DJ Jeezy

He'll be here all week.

Meeting the GREAT grandparents

This last Thursday our little lion cub and I took our very first road trip to visit with his great-grandparents, Tata & Nana in Kingwood. They had no idea that we were coming and when we got there my Tata didn't want to open the door because he thought I was some sort of televangelist carrying a baby around for sympathy....gotta love my family...Eventually though, he let us in and they got to meet their beloved Jackson.

He was very well behaved and in addition to meeting Tata & Nana he got to meet Tio Ito, Tia Sheila and even his Tio Johnny from Honduras! He won over everyones hearts and we were reluctant to leave but his daddy said, "You come home, and don't you dare come home without him!" so we obeyed :( (that doesn't happen very often though ;)). We hope to visit again real soon and next time we'll bring daddy along so he doesn't feel left out.

Aunties, Aunties, Aunties

This past weekend was full of love for our little lion cub with the presence of all of his lovely aunties. They flew all the way from Chicago and drove in from Dallas just to meet our little guy. He of course was on his best behavior and thought all of the attention paid to him was fantastic. He told me this morning he misses them terribly and wishes they would come back, but I promised we'll go and visit them sometime soon because they were dears and came to see him first.

Sure am glad he waited to spit up and pee on us today instead of this weekend when his aunties might not have thought him so cute. Ahhhhh this kid...never a dull moment.

Training Day

Lately the weather has been so nice we've decided to venture out and start taking Jackson for walks. Additionally I've started running again and being off for so long means I have some pretty weak muscles, so to supplement my running we've started walking pretty long distances.

Good for Jackson, Daddy and I, BAD for Burrito. He's also been 'off' for so long due to so much attention being paid to Jackson that he can no longer keep up. We made it a little under a mile before Chaucer started panting like crazy and lagging behind. I had to put him in the stroller with his little brother just so I could finish my workout! Looks like this pup needs some serious training.

1 Month!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Not sure what everyone has planned for today but Jackson, daddy and I are having a Valentine's date at home with some marinated pork tenderloin and garlic mashed potatoes a la Paula Dean.

HUGE thanks to Grammy and Pops for watching the little punk on Friday night so that Jack and I could celebrate our Valentine's a little early. Date night was fantastic and babysitting was a great success!

I've created a monster

Today our darling boy expressed his desire to be a teacher. Since it was such a beautiful sunny day in Austin though, he kiboshed his original plan and instead told me to change him quickly because he now wants to be a tennis star. Watch out Roger Federer, this kid's ready for Wimbledon.

3 weeks going on punk rocker...

Our sweet boy wakes up every morning and after being fed he tells me what he wants to be that day. You see, he's trying out various careers to see what he'll want to be when he grows up. I know, I know, SUCH an overachiever ;) So far he's been a giraffe, a baseball player and even a mad scientist. This morning he woke up and said, "momma, I want to be a punk rock star". He doesn't really talk, he just kind of looks at me and I have to decipher what he means but today I just knew that he meant punk rock star. He is from Austin after all and live music is a passion of his, so I'm thinking this is a phase and he's just gearing up for SXSW. Mic check y'all, mic check.

Big Brother's reaction

When we brought Jackson home from the hospital we thought him and Chaucer would get along famously. Well, we thought wrong. Chaucer was a VERY jealous big brother and he did NOT enjoy having a little burrito around marking up his territory. Thankfully some time has passed and now Chaucer is somewhat attentive. Here he is laying near Jackson's crib while he naps...I think they'll become fast friends...eventually.

Bath Time!

Jackson's first bath! enjoy!

What we've learned so far

As I said in the previous post, Jackson has quite a personality. When he is awake. He isn't awake very often which is why I don't have too many pictures with his eyes open. He also doesn't appreciate flash photography so when we do manage to get a picture of him he closes his eyes right away and decides that it will just be easier to go back to sleep than deal with his mom trying to get pictures of him. His dad knows this about him so recently I've realllyyyyy been pushing to get an SLR camera so that we can get optimal photography of our little munchkin :) COME ON DAD!!!!

Jackson also loves to eat. In fact, the only time he REALLY kind of sort of wakes up is to let me know that he is hungry. He grunts a little bit and starts making cute mouth movements, opens his eyes for 2 seconds and once he has begun his meal he goes right back to sleep...while eating. I know, crazy.

Jackson surprisingly LOVES bath time. I say I'm surprised because the only other time this kid is not happy is when we change his diaper. I thought, surely, he would not be pleased and would probably cry the whole time but once again he has proved me wrong. Jackson not only really enjoys bath time, he enjoys it soooo much that he does his favorite thing, falls asleep. I'll post a video of our little man getting his bath later tonight so you all can witness what I've been dealing with for the entirety of his short lived life.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about him sleeping, I just really wish there was more to talk about when it came to the little guy. For now this is the new normal though and his dad, his grandparents, all of his aunties and uncles and lovely friends couldn't be more pleased. He is an absolute dream and his doctor thinks that all this sleeping is going to make him extra big and extra strong so I may just end up with an NBA star after all ;)

Jackson Clayton Zinda

Friends and Family, apologies for not writing sooner but I've been a little 'busy' with the newest member of our family and the reason for the creation of this blog, little Jackson Clayton Zinda!

As all of you already know baby Jackson came into this world on January 18, 2011 weighing 8 lbs 4 oz. and measuring 19.3 inches in length. As soon as he was taken out of my arms he peed all over everyone and knocked the thermometer out of the nurses hands. Clearly this kid already has a personality and is so evidenced not only in his arrival but in the days that have followed as well. There have been so many stories and I promise to share each and every one of them with y'all in this blog.

Jackson has won our hearts and his dad puts it best when he says, 'his presence has just felt right'. We love him more than words can describe and God has been very good to us in sending his sweetest angel to watch over and care for. We are so excited to begin this new journey and elated to share it with friends and family that have been more than supportive and just as happy as we are.

So after 8 hours of labor, 1.5 hrs of pushing, 4 days in the hospital, countless feedings and dirty diapers, I present you the sweetest boy in the world, our Jackson...