Sibling Love.

Jadon brings tremendous joy to all of us. Jacob's face is just full of love when he is making Jadon laugh. Last night Jadon was very sleepy and he was in Shelby's arms. She was walking around with him. He had his head on her shoulder and was talking softly. He was just snuggled right into her arms. I noticed that every time she told him she loved him he would smile. It was just adorable. She just kept saying "I just love him so much"! Jadon has both of them wrapped around his little finger. We are truly blessed with all of our kids! I am enjoying every moment.

One of Jadon's new favorite things is closing doors. He likes to play peekaboo with a door too. Jacob and Jadon were having a lot of fun the other morning. So precious!

Now if I could only get the older two to feel that way about each other! Is that too much to ask? LOL!

A Day in the Life of Jadon

Most people think that the first few months of your child's life are the most difficult. The constant feedings, lots of poopy diapers, and very little sleep. I was right there in agreement...until a few weeks ago. That was when my curious, smiley, determined little son discovered how to move about his world. I realize that I was an accomplice to all that has taken place in the past few weeks. I wanted nothing more than to see my challenged son navigate in his world. I was his loudest cheerleader. However, I am exhausted in a whole new way now.

I think I have been continuously "Jadon proofing" the house for three weeks now. Just when I think I have everything he can't have put up or inaccessible in some way he finds something else he wants to explore.

Jadon's top ten things to try and get to:
1. Dog Water
2. Dog food
3. Anything on the table by Daddy's recliner (his newspaper, his glass of water)
4. The cabinet with all the goodies (i.e. the snack cabinet).
5. The cabinet with all the plastic cups and plates. Though now that I know Mommy does not mind me unloading the cabinet it has lost some of it allure.
6. The toilet.
7. The dirt in the planter.
8. The potato basket.
9. The Christmas tree.
10. Anything under the Christmas tree.

Phew! I am tired just making this list. I feel like we make a circuit from one of these things to the next. Fortunately, I can close the bathroom door and shut the gate to the backroom so he can't get into the dog water and food. The thing that amazes me the most is how fast he is. He moves with lightning speed. One minute he is playing innocently with a toy and the next minute he is happily splashing in the dogs water. He seems to know he is not supposed to be doing certain things. He is always very quiet when he is getting into mischief.

Jadon getting into the snack cabinet.


Jadon is very busy searching for something yummy!



To try in redirect Jadon to things he can play with I have introduced him to the pots and pans cabinet, the dish towel drawer, and the cabinet that hold the baking sheets. I want him to be able to explore his world with out constantly telling him "no".

Jadon likes to pretend he is stirring something.


Bang! Bang! This is fun Mom!



Today, Jadon got into the snack cabinet. Not a first for him. He has played in the snack cabinet for a few months. Up until now the crinkle sound of the bags has entertained him. However, in the last few weeks he has been introduced to some of the items in the snack cabinet. He loves saltine crackers, Cherrios, and vanilla wafers. Today he spotted the box that held the vanilla wafers. He pulled it out, opened the box, pulled out the bag that held the cookies. He looked at me to see if I would stop him. Deciding that it was safe to proceed he stuck his hand in the bag and retrieved a "cookie". Yum, sweet victory! Here is some video of this event. As you can see for yourself he is ignoring me and savoring his cookie.

A New Tradition

Last year when we put up our 14 year old artificial tree we decided it would be the last year for that tree. It was starting to show its age. So this year we thought we would try something we had never done before. Get a real tree!! I was so excited. I had always had real trees at my house growing up and remember how good they smelled. Instead of just going to the store a picking one that was already cut (boring) we decided to see if we could find a tree farm. It turns out that there are several in our area. We choose Talbott's which is in Green Valley. A short 25 miles drive from our house. On Saturday morning we got up nice and early to head to Talbott's. When we arrived we found a saw to cut down our tree then we all hopped on the tractor pulled hay rack to ride out to where the trees were. We scoped out a few prospects on the ride and when the tractor stopped we hopped off to begin our search. It is not easy getting four people (Jadon has so say yet) to agree on the perfect tree. Fortunately two of us have full veto power over the other two. I love being a parent! After finding at least four trees that one person or another declared to be our perfect tree we found one that most of us agreed on. Shelby was still stuck on the tree prior to this one. Jake had the saw down and ready to cut before we could even say go. I got the feeling he was growing tired of the debate. Jake tried to saw through the tree trunk himself but in the end needed a little help from Dad. Now that the perfect Nafziger Christmas tree was cut it was time to hitch a ride back to the building on the next tractor. When we arrived back at the building they took our tree a put it in a shaker to all the loose needles off, then they sent it through a baler to tie up the branches for the trip home.

When we got home we sat up the tree stand and brought in our tree. We soon realized that we had forgotten an important part of choosing a tree. Check to make sure the trunk is straight! Oops. Our trees trunk is a little crooked but we got it somewhat straight. Hey, it is our first time. Next year we will remember to check the trunk!

Sunday we put the lights on our tree and the kids did the ornaments. Now we just have to remember to water it!

The first tree we came to. A little short.


Matt and Jadon are measuring the width of a tree.



Shelby is pretty sure this is the one.




We point out to Shelby that is has a big dead spot in the back.


This is "The One"


Matt and Jake cut down our Christmas tree.






Our tree is home!


I will post pictures soon of it decorated.