My little swimmer...

Jackson had his first day of swim lessons yesterday. He did great- a little hesitant (not about the water- about his "teachers" and not having mommy right beside him) a few times but after the class he kept talking about it and his teachers- Mara & Ben. We go again tomorrow and I'm sure he'll get better as the days go by. We "practiced" after class- he loves it so much.

Last night for dinner I made an eggplant gratin. He wasn't eating too well but knew we had brownies that he wanted. So, we told him he had to eat 4 bites of the eggplant before he could eat the brownie. He took a bite and started chewing it and his body did a shutter. It was so hilarious- I almost had the same feeling when I ate it! It was very mushy and made you want to shutter. He ate all of his bites without too much prompting but everytime his little body would do an involuntary shutter when he bit down on the eggplant!

My little monster is growing in so many ways. She changes so much day to day now. She is sitting completely by herself for long periods (over 5 minutes the other day). Instead of doing the army crawl she gets up on all four's and rocks back & forth before projecting herself forward. She is eating baby food like a pro- and understands now that it fills her tummy. The only thing she is NOT doing like a pro is SLEEPING! She woke up 3x last night... ugh...

Saturday afternoon/eve Dad, Heather & I wanted to go swim in a lake and have Nathan follow us in the boat. So, Nathan loaded the big boys (ashton & jackson) up in the boat and followed alongside us. Nathan brought his fishing gear and gave the boys HUGE earthworms to play with. Those boys held, played and torchured those gigantic worms for at least 30 minutes... until they lost them (jackson said his fell into the water) and then asked Nate for another set! Boys will be boys! Addison played on the shore w/ Nana.

What a day, what a day...

Our Wednesday started and ended with fun, fun, fun. As soon as the kids woke up we headed down the road 1/4 mile to the Figueiredo's property to see the high loader moving dirt, trees and making a fire. Through out the day we managed 4 trips there to watch the loader making progress. Jackson loves to talk about the high loader (we thought it was a bull dozier until Daniel- the operator- told us differently!) and the dirt, trees and fire. And the fact that Ashton & Parker are building a house right down the road! We barely had time for a nap- in fact, Jackson was so excited that I finally had to go in his room and tell him he couldn't go if he didn't nap quickly- before it was time for daddy to take him & ashton to the fair! They went last night for the mud trucks (jackson's term) and to see all the farm animals. Ashton & Jackson could barely talk fast enough to get all their excitement out. While the big boys went to the fair we celebrated Addison's birthday. Addison, Parker, Heather & I went to get ice cream (although the bday girl slept through the entire party) and check out the progress at the property again. Even though Addison is not feeling well she still manages to c-r-a-w-l all over the place. Parents As Teachers came yesterday and actually felt sorry for me... she is crawling very early and I must baby-proof the house this weekend. She is crazy fast. She is also sitting by herself now. Time is precious...

On the move...

I knew Addison was moving- I'd put here on a blanket and come back a few minutes later and she'd be a few feet from where I left her. But on Saturday Nathan yelled at me to come watch her and sure enough she was pulling herself with her arms and would even get her legs to help. If you put something out of her reach she will surely get it. The tstirts they are wearing in this picture say "what happens at Gram's, stays at Gram's"... so true! My sweet little boy got up from his nap the other day and the first thing out of his mouth was "how are you doing today, mommy?". After telling him that I was doing great he said "your hair looks nice"!!! This is a day where I'm feeling quite sick and I had just taken a shower and pulled my hair back in a knot. Sweet, sweet boy! We're going to be fighting the girls off! Life is getting exciting... and busier. I'm not looking forward to baby-proofing the house and having a "mover" on my hands! I've gotten spoiled and lazy with Jackson being so easy and good.

My little fish... and puppy dog.

Jackson was made for summertime. He loves the water and anything to do with it. I never would have guessed he would have been so comfortable as he is- as he is dealthy afraid of an ant the size of a needle. It's sometimes scary for me how comfortable he is- as he won't make sure I'm looking before jumping in deep (deeper than him at least) water. He has been joining auntie Heather for Ashton's swim lessons and enjoying that time in the water and I finally got him signed up for his own swim lessons starting the end of this month. We also have a new puppy in the house... Jackson- at least 5 times a day- turns into "chewy" the puppy dog. He does tricks, drinks and eats out of bowls on the floor and barks to answer questions. Ashton- a.k.a. gooey- is the one who started all of this- and is actually really quite good at being "in character". He will not talk while in character and gets this cute little smirk on his face- simply adorable. When the boys are all together we have a blast with it- Chewy, Gooey and Louie! The other day mommy & Jackson were doing puppy tricks for daddy and addison and I told him to sit (gave him a treat) and then for the first time I told him to shake... as I reach my hand out Jackson (oops... chewy) starts shaking his body! Nathan & I crack up- it had never crossed my mind that he would shake his body!! Addison is in love w/ brother. He has started making her laugh- nearly uncontrollably- in the car. He'll get her laughing so hard and they'll both be laughing and then to get her to keep laughing he starts to think of things... so he starts saying "fire engine", "bobcat", "scoop"... In the past month Addison has started cereal and fruit and moved out of her pumpkin seat and into a regular car seat (most infants can stay in there MUCH longer than mine... her feet and legs were hanging off the end and she was nearly impossible to carry in it). She will be 6 months old next week. Hard to believe how time goes so quickly. She loves life and is nearly a perfect child... not quite sleeping through the night but I'm starting to think (Nathan has been telling me this for months) that it is my fault. I get in there after she makes a whimper to feed her and she is still sleeping! She's just too cute and I almost miss her if we go the whole night without seeing each other! We went to the St. Louis Zoo again on Saturday and had a great time. Jackson LOVES all the animals. It was a very hot day but we lasted 4 hours. Fun time for all of us. Life is so much fun!

Back Home

Addison & I have returned from Florida and are catching up on our sleep. We had a fabulous trip. Addison just loved her best friend, Riley and the feeling was almost mutual. Addison is a little aggressive- and Riley wasn't quite ready for it. The 3 months difference is quite a bit! Within the first few minutes of meeting Addison was sucking on Riley's face. We ventured the beach the first day and the girls loved the water (not so much the sand, heat and sun, though). We stayed an hour and packed it up and went home. The next days were spent mostly shopping. We literally shopped till the poor girls dropped. The time flew by but Addison was ready to get home and see her brother and daddy... and get back on a sleep schedule. Brother Jackson was VERY happy to see both Mommy & Addison. I'm not sure when Jackson slept- he had a whole list of things that him & Gram did each day and I'm not sure a nap was part of the list. She bought a slip n' slide and they played on that, they went to the pool, mall, pet store and I'm sure hit Chuckie Cheese... Addison had her very first solid food today. We started a little later than we did with Jackson. She is over 5 months old but I'm glad I waited. She did great! Very messy and she is old enough to grab the spoon so this should be an adventure. Jackson begged to give her a bite... I was nervous but he actually did great. She just loves him so she would open her mouth for him and he put the spoon in and then dropped it! My BIG little helper! That's it for us right now... looking forward to taking Jackson back to Florida- he is the perfect age to enjoy it all!

Catch up...

Life has been busy so I'll just give a re-cap of the last 2-3 weeks. Nathan & I celebrated 6 years on the 10th of June. Mom watched the kiddo's while we went to dinner- came back and of course both kids were still awake and Jackson was still lacking a bath... one word- n-a-n-a. Bob is recovery very well and has already lost over 30lbs. It was such a life change for him- amazing. Heather, Mom & I went to Women of Faith in St. Louis this past weekend and it was my first overnight (28 hours) without Addison. I was dreading being away from her but it was such an amazing event. Everyone did great! We spent the most part of Father's Day outside playing. In the late afternoon we joined the Figureiredo's and Nana & Papa at their Beach Club and had a fantastic time. Jackson surprised us all and went down the HUGE waterslide all by himself (w/ a lifeguard at the bottom to catch). He first went down with Nathan and had fun but after seeing Ashton go down with ease by himself he decided he wanted to go by himself (totally NOT Jackson). On the way down (around corners and going fairly fast) he flipped around and looked like he was getting very scared. I hurried down after him thinking he would be screaming and instead he was laughing and running towards the steps to go back up. My baby is growing up!!! Addison is just the happiest, most content child I have ever seen. She's so sweet and is just full of smiles and personality. She is rolling back & forth (well, goes to her back only her her crib) and always wants to be on her tummy when you put her on her back. And when she is on her tummy she is trying with all her might to GO. She wants to make headway. I'm going to be chasing 2 children very, very soon. The other day at Auntie's house I laid her on the couch in the crevice of the 2 cushions and she sat herself all the way up- like a sit up! She is so strong. Addison & I leave for Orlando (take 2) on Saturday. She is very excited to meet her best friend, Riley Grace.

Fun in the sun!

We had a fun party at Grandpa & Grandma's during Memorial Day weekend. Grandpa got out the waterslide and it didn't take Jackson to warm up to it!

We roasted some hot dogs & marshmallows on their new firepit. It was a perfect day of 78 degrees.

Everyone had a blast.