Playing in the Water

We had a fun weekend of playing in the water. Saturday morning we washed my car. Jackson LOVED getting to help. He spent a lot of time dipping his rag in the bucket, walking over to the car, and rubbing the car for a couple of seconds before starting the cycle over again.

Here I think he's wondering why I won't put down the camera and help...

He also enjoyed spraying water in the bucket, which wasn't an easy task for his little hands.

Taking a well deserved break.

Saturday afternoon our friend, Bekah, and her two boys came to play. Quintin is 2.5 years old, and Zachary is 2 months old; so both Jackson and Audrey had someone close to their age to "play" with. We set up the kiddie pool, and Quintin and Jackson splashed around. They threw every toy we had in the backyard into the pool, which was just hilarious to them.

As we were getting ready for church this morning, Jackson decided to read Audrey a book (from memory, of course). It was pretty sweet.

After church and naps today, we headed back outside to play in the pool more and to wash Ross' car. Jackson just can't get enough of the water!

These pics are a little overexposed, but they were too cute not to post anyway.

Audrey sat in the shade looking cool most of the time. She loves the water too though.

My three favorite people in the world!

Two of Ross' favorite women.

There are more pictures of Audrey from this weekend in her album, and more of Jackson in his album.

Father's Day Weekend

We had another fun weekend. Although, this one was a little more relaxed. If you were going to be outside this weekend, a pool was required because it was HOT, so we went to a pool party at the home of some friends from work on Saturday. Then we filled the kiddie pool after church on Sunday.

For Father's Day Ross asked for some time to work in the garage, so that's what he got! Jackson would wander into the garage to help for a little while and then wander back out to the pool to splash around. Ross was very happy to finally make some progress organizing the garage. Of course, he also got a couple of fun hand-made cards from Jackson and Audrey along with a special breakfast to start the day.

Here are a few pictures of Jackson and Audrey playing around this weekend. Note the adorable smile Audrey gets when looking at her Daddy!

She gets lots of lovin' around here!

We think Jackson's going to enjoy baseball. Check out his swing!

Now we just need to work on his aim...

There are more new pictures of Audrey in her album, and a couple more of JD in his album

Jackson is 2!

Jackson turned 2 on Saturday! We celebrated with a trains, planes, and automobiles party with friends and family at our house. Jackson was SO excited about his birthday party. The "Cars" bouncer was delivered early that morning, so Jackson, Ross, Nana, and I all took turns jumping and bouncing him around. After his nap, his friends started to arrive. He was very excited to have his friends at his house. They played with golf clubs, a t-ball set, balls, sidewalk chalk, and bubbles.

Of course, bouncing was the highlight outside, and our friend Eric quickly became a favorite after throwing the kids in the air...I think he got his workout in that day!

It was a hot day, so everyone drank lots of water, and Jackson discovered the fan we set up outside.

Everyone tried to escape the heat for a little while when they could convince the kids to come in. We had a trains, planes, and automobiles picture frame craft inside for the kiddos to work on.

The food and cake was inside too. Jackson LOVED his cake. We picked the trains, planes, and automobiles theme because he's so into those things right now. He sang Happy Birthday along with everyone and then attempted to blow out his candles (I helped a little).

Audrey joined us for the fun too! Can you believe she's 3 months old now?

Jackson also loves hats, so he got a fun new one for his birthday.

Jackson has changed so much in such a short period of time. He's looking like a little boy now instead of a baby. He's speaking really well, and repeats almost anything. He is great with numbers (surprise, surprise). He can tell you how old he is and even count to 20 with a little help. He still loves puzzles, but has graduated to jigsaw puzzles. He loves to sing songs, run, and jump. He would probably live outside if you'd let him. I'm not sure which would win these days...the swing or the pool. He's a pretty good eater overall. He helps get himself dressed in the mornings by putting on his shirt, pulling up his pants, and velcroing his sandals...he also knows how to take off his diaper. As you can see, he's absolutely the sweetest little boy and big brother in the world!

There are more pictures of the birthday celebration in the album along with some pics of the celebration he had at school the day before...the kids all had cupcakes during their snack time. Kids smiling with icing on their faces make for some pretty cute pics!

My Little Man

Here's my favorite little man running around after dinner (notice the lasagna and milk still on his face). He was full of smiles and laughter tonight thanks to Mr. Todd and Mrs. Heather playing with him. He is ready for his daddy to be home though! Ross has been in Colorado for a few days, but he's coming home tonight. Jackson will be smiling extra big when he wakes up in the morning because he will finally get to see his daddy!

Party! Party! Party!

We've been busy partying on the weekends, but unfortunately, we have no pictures to show for it! It turns out with two kids, neither of us usually has our hands free to take a picture...we'll work on that!

The weekend after our trip to Florida for the shuttle launch we celebrated Jace's 1st birthday at one of our favorite parks in the area. Jackson, of course, spent almost the entire time on the swings. However, he did stop for some cake, which has become one of his favorite foods. It was at Jace's birthday party that I discovered Jackson knows the words to the "Happy Birthday" song. There have been several birthdays in his class at day care, so I'm guessing he learned it there! Jace was adorable, and did a great job destroying his "smash" cake.

The next weekend we made our way to The Woodlands for the Reece's crawfish boil. Here we got to catch up with the Reece and Bryan families...great friends from LA Tech. Mason and Jackson quickly became buds on the moonwalk while we enjoyed some yummy food. After the moonwalk, they discovered the ice chests and had fun feeling how cold the ice was. They also spent some time perched on watermelons and taking care of Audrey. We only wish they lived closer because we know Mason and Jackson could be best buds!

We spent the rest of Memorial Day Weekend at our neighborhood pool. Jackson was a little hesitant to get in the water on Sunday, but by Monday we were having to talk to him about not jumping in the pool! I think I see swim lessons in our future! Audrey loved the water too. Ross was bouncing her around in the water when she decided to laugh for the very first time!

The Tuesday after Memorial Day was my first day back to work and Audrey's first day of day care. It was an overwhelming adjustment for both of us. I had a lot to catch up on at work on top of the separation anxiety. Fortunately, overwhelming also means busy, so I didn't have much time to think about how much I missed her until I got home. She seemed to know she was in a different place with people she didn't know and didn't sleep well during the days all week. When we got home Tuesday evening she gave me the biggest, sweetest smile and then relaxed and fell asleep in my arms...very bittersweet. Each day got a little easier for both of us, and we made the most of every moment we had together as a family.

Last weekend Jackson's friend, Cooper, celebrated his birthday. Several of their friends from day care were there, and it was SO much fun to watch them play. They had a baby pool set up in the backyard, which was perfect since it was so hot. The kiddos had fun jumping and flipping in the pool...making me a little nervous since they'd stay underwater for a few seconds. We really enjoyed getting to know some of the other parents better and hope this opens the door for some new play dates!

Audrey was a perfect angel through all of the parties. She and Jackson are both growing and changing so quickly and are so much fun. Here is a some picture of Audrey from a couple of weeks ago. There are a few more in the album too.

Fun in the Sun

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing in the sand after our roller coaster of a day watching the shuttle launch. Saturday morning we had a huge breakfast at a local restaurant down the street. Then we coated ourselves in sunscreen and made our way to the beach, which was literally 2 blocks away. The house we rented had chairs and other fun stuff to take to the beach, so we borrowed them and set up camp on the beach. We brought a little tent to keep Audrey out of the sun, which came in handy at the launch too. The sound of the waves must have been soothing because she spent most of the morning asleep while we played.

Here's a picture of Jackson's first experience with the ocean.

He wasn't quite sure what to think of the sand washing away under his feet. He laughed like it tickled but didn't want to go back for more.

He had fun people watching and playing in the sand.

He liked pouring the water on the sand and splashing it in his bucket, so we made many trips back and forth filling up the bucket. Jackson would often walk to the edge of the water with us, but he never wanted to get in.

I have to say...he makes a pretty cute beach bum!

Around lunch time we headed back to the house to eat and take naps. We then spent the afternoon at a beautiful park before heading to a fun restaurant for dinner. It was just off of Sea Bird Island, and we were able to get a table outside so Jackson could watch the birds, boats, and dolphins!

Sunday was essentially a repeat of Saturday with different food. We couldn't have dreamed of better weather while we were relaxing on the beach, and we managed to get through both days without any sunburns! Monday morning came with lots of rain though, which made our drive back to Tampa fun. We had planned to stop at the Central Florida Zoo on our way back since our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until later that evening. Fortunately, the rain let up for a little while so we were able to check out all of the animals. Jackson's favorites were the kangaroos and the elephant. It wasn't enough for Jackson though...he wanted to see MORE animals.

We got to the airport several hours early, so we spent a lot of time entertaining Jackson. It wasn't until just before dinner that we discovered their play area. Jackson loved it! Fortunately for him, our flight ended up being delayed, so he got to go back and play more when we were done.

We ended up having delays on both ends of our flight. When we arrived in Houston we found out the airport had actually been shut down earlier in the day because of weather, so we had to sit and wait for a gate to become available. Jackson had finally fallen asleep on the plane, but sitting on the tarmac without much in the way of A/C for that long was more than he could bear. Both kids crashed hard when we got home, but poor Jackson still wasn't feeling great and woke up crying in the middle of the night...not at all normal for him. We hope he gets to feeling better soon!

There are more pictures from the weekend in the album if you're interested.