Wagon Time!!

Driving through my neighborhood the other afternoon (headed home from work), and this is what I find coming down the road. Jackson LOVES to ride in the wagon....and from the looks of it, he talked his daddy into taking him on a cruise! Love it. :)

Jackson visits the pharmacy...

Jackson came to visit his Mom at the pharmacy today!
He got to meet a bunch of new people and "helped" my pharmacy staff! :)

Just call me "Skeeter Bite"!

Yesterday was the most pleasant afternoon we've had all summer, and Jason, Jackson, and I took full advantage of it! We rode in the wagon, played in the grass, visited with our neighbours, washed the car, and got eaten alive by mosquitos! My poor baby boy must be very tasty, because they LOVED him! Poor guy has 3 bites on his head, several on his arms, and several on his legs. Worst part is....we were swatting bugs off him all afternoon. I wouldn't have been surprised by a bite or two, but this is just ridiculous! He's got welps and bites from head to toe! Poor thing.

Sent from my HTC

What a mess!!!

This is what happens when your sweet baby boy crawls in the freezer and "plays" with the baking soda! He seems pretty happy about it! (his parents: not so happy)
:)

Giggles and grins *VIDEO*

Eating is so much fun! :) 
Don't you just love the hair (and the Spiderman t-shirt)?
It is virtually impossible to finish a meal these days without getting food in his hair!


Look at that face! Don't you just love him?? If that face is not enough to win you over, you need to watch this video! :)

Love the giggles and squealing! Such a happy boy!

(Okay...so I was tickling his feet. He loves it!!)

:)

Lots of good stuff in our toy box! :)

Only problem was once he got in there, he wasn't sure how to get out! :) That boy is LITERALLY into everything! :)

Sent from my HTC

12 month check-up

Today was Jackson's 12 month check-up with Dr. Narayanan. We talked all morning about what was going to happen at the appointment (because he's a big kid now), but he didn't seem to really care. :)



Here is the big smile I got after Jackson woke up from his morning nap! Doesn't he have the most beautiful smile?! Glad he was in a good mood at least before his doctor's visit. :)

We got to the doctor's office a little early (they are closed for lunch until right before his appointment at 1:00pm), and Jackson had his first driving lesson! He had a ball turning the steering wheel and flashing the lights!

Jackson and his dad...waiting.

Jackson had to have his finger pricked (totally routine...they check for anemia at one-year and again at five-years)....and he was very unhappy about it! It was more that he didn't want the nurse to hold his finger still while collecting the blood. It took all three of us to keep his hand still enough for her to get enough blood to do the test. When the blood collection part was over, the nurse put two Wile E. Coyote bandaids on his poor little thumb. This made him even madder! He was not going to rest until he found a way to get that bandaid off his finger! After about 30 seconds, he accomplished his task. Only problem was...the finger was still bleeding! I tried to hold gauze on it, but this made him even madder! Poor guy had blood all over the place! It was just terrible. He felt much better once I was able to hold him and we left that poor, bleeding thumb alone!

After the whole "finger prick incident", Jackson still had to get two shots! He was very not pleased to be held down a second time, and was even more furious when he got his injections. Poor guy was so not happy...that is, until he got his cookies! It is amazing how much better my man felt when he got a cookie in each hand! :) Praise the Lord for cookies! :)

Jackson's 12-month stats:

• weight: 26 pounds and 8 ounces...90th percentile
• height: 30 and 3/4 inches...80th percentile
• head circumference: 20 inches (only a little bit bigger than the last check-up. Yeah!)...still 100th percentile. Oh well....lots of brains in there I suppose. That's what Dr. Narayanan says! He actually said he should have a large brain and he wants to hear he went to Harvard, or Yale, or some other really smart school...on scholarship! :)

Dr. Narayanan quote of the day:

"Ma'am. That boy is solid! He should grow up to be linebacker. A smart linebacker!" :) 

Vacation 2011

Jackson turned ONE on Tuesday; Jason and I went on vacation on Wednesday. It's been a big week for our family! Birthday party on Sunday, birthday/first haircut on Tuesday, leave for vacation for Mama and Daddy on Wednesday, back from vacation on Saturday. Whew...I'm exhausted! :)

Jason and I decided to take a trip without Jackson this year, because to be honest, we couldn't come up with anything we thought Jackson would enjoy too. (I can see some fun vacations in the very near future though!) Now most of you may already know, but this means I was going to have to leave my baby with grandparents for 4 days and 3 nights! It has been one entire year, and I have not spent one single, solitary day away from my little man! Not one. Seriously. There have only been 3 nights in his entire first year of life that I did not put him to bed myself...2 of which I was violently ill! Needless to say, it was a huge step for me to agree to leave him with anyone! After I twisted some grandparent's arms, they all agreed to take turns keeping my man for a few days while Jason and I went out of town. :) Actually....they were ecstatic!!

Jason and I flew out of Memphis to Phoenix, where we rented a car and drove for the night to Sedona, Arizona. The next morning, we drove to the Grand Canyon and through the Hoover Dam on the way to Las Vegas.We spent 2 nights at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Very nice room with view of the mountains and the city lights!). We saw a ton of beautiful scenery, took lots of pictures, walked the "Vegas Strip", and saw an awesome Las Vegas Show (KA by Cirque du soleil) and "The Bodies" Exhibit (I know. I know. I'm a nerd; I cannot help it)!

Here are a few of the hundreds of pictures we took on our travels...


Beautiful sunset and amazing, rocky cliff in Sedona, Arizona

Grand Canyon and mountains in Arizona

My favorite shot from Las Vegas...the ceiling in Caesars Palace and the Hoover Dam

We had a very good trip: both planes left on time, landed on time (the flight home actually landed 30 minutes early!), car rental got excellent gas mileage, hotels were very nice! The only issue we had was when we went to pick up the rental car, we walked all the way across the very hot parking garage (dragging our luggage) to space A18 (where our rental car was supposed to be located) only to find an empty spot! Luckily, they located our car soon after and the trip was back on track! :)

Jason was a little worried! :)

Jason and I in front of the Redrocks in Sedona

* * * * * * * * * *

Now...enough about what Jason and I did on vacation...here's a little of what Jackson did while we were on vacation!

He spent the first few days with Mimi and Pawpaw (Jason's parents)! I think they played pretty hard from what I hear! :) Later that week, Jackson went to spend a couple of days with my parents! Here are a few shots from his weekend with Grannie and Poppa!

He got to pick some tomatoes! :)

He learned how to change the oil in the car! :)

He helped weed some flowerbeds! :)

Pushed the wheel barrow for a while! (He looks like he's trying to talk Barkley into getting in for a ride!)

Instead, he decided he would ride! :)
(NOTE: y'all are so lucky that he didn't hit your car with those wrenches or pull up your flowers!) :)

From the "Grandparent's Report", Jackson also had a full filled vacation week! I bet they were missing my boy at daycare last week! Well...back to reality this week!

Jackson (and his parents) want to say a big THANKS to his grandparents for taking such good care of him while we were gone! :)  There is no way I could have agreed to take a (much needed) vacation without knowing my precious baby boy was well taken care of. We love y'all!

* * * * * * * * * *

Although we did go on vacation without Jackson, we did bring him back some souvenirs! His very own "Welcome to Las Vegas" t-shirt and a "Grand Canyon mule"! :)

* * * * * * * * * *

NOTE: Since Jason likes to point out what a huge pharmacy nerd I am on a daily basis (I am. I admit it.), I would like to take this opportunity to point out that I am not the only nerd in our family! Here is the picture of the surveying point he found at the Grand Canyon. Pretty cool actually!  

Naptime...

Can you believe he has gotten so big??
Just think...one year ago, he was in my belly!
Hard to believe, huh?

Sweet boy and his Mickey!

(Note: This is from about a week or so ago...Internet has been out at my house for way too long!! We are still having some issues with the Internet...at least it's working right this minute!)

Jackson's FIRST Birthday!

One year ago today, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! Seriously. It has been ONE WHOLE YEAR! Jackson has been the light of our lives for the past year, and I seriously cannot remember life without him! He is the sweetest, funniest, most loving child I could have ever imagined! I would not change a thing about him (except maybe that little attitude he is developing!) :)

Here are some fun facts about Jackson:

• He weighs approximately 26 pounds
• He loves to eat! He pretty much eats all table foods now (with the occasional baby food). Some of his favorites include fruits, veggies, turkey sandwiches, animal crackers, cheese puffs, and ice cream! He always wants what you have on your plate too...he's like a little puppy begging for food! :)
• He is drinking whole milk now....no more formula for this guy. We are still drinking from a bottle about half of the time, but we are learning the sippy cup too!
• He's very smart...I swear you can watch him learn! He just looks at stuff so intently...like he is figuring it out! He also likes to take in his surroundings...and he likes to people watch! Don't think you can pull one over on this boy either....there is no "hiding the remote behind a pillow and he won't know where it is" with my boy. He just looks at you like "you're going to have to do better than that"!
• Jackson loves Baby Einstein...I mean LOVES it!
• Jackson loves the water! He takes of crawling as fast as he can when he hears the bathtub running! Too bad he is pale with red hair! I need to invest in some sunscreen!
• Jackson is just getting the hang of walking. He is getting braver each day. He has started walking to things on his own in the past few days...before there had to be a whole lot of coaxing (walk to Mama kind of talk) to get him on the move. He will be running any day now!
• Jackson loves to be outside. He got a red wagon for his birthday and he loves to ride!
• Jackson has a mouth full of teeth! We just cut number 8 this week and I do believe there are several more in the works right now. (Those darn teeth are tough on a baby too!)
• Jackson is wearing 12 month clothes, but I feel we will be moving up by the fall.
• Jackson has HUGE feet! He does not own shoes that fit at this moment and I am worried we may have to special order some shoes soon when he starts to walk (his daddy and his Uncle Patrick both had huge feet when they were babies too).
• He has the best laugh ever! And...he thinks his daddy is the funniest guy ever! He loves to be tickled too....he acts like he is running away when you tickle him, but then he heads right back over to get some more if you act like you are done!
• He is such a loving baby! He had been known to give big (slobbery) kisses, will crawl over just to give you a hug, and loves to snuggle! Sweetest kid ever!

* * * * * * * * * *

Good morning Jackson! It's your birthday! (He's a little sleepy-eyed this morning because poor guy has not slept good in several nights now....those teeth give him fits!)

Here are the Jackson-sized birthday muffins for breakfast!

* * * * * * * * * *

After he got a much needed bath (following the very messy muffins for breakfast)...wearing his #1 shirt! We've been waiting an entire year to get to wear that shirt! :)

(Jackson is in what I like to call the "Baby Einstein trance"...there just has to be subliminal messages in that stuff! He loves it no matter how many millions of times we have watched it!)

* * * * * * * * * *

Later that day, Jackson had an appointment with (the extremely sweet, and very patient) Rebecca to get his first hair cut! She is very talented to make his hair look so good with all of the fussing and wiggling that boy was doing! She didn't cut off much, but it sure does make him look like a big boy! :) Thank Rebecca!

He was not too excited with the cape....he is very anti-bib these days! :)

Once we got both arms out, he did a little better! We did have to bribe him with one of Rebecca's combs and Jason's cell phone to get him to finally sit still! :)

Look what a big boy!

Looking good! No more duck tail (or rat tail as some would have called it!)

* * * * * * * * * *

We went for lunch after the hair cut and Jackson got some ICE CREAM! Yum.

Lip-smacking good! He made this face and smacked his lips after each bite...then begged for more! I couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough! :)

* * * * * * * * * *

Later that afternoon, Jackson sacked out in his new favorite chair to sip on his bottle and watch some Baby Einstein! He got himself in this chair (in this position) all by himself! He just loves his chair! I mean loves it! :)

* * * * * * * * * *

Then he took a snooze on is daddy....not sure which one is the luckiest! All I know is I am so very blessed to have both of them in my life! I am one lucky girl for sure!

* * * * * * * * * *

Riding in the wagon!

* * * * * * * * * *

And after supper....Jackson got into a little mischief! The boy stood on his tiptoes and pulled the pack of wipes off the kitchen table, then opened it and started pulling! He better be glad today is his birthday!! :)

* * * * * * * * * *



Who could have known you could love a kid so much!?

We love you so much Jackson! The first year of your life has been one of the best years of ours!

Jackson's FIRST Birthday Party!

Sunday, August 7, 2011:

Sunday was Jackson's very first birthday party! We had an airplane themed birthday, and celebrated with tons of family and friends! (Note: I told Jason, I'm not sure what we are going to do when Jackson starts inviting people to his parties....because we had a house-full!)

Made the invitation "tickets" and map envelopes myself...

I seriously cannot wrap my head around the fact that Jackson is (almost) a whole year old!! We had an awesome time at the party, but our (not so) little boy was a little under the weather...those darn teeth! :(


Jackson has his own #1 airplane birthday shirt!

* * * * * * * * * *

I have been quoted as saying, "This birthday is as much for me as Jackson" and I had a blast with the decorations! I know that very soon, Jackson will have input on the theme/decorations/foods for his birthday parties (I feel that spongebob/spiderman are in my future), but this year he let me do what I thought would be fun! I think it turned out pretty cute! Here's the decorations for my airline pilot's birthday!

Airplane watermelon!

Is that not the most awesome 1st birthday cake?!?! Thanks Veronica... :)

Jackson's matching "smash cake"...see results below! :)

Napkins :)

Candy airplanes! Wish I could claim the design...learned how to make them here. Love it!

Airplane sugar cookies

"Baggage Check" in old red suitcase!

Airplane food....Peanuts and pretzels :)

Clouds...

Alivia + sugar cookie + Smarties + cream cheese icing = big smiles! :)

What a ham! Love it! :)

Not feeling too good! :(

* * * * * * * * * *

Jackson's "First Year" book:

I made a book of Jackson from birth to 11 months...and had each guest sign it for Jackson!

* * * * * * * * * *

Present time!!

Jackson would rather PUSH his presents around the room that open them! :)

Jackson and Maddox playing with all his loot!

Looks like they are having a staring contest! :)

 My boy...eating the wrapping paper! :)

He LOVES his "Jackson" chair! He crawls all over it! Too funny!

He had as much fun playing with the paper and bags as he did his toys! :) Kids!

That's right! Red Radio Flyer wagon!! :)

Love it!

* * * * * * * * * *

Family picture time! Well....that was the plan! I think Jackson was just ready for CAKE! :)

Finally!

* * * * * * * * * *

Time for CAKE!!

Not in the hair!

Having fun! :)

Tasty...

Maddox enjoyed his cake too! :)

Alivia also seemed to be covered in icing...Jackson gave her a big "icing-covered" smack on the cheek! :) I don't think she minded too much! :)

* * * * * * * * * *

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate Jackson's first birthday! It means a lot that you all love and care for my sweet little boy! Thanks and we love each and everyone one of you!

(Note: Jackson's actual birthday is not until August 9th...)