Jake's Christmas play

I still can't believe Jake is old enough to participate in the kids' Christmas play now! He and the other preschool boys got to be on stage with the manger while the big kids sang their final song. I really thought we'd have to carry a crying Jake off stage since he's pretty shy, but you could tell he had a great time up there with his buddies. When I ask him about the play, he tells me about how he pulled the sheets off baby Jesus. Yes you sure did, buddy. ;)

(The video below is wobbly thanks to my trying to watch him in real time and not just through the camera, but its not like the kid's got a solo so it will do!)


Jake's Christmas play from Ashley Skinner on Vimeo.

all of fall at a glance

Well, I'm finally back after the black hole that was October and November around here. We found out in September (actually, I found out while Deric was in Ethiopia!) that we are pregnant! Due May 31st, about two weeks after Jake's third birthday. I was ecstatic for all of a week and then bam, sick. Forever. I don't remember anything about October or most of November except for laying on the couch and watching so many hours of Netflix trying to keep Jake occupied so I could lay still. I'm just now starting to feel normal for the majority of the day and I am so thankful for that. Pregnancy is so much worse with a toddler around! ;)




Since I took the pregnancy test while Deric was in Ethiopia, I had some time to think of a creative way to tell him. I was trying to step up my game since with Jake, I blurted out the news at like 6am after taking the test. No creativity there. So this time, Jake and I took a trip to the library and I found a few books about being a big brother or having a new baby. Turns out the selection was almost nonexistent and the books I did find were so lame I never actually read them to Jake. But all we needed were the titles to get the point across. I just put them in a pile on the coffee table and when Deric got home, I prompted Jake to get a book and ask Daddy to read it to him. He obliged, surprisingly, and the book he chose was "I'm Going to be a Big Brother". Deric picked him up, turned the book over and stopped, then jumped off the couch and semi-shouted "Really?!" His reaction scared Jake half to death but it was pretty funny. Then I told him not to bother actually reading the book...seriously terrible.

Let's fast forward through weeks of laying around, not cleaning or cooking, feeling terrible....up to Deric's birthday. I'm realizing now that I can't remember at all what we did for his birthday, so apparently we really went all out. I think he understood though. ;) He did get peanut butter cup chocolate chunk chocolate [overload] ice cream instead of the usual German chocolate cake because much less cooking went into the former. Both guys still appreciated it. (Oh, and Deric took me to the UT/Georgia football game. My first game in eight years of living in Knoxville and we did it up right thanks to a friend's tickets to their box seats.)

On to Halloween. I thought I could still manage to sew Jake's costume in spite of how I felt but I could barely get it together. I got about 50% done: made some boots and turned a short-sleeve shirt into long sleeves...and I didn't have the rest in me so he got a headband and a belt to hold his sword. So he's a pirate on Casual Friday. ;) Still cute though, and he loved his sword.

Jump ahead a few more weeks to Thanksgiving which we celebrated with Deric's family in Indiana. Jake was in heaven with all the attention from his grandparents and cousins, especially after weeks of me not being able to play with him as much as he likes. I definitely enjoyed the chance to curl up in an armchair and relax knowing Jake was getting plenty of attention from family instead of plenty of tv time for a change.

^Nothing like trying to take a peaceful walk through the woods while your dad's kicking leaves on you ;)

And just like that, we're in the holiday season! I'm very grateful that I'm finally feeling somewhat better so I can enjoy Christmas traditions, even if it did take us three nights to muster up the energy get our tree fully decorated. More pictures to come of the festivities!