Some pictures from last month. . .

These are from November 5th when Baron started pulling up.  He wasn’t (and still isn’t) cruising yet but he pulls up on everything!

Here’s the pumpkin that Jay and Jackson carved together on Halloween.

The brotherly torture begins.  Can you tell how NOT happy Baron is to be in these pictures? 

I love this picture!  Jackson literally runs to meet Jay at the back door every evening when he hears the garage door.  He jumps into his arms and gives him a huge hug.  They are so sweet.

Jackson got a reward for sleeping well for 1 week.  It was a Grinch and he was thrilled.  He wanted me to take pictures of him with the Grinch.

I love this shot of Jackson, it really shows his disposition.

Adrienne and I worked on an auction for the kids school and took some pictures for the website.  We didn’t get any fantastic shots because it’s impossible to get 3 kids to look in the same direction and smile in a short amount of time in the cold and wind.  But the 3 models sure were cute!  Here’s Ella, Jackson and Ellie.

Finally. . .pictures from Halloween!

Here’s our little Tin Man!

Since Charlie hated his lion costume he was much happier at the carnival in Bear’s scarecrow costume!  Also as I was taking this picture Jackson was very serious about helping Charlie.  I kept trying to get him to smile or look at the camera and he would say, “mommy, I’m taking care of Charlie-I’m holding his hand so he doesn’t fall!'”  Jackson adores Charlie. . .almost as much as he adores Ellie!

Here Jackson and Ellie are doing an inflatable horse race.

Sweet little Dorothy.

This is Mrs. Yule, the school’s director.  And yes, she is definitely as much fun as she looks.  She’s awesome and the kids love her.

Jackson and Ellie waiting for the hay ride.

Hirst family minus Superman who was working one of the games.

Damian with the kiddos.

The hay ride was a huge hit.

Can you tell that Jackson was happy that they had a “tattoo parlor"?”

Jackson loved Adrienne’s batwoman costume.

Jack’s karaoke debut!

Later he got on the main stage and started singing.

They had tons of fun crafts and games.

And of course we spent at least an hour in the bounce house!

What an awesome night!  It was so great to just have fun with Jackson.  He’s such an incredible little man and I’m so blessed to be his mommy!!

The Christmas Spirit!

Yes, I know I have done nothing to catch up on posts and haven't even mentioned Jenna's awesome 30th bash but I plan to do all of that soon! For now, it's time to think about Christmas!!
Jackson has been so excited to put up Christmas decorations and I think we are going to try to get the tree and all other decorations up on Monday. I think this will be my favorite Christmas ever due to Jackson's excitement. It's so cool having kids because the things that used to be so magical kind of fade with age but having kids takes you right back to that "can't even sleep due to excitement" kind of feel.
Anyway, Christmas makes me think of the cards I never sent last year. . .being very pregnant made me very tired:) So, this year I'm going to try to get my cards very soon!
And even better is that this year Shutterfly is giving bloggers 50 free Christmas cards! You just have to sign up at http://bit.ly/sfly2010. The only challenge is deciding which card to order – there are so many really cute designs to choose from! Luckily, you can narrow down the options by size, color, designer, etc. You can also save your card and come back to it later.
Here is where you can go to find the greatest cards available once you choose your favorite photos:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards.
And I use all of my other favorite pictures from the year to make calendars for the grandparents:
http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars
The hard part is choosing from over 100 super cute designs: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery.

Jackson's School Picture

As usual I am SO behind on blogging (especially since I don't have a computer. . .and can't download any pictures). But I'm going to do my best to start today with the current stuff!

Today we got Jackson's school pictures and I can't believe how old my baby is looking these days. Here's little Mr. Dimples in his 3 year old preschool picture:

People say that the 3's are harder than the 2's. Some days I totally agree. But then there are other days when my little man is the sweetest and most caring person I could ever imagine. Last week we were taking a nap together and he put his hands on my face and said, "mommy, we are cuddling because we love each other. You are my best friend!" He does and says the sweetest things and I just LOVE this age. . .most of the time. Then there are those other times when he is being so stubborn and obstinate and the worst part is that I realize he's doing something that he probably got from me. But being on this mommyhood journey is so amazing, frustrating, trying and fantastic-I just feel so blessed to have two perfect and healthy little men. And of course that I have such an amazing husband who works so hard so that I can raise these two little guys. Jackson is my little buddy and because he's such a little talker I find myself talking with him like I would a friend sometimes. And it's really funny when he talks to me like Jay does. I had a headache the other day and Jackson said, "baby, can I get you some medicine? You really should lay down love." He of course just repeats what he hears but it's so funny to hear him saying all of the things he hears from Jay. It also of course makes us acutely aware of our influence on him and how important our words have become. Knowing that we are raising men who will someday be husbands, providers and fathers seems amazing to me. I want to savor every (or at least most:) moment with my boys but I also see glimpses into Jackson's personality that make me so excited to see the man he will become. And of course I feel the same way about Baron who such a sweet and gentle personality and just loves to snuggle. It will be so fun to watch him grow into a little boy and hear all about what goes on inside of his head.
As we all know I could go on and on about my boys but I have to get to bed. I just had to post when I saw in this picture what a little boy Jackson has become. What a blessing it is to be his mommy!

CRAWLING

I totally forgot to post that on Saturday Baron started hands and knees crawling! He's not nearly as active as Jackson was as a crawler, he still checks stuff out for quite a while. Never the less I'm sure he'll keep me on my toes significantly more now that he's crawling around! He also pulled up on the coffee table a few times but I don't think he's officially "pulling up" yet and he definitely didn't do any cruising. Just pulled up to check things out and then plopped back down after a few minutes. We got several videos on Saturday that I'll be posting as soon as I have my hard drive back:)

Bear's (early) 9 Month and Jackson's (late) 3 Year Stats

So, today I took the boys to a new pediatrician (more natural, homeopathic etc.) for their 9 month (despite the fact that we are 11 days early) and 3 year (two months late) check ups. They are both healthy which is good but their stats are confusing. Back on August 23rd I took Bear for his 6 month and he was 29 3/4 inches long with a weight of 21 pounds and 4 ounces and a head circumference of 18 1/2. He was 97+% in all 3 categories. Today he was 29 1/2 inches (90%) weighed 22 pounds 10 ounces (85%) and had a head circumference of 18 1/2 inches (83%). So, his height and head circumference both decreased and he gained only 1 pound and 6 ounces. As most of you know there was a reason I was so eager to change Bear to a new doctor. Jackson's former doctor was great (I just didn't like his partner) but I did not agree with most of what Baron's former pediatrician said and questioned almost all of his advice. Anyway, the prior dr weighed him in all of his clothes and it was after a feeding with a full diaper. Today it was only in a clean diaper and right before his nursing time. So, in reality he did gain a little more than that. But as for the head and height. . .who knows! The only thing that matters is that he is healthy and happy! And my new pediatrician was really great. They avoid medication and really push more natural treatments. So, hopefully we can stick with this group for quite some time!
Jackson is also doing very well. And he talked the doctors ear off which shouldn't surprise anyone. At a little over 3 years Jackson is 40 1/2 inches tall (93%) and weighs 43 pounds (99%).

Bath Time with Big Brother

I gave Jax and Bear a bath this morning (for some reason we always do morning baths-I know the rest of the world does them at night) and it was so much fun. First of all Bear LOVED splashing around and was just laughing non stop. Secondly, my favorite moment was when Baron got a little scared after getting splashed in the face Jackson came up behind him and put his legs around Bear and said, "it's ok Bear, big brother is here. I'm here to protect you." I just love how sweet and protective Jackson is of Baron. Jackson has had some days recently of really trying my patience. But then we have days like yesterday where we have so much fun together that I can barely even remember the prior days of frustration. Jack is such a kind, smart and loving little guy and even when he's driving me bonkers I feel so blessed to be able to be experiencing all of this time with him. It makes me so sad to think of him going away to school in a few years. Anyway, back on track, this morning was a definitely happy moment. Watching my guys squeal with excitement over splashing in the tub was a joy.

Hallopalooza!

On Halloween night we went to Hallopalooza, the party at Cross Bend, where Jackson goes to school. He had such a blast! Adrienne and Damian were working the party (they go to church there) and were dressed as super heroes which everyone loved. It was a great way to spend the evening. Jackson and I left daddy and Bear (who was sleeping) at home. It was really cool to have a few hours of fun with just Jax. We really had a wonderful time playing together. Jackson was so sweet and almost perfectly behaved:) I have a TON of pictures that I will of course post when I have access to them. At one point Jackson was jumping in the bounce house and a bunch of big kids (middle school boys) got in and Jackson came over to where I was standing and put his face agains the netting and said, "mommy, these boys are CRAZY and I LOVE it!!" Then another time Jackson put my face in his hands and said, "mommy, when I am big I will always want to play with you." One of the most fun parts of the evening was Jackson in the karaoke room. At first two teenage girls were singing ("eye of the tiger") and Jackson asked if he could dance with them. Then he looked at one of the girls and said, "can I just have the microphone and ya'll can go sit down?" It was really funny. Jackson didn't know any of the karaoke songs so he just belted out "how much is that doggie in the window." His song was precious and he got an inflatable guitar and microphone as a prize. The teenage girls who were working the karaoke machine were so sweet to him and clapped and cheered during his song.
At the end of the evening Jackson said it was his best halloween ever. And seeing him have so much fun and really enjoy everything was priceless. A perfect end to a really nice weekend. Great weather, great family, great nap on Saturday and some good news, Jay was able to recover a large number of my photos and videos. I'm not sure how many we've got b/c I haven't been able to look at them yet but he said there are around 40,000. Of course tons of those may be temporary internet files etc. Anyway, Halloween 2010 was a huge success and now we are looking forward to some wonderful time in Beach City with Nanny and Paw Paw for Thanksgiving!

Saturday 10/30/10

Baron started crawling (a mix of army and hands and knees) and got his second tooth (bottom left) today!