Santa Claus!

Last Saturday, Jayden had a really big moment. He got to sit on Santa's lap for the first time! Santa just happened to come to Daddy's work, and all of the employee's children got to sit on his lap. He was so nice, and Jayden absolutely loved him! He told Santa that he wanted a red and yellow big boy bicycle. Santa told Jayden to make sure that when he left milk and cookies for him, that he also left a carrot for Rudolph!

Jump Zone!

For those of you with children who have never been to Jump Zone, you are truly missing out! On Jayden's actual birthday, I was off of work, so I took Jayden and my mom to Jump Zone to celebrate. It was so much fun! It is only $7.00 to get in during open play hours, and adults get in for free. It is a huge indoor play area that has those really nice $4000.00 swing sets, and huge inflatables that you can bounce in and slide down! Not only did Jayden love it, but Mommy and Nana love it too! It is definitely a work out though!

Jayden and his excited face as he slides down one of the slides on the swing set.

A picture of some of the swing sets and inflatables.

Look at that happy face!

Mommy at the top of the firetruck slide.

I love this picture! He was so excited!

Nana and Jayden crawling up the shipwreck slide! It was really dark inside, but it was by far the best slide!

Nana was such a good sport and did everything Jayden asked her too!

Here she comes down the slide!

And here comes Jayden!

He loved all of the slides.

This was so funny! Nana was playing with Jayden on one of the swing sets, and she decided to go down the tube slide. As she was sliding down it, the whole thing started to shake, and made a loud creaking noise, and then she came falling out of it!

Jayden coming out of the tube slide. (As you can see, Nana is still trying to pick herself up off of the ground!)

This is a video of us all going down the shipwreck slide. It really was a workout. I say this because apparently, it was such a workout that I had a lack of oxygen to the brain, and I talk about how this is Jayden's first birthday. Seriously! It was his third birthday, not his first! We all had a blast though!

A Buggy Birthday Party!

For Jayden's 3rd birthday party this year, he wanted a "bug" birthday. Luckily, he told us this around Halloween, so we were able to stock up on a lot of bugs! His birthday is December 1, but that was a Tuesday, so we had his party the Saturday before. We just had family over, but we had a great time. I wish that I would have taken pictures of the decorations, but I just didn't think about it (after all, we hosted Thanksgiving and had a birthday party within three days of each other)! Jayden's big surprise from Mommy and Daddy was a swing set. My dad and Chris spent the whole week before the party assembling it, and it didn't get finished until the morning of the party!

The bumble bee cake that I decorated.

I was afraid that there might not be enough cake, so we had bug cupcakes as well.

Jayden was all ready for his party! I made the "3" shirt-the 3 was made out of bug material. (He really was excited...he had just waken up from his nap which is the reason for the lack of a smile.)

Jayden and Mommy in our antennae. (I think this is the only pic of me from the whole day.)

About half of the guests...

....and the other half of the guests.

Jayden opening his drum set from Aunt Denise and Uncle Mark. Let me tell you how thrilled I am about this present....

So cute! His new cowboy boots from Nana and Papa! (You should have seen him try to walk in them the first time!)

Nonni holding Kali. She loved all of the bows. :)

Jayden in his new winter hat from Nana and Papa. He looks like Ralphie from the movie "The Christmas Story!"

Aunt Katie got Jayden this super-cool dinosaur! His name is Spike. Poor cousin Riley was terrified of him.

The tractor that Nana and Papa got for Jayden. It is staying at their house so that Jayden can help Papa out in their yard. I wish that I could have gotten a picture of what happened about five seconds after this pic was taken...the "trailer" somehow unlocked, and Riley went crashing backwards. It was hilarious! (Don't worry...he wasn't hurt or anything, it just startled him.)

Jayden about to blow out his candles.

Licking his fingers...I think he liked it!

Pretty sure Riley liked it too!

Jayden opening his big present from Mommy and Daddy! (We had wrapped the door like a giant present.)

He sees his swing set for the first time! He was so excited! We opened the door, and he went running out to it!

Exploring his swing set for the first time. He LOVED it!

Going down the slide.....

Exploring the fort.

Papa helping Jayden go down the slide.

Jayden goofing around. :)

Even Kali liked the swing set!

Jayden and Riley having a great time swinging!

Well, there you have it. A recap of Jayden's 3rd birthday party! Unfortunately, the day of his party is the only day he got to play on his swing set because it has turned really cold outside. It will be great this next year when it warms up. He looks outside at it everyday though and says, "Oh look! There's my park!"

Pictures of Thanksgiving

As promised, here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving! It was our first time to host, and we had my parents, Chris' parents and sister, and my grandmother over. We had a lot of fun, but it was also a ton of work!

Peeling 10 lbs of potatoes.

Jayden learning how to snap the green beans.

He was pretty proud of himself.

The table...it was much prettier in person.

Another view of the table.

Katie and Nonni (the door behind them is wrapped like a present because Jayden's birthday party was on Saturday, and his swing set was being constructed outside.)

Nana, Jayden, and Mema

Papa John and Jayden

Papa and Jayden.

Awww....aren't we cute!

Chris cutting the turkey. (This was before the knife cutting through the pan and grease going everywhere incident.)

This was a picture of most of the food...there was some other on another table.

Hope you enjoyed seeing our Thanksgiving! I will post pictures of Jayden's birthday party soon!