Happy First Birthday, Jackson!!!

One year ago today, Jackson was born at 7:57 am. I can't believe how fast this past year has gone by!! What a truly amazing year!

Happy Birthday, Buddy! We love you to the ends of the earth and back...times infinity! :)

Love, Mommy & Daddy

Then:



Now:

Picture courtesy of Deb R. from Virtu Productions

Picture courtesy of Deb R. from Virtu Productions

Our Christmas Tree

Yesterday, Jerry, Jackson & I made our 3rd annual trek out to Jolly Elf Christmas Tree Farm near Seguin. This was Jackson's first trip out so we were pretty excited about taking him out there. He loved it! He was so excited that we couldn't keep him seated in the wagon! After about a half hour of walking around, we found the perfect tree...a Leyland Cypress. We just need to do a little decorating and we'll be ready for Christmas!

Last known pictures...

...of me pregnant!!

A year ago today Jerry & I made our annual trip out to the Christmas tree farm. I was 37 weeks pregnant. Little did we know that 5 days later we'd be a family of three! These were the last pictures of me pregnant. I was already feeling very tired and uncomfortable and swollen!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year Jerry & I hosted Thanksgiving dinner. Well, actually lunch. My family has always gotten together for Thanksgiving lunch. So we all have lunch, hang out, watch TV, nap, check out the sales, have snack (usually dessert), watch some more TV, and then eat leftovers for dinner. Around 6/6:30 everyone heads on home to recuperate from eating ALL DAY LONG! So anyway, Jerry, Jackson, & I hosted the Thanksgiving festivities this year. It turned out great! Jerry made an awesome turkey and all the sides that my family brought were de-lish! It was Jackson's first Thanksgiving and he had a great time!! He enjoyed all the food and had a ton of fun playing with his cousins, Ashleigh & Zach. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving and we're so thankful we have such a great family to spend the holidays with!

Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

JJC with Biso & Bisa


JJC with mom & dad (notice the turkey grease stains on Jerry's shirt!)


JJC with Tia Annie


Playing around with Tia Annie


What the heck is this thing!?!


Mom, what do I do with this!?

Playing Outside

First Santa Picture

Jackson decided to beat the crowds and take his Santa picture early. So we headed to the mall last week to visit the bearded fellow in red. This was uncharted territory so there was no telling how Jackson would react!! Santa came over and said that it's best to face Jackson away from him but facing me while putting Jackson in his lap. That way maybe we'd get a good picture before he turns & looks at who the heck his holding him. I thought, good strategy, Santa! So I turned Jackson to face me and placed him on Santa's lap. The minute I walked away, he turned, looked up, saw the strange man, and FREAKED out! He immediately looked back at me, puckered that lower lip out, reached out his arms to me and started crying. I tried to reassure him as much as I could. The photographer managed to calm him down a bit by ringing a bell but that didn't last for long. He started crying again and just like that our Santa pictures were over. The best shot we got was of him with his finger in his mouth. It could have been worse. He could have had a look of complete horror on his face. So here you have it. Jackson's first Santa picture. Not too shabby for a first timer! Oh but his pant leg is driving me NUTS! I wish I could pull it down!!!!

Jackson's Favorite Foods

• Cat litter
• Nickels
• Spiders...yes folks, I said spiders!
  

Enough said! :)

Happy Birthday, Uncle David

Today is Uncle David's birthday. He's in Virginia right now doing some training but will coming home for Christmas. Jackson is looking forward to seeing him again. It's been a long time!
Happy Birthday, Uncle David! Hope you have a great day!

All Grown Up

We took these pictures of Jackson the other day and we just can't get over how BIG he looks! Our little baby boy is growing up!

Rowboat Commute

I read this story this morning in our newspaper and found it way too hilarious not to share. You MUST watch the video!

Rowboat commute means you don't have to deal with the Californians

Playdates!

Jackson's been a busy guy hanging out with his buddies. Last week he went to Luke & Ellie Rae's house to play. Ellie Rae has a cozy coupe car, which Jackson loved!






Luke just hanging out in his exersaucer! So cute!

Earlier this week, Jackson's friend Graham came over to play. Jackson was really excited about it because he hadn't seen Graham in quite a while. Seriously, Jackson was really excited! He was being very silly and was all over the place!!



Graham...what a cute face!

And yesterday, Jackson met up with his friend Wilson. We didn't get any pictures though but they did have a really great time. Jackson even shared his fig newton snacks with Wilson!

really late...10 month pictures!

11 Month Update

Jackson turned 11 months old last Monday. What's he up to these days you ask. Well here's the latest:

• He's 100% on table food. None of that yucky baby stuff anymore. Actually, I think we stopped the baby food around 10 months. We never even did Stage 3 foods...that stuff was gross!
• He's off the bottle. YAY! I'm so ready to throw those things out. He's using straw cups now.
• He's cruising everywhere and taking lots of steps with our help. He loves using his push car but he has yet to take any independent steps. He is practicing with his balance which is very cute.
• He says quite a few words, most of which are in 'baby' so we really don't know what he's saying but we know he's saying something! ;)
• He LOVES avocados! I mean, seriously, HE LOVES AVOCADOS. He could eat them all day, every day.
• He gives lots of hugs and friendly head butts to friends and family to show his affection.
• He puts things back into whatever he took them out of. For example, he loves taking all our DVD's out of the entertainment center. Now instead of taking them out, tossing them on the floor, and then moving on, he's now picking them up and putting them back on the shelf!
  
• He claps, pats his head, pats his belly, points to what he wants, and gets really pissed if you tell him no. So pissed that he'll throw a temper tantrum, stop, and roll over on the ground like a fainting goat!
  

Until next time!

3rd Anniversary

Our 3rd anniversary was this past Tuesday (October 30th). My grandparents came over that evening to babysit Jackson while Jerry & I headed out to dinner. We went out to Driftwood to eat dinner at Trattoria Lisina on the grounds of the Mandola Estate Winery. Oh my gosh, that place was FANTASTIC! The food was excellent and the view was absolutely gorgeous. We sat outside on the patio and had a fantabulous view of the large vineyard that sat in the valley of some hill country bluffs. And the sunset was amazing! Unfortunately, we forgot the camera so we didn't get to take any pictures! :( We highly recommend this place just for the view alone!


October 30, 2004


October 30, 2005
I don't have any pics of our 1st Anniversary on the laptop! :( They're on our desktop which isn't working right now!

October 30, 2006

Yuckola, I was 7 1/2 months pregnant and looked horrific!

October 30, 2007
No pics to share! :(