Spring Pictures!!

Here are some of Jackson's spring pictures taken on March 31.

23 Months Old - Almost 2!!

Jackson turned 23 months old on April 4!!  We are fast approaching 2 years old!!  Time is flying by like crazy!!!

Birthdays, Playtime,and Bedtime

Jackson went to his first birthday party over the weekend at an indoor play place.  He had a ball.  He really enjoyed running around and playing on the "roller coaster", throwing balls at the skee-ball machine, sliding down the slide, and playing in the ball pool.  He was exhausted when we left there.  We then went to have his spring pictures made.  I can't wait to see them and post some of them on here.  I think they will turn out great!  Some of the other pictures below are from his bedtime and playing with his daddy's tractors.  He is really growing fast, TOO fast!!!

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!