It's Finally Here...

I can't beleive it, Christmas has finally arrived! I just wanted to take a minute and wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope that you all enjoy your time with friends and family as we reflect on the 'reason for the season'. I am especially grateful for this Christmas this year, as it has taught me that yes, there are still a few good people in the world, and miracles do happen as long as you have a little faith. One miracle that happened at our house this year is some great people at a certain place that we do business knew about our family's struggle this year with Justin losing his job and knew that Jaxon probably wouldn't get much, if any, Christmas this year. So they took it upon themselves to go out and buy Jaxon his Christmas gifts. They also made sure that they got our family money for grocerys too, which came in very handy. Watching the wonder and amazement on Jaxon's face as Santa delivered his gifts was so amazing and something that I will never forget. I am especially anxious to watch this little guy tear into his gifts tomorrow morning, and will always be forever grateful to these great people. What they have done for our family will always be remembered and cherished. I can't wait for the day that we can 'pay it forward'. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Making Cookies For Santa!

Jaxon & Mom rolling the cookies in sugar.

So this Holiday season has been so much fun with Jaxon! We have been explaining all about Santa to him and all sorts of other Christmas stuff. So in our explaining to him about the big guy, we told him that we need to make him cookies to leave out on Christmas Eve. So, tonight we made Ginger Snaps for Santa. Jaxon & I mixed the batter, I rolled them into balls and he rolled them in the sugar. Needless to say our kitchen counters and floor were covered in sugar, but oh well, it's the experience of it all right? He was so fun to watch while rolling the cookies in the sugar; he was so proud of himself! Then we watched them bake and then Dad decided that it was time for a bath since he was covered in sugar and thought that maybe that would be the easiest way to clean him up! When he got out of the tub he ran downstairs and was looking for his cookies, and of course we had to taste one to make sure that they were ok to leave for Santa! Too fun!!

Sledding...

This is Jaxon waiting ever so patiently for Mom & Dad to get ready to take him sledding!

For Christmas this year Grandpa & Grandma Davis bought Jaxon some new snow boots, and Grandma said that if he needed them early to play in the snow, he could have them. So we called them this weekend and they brought over the snowboots and a new sled for Jaxon to play in the snow with. So, we bundled him up (just like the little kid on the movie "A Christmas Story") and took him to Peteetneet to try out the new gear.

Naturally when we got there the camera died, yeah the same thing happened last year too. Go figure! Anyway, he loved it! There were a lot of other kids there sledding and he loved watching them too!

Santa & Jaxon

Ok, so I know the picture is sideways and I apologize for that, but it is still a super cute picture since last year with Santa we had a MAJOR meltdown. This year we took him to see Santa uptown at what was supposed to be Payson's Christmas Festival. Yeah it wasn't much of a festival, but all Jaxon cared about was seeing the big guy. I decided that this year I would prep Jaxon to see Santa by telling him all week long that we were going to see him and that Santa was really nice; and Jaxon's reply every time was "I'm going to cry!" I was a little nervous as to how it was all going to play out...but needless to say he did great and talked all about it for the rest of the night. Justin keeps saying that it looks like Jaxon is telling Santa his whole life story in this photo, and I think I agree!

Brownie Bliss

Jaxon enjoying a brownie that I made. Man those were the days that you could eat however you wanted and nobody said anything. Do you think he enjoyed it? Yeah me too!

A New Way To Watch Cartoons

This is Jaxon's new way of watching cartoons...

Yeah, that is the hide-a-bed that he is sitting on with the couch cushion behind him. I don't why or where he learned this, but almost every morning this is how he sits on the couch to watch tv.

One Of My Best Friends

Ok, so I am sure that some of you that read this are going to think I am crazy to do a post about my little dog, but seriously I love this dog like I love Jaxon! He follows me everywhere, snuggles with me on the couch, and sleeps right next to me at night. I probably take as many photos of Harley as I do of Jaxon. I know kind of pathetic, but I don't care.

This is when I thought Harley was lost the other day, but really he was curled up under this big quilt we keep in the living room. He has gotten lost in the house before...but that is a whole other story! See, he is so little and he gets cold, so he is always under a blanket or curled up somewhere.

This is kind of blurry, but I went to lay Jaxon down the other day for a nap, and usually Harley will follow me to Jaxon's room, only this day he didn't. I came back downstairs and this is where I found him...eating the crumbs out of Jaxon's highchair. Like he doesn't get enough to eat!

I don't know why he closed his eyes. Maybe he thought he was in trouble, only I was laughing too hard to be mad at him!

So there you go...a little glimpse at my 2nd child.

When It's Too Quiet...

So I was working in the office this morning thinking Jaxon was in the living room watching cartoons. I noticed that the house seemed a little too quiet so I decided to go investigate. When I came out of the office and turned the corner, this is what I saw...

That's right! My little man with his Christmas jammies half unzipped (I am pretty sure that Justin taught him that), with his Santa hat on, digging Jello out of the bowl with his hands and shoving it in his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days!! It was too funny, I couldn't be mad, so I grabbed the camera instead thinking..."hey this would make a great blog entry!" Welcome to my Monday!

HE GOT IT!!!!

HOORAY!!! We could not be more excited! Justin got the job with Schwan's! We know this means a long work week, including 12 hour days, but the money is great and it is perfect timing! He goes on Monday to start filling out paperwork and then should start the following week. It just feels like such a weight has been lifted off of our shoulders. He will be making twice as much as what he made at Sunroc to begin with and they have great benefits. We are so excited to see our lives get some stability back. What a great way to start the new year!

A Little Update...

So I just thought I would update you all on the CRAZY life at the Cingolani household where it is seriously never a dull moment!

1. Thanksgiving was great! I hope everyone else enjoyed theirs as well! We went to my parent's house this year. My sister and her husband and their little boy flew in from Texas, both my grandmas were there, and my little brother was there too. This is the first year in about 4 years that we have all been together for Thanksgiving. We had a ball and found out that my sister is expecting their second baby in April! This is so crazy and exciting because only my parents knew, so I walk in the door and there she is standing with her 5 month old belly! Too fun! I seriously have a lot to be thankful for this year, but I will save it for another post maybe.

2. Justin started back to Sunroc. This is a good/bad thing. The good thing is we now have health insurance, and some money. The bad thing is the fact that they are not busy enough with work and decided to not have him work today, and we are worried about this happening over and over in the future. So that means today was unpaid. Not a good thing when you have financial obligations! He is interviewing with a different company tomorrow. (no not Questar, they were nice enough to send him a letter saying they found some one else for the position. RATS!!) This job pays really well and is very stable. It is a lot of hours, but we are thinking that it might be worth the sacrifice to get ahead right now. I will update you all on how that goes later on.

3. We put up our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving night and Jaxon has decorated/undecorated it about 100 times per day! This is fun to watch until about 5:00 p.m. and then I just want to take the dang thing down! Justin and I are working on having patients with him about it. If that is not a full time job, I don't know what is! Seriously though, I love this time of year. Ask my husband, next to my birthday, this is the best time of the year! This year though I have had a hard time getting in to the Christmas spirit, I think with everything going on, but I just keep reminding myself that it could be worse and that we are not alone in this boat.

I think that about brings you all up to speed on the Cingolani household. Look for more updates to come!