March in and March out....

This month has marched in and marched out and left its mark.  Where do I begin?  I have pretty good reasons for not writing a post this month.  It has been a crazy time for our families this month.  On March 1, we lost great grandmother.  She was 101.5 (I included the half because I felt it important to know how long she lived).  She left us with a great legacy:  2 children, 7 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchilden, and 1 great-great grandchild-Jackson.  There is a great deal to be said about a lady that lives to hold 4 generations in her arms and was an icon for 5 generations in our family.  She left us with memories of her quiet ways, soft-spoken voice, great wisdom, and wonderful cooking.  Her funeral and burial were on March 3.  While I was away at the funeral, Jackson spent a couple of hours with his friend Will.  They had a great time.  I have included pictures below.

On March 5, we lost Jackson's Pops, Ray's father-Buck.  He left us after a battle in the hospital for six weeks.  His kidneys went into renal failure and there was no recovery for him.  He left us with memories of him spending time reminiscing about the past, working on things with Ray, his love for Alabama football, John Deere, and NASCAR, playing with the grandchildren, and visiting people around town.  His funeral was on March 7 and he was buried on March 8.  He was a loved man all over town.  This was evident because of the 350+ people that came through the funeral home.  During the time we were home, we got to spend time with family and friends.  Jackson was able to spend some time getting to know his cousins.  Although we were together because of a sad occasion, we did enjoy the quality time we were able to spend with family and friends.  We spent one day working on repainting the living room and rearranging furniture for Ray's mom.  Jackson enjoyed helping with that.  While at home Jackson got to spend some time with his Mee Maw and Paw Paw.  When Jackson sees his Mee Maw, he immediately looks around and starts calling out Paw Paw's name. 

Jackson and I spent part of my spring break visiting with family and friends and the other part at home.  Jackson has a new cousin that was born this month.  His name is Sutton.  Jackson hasn't gotten to see him yet but he is a handsome little one.

"Where Did It Go?"

Well, here we are at the end of February.  I can honestly say I agree that time flies by as you get older.  I can hardly believe that Jackson is almost 2 years old.  That is crazy!!!  It seems as though he does something new everyday.  On Friday, February 24, he said something that sounded like his first phrase.  He was busy taking Queenie's dog food into his room and putting them on the four posts of his bed.  Queenie would go behind him and steal the food back.  He would then come back in his room to find the dog food missing.  He came out of his room and put his hands up and shrugged saying "Where did it go?"  It was absolutely hilarious.  I think he said that phrase (our his version of that phrase) a thousand times before the day was over.  He is beginning to play more independently with is toys and does well entertaining himself for short periods of time.  He has started enjoying playing with puzzles and pushes his tractors all around the house.  The other day he was standing near Queenie's food bowl and signaling to us that it was empty.  He went to the washing machine and pointed up at the container where we keep her food.  So, I got some food out and then he went and pointed at Queenie's bowl.  If one of us goes and gets the ironing board out, he immediately goes to the laundry room and points up at the iron.  We take the iron and the he goes back to the ironing board and points for us to put it on the ironing board.  He has discovered how to come and crawl in the bed with us in the middle of the night.  The funny part about that is when he climbs in, Queenie can't get out of the room fast enough.  He has started wearing 3T shirts because the 2T shirts are too short.  I have included a couple of pictures from the past few weeks.

Where Did the Time Go?!?!?!?!

Well, it is quite obvious that January flew past our household and we almost missed it.  We have had some much going on that before I knew it February had arrived without even checking with me first.  Let me recap some of the things we have been doing during the month of January.

• Loves to open and close the blinds.
• Wants every lamp turned on that happens to be off.
• Will come and take you by the finger and lead you to where he wants to go.
• Saying some words like rock, bye, nite nite.
• Goes and gets a diaper out of his drawer when asked to do so.
• Loves to terrorize Queenie.
• Can climb up on the bed.
• Broke the back of the kitchen chair one week and pulled the front of a kitchen drawer off the following week. (As Uncle Rex says, "It is fun to do bad things.")
• We traveled home one weekend and Jackson got to meet some very dear friends - Bro. Larry and Mrs. Reita.  He was wonderful when we went to visit them.
• Loves playing with his tractors, blocks, and looking at books.
• We have also discovered that he likes some music and recognizes several songs when they are played on the iPad through YouTube.
• Loves to help out when vacuuming - such as unplugging the vacuum cleaner while you are trying to vacuum or trying to sit and ride on the vacuum cleaner.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to 2012!!  We are ready to begin a new year of new adventures!  I am sure that there are lots of things in store for our family in 2012.  We are so excited.  Jackson has entered the new year turning 20 months.  Here are some things we have been doing lately:

• Babbling lots of sounds
• Saying uh oh, rock, mama, dado
• Feeding himself with a spoon
• Drinking from a sippy cup
• Going around the house pointing at the different lamps wanting the lights to be turned on or off
• Going around the house pointing wanting the blinds to be opened or closed
• Turning the tv off using the remote
• Turning off the Blu-Ray player and adjusting the sound on the sound system to loud
• Climbing on everything
• Favorite toys:  blocks, slide, tractors, books, ball, and anything that makes lots of noise
• Showing his temper when he get mad or frustrated
• Helping unload the clean silverware from the dishwasher
• Recognizes when the cell phone is ringing
• Knows how to turn on the iPhone so he can see his picture

Happy New Year!

Christmas Time!!!

Christmas has come and gone this year.  Jackson had a wonderful time and received lots of gifts and lots of family time!!!  On the Friday before Christmas we traveled South to have Christmas with Mee Maw and Paw Paw.  We had lunch at their house and opened gifts.  Jackson received some money for his savings account and a John Deere tractor.  He had so much fun running around their house and exploring every little nook and cranny.  Friday night we had dinner at Nana and Papa's house.  Before dinner, Jackson opened his presents from Nana, Papa, and Uncle Tyler.  He got a John Deere tractor book, John Deere stackable tractor, a table and chairs, garbage truck and dump truck, Auburn t-shirt, two outfits and two shirts.  For dinner, Uncle Tyler's girlfriend and some of his other friends came, Aunt Katie, Kathy and all her crew spent the evening having dinner and laughing.  Jackson was so worn out from all the events of the day. 

On Christmas Eve, Jackson and I loaded up the car and drove home.  After lunch we went over to Nanny Toot and Uncle David's house.  They gave him some house shoes, socks, and a book.  His big present from them was a riding race car that is remote and manual control.  Jackson was hesitant about it at first but then he warmed up to it and loved it!!  Later that afternoon Jackson's Mimi and Pops arrived.  We spent the afternoon playing and then opened more gifts from Mimi and Pops, Aunt Vicki and the girls, the Phillips', and Mee Maw.  Jackson got a set of puzzles, Christmas bear, remote control CAT bulldozer, ride-on John Deere tractor, John Deere tractor tool belt, John Deere flashlight, proof set of coins, silver dollar, a polo shirt, chair made out of PVC pipe, and money for his savings account.  The ride-on tractor was the hit of the night!!!  Later that evening Nana and Papa and Uncle Tyler came.

On Christmas day, we woke up and waited for Jackson to get out of bed.  We started getting everything ready to take to Aunt Glyn's for breakfast.  When Jackson woke up he got to see what Santa left for him.  He got a Mickey Mouse tricycle and set of books, Cars 2, CAT dump truck with blocks, a box of 100 blocks, sit-n-spin, slide, elfkin book for next Christmas, PJs, socks, two t-shirts, one outfit, and a John Deere dump truck.  He had so much fun exploring his new toys.  We left and rode over to Aunt Glyn's house for breakfast.  We enjoyed visiting and the food was great!!  When we got back home Jackson slept for about an hour and a half while the rest of us opened our gifts.  We spent the afternoon napping and playing with toys.  We then got dressed and went to Granny and Granddaddy's house to have Christmas with the rest of the family.  Jackson had so much fun playing with everyone and running around the house.  He wasn't too interested in opening his gifts but he got a bubble mower, two sets of puzzles, and money for his savings account.  Jackson didn't have too much trouble going to bed that night.  He had had a very busy day!

We certainly enjoyed our Christmas this year.  We are very blessed with family and friends that love us and we enjoy spending time with them.  I can't close this post without commenting about Jackson's great-great grandmother and my great grandmother.  This year was the first Christmas of my 33 years of life that we didn't have Grandmother with us on Christmas day.  I think that everyone probably felt the way I did but didn't really mention their thoughts and feelings.  We missed her being there with us this year.  It was my prayer that even though she wasn't their to join us she was able to feel our love and hugs.  She is still in the nursing home at the age of 101 and doing as well as someone that age could expect to be doing.

A Couple of Milestones

A huge milestone has occurred in our household over the past couple of weeks.  Jackson has taken a liking to his sippy cup over a bottle.  On Tuesday, December 13, he decided to take up using his sippy cup while at his mother's day out program.  Since that time he has been drinking his juice and milk from there except at bedtime.  We still let him take a bottle of juice when going to bed.  And our definition of juice is a sip of juice mixed with several ounces of water.  He has also picked up using words such as uh oh and hot.  He knows right where the crackers, cookies, granola bars, and cheerios are in the cabinet as well as juice and milk in the fridge.  He loves to unplug the Christmas tree and if the lights and lamps are not on he will go around the room pointing until we turn them on.  I can't wait for Christmas and to be able to share stories and pictures.  Until then...Merry Christmas to our readers/followers.

Thanksgiving and More

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in South Alabama with family.  We had a great time.  The weather was warm one day, rain the next, and cold the next...imagine that!!  Jackson got to spend lots of time running and playing outside.  He rode on the lawn mower and ran all over the yard.  Also, we had the opportunity to take his picture in one of my sweaters I had when I was a little older than he is.  I washed the sweater and it is in great shape for being 30 years old.  I know it is an Alabama sweater but there is something sentimental about letting your little one wear something you wore as a young child.  Recently we decided to tear out the "fireplace" and install a multimedia cabinet with a tv over it.  Jackson had fun with a screwdriver pretending he was helping out with the demolition process.  Another thing Jackson enjoys is riding on his Uncle David's yard toy when he is at their house.  Also, Jackson has some Christmas PJs with a Boston Terrier on them.  I was so excited when I found them online that I ran out to the store and bought them.  He look so cute in them.

Holiday Photos!

A picture is worth 1,000 words!!!