Our Life

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T14:01:00.005-06:00

Hope your Valentine's Day is full of love! I woke up this morning to a little boy in my face saying, "Mommy I wuv you." The sweetest words a mom can hear. Jackson always says, "I love you too" if I tell him I love him but he has just recently started saying it first. So sweet.

Jackson enjoyed cutting out and decorating hearts for Valentine's Day.

I think we're in trouble! Emmy is already talking on the phone!:

Saying "I" for "hi":

She Likes Peas!

2012-02-09T19:29:00.005-06:00

I can't believe I got this girl to eat a table food other than cheerios, crackers or bread! Yesterday and today she ate peas! She won't pick them up and feed herself- I still think she is bothered by the texture. She just plays with them if they are on her tray. But I put them on a spoon and she ate a lot of them! I was also able to feed her bananas that were not mashed up. Again, won't pick the bananas up but at least she's eating them fine without gagging, etc. I guess we're slowly making progress with this table food thing.

She also started signing "more" the right way instead of clapping. She also likes to take my hands and make me sign more. She thinks that's really fun! A couple of different times as I've put her to bed and told her "night night" I've heard her respond with a "night night". She won't do it if I ask her to though. :) She imitates what sounds like "bye" and "done" but again this is inconsistent.

We have really enjoyed the warm weather this week. I think being outside just makes everyone happier! Emmy and I enjoyed sunbathing on our picnic blanket.

Jackson keeps himself very entertained while we are outside. He drives his car or bike around collecting sticks or rocks and saying he is working hard in the yard like daddy. Or he gets his shovel and rake and digs in the dirt. And today was my favorite when he got a brick and put it behind one of the tires on his car. He told me he was changing the oil like daddy. Does this boy admire his daddy or what?

Pretty much the only way I can get a picture of his face is to yell his name real quick and snap a picture as soon as he looks up. Otherwise he doesn't have time to look at the camera! :)

Sickness, Sun, Shadows and Stroller Rides

2012-02-02T14:41:00.006-06:00

The kids have been a little bit under the weather. Jackson has had a random fever on two different occasions with no other symptoms and it has disappeared quickly. Yesterday Emmy came down with a stomach bug. Everyone else seems to be fine- I'm hoping it stays that way through the weekend. Emmy seems to be feeling better today but as the pictures show she's sporting pajamas in the middle of the day. Nothing like wearing comfortable pajamas when you're sick. I thought we would soak in some of the beautiful warm sun today. It felt more like spring and the kids love it!

Jackson and I had fun finding our shadow out in the sun. We found Jackson's shadow on the brick wall but he kept looking at me like I was crazy and telling me those were bricks. I finally got him to understand and he was able to find his shadow!

My two kids love each other and I am so grateful! Jackson's new favorite thing to do to is to push Emmy in the stroller out in the driveway. He loves to help me take care of her. He really is a sweetheart!

While he loves to be my helper he is still ALL BOY!

11 months

2012-01-24T19:23:00.003-06:00

This past Sunday Emmy was officially 11 months. This means that in less than one month she will be turning 1! Very hard to believe!

Here's an update:
-She recently started clapping as previously posted but she also "claps" to sign "more". She also started clapping to sign "all done". I found out she was saying "all done" and not "more" because when I offer her more she gets mad! We are working on signing "all done" and I have seen her try to imitate by putting her palms up in front of her. It's cute how she tries!

-She gives kisses by making the noise "mmmwah" but not actually doing any action. Funny!

-She is so smart! Follows all kinds of directions. It's funny to me how she goes over to something she's not supposed to touch, puts her hand out like she's going to touch it and then looks at me to see what I'm going to do. She definitely knows and understands "no".

-She is balancing by herself all the time. Once in awhile she may take a step but then gets down to crawl. She's not walking quite yet. I think she could do it but she doesn't seem to have the confidence yet.

-She is doing slightly better with table food than she was 2 months ago. She will pick up and eat cheerios, bread, crackers and really anything crunchy. She still gags on Gerber 3rd foods and any kind of texture. She has recently started doing really well with Beech-Nut 2 1/2. I don't remember stage 2 1/2 when Jackson was eating baby food but right now it's perfect for Emmy.

-She still takes two good naps every day. They are anywhere from 1.5-2 hours each. She sleeps from 6:30pm to 7:00am. So thankful for a good sleeper.

-In the past month Jackson and Emmy have started playing really well together and I give Jackson all the credit. Emmy loves to be downstairs with Jackson in the playroom and Jackson begs for me to bring her down. (So sweet!) He pulls her around while she rides in his wagon, picks up all his small toys where she can't reach them, finds toys for her to play with and is somewhat gentle with her. Emmy chases him around the room and finally gives up and lets out a scream when she realizes she can't catch him. It's really fun to watch them play!

Look how long this hair is!!!

First Steps

2012-01-16T20:35:00.004-06:00

I knew it was coming, but it's still hard to believe...

Yesterday, Emmy took her first unassisted steps (I didn't get a picture). She got her balance and took a couple of steps on her own. She did it a couple of times. I guess we'll see how long it takes before she's walking across the room...

I love this picture. Emmy loves her big brother so much. She wants to be where he is, doing whatever he's doing:

and this one:

And last week she started clapping:

A quick minute

2012-01-10T14:13:00.006-06:00

Right now both kids are napping. Yes, both kids, at the same time. I thought Jackson was done with naps but he started back again and I don't mind. So I have a quick minute and thought I would post some new pictures.

There's not too much going on around here. Everyone's well, which is nice, and things have settled down since Christmas. Emmy is back to her normal schedule. Everyone is eating and sleeping well and life is good!

I've been taking lots of pictures and continue to play with my camera. Here are some recent ones that I like:

She's loving this rocking horse!

Don't we all have moments like this? She doesn't like to be told "no"!

My helper. He loves to cook with Mommy:

Another Emmy Update and Pictures with NO FLASH!

2012-01-03T19:40:00.008-06:00

Suddenly I find Emmy doing new things every day and it is so much fun to watch. She waves "hi" and "bye" all the time- on command and spontaneously. She plays very appropriately- loves to roll cars, throw and roll balls back and forth and likes to look at books and turn pages. She loves to imitate tongue clicking, lip smacking, etc. She thinks it's hilarious when we look at our animal book and I make animal noises. She says "mama" and "dada" meaningfully and just in play as well. She doesn't like to lay down to get her diaper changed, doesn't like her face wiped and doesn't like me to put bows in her hair (she doesn't mind once the bow is in, it's just getting it there). Her little personality is really coming out!

A goal of mine for this year is not only to take more pictures but to learn more about my camera. I know nothing about all the settings that it has and usually just let the camera do it's thing and take the pictures. I have started reading some blogs and tutorials about how to take better pictures. I have heard this before but all the blogs and books agree: don't use the automatic flash- EVER- especially inside. Like I said, I've heard that before but ignored it because without the flash the pictures are too dark. But after a little reading and messing with my camera settings I have found that indoor pictures without a flash are actually very pretty...and bright! And I had a great subject who let me practice!

All the pictures in this post are taken in my kitchen without a flash!

Oh- and yes, today we wore pajamas and bow! It was too cold to wear anything else!

Looking Back and Gazing Ahead

2012-01-01T19:25:00.012-06:00

Happy 2012!

Looking back on 2011, it has been a good year but also a hard year. Of course the best thing about 2011 was welcoming Emmy into our family.

We've enjoyed this year with her and watching her grow. She is so much fun. 2011 also brought lots of illnesses and trips to either a hospital or a doctor and lots and lots of phone conversations with nurses. At one point Emmy's reflux was so bad and she was hardly eating that I was on the phone with a nurse 2-3 times per week for several weeks. So one of my biggest prayers is that we will have a very healthy 2012!

Jackson turned three this year. It's been so fun watching him and helping him learn so many new things. He's been especially interested in letters, numbers, shapes, etc. He still loves puzzles and books and stickers. He loves to sit at the kitchen table with me and do his "work books" which allow him to practice his "academic" skills.

Turning 3:

He has also been a bit challenging for us. We went through a couple of months of behavior issues but things are so much better now! He is such a sweet boy, loves to give hugs and kisses and daily asks Kevin and me if we are happy. He asks this because he understands that we have rules that he needs to obey and he wants us to be "happy" with him.

With Jackson's behavior and Emmy's reflux and health struggles the Lord has taught me so much. I am learning each day how I need to give all my cares, struggles, etc. to him and trust him to provide everything- strength, patience, kindness and many other things. I've learned a lot about myself and I am so grateful for God's overflowing grace!

So I wanted to report on my 2011 New Year's Resolutions. I participated in a P52 (1 picture a week for 52 weeks). It went pretty well but I didn't finish. I made it to week 41 of 52, only skipping 3 or 4 weeks in between. I was actually happy with how far I made it due to having a brand new baby and the above mentioned illnesses! So I am excited to participate in it again and I hope to finish. This year there are going to be theme's each week which I think will make for a fun challenge. You can read more about it here if you like:

Another big resolution that I had in 2011 was to learn more and do more sewing. I am happy with the amount of sewing I did and what I learned. I took a sewing class and learned how to make this dress:
I love this dress but it is somewhat time consuming. So I fell into making this very simple dress:

So my 2012 resolution is to continue sewing and continue learning. I definitely need to learn a new dress and I'm hoping to make some skirts, maybe pants and other things. I did learn how to sew bloomers which are perfect under all those dresses!

A few other resolutions I have are to read more books, cut our grocery budget and continue running/exercising consistently as well as some other things.

Look forward to what this year holds...

Christmas

2011-12-31T08:19:00.008-06:00

I'm always amazed by how fast the Christmas season goes by. It seems like just yesterday it was Thanksgiving and Jackson was asking when Christmas would be here. And now it's gone!

We had a really wonderful Christmas- full of seeing lots of family, a little bit of traveling and feeling blessed beyond measure.

On Thursday and Friday before Christmas we went to Mobile to see Kevin's family. This was only Emmy's second road trip and like her brother she isn't a good car sleeper. For the four 1/2 hour car trip she slept for 45 minutes. She wasn't fussy though. She entertained herself well- it helps to have big brother in the back. Jackson enjoyed watching a movie in the car. On Black Friday we got a super good deal on a DVD player for the car. Jackson was so excited to watch a movie in the car and it gave Kevin and me a chance to just talk! (Unfortunately the DVD player was stolen from our car while in Mobile which is a whole other story.)

Jackson had a blast seeing Mimi and PawPaw. Kevin's mom (Mimi) saved all of Kevin's old matchbox cars plus some other toys and Jackson was in heaven! Kevin has a pretty big family so there were lots and lots of people and kids running around. Jackson had fun with some of the kids but he was very intimidated by some of the older, bigger kids. Emmy had fun too although she was a little out of sorts. She refused to take a nap while at their house. She did sleep through the night while we were there but without naps she was more than just a little cranky. We left late Friday afternoon to head back home and both kids slept for almost two hours! They were worn out! Emmy is still having a hard time settling back into her routine. She is napping and sleeping through the night fine but she cries quite a bit when I put her down(which she has never done before). I'm pretty sure she is having some major separation anxiety.

Kevin's parents:

The next day, Christmas Eve and Kevin's birthday, we enjoyed a quiet day at the house. We went over to my parent's house that night to celebrate Kevin's birthday and enjoy Christmas with grandmothers, aunts and uncles. It was another fun filled night with good food and visiting family. I think I have mentioned that Jackson and Emmy are the only kids on my side of the family so they get lots of attention and presents from everyone! Jackson had a blast as he received a remote control monster truck and loved driving it around Gigi and Pop's house.

Emmy sitting with her two great grandmothers:

Jackson enjoying cupcakes for Daddy's birthday:

Christmas morning was so fun. The kids were so tired that they both slept past seven! This is not unusual for Emmy but it is extremely rare for Jackson! but once he was up he ran in to see the tree and squealed in delight. We have some fun video of him. Later that morning we went back over to my parents for brunch.

Emmy got this walk behind toy from Santa and had eyes for nothing else! She LOVES it:

The kids on Christmas morning:

It was definitely a wonderful Christmas!

10 Months

2011-12-26T20:06:00.003-06:00

Emmy was 10 months old on December 22. I wanted to note some of her milestones:

-Emmy waves bye bye upon command (most of the time).

-She follows directions like: "no", "come here", "give it to me".

-She imitates lots of things like banging her hands, clicking her tongue, other noises and speech sounds.

-She's not big on table food yet. She likes puffs and cheerios but that's about it.

-She loves to walk around the house while holding on to my hands. She's getting pretty good at walking while holding only one hand too.

Christmas Program

2011-12-24T14:29:00.007-06:00

I am way behind on blogging. I'm going to try and catch up in the next several days. We've enjoyed lots of Christmas festivities around here. Last week Jackson's school had a three year old Christmas program. I think there are four or five different three year old classes and they all put on the program together. It was the most precious thing. I was such a proud mama. I was so impressed with these three year olds and how hard the teachers must have worked. Every child stood up on stage singing their little hearts out and doing hand motions as best they could. Of course they were all doing different hand motions at all different times but it was so cute! They sang eight different songs. Yes, EIGHT! I couldn't believe it. And there was only one song that I recognized (Away in a Manger). All the rest were new to me (and Jackson) and all centered around the birth of Jesus. I'm just so happy that Jackson is surrounded by such wonderful teachers who teach him the word of God!

Little Jackson singing his heart out:

Doing some hand motions:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN!

First Word and Three and a half

2011-12-10T19:22:00.005-06:00

It's hard to believe that my 9.5 month old is saying her first word. This past week Emmy started imitating Jackson and me anytime we would say "uh-oh". After a couple of days of that she started using it on her own. She now loves to drop things on the floor and say "uh-oh". She says uh-oh ALL DAY LONG! I love it though! It is so cute! And she is babbling so much!

Emmy is getting another top tooth and another bottom tooth. She doesn't let me look in her mouth for very long so there could be more. That means she will have a total of 6 teeth.

She is very very mobile. Crawling, pulling up and cruising everywhere. She loves to hold onto our hands and walk around the house. She gets so excited she'll stop walking to jump up and down.

She adores Jackson! She laughs at everything he does and tries so hard to keep up with him. She will crawl after him around the house. She loves to be in his room and play with his toys and roll around on his bed.

She loves the Christmas tree! She's almost pulled it over a few times. She grabs the branches and tries to pull them to her. Of course she loves the ornaments too and tries to pull them off.

Jackson is so excited about Christmas this year. If you ask him what he wants for Christmas he will tell you: cars, puzzles and Mater. He loves seeing all the Christmas lights and will point out all the trees, lights, etc. as we are driving. We've been talking a lot about the birth of Jesus and the meaning of Christmas. This is the first year that we can really converse about it and he really likes our Advent calendar.

Jackson is officially 3.5 and he has grown and changed a lot just since he turned 3. He is so smart and loves learning. He loves to sing his ABC's. He is identifying letters all over the place and even knows many letter sounds. He is able to identify his name in print as well.

He still gets speech therapy once a week but he is at age level now. It is still hard for some people to understand him at times but he is doing so much better. His sentences are much more complex and he uses complete thoughts. It's fun to have conversations with him.

Love these two kiddos! They are both at a very fun age!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T19:28:00.004-06:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for! We had my family over to our house for Thanksgiving, the same as last year. I think it might be a new tradition to do Thanksgiving here and I love it! It was Kevin and me, my mom and dad, two grandmothers, my aunt and my uncle. There are no other kids so Jackson and Emmy get all the attention and they love it. The food was delicious and it was nice to visit with family.

On the last day of school, before Thanksgiving break, I picked Jackson up and he was dressed like an Indian. He has loved wearing his "Big Buffalo" outfit and he even learned an Indian song that he sang several times. It is so cute. In part of the song he sings, "shoot the arrow" which he is demonstrating below:

And Emmy was so cute in her turkey dress!

9 Months

2011-11-22T18:59:00.003-06:00

Emmy is nine months today. We had a very good checkup today and I was so relieved to see that her weight is still "within average range". Not that I didn't think she was healthy- she still has baby rolls- but sometimes she still struggles with her bottle. She's never loved her bottle and sometimes just eats the bare minimum to get by. But she loves her baby food! So here's the stats:

Weight: 18 pounds 15 ounces (50th%)
Height: 27 3/4 inches (60th%)

This week I have noticed a huge jump in her food intake. Suddenly she wants a whole lot more baby food and we have just started giving her table food (besides puffs). I've given her banana, which she loves and some bread, which she spits out.

Emmy has currently met all her developmental milestones so it was a good checkup and there wasn't too much to discuss with the doctor.

She's so excited about finding big brother's shoe:

In Action

2011-11-13T09:21:00.007-06:00

I am home with Emmy on a Sunday morning because she is sick. She has had the stomach bug all weekend. I heard it was going around. Hopefully the rest of us will stay well. Kevin and Jackson are at church and the house is quiet so I thought I would blog.

In the past and in the present whenever anyone has commented on who Jackson looks like it has always been unanimous- he looks just like Kevin! When it comes to Emmy there seems to be lots of opinions. Some say she looks like Kevin, some say she looks like me, a few people have even said she looks like my mom but a lot of people say she looks like Jackson. Some of her baby pictures look very similar to mine. I think she got a little of everyone in her. :)

I took some action shots of Emmy. She's still in her pajamas and her hair hasn't been brushed yet but she loves to stand up and play with her toy:

She also loves Pooh Bear. When she has something she really likes she will bury her face in it. It's really funny.

She loves a good game of pee-pie and especially likes it when we put a blanket over her face and then she pulls it off.

And she is crawling everywhere!

Some other fun things: She responds consistently to her name. She has started doing some waving. It isn't consistent yet but she definitely does it at appropriate times. She pulls up on everything! She has started "dancing" (moving her body up and down) when she hears music. She enjoys playing with her toys but mostly likes to find things that are new: the remote, my phone, a magazine, tupperware, etc. This is a really fun age!

Update on Emmy

2011-11-07T14:32:00.003-06:00

About two weeks ago, I guess right around the time Emmy turned eight months, I put her down for her nap one day and a few minutes later I heard her in her room laughing and playing. This has NEVER happened as she always goes straight to sleep. I peeked into her room and she was SITTING UP in her bed and trying to PULL UP on the rails! Now, she's been sitting for awhile but I had never seen her go from lying completely flat to sitting up all on her own. Needless to say for the next few days she did not get good naps as she was "practicing" her new skills. She also quickly learned how to pull up to standing in her bed and so we lowered her mattress. Always a big milestone! :)

Everyday Emmy gets a little bit closer to crawling. She's been getting around using her two hands, one knee and one foot. Not quite a crawl but she managed to get where she wanted to go. But today was the breakthrough! She officially crawled across the room on both her hands and knees. I was very excited for her and she was excited to reach her destination on her own! Oh, this girl is growing up too fast!

Her two top teeth are still coming in. I don't think they are causing much pain but I think they are bothering her as she has continued to bite and gnaw on her bottom lip and now she has a raw spot above her chin.

And although this is an Emmy update I can't leave out my Jackson. He is going through a big transition as well- a transition that may last a few weeks or several months or maybe even a year. He isn't consistently taking a nap everyday. He doesn't even take a nap on most days. He will sometimes nap on the days he goes to school but only once in awhile takes a nap at home. "Nap time" is now "rest time".

It's been a hard transition for all of us as he gets very tired and cranky in the evening. For now we have pushed his bedtime to 6:30. Emmy still goes to bed at 6:30 as well. It's actually kind of nice having a little extra down time at night. We'll see how it goes...

And thanks to Brittani Bailey for the beautiful pictures!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T20:05:00.007-05:00

Yesterday we enjoyed the fall festival at a local church in our neighborhood. They put on a great fall festival with so many games that Jackson can enjoy. He had so much fun. I get so much joy watching him having so much fun, running from game to game and collecting candy.

My little Buzz Lightyear and my ballerina:

8 Months

2011-10-22T19:48:00.004-05:00

Emmy is eight months today. I just love this little girl. Her little personality is starting to come out. She definitely has her opinion about things but she is still just a happy baby the majority of the time. She is definitely a mama's girl. She wants to be by my side every minute and expects me to sit and play with her every minute she's awake. So I've started doing some 'independent play time'. We did this with Jackson and it was really good. She definitely doesn't like it at first but then she will play on her own for about 15-20 minutes.

She now has 4 teeth. Her two at the top are both peeking through. Her two bottom one's came through at the same time and it looks like the two top ones will too. The top teeth haven't seemed to cause near the trouble as the bottom two did. She's a very good eater too. She now eats a large variety of fruits and vegetables but definitely loves the rice cereal and oatmeal the best.

She's not crawling yet but I still think it will be soon. She tries really hard but somehow only manages to scoot backwards instead of crawl forward. She is starting to try to pull up on things but really only makes it up to her knees. If I'm sitting next to her she's usually trying to climb all over me. She LOVES to grab my hands and stand up. This makes her really happy!

So I've started giving her some puffs which she loves. I remember when we first gave Jackson puffs and he would try to grab them with his palm and then stick his whole hand in his mouth. It was pretty funny to watch. I expected Emmy to do the same but she picks them up with the neatest little pincer grasp. She mastered that skill quickly! It's so fun to see how different Jackson and Emmy are.

Some actions shots:

I like this picture because you can see some of her teeth:

To the patch

2011-10-18T19:14:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday we decided to set out for the pumpkin patch. We got Jackson all excited about it and he behaved all morning in order to go and pick out ANY PUMPKIN HE WANTED! To my three year old this is a big deal! So we load up and drive to the church near our house that always does a pumpkin patch- except for this year apparently. Jackson was listening as we began discussing going back home and looking up a pumpkin patch on the internet and then going the next day. This was devastation for little Jackson. He was so upset! So we began driving aimlessly around looking for a pumpkin patch. We drove by all the little (and big) churches that we knew of that were somewhat in the vicinity of our house- no luck! As we were just about to give up we drove by a somewhat small but established produce hut (not a stand but not quite a store) and what do we see but a pumpkin patch. It wasn't very big but it was cute with plenty of pumpkins to choose from and it satisfied Jackson's need for pumpkins. He had a blast! He would try so hard to pick up these huge pumpkins only to give up muttering to himself, "nope, too big..." and then move on the next.

Emmy on the other hand sat where we placed her and bounced up and down and squealed and laughed as she watched Jackson "reorganize" the pumpkins.

This is the only one I could get of the two of them:

While the Cat's Away the Mice will Play

2011-10-11T16:41:00.008-05:00

This past weekend Kevin was out of town. I was a little (or very) apprehensive about having the kids all by myself for an entire weekend with no help. It was hard but not quite as scary as I thought. We stayed busy!

Jackson and I did lots of cooking! We made cookies:

And banana bread:

We played outside a lot and did some cheering for Auburn:

It turned out to be a fun weekend but we are glad to have Daddy back home!

And to top it all off Emmy started babbling!!!

Sweet Boy and Big Girl

2011-10-06T14:31:00.005-05:00

I think that Jackson is starting to like his sister more. Not that he's ever really been mean to her but he hasn't really shown a big interest in her- until lately.

Now that Emmy is sitting and playing Jackson likes to sit down with her and play with her toys. I think because they are new to him but it's a great time to encourage him to share and interact with Emmy. Another thing I've started doing is letting them have book time before their afternoon nap. Emmy and Jackson sit on Jackson's bed and look at books together. The other day before naptime Jackson was reading on his bed and I was holding Emmy and Jackson told me he wanted Emmy to sit on his bed and read books too. How sweet!

This morning I took Jackson (very early) to Children's Hospital to get one of his tubes taken out of his ear. I loaded him up in his carseat and then went and got in the driver seat. Jackson looked over at Emmy's seat and said, "Hey Mommy, what about baby Emmy?" I told him that Emmy was staying home with Daddy and that she was still sleeping. He said, "Awwww! I want baby Emmy to come with me." Oh, it melted my heart!

And this afternoon, out of nowhere, Jackson ran over and gave Emmy three kisses on her cheek. I'm pretty sure that is the first time he's kissed her without prompting from Mommy or Daddy. :)

And Emmy is getting to be such a big girl! I can hardly believe it. She rocks back and forth a lot, gets down on her hands and reaches really far forward for something she wants. Maybe she'll crawl soon?

A couple of weeks ago I gave Emmy a sippy cup. I gave it to her several times and she would hold onto it and put it up to her mouth and then not really know what to do with it. I hadn't given it to her in a couple of weeks- I just kept forgetting to. So today I brought it out and she drank water from her cup like she had been doing it for weeks! I couldn't believe it. She got a good amount of water even with the stopper inside the cup!

Catching up

2011-09-27T09:34:00.005-05:00

My computer hasn't been working for the past three weeks- oh how I've missed it! I've been using Kevin's computer but haven't been able to blog because all my pictures are on my computer. So I have a lot of catching up to do.

Here's what we've been up to:

We've been doing lots of cheering for Auburn!

Touchdown Auburn!

Thanks Natalie for the super cute Auburn dress! :)

I promise Jackson is a happy boy! He was having so much fun with this chef hat and of course I turn on the camera and he quits smiling and laughing.

SEVEN MONTHS

Last week ended up being a big week for Emmy. She turned seven months and accomplished some new milestones! A couple of days before officially turning seven months she rolled from her back to her belly for the first time. She rolled from her belly to her back at four months but wouldn't go the other way until last week. Now she does it all the time and seems to tolerate being on her tummy a little better. Then later in the week I went into her room one morning and found her sleeping on her belly! I was shocked but glad to see it simply because she has hated being on her tummy so much. Now she can easily go back and forth from tummy to back and back to tummy with little effort.

Emmy at seven months:

Up until last week Emmy was still taking three naps a day. The day she turned seven months she decided she was done with her evening nap. I have been ready for her to give it up just because it makes it difficult to go out in the evening. But I put her in her bed just like always and she just didn't fall asleep. I decided to try again the next day just to be sure and again she didn't go to sleep. So she now officially takes two naps. Her morning nap is usually 1.5-2 hours and her afternoon nap is usually 1-1.5 hours. She goes to bed at 6:30 now that she dropped her evening nap and still sleeps until 7 and sometimes a little later. I'm hoping her afternoon nap will start stretching out a little longer and then her bedtime can move back to 7. Either way I'm not complaining because she is such a good sleeper.

And last week was Emmy's first time on a swing. Of course she loved it! Now that the weather has turned I'm excited to spend some time at the park. Jackson loves it and Emmy did so great in the swing!

And Jackson wanted in the baby swing because Emmy was:

I just think Emmy's face is so funny in this picture. Not sure what she's looking at:

So that's basically it. I think I'm all caught up!

War Eagle!

2011-09-04T20:47:00.003-05:00

We were so excited about kicking off football season this weekend. So glad that Auburn won their first game- we weren't sure that was going to happen!

And the weather was beautiful! It ended up being a hot day but the early morning breeze made it so nice!

Love these pictures of Emmy:

Have you noticed how expensive game day attire can be? Pretty expensive...I was excited to be able to make this dress for Emmy for only a few dollars! :)

Six Months

2011-08-23T13:12:00.004-05:00

Emmy is six months (officially yesterday). I took her for her well visit today and here are her stats:

Weight: 17.5 pounds (75th percentile)
Height: 26 inches (75th percentile)

She is still such a happy baby! She smiles a lot and is playing more and more. She reaches for anything that is in front of her. She likes to grab, pull and shake things and EVERYTHING goes in her mouth! Her favorite new thing to do is play in her jumper:

She is still a good sleeper. She takes three naps a day and sleeps from about 7pm-7am. She is wearing size 6-9 month clothes and has been for about a month now.

She is still a funny eater. Some days she takes her bottle great and other days she doesn't. Some days she eats lots of baby food and other days she will only eat a few bites. Despite the fact that she can be hard to feed she is growing and healthy!

She is currently cutting her first tooth. She has been drooling A LOT and a little bit fussy but not as bad as I remember Jackson being with his first tooth. So far the tooth hasn't affected her sleep.

I was taking six month pictures of Emmy and Jackson actually wanted in on it!

Unsupported Sitter

2011-08-18T13:46:00.003-05:00

Emmy is almost six months (4 days away) and she is officially an unsupported sitter. She can sit by herself for several minutes (about 5 or so) before she tips over. Can't believe how big this girl is getting!

She likes sweet potatoes!

2011-08-15T16:35:00.003-05:00

I think we finally got a handle on Emmy's tummy issues. All her tests from the dr. came back negative which means it probably was just the reflux (or possibly the medicine) that was hurting her tummy. We are back on zantac because she was still having a hard time eating. She wasn't eating well, arching her back during feedings and was extremely fussy during feedings. After being back on zantac all that has gone away. And she is officially eating baby food. We've been doing it very slowly as she didn't even like eating food at first. I gave her a few bites of carrots every few days and gradually increased from there. Now she does ok with carrots and pears. Today I introduced sweet potatoes to her. She ate the whole jar! First of all, whenever she tries something new she will only take a few bites and then she's done. Secondly, she's never eaten a whole jar of anything in one sitting. This girl likes sweet potatoes! Here she is modeling her new dress:

First Day of School

2011-08-09T19:43:00.003-05:00

On Monday Jackson went back to school. His school program is no longer called "Mother's Day Out" but "Three Year Old Kindergarten". He was SO SO EXCITED! He talked non-stop that morning and was so excited about his new school shoes and new backpack! And very excited about the granola bar that was packed in his bag for snack- I even got him to smile for the camera!

He looks SO BIG in this picture!!!

Food and Sewing

2011-08-02T12:35:00.006-05:00

Emmy has been doing better these past few days. We were back at the doctor again last week and she is completely off of all medicines now. She seems to be doing better off of the medicine. The zantac never seemed to hurt her tummy so we may go back on that to control some of her spitting up but right now we are waiting for some test results. Dr. just wanted to make sure it wasn't something else besides reflux hurting her tummy. In an effort to help her tummy I decided to give her her first taste of baby food. She has been eating rice cereal for a couple of weeks and is doing ok. She doesn't seem to love it like Jackson did. So I gave her some carrots and she did NOT like them- to say the least.

Even though Jackson made funny faces when he ate his first bite of carrots he still loved them and opened his mouth for more. Emmy took a few bites and then clamped her mouth shut! She definitely was not into it!

On another note, In June I took a sewing class and I really enjoyed it. I learned how to make this dress (Hopefully this will fit Emmy just in time for some WAR EAGLE!!!):

Here is another item that I just finished. It started out as a dress but I think it's more of a tunic. I put some leggings under it that Emmy already had and I think it looks ok:

Here's a random picture I just think is funny. She looks nervous:

and cute:

We went to the pool & An Anniversary

2011-07-27T09:01:00.004-05:00

First of all, yesterday Kevin and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. We got to go out for a nice dinner while Mom babysat the kids. It was fun to recall how and where we first met....we were 18, just freshman kids at Auburn....so long ago...

This past weekend we finally made it to the pool. My grandmother has a pool and she lives in our neighborhood! She had trouble getting it clean after opening it up and it wasn't swimmable for the whole month of June. After it was finally ready we made plans at least three other times to go but it always ended up raining/storming. BUT- we finally made it and it was so fun!

Five Months

2011-07-22T08:24:00.002-05:00

Where have five months gone?

Last week I started giving her some rice cereal. She didn't really take to it at first. It took her several tries before she knew what to do with it but now she seems to like it. I'm hoping some solids will help her tummy.

She is getting really good at sitting up on her own with only a little bit of support:

This is about the best I could do with Jackson. This is his "after naptime" hair. At least he isn't frowning. He usually isn't too happy when I pull out the camera.

We've Been Busy

2011-07-21T08:49:00.004-05:00

July has flown by. We have spent the majority of this month trying to resolve Emmy's tummy issues. In the past three weeks we have been on three different medicines and three different formulas. She has good days and bad days and then a REALLY bad day thrown in here and there. She has days where she takes really good naps and then days where she won't sleep at all. Without enough sleep she gets fussy which is new for her. Her doctor suspects that she may have a milk allergy or some lactose intolerance so we are on soy formula. And sometimes the side effects of the medicine she's on seems worse than the reflux that it's treating. Lots of things going on with her that may or may not be resolved. I feel like I've spent the majority of the past three weeks either in the doctor's office or on the phone with the nurse. We are praying fervently for the healing of sweet Emmy girl's tummy.

She'll be five months tomorrow!

Somewhere during all of this Jackson developed swimmer's ear. So he was at the doctor too as I thought for sure he had an ear infection. I had suspected something was wrong- his behavior was speaking volumes- and the night before I took him to the doctor he told me, "mommy, there's a bee in my ear". Sure enough he had swimmer's ear in both ears which meant drops for a week. Not fun!

And can you believe I don't have any new pictures of Jackson since the fourth of July? I do believe I've tried but he's not really into smiling sweetly for the camera. :) I must try harder! But I do have a picture of this little guy:

Our pet bunny. He lives in our backyard and I love watching him from the kitchen window. He comes out to nibble on some grass and once in awhile we leave him a treat, such as blueberries or carrots. Jackson loves him, gets so excited when he spots him in the backyard, but can't contain his excitement...so mr. bunny quickly scurries away.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with new Jackson pictures.

Fourth of July

2011-07-04T15:10:00.003-05:00

We celebrated the July 4th weekend at the lake with my parents. It was lots of fun as usual. We brought Jackson's pool with us and I am so glad we did. It provided constant fun for the kids and adults and much needed relief from the HOT HOT sun!

Me and my sweet girl:

Emmy enjoyed some pool time as well:

Love this cute face:

She Rolled!

2011-06-27T12:53:00.002-05:00

Yesterday (4 months, 4 days), Emmy rolled from her belly to her back! I put her on her belly for tummy time and noticed that her arms were very extended and her chest was off the floor more than it's ever been. Then she just rolled over. I remember with Jackson watching him for several days get himself up on his side before he ever rolled over. She did it some more this morning so I was able to get some pictures:

New Stats

2011-06-22T19:50:00.004-05:00

Today was well check up day. I took both kids. Jackson for his three year and Emmy for her four month. It was a little chaotic. Good thing I made a list of all my questions for both kids- I would have never remembered them all. Anyway, it went well overall. Both kids are healthy and growing well- definitely something to be thankful for. Here's an update on the kiddos:

Jackson:
Weight: 30.2 pounds
Height: 37 inches

I told Jackson to make a silly face and here's what I got:

It's still hard to believe Jackson is three. It's amazing how quickly he is growing and all the new things he is learning. He still eats well. He needs a little more convincing than he used to to eat his veggies but he usually gives in pretty quickly. Jackson still continues to take good naps. I usually wake him up after two hours (I'm not sure how long he would actually sleep). He goes to bed at 7:30 but usually doesn't fall asleep until after 8. He wakes up between 6 and 6:30 and will often crawl in bed with us and go back to sleep for another 30 minutes to an hour. It's sweet because he really likes to snuggle. I love it!

The other day I read "Curious George goes to a Costume Party" to Jackson before nap time. Jackson said he wanted it to be Halloween so I asked him what he wanted to be this year. His response: "I'll be a princess". Love it! He's so much fun!

Emmy:
Weight: 14 pounds 8 ounces (75th percentile)
Length: 25 1/2 inches (90th percentile)

Here's Emmy at 4 months:

She's the absolute sweetest baby! She takes three naps a day. The first two are usually 2 1/2 hours sometimes as long as 3. The third is anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. A lot of times she takes the third nap in the swing. She goes to bed between 7:00 and 7:30 and eats at 9:00 without waking up and then sleeps until between 7:00 and 7:30. It's so nice to be getting a full nights sleep. I can't even remember the last time Emmy woke up before 6:45 which is such a blessing.

One of my favorite times is when I go in her room in the morning to get her up and as soon as she sees me she gets a huge smile on her face. She smiles and laughs all day and has the sweetest spirit. I really only hear her fuss when she gets really tired. Otherwise she is very content.

I am loving every minute of being home with these two this summer.

Fun Emmy Pictures

2011-06-10T08:49:00.002-05:00

It looks like she is praying:

She found her thumb and loves it!

Love black and white photos. She looks so sweet:

She makes this happy face a lot:

Emily's Baptism

2011-06-08T13:03:00.003-05:00

Emmy was baptized this past Sunday (June 5). The timing was great since we already had family in town for Jackson's birthday and it was a really special day. Emmy wore the dress that I wore when I was baptized which made it even more special. Here is the blessing we wrote for her:

Psalm 18:2-3
The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer, my God, my Rock in whom I take refuge. I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies.

Emily Ruth, we are so blessed by the Lord to have you as our daughter. Our prayer for you is that in all things, in health and happiness and sickness and sorrow you would seek the Lord as your Rock and your Refuge. We pray that you would come to know Him as your Savior and your faith would grow deeper each day. We pray that you would love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. Amen.

Eating her dress (she loves to eat her clothes):

Our family:

Kevin reading Emmy's blessing:

Being baptized:

Jackson Turns Three!

2011-06-07T10:14:00.004-05:00

This past weekend (on June 5) Jackson turned three! I still can't believe it. We had a fun party on Saturday with family and friends. It was really hot but the kids stayed cool in the pool. He was so excited about his party. For the whole week leading up to it he talked about all his friends coming and eating cupcakes! When we asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said trail mix. The child LOVES trail mix. So we got him some trail mix (among other things). The other day I let him have a hand full of trail mix while he was playing outside in the pool. Days later he is still talking about eating trail mix in the pool. I guess that was exciting! Anyway, thanks to our sweet friends and family who helped make Jackson's third birthday fun and memorable!

Having fun in his new pool:

Enjoying a birthday lunch:

This boy LOVES Curious George:

I thought this was a neat picture. Four generations of girls (my mom, my grandmother, Emmy and me):

Memorial Day Beach Trip

2011-06-01T15:22:00.006-05:00

We were very excited that we got to go to the beach for the long Memorial Day weekend. We went to Gulf Shores with my parents and had a really nice time! It was a little different due to the fact that Emmy is still so young. We didn't have as much flexibility and we did the best we could to keep her to her schedule- she still eats and sleeps a lot!

The kids' sleep schedule were both off so we were up VERY early in the morning. But at least this is the view we got to see at 5:30 in the morning!

Jackson had such a great time. He loved every minute of it and was so much more into it than last year. While he had fun last year he was still somewhat timid about the sand and the ocean and the pool. This year he just jumped right in and played.

He loved the pool time with his daddy- even getting his face and hair wet which he wouldn't dare do last year!

Emmy fell asleep wherever we went. After an early morning on the beach she fell asleep while we were walking back to the room.

But she really loved being in the pool. She just hung out and kicked her feet. She was really cute in her swimsuit!

We are so thankful we could get away for a long weekend and spend some time at the beach. We had a great time!

(In the above picture Emmy is wearing the first dress that I made for her back before she was even born. That makes this dress very special to me. I hope to make more soon!)

One Happy Mommy

2011-05-24T17:48:00.004-05:00

I will admit that I have been a little nervous about potty training Jackson. It was more about me than him- I felt like I didn't know how to approach it or really what to do. But I am proud to announce that Jackson is officially potty trained. We started this past Saturday and as of today (day 4) he is telling us when he needs to go and going on his own! How exciting! This is such a great feeling. I have felt that he was ready for a couple of months now but decided to wait until things calmed down around the house. After having Emmy, dealing with lots of sickness, working in May and finishing out the school year it has been a little busy around here! I'm glad that we waited because one of my biggest fears was that we would try and fail. I really wanted him to be successful and I am so proud of him!

Can't believe this boy is about to be three!

Three Months

2011-05-23T11:04:00.003-05:00

Emmy was three months old yesterday. The last month has flown by! She is wearing size 3-6 month clothes now and growing like a weed! For the month of May I went back to work two days a week and Emmy stayed with my Mom. Emmy did great and it was so easy to go back to work knowing that she was well taken care of. Thanks Mom! Now I only have one day of work left and then I will be home for the summer! We also spent the last month trying to help Emmy take her bottle better. At about 2 months 1 week she was obviously getting frustrated with how slow she was getting her milk. We moved her to the medium flow which worked for a few weeks but she started getting frustrated again. We just moved up again to the fast flow and she seems so much happier. She doesn't care a thing about sucking on her bottle for comfort, she just wants to eat- get the food in her tummy and be done. She used to take her paci once in awhile but now she rarely takes it. It doesn't comfort her at all. But she LOVES to suck on her hand and fingers. It's funny because Jackson loved the bottle and paci and rarely sucked on his fingers.

So happy:

All dressed up:

We are in the middle of potty training with Jackson. He is doing well but sometimes it's hard for him to sit on the potty when there is so much fun to be had...

Life with Emmy

2011-05-13T19:57:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to jot down some things that I want to remember about Emmy at this age.

Emmy is one of the sweetest and happiest babies I know. She is full of smiles and laughs and coos that are the sweetest thing I've ever heard!

No matter how tight we swaddle her up she always gets at least one and usually both hands up to her face. She loves to sleep with her hands up to her mouth.

She much rather suck on her hands than a paci. Sometimes she'll take the paci- but she doesn't love it.

Nicknames: Em, Emmy, Emmygirl, Emmykins

All the right answers

2011-05-12T08:31:00.000-05:00

It seems Jackson has learned all the right "Sunday School answers". Last night at dinner we were all talking about our day and this is how the conversation went between Kevin and Jackson:

Kevin: What did you do at school today?
Jackson: I played outside.
Kevin: What else?
Jackson: Read books.
Kevin: What books did you read?
Jackson: The Bible.
Kevin: Oh, the Bible! What did you read about in the Bible?
Jackson: Jesus
Kevin: What did you learn about Jesus?
Jackson: He died on the cross.

While I don't doubt they talk about these things at school I have heard him give these answers before so I don't know if this was particularly true of yesterday. Either way, I am grateful that he is learning these things and that they are talking about these things at school. I am so blessed by the fact that I get to watch Jackson learn about his Savior. These are the first seeds that are being planted in his little life. Sometimes we just go about our routine, such as: going to church, taking Jackson to school and having our family worship time and I don't stop to think about how it actually is impacting his little life. He is learning about who Jesus is and hopefully his knowledge of Him will only continue to grow. I hope we have more conversations like the one from last night and I can't wait to see what he learns.

A few pictures from Mother's Day.

Me and my babies:

Emmy loved being outside and was taking it all in:

What a sweet big brother!

Believe it or not, our first picture as a family of four:

Easter and Stats

2011-04-27T13:58:00.003-05:00

Easter Day and Easter weekend brought beautiful weather. I ended up getting the stomach bug that the kids had so we did not get to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior in church but we were celebrating at home.

Jackson LOVED hunting Easter eggs and played with his eggs ALL day. Kevin would hide the eggs and he would find them and then Jackson would hide the eggs for Kevin to find. He had so much fun and would get so excited about finding all the eggs. He also had fun with his Easter basket. He got some bubble bath in his Easter basket and has been so excited to take a bath every night!

Here are some of our pictures from Easter:

Emily went to the doctor today for her two month well visit. Here are her stats:
Weight: 11 pounds 4 ounces (50th percentile)
Height: 23 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

I knew she was going to measure long! She is wearing 0-3 month clothes but she is busting through the clothes that have footies.
She got her shots and of course that was no fun!
After an infection, a cold and a stomach bug she is finally better. Her reflux seems to be under control. She smiles all the time and loves to talk. She is getting really good at holding her head up and is starting to enjoy more playtime. She smiles at her toys but one of her favorite things to smile at is the fan! I know lots of babies like fans but Jackson never did. He didn't care a thing about them but Emmy LOVES them- they get lots of smiles and laughs. Despite all her sickness she continues to be a good, sweet baby. She is eating and sleeping well- no complaints from me!

Two Months Old

2011-04-22T14:39:00.003-05:00

Emily is two months old today (and I am 29)- I definitely don't feel that old! Emily ended up getting Jackson's stomach bug and was back at Children's Hospital last Sunday night with a fever. They had to run more tests but thankfully let us go home after a few hours. She still isn't 100% yet but today she is finally eating again. This past week she has hardly been taking her bottle and that's been concerning to me. We go to the doctor next week so I'll be back with her stats but here are some pictures for now:

What We've Been Up To...

2011-04-15T08:34:00.006-05:00

Basically we have been trying to keep everyone well ever since we got home from the hospital. At five weeks old Emily started showing some signs of having reflux. Jackson had this so it only took me a couple of days to recognize the signs. She was having a really hard time eating. She's on medicine now and it seems to be helping. At six weeks old Emily caught a cold which she is still fighting off. Her congestion makes it even harder for her to eat. Poor kid. At the same time Jackson got a stomach bug and complained of his tummy hurting for several days. I have been washing my hands like crazy and trying to keep Jackson and Emily separated. Thankfully neither Kevin or I have gotten sick!

Other than being sick Emily is doing well. She is happy and smiles A LOT! She is sleeping really well at night. At 7 weeks old she sleeps anywhere from 6-8 hours at night. Jackson didn't sleep 8 hours at night until he was about 9 or 10 weeks so I'm really happy! Look at this cute girl:

We have also been enjoying the very HOT weather. Although I love the warm weather we seemed to have skipped spring and gone right to summer. But warm weather beats cold weather so I won't complain.

Life with two kids has definitely been eventful so far! In my spare time (I usually get about 15 minutes a day) :) I am doing some minimal sewing (which I hope to pick up more soon), taking lots of pictures and trying to get back into couponing. I've been slacking off with all that's been going on but I'm getting better.

Sweet Smiles

2011-04-06T09:35:00.002-05:00

Love sweet baby smiles...

One Month and a Long Hospital Stay

2011-03-30T12:32:00.004-05:00

On March 22 Emily was one month old. I can hardly believe that a month has already gone by. On that Tuesday we had a couple of visitors planning to come over to see Emily and lots to do at home. That morning I took some one month pictures and of course Jackson wanted in on it too!

Later that afternoon Emily woke up fussy, even after eating (which is very unlike her) and I thought she felt warm. I took her temperature only to find out it was 101.3. After a whirlwind of events we ended up at Children's Hospital. About 36 hours later we were still there and found out that she had an infection that would require IV antibiotics for 7-10 more days. We ended up being at the hospital for exactly a week and got home yesterday. We are so glad to have our little girl home and so glad we are all back together under the same roof. We hope that was Emily's first and last visit to Children's Hospital!

Even though we felt that time stood still in the hospital while the whole world moved on Emily continued to grow and change. She is now doing lots and lots of smiling (can't wait to get pictures of that!) and she is sleeping for a five hour stretch at night (very exciting!).

Baby Hand and Tiny Toes

2011-03-18T13:50:00.002-05:00

Is there anything more precious than this? I think I could stare at her little toes all day. They are so cute and little!

She has really long fingers!

I Might Be Biased...

2011-03-16T13:38:00.003-05:00

But even with messy hair, this boy is very photogenic...

And talking SO much! He is at such a fun age where he soaks up everything you say and then spits it back out. He is carrying on conversations and saying the funniest things! He asks "why?" ALL. THE. TIME. He LOVES to play outside, especially with his Daddy. He can count to ten (with only a little prompting) and loves to count everything he sees! He loves doing puzzles and can do a 48 piece puzzle all by himself! He loves to read Curious George before nap time AND bed time. He loves to jump, scream and shout as any boy would so with Emmy in the house we are working on inside voice and outside voice. Being two and a half can be hard on all of us at times but we sure love this boy!

Sleeping Angel and Wild Man

2011-03-15T09:32:00.002-05:00

Love all the dark hair!!!

Love the shades!!!

Jack and Em

2011-03-01T10:31:00.003-06:00

Jackson has been so sweet to his new baby sister. Since he was sick he didn't get to come to the hospital and he didn't get to really touch her or hold her until a few days after we had been home. He kept asking to "hold baby Emmy" and waited very patiently to have a turn. We are teaching him to pat and stroke her gently. He is very curious about her. He comes into a room and asks, "Where's baby Emmy?" or "What's baby Emmy doing?". He hasn't appeared jealous but has been spending LOTS of one on one time with Kevin. I am nervous about when Kevin goes back to work and I have these two kiddos on my own.

Emily had her first doctor visit yesterday and got an excellent report. She is already above her birth weight at exactly 8 pounds. The doctor was pleased to see this and happy with all we reported. Emily is eating 2-3 oz every 2-3 hours and has even gone a few 4 hour stretches.

Home

2011-02-27T09:25:00.003-06:00

We got home from the hospital last Thursday and we are all so glad to be home. Emily is such a sweet baby and hardly ever cries. I am already amazed at how different Emily is from Jackson. When Jackson was a newborn he cried ALL the time! He cried when we changed his clothes, changed his diaper, gave him a bath, got hungry, when we laid him down, etc. Emily doesn't cry during any of these things. Her hunger cues are easy to read whereas Jackson was in all out screams within a matter of seconds of being hungry. At night, Emily eats then we lay her back down and she goes to sleep. After Jackson ate we would have to hold him and rock him for about an hour before he would go back to sleep. Here are some pictures of Emily going home from the hospital.

But first, a picture of Jackson going home from the hospital: (to prove my point)

And Emmy:

Jackson was sick most of last week so he was not able to come and see us at the hospital. Jackson wasn't able to meet Emmy until we got home....pictures of that later.

Emily is Here!

2011-02-22T20:21:00.001-06:00

Emily Ruth Lott
February 22, 2011
1:40pm
7 pounds, 12 ounces
19.5 inches

Love This Boy

2011-02-21T20:00:00.002-06:00

We had a great day today and we are loving this unbelievable weather. Jackson has such a fun personality. Kevin taught him about a tickle fight and now he LOVES to run up to me and scream "tickle fight." It is so funny! And, "cookies" is not a new word to his vocabulary but a new favorite word. Everything is "cookies". We always sing a song before bed and tonight when he was asked what song he wanted to sing he said, "cookie song" and preceded to make up a song about cookies. It was too funny!

LOVE THIS BOY!!!

Highs and Lows

2011-02-10T12:26:00.004-06:00

Some years we go all year without any snow. This year we've had our fair share of ice and snow. January started off with ice and snow as I posted earlier. Then at the end of January we had a beautiful spring like weekend with a high of 70! It sure gave us all spring fever. We enjoyed playing in the back yard and at the park. Now it's February and here we are with another snow day. Although, I love the Spring and prefer warm weather I am enjoying the beautiful white snow God gave us today. Jackson and I even got out in it some this morning. Here are some pictures of our weekend of "highs" in the 70's and "lows" with snow.

HIGHS:

LOWS:

I am really enjoying this time with Jackson. While he still needs some disciplining at times he is really very obedient and tons of fun. It is so fun to have conversations with him these days. And he can sing! Usually it's just me singing songs to him but I recently discovered that he knows the words to lots of songs. His favorites are: Jesus Loves Me, Joy Joy Joy and He's Got the Whole World. It is so precious to watch and listen to his little singing voice.

Jackson is so independent these days, which is good since we are expecting our new little one very soon. He can take off his shoes, socks, pants and jacket. (We are still working on the shirt). He can wash his hands, brush his teeth, get into his car seat all by himself and take all of his dishes to the sink after eating. He is really excited about "helping Mommy" when the baby comes. I can't believe he is growing up so fast!

The Month of Love

2011-01-31T07:58:00.001-06:00

Winter Valentine Valentine's Day Card

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Our Ice Storm and "I did it!"

2011-01-15T20:43:00.006-06:00

We had some snow/ice here earlier this week. The ice storm really affected us more than usual as school was closed both Monday and Tuesday and started late on Wednesday. Jackson and I were cooped up inside for what seemed like forever but it was also fun to have Kevin home to keep us company. I just wish all the ice had been more snow so we could play. We did venture outside but there really wasn't any snow that we could pick up.

So here is a conversation that I have at least once a day with Jackson:
Me: Jackson, go _______ (wash your hands, take your jacket off, etc.)
Jackson: Ok Mommy, I do it
(1 second later)
Jackson: Help Mommy, Help!
Me: You can do it. Just try!
Jackson: HELP MOMMY! HELP PLEEEEEEEEEASE!
Me: Ok Jackson, Mommy will help you
Jackson: No Mommy, I DO IT!
(1 second later)
Jackson: I did it Mommy! I DID IT!

Life with a two year old definitely keeps me on my toes. I'm constantly reminded of my own selfishness and my need for God's grace and for His patience, kindness and wisdom.

So here is my, "I did it!". I have been doing lots of reading and studying and practicing and today I completed my first hand sewn article of clothing. I made this sweet little dress for our sweet little girl. I had to adjust the size so it would be small enough. I'm hoping it will fit her this summer although I have no idea if or when it will fit. But it was fun and I'm hoping to learn more...

What's that face?

2011-01-11T16:12:00.002-06:00

Nothing like a good pout face:

Followed by a big smile:

And trying to pout again but mommy is making him laugh:

Comparisons

2011-01-04T15:03:00.004-06:00

It's amazing how much a child grows and changes in a year. Not just physically, but emotionally and mentally too. Last year at this time Jackson was 18 months which still sounds so much like a baby. Now he is two and a half and every bit of it. It's challenging but so much fun. He definitely has a mind of his own, loves to laugh and act silly, but still has time for hugs and kisses.

Here are a couple of action shots:
Here's Jackson in January of 2010:

And January 2011:

From baby to big boy in one blink.

Happy New Year, New Year Resolutions and New Blog

2011-01-01T19:54:00.008-06:00

1-1-11: Happy New Year! I can't believe 2011 is here. I am excited about what this New Year will hold especially since we will be welcoming a new member of our family this year. I love that a new year brings a sense of new beginnings and a fresh start. The Lord is gracious to give us this new year filled with new weeks and new days and new chances.

First of all, about the "new blog". Since baby girl will be arriving soon I will no longer be writing this blog to Jackson but rather about Jackson and baby girl (and maybe other things).

I have several New Year Resolutions for this year and I am really excited about sharing a couple of them. First of all, I love taking pictures (especially of Jackson). I would like to better learn how to use my camera so I am participating in this:

Basically, you are challenged to take one really thoughtful image a week and post it here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/m3bp52/ as part of this group. At the end of the year you have 52 photos that sort of represent a summary of 2011. We'll see...

My other New Year Resolution is to become more knowledgeable about sewing. I know the basics about sewing but I would like to learn more. I would like to be able to sew cute little dresses for baby girl, among other things...

So I plan to be pretty busy this year but doing things that I enjoy. I have a couple of personal resolutions as well and with baby girl coming I may be trying to do too much. Only time will tell but I am optimistic about this new year!

We Are Blessed

2010-12-28T14:16:00.005-06:00

We had such a wonderful Christmas- our last Christmas as a family of three. As we spent time with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I was reminded of how blessed we are. To celebrate this time with family, to eat wonderful food, to give and receive such nice gifts and to watch my child enjoy Christmas in our home where we have everything we need. We are SO blessed!

You woke up pretty early on Christmas morning and asked "open presents now?". You remembered from the night before when I told you that when you woke up we would open presents because it would be Christmas Day. You asked everyday leading up to Christmas if we could open presents that day so you were excited that the day was finally here.

It was so fun to see Christmas through your eyes this year. My heart was full watching how happy and excited you were:

So you picked out the first present that you wanted to open and you shook it, looked at me expectantly and asked, "fish crackers?". The next present you shook and asked, "cookies?". I guess those were the best things that you could think of because oh how you love your fish crackers and cookies. (Whenever you finish your dinner at night for "dessert" you want "fish crackers and cookies".)

The look on your face was priceless when Gigi and Pop gave you a trike for Christmas. Gigi told you to go open the closet and look inside. This was your face as you pulled your trike out of the closet into the living room to show:

Of course you immediately wanted to try it out even though it was SNOWING outside! And how could we not let you ride your brand new trike on Christmas morning. You got the hang of the pedals pretty quickly and had so much fun!

And we were all excited to see snow two days in a row! It actually snowed on Christmas Day which was really neat. It was beautiful and even though it didn't really stick we had to go out in it!

My little boy throwing a snowball at me:

Thank you Lord for all that we have. Thank you for our health and safety. Thank you for the love that is poured out all around us.

A White Christmas

2010-12-25T20:34:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas! I love that it snowed on Christmas! How often do we get snow on Christmas Day here in Alabama??? And it snowed ALL day- so pretty! I'll be back with more pictures but just wanted to share this one for now. The only thing you asked for for Christmas was a "bicycle" like Mommy and Daddy. It didn't matter that it was snowing out or that it was FREEZING you were all about riding your new trike.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2010-12-12T20:13:00.004-06:00

We're just enjoying the Christmas season around here... You love the Christmas tree, the lights and the ornaments. You talk about them nonstop every day!

You love to see all the Christmas lights at night when we are in the car. You'll say, "Mommy, Mommy, I see Christmas lights." And then after we pass those lights you'll say, "Mommy, more Christmas lights please." You are so polite. :) But you announce each new house that has Christmas lights with such excitement! I love how much you love it. Christmas time has definitely become more fun with you to enjoy it with!

Thankful

2010-12-05T14:37:00.004-06:00

I know this post is a little late but we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving at our house this year and it was great. We really enjoyed having everyone over and some of our family had not seen our new house so that was a lot of fun. We had 12 adults and Jackson so it was definitely a full house. We have so much to be thankful for! I am so thankful for our house and the space that we have now to host others. I am very thankful for a wonderful husband who helped me clean the whole house to get ready for our guests. He is also a wonderful father who loves our little Jackson. I am also very thankful for our sweet little boy and his sweet heart. Although he often tests the limits, as most two year olds do, he is also very obedient, loves to snuggle and gives lots of hugs and kisses. I am thankful for my family and their love and support. Thank the Lord for all he has blessed us with!

Jackson Stories

2010-11-11T19:40:00.003-06:00

It has been so much fun to watch you grow and to see how quickly you are learning new things. You are talking so much these days- everyday you are saying new things. We are even starting to have mini-conversations. Here are a couple of funny conversations we have had:

One day we were playing outside in the backyard-
Jackson: A noise mommy, a noise.
Me: Yes Jackson I hear a noise too.
Jackson: A noise mommy? (your inflection tells me that now you want to know what the noise is)
Me: I don't know what the noise is Jackson.
Jackson: A robot (you say this very confidently as if you have figured out what the noise was)
Me: I don't think it's a robot. I think it's an animal...maybe a squirrel.
Jackson: Ooooooh! A squirrel.

One day we were in the car and you were being very observant about what was going on outside-
Jackson: Mommy, mommy, water, see water.
Me: Yes, Jackson I see the water.
Jackson: Not water Mommy, a lake. See lake.

You are also very good at saying, "touchdown Auburn!"

Christmas 2010

2010-11-06T20:32:00.001-05:00

Retro Wheel Green Christmas Card

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View the entire collection of cards.

My Sweet Pumpkin

2010-11-01T14:33:00.003-05:00

We had so much fun with you on Halloween this year. You were really into it! Sunday afternoon we took you to a fall festival where you enjoyed games, treats and a moonwalk. You got to play lots of games that were just perfect for you: throw a football through a hula hoop, throw a ball and knock down blocks, toss a ball into a basket, bowling and many others. You also loved the cake walk and got so excited when you won and got to pick a treat. It was so fun to watch you have fun. You smiled all afternoon!

That night we dressed you in your pumpkin outfit which you were also super excited about. I wasn't sure if you would be into dressing up but you loved it! And it was perfect that you were a pumpkin because you've been talking about pumpkins for the past two weeks! We visited Gigi and Pop for some trick or treating and visited a few other houses as well. You learned how to say "trick or treat" pretty well and after we would leave a house you would say "more trick or treat". We pulled you around the neighborhood in the wagon and you hopped out and ran up the sidewalk to each house. You were the cutest pumpkin I've ever seen!

Pumpkin Update

2010-10-21T18:59:00.003-05:00

Daddy decided that we were going to carve the "Daddy pumpkin".

Your first look inside a pumpkin:

You loved helping scoop the pumpkin:

But didn't necessarily like what was inside:

Our final result:

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-17T14:27:00.004-05:00

You were so excited to visit the pumpkin patch. You loved running around finding pumpkins and you picked out a "Jackson size" pumpkin to take home. We also got what you called a "mama pumpkin" and a "daddy pumpkin". Even though it is still so HOT it was a lot of fun and a family tradition we hope to continue.

It's a....

2010-09-25T09:35:00.003-05:00

GIRL!!!! We are very excited to announce that we will be welcoming a sweet baby girl in February. We had our ultrasound this past week and we are praising the Lord that our little girl looks great! She is measuring right on schedule. Once again it was amazing to see the growth that has taken place since we saw her at 8 weeks. She is only 1/2 pound right now but to see the heart beating, the hands and feet, the spine and facial features is truly amazing. We can't wait to meet our sweet little girl.

War Eagle and Happy Labor Day

2010-09-06T13:43:00.003-05:00

This past weekend we celebrated Labor Day and the opening of football season at the lake with Gigi and Pop. It's always a fun time and this time was no different. The weather was gorgeous- the perfect way to start football season. We stayed outside ALL day! You enjoyed visiting with the cats that live under the house, finding rocks and of course taking a boat ride.

I think your favorite part was driving the boat with Pop:

Our little Auburn family:

Big Boy Room

2010-08-23T14:36:00.004-05:00

I cannot believe my baby has moved out of the nursery, out of the crib and into a big boy bed. I didn't think it would happen so fast. One day you're sleeping in your crib and the next day your climbing out. So while we were at the beach you started climbing out of the pack and play. It kind of took us by surprise and we were not ready to handle this situation at the beach. We did the best we could and then tackled the issue when we got home. We have had some bumps but overall you have done great. You have been in your room a couple of weeks now and you are sleeping great. Sometimes you still get out of your bed during nap time and you fall asleep a lot later than you used to but you are still napping well. You have never gotten out of bed at night and in the morning you always call our name to come and get you. You are doing so good!

You love your new bed and the fact that your sheets have cars all over them. You get so excited when you hop up in bed and see the cars!

The Beach

2010-08-19T12:08:00.005-05:00

At the beginning of August we took our summer vacation to San Destin. We normally go to Gulf Shores so this was a little different for us but it was so much fun. We hadn't been to the beach since last summer so it took you some getting used to again.

Sometimes you were willing to walk on the sand and sometimes you weren't.

You loved being out in the ocean but you didn't love where the ocean came up to your feet on the sand. You loved the pool and wearing your water wings. You love being able to "swim" by yourself.

While we were there we had you sleeping in a pack and play. By the third day you figured out that you could climb out of the pack and play at your own will. Needless to say one day you did not get a nap. Thankfully you were too tired at night to climb out but naps were a challenge. And yes this new climbing behavior came home with you and you climbed out of your crib at home. All of this led to our big transition to the big boy bed... Your big boy room is so cute and you are doing well in your new bed. A post on that later...

News

2010-07-26T15:05:00.002-05:00

Our latest news: You are going to be a big brother! You are very excited but I don't think you know what you are excited about yet. :) We made a big deal about your "big brother" shirt so you really like it. Whenever we ask you, "where is the baby" you rub my tummy and when we ask you, "where is my big boy", you point to yourself. It's really cute. I wonder what you will think when the new baby arrives sometime in mid-February.

Swimming

2010-07-20T17:35:00.002-05:00

We didn't do much swimming last year but now that you are older I am trying to take you more. You LOVE the water. You have no fear! You already think you can swim with no help. You just want to jump out into the water. You don't love to be stuck in your float- you would rather be float and hands free all on your own. Maybe this will be motivation for you to learn to swim. Daddy was trying to teach you to kick your legs and you were so cute. You really got the hang of it. We have had a lot of fun this summer visiting MayMay's pool.

Happy 4th

2010-07-05T15:26:00.004-05:00

We spent the 4th of July at the lake with Gigi and Pop. It was your first time to the lake- can't believe it took us so long to get you there. Like everything else, you loved it! You had so much fun running around the grass and playing in the water. I was a little nervous about taking you out on the boat but you warmed up to it pretty fast. You had to be either in my lap or daddy's lap. At first your face was terribly frightened but you eventually began to smile and laugh and relax. We enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs and beautiful weather. It was so nice to be out in the sun on the lake. Thanks Gigi and Pop!

"Where did the boats go?"

Very Cute:

Even Cuter:

Stats

2010-06-28T09:23:00.001-05:00

We went to the doctor for your two year check up and here are your new stats:

Weight: 27.4 pounds (50th percentile)
Height: 34.25 inches (50th percentile)

Old House/New House

2010-06-26T11:07:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday we officially said goodbye to our townhouse and hello to our new house. It was exhausting and stressful but here we are trying to make our new house into our home. I've been excited for awhile now about finding a new house, but it was definitely bittersweet leaving the townhouse- where Kevin built our sun room, where we brought Jackson home from the hospital, etc. This new house doesn't feel like home yet but I'm sure in time it will. You've adjusted pretty well. At first you weren't sleeping well but you seem to love all the new space. We are remodeling the kitchen and hall bath so hopefully pictures of that to come soon. Meanwhile...

Goodbye Townhouse:

Hello Meadowbrook:

Jackson Turns Two

2010-06-10T13:49:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, June 5 you turned two! Wow! Can't believe how fast time has flown. Due to the fact that our house is a mess (we are moving soon) we had a small family party. Gigi, Pop, Aunt Erin, Nana, MayMay, Walt, Mimi, Papa and Aunt Amanda all came over for grilled out hot dogs and cake. You got some really great gifts, including a train table and set from Mommy and Daddy, a small trampoline from Gigi and Pop, a small basketball goal from Mimi and Papa and a few other things. It was a crazy day and you were definitely all wound up. I think you had a little too much sugar because you were a wild man! It was fun to get together with everyone and to celebrate my baby boy's birthday.

Getting Ready for Cake:

The Cake:

Sweet Birthday Boy:

Enjoying some cake:

Ready to Play:

Summer Break

2010-05-29T08:29:00.003-05:00

Thursday was my last day of school so yesterday began our summer break! I am really looking forward to this summer and being home with you. Yesterday we kicked off our summer break by splashing in the pool. You had so much fun and got very upset when we had to dump the water out of the pool at the end of the day. You cried, "pool, water, pool, water". I'm sure we'll be in that pool a good bit this summer.

You had fun pouring the water out of the watering can:

But then that led to this:

And you really don't like water in your face. But you were still happy:

You are talking so much more and have lots of new words. You will now call a lot of animals by their name instead of just their sound. You will say, "kitty", "dog", "sheep" instead of just "meow", "woof", etc. You will name many of your body parts when I point to them, "eye", "ear", "hand", etc. And you are saying more and more two word phrases on your own. Yesterday while eating you asked for "more cookie" and today you wanted "more car". I'm so excited to hear you talking.

It's really fun when you get excited too- and you get excited a lot. All I have to say is, "Do you want to go eat Mexican?" (yes you love Mexican food) or "Do you want to go see Gigi?" or even "Do you want to go to Publix?" and you wave both hands up in the air and say "yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!". I guess you just love to GO!

Can't believe you will be two.....one week from today.

A Few Favorite Things

2010-05-05T13:34:00.004-05:00

1. Reading Books- You continue to love books. You will sit in the floor and look at one book after the other. You love story time before bed and any other time of the day. You love books that are 'lift the flap'.

2. Playing Outside- You love to find rocks, sticks, berries, acorns and anything else you can get your hands on.

3. Balls- You love to hit your baseball and you love to throw footballs.

4. Helping- You love to help Mommy and Daddy around the house. If I am sweeping you HAVE to sweep too. If I am folding clothes you have to 'help' pull all the clothes out of the basket. If I am cleaning the kitchen you run for the dishwasher to help load the dishes.

I don't know what I would do without my big helper.

Laughter, The Best Medicine

2010-05-02T20:09:00.006-05:00

You LOVE to play hide and go seek. This afternoon you had so much fun with Daddy. When Daddy went to count I helped you hide in the stairs and then in the basket. You like to watch Daddy try to find you. You think it is so funny when Daddy looks in silly places like in my shoe or in the computer. I just love your laugh. Here are some pictures of you playing hide and seek with Daddy.

Hiding on the stairs:

Waiting for Daddy to find you:

Hiding in a Basket:

Laughing Hysterically:

Popsicles

2010-04-23T20:58:00.002-05:00

What's better than eating a Popsicle on a warm spring day???

Two Words

2010-04-03T13:07:00.006-05:00

I am so proud of my little guy. You said your first two word phrase (just a few days away from 22 months). Yesterday you said, "uh-oh mama" and today you said "bar please" (asking for a cereal bar). Your speech is really coming along and it is so exciting to watch. You have also learned to say "nah". When we ask you something instead of just saying "no" you say "nah!". Too cute!

Daddy and I took Good Friday off and the weather was BEAUTIFUL! We went to the Botanical Gardens and to the park and took a walk- needless to say we spent almost all day outside.

I have to say, have you ever seen anything cuter?:

Cooking with Mama

2010-03-23T15:15:00.004-05:00

You are a boy after your mama's heart. You love ANYTHING sweet! We had fun in the kitchen while Daddy was off camping. You love to watch me cook. Sometimes I will pull a chair up to the counter and let you see what I am doing. You are still a really good eater as you always eat whatever I put in front of you for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but you are learning about things that are sweet and will often request a cookie. You always request a banana and cereal for breakfast. You always eat your oatmeal but you also ALWAYS want whatever cereal I am eating. You don't really make any requests for lunch or dinner but you are very interested in finding out the name of what you are eating. When I put your plate in front of you you point to each item and wait until I tell you what it is. You are learning so much!

You love to look in the oven to see what's cookin':

Waiting (somewhat patiently) on the kitchen floor for something from the oven:

Eyeing some muffins:

YUM!!!

What Happened?

2010-03-20T13:32:00.008-05:00

Is it possible for a child to change overnight? I was taking these pictures of you and as I looked back at them I couldn't believe how much older you look...and all of a sudden. I know you aren't a baby anymore (even though I like to think of you as one), but looking at these pictures I am struck by how different and so much older you look. What happened?

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-18T09:26:00.003-05:00

On St. Patrick's Day we all put our green on and drove on over to the Georgia Aquarium. The ride in the car was a long one. You actually didn't do too bad but an hour was enough for you. The second part of the trip, the last hour and a half, you were not too happy and not very pleasant to be around. I know it's hard for an energetic boy like yourself to sit in the same place for 2.5 hours. Anyway, we had a really fun time and I just loved watching your face as you saw new things. I think you had a great time. Thankfully we wore you out and you slept on the way home.

I loved the jellyfish. They were so cool to look at:

There is something really neat up there:

I love the open mouth:

A true boy- not afraid to stick your hands in a pool of water to touch whatever there is to touch:

Up close with a penguin:

A trip to the zoo

2010-03-16T20:45:00.003-05:00

We are having so much fun. It's spring break and Daddy is home with us for the week. Although it is colder this year than last year we are still trying to get outside and have fun! Today we all went to the zoo. It was a lot of fun even though it was very chilly. Also, you haven't been yourself for the past week. You aren't sleeping well and you are waking up in the middle of the night and during some naps crying so hard that I have to go console you. I am pretty sure that your two year molars are coming in. I'm hoping that it doesn't last long but you were definitely very tired today.

Looking a little cold and tired:
(Yes, I gave you a haircut and cut a bit too short in the front. Sorry buddy! You are still handsome but I hope it grows out for Easter pictures.) :)

You found the flamingos funny (instead of scary like last year):

Trying to get a better look:

You enjoyed the train ride but got a little impatient waiting for it to begin:

Overall it was a fun trip. We will definitely go back soon when the weather is warmer. Our only regret is not seeing the monkeys. You just LOVE monkeys, but it was just too cold.

"Side"

2010-03-13T21:22:00.005-06:00

You love to go "side" (outside). You are happiest when you are outside. You don't miss a thing- dogs barking, birds chirping, lawn mowers running, cars passing- you are fascinated by it all.

So it's been raining a lot but it's so hard to keep you in. You open the front door and beg to go "side". It was sprinkling today but I let you go out anyway...

Too Fast

2010-02-22T13:40:00.004-06:00

Time is flying by way too fast! Last Spring we took you to the park and you loved it of course but you were a little hesitant about it all, especially the slide. Now you are all about sliding and climbing. You climb all over everything and here you are sliding on your own:

You love to go down on your belly:

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T13:12:00.007-06:00

It has been fun celebrating Valentine's Day with you. We got you a couple of small things but the smallest of things make you so happy! You got really excited about Mommy's hershey kisses. You didn't know it was candy but you had fun putting them in your little pink mail box.

I found this little mailbox and knew you would love it. You love seeing the mailman and going to the mailbox. You think it is so fun to take a letter to the mailbox and lift the flag up.

We are so proud of how smart you are. The other day Daddy and I were "testing" you and you knew pretty much what everything in the house was. We asked you where Grammy, Grandpa and Baxter were and you pointed out the window for all of them. It was cute. You are beginning to call people by other names besides "dada". You say "mimi" or "nini" for Grammy and "papa" for grandpa and "jaja" for jackson. I'm so glad you got past calling everyone "dada". You attempt to imitate almost everything we say but your speech is still pretty unclear.

Friday we got a little bit of snow. It was a good bit for Birmingham but not as much as last March. I wish that there had been more for you to play in but you weren't that excited about it. You loved being outside but didn't care much about touching the snow.

If You're Happy and You Know It

2010-01-30T13:22:00.003-06:00

You are such a happy boy! You love life! Even the simplest things make you laugh. You had fun getting in and out of the kitchen chairs this morning. You were playing peek-a-boo with me and laughing so hard!

The Wiggles

2010-01-28T19:42:00.003-06:00

The Wiggles have unknowingly crept into our home. Ah! I'm not sure how I feel about this but it seems there isn't much we can do about it. Now that Grammy is into tax season she is not able to pick you up at 1 to take you home for a nap. So you stay at Lakeside and take a nap, have a snack and then play. One day you came home doing this dance. Here are some pictures- your arms move up and down and your head moves side to side.

I have seen the Wiggles myself and this dance looked very Wiggles like. I asked you if you were doing a Wiggles dance and you got so excited and kept trying to say "Wiggles". When Daddy got home we showed him your Wiggles dance and Daddy decided to YouTube the Wiggles. He found a couple of Wiggles songs and you went crazy with excitement. So I did find out that after Mothers Day Out during late care a Wiggles video is sometimes shown. I will admit that your Wiggles dance is VERY cute!

On another note the very nice camera that Aunt Erin lent us is broken. I have been without a camera since Christmas and we just bought a new one. I can finally take pictures again! Maybe that will inspire more posts...

It's Time

2010-01-18T14:19:00.004-06:00

I haven't gone this long between posts in a long time...so I think it's time. We have been very busy with life- from Christmas to New Years to back to school/work and then thinking we sold our house. (Side note: We thought we sold our house but we didn't so that's on hold). Maybe things will slow down now.

You are 19 months and I think so far the 18/19 month stage has been the hardest. Before I get into why I do want to say that you are still the most precious and sweetest boy I know. You are now calling me "mama" consistently and that is the sweetest word. After you are disciplined, if I ask you to say "sorry" you gently rub your hand against my cheek- makes my heart melt! My favorite time with you is when we sit in your rocker together before your nap and before bed and we read books. You still love music and you love to dance. You have learned a lot of new moves including: nodding your head, wiggling your hips, bouncing up and down and moving your arms around a lot. It is too cute!

So this stage has been hard for us for what I can only assume to be natural reasons. You are learning how to obey and learning to accept the word "no". You are learning how to accept when things don't go your way or something happens that you don't like. The other factor is that you are learning how to communicate. You don't have many clear words and you don't always know how to express what you want. Sometimes you will just say "please" over and over but we don't know what you are asking for. When we don't understand what you want you usually get frustrated. Daddy and I are learning too. We are learning how to do what is best for you and how to be consistent in our disciplining. It's all a learning process I guess.

There are still a lot of fun and happy times and overall you are a happy boy. You love for us to get down on the floor with you and play. You love to build huge towers with all the blocks you got for Christmas and you love to play with your barn and all the animals. You love to make all the animal sounds and pretend that the animals are eating their food. It is so fun to watch you play and learn and grow.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-28T20:01:00.004-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. On Christmas morning we woke up and enjoyed the morning at home. You had so much fun opening all your presents- it was fun to see you get excited and play with all your new toys. You are really into music so you got a drum, a saxophone and some shakers. You are really enjoying those. But in the above picture you are enjoying your new fire truck.

What a handsome boy! This picture was taken on Christmas Eve. The weather was beautiful- not too cold! It was Daddy's birthday, so we enjoyed spending the day with him and we had a nice birthday dinner.

Later Christmas morning we went over to Grammy and Grandpa's and spent some time with them. We opened more presents and enjoyed a Christmas brunch. We also enjoyed spending time with Aunt Erin.

This is an ornament that we made together earlier in the week. You love to paint and you were all about putting the paint on your hand.

The day after Christmas (Saturday) we drove to Mobile to see Mimi, Papa, Aunt Amanda and Uncle JT. We had a nice time and you got even more presents. I think you actually got tired of opening presents. You opened a couple and then when they tried to give you another present to open you just shook your head no. I had to open your last presents for you.

One of your new things is to shake your head no. You sometimes shake your head yes but mostly it's just no.

Tis the Season

2009-12-23T15:14:00.004-06:00

I just love the Christmas season- all the time spent with family has been really nice. We've had shopping outings with Grammy, lunches with your great grandmothers and parties with extended out of town family. You've had a lot of fun and of course love being the center of attention. Today we went to lunch with Grammy's side of the family and you did really well considering you had to sit in your highchair for two hours! We found some sunglasses in your bag and you were all about showing off. Too cute!!! Too bad I didn't get pictures of that.

You have been so good about the Christmas tree. You still like to touch the ornaments but you don't take them off. You also like to pick up the presents and look at them but you put them back without damaging them. We did have one minor incident where you lost your balance and fell onto all the presents but only damaged one- good thing it wasn't anything breakable. :)

You love to play hide and seek! You go into our closet and close the door on yourself and then about 3 seconds later you come out and start looking for daddy or me. We'll hide behind the door or a chest or on top of the bed. It's so funny because the first place you look is wherever we hid the last time. And you yell out "dada" or "meeeee" really loud. So I think when you say "meeee" you are trying to say "mommy". I'm not sure, because when I ask you who I am you still say "dada", but when we play hide and seek and you are looking for me you say, "meee". It's kinda funny. But I'm claiming "meeee" as "mommy" since it's the closest we've gotten so far.

18 Months

2009-12-07T12:49:00.004-06:00

As of December 5 you are officially 18 months. Today we went for your well visit at the doctor. Here are your new stats:

Weight: 27.2 lbs (60th percentile)
Height: 32 inches (50th percentile)

I can't believe how big you are getting! Only a month ago I was having to roll up your pant legs because your pants were so long, but I no longer have to do that. And you are a very smart little boy. You follow two step directions, point to lots of body parts (you especially like to point to your belly and your bottom) and you LOVE the Christmas tree! As we come down the stairs you say, "chee, chee, chee!" for the "tree" and you love to touch all the ornaments. We have a Santa doll also and whenever anyone says "Santa" you run over and get the Santa doll and say, "ho ho ho". It's really cute!

Another cute thing you do: When we say, "Jackson, be happy" you get a HUGE smile on your face or you laugh real big and when we say "be sad" you put your hand to your eye like you are crying and you make a whimper noise.

You are such a happy boy!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T08:21:00.005-06:00

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had! The food was great and the company was better. You, Daddy and I went over to Grammy and Grandpa's for a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. You got to visit with your great grandmother Nana and great grandmother MayMay. You also got to see some of your great aunts and uncles. Everyone loved watching you and you ate it up. You brought out all your tricks- pointing to body parts, clapping, dancing, talking, etc. You had a blast! It was very hard to put you down for a nap at their house because you were having too much fun! You loved the Thanksgiving food but had more fun playing. We are so thankful for you, Jackson, and all the blessings God has given us. I am so amazed how the Lord continues to bless our family!

Grammy and Grandpa:

Life of the Party:

Little Imitator

2009-11-15T21:19:00.005-06:00

I thought you were a little imitator before but I had no idea! You are really imitating EVERYTHING! It is amazing what your brain is soaking up. It's true when they say that children are sponges. You imitate arm motions, silly faces, noises and pretty much everything else. We can tell you what something is one time and you remember. You still love to play in the bath and I recently bought you some new bath toys. In the pack was a sea horse, a blow fish, a whale, etc. You love these toys and know each one by name. You are also loving music more and more. Anytime you hear music you dance and you clap when the song ends (like whoever was singing did a good job). You still love books and puzzles. You are so good at your puzzles- you can put them together on your own in about a minute. Not too long ago you needed my help to fit each piece in. You are growing so fast! Also, when we tell you it's time to pray you will put your hands together. They don't stay together for long but it's a start. It is so sweet.

A little about our days: For the current school year I am working three days a week and staying home two. For the three days that I work you are going to MDO at Lakeside Baptist. Grammy picks you up at about 1:15 and takes you home for your nap. (You are such a good napper these days- your one nap a day is usually about 3 hrs.) On the days that I stay home here are some of the things we do: you have independent play time every day; you also have blanket time or room time on some days; you do puzzles; you have art time with paint or crayons and sometimes sidewalk chalk if the weather is nice; we listen to music and of course do lots of reading. We usually have errands to run too. Our days are very busy! On days that I am home I try to get some house work done and you love to help. Your two favorite things to help with are sweeping the kitchen floor and putting clothes either in the washer or the dryer. We have so much fun!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T20:10:00.006-05:00

You had a lot of fun tonight dressed as a puppy dog. We went trick or treating around the neighborhood and by the third or fourth house you really had the hang of it. At one house you even signed more after the person had given you a hand full of candy. It was so funny!

So excited about going trick or treating!