Summer Fun Continued...

This boy sure does love to empty out things. This time it was books off his bookshelf.



We enjoyed getting together with Colton, Caden, and Makenna the other day to swim.

G, Dada, Brooks, and Aunt Anne visited the other day and they had lots of fun playing!

We watched Colton for a little bit last week and he and Jackson had tons of fun. They enjoyed covering themselves in blankets and giggling. Those boys play together very well. They both have an abundance of energy and love running around like little wild men.

We have also enjoyed story time and the mall with Jacob and Luke. Jackson enjoys getting together with them too. We are so thankful to have lots of little boys to play with!!!

Stay tuned...we finally got wood floors in the living/dining room. Pics to come soon.

Jackson is saying some pretty cute stuff these days.

• In the car the other day he said, "mommy, I'm happy." I said, "I'm happy too" and I was. :-)
• He says, "watch this" and then will do some sort of trick. Laine and I like to joke that in a few years he'll be saying this to his friends as he jumps off the roof.
• If he doesn't want something (usually while in his car seat) he says tells us, "I don't want this." The other day he had his hand out with a booger on the end of his finger and said, "I don't want this booger."
• My favorite is still, "Mommy, what ya doing?" The way he says it is so sweet.
• The other day he said, "Ryan, I love you." He will also talk about loving his friends.
• He tells us that Sheepie (his little sheep he has grown to love) needs to be covered and patted in the bed too.
• He likes to say, "Jackson a good boy" or "I a good boy."
• He can tell us his first and last name.
• One of my other favorites is when I tell him we are going to visit friends or go swim or go to the library and then he says, "yeah, it be fun!"
• In the car he likes to point out which direction to go. He says, "go this way, not that way."
• Loves to point out his boo boos and those other people have. He likes to talk about them and get/give kisses.
• When there is something he doesn't want to do (go to bed, take a bath, leave the house, etc) he says, "five minutes."
• He has said a few times, "Jesus loves me" or "I love Jesus." He is really starting to participate in prayers at night. I love that he is picking up on the things he is learning at church and home. We saw a rainbow last night and I asked him if he knew who made the rainbow and he said God. :-)
• He's also starting to say that something is scary or scared. Usually I think it's to get attention. He will also say, "such and such is going to get me." The other night he said, "Jesus is going to get me." And he said, "Daniel is going to get me." We had been talking about what he learned in Bible class and how we can pray to God when we are scared like Daniel did. I think he must have had that on his mind. We had to assure him that they were not going to get him and that in fact Jesus helps us. :-) I love talking to him about these things and am now realizing just how important it is to be talking to him about it since he's starting to understand so much more.
• He is so curious and interested in EVERYTHING around him. Laine and I took him to Bed, Bath, and Beyond yesterday to get some stuff and he touched/pulled at EVERYTHING he could get his hands on. It literally takes two of us to keep him from destroying a store. I no longer can take him to the grocery store with me unless I'm just getting one or two things. He is just too busy. Although it makes me crazy, I love that he is curious and interested in what's around him.

Sometimes I just look at him while he's sleeping or while listening to him in the car and I cannot describe the incredible sense of awe I feel in the blessing that God has given us. It makes all the tantrums and time outs worth it. :-)

Jackson's Big Boy Room

We finally finished Jackson's big boy room. He's been sleeping in it for a few weeks now and doing great! He hasn't asked to be rocked but 2 or 3 times. I just tell him now that he's in a big boy room he doesn't have to be rocked anymore. Kind of makes me sad...sniff sniff. He seems to be okay with it. We decided not to do a big boy bed yet. I'm just not ready for the transition. So, we bought an inexpensive crib that turns into a toddler bed very easily. Our plan is to keep him in the crib until I'm ready to tackle the transition. Plus he seems to love the comfort of the crib right now. Jackson's room is just a random assortment of old furniture (my dresser, Laine's desk, my old and almost falling apart book shelf) right now. Once Ryan is bigger we will put them in the same room and look for some bunk or twin beds and new furniture for the boys. Considering we spent very little money, I'm happy with how Jackson's room turned out. With the crib, mattress, a new lamp and a few storage containers, we spent about $260 total. Not bad! I'm also SO happy we never painted the walls in the room. They seem to match well with his decor.

I'd like to paint the base of the lamp to match the red in the room if I get around to it. I'm also loving that we are storing a lot of the toys in his room so we now have our living room back!



We are using the quilt from his old room. Too bad his bed never looks like this. It's always FULL of junk.

This was Laine's desk and we re-covered the bench. I LOVE the fabric. I knew it was perfect the moment I saw it. I guess I'm just a sucker for the old time race car theme. We are using the fabric to do a project in Ryan's room. More pics to come soon....

Of course I had to slip in a few pictures of Jackson. Here he is making sure that he does not miss one drop of the ice cream in his bowl. Like mother, like son!

Playing outside.

I'll end with some pics of our bedroom for Amanda. She never saw what we did with it. We decided to put a desk in the cut out area and it has worked out well. I don't particularly love our room because it doubles as an office and doesn't always feel as cozy as I'd like but I do love the sitting area we created. :-)

That's all for now. I'll post pics of Ryan's room when we are done. I'm really excited about it. When we are done I think we will have only spent about $60! Having another boy sure has made it easy!

Ryan Todd

Well, it's official. We've decided on a middle name for baby Ryan. We chose Ryan Todd. I am so excited because this name means a lot to me. Todd was my Grandma Ruth's maiden name and great Aunt Rae's last name. It's also my brother and cousin's middle name. I have such special memories of my grandma and Aunt Rae so it makes my heart happy to pass it on to Ryan. I wanted to take a moment to remember some things about Grandma and Aunt Rae and I look forward to telling Ryan all about them.

For as long as I can remember Aunt Rae lived with Grandma and Grandpa. My grandpa died when I was in elementary school so it was just grandma and aunt Rae after that. They lived in a condo in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. It was the PERFECT spot! They lived on the lake and the village had beautiful rolling hills that were perfect for long walks. Aunt Rae was kind of sickly and never married. I was really lucky because it was like having 2 grandmas in one house!

Here are some special memories I have:

• Playing in the rocks under the house. We had so much fun down there.
• Fishing and riding in the boat on the lake.
• Long walks through the village.
• Going to the village gift shop and getting coloring books and crayons and then coloring with Aunt Rae. We were always so impressed with her coloring skills!
• Visiting all of the other old people that lived near grandma and playing with Fudge (the poodle that belonged to the neighbor.)
• Grandma's potato casserole and other special treats that she had that we didn't have at home (sliced cheese, fun cereals, etc.) I'm not sure that my mom ever bought sliced cheese so it seemed like a HUGE treat at grandma's house.
• Going to O'Brian's Pizza.
• Taking showers in grandma's upstairs shower. I still remember the smell of the soap.
• Doing our nails with grandma's fun nail polish.
• Looking at all of grandma and Aunt Rae's fun jewelry. They had lots of clip on earrings, broaches, and big necklaces.
• When we were a little older Grandma would take us shopping and buy each of us some clothes.
• Sitting on the balcony and enjoying the view, especially when it rained.
• Christmas and Easter at their house.
• Being amazed that they only fixed their hair once a week or so when they went to the beauty shop. It was perfect every morning when they woke up!
• Sleeping in the other twin bed in Aunt Rae's room. I have to admit, it was a tad bit scary as a kid because she used oxygen at night but it was still a special treat. And we always enjoyed seeing the pictures of Aunt Diane and Dad on the shelf above the bed.
• The long car ride in the Suburban to Arkansas.
• Going to the science museum nearby.
• Special conversations with Aunt Rae and Grandma. They were such special and sweet ladies. I miss them both so much.

There are so many more special memories I could list and I'm sure I'll think of tons once I'm done here. I'm so thankful for the time I was able to spend with them.

I have to admit, I'm really getting excited about Ryan's arrival. I can't wait to meet him and introduce him to his big brother. I wonder what he will look like, what kind of baby he will be, and how he and Jackson will get along. I can't wait to be the mom of two special boys. What a blessing. Unless he comes early, we should be meeting him in about 6 weeks.

Another Weekend With Family

We were able to spend another weekend with Alex and his family before they head back north. I really wish they were closer so we could spend more time with them. I wish Jackson could play with Emma more often. They were very funny together. Both of them have pretty strong personalities so there was a little conflict from time to time. :-) Neither wanted to back down when it came to sharing some toys.

They enjoyed swimming in the lake. Jackson was holding on to Daddy for dear life but he did get in.



Poor Laine had to do it all by himself. I'm not a huge fan of lake water... especially being 7 weeks away from giving birth!



Jackson wearing Emma's backpack.




Uncle Mark and cousin Alex.




More swimming.




About to go on a boat ride....wait...is that thunder we hear? Yep, no boat ride for now. :-(




Getting cleaned up.




Grandpa and Grandma took everyone to Medieval Times to celebrate several July birthdays. We really had no idea how Jackson would do since he cannot sit still to save his life. But we thought he might enjoy the horses and action. Wow, did he ever. I have NEVER seen this child sit so still for so long. He watched like this for over an hour and a half. Laine and I were more in awe of that than the actual show! Jackson LOVED every second of it. Of course he only ate a piece of bread because he was so focused.

Here is a picture of the group at Mom's house.

Jackson spent a lot of time watching and trying to play with the dogs. He loves them.

We are so thankful for the time we had to spend together. I would really like for Jackson to be close to his cousins so hopefully we can get together more often!

Lots to Celebrate

We had a very busy weekend visiting family and friends. We finally got to visit with Uncle Alex, Aunt Jessica, and cousin Emma. We haven't seen Emma since she was 9 months old! That is WAY too long!!! Jackson and Emma enjoyed playing at the new park near Mumsey's house.

Could she be any stinkin' cuter?

We also had the opportunity to visit with very special friends. Amanda's dad put together a great fish fry to celebrate the 4th of July since Amanda and her family were in town. We really enjoyed it! Lots of yummy food and a special boat ride to watch the fireworks. This was Jackson's first time to watch fireworks and he really enjoyed it. We sure did miss you, Lauri! :-(

And we had great company too with Katherine and Jacob and...

the Correa family.

Sunday morning we drove to Dad's and went to church with them. We enjoyed a great fourth of July service. The preacher talked about patriotism and the sacrifice men and women have made for us. But the most important part of the message was on the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for each of us so the we may have eternal life if we choose. I really enjoyed it. Jackson did great and even went up for the children's message and played with the other kids during the service. After church we went to the Veteran's Memorial. I've never remembered my camera when visiting before so we took advantage of having it and took some pictures. My dad put a lot of heart and soul into the memorial's creation and continues to help with it's upkeep. It is a very special place for him.

The family bench.

Dad is working on getting bricks for the grandkids.

And of course Jackson had a blast running around creating all sorts of trouble!

I hope each of you had a very special holiday weekend as well. Stay tuned for more pictures soon. We will be visiting with the family again this weekend. We have to take advantage of Uncle Alex and his family being so close!!!