Happy Fathers Day

This one goes out to the man I love:

I knew when I met you I loved you. I knew when I got to know you and discovered all your inner workings you were going to be a wonderful husband and a GREAT father. I was wrong. You have surpassed being a wonderful husband and completely and totally zoomed past the great father exit. You are more. SO much more. So much more that I cant even put it all into words. But Ill try. And come short. But bear with me anyways. The day we found out we were pregnant, I will NEVER forget how absolutely, utterly and phenomenally excited you were. Not the jumping up and down clapping your hands type but the eyes said it all. Tears and happiness welled in your eyes and although I was freaking out, you were a calm, peaceful, content man. Confident. The day we HAD Jackson, I looked at you and saw you as a father for the first time. Love, passion, and emotions welled up in me (a little help from all the drugs and hormones) and I felt I could burst at any minute with it all. THEN. He grew. We grew. You grew. Its funny because last year, we felt like parents. Duh. But he was only a couple months old so it was so "new". Now, we have been through some fun and scary and exciting and amazing and wonderful things. You as a dad to a 14 1/2 month old is something better and more special than it was last year. At least to me it is. Right now, there is a little person in our house who says your name. "Dadda". He runs to you when you get home from work, he lights up when he sees you, or even looks your way. Copies your crazy laughs, follows you around and wants to be you. Today in church, the sermon was about legacy. Leading your children down a path to be better than you. I think you will do that with our children. On one hand I don't want Jackson to grow up, but on the other hand, he cant get there fast enough, because I cannot wait to see your relationship with him and his relationship with a spouse and children of his own BECAUSE of you.

You are everything and more I could have ever imagined I wanted in a baby's daddy. LOL. If Jackson could speak more words and full sentences, Im pretty sure he would say this:

Dadda,

I love you. You are the best dad EVER. You make me laugh when I cry, You make me the best sandwiches, you hug me whenever I run to you. You read me books, and teach me shapes, and how to put my legos together. I really love that you swing me around like a monkey. I want to learn how to make all the crazy voices and laughs you do. I also want to be JUST like you. You are the best.

And mom likes you alot too. But I like you more. (Do I get points on that last line?)

Love,

Jack Jack, Your BFF and EVER

Happy Fathers Day babe. You as a dad is the best thing I see and get to experience daily. I love you.

And to our fathers: Rick, Johnny, James, and grandfathers: Vernon and Buddy. You guys aren't chopped liver! You are amazingly special and we are blessed and lucky to have you all as role models for ourselves and for Jackson. Thank you for being strong christian men we can look up too.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!

Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father.

~Lydia M. Child, Philothea: A Romance, 1836

Splish, Splash!!!

This weekend we borrowed the Supans pool card so we could take Jackson to their fun splash pad in Copper Lakes. Our pool in Copperfield doesn't have a splash pad and we wanted Jackson to be able to run around and play in the water. Not just float! HA! THANKS to the Supans, Jackson had a FABULOUS time! This kid LOVED the waterfalls, sprinklers and even wanted to get in the big pool himself. I was seriously impressed.

It turns out, he is a water baby after all! So now I have to find someone in Copper Lakes to steal borrow their pool card for the summer :) LOL.

On the pool note, ran across these pictures from almost a year ago. WOW.

What a difference a year makes! Crazy.

Jackson and Taylor enjoyed some throwing ball time for Dixie. I didnt plan for their outfits to match, but they did and it was too cute not to take pictures of. What can I say, I love my boys!

This week we have Vacation Bible School at Foundry. I am helping out in the Chaos Games department. Whew, 520 kiddies, heat, water, and God. Great but EXHAUSTING combo. Im only one day in and already thinking about relaxing on Saturday! Funny little story: I am no longer a teacher, so every now and then I think to myself "Could I still do it?, Do I still have it?". Well, there were two boys in the back wrestling around and I just calmly walked up and stood right behind them. Didn't say a word. Didn't have to. My presence said enough. They stopped their shenanigans pretty fast, and I inside exploded with happiness. Picture a small person jumping up and down screaming "I still got it, I still got it" inside. Yep that was me. Ahhh, those moments make me happy. Is that wrong? So pray for the rest of the week. Pray that Jackson stays happy in the nursery (HA), I find little moments of calmness in the chaotic and fun sessions (like a sweet red headed, freckled 1st grader named Meghan, who I literally wanted to put in my pocket and take home with me, I asked her if she knew how cute she was and she very politely shook her head and said yes with a sweet smile. GAHHH LOVE HER!!!), and that God works through me to minister to all the little young ones in a fun and exciting way.

Oh and I also am proud to announce that my bestie Brooke had a little baby girl on Thursday.

Welcome to the world Harper Joy Huckert.

I cant wait to come meet you. Swayzee is the best big sis a little girl could ask for, you are VERY lucky to be born into this family Harps!

And tomorrow, we find out what momma to be, Maranda is having!!!

Second baby...what will it be? A boy, A girl? I so can't even guess, but I REALLY can't wait to find out!

14 Months!

Jackson is 14 months old now, give or take a day :) He is learning so many new things and is constantly making us go "wow, thats a smart kid". Now if only I had a dollar for every time a parent said that about their child!!! LOL. His latest doings:

~Says ooh ooh ahh ahh when he sees a picture of a monkey.

~Shakes his finger back and forth when we say "No More" (Learned from "No more monkeys jumping on the bed).

~Tries to say bosco, but it comes out bo-oh

~Eats regular ol sandwiches with mustard and mayo on em like a big kid :) No more needing to toast and melt the sandwich!

~Will only drink his milk if it has Strawberry or Chocolate in it. Who can blame him really?

~VERY loud and VERY vocal. Have no clue where he gets that.

~He can say "Nora, or Nona" for Aunt Nora.

~Says Pop, GayGay, PawPaw when we show him how to. Not on his own without being prompted though.

~LOVES yogurt drinks. I mean LOVES.

~Can turn the TV buttons on and off now. Joy.

~Picks up the phone and holds it to his ears, like he is talking to someone. (whoops)

~Gives kisses when asked (most of the time!)

~Likes to run ALL over the place which makes meal time out and grocery shopping and running errands, oh so much fun.

Have no clue what he weighs. Trying to get him to be still long enough to weigh him is not something I am interested in doing.

Today he really made me laugh. I was in the kitchen cooking and getting things ready for a food delivery I was making and he was watching Word World on PBS. ( really just glancing at the tv as he ran around the room playing harrasing the dog and cat) After Word World come Barney. Which I so totally hate. I mean seriously, a purple dinosaur. Who is paired with really bad kid actors. What could be more punishing for a parent than having to listen to that show. Wellllll I was busy and he was entranced so I just left it on. All of a sudden I realize its way to quite for him and I turn around and this is what I see:

He's really good in this one:

Now if only the dang container hadnt gotten on his foot, who knows what else he could have done! HA! Cute though huh? Here he was mimicking the moves to "Itsy Bitsy Spider". LOVED it. So of course I filmed it. Sorry there are two parts, I had to stop and delete some memory on my camera to get the rest. I swear. This kid just makes me S-M-I-L-E!!!

Have a Happy Happy Friday Ya'll.

Oh and so sad to see the Big 12 Fall. :( BUT, my vote is for the Ags to go to the SEC. Where else do we belong but to stay true to the south my friends?

Memorial Day 2010

We had a fabulous Memorial Day Weekend. It was what its supposed to be, relaxing, fun, serene, you get the picture. We went to my dads condo down at the coast, Port Aransas, aka the Texas Riviera! HA. It was Jackson's first ride in the boat, first time (interested) in the beach/sand/water. You may remember when we went to Myrtle Beach, SC with Taylor's BFF back in October. Jackson was SO not interested in the beach then, but this time....Well, Ill let the pictures speak for themselves!

Pop showing Jackson how to dig up the sand.

Strike a pose beach model!!! LOL

This pic would so be magazine worthy if he wasn't squinting! HE HE

Ahh if only I could have gotten a front face shot here.

Pure joy!

Digging,

Digging,

Eating.

He was such a perfect angel the whole 4 days. Im not kidding. Not one meltdown, temper tantrum, nap stalling, waking up early, NOTHING!! He was all smiles, giggles, joy screaming, chasing doggies, sleeping in and sleeping at nap time, PURE HAPPINESS!!! I chop it up to the sea air. Doesn't it always make us feel that way?! He also had his first bit of Watermelon this weekend and he LOVED it! This kid is after Pops heart the way he loves guacamole, chips, queso, his homemade pancakes and waffles, and now watermelon!

We literally just rode around in the boat, played at the little beaches inside the channels, slept, ate, drank, ate, drank some more, and R-E-L-A-X-E-D! So glad we had that weekend bc the next week (June 1-5) was pure chaos and craziness. Thats why I haven't posted sooner. Ill write about that next time. But for now, here are some of our pictures we took. I do believe our, and Jackson's favorite part of the trip, was when Pop let him drive the boat.

Look at the happiness on that face!!!!

Now I know you all think he is too young, but he may be giving us those wine tours soon. (Wine tours are what we call it when we take the boat into the neighborhoods on the water, look and lust after the mansions on the water, and drink wine while wondering how we can some day get ourselves one of those houses!!!)

Ready to go on our first ride.

On the way back from every ride we took he crashed.

Must have been the waves, and the wind!

Enjoying the wine tour...minus the wine for Jack Jack, Bonner and Scout.

They just liked looking at the houses dogs on the patios.

Caught red handed, picking out loot!

Turns out everyone we know had a wonderful weekend also, and we all took the time to remember that it was about all the service men in the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, Marines, Etc. that make our freedom possible and our country safe. To them we say a HUGE THANK YOU!!!!!

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!

:)