Happy 14 Months!

Jackson turned 14 months on September 29th.  

Here is what he has been up to this month:

Jackson- you weigh 20 something pounds! Hah (I took him to the dr. Thursday, but this bad momma didn't even look at the scale)

And for the first time, he got to stand on the big boy scale, instead of sit on a table to be weighed. Such a big boy!! :-)

Still in size 4 diapers.

You are now in a size 5 shoe!! I got you your very first pair of Nike Shox.

You wear all 18 month clothes.

You love to eat still. You have learned to use a spoon and fork. Only if I don't mind you getting messy! :-)

You love going to JuJu's and CoCo/Sebastian's house.

You LOVE to give sugars. They are getting VERY slobbery though.

You have started to point at everything, sometimes you name it- sometimes you don't!

You wave bye, blow sugars (with one finger), point to what you want, play patty cake, Where's the baby?, and peek-boo.

You don't walk anymore, you run!

We took you to the Demolition Derby last weekend, and you LOVED it!! You pointed and the cars and tractors the whole time. You new word since then, TRACTOR :-)

You are extremely clumsy. Just this week you busted you lip THREE, FOUR, FIVE times!

You talk a lot! Babble on and on. You can say lots of things. Your daddy played football the other day and you walked to the side-line and said "DA DA!". You wanted him to play with you.

You can KICK a soccerball.

You climb on everything now. Coffee table, toys, bed, bath tub, etc. It makes me soooo nervous!

You started getting in trouble at the babysitter for "riding the pony" on the little babies. :-/ YIKES. You love to do this to daddy.

You got your 457th ear infection, and URI. Your eyes were swollen shut, and it scared you very much.

You really love to dance. All we have to do is put music on, bang on the table, OR just say "Dance Jackson!" and you dance. You do this crazy thing with your feet and it makes us laugh every. single. time. You do some sort of swaying back and forth, and a little hip movement!! ;-) Such a Posey.

Yet again, you amaze us more and more. I'm so so so thankful for that. I'm proud of you each and every day- and have no idea how this happens, but I love you even more the next day and the next.  You're starting to not seem like a baby so much, but I can still see SOME baby in you- I know one day this will pass- so i'm savoring every moment.

Happy 14 Months baby boy,

Mommy and Daddy

Grammy, don't worry I will have pictures up soon. I'm at school writing this- since this is about the only time i'm kid-free. :-)

13 Months!

Sorry this is a few days late, we have been EXTRA busy. :-)

Jackson- you are 13 months old today!!

What have you been up to?

You weigh 23 pounds and are still in size 4 diapers.

I just changed your closet and dresser for the 3rd time, you now wear very few 12 month clothes (except jeans) and all 18 month shirts!

You wear a size 4 shoe.

You sleep wonderfully. You still have not given up your morning nap so.. I wake you up at 7:30 on Tues. and Thurs. and 8:00 on MWF. You take a nap @ 9:30/10 sleep till 12. Nap @ 2:00 bedtime at 8:00.

You LOVE to eat! You went through a stage where you would hardly eat, but now you eat 3 meals a day and 2/3 snacks.

Favorite Food: BLUEBERRIES!!

You are now trying to run instead of walk. You sound like a herd of elephants.

You are definately an animal lover! CoCo and Sebastian have a dog named Jack, and you literally ride on him every MWF. :-)

You like to feed Ozzie. Thats how we know you are finished- you throw your food to him.

You are talking A LOT. You can say many words, these are what I can remember and are new: Ozzie (AAA-ZEEE!), Ball (you love to throw any ball and play basketball in the tub), you yell SCOOOOORE when you make it- your daddy taught you that, hot (for food), blue (BUUUU- this is your favorite thing), Mommy- instead of Maaaama, Livi (your friend, her "real name" is Alivia), baby (baaaaabyyyyyy) there is a new baby at JuJu's, <---- you can also say JuJu, and book.

You love to play peek-a-boo, and clap!

You now are in love with your "blue baby" AND blanket. You must have them to sleep.

I just started babysitting CoCo and Sebastian, and yall get along great. I love that you face lights up with excitement when we pull in the driveway.

Your sweet puppy got hit the other night and it terrified you (and me). Now, since he is hurt and sore he can't jump and run away from you- so you take full advantage of that.

*Most of these pictures were taken at the Children's Musuem of Memphis :-)

You are learning and growing more everyday! It amazes us how smart you are. Your daddy says this is his favorite stage so far (his face is priceless watching you throw a ball). We love you more than words can say.

Love, Mommy and Daddy

One Year Appointment.

July 30th, Jackson went for his One Year appointment. We blew bubbles in the waiting room, and then went to get weighed, shots, height, and blood drawn!!  

He wanted to play with every child in the waiting room, my social butterfly.

Weight: 23 pounds!! He is as healthy as can be!  :-)

Height: 30 inches.

I can't remember exactly, but his head was in the 40s. Just know its large, like in the 95th % :-)

I have this picture of his first doctors appointment with daddy. Only a 17 pound difference.

Listening to his big boy body! Thats his Doctor, Dr. Best she is awesome!!

This didn't last long after his 3 shots! :( Poor little baby.

He was fascinated by his bandaid on his finger!

Dr. Best was very impressed with Jackson. She was so happy to see him walking and talking! She said he will definately be a talker. He did have low iron- but we're working on that. So far baby asthma hasn't shown its mean ole' head again, we're keeping our fingers crossed no more of that! He is also suppose to be saying about 2-4 words, and we're starting to surpass that, go Jackson! His Dr.'s office loves when he gets there, and always knows his name as soon as he walks through the door. He is a ladies man, what can I say? hah.

In about 2 1/2 weeks, I will be back to school, Jackson at JuJu's, and keeping 2 of the most precious kids ever, CoCo and Sebastian. We are very excited- and ready to get back into the swing of things.

Goodbye Mullet, Hello Little Boy!

Jackson was beginning to have a "mullet" as his daddy would say-  and Joshua just couldn't stand it any longer! The day after his first birthday, Daddy took off work to enjoy J's very first haircut and a few other things!!

Of course, Ms. Ash-leigh had to do the honors of his first haircut!!

eating a sucker full of hair.

he did awesome getting his haircut. We gave him a sucker, took his clothes off so he wouldn't be itchy all day, and I wore the cover! It worked out perfectly. I have a new appreciation for dum-dums!

Getting him all cleaned up. Ms. Ash-leigh said he was her best baby! :-) if only she lived with him.

He is a big boy now!!

First Birthday Bash

On July 24 we celebrated Jackson's first year! We had a great group of family and friends, yummy home-made icecream, a Sweet Scentsations cake and baby smash cake, 20 balloons, party favors, and lots of new toys! :-) His first birthday was perfect!

His invitations were made on etsy. I used "Lil Sprout Greetings", and she was amazing and very helpful.

Cakes and cookies were Sweet Scentsations, and highchair ribbon my mom made! :-)

The picture doesn't do it justice, but the "Happy Birthday Jackson" banner was made by Aunt Jams!

Mommy and Daddy blowing out the candles!

He had absolutely no problems eating his cake! :-)

Present time.

Sweet baby isn't  loved at all!!

Loving on Granny and Jack after his party. Thank you to all who celebrated Jackson's first year with us! He is truly blessed.

To: Jackson :-) From: Momma

My sweet boy,


          In December of 2008, your daddy and I discovered we were having a baby. We were scared beyond belief, we did not know if we were ready for a new addition. We were perfectly happy with little Ozzie, and our somewhat simple life. A lot of things ran through our mind, but we knew our love was strong enough to take on this huge obstacle of a new life. On President's day 2009, January 19, we had our first baby doctor's appointment. I was so nervous I couldn't stand it, and your daddy was equally nervous, except I found that out after we left. I walked into the scariest, cleanest, and quietest room. My hands trembled, and my mouth quivered every question the doctor asked. I had no idea what was coming. He whipped out this instrument and said he was going to listen to your heartbeat. To me, at the point, that was not a big deal at all. Your daddy pulled a chair up behind my head, held my hand, and we heard the most amazing "thumping" noise ever. The doctor said he thought you were a boy, I looked back at your dad and his face was priceless. At that very moment I was in love with you. I loved everything about you, although I had never seen you. You were perfect to us. I knew WE could do this. No matter how hard it would be, we had eachother.

On July 29, 2009 at 6:57 p.m you graciously made your appearance. You weighed 6 lbs. 15.5 oz. and 21 inches long. You were pure perfection. With 33 people waiting for your arrival, you were loved the moment you entered this world. Daddy and I could've eaten you up! We were so proud of you, and couldn't wait to bring you home. You were born with tachyapnea and a heart murmur. Everyday I asked for prayers for you on facebook, we spent time with you in the NICU, and called every waking hour through the night. Through this, you got your name "Sweet baby J". You were given an IV and after one hour of having it, you pulled it out. Today, I know that was a sign of your personality. You are strong willed, and know what you want. :-)

A whole year has passed, and i'm thankful for you every. single. day. You wake up every morning with the sweetest smile on your face, and the wildest hair. You are the loudest child, and physically very strong. You are a daddy's boy, but love your momma. You hardly ever cry and love to eat. As much as I hate to admit this, you are very independant. I always wanted a "lap baby", who would love on me all day long, nope not you!! You love bath time, and swimming. Your face lights up when your daddy comes home from work. Your grand-parents are your world, and vice versa. I am more than thankful for them. You are spoiled rotten, and proud of it! Your aunts and uncle eat you up. I believe they are all going to get you in trouble. You ignore the word "NO". :-) You love to ride on anything, horse, car, four-wheeler, wagon, anything. You love your friends. You will play outside as long as momma can allow the heat. You love going to JuJu's. Ozzie is your buddy. You are on the go 24/7, and make me very tired. The list goes on and on.

More than anything, you are our baby. God created you perfectly, and no matter how much we weren't "ready" for you, I wouldn't take one thing back. You have made me the person I am today, and I strive everyday to be the Mom you will look up to, and be proud of. I am so proud God chose us to be your parents, and know we will do the best job we can. Everyday I look at you and I can't help but smile, your squinched up nose, and your little blue eyes, melt my heart. I love watching your daddy with you, and hearing him talk about you. I'm thankful I can kiss you goodnight everynight, and be there for each of your needs. You were given to us for a reason, and I know you have great things in your future. I have watched you go from a needy infant, to a very independant, one year old. Your first smile, bath, words, food, steps, and teeth, each made me more and more proud. I long for the day to see the number five plastered on everything you own, and to hear you argue with your dad at who is better at this, and faster at that. I can hardly wait to look out the window to see you perfecting all of your skills, high-fiving your dad for your homerun, and being proud of all of your accomplishments. I will watch proudly at each of these milestones, and forever be your cheerleader! You are my life, and know I will love you no matter what, and will always be here for you. I love you Jackson!



Happy First Birthday Sweet Baby,

Mom.

Happy First Birthday Jackson!

Jackson you are 1 year old today!! I can't believe it- heres what you've been up to this month!

We will find out Friday exactly how much you weigh, somewhere in the twenties.

You wear a size 4 diaper and 18-24 month clothes.

You are now in a size 4 shoe.

You have 5 teeth! :-)

You are such a good eater now that you have teeth! Just this past week, you have really liked cheese and spinach ravioli (doesn't sound tasty to me!), you ate pork tenderloin, carrots, blueberries, peas, corn nuggets, fish, string cheese, everything!! It makes me so happy :)

You are no longer crawling..which means you have mastered another milestone- walking!

Your favorite toy is your Police Coupe Car.

You no longer take a bottle- only sippy cups with whole milk or white grape juice. And of course water!

You love to get in the dog food and your food cabinet.

You can climb completely out of the bath tub, you're a little monkey!

Words: Uh-oh, mama, daddy, you can moo like a cow, bye, Pops, Yah-Yah, and ride (which means you either want on the 4-wheeler or us to push you in your car. Yah-Yah swears you are calling my dad "Joe". Hmm. And i'm sure there are others I just can't remember!

You can wave, shake your head no, point to things, and raise your hands above your head and say YAAAAAY!!

Since it's so hot outside, we have been playing when the sun goes down, which typically puts you in bed around 8:30 or 9. And you wake up around 9 a.m.

You are still a wonderful napper! It makes us so happy you like to sleep.

You help a lot with putting your clothes on- you will reach your arms through for us.

You love to put things in our toilet.

You can throw a ball.

We celebrated your first birthday this past Saturday, it was hot, fun, and you got lots of nice things!! You are very loved :-) You loved your cake!

We are proud of each of these milestones!! This has been the most rewarding year of our lives, and we are more than thankful. I get butterflies just thinking about what I was feeling a year ago today- What an awesome feeling that is.

We love you to the moon and back,

Mommy and Daddy.

Bye-Bye "baba"??

I may break down in tears by the end of this post. Sounds crazy, I know, but I hate change. And I really am not ready for my baby to not be a baby anymore.

Today, I took away that little thing that Jackson has bonded with, learn to hold, give him his chubby figure, his white tounge, and most importantly put him to sleep everynight- you guessed it- his Bottle.

When I was a child, I drank a bottle till I was about 8 years old. Yes, EIGHT. I would have friends spend the night and I would wait for them to fall asleep so I could go fix my bottle. I fixed my bottle MYSELF. My mom did everything she could, but she just didn't have the heart to take it away. And honestly, neither do I. She refused to buy me new nipples, so my bottles were ragged out. You could bend the nipple to the side- and there would be a huge hole there. It was ridiculous. The woman wouldn't even fix my bottle for me. :/

Needless to say, I've been a little worried about my sweet boy saying good-bye to his bottle. I knew if I didn't make it a huge deal- (like when I fix his VERY LAST bottle, or bought his very last can of formula, etc.) it wouldn't be a problem. See, everynight I lay Jackson down with a bottle. Every morning I give Jackson bottle, and during both naps. Its his thing, and thats what he loves. To me, I didn't really see what the difference in a sippy cup and a bottle was, but believe me there is a difference. He didn't WANT the sippy for bed, he wanted his bottle. He whimpered and whined a little while, and off to dreamland he went.

Sweet boy.

Why do things like this have to be so hard for me? He did perfect without his bottle, it was ME that had the hard time. When I shut the door after laying him down the first time without his bottle, and he said "Maaa-mmm-ammma..." I lost it. I sat down in the living room and just cried. I texted Joshua and told him how proud I was, and of course he was too.

What am I going to do when he goes to kindergarten?

He is going to be one in just 10 days and I can't believe it. This has been the best year of my life, and I am So. Thankful. Last year, Joshua and I were awaiting his arrival and wondering who he was going to look like.

I came across this, it's written in the book we wrote in while I was pregnant.

July 16, 2009
36 weeks and 1 day

        I think you must be running out of room in my tummy. You like to kick me in my right rib- I have no idea why only the right side. The other night daddy was "talking" to you and you kicked him in the head! I was so proud of you! :) He also told you to give him high five- and you did! We are getting very impatient and cannot wait to meet you!

Love,
Mommy

Look how far we've come.

Friday Fun

Today, Jackson and I went to play with some friends. Olivia and Taylor- Yes they are girls, and no do NOT feel sorry for Jackson. They are 3 years older than him, and he can hang pretty well. And believe me, they are some tough little PRINCESSES!! :-)

I actually watched him pull one of them by the shirt off one of his toys, really Jackson? This isn't how you get the ladies. hah.

These are all taken at my parents'. Thats J's 4th pony. The picture doesn't do it justice, the baby is about the size of a Lab dog. The mom and dad are minatures.

This is Taylor.

We had fun though- I love watching him play with other kids. He has started walking a lot more since he has been playing with them though, its tough to catch the girls!!

Olivia is in the background. Jackson was loving every minute of this.

Will is in the pool behind them, he is 9- and could careless about these babies. hah.

On another note- here is a sneak peak of some of his birthday decor. I am doing a primary color/polka dots/and stripes theme type thingy!!  It has been a lot easier going with such a broad theme, decorating should be a piece of cake. Literally :-)

I didn't get a good picture of the other side of the stuff.

We are having a cake and homemade ice cream party, and I am VERY excited. I can't wait to see that little booger tear into his "smash cake".

I LOVE this picture. You can't really tell, but Olivia is on her "Princess" bike, (hence the princesses are missing because she tore them off), but it has a little plastic basket on the back, and she put Jackson in it. And they rode alllll night long. He even held on for dear life, because she drove like a bat out of hell. Her sister has the same bike, and they would switch out who would drive him. HaHa!!

Jackson and Gracyn

Our parents wouldn't be able to handle us as brother and sister, so God just made us cousins.

Jackson meeting his cousin Gracyn for the first time!!

I apologize in advance for the quality of the pictures, I borrowed them from facebook.

6 month age difference in these two! :-)

Today, they look a lot closer in age. They love eachother very much.

I am so excited to see these two grow-up and be bestfriends. Joel told me the other day Jackson better take good care of her, or he was going to have to have a talk with Jackson. I know he will take great care of her, if he needs to- i'm sure between her daddy and momma, the ground is pretty well covered. J loves her so much. (And so do I.)

I will have a few more post up soon that i'm working on, I just wanted to slide in a quick one.

Erika