Our first Fall...er, few falls

It is one of the most heartbreaking things when I see Jackson get hurt. I will be that mom that runs out onto the field and embarrasses herself -and her child- when they get hit in the face with a baseball. My mom was. Even though I was embarrassed, I loved it.

Jackson is pulling himself up and exploring his mobility options. With that comes the inevitability of falling. All I know to do is to scoop him up and let him know he is safe when that happens. It's a helpless and yet fulfilling feeling.

As I mentioned before, Jackson is becoming mobile. He's even starting to walk with assistance. We also have two teeth and more coming... the drool is unstoppable! His noises are becoming a little more organized and he's learned that if he uses his miserable cry at 5am that mommy will come put him in bed with her. Nearly every morning this happens and as soon as I open the door to his room he starts grinning. I know it's a game, but I love cuddling with him.

October is my favorite month. I loved sharing it with Jackson for the first time. We went to Greenbluff and picked out pumpkins, played with leaves, carved pumpkins, dressed up for Halloween (well, he did), made pumpkin-apple teething biscuits... I enjoyed my favorite month more than I have in a long time. Jackson seemed to enjoy it too!

August 2009 = Craziness

So Jackson's sixth month flew by. We had so much going on that I barely had time to appreciate all his new developments. The one I'm especially excited about is that he now sleeps through the night! Every time those words come out of my mouth I want to dance in place really hard.

Jackson is so close to crawling that it could literally happen any day. He scoots himself around the floor and can pretty much get to whatever seems the most appealing to him. Confession time: One day I was in the kitchen cooking harvest dinner (one of the things that made our month so crazy) and Jackson was in the living room playing with cousin Kaitlynne. I could hear him playing and talking and could see them around the corner, but since I'm not the greatest cook in the world, I have to admit that I was focusing mostly on the pot roast. Kaitlynne toddled around the corner looking a little suspicious so I decided to go to the living room to check things out. I could still hear Jackson, but when I looked around I didn't see him anywhere! I instantly panicked and felt guilty for not keeping a closer eye on him. After a couple more playful squeaks from Jackson I located him under the couch. Completely under the couch. He was content to be under there, but I still felt guilty...

I'm proud (and relieved) to say that we FINALLY bought a new (to me) car. After touring what seems like every car lot in Spokane I found the perfect car for us- a Mazda Tribute. It's not too big, but big enough to hold all of Jackson's stuff (for being so little he has a lot of stuff). It gets good gas mileage for an SUV (around 25), it was very well taken care, doesn't have too many miles on it and was in our price range. Yay!!! I officially hate car shopping.

Good Times, Great Friends

So Jackson's 5-months-old now. He's starting to sit up and pushes his legs like he wants to crawl. I don't know what I'll do when he can get around by himself! The next milestone? His Half-Birthday!! All the aunties want to have a party. :)

Speaking of Aunties... we went to Auntie Holly's house for dinner last night and I was reminded (again) of how great my friends are and how happy I am that Jackson gets to grow up around all of them. And... Holly makes great veggie pasta!

Today we're headed out to look for a new car. The ol' Jetta is getting a bit unreliable and we need a little more space- Jackson won't know what to do with all the space in the back of his new car!We're looking at a Chevy Envoy, a Ford Escape, a Mercury Mariner and a Toyota Highlander. I don't know how I feel about driving around in an SUV, but as long as it's smaller in size- so I don't feel like I'm truckin'- I think I'll be okay.

Jackson had his pictures taken a week ago with his dad. Here are some of the results:

I know what you're thinking so I'll just say it for you. Soooo cute...

Working Up to Running

Jackson is now a roll-over pro. He has mastered rolling over from his back to his tummy on his right side and is working on the left. At four months he looks like a little man and he's soooo much fun to be around! Since I went back to work full-time (about a month ago) he's been spending the day with Aunt Farren and Cousin Kaitlynne. It's so hard to be away from him during the day, but he's also very expensive... :)
This past weekend we walked in a 5k with Grandma Lynne, Great-Aunt Cindy and Cousin Kasi. Hopefully, this is the first of many races to come! We're working up to actually running them, but I'll have to get a jogger for Jackson first. (That's my excuse for not running yet...) A parade followed the race and Jackson loved it! There were so many things to look at!

*I'm working on accessing this from my Blackberry so I can post more often!

Look How I've Grown!

Just thought I'd prove to everyone how much Jackson has changed in the past 11 weeks.

Starting with the most recent pictures...

First Easter. Slept right through it...

April 12, 2009

Relaxing on the dryer.

April 9, 2009

Our first walk outside at Grandma Lynne's house. He loooooves the Snugli!

April 7, 2009

Uncle Curtis left for Iraq the next day. We miss you Curty!

March 30, 2009

Bath Time!

Old Man River catchin' a snooze.

February 24, 2009

Panda was upset that we didn't tell her she was going to be responsible for more than just Kaitlynne. As soon as she figured out there was another baby around she dutifully did her job as the protector.

February 16, 2009

Great Grandpa John and Jackson

April 17, 2009

Great Grandpa Crayton and Jackson.
February 16, 2009

This lucky kid has a great, great Grandpa, three great Grandpas, a great Grandma, two Grandpas and two Grandmas.

Happy First Valentine's Day!

February 14, 2009

At first, Jackson was a little small for his swing. Look at those eyes!

On the way home from the hospital.

He grew out of that outfit by the end of the week.

February 11, 2009

A little more sleep...

Jackson has become so much more interactive over the past week! He started smiling around 5 weeks, but his coos and smiles are now in reaction to things he likes and he can practically carry on a "conversation" with me. I love it!

For the past four nights Jackson has been falling asleep around 8:30... and staying asleep for at least a few hours! It's marvelous!! When he does wake up throughout the night it's just to be fed or changed and then rocked back to sleep. Last night I watched Celbrity Apprentice and I actually got to see who was fired! (Poor Herschel... I think I'd marry him if given the chance.) I feel incredibly rested for someone who hasn't slept through the night since February 9th. I wouldn't trade those sleepless nights for anything though!!

Two Months!?!?

I realize that for the next however-many-years-until-I-die I will often say all those phrases that old people in my childhood said. "Where has the time gone?" "Every time I blink you're getting bigger!" "I think we should put a brick on your head so you stop growing!!" "It seemed like just yesterday..."

I can't believe my baby is already two months old.

Jackson had his two month well-baby visit and had to get shots. :( The poor little guy never even saw those giant needles coming. I, however, did and I'm pretty sure I felt his pain. He instantly burst into an angry/hurt cry with a big pouty bottom lip to boot. He weighs a whopping 15 pounds (95th percentile) and is over 24 inches (90th percentile). His pediatrician said he'll be a "tall and handsome boy" but right now his body looks a little bit like a toad. He's so cute. And so perfect.

This week was pretty crazy for the two of us. We babysat cousin Kaitlynne (15 months) while my sister-in-law (aunt Farren) visited a friend in Florida. I guess I did most of the babysitting, but Jackson helped by sleeping just a little bit longer, being just a little more patient when he was hungry and tolerating curious pokes. It was so much fun, but I am exhausted. We went on walks, we danced to the radio, we ate yogurt with our hands, we crawled up the stairs, we crawled down the stairs, we took naps, we laughed, we cried. I feel like I changed seven-million diapers. There were so many moments that I wanted to capture completely and knew I wouldn't be able to by just taking a picture or writing it down. It was wonderful. Did I mention that I'm exhausted?

I look forward to watching Jackson explore his world like Kaitlynne does now. But I can't believe he's already two months old...

Our First Blog
I'm pretty sure there was a point when I said "I will never blog." I'm awful at journaling. I have a journal, but it's been four years since I received the book as a gift and I still haven't filled it up. There are entire quarters of certain years missing and most of the entries involve boys who made me mad. Ironically, the journal is from a boy who eventually made me mad- twice. With that in mind, this is purely experimental.

My new title of "mama" makes me suddenly want to chronicle every moment of every day because I know I'll never get those moments back. Jackson grows and changes every single day and I can barely keep up with him. He's only two months old and I'm already looking back at pictures from his birth and thinking of how tiny he was then. With each additional chub roll I'm reminded of how little he was, to appreciate these moments and to be excited for what's to come.
So, welcome to our blog. I hope you enjoy growing with us.