Hoarse but Smiling

Have you ever heard a hoarse baby try to cry? It's pretty sad, but it's also pretty funny when he laughs. Jackson woke up without much of a voice this morning, and it just got worse throughout the day. He's also been drooling a lot lately, so we think he may be working on his 7th tooth. The combination of these things has made for a somewhat fussy baby. I say somewhat because he still smiles most of the time.

Today was Clara's 2nd birthday party, which was at The Little Gym. It was a lot of fun. The Little Gym was another one of those great places where Jackson could play without having to worry too much about what he got into. Clara looked adorable running around in her pink tutu, and all of the kids seemed to have a blast. Jackson had so much fun he passed out on the way home. It was a great way to end the day!

Of course, when he got home, he was happy to eat before crashing for the night.

Fun Weekend

Just a quick post to let everyone know we had a fun weekend in Louisiana. We were there for advisory board meetings at LA Tech, and got to spend some quality time with our friends, Heath and Barbara, and their son, Carter. We also got to wish both of our mom's a Happy Mother's Day in person and let them spend a little time with Jackson. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the weekend. There are more in the album.

Carter as Superman.

Me and Carter hanging out.

Jackson "riding" the tricycle.

Jackson and Carter playing on the slides at the park.

Other pics from the park.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a Happy Mother's Day!

Ready, Set, Go!

In the last two weeks Jackson has been on the go. Not only is he an expert crawler now, but he's pulling up on anything and everything. He also knows exactly what he's not supposed to get into, and goes straight for it! He's definitely keeping us on our toes. His favorite things to get into are the candles by the fire place (see pic below), the electronics by the TV, and of course, Bailey's dog bowls...they're twice the fun because they make noise when hitting the floor and have water to splash.

He's really starting to figure out toys too. He's great at opening and closing things, and he's started putting objects in things and pushing buttons to get a specific response. His train provides lots of entertainment with the seat that opens and closes, levers to push and pull, and being able to ride or push it. He has a blast with everything he does!

There are several more pics of Jackson playing and having fun today in the album.

This weekend had it's ups and downs. Yesterday was fun and relaxing for me and Jackson. While Ross spent the entire day rebuilding our patio cover, which looks great, Jackson and I went to the park with our friends Emma and Clara. Then Jackson and I hung out in the backyard with Ross. Jackson got a baby pool to play in, but it was a little too cold still to be in it. Instead, Jackson had fun leaning over the edge, splashing the water and putting things in the pool.

Today wasn't as relaxing...Jackson decided he didn't need a nap today, which was a first for us. He's refused naps at daycare before, but never at home...it made for a long day. I say that, but he was still very happy overall. All of the pics in this post were taken today, so you can tell he didn't struggle with it too much. It was just around the times he was supposed to be sleeping that were difficult.

Change of Plans

Our plans quickly changed this weekend when we got over 5.3 inches of rain on Saturday! Ross was planning to work on our patio cover, and we were all planning to go to a pool party. With our street looking like this, we decided none of that was in the cards for this weekend. After all, you can normally see the curb and sidewalks!

We spent all day Saturday trapped inside, so we decided to do something fun today. We went to the Children's Museum! Jackson had a blast. They recently opened their new toddler area, and Jackson loved it! Unlike our house where he's told "no-no" fairly often, everything here was fair game. They had everything from little doors to open and close to slides and balls and blocks and cars both little and big! There are more pics in the album, but here are few favorites from the day.

Celebrate Good Times!

We had a whirl wind of fun this weekend. We celebrated our friend Carter's 2nd b-day on Saturday, which was the main reason for a trip to Shreveport and Ruston, LA. We didn't make it through the entire party because Jackson needed a nap, but everyone was having a great time, which you can tell from the pictures in the album. Carter and his parents, Barbara and Heath, are basically family. We love every moment we get to spend with them! Here's a pic with Barbara from the party.

We also got to visit with all of our grandparents this weekend, which is a rare treat. We mostly see them around Christmas and Thanksgiving, so Easter weekend was a bonus! Ross' grandparents and Uncle Alan were enjoying some Easter festivities when we arrived. There was a woman playing the piano and leading the group in song. All of the ladies had on beautiful Easter bonnets.

We don't have any pictures from the visit with my dad's parents, but we definitely enjoyed the visit!

My mom's parents had a fish fry Saturday evening, and it was delicious!!! My cousin Stephanie and her family were also in town this weekend, so all of the boys had fun playing outside. Andrew and Jackson are about a week apart in age, so they had fun digging through a bucket of toys while Adam found Easter eggs.

There are a lot more pics in the album from this weekend, but I'll leave you with a few of my favorites.

Jackson with my parents, Nana and Pop.

Ross' Grandmother

Jackson's 2nd cousin, Andrew.

Last, but certainly not least, my grandmother and Jackson!

Oh yeah...Jackson's 10 months old now! I can't believe it!

Things That Make Me Smile

We went back to the doctor today, and Jackson is doing much better! He was still very happy while he was sick, but I did notice a pretty big change in his energy level. Today he seemed like his normal self and was ready to check out the world! He has discovered that doors swing open and closed and that lots of things make great noises when you hit them, especially a cup on the side of the bathtub.

Jackson has been having fun chasing Bailey up and down the hallway, and Bailey is starting to enjoy it too.

Most of the time Jackson would prefer to walk, but he's getting really good at the army crawl and has even started getting on his knees from time to time. He can get just about anywhere now!

Watching Ross and Jackson play together is by far my favorite thing to see these days. It almost always results in laughter. You can almost hear it in these pictures!

There's just no better way to start and end my day than to see these smiling faces!

Rational Sentiment

I've been wanting to talk more about politics, finance, and current events but I haven't really felt like this was the place to do it. This blog is intended to be the story of our lives and the couple of posts I have made related to politics have felt awkward in this context. As such, I have decided to launch a new blog called Rational Sentiment where I can freely express my opinions on the latest events while hopefully maintaining some level of rationality. I don't know if anyone will end up reading the blog, but it should be fun nonetheless. If you are interested, head on over and you can subscribe to the RSS feed, as well. I hope to post there relatively frequently and maybe spur some civilized conversation.