Tiger Tales

Been TOOOOOO Long - 'nuf said!

2011-02-05T05:24:00.004-06:00

Since I have taken over as president of our state association, I've been soooo pressed for time. But I need to be better about posting so everyone can see how much the boys have grown. I'm going back to our Christmas photo shoot, which we held on our new backyard addition. We are going to love this once the weather finally starts cooperating here in Alabama (where is has snowed more this winter than in the past 10 combined!). Lucas is no longer a baby. I let his hair keep growing until after this photo shoot, because I knew as soon as we cut it, he'd really be a big boy. He's talking more and more each day and making long sentences now! He follows his big brother anywhere, and like Jackson, he has no fear...uh-oh! He was 20 months in these pictures.

Jackson loves the outdoors and can't wait for the weather to be like it was last weekend - high 60s and sunny! We spent the entire weekend outside :-) He loves his playschool and can't wait until 3k next year - when he will be at the big boy school!

Looking at the playground - where they really wanted to be

Best way to entertain - the tom cat app on my phone

The way they play with each other now, and really since day one, I have a feeling they will be the best of friends. Don't get me wrong, I know the will fight (like they do over Buzz and Woody now) but they are so sweet to each other for the most part.

Say "Cheese!"

Not a baby anymore!

It amazes me that Lucas will be 2 next month. Time goes by so fast! They are at such a fun age right now, I love all the time that we get to spend with them!!!! I can't wait to see what they will do next :-)

Finally

2010-10-24T20:28:00.003-05:00

Finally, a few minutes to get some pics up. Life at our house is so crazy these days. The boys are great - Jackson turned 3 a few weeks ago. Lucas just turned 19 months last Thursday. I'm going to get some pictures up of the past few months this week. Tonight's post has a few pics from Jackson's 3rd birthday. We actually had 2 parties for him this year. We had one down in Auburn with some family on Saturday, the another one here with family and friends on Sunday. The theme was Thomas the Train, a favorite of J's. Here was his cake:

Here's the birthday boy. He had so much fun and was so excited! It was a blast having some friends over to celebrate.

Everyone enjoyed the cake :) Somehow J was the messiest one, but I suppose that's to be expected when you're the birthday boy!

Everyone wanted to help open presents and play with the new toys!

Even cousin Mark got in on the action! He reminds me a lot of J at that age because he's already into everything!

I can't believe that my sweet firstborn is already 3! The time flies by so quickly. He and L are a pair - already so close. L follows J around and they have so much fun playing together. Now that the weather is so nice, we're outside playing all the time. Later this week I'll have a post with our new backyard photos. It's awesome and exactly what I wanted....which it should be because it took us 4 months to figure out exactly what we wanted!!! I'm so glad the boys like to be outside as much as we do, and I look forward to many nights out on the patio by the fire pit :)

Beach Pics Part 2

2010-08-14T15:19:00.007-05:00

Here are the rest of the beach pictures, which got delayed by our week long trip to Seattle for the AANA Annual Meeting. More on that later! The chair in the picture below has been in Wes' family for a long time! L is featuring a cute onesie that Nonnie got him while she was in Alaska :)

Catch me if you can!!! Outside on the balcony at the condo

J catching a ride on Pops' shoulders

L had a blast swimming :-D

Of course, all that swimming makes one very tired

Nothing beats digging in the sand

Slightly windblown ;)

He wasn't sure what to think when I grabbed him for this photo, lol

Sleepy boy on the beach

J is in his element at the beach! He loves it more than anywhere else!!!

Always a ham

One of my favorites. Since he was 6 months old, the boy has loved the ocean

Eating a snack

Photo session 2. Went slightly better than number 1.

I think he actually said, "Hey, why'd you stop walking, Mommy?"

My favorite!

Come on, brother!!!

Still for about 1 second, then off again

Our sweet boys!!!

Clapping makes him smile the most

We had so much fun, and we can't wait to get back to the beach, but with football season just around the corner, I'm not sure when that will be :( The summer has flown by, and the boys' information for playschool came the other day. But, we are glad that they will be back in school - they need that time out of the house (and Wes needs that time without the boys, lol). Wes has one more securities exam to take, and he'll be good to go :) Hopefully by the end of the year everything will be in order and he will be working!!! He has worked so hard, and it will be great to see his hard work pay off. Post of Seattle soon!

Beach Pictures Part 1

2010-07-31T19:20:00.008-05:00

Here are about half the pictures from our beach trip a few weeks ago. We wish we were still there, and today when I was looking at these deciding which ones to post, Jackson asked when we were going back. I wish I could have said right now! We had such a good time and can't wait to get back to the condo!!! Jackson has always loved the beach. He was like a little turtle, crawling at 6 months old right out into the ocean. Nothing has changed, and I hated that he couldn't play in the water a lot. This was him the first day down there. He actually wore the hat for a while, and he played with his trucks and shovels in the sand.

It's a little hard to tell, but you can see the line of the booms, and the boat helping to clean up the area. The water was gorgeous when we were down there. No tarballs and tons of people in the water!

Wes watching the boys

This was really the first time Luke has played in the sand in his bathing suit. When we were there early this year, we took him out in his pants, and he loved walking in the sand. He wasn't so sure about it this time. He did figure out how to shovel sand on himself though, and once he had sand all over his face, he really didn't know what to think of it. But he figured out not to dump it on his head eventually!

Step 1 - shovel sand

Step 2 - close eyes and lift shovel

Steps 3 and 4 - dump sand on your head

Step 5 - laugh and try to figure out how to get the sand off your face

Just hanging out

Luke looking pensive

I was not able to get any pics of them both smiling on this day. It was hard enough to get one with both of them looking at me. L kept watching J instead

Sweet smiles :)

I just want to play with the shovel in the sand!!!

Plotting his escape to play

More to follow soon. Wes has his next certification exam on Monday, so keep him in your thoughts and prayers. J and L are doing great - grow, grow, grow. We are (impatiently) waiting for L's molar to finish cutting. They have taken FOREVER! J's took about a month, but this is twice as long. And we can tell they are bothering the little guy, and there's just not much that is making him feel better now. This too, shall pass, I know, but I hope for his sake (ok, for all of us!) that it speeds up!

Week at the Beach Preview

2010-07-15T15:25:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I updated the blog!!! Time flies! This week we've been at the condo, and I've got some great pics of the boys, so I wanted to go ahead and post a few. I've got some photoshopping to do on some of them - it's so hard to get a good picture with both boys in it ;) Here is one of L looking at a bird:

And another of L smiling for the camera - he's a hoot!!! We've had a blast, and I'm sad that we have to leave. The weather has been beautiful and the ocean looked great. No tarballs :) There was a little bit of oil that you could see along the edge, but I still got in and threw out for a little bit, with no luck though. More pictures to follow soon!

Night at the Barons

2010-06-15T20:10:00.004-05:00

These are pictures from a few weeks ago when we went to the Barons game with the church group. It was a blast. We actually made it through 6 innings, which impressed us with the boys. Thank goodness the stadium wasn't crowded. Maybe next year we can make it through a whole game :) Jackson is growing way too fast!

Lucas is now walking everywhere!

We spent Memorial Day at Wes' parents house. Jackson, Uncle Mike, and I polished off 5 pounds of crawfish - despite the look in this pic (we had asked him to smile) Jackson LOVED the crawfish. Mike was very impressed, lol. J loves seafood and has since he was 12 months old and Wes gave him shrimp (I was not really happy with that!). And he also loves the spicy foods, like this crawfish that we had. He's so awesome!
Lucas grabbed Pops' hat and threw it on his head like a pro :)
My fav pic from the ball park! Does he look like he's 2? They are growing way too fast!

Hope everyone is well - and we want to wish congrats to our friends Enrique and Laura who welcomed Baby Liliana into the world a couple of weeks ago. She's adorable and we are so happy for them!!!

Happy Mother's Day and More

2010-05-10T19:51:00.005-05:00

This is what we've been doing for the past month: work, school, study, A-day, Washington D.C., Destin for the spring meeting, and Mother's Day....whew! It has flown by! The boys are growing by leaps and bounds. Lucas is almost walking, and he's trying to say so many words. He's learned some signs and is such a sweet boy. We spent Saturday at my parent's house. The boys love being there and they have added an outdoor room to their house. It's about the only place that Jackson wants to be. The only bad thing about being there is that Jackson climbs in bed with us when he wakes up...which was 0415 Sunday morning. But he laid back down and we all slept a few more hours :) On Sunday we went to Piedmont for Wes' family reunion that is held every Mother's Day.

Here is Luke sitting in a big boy chair! He just climbed up and had a seat.

Say Cheese!

Lucas giving kisses. We spend a lot of time on our deck on the screened in part. Both boys LOVE being outside.

Showing some teeth

At A-Day

Getting some sunscreen. It did a lot of good. We only stayed for the first quarter, but we figured that was pretty good with both boys there!

Jackson and Emma coloring

Family photo!

All of us

Still with the thumb problem...

Just hanging out...

And we just found out wonderful news....we are finally going to have a niece! Way to go Noel Mark ;) At least someone in this family is going to have a girl. We can't wait until she arrives (and I finally get to spoil a little girl)!!!!

A Plane Saturday

2010-04-10T19:46:00.003-05:00

Today beautiful weather brought two beautiful people to our house - Granddad and Grandma!!! We've been wondering when the weather would be good enough for Dad to get that plane out and fly over - and today was the day :) They flew over and we had lunch at the airport diner, then headed to our house to play for a bit in the awesome sunshine we had today. When the boys went down for their naps, Granddad and Grandma left and headed to the Sylacauga airport for a picnic with a bunch of other pilots. It was great to see them and we hope they bring the plane in lots more in the near future. Jackson loved climbing inside it and pretending he was flying. Since we live right by the airport (like 1/4 of a mile), he has always loved seeing the planes in the air. As soon as we can get some little earphones for him, he'll be up and flying. I know Granddad can't wait!!!

Jackson enjoyed exploring the airplane, and Luke was trying to figure out where he went ;)

Jackson's shirt says "Pilot in training." Nothing would make Granddad happier :D
Cruising in the stroller
Do I look like I can fly yet?????

Happy Birthday Lucas!

2010-04-09T19:08:00.003-05:00

A few pics of Lucas on his first birthday. I will get pics of him diving in his cake soon!!! We've been so busy, but I at least wanted to get a few pics up. He and Jackson are doing great - they are the BEST! Wes has been busy studying for his certification exams, and I've been slammed with work and ALANA things. It's great though - we love our life!!!! Hope everyone enjoys this weekend; the weather should be awesome and we plan on spending lots of quality time outside on our playground :)

Life's a Beach

2010-03-09T20:38:00.007-06:00

I know it's been ages, but we've been out of town almost every weekend, and I've finally gotten some pictures ready to prove it! This is from our trip to the beach 2 weeks ago. We went down and stayed at the condo for a long weekend, and it was great. The weather was in the mid 60s, giving all of us, especially J, spring fever. What's great about going to the beach now, is that Wes' parents are only 30 minutes away, so we get to see them down there as well. Since the weather was so nice, we spent time outside each day. It's been several months since J has been to the beach, and the last time we took L out there, he was about 5 months old, and still hanging out in one of our laps, or in a baby swing. My how times have changed! J loved running on the beach. He dove right down, then looked up at me like he thought he would get in trouble - I just laughed and let him know he could get as sandy as he wanted! That's why we were there :)

Running by the water

Writing his "name" in the sand

Taking a moment to smile for the camera

This was my favorite part of the trip - a walk to the jetty with J. He got kinda whiny halfway there, but once we got to the rocks, he loved it. In fact, I kinda wondered how I was gonna get him off the rocks, and if I was crazy for letting a 2 year old climb on them, but I guess he's gotta learn sometime, right ;) He actually sat and smiled long enough for me to take about 10 pics, which is unheard for with him! I was so excited, and they turned out pretty good.

Why do they grow up so fast?!?!?!

Nonnie and Pops came over to visit us

This was the first time we had L in the sand, and we weren't sure what to expect. J was always so good (people called him a beach bum) and loved the sand and the water. Even at 6 and 7 months old. Fortunately for us, L loved it too! He didn't even try to eat the sand (just the shells!). Checking it out...

and off he went...

Everything goes in the mouth

L threw off his hat early in the outing, and it was J's after that - I love how the orange and red go together, lol. J loves to shovel the sand. Maybe he can help me in the garden this year.

J sharing his snack with L

This pic cracks me up b/c we always told J that if he didn't eat his food, his little brother would. Well, that day has come. If J is eating a snack, L comes over to him and stand up beside the chair, looks up, and whines. They are only about 5 pounds different!

Crawling under the table...pulling up on everything

Sweet baby feet in the sand :)

Everything else is great here. Glad the weather is starting to warm up so we can get some playtime in outside. Wes and I have decided we are finally gonna get back in shape, so we have started P90X. Day 2 and we're still alive ;) I'm excited about it - we've needed to do it forever.

And we need to send out a special B'day wish to GRANDMA - Happy Birthday!!! We love you :)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-17T14:15:00.003-06:00

Go go go

2010-02-14T20:00:00.005-06:00

This is the first weekend in a month that we've been home, and I'm on call! But at least we've been in one place. We are still go go go and it's been hard for me to find time for the blog, but I've made some tonight. I've got tons of pics, but it will take a while to catch up with them. The boys are wonderful. Grow grow grow, as they all do. I'm not sure I'm ready for it, especially with Jackson's wits. He's so matter of fact about most things, and loves to learn! It's so fun to watch :) Lucas is starting to cruise. He likes to stand up and push the chairs (which we can't stand!). We love to watch him and Jackson play with each other which they are now really starting to do. They are slowly learning to share - well, at least one day they will learn. Right now we are just repeating over and over "share with your brother" but I'm sure it will come ;) Here are some pics from the past several weeks:

Jackson loves to cook in the kitchen. Thankfully Grandma has lots of patience and loves to cook with him. He and I typically make pancakes, but brave Grandma ventured into the realm of cookies. J loved it!

Our little chef
What's next?

Why is it that the box the toy comes in is more fun than the toy?

Crawling and into EVERYTHING

Loves to look out the window

Jamming on the dog in my jammies

What big cheeks you have!

Always a ham!

So sweet:)

Growing up way too fast!!!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Ten Months

2010-01-28T21:27:00.002-06:00

Well, he was techincally 9 months here, but I'm a slacker and can't seem to find the time to get anything up these days. This was while were were sitting waiting for Dr. D to come see us. We have been blessed with the sweetest most wonderful boys in the world. Lucas is now crawling and trying to walk when he pulls up on things. Jackson is learning more and more each day (help, help!). He's way too smart, but it's adorable when he "reads" his books to Lucas (he has them memorized and really does recite them to Luke). More pictures soon!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-04T18:17:00.006-06:00

We had a great Christmas! It seems like it lasted for a month, probably because we stretched it out over almost 3 weeks. We had to celebrate with Wes' family mid December because I was on call the weekend before Christmas. Christmas Eve we packed up and headed to Anniston for a long weekend to spend time with my parents, and my brother and his family. It was all wonderful :) And now as I slowly pack things up (the tree just has to stay up until the 6th!) I realize before I know it, I'll be getting it all out again, lol. Here are a couple of pics that made the Christmas card. We decided to do photo session at home, which was interesting to say the least. But it got done and they turned out pretty good, if I say so myself. Thank goodness for photoshop! Try getting a 2 year old to smile on command - nearly impossible, haha.

Luke loved the lights on the tree! Right before Christmas he started crawling and loves to crawl over and be under it

Nonnie and Pops with their grandsons

The Rankin Clan

The Harvey Grandsons - very hard to coordinate between naps to get a good shot, but hey, this is just how they are at this age right (2 years, 3 months, 9 months)

Aunt Joey and Baby Mark

Uncle Noel reads a book with Lucas

Big Blue Eyes (and big cheeks ;))

Ah...the sound of silence. My parents had to put up with Jackson running around like he always does, Luke crawling everywhere and exploring, and a 3 month old who's still getting his schedule down. And you know what - they loved every minute of it!!! What was awesome was the new room they had built on their deck - it's climate controlled and is J's favorite room in the house.

Say CHEESE

We got a chance to visit some family friends while we were in Anniston. It was great to see Cleo and Dianne!

Luke liked to crawl over to Mark, but also liked to swat at his head...had to be careful b/c he could crush that baby

Granddad and J

Who me?

We had a great Christmas and New Year and hope everyone else did too! Best wishes for the new year. I can't wait to see what 2010 brings for our boys!!!!

2009-12-05T19:40:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

2009-12-05T19:38:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

2009-12-05T19:36:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

2009-12-04T20:07:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

AGH!

2009-12-03T20:05:00.004-06:00

Things are soooo busy around our house these days, that I never get time to update the blog, and I apologize to all of you who keep waiting to see updated pics of the boys. Between Auburn and work and school, we're nuts! Here's a few pics from our Christmas card outtakes - and I promise more soon! They aren't edited at all either, sorry!

Brotherly love

Jackson loved when we asked him to smile for the camera!

the only time he did smile

I thought I got food for doing this gig???

they really do love each other! Jackson dives and hugs on Luke all the time, and Luke just cracks up! Good thing he's almost as big as J the way he jumps on his little bro, lol

still sucking that thumb

Luke loved the photo shoot in the yard, mainly b/c he rolled across the grass

Jackson loves the slide!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-02T16:05:00.005-06:00

Last weekend Mom and Dad were over for the weekend in time for our Fall Festival at church and to watch the horrendous Auburn/LSU game. It was the first time Dad had gotten to spend some time with the boys in a while, so it was enjoyed by all:D

Jackson giving Luke a BIG hug!

Grandma and Granddad with the boys

I asked J if I could get a picture of him and Luke, and he had a fit...what a fuss!

So we just got a pic with Daddy and Luke

Still working on Luke sitting up.. He's gotten much better, but he still tries to stand up and falls over, lol. We are hoping he starts crawling soon b/c he really wants to be on the move.

We spent Halloween in Auburn. University Station had a great trick or treating activity for the kiddos, followed by a bonfire and weinie roast. Everyone thought the boys were adorable, and I was surprised at how everyone wanted to give both of them candy. I just laughed and said anything that they gave Luke would end up in Mommy's belly, so we didn't need it haha. So here is our little cowboy:

And our pumpkin

Jackson didn't want to pose for any pictures, so there were many more of Luke. There's a bunch more pics, but they are on Jackie's camera ,so I'll have to put those up next week after I get them. with those big cheeks, he reminded me of a baby in an Anne Gedde's picture

One of the only shots I got of the two of them together

Hope everyone has a great week!

Fun in the Sun

2009-10-27T19:47:00.004-05:00

I was so glad last week when the rain stopped. It's been way to yucky to go out a lot of days here, and Jackson needs some outside time to run off that whiny energy he gets. I was off last Thursday, so we took the boys to one of the parks in our neighborhood and let Jackson run wild for a little bit. He's now big enough to climb up on his own!

At the top of the slide..

Here I come!!!

This park has a baby swing, and Luke really liked it, for about 10 minutes :) He would smile and laugh every time I would push him.

Then it was Jackson's turn...

He's all smiles when he's in the swing :D

Trying to get a few shots of the two of them together is so hard. I can never get them both looking at the camera at the same time. I really need a new camera, but don't know what I want to get yet (need something really user-friendly, lol). Jackson always wants to hold Luke, but after a couple of minutes he'll say "Mommy hold Luke. Luke heavy." It's so cute!

I think what Jackson wanted to say here is "Uh...he's crushing my leg"

Daddy and Luke

Luke's bottom front teeth are coming in..slowly! I'd forgotten how agonizing teething can be for them. Also, he's developed a parental attachment, particularly for me, which is strange b/c he's around Wes much more. Jackson never did that, so this is all new for us. He's still very much a cuddle baby and while we aren't swaddling him any more, he LOVES to be held all the time. I'm hoping he can figure out the crawling thing soon, b/c the boy is heavy! He's almost 18 pounds! Again, Jackson was crawling by this time, and once he started, he wanted to be down on the ground. He's still a great baby though, and has dropped his third nap, so now he goes to sleep at 6:30, which is awesome!!! We get him down, then Jackson goes down at 7, and we have our evenings to ourselves. Now we just have to get him out of the clingy phase and things will be perfect - well as perfect as they can be, lol.

Hope everyone has a great rest of their week:)

More Milestones

2009-10-19T19:36:00.005-05:00

On October 3, Jackson turned 2! I can't believe how fast time flies by. Unfortunately, I had a conference that weekend that prevented us from celebrating his birthday that day, so we celebrated last weekend. The only tv show he will even watch 5 minutes of is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so we had a Mickey party :) The cake was so cute!

Jackson had a great time, and thankfully the weather cooperated and it finally quit raining for a day! The boys all got to play in the yard while Wes grilled burgers and hotdogs, then we had cake and ice cream for dessert. Jackson got too many gifts, and he loved everything he got!

Everyone eagerly awaited the cake while we sang happy b'day.

YUM - cake:) Jackson dug in and about ate it in one big bite, lol.

Playing around.

Playing with his new shopping cart. He loves to push anything, so this is perfect for him to run around the house with....and it doesn't make any noise when you push it, which Wes and I love! At his 2 year visit with the doctor he sat on the scale - and he's finally gained some weight!!! Thank goodness for peanut butter. He's up to 24 pounds, and finally out of the "< 5th percentile" and up to almost the 10th percentile. He's doing great. The only bad thing about the trip was that the office is out of flu shots! So we will have to go back again once they get in...whenever that may be.

Another milestone in our house these days is Luke eating real food. He's almost 7 months now, so it's been about 3 weeks of real food. So far he's had sweet potato, squash, butternut squash, carrot, and green beans. A few more dark veggies, then we'll get into the fruits. And I'm making all his food, just like I did for J (well, except for rice cereal). It's so fun and easy, and we know exactly what he's eating. And the boy loves to eat! At his 6 month visit, he weighed in at 17 pounds! Only 50th percentile (that just means there are some mommies and daddies out there w/ some sore backs!), but so much bigger than Jackson was:) Amazingly enough, he was 90th percentile for height. I hope he stays tall!

Enough with the camera - give me more food ;)

Here are some older pics from Auburn that were on Jackie's camera.

Family photo

Hopefully we'll get some pics of the boys this week so I can post some more. That's one of the things I didn't realize would change so much...we hardly ever take pics anymore and we used to take pics of J all the time. I'm trying to get better about it though. Hope everyone has a great week!

6 months

2009-09-22T19:44:00.004-05:00

Well, it's been more of the same around here. I've figured if I can get this blog updated every other week, it's a miracle. We've just been so busy! Every weekend we're in Auburn for the games. We've got this weekend and then we head out to see new Baby Mark (my brother and sister in law's new baby)!!! I'd show y'all pictures, but someone hasn't sent me any yet! But they're on Facebook, lol.

Luke turned 6 months yesterday! He's such a sweet baby :) He and Jackson are so fun to watch together. Luke can be fussy or crying and Jackson can walk over to him and smile or talk and Luke will start smiling and cooing. It's adorable. It's so hard not to compare the two, especially as Luke gets older, but I'm trying not to, lol.

Here's some more pics from Auburn. Jackson loves going down there, and both the boys are doing great staying in the RV.

Wes, Luke, and Nonnie

Jackson and Pops

Allison and Weston came down for the Miss State game. It was so great to see them!!! And I loved that I got a surprise when she showed up in a shirt that had "baby" on it :D We are so excited for them!!!

Here are some 6 month pics of Luke - he's always bright (and big) eyed!

I can't believe he's already 6 months old! Time is flying! He's rolling over both ways, but he's not crawling yet. He's "talking" all the time in his own little gibberish way;) He doesn't like to be on his tummy much, and he still likes to be swaddled. He also loves his paci when he sleeps, lol. It's so much fun to see him grow - and he's a big boy!!! We can't wait to see what he will do next.

WAR EAGLE!!

2009-09-07T19:25:00.004-05:00

It's finally that time of year - FOOTBALL SEASON!!! We've been counting down the days since last season was over, and eagerly anticipating the changes that have been made down on The Plains. As most of you know, we bought an RV about 6 months ago, and we couldn't wait to be there. We tried it out over A-Day weekend, but it just wasn't the same as gameday, and Lucas was only 4 weeks old at that time. All of you with kiddos know what a difference pliable little 4 week old sleep anywhere baby and 5 month old on a schedule baby are!! And throw in a 23 month old and see where the ride takes you! But, the boys were awesome - couldn't have asked for a better weekend from either one of them. Both stayed on their normal schedules and slept through the night. Although they did wake up a little early, neither of them was up before 0630, so I guess we can't complain. It's great because both of our parents go to the games, so the boys get to see both sets of grandparents each weekend we're down there. This weekend Wes' sister and her family was down there, so Jackson got to play with his cousins. Unfortunately, two boys kept me pretty busy and I missed many photo ops, so here are the scant few I got from the weekend...and they're pretty much only of the boys except for this one...

Wes and Lance were our chefs for the weekend - homemade chicken fingers, fries, green bean casserole, rolls, salad and homemade ice cream from our neighbors - who could ask for anything more!

Little Jackson in his new Bo Jackson jersey. He had so much fun running around - not surprised are you, lol.

Lucas sitting in a chair - I can't believe how fast time is going by!!! He smiles and laughs all the time and just started rolling over both ways :)

More of those big cheeks :D

Both boys - it was harder than you know to get Jackson to sit for a few minutes, haha.

I couldn't get one where both of them were smiling, and am not sure how to photoshop one face onto another picture. One day I'll have the time to look that up and figure it out...so maybe by the year 2020... Hope everyone enjoyed opening weekend. We can't wait to get back down there next weekend - so glad it's a short week!

San Diego

2009-08-28T19:45:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Wes and I went to San Diego for a whole week without the boys! I had the American Association of Nurse Anesthetist's Annual Meeting to go to, and Mom and Dad offered to watch the boys for us, so we HAD to take them up on it! We had such a great time. San Diego is beautiful and the weather is perfect - between 60 and 80 yearround :) Of course, we missed the boys like mad, but it was so great to get away just the 2 of us. We were celebrating 5 years worth of anniversaries: 3 and 4 b/c Wes was deployed for those, 5 and 6 b/c I was pregnant, and 7 b/c that was this past Monday. Here was the view from our hotel room

The convention center that we had our meeting in is on the right side of the pic. There are tennis courts on the roof of it.

You can see the bridge to Coronado Island on the right side of this one.

Wes with our hotel (Marriott) behind him.

Saturday we went to a Padres game. This was the view from our seats. Wes went by himself on Sunday and was about 10 rows back dead behind home plate!

Here's the Padre doing a dance ;)

Our hotel and the convention center (in the background) are located in a place called the Gaslamp Quarter. It was a wonderful place to be! You can walk around for a couple of miles and there are hundreds of places to eat and shop. PetCo Park was within walking distance too, so we got our exercise by walking everywhere!

Here is the sand box in the back of PetCo. Not sure why anyone would want to get their kids in that but there was a group out there when we went to the game, lol. It's great b/c outside the stadium there's a park that's open to the public all the time except 4 hours before games and of course during the games. People who work in the Gaslamp will go eat lunch in the park.

And here is the most famous Padre - Tony Gwynn's statue, also located in the park.

One of the places that we ate had an amazing bar - the Yardhouse. There are over 20 of them. This one had about 130 beers on tap (one of the smaller ones too!).

It's blurry b/c it's through glass, but here is the keg room at the Yardhouse. B/c this building was built before the Yardhouse went in, they have to pipe the beer upstairs through an amazing maze of pipes.

The Midway was about a mile from our hotel. Impressive battleship!

Wes and I at the annual meeting. It was a great supper, company, and a little dancing at the end :)

After the meeting, Wes and I stayed an extra day and visited Coronado Island. We walked all around the island and had an amazing dinner at a restuarant right on the bay.

We walked across the island and saw the Pacific beaches - definitely not the Gulf, but still very pretty :)

More of the beaches! We had a great time on this trip. We couldn't thank my parents enough for watching the boys for the whole week - brave grandparents aren't they!!! I'm thinking we'll go back to San Diego in about 10 years and take the boys with us. There's so much to do and it was a blast - I'm already looking forward to it!!!

finally

2009-08-09T19:01:00.004-05:00

I know it's been ages since I've posted any pictures (sorry David) but things have been nuts around our house. I just have a few minutes, so I wanted to put up a few pics of the boys and some from when we went to see the Braves play a few weeks ago. I promise more will follow hopefully soon!

Jackson loves to push Luke
4 and a half months now!

And he likes to swing himself. He's still within the weight limits for it!

Maddux got inducted the night before - one of the Braves' greats!

warming up

Why did we have to go to the game when Santana was pitching?

He's incredible though and we did have a chance to win, but couldn't pull it out

Chipper gets a hit

The All American Rejects played after the game and the concert was great. the lead singer is kinda weird though...

Loved this shirt - just had to post it :)

Hope everyone is well. Sorry we're a little out of touch these days. I'm trying to catch up with all my blogging and all my blog friends' blogs! Have a great week :)

Pics by Uncle Noel

2009-07-14T20:24:00.007-05:00

These are some pictures that my brother took of our family. Luke was 2 weeks old in these pictures and Jackson had just turned 18 months. I hate adults' feet, but baby feet are so cute!

Lucas and Mommy :)

Sweet baby sleep!

This one is my fav! We have a very similar one that he took of me holding J.

Our wedding bands :D

More cute baby feet

J deep in thought...plotting his next adventure, haha

Our two sweet boys

J laughing, like usual

It's always great to have my brother visit, but I love when he pulls out the camera. He's such a great photographer. If you liked these pics, check out his website www.noelharveyphotography.com

Heads Up

2009-07-11T09:16:00.002-05:00

Luke is holding his head up really well now! He can sit in the Bumbo, too. It's really funny b/c when he is in it, J will run over and want to talk to him or hug on him. It's just too cute :D I think his eyes are going to stay blue. Jackson's have gotten darker over the past few months - they are still blue but now with hints of gray in some light and green in others.

He can hold it up for at least 5 minutes like this

But that big head starts to get heavy after that

Jackson has really started to like stuffed animals. He likes to snuggle with them:)
This is actually Luke's frog, but just try to tell him that, haha

Grandma with her boys
She helps us so much!!!

Update on the house - they are finishing up the downstairs right now. Over the past week they have torn down drywall, replaced the ceiling, and today are doing all the painting. We found out the week after next they will come over and rip up the destroyed part of the hardwood to expose the subflooring. Since it may be wet, they will probably have to let it air out. There won't be a good week for us and them to have the actually hardwood replaced, sanded, and stained until August, so our house will be a wreck for a while! It could be much worse though, and I'm thankful our insurance has been so great, so far!

Finally!!!

2009-07-04T09:38:00.006-05:00

Finally I have the beach pictures ready to post! It was another busy week for us between work and trying to get the house in order. A few weeks ago we had a leak from the fridge which has ruined the hardwood on the main level and the downstairs ceiling! What a mess! It is all covered by insurance, but it's still a hassle b/c we have to get everything out of the main level and the downstairs room that had damage. In the next couple of weeks the ceiling will be replaced and it and that room repainted and the entire hardwood replaced. Oh yeah, and we have to move out while they do that! AGH - again, what a mess. Oh well, it's always something with a house, right?

So, back to the beach pics, here's a group of them. We had such a great time :) We love that condo, and Wes' parents were there with us, so it made the week much easier with both the boys. Jackson went to the beach every morning, back up during the heat of the day for lunch and a nap, then everyone went down in the afternoon.

This pretty much summed up how J felt the entire week

And y'all know how he likes to run, lol. He loves wide open spaces ;)

Taking a quick snack break with Nonnie

Our boys hanging at the beach. This is the "smile" Jackson had for the camera

Again in the open space

It's so great to have the awning set up. We wouldn't have been able to

take Lucas down there without it.

J wanted to wear his hat and glasses inside, but always

wanted them off when we were outside...

Learning how to make a sand castle with Pops

All smiles, as always

The smile says it all

Luke and Pops

Getting some kick time

The boys by the water

Jackson absolutely loves the water. He has no fear, which is good and bad, haha. The water

was beautiful most of the week, even when the wind picked up, which just

destroyed our fishing time!

More sandcastle time

Family photo

Jackson and Wes

a sleepy Luke

Our little boy playing in the water!

What a great trip it was! We're sad that we won't be able to go back to the beach until September, but it'll be a little easier then since Luke will be about 6 months old then. And it won't be 100 degrees ;)

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Hope it's a great weekend for y'all :) And THANK YOU to all those who have served our country so that we have freedom!!!

Promises, Promises

2009-06-27T19:04:00.003-05:00

AGH - I really did mean to get some pictures up at the beach, but it just didn't happen. We had a great time though. I said goodbye to my 20s while we were down there, and managed to survive, lol. I'm hoping to work on those pictures tomorrow if I don't have a ton of cases (I'm on call) and maybe Monday I can get them up.

But for today, here's a few pics of the boys. He's been kinda fussy the past week. At first we thought it was just being at the beach and away from home, but now I'm not so sure. He's having screaming fits and not sleeping well. I'm hoping it's a growth spurt that will end soon! He turned 14 weeks today! Where does the time goes? Even when he's fussy, he's still so darn cute :D

He's usually all smiles, and here was one from earlier today. He's also found his hands, but he still has a hard time getting them in his mouth.

Jackson is definitely a big boy now - mixed feelings here! He got his hair cut today (it was like shaggy Hoover hair which you'll see in the beach pics) and looks so different! I've got some videos I need to post of him. He's nonstop, now both physically and verbally. Anything we say he repeats, and he's speaking full sentences almost all the time now. It's amazing the changes they make in just a few weeks.

The flash didn't go off, so I know this one is a little grainy, but I still really liked it once I lightened it up. Let me explain the scab on his chin. It happened at the beach. Jackson has no fear - not the beach, or the ocean, or people (wait I take it back - he hates the doctor's office). Anyway, he ran up to a little boy who had been playing by us all week, and right smack into the little guy's skimboard. He popped right back up though and didn't even cry, but it left a nasty little mark and scab. Oh well, boys will be boys!

Hopefully my call day won't be too bad tomorrow and I'll get some beach pictures up soon :)

And we're off

2009-06-19T20:06:00.002-05:00

Well...almost. Tomorrow we head back to the beach!!! Yea!!! And I'm hoping to catch up on my blogging down there. I can have hopes, right. And there should be lots of pics to share :) Including some of me as I...enter my third decade...agh - I'm having a slight crisis about it, lol. I've been getting up at 0430 and working out most days before I go to work to try to get back into shape. But, any of you who have kiddos know that they only peace and quiet you have in the day is before or after they wake up or go to sleep. And since I go to bed about 2130 (or 930 for those of you nonmilitary time folks), my peace and quiet time is that early in the morning. I'm hoping that by August I'll be back in decent shape and back into some more clothes. What a joy the boys are, but what weird ways do they change the shape of a mommy's body!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully some great pics will be posted soon!!!

Where does the time go???

2009-06-10T20:29:00.002-05:00

Things have been soooo busy the past few weeks. It's hard to find time to blog these days! The weekend before last I was off to Chicago for an AANA function. As most of you know I'm on our state association's board of directors (www.ala-crna.org). This, on top of family, friends, and work keeps me busy :) It was my first weekend away from Luke! I missed all my guys terribly, but lucky for me, I left Friday after work and came back Sunday evening, so I wasn't gone that long. Last weekend I was on call, so that kept me busy. Work's going well - it's almost like I wasn't gone for 8 weeks. We are all doing great. Now it's almost hard to remember what it was like in our simpler life when we only had one child. What amazes me is the difference between the two boys - like night and day! Luke is such as easy baby =D Jackson cried every night when we laid him down to go to sleep and Luke is the total opposite. He's still smiling and cooing when we lay him down - it's adorable. Jackson is still the best big brother. He loves to run over to Luke and tell him "hey" and take his bottles to the sink. I hate that Luke can't talk back to him yet b/c J so badly wants to converse with him. And, I can't believe in the past two months how many words J has learned. He will now repeat anything that you say to him, including phrases. He started talking in sentences about a month ago - which is pretty early. He's too smart for his own good (well, more like too smart for our own good, lol ;)). They are both amazing children, and we are so blessed!

Luke loves to lay on his play mat and look at the lights and the toys. He's almost reaching out and hitting them with his hands.

Jackson looking at Luke :) He's really ready for him to be running around and playing with him. Unfortunately, we don't see Luke being as quick to roll, crawl, and run as J was. At this age J was pushing up when he was on his tummy. L, not so much...probably because he's a lot bigger ;) Only time will tell though!

I'm on call tomorrow, then have a 3 day weekend - woohoo! I'll try to be better about posting...if only there could be 28 hours in a day instead of 24...

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-03T19:40:00.001-05:00

Luke's Baptism

2009-05-25T17:19:00.006-05:00

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all the people who have served for our country, especially Wes, my parents, and his dad!!! Everyone was in town this weekend for Lucas' baptism. Here he is in his baptismal gown - it's the same one that Jackson wore, and the same one that has been handed down for almost 70 years in our family!

We had the ceremony after mass. It was very nice b/c it was just our family :) I don't think with all the boys we would have been able to do it in the middle of mass like we did with Jackson. It would have been very hard for Jackson, Thomas and Mason to sit still that long. As it was Jackson didn't take his morning nap, I guess b/c so many people were at the house and he was wound up, but he ended up doing great through the short ceremony. Great minds must think alike b/c Noel Mark andLance wore the same color shirt and the same Auburn tie, lol.

Jackson and Wes before the ceremony

The Harvey side of the family

With the Godparents, Aunt Joanna and Uncle Mike

Family photo :)

The Rankin side of the fam

All the grandparents

Luke, mommy and daddy

Three generations of Rankin men

Uncle Noel and Aunt Joey - also expecting a boy!!! We are nothing but a family of boys :)

Here is Lucas at 8 weeks - such a big boy. He started smiling a few weeks ago and this is one of the first ones I caught on camera. I love those sweet baby smiles :D

He loves the swing!

Jackson laughing with daddy

With Grandma and Daddy

Luke and Uncle Noel

Another one of those baby smiles

Jackson helping out his brother - putting the paci back in his mouth (nevermind the fact that it's upsidedown, lol). He's so good with him and so sweet - they're great kiddos!!!

Hope everyone has a great week :)

More of the Beach

2009-05-21T21:06:00.003-05:00

We are just getting settled in to "normal" life these days. I've been back at work almost a week now, and today Wes had the boys all day by himself. It's going to be so different for him taking care of two, instead of just one! We are so lucky that we've got great kids and that Luke is on such a good schedule. He started sleeping through the night last weekend - right at 8 weeks...just like Babywise says! We think that is one of the greatest books ever written - it has helped us get both boys sleeping through the night early :)

I'm still behind on pics so here are some more from our second beach trip. These pics are from our condo in Orange Beach. We stayed almost a week, and Wes' parents were with us for a little bit. They are getting ready to move down that way, so Wes helped his dad pack up a couple of loads, and they missed a couple of days of beach time. Jackson had his first ear infection while we were down there, so he was a little cranky and very clingy for a couple of days. I felt so bad for him though, especially Saturday when he just had listless eyes and actually sat still in a chair for about 20 minutes. If you know the child, you know that is a first. Unfortunately, it was only b/c he felt so bad. But by Monday he was much better and running around again :) We managed to get a day of fishing in on Monday. Here is Wes throwing out by the bridge. We didn't have any luck there, except with the cast net. Wes got us some bait, and we threw out a bit in front of the condo a little later. There I caught my first Spanish mackerel. That was all we got though, and I think it's because right after I got him a bunch of sting rays about 3 feet across came swimming around. I can't wait to get back!!!

Jackson taking a break from the sun and drinking some water
Playing in the sand :)

Loving the water, as always

Hangin' w/ Pops

Lucas didn't see much of the beach, but he got quality time w/ Nonnie inside.

He's so tall - hope it stays that way :) He was just starting to smile at this time.

Jackson and Nonnie

Luke saw the inside of the sling most of the time he was outside. Here he is up for some fresh saltwater air.

Jackson tried to catch our bait - little fish and fresh shrimp - with the minnow net.

Sweet baby sleep

I love when their arms are so relaxed and about their head - you know they're out!

Hopefully I'll find some time to catch up one of these days. Unfortunately we've been so busy I've gotten behind in actually taking pictures. I really know what people mean about the difference between the first and the second. I took pics of J almost every day - but Luke...sorry baby, it hasn't happened :( Luke's baptism is this weekend, so we should get some of him and the whole family then. And we get the great pics that Uncle Noel did a couple of months ago delivered. I'll be posting those next week! Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day Weekend :)

Busy Beachin' It

2009-05-10T11:44:00.005-05:00

I know I've been on a blogging hiatus, but we've been too busy having fun to get a post up! It all started about two weeks ago when we went to SanDestin for my ALANA conference. I'm on the Board of Directors, so we had to get down there a little early. And of course, meeting up with some friends from work was a nice perk of getting there a few days early. We were able to spend most of the day Thursday on the beach. J did good until he got really tired. He sure does love the beach though! Luke spent the day in the sling under the umbrella. Thursday afternoon started the meeting for me, then it was all day everyday until Sunday at noon. We headed home for a few days, then went back to the beach - our condo! We left after the boys had their doctor's visit - J's 18 month and L's 6 week. More about those in another post. Here are pics from the first beach trip with more from the second to follow soon. Here is Jackson wearing his hat. We were really excited b/c he wore his hat all around the house before (he has always hated hats), but when we actually were out on the beach, he would only wear it for a few minutes, then it was tossed aside.

The boys have a few matching outfits. Jackson actually held him long enough for us to snap a few shots. Luke is half the size of J!!
Loving the beach :)

Jackson will just dive into the sand. And eat it as well, lol.

The boy will run into the ocean if you let him. He's not scared of the water at all.

One of the few times J was actually wearing his hat and glasses. He and Zoe Claire had a great time playing in the sand.

With Daddy, sitting for a brief moment.

J giving Zoe Claire a hug.

Wes sporting the sling. This is the only pic we got of the two of us :(

Lucas at 6 weeks

Such a big boy!

More on the second beach trip for another day....I'm just trying to enjoy my last week of maternity leave. Next week it's back to work!

Friends, Fun, and Five Weeks

2009-04-26T20:52:00.006-05:00

Lucas turned 5 weeks yesterday!!! I can't believe how fast time is flying by! And how fast Luke's changing...it still amazes me at the differences b/t him and J. We were with some friends last night and L didn't crack a peep...at this age J cried all the time. L loves to be swaddled - J hated it! By now, J loved bath time - L still getting used to it... They are going to be like night and day, so I hear...we will see, right?

He has gotten so big! I know I keep saying it, but he's much bigger than Jackson was at this age. He's doing great - really a great baby :) He sleeps as well as someone his age can. He teases us with 4+ hours of sleep, only to follow with 2 1/2 ( in the middle of the night, no less). But he takes his bottle and goes straight back to sleep, so I'm sure in a couple more weeks, he'll go 6+ and quit teasing.

Jackson's giving us this look a lot these days - "Who ME???" And yes, my son, you! He's so clingy with Wes and me when it's just the four of us at the house these day, but he's so precious when he wants to be loving on us. AND he's testing me - what in the world!!! Now he is acting differently around me than before - so tell me how long does this last??? I could handle it when he was testing the grandparents - that was expected - but me??? Just b/c I had his little brother??? When will it stop??? When we're around other people, he's completely different - the little social butterfly. Last night we went over to Leslie and Lee's to eat, and he was everywhere, talking to everyone. At their house, we always get a game of cornhole, and now the kids have to join in... Jackson hasn't quite learned that you throw the beanbag in - he just climbs up there and places it in the hole - if it was only that easy, lol.

And of course, what goes up, must come down...

Leslie and Hannah, Mary Allison, Kathy and Zoe Claire

Mary with Lucas...I don't think Wes or I held him more than 2 minutes the entire

time we were there ;)

We've discovered that Luke loves the play mat :D He will lay on his back for about 20 minutes listening to the music and watching the lights. Soon he will be really batting at the toys that dangle above his head. He's still learning to maybe like tummy time. He's doing great raising his head up though and each day stands it a little longer - he's gonna be like his big bro and turning over early at this rate! So, 5 weeks here we are!

And, big brother has yet to slow down. This picture pretty much sums up J...I'm so glad we bought a house that has a big FENCED IN back yard ;) Now that the weather's nice, we're outside lots everyday!!!

Now that A-day and the NFL draft are over, the football background is gone - replace with the new beachy background, since 1/2 of our next month will be at the beach! Yea!!! Now..I have to start packing to take 2 little boys to the beach on Wednesday...should be an adventure - our first long trip (over 2 hours) w/ 2....

My Boys

2009-04-23T20:46:00.002-05:00

Just more of the same today - hanging with the boys and trying to get things done around the house. We've been giving Luke time on his little mat - both on his stomach and on his back. Right now he hates tummy time, but J did too at first. Then he loved it and started rolling over and sleeping on his tummy at 3 months, lol.

Here's Lucas sitting at the couch, just chillin'. His big eyes just watched the fan go round and round. He's such a sweet baby!

A littl closer in - look at those eyes!

Big brother J got a haircut today! I hate getting it cut b/c he just looks older and older each time we get it done. I also got my hair chopped today, but never got a chance to get a pic. J and I went down to the garden to pull up weeds. I'm WAY behind in getting it all ready this year, but it was for the best cause in the world ;) We should have it ready soon and get some yummy veggies for our tummies soon!

A-Day and 1 Month Old

2009-04-22T06:48:00.006-05:00

We spent a long weekend down in Auburn last week in our new RV. It was so much fun and we can't wait for football season to get here! Where our RV will be set up is right across the way from where Wes' parents RV will be. We just hung out until Saturday, then my parents and Wes' sister and fam along with some other friends came down for the game. Jackson had a blast running wide open all day everyday. Yesterday Lucas turned one month old. He's growing soooo fast! He now is cooing, having definite periods of awake time, and watching your face intently as you feed him. He's doing well sleeping and hopefully in a few more weeks he'll be sleeping through the night. The Babywise discipline is well underway ;) Jackson is still doing great, but he has realized his bro is here to stay. He's a little more clingy, especially when it's just one of us with both boys. I'm hoping this will pass soon, but only time will tell. At least he's such a sweet little guy around Luke still. He wants to kiss him all the time and runs over to him each morning yelling "hi!" It's so cute to watch! Here are a bunch of pics from last week.

Taking a break from setting up the satellite.

The RV set up

Jackson taking a brief moment to smile for the camera. He had so much fun!

Lance and Jackie. We had a great time on our extended tailgating trip:)

Full belly = happy baby

Sleepy baby

Jackson loved having his own little chair to climb in and out.

There are so many places to play in the RV

4 weeks

Jackson and Granddad hanging out

What would a tailgate be without a good game or two of cornhole??

Lucas and Grandma

Wes and Chris at the game

Most of the gang at the game

Wes and our nephew Thomas down on the field. It was really cool b/c after the game they opened the field for everyone to come down. They had players and everyone else down there signing autographs. It's a great thing for the kiddos!

Chris, me, and Wes in the end zone

I wish we could go down after all the games

One of my fav pics from the weekend - doesn't this just sum up childhood - laying in the grass just hanging out!!!

Family Time

2009-04-14T20:26:00.003-05:00

We've been hanging with my side of the family for the past couple of days. It's always nice when everyone's in town, especially Noel Mark and Joanna!

Who doesn't start their day reading?

We've been calling L our little inchworm because he loves to be swaddled and reminds us of those inchworm dolls they used to have - y'all remember those right? He's so cute with everything wrapped up and his little head sticking out ;) But whatever it takes to make him happy!

Almost asleep....

The daddy to be practicing - he'll be great!

Aunt Joey helping Jackson color with his new markers that the Easter bunny left with her, easy to do for an art teacher!

Grandma holding Luke - she helped out with him sooooo much the past few days :)

Granddad and Jackson, almost inserparable when together, share a quiet minute (literally) on the couch.

I hate that everyone has to leave tomorrow, but it was great having them here.

And, did you notice the blog background change - it's in honor of A-Day (not the one on ESPN either!!!). We are starting to get in football mode around the house already. Tomorrow we're headed to Auburn to spend a few days, go to the game, and hang out. Also, we're testing out our new TRAVEL TRAILER! Yep, we're pretty excited around here!!!!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-13T20:24:00.002-05:00

So, here are the pics from Saturday's Easter Egg hunt. It was as much fun as Jackson could have. There were about 100 children aged 2 and under, plus parents and some siblings in the park. It was pretty cold, but I just had to have Jackson in this little outfit. He had a jacket, but he didn't want to wear it, and I wasn't gonna fight with him about that ;)

It's kinda hard to tell, but it's got an Easter bunny, carrots, and Easter eggs on it :)

Wes had to hold him while we waited for them to say start or he would be a mile away. Once they said start, he was off...

Picking up eggs and putting them in his basket. He did a good job!

After 10 or so eggs, he began to lose interest. Mary tried to steer him back in the right direction. At one point he took off into the open field to run wide open - I know everyone is as shocked as we were, lol.

Afterwards, Jackson and Emma sat very briefly on the rocks. Then we headed down to see the waterfall.

Then J was off again...

Wes' parents stayed the weekend with us. It's always nice to have some extra hands, especially when they are a grandmother's and they love to hold babies!!!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T21:11:00.002-05:00

Happy Easter! I hope everyone has had a great day. We did, minus the sleepiness from Luke being up every couple of hours last night ;) We took Jackson to an Easter egg hunt yesterday, and spent the weekend with family. I have pictures to post from the egg hunt, but they will have to be tomorrow. Until then, I wanted to share this picture of the boys. They were both right at 2 1/2 weeks when the pic was taken.

It's J on the left and L on the right. I know it's hard to tell with J's face turned the way it is, but I think they look very different. And to this point, Luke is much bigger than Jackson was. At his 2 week checkup last week, he was 22 inches long and 9 pounds and 2 ounces! That's 60th percentile. Jackson wasn't that big until he was about 5 or 6 weeks, lol. Like I said, not much sleep last night, so I'm headed to dreamland. Easter pics will go up tomorrow.

18 months and more

2009-04-07T19:46:00.004-05:00

Last week Jackson turned 18 months. I would have posted that day, but we lost internet service and didn't get it back for almost 4 days! Wes and I both had withdrawal symptoms, but we are ok now, lol. So, here's what we've been up to for the last few days.

Sweet baby J is not a baby anymore! I can't believe he's already 18 months. He's a little boy now and he is definitely all BOY! He runs nonstop (no change there), but he also is talking all the time. He repeats everything we say (watch out!). He knows so many words, I couldn't even list all of them. He also has several books that he flips the pages through and points out everything that is there. Grandma got him some flash cards, and since last week, he has learned half of them already! He amazes me and makes me so proud everyday :)

He loves to play outside and I feel so bad when it's cold or rainy like it has been lately. Soon we will be outside every day though, I'm sure.

Lucas is now 2 weeks old, and he changes just about every day. He's like Jackson as a baby in some ways, but he's so different, too. His little face is so much fuller than Jackson's was, and he seems like he's growing faster than J did.

Me and my boys =)

Cousin Mason's third birthday was this weekend, and we had a great time at his party. Jackson loved playing on the trampoline and with all of their toys. Here he is jumping with his cousin Thomas. It's great to see the boys running around together :) Unfortunately I was running around chasing Jackson and didn't get any pics of the actual b'day boy! It was also nice to get out of the house. I'm trying to get back into a "normal" routine and more and more active each day. It's still hard b/c I can't pick up Jackson the way that I want and do all the things that I normally do, but a few more weeks and I should be there.

Wide eyed

Chubby cheeks

Brotherly love :) It's hard to get them together like this, but it's so cute to watch Jackson interact with Luke. He comes over to him all the time and says "hi" and kisses his head multiple times a day. He says "uh-oh" if he's crying or if his paci falls out of his mouth. He's been such a great big brother!

More of My Boys

2009-04-02T21:03:00.003-05:00

Jackson is still doing great with his new little brother. Today he grabbed one of his hats from the hospital and tried to put it on his head. With a little help from Daddy, he got it on, and he cracked us up running around with it on his head:) He is saying so many words now, and repeating almost everything we say!

And he's still enthralled with books and "reading" to himself and to us.

And the newest angel in our house, doing what he does best these days...

I love this one!!!

Sweet baby Lucas

Moving in for the Kill

2009-03-30T20:36:00.005-05:00

J looking at little bro...

>

J looking at us...can I do it???

J moving in...

Almost there...

Kissing sweet baby Luke!!!! (over and over and over)

And clapping because he's such an awesome little guy :)

And the best seat in the house tonight....

He'll hate this pic later, but it's adorable now...

My precious boys! Could I be any more blessed???

Grandparents Are Great!

2009-03-29T17:33:00.002-05:00

We are blessed to have great parents! Wes' parents watched Jackson while we stayed at the hospital, and my parents have been here since Friday, and my mom is staying the whole week. It's so nice to have another set or two of hands around to help with the boys! And of course, having someone else do the cooking...well, it's a definite perk ;) I'm feeling pretty good, just a few aches and pains still, but a few more days and I should be back to normal. The boys are great. Luke has even been letting us get some sleep :) Jackson, well, he's been Jackson, nonstop as usual! Here's our newest bundle of joy doing what babies do best.

Big brother

All my guys hanging out. I think J was pointing out L's nose to Daddy. Hope everyone has a great week!

Brotherly Love

2009-03-26T19:24:00.003-05:00

We survived our first outting with both boys this morning when I went to see my doctor to get the staples out. Both of them did great!

Jackson is still trying to figure Luke out. He likes to take his socks off and help me put them back on :D And he likes to point out all the body parts he knows (toes, eyes, ears, etc.). He will run up to which ever one of us is holding Luke, look at him, point a few things out, then run back to playing. He has also been a great helper, bringing bottles to the kitchen to put in the sink and diapers to the trash. What a great big brother!

So Far, So Good

2009-03-25T20:47:00.004-05:00

Everything has gone great so far. Jackson is adjusting well to having a baby in the house, and somehow Luke has managed to take naps on the couch with Jackson running all around him. I'd forgotten just how deep babies can sleep! Most of the time J's running around like usual and too busy to even notice Luke, but occassionally he'll stop and look at him. Here are some pictures from Jackie's camera. This is the only one of me that you will get while I'm at the hospital. I look awful or drugged (which I was) in the rest of them. I told Wes I was surprised that I could look that drugged from the morphine, yet still have hurt as much as I did those first 24 hrs.

Jackson just taking it all in at the hospital.

J's hit the point where he "hiding" from people by covering his eyes. I love that stage :)

Grandfather and grandson...

Sweet baby Luke on day 4. He's staying awake for periods of time and just taking it all in with his little eyes and is just the sweetest thing! Hopefully I can get some pictures of both of the boys together tomorrow - but that may be wishful thinking, lol.

Lucas has arrived!!!

2009-03-24T15:54:00.004-05:00

The last picture of me pregnant!!!

Well, I didn't think I was going to make it until today, and I was right. Saturday morning I woke up at 0300 with contractions, and it was the real deal:) I woke Wes up at 0545 and told him I was calling the hospital. We went in and by 0800 they were getting me ready for the OR. Lucas was born at 0917. He weighed 8 pounds and 1 ounce and was 20 inches long.

Wes was ready to capture the delivery on camera.

Sweet baby Luke

With Granddad

And Grandma

Proud Daddy

With Mary - note Jackson running around in the background. He was too busy exploring under the cabinets to notice his new little brother, lol.

Jackson and Emma just hanging out

With Tara

Nonnie getting some Luke time

Big Bro checking it all out.

We got home today and everything is great! Jackson has been good so far and likes to point out Luke's toes :D It amazes me that Luke can sleep through Jackson running around like a madman, but he does! We are so glad to be home and have been so blessed with our two little ones :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

2009-03-17T20:47:00.004-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Jackson celebrated the day in his shirt that actually came from Ireland :) It says on the label it is from 0-6 months, but it fits him perfectly now...what does that mean about those babies across the way???? The shirt says future Ireland rugby star, and I'm pretty sure he won't be that, but the way he runs (as seen above in the blurry pic) he may be a track star, lol. I'm so glad the rain was gone and the sun was out today b/c we spent about an hour outside after I got home. We both needed the fresh air!

I just thought this pic was too funny. I know it's hard to see b/c of the glare, but Jackson had shut the door and was stuck inside while I was outside on the porch. He was upset b/c he loves to be outside but he can't open the door yet (thank goodness), however he loves to shut the door. So he was standing there saying "outside" over and over until I quit laughing and opened the door.

Busted!!!

No news from the doctor except keep on keeping on and we'll see ya Tuesday for your section...I'm still hoping it will be before then though...

Rain Rain Go Away

2009-03-16T20:06:00.003-05:00

I know we need the rain, but we are ready for it to go away! Jackson hasn't been outside in several days to play, and let me tell y'all, he needs his nature time to run off some of that energy. He can only run so much in the house! The only good thing about the rain today was that Jackson took two good naps :) And I was able to get some work done while he napped. I've been way behind on sewing and craft things, but I got a blanket for Luke and a shirt for Jackson done.

I'm really hoping that I can make more time for this hobby once things get settled....just not sure when that will be, lol. Hopefully any day now Luke will be arriving - I'm definitely ready. I never thought Jackson would come early, but since he did, I've got high hopes that Luke will be here by weeks end...but only time will tell :) We'll keep everyone updated and post pics soon after the new little one arrives. Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy B'day Wes!

2009-03-13T21:04:00.001-05:00

Happy birthday to Wes, the greatest husband and daddy in the world :)

Spring Fever

2009-03-09T19:08:00.003-05:00

We have been spoiled by this warm weather! Jackson has been outside some each day and it's been great. He was outside when I picked him up from playschool, and we got him out on the porch this afternoon for even more sunshine :) He loves to play peek-a-boo, and that is what he was doing in this picture:

He's so happy here, you wouldn't believe how whiny he was a few hours after this, although all four of his incisors are cutting, and I know his little mouth has to hurt! I can't wait til they get through.

A brief moment of sitting still...

Jackson has learned to run and hoist himself up on the swing...I'm very scared of what is next! He's almost tall enough to pull on the door knobs.

I hate that it is about to get cold again! I want the warm weather to stay, but I know it will be here shortly. I had another doctor's appointment today and nothing new to report. Same as last week, so I go back again next week and my section is schedule for the week after that...omg, it's almost here :D Hope everyone has a great week!

17 Months

2009-03-04T20:05:00.002-06:00

Jackson turned 17 months yesterday! He still hasn't figured out the whole camera deal yet and gives it the funniest looks when he runs up to me when I'm holding it. We enjoyed almost the whole day together because I was post call and off from work. We did some running around in the morning, and I had a doctor's appt in the afternoon. Nothing really to share except that I'll be seeing them again in another week. 20 days til the big day now! It's almost here :)

Jackson still loves books and "reading." He will bring a book to us and sit in our lap so we can read it together. He's learned so many words in the past couple of months, and now he opens his books, points to different objects and tells us what they are! He babbles nonstop, I'm sure a trait he's gotten from Wes. He is now very good at climbing up and down the steps - scary.

He still loves to laugh at everything! He's also cutting his canine teeth now, so he's a little cranky at times, but looking at those things poking through, I don't blame him. Still hasn't been as bad as it was when his molars were cutting though. When these canines get in, he'll have most of his teeth :D And Wes and I will be very glad!

Here's a few more words Jackson now says: please, Grandma, Granddad, Pops, Nonnie, bar (as in cereal bars, his favorite food), "ne-ne" (his word for "cleanie" our roomba), banana (nana), home, outside, and many more!

Now he is also learning the context of words and putting things together. If it's been a while since you've seen him, you'll be amazed - at least I am!

Weekend Away

2009-03-01T20:24:00.002-06:00

Jackson and I spent the weekend in Anniston, while Wes was at a conference down in the Big Easy. I thought it would just be much easier with Jackson to have more hands to help with him than staying at home by myself, and I'm very glad that I went! He's just such a bundle of energy and chasing him around the house and picking him up these days is getting harder and harder. And of course, the grandparents loved getting to see him! Mom tried to get him to stay still for a picture, but you see how that turned out. It was a very relaxing weekend; we went to the church fish fry Friday night, and got Jackson's haircut on Saturday, then headed back early this morning trying to beat the snow. We all made it home safe and sound :)

Jackson has toys neatly stored in a basket, but he manages to get them strewn everywhere quickly!

He always finds the books first. We read this one at least 10 times.

While we were waiting to get Jackson's haircut, we walked around outside and one of the shops next door gave Jackson this balloon. It's as big as he is!!! He loved it though and played with it the rest of the day (although I kept waiting to hear a loud pop - but I never did!). We had a great trip!

One the baby update, I'm now 36 weeks and counting! Luke has definitely dropped, so we'll see what they say at my next doctor's appt on Tuesday. And yes, I'm just gonna keep working until the little one appears :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for the week!

Sincerely Fro Me to You

2009-02-26T17:03:00.002-06:00

It's been ages since I"ve posted a Fro moment, but I found this picture the other day when I was cleaning up, and it had to be shared, even though it's not Christmas time. I was 17 months old when this was taken (almost 18) and Jackson is about to be 17 months old now. Sometimes we struggle to figure out who he looks like, but I can clearly see me in my boy in this picture...what do y'all think, lol.

Yes, his cheeks are a little thicker, but I'd say he's definitely mine ;) And seeing my skinny legs and arms in that pic also makes me feel very reassured about Jackson's size - he definitely gets it honest...now I'm just wondering how I can get those skinny extremeties back, lol.

For more Fro action, head on over to We are THAT Family!

A night out

2009-02-20T19:17:00.002-06:00

Last night Wes and I went to Workplay and saw the Zac Brown Band. It was so much fun. Mom came over to watch Jackson for us, and we were able to have dinner out, then head to the concert. A couple of Wes' friends who he used to bartend with now work at Workplay, so we were able to see them for a little bit, too. The concert was great, and it was nice to go out, just the two of us. Although, I was exhausted by the time we got home and in bed, which was around midnight. Luckily, I was able to go into work at 1100 today, so I didn't have to get up at 500 this morning. You can see in the picture how big I'm getting! I will definitely be bigger with Luke than I was with Jackson...

Jackson had a great time with his Grandma :) He loves to play on the couches these days, but he's been pretty good about just lying on them or sitting on his bottom...so far. Here he is reading a story to Grandma this morning. He's learning so many more words, it's amazing! He's constantly talking. I'll try to get some video up soon.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Stuck in the Middle

2009-02-17T20:13:00.002-06:00

Yes, that is my son with his jeans slacking ;) We're having a hard time with some of his clothes these days. J's stuck in the middle of a couple of sizes of clothes. He's too tall for 12 month clothes, but the 18 months clothes...well you see above what happened the other day when we put a new pair of jeans on him. The bad part was we put them on, then headed to the park, so we weren't even at home when the started to droop. And, they've been washed and dried, so probably not shrinking any more. Little man's so skinny that his waist still fitsin 9 month pants! Guess we just need some fashionable baby belts, lol.

He's so funny when we first get to the park. He walks slowly for just a minute or two and takes it all in, then takes off. I wish the weather would get warm and stay warm, instead of this warm one day and freezing the next business it's been doing!

On the Luke front, all is well. I'm on my every 2 week doctor visits, and soon will have to go every week. I'm measuring right on at 34 1/2 weeks, but I still think I'm bigger than I was with Jackson, even though I've gained less weight to this point than I did with him (of course, I was swollen as a tick by this point with him as well and I've had just a little swelling this time around). We are now 5 weeks away from delivery day and we can't wait!!!

Sunny Sunday

2009-02-08T19:11:00.003-06:00

I'm so glad that the weather was nice this weekend after it being such a cold week! We've had Jackson outside everyday playing and he loves it :) Yesterday we went to the park, and today we just played in the backyard.

He briefly stopped to see what to play with next...

We always joke that Jackson will be a great mover when he gets older because he's constantly pushing things back and forth ;)

And going down the little slide. He still likes this one, but the one at the park has scared him a bit because he keeps getting shocked when he goes down it. The only bad thing about the little one at our house is that he needs help getting on it, and he's getting harder and harder for me to pick up these days.

Everything else is going great around here. We've got Luke's furniture together, and once we get it all situated and all his clothes put up, I'll get a picture of his room posted. I'm going to be better about posting, I know I've gotten behind! Other than being on a bunch of different medicine for stomach issues, I'm still feeling great, but I think I'm starting to waddle a bit, lol. 6 1/2 more weeks to go!!! If the old wive's tale is true, Luke will have a head full of hair as thick as Wes', but I guess for now, we'll just speculate and find out in good time. Hope everyone has a great week.

Back to Normal

2009-02-05T20:39:00.002-06:00

Well, thankfully we are all back to normal around the house :) Jackson is back to running around like crazy. This was him a few days ago with his teddy bear, giving it a kiss. He's cutting some more teeth, so his mouth has been bothering him. I will be glad eventually when all those teeth get in! It seems like it takes forever for that little white spot on his gum to be a fully erupted tooth!!!

One more day in the work week - yea! I'm sure everyone else is counting with me as well. Although, we've got a ton to do around the house this weekend that didn't get done last weekend, mainly getting Luke's furniture put together and organizing all of his stuff :) 47 more days, and counting down!!!

Stomach Bugs - YUCK

2009-02-02T19:57:00.002-06:00

I know it's been a while since I posted, and this one will be brief because we've had the stomach bug travelling through the household over the weekend :( It all started with Jackson, as I'm sure many of the bugs that make their way through the house over years will. We are all pretty much on the mend, but this weekend was awful. Imagine how bad it is just to have the bug, then imagine it 32 weeks pregnant...yep, it was that bad. Hope everyone else had a much better weekend than we did. And congrats to the Steelers!!! What a great game. It was the highlight of the weekend.

Family Weekend and Happy CRNA Week!!!

2009-01-25T20:14:00.004-06:00

My family came to visit this weekend, and it was great to see everyone! But all that fun means there needs to be down time, too, and here was a sweet moment between my guys :) It's so rare that Jackson stops and wants to cuddle, that we cherish every second!!!

Noel Mark and Joanna came up for a couple of days and it was so nice :) We hate that they live so far away and we don't get to see them that often.

A quiet moment around the house...

Jackson with his Granddad

Learning how to take pics from Uncle Noel, who was so kind as to take some family pics of us today. I hope they turned out well, but it's like rolling the dice with Jackson these days. I really wanted to get one of him kissing my belly, but he wasn't going for anything today. He was holding a hair brush and playing with it and if you tried to take it from him, he lost it...kids, lol.

Finally, Happy Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists Week to all the CRNAs out there!!! I love my job and here I am at work :D I know, I know, you're all jealous of the stylish blue hat ;)

Hope everyone has a great week.

Lucas' New Pics

2009-01-21T19:29:00.006-06:00

Yesterday we had our 4-D ultrasound of Lucas, so here are a few of his pictures. There are lots more, but they all pretty much look the same, and most of them only show parts of his face instead of the whole thing. He did pretty good, but we did have to take a break in the middle when he turned his head away from the US machine. But then he turned back around for a few more shots. I'm amazed at how much clearer these are when I compared them to Jackson's. So, here's what we'll be seeing in about 9 weeks!!!

Our beautful little one :)

I just thought this was too cute - he's sticking his tongue out!!! How funny is that? He and Jackson will get along great (at some point, lol).

Here's J's from about a year and a half ago. Still good, but not as clear, right?

Working Weekend

2009-01-18T15:25:00.004-06:00

We've had a working weekend around our house. It's the first time in about 6 weeks that we've been here, not gone anywhere, I've not worked at least part of the weekend, or something like that. So what did we do...work around the house - fun, fun ;) We've gotten Luke's room completely cleaned out now, but we're still getting everything reorganized downstairs where we moved all of that stuff that filled the room. And of course, we've been going through it as we moved it, so it's just been a blast. Wes has finished staining Jackson's new toy chest that he got for Christmas, and it's just begging to be put in the den under the desk! Overall we've gotten a ton done this weekend, but it's all those little things that make you wonder where the time went, lol. Our best Christmas present to ourselves was our Roomba. We used to have to sweep about 5 times a day picking up after Jackson, but now, we have our trusty friend, who does it for us. Jackson just stands and watches it, still not quite sure, but he hasn't jumped on it yet.

Jackson, of course, ran circles around us as we worked. We did decide to move his rocking chair downstairs in hope that he may sit still, at least for a few minutes a day. I think it's going to work...

Last night Wes grilled steaks for us, and I just had to share his outfit...it reminds me of a postman - neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow...nothing stops a man from his grill, right :D Of course, I'm not complaining b/c I love my steak!

Today we've just done more around the house, but since the sun was finally out and the weather wasn't bitterly cold, I took Jackson outside for a while to let him run off some energy. He loves being outside, which is great b/c so do we! Here he is taking a (very) brief break from dragging around the broom.

He loves to climb up in the Auburn chairs, then climb back down, and repeat.

Hats don't stay on his head very long, but we keep trying.

Playing on his gift from Santa. The funniest thing is to play peek-a-boo with him using the different holes on the sides. He just laughs and laughs!

Playing around the plastic was electric - just look at that hair!

Hope everyone has had a good weekend. We're just settled in front of the tv watching football now. Surprised at the way Arizona is playing, and hoping that Pittsburgh plays well and wins tonight!

Check up and Lunch out

2009-01-15T20:19:00.003-06:00

Jackson went for his 15 month check up today and everything looks great! He has figured out about the doctor's office though, and was hysterical as soon as we took his clothes off and put him on the scale. Seriously, we've never seen him like that, and although I'm sure they're used to it, I felt bad for the nurses. Somewhere in his head, he knew already he was getting a couple of shots before we left :( He's still a little low on the weight end of things, only 20 pounds and 7 ounces (4th percentile) and he's 30th percentile for height. But since he eats so well and runs all day long, we expect his weight to continue along the same curve ;) So, we'll go back in another 3 months and see how much he's grown :)

After such a traumatic morning, I was glad we had some friends in town to meet for lunch. Allison and Wes are in town for the weekend, so we met up with them and Ali's mom and grandmother for lunch. It was so good to see them, it's been ages since they live so far away! So Jackson got to eat pizza for lunch, which he loves :) He wouldn't look at the camera though when we tried to get a few pics, but he sat and was occupied by Wes' expert coloring skills while we waited on our food, so I'd say he did great overall ;) It was so good to see y'all and hopefully it won't be another year before we see you again!!!

We did manage to get him to look up while he posed with me :) He's so hard to capture still these days!

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Go Steelers!

2009-01-12T19:26:00.003-06:00

Jackson saw Nonnie and Pops this past week. You've got to hold on tight these days because he'll try to jump outta your arms, lol.

We cheered for the Steelers yesterday, and hopefully they'll go all the way!

15 Months

2009-01-04T20:00:00.002-06:00

Jackson turned 15 months old yesterday! He's growing so fast and learning so much these days. Here's a few pictures and a few fun things about him:)

Here he is eating a new food - spaghetti! We didn't think he would like it, but he loved it.

Yummy!

Playing on the horse that we got him for Christmas. He's so cute when he gets on it, but it only holds his attention for a minute or two. It hooks into the tv and he can play games that way, but we're going to wait a little longer before we do that.

15....

15 words Jackson can say:
1. Da da
2. Ma ma
3. apple
4. milk
5. bath
6. more
7. thank you
8. Jackson
9. belly button - but it sounds like "bubba" when he says it
10. baby
11. out
12. up
13. down
14. uh oh
15. pops

15 things Jackson likes to do:
1. RUN!!!!!
2. take a bath
3. EAT!!!
4. sleep with his blanket
5. suck his thumb ---help!
6. ride around in his toy car
7. visit with his grandparents
8. swim and play at the beach in the sand and water
9. slide down a slide
10. "read" a book
11. dance
12. listen to music
13. play outside
14. roll down the hill in the back yard
15. give hugs and kisses

Signs Jackson knows (not 15 yet...)
1. Please
2. Thank you
3. bath
4. eat
5. more
6. down
7. bunny
8. milk
9. water

He will go for his 15 months check up in a couple of weeks and we'll see how much he's grown! Hope everyone has a great week :D

Meeerrrrrryyyy New Year! 2008 Year in Review

2009-01-01T19:06:00.006-06:00

Talking about YouTube - Merry New Year!

That is one of Wes' favorite movies, and we always wonder how many people really get it when we tell them "Merry New Year!" Hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve. Ours was great, minus the fact that I have this terrible sinus thing going on right now that I am desperately trying to prevent from being a bad infection. I was so glad that we didn't make big plans for the night b/c I would have cancelled them :( I even broke down today and bought a neti pot to irrigate my sinuses. It helped briefly, but then stopped up again. Oh well - at least my ears are finally unclogged for the most part.

Wes and I spent the night relaxing and enjoying a great meal - prime rib and shrimp :D We watched football, rang in the New Year with Dick Clark, and watched a couple of crazy people on ESPN flip a car and jump a motorbike onto and off of the Arc outside Paris in Las Vegas...I really wonder about those people!!!

So far 2009 had been very productive for us. Luke's room now has the first coat of paint on it!

It's hard to tell, but the color is called "oatmeal." It's a medium brown. I think we are going to get white furniture. I know it's a little late and we need to get on the ball and order it, but time has just slipped away from us. I really like the color, and I think we are going to do a jungle or animal theme in there, so it should look really cute.

Also, we have been on a roll exercising, thanks to the great Christmas present from my parents and my brother and his wife - a Wii! We've been Wii Fit'n it every day. It's so much fun that you don't realize some of the things are exercise until the next day when you're sore, lol. Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll get some new pics of Jackson up soon :)

Here's a review of 2008:

January - I was settled back in at work, and Wes was starting his second year of school. Jackson was 3 months and already rolling over! It snowed!!! In Alabama!!!

Feb - Jackson was laughing and smiling at everything and everyone! We took him to the beach for the first time.

March - Wes turned 30! It snowed AGAIN - we couldn't believe it. Wes and I got the garden started in the back yard. Jackson was crawling primitively- and he hasn't stopped moving since, lol.

April - Jackson turned 6 months! We went away for the weekend for the first time and left Jackson with Grandma and Granddad. Jackson got some teeth :D And tried rice cereal for the first time.

May - Jackson learned to crawl up the steps - thanks to Grandma! The garden was growing great. We took Jackson to the farmer's market for the first time. I made all of Jackson's baby food from scratch (well, minus the cereal).

June - We went to the beach - Cape San Blas. Jackson absolutely loves the water and is fearless crawling around in the sand. I turned 29.

July - We found out Jackson would be a big brother and bought a condo in Orange Beach! Jackson was getting lots more teeth and trying many more foods. He liked everything we fed him, except black eyed peas. He was pulling up and trying to walk already - and getting into everything ;)

August - I am sick as a dog and taking zofran daily - yuck! Much worse this time around than it was with J. Wes got inducted into Gamma Beta Phi. Jackson is growing like a weed tall, but still pretty skinny because he runs around nonstop all day. We go to the Plains for first game of what we thought would be a promising season - we were wrong :(

September - Back to the beach for a couple of weekends :) And Aunt Phyllis got to come for a visit. Jackson starts walking even though he'd been teasing us for months (and we could've waited a few more months for it to happen, lol). Noel Mark and Joanna stopped by for a visit and more Auburn games :) Jackson started playschool 2 days a week at our church. I am starting to show a little bit and still feeling sick daily.

October - Happy 1st B'day, Jackson! The weather is great and we are taking Jackson to the park or just the backyard as often as we can. I finally quit feeling to bad stop taking the zofran. We find out Jackson will have a baby brother!

November - More trips to Auburn :) We spent Thanksgiving at the beach and the weather was perfect. Jackson ran around on the beach every day. I'm definitely showing and into maternity clothes.

December - Jackson's 2nd Christmas. We discover there is something that the child fears - Santa! He has no clue about opening presents and would much rather sit on them or carry them around the house. He left the tree alone (for the most part) and only played with his ornaments and loved to stare out the window at the outside lights It was a great year for us!!!

Christmas Celebration

2008-12-28T19:44:00.005-06:00

We've had three days of Christmas here in our household. Thursday after I got home from work, we opened our family presents. Jackson has absolutely no clue, and it was hilarious! Friday we went to Wes' sister's house and had the Rankin Christmas over there. Three boys between the ages of 1 and 6 running around! Then Saturday, the Harveys came in and we celebrated Christmas with my parents. Whew - it's been a whirlwind the past few days.

The best part to Jackson was running around :) He doesn't understand anything about opening presents, and he was much more interested in running around with his presents or even old toys he's had for ages.

Opening a present with him took a good 10 minutes for each one because he would run off and play in the middle of each one, lol.

Again, the best part is definitely the paper!!!

***Notice number 3 on the Christmas list: Baby brother!!

Santa brought Jackson a slide. He ran around the room for 10 minutes before he even approached it, lol. His favorite thing to do is climb up the slide backwards.

At Tara and Mike's, Jackson decided he needed a break from opening this present, so he just laid down on it for a minute or so!

Reading a book with Pops

The three fishermen pose in their new hats! Now we'll be able to spot them from a mile away when we're at the beach :) But they won't get sunburnt necks!

Christmas was great this year. Thanks to everyone for the great times!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2008-12-25T10:15:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas. I know we've been away from the blog for a while, but things have been so busy! Wes and Jackson went away for the weekend, and I thought I would be able to get up a post or two, but I ended up working the whole time :( Literally all day and night Saturday, so needless to say, I spent Sunday recovering. I'm at work again today, but we'll have lots of new pics to post after I get home and we let Jackson open his presents! Then he will get to do it all over again tomorrow with the Rankin Christmas, and again on Saturday with the Harvey Christmas...he's not going to know what to do, lol! Hope everyone is having a great day :D

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Elves are Back

2008-12-13T21:44:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

2008-12-13T21:23:00.006-06:00

Oh yeah...Gene Chizik??? What is Jacobs thinking??? Anyone?

Christmas Fun

2008-12-11T20:49:00.002-06:00

What could be more fun than having presents to open under the tree? Sitting on them and playing, of course :) Jackson has loved to sit on his big present and swing his legs since we put it out. He's such a climber! If there's anything that he can climb up on and sit on, he will...at least he's not standing on it and jumping off - yet!

We have ornaments on the bottom half of the tree that he can take off and play with that won't break. Each day he pulls all of them off and at night we put them back on the tree. Sometimes he actually will put them on the tree himself, like he's doing below, but usually not, lol.

Scared of Santa

2008-12-07T20:03:00.002-06:00

One day Jackson will probably kill me for this post, but I just have to share with everyone. Jackson was always very outgoing as a baby. Nine months came, and he never cared if Wes and I left him with a babysitter, 12 months came, and still not a peep. This was great because it made leaving him with someone or taking him to daycare so easy. Well, it all changed last month. Suddenly Jackson has developed parental attachment. The first time he cried when I left him at day care, it broke my heart :( Well, the other night we were out and we saw Santa at the toy store. We decided to go ahead and get their picture while we were there and there was no line. Well, the second that Wes let go of Jackson, he wailed!!! And didn't stop until we picked him back up. The he stood there and checked out Santa for a full minute. Then he ran off to play with a toy. At first I hated this picture because I wanted a "cute" one with Jackson and Santa, and I was kind of upset at the photographer and Santa and his wife because they all laughed and said I would love this picture. Well, by the next day I was over it and now I crack up when I see it. So without further ado - here's Jackson and Santa 2008:

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2008-12-06T21:15:00.002-06:00

We have spent most of the day finishing up the Christmas decorations. The boxes are finally put up - yea! They've been out since Monday and it's taken all week to get things out. Not that there's that much, because a lot I didn't put out because of Jackson, but it's been too busy this week to work more than an hour a night on it. In fact, the bottom half of the tree is practically bare. I only have ornaments down there that Jackson can pick off and plop back on the tree, so it looks kinda funny, but there was no way I was skipping the tree. Jackson is mesmerized by the lights and loves to stare at it. One of my favorite things to put up each year is our Auburn tree. Yep, you know you're a fan when, lol. The tree has all kinds of AU ornaments we've accumulated over the years, and the rest of the table top has Auburn Santas or other figurines. Here it is:

And I have to throw in a quick "Go Gators!!!" What a game that was :)

While Wes and I put out the decorations, Jackson found a new toy - an empty box. It's so funny to me how the simplest things amuse children :D He climbed in and out, although it was much harder for him to get out, of the box for at least 30 minutes, several times today, until we threw it outside. So maybe we can just wrap up a few empty boxes for him for his Christmas presents, haha.

Caught in the act!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T20:27:00.008-06:00

Hope everyone's having a great Thanksgiving! We have changed things up a bit this year and are spending Thanksgiving at the beach :) My parents have come down to spend the weekend with us. The weather has been awesome and we spend about an hour walking on the beach today with Jackson.

I know it's been ages since I posted, but y'all know how things are!!! Here are a few pictures from the AU/GA game.

Everyone gets in the Thanksgiving spirit on the Plains!

This was truly the perfect day for football! Sunny and temps in the low 60s :)

My brother was able to spend the day in Auburn with us, and it's always great to see him

Right before we left and headed back to B'ham, there was this rainbow outside. Hopefully we can find the pot of gold at the end of it!

Last Friday we had a few people over and we fried a turkey, since we knew we would have to roast one down here at the beach, and I've been craving fried turkey for weeks!!! We've still been taking Jackson outside whenever we can to let him get fresh air and run off some of that energy, and this day was no exception. He loves to be pushed around in his little car (and it's good exercise for us to push him up and down the hills).

Jackson and I bundled up for just a bit and stood outside with Wes while he fried the turkey. Amazingly enough, Jackson kept his toboggan on his head!

This was us this morning...Jackson was starting to get tired - as evidenced by the thumb. He wasn't really into trying the turkey today. We'll see what he does tomorrow, as his taste buds seem to change daily.

As I said before, we spent about an hour on the beach today. This morning it was warm enough that Wes and I were in shorts and a tshirt, but in the afternoon, we all threw on a sweatshirt. Jackson has always loved the beach, and even though he couldn't get in the water, he still had a blast playing and running around in the sand.

Granddad and Grandma with Jackson

Wes and Jackson at the beach this afternoon

Playing in the sand. Hopefully the weather will stay this nice the rest of the weekend and the rain will hold off so that we can spend more time on the beach. I'm surprised at the amount of people who are down here. Mainly snowbirds, but there are families down here too. Enjoy the rest of your long weekends!!!

Welcome Back Dad!!!

2008-11-13T19:45:00.004-06:00

Yesterday my dad got home from his trip to Alaska visiting family. He, mom and NM made a visit by the house to hang out and so dad could see Jackson since he hasn't seen him in a month. It was great to have them over, and Jackson loves getting to visit with everyone! He will walk from person to person getting all the attention there is and loving every second of it :D

Jackson getting some Granddad love

Dancing...a daily activity in our house these days!

With Uncle Noel

Other than that, we've been pretty crazy around here, surprise, surprise. I was out of town for 4 days last week for the AANA Fall Assembly in St. Petersburg. It was a great trip and great meeting, but I missed my guys! I'm finally looking pregnant - and having mixed feelings about that for sure. All of the sudden in the past week, I've had a major growth spurt, started to swell, and transitioned into the prego clothes.....what a week! Less than 19 weeks til D-day, so I'm over halfway there though (gotta keep looking at the positive, right).

This was our hotel in St. Pete

This was the beach. The weather was beautiful - in the 60s most of the day, which was perfect for me to take a stroll Thursday. Also, all the places we went and ate supper at were within walking distance.

The bay, which was a short 20 yards away - made me miss my fishing rod!!!

Jackson's running everywhere instead of walking these days and learning to say more words. He loves going to playschool each week and is the "greeter" and social butterfly there ;) He's learned to brush his teeth by himself (after we scrub them well first) and his hair (kinda). He's growing so fast and getting so tall!!!

Wes has almost made it through another quarter of school, just about 4 more weeks. We are ready to go to Auburn on Saturday and maybe we can pull off a miracle and win...we'll see.

Hope everyone has a good weekend. I'm on call and hoping I don't have to work too hard ;)

Did you vote today???

2008-11-04T19:56:00.003-06:00

Although I very much dread what is inevitably coming, I hope everyone voted...

Here are some pictures of the little man from the past weekend. Wes was tied up with the Arkansas St/AL game (sorry Tyler's team lost!), so I packed up Jackson and we went to Mandeville to visit Uncle Noel and Aunt Joey. Joanna's sister and her daughter were also in town, and it was great to see them. It was the first time we had seen the baby, and Jackson did very good with her. He wasn't rough with her and didn't seem to care when I was holding her - but he may have been to busy running around to really care (big surprise there, I know)!

We got down there Friday night and went to a Halloween party held at some of Mr. Mike's friends' house, where they set up a "haunted" house for the kids to go through each year. I even took J through it before the other kids showed up - he wasn't really interested, but doesn't know yet that it was "scary."

Saturday morning was spent relaxing, then Noel Mark took pictures of Jackson, which hopefully I will get soon (ahem). He's so hard to snap these days because he'll never stay still more than a second or two, but I know he's got some good ones! It was hard to get him to smile because he was starting to get tired, but oh well. Then we came back to the house and watched the Auburn game - nothing to say there. Jackson's learned to do "touchdown," but he won't get to practice it too much while cheering for our team. Joanna's family came over for supper, and Jackson got sooooo overstimulated it was hard to get him to sleep. He cried for a little while :( And his mouth hurts him pretty bad right now b/c he's cutting all four molars (OUCH) plus another tooth. His gums look pretty white too, so I'm sure more are not far behind. Poor little guy!!!

Here's some pictures of our little pumpkin at the party.

He loves looking at the water when we are at the waterfront!

This is how long the hat part of the outfit stays on...not even long enough to set it on and step back to take the picture, lol.

Trying to convince him to stand still...

Biting his fingers in anticipation of the Auburn game

We've taught Jackson to do an Indian war cry and it's now one of his favorite things. He's also clapping really well, and dancing to music. It's adorable to watch!

I'm on call tomorrow and off for a conference after that, but I'll try to get some video of Jackson doing all these new things up soon :)

It's a BOY!!!

2008-10-30T20:57:00.006-05:00

I know I promised these pictures last night, but it just didn't happen - sorry! We went out to eat to celebrate our news and by the time we got home and Jackson bathed, and down, well, y'all know how that goes. It was too late for me to get this done because I was tired and ready to go to bed too! But, for those who don't know yet - we're having a baby BOY!!! Jackson is going to have a brother :) Everything looked great with the baby and he's measuring right on schedule at 18 1/2 weeks. Here's a few pictures from the ultrasound. I know it's hard to see and the quality once they got scanned and cropped but it's what we got so far :)

Here's his face and his arm up by it

Here's his foot...

And his leg - which was kicking the black spot next to it - which is my bladder and was very funny to Wes, but not so much to me.

And his little face - now I can't wait to see his 4D pics, but that won't be for about 10 more weeks.

And here's the money shot - his goods are hanging down right under the word BOY. Again, sorry it's kinda hard to see, but it's there!!!

We are so excited to be having a boy and can't wait for him to be here and meet his big brother Jackson :)

The Past Week in Review

2008-10-27T20:52:00.003-05:00

We've had a really busy past week. Last week we took Jackson to the doctor for his 12 month checkup. He is doing great! He's ahead of schedule for both motor and verbal. He now weighs 19 pounds and 6 ounces, which is in the 10th percentile (so he's skinny) and he's 30 1/2 inches tall, which is about 65th percentile (so he's a little tall). He's stayed on the same growth curve that he's been on, so we aren't worried about his weight...and if you've ever seen how much the child runs around, you know why he's like that ;) He also had to get 4 shots, and we hated it for him, but he only cried for about 15 seconds. We will take him back in another 3 months.

The rest of the week flew by for me because I was on call Wednesday, then spent Thursday getting ready for our ALANA Fall Meeting. It started with a dinner Thursday night for the new students, the full days for me Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday. I was exhausted when it was over, but it was a good meeting.

Wes and Jackson spent some quality time together and some time outside when it wasn't too cold.

Today Jackson got a Halloween card from Uncle Noel and Aunt Joey. He liked feeling the felt on the outside of it...and really enjoyed playing with the envelope that it came in, lol.

Looking up at the camera

Wes and Jackson Saturday night before we went out to eat.

We've had to pull out the winter clothes! And it's gone from fall to winter in about 2 weeks here in Alabama - it's supposed to be in the 30s tomorrow morning!!!

Stopping for a brief moment to smile :)

Playing at the Park

2008-10-19T20:40:00.003-05:00

This afternoon was so nice outside, so we decided to take Jackson to the park to play. Once we get him out of the car, it takes several minutes for him to make his way to the park area because he has to stop and pick up a rock. All the toys in the world could be out there and he would still play with the rocks first.

Walking on the trail

His favorite thing to do is go down the slide! He will go down it over and over. Sometimes he tries to climb back up it once he reaches the bottom. There are two slides at this park, so we go back and forth between the two.

He's still not sure what to think of the tires, and there's usually nasty leaves and stuff inside, so we don't let him play with them too much.

This is one of my favorite pictures because it shows what Jackson does best - run around! Half the time when we call him he comes running to us, and the other half he does this - runs the other way :)

On the see-saw

And after all the fun, what better way to wind down than to swing with Daddy!

It's so nice to have a park in our neighborhood to take Jackson to and we try to do it a couple of times a week. He's so much fun to watch when he's running around playing!!!

Another First

2008-10-16T19:37:00.002-05:00

We are so glad that the weather has been so beautiful lately. We've taken Jackson outside for a little bit every day. Yesterday we let him run around for about 20 minutes or so. He loves the outdoors and having more room to roam :) And he's definitely all boy - he doesn't care if he gets dirty or falls or anything like that.

Here was a shot of him last night...note the hair...I know some of you think we should've had it cut ages ago, but I was not getting it cut until he was at least one. I wanted to keep my baby just that - a baby...because I knew once we got his hair cut he would only look even more like a big boy. Well, today was the day we took the plunge and Jackson had his first haircut!

He did pretty good. He stood or sat in my lap. You can see by the shape of his mouth I bribed him with food ;) He kept turning his head to see what the hair dresser was doing, and she kept laughing at him. But there were no temper tantrums or crying spells, so I thought it was great.

Bye bye baby curls :(

And here's Jackson now - a big boy!!!

Heart Beat

2008-10-09T19:04:00.002-05:00

Today we went and heard the baby's heartbeat! It was great to hear it even though it took a while to find it and we only got to hear it for a minute. Everything's great and we do the ultrasound next visit :) Sorry no pictures lately, but things have been crazy around here.

We will be off to Auburn for the weekend to see how the Tiger's play with an interim OC calling the plays...should be interesting to say the least. War Eagle!!!

Break N Bread

2008-10-05T16:14:00.002-05:00

Here's one more picture from Jackson's first birthday - the hat stayed on for all of 5 seconds. If you can tell, Wes is holding his hands down for this picture, lol.

We spent this afternoon downtown in Pepper Place at Break 'N Bread, which had a group of local restaurants offering tastings of their food. This is a Birmingham Originals fundraiser held every year. The plan was for us to go to early church, let Jackson play in the nursery, come home for his nap, then head downtown. Well, all went as planned except for the nap part. Jackson just rolled around and played in his crib for almost 1 1/2 hours, but he was happy, so we left him up there. Then we got him up and headed downtown. Jackson did really well for not having his nap, and the food was great! Each restaurant had a tent set up with plates of their yummy food at the front . Some of our favorites were: Bright Star's seafood gumbo, Cafe Iz's brisket and polenta (which Jackson loved the polenta, who knew?), and Hot and Hot's shrimp and grits. We let Jackson roam around in the street where it was not that crowded and he had a lot of fun. They also had cooking demos, bands, and belly dancers (one of which should NOT have been out there). Here Jackson was dancing in the street :)

We can't wait to go back next year! The only disappointing thing for me was all the wines and beers that were there to taste that I couldn't have! Oh well, there's always next year, right...

Happy Birthday, Jackson!!!

2008-10-03T20:41:00.003-05:00

Today is Jackson's birthday! It's so hard to believe that a year ago today Jackson made his entrance into this world :) It has flown by and he's growing way to fast, especially over the last month - he's just shot up! If you haven't seen him in a while, you won't believe it when you do. He's running everywhere and eating just about everything we put in front on him. I've gotten much more relaxed about what I will let him try in the last month, and if we are eating it and he wants to try it, it's almost always his.

Since we did a big birthday party for Jackson a couple of weeks ago, we just hung out at home tonight with the little man. Grandma and Granddad came over to celebrate as well. He had a package in the mail from Uncle Noel and Aunt Joey, so he had a present to open, too. Here is Jackson hanging with his daddy.

This is the little cake for Jackson today - War Eagle!

His first pinch...

Which led to many more handfuls...

Seeing how big of a piece he can get in his mouth ;)

with Grandma and Granddad

Happy Birthday, Jackson!!! We love you!!!

Weekend Away

2008-09-29T19:40:00.002-05:00

We had a great weekend away in Auburn - thanks again to my parents for watching Jackson for the whole weekend :) Y'all are the best! Although the game was a bit painful to watch, at least the guys pulled it off in the end - thank goodness for the defense. Sunday we got home and spent the afternoon with Jackson and also had a visit from my brother and his wife on their way home :) We hardly ever get to see them, so it was great that they stopped by, even if it was for a short bit. Here they are with Jackson:

Today we took Jackson to the park for a little bit and let him play outside. I'm so glad that the weather is finally cooling off so he can enjoy it. He's walking and running everywhere now, so he's so much fun outside :)

War Eagle

2008-09-26T14:19:00.001-05:00

We are off to the Plains!!! Hope everyone has a great weekend :)