Easter Events

It was kind of a bummer celebrating Easter without Derek, but it was harder on him I think than it was on us. Thankfully, Easter means more to our family than just spending time with family and hiding plastic eggs. Jackson is beginning to understand why we celebrate Easter and that really reminded me of what’s really important!

As I got out this sticker activity thing that tells the story of Easter, Jackson pointed to the cross and said, “I know that! We talked about that at MOPS!” I was so proud. And he told me that the stone was rolled away and that the angel was there. That sure made this Mommy proud.

But of course, we still had an Easter Egg hunt for the kids. And we did this before Derek left. It worked out perfectly—the weather was wonderful and it was good practice before they were bombarded by hoards of kids at our church egg hunt.

 

Once Belle figured out there was candy inside the egg, she quit caring about finding more eggs and spent her time trying to open the few eggs she already had in her basket.

These guys were far too excited about their eggs and candy to hold still and look at me for even a second for me to take a picture!

 

Okay, I got Jackson to cooperate after Belle got up, but this is the best smile I got. I love this goofy boy! And I want to make sure to document that Jackson refers to the activity of finding Easter eggs as “Easter Egg Hunking”. That cracks me up.

I spent the holiday up at my parents house. Both of my sisters were in town and it was nice to go to church with them.

The kids looked so good in their Easter outfits. Jackson looked so, so handsome. I am going to have to have him wear the outfit again soon so I can get more pictures! He was a little stud muffin. Belle, on the other hand, loves to pose for the camera. She doesn’t hold still for long, but she loves the attention!

The kids opened their Easter baskets first thing in the morning.

Belle immediately started snuggling her stuffed animal and Jackson was super excited about his toy gun {which is staying at Grammy’s house!!}  

Gram Gram and Grandma Dryer drove down from Trenton for lunch, which was delicious. I had the responsibility of cooking the ham and ya know, it was pretty tasty if I do say so myself. {okay, it was a precooked ham and everything, but I’m still taking credit.}

Belle and Aunt Wa-wa. Jackson spent most of the day with Ashley and her boyfriend, Zach. Whenever Zach is around, Jackson becomes his little shadow.

 

The weather was wonderful!

And Aunt Wa-Wa snapped some super cute pictures of my kiddos.

Is this little girl not the most precious little thing ever!? This picture just makes me want to pick her up and give her lots of cuddles and kisses!!

We didn’t get around to dying Easter eggs until today. Jackson had lots of fun. He wasn’t a fan of waiting while the eggs soaked for a bit, but he sure loved switching colors!

 

The finished eggs! Too bad Jackson doesn’t like boiled eggs, but Belle sure does!          
Okay, so sorry for massive amount of photos in this post! Derek misses the kids so I wanted to make sure he had plenty of picture to hold him over until next Sunday. Hope you and your family had a blessed Easter!

Mother's Day & Baby Dedication

Yesterday was Mother's Day and also Belle's baby dedication! She did so good sitting in 'big church' (Jackson, too!) and she was, of course, the cutest little baby of them all!

Presenting Belle before the church

Kneeling as we prayed for guidance and strength to raise Belle in a loving, Christian home

 Look at this beauty! She's holding the gifts she received at the dedication: a flower and Bible

I wanted a cute picture of me with my kiddos. I'm not loving this pic, but it's the best I've got. Jackson sure is super handsome!

Jackson was giving me a kiss- how sweet! I just had to include it- look at Belle's headband. Ha. Poor thing. She didn't even say a word about it!

My day started yesterday with an "Iwuvyou" from Jackson, along with a card and DVD. He was so excited to tell me about how he drew in the card! Derek cleaned my car earlier this week as a Mother's Day gift and I was also treated to shopping time ALONE over the weekend! It was nice to have some me-time, but I couldn't wait to get back to the family. Belle even took part in the gift giving by going to bed without episodes of crying and sleeping all night in her basinette!

I just love, love, love being a Mommy. Even on the days when my favorite jeans get covered in poop and snot well before 10am (like last Tuesday) or when I'm just super tired from getting up a bajillion times for feedings, diaper changes, bad dreams- motherhood is so much more rewarding than I ever expected. I am having a blast taking Jackson to do fun things and watching him grow into such a smart little boy and I could soak up Belle's gummy grins just all day.

And of course, Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mom and to my Mother-in-Law, too! Linda has treated me like a daughter since I first started dating her son- we like to shop, chat, and pedicures. I am so blessed to have such great women to be Grandma's to my children!!

It's officially Christmas time

I love, love, LOVE this time of year! We decorated our tree last week and Jackson has worked on un-decorating it ever since. We've danced around the house to fun Christmas music. I've gotten the chance to pick up a few presents, but have really enjoyed just focusing more meaningful aspects of the holiday!

This morning at our church, the women's ministry put together a Christmas Around the World brunch and it was fabulous. Two full-time missionaries came to speak about their life, the ministry opportunities they have, and how Christmas is celebrated where they serve. One serves as a Bible translator in Tanzania (I am still currently in awe about the work that goes into that process!) and the other was my cousin, Andrea who serves with the IMB in Prague, Czech Republic. They have been back in the states since the summer and it's been nice to visit and hang out with them at family functions, but it was really neat to hear Andrea speak specifically about their role as missionaries.

I spoke for a quick minute about shopping for Fair Trade products this Christmas. Not only will you be purchasing a nice gift for someone, you will be purchasing a product that allows a woman to live a free life and to not become a victim of sex trafficking. Really, you should check out this site for some great gift ideas: purses, jewelry, home decor.

Julie even sang Silent Night in Danish for the entire group! How awesome is she?! 

Jackson is a wonderful (most of the time) age. He picks up new things everyday and continually surprises me with his ability to learn. He loves Christmas lights, "Chrisy lights!!! Petty!" and he can sing along to Jingle Bells and The Little Drummer Boy. I've spent a good part of the week trying to figure out the best ways to teach him about the real meaning of Christmas and decided that a toy nativity scene would be crucial. Those suckers are expensive, so I made sure to browse Craigslist and found a set brand new set just waiting for us.

We got it out to play today. He can point out Mary ("Ma-mi"), Joseph ("Joset" aka "the Daddy"), and baby Jesus ("ssshhh, ni-nite"), all of the animals, and the angel too. It is so sweet. Even when he puts the donkey on top of the stable leaving the angel to eat from the troughs, I just love knowing that he's learning about the story of Jesus and he is capable of understand it all. I am hoping to get to the library to pick up some good books and will be sure to print off some coloring sheets and stuff to use over the next couple weeks.

I've decided that there is something about having a kid that really brings out the urge to focus more on the real meaning of Christmas. And it's so much more fun to look forward to Derek coming home than about opening presents. This really is a wonderful time of year!

MOPS

I wrote this post yesterday with the intention of posting it last night, but my internet was down so it had to wait until this morning.

It's no secret that I despise practically all things cleaning, so it's completely ironic that my new favorite activity is titled MOPS. It actually stands for Mothers of Preschoolers and it's a community of moms that meet a couple times a month. There are groups all across the country and it wasn't until I had a friend mention MOPS on facebook that it even dawned on me to look and find a place close to me!

There was a meet-and-greet activity on Monday night and our first meeting was this morning. I love making new friends, especially ones who have a similar goals of raising their kids in a Godly home! Plus, there is yummy food. I'm definitely looking forward to getting to know the ladies more and making new friends.

One of Jackson's favorite things to do these days is to jump from the fireplace onto his little couch. This is what he was doing as I was preparing to leave... only he missed and instead of landing on the cushy part, he landed face first onto the plastic armrest. He had a nice goose egg as he walked into his class and the poor guy couldn't really open his eye all the way.

In other non-related news, I went to my 16 week check up yesterday and I actually lost two pounds, which still puts me at negative total weight gain. Interesting.

We have had just a crazy, busy week. I haven't even had the chance to write Derek a letter for three days-- a first since he left almost two months ago! Jackson and I haven't spent a lot of good one-on-one time together, but while we were eating dinner at church tonight, he insisted on having his arm around my back while we both ate for the entire meal. It was a hassle, for sure, but it was the sweetest thing ever. He would pat my back, lean over to give me kisses (without even being asked) and was just full of love. I was in mommy heaven!!

The return of Jackon

Remember Jackson's Mother's Day craft? Well, "Jackon" has returned again. This time on his VBS stuff.

I never really expected Jackson to be the one with his name misspelled. I mean, we didn't spell it Jaxon or Jacksen. It kind of makes me chuckle-- that "s" is one tricky letter!! It's more important to learn about Jesus at church than to spell your name correctly anyway! He does insist on taking his Bible to church because Roy always has one in class!

But honestly, I don't even care that much because I love getting stuff he's made!

Bubble, Turch, and Tic-Tacs

Jackson was so proud to carry his Bible (sounds a bit like 'bubble') into church (pronounced, 'turch') this morning. Okay, I was too! It's so cool to see him excited to go to church and learn about the Bible! I won't mention that he threw it on the ground as soon as he saw Roy (aka, the tic-tac man) and ran up to him to say, "sna, sna." We're still working on his manners. 

Jackson is prepared for church- his backpack, blanket, and Bible!

Roy is magic with his tic-tacs. For some it's motivation to use the potty, some it's just for fun, but with our son, it's the bribing technique he uses to keep Jackson from screaming (high pitched, ear piercing screaming) when we drop him off. I just don't understand it. We drop him off in the nursery three times a week. Jackson is 80ish weeks old, so that is approximately 240 times we've dropped him off and have faithfully come to pick him up each and every time. (Not that I can say that about Grandma- I forgot to tell Derek we were supposed to take her home last Wednesday night, so he had to go back and get her. Oops!!). So seriously Jackson-- cut it out! Please!!!

A girl can dream

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

My first was Aladdin. He was just so cute and he tried to so hard to impress the girl he liked. And he could sing. There have been a few others including, but not limited to Uncle Jessie, Zach Morris, Batman, Will Turner... and now, it's Iron Man.

First I thought it was a Robert Downey Jr. thing, but it's really not. It's definitely Tony Stark. He's kind of like Batman-- a super hero without actually being "super" (aside from super good looking). No spider bite, no alien species, no vat of toxic waste-- he's just incredibly smart. And rich. So it means that he could actually exist... right??

I actually went on a date with Iron Man last night. Besides Mickey Rouke (creeptastic!) and Scarlett Johnason (overated!) it was a good movie. But, I've decided that someone that intelligent could never be so good looking. And probably not that socially normal either (surely you've met those super-smart types and sometimes they are just weird). And big biceps, probably not. But hey, that's why it's fiction! And a girl can dream.

And while I'm dreaming, I'll pretend that Jackson's name is spelled right on his clay handprint he made at Sunday School. Haha. To be honest, I didn't even notice it. I was carrying it around, showing it off, oohhing and ahhing over his first of many Mother's Day gifts. Derek didn't notice either and was in denial about it until he saw it himself. It was my sister, yesterday afternoon, that said, "Uhm... this isn't right." What kind of Mom does that make me-- that I didn't even notice?!?!!

Whether it's JACKON or JACKSON, I don't care. I still love it. :)

A Thankful Heart

I love Thanksgiving for the positive aspect of the holiday. Everyone has lots to be thankful for, especially me and my family. I try to have a thankful heart all year round, though I am not always successful when I get caught up all in myself. Here are some of the things I am thankful for this year.

--Family--

I am thankful for my family. My immediate family- Derek and Jackson make me very happy, who love and support me. My Dad who has worked, worked, and worked on my house and who still answers the phone, even when it's the sixth time I've called on one day. My mom who also answers multiple phone calls daily and who also offers to watch Jackson just because. My in-laws who let us live with them and for the time when I was having a tough week, I came home from Minnesota to house that was all clean and ready to move in because they wanted to make it feel home-y. And for the fact that all of my family gets along so well with each other. We are SO blessed in that.

--Friends--

Our friends have been truly wonderful to us this year. Hundreds of hours of labor on our house for exchange for a meal here and there. Often times, I hardly had time to even ask for help because they had already offered and/or used the key to work when we weren't even here. We have the type of friends that when we ask for an inch, they give us a mile- every time. Not only with our house... but just in support, encouragement, and friendship have we been blessed.

--Church--
We love our church. Despite being a member for just about three years, I feel that I have been a part of this family for a lifetime. The foundation, the people, the encouragement. I have enjoyed the Tea for Three activities and getting to know more and more ladies in our church. Our Sunday School class is a blessing and I am so proud of them. Wednesday evenings are my favorite- I love the ladies ministry!

--Country--
With several friends and acquaintances deployed at this time, I cannot say enough how thankful that I am for our country. I am thankful for the Constitution that we fight to uphold. I am thankful for a President and for the democracy our county has that allows citizens to make a choice.

--School--
I am so thankful to be in school- for the opportunity and for the support from the people around me. I love studying psychology. I am thankful for the gifts of understanding people and am so eager to be a counselor. And this semester I am particularly thankful for that my professor agrees that I have a talent.

--Job--
I love my job. Nothing is greater than to be able to stay home with Jackson and I love having David around. Everything is happy in their world and it is such a blessing to be loved by children- with hugs, and smiles, and giggles. I enjoy watching Jackson grow and move on to bigger and better things each day- to actually get to read him books, while he squeals at the animals on the pages. It is so exciting to hear David count the Ten Friendly Frogs, even if it's the fifth time in one day and nothing is more entertaining than to hear him lecture the cat when she isn't nice ("Mia, it is not nice to hit. Do you understand me? Now you say, 'Yes, Ma'am'.").