Dino Discovery

We have had some very mischievous dinosaurs lately. Jackson woke up to discover his dinosaurs had a late night snack and made quite a mess.

 

They escaped their box again last night and got into the Halloween candy and knocked over more animal crackers. Very naughty!

Tonight we will have to make sure those dinosaurs will not be able to escape. Jackson suggested we put them in a big white bin with high sides so they can’t climb out. Maybe that will put a stop to their late night antics. Maybe they have more trouble up their sleeves. I think they secretly like being caught and seeing Jackson’s face when he finds them.

1st Day of Preschool

Today was Jackson’s first day of preschool! Not really in the plans but it needed to happen.  If  I have learned anything from being a mommy, it’s that you can make all these great plans, but in the end you have to do what is best for your kid. 

He was ready. He was so ready. I was not.

He begged me everyday for his friends to come over.  Except he doesn’t have any. He talks to every kid he sees when we are out. “Hey friend” he says. 

Mommy and Baby Sister are not cutting it anymore. He is my social butterfly. He needed to spread his wings. So I let him go.

He will be fine. He will be more than fine, he is going to thrive! And I will too. Eventually.

Today though I am watching the clock until it’s time to go pick him up. Rylan is napping. I have no idea what to do with myself.

I love you so much Jackson James! Have fun!

Jackson says

I have not updated the blog in a while, so I just wanted to jot down some of the things Jackson has been saying. He makes us laugh everyday!

• It’s broken again!
• I want Momma do it! (He says this EVERY night when I put him to bed)
• He has tons of names for Rylan: Ryan, Spike (b/c her hair spikes up), pea pie, baby, pea pod, sister
• I wanna listen to Mommy! (he screams this over and over agian everytime I put him in timeout)
• I want to poke you (?)
• I want to buck you (he started saying this after I threatened to buckle him in his seat at the table b/c he wouldn’t sit down. It makes Matt and I laugh like idiots every time he says it.)
• See you tomorrow
• I love you!
• stop it!
• I want not that one!
• I want go to Target
• I want go to Pubix (Publix)
• Ryan go to doctor (not sure why he insists Rylan needs to go the the doctor everyday)
• I want angy birds
• Stupid pigs! (angry birds)
• WAKE UP RYAN!!
• Dineco blue (Cars)
• Ka-ching-ga (Cars)
• Ka-chow (Cars)
• I help you
• Where are you Dadda?! (he yells this looking out the window for Daddy or at night if he wakes up)
• Where’s Ryan? (any time he doesn’t see Rylan)
• Ackson Cash
• Matthew!
• Awissa
• Eat dat pie!!
• What you doin there?
• Where’s the Candle?(Kindle)
• What’s that Momma?

That’s all I can think of now. But he is so funny! And he is talking so much now.

Chris & Ashleigh

Over the summer my little brother got married. He and his wife are expecting a baby girl on December 10th (any day now!!)  They decided to get married at the courthouse and then have a reception next year after the baby comes. I was honored that they asked me to come and take pictures for them.

Jackson was an angel the whole time and let Mommy take lots of pictures. Although one time during the ceremony I heard him roar with his dinosaur!

I am so proud of my baby brother (even though he is 30!). He is going to be a wonderful daddy and I gained a wonderful sister in law!

These pics are straight off my camera. The edited pics are on my other laptop and the harddrive crashed. So, I have to figure out how to get all my pictures off it.

The Day Before

The day before Rylan was born, this is what we were doing...

 

Yep, we made our yearly trip to the pumpkin farm. See here  and here for our previous visits. Yes, that means the day before Rylan had her very fast entrance to this world we were an hour and a half away in Ellijay! Little did we know!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daddy and Jackson went on a hay ride. I decided to sit this one out. Especially since the last hayride nearly sent me into preterm labor.( I took Jackson to The Art Barn with Alison and Katelyn over the summer. I thought I was ok after the hayride, but started having little contractions that evening. Luckily they stopped.) But I learned my lesson. NO hayride while preggo!

 

 

 

The last picture of me with Rylan still in my belly!

 

After the pumpkin farm, we went to Grammy and Paw Paw's house. Paw Paw let Jackson drive his tractor. His face may be serious, but Jackson had a blast! He always talks about driving Paw Paw's tractor.

 

 

 

 

Our last day as a family of three was pretty great! I'm so glad we got to have some special fun with Jackson before Rylan was born. We are thrilled to have Ryan here now and can't wait to make lots of new memories with her too!

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



Rylan's Newborn Portraits- 6 Days Old

New Arrival

We are now a family of FOUR!! Rylan Elena joined us on October 7th after a very fast delivery. Things have been a little crazy as we adjust to life with 2 kiddos. But, I promise to update the blog soon. I'm working on writing Rylan's birth storey so I won't forget it. I can't believe my baby girl is 5 weeks old already! We are all smitten with our beautiful girl!

The Artist

Jackson asked me to paint today and he had been so good all day while I cleaned that I couldn’t say no. So, I set him up at the table and he got to work. He takes his painting very seriously!

We had a wardrobe change after spilling the cup of water :)

Grammy and Mimi- Jackson painted each of you a picture. The yellow one is for Grammy and the blue on is for Mimi, per the Artist.

Big Boy Bed!

Last Friday Matt and I took Jackson to pick out his big boy bed.  He has still been sleeping in his crib, but we need him out before his sister gets here.  For the last few weeks I have really been talking up being a big boy and how babies sleep in cribs and big boys sleep in big boy beds.  Matt put the bed together while I was at work on Sunday and we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. I was a bit worried about him being up all night after I had worked all weekend. But, our little man surprised us once again. He went right to sleep and slept all night! We didn’t hear a peep out of him until 8:30 the next morning.  Monday night he was a little scared when I put him to bed, but I patted his back for a few minutes and he went to sleep. Then he woke up at 5am and went back to sleep when I came in. But, he cried every time I tried to leave, so I ended up sleeping on floor in his room and he slept until 7:30.  Last night he slept great again and slept until his normal wake up time of 10:30.  My only trick was cutting out naps this week so he would be ready for bed at night. Next week I will probably try to add naps back into our schedule. We are so proud of our little man! 

These are the only pictures I could get of him in his new bed. I am still working on getting the rest of his room together and will put up pictures when I’m done.

I swim!

I asked Jackson if he wanted to go swimming today and he said "yeah!!" So, we got ready and headed to the pool in our neighborhood. This was the only picture I could get because I was by myself. But, doesn't he look cute in his swim trunks and swimmies ?! He even tried to kiss up to momma and said I looked cute in my swimsuit. The boy is a charmer!

This was our first trip to the pool this year, so I was going just take it slow and see how he did. We went one or two times last year, but he probably doesn't remember. He was very excited to go swim, but then when we got in the water he was a little more shy about it. We stayed on the top step for about 15 or 20 minutes before he decided to get in. The little girls that live next door were at the pool too and came over to swim next to us. Jackson saw how much fun they were having and started splashing and I could tell he was thinking about getting in. Finally, he just dove in and never looked back! I just held onto the front of his swimmie and he swam like a little fish! He kept saying "fun!!, again!!"and "I swim, I swim!".  After a few minutes he climbed out and jumped in from the side of the pool. He said "again!" and kept jumping in like a big boy! I was so proud of my little water baby! His head went under the water once, but he didn't cry or anything, he just got back out and jumped in again!

I am so proud of Jackson and so happy he likes the water. We will definately be at the pool alot this summer!

PINK!!

So, I guess I've been kinda MIA around the blog for a while. Lots of excuses, but mainly because (in case you missed it) we are expecting a new little cub! I'm just now feeling back to myself for the most part. It's definately harder this time chasing after a very active toddler!
Today was the big day when we found out if there was more blue or finally some pink in our future. We are excite to say "It's a GIRL!!".
All kinds of emotions are swirling in our heads today, but mostly excitement for this new adventure in all things girl. Daddy just may be freaking out a little on protecting his little angel. Lord help whoever tries to date his little girl! (not that that will happen until she's like 30!)
I'll try to keep the blog updated more often. I see lots of new projects for the baby and lots of summer adventure with J man coming up!

Jackson’s 2 year portraits

A few weeks ago I had Jackson’s 2 year pictures done. Today the CD finally came in the mail. We used the same photographer that did his 9 month pictures. She is a friend of my good friend Kristin. So, we packed up one day and headed to Athens (much to Daddy’s dismay!). Here are some of my favorites. It was really difficult to get Jackson to be still or even look at the camera, even with 2 of us trying to distract him.

All images by Kaitlin Virginia Photography