Inchworm and Playing in the Dirt: Part II + Mama Monday

Part I: Playing in the Dirt. Thankfully, last night was an eventless call night - my favorite kind!!! I love being a nurse anesthetist, and taking call is part of it, but it's awesome when my call nights are quiet and I don't get called back!!! So this morning we got up early (and so did J) and by 8:30 I had some work done in the house, Wes had gone to Lowes and Jackson was back down for a nap. We finished the box frame:





So easy




Wes hard at work



And the finished product. Since this pic we've loaded a yard and a half of dirt into it (but it's covered now w/ plastic b/c it's raining). It really wasn't as bad adding the dirt as we thought it would be. Acutally faster than we thought. Now we just have more dirt to add, then mix in the peat moss and the cow poop :-) We should have it done by the end of the week. Then we just have to put some plastic over it and heat the soil up to kill off any bad stuff. Could've bought it that way, but it was much more expensive!!!

Part II: The Inchworm



We managed to catch Jackson inching around today, but we had to get it while he was on our bed and distracted. He just freezes so often when he sees the camera or the camcorder. I guess they realize they're being watched, not sure. Anyway, here's the inchworm himself :-)

Part III: Mama Monday

A highschool classmate of mine, Erin, has started something on her blog called Mama Mondays. It's such a great idea! Each Monday she's got a different topic and all the bloggers can comment, add to it, whatever. Since we all know that parenthood is definitely trial and error (haha we've found that out fast and maybe we hope to learn from others), I love this idea!!! This week her topic is on Disney World, as she and her fam just got back from there... while we have nothing to add to this topic since it's gonna be a while since we go there, if any of you do, please post on it and let me know!!!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Inchworm and Playing in the Dirt

There are two parts to this blog, but unfortunately only one part has pictures...and it's not the cute part, lol. Jackson has been, and still is, our little roly poly, but he's now turned into our little inchworm as well. He's not able to crawl (yet) but when he's on his tummy, he pulls his legs up under him, sticks his bootie in the air, and inches forward. It's so cute (and funny) to watch, but we cannot catch it on camera or video!!! We'll get it soon I hope so that we can share it with everyone. Everything else is still the same with the little one. Hard to believe he'll be 6 months this coming up week - it's flying by and he's grown so much. I think he's hitting another growth spurt as well...seems like a few things that fit him just a week or so ago are almost too small :-( He's getting more personality and babbling more and more - I can't wait to hear his first words!!!

So the second part - playing in the dirt. We've been working on our back yard. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's pretty big, and we've dedicated a 20x18 ft spot for a vegetable garden. We've decided to make a raised bed, so it's the beginning of a process. And y'all know how the work schedule in anesthesia is (mainly being that you don't know how long you'll be at work haha) and it's not been that conducive yet to much building. Add to that a baby who's attention span is pretty short and a husband with bad allergies and you see where I'm going with this. Luckily, I'm off tomorrow b/c I'm on call tonight, so we're planning on getting a ton done. Hopefully more pics will follow tomorrow with a finished box and some dirt :-) Looking forward to playing in the dirt!!!



Here is the plot we're using...


Wes starting the process getting rid of grass and tilling the land.


A halfway completed raised bed frame.

Tomorrow we have to finish the frame and level things out before we can begin the process of dirt mixing and filling. Wish us luck!! If any of you have tips (like maybe Daisy), we'd love to hear them :-)

Easter

Here are the pictures from Easter, courtesy of Jackie :-)




Such a sweet boy! Does he look like Noel Mark a little to anyone else???




Baby yoga


This is Jackson's Easter outfit. It was still cold, even for the 1100 mass that we went to, but that's ok. He looked so grown up :-) :-( (mixed emotions about that one!)


Time w/ Pops



And w/ Nonnie


Jackson was soooo sleepy after church!


Three generations of Rankin men

Hoppy, er Happy, Easter

Jackson enjoyed his first Easter, and he even managed to sit through church with only an hours worth of a nap. He only cried out a couple of times when he got tired. Thankfully all but one where while everyone else was singing...maybe he was just joinging in, haha. And the best part was he fell asleep in my arms (even though it was only for about 15 minutes), and it was the first time he has done that in months! It made me realize how fast he's growing up :-( We've spent the weekend in Anniston with the family and it was great to see everyone :-) Unfortunately, all of today's Easter pics of Jackson in his Easter outfit are on Jackie's camera, but I've got a few from the rest of the weekend. Hope it's been a good one for everyone!!



Sitting in Grandma's lap


With Granddad


Jackie and I had great plans for an Easter photo shoot yesterday...unfortunately the timing didn't quite work out...Jackson was starting to get sleepy and wanted to get into everything instead of sit still.


Uh, what are you doing???



Anything in his sight he now reaches for


He loved the Easter eggs, even though they didn't fit in his mouth ;-)


This is Wes' Easter bunny from a long time ago!! What better way to enjoy a childhood toy of your father's than to eat it!


Happy Easter!!!

Grilling and Chilling

A group of us met at Leslie and Lee's on Sunday. It was a great time!!! Hope everyone has a great week :-)


A game of cornhole going on...nevermind the "A" we'll get much better ones w/ an "AU" lol


Jackson had a great time, even though he was short a nap....


Mary and Emma, who was watching birds fly overhead

We had such a great time guys!!! Can't wait to do it again :-)

Fun in the Country

Last night we went way out to the town of Springville - all the way to the country! We went to a place called Local Color Cafe and ate supper and listened to a couple of bands play. They were really good!!! And we had so much fun :-) It was a last minute thing that someone I work with brought up, and luckily Jackie was in town, so she stayed home with Jackson. The first band that played we just saw a little bit, and they were good, but not the real reason we came. The second group of people that played, we loved. It was Jason Bailey, Michelle Cone & Kelli Johnson who played. They are kinda bluegrass players on their guitars, and one Jason Bailey on a mandolin. Boy, could he play that thing! They played Allison Krauss, Ronnie Milsap, Guns n' Roses, and some great original stuff. I would highly recommend you check them out if they play anywhere near you. Other than that, it's same ole stuff around here. Jackson is doing great. He still does not want to sit up. He can sit when we help him up, but he just wants to stand - silly boy. So we put him in the exersaucer to let him stretch those legs out and stand (supported) on them. He loved it and was so funny in it :-) Here's a few pics




I LOVE this one!


He just sat and played. He tried to get him mouth on all the toys (big surprise) and it was so funny.


Close up. He's changing so much and we still can't tell exactly who he looks like...


At Local Color Cafe, hanging out and listening to the music.


The rest of the gang.

Happy Birthday

My love! 30 years ago you were born into this world...almost 25 years ago we met as little kids...15 years ago you came to Donoho...we became good friends, and the rest is history :-) Here's a few pics from the last 10 years or so (I didn't dig too deep, lol); hope you enjoy:







We were such babies in this one...this was right after Wes came back from basic my freshman year in college.





Right after we got engaged



Our first Christmas together married

Way back when in Auburn

At Tyler's wedding

Me and you 2 weeks before Jackson's arrival :-)

Proud Daddy on Jackson's first day!!!

At our fav place - the beach

Cape San Blas

At Noel Mark's wedding

Celebrating your return home from the Middle East

It's true what they say about men in uniform :-D

Riding in a Blackhawk, defending our freedom!

You're the best and Jackson and I LOVE YOU!!!! Here's to MANY more!!!

Happy Birthday

Joanna!!! Have a great day! Hopefully we'll be able to see y'all soon.

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday Mom!!! Hope you have a great one!!!

We've had a great weekend! Speaking of birthdays, we had a little party for Wes last night to celebrate his upcoming birthday...the big 3-0. I would love to upload some pics, but blogger is not cooperating, so I will upload them later. We had some supper at the house, then we went out to Wine'd Down. It was a great place to go. We were able to sit and have a drink and talk to everyone. Thanks to everyone who came :-)

Saturday we woke up to SNOW!! Here's a few pics that I got to upload. We took Jackson outside for a few minutes to see the snow again. He'll probably be 5 or 6 before he sees it again, lol.



He's always, well almost always, smiling these days.


I love this one :-)

5 months

Time is flying by...what else can I say?

Weekend Away

We spent the weekend in Anniston, making the rounds. We spent a night at my parent's house, then a night at Wes' parents' house and saw some friends in between. It's great having family so close. I know everyone enjoys getting to see Jackson (and maybe Wes and me too, lol). I was really excited that we got to see Toni and Mark, and their children, Zoe and Cooper. Unfortunately, timing wasn't the greatest and all children were either sleepy or sleeping. Oh well, at least we got to catch up for a little bit, but no pictures to prove it. Next time! Other than that, things are the same around here. Work has been really busy lately. A couple of days last week I didn't even get to see Jackson all day, which I hate! But at least he's got his daddy with him all day. That is really working out well for us. Wes is doing well in school and only has a couple of weeks left in this term. Here are some pictures of what Jackson is doing these days:



Lots of tummy time - he rolls over so fast these days and pushes up on his arms all the time.


Grandma time...


This weekend the weather was so nice, so we spent a little time outside Saturday and Sunday.


Jackson's new favorite thing to put in his mouth - his toes. It's hilarious :-D


First time in the high chair at Grandma's house. Actually, first time ever in a high chair. We haven't put him in one here yet b/c we haven't started him on baby food yet. We are waiting about another month for that - look for pics of baby food everwhere soon to come ;-)


With Dianne


And with Cleo. He was so good when we went over to visit!


How could you not fall in love with this little guy?


Getting kisses from Daddy


Jackson is trying sooooo hard to sit up, but he's not there yet. So everyday he does his "ab work" and strengthens those muscles. I'm not sure why he wants to sit up so much because everytime we sit him up, he pushes off to stand up. The boy does not want to sit, he wants to stand. And he never really lost that stepping reflex; he still tries to "walk" when he's on his feet. It's too funny!


Now, look closely at this picture. "X" marks the spot where I left Jackson when I went into the kitchen to wash bottles (the never ending job!). Maybe 5 minutes later (maybe not even that long), I came back into the room and found Jackson about 7 feet away - watching basketball on tv. I have never seen him move that far, so I had to run and grab the camera to document it. Leesa has her little tumbleweed and we have our little roly poly!


Close up of him watching tv...


BUSTED!!!