Pumpkin Patch

On Friday we made our 2nd annual trip out to Sweet Berry Farm. It was a very nice morning and Jackson had a ton of fun. He loved all the animals and had a blast picking out pumpkins. He wasn't much into picture taking so we did the best we could!

Back home!

I arrived back from DC Monday afternoon and couldn't have been more excited about it. I missed Jerry & Jackson like crazy! I had a fantabulous time in DC though. We saw all sorts of things and walked so much that I don't think I could have made it another day. I took a ton of pictures but since I'm way too lazy to sort through them all and upload them here, you're only going to get one picture. Sorry, folks!

So let's see, what did we do. Lots! Our first day in DC we went on a monument tour which was fantastic! We got to see all the major monuments (US Capitol, Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Wall Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and the White House). I think the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Wall Memorial were my absolute favorites.

The next day we went to Arlington National Cemetery where we got to see the Changing of the Guard. That was amazing! We also stopped by the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Pentagon Memorial. Oh gosh, the Pentagon Memorial was absolutely stunning but incredibly sad and so, so surreal. Just standing there....gosh, I can't even describe it! I'm so glad we went there.

On Friday, we decided to hit up the museums. We planned to see several but could only get through the Air & Space Museum and the Holocaust Museum. I'm bummed we didn't make it to the National Archives. I really wanted to see the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution. Oh well, next time I suppose!

On Saturday, we made a trip out to Baltimore to go to the National Aquarium. What was supposed to be 10 minutes off the highway ended up taking an hour & a half because of the stinking Baltimore Marathon! We were so irritated and didn't think we'd ever make it but thanks to a nice lady at a Holiday Inn Express we found a back way and finally made it to the aquarium! It was located on a really nice harbor. We had lunch there at the Cheesecake Factory. Yum!

And on our last day in DC, we went to the National Zoo and Mount Vernon. Jerry was so jealous that I got to see where George Washington once roamed!

I had a great time and I'm so glad that I got to see my sister again! It had been way too long. I used to see her on pretty much a weekly basis so not seeing her for months has been no bueno!

Here's the ONE picture I promised you! ;)

Me at the Lincoln Memorial

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Don't know when I'll be back again. (Well, actually I do).



So my friend Wendy & I are headed out tomorrow to DC to visit my sister! Woo hoo! I'm so excited. I haven't seen Stephanie since January! I'm also looking forward to just spending time with the girls and having absolutely no responsibilities! No diapers to change, no picky mouth to feed, no bath time, no brushing little teeth, no Imagination Movers (although I do love them)! But man oh man, am I going to miss my little Bubby Head! He's going to be busy though hanging out with his dad doing "guy things" and spending time with his Popo & Momo and his Tia Annie. Meanwhile, Stephanie, Wendy & I plan to see & do as much as possible. I can't wait! We'll be back next Monday. Until next time!

Okay Mom...

I'm ready to go outside. And seriously, do you have to take my picture?

:(

I'm really missing this place right now!

Fun with Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa

My grandparents came over a few weeks ago for my grandpa's birthday. Jackson had a lot of fun!

Huh?

Someone in our neighborhood recently had a baby and put one of those big stork announcement deals out in their front yard. They had a boy and they named him Cohen Christopher! What!?!? Where the heck did that come from? Cohen isn't a first name! I know, I know, the same could be said for Jackson as it is also a last name but you have to agree that that's totally different. I first noticed Cohen tossed around as a first name back when I was pregnant with Jackson. I saw some girls on a baby message board posting that they liked it as name for their babies. I remember thinking "y'all must be fans of The OC!" Seth Cohen, anyone? Whatever the case, I think it's weird to use Cohen as a first name. It could be weirder, I suppose. They could have named their kid Ybarra Christopher!

Sticker Chart

A couple of weeks ago I was desperately trying to get Jackson to help me clean up his mess. He'd just point to it and say "Mama, Mama!". I said "No way, you need to help! I didn't make this mess!" He's taken a big interest in stickers so I asked him if he wanted a sticker. He said yes! So I said "okay, well if you help me clean up, I'll give you a sticker." That did it. The kid went to town and totally helped clean up the huge mess he had made. When he was all done, he got the sticker I promised him!

So I decided to make him a sticker chart where he could put the stickers he earns from helping to clean up. I didn't know if he was too little to really understand it but nope, he got it alright! It's been a HUGE success. All I have to ask is if he wants a sticker for his chart and he gets to work. When we're done cleaning up, we give each other a high five and then head on over to the fridge where he places a sticker on the chart and gets a sticker to keep (he likes to put them on his shirt). We're already on the 3rd row this week. Once he fills up a row he gets a special treat. Here he is enjoying some ice cream!


Christy, remember those magnets? :)


He wasn't too thrilled about me taking his pic.

How could I forget?!?!

I forgot to mention another one of my fave shows...Friday Night Lights. I love this show! It's a great show that no one seems to be watching, which is such a shame. The new season starts up tonight but only on DirecTV. It won't be on NBC until sometime next year. I'm going to have to wait that long!?! UGH! If you have DirecTV...don't miss it!

Picky! Picky! Picky!

Don't be fooled. It's a cute face but that cute little face is driving me insane! Jackson started showing signs of pickiness a few months back but it wasn't too bad. I was still able to get him to eat fairly well. But OH! MY! GOD! it has gotten so much worse! This kid is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo PICKY! There's very little he will readily eat. He'll see the nutritious meal I've made for him and say "no! no!". I'm like, what!?! Boy, you don't tell your mama NO! Apparently, I was an incredibly picky eater as a kid and you know, I have to admit, I still am an incredibly picky eater. So I guess I shouldn't be griping about my son. My mom & grandparents are probably getting a real big kick out of this. I'm not laughing! Not at the moment, anyway.

by the way, that's paint on the side of his face.

It's Premiere Week!

I'm so excited! Finally, all of my shows (which is a bit much, mind you) are back on TV this week! Well, a few won't be back on for another week or two but for the most part they're all back! Woo hoo! My DVR will be working hard this season!

Here's my list of shows:

Dancing with the Stars
How I Met Your Mother
Samantha Who
Pushing Daises
Lost (stinkin' Lost doesn't come back on for a long while. I hate that!)
Grey's Anatomy
The Office
30 Rock
The Amazing Race
Desperate Housewives
Brothers & Sisters
Mad Men (I'm catching up on this one right now)

And that doesn't count the few random shows or movies I record. Sheesh, where am I going to find the time to watch all this stuff? I actually had to drop a few shows because it was getting to be too much. Have fun folks, I know I will!

Boots & a Big Ol' Mess!

Jackson loves an old pair of black boots that I own. He found them one day thrown in the back of our closet (which is a disaster area)! He took them into his room and just started playing around with them. Instead of trying to put them on his feet, he was obsessed with putting them on his hands.

Another one of his obsessions is clearing all the contents of his bed. Actually, it's more like THROWING every single item on his bed to the floor. By the way, did I ever mention he's in a toddler bed now!? I can't remember! Basically we just removed the front piece of his crib and put in a bed rail. He had started trying to climb out of his crib. The last straw was when I found him hanging over the rail!

But anyway, I digress. So Jackson loves to throw everything on his bed to the floor. And he now has an awful lot of things in his bed. It used to just be Glo Glo (his beloved glo-worm), Patches (his patchwork dog), and another small stuffed animal. It has now turned into 3 HUGE stuffed animals (Pooh, Piglet, & Tigger), 2 Glo Glo's, Patches, Tiger (from the dentist's office), Penguin (from the Galveston Aquarium - a gift from his cousin Michael), Tracker (MY stuffed dog), Cinko (his Ugly doll), several books, and his vroom vroom blanket. I don't know how the kid has any room to sleep!! I've tried taking things out but he'll get upset if a single thing is missing so all that stuff stays! And it's all that stuff that I have to pick up every! single! time! with no help whatsoever from the little stinker. Whenever I ask for help, he squeals and takes off laughing! What a punk! :)

Attack of the Ink Pen

A certain little someone has gotten huge into writing all over himself. I was busy one afternoon unpacking when I realized it was awfully quiet in the other room. Jackson had gotten into my pens and took to scribbling all over his legs. He told me it said "Dada". How could I be upset at that!?

Oh sweet Starbucks

How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways!!!!

You have ushered in my absolute favorite time of year by bringing back the ever wonderful beverage known as Pumpkin Spice Latte! I'm in heaven! However, now is not a good time. It's as if you knew that we've been reading our Dave Ramsey book and that we've put ourselves on a strict budget. At a time when I am not supposed to be making any frivolous purchases, you roll out the red carpet for this blissful drink. What's a girl on a budget to do!? Indulge...that's what! It's my favorite time of year and my favorite type of drink! Budget schmudget! This girl is not making any sacrifices as far as PSL is concerned. Just don't tell Jerry. He might try and put an end to this love affair and I can't have that!

First Visitor

Jackson had his first visitor just a few days after we moved in...his buddy Daniel. Daniel made the long drive from Kyle with his mommy Wendy to come and visit us. They spent the entire day with us and we all had such a great time hanging out. Jackson LOVES Daniel so I know he was super excited to see him.

The boys eating lunch....mmm, good!

Daniel had hopped into Jackson's little wagon. Jackson saw this and decided to join him.

LOVE this picture!

Daniel was cool with it at first but then decided he didn't like it so much anymore. Jackson thinks it's funny!

Daniel decides he's had enough and starts pushing on Jackson to get the heck out. Jackson thinks it's even funnier than before!

Daniel's seriously annoyed now while Jackson thinks it's now completely hilarious!

Poor Daniel! His buddy Jackson is in complete hysterics oblivious to the fact that Daniel is thoroughly irritated!

Finally, Daniel manages to free himself. Too funny!

At the end of the day, they end up being best buds again and get ready for 'night night' together. Jackson wanted Daniel to stay but Daniel had to go home. So they ended their fun-filled day by giving each other a sweet hug & kiss! They'll hate us mommies for that when they get older! ;)

IKE

This is one nasty storm headed straight for Galveston and Houston. We just wanted to let our good friends down there know that we're thinking of them! Keep safe guys!

In Remembrance...

Today was the annual 9/11 Firefighter Memorial Stair Climb. Jerry once again participated along with 30 or so other firefighters from the area. I had to miss yet again as Jackson & I are both sick. The guys climbed the training tower 110 times equal to the 110 flights of stairs at the World Trade Center. They wore their entire bunker gear plus air packs. Their goal was to complete the climb for the 343 firefighters who lost their lives that day. A couple of news crews were out filming but unfortunately because of ugly Mr. Ike churning in the Gulf it wasn't given the time of day. actually, KXAN showed maybe 2 seconds worth and that was it. I'm extremely disappointed about that. The fact that these guys come back year after year to honor those fallen firefighters is something worth acknowledging. Stupid Ike! So here on my little old blog I acknowledge Jerry and Josh and Chris and all the other guys who went out today to honor their fallen comrades! And thanks Mom for calling today to let us know that you were thinking of Jerry. That was very sweet!

Sick!

Ugh, Jackson & I are both sick!! Jackson started on Tuesday and it hit me yesterday. Fever, runny noses, sore throats, cough, etc.... No fun! So we've been bumming around watching some of our fave shows, fingerpainting, and getting lots of sleep!

The Imagination Movers

These guys are HUGE in our house. Jackson love, love, LOVES them! I really like them too. We watch their DVD pretty much every day. Just this week their new show on Disney Channel started. Jackson's hooked! It's a cute show. I'm glad there's at least some new Mover stuff to watch. As much as I like them, I was getting really tired of that DVD. Although my mommy crush on Rich never stopped me from watching! ;)

Good background info on the Movers here and here

Just a cute pic...

Snack Time with Bisa

All Moved In!

So we made the big move to Cedar Park close to 2 weeks ago and we're getting settled in. I miss Kyle but CP is really nice and we're really liking it here. It doesn't hurt that Super Target is less than 10 minutes away!! In fact, there are so many things close to our house that we don't know what to do with ourselves!

Jackson is doing okay. He did great the first few days here but recently things have been difficult. He's terrified of bath time now and he's taking about an hour to fall asleep at night. No fun! It's also been a battle of wills around here. He fights me on everything, whines constantly, and just doesn't know what to do with himself. Jerry says it's like The Perfect Storm...his age, the move...they've collided full force! If you have a prayer list, put me on it! :)

Other than that, we're doing good. My brother, David, was in town for a week. He had been in Spain since February and will be heading to Washington state this weekend for some training...or something. It was nice to see him and get his help with some unloading of furniture! :)

Unfortunately, I haven't taken too many pictures recently nor do I have pictures of the new house. It's still chaos here so for now I'll share some old pix that I never got around to posting.

Until next time...here are a few pix of Jerry & Jackson at the toddler park