Oh, I know I know!

Lately Jackson has become quite the little problem solver.

When we were walking to the park and he wanted to get there faster he exclaimed, "oh, I know I know, let's save our money and buy a hot air balloon. Then we can fly to the park next time and it'll be so much faster!"

When he stuck something inside of one of the tiny holes on his microphone and wanted to get it out he said, "oh, I know I know, why don't you put me into the shredder and then one tiny shred of me can climb into the microphone and fix it!"

When Jay won't let him jump off of the kitchen counter for fear that he will bust his head he cries, "oh, I know I know! Why don't I just wear a helmet and use a shield for my body to stay safe and jump where ever I want!"



Also some funny quotes that I forgot to include in the Francis visit posts were:

At The Great Wolf Lodge Jackson kicked his shoe into the tv knocking down the remote control and making quite a scene. Gaga told Jackson to stop (he was laughing hysterically) and she said that it wasn't funny. Jackson kept laughing and replied, "but Gaga, can we just pretend that it was funny!"

In the car the boys were discussing pregnancy. Jackson was talking about when Baron was in my tummy and Lennon started talking about when he was in Shelby's tummy. I told him he was in Jenna's tummy, not Shelby's. Anyway, Lennon kept arguing saying, "Aunt Hillary, I think I think, I am SURE I was in daddy's tummy." I asked him why he thought that and he simply said, "because silly I wouldn't fit in my mommy's tummy!"

When we were at Aunt Mandy's for the 4th of July Jackson came out side after his nap to see that about 8 or 9 other kids had arrived and promptly stated, "mom, a whole clump of kids got here while I was sleeping. You know, like old milk. . .it gets clumpy!" He also did a hand motion to further illustrate the clump of milk being poured.



Some other random Jacksonism's
"Mom, why do I have one big ear? Papa says I have one big ear. . ." -Papa, that quote is for you.


Jackson also puts a ct at the end of many words, for example "truckct," for truck and "sickct" for sick. It's pretty funny.


He also inverts certain syllables and mixes up several words. For example instead of "The Incredibles" he says increbdibles, instead of horrible he says horbidle. He says vebtigles instead of vegetables and he told me I was adorbidle (adorable) a few days ago.


While watching Special Agent Oso recently Jackson asked me how old Oso was. I replied that I didn't know and he said, "well, at least 16 because he's driving a car and the police didn't take him to jail."

He's very into talking about Jesus and asking people if they have Jesus in their hearts. We have talked about how praying is talking to God and that God can always hear you. In the car the other day he asked if police were like Jesus. I told him they weren't and he said, "oh phew because I wanted to ask you if I could drive our car to Ellie's but I didn't want the police to hear and take me to jail!"

My Boys at 5 Months

Bear at 5 months is such a blast. In the last month I've gotten him into an awesome sleep schedule (IF I ever have another baby please force me to do the sleep training earlier!). I broke down and let him cry it out. The worst night he cried for 34 minutes, so not too bad. He takes 3 naps a day and goes down for the night at 6:30 or 7 p.m. He NEVER cries in the car anymore. So, apparently I was a bad mommy and he was just sleep deprived. My new goal is to get him to quit waking up at night. I'm ready for a full night's sleep!

He's such a fun baby and laughs constantly. The funniest thing is how he laughs at Jackson. Sunday mom brought over lunch after church and Bear was getting hysterical watching Jack. Jack loves entertaining him as well. Seeing my kids "play" together is so much fun!

Below is Baron at 5 months having his first taste of food. He didn't really like it so I think we'll give it another month before trying again. My little baby is already wearing 12 month clothes. . .can you believe he's actually smaller than Jackson at this age. I'll prove it with a picture in just a minute:)


Sweet little guy. It's hard to believe he's already in the high chair.
Of course big brother Jack had to be the one to feed Baron. Jackson is such a little daddy. He even holds the monitor while Baron naps. It's really funny when he props it up by his toy lap top. He checks it every few minutes just to ensure that Bear is ok. When we were making smoothies the other day Jackson asked me not to put strawberries in it in case Bear was allergic. Of course Baron wasn't having any smoothie but it's still funny that Jackson is so mindful of his little brother.

Here is Jackson at 5 months having his first taste of food. He was definitely not a fan. I love this picture. Just look at those cheeks. . .and arms. . .
Sweet little Jackie.
Jack in the jumper at 5 months.
This picture makes me laugh so hard. You have to enlarge it to see just how precious and chunky Jackson was at this stage. He was shorter than Baron and 3 pounds heavier. I used to really wonder why people commented on his size. . .
What a happy little guy Jackson has always been. I am so blessed to have such fabulous, snugly and sweet little boys!

New Chapter. . .

On September 4th, 2009 Jay was laid off. After 14 months of having a traveling husband I was actually just relieved since he had been so unhappy in that position. At the time I was 4 months pregnant and we both thought we'd have a few weeks together and he would quickly be back at work. Fast forward to now and he is starting a wonderful new job tomorrow, exactly 11 months, to the day, after being laid off. The last 11 months have been very eventful in our lives, 5 months of pregnancy and then almost 6 months of precious Baron. Throughout this time God has taken care of us every step of the way. We went through frustrating times and times of doubt but God always had a way of reminding us to trust him and that he would always carry us.
For the last 11 months Jay and I have been together pretty much 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We have eaten every meal together, faced every challenge together and shared every laugh. I am so happy and grateful that he has a new job but I am going to miss him so very much. All I can think about today is how much I love my wonderful husband, partner, best friend, etc. and how much I will miss him as our life returns to normal. Don't get me wrong there were times that each of us wanted to strangle the other but 90% of the time we really enjoyed our time. After such a period of being away and traveling for work, this time together was just what we needed.
And as I reflect back on the blessings that came out of the unemployment I can't help but see how God orchestrated this period in our lives. I can see so many reasons we may have needed this. Not the least of which is that, and most of you know this, after Jackson was born I had horrible postpartum depression. And when I say horrible I mean, super bad, in a funk, can't pull myself out of it, depression. Maybe God knew I needed Jay to be around after Baron was born because even with some challenges (NICU, nursing, etc.) I pretty much never got down this time. It was so different. Now maybe that was by chance or some chemical in my brain kind of a reason but also maybe it was Jay. Anyway, there are several other reasons why I think God allowed us to go through this tough and wonderful time but that was one of the most obvious.
Ok, now I'm getting long winded (I know, not a surprise!) and sappy but I just wanted to say that I have loved being with Jay. Even our worst day of bickering was so much better than my best day when he traveled.
And while I know he will rock this job I can't help but think that we won't have this much time together again until we are retired and probably 70. We just need to come up with a business idea where we can work together. . .any ideas anyone?
Well, I've got lots of other catching up to do on the blog but I wanted to bang this out while it was fresh on my mind. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family and a husband who after being with for 11 straight months. . .I still adore:)

Jackson

While Jay was unemployed we prayed 4 times a day (before each meal and at bedtime) for Jay to get a job, 1)in DFW, with 2)no travel, and 3)benefits. Jackson of course hears (and often imitates) everything we say. Two weeks ago when Jay announced that he had a job offer Jackson immediately asked, "is it in Dallas? Will there be any travel? Do we have benefits (not that he has any clue what that means)?" When we said yes to all three things he replied, "wow, God gave us everything we asked for!" I thought it was so awesome that he recognized that God had answered our prayer. Unfortunately after that he got hysterical crying and begging Jay not to work and just to stay home with him. We explained that God created men to work and that Jack was very blessed to have a mommy who stayed home with him because most kids had two parents that worked outside of the home. Our logic failed and he kept crying.

Jackson is such a cool kid and I love watching him grow. A few days ago we were at the park (definitely not this week of all triple digit weather!) and Jackson said, "God has given us such a beautiful day mommy, we should thank him!" It just warms my heart to see him appreciate what we have been given and learn see God in the little things. And it's especially encouraging on the days when parenting him makes me want to pull out my hair. Did I mention his new favorite activity is peeing on the carpet for sport? Boys are SO different. . .but awesome in their own way!

Cousin Visit Part 3: Papa and Nana's House

The visit with Papa and Nana started with a camping trip. We had a beautiful spot on Lake Murray in Oklahoma.


Poor Mia with her pink cast. She didn't complain a single time about having to swim and play in a cast for over a month.

Lennon LOVES the water!
Papa and, as Mia calls her, Aunt Freckles.
Jay throwing Lennon in the air.
Mia doesn't go quite as high. . .
Sissy, Lennon, Papa, Freckles, Mia, Jay and Jax.
Another group shot.
Bear was great on the trip despite the heat. Did I mention there was a record heat wave the week we were there?
Bear didn't seem to mind:)
Mia with Bleaker, Noah and Jessica's new baby.
Jackson after having his first ever taste of ice cream. Of course it had no sugar and was sweetened with honey. He thought it was awesome and asked for more!
Due to the heat we left Oklahoma a few days early and came home to camp at Nana and Papa's house. It was super fun and we loved having their awesome pool and AC when we wanted it:) I need to get Nana's camp pictures to post more b/c I obviously didn't take very many.

We went to a public pool/water park one day. Here's Bear snoozing in one of Lennon's shirts. Yes, that's right, my 4 month old sleeping in a 3T. In fairness, it's pretty big on him.
Shelby and Lennon.
Sissy and Jack.
Sissy and the "twins."
Baron woke up very happy.
He is almost always smiling.
You can't really tell hear but his hair is super curly.
Lennon taking a cracker break.
Nana with 4 of her (almost 6) grandkids.
A few days later we went to stonebriar to ride the carousel.
Sissy is the most fun!
Bear napping on Nana's sofa. I can't for the life of me get him to sleep without the swaddle. And he's almost grown out of the size large!
Just to show you how long this burrito baby has gotten!
Jaclyn and Bear at the pool.
Jack putting on some goggles.
Jenna and her BFF Jaclyn.
Sissy and Lennon.
Uncle Noah and Aunt Jess.
Jack and Nana. Nana and Papa each worked with Jackson for an afternoon and it greatly improved his comfort level in the pool. Thanks guys!
Nana, Bleaker, Jack and Jess.
Nana and Bleaker.
I love this one of Jess and Jackson.
Noah and his new baby.
Handsome Uncle Jer.
The boys planning a water fight.
Mia and Emma.
The boys had a major water fight with Nana.
They would get her with water guns and she would splash them with water. They had a blast.
Lennon pushing Jenna into the pool.
Sissy is one of Jackson's most favorite people in the entire world:)
Jack and Lennon goofing off.
Love that Jackie Bo Bo.
Aunt Freckles did really well having her house taken over by children.
Uncle Jer making a splash.
It was awesome that Jackson would float by himself all through the pool. This was new for him.
Papa and Uncle Jer are always so serious.
What kind of a mean mommy would take this picture? I don't know why but I thought he looked cute upset. . .
Bear loved napping on Sissy. He seems older than 4 months there. . .have I said that before?
Love. That. Baby.
Our tiny man is getting so big!
The four cousins. . .even if only two of them are looking.
It was impossible to get 4 smiles so I settled for 4 faces.
Baby Bear after a bath. Reminds me of a picture of Jackie I need to find and compare:)

Our visit with our amazing cousins was awesome and we miss them terribly already. Please move back to Texas soon! Thanks so much to Gaga, Papa and Nana for such fun trips while the Francis family was here. And Jenna, please remind me of all of the great kid quotes I need to add. What an awesome family we have. . .can't wait to see you at Christmas!