Christmas...

....I love Christmas dearly!! I love everything about the Christmas season and it always makes me so sad when its time to take down our decorations at the first of the year. This year was extra special because its the first year that Jackson actually "got it". Well...mostly that is, he knows its baby Jesus's birthday that we celebrate but he doesn't quite get why this Jesus guy we always talk about who is "up high and in our hearts" also has a birthday. He was really into Santa this year too....and trust me it was a great ploy to get him to behave everyday leading up to Christmas!!
So for the first time, we put out milk and cookies for Santa and filled our stockings with little gifts from him as well. Jackson woke up SO excited I thought he was going to bust out of his pants!! Everything he opened from his stocking was "oh my goodness--- I LOVE ______" it melted our hearts. We feel so blessed in the things we get each year for Christmas as well as the things we can give. Jackson was totally on present overload I think it will take weeks for all his new toys to settle in. The grandparents all got him something fun and exciting while mom and dad got him educational toys. I guess thats what we are for right?!?!
I missed my family in California as usual this Christmas, we are hoping to make it out that way next Christmas for sure since it just kills me to be apart from them during the holidays. I wish I could have all my family close by me to celebrate all year!!
So, now that another Christmas has come and gone...I hope everyone had a wonderful day and that each of you took time to remember the true reason of the season!

Can you believe...

...that this baby girl will be here in a little over 6 weeks?!?! I swear my pregnancy with Jackson seemed to lag on and on. With this one I have blinked and it is almost over. Got the last two major things for her room figured out today. She is going to get Jackson's dresser that matches the crib and we bought Jackson a nice new 10 drawer dresser today. Also bought the bedding, so exciting! The last things we need are just some decorative stuff for the walls. That's the fun part! Right now her room is being used as "Christmas Central" with presents that need to be wrapped piled on the bed along with all the boxes from our Christmas decorations. Along with piles of baby clothes and Thanksgiving decorations that need to find a place. Can you tell I am a little behind on my tasks right now?!?! Like I have an excuse or something :0). Thats all for now!

I am thankful for....

1) Jesus Christ-- my savior who died for me so that I can live!
2) My husband--our provider, my rock and the best daddy to our son.
3) Jackson-- my little man, you bring such joy to my heart with your sweet smile.
4) My parents-- without them to have guided me through life who knows where I would be today.
5) My brothers and sisters-- I love each of you for many different reasons, and I can't wait to see what life has in store for each of you.
6) My friends-- as I get older I feel my number of true friends goes down but the relationships get better and better.
7) And all the other blessings in my life to numerous to list.

I hope each of you has a very happy Thanksgiving!

SO...

...its a girl for sure. My next appointment is in a couple of days so I am going to have my Dr. confirm just one more time before we buy the bedding. Boy parts are so much easier to see than girls I feel....I feel with a girl at any time they can be like...whoops...its actually a boy! We are pretty confident its a girl though. The good thing is that I feel great and am loving the cooler weather around here as I continue to get bigger. I am getting a bit anxious on the logistics of having two children and how life will be but I am thinking that is completely normal. I am sure it will work out just fine....or be a complete nightmare...but I will be positive and hope for the first! Nothing too exciting going on around here right now, just wanted to give this a little update for now!

Will we ever know...

...for a 100% what this child is?? I have no clue. I had another ultrasound this last Tues and still no definitive answer. The tech said if she had to guess she would say it was a girl. The planner in me is screaming at the seams to know what this kid is either way. But never the less we have to wait again. The baby seems to be healthy and measuring ahead like my children seem to do which makes mommy look like she is farther a long than I am! (lucky me eh?!?!) I tried to upload a picture of the newest doodle but the link wasn't working. I will try again some other time.

Rick started night shift this last week. He likes it because 1) its not as hot out 2) time actually seems to go by pretty quickly. Right now he is working 4-10's with 3 days off. I am not super fond of the night shift because I don't sleep well with him gone. But its only for training right now so its temporary and then he will go to afternoons. He sleeps till about 130pm on the days he works and seems to transition well on the days he is not. I think it helps that we have two layers of blackout curtains in our room now so it looks like a night in the middle of the day. I also think since our house is newer it has pretty good sound barriers so he says he doesn't hear a thing.

Jackson has been doing great at school. The school I had him in over the summer turned into a major cry fest everyday that I dropped him off so I switched him back to his old school and he is back to waving me off as if I am never any fun! A little story from today....we had playgroup at a local park and one of Jackson's friends fell down and started to cry. Jackson so sweetly went over there and gave him a big hug and told him it was going to be okay. Its so funny how one little being can have so much of each parent in them. On one side today Jackson was being his usual social butterfly self mingling with everyone not being too attached to one or the other (like his daddy) but super attentive of others and how they are feeling (like his mommy). Have I told you already how much I love this age?!?! I really do, its just such a fun time in his life. Next goal for us really soon it the big potty training. Everyone is telling me how they think he is ready....I have just been dreading loosing my security blanket of him in a diaper while we are out and about. SO...I think its coming soon and trust me I will blog about it...stay tuned!

Its probably...

...a little girl growing in this belly of mine. Before I was preggo with Jackson I thought I have to have a little girl to get my girly fix in. Then came precious Jackson and this boy couldn't fill our hearts with more joy! With this one I was thinking two boys would be easier since we already had all the "boy" things in the house....and we would probably go broke with all the matching hairbows, shoes and leggings that come with every dang outfit out there for girls! But regardless as long as it was healthy we couldn't care less.
So we went to our apt. the other day and the Dr. did an ultrasound. Everything looks perfect, the baby was lying on its belly (probably already shielding itself from its bowl in a china shop big brother) and the Dr. was trying and trying to get it to give us a good "between the leg" shot and he finally got one. The Dr. said "I don't see any boy parts there"....Rick has been thinking all along that this baby was a girl so he was puffing his chest up like "see, I am super awesome". The Dr. said we will wait until my big ultrasound in 3 wks to officially confirm, but he's thinking its a pretty good shot we have a little drama queen...I mean princess on our hands! So.. I will confirm in a few weeks as to 100% what it is...then its really a girl....oh bless our pocketbook! On an ending note, we give thanks to the gracious Lord for this healthy growing baby and pray that everything continues to go smoothly throughout the pregnancy.....well and that Jill could some how make it back here to deliver my baby (wink wink...hint hint);0)

WHAT WHAT WHAT....

That is all I hear from Jackson lately...what is that? what does it do? etc. If I try to explain something to him and he doesn't understand he will continue to say what until I say it in a way he can understand. I love that he is so inquisitive and I always try to keep me patience even though he might say "what" 65 times (some days that's easier than others)! Like last night in the bath he had a cement truck that he was pushing around and he asked me "whats that momma??" to which I said "a cement truck" which I thought would have sufficed, but nope he looked at it for a minute then looked back at me and said "what??" to which I repeated myself. This when on probably 10 times while I was trying to figure out in my head what else to call it. So I told him "it was a truck that holds rocks" to which he said "OH...and it goes round and round and round (meaning the barrel)". SO, he knew what I was talking about, we see them quite a bit around here with all the construction of houses in our neighborhood he just didn't like the term "cement truck" for it!

why do I do this....

...to myself and not post anything for ages and then I feel like I am playing catch up!!! I used to be great about keeping up with this blog, now not so much!! It has been over a month since I posted anything and my last post wasn't even that exciting!! SO.... I guess I will go through the month in a short synopsis. At the end of July Rick graduated from the Houston Police Academy. It was 6 months of classroom and training combined. I am so glad that Rick finally feels like he has listened to what God has intended for his life. He graduated on a Wed. night and started work right away at his new station. Rick's parents were here for the week before graduation through graduation. Then my dad and sister came in town. My dad only for a few days but my little sister, who is 9 and Jackson admires her so, stayed for the next week with us. Then we flew out to California with her for a week. While in California we went to Disneyland for 3 days, which Jackson enjoyed every minute of!! So, to say the least we have had a very very busy last few weeks. Also, in those three weeks we told all who didn't know that we are expanding our family...that's right Jackson is going to be a big brother!! We are very excited and nervous at the thought of our family expanding. Just when Jackson is such an easy place in life we are going to add another to the mix!! We will find out soon what it is and I will be sure to sing from the roof tops to let everyone know. Right now though, I am glad to be home and get back to a normal routine with our little family. Maybe getting back into a routine means I will blog more?!?!? We shall see!!! My God's blessing flow to those who read this, and know God is good!!

Manners....

... I don't think something could make me more proud than when Jackson uses his manners. (His love for Jesus already and his little voice saying every 3rd word of the Lord's Prayer sure does top it all though, but I will stick with my original posting) The other night Jackson and I were paying ball (shocking I know!) and every single time I would hit the ball Jackson would say... "nice hit mama" or "wow" or something else positive. To which I would follow with a "thank you" and it never failed he would always say "you're welcome". Not to mention that when you sneeze he will say "bless you". I must say, Jackson is really good about his manners. But its something that Rick and I have been very adamant about teaching him. We use "please", "thank you" and "you're welcome" in our daily conversations with Jackson, but I guess just the other day it really hit me how much he actually uses them and uses them properly. I know this is quite the random posting, just thought I would share, since our blog is called a window into our lives!

He's 2.5....

...years old that is!! We are in full swing of toddler hood and still have all our hair!!! (Kidding) Jackson is still as sweet as can be, minus the moment he bit his good friend Jack in the arm SO hard it left a mark for every single one of his teeth.....oh did he get in SO much trouble and we felt horrible for our little Jack!!! Hopefully that was a moment of lessons learned for our son! The other 99% of the time we really lucked out with our little man. He is so sweet and easy going and a joy to be around.
He now sleeps in a big boy bed, he does a good job of staying put with his new found freedom! There are the occasional nights when going to bed is a little rougher than others (meaning getting up about 3 times before he finally crashes). He definitely is a night man and not a morning person, but that is exactly how I am so it works great for us! Now that he has mastered all of his motor skills he has had a super language explosion!! It started when we went to California for our last trip in March, Jackson looks up to his Auntie Ally very much and I think wanted be just like her and talk a lot. Its great hearing his little voice all the time asking questions, responding to ours and just being such a plain ole' big boy! We have also attempted the "big boy" underwear lately. Some days are better than others of course. He goes on the potty at least once a day and has for quite awhile now, I am taking his lead on the whole potty training thing. One day I am sure it will just click!
Thursday was his last day of school but he will start a new school for summer class in a couple of weeks. He really enjoyed going and I am so glad we started him in it! The new school will be great for us since it is less than a 10 min. drive from our house (as opposed to 15+) and it starts at 930am (as opposed to 9) which is great for our late riser.
As for his stats, last time we checked he is just over 33lbs and just under 36 inches tall. Not tiny by any means but totally thinning out. Here is my newest favorite picture of him....

Its been awhile...

... which is SO not like me! But since we bought our new blackberry's (which you couldn't beat the buy one get one free deal at verizon!) I haven't been sitting at the computer as much (which is a good thing?!?!?!). We have been our usual busy selves right now, but I am thinking that is never going to change. I guess I should back track a bit....
For Easter I had to sing at all 3 services at church so it was a very busy morning. Then we headed up to Conroe to see the family and have a casual lunch and Easter egg hunt with all the boy cousins. YES...all the cousins after myself and my eldest cousin Kandace are boys...totaling in 8 boys under the age of 20!!! (Do you think we need some pink??). Jackson LOVED finding eggs this year, he was able to do 3 egg hunts so you can imagine the load of unnecessary candy we had at our house. My mom also moved back from Norway for good during this time which was exciting.




The weekend after Easter was spent at car dealerships looking for a new family car. NO we are not having a baby yet but we are thinking for the future. With Rick not needing a truck anymore for work and with the amazing deals out there right now we felt it was a good time. My requirements were leather, blue tooth and key less access....so we got a Ford Edge! God's blessings continue to pour out for us and we feel so fortunate! We love our new car!!
The last weekend in April was filled with a garage sale (yes, I feel like we have become the garage sale junkies) and 2 birthday parties. Also, 3 friends gave birth to babies this last week!! Its for sure babyville around here!!
This week has been a little less eventful (minus the dinner for 50 at church while we watched the movie Fire Proof which was AMAZING), Jackson's allergies are in full ROAR right now which caused him to have a nasty cough this last week and with all this swine flu craziness going around we have decided to lay low. I don't personally think that it would kill us or anything crazy like that but I DO NOT want to even get the flu around here!!!! I hope April was great for each of you and I hope that you all celebrated the rejoicing day of Our Risen Savior, who died for us so that we can live!!

Where does time go.....

.... I feel like my days are zipping past me so fast lately. Not to say that we live this extremely exciting life or anything but there seems to be something on the calendar every day. Some days I feel as if I don't even stop to take a breath, why is that? Is it necessary? Yesterday, I was talking with my mom on the web cam and Jackson fell asleep during our conversation so I took a picture of us before I put him in his crib....

.....there will be a day that Jackson will no longer fall asleep in my arms, let alone fit in my arms comfortably (he almost doesn't already). Its moments like this though that make me stop and think, what's the rush? Why don't we stop and enjoy every minute of our God given lives? We are often all so much in the fast lane that we forget to embrace the little moments that really count. Jackson, before we know it, will be a grown man married with a family of his own. It will be an exciting time of life, I pray that God will allow me to witness it! But right now I am going to embrace these little moments in life. I also pray that each of you will take five minutes out of your day to stop and take a breath.

Future Chef??

... probably not but Jackson sure does love to "help" out in the kitchen when mommy cooks. He actually is a good listener so helping out doesn't usually end in a disaster! We had a playgroup pizza making party which was a perfect day for Jackson! The little kits for the pizza's from a local restaurant came with dough, cheese, sauce, 2 toppings of your choice (we picked pepperoni and artichokes) and a cute wooden rolling pin all for $6 dollars!!! The pizza was big enough to feed Jackson and I with a slice left over.

stretching the dough

adding the cheese

adding the toppings

I will throw anything...

....and by anything I mean ANYTHING!! You have heard 16,000 times that Jackson LOVES to play ball. If there is not an actual "ball" in sight...he will make do with something similar. When we are outside without any balls he ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS runs to our neighbors lawn (Drew and Kim, who love Jackson dearly) and pick the berries off one of their bushes and throw them as far as he can. He would do this for hours if he could. On this day I got some great shots with my new camera of him throwing his "balls".... Make shift balls!


Nice Throw!



I got you!

When your child is quiet...

... it can mean an array of things.

1) the most wonderful is, the blissful quietness of a sleeping baby
2) you've got a child that loves to read books by themselves
3) the curiosity of a child leads them to do things they know they shouldn't

Now, I have experienced all three of these, but on this day of course it had to be the last. I hadn't heard a peep from Jackson in roughly 5 minutes. So I searched the house up and down calling his name....no answers. Now Jackson has this new thing where he will hide but when you call his name he says "I hiding". On this day I didn't even get an "I hiding" response. SO, the not so cool calm and collected side of me starts to panic. Are the doors locked...yes...are all the serious cabinets with dangerous stuff in them still closed.....yes. WHERE ON EARTH (or in this house) could my child be?!?!?!?! Then I heard something, something coming from a place I failed to look.... our linen closet!!! I open the door to find this....





















He's got vaseline in the closet with him...






















smearing it all over his face....
















.... who me?!?!?!