Shark Bait

This past Memorial Day weekend was loadsssss of fun! The boy's Grandpa and Gigi came into town and he had an absolute BLAST with them. He also got to experience his first time on Lake Travis and once again he LOVED the water.

Saturday we rented a boat, my mom made some salads, we bought wayyyyy too many beers and we hit the lake. His uncles and aunt Mayra were really excited to see how Jackson would react on the water and (I think anyways) they were thoroughly impressed by how well he did. In fact we all were--there were a lot of instances of rough patches and us being splashed heavily by water (Jack likes to have fun when he drives boats ;)) and he just sleppptttt in his grandpa's lap as if nothing were going on. We really couldn't believe it but he just closed his eyes and went straight to sleep.

When we finally anchored and started swimming Jackson woke up, asked to be put in his shark outfit and floaty and joined us in having a beer on the cool waters of Lake Travis. Well, we had beers, he just ate his hands.


We spent the rest of the weekend shopping, eating and laughing which is our usual M.O. when my parents come into town. Oh! and because she is the Queen of Cheese (I guess that makes me the princess) my mom bought all the boys swim shirts in our favorite 2011 colors--NEON!!! Fortunately they only had white in the lion's size but he very much enjoyed being part of the gang ;)

Crafty Crafty

Problem: Empty picture frame in little lion's room:

Solution: While my original plan was to make a fantastic silhouette of the boy's beautifully egg-shaped head, I tried and tried and it was just never up to par.

Further Solution: I decided to do something different and make the letter 'J' (for Jackson...duh) out of buttons. I figured this would be A LOT easier, faster, and all around more colorful than anything I had been attempting previously using paint/pens/computer/technology.

Steps:
Materials: buttons, glue, bath toy letter 'J', card stock, pen. Assemble materials accordingly.


Assistant:

although, my assistant was more trouble than he was worth so choose your assistant wisely.

So after a feeding, some playtime, 3 loads of laundry, 1.5 naps, 1 way-too-friendly FedEx guy, a barking dog, some drool, and 4 or 5 diaper changes you get this:

You know I HAD to add the bee buttons--I'm the one making the craft here so my 'signature' has to be somewhere in there.

Enjoy!

Gordo's Lost adventure

This past weekend the family took their first official vacay to the Hyatt Lost Pines resort in Bastrop, TX. Yes, a whole 30 minutes from home but VERY much well worth it because it really did feel as though we had driven somewhere far far away. We drove in on Friday night and had the boy bathed and pj'ed up for his arrival, (this way he'd be ready to just eat and then sleep after we got there). As soon as we checked in, Jack showed gordo the sites from our hotel room window but then he asked to see them up close so we happily obliged...


The resort is located on the Colorado River and as soon as Jackson laid eyes on it he ooed and ahhed. Since it was just an evening stroll before bed time we just showed him the water and told him if he slept well that night that we'd show him something even cooler the next day. Well, he sure did listen! The boy slept fabulously in the hotel room, so as promised we took him down to the pool/lazy river for his very first pool experience.



Jack's partner Holly and her husband Matt were also there with their son (and Jackson's college roommate) Maxwell. The boys had a blast splashing about in the water and I'm so happy to say that Jackson is a water baby! He LOVED the pool and we were pretty apprehensive because we thought he'd hate the cold water but as always he surprised us and ended up having a blast.


The resort is FULL of activities for older kids (not so much for 4 month olds) and we can't wait to take him back when he's a little older so he can take complete advantage of all the great things they have going on. For now we are just pleased that he did so well while we were there and that he loved being in the water.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Today we celebrate Jackson's dad's birthday. Its not just any birthday either, the old man is turning 30 years old and that is a HUGE milestone!

We've really been celebrating it since right after Mother's day and the celebration will continue well into next week if Jack has his way with it. This past Saturday we went to South Congress and had some dinner at the trailer park there and then headed to a bar called Lustre Pearl to finish off a VERY enjoyable evening. Jack wanted to have his birthday dinner early on Tuesday night at Home Slice Pizzeria but alas, they are closed on Tuesdays so we ended up going across the street to Guero's.

Today (his actual birthday) Jackson got to get in on the action and made his dad a banner last night so that when Jack went in to change him this morning he would see it. Additionally, the boy lined up all of his Daddy's birthday presents underneath the crib so that he could watch his dad open them!



To finish off the day we met up with Jack at his office and had some lunch with him. Jackson got sleepy after a really big lunch and asked to take a nap under daddy's desk. I used to do the same thing when I'd go visit my dad at his office. Guess some things never change!

After his nap Jackson helped his dad bill some hours but ended up having to brush up on his Civil Procedures statutes because he's been out of the game too long ;)


All in all its been one heckofa birthday celebration for the proud poppa and we hope that he's had the best birthday ever!

Dr.'s Visit

Today Jackson is 4 months old and with that came a well check and a lot more vaccines. My poor baby had 2 sets of shots and a horrible-tasting rotosomethingorother administered so that he can remain happy and healthy. At all of these Dr.'s visits I am absolutely terrified of any bad news that may come up and I am especially wary of the shots being administered. You'd think they were going to cut off one of his limbs or something with the amount of nerves I get for him at every well check.

Well I'm happy to report that as usual, Jackson thoroughly impressed me with his strength--he didn't even flinch during the first shot and only whimpered for a second during the other shot. The boy has nerves of steel I tell you, he never seems to mind being poked or prodded and really only fusses when I'm cleaning his nose (go figure).

He weighed in at 16 1/2 lbs and ranked in the 75th percentile for all of his stats. His Dr. said he was 'proportional' for all of his measurements. Good I say. No lollipop-headed kids in this household ;)

Here are the war wounds:

I'm one tough motha momma...


Next month (per his Dr.'s discretion) we get to start solids! I may or may not have snuck said solids already, but we'll save that for another post.

4 Months!!!

Hilarious/Awesome

I saw this dresser and initially thought, 'who would buy that?'. The answer: ME. OCD Nazi, this would be perfect to keep the kids in this house organized.

We have a roller!

So our days usually begin the same way...we wake up, get ready, feed the beast, play with him and then get him ready for the day. Friday the 13th began the same way except for one little difference...I thought it would be cute to take a picture of Jackson in his striped jammies on our striped rug because they coordinated nicely. Well as I was taking a picture of him 'pretending' to roll over he actually DID roll over! Much to my shock and unpreparedness the boy pulled out all the stops and did the deed!


I must say I am SO proud of him and even though I've videoed dozens of 'false rolls' and didn't get his first I'm glad I at least got some pictures of the blessed event.

Plus we DID get a video of his 2nd roll which happened today (May 15th) in front of Daddy and Uncle Stephen!

Had to share...

LOVE this wedding! check out that headpiece and dress, GORGEOUS.

Jack and I seriously need to get married again, the little one can serve as a ring bearer this time! Maybe for our 10 year anniversary?!?!

Inspiration

Jackson and I asked his dad if he could look like this when he's 60:

As usual Jack just rolled his eyes. One can dream. Currently I'm dreaming of sitting outside one of the cafes at St. Mark's square while sipping an espresso with this guy...How fantastic.

A very HAPPY Mother's Day

First and foremost I have to give it up to all the moms out there. I hope y'all had a fantastic day and thank you for everything you have ever done for your children. It's not an easy job, and I am especially thankful to my mom who raised me in a one bedroom apartment, with no heat, in the bad part of Chicago. Thank you mami for all of your hard work and dedication and thank you for being the most amazing Gigi a boy could ever ask for!

So on with my mother's day blowout...We decided it would be best to celebrate on Saturday to beat the crowd, and I'm honestly glad we did it that way because we tried going to 2 different brunch places today (Sunday) and they both asked us if we had a reservation and told us the wait would be too long without one. yikes....

Anyways, I woke up Saturday morning to a ring at the doorbell and wondered who on earth it could be so early. Turns out my sweet parents sent a gorgeous arrangement from my favorite florist Coby. Isn't it beautiful? He is so amazing about marrying different aesthetics together, these flowers are the perfect combination of architecture and flora. LOVE them!


Soon after Jackson gave me his mother's day gift--some awesome workout clothes from our new favorite store (via Sophia P. Adamson) lululemon. We have recently become slaves to this store and their workout attire. Workout clothes have become the new uniform in this house and that is mainly due to all the lovely drool and spit ups that come along with having our sweet boy. Jackson says if his dad and I are going to hang out in workout clothes all the time we might as well look stylish in it. What can I say? Our boy is very generous :)



The gift came at the perfect time because we then decided to head out to brunch followed by a walk around the lake. Little J got really hot during the walk and asked to be dunked in the water. Since he isn't so much of a swimmer yet we obliged by giving him the opportunity to dip his feet in. He seemed pleased by this...


The lovely day ended with a nice dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, North with a yummy martini to top it off. Jack's parents were gracious enough to watch the boy while we wined and dined. We ended up calling it an early night though because we missed the boy like mad (per our usual M.O.) and I have a bit of a cold anyways.

Overall it was a very HAPPY mother's day and I feel very blessed to have such amazing friends and family who made this 1st mother's day even more special with all of your well wishing. Y'all are the best!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Stripes

He wanted to match Xander (his zebra) today.

Jackson the velociraptor

So we've been asked a lot if the little guy is rolling over yet. Sadly no...but he's working on it! We practice tummy time religiously in the household, at least twice a day and ALWAYS in the morning because this kid has 3 moods:

8am-12pm: Happy Hour
12pm-4pm: Yell at momma time
4pm-8pm: Tea Party time (meltdown mode)

We've got to take advantage of the happy hour time period because its really the only time he is truly 'happy'. The rest of the day he just yells at me for no reason what-so-ever. Jack and I have decided he sounds like a velociraptor and we are constantly wondering if all babies are this way? anyone? opinions on this matter are much appreciated. Anyways, here he is working on rolling over, he's kinda sorta almost there!!!

And it was strangely cold today so I got to put the little velociraptor in some warm clothes to run some errands. Look how big he's getting!

Happy Birthday Baby Leighton!

Our dear friends Jon and Hillary gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on May 1, 2011. She is absolutely gorgeous and Hillary is doing great. We had a little party to mark the celebration and Jackson wore a party hat he made especially for his new friend.