Nine months & growing!

Happy Nine months, my sweetness!

It seems like 9 months is a "full circle" before his first birthday. To know he's been here with us as long as he was inside of me is just a crazy thought. The pregnancy seemed to last a lot longer than the last 9 months while Jack's been here!

Some milestones of 9 months:

-We officially have a crawler! He is all over the place.
- He sits up on his own
-He stands up on his own and stays there for some time. He also likes to let go and have you catch him by his hands. (I assume this is the first step to walking!)
-He imitates splashing in tub, clapping on occasion, ba ba ba & ma ma ma
-Eating more and more adult foods, including meatballs, pasta, tortillas, chicken, and cupcakes! (okay, small bites of cupcakes)
-He's starting to offer things to you that he's holding

Sleeping has changed as well. Once he started to stand up on his own, he began waking up in the middle of the night standing at his crib. After two weeks of exhaustion, trial & error crying it out, we really had no solution.

Then came MOPS. Thank God. A sleep training expert came into speak with us. She suggested different methods of coaching him back to sleep. Now, he sleeps through the night again, and mommy & daddy are happy!

Before this incident, I used to nurse him to sleep every night. Since Jack had refused to nurse during the day starting about two months ago, this was a very cherished time for me & him. I knew the days were numbered.

Now, of course he doesn't even want to be held to fall asleep. It's so wonderful to see my boy growing up, but so hard at the same time to lose the connection of nursing him. He's now 100% on formula.

I guess I can't have my cake and eat it too. As hard as it was to let go of nursing. Sleep over rode my ultimate decision.

The time just flies. Literally.

The day after his flu shot. He was so peaceful all day. 

I just adore this onesie. 

And I end this post of Jackson at 9 months acting like his crazy self. 

Excuse my "Mitt Romney" talk, I was going to say "Barack Obama" as well, Jack just never let me get there. Can you tell I'm ready for the election to be over?

Love you to the moon & back.

Pumpkin Patch & Fun times with Auntie & Uncle

MOPS has been such a joy to our lives. I sincerely love every girl that is a part of our group. We all have kids close to the same age, which is such a blessing.

Geni decided it'd be great to go to the pumpkin patch. Needless to say, all we really wanted to do was take pictures of our darlings with some great fall backdrops. So, that's what we did today for an hour and a half. This was the result.

Jackson and Carson, just days apart in age. My lil' man is TINY!

Eating hay. I freaked out and grabbed it out of his mouth. He swallowed some. I'm expecting to see it in his poop any day now...

I LOVE the sequence of events in the following pictures. We just couldn't get everyone on the same page.

The wonderful girls and the little loves. 

Micah (2.5 months old) wasn't a fan of the hay anymore. 

My lil' pumpkin head. 

Jessica & Erik came out from Colorado for a short visit last week. It was so wonderful to have them here. We just hung out, went shopping, and of course, did a quick trip to Disneyland & Club 33. It was amazingly memorable. It's so wonderful to see my sister interact with Jackson. 

I know the flash isn't great & makes my eyes creepy, but it's proof we were at California Adventure @ 8:00 a night with a sleeping baby. 

At Lucille's BBQ the day they left. 

CLUB 33! Jack has now been there TWICE in his short life. Three times if you count the time I went while I was pregnant. Lucky boy.

So excited for Halloween & the holidays to come. Hopefully Aaron will do more of the picture taking, they seem to be better quality. 

Life is just full of so many happy memories right now. 

Yay for that. 

Visit to great-grandmas

We went to visit Jackson's great-grandma, who will be 92 this coming Halloween about 3 weeks ago.

We visited, ate lunch, and just talked the afternoon away. She had a toy waiting for him when we arrived. She has such a sweet and gentle heart. 

Some photos of our lovely afternoon. These times are so cherished. You truly see God when you see the span of life between these two wonderful souls. 

San Diego Zoo

Aaron had a conference in San Diego two weeks ago with H.Beck. This means this included my parents as well. So, needless to say there was fun to be had with my mother while the boys were stuck in a million meetings. 

My first ultimate desire was to take little Jack to the San Diego zoo. I haven't been there since I could remember, and of course it would be Jack's first time to see some crazy animals. 

All in all, it was such a wonderful time! Some pictures to prove we were there.

I don't think I've ever seen a kangaroo in person before. They're pretty ugly, actually.

I don't ever remember their ears being that furry. 

I think what makes panda bears so fascinating is their human-like characteristics. Plus, their cuteness doesn't hurt.

Random Fact: Camels humps aren't full of water like we're led to believe. It's actually fat.

Yes, we bought him a giraffe. We had to. He snuggled it.

And to end, a quick video of Jack being fascinated by flamingoes!....and rocks. 

Oh, the life of an 8.5 month old.

We also noticed while at the hotel that Jackson is obsessed with exit signs. Everywhere we go he always stares them down. We found this and it just about blew his mind. 

He would have sat there all day if we would have let him. 

My sweet boys on our balcony in our room at the Hotel Del. It was a short, and very sweet trip.

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.