Happy Birthday Dad!!

Sorry I'm a day late posting!! Hope it was a great one. Here's a few pics of you making Jackson laugh :-D He can't wait to see you again!! He's growing so fast, you won't believe how big he's getting.

Busy Day "Off"

Today I was off because I was on call yesterday. Thankfully, I came home around 9 and didn't have to go back :-) I got up with Jackson this morning and we all just spent the day working around the house, doing a bunch of boring stuff that has to be done, lol. It's so great when I get to spend the day with Jackson. He's my sweet boy, and his sweetest time is still the morning, which I usually miss! Here are a few pictures from our busy day around the house today:


The bumbo is supposed to be for sitting, but here's Jackson using it as a teething apparatus ;-)


Trying to get the bear in his mouth...seeing a pattern?


I'm not sure what it is about Baby Einstein, but Jackson is mesmerized when we let him watch it. The great thing about that is that it allows us time to work out!





Hello everybody


Working on crawling...the scary thing is he's already moving a couple of inches at a time!

Jr Pup Pilot

Today we had a couple of things going on. Wes' parents came in for the day yesterday and spent the night. I didn't really get to see them b/c I was on call last night (and we worked all night until 4 this morning!), but they got to get some Jackson time :-) Today they left and went to Thomas' basketball game. I wish we could have gone - I'm sure it would have been fun to watch a bunch of 5 years olds "play" basketball, lol. First things first, I had to get some sleep! Then we went to Emma's first birthday party, and it was very nice. Jackson did good around the largest group of kids that he's been around yet. Came home and now I'm almost off to bed (gotta gear up for call again tomorrow), but I wanted to get a few pics up first. These first few are Jackson in a little sleeper that I had to buy him b/c of what it had on it. This one's for Granddad and Uncle Noel - it's Jackson's "flight suit." Okay, not exactly what you two wear, but it'll do for Jackson (for now :-))! Hope everyone is having a great weekend.


Jackson's Flight Suit


Jr. Pup Pilot!


How cute am I???


"Swimming" through a sea of Auburn :-D


The birthday girl herself, Emma. Happy First Birthday!!! Now, tell your daddy to start your blog soon so we can see more pictures fo you!!!

Rain Rain Go Away

It's hard to believe that just a few hours ago it was pouring down rain and thundering and lightning so bad, and now the sun is out! It was so loud I was afraid it would wake Jackson up from his nap, but he soundly slept through it :-) We've had a nice laid back weekend with just the three of us relaxing and doing a few things around the house. It's so fun to spend the whole day with Jackson; he's got such a great personality and is such a fun little guy! Here's a few pictures and a video from this weekend...enjoy.


Jackson is fascinated with the fish screensaver on my computer.


Peeking out from underneath his burp cloth.


Another with the burp cloth on his head :-)


I know this one ended up blurry, but I still thought it was cute. He will put the burp cloth in his mouth and chew on it. No surprise, anything he can get in his mouth ends up there these days.


After sleeping through the storm, I went to get Jackson up from his nap. We never know which way he'll be facing. I lay him down on his back facing his mobile, but 9/10 times, he makes his way to the other side of the crib and sleeps on his tummy. Now when someone walks in the room he'll lift his head up to see who it is.


This pic's for David, who gave us the swing. Jackson now likes to swing and listen to the music that it plays. This will keep him entertained for 15-20 min :-)


And, for those of you who haven't seen or heard Jackson laugh out loud, here it is...

Double Take

We've been letting Jackson look at himself in the mirror since he was about 2 weeks old, but tonight was the first night we took pictures of it. He's so funny when he sees himself. He used to see himself, smile, then turn his head, but recently, he'll look and laugh at himself longer - it's so cute! It's been a pretty good week since we got back from the beach. It took Jackson a couple of days to get back into his routine, so Monday and Tuesday he was a little off. Grandma (my mom) was here until Thursday morning, and Jackson saw Nonnie (Wes' mom) and cousin Mason today for a bit, so he's gotten some family time this week :-) Hope everyone has a good weekend!



Just hanging out.


Loving the shirt from Uncle Noel and Aunt Joey


Jackson LOVES bath time!!!


Hooded towels are the best thing to wrap up little ones in :-)

Jackson's First...

Trip to the Beach!!! We went to Gulf Shores this weekend and had such a great time! We were able to leave Friday morning, since I was off from work. We got down to the beach around 1430. We just relaxed a while, then went to get some seafood for supper - we had crab claws, fish, crawfish, and shrimp and grits - YUM!!! We both could just live off of seafood :-) We actually ended up having the crab claws at the restaurant, then bringing the rest of the food back to the condo so we could do what we needed to with Jackson, then enjoy the rest of the evening. The condo that we stayed at had a great view of the sunset and the sunrise. Saturday we took Jackson down to the beach 2 different times...it's very hard to time this around his naps and still get some good pictures. It was so bright, but the time when it's best to take pics is during Jackson's last nap - but I think these turned out ok. Gulf Shores is snow-bird city right now and all the older people loved seeing Jackson. Everyone wanted to come see him while we were taking pictures - which launched into stories of their grandchildren. Too funny! Then Wes went and picked up some crab legs for supper for us, and we ate at the condo again. Much easier than taking the little one out. Jackson did good sleeping in the packnplay, and pretty good in the car. Unlike the last time we travelled at Thanksgiving, he was awake the majority of the time. Not bad, but he likes for someone to be in the back with him...and y'all know how much I hate riding in the back - but we all survived. He's been a little bit off schedule, but I'm sure Wes will crack the whip and get him on it easily this week, lol. We can't wait to take him back when he's a little older and can enjoy the trip a little more!

And Happy Birthday Leesa! Hope it was a good one :-)


Sunset Friday night




Saturday Morning, not quite awake yet, haha


Beautiful sunrise from the balcony!! They are working on rebuilding the pier at the state park which was washed away by hurricanes.


Just taking it all in...





We thinks he looks a little like Mason here...




I could never get him to look at me when he was laying down...too mesmerized by the sand!







Again, mesmerized by the sand.


Who could go to the beach and not get some pics with the sea oats? Not a Rankin!


When we went back in the afternoon, it was cold - in the high 50s and windy, so we put Jackson in one of his little fleece outfits :-)









So much fun, we can't wait to go back!!!

Happy Birthday

TONI!!!! Hope you have a great day with Mark and the little ones. I can't believe it's been over a week now since you've had Cooper... I know he's changing and growing already :-) Mark has a lot of shopping to do for those three b'days so close together, lol. Happy Birthday!!

On another note, my friend, Daphne, is in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia. If you want something inspirational to read, check out her blog.

Have a great Thursday everyone. I'm on call today, then we're off to take Jackson to the beach for the first time tomorrow... we can't wait!

Babies and Beads

We had a last minute Mardi Gras party last night. Leesa, Jason, and Jack and Mary, Chris, and Emma came over. We had hurricanes and gumbo :-) It was lots of fun. Emma and Jack loved playing with the beads. Today is Ash Wednesday, and I still haven't decided what to give up for Lent...better hurry!


Emma loved pulling the beads off the table onto the floor, then picking them up!


Emma playing with Jackson :-D


Jack loved to hit the beads on the floor and listen to the noise they made.

4 months

Jackson is now 4 months old!!! We can't believe how fast the time is flying by. We went to see Dr. Dudgeon today for Jackson's well baby visit. He is 13 pounds, 14 ounces, and 25 inches long, which puts him in the 30th percentile for weight and 50th for height. I thought weight wise he'd be in a higher percentile group, but he's been right around 30th percentile since he's been born, so he's right on track. We also talked to him about the rash that Jackson has on his face, and it's eczema. He just has two little spots on his face, one on his eyebrow and one on his cheek, but the should clear up pretty quick. On the down side of things, he had to get 4 more shots. He was so pitiful when the nurse gave them to him, but as soon as she was done and we picked him up, he was ok. Here's a recap of the little man over the past month - it seems like sooo much has changed sooo fast!
- he has gone from sleeping 8-9 hrs to 12 hrs a night :-)
- learned to roll on his tummy from his back - and sometimes vice versa
- has begun to sleep on his tummy, which scared me at first
- reaches for his toys
- can sit leaning forward on his arms
- has given up his paci, but now sucks his thumb (and we can't take that away lol)
- smiles and laughs at everything!!!
- has become the most adorable 4 month old in the world (ok, we're a little biased!)
Here's some pictures from the past couple of days :-D


Trying to pull of his socks.


Jackson will roll over and get "stuck" like this. He can roll back to his back, but he'd rather someone else do it...then roll right back to his tummy.




Everything goes straight into his mouth these days - and for many more to come!




He gets at least 15-20 min in the playpen each day.




He still needs help sitting up, but that's what the bumbo is for!