Old Fashion Fun

Over the past few weeks, we've been lovin' the great weather and spend most of our days outside. Jackson is pretty stealth these days & has figured out how to open the front door, which is his way of saying "let's go outside". We've had a few days of fun in the sprinkler, one of which we just ditched his swim trunks & diaper all together and let him be play "naked baby" as we call it.





Popsicles are one of our favorite summer treats & it's much less messy now that Jackson's learned to hold it by the stick rather than fisting the whole pop.




We have a bee problem out back this spring, so Ben has been obsessed with storming around the yard with a fly swatter reducing their population. Mini-me likes to follow Daddy around with his fly swatter, too. And help Dad saw the fence. And hammer...








Jackson also helped me make banana nut muffins this morning & got to lick the bowl for the first time. No worries health nuts, it was egg-less batter.





We capped off the weekend with a trip to downtown Greer for the Family Fun Festival, where we Met up with some friends. Jackson & his buddy Kade had a ball playing behind the gate in front of the band, riding the train and of course playing on Daddy's shoulders.

















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Easter Weekend

For Easter, we headed up to Hickory to spend some time with my parents.  Friday, we were so eager to get to Conover & see our little man, as mom had had him since Wednesday.  We loved having a break, but were really ready to get him back in our arms. 

Saturday morning, we headed up to Hickory bright & early to have family portraits made.  These were long overdue and we can't wait to see how they turned out!  Jackson had a blast swimming in Poppy's roof-top hot-tub and didn't want to get out, even after his fingers & toes were all pruny.  We had a yummy BBQ lunch, then headed down to Newton so Jackson could participate in the Easter Egg Hunt at Mom's church.  In the toddler egg hunt, they had essentially dumped eggs out on the floor for them to "find" and "put in their baskets" (i.e. practice cleaning up their toys).   Jackson got bored after about a dozen eggs and had more fun blowing dandelions & grubbing on cupcakes.

Back at Bebe's, we found an old metal scoot car in the basement & Jackson had a blast scooting it around the driveway.  Between the, the new slide Bebe got him, chalk, bubbles, a new baseball bat & tee and the golf cart, it was pretty much just like camp.

We had a suprise belated birthday celebration for me Saturday night...

And Sunday morning, the Easter Bunny had come with a basket full of surprises for Jackson.

Sunday after church, Bruce's daughter & her sons came over.  Jackson isn't a fan of babies and go pretty jealous when Bebe held Josiah (3 months old).  Eventually, he got over it and wanted to hold the baby himself.  Hopefully this is a good sign...



Twice in 1 week?

Last Monday, as I was checking out at Hobby Lobby, Jackson decided to gift me with a disastrous diaper. Of course the diaper bag was sitting on the kitchen table at home. So like any well-prepared Mommy, I cleaned him up with wipes I thankfully keep in the car & strapped him in to the carseat diaper-less telling him not to wee-wee because we'd be home in 10 minutes. Obviously, my unpotty trained 22 month old didn't get what that meant and sure enough, managed to soak his car seat in the less than ten minute ride home. So you'd think I would have learned my lesson & been diligent about Preparing prior to our next outing...

Fast forward 2 days. We have been to Costco and are just leaving Trader Joe's when J has a second epic blow-out (thanks to the delicious berry smoothie at Costco). Blow-out as in pants-may-be-permanently-ruined & he has a 2-inch wide streak up the back of his polo. This time, I have a spare diaper but no extra outfit. And of course it's the only day in the past two weeks that's it's been 60 degrees out. Blanket toga to the rescue. At least he almost smiled for the camera!




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"Strawbabies"

Last Friday, we went to pick fresh strawberries as our playgroup activity. We had a blast & the boys loved running up & down the rows & rows. Jackson's getting really verbal in the past few weeks and calls strawberries "strawbabies".  He wasn't much help filling up our carton, but he did love sampling berries straight off the vine as well as nabbing a few out of our carton.

  

Wrightsville Beach

The first weekend in April, we headed down to Wrightsville Beach to see the Talbert crew.  We stayed with Ben's Aunt Judy & Uncle Bud, and Oma & Opa and Jon all met us there.  Ben took two days off week so we loved having a 4 day weekend!  The weather was nice most the time so we played on the beach, kayaked, went boating and just chilled.  Aunt Judy has enough toys to open a daycare and Jackson had a ball playing with plasma cars, sand toys, swings, slides, kayaks, and his cousins.  He took killer naps each day and woke up ready to go.

It was great to also get to spend time with Ben's cousins, who we rarely see, & their children. 

Hi there, New Baby!

We had another ultrasound today and it yielded a precious profile shot of New Baby.  We also got a 3D/4D and got to see a realistic image of our little angel.  Despite only being 22 weeks & the baby being pretty much skeletal & no fat, we got some great images.  New Baby is healthy & everything looks perfectly normal.  I'm also showing no signs of high-risk pregnancy & the specialist was pleased with how things are progressing.  And once again, we managed to avoid any crotch shots -- the suspense is getting harder & harder! 

Happy iPad to me!

Well, actually, its Happy Birthday to Me....Happy 30th Birthday to me, to be exact. But rather than have a blow-out party which seems waay to "mid-20s", I wanted to lay low this year. After all, its kinda hard to ring in a new decade of life with pregnancy fatigue & sparkling water! So I bartered with Ben and we decided to scratch the par-tay and get me an iPad instead. Ben did a bit of fundraising with our parents & siblings (& Sally!) so it was a group present. Unfortunately, the iPad 2 is on backorder until early-to-mid May so my shiny new toy is not quite mine yet. So now, I'm just eagerly awaiting Fed Ex to ring my doorbell and present me with my much awaited skinny brown box.

In the meantime, I received a deliciously gorgeous Edible Arrangement bouquet from BFF Alisha, Alex & Ethan. It was beautiful & yummy - especially the chocolate dipped apple wedges.

Ben also brought home a beautiful tulip arrangement which has continued to bloom each day. I love fresh flowers!

Unfortunately, I was sick with terrible sinus issues the week of my birthday so I really wasn't able to enjoy the day as much as I would have liked. Instead, I sent Jackson to Bebe's for a few days and I spent most of my time laying around trying to clear my head, ears, throat, etc. We postponed my bday dinner & opted for homemade potato soup. Welcome to my 30s!