Maddie's B-day Party

Last weekend Jackson and I made our way to a friend, Maddie's, 2nd b-day party. It was a lot of fun for both of us, but since there were balloons at the party, Jackson was ecstatic! I didn't take my camera knowing my hands would be full keeping up with JD, but these are courtesy of Maddie's dad. Thanks Mike! If you can't tell, balloons are still one of JD's favorite toys!

There are a few more in the album too, and yes, the bruise has reappeared. Although, he's getting better and better about not tripping and catching himself with his forehead...

Labor Day Weekend Fun

Our Labor Day weekend was packed with even more fun than usual this year. We went to Shreveport as usual and stayed with my folks. Jackson had a blast walking up and down their street and playing in the back yard. We couldn't resist taking a few pics.

From there we made our way to my high school's danceline reunion. We all met at a park, ate yummy food, and had fun visiting. Most of us haven't seen in each other in over 10 years! Everyone looked the same with the addition of husbands and kiddos. Here is a picture of the girls. There are more from the park in the album.

Next was the main event...the Stone Family Reunion, which is Ross' mom's family. It's a two day affair filled with fun. We start off Saturday evening at Ross' Aunt Dottie and Uncle Jim's house with burgers, hot dogs, and all the fixin's. Sunday brunch is had at Ross' parents' house, and then everyone heads to his Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Laura's house for swimming, fajitas, and karaoke! Did I mention there are 45 people at each of these events? It's a blast! I love seeing how everyone changes each year. Here are a few pics from the events, but of course, there are a lot more in the album.

Jackson got to "ride" Grandad's motorcycle.

Taylor Family Picture

Just the 3 (or 4) of us

Jackson stopping to pose for a few pics.

Jackson and Anna Claire playing together.

Swimming is fun! Especially when Daddy throws me!

A little karaoke fun to end the evening.

And that's not all...we celebrated my Granddaddy's 82nd birthday Monday over lunch before we left town. Jackson's middle name, Dean, is after my Granddaddy, Harry Dean. We all loved spending time with them, and Jackson got really excited about the cake!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

THE GOOD...

Jackson's 8th tooth finally broke through, so he's been in a great mood lately. Ross has been busy working the shuttle flight, which means JD and I have had some fun, quality time together. Here are a few pics from playing around the house on Sunday.

JD with his duck, which he will tell you says "qua, qua"

JD playing peek-a-boo from behind the door.

I'm gonna get you...

What to do next?

We also had another ultrasound done at my last appointment, which was over a week ago...sorry for the delay! This was for the nuchal translucency test. It was fun to get to see the little one again so soon, but apparently it's harder to see through scar tissue (from my c-section), which meant it was harder to get a good pic to share. The little one didn't want to cooperate either. He or she was moving all over the place, which was very different from Jackson. Jackson didn't move at all. I remember them shaking my belly to try to get him to change positions, but I guess he was comfortable. Here's one of the better pics of Baby Taylor #2 from the visit.

THE BAD...

Of course, along with the good comes the bad. Last week Jackson fell at daycare. He landed on a chair with his mouth and almost put a tooth through his lip. After a couple of popsicles and some extra TLC from his teachers, he was good to go. I have to say I've been impressed with how quickly it's healing!

THE UGLY...

We are in the midst of our first home repair. After only 3 weeks in our new house, a wet spot appeared on the ceiling in our living room! We had someone come out to look at it today, but even they couldn't figure out where it came from. There aren't any pipes near that area. After they left, Ross noticed a very small spot in another ceiling upstairs that's fairly close to the area downstairs and both are close to a wall, so we're wondering if it's a roof problem or something...the roof was replaced last year though! Hopefully, we can get it figured out and fixed soon. In the mean time, there's now a hole in the ceiling of our living room!

Jackson likes fruit!

Jackson really likes fruit! He starts saying "NANUH!" (banana) as soon as we walk in the door from day care. But, he also loves cantaloupe, watermelon, applesauce, etc. Here is a video of him eating watermelon. Keep in mind, he has already eaten an entire toddler meal and a fair bit of watermelon at this point.

And that's "more" he's saying if you can't tell. He can also sign "more" but gets a bit excited with the watermelon right there in front of him.

Rational Sentiment Update

Due to our general busyness, I haven't posted much lately over at Rational Sentiment, but with things slowing down a bit, I'm hoping to post more frequently again. I added a post today on healthcare and I'm hoping to discuss the topic in more detail coming up. I've also added a permanent link to the site on the links page (you can click "links" above) so that those of you who frequent this site can find my other one when you feel like it.

We've Moved, 11 Weeks Prego, & 14 Months Old!

We've moved! We've been here for a little over a week now, and we're starting to get settled into our new house. We owe a huge thanks to both our moms for helping us pack and unpack, as well as a handful of friends. We couldn't have done it without you! The first trimester of this pregnancy has been fairly rough for me as far as feeling sick and just being exhausted, which meant I wasn't a lot of help packing. Fortunately, around the time we moved I started feeling a little better and was able to do more. We've got the majority of the boxes unpacked. Now we're just down to the few that we're not sure what to do with...pretty good progress for a little over a week in my opinion!

I'm now 11 weeks pregnant with baby #2. We had a doctor's appointment this week, and aside from my blood pressure being really low, which explains why I've been SO tired, the baby looked great! We could see the heartbeat during the ultrasound, and we were given a picture of our sweet baby to bring home and share.

Jackson is now 14 months old! He's walking like a pro and only seems to fall every once in a while now. He loves the new house. He wanders everywhere and gets into everything. He has even mastered going up the stairs...we're working on going down.

He also has a few words to go along with the babbling. Shoe is by far his favorite word. He gets so excited about playing with them and wearing them. He has learned to say/sign the words "more", "eat", "done", and "milk", which have been a huge help at mealtimes, and he likes to say "quack, quack" when he finds his stuffed animal duck.

His new daycare has been wonderful. He loves being there and has learned so much. They do lots of fun activities to keep him busy. The activity he gets most excited about right now is music and dancing time. He loves to clap, stomp, and motion hooray for the song "If you're happy and you know it". He's made lots of great friends with the kids and staff. Although, I think he's a bit of a troublemaker...he's curious about everything including climbing on top of tables and running for the door when it opens!

Today we took a break from working on the house and went to the Bay Area Park. Bailey had fun at the dog park there, and Jackson had a blast on the swings and slides. Here are several pics to make up for lost time, and of course, there are more in the album.

Catching Up (Big Announcement Too)!

There's been another delay in posting, but at least I can say our lives have been busy! I'll just hit the highlights for you. Backing up to the last post about the weekend we had an offer accepted on a new house...that very same day we found out that I am pregnant again! My first doctor's appointment was last week, and everything looks good. The expected due date is March 4th!

Since then we have also sold our house. It was only on the market for a whopping 9 days and had well over 20 showings in that short time.

Jackson also had his 1 year doctor's appointment where he got his first serious bump on the head...at least we were at the doctor's office right? He was toddling around the room and landed forehead first on a low shelf beneath a bench. A bruise and welt showed up almost immediately. Fortunately, he recovered quickly, and otherwise, he's doing great. He is now in the 50-75th percentile in height and the 35th percentile for weight. Both are higher than the curve he's been on, so he's definitely growing well.

I also turned 30 since the last post. The shuttle finally launched that day, which was a good present, and Ross and Jackson gave me some beautiful red tulips. I had fun taking pictures of them as you can see.