Getting the Christmas Tree

While in Summersville on Friday, we took the opportunity to go get our Christmas Tree. This was Jackson's first Christmas Tree cutting adventure- we left him home last year.

He wasn't super sure of the whole thing. First of all he really did not care for the toboggan on his head, but surprisingly he left it on.

Jackson and Daddy in front of the Christmas Tree contenders...

Looking for the perfect tree.

Could this be the one?I think we found it! Jackson also enjoyed his first candy cane- he really liked it! Unfortunately, right after this picture was taken he dropped it and a complete melt down occurred. Jackson and I headed back to the Jeep to get warm and poor Daddy had to cut the tree and drag it out by himself.

Long day- warm and cozy in the car means you are almost forced to take a nap!

Thanksgiving Part II

On Friday we went to Summersville to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Tully's. We had a great time! We didn't get any pictures, but it was beautiful with all the snow that was falling, really put us in the holiday mindset.

Jackson and Nana had a great time playing with blocks.
This step is apparently the time out step. Jackson wasn't in time out, but he seemed to think it was great fun to sit there! He's peeking around the corner to see if anyone is paying attention!

He and Papa wrestled around and growled at each other- Jackson could not stop giggling...

We then ran up to his Great Nana's house to visit with some more family. Jackson and his little cousin Jack played very well together in the floor. Jackson liked Jack just fine as long as Jack wasn't sitting on mommy or daddy's lap!

Thanksgiving 2009

We had a great Thanksgiving this year, even though we missed having Uncle Evan at home. Jackson helped me in the kitchen on Thursday morning while I made the dressing for dinner.

He had a great time playing with his cousins. It's pretty clear that he thinks Holt is really cool!

And he had a great time giving Sarah more hugs than she could handle!

Finally, he treated us to an after dinner concert!

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat was on Thursday night here from 6-8 pm. Last year Jackson was too little and slept through all the excitement, but this year, he was right in the middle of it. We dressed him up as a puppy dog and had decided to take him to just a couple of the houses near ours.

As you can see his initial reaction to the costume was one of complete disgust!


But, once we got outside he perked right up.

Here is Jackson going to the house across the street from us on his first Trick or Treat. Although Jackson has never had candy and had no idea what it was he was getting, he quickly decided that this was a lot of fun!

Jackson was having such a great time we decided to take him to all the houses on our street. Jackson and mommy off to hit some more houses.

Trick or Treat in our subdivision is great because everyone sits out on their driveways with their candy, so it's super easy for little kids to go from house to house. At couple of houses after Jackson would get his candy he grabbed himself a couple of extra pieces from the bowls and took off! Here are Jackson and Daddy heading back home. Notice Jared is now carrying the loot bag. I guess it got too heavy because Jackson just sat it down in the street and continued on!

One of the houses gave out dum-dums, now how Jackson knew that he would like dum-dums, I have no idea, but he immediately gave it to me to take the wrapping off and start chomping down.

He also decided that he did not need Jared or I because he totally left us in the dust and headed back home!

Enjoying all his hard work...

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!!

Pumpkins

On Sunday we took Jackson and his wagon to the Capital Market to buy some pumpkins. Fall is my very favorite time of the year, so I had been looking forward to this. Jackson had a great time tooling around the Market in his wagon!

We got home and he tried to help carry the pumpkins to the porch, but quickly found they were a little too heavy for him to carry.

Notice the change of shirts between the picture above and the pictures below- he took a header off the sidewalk into the mulch. Poor guy had mulch EVERYWHERE- it was in his mouth, his eyebrows, up his nose, in his ears- thank goodness it didn't get in his eyes...so after a quick clean up and shirt change we came out to enjoy the new pumpkins and mums on the porch. Jackson's favorite part was ripping the flowers off the mums and throwing them on the ground.

Finally, a little family picture on the front porch...


Happy Fall Everyone!!

Fun Times with Uncle Evan

My brother flew into Baltimore last Friday and my parents, Jared, Jackson and I made the trek up the road to Maryland. We spent the weekend in Annapolis and visited Evan's alma mater, the Naval Academy.

Uncle Evan and Jackson in front of Bancroft Hall, which is the dorm for all the midshipmen.

Have I mentioned that Jackson is walking like a champ? He is off to Bancroft...

The family in front of the Naval Academy mascot, Billy Goat.

After our visit to the Academy we went to Cantler's and then were off to a football game. Go Navy, Beat Army! This was Jackson's first football game and he seemed to do really well. By this time we had been going non-stop. Poor Jackson was a little under the weather. I'll spare the yucky details, let's just say that Jackson ended up completely naked in the parking lot of Cantler's and I had to make a quick run to the mall to get the J man a new pair of jeans...but he rallied and off to the game we went.

Jackson and Uncle Evan discussing the game...

TOUCHDOWN NAVY!!!

Jackson and Daddy watching the game...

We went out to dinner following the game and poor Jackson ended up completely naked again in a parking lot! I hope this doesn't become a habit!!

On Sunday we went back to the Academy for another quick stroll around. Jackson didn't see much of it, he napped most of the time...here we are inside Bancroft.

Daddy and Jackson inside Bancroft.

Here is the Chapel on the yard, it's beautiful on the inside, but Church was going on, so we didn't go in.

Evan was on the crew team at the Academy, so we walked the 400 miles down to the Boat House to check it out too.

Uncle Evan and Jackson in front of Herndon (I think). All I know is this is greased up at the end of the Plebe year and the plebes (freshmen) have to climb to the top and switch out their covers. At least I think this is true- Evan correct me if I'm wrong!

Hanging out in the yard in front of the Chapel.

We all came home on Sunday and Uncle Evan spent the week here. We hadn't seen him since December and we probably won't get to see him again until June. It was nice to hang out with him and we'll miss him terribly while he's gone.

We love you Uncle Evan, can't wait to see you in June!!!

Happy 1st Birthday!

One year! The past twelve months have flown by. It seems like just a few days ago that my water broke at 5 am and Jared and I made a mad, crazy dash to the hospital. I will never forget that morning, as I am certain that Jared won't either.

I could not have imagined when I first found out that I was pregnant the incredible amount of love one person could have for another. I cannot remember life without Jackson now and wouldn't trade one minute of the past year for even a second of my life before.

We had a few rough patches early on with his breathing issues and all the time spent on the apnea monitor and the ear infections, all the ear infections! But for the past several months we have been doing well.

He's crawling like a champ and is taking a few steps here and there. He says dada all the time and occassionally mama (normally when things are not going well for him). He is starting to say a form of "thank you" and "kiky" for kitty and something similar to dada for doggy. When the phone rings he gets really excited and yells dada, even if Jared is right beside him. He "talks" all the time and is so funny with his expressions and his personality. He has 7 teeth and has a fourth tooth coming in on the bottom and a molar.

Here are some pictures we had made for his first birthday at Sears- poor guy hadn't slept a wink the night before and refused to take a nap that morning, so given that I think the pictures turned out wonderfully!

Little boy, mommy and daddy wish you the happiest of 1st birthdays. You are truly a joy and a blessing in our lives. We love you so very much! You have changed so much over the past 12 months, we cannot wait to see the incredible changes in the upcoming 12 months.

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Swingin'

Weekend before last we attended the 2nd birthday party of Miss Bella. While the entire party was really nice and included a special celebrity guest (see last picture below), the hit of the party for Jackson was definitely the swing in the backyard. We have this same swing at our house attached to the deck, but I'm not sure that it compared to Bella's swing attached to the giant tree in her backyard.

Loving it!

He swung forever and laughed and giggled the entire time.

As for the special celebrity guest...Miss Bella's favorite Sesame Street character, Elmo! Jackson could have cared less about Elmo, of course he was busy swinging!

Snowshoe

We wento Snowshoe over Memorial Day Weekend and had a great time! We stayed with mom & dad at the cabin. On Saturday Jared went golfing with Steven and Dave while Jackson and I went swimming with Kim, Sophie, Katie & Jordan. Jackson LOVED the pool- I forgot my camera, so no pictures, sorry. But we did manage to get a few pictures of us all at the cabin:

Jackson & Grandma


Jackson & Grandpa



He played for a long time out on the back deck and went for several walks around the yard and even one down the road.

Jackson & Daddy out in the yard

Jackson & Mommy on the front porch

And finally, Jackson, Mommy & Morgan (Jackson's best friend for sure!!)

We had such a fun time. We went out for dinner on Saturday night to the Elk River Inn which was delicious!! Jackson had such a great time playing in the pool that we are starting swimming lessons at the University of Charleston tomorrow evening.