posts somewhere during the Christmas season last year), but even I can admit that Alex as Santa is about the cutest thing ever. He even has the rosy cheeks!
It looks like Baby Alex is ready for the winter in this enormous jacket. He actually looks ready for the infant Iditarod ! I love his little face in this photo though because he looks like he is saying, "umm, guys?! I'm a little nervous here."

4 years today!

4 years ago today we were married! It has been so much fun looking through photos from around the time of our wedding and reminiscing on how much we have done, where we have been and how much fun we have had. Thanks so much to all of you for being a special part of our life together! Here is to many more years, Jackson. XoXo.

G-parents

I have no idea when this photo was taken, but this is what my grandparents have always looked like to me so it cannot be too terribly old!

I sometimes call my Mom on my walk in to work. I called this morning to check in with her on how things are going down in Florida. She is down there this week as my Grandpa went to a hospice house this week. I think you all know that I'm a very emotional person. I also have always had a real soft spot in my heart for the crazy old lady that I call, "Grams." My Grams is absolutely hilarious. She does and says whatever she wants. She always has and it has always made me laugh. She is just as sweet as can be and I truly do adore her. Again, I always have. Some of my most fond memories of being a child are times spent at her house playing. She always made sure that we had fun things to do and were thoroughly entertained. Anyway, my Grandpa is really quite sick- hence hospice. I've cried myself to sleep a few times recently thinking about how sad I am for my Grams to be left all alone. I've only been married for four years (tomorrow is the actual anniversary of our wedding!), but I already know that a holiday season without my partner in life would be devastating. My Mom handed my Grams the phone this morning and I just lost it. I'm crying as I type this. I just am so sad about the entire situation. As I told my Grams this morning, I know that dying is a part of life, but that does not make it any easier.

The good news is that both my Mom and Uncle Derek (he lives in Hawaii) are with Grams and Grandpa in Florida right now. I think it is good for them all to be together one last time. It had been a long time since they'd all be in the same place and I think now is a perfect time to be together. I hate the helpless feeling of knowing that there is nothing that I can do to make anything any easier for any of them during this trying time. I hope that my Grandpa is not scared and can have peace knowing that we will all take care of Grams in his absence. I love you both, Grams and Grandpa. You've not been far from my mind recently.

Congratulations, A & A!

My brother Aaron proposed to his girlfriend, Alisha, over the weekend. She said, "yes!" I guess that means she is now his fiancee and not his girlfriend anymore!! Congratulations to you both. We hope you enjoy this special time! :)

Pure joy

MacKenzie loves playing ball near the water. Isn't that a cool background?!

Castle Island

Today we took MacKenzie for a walk around Castle Island State Park in South Boston. She was not sure what to think of the sand between her paws!
The sun was setting (at 4:30!!!!!!!!!!!!) and made for a gorgeous walk. It was a crisp 58 degrees and sunny here in Boston so we had to take advantage of the nice weather before it leaves again!
It was a really nice place to take a leisurely walk with MacKenzie.
Jackson snapped a photo of the statue. There was a fort in the middle of the park that was pretty awesome.

We had a pretty relaxing day today. I'm still healing and gimping through life with one arm. My wrist is beginning to show signs of improvement-finally. I'm still in considerable pain and my typing is not as quick or as accurate as it normally is, but that's OK. This injury has been a good lesson in asking for help and appreciating my health!

Things are pretty hectic at both of our jobs and missing a day or two this week with time spent at the hospital didn't help things much. These Bostonians don't mess around when it comes to working long hours, let me tell you. We're getting pretty excited to see our families at Thanksgiving. (Has anyone else noticed that retailers are totally skipping Thanksgiving this year and stores are already fully decorated for Christmas in mid-November?) We've also been hitting the PWLC (Petefish Weight Loss Challenge) pretty hard and that's always NO fun at all, but necessary nonetheless.

Wake UP!

I got a text message this morning from my sister that read, "the face that I woke up to at 6 am!" Is that not the cutest face ever? What a happy little guy. He must know that Aunt Ninny is coming to see him soon. That or he knows that his pillow pet is on its way. Either or, really. ;):)

Ouch!

Look at that excited little patient. Ugh. I hate going to the doctor/hospital/anything medical. I fell in the shower on Saturday while bathing MacKenzie. Graceful? Absolutely. I hurt my wrist, but thought it would get better so I ignored it. I babied my wrist all weekend and returned to work bright and early this morning in huge pain. I got sent home by my boss who called me crazy for not having it looked at professionally right away. Whatever. ;) Jackson took the day off and escorted me to Mass General Hospital aka the biggest hospital ever. It was insane. In a decent way. I was in and out in about 3 hours. I've got no breaks, but what they think to be torn ligaments all down my left arm. Basically, I hurt. It hurts to type, but Jackson never got around to posting on the blog for me (how dare he forget something so important?! HA!) so I'm doing my best right now. I'm out of work for a while. If I don't improve by mid-week I'll have to go see a surgeon. Oh joy! Ugh. At least MacKenzie is clean! :)

MacKenzie turns 4!

Today marked daylight savings time ending AND little MacKenzie's 4th birthday! What a big day around here. She got to sleep in the big bed last night to celebrate her big day! She has already had a banana (seen above) and plans to go play ball at Boston Common this afternoon. When you're a little white dog around here, life is good.

A short video of Mac today can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njAUxE5sbDw

Happy birthday, MacKenzie. We love you and hope to celebrate many,many, MANY more birthdays with you! :):)

Busy as small bees

I know that I have not been blogging much lately. I honestly have not been doing anything all of that exciting thus I have not bored you all with talk of how IRS audits for clients are going, how many tax returns I'm working on, how many 401(k) plans Jackson has sold, and so on. We've just been swamped here in Beantown. Forgive us. I promise to try to lead a more exciting life from here on out. And if not, I promise to make up something exciting for you all to read. ;)

My "little" CeCe

I got a text on Thursday night from Grace ("CeCe") that said she had gotten her hair all chopped off- boy, did she! She looks so grown up now. TEAR!! She even had her eyebrows waxed for the first time. She was NOT a fan. I told her to wait for all of the other joys that come along with being a well-groomed female. Ugh. Beauty is not free or painless. She'll learn that soon enough, though. For now, I'm going to pretend that she will always be my "little" girl! :) I cannot wait to see her and everyone else in a few weeks at Thanksgiving!

Madison is 9!

It is hard to believe that my little Madison turned 9 years old on Tuesday! She was said to have had a fabulous day.

Guy stopped and got her a dog cake complete with candles! She is a wonderful little dog and I hope that she has at least 9 more healthy years here with us!

Pillow Pets

This happy little guy wanted a "pillow pet" so I looked all over town for one today to no avail. I finally got online and ordered him a "tardy turtle." One must not be confused with these mall vendor kiosks rip-off "animal pillows." We learned that much today.

photo courtesy of www.mypillowpets.com

I'm not up on any baby stuff, let's be honest. The good news is that I have Heidi Porterfield on my Facebook list and she stays current on all of this for Jax! :) She actually thought I was making fun of her today when I texted to see where to get a Pillow Pet because she had posted about being excited to buy one for Jax for Christmas. Oh, Heidi. Me, make fun of you? Never. ;):)

Anyway, the tardy turtle is on his way, Alex!! Enjoy. XoXo.

Halloween cuties

Two of my favorite kiddos went trick-or-treating yesterday in Southern Indiana. Look how happy that little Pooh is!
He looks like he is saying hello. :)
"Give me some candy!"
Yes, that is my "little" Grace "CeCe" Coomes. She looks so grown up to me here. I hear a great time was had by all. :)