Moments a Camera Cannot Capture

I have been thinking about doing this for some time. I want to be able to look back on this fleeting and sweet time with Jackson and remember the sweet moments no camera could catch.

1. I love it when Jackson is in his jumper and most of the time, all he stares at are the small orange mechanical pieces on the side. He inspects them closely with his index finger.

2. In the morning, we lay in bed dozing at around 6:30 am. We can hear and see Jackson on the monitor playing around quietly, talking with himself. Then Aaron and I decide to go into his room together. Jackson gets so unbelievably excited and smiley when we walk through the door. This is when he gives us the most open mouth kisses.

3. I love it when Jackson buries his head into my shoulder. It's his way right now to say, "I love you!"

4. Some of Jackson's nick names: "Young Man," "Sir," "Young Squire," "Bulbus Head." I know they sound weird written down, but I don't care.

5. His favorite songs right now are : ABC's (which I sing to him while we're buckling in the car seat to avoid tears", Tyrannosaurus song, This Little light of mine, Jesus Loves Me, "The Weenie Man Song" (my mother found this one in the archives of her brain, conveniently while changing his diaper...), and "Showers of Blessings" while in the bathtub.

6. I love it when I'm wearing a maxi dress, he crawls over to me, sits up and starts playing peek-a-boo with it.

7. I adore it when I'm in the car quietly listening to music and Jackson is talking to himself in the back, almost asleep.

8. I hate leaving him at day care, even though he's in the best hands with Nanny Kate. But, picking him up in the absolute best. This last Thursday, I opened the white picket fence, the door to the house was open (per usual), and Jackson was sitting there quietly playing with his toys on the ground. I ran up to him and he got so excited with the biggest smile on his face that he fell over. There went my heart.

9. I love to watch Aaron & him interact. He loves and looks at Aaron in ways that he would never look at me. It's something I can't even describe in writing.

10. I love that Jackson doesn't laugh so much as cackle loudly. It's hilarious.

So many more that I could write I'm sure. We are currently trying to give Jackson another brother or sister. We are patient because we know this is all in God's timing. And we also know that Jack is still quite young, so I think that we will be more persistent after Jackson turns a year.

I am getting more excited and anxious about the holidays, even Halloween, which is a new one for me. I have always been such a holiday person, and I'm absolutely shocked that I could be even more excited than I usually am for the end of October, November & December. But, having a child to share and make new memories with is more than I could ever ask for.

MOPS has been an amazing support system as well. I have so many mommy dates to look forward to now. We are only in our third week, so the relationships are still new, but they are already cherished. We are going to a pumpkin patch in the next two weeks with the kiddos. I'll be sure to post pictures.

I am so blessed with the balance of work & being a stay at home mom.

Love you my little man.

Eight Month Sweetness

Sweet Child O' Mine.

Jackson, you are eight months. My-o-my you are closer to a year old than being born. This year has been such a whirlwind.

Some milestones you have hit...

-- You are "army crawling" all over the place! You seem to lead with your right hand so we think you'll be right handed.

-- You sometimes "drunken' crawl" around the house as well (on your hands & knees)

-- You can pick up and place in your mouth all different types of foods (although you have no teeth yet!)

--You imitate other people immediately when they go "ba ba ba" or "da da da"

-- You are babbling more often

-- You grab onto coffee tables, or any low surface & pull yourself up on your own.

-- You have hurt your head more often by rolling over and bumping your head on the wood floors!
(crazy boy! Only YOU could find a way to hurt yourself that you can't actually baby proof against)

-- You love chasing after blocks as we stack them  (or anything dangerous)

-- You are now watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse all the way through (not just watching the songs)

-- You can hold & drink your bottle on your own

-- You hold your sippy cup on your own (for the most part)

-- Momma has learned to change diapers really well while you are in crawling position going after one toy or another.

-- When you get tired, you love to dig your head into my tummy and rub your eyes, and crawl all over me. I love it.

Overall, sweet child, you are as independent as any child could be. You love to play by yourself and you very rarely like to snuggle, even when you're tired. So, I cherish & pray every night I hold you in my arms while you are asleep knowing these moments pass to quickly.

Happy 8 months. (Psst...I'm already planning your first birthday party. Thankfully you don't speak english yet and the theme will be a surprise!)

Photo op

Winding down for a nap watching Mickey Mouse.

Big Boy with shoes on (he took them off pretty much immediately)

Out of a bazillion toys, we chose a water bottle.

Pulls himself up & stands on his own! (with intense supervision of course)

Enjoying Auntie's amazing pumpkin chocolate chip bread.

God is so good.

So many pictures & wonderful memories

I can't even begin to narrow down all of the wonderful pictures I have to share. I mostly have to thank Aaron's dad & step mom for these beauties.

They came and visited us for 3 days. I'm so happy they did. It was so wonderful to see them, catch up & hang out by the beach.

And Jack is one lucky little man that he has so many people that love him. What a sweet blessing.

We ate dinner at our house. His favorite: pumpkins and bananas. Yummy.

We got love from daddy after dinner.

And always...some tickles.

 Another day we ate at Ginas Pizza & walked down to the beach.

 We got a kiss from daddy apologizing for all the tickling.

We fell asleep on nana at the beach from all the tickling & excitement.

 We played with our toy boat in the bathtub!

We dunked some water on ourselves.

And smiled big goofy smiles because we're a big boy now! No more tiny whale tub!

We played with poppy, mesmerized by our toys. 

All in all, such a wonderful time. 

Then, labor day came. My parents flew out and we went to my cousin Mike (& Mandy's) 1 year birthday for their little girl Abby! It was so much fun to celebrate such a momentous occasion with them. Pictures to come later from Miss Mandy!

My other cousin, Kathryn, and her little Ella along with Travis came into town as well. It was so fun to see them interact!

Some cousin love, staring at little toes. 

Such sweetness all around. 

It was a great time! We went down to the beach at the St. Regis, and also at breakfast at our house on Sunday morning, enjoying Lemon Riccotta pancakes & fantastic conversation. 

Work is now starting to get quite busy (as always with this time of year). I also start MOPS on September 20th, a group for Mother's of pre-schoolers. I'm so excited to share fellowship with other Christian moms. I'm a bit hesitant to make the commitment during the week while working from home, taking care of Jack, and keeping the house semi-organized. But, I know that God is calling me to make this connection, no matter how exhausted I may be. 

And hey, a house can be messy for a few days, right? 

Jack is almost crawling (rocking back and forth) we are just waiting with baited breath to see him actually be mobile on his own! I think he's a bit frustrated he hasn't figured it out quite yet. He wants to grab for EVERYTHING around him and just can seem to get there. I'm going to bet within the next two weeks. 

I leave with a peaceful picture of a walk we do quite frequently at sunset to wind down from the day. It constantly reminds me of how blessed we are. No matter how the day has gone, I try to cherish every moment with my sweet one & my amazing husband as this time goes by too fast. 

Some Instagrammin'

Just some instagrammin' fun. 

Seven Months Young

It's been the happiest seven months of our lives. 

And apparently, they have been for Jack too. 

I'm sorry he's naked...again...it's just really, really hot out.

Jackson now: 

-- Dances while you sing.

-- Grabs for everything in sight.

-- Gives "open mouth" kisses

-- Says, "ba ba ba" & "ma ma ma"

-- Sits in a high chair by himself (he has officially grown out of the bumbo)

-- Sleeps through the night most nights. If not, the majority of nights he will put himself back to sleep.

-- Recognizes the same songs played. 

-- Rolls over all the time from tummy to back. 

-- Is not swaddled anymore for nap time or bed time!

-- Is drinking out of sippy cups at meal time.

-- Can sometimes drink out of a straw at dinner with the family. 

-- Eats anything you put in front of him. 

-- He has, once or twice, picked up a cheerio from his high chair and fed himself. 

Love you to the moon and back, sweet boy. So excited for what the next 7 months will bring!

Some Disney Magic

About a week ago, the stars aligned. 

I emailed my HR lady at work on Friday to see if it was at possible that Club 33 at Disneyland was available on Sunday for four. Looooong shot if you know anything about the exclusivity and reservations at this tiny restaurant at Club 33. Well, needless to say a 6:15 reservation happened to be open.

Thank God. 

My parents, Aaron, Jack and I made the trek to Disneyland at 10am. It was already at least 95 degrees outside, but we were determined to make it work. 

I forgot his hat at home (but managed to remember a thousand other things) so we had to buy him one.

He really is "not large but in charge".

We almost bought him this one, but it was a tad bit too warm, and possibly over the top.

We first went on the new Star Tours (just the adults), and fed Jack in line. It truly is so much fun when everyone works as a team together to keep the babes happy. We had a blast. Then, it was over to the new Cars Land to take a look at how much they have remodeled it. 

 My dad was on cloud nine. And I was too while watching it. I adored going there as a kid. Some of my happiest memories are with my family at Disney. I couldn't be more excited to make these memories for Jack. 

Proof we were there even though you can't see Jack's face. The new racing ride is AWESOME by the way. So is the whole place. It's Cars Land to a "T."

Me stuffing my face with a pretzel while Jack looked angelic. 

Side note: they have these amazing "Baby Centers" at both parks that I had NO idea about until this trip. It has high chairs, nursing rooms, changing tables, and baby items to purchase in case you forgot anything. On the plus, it was so nice and cool in there. Disney, you think of EVERYTHING.

Jackson now has his first crush, Ariel from the Little Mermaid. He was spellbound the entire ride. 

The carousel wasn't probably the best idea, he spit up a lot afterwards. 

After some more rides, off to Club 33!

The whole fam on the stairs at Club 33 right before dinner. It was such a great escape from the heat!

My mom took this picture, she was so hungry her hands were shaky, hence the blurriness. But I have to post!

The whole day was absolutely perfect. After an amazing dinner of awesome laughs and great conversation, it was off to Space Mountain and watching the fireworks. 

The little man these days is obsessed with the television show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Especially the "Hot Dog" song. He is learning how to dance to the music. It is way too adorable. 

So I finish this "Ode to Disney" post with the little man dancing his way through the song.

Please excuse my creepy whispering throughout. 

Man, Disney rocks, and I guess Jack does too.

Schedule Nazi

I'm an account manager for a living. I love what I do. I manage timelines for a living. Before I had a child, I have always been big on schedules. Ask anyone who knows me well and you'll be told that I plan out my life to a "T."

So, I guess it's God's sense of humor to bless me with a child that I adore, that won't stay on a schedule for more than three days at a time, if that. (Okay, I now am slowly understanding that ALL children are like this.)

While I was pregnant, I read all sorts of books on how to keep a baby on a schedule and tips and tricks. So, when Jack came into the world, I really thought I had that part all figured out.

I'm slowly beginning to understand that my child is not a robot. (I'm not going to lie, at 3 in the morning, I wish he were...at least a little bit like one.)

God is teaching me to let go of the control. And I think it's because he wants me to give up more control to Him, which is something that I have struggled with all of my life.

Having Jackson come into our lives has not only taught me a love for my son and husband that was completely unimaginable before, but it has also taught me to love my Creator even more.

And now, I just have to realize this blessing at 1am, 2am, 3am, or 5:30am.

Love.