Jackson as horse

Catchin' up

Reading to Mama.



Don't take my picture.

For Meme, Nan & Pop!

Sweet Tucker

He loves to wrap his Winnie The Pooh and carry around like a baby, prop him up riding his truck and throw him around because he makes noise when he moves!

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Still can't get enough Jackson time. He happens to be soaking wet because he splashed all the water out of Jackson's bowl 5 minutes before the picture was taken.

I'm video-crazy now!

His voice is really cute! But he does know really odd words... here is his version of Bible, paper (he shares his mother's love for paper, writing and using markers for crafts!) and diaper. Actually I don't think he ever actually says diaper, but it sounds like "BIPER" with the same intonation - his voice always rises for the second syllable.

The Kitchens Family

If you have talked to us much at all in the last 4 months, you have probably heard us talking about the Kitchens Family. They are Hurricane Katrina victims that randomly ended up in Jacksonville when their car broke down and randomly called our church. We brought them a meal 3 months ago and our lives have been changed since then... This is their new townhouse they are renting! We are so excited for them even though there is still a long road ahead. Please join us in praying for them. We are thankful Ronald has a good job and that his boss picks him up every morning, but even having your electric turned on is complicated without good credit and money! Anyway, this isn't directly about Tuck, but they are Tucker's biggest fan club. Visits from Tucker in their hotel room over the last few months brought so much joy and "normalcy".




Ronald, Wendy, Janaay and Jamaal

Brainwashing

The love of the Irish begins early around here! (If you have no sound, sing the Notre Dame fight song to yourself while watching) Check out these dance moves from November-ish. Pardon the horizontal view of the vertical video... perhaps I'll figure that out later.

Old video clip

I finally figured out how to do this. I have no idea when this video was even taken. Sometime before June when Carolyn moved out of her house... How was this little tub in the 25th percentile in weight? He looks quite rotund to me!

Sick, sick, sick.

Poor Tuck has double ear infections, raging fever, a terrible cold and is feeling worse than he ever has in his 18 months! Please pray he will feel better soon and that he will be comforted in the meantime. It is terrible!
We miss his smile.

His hair

To our friends and family:

We know Tucker needs a haircut. We see how the front points in to a scruffy "v" shape - don't think we haven't noticed. You can't even see how bad the back looks in these pictures. We have been aware of this for several weeks, but Cliff The Barber cut the mohawk back in to existence last time... So we are praying about the next haircut. The child has hard hair (go figure with the two of us as parents -- we both have hard hair) so we're working up to the next cut. I'm voting for a visit to a salon. Kyle's still wanting to stick with the barbershop.

February 5th

The boy LOVES to pose for the camera.



Above: Before he realizes the camera is on him.
Below: After he realizes the camera is on him.


There isn't much to report except the addition of many new words to Tucker's vocabulary. He repeats almost anything you say to him -- if he is in the mood, of course -- with his own spin on the word. Mom, Let's go get the mail = "mayo". If he wants to watch T.V. he asks for "Emmo" (not that I ever let him watch Sesame Street :)). You can tell at this point he understands virtually everything I'm telling him, but much of the time our conversations are still in his adorable Tucker-language. We go back and forth all day "communicating" about everything we encounter. I couldn't begin to recount how these conversations go. If anyone knows how to do video on here, please give me a tutorial. That would help! For now, just more pictures...

Weight Loss Challenge...

Over!

In other news, Kyle and Rob tied the Weight Loss Challenge (because they reached their goal weight on the same week and both kept it off for 5 months). Congratulations to Daddy! They are obviously proud of themselves!!

MLK in Hilton Head

... another great MLK weekend retreat at the Teagues in Hilton Head. We are growing! It was so fun watching Tucker and Olivia interact and we can't wait for Baby Thompson to join us next year -

New Year's Eve...

... And more importantly, Uncle Ben's 30th Birthday!!
Above: The Farmhouse Inn in Madison, Georgia!
Below: Ben getting the festivities started.


LR, Jess, Steph, Gina & Beth
Tucker loving the animals.

Cute matching outfits!

I am my Daddy, part II

More from Christmas in St.Louis.

Jackson got to spend the week with his cousins, Herbie and Reagan (Brian and Betsy/Casey's dogs). He slept all the way home after a week of constant play.
We spent our last afternoon in St.Louis at the emergency room after Tucker took a header in to the Hogan's front stairs (cement!) He was so tough, but it was bloody and terrible. Instead of stitching it, they glued it. We'll see how the scar turns out!

Christmas Update...

I can't get these in order, so we'll start with Christmas morning! Tucker really loves trains and he got lots of trains! He was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of presents he was expected to open -- he just wanted to open and play with whatever he opened. We'll do it differently next year to keep him from ending up in tears!
He sat with his new Brio stuff for many hours! This is his very serious face.
The Holley's new puppy beagle, Yadi (named after the Cardinal great Yadier Molina). He and Tucker were quite a pair. First Tucker would chase Yadi and have Yadi all over the place. The Yadi would chase Tucker, nipping at his behind and Tucker would yell out between giggles "No, No, No, No..." swiping him away. It was priceless.

Christmas Eve brunch at Casey & Betsy's...
Tucker has become quite the male model. He stops for the camera and strikes a pose every time. Sometimes a smile, sometimes serious, sometimes a profile shot. We need to work on getting this kid's education paid for.

Below: The fam. Congrats to Casey and Betsy! They will be having a baby July 6th.
Waking up Christmas morning -- excited to go open presents!!!

What happens when I try to clean...

This afternoon I tried to do some cleaning which meant not having two eyes on Tucker the whole time. In a 15 minute period, I found him twice.

First, Jackson pushed the door open for him from the outside and I find him heading down the stairs with no pants and hmmm... scissors! But he is always willing to smile for the camera!

He is gifted at finding the thing in the room he should not touch - palm pilot, scissors, cell phone, pen without a cap on it, whatever! He can locate and be playing with the item in seconds.


Then I find him in our room just doing a little work on the computer. Again, smiling even when caught!

He is really hilarious - even though he enjoys being naughty. About a half hour after I gave up on cleaning, he had a discipline issue with the Christmas tree (about twice a day these days) and he had to go to his time out chair. While sitting in the chair quietly he hears Jackson in the front yard howling at the train passing (those of you who have been to our house longer than an hour know that Jackson puts his nose to the air, puts his ears back and howls at every single train that passes). So, when Jackson begins howling, so does Tucker! He puts his head up and makes this cute little howling noise from his time out chair. Priceless.

Santa!

Gross, but cute.

Tucker really likes this medicine dropper. It's kind of like his toothbrush. He walks around with it for hours at a time very happy. I'm not exaggerating. Hours. Here, he is doing his usual - hanging out with Jackson while chewing the dropper.
Now he is starting to pose for the camera. Check out the belly on this child.
Now, he decides to share the joy of chewing on the dropper with Jackson! They did this for awhile! I don't know what we would do without the two of them to entertain each other.
... And yes, he walks around the house half-clothed often. He likes it.