Build a Bear (or Monkey)

We were really looking forward to going to the Fort Worth Stockshow with my sister Amy, her husband Chris, my niece Madeline and my parents. However, we decided against going because of the rain. We hated for the kids to miss out on a fun day together so we went to Build a Bear instead. Jackson was so excited from the moment we walked into the store. He loved all of the animals but settled on the monkey. I wasn't surprised at his choice. He loves monkeys!

Thankfully he had Madeline there to show him how Build a Bear works. She has been there several times so she knew just what to do. She was there with him each step of the way and helped him work the peddle to start the stuffing machine, helped him pick out a heart for his monkey, showed him how to give it a bath, and name it. They had a blast today. I will never forget his excitement. I loved watching them have this experience together.

Choo Choo!

Our nephew Cooper gave Jackson a train on Thursday. He was so excited. We promised him we would put it together after his nap as soon as Daddy got home. We had to hide it in our closet until Matt got home because Jackson couldn't get his mind on anything else. He has really grown to love trains. Every night when I am trying to get him to sleep he will hear the trains in the distance and sit up to "choo choo" like the trains. So for Jackson, this was over the top excitement!

As soon as Matt got home we put the train together. To our surprise the train blows smoke! Jackson thought this was really neat. But his favorite part is the train station that makes the train noises. He has been carrying that around all weekend. It was the first thing he wanted when he woke up this morning.

Thanks Cooper for sharing! You made Jackson's day. I see many more trains in our future!

Just Because

I posted this just because I love this picture. I had to share it. It shows the excitement in his eyes and is bursting with his sweet smile.

Happy Birthday Cooper!

Today we celebrated our nephew Cooper's birthday. Jackson had so much fun playing with Katie and Cooper. Jackson went all out to dress up for Cooper's birthday. This is the outfit he and Cooper came up with. Striped shirt + basketball shorts + Woody Woodpecker hat = too cute!
Cooper gave him the shorts to take home. Jackson loved them so much that he had to wear them over his pajamas and sleep in them. Happy Birthday Cooper! We love you so much and are thankful for your tender heart and sweet spirit.

So I'm Not Betty Crocker

I have joined all of the other mothers out there who cannot get their kids to eat their fruits and veggies. I remember being so proud when Jackson was little - he would eat just about anything pureed other than bananas or yellow squash. I would hear other mom's talk about their picky eaters and I remember thinking to myself, "oh, not my baby he'll eat anything."

Of course I am still proud of Jackson for so many things. I have just learned that there are some things you can't really make your child do, no matter how you encourage, force, or beg. So, what's my plan at this point..... sneaking it in! I know a lot of people don't think that is the greatest idea, but I think it is really important to get those vitamins and nutrients into his diet. I will still be offering him regular fruits and veggies. However, when he refuses to eat them I can relax just a little knowing that he is eating them anyway ..... he just doesn't know it. I will keep you updated if it works. If you don't see another post about it, it probably means that it didn't work out and I'm back to the drawing board to find another way to broaden my child's palate to a menu that includes things other than beans, grilled cheese, sour cream, crackers, peanut butter, pizza or chicken nuggets!

Yesterday we woke up, ate breakfast and broke out my new Sneaky Chef cookbook to make our first sneaky recipe - Monkey Bars. I decided I would let Jackson help me. He helped me measure and stir, smash bananas, and add the sneaky sweet potatoes and carrots. We had such a blast and were both covered in flour and batter. I was so excited about our accomplishment when I realized I was supposed to make a flour blend of 1 c each white flour, wheat flour and wheat germ and then use 3/4 cup for the recipe. Somewhere in between trying to keep Jackson from falling out of the chair and keeping the batter from flying all over the kitchen as he stirred I missed that detail and added all three cups of flour and wheat germ. All of our hard work went in to the trash, but I have wonderful memories of his excitement when I asked him to help me and lots of cute pictures of him dusted with flour!

Six Flags of Fun!

Matt and I had planned to take Jackson to Holiday in the Park the day that we got out for break. We decided to skip the crowds and wait until the next Monday. Jackson got an ear infection so we had to delay until after Christmas. That worked out okay because it was a great way to end Christmas break.

We were so impressed with how Jackson loved to ride the rides. He only got scared once when he rode the airplanes by himself. His favorites were the swings and the train. I am curious to see if he keeps his sense of adventure.

Holding This in My Heart

I love this picture. I know that his little hand will never be this small again. I couldn't help but look at this little handprint and be touched. This time two years ago I brought home my tiny baby. He was so tiny and had yet already been here three months. It felt like we would never get to the other side, back to happiness. As I look at this picture, I hold it in my heart as a reminder of the dream that came true and the journey back to happy times. God has blessed us so.

White Christmas

We woke up Christmas morning to find snow. Living in Texas it is always a treat to have snow, but having snow on Christmas is extremely special. After we had lunch with Matt's Granny we enjoyed playing out in the snow. Thanks to Aunt GiGi we have some great pictures to remember the day.

giving the snowman a kiss

cousin Cooper

We were all freezing and wet after playing in the snow. What kind of mom doesn't bring extra shoes on a snowy day? I don't know what I was thinking. We threw all the socks in the dryer and were ready to go to Matt's mom and dad's house to have another Christmas celebration. We had a great time visiting and opening presents.

Thanks for the tricycle Granny and PaPa!

Santa Claus Came to Town

Jackson was very excited to see if Santa ate his cookies, and even more surprised to see what Santa left! He played with all of his toys while we got ready to make the trip to Stephenville to see Matt's family.

Christmas Traditions

This year we had so much fun carrying out new traditions for our family. Early in the season we went to see the lights at the park. We also have a house in our neighborhood that has their lights sequenced with Christmas music. One night we got a pizza and sat in front of the house and enjoyed the pizza and light show.

Since Jackson is a little older this year, we had fun watching him get excited about Santa. We put out milk and cookies for Santa, and made reindeer food to put outside. He didn't even try to eat Santa's cookies. I was very impressed!

making reindeer food

Matt taking Jackson outside to put out the reindeer food
cookies for Santa

Christmas Fun

We had such a wonderful Christmas! Jackson enjoyed everything about Christmas. He had so much fun decorating the tree. He was very gentle with all of the ornaments. There was only one ornament casualty, and I dropped it.
We met Matt's sister, Ginny and her family at the Christmas Parade to kick off the season. It was so cold. I had Jackson bundled up to keep him warm. He reminded me of the kid from the movie The Christmas Story ( although I think he could put his arms down - hah!) We had a great time and saw several friends and neighbors that we hadn't seen in a while.

Jackson and GiGi and our friend Mary with her son Beau

We celebrated with my family on Christmas Eve. To our surprise it started to snow that day and by the time we got to my brother's house that night it was snowing really hard. The wind was blowing so hard and it was too cold to play outside. We kept warm by eating MaMa's Pizza (our family favorite) and eating other holiday food. All of my nieces and nephew were really excited about opening presents. We let the older kids help the younger kids open their presents. It was so great to get to be with my family.

"THE" Christmas Picture and Jackson with Granka and Papa

Looking Back

It has been a while since I last posted so I decided to recap some of the events. We had Jackson's second birthday in September. It was rainy and cool just like last year so we had an indoor play area for the kids to play on. We were so blessed to be joined by so many wonderful friends and family. Matt made Jackson's cake this year. I don't know who was more excited about it - me or Jackson! Since he did a such a great job, I decided he can be the official cake decorator in the family.

Makennah, Jackson and Kynlee

Jackson also started something new this year - Thursday school! We decided it would be good for him to be around the other kids. He was very brave his first day and even took a nap! He went through a spell where he cried every day. Thank goodness for the sweet teachers at his school. With their patience and my mom's (she drops him off) he made it through and really enjoys school now.

Jackson and my niece Aubrey

It seemed like September and October flew by. We got to celebrate with several special people as they celebrated their birthdays, and got to enjoy great weather for Halloween. Jackson was an elephant this year. He looked so cute. If you look at the picture you can tell that I didn't procrastinate in buying his costume. In fact, I bought it early enough for him to have a growth spurt and almost grow out of it before he got to wear it. I was really surprised when I put it on him the day before Halloween. I bit back the urge to rush out and buy another costume. After all, he was only going to wear it once and I think he looks really cute no matter what he has on!

Jackson loved the baby goats at the local Trunk or Treat!

Matt and I also got to take Jackson to the zoo. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We had so much fun. We let Jackson wear his monkey backpack (we laugh and call it his "leash"). He loved having the freedom to walk where he wanted to go, and we enjoyed the peace of mind knowing he couldn't get too far out of reach. He loved all of the animals but loved the train and carousel the most.

We celebrated with family and friends for Thanksgiving. We had lunch with Matt's Granny and got to enjoy her delicious dressing. We had dinner with my side of the family and went with a nontraditional course of finger foods and sandwiches. It was great because we were so stuffed from lunch still. Jackson also had a feast at his Thursday school. It consisted of turkey sandwiches, grapes, cheetos and cupcakes - the perfect feast for a two year old!

cousin Aubrey and Jackson enjoying their feast

We went to the park several times this fall. Jackson loves the park and has gotten really good at playing on all of the playground equipment. He plays on the "big kid playground" now. He makes me so nervous sometimes, but it is so fun watching figure out how to do what the other kids are doing.

We had a lot to be thankful for this fall. Jackson got released from his pulmonologist. She thought he was doing great and didn't need further monitoring. He also got released from his physical therapist. We miss Mrs. Gretchen! She was so great to us. She helped Jackson overcome many of his obstacles and gave our family great encouragement. Although we miss her, we were so thankful that Jackson was to the point that he didn't need physical therapy anymore. She started seeing him when he couldn't sit up. Now he is running and climbing on everything. We are so very thankful - I can't really say that enough!