A special North Pole Visitor

We had a VERY special visitor from Santa Claus, we heard a knock on the door after dinner and we found a box, with an elf sitting on it and a note from THE Santa Claus himself!

We were a little suspicious at first.....

But then got a little curious...

Then, we were okay with the elf but forcing ourself to smile for the picture.

(This is when we were going through our squinty eye when we take pictures phase.)

Santa told us in his letter and also in the book that came with Mr. Elf that we needed to name our yearly visitor. The three of us sat down to discuss his name. Jackson suggested P.S.. ??? Where did you come up with that, we were thinking and we quickly tried to redirect him to a different name, but he kept saying, 'no P.S' and quite honestly getting a little angry about it. We finally figured out that the name he wanted was in fact standing for the post script that was at the bottom of Santas note. LOL. Of all the things to stick out on that letter, the P.S. was what he remembered, hahaha. So funny. Well, we thought, you know P.S. isnt the worst name out there, but you do have a sister coming along so why dont we try for something more Elf friendly and we gave him some options and we all settled with Charlie the Elf. Whew. Who knew picking a name would be so difficult!

The next morning we woke up to a surprise North Pole Breakfast! Thanks Charlie the Elf!!!

Whats all this at the table???

Hmmmm there is alot of stuff going on here...(he is so serious sometimes ;) )

'Oh wow, Charlie brought some goodies too and a note!!

A snowman countdown calendar!!

It was a VERY yummy breakfast of powdered snow donuts, Hot chocolate, fruit, bacon and pancakes the shape of a reindeer! It definitley got us in the mood and excited for the next month! We had a good talk about Christmas and Jesus and how Santa is really Jesus's helper on Christmas Eve. I love that this year he seems to really be getting the basics of Christmas and I am so looking forward to having this Holiday in our house this year, with just us. I feel so blessed and truly enjoy every minute of this precious life God has given me. Thank you Lord for your many blessings!

Its a.......

YAYYYYY!!!!!!! To say that we (ME) are excited would be an understatement. I honestly felt that the way I had been feeling pointed towards girl bc it has been like night and day compared to when I was pregnant with Jackson BUT you never want to get set on that. When Courtney (did i mention one of my bestest girl friends is my sonogram tech at my Dr's office??) was just smiling and then got teary I knew, and I said 'Its a girl, isnt it' and she said 'Yes, but lets just make sure 100% for sure', and then there it was, or rather, there nothing was and she confirmed it!!!

I just started crying and to be honest Taylor looked very very scared.

But I cant see his real emotion these days with that joke of a mustache on his face. Oh, did I not mention that yet? Yes the mustache is back just like last November, er 'Mo-vember'. His 'I grow my mustache out and raise money for prostate and other mens cancers bc my company encourages it and I look AWESOME with a mustache' month. Sigh. He actually was telling me that I truly did like it deep down and thought he looked so great with it, but I just didnt want to admit it. Ha. LOL. I said no honey, I truly, really, DONT like it. At all. For real. But I do love you ;) He STILL didnt believe me. He truly thinks he looks amazing, but I truly think he just loves getting a chance to really rock a look that goes along with his love of all thing Hall and Oates and Huey Lewis. As for what Jack thinks of it, I have no real clue, when Tay is there he says he likes it but when Tay isnt around he says it looks dirty, lol. But the real rub is that as my good friend Maranda put it ' This picture of yall finding out its a girl will always be haunted by the mustache'. Hahahahaha. Too true. Oh well, at least its for a good cause right?

So back to the GIRLY stuff!! We are super duper excited and now to getting the room planned and figured out. Im not exactly a pink room kinda gal, so I have an inspiration .......

but not sure if I can pull it all together.... Her sonogram went great, she looks awesome all things are developing perfectly and I am measuring perfect at 20 weeks :)

Oh and Jackson said all along he was having a sister not a brother so when we told him, he screamed or squealed actually and then ran a loop around our friend Laurens house. LOL. BEST reaction ever. Should have been recording it. On that note, stay good people, the Holidays are a comin!

Exciting News!!!

Dont all die of shock now that I have posted a new blog entry! WHATTTTT??? Is anyone reading this anyways? It has been a long long time and Ill play catch up some other day with a month by month picture collage but for now I just feel like sharing some good news!!!

Isnt it exciting!!! We are due on Jacksons 3rd birthday, 4-09-12! No the irony of the dates are not lost on me. If we are being honest (and this is my blog and ill be honest if I want to), I have mixed emotions about their birthdays being so close. I mean dont get me wrong, knock it out, one weekend and maybe we can have a (gulp) joint birthday so that cuts down on costs, BUT.... Im all about each kid having a day/weekend/week for themselves. Birthdays are a BIG deal for me. Growing up my mom made it VERY special for us. A suprise wake up with music in the morning, and a one of a kind party always. So I feel bad that this second kid is already getting the one on one time with mom and dad jip bc he/she is the second and NOW the poor bean has to share a birthday weekend. I might also mention that my brothers are twins and I feel like they might be a little screwed up from having to share so much always. (KIDDING). LOL. But seriously I know it will all work out and go smoothly, I just think too much and like to plan parties. I mean REALLY like to plan parties. HOW WILL I DO IT???!!!

Jackson is super excited about having a new baby brother or sister. He talks about it alot and his teachers at school told me yesterday that he came up to them and said "Mommy has baby in belly". So precious. Last week we were sitting on the couch and he picked up the throw pillow and said "Baby in piwwoh mommy?" I said "No sweetie, you know the baby is in my belly!" He says "How come?" I responded "Well thats where babies grow. If it was in the pillow it couldnt get all the nutrients it needs to grow so thats why its in mommies belly." He said "Oh. Well why?" I said "Thats how God made it. He made all the babies to grow in their mommies bellies". He again said "Why?" So this time I said "Well youll have to ask God sometime why he decided for babies to grow there." So a few seconds pass and then he looks up at the ceiling and says "Mistur God. Why baby not grow in piwwoh"? LOL. I just grabbed him and said you are the sweetest, cutest thing EVER! He says the funniest stuff and I have loads more stories where that came from.

This pregnancy so far has been so different than my pregnancy with Jackson. I have been sick sick, so sick I had to get the Zofran. Ahhh the glorious Zofran. I still throw up on it but at least I can function. I thought I was doing great and we decided Jack was ready for potty training. Well, on day 2 of potty training the sickness hit me and I was LAID out. So needless to say, after Jack regressed COMPLETELY and me being so sick, and 6 days of trying to potty train, with a stubborn 2 yr old, we scrapped it. I said, 'forget it, he will do it when he is truly ready ready'. Ugh, I dont think Ill look at potty training without being queasy again. I wish you could hire someone to do this for you :)

We cant wait to find out the sex of this baby, and since we tried for 8 LONG months to get pregnant, I will just be so happy to have this baby healthy and happy!

Florida or BUST!!!

We took a trip to see Uncle Matt and Aunt Jordan this summer in FlOrIdA and it was SOOOOOOO much fun! We have missed them so much and this was our first time going up to see them since they moved awhile ago. Let me tell you it was a wonderful wonderful trip and I am so glad that my dad gifted me with the flight for my 30th Birthday!!! Ill let the trip tell itself thru pics (with of course commentary bc I can NOT NOT comment on pictures). I have issues I know.

At the airport watching a Bubble Guppies Airport Movie! He knew all about the big jets and pilot before we went!

 This was as good a smile as i was gonna get. He was trying to get himself buckled.

FiRsT DaY of BeAcH FuN!!!

You want to do what? Sit and Relax???

WELL WHO IS GONNA GO PLAY IN THE SAND WITH MEEEEE?????

Thank GOD for Uncle Matt and Aunt Jordan!

Whats a beach trip with out a bar trip. Yes Jackson, mom and dad took you to your first bar when you were a little over 2 years old.

HEY there were others with kids there so we thought it would be fine......

Until a lil one threw his shoe trying to be funny and it knocked over and broke a bottle of wine on the floor. Sigh.

Bar time = Over. Embarrasment = High.

Next day redo.....

On our way to boat with friends! Excited about getting out in the ocean.......

Must always start day with yogurt :)

Hold up...I have to wear this, this cheek constrictor you call a life jacket?

NOT happy about this.

Again, thank GOD for Uncle Matt and Aunt Jordan and taking me up to the top of the boat to distract me so mom could be sick downstairs.

 (little did we know a certain bean in my belly was causing all that sickness ;) )

Our trip was cut short in the bay when we all got in the water and quickly got out after half of us got stung by jelly fish. There is one in the middle, see it??

There were TONS of them!

 I was one of the lucky ones that got stung and I think Aunt Jo did too...

But we made up for it at a VERY YUMMY restaurant on the beach that night! 

 Precious......

A wonderful dinner topped off with some DELICIOUS ice cream.

 See? It was a wonderful trip full of MANY memories. It wasnt too long after that we found out we were expecting! What a fun summer we had! Thank you Uncle Matt and Aunt Jordan for being such wonderfull hosts and treating us to a fantastic time in Florida!

ROAD TRIP!!!

     My grandparents (granny and pawpaw to Jack) have some land way out west near a little place called Iraan. They have two log cabins, (with a/c :) ), a warehouse/garage, a grand ol porch swing, fun things to ride out into the yonder, and a skeet shooting machine. Oh and 4 or 5 deer feeders that need filling. We have been wanting to head out there for a while but first it was uninhabitable (to me at least) then we got pregnant (drive 7 hrs pregnant? HA) then Jack was too little, yada yada, you know the excuses. BUT we buckled down and said LETS GO this May! I am so glad we went. We had a blast, worked hard, played harder, and got DIRTY (Jacks favorite part). We also made some very special memories with my grandparents, I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how much that meant. How many kids get to do stuff like this with thier great grandparents???

     I love roadtrips, really I do. I cannot wait until we are old and retired and can just buy an awesome RV and travel the US together. Having the grandkids tag along here and there. This thought scares Taylor greatly, but thats just bc Im a bad backseat driver and being stuck with me in an RV for an extended amount of time is not his idea of a relaxing retirement. I am TRYING to convince him of all the fun he could have in an RV while Im driving it :) Mark my words, I will get my way on this (I say in a Scarlett O'Hara passion). So because I love all things roadtrips I planned our trip all out with stops at state parks for playground play and picnics. And we did none of that. LOL. After polling our Sunday school group, it was decided if your kid is doing fine in the car DO NOT TAKE HIM OUT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.  So he was doing great, so we drove on. DVD players, snacks, magnetic letters on a cookie sheet and coloring pages with stickers were key.

We got there with plenty of daylight to spare and our little guy was right at home with all the rocks (takes after his father), dirt, and his dog. Yes Dixie came too :)

See dirt time. We hadnt been there but a few minutes. Sigh.

And for the record in case you dont know, that dirt isnt like dirt dirt, its like sandy, ashy, stay all over you dirt. You should have SEEN the shower after we bathed this kiddo.

Best Friends :)

With Sunscreen, dirt and wind, we had a crazy hair day every day we were there!

Helping Granny get the corn ready to add to the feeder.

 Throwing the corn out on the ground for the deer later :)

Skeet Shooting, He did not shoot much to his disapointment!

Hugs and Snuggles with Granny.

 Dixie did not want to leave ESPECIALLY when she caught site of that GIANT Jack rabbit on the side of the road.

See!

We love Granny and PawPaw and always have so much fun with them wherever we are. I must say that I feel so blessed that Jackson gets this time with his Great Grandparents. They are two of the most salt of the earth, good people I will ever know. I want to take advantage of every opportunity I have to make as many memories as possible with them and my children. I love them greatly and am so thankful for both of them and all they do for us. I hope one day my children can look back and realize how lucky and blessed they were to have all the times they did with them. I look back and now so appreciate all the museum trips, the summer stays and fun in the pool, Christmas's, Thanksgivings, football and baseball games with tailgates, Galveston trips (The strand and Moody Gardens but MOSTLY the Strand), making crafts together, quick visits during college, family trip to The Greenbriar, ALL of it. ALL. I just want to hold all those moments in my heart and head forever. One day thats all Ill have. I hope Jackson and his future siblings get to hold many in their heart too. Im now crying so Im going to end the sappy stuff now and say that I cant wait to go back out to west Texas with all the family, because of the amount of fun we had :)

Love them!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY JACKSON!!!

I cant believe I havent blogged in a MONTH.(edit:it has now been over a year) Whoops. Alot has happened in the last month, but this post isnt to catch you up, its to CELEBRATE!!

JACKSON TURNED 2 YEARS OLD!!

Look familiar? Nothing like repurposing a banner :)

As a party favor I made all the kids a placemat fitting with the dino theme and their name on it! I had so much fun doing this and they turned out so so cute!! (Side note: Its been a year and we still have ours and use it often!) All I used was scrapbook paper, cardstock dinos (which I traced from a printout online, sticker letters for their names, and then had the whole thing laminated).

I must admit my favorite part was the girl dinos that had little bows in their hair ;) LOVE!

Aunt Nora made these cupcakes for us, and they turned out so so cute. It had edible dinos and rocks on the top. The rocks were milk chocolate and soooo good.

We had a fantastic dinosaur blast at Little Gym and a wonderful day all together. What a lucky lucky little boy he is :)

Happy Birthday Jackson! I cant believe you are already 2. These years are starting to go by fast and you are growing into such a funny, silly, happy, special boy. I can wait to see what the next year brings to our family and see how you grow even more. We love you Jack Jack and cant imagine our life without you. Surely it was boring and we had no fun. :)