The stuff this boy does.....

We haven't really been up to much the last week or so. I have been trying to lay low, and just relax with Jackson and it has been worth it! Jackson has been having a good time:

Torturing the dog, (she makes a good bench huh?)

Chasing his train,

Relocating shoes to new places (always with the partner shoe, which I think is really funny, and maybe mildly rain man-esk)

and just being an exploratory boy. I know he is in the same pjs for all those pics, but he does those things every day and I thought, "Hey, why not take some pictures"!

He is getting funnier and funnier, I swear, sometimes Taylor and I are in tears from laughing at him. He has a few new things he is doing which makes me just realize how fast he is growing and learning!

~He is now saying "Nite Nite" at bed time. Totally cute how he waves and says it.

~He also L-O-V-E-S to give kisses, gets after my face and its so funny.

~He now expects a swing ride every day and by late evening if he hasnt gotten one, he throws a fit, by the back door. We figured that one out pretty quickly!

~He can point to my nose, mouth and eyes when I ask him where they are. Most of the time that is, sometimes he ignores me.

~He can point out a cat, dog, cow, square and circle on his puzzles. Again, most of the time. ~Everytime we are in the car and a song comes on with good bass, the kid starts bobbing his head up and down like "yeah". Today in the car, he was going after it and then he popped his collar. Tooo funny bc he had no clue what he was doing but in the whole play by play moment, it was classic.

~He also is able to eat his go-gurt almost by himself.

I cant let go completely, bc if I do, yogurt will be everywhere!!! But he loves that stuff so much that when he has finished the packet, he gets so mad, so we let him play with the empty packet until he discards it and then, voila, no meltdowns. Pick your battles my friends, pick your battles.

We went swimming with some friends Sunday and Monday. Sunday he didn't want us to let him go for a second and spider monkey style clung to us, but on Monday after the first clingy 15 minutes he was all about being independent. He got in his little floaty and played and played! Before we left he watched me blow up his floaty so when I set it on the floor he tried to help blow it up too. (camera doesn't take pictures fast enough so this is right after he would blow onto the material. I took like 5 pictures and only one snapped fast enough to show him this close..UGH!!)

He was actually blowing out his nose, but he got the concept I think! LOL! Here are some pictures of Jackson and his buddy Cassidy playing in the Hot Cold tub.

Kristen threatened me an inch of my life if I got a pic of her in it, bc she is 8 months pregnant and in a swimsuit. BUT I think she looks great, and adorable, and I hope she is still my friend with me posting a picture with her shoulders and head being shown. I only got two pics and I couldn't see bc the sun was bright so I didn't know what kind of shot I was getting!

They were so cute together yesterday just playing together in the pool. It was the first time they actually were feeding off of each others excitement. LOVE IT!

Speaking of buddies, Dixie got in trouble yesterday and Taylor yelled at her and Jackson got upset and cried. Pretty cute and daddy had to make up for it big time. Looks like they got each others backs! Here is a video of Jackson and the dog, playing yesterday. Its so funny how much they are really starting to play together. Jackson tries to throw balls for her, she chases him around the house, and now, in this video, they are playing with a seat strap that goes to his shopping cart cover. Make sure you pause the music and listen to how hard this child is laughing. Excuse the pajamas, he didn't have any clean ones so I had to resort to t-shirt and comfy pants instead :)

He has been trying to grab pens and pencils and write with them. I showed him how to draw on the Mothers Day cards we signed so now he thinks he should draw all the time. I got him some crayons today and I am really looking forward to busting out the manila paper and letting him go to town this afternoon. They are the cutest little kid crayons:

We will see how he does, hopefully he wont eat them :)

So thats about it, we hope everyone has a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend. We are going to the coast with my dad and Carolyn. Pop and Gay Gay, that is. We are REALLY looking forward to just RELAXING and riding in a boat, and playing in the sand and RELAXING!!! I will be taking lots of pictures so be ready for a nice long picturific post Monday!

Have a great one!

A Perfect Pair

"Its no fun laying around by yourself mom.....

So I'm just gonna bring my basket of laundry and lay down next to on Dixie....

Almost right where I need it to be......

Okay we are in perfect position, just let me lie down a minute....

Try and spread out a bit.....

Oh no, I slid off, aghhh Dixie's getting me!!!!!"

I think they are both attention hogs.

Such a perfect pair!

:)

Mothers Day 2010 and Much Much More!

Alright so I have had an epiphany that if I don't update the blog every few days, then when I do finally get around to doing so I have much to much to say/write/post/blab about. I am gonna go back to the way I used to be about this blog and try and get it done more often bc, I dread writing all the stuff I want now, bc it just takes up to much darn time! Precious time that Jackson is spending napping and I should spend cleaning, reading, sleeping, organizing, and relaxing!

Now on to the important stuff like MOTHERS DAY!! Oh how I love this day. Let me tell you why:

One- The reason I get to celebrate this day. See below:

Two- Because like my birthday it is all about celebrating me (among other people, I know, I know). I mean, we are being honest here right?

Three-It celebrates ALL the amazing moms in our life we are SO blessed to know

Four-I get special cards and gifts that make my heart swell

Five-Did I mention it revolves around moms, who are quite possibly the most incredible people in the world?

Six AND the most important one- I absolutely, positively, feel so special on this day that God choose me to be a mom and have a family. Its a day I spend realizing how blessed I am and how thankful I am to be surrounded by an adorable, loving husband and a VERY cute, happy, cuddly boy. WOW am I L-U-C-K-Y!!!!

We spent the weekend at my moms and it was wonderful, and relaxing. Jackson doesnt nap well any place other than his crib and mainly because he knows stuff is going on he wants in on, so that was our only glitch of the weekend! A one, one hour nap on Sat (leading to a VERY early bed time Sat night) and a small 45 minute nap in the morning on Sunday. I tell you what though, he LOVES his Grandma, Paw and Aunt Nora. Aunt Nora played with him the second she rolled out of bed Sat morning and he was putty in her hands. SOO cute. Here are a few pics she snapped while he and my mom were playing on the floor and then of course there is the attempt of a picture of them together her taking it that just didnt quite interest Jack Jack!

Mom made some amazing fish/shrimp tacos Sat night that were to die for, and a dessert that hit the spot. Then we asked for donuts and kolaches for breakfast on Sunday. See how low maintenance we are? HA LOL! Shipley's sure does do it right I tell yah, and Jackson was all over the donut and kolache. He ate almost an entire blueberry donut and kolache, plus fruit. It was nuts. Jackson and Taylor got me a gift card to a spa for a hot stone massage and I am so looking forward to my apt on Saturday. I get to go with my good friend Lauren YAY!!!

After a pit stop on the trip back home, to get to see our other amazing mom we are happy to have, Cami, we finished off the evening with Carrabbas Dinner take out style. Oh yum. I am spoiled and happy. Now back to who really matters and what this blog is all about....Jackson!

He has had a fun filled last week and this one has been pretty good too. In chronological order here we go:

We went on a nice walk with Kristen and Cassidy. We stopped at a little park by their house and fed ducks at the pond/lake. (What makes a pond a pond and a lake a lake? hmmm question to ponder, no pun intended but I like how pond is in ponder.) Anyways, we enjoyed the ducks and seeing the little baby ducklings too. The geese were not concerned about personal space which made me slightly uncomfortable, with flashbacks to my brother getting chased, and then bitten in the rear by one very fiesty, and hungry duck when he was a wee one. Didn't want that for Jackson, so I was, no lie, a little uneasy. But no worries, these ducks and geese were respectfully, invasive. So we got a quick pick leaving, of one lone ducky swimmin by himself. I think he was having a mini vacay. The loner thing worked in his favor, we gave him the rest of our food.

When we got there Jackson was more interested in watching the tennis players. He must have a thing for tennis balls, like his sister Dixie.

Meanwhile back at the casa we spent most of our week, relaxing and swinging. His new favorite thing to do. He stands at the back door and points at the swing. Very cute. Then when we come in he pitches a FIT, Pterodactyl scream, fists clenched, and maybe a few tears if he is really wanting to be dramatic. Not so cute. We always put his hat on him when he is outside (bc, you know, Im the kind of mom that is concerned about skin cancer but cant remember/want to put sunscreen on him EVERY time we go outside (so greasy)) so we put his cap on him and he leaves it there, but the other day he decided to get in touch with a little bit of his fly side. Oh yah, he has style, but don't ask him to rap, I've seen him dance and Im pretty sure the rhythm thing is still evolving.

His "Yo, Yo, Yo" pose. He did that au-natural.

Someone else is loving the swing set too...obviously ignoring the weight limit.

Jackson, you are now 13 MONTHS OLD!!! Congratulations kiddo, what are you doing now that you werent a month ago?

~Getting impossible to sit still so I can get a picture. As proof, see pics below and laugh my friends.

~You are mimicking alot of what we say, not necessarily the words, but definitely the sounds. Too cute.

~You now eat kolaches and donuts. HA! Actually you have only had them once, dont get too excited.

~You have gotten in another molar and I think there are either more of those coming in or your eye teeth are pushing up. Not sure yet, but the gums feel swollen and I can feel the teeth underneath.

~You had your first full blown mexican dinner, making your parents and Gay Gay and Pop, Oh so proud. It was chips, guacomole, queso, tortillas, enchiladas, fajita meat and a little chalupa. With a sprinkle of rice and beans!

~You try to run, but cant quite move your feet fast enough, so you trip forward and fall. Its really funny and cute, but sad when you fall into things and hurt yourself. Which brings us to the next point.....

~You are becoming quite an expert at getting bumps and bruises. Falling into a door frame, a door, a wall, and the concrete outside. Ouch.

~You are perfecting the art of letting people know how you really feel. LOL. The unhappiness that overwhelms you when something you have is taken away, or you are brought inside is insurmountable. You freak out. Its hilarious. And bad. All at the same time. We dont give in to your demands but man oh man if you kept screaming like you do so well, we might give in more just to keep you quite! LOL

~Your little personality is just booming. You are truly a funny funny kid, doing stuff constantly that makes us laugh! Yesterday you kept bringing all your puzzle pieces into the bathroom and putting them in my makeup drawer. You ran out of pieces so I said "Are there any more pieces, are you all done?" You went back out to look for pieces, came back empty handed and then clapped for yourself. It was too funny. You also love waving your hands high in the air and saying "woah" really loud and excitedly!

~You love to chase the cat still, except, your getting better at it. We havent seen too much of Bosco lately, I think he is catching on. LOL.

So thats what your up too!

This week it was a visit to the zoo with Kristen, and Lori and their respective chillens. We had a great time but it was blasting hot by the time we left. Jackson was a total trooper and had no nap that morning and stuck it out till about 1 when the heat and rhythm of the stroller got him. He was zapped. Next time we go, we are so getting there at 9 when it opens, it felt so much cooler and nicer then.

The 3 Amigos with the stinky flamincos.

And no, I didnt mean for that to rhyme, but Im glad it worked out that way ;)

So thats basically the end of this post, but I will leave you with my most favorite thing of the week. Brand new, one week old baby elephant, Baylor. Seriously, he is so cute, I just want to scratch him behind those big ol ears and give him a good kiss on the cheek. So so so so so so so so cute. These are the best pics I could get, there were alot of people and his momma and her friend were very protective of the little lad. He was so hairy and wobbly looking. Gosh so cute. This elephant momma had a nice present for her mothers day!

Swingin' and Eatin'

The last week was spent organizing all the play set wood and parts, so we could build this last weekend and holy cow, it was a MESS! We had to label each piece of wood and organize all the screws/bolts/nuts/washers, etc. We didn't necessarily HAVE to do this but on the front cover of the directions it said 8-10 hours with 2 people for assembly so we figured if we did that, not only would it be organized but it wouldn't take so long to find the pieces, eliminating at least an hour or so of assembly time. I now am a proud knower of all things washer related and T-bolt related. I also can now hammer in said T-nuts and thats about it. I honestly can say most of it was done by the most wonderful guy and dad in the world, Taylor.( Although, the organizing of all the products was ALL me. I think everyone was quite thankful they had all the sets labeled and put in individual baggies so they were easy to find. It pleased me at least. :) )This bad boy took a LONG time to put together. It wasnt so much hard, just time consuming and you really had to use the ol noggin. Taylor and I both started Saturday morning while Jack Jack was napping, at around 10 and then Taylor took over solely when Jackson woke up.

(As we started and some of the parts laid out)

We went out and I tried to help some more while Jackson played in his water table,

I mean, is he not the cutest little guy in his water wear?

I know I make him look ridiculous but I don't want to deal with a sunburned baby.

Where there is water, there is Dixie...

That wasnt working SO well because Jackson was too cute and then wanted to come help us and we were just all getting in each others way. So inside Jack and I went, and Tay kept working. Then around 4 my dad and brother showed up and helped Taylor for a few hours. Taylor finally came inside about 6:30/7. He was so worn out and sore. Not to mention that it was way stifling hot Saturday. The humidity had to have been at 90%. Ick. I felt so bad for him, but I think he felt all manly getting it done himself. (I definitley will not say whether or not he actually said those words. My lips are sealed) There were still a few things left to do. (I wont talk about how we put a piece on backwards and he had to take apart the swing pieces wood and all, and put it back together.). Taylor finished up Sunday after church while Jackson was napping and I was at the grocery store. Then to celebrate we had the Peterson's over for burgers and the kids went nuts on the swing set and slide! I would say its a success.

Isn't it AWSOME??!!!

Jackson loves the swing, he stands at the back door and points to it when he wants to go outside.

On another note Jackson has been eating with his own utensils recently. Or trying to I should say. If we stab the food with the fork for him, he can take the fork and put the food in his mouth. So this morning I decided I would try to let him eat some oatmeal with his spoon. Here are some pictures to tell the story:

"Okay so there is a bowl on my mat. hmmmm."

"I dig in with the spoon (with moms help) and put it in my mouth, okayyyyy...

Eat like this a few more times and then, I realize, its totally overrated."

"Hands are so much easier mom."

"Plus, I get more in my mouth. Yep, hands are the way to go."