To boldly go where...well, lets be honest...where every kid has gone.

To boldly go.... that, is Jackson. He is sooo close to just walking around everywhere. On his own that is. He is getting more and more proficient at taking two steps on his own here, three steps there, two steps again, etc. Its so funny, you can almost see the boldness and courage swell up in him as he stands proud and locks eye contact with his point of destination, and then he moves that right foot a little, and then the left, (and well, we all know how to walk so I don't need to go on in description). BUT then he does a double take at one of us, or the dog, or just anything that breaks his concentration and the boldness/courage falters. He goes down. Back on his heiney. But so excited he is, that he smiles and squeals with happiness. Super exciting we think. I mean we will even pause the aggie NCAA tournament game if we think he is gonna walk. We are honest though, we at least are completely aware we have a little obsession who's name is Jackson! LOL!

We had a super busy week and I didnt get too many photos. Tuesday we went to the Childrens Museum with Lori, Grant and Lori's neice Makayla. Jackson LOVED the Tot Spot, where he could just crawl around and play with all things. He actually got mad when we left and cried a little bit! Too funny. Because we had Makayla, we didnt stay too long in the Tot Spot, so I am DEFINITELY taking Jackson back soon. It will be even more fun when he starts really walking, bc he can get into more stuff. They have the coolest water set up outside called Water Works and I just know that he will sooo be into playing in the water set up. The weather was cold and rainy so we didnt play in it this time :( It was also PACKED bc it was Spring Break and the weather, so I am truly looking forward to going on a more calm day. Where he can really be free to roam about.

Obviously SO excited about waiting in line to get in..HA!

Wednesday we hit up Gymboree with Kristen and Cassidy for a free music class. I really wanted to try it out bc Jackson dances every time there is music on and he loves his xylophone and he beats everything like its a drum. He did love it and it was so cute, he shook his marracas, played with the rain stick and bobbed up and down when we played music. I think we might join for the summer, mainly bc they have what is called Free Gym and you can take your child whenever you want to play inside their gym. He would love that, especially on the really hot days where I dont feel like going to the pool, but want to get out of the house. So we are going to try their regular gym class and see how we like it! Me trying to get a picture of his St. Patty's Day outfit, was PRETTY unsuccessful. This is much like trying to get a posed picture any day.

Him cheesing at me on my lap.

Us trying to do a pic together and him kissing me instead.

Me trying to get a picture of him standing, so he lays down.

Thursday we had a fun play-date at Maranda and Jakes house. Maranda's mom was visiting to help out a little over the week...because...MARANDA IS PREGNANT!! YAY!!! Due Nov 5. I figured since she posted it on FB I can post it here! LOL, anyways, she has been a little icky so it was nice for her to have her mom around while John was out of town. So we all hung out Thursday and had a nice time. The boys are so funny, its great to see Jackson be able to play a little more with Jake, next year it will be even better. I HAVE to tell this funny thing that happened bc it just made me laugh and I chuckle EVERY time I think about it. The boys were playing and Jake was doing the normal 2 yr old thing and throwing his balls around, well he was warned not to do it again and he of course like a normal 2 yr old, did it again so Maranda took him to time out...but the best part is that while she was carrying him out of the room he was hollaring for his grandma to rescue him "Mimi, Mimi, Mimi, Mimi" Sooo funny. I just laugh bc it is so typical to expect the grandchild to get bailed out by the grandma! LOL. Anyways, had to put that in there! Makes me wonder what Jackson will be saying next year!

Friday we met up with Lauren, Riley and Cole at the outlet mall where I got a few steals for super super cheap at Banana Rep. Riley and Cole were like magnets with Jackson, they were all over him and it was so cute, like they were just having a pow wow in Jackons stroller! Of course it could be the cheerios or goldfish, food always gets kids, but who knows!

The best part of the week was that we finally finished painting our LR/DR! AND got the backyard cleaned up, weeded and planted some new flowers back there. THANK YOU to Troy and Chelsea who came and watched Jackson so we could focus on the yard Sunday afternoon. It was so great to be able to just work and get it done instead of having to stop every 30 minutes or so to take care of him. Plus he was quite happy to get love and affection from his Aunt and Uncle who he loves a ton! Pictures courtesy of Chelsea!

Oh enjoy his new trick, trying to climb up things, ANYTHING.

That foot is always hiking up. Sounds bad, but you know what I mean!

So not much going on this week, but excited about getting some party supply shopping for Jacksons bday done this weekend with my momma. Want to get as much done early as possible. I am normally a wait till the last minute and then freak out bc I cant get it all done kinda gal and I just so do not want to do that for his bday!

GUESS WHAT?????

In 3 Weeks and 4 Days (who's counting) I get to celebrate my little ones first birthday

at his fabulous safari bash

....but......

.......................ALSO.........................

Uncle Matt and Aunt Jordan are coming down from Florida to celebrate too!!*

YAY!!!!!!!!!

GIGANTIC YAY!!!!!!!!!!

One Happy Sis Here!!!.

Cried when I got the news!

Im a sap like that.

Oh, did I mention I am so super totally overwhelmingly so happy???

Yah, I am.

IT WILL HAVE BEEN ALMOST 5 MONTHS SINCE

WE SAW THEM LAST!!!!!

Just thought you all should know.

Oh and Jackson's happy too.

*Disclaimer: I am super happy that all the guests that are coming are coming, thought I would put that in writing so that none fill unimportant or unwanted.

Weekend of Goodness!

We had a great weekend. Well I suppose I for sure had a great one being done with my near death experience! HA! But for real, we had a really good weekend. Taylor's parents (Cami and Papa J) came for a visit. They got here Friday and boy what a nice relief to have someone help out with Jackson since I was still a little weak from being sick. Saturday we made a trip to the rodeo to see all the baby animals and I think Jackson really enjoyed it. He was so cute just staring at all the animals. He smiled a bit when he saw the baby chicks, and the cow dogs competing.

On a side note they had a birthing center where a pig and a cow were literally giving birth as we watched and it was so cool to see the brand new baby baby animals. The little piggies were adorable and the baby calfs were too cute all wobbly on all fours.

I also must say Jackson looked adorable in his cowboy get up. Thanks Grandma for the cowboy shirt and boots! He got several compliments from strangers! As always!

We bought Jackson a c.d. that I have been wanting to get him. It is a christian children songs cd but the best part is they say his name in it. For instance "Jackson, Jesus loves you.. la di da da" and so forth. He is so funny when we play it, he bobs his head in the car seat like he is dancing. Yesterday we were playing it on the way to church and we turned it down so Taylor and I could talk and Jack got so mad, so we turned it back up and he just piped on down and was happy. Too funny.

We had a great dinner and a nice morning before they left. They got lots of kisses and we enjoyed our visit! A BIG THANK YOU to Papa J who cleaned my kitchen AND sink for me! Love that! (Normally my house is clean and organized when I have people over but with me being sick.. ALOT didnt get done, sink and counters were included in that category :( )

This video is one of Jackson playing yesterday afternoon with his big red ball he LOVES. He gets so worked up and hyper, we just die laughing at him. He was winding down a bit when I got the camera out but enjoy it anyways. Oh and he was wearing no pants bc I just changed his diaper and he took off when we finished so I just left it! He seemed quite happy that way!

Being that this week is Spring Break we have a super busy week getting together with friends we dont normally get to spend time with! I am super excited about that! Will post more at the end of the week! Hopefully we will stay out of trouble....

HA!

Oh boy, the bug.

The last few weeks there have been rumors of an awful, nasty stomach bug aka vomiting virus going around. I do believe that almost all of my friends have had it or someone in their family has. I thought I was just lucky to have an amazing immune system. HA. How God humbles us! Seems like Jackson must have picked it up Sunday at church (where there was widespread plethora of usage of hand sanitizer bc of a breakout of the virus the week before at the preschool). When I overheard the nursery workers talking about it and the required quart of hand sanitizer recommend for every child that morning, my ears pricked up. Tuesday, when I went to get Jackson up he had thrown up sometime in the night and was a little fussy and had diarrhea (sorry if thats TMI), I thought well he probably picked up the bug, but at least it isnt that bad, bc he never threw up again and the diarrhea tapered off by late afternoon plus he was eating like normal. Well the little bug that was working around in him decided that it would be happier in a different host. So it hopped on over to my stomach and bowels and invaded my working system and had a party. Oh boy did that bug have a party. Started feeling sick Wed afternoon and didn't stop heaving and hurling until the wee hours of the morning. When the bug was done, it may have left my body but my body is still feeling the full affect of its wrath and havoc in my inner workings! This morning I actually feel much much better and am able to get some things done around the house, but Im still so weak. Good news: Im down below pre pregnancy weight! YAY!! HA. The positives is what you have to focus on, LOL! PLUS I have an amazing husband who stayed home yesterday bc I so couldnt take care of Jackson. I count my blessing for him. Love him.

Anyways the reason I write all this, is because I am an information divulger as you all know but also bc I haven't sent out Jackson's 11 month (or 10 month for that matter) slideshow. I am going to try and work on it some today but you'll probably get it tomorrow so be checking your emails. ALSO the big news is that our photographer shared our pictures on her blog. It is only a small sampling but we love them. She truly captured Jackson's many faces and personality. We were laughing hard at some of his expressions. Here is the link to her blog, scroll down to our post. Feel free to leave her a comment. She did a fabulous job and we couldn't be happier with pictures that were done when it was windier than heck, chilly and a boy that wanted to just crawl and eat dirt and rocks NOT pose! Let me know what you think of them!

Now on to a few other things I promised to write about. Last week we had dinner with my dad and Carolyn (Pop and Gay Gay). We were eating mexican food (duh) and a mariachi player came up and was playing the guitar for Jackson. Well the guy made up his own song for my little guy and it went a little sumthin like this: (Insert heavy spanish accent and guitar strumming) "Hey baby, I love you baby. Look at your blue eyes baby. You are so beautiful baby. Hey baby. I love you baby. I do. I love you baby." Thats pretty much the jist of it, but here are pictures of Jacksons impression of the serenade.

PRETTY funny. We were all laughing hard. At the last picture Jackson had that look on his face and looked at us like "Does anyone else find this uncomfortable, or is it just me?" then looked back at the guy.

Then Saturday we went to Jakes bday party at Memorial Herman Park and played and played! Jackson had a great time crawling around the little playground, but he best part was Riley who was all over him like white on rice. I love that girl. She is such a momma, and was happy to be showing him the ropes or er, smothering him. Whatever you wanna call it! LOL. Here are some pics we took that day.

The party favors were train whistles, hats and bandanas...so cute!!!

We rounded out that night with Grants First Bday party which was alot of fun.

So crazy to think that in just a few more weeks my guy is going to be celebrating too. Just nUtS!!!! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Jackson Is 11 Months Old!!!

In celebration of what the next month will bring, Aunt Chelsea made this awesome blog design for us. I plan on keeping it up through the next month and a good month after that. All in celebration of Jackson's First Bday in one month! Thanks Chels, I LOVE IT!!!

I am sorry I havent posted in a few weeks. I have no excuse except that he is wearing me out and when he sleeps I am either on hyper drive getting housework done or sleeping myself! Mostly sleeping myself though, no lie. :)

Welp, Mister Jackson is 11 Months Old today and just keeps getting better! Just when I think he cant get any funnier, he does. Just when I think he will be done cuddling and want to be more independent, he cuddles up. Just when I think I couldnt love him any more, I do. Every second. Every moment, I am filled with more love. And I AM LOVING IT!!!

Ill save the mostly sappy stuff though for his actual bday message.

Lets talk about how he is rolling these days:

~Still has just 8 teeth. I am at the point now where I will not search to find out if there are any more. I would like to keep my fingers thank you very much. I am also at the point where I realize that I have no clue when they actually will pop on through. He gets fussy, I think teeth, feel swollen, feel bumpy...two weeks later...still no teeth. Hmmmm, think I know? Nope, dont.

~Is getting closer and closer to walking. He took three steps all on his own yesterday. Of course I did have an amazing yellow slinky in my hand he was eyeing. I was not prepared for the sudden burst of independence so no video. And of course he wont do it on command. (Dixie really needs to teach him about "on command").

~He and Dixie are still best of friends. It really is so sweet to see. Slightly unnerving but sweet. They now share everything. Food, floor space, toys, stuffed animals (she has an affinity for a very cute moving duck his granny and great grandpa got him), water bowls, slobber. You get the picture. The food situation is getting so bad, our neighbors have mentioned how "thick" the ol blonde dog is getting and I refuse to be the one to take her to the vet next for the lashing I will receive! LOL. To tell you the truth though, I would much rather her hoover the droppings up than me pick it up myself. I know lazyness, but at least I feed him/her healthy things :)

Here he is treating her with respect and love.

~Has expanded his vocabulary just a bit. He now says "Hi and then the beginning of the word to whoever he is saying hi too" Example: Saying hi to dad- "Hi da ljglkjadgkljfdljsfj" With wave of course. He also now says "kiihhhhh" For Kitty aka Bosco the dangerous feline. Again, do not expect him to do this on command for you. He likes to make fools out of us.

~He is getting shyer as he gets older. When someone talks to him, he bunches his shoulders up and brings down his head. Too cute. Then he smiles a little bit. Now, I can toss him to whoever and he doesnt get upset or anything, but he prefers to bury his head in mom or dads shoulder when people talk to him. You can consider yourself lucky if he gives you a smile!

~Dances all the time now. Any time music comes on or I sing for him he just moves that little body.

~Figured out he can hang off the bathroom counter and kitchen table letting his feet swing. Yah, we nipped that one in the bud quick! I know, mean mom. Whatever!

~Still is eating awesome! Just eats anything really. One morning I was eating a nectarine in the LR with him and he crawled on over and kept trying to grab it. So I gave it to him and that little kid just nawed all over it like it was corn on the cob! Here are some pics of that:

~Anytime we say "Yay" He claps. He waves at everything, and can play peek a boo when he has something in his hand he can cover his face with.

~He is really into his touch and feel books, so much that when he reads other books he tries to scratch the page all over to find a touchy spot! Ha!

In one short month my little man will be One and I just cant believe it. How my world has changed in year! Like for instance it was SO much easier to get pictures when he WASNT moving!! LOL!

Tomorrow I will post about our weekend recaps. We had such an amazing time with bday parties, and working in the yard. Plus a really funny serenading song dinner experience and family photo shoot. Just busy busy, but got some cute pics!

And a sneak peek at one lil picture our photographer sent us that she took for our family photo shoot last week! Loving it and cant wait to see more. What a tease huh? Think how we feel....