Jaxon's First Christmas!

Jaxon with his stuffed bear
Jaxon fell asleep right after we started opening presents, maybe he was just too *dazzled* by his dad's incredible bed head...

Jax in his Christmas PJ's

Looking startled in a Santa Cap...

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, and our little Jaxon made it even better. We figured this would be the only year that we could get away with getting him something practical, so we started him a college fund account... which exactly what every two month old wants for Christmas. (The real joy is that two month olds really don't know what is going on yet, so a college fund account really is an acceptable gift!) We also started a children's book library for him (another thing he was super excited about.) Jaxon ended up falling asleep two minutes into our present opening and didn't wake up until we were almost done with Christmas. Something tells me though that he will NEVER be this quiet at Christmas again...

Ugly Sweater Party

This year we were introduced to the joy of the "Ugly Sweater Party." Our friends the Scarboroughs threw the party and it was the hit of our holiday season. Chad, of course, took the theme very seriously and went to a total of four thrift stores until he found the perfect ugly sweater. He finally settled on a pool themed sweater complete with large 8 balls and pool sticks. The sweater also came with a bonus cigarette and old man scent that smelled just about as good as it looked. As it turns out, his diligence paid off and he took home the prize for the ugliest sweater of the night. Although my sweater didn't win, it was also a peach... the best part of the sweater was the tight wrist sleeves that flared out mid forearm and the off balance shoulders which were a result of a missing shoulder pad.

We had a great time at the party and very much enjoyed the food, company, and of course, the theme... We hope we are invited to an Ugly Sweater Party every year... hint, hint.

Snow Day!!

Last week I was walking around without a coat on and thinking to myself, "Hmm, I wonder if we will have ANY snow for Christmas?" Let's fast forward to Wednesday when it started snowing around 8 am and hasn't stopped snowing for 24 hours.... The news stated that we woke up this morning with 23 inches of snow! This is a picture taken from inside our garage and is of our big Dodge Dakota truck that is so tall that I needed to take a flying leap to get into when I was pregnant. It is pretty covered.

All the schools in the area are closed and the news stated that police officers "don;t want to seee anyone out on the roads unless it is an emergency. Chad is still waiting to see if he needs to go into work today... hopefully not. I guess the answer to my question is, "Yes Megan, there will be snow for Christmas!"

Jaxon's Smiling!

Doesn't he look like a concerned politician in this picture? Or maybe a barber shop singer... You decide.

Mom and Dad got Jaxon this cute church outfit. We were going to wait until Christmas to put it on him, but we just couldn't stand to wait that long. You can't really see it in the picture, but he was wearing a little tie. So cute!

This was a joyous occassion... Jaxon actually fell asleep in his chair rather than our arms!

This was the best picture I could get of Jax's smile... sometimes it is really big... and cute. :)

So, about twelve days ago we had a new development in the Anderson household... that's right, Jaxon started to smile!! Chad and I now spend the majority of our day speaking in REALLY high voices and pulling faces just to see our sweet baby smile at us. It's the best entertainment we've had all year! And within the last few days he has also given us a slight sound whenever he smiles. Is it indigestion? NO! We are calling it a giggle, even if the sounds more like an Ewak (spelling? you know from Star Wars...) than an actual laugh.

Plus, the really good news... Jaxon has started to let us put him down. Two days ago he even fell asleep in his chair! This is huge, because he NEVER falls asleep anywhere except our arms. We took a picture to commemorate the event and the flash woke him up... opps. Next time I'll just take a mental picture.

Back to Bethlahem

Jaxon was wrapped in a swaddle during the production, but went back to his puppy pj's for pictures.

One December 5th, our ward had its annual Christmas party. This year, we had a "Back to Bethlehem" theme and our family was asked to play the nativity family. The Activities Committee did a fabulous job of making the gym look like a market place in Bethlehem. Everyone had to bring a can of food as our "taxes." In exchange for the food we were given a bag of coins that we could spend at the different stands in the marketplace. The stands were mostly dedicated to food and included a fruit stand, a pita and humus stand, a lamb and rice stand, and a dessert stand with toasted nuts and candied orange peels. The food was outstanding!

After everyone mingled in the market place for a while, Chad and I came into the gym dressed as Mary and Joseph. The had me ride this great handmade donkey that Chad pulled with a rope. (I wish I had a picture of it!!) We wondered around the marketplace looking for someplace that would "Let Us In." When we first entered the gym, I was a little embarrassed to be the center of so much attention. However, after a few minutes of meandering our way through people while trying to be in character, I was really touched with how difficult Mary and Joseph's situation was. Soon I was crying and Chad had to stop several times to wipe away my tears. Many people told us how "authentic" we look, but our tears were real. The spirit really touched us.

After wandering through the marketplace, we entered the stage with Jaxon as a narrator read the Christmas story from Luke 2. I was terrified that Jaxon would not be a "meek and mild" baby Jesus, but he did great. The only time he fussed was during the song "Silent Night." The irony of hearing the words, "Silent Night" followed by a crying a baby was actually pretty cute and he was able to settle down quickly.

After the production was over, we had many people come up and ask to have their picture with us. We felt like Santa Clause as the ward's children stood on stage to have a photo with us. Several little children asked if they could see Baby Jesus, and then proceeded to just stand there and stare at Jaxon. When they left the stage, they would say, "Goodbye Jesus. Goodbye Mary. Goodbye Joseph." So cute! We know these kids well, but when we were in costume, they treated us like we were some Disney character. It ended up being a wonderful night.

This is a candid shot... we were trying to get him to calm down to take a family photo. When we saw this picture we couldn't stop laughing... I guess we have the same style of quieting our baby...

Jax's birth announcement. My favorite part is his HUGE wrist roll...

I know we have several viewers of this blog that we don't have physical addresses for, so I thought I would post Jaxon's birth announcement and our family Christmas ard so everyone could feel included. So everyone... Merry Christmas and Happy Baby!