Adios!

We are packed and ready to go! I tried to pack as light as I could (keyword: tried!), Jackson on the other hand thinks that every toy needs to go to "BamBam [Grammy] and PawPaw's house." He has been gathering up all of his toys and telling Aaron or I to "Put in Mom's car, go to BamBam and PawPaw's house uh huh." His behavior has been 100 times better these past 2 days! YIPEE!! So, hopefully we are over this phase!

Aaron and I talked to him tonight before putting him to bed about our whole plan. "We will wake up, eat breakfast together, PawPaw is going to take Mommy and Daddy to get on the airplane.....etc." He seemed to understand and I know once he is with my parents he will not care at all. And Garrett - just give him a few toys and some food and he is a happy camper! It will be really good for Aaron and I to go on a vacation together, kid free.....but I am going to miss those little stinkers of ours.

Here are some funny videos from tonight of Jackson being silly. Make sure your volume is up....(although we do have the batteries out of Jackson's microphone because we needed them for another toy and kind of enjoy the microphone without the batteries.:)

B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, and Bingo was his name. Go Bingo!

Singing his ABC's and then back to singing BINGO -

9 Month Check Up.

Garrett had his 9 month check up and he is growing like he should be.

Here is where he was at his 6 month check up -
Weight = 19.9 (80 percentile)
Height = 27 3/4" (88 percentile)
Head = 45.5 (90 percentile)

Here is where he is now, at 9 months -
Weight = 21.1 (70 percentile)
Height = 29" (70 percentile)
Head = 46.8 (80 percentile)

He didn't have to have any immunizations today...WAHOO!! It was a pretty boring appointment since I didn't have any questions for her. Jackson must of thought it was boring as well, because he thought today would be a fantastic day to show that he is in his terrible twos. Wow. He is going through a major phase (I hope it is a phase) right now. We have been going, going, going with the holidays, birthdays, weddings, etc., so his schedule has been out of whack. Aaron and I didn't think terrible twos were so bad, until now. He is really testing us, but we are holding up our guard...although today I wanted to crawl in a hole. Hopefully after everything settles down, he will back to his normal 'ole self....hopefully.

We are getting ready to leave for Mexico for Shelly's wedding. I thought I was ready, but all of a sudden I feel like I have tons of stuff to do. I have to get the boys packed and ready to go to my parents house, pack myself, and get all of our documents ready to go! (oh yeah, I have to pick up my bridesmaid dress. Can't forget that!) Aaron and I are getting very excited. This is my first time EVER to leave the boys. I had to leave Jackson when I was in the hospital after having Garrett, but that was it. So....hopefully I won't drink to much wine and talk about how much I miss my kids. Jackson is not okay with us going. I didn't think he understood, but now he is saying "Mom and Daddy in plane anymore!"....which means - he doesn't want us on the plane. They will both be fine at my parent's house and they will have a great time! I will miss them, but I won't worry one bit.

What I have come to realize in 2008...

I have been looking through my blog at all my posts in 2008. Some things that I worried about are funny to me now since I now know the outcome. Here are some random thoughts in a random order of things I have come to realize in 2008....

• Your heart does have enough love to love a 2nd child.
  
  
• Bargain shopping is not hard.



• Babies can do a full flip in your uterus at the end of your pregnancy without Mommy ever knowing it.



• Not all epidurals are created equally.



• Daddy can have a "potty mouth" and your two year old will never repeat him, but if Mommy accidentally says ONE inappropriate word, your two year old will be quick to repeat it. He will continue repeating it because of the laughing response he gets from his Dad.



• I don't always have to have the best things, if that means giving my children what is best for them.



• My husband is a very hard worker.
  


• I AM smart enough to vote!

• We have outgrown our house and we are ready to move....



• Don't assume because one child has brown hair & brown eyes that your other one will too.



• I won't go insane being a stay at home mom. In fact, I LOVE every moment of it.



• My dear Dad just isn't as young as he once was. After all, he turned 50 this year! (haha...love you Dad)

• Time out works great for 2 year olds!



• DVR is a great thing.



• Wear goggles while cutting onions....it helps!



• Carving pumpkins is a "Dad Thing."



• I don't miss teaching like I thought I may. In fact, I never think about it.
• The new "No cell phones while driving a train" law sucks! Some days that is the only way Jackson gets to talk to his Daddy.



• As prepared as you may be, you can never prepare yourself enough for those sleepless nights with a newborn.



• Some babies crawl backwards for a little while. They will turn out okay though.



• I CAN cook!

• High gas prices stink! Be thankful when they are low.

• Kids should not be in he same room as their Dad while the Cowboys are playing....it's not good for a child's vocabulary.
  

Happy New Year!

Who needs teeth anyway.

The shirt says it all. We are still waiting on that first tooth to come through. He is starting to have some extra drool, so maybe there is something happening in those little gums of his. It will probably make it's big debut while we are in Mexico and miss it. I have to say, I was worried about him being able to eat normal food without any teeth, but it hasn't been a problem at all. Therefore, the shirt is true....teeth are overrated!

Super Jackson!

Super Brother!

Garrett is QUICKLY on the move.

Notice the little bruise on Garrett's face? The boy thinks he is bigger and stronger than he actually is. The pulling up stage is lots of fun....

We Survived!

We survived Christmas and it was wonderful. This year we changed up our schedule a little. Aaron and I felt that now that Jackson is old enough to start understanding about "Santa," we thought it was important for our family to be home Christmas morning. We also wanted to SLOW DOWN this year and try to limit the amount of places that we had to go for the sake of the boys. This year turned out great and hopefully this will start our new tradition.

We spent all of Christmas Eve with Aaron's side of the family. We had lunch, went to Church, had dinner, and opened presents. The Church service was beautiful and the boys did well. Garrett was tired when we arrived, but ended up falling asleep in my arms. Jackson really enjoyed it and even sang along at one point....and continued after the music had stopped.
Christmas morning we were at home. The boys opened their presents from Santa, we relaxed so that they could play with their new things, and then later that day we headed to my parent's house for our Christmas with them.

Here are all of the pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day -

Christmas Eve -

G-Mom reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

Chocolate Fondue!

Notice all of the action in the background. This family is good at reproducing! Every Christmas there is another grandchild.

Christmas morning at home -

Jackson got a new cleaning trolley. I can't take out our mop, broom, windex, etc. without Jackson wanting to take it from me, so I decided he needed his own set.

Jackson performing in a concert -

Christmas at my parent's house -

Garrett was more interested in eating than he was opening presents -

This is what my sister and I had made for my parents -

Here we are playing a singing XBOX game. Apparently, I am a pretty good singer.....I am sure most of you already knew this though....HAHAHA! I practically beat everyone. (which really means that people in my family sing even worse than myself!)

Aaron on the other hand, thinks he is a rock star....





The next day -