Smith Stories

Happy Birthday, Paxton!!!

2012-02-09T21:13:00.000-05:00

On a cold, snowy Saturday six years ago (well, six years ago as of February 4th), we picked out Pax from a (then) local animal shelter, and expanded our family :) He is THE best dog! The proof is he wins over all of our non-dog-people friends ;) Luckily Pax forgave us for his first traumatizing night when we thought it would be fun to go to Pet Smart since you can take the dogs inside! Pax thought it was the opposite of fun :( Anyways, we love our furry family member! He definitely doesn't get as much attention as he once did, so we wanted to make this birthday special! We invited our neighborhood friends over yesterday afternoon to celebrate Paxton's birthday! The kids in the neighborhood LOVE Pax--he is quite the popular guy :)

I made some dog treats for Pax and cookies for the kids using this recipe: All I did for the kid ones was dip them in chocolate.

Even though this was just supposed to be a casual snack-time party, Paxie was a lucky guy and got a new squeaky toy and a box of treats!

All of the girls (and Jackson) made birthday cards for Pax! They were so cute! And, yes, my dog even has a memory box, so these will all go in there :)

Jackson and Levi--the only guys at the party besides the birthday pup! Jackson LOVES Baby Levi--a sign of good things to come, right???

After we sung "Happy Birthday" to Pax, snack time commenced :)

Happy 7th birthday, Waxie Bear!!! You are THE best dog and we love you so much :)

Pregnancy Rewind

2012-02-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

Since we got such a good report this past week at the perinatologist, I thought it was a good time to share something that happened last Spring. Josh and I experienced a miscarriage in April. We were SO ready to become pregnant and welcome another member to our family, and we found out exactly how ready we were when that didn't happen. That made us even more thankful when we found out we were pregnant this time, and we are not taking any of this for granted--feeling under-100% at the beginning was not something I complained about because I knew how badly we wanted this. We chose to not share these details as they happened because we wanted to maintain privacy for our plans to expand our family. BUT, I planned to share my story all along since miscarriage still seems to be one of those taboo topics. Not many people talk openly about it, but it turns out that more people have experience with them than you would originally expect...

Wednesday, April 6th: I am one week late. I hadn't told Josh I was thinking about taking a pregnancy test, and even though I know he would have wanted to be there, I wanted to do it first thing in the morning when the horomones show up the strongest. It's positive!!! I hurriedly set up a "casual" lunch with Josh for us to meet him at work. Jackson and I set off for Kohl's to buy a Big Brother shirt. We get to Crystal City and I change Jackson into his new shirt. Josh comes out to meet us and he immediately grabs Jackson and hugs him. But he didn't see the shirt! I tell him we need a do-over, take Momo from Jackson, and let Josh get a look at the shirt. The look on his face was priceless! He looked at me and said, "Seriously?" Yup :) So, then Jackson had to put his jacket back on since we clearly weren't telling anyone yet, and we were staying for lunch in the office! During naptime I called my OB and scheduled our pregnancy confirmation appointment! I got a great time with my favorite doctor--I should have known it was too good to be true...

Saturday, April 9th: Second positive pregnancy test :)

Sunday, April 10th: We attend Maddie Bascom's 2nd birthday party. It was really fun, especially because we had this fun little secret... That night I started having a touch of bleeding, but Josh and I both remembered some of that with Jackson, and it really didn't amount to much. Phew!

Monday, April 11th: My appointment was scheduled for 12:45. That morning I had started to have more bleeding and some cramping. I was so nervous, and the time for our appointment could not arrive fast enough!!! When we got to the doctor we found out my appointment had been scheduled wrong :( They didn't really have anyone to see us, but once they found out I was bleeding, they sent me to the separate ultrasound office they use to see what was going on. Let's just say it was an afternoon full of waiting, impatience, cramps, and a bit of unprofessional office demeanor. I'm sorry that the person who answered my phone call schedule the appointment wrong, but it's really not MY fault, perhaps you could handle this later? Anyways, the ultrasound technician let us know that she didn't see any sign of pregnancy. They got our doctor on the phone and they said to come back to the office. Of course I was really upset and teary, plus I didn't like that everyone kept questioning the fact that I took two positive pregnancy tests. On this day, I cried because I felt stupid. I know how to take a pregnancy test and we were just following the doctor's orders. The ultrasound office kept asking if I had had blood drawn, and made sure we knew they were surprsied when we said, "No." I know these doctors and technicians deal with this all the time, but for us patients, it's a whole different ballgame. We went back to the doctor's office and saw a doctor. At the time he was my hero because he made it all seem like no big deal once I told him I'm not very regular without birth control. He said we should do some blood work and see what it said. We left there feeling like we might very well be pregnant after all! I also was extremely annoyed at the ultrasound tech that really shouldn't have been telling me anything before we saw my doctor!

Tuesday, April 12th: I get a phone call in the morning telling me my blood work showed a good horomone level for a positive pregnancy!!! Looking back, I KNOW I shouldn't have gotten too excited since we needed another number to compare THAT number to, but I figured these people were the professionals and if they were telling us we were still pregnant, then I was going to believe them! We scheduled another ultrasound for the next Monday.

Wednesday, April 13th-Sunday, April 17th: We wait. I convince myself that the bleeding is slowing down (it did actually) and the cramps are all much more similar to the cramps I had early on in my pregnancy with Jackson than to menstrual cramps...

Monday, April 18th: I have convinced myself we are going to go to the ultrasound and we are just much earlier than we thought. The tech will clearly see a heartbeat! We ended up with four technicians in our room, I believe by the time our ultrasound appointment was all said and done. I was so mad at that point because they all kept talking and I knew they should just say nothing, send the report to our doctor, and let us go talk to our doctor! I was furious about that fact! Finally they all left our room and let us be. I tried to keep from getting too upset at that point because the last time the doctor said something completely different from the ultrasound techs! So, we went back to the doctor's office and met with one of our favorite doctors (the one who delivered Jackson), and she was so nice. She explained that we probably had had a chemical pregnancy and she suspected that my blood work would show my horomone levels had dropped considerably. That was SO disappointing to hear, but she didn't make us feel stupid for believing the test we had taken or anything. She was about as great as someone could be in that situation. I had more blood work drawn before we left that morning.

Susie and Joe had kept Jackson this morning while we went to the doctor. Jackson and I spent the rest of the morning at their house, and that was really helpful. Joe kept Jackson and Rachel occupied while Susie and I got to really talk. Nothing like comparing notes about miscarriages with a good friend :( I did feel much better after leaving Susie's and pretty much threw myself into preparations for moving and plans for the new house! Oh yes, this all happened as we were trying to rent out the townhouse and get everything aranged to move into the new house! Great timing, right?

Tuesday, April 19th: I get the results of my blood work back and the levels have indeed dropped a lot. I was pretty excited at that point because the faster they got back to 0, the faster we could start trying again!

Wednesday, May 4th: Final blood work done that showed my levels were back to normal.

Unfortunately, this was one way we found out how ready we were to have another baby! Mother's Day was hard. We went to the National Zoo (this has become a tradition), and it seemed like everywhere I looked there were new babies and pregnant bellies. That was supposed to be us. Facebook and I have had a love/hate relationship going on based on various friends' posts about pregnancy discomfort and newborn struggles. I would do ANYTHING to be experiencing the discomforts that come with pregnancy or to get spit up all over by my newborn. I am SOOO ready to do all of that again, which leaves me little room to sympathize with others' complaints! Plus, (and I realize this is 100% our choice), very few people actually knew what we went through at the time. Josh and I like to keep certain parts of our lives private, and this includes not announcing when we are "trying." Clearly, if we shared our news of our miscarriage, people would know we were trying to have another baby. So, yes, we chose to miss out on the sympathy in order to maintain our privacy. Comments about our plan to increase the size of our family always have irked me to some extent, and after this I just was worried I would feel more pressure. That's definitely not something you need more of! But, that being said, I do think it's important to share stories of miscarriage. I figured better late than never.

Menu Plan Monday: Super Bowl Recipes!

2012-02-06T14:55:00.000-05:00

Monday: Homemade Eggs Benedict for a late lunch and then soup for me and leftovers for Josh, I think--I wasn't feeling so hot...

Tuesday: Chili and cornbread
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Quesadillas and rice
Friday: Leftover chili
Saturday: picked up pizza
Sunday: SUPER BOWL!

Bloomin' Pizza Bread
Fat Dip--This was AMAZING!!! Super easy too: Combine in Crock Pot--2 packs of sausage browned, 2 packs of cream cheese (8oz each), 2 packs of chive and onion cream cheese (8oz each), and 2 cans of Rotel with chilis. Let it melt together and get all gooey. Dip chips, veggies, or anything else you can think of! SOOO good!!!
Lots of cut up veggies
Wings in the Crock Pot
Meatballs with a variety of dipping sauces
Black Forest Brownie Pecan Pie

For more yummy recipes, check out Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie!

Dinosaurs!!!

2012-02-06T14:24:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday we headed into DC to the National Museum of Natural History to see some dinosaurs!!! Jackson was pretty excited when we told him. He immediately asked if they were going to play or talk. I told him they would just be standing still. He repeated that a few times, which was hilarious!

Family shot :)

That's a big elephant! I love the look on Jackson's face!

Thanks to the Jane Yolen How Do Dinosaurs... book series, Jackson was rattling off the names of several dinosaurs!

Checking out the fish with Mimi!

Jackson modeling his new sunglasses from Mimi--they have Lightning McQueen on the sides!!!

Nuzz, nuzz!

We finished this fun day off with a visit to the library to play with puzzles and check out new books before heading over to Red Robin for dinner!!! I have been CRAVING Red Robin, and it definitely hit the spot. Unfortunately, Jackson's little cold got worse at dinner and his nose was just running all over and his eyes were watering constantly :( A warm bath and snuggles cheered him up before bedtime. He is still under the weather a few days later, and I just wish his little body would let him sleep!!! He is in a pretty good mood, but his eyes look sick and tired, and he just needs to rest, but it's like his body is working against him :( Poor little guy!

A New Playground!

2012-02-02T22:05:00.000-05:00

Mimi came for a visit this past weekend!!! She got in before lunch on Thursday, and we did fun things like going to the bookstore, doing some shopping, and getting a fun lunch on Friday. On Saturday, the weather was pretty nice, so we checked out a neighborhood playground we had heard good things about. We all LOVED it!!! The whole thing is totally surrounded by trees which seems good for the summer...

Climbing

This little window had what looked like cash register buttons molded right on to it. Jackson LOVED pretending to make us food and take money through the window :)

Getting pretty good at the wiggly poles...

Jackson's airplane face!

I am pretty sure this was Jackson's first tunnel slide! He LOVED it!

There was a pretty tall platform with two slides coming down from it, and I knew Jackson could do them, but he just needed to get more confident. Josh helped him climb up once, and then off he went!

Getting ready to climb the ladder up to the top platform! I couldn't believe how awesome Jackson did just hopping down the tall slides and then climbing up over and over!!!

Dinosaur face!

We all got a kick out of this lion water fountain--how cute!

The Belly Report: 21 Weeks

2012-02-01T14:44:00.000-05:00

Last week when we turned 20 weeks along, Sammy was about the size of a banana (10.5 ounces and 6.5 inches long)! This week, at 21 weeks, Sammy is about the size of a carrot (3/4 of a pound and 10.5 inches long)! Since Josh was in charge of the first diaper change for Jackson, and will likely be in charge of it again for Sammy since I likely won't be able to feel my legs yet to get out of bed, he is THRILLED to read that Sammy is beginning to produce meconium...what will fill that first diaper! Yikes! I am SO close to Josh being able to feel the kicks on the outside of my stomach, but I am sure enjoying them all at this point :)

We went to the perinatologist on Monday and got another full ultrasound with special focus on the heart for a fetal echocardiogram. We got a GREAT report, and it was SO fun to see Sammy again...a little older! He was wiggling all around and waving. The technician took almost 100 pictures of our little guy :) It's amazing how clearly we can see the different parts of his brain, the four chambers of his heart, his ten fingers and toes, and his eyes, nose, and mouth. And, this wasn't even a 3-D ultrasound! We might need to go have another ultrasound so they can get a better look at his spine since he wasn't in the right position for that the first time around. Our OB is checking to see if there are good enough images from Monday's ultrasound...

We got a good report in general from the perinatologist, Dr. Ghidini! Unless anything else comes up, we won't be seeing him again, which is a blessing, really. But, we really like him as a doctor, so it's too bad we won't see him any more. You know?

Flashback: It's a Race!
Go Banana!
20 Weeks Preggo!
What's Up Doc?

Keswick Forest

2012-01-25T15:45:00.000-05:00

We continue to LOVE our new house and neighborhood!!! We really lucked out in the neighborhood department. It's almost like there was a screening process--younger families with kids. I love turning into our neighborhood, and I especially love hitting the cul-de-sac because I love the houses Focal Point built. These are pictures from our first real snow--it was really pretty! It was also gone in about 24 hours--I sure love Virginia for this reason ;)

Our neighbors are awesome! Our whole family benefits in different ways. I have made a few really good girlfriends with some of the other stay at home moms. I didn't realize what a nice perk this was until I had it! Our neighbors were nice enough in our old neighborhood, but we didn't really know each other past a wave-and-say-hello-when-outside level. We have socialized with three different families other than hanging out outside while our kids are playing, and I LOVE that! How convenient to just walk down the street to have dinner together or enjoy a fall fire on the deck??? Jackson LOVES having so many friends to play with! There is a wonderful mixture of babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers, elementary-agers, and middle-schoolers. He gets so excited when he sees other kids playing outside--I love watching him hurry to put on his shoes and jacket to go play with his friends :) The pictures below are of Jackson and Avery (she lives two houses down and is in Kindergarten) playing outside last week :)

This picture was taken in Hallie's backyard (they are three houses down, and she has Izzy who is 4 and Mary who is 2 1/2). Toni is on the right and lives next door to Hallie--she is in 3rd grade and SO sweet! She just loves Jackson and he loves her back :)

We have done a few Date Night swaps, during the day childcare swaps when someone has an appointment, and I have been lucky enough to have neighbors keep Jackson while we go to our doctor's appointments! The day of our housewarming party, Aimee (across the street-ish) called and asked if she could borrow some paprika. I was THRILLED! I loved that she was asking to borrow something, because that meant, most likely, she would be willing to lend me something when needed! It sounds silly, but if you are out of ONE thing, it is so much easier to have a nice neighbor to borrow from than to load your toddler up in the car and run out for one thing! A few of us have continued to borrow things, exchange recipes, share baked goods, and just hang out :)

Last week Aimee (she lives across the street from us) hosted a Yay! We Made it Through the Holidays Luncheon! It was SO fun, and such a nice treat during the week to visit with friends. She made a delicious lunch consisting of top-your-own salad, bread with a delicious dipping sauce, and a pear bread topped with strawberries, kiwi, and greek yogurt. The recipes are listed below:

Dijon Apple Salad

Dressing:
mix well and chill:
1/2 c canola oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 c sugar
4 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 Tbsp minced red onion
1 Tbsp dijon mustard

Salad:
1 head grean leaf lettuce
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 c craisins
1/2 c feta cheese
1/4 toasted pinenuts (in pan or under broil - watch carefully)
1 large apple (I used gala) chopped

Bread Dipping Blend
1 Tbsp minced fresh basil
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parlsey
1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground black pepper (fresh ground is best)
½ tsp minced fresh rosemary
½ tsp ground sea salt or kosher salt
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
½ tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp fresh lemon juice

1. Combine all the ingredients, except oil and lemon juice in a small
food processor or coffee bean grinder. Chop briefly until all
ingredients are about the same size.
2. Stir in oil and lemon juice.
3. To serve, combine about 1 teaspoon blend to 3 or 4 tablespoons
extra virgin olive oil on a small dish. Dip sliced bread in mixture.

Makes about ¼ cup blend
I often add fresh Italian parsley

Pear Bread with Topping

2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
(the original recipe calls for 1 tsp fresh ground ginger, but I didn't add that)
1/2 c chopped walnuts (optional, I don't usually add them)
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup plain yogurt (I used plain, non-fat Greek yogurt)
1 egg (or 1/4 c liquid egg substitute)
1/2 c pear, peeled and finely diced (I grate the pear) --about 3-4 pears

Preheat oven to 400 degrees for muffins and 350 degrees for a loaf. Mix all
ingredients, just until moistened. Spoon batter either into 1 loaf pan or into 1
muffin pan. Top batter with a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar. Bake muffins
for 20 min, and a loaf pan for 40-45 min, or until loaf or muffin springs back when
touched lightly in the center. Remove from pan immediately. Place on a wire
rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Topping for Pear Loaf:
Chop and Mix:
strawberries (about 1 - 2 cups)
kiwi (2-4)
mix in a few tablespoons of:
sugar, OR orange juice concentrate OR Jam (like strawberry, raspberry, peach,
orange marmalade. I used peach jam)

Top with vanilla yogurt (I used Greek)

This was ALL SOOO tasty! I think I could eat it every day...

A Visit to Gramma J

2012-01-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

We went to visit Gramma J for the last part of Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. We only had a short time frame when we did an early Christmas with the Smith side of the family, so we didn't get to visit with Gramma then. We drove down on Sunday of MLK weekend and stayed the night. We had a very nice drive down...until about 4 miles from Gramma's house when we hit a poorly placed pothole and blew out a tire :( Luckily, Josh maintained control of the car and was able to pull off on the shoulder. Doubly lucky, Josh pulled off on a nice, flat spot where he could change the tire. The rest of the road was fairly uneven. Gramma came to pick up Jackson and me since it was close to naptime, we wanted to get him home and settled. Josh got the tire changed with no problem and was close behind. After a yummy lunch and naptime, Jackson had a great time playing with his power drill toy we had brought with us.

He LOVED lying on the floor like this to drill!

He insisted on tapping each screw into place after drilling.

Using the wrench.

Snuggles from Gramma :)

And, yet more drilling Monday morning! I took the car in to get a new tire Monday morning and then we all went out for lunch before we hit the road that afternoon. It was a quick trip, but Jackson and Gramma have such a good time together :)

Menu Plan Monday: Double Issue

2012-01-23T14:04:00.000-05:00

Sunday: Steak seasoned with salt and pepper topped with avocado butter and roasted red potatoes as a side. S'mores Cheesecake for dessert! The avocado butter was ok. Josh thinks it would be better on chicken or pork... The cheesecake, however, was yummy :)

Monday: Stuffed Belgian Endive with rice. We just discovered the Food Network show Ten Dollar Dinners, and this was the first episode we watched. Everything about this dish was yummy...except the endive! LOL I am not a huge cabbage fan--texture or taste. We are thinking of trying this recipe but with potatoes instead of endive...

Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan Casserole--DELICIOUS!!! I can't wait to make this again! SOOO easy, too:) The only thing I didn't like about this recipe was that the website posts the list of ingredients, but you have to watch a video to get the instructions, including the cooking temperature and time :(

Wednesday: 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta--SOOO yummy! Can't wait to make this again!

Thursday: Leftover Chicken parm

Friday: Little Ceasar's $5 Hot and Ready :)

Saturday: Dinner at The Yanceys': Pan-Fried Chicken with a DELICIOUS sauce, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Then, Susie made S'mores Brownies for dessert:

I'm pretty sure this was the recipe:
Lay graham cracker sheets on bottom of 13x9 pan.
Top with brownie mix prepared according to box directions.
Bake according to directions on the box.
Sprinkle mini-marshmallows and chocolate chips on top of the cooked brownie.
Bake under the broiler until marshmallows start to brown.

Sunday: Out of town

Monday: Hamburgers and homemade fries

Tuesday: Buffalo Chicken Soup with biscuits

Wednesday: Dan Dan Noodles--this was really yummy! Next time we plan to try it with chicken or shrimp mixed in. I only put in half the garlic, which I think was a good decision. Josh even said he would not add as much chili oil.

Thursday: Leftover soup

Friday: Leftover soup with grilled cheese

Saturday: Date Night :)

For more yummy recipe ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday!

Recipe Roundup

2012-01-23T13:58:00.000-05:00

So...Menu Plan Monday sort of got put on the back burner once I became pregnant and all I wanted to eat was Ramen, mac-n-cheese, pizza, pasta, and eggs. I didn't think that all needed to be highlighted ;) BUT, over the last few months I HAVE tried some yummy recipes, and I still wanted to share!

Some of these I already posted, but I wanted to report on which pumpkin recipes I made off of my original list of ten I wanted to try:
Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Cookies--I couldn't find the pumpkin kisses anywhere, so I just used chocolate chips--still yummy!
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies--not super pumpkin-y, but yummy!
Mini-Pumpkin Tiramisu--I was a bit disappointed in this one. The homemade cool whip was delicious! The pumpkin filling was a little rich.
Pumpkin Dip--delcious, and the possibilities of what to dip are endless!
Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Scones--SOOO good!!!
and one that wasn't on my original list: Chocolate Chip Oat Pumpkin Cookies

Holiday Treats We Baked
Peppermint Whoopie Pies--I realized I'm not a huge Whoopie Pie fan :( The filling was amazing, however! I think I would bake some chocolate-chocolate chip cookies next time and put this filling in the middle.
Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies--these are now one of my favorite cookies!
Mountain Sky Banana Bread--delicious--I think the cream cheese it what makes this one stand out!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread--so easy and so yummy = a lovely combination :)

Miscellaneous
Good Eats' Pretzels--we LOVE these! We have made many batches and just started experimenting with flavors. We sprinkled on cinnamon sugar on one batch and that was super yummy! Then we tried another round with
Root Beer Roast--I tried this with a piece of beef, and I will definitely try it with pork next time. There was a bad combination of pregnancy horomones and appetite combining here to make it so I barely ate any of this! The recipe sounds SO good, but poor Josh was left to eat pretty much the whole thing in leftovers by himself :(
Corn Waffles--this recipe was invented by our neighbor, Aimee. I think they are delicious! Josh likes them but doesn't think they are as amazing as I do ;) Here's the recipe:

2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 stick butter--melted
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda

Mix all ingredients and ladle on to pre-headed waffle iron!

Three and One Quarter Years Old :)

2012-01-20T08:39:00.000-05:00

I don't even know how to start this blog post, except that I just wanted to write about Jackson for a bit :) Even though he ups the challenge portion of pregnancy, I LOVE the added bonus of being pregnant and growing our next child while he prepares to become a Big Brother :) He is SO excited, and really does seem to "get it." He loves talking to Josh and me about the baby in my belly and talking to other people about the baby in Mommy's belly. He retains information (too well sometimes) and remembers that my back hurts sometimes because of the baby growing or that I can't bend down certain ways, etc. I think he is at such a special stage right now.

On the one hand, he is such a Big Guy! He feeds himself, gets his cup out/puts his cup away in the fridge, lets Pax outside, feeds Pax, goes to the potty and washes his hands all by himself, cleans up his toys, sits quietly to look at books, watches "Big Kid" movies, walks for longer periods of time without needing to be carried, sings his "ABCs," counts mostly to 20, can identify all letters and is working on the sounds, read his first sight word last night (TOYS), takes off his shoes, puts on his coat, rides a trike, hits a ball with a bat, can follow directions to put things away or find them to bring to a different room, and I'm sure many other things :) But on the other hand, he still takes super good naps (SOOO thankful for that), needs kisses for his booboos, likes to be cuddled and snuggled, likes company when relaxing with a movie, and just needs to be our baby sometimes. He woke up partway through a nap the other day really upset (clearly still needing more sleep, but hysterical), so I layed with him for a few minutes and just couldn't get over his long eyelashes, chubby fingers, and sweet breathing sounds. He seemed so LITTLE to me then! I still like to peek on him at night before I got to bed because that is when he looks the littlest, and let's be honest, I'd like to keep him as little as long as possible :)

We are loving watching this stage! Jackson LOVES Pax and cannot seem to get enough of him! He always wants Pax wherever he is playing. The pure joy that spreads across his face when Pax comes into his room with me in the morning is wonderful to see! He loves to pet him first thing :) He also loves to sit and watch (very closely!) while Pax eats and drinks--such a good little brother ;) He STILL loves anything to do with transportation: helicopters, planes, trucks, trains, cars, etc. He runs them over ANY flat surface! I actually like when I'm working in the kitchen and he uses the island as his raceway/runway/train track/airspace! He is showing more and more interest in songs (YAY!) and points out letters everywhere we go! He now will say the letters followed immediately by "What's that spell?" I am thrilled that he recognizes that groups of letters make words :) I LOVE the fact that Jackson will take any toy he can find that is remotely similar to a character he likes from a TV show or a movie and pretend it's that character! That is awesome since money does not grow on trees and the toys with the actual characters on them are expensive! The first toy he did this with was a white and red airplane from the Dollar Bin at Target. He has ever since pretended it's Rocket from "Little Einsteins!" He has a blue/silver little car that looks just like Finn McMissle from "Cars 2." Excellent! He does actually have a small Batman figurine, but he has since decided he is a Super Guy like the characters from "Super Why!" I am loving watching his imagination develop, especially since that's not MY strong suit...

The Belly Report: The Big Day!!!

2012-01-19T00:00:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday morning we had our big ultrasound appointment, and we were SO anxious to find out if Jackson would be getting a brother or a sister!!! We told him after naptime, and then we let him tell Pax:

We could not be more thrilled to be having another baby boy!!! Neither Josh nor I really cared if Sammy was a boy or a girl, but I had said from the beginning that I would LOVE to add another little boy to our family :)

We got a great report form the ultrasound! We got to see pretty much all of Sammy, except for his spine and hands. He was lying face up, so the ultrasound couldn't get a good shot of the spine. He also had his hands clenched into little fists the whole time! The technician was really great, and she did give us some time to get him to turn around, but she said based on how he was lying, it would be pretty unlikely for him to just flip all of a sudden. We might need to go back for another ultrasound in a few weeks to check on the position of my placenta (it's not quite as far from my uterus as they would like), so the technician said she could recheck the spine and hands then.

Cute little baby pose :)

It's a boy! As evidenced by the pointy object on the right-hand side of the picture ;)

Baby feet!

I was a little nervous to tell Jackson what the ultrasound said since he has been saying he wants a baby SISTER! We waited until after his nap, and then told him that he was going to have a baby brother! He didn't say much then, but we spent the next couple hours playing outside and he told all the neighbors I had a baby brother in my tummy :) Excellent!

This past Sunday, we turned 19 weeks along! Sammy is now the size of an heirloom tomato (according to Baby Center, about 8 1/2 ounces and 6 inches long, but according to the ultrasound Sammy is about 11 ounces)! Sammy's brain is working on developing specialized areas in his brain for all of his senses. There is a good chance Sammy can hear us now, so we are encouraging Jackson to talk to him and letting him know that when we read stories, we are reading to his baby brother too :)

I am feeling pretty good still! I am finally feeling Sammy kick on a regular basis! Not surprising since he was quite the wiggler during our ultrasound :) I remember LOVING this part of pregnancy, but I forgot how little the flutters are in the beginning. Bending over is getting more challenging, and my back is sore more often. I am doing my best to make smart snack choices and to drink lots of water--I tell myself that hydration can solve all sorts of problems ;)

We are not wasting any time getting ready to welcome the latest little Smith guy into this house: tonight we ordered nursery decorations, a new stroller, and the first two sets of matching shirts!!! I also couldn't resist this adorable outfit at Target this morning:

Flashbacks: 147 Beats Per Minute Means Boy, Right???

The Verdict Is...

Sam's First Heirloom

Popcorn Popping and Frog Kicks

The Belly Report: 18 Weeks (and Some Comparisons)

2012-01-12T21:26:00.000-05:00

Ah, so many things are different with this pregnancy (yet so many the same)! The #1 difference, I think, is that last time Josh and I diligently checked Baby Center every Tuesday and I sat down to blog about any new changes right afterwards. This time around, Josh and I still diligently check Baby Center each week (on Sundays this time), but then I THINK about blogging until I have time to actually write said blog :)

We are 18 weeks along (in the middle of our 19th week), and Sammy is about the size of a bell pepper (5 1/2 inches long and about 7 ounces)! According to the Baby Center update, Sammy is practicing flexing his/her arm and leg muscles--movements I CANNOT wait to feel!!! Blood vessels are more visible through the skin and Sammy's ears have reached their final resting place :) I wrote about how interesting I found the focus on the ears last time around (Red or Green, Part 2). Still amazes me that they spend so long moving to the correct position...

Pregnancy this time is different simply by the fact that there is a three-year old demanding my time, energy, and movement. Overall, I feel great! I do get easily frustrated when I realize I can't bend in certain ways or play in certain positions anymore :( Jackson has done a great job settling into the role of Big Brother To-Be! I'm a nester by nature, but I can feel myself kicking into overdrive already (look out, Josh, there might be quite the list of projects headed your way...). We have our appointment on Tuesday to find out the gender of this baby, and to, more importantly, see how everything is developing so far! I CANNOT wait to find out if Jackson is getting a baby brother or a baby sister!!! We honestly don't care--but I think I'll burst if I have to wait much longer to start choosing nursery decorations!

I have also been thinking lately about how things will be so different with this baby since he/she will born at a different time of year! For starters, Jackson's first holiday was Halloween--he was only a few weeks old! Sammy's first holiday will be Father's Day and he/she will be just a couple weeks old. Jackson was EIGHT months old for his first Father's Day!

Halloween: Jackson (under a month) Sammy (almost 5 months)
Thanksgiving: Jackson (about a month and a half) Sammy (about 5 1/2 months)
Christmas: Jackson (almost 3 months) Sammy (almost 7 months)
Valentine's Day: Jackson (just over 4 months) Sammy (just over 8 months)
St. Patrick's Day/March Madness: Jackson (just over 5 months) Sammy (just over 9 months)
Mother's Day: Jackson (just over 7 months) Sammy (just over 11 months)
Father's Day: Jackson (8 1/2 months) Sammy (a couple weeks?)
Fourth of July: Jackson (almost 9 months) Sammy (about a month)
August 5th (Uncle Larry's wedding): Jackson (a good 3 1/2 years) Sammy (about 2 months?)--I am really excited about this trip--I think Jackson will find the festivities and a special trip WITH Mimi and Bampa (not just a trip to see them or them to see us) really fun and I think Sammy will be portable and snuggly :)

I am pretty much equal parts ecstatic and terrified to become the mom of TWO! That sounds about right, right? :)

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day

2012-01-07T21:37:00.000-05:00

Josh drove to Covington Thursday afternoon, and he and Joe left early Friday morning for Nashville to watch Wake Forest play in the Music City Bowl. They then continued to Atlanta to cheer on UVa in the Chik-fil-a Bowl! They drove back on New Year's Day.

Jackson and I had a good time while Josh was gone :) We did some fun shopping, some errand running, and had a date to Chik-fil-a to support the Hoos before the fact ;)

Jackson posing with his kids' meal :)

Mommy and Jackson clinking cups on our date!

On New Year's Eve, our neighbors, Ashley and Alyssa, hosted a Noon Year's Even party! What a CUTE idea!

There were headbands to make...

Hula hoops and jump ropes to play with...

And lots of friends!

Just before noon, we did a countdown and then banged pots and pans with spoons :) SO fun! We really love our neighbors and neighborhood!

Later that day, Jackson and I watched "Cars 2" in the evening before bed and then I rented "Something Borrowed to watch on my own. I showed Jackson the pictures of the past three years of his cute hats I made. He was excited for a new one and I was able to guide him to choose the colors blue and orange in support of UVa ;)

Happy New Year (at 7:30pm)!

Josh and Joe drove all day on Sunday from Atlanta to Dumfries and Susie and Rachel drove from Covington to Dumfries! We had fun playing in the afternoon with the girls, and then we all had dinner and hung out once the boys got back :) The Yanceys slept over, and we enjoyed more time together Monday morning! A rousing game of football broke out between the guys and kids!

Running a play

Rachel and Jackson had a GREAT time chasing and being chased :)

Jackson goes in for the tackle!

They got Joe!

Setting up a play

Tackle!

JaxPax

2012-01-05T21:20:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week Jackson kept telling me to take a picture! I would look and he's be posing with Pax wanting a good picture taken! Paxton has ALWAYS known exactly when I'm going to take pictures and always moved.

Then Jackson would chase him to try to get him to pose again, and that of course, didn't work.

Finally, we did get a good shot, but I thought the other pictures of the process were cute too :)

The Belly Report: A Month's Worth of Updates

2012-01-03T20:52:00.000-05:00

Obviously, I fell behind on my pregnancy updates...

Here is what has been going on for the last four weeks: At 14 weeks Sammy was about the size of a lemon (3 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 ounces)! Sammy can make facial expressions and suck his/her thumb! Sammy is producing urine and bile. The soft covering of hair (lanugo) has started to develop at the point. At 15 weeks, Sammy was about the size of an apple (4 inches long and 2 1/2 ounces)! Sammy is busy moving amniotic fluid through his/her nose and upper respiratory tract which helps his/her lungs to develop further. This was one of my favorite updates with Jackson because Baby Center suggests if you shine a light on my belly the baby can sense the light and might move away from it--I love the idea of playing tag! At 16 weeks, Sammy was about the size of an avocado (4 1/2 inches long and 3 1/2 ounces)! Sammy's legs are more developed, his/her head is more erect, his/her ears have moved closer to their final spot, and his/her eyes are moving closer to the center of his/her face. Sammy's heart is pumping about 25 quarts of blood a day! On Sunday Sammy turned 17 weeks :) Sammy is now about the size of a turnip (5 inches long and 5 ounces)! The soft cartilige is changing into bone and the umbilical cord is strengthening.

In terms of how I'm feeling, I'm feeling pretty good. My appetite is pretty much back to normal, and I'm not feeling as tired (although there are still moments). This pregnancy I feel much more weepy and sensitive. I'm sure some of it is because we just went through the holiday season and those always seem to be a bit emotional, tiring, and stressful... Overall, Jackson has been a very good sport, but my patience is thinner and it tires me more the more I have to correct him or try to talk to Josh over him.

Mom and I did a ton of shopping while we were in Evanston, so I have plenty of clothes that fit :) Jackson continues to be excited about becoming a big brother! He is going to be awesome! He is more consistently saying he wants a Baby Sister, and we will find out of January 17th what he is actually getting!!! We can't wait! For a few days he was saying he wanted a Baby Sister AND a Baby Brother. We corrected him and said, he was getting one or the other, not both. Today after his nap, he asked me if something was Baby Sister's. I said that it was going to be for his Baby Sister OR Baby Brother. I asked him if it would be ok if he got a Baby Brother. He was sort of convinced, but then said, "But not both. Baby Sister OR Baby Brother!" Glad he's listening :)

Flashbacks: Mmm...Lemon Heads!

An Apple a Day...

Going Back to the Idea of a Margarita...

Weighs as Much as...

Family Date on Boxing Day

2012-01-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

We took off for the National Zoo after naptime on Monday to see Zoo Lights!!! Josh and I went to see Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago last year, and this was even better! Part of it was the weather was MUCH more mild, but the National Zoo really did an awesome job :)

After Zoo Lights we stopped at Qdoba for dinner on the way home. The holiday weekend was bookended by Chipotle and Qdoba--that's a tradition I can get behind!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-31T17:23:00.000-05:00

Let me start by saying I am still SO SAD that I didn't document more of this weekend with pictures :( I take pictures of EVERYTHING, what happened to my lovely little habit??? ARGH!

BUT, all that aside, Jackson had a great day!!! (We did too!) Of course the day started by opening presents! Santa brought Jackson Candy Land, a horn for his bike, and a new Chuggington train! He got lots of other fun toys from his aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends :)

Aunt Murph and Uncle Larry got Daddy this awesome Cookie Monster hat! Josh really did wear it all day, but someone borrowed it for a photo op :)

Santa left a few crumbs and A NOTE! Jackson was not quite as impressed as he should have been with the special note, but I will definitely tuck it away in his memory box so he can be impressed later ;)

After we opened all of our presents we had a yummy brunch. I made a sausage-egg casserole and we added some fruit, coffee, and juice. We spent the morning playing with Jackson's new toys and just relaxing. Josh and I really enjoyed the evenings of the holiday weekend--we DVRed several holiday movies and had such a good time watching them after Jackson went to bed! It sounds so simple, but it really was a nice way to end the days :)

Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve

2011-12-30T21:29:00.000-05:00

This was the first year that we were in our own home for Christmas! In all honesty, I was pretty nervous and anxious to plan lots of things to keep us busy so we didn't miss our families so much. I was still sad at times and pretty weepy (dang hormones during the holidays!), BUT I think we did a great job of enjoying the holiday and starting some good traditions :)

We put up our Christmas tree the Monday after we got home. I spent Tuesday setting up the rest of the decorations. Wednesday Jackson and I baked all sorts of cookies to share with friends. Friday kicked off the holiday weekend for us! We had a playdate with our neighbors, the Wolfes. We had a really good time, but Jackson completely melted down at the end since he had skipped his nap the day before. The silver lining was he then napped for three hours :) We picked Josh up at Metro after naptime and headed to the Yanceys' house. We hadn't seen them in SO long! We enjoyed some Chipotle and Dairy Queen and spent time catching up. Jackson and Rachel were excited to see each other, excited for Christmas, and just had a good time :)

These are the pictures that resulted form a little photo shoot with the Yancey tree!

Josh set up his special train set, and Jackson loved watching it go around and around.

Making the train cars work: letting them carry ornaments

Jackson got this awesome toy from Susie, Joe, and Rachel: Design and Drill Activity Center! We spent some time on Christmas Eve discovering all it does. I'm not sure who loves it more...

For Jackson's second Christmas, Josh and I gave him a card that sang "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." He LOVED it and played it over and over again while dancing. Well, he heard the song on the radio the other day and was reunited with his favorite song :) It was rarely on the radio, so we had some on-demand YouTube showings :)

Josh and I spent naptime finishing up our wrapping. Then I got started on dinner: Beef Brisket, red potatoes, and caesar salad. I made the brisket just like my mom: mix an envelope of onion soup mix and a bottle of chili sauce. Salt and pepper the meat and pour/rub sauce all over the meat. Bake in the oven (temp and time depends on the size of your brisket). For the potatoes, I quartered them, tossed them in olive oil, and added kosher salt and rosemary. Then we roasted them in the oven with the brisket. It was a really yummy dinner! After we ate we loaded up in the car and drove around looking at lights! FUN! Then we had a bath, set out cookies and egg nog for Santa, added carrots for the reindeer to the plate, and snuggled up for Santa to come!

Jackson was all about Santa! He was so excited to get everything ready and to go to sleep so he could see what Santa brought the next morning :)

Catching up on the End of 2011!

2011-12-30T00:27:00.000-05:00

The end of our Evanston trip was MUCH busier than I expected (but wonderful), and we were soaking up family time instead of blogging :) Then we made a last-minute stop to celebrate with Josh's family. We got home the Sunday before Christmas and spent that week decorating, catching up with friends, getting excited, baking, unpacking, etc. So, more blogging left undone.

Now, however, are LOTS of updates! Ready? Set? Read!

Tour of 1200 Davis St.!
Jackson's Big Boy Room!
Kohl's Children's Museum
Jackson and Jonah :)
A Busy Year for The BETS!
Week Four of Four
Early Christmases!

A Bit of a Break...

2011-12-23T14:50:00.000-05:00

This is what we unloaded from the Prius late Sunday night! PLUS two grown-ups, a three-year old, and a dog who got most of the hatch space all to himself for the majority of the ride...

Needless to say we have been busy unpacking on top of setting up a tree, decorating the house, baking, working, visiting with friends, grocery shopping, lighting Hanukkah candles, wrapping, and trying to enjoy the season! So, I'm on a bit of a blog break until the end of next week probably.

Happy holidays :)

Early Christmases!

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Josh flew in from Kansas City Friday morning, and we enjoyed hanging out for the afternoon followed by his birthday dinner at Lou Malnati's and an early Christmas celebration before/after bed!

Jackson helped pass out all of the presents under the tree before he went to bed :)

And, then he opened all of his presents from Nan, Mimi and Bampa :)

It is really funny to think about all of the presents in Jackson's past that he didn't "get" how to open! He's a pro now, for sure!

It looks like Tuck...

Oh! It's the whole "Wonder Pets" crew!!!

Such good hugs!

Checking out his awesome new transportation themed look and find book

After Jackson opened his presents, we put him to bed, and then exchanged grown-up presents! I'm guessing my mom's favorite present was the set of return address labels we gave her: one design for each season! We also got her a new bed set and some other fun stuff for the house. We gave my dad some new supplies for his new office, since this is kind of like the beginning of the school year! My favorite present for him was a new padfolio (I think that's what it's called... It's a leather folder to hold his pad of paper and it has a pocket to tuck papers in.) We personalized it with a page of pictures to tuck in the flap. Most of the pictures are of us all at various times in the original building :) Jackson made out very well, of course! He LOVED his set of "Wonder Pets," he got a couple of books, a subscription to Highlights High Five magazine, Flicker the Flashlight to join his other Handy Manny tools, and a few other things. Josh was thrilled to receive a new pair of sandals!!! He wore his last pair into the ground--we even tried taking them to the beach this past fall...along with a bottle of super glue, and they just weren't made to last any longer. He now has an exactly identical pair :) I got some fun decorations for the house and a Vera Bradley wallet I really wanted! As much fun as it is to open presents, it is even better to watch Jackson enjoy handing out presents and my parents opening the present we picked out :)

Then we packed the car FULL and went to sleep so we could get up and leave around 4:30am!!!

I think we did leave around 4:30, and we drove to Staunton in order to attend the annual Smith Christmas celebration. It certainly was a busy weekend, but it was really nice to get to visit with family :) We got in before dinner on Saturday night, and we enjoyed a quiet night at Aunt Murph's and Uncle Larry's. Sunday was spent getting ready for the shindig! Everyone came over in the afternoon, and there was lots of eating, visiting, and gift exchanging. We left Staunton after the celebration and arrived back in our OWN house late Sunday night! Phew!

Week Four of Four

2011-12-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

Everyone's first question about our trip was how Josh could take that much time off! Well, he didn't: he had the week of Thanksgiving truly off. He telecommuted the next two weeks and then the last week he was in Kansas City, he just flew round trip from Chicago instead of DC. He has the best boss, and it all seemed to work out really well :) The last week, while Josh was gone, turned out to be super busy! Jackson and I kicked off the week with a whirlwind tour of our old neighborhoods when Josh and I lived in Crystal Lake.

We started out in South Barrington meeting Jane for lunch. I had Jane's son, Alex, in my third grade class and Alex is now in 8th grade!!! We had a GREAT time catching up and walking around the shopping center. From there, we went to Elgin Academy to visit friends I used to teach with. It is always SO nice going back to visit--I LOVED that job, and the people! All of my teacher friends have fun stuff in their classrooms so Jackson was kept busy exploring these new "toys" while I got to chat :)

From EA we drove to Elgin to meet one of good, good friends from when lived there: Dana! We hung out with Dana and her husband, Age, all the time--it was so good to get to catch up over dinner!

Unfortunately, I forgot to get out my camera very often this last week :( This is a really cute picture of Jane and Jackson, however!

On Tuesday we hung out at the Huks, and Jackson had a GREAT time playing with Katie and Will! On Wednesday, Auntie Cassie and Jonah came to visit us at Mimi and Bampa's house, and the boys had such a good time playing for the THIRD time this visit--awesome! On Thursday we went to my cousin, Amy's, house and played. In between all of these playdates and visits I finished Christmas shopping so we could celebrate an early Christmas with Mimi and Bampa!

Top Ten Pregnancy Statuses I've Wanted to Post Over the Last Three Months!

2011-12-13T16:56:00.000-05:00

1. My willpower went downhill while I was pregnant with Jackson. It never quite recovered. Now it appears to be non-existant :(

2. AH! Pregnancy Brain: If I need to go North on 95, I inevitably get on the South ramp. If I need to go South on 95, I get on the North ramp. And, I continue to routinely miss our old exit for Springfield when headed that way :(

3. And...I cried at a Folger's commercial...

4. This pregnancy brought to you by the pasta shape rigatoni!

5. First Date Night with Baby #2 on board! Too bad our goal was to look up baby names and the best we came up with was Purplicious...

6. I DO NOT recommend planning and throwing a birthday party in the early stages of pregnancy...

7. Today I cried while folding laundry and watching "Ellen..." Justin Bieber was the main guest :/

8. Halloween is NOT the best holiday to have a pregnant mommy! Poor Jackson's candy might just be in jeopardy...

9. Pregnancy Brain: a football schedule on TV listed a game in London. I say, "Like the country?" Josh looks at me with shame. I correct myself, "Like the city IN another country?" OY!

10. In the last 24 hours I have had an ultrasound, seven vials of blood drawn, a flu shot, a dental exam, and an eye exam!

Check out other fun Top Ten lists at Top Ten Tuesday hosted by Oh Amanda!

Secret Blogging :)

2011-12-10T16:23:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't had as many "new" blog posts, but that's because I've been busy writing pregnancy blogs...in secret! LOL Before we got pregnant with Jackson, I didn't have a blog! I was able to create this blog, write posts, and not have anyone reading them until we were ready to announce our pregnancy. This time, I want to archive this pregnancy too, but we just weren't ready to have everyone read along right away. So, here is a list of the "secret" blogs (they are all links) I wrote for whoever is interested:

The Belly Report: Dr. Confirmation!
The Belly Report!!!
The Belly Report: Big and Mean Part 2
The Belly Report: First Belly Pics...and Some Other Stuff!!!
Up and Coming Big Brother: Jackson Albert Smith!!!
The Belly Report: Ten Weeks!
The Belly Report: Ultrasound #2!
The Belly Report: 1/3 Finished!
The Belly Report: The News is Out!

Oh, Happy News :)

2011-12-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

Josh has been busy writing me some special poems:

Haiku: The Smith blessing grows;

Bulging belly does show, that

June brings us one more

Limerick: We’re so thankful our blessings still grow;

If you see Dana she has quite the glow;

What a joy to be a mother;

And Jackson a big brother;

For in June kid #2 will show!

A Busy Year for the BETS!

2011-12-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

We always try to see Auntie Abbey, Auntie Kelly, Auntie Dale, and Ryleigh whenever we are home! This time was no different, and we got together one night to hang out and catch up. The next twelve months are full of happy events for all of our families! Kelly and Robb just welcomed their second daughter, Brooklyn Lois! We are having a baby in June, Larry is getting married in August, and Abbey is getting married in December! WOO HOO!!! Plus, Abbey's married name will begin with and "E" (a vowel!), so we can nickname our little group: The BETS (Becker, Ehrlenbaugh, Tadelman, Smith)

I love how Jackson makes himself at home with little girls' toys ;)

Playing--Jackson LOVED the mailbox toy of Ryleigh's

Posing with Auntie Abbey

Ryleigh gets in on the action!

Annual group shot :)

Opening presents!

Baking, Baking, and More Baking!

2011-12-07T15:28:00.000-05:00

We have been busy baking!!! We even packed my KitchenAid mixer in the car to make the trip to Evanston with us :) HA HA HA! Josh did not hesitate in making pretzels as soon as we arrived. We made plans to hang out with our cousin, Beth, and she asked if I thought Jackson would like to bake while we were over. Of course he would!!!

Beth pulled out the book Pretend Soup by Mollie Katzen and we made popovers with Jackson! I have seen this book before, but never appreciated the special tips it includes for cooking/baking with toddlers! The first thing Jackson did was use a pastry brush to "paint" the cups in a muffin tin with melted butter.

The milk jug was heavy, so Beth helped support it, but by placing a measuring cup IN a wide, shallow container Jackson was able to do most of the pouring since the mess would be contained.

We used the same technique for the flour and put the whole bag of flour in the dish.

Beth showed Jackson how to level off the measuring cup with a knife. The book also showed a good technique for cracking eggs on a more independent level. Jackson had a BLAST! Each recipe in the book is written in pictures so Jackson could check to see what the next step was. This book would make an excellent gift with an apron, cooking supplies, or baking mixes!

This past Sunday was a baking marathon at Mimi and Bampa's house! We had hoped to head into the city to the Field Museum, but then we remembered there was a Bears' game, and that just didn't sound fun to fight all the traffic and parking issues... So, we baked! We started with Better than Crack Brownies, which turned out AMAZING! I had been eyeing this recipe on Pinterest for a few weeks, and I thought it was the perfect thing to bake to take to the Cocallases when we went for dinner the next night! I think the key is purposely under-cooking the brownies a bit so they are really gooey...

Next we made more pretzels, this time doing half kosher salt and half cinnamon sugar--excellent decision! Then we made Cinnamon Chip Scones with chocolate chips instead of cinnamon chips :)

After he was finished being my helper, Jackson turned down his apron, put on his shades, and had a little dance party to some Christmas music--isn't he hilarious looking???

Jackson and Jonah :)

2011-12-07T09:00:00.000-05:00

Jackson was SO excited to drive to Kenosha and visit Jonah at his house and to play with his toys! LOL We had a great morning hanging out with Auntie Cassie and Jonah :) Jonah showed Jackson his racecars, his big boy room, his fish tank (he even let Jackson feed the fish a little), and then they played in the sink! It was super cute! They each had a sink of cars that they were washing and letting play on some dishes. Things got a little wet, but that's ok :)

Once the boys were finished playing at the sink, they hid under the kitchen table!

What goofballs!

I know these two wished they got to play more often!

My Sweet Boy

2011-12-06T15:30:00.000-05:00

I LOVE this series of pictures of Jackson at the Botanic Garden Wonderland Express--he was so intent on watching the ladybug engine go in and out of the tunnel! He loved this part last year, and he loved it even more this year :)

Kohl Children's Museum

2011-12-06T09:00:00.004-05:00

Jackson and I visited Kohl's Children's Museum last December with Auntie Cassie and Jonah, and we had such a good time! We decided Daddy needed to come with us the next time :) To kick off the second half of our time in Evanston, we headed to the museum, and I don't know who had more fun: Josh or Jackson! We started out at the Car Care exhibit again, and Jackson had just as good of a time racing cars down the ramps with the other kids.

Jackson was super pumped about doing his own grocery shopping at Dominick's! He LOVED everything about this exhibit: the just-right-sized shopping cart, the apron, the check-out, re-shelving the groceries, picking out special food items, and working the conveyor belt!

Perhaps a future after-school job?

Daddy has quite the cart-full! Good thing there is such an efficient checker :)

Choosing some bakery items

Jackson loved picking out the produce even though he doesn't eat any of the veggies!

Yummy chocolate milk!

Rolling the groceries down the conveyor belt

Leaving Dominick's was tough, but we promised Jackson we could come back once we checked out everything else! We didn't visit the Hands on House exhibit last time, but we did this time. We thought it was pretty cool, but it didn't hold Jackson's attention for very long. There were different cushions available to finish putting siding on a house!

Paint supplies were available so the kids could practice painting the interior of the house. There were also carpet squares to carpet the floor and some shingles to practice adding to the roof.

I LOVED this moment of toddler teamwork: Jackson watched this little girl and then decided she could use help putting the beanbags on the conveyor belt while she continued to operate the belt. I watched the little girl to see if she wanted to be playing by herself, but she was totally fine with Jackson helping out. It was so cute!

Jackson was pretty unsure about Waterworks, but once Josh showed him how the neat activities worked, he was pretty excited!

LOVE this picture! The water was shooting at chimes and the notes played depending on where the water hit!

Jackson loved watching the balls spin at the top of the tunnel from the water pressure

We also didn't explore Music Makers the last time. Jackson LOVED trying out all of the different instruments. I think the drums were a favorite :)

Science and You was the special traveling exhibit while we visited this time. Most of the concepts were a little old for Jackson, but this one was pretty cool: there were a few different boxes with gloves attached. The idea was to show how scientists use these special gloves and boxes to conduct experiments with more dangerous chemicals. There were various containers to rill up with the beads in the boxes. It was fun experimenting with how much each container could hold!

Jackson got a kick out of Pet Vet! He chose a doggies to check out in the animal hospital. One memory he has carried forward is how he checked the doggie out but then there was a girl in the doggie's cage so he had to put the doggie in a different cage! LOL

Jackson had a great time pretending to make sandwiches at Potbelly! He got to work the cash register...

...put the sandwiches through the broiler...

...and make sandwiches! Jackson played with lots of other exhibits, including a second trip to Dominick's and Car Care. It was so fun watching Jackson explore the museum one year older than last time. I think he and Daddy really enjoyed this special outing together :)

After naptime the same day, Mimi took over Jackson duty, and Josh and I headed to Naperville for a double date with the newlyweds Mr. and Mrs. Cocallas :) Kim and I have been friends since my sophomore year of college, and I love getting to spend time with her when we go home. This time I got to see her TWICE! YAY! We were so excited to visit Kim and David's adorable house they are renting! They cooked us a yummy dinner and then they introduced us to the game Rummikub. We had such a nice evening relaxing and catching up--can't wait to do it again!

When we came home, however, we checked on Jackson and found him totally sound asleep just like this: with socks on his hands! I thought there was some funny story about bedtime, but my mom said she put him to bed with his socks on his feet--this means he must have had this idea to put his socks on his hands after she left him! SO funny!

Wonderland Express 2011

2011-12-05T23:58:00.000-05:00

Visiting the Chicago Botanic Garden while we were in town for the Wonderland Express exhibit was on the top of my list :) Jackson had such a good time last year, and I knew he'd love it even more this year :) Mimi took the day off this past Tuesday and we not only got in for free admission since Tuesdays are free, but we also "checked out" a pass from the library that got us free parking! Score! We got to the exhibit a bit early, so we enjoyed admiring the gorgeous trees and wreathes that decorated the hall.

The first room featured a gingerbread house village again (different designer this year), and four theme-decorated Christmas trees.

I loved this little pretzel-cabin with the trains whooshing by!

Once we got into the main exhibit, the Obama's Chicago house was the first replica we saw--it looks so homey!

Da Bears!

There were seven of these little elves hidden throughout the exhibit--I found them all! LOL I was a little too excited about that challenge...

Jackson checking out the Chicago bungalows

Chicago skyline

Chicago Stadium

One of Jackson's favorite parts were the fake snowfalls that happened periodically! All of the kids loved trying to catch the snowflakes :)

Past the main showroom, there was one large train set up around suburban Chicago landmarks.

I think Jackson would still be walking around and around and around the table following the train...

Cheese!

My new favorite picture :D

LOVE this picture too :)

Jackson loves spending time with Mimi :)

The Belly Report: The News is Out!

2011-12-05T08:00:00.005-05:00

Because everything seems to be happening faster this time around, we have been ready to make our exciting news public for a while now, but we did want to wait until we were into the second trimester. We are now 13 weeks and SO ready for all of our friends and family to know :D

Nothing huge has changed in how I'm feeling--still pretty darn good! Sammy now has fingerprints and his/her organs and veins are visible through the very thin skin. Sammy's head makes up one third of his/her body now! Sammy is almost three inches long now, about the size of a medium shrimp :)

Flashback: Duh, duh, duh...

The Marathon in Evanston Begins!

2011-12-01T14:51:00.000-05:00

Jackson LOVES spending time at Mimi and Bampa's house! There are all sorts of fun things to play with! This pinwheel has been a favorite of Jackson's, and this is an action shot of him trying to make it spin!

The Buerstattes' visit to Illinois overlapped with ours for the first week of our time. We spent lots of time playing with Kaitlyn and Liam (pictures coming soon!)! We were thrilled that Kim came to visit during her Thanksgiving break from school :) Jackson gets such a kick out of her and her fun games!

Jackson LOVED Kim's umbrella, and she was nice enough to share as we ran in and out of the rain a few times ;)

Hanging out with Uncle Larry

Looking very serious with Uncle Larry!

Michelle got into town on Friday, and Jackson LOVED playing with Michelle!!! I personally love the way he says, "Michelle!" It is just super cute, nothing in particular :) First order of business was the playground after naptime :)

It was a brief visit since Uncle Larry and Michelle left Sunday morning, but we enjoyed the little bit of time :)

Thanksgiving Day (Mostly) in Pictures

2011-11-28T22:50:00.000-05:00

We kicked the morning off with a visit to the playground.

It got chilly fast, so we didn't stay long.

Making pancakes for brunch with Bampa!

Football with Daddy!

Working a puzzle with Uncle Larry--clearly a hilarious activity!

Playing the Curious George match game with Nan.

Playing cards (or napping) after dinner.

What an excellent family picture! This was only take #2!

The Belly Report: 1/3 Finished!

2011-11-28T08:00:00.004-05:00

We are twelve weeks along!!! I am starting my second trimester this week (the thirteenth week) :) The baby is now the size of a lime--oh, how I wish I could have a margarita ;)

I'm feeling better in the sense that I have a bit more energy and my appetite is regulating a little... Greasy food and my original stand-bys still sound the best most of the time. My symptoms are staying the same mostly. Heartburn is increasing a bit, and I noticed over the last week that my hips start to hurt if I sit in the same position for a long time. My arms are also falling asleep during the night when I sleep on my side with my arm bent... Weird! I think the mantra of this pregnancy is definitely going to be how fast everything seems to be showing up this time around...

I have gone shopping ON Black Friday before, but never in true Black Friday fashion where I get up early and go when the stores open. This year stores opened at 9pm and midnight, and that sounded WAY more appealing! I'd rather stay up late than get up in the middle of the night. I wanted to head to Kohl's to check out the maternity clothes. Mom was more than happy to go with me, and Larry offered to be our chauffeur! He was awesome! I would highly recommend hiring him for your Black Friday outing next year :) We had a really fun time, but the two stores we went into at the mall were plenty for us. As I found out last time, maternity pants are amazingly comfortable--they are not failing to disappoint this time ;)

Our baby has reflexes now! According to what I've read, if I poke my belly, the baby will squirm in return, but I won't be able to feel it. Fun! I CANNOT wait until I can feel him/her kick!!! Our baby's face looks more like you would expect, and his/her eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his/her face. Now our baby measures just over two inches long and weight half an ounce! How can something this small make all of these changes?!?!?!

Last time we were pregnant we referred to the baby as Sam while it was in utero. We like the name Sam a lot, but Sam Smith doesn't sound like our cup of tea. We wanted to do something similar this time, so we will go with Sammy. Still could be male or female, but it seemed weird to "re-use" the same nickname... So, from now on the baby will be referred to as Sammy :)

Flashbacks: With a Lime, Please!
Prego Pants are Fantastic!

Jackson's Big Boy Room!!!

2011-11-25T09:00:00.001-05:00

Our transition to a Big Boy Bed began unexpectedly while we were on vacation at Virginia Beach when Jackson outgrew the Pack-n-Play. I am SOOO glad I was "forced" into just diving in since I was a bit nervous about this transition. Jackson still LOVED his crib, and that wasn't a problem. But, if we wanted to continue our flexibility with travel and sleeping away from home, we needed to be able to have Jackson just sleep in a big bed. He did AWESOME! This made me very un-nervous about the actual transition at home!

We made our soft deadline Thanksgiving since we'd be spending that in Evanston at Mimi and Bampa's, and the Pack-n-Play wasn't an option anymore. Josh decided to build Jackson's bed!!! It turned out fabulously--Jackson LOVES his bed that Daddy built :D

After Josh finished building the bed, we painted it all white and I stenciled in the colored letters at the foot of the bed spelling out Jackson's name.

I had plenty of extra decals from when we set up Jackson's room in May, so I just did a little adding and rearranging to complete the decorations.

Jackson feels so special that Daddy made him a super special bed--he LOVES his new room :)

The bed compliments Jackson's rocket ship bookcase quite well :) I am SO happy with the final product--the room looks so different now...in a good way!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2011-11-24T15:20:00.000-05:00

Football, yummy food cooking and making the house smell good, and my two guys :)

My Talented, Talented Husband

2011-11-23T23:08:00.000-05:00

I am LOVING Josh's new hobby of woodworking! It's not a brand new hobby: we designed and built our own wall-sized entertainment center when we moved into our house in Crystal Lake. Right when we moved into our new house, Josh built himself a work bench to keep in the garage. He has found lots of good ideas on this website: Ana White: Homemaker

Josh built the Rocket Bookcase for Jackson's birthday! Jackson LOVED his special present :)

I got to help with the painting and lettering :)

As Josh and I were talking about setting up Jackson's Big Boy Room, we came across the plan for a Twin Farmhouse Bed! Josh decided to tackle it, and he did an amazing job! What a special piece of furniture :)

I can't wait to see what "we" build next ;)

The Belly Report: Ultrasound #2!

2011-11-20T08:00:00.004-05:00

Only one week until we head home to Evanston for FOUR weeks!!! We are eleven weeks along and our baby is about the size of a fig: just over 1 1/2 inches long--still so tiny! But this tiny person is BUSY--his/her hands will begin to open and close into fists soon, tiny tooth buds are forming under the gums, and some bones are starting to harden! He/She already spends time kicking and stretching--I can't wait to feel all of that!

This week was really busy! We had our second doctor's appointment Wednesday morning, and we got to have another ultrasound!!! Dr. Hibshman found the heartbeat easily, and when we looked at it on the screen it looked like two tiny hand clapping :) Everything looked great during the visit, and I got a LOAD of blood drawn! We met with the insurance coordinator and decided we would go ahead and have a scheduled C-section. A vaginal birth is a possibility, but there is a long list of complications. Obviously there are risks with any major surgery, but we would rather just start with that route rather than possibly go through a long labor ending in an emergency C-section--that just increases the risks. As long as everything goes as planned, the planned surgery would be scheduled about a week before my estimated due date, so June 3rd would be that date! SOOO exciting to think about :)

On Thursday I saw the eye doctor and the dentist and on Saturday we headed out of Dumfries at 4:20am Eastern time and arrived in Evanston just before 3:00pm Central time. We had a really good drive: good weather, good travelers, and good traffic :) Jackson was THRILLED to finally be in Evanston at Mimi and Bampa's house!!!

Flashback: How Big is a Fig?

Pumpkin Bear

2011-11-18T13:41:00.000-05:00

I am a little behind this year on my Pumpkin Bear post, but here it is, better late than never!!!

Josh bought Pumpkin Bear for Jackson while we were still in the hospital! Here is their first meeting when Jackson was four days old!

November 1, 2009: Jackson is just over one year old!

November 1, 2010: Jackson is just over two years old!

November 18, 2011: Jackson is just over three years old!

And, some bonus silly pictures:

Meemaw Reunites with Pawpaw

2011-11-16T23:16:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, I don't have a very happy reason as to why I haven't posted in a while. This past Sunday, Josh and I got text messages early in the morning letting us know that his grandma, Dottie/Meemaw, was in the ICU and didn't have much longer to live. We were surprised by this news, and immediately started packing to leave for Covington. We have amazing neighbors who took care of Paxton at the last minute allowing us to go dog-free. We got to the hospital Sunday afternoon and got to peek in on Meemaw. Apparently she had a stroke Saturday evening and had bleeding in her brain. We knew she was on the verge of needing some more assistance in terms of her living situation, but we didn't expect anything like this at this point. Josh stayed at the hospital with his aunts, uncles, and other family members and good friends. Jackson and I headed to Meemaw's house to get settled in and have a nap. We went back to the hospital after naptime to meet up with Josh and the rest of the family. Some more family members had arrived, and we all headed out for dinner. I know so many people that say the same thing, but it was really nice to get to visit with family members we don't see often, even though the circumstances weren't very happy. We weren't really sure what the next steps were for Meemaw, but Josh, Uncle Larry, and Aunt Jeannie were going to meet with the social worker in the morning to discuss Hospice options.

I LOVE this picture of Meemaw and Pawpaw! SO sweet!

The decision of what to do next was made about 2:30 Monday morning when Dottie (Meemaw) passed peacefully away. Neither Josh nor I had really slept much, and then Larry called around 2 saying there was only an hour or so left. Josh went right to the hospital and he, Larry, and Jeannie were all there when she passed. Josh got back home around 4:30 and we just both stayed awake. Jackson decided to join us an hour later, so it was an early start for us all... Josh and Larry spent the morning running around making arrangements. There was availability at the funeral home, church, and cemetery allowing us to have the visitation Tuesday evening and the funeral Wednesday afternoon.

Dottie and Jeannie

Ronnie (Josh's dad), Dottie, and Pawpaw

Josh, Dottie, Larry, and Jeannie

We used the time in between the events to visit with family members and friends of Meemaw. She certainly was a well-loved woman both in the family and in her church :) I know Josh and I have both found peace in the fact that she is now reunited with both Pawpaw and Josh's dad, Ronnie. Josh and I also were able to start making some progress on the house. We got lots of sorting done and it looks like the plan is to place the house on the market this coming spring.

Meemaw and Jackson

This was quite a challenging time for our little family within the larger Smith clan. Josh rose to the challenge for sure. He was quite amazing to watch. He was the perfect mix of strength, compassion, help, love, and concern. He filled the roles of grandson, brother, nephew, uncle, cousin, father, husband, and friend. He jumped right in and helped make decisions and just got a lot of things done! I struggled as I tried to completely support him while also taking care of Jackson. I know that was important since the happier he was the more productive Josh and I could be, BUT I couldn't help but feel I wasn't doing enough. I think we did ok, in the end :)

Dottie and some members of her church family (Peggy Yancey is in the pink shirt in the middle of the back row and Ed is right next to her)

The Yancey family was indispensable during our time in Covington. Joe's mom, dad, grandma, and sister and her family live in Covington. Joe was away for work, but Susie and Rachel came right down to support us. Susie kept Jackson a couple of different times and shuttled him around--so helpful! Joe's sister, Erin, kept Rachel and Jackson (along with her own son, Brayden) the night of the visitation. Having Susie at the visitation was really nice. It was wonderful having one of my best friends right there as a friendly face to focus on. I know Jackson had a much better time playing with his friends at his "jammy party" than he would have at the funeral home. On Wednesday, Jackson played at Joe's mom and dad's house and then napped while the rest of us were at the funeral. Again, so helpful to have him otherwise occupied and on a "normal" schedule!

A few years ago, Larry and Murph took Dottie and Goldie on a resort vacation! They had a great time--good memories!

The service at the church was really very nice. The pastor is a very nice man, and he had lots of nice things to say about Dottie. Josh, Josh's cousin, Danny, and a couple of ladies from Dottie's Sunday School class spoke and told some funny stories. It was a gorgeous fall day, so our time at the cemetery was quite pleasant. The flowers sent in memory of Dottie were all beautiful! After the cemetery we went back to the church where there was a yummy meal served for family and friends. It was nice to have that chance to chat and visit with each other.

We stuck around Covington most of Thursday before having an early dinner at our favorite non-Lou-Malnati's pizza spot. Jackson was a trooper while Josh and I were busy with "business" things--it really was a blessing that he had a few opportunities to play with friends. Things certainly will be different now that Meemaw is no longer with us, but we all know that she is more comfortable and in a happy place :)

The pictures in this post are from the amazing photo montage Josh created in memory of Dottie. He created an amazing photo montage that played at the visitation and after the church service. He found quite the collection of photos and got it all together in a very short amount of time!

The Benson Sisters: Lil, Dottie, Bettie, and Patti

A more updated picture of the four sisters :)

The Belly Report: Ten Weeks!

2011-11-16T20:00:00.003-05:00

On Sunday we celebrated reaching double digits with this pregnancy--ten weeks!!! The past week was a rough one since it's the week that Dottie/Meemaw passed away :( We had planned on telling Josh's family soon, but this was clearly a good time to announce a little distraction. The news spread pretty quickly, and that was a little weird having some people we didn't know or barely knew find out before good friends at home. I CANNOT wait to get home to tell the rest of our good friends and family!!!

Jackson is absolutely A.DOR.ABLE about the baby in Mommy's tummy :) Most chances he gets he points to my belly and asks, "Mommy, baby still in your belly?" We have talked about how the baby isn't coming out yet because it needs to grow and get healthy before it can come out. Periodically he says, "Baby will walk? Baby will talk? I remind him that the baby won't be able to walk or talk right away. We talk about the things that would be nice and gentle. Every few days Jackson's answer as to whether he wants a baby sister or a baby brother changes...maybe that's good since we can't really do anything about it now! He is going to be SUCH a good big brother!!!

On a brighter note, we had an excellent doctor appointment today!!! Dr. Hibshman did another ultrasound (YAY!) and we saw a bigger blob--the heartbeat was easier for me to see this time. It looked like tiny hand clapping really fast :) We also made sure there was just one heartbeat... LOL I feel like everything is going faster and happening sooner this time around--I just started panicking that there were twins in there!!! I only gained two pounds which bodes well for heading to Chicago to kick off the holiday season... HA!

Our baby is the size of a kumquat now! He/She is about an inch long and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce--how can something THIS small make me feel SO different??? CRAZY! This tiny thing is busy too: this is the beginning of the fetal period when tissues and organs grow quickly and mature. The kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver are starting to function already! If we could see that closely, we could see finger and toe nails and peach fuzz growing on his/her skin. His/Her limbs can bend and the outline of the spine is visible. For some reason all of the development milestones are more amazing to me this time...

Flashback: Double Digits!

Tour of 1200 Davis St.!

2011-11-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

I could not WAIT to get a tour of the new location for Roycemore!!! My dad has been CRAZY busy pulling together all of the details, overseeing the construction progress, and planning the logistics for the big move over Winter Break! We got to tour the building before Thanksgiving, but I couldn't post this picture (which I LOVE) since I look pregnant already! So, here is the report and a couple of pictures! I would be so excited if I was a teacher at Roycemore--these classrooms look AMAZING! They are all big, have excellent storage cabinets and counters, and they all have a painted accent wall! "Huge project" doesn't even really begin to cover this transition, but it is going to be SO worth it! There will be tons more parking complete with underground parking garage!!! The garage will also include the car line for the Early Childhood Programs--parents will love that convenience. Basically, the school is going to show SO well: elevator access, brand new bathrooms and locker rooms, floor to ceiling windows in the majority of rooms, gorgeous science labs, more "stylish" cafeteria space, and just more space for everything! I am SO excited for this next step for Roycemore :)

Josh, Jackson, Uncle Larry, and Dad in the BRAND NEW REGULATION SIZE GYM!!! This is HUGE!

Up and Coming Big Brother: Jackson Albert Smith!!!

2011-11-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

We are nine weeks today! Yesterday we took Jackson out for a special lunch to tell him the exciting news that he is going to be a Big Brother!!! He seemed pretty excited, but for the most part he kept on eating his chicken nuggets and fries ;) We asked him right away if he wanted a baby brother or a baby sister. I was SURE he would want a baby brother because that is what his other friends have gotten! He said he wanted a baby sister: "A baby sticker!" I LOVE that :)

Now that we are nine weeks, our baby is the size of a grape! The baby's main body parts have begun their basic formation. Our baby's heart is finishing dividing into four chambers and he/she is growing teeny, tiny teeth! There is no more embryonic tail, but there are itty, bitty earlobes, a mouth, a nose, and nostrils! Apparently the baby is ready to gain weight fast now that the basic physiology is in place--does that mean me too??? I hope not yet--I've only gained two pounds so far!

Red or Green?

THREE Year Check-Up!

2011-11-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday I took Jackson for his three year check-up!!! It had been a while since we were at the pediatrician--I guess that means he's been pretty healthy this year! I didn't really talk this visit up, so the first Jackson knew of it was when he woke up from his nap and I told him we were going to the doctor! He has some experience with me going to the doctor for random things and taking Pax to the vet. He assumed we were taking Pax to the doctor for his tummy. I told him that it was HIS turn to go to the doctor since he is now three and needs to get checked out! He was all about this outing!

Jackson played right along with the nurse as she asked him all sorts of questions--he did awesome! This was the first time in three years that Jackson did NOT cry when he was weighed--LOL For some reason the scale was always traumatic... He liked the slider on the height ruler that went up and down to get an accurate measurement. He even completed an eye exam! (They used shapes instead of letters.) Once in the exam room Jackson was asked to stand on one leg and to copy a circle the nurse drew. He got his blood pressure taken for the first time, too. By the time Dr. Kernan came in, he was warmed up and quite chatty. He told her he was three, what foods he liked to eat, that he likes to ride his bike, and what he likes to play with. I have to brag that Jackson didn't even cry when he got his flu shot!!! He did get this quick look of horror on his face, but the nurse was awesome and was all peppy about it telling him what a good job he did when she was done. SOOO proud! We got a Mickey Mouse sticker on the way out and were good to go :)

Height: 38" (59%)

Weight: 34 lbs (72%)

Jackson loves playing with Josh! He usually attacks him as soon as he gets home:

"Daddy? Wanna play with me?"

play ball

wrestle

Baggo

swords

Hide and Seek is also a favorite. We LOVED this hiding pose :)

Jackson's favorite activities to do with me are probably baking and reading :) Tonight he called me from the other room just to cuddle!

He LOVES the reaction he gets from being silly with props--hats, dresses, capes, goggles, sunglasses

Things Jackson can do or loves doing:

speak using longer sentences

point out pretty flowers/clouds

remember locations once we pull up (and which way to turn sometimes!)

playing outside with friends in neighborhood

excellent on his trike

identify all letters and most numbers

plays a categorizing game that Josh made up

"reading" books

singing songs (finally!)

When getting ready to go somewhere I often say, "When it's time to go, it's time to go!" A couple of weeks ago, Jackson took it one step further and said, "When it's time to sing songs, it's time to sing songs!" This was in reference to storytime at the library. Sure enough, Jackson was super excited for the songs during storytime--this is definitely a new phase! I love it :)

LOVES Waxie Bear (Paxton)!!!

LOVES Baby Levi (our friends'/neighbors' little guy)

"Daddy, you're my best friend!"

"Baby Levi is my best friend!"

"That's my favorite!"

"That's my special ________"

I just love the expression on both of our faces!

Pawpaw's Tradition Lives On!

2011-11-03T15:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Josh's Pawpaw's birthday! Josh tells the story of how each morning Pawpaw would come down the hall saying, "Joshua Alan...!" Josh has continued this tradition by coming down the stairs saying, "Jackson Albert..." when he comes downstairs after sleeping in. Jackson loves this and gets excited when he hears Daddy's voice. Now Jackson will call out to us, "Daddy Albert! Mommy Albert! Waxie Bear Albert!" It is super cute :) The sweetness is unbearable...

The Belly Report: First Belly Pics...and Some Other Stuff!

2011-11-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

These pictures are just after we were eight weeks. I must admit, I was slow going to take any pictures since my belly has already started growing--much faster than last time!!! Apparently that is normal... Yeah, we'll go with that ;) Here is the link to the first pictures we took of my belly when we were pregnant with Jackson: We're Growing a Lima Bean!

I LOVE my husband! One of the things I specifically love is how geeky excited he is about this next child we (I) are (am) growing :) He is even more excited than I am to check Baby Center each week to see the food comparison to the size of our baby! We had SUCH a good time doing this last time around, and it's been just as fun so far this time. Starting at four weeks our baby was about the size of a poppy seed. Since then we have had a sesame seed, a lentil, a blueberry, and a kidney bean!

We noticed some changes in Paxton when we were pregnant with Jackson (Finally! A Watch Dog!), and he is coming through again! He wants to be WHEREVER I am! Thank goodness we moved to a bigger house--I would have surely tripped and broken a limb between the dog and toddler both in my personal space... (Don't get me wrong, I really wouldn't have it any other way!)

Mr. Potato Head Trick or Treats!

2011-10-31T22:34:00.000-04:00

Jackson has been SOOO excited for Halloween! I thought of the idea for his costume based on his love for his toy Mr. Potato Head, but he was on board right away! He told anyone who asked that hew as going to be, "Tato Head!" We bought him Mickey's Halloween Treat and started reading that on our beach vacation. Jackson LOVES that story! He was able to point out all of the dressed up characters right away. Minnie Mouse dressed as a witch was his favorite! (For a while he kept telling me he wanted to be a witch!) We also checked out How Spider Saved Halloween from the library. Jackson kept telling everyone that I was dressing up as a witch and Josh was going to be an ant (like one of the characters in the spider story)! LOL

My neighbor, Aimee, was SO nice and offered to let me use her sewing machine to make Jackson's costume! She even taught me what to do--I've never sewed anything in my life on a machine! It was SO fun, and Aimee was an excellent teacher :) I'm quite proud of the stitching I did--we even added a tie at the back to enlarge the head hole and a ribbon at the bottom to cinch the bottom tighter!

We started practicing the other day that we ring doorbells, say, "Trick or treat!", get treats, and say, "Thank you!" Jackson had it down pat and was ready to go!

Our first house was our neighbors: Miss Norah and Mr. Brian!

While we were at the Walburgers' door, Jackson's glasses came detached from his costume :( This was the right house for a costume malfunction since Aimee was quick with the tacky glue to repair the damage!

Jackson had SO much fun, and lasted for a good portion of the neighborhood! He loved seeing his friends dressed up. I was a little nervous Jackson would get shy as the actual event was happening, but he said, "Trick or treat!" at each house and thanked them after he got candy :) I was a little surprised that he didn't want to eat any right away as we were trick or treating, and he was happy with just one piece when we got home! Excellent Trick or Treater :)

Getting ready to share some Reese's Pieces!

The neighborhood didn't seem too crowded, but we did get a few waves once we were home. Jackson stayed in costume and LOVED handing out candy!!! After the first couple of doorbell rings, Jackson jumped off the couch and ran to the door to see the trick or treaters and hand out candy :)

FEMA at Its Best!

2011-10-31T08:49:00.000-04:00

I’ve never really understood what it is Josh does. Now its all perfectly clear. Shennanigans. All day

The Belly Report: Big and Mean Part 2

2011-10-31T08:00:00.001-04:00

This is not a big and mean situation, but it is the first big crying breakdown I had this time around, so I thought I'd match it up with the first one from our first pregnancy: Big and Mean

On Sunday I was up in Jackson's room deciding whether or not his new big boy bed needed another coat of paint. I forgot what set me off, but I started crying once Josh went downstairs. Next thing I know, he's coming back upstairs WITH Jackson! This is the tricky part of hormones this time: Jackson has no grasp of what's going on with me! He came upstairs with a piece of pretzel Josh had gotten him and he came over to me and wanted to know what was wrong with me and gave me hugs and kisses. He also offered me a bite of his pretzel. Him being sweet to me makes me cry harder and then I choked on my bite of pretzel. At this point Josh says, "That was HIS pretzel!" I started crying harder telling him that Jackson shared, I didn't steal it! Josh was putting a diaper in the Diaper Champ and wanted to know why it wasn't going in. I started crying even harder and told him it was because it needed to be emptied. I asked Jackson if he wanted to go downstairs to watch some TV (hoping I could then crawl in bed for a few minutes and compose myself), but Josh offered him TV in our bedroom so he could snuggle with me! I explained to Josh at this point that that wasn't helping because I was trying to distract Jackson so I could have Josh's attention! LOL That sounds so silly, but I just wanted him to hug me while I cried. So we all went into our room, Jackson watched TV, and I cried while Josh hugged me. In the end I was crying because I was thirst.

OY! This is going to be a long eight months for some male family members... ;)

P.S. I just realized that these two events both happened right around the 8th week of pregnancy!!! WEIRD...

Pumpkin-ing 2011!

2011-10-27T08:00:00.002-04:00

We LOVE our Fall tradition of visiting Cox Farms! We have gone there in 2009 and 2010. (I like looking back at the pictures from the previous years, so I thought I'd share the links!) I really enjoy that this is usually right around Jackson's birthday, so that's a fun perk!

We were a bit rushed for time, but we still had a great visit! Of course, the giant slides were our favorite activity :) Jackson didn't want to go by himself just yet, but he LOVED riding with Josh and me (mostly Josh)! Josh taught Jackson how to stick his hands up in the air as he slid down, so that was fun to watch!

Nothing like a tongue slide...

I think I was definitely the most excited one to visit Goat Village, BUT I remembered how much Jackson loved the goats before! We also had talked about how he could feed them a snack in an ice cream cone. He was really excited about that and talked about it a lot before-hand, but I wasn't going to be surprised if he got shy once we were there. NOPE! He held the cone like a pro and let the goats eat out of it. We spread the food around for a few different goats... We also were encouraged to feed the goats through the fence and then go in without food because the goats had been a bit aggressive that day... Thanks for the warning!

Jackson especially loved the baby goats. He really liked this little guy:

Jackson was so brave and even climbed up on the goat bridge to visit a few of them!

As usual, Jackson loved getting samples of apples and apple cider. We thought this pumpkin guy was cute :)

Carrying his sack all by himself!

In line to go down THE big slide!!! Doesn't he look SOOO old here???

LOVE this picture!!!

Jackson was so excited that this cow was accessible for petting :)

Not a great picture, but proof that Mommy did ride some slides!

I am SO glad I was able to capture this sign, the goat bridge, and the goat while Jackson and Josh slid under it!

There was a fun station that we had never seen before (or was new?) with different farm chore activities to try. Jackson was pretty good at pumping water!

Scarecrow Jackson :)

What is with the goofy smile??? Check out the HUGE pumpkins!

Post-Birthday Zoo Trip!!!

2011-10-26T08:00:00.001-04:00

The day after Jackson's party was his actual birthday this year. To be honest, we had a pretty low-key day--we hung around the house, opened presents, went out for a special Happy Meal lunch, napped, played outside, and went to the Yanceys' house for dinner. This low-key day was necessary because the Birthday Boy Party Animal was awake from 1:30am-4:30am the night of his party!!! We have NEVER had a night like that! I'm pretty sure he had a tummy ache from all of the M&Ms he MUST have consumed... He spent some time in our bed and some time just being unhappy in his crib :( He finally fell back asleep, but he was a little on the touchy side all day Sunday...

On Monday, Susie and I decided to take the kids to the Zoo while the guys played golf. Jackson LOVES the Zoo! But, I think he gets SO excited about an upcoming trip there that he wastes energy. The last few times he have gone, he has melted down WAY before I would expect him to. It's so weird! This time was probably still a bit of recovery from his party... We had a really fun time, though, and the weather was GORGEOUS :)

Following the elephant footprints on the way to visit them!

It was a day of VERY silly smiles :D

Doesn't Jackson look like such a big KID???

HUGS!

Not the best picture of Jackson, but none of him were that great, so I picked the best one of me ;)

I must say that this was my first time visiting the Zoo without Josh, and I think I did pretty well navigating us around...

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire...

2011-10-25T15:55:00.000-04:00

I just said to Josh the other day, "It's almost time for Christmas music!!!" As much as he loves Christmas music, he rolled his eyes, and suggested I wait until Halloween is over... BUT, it's not to early to think about holiday cards!!! I LOVE everything about holiday cards: planning our family picture, writing a little update letter (a new tradition I started last year), writing out addresses, printing cute return address labels, buying festive stamps, checking the mail for cards we receive, and looking through old cards and pictures (yes, I do save lots of them from years past...). Luckily, Shutterfly recognizes there are people like me out there--LOL--and started rewarding bloggers and early planners with some free cards! Last year I participated in the Shutterfly Blog-a-thon and received some beautiful FREE cards! They were even the fancy ones that fold in half! AND, I got to add a printed message inside! I used those cards to send to distant family members and printed a little update inside. I ordered a different type of card to send to the rest of our friends and family.

I am THRILLED that Shutterfly is hosting a similar promotion this year!

You will probably not be surprised to hear that I think I have our pictures chosen for our card, and I just started browsing Shutterfly's card selection. There are some SUPER cute ones this year! It will be so hard to make a decision!!! Here is one that I ADORE:

Flurry of Snowflakes Card

And...isn't this matching return address label cute?

Flurry of Snowflakes Address Label

I don't beleive there is an expiration date listed YET, but Shutterfly is offering 20% off on photo cards now!

Summer Reading Programs!

2011-10-25T14:27:00.002-04:00

Yes, I haven't posted in many, many days. Yes, I have actually had THIS post written and ready for a couple of months. Ummm...sorry? :)

Jackson participated in THREE reading programs this summer!!! I LOVED doing these when I was a kid--our library always made theirs so much fun :) I love that families are encouraged to involve their toddlers by doing read alouds.

Of course, I signed Jackson up for the program at our local library: Prince William County Public Library. The program was called Wild Reads, and he had to read 25 books. Here are pictures of his log where I wrote down all of the books we read in order for him to meet the requirements:

Each week during Wild Reads, we were able to collect various Coupons of the Week. The coupons were donated by local businesses and were for discounts at all sorts of local businesses. The prize for completing the whole program was a baseball hat :)

While we were visiting Mimi and Bampa this summer, I went ahead and signed Jackson up for the reading program at the Skokie Public Library. It was called A Midsummer Knight's Read. The library looked fabulous all decorated in a medieval theme. There was a large castle with a few dress-up items for the kids to play in. After checking in after reading each set of 10 books (he had to read 40 total!!!), the kids got to choose a knight out of a small doll-house sized castle. The color of the knight corresponded to a different section of the bookshelves, and one of your next books had to come from that section. Jackson had fun playing in the castle, and coloring in his castle log page. His prize for reading all 40 books was this super cute t-shirt and a coupon book for local businesses.

While we were in Evanston, Jackson also completed a reading log for Barnes and Noble! Jackson read eight books and got a free Clifford book :)

I hope Jackson continues to love reading as much as he does, and looks forward to these programs each summer as much as I did!

The Belly Report!!!

2011-10-20T08:00:00.001-04:00

I'm keeping track of this pregnancy in a second copy of The Belly Book, and thought I would make my posts about this pregnancy a series called The Belly Report :)

We were in our 5th week when we found out we were pregnant: Tuesday, October 2nd! I was SOOO excited to see the two pink lines show up on the test. I was really nervous taking the test because I wanted it to be positive SOOO badly! I felt such a sense of peace once I knew it was positive :) It was so fun to take the test with Josh home when we found out we were pregnant with Jackson, but I NEEDED to know, and I knew taking the test first thing in the morning would be more reliable, so I did it on my own and then called Josh--he was equally as excited :D

I had suspected we might be pregnant while we were at the beach, but I didn't want to dwell on it and then remember the vacation as "the vacation when we thought we were pregnant..." I had two very slight bouts of nausea during dinner two nights. That was weird. I also was really clumsy and dropping lots of stuff which was a pregnancy symptom with Jackson. Turns out my gut was right!!!

Post where we announced our pregnancy AND started this blog: Super Pregnant!

The Belly Report: Dr. Confirmation!

2011-10-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

We had our confirmation doctor's appointment on Monday! It was fun to be back in the office to do this all over again :) Dr. Hibshman was excited to see us and to show us our baby's little fluttering :) Everything looked good on the ultrasound, and we talked about all of the dos and don'ts during pregnancy.

We are due on June 10th, 2012!!! I am a bit bummed about the complete opposite season thing for both maternity clothes and baby clothes (if we have another boy), BUT that's a minor inconvenience ;) Lots of timing works out perfectly this time around (not that it didn't last time): the pregnancy doesn't interfere with Thanksgiving or Christmas travel (this has always been a fear of mine since I CRAVE my family at the holidays!), we have our gender ultrasound to look forward to after the winter holidays die down, I was planning to take Jackson to Chicago during March Madness again this year and I will still be able to travel, and we are due in plenty of time to make it to Minneapolis for Larry and Michelle's wedding! YAY!

I remember when I got pregnant with Jackson, I was surprised how fast certain symptoms showed up. This time, I am shocked at how early they ALL seem to be showing up: dropping things left and right, pregnancy brain, everything tastes really good (when I feel like eating), peeing a lot, tired!, bloating, snotty nose, nausea, sore boobs, back pain, acid reflux and hormonal crying.

I am craving pizza, pasta, cheese, gummy candies, and soup (does that count as a craving when it's the only thing that sounds good sometimes?). I'm trying hard to be good, and I really need to get better, but right now I'm sort of just going with what sounds good... Within reason???

I am LOVING going back and reading the corresponding posts of when I was pregnant with Jackson. I thought it would be fun to add those links to these posts :)

First pregnancy pic: We're Growing a Lima Bean!

Jackson's 3rd Birthday Party!!!

2011-10-12T17:25:00.000-04:00

We went with an M&M themed-party because Jackson has always loved the M&M guys! Whenever we were in CVS or the grocery store where they had a "life-sized" plastic M&M guy with a hole in his tummy for candy, Jackson would point and laugh! I thought it would make a cute party theme :)

I made M&M invitations: M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand!

For party favors, I made this Pinterest idea: fill balloons with playdough to make squishy balls!

We attached a set of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and brown balloons to the mailbox out front! The porch railing and columns were wrapped in red, yellow, green, and blue streamers, but they didn't pack quite as much punch as I had imagined...

Happy 3rd Birthday Jackson!

More balloons inside plus additional M&M circles on the walls. This was totally Josh's idea! It was a really good one, and he even cut out the additional circles and taped them up :)

Goody bags!

I LOVED stocking up on different flavored M&Ms in preparation for the party! They were all labeled and I think the peanut butter ones were definitely the favorite!

M&M cupcakes! The cupcakes were Chocolate Chocolate Chip flavored, but with just store bought frosting, not the Nutella frosting in the link ;)

Jackson knew he got three candles plus one extra for good luck. He was ready to blow out all four!

The table to the left had party hats and stickers to decorate them. There were more M&M flavors on the tall table along with the photo books from Jackson's first two birthdays.

Parading around the firepit!

Josh, Joe, and Mark all matched!

Mary Jo and Bobby hanging out with Lora

We were more than happy to enjoy the Bloomin' Pizza Bread and Bloomin' Onion Bread!

Lora, Sara, Susie, Dana, Rachel, Jolene (and Owen), Mary Jo (and Bobby), and Stephanie!

Rachel, Ella, and Jackson "playing" Baggo ;)

Lining up for Pin the M on the M&M

There was no blindfold or spinning around. They were excited enough about taking turns and using tape!

Reagan and Avery were a hit with their matching outfits :)

Dinner on the deck! Josh grilled delicious burgers and hotdogs (as usual!)--YUM!

Getting a little shy as it's time to hear "The Birthday Song!"

Jackson blew out most of the candles with just a little help from Daddy!

Not quite as messy-funny as the first couple of years, but still pretty good :)

We ended the evening with a fire in our firepit. The kiddos got to wind down with a little Mickey Mouse. A win, win situation :)

Jackson was SOOO looking forward to his special party! It was really fun for us to have him be able to look forward to it in advance--for real, not just a few hours, or maybe a day. He had fun shopping with me for all of the decorations and getting things ready. He was particularly excited for the cupcakes and candles :) We had a great time watching Jackson be celebrated by a great crowd of good friends--we are so blessed in that arena especially :)

Virginia Beach in the Fall

2011-10-10T16:21:00.000-04:00

We kicked off our trip to Virginia Beach with a stop at Jackson's Great-Aunt Lil's house! Jackson had a good nap in the car and then we had a nice visit with Lil and some yummy snacks :) Jackson also got this super-cute apron while we were there--perfect in which for him to carry his tools!

We left Lil's and drove about 45 minutes to the beach, checked into our hotel, Doubletree Virginia Beach, and then headed to find some dinner. We ate at Qdoba and then ran next door to pick up a few groceries to keep in the room.

The next morning we headed down to the beach!!! Jackson was so excited to finally get to the actual beach and to get to play in the sand! Our hotel was not beachfront--it was about a mile from the beach :( We went ahead and walked it this first day, but scoped out the parking situation as we walked. We ended up finding an excellent little FREE spot to park in the rest of the days :) Jackson got right to work with his bucket and shovel. He had NO interest in going in the water :(

I checked out a bunch of books about the beach before our trip, and Jackson loved reading about making sandcastles, so he was thrilled to have Daddy help him build a few!

We also built a road for Jackson's little trucks to drive down!

After playing at the beach for a bit we walked down the boardwalk to play at the playground at Neptune's Park. Jackson LOVED that! We walked back to the hotel...and had no nap :( We did spend the afternoon at the pool before just hanging out in the room for the rest of the evening. Jackson ate some dinner and Josh and I ordered pizza from this pizza place we found a couple of years ago that has yummy pizza and delicious garlic knots!

Since Jackson had gone to bed late Sunday night, woken up early Monday morning, not napped Monday afternoon, and spent lots of time in the pool and outside, this was how stories before bed ended (at 6:55pm):

On Tuesday morning we took Jackson bowling for the first time! We went to an AMF lane, and it was GREAT! Jackson LOVED it! He and Josh were mostly bowling buddies--they were such a cute team! We did use bumpers, but Jackson beat me in each game...

We used a Groupon for two hours of bowling, and Jackson only petered out at the tail end. BUT, we got to use this awesome dinosaur slide helper:

Jackson really got a kick out of being able to bowl more on his own!

Due to the no nap situation on Monday and Jackson not sleeping well at all the first two nights, we decided Jackson has outgrown the Pack-n-Play! What a sad story (and inconvenient time to discover it...) :( We just bit the bullet and laid him down for his nap in the second big bed in our room! He fell asleep and did great!!! We were SOOO proud of him!!! He slept in his own bed for the rest of the trip. He did fall out once each night, but didn't seem traumatized...

After his great Big Boy Nap, we went to the beach in the afternoon. I forgot what a beautiful time of day it is to be at the beach! This time we drove to our newly discovered parking spot and walked to the part of the beach near the fun playground Jackson liked so much the day before. This worked out great because Jackson could go back and forth between the playground and the beach, and Josh and I just had to settle our stuff once.

We went back to the hotel, got Jackson cleaned up, and then we walked a few blocks down the street to Beach Bully BBQ--SOOO good! We LOVED our food, and the atmosphere was pretty cute too!

On Wednesday morning we went to the pool at the hotel before Josh got ready to go golfing! Jackson and I hung around the hotel--playing with trucks and reading books in the lobby--until it was naptime. Once nap was over and Josh was back, we headed to the playground we discovered last year: Grommet Island. Jackson had fun, but it was more fun last year when he had a playmate :(

A big storm was rolling in as we left the playground! We managed to get through dinner and back to the hotel before it really started pouring! I must admit we went back to Beach Bully BBQ for dinner because it was THAT good!!!

On Thursday I redeemed one of my favorite Hanukkah presents from this past year: 24 Hours Off-Duty While at the Beach!!! I wanted to spend the day with Josh and Jackson, but not be in charge of the routine aspects...or the chasing... ;) We all headed to the beach and Jackson and Josh alternated between the playground and the sand while I relaxed in my beach chair with a book :) It was heaven! We even got to see a bunch of dolphins playing out in the ocean! After a good naptime, we went to the pool before getting ready to go down and eat dinner at Max & Erma's (the restaurant in our hotel). We had a yummy and relaxing dinner before heading to the boardwalk for a nice walk and some more play time at the playground. Jackson was the most excited about making sandcastles before we got to the beach, but the playground at Neptune's Park was definitely his favorite thing! After playing at the playground, we went back to Max & Erma's for dessert--they have an all you can eat ice cream sundae bar!!!

Clearly, we all enjoyed THAT!

Friday was our last day :( We went to the playground in the morning and then Josh took Jackson to the pool while I finished up packing. Jackson was pretty tired out, so we ended up eating an early lunch and hitting the road a bit earlier than we had planned.

We had SUCH a good time--these fall trips to the beach are SO nice! I really liked the Sunday-Friday schedule we were on. The hotel was busy, but not overly so. I didn't feel like Jackson was a nuisance if we wanted to hang out in the lobby or anything, so it was relaxing to just hang out there. We still prefer to stay beachfront since our favorite thing is walking on the boardwalk, but this was a good lesson to learn in the fall rather than the summer...

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jackson!!!

2011-10-09T23:00:00.000-04:00

Jackson turned THREE today!!! We had a fabulous M&M themed party yesterday (separate post coming this week) and a fun day today :) We can't believe we have such a BIG boy all of a sudden...

Jackson's Third Year in Pictures

2011-10-07T23:18:00.000-04:00

Jackson's First Year in Pictures

Jackson's Second Year in Pictures

There's Gonna Be a Wedding!!!

2011-10-05T08:16:00.000-04:00

Uncle Larry proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Michelle, the Friday before we left for the beach!!! We are so excited for them to start this new chapter of their life together. It sounds like we will be headed to Minneapolis some time this coming summer for the wedding :) :) :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Pumpkin Recipes

2011-10-04T14:31:00.001-04:00

I LOVE pumpkin!!! I decided I wanted to try a different pumpkin recipe each week for this fall season :) Here is a list of my top runners, in no particular order:

1. Pumpkin Cheddar Biscuits
2. Double Pumpkin Kissed Chocolate Chunk Cookies
3. Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Scones
4. Pumpkin Cheesecake Cobbler
5. Faux Pumpkin Shake
6. Pumpkin Dip
7. Mini Pumpkin Tiramisu
8. Chocolate and Pumpkin Pie Bars
9. Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
10. Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

As a bonus, here is my FAVORITE recipe for pumpkin (it is quite possible the BEST pumpkin bread/muffin recipe EVER!)

3 1/2 c flour
2c dark brown sugar
2c pumpkin puree
1/2c vegetable oil (I always sub applesauce for this in addition to the applesauce it already calls for)
1/2c applesauce
2/3c coconut milk (Thai Kitchen is my favorite kind so far)
2t baking soda
1t salt
1t nutmeg
1 1/2t cinnamon
1c chopped walnuts (optional)
1 bag of chocolate chips (optional)

Mix all of the ingredients together except for the nuts and chocolate chips. Fold those in last.

For bread, bake at 350 for 1h 15m.
For muffins, bake at 350 for 20m.

Linked up to Top Ten Tuesday at Oh Amanda!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-10-03T08:34:00.000-04:00

We were on vacation most of last week, so this is the previous week's menu (we were lucky enough to have friends make us dinner and have us over when we got back, so there really was no cooking for me last week!). I also threw in the two pumpkin recipes I made yesterday :)

Monday: Pizza and fries
Tuesday: Chicken Parm Subs with salad
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Tacos and rice
Friday: Burgers, hotdogs, salad, chips, and grilled peaches with ice cream for dessert
Saturday: dinner out at BGR
Sunday: First day of Virginia Beach vacation!!!

Extras:
We made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins toward the end of the week to take on our trip :) Recipe coming later...

I also forgot to post that I made Fruit Salsa when Mom was here, and I cheated a little and used applesauce instead of whole apples. It turned out really well, and was super fast to make! I think my next move might be to try substituting some faux sweeteners...

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles--delicious! They weren't as pumpkin-y as I had hoped they would be, but they were a good, lighter cookie. RecipeGirl said she left out cream of tartar which is in most snickerdoodle recipes, but she WOULD add it next time. So, I looked up a few standard snickerdoodle recipes and went ahead and added 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar to my batch--seemed to work fine!

Pumpkin Dip--YUMMY! Believe it or not, I've never had pumpkin dip! I made it to take to book club last night and everyone seemed to like it :) I brought bananas, strawberries, nilla wafers, and pretzels as dippers. But, the possibilities are endless!

For more yummy recipes ideas, head over to Menu Plan Monday at Org Junkie!

Vacation Pre-Game

2011-09-24T23:18:00.000-04:00

We are leaving tomorrow after lunch for Virginia Beach!!! We will spend five nights there and come home on Friday. We are SOOO excited to have a little getaway, and to just relax as a family :) Anyways, we started our vacation a bit early with a fun outing this afternoon/evening: we took a 45-minute cruise along the Potomac to see the major monuments and some other notable sites. I had bought a Living Social deal where the cruise was only $7/person instead of $14. Jackson didn't need a ticket, so we thought that was a great deal! The cruises are run by DC Cruises, and we had such a good time!!! The above picture is of Jackson hanging out at the harbor waiting for our boat. He had a grand time watching the ducks :)

This is a picture of our boat! It wasn't very big, but it was perfect--we could see out of all of the sides and feel a great breeze from the river. We left our house after naptime and made it in time for the 5:45 cruise. Jackson was really hesitant to get on the boat, but he ended up LOVING it!!!

This was how Jackson spent much of the cruise: checking on the waves our boat was making :) He also was sure to point out each airplane that flew overhead...

I've never had this view of the Lincoln and Washington Monuments!

We are in a bit of a rainy patch, but today actually turned out to be beautiful!

A peek at the Jefferson Memorial

Navy-Marine Memorial: there are seven seagulls to represent the seven seas and the memorial is dedicated to the Navy and Merchant Marine who died at sea in World War I

We cruised by the Pentagon, and on the way we passed lots of boats parked in their slips. Jackson loved looking at them, but he informed us, "I don't want to park that." He said it so seriously, but it came out of NOWHERE!

The views were really pretty--it was so neat to do something we had never done before in DC!

LOVE this picture of my two JASes :)

After our tour ended we headed over to BGR Burger Joint in Old Town Alexandria for dinner to use up two Groupons! LOL We have bought some great stuff on Groupon and Living Social, but the latest batch is expiring all at once! We hadn't been to BGR yet, but had heard pretty good things. Our overall rating is probably a C. I did not care for the atmosphere at all! It was a pretty crowded space for the volume of business they had, but the decorations, acoustics, and music did not make for a peaceful dining experience. At least for me. Josh had a beef burger and I had a veggie burger. The veggie burger was really good, but Josh's was quite a good hamburger! The fries were super disappointing :( We did like that they had a slightly more expanded menu than Five Guys (shakes, for instance), but we didn't see any reason to quit frequenting Five Guys! There were a few tables around us that seemed to be serving tourists, and we did agree that if we were staying in Old Town, for instance, this would be a great choice. We didn't feel like we were given full disclosure about how to use our Groupons, so we ended up spending more additional money than we had planned since we had already bought a portion of our food, but that's ok. I won't blame the whole restaurant for that miscommunication...

We had such a fun family outing--we definitely would like to do the Mini-Monument Cruise again when we have visitors. I was thrilled we only paid $7, but we feel like it would be worth full price too :)

Now We'll Use Our Backyard!

2011-09-23T22:41:00.000-04:00

There was SO much we wanted to do right away to really feel like we "finished" our house, but there's only so much you can do right away! We were thrilled to find our the project manager for our house was someone we really trusted, and wanted to keep working with :) Tom was amazing during the whole house-building process, and he built us a beautiful deck!!!

The deck right off of the kitchen

A view from the yard

A different view from the other side of the yard

Once we got the deck finished, Josh set about making us an area to sit outside and relax around a fire. We had a deck with patio space when we lived in Illinois, and we LOVED hanging out around the fire with friends in the evenings. We are SO happy to have a new space to do that here :)

View of the firepit/patio from the deck

Josh, Scott, and Joe were awesome and moved all of our brick pavers from our old house to the new house, so Josh was able to build most of our patio area with those! Then, he and Jackson took several "special trips" into the woods behind our house to gather filler rocks. Jackson LOVED being part of the building process, but it might be a little while before he can stay up late enough to enjoy the actual fire part...

Fun Fall Weekend!

2011-09-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

Fall arrived at the end of this past week!!! I know we will probably see some more warm temperatures, but we sure enjoyed the cool ones :) Jackson and I went for a run Friday morning, and then we attempted to run ONE quick errand to get the last ingredients for two recipes I was planning to bake. We tried to make Walmart our one-stop shopping store, but they failed miserably :( I needed molasses to bake a Shoo Fly Pie for Josh. I asked three different people for help finding it, and not only did none of them know what it was, but they were fairly rude about it. ARGH! So, we ended up popping into two more stores to finish my shopping before finally getting home to do some baking. The Shoo Fly Pie was not my favorite, but Josh likes it! I also baked a loaf of Nutella Marbled Banana Bread to take to dinner that night. Our neighbors, the Walburgers, invited us over for dinner and provided the fixings for Make-Your-Own-Burritos/Taco Salad--it was all SOOO good! Alyssa and Ashley are favorites with my boys because they come over as "mother's helpers" to play with Jackson and brush Pax :) It was nice to have some adult time to talk with Aimee and Dave and get to know them. Unfortunately, we were a bit late to dinner because Paxton ate FOUR of the six slices of bread I had had on a plate to take with us!!! I could not believe he did that--very out of character! Luckily the vet said the amount of nutella he probably ate for his weight wasn't going to cause serious trouble. Phew!

We did a few projects around the house Saturday morning, including Jackson trying on his new gym shoes! WOO HOO!!! Poor guy hasn't had any closed shoes that fit all summer. This was really only a problem when we went to Fantasy Playground since the base of the playground is small gravel. Anyways, he's pumped :) He spent a lot of time playing outside and enjoying the weather! Josh left to play golf with Joe just before naptime, but Susie and Rachel came over to go to the playground after naptime! We drove down to our elementary school so the kids could try out that playground. They had a really good time :)

We got Jackson and Rachel all squeaky clean and settled in bed before sitting down to enjoy our own yummy dinner that Josh grilled! It was Grilled Hawaiian Chicken with grilled pineapple. Josh thought we could try boiling the marinade down to a reduction to pour over the chicken, and it worked like a charm! SOOO yummy! I also went ahead and tried making coconut rice--it all went together so nicely!

After dinner, Josh made our first fire in our new firepit!!! It was a PERFECT night for a fire, and we all enjoyed relaxing outside in the yard :)

The above picture is of the lovely way our Sunday ended. Unfortunately, it did not get off to a fabulous start. We had planned to head out in the morning to Cox Farms for the preview weekend of pumpkin season. We were all loaded up in the car when it wouldn't start. I kind of thought there was no chance of the Prius ever being dead, but apparently I was wrong... Josh was a ROCKSTAR in getting it jumped! Luckily I had parked in the driveway instead of my usual spot IN the garage. Since the Prius's system is all computerized, there was no way to turn on the car to shift it to neutral. Therefore, we couldn't move the Prius AT ALL! We cleared EVERYTHING out of the garage so Josh could back the Xterra in and maneuver it to be at just the right angle to jump the Prius. It took quite a few tries, but Josh did get it just perfect! Of course, there was no guarantee that once we got it jumped that would fix the problem... Luckily that did fix it! It was too late to head to the farm, however :( We had a bit of a lazy rest of the morning before Jackson took a late nap. Josh and I decided it would be fun to rent a movie and do our first Family Movie Night! I walked to our neighborhood 7-11 and picked up "Rio" from Redbox. Then it was time for dinner with some more neighbors, the Bashores! We had dogsat for their dog while they were out of town this past week. We also offered for them to join us for dinner so they wouldn't have to worry about groceries or whatever (that first night of dinner is one of my least favorite things after a trip). We ended up taking the chili and biscuits we made to their house so we could all enjoy the football game together :) After a yummy dinner, we invited the girls, Reagan and Avery, to our house to watch the movie with Jackson. Everyone was thrilled! Jackson LOVED having the girls come over to watch his "special" movie, and the girls seemed to really like the movie. It was pretty cute :) I LOVE the opportunity our new house in a brand new neighborhood has provided us to make some really good friends--this weekend was a great example!

Our Long-Awaited Mimi Visit!!!

2011-09-21T13:13:00.000-04:00

Sadly, I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked during my mom's visit, BUT we were busy and we had such a good time!!! My mom was supposed to come in August with my dad, but she couldn't due to her sciatica nerve acting up :( The bright side was we got two separate trips out of the original one--that was nice!

Mom flew in on Thursday the 8th, and we went right away to Josh's office so she could see his new office!!! We also walked over and had Cosi for lunch. This was strangely reminiscent of exactly how we started off my dad's trip! Mom and I brought Jackson home for a nap, and later that evening we went to Wegman's for dinner! We ate upstairs in their cafe area and also bought some yummy groceries :) TERRIBLE rain had started on our way to dinner, and many roads were closed due to high water once we started our usually short drive home. We finally made it, and we were SO happy to have a garage when we got home! It was crazy to watch the rain for the rest of the night!

Friday was much clearer for the most part! We spent the morning shopping and then stopped to have lunch. We had planned to take Jackson to the library on Thursday, but it got postponed due to Josh getting off work earlier that we had thought. We thought we'd just go Friday afternoon instead, but the Prius was in the shop getting new tires, so by the time we picked it up, the library was almost closed :( I felt so bad for Jackson, but he got in 10 minutes and seemed happy with that! That night we tried out a new chinese restaurant in our neighborhood, and it was SO good!

We bummed around on Saturday during the day, but then we had a fun evening :) We had planned to grill pizzas for dinner and have the Yanceys over. Then Mom, Susie, and I were going to go see a movie while the guys hung out. There was a sneak preview playing for "How Does She Do It?" but it was much closer to Susie and Joe's house. So, we invited ourselves over there, took the ingredients for dinner, made dinner, and then went on our way! It was such a cute movie and so fun to go to the movies :)

On Sunday, we took Mimi to the National Zoo! Jackson had been looking forward to this for WEEKS! We had such a nice morning checking out the animals and having lunch :)

On Sunday night we went to Tim's Rivershore Restaurant and Crabhouse with Mom. We had such a good time when we went with Dad, that we had to make sure Mom got the full experience :) This time we tried to choose a slow time (we succeeded there) so we could easily get a table by the water--SO nice! Jackson had a great time checking out the few boats that were docked, and we all enjoyed the beautiful evening! I was sad I forgot my camera because there would have been some good photo ops...

We hung out Monday morning, had a late breakfast with Josh, met a friend for a later lunch, and then helped Josh plan out our new firepit-patio area before taking Mom to the airport.

As always the trip went by way too fast, and I am now counting down the days until we drive out for Thanksgiving!!!

Top Ten Tuesday: Things You'd Be Surprised to Know...

2011-09-20T09:20:00.000-04:00

If you know me, you might be surprised to find out the following:

1. I often walk past piles of things on the stairs and DON'T take them upstairs.
2. My loads of laundry rarely get washed, folded, AND put away in the same day!
3. There are dirty dishes all over my counters more often than not.
4. I probably don't clean the bathtubs as often as I should...
5. Jackson's baby book is not filled out in a meticulous fashion.
6. Gardening is not top of my hobbies list.
7. When I put lids on Jackson's little plastic bowls I actually prefer the color of the lid and the color of the bowl to NOT match! (Perhaps this is the biggest shocker???)
8. For as crazy as dog hair drives me I don't vacuum or brush my dog as often as you would think...
9. I wait until the day or two before a trip to pack.
10. My car currently smells like fertilizer :(

***Many of these things drive me nuts and I'm working on changing them one at a time... It's the small life goals, isn't it?

For more possibly random thoughts, check out Top Ten Tuesday at Oh Amanda!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-09-19T15:04:00.000-04:00

Picture Credit: http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/07/bloomin-pizza-bread.html

Monday: Baked Prosciutto and Egg Cups for breakfast while Mom was still here and Grilled sausage and chips for dinner after she was gone :(
Tuesday: Grilled Salmon and Asparagus with Balsamic Butter
Wednesday: Trader Joe's Orange Chicken with rice
Thursday: Leftover soup from the freezer with Bloomin' Pizza Bread to accompany--this was A.MAZ.ING!!! I told Josh we should have it once a week for dinner with a salad ;)
Friday: Taco Bar at our neighbors' house--I made Nutella Marbled Banana Bread to bring (I also made Shoo Fly Pie per Josh's request. He really likes it! I'm apparently not a huge molasses fan, therefore I don't care for it. But, it was super easy...especially because I used a store-bought crust...)
Saturday: Hawaiian Grilled Chicken with coconut rice and grilled pineapple--everything was SOOO good! The chicken recipe explains how to make coconut rice, and it was delicious! The marinade for the chicken looked and smelled amazing, so we boiled it down and made a reduction to pour over the chicken and rice--YUM! (I also only used 1.5 cups of soy sauce and water instead of the recommended 2.)
Sunday: Chili with biscuits made from the recipe on the back of the baking powder!!! They were quite yummy :) Our neighbors brought us these amazing cookies tonight, so I just needed to share: S'mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Check out more yummy recipes at Menu Plan Monday hosted by Org Junkie!

Words to Remember

2011-09-16T16:02:00.001-04:00

While shopping at the mall with my mom, anytime he saw something purple, Jackson said, "That's Kaitlyn's! Give it back her!" (KK has a purple Pillow Pet, so apparently Jackson thinks all things purple belong to her...???)

The other morning Jackson came into the kitchen while I was using the food processor, and he held his hands out in front of him, shook them side to side, and said, "Mommy, be quiet! (whispering) My show is on!"

In the kitchen, Jackson stepped on Pax's paw and said, "Oh! I sorry Waxie Bear! I step on your foot! I sorry!"

We went to the grocery store while I wasn't feeling great (allergies?), and I had told Jackson that I was tired and didn't feel well. He asked me part way through if I was still tired. When I told him I was, he said, "Mommy tired. You get comfy on the couch. You'll feel better!" He gave his prescription with a super cute concerned look on his face. Then he gave me a little kiss :)

On the same shopping trip, I kissed the top of Jackson's head. He looked up at me and said, "That was nice!" He asked to kiss my cheek and then told me to say the same thing to him! LOL

Jackson and Josh took a "special trip" into the woods to look for rocks to complete our patio/firepit area. Jackson told Josh he was too busy so could Josh please carry him!

The day after Jackson's first special trip with Daddy, we couldn't find his most favorite airplane. Jackson whispered to me that he would ask the owls when he and Daddy went on another special trip that afternoon. Where did that come from???

I took Jackson to Kohl's yesterday, and I took him in the dressing room to try on some pants (first time for that!). He looked so cute in the new pants and his bare toes sticking out, so I said, "There is some serious cuteness going on!" Jackson said, "I'm cute!" I laughed and told him that he was. But then I asked him what he should say when someone gives him a compliment. He said, "Wassssuuuuppppp!" (This is Josh and Joe's special greeting, and Jackson has learned how to say it too. He's been practicing saying it to Joe, and I guess that is also how he will acknowledge comliments...???)

I feel like there have been SO many more funny conversations had this week, but they are escaping me now... It is really fun to listen to Jackson string together more and more words (although we are in another cycle of not being able to understand him 100% of the time since he's using more words and talking faster)--he has quite an imagination budding :)