Month of October

I guess this is starting to be a trend. I am making a November resolution to start blogging more... we shall see... What a busy month October was. Every weekend we had something major- starting with my 10-year reunion and the rest of the weekends were filled with friends birthday parties. It seems that all of Jackson's friends (and a cousin- and Jackson) have birthdays in October. We had a lot of fun! We had a great visit from Nathan's relatives. Nathan's Aunt, Aunt & Uncle, cousins and their 3 kids came to visit in early October. Jackson fell in love with Cora (age 7) and Dominic (9?). They played so great and were so cute with Jackson and Addison. Jackson is still talking about them and misses them so much. They live in Tuscan so we don't see them often. That needs to change! Then we had Jackson's party on the 21st. It was a construction theme where Uncle Phil brought his bobcat and gave all the kids rides. Then Nathan got the great idea (I wasn't thrilled about it at first but it turned out to be so much fun) of getting the lawn mower out and pulling Jackson's wagon behind it. It hauled 2-3 kids in it and a kid on Nate's lap driving- up & down the driveway for probably an hour. We also had a big pile of rocks, plenty of dump trucks and some loaders to work with. Jackson got a bunch of new toys which still take up the entire living room space and give us lots of enjoyment each day. The next weekend brought us Parkers bonfire/hay ride party. That was a blast. It was out at mom & dad's house, it was a cool night and perfect for roasting marshmellows and enjoying the tractor/hay ride. A few days later we got together AGAIN for halloween at Shana & Chad's (Lauren's) house. Dee & Tim supplied pizza and salad and we all went trick-o-treating. Addison was a bumble bee (compliments of Lauren) and Jackson was a fireman. We had the best looking bunch on the whole street. Farmer Parker & Elephant Lauren took the prize for cutest outfits. We also had princess Alexa, pirate Blaine, cheerleader Erin, thomas the train Jordan, Superman Ashton, Street patrolman Will (most creative- and best at his role). Except for a few falls from running too fast we had a perfect night. Jackson keeps surprising me daily with what phrases he comes up with. I have got to start writing them all down. He has been a super sweet boy lately- bringing mommy flowers from his kitchen and snuggling each night before bed. He tries very hard to be a big 3yr old boy. The other day we were leaving the park and he was throwing a fit because he didn't want to leave. We get in the car and he's still crying and throwing a fit and all the sudden he shuts off the crying and says "mommy, I'm a big boy now". It was day & night in seconds! Addison is busy as ever. She is all over the place and impossible to distract from anything. I realized the other day that she had eaten a moth. She was being so quiet... I should have caught on quicker. Quietness is not good! She is 9 months old- loud as ever, crusing like a pro, pushing a walker or anything else that moves, starting to get into cabinets and has really started talking- screeching/screaming (happily). She is saying mama, dada, more, bye bye, ball and the other night at Shana's she said uh-oh out of the blue. She is also starting to say Jackson- you can't understand it but I was calling for him (holding her) and she repeated me with the same syllables. Talking seems to be her focus right now. A month or so ago it was her gross motor- trying to walk, pull up and such. She is still progressing at that but is really trying to talk. She can also sign "more" and "all done". She waves and claps too. She is such a happy girl (especially when she's on my hip) and is really getting animated. Enjoying our busy life. Looking forward to the holidays, Addison 1st Christmas and Jackson's 3rd. We are home for all of it. More soon!!!