Deja Vu

This was always one of my favorite pictures! It was taken on August 20, 2009 {just a few days shy of being 10 months}

This one was taken today, March 7th, 2012 {Three years, four months old}

Another from 2009

And today

I am captivated by these pictures. I’ve been staring at them for several minutes. I really needed this! Being three is clearly a difficult age and it has been difficult to parent! We nearly didn’t make it to McDonalds with Grandpa today because of some serious toddler attitude. As he was playing, I remember taking these pictures a couple of years ago and I just felt the need to take some more! Looking at these pictures and comparing has been a much needed reminder of how fast kids really grow. This difficult age is just a phase. Before I know it, he’ll be too big for a happy meal, he’ll be using real dumb bells {not climbing on styrofoam ones!}, and he won’t be so eager for me to snap his picture. He sure is the same happy little fella! I’m definitely gonna soak up some little boy hugs and cuddles as soon as he wakes up from nap!!

My Quotable Kid

I would love this little book to write down all of the things Jackson says. Unfortunately for me (a good thing for our checkbook) this guy is out of stock so this virtual space of mine will just have to do! I really didn't know motherhood would make me laugh so much. I love it!!

Here are some of Jackson's recent notable quotes:

• If you ask Jackson his name, he will say "I'm Jackson (pronounced Jackshon) and I'm two and a half!" In all actuality, a stranger is more likely to know he is two and a half than to know his name. 
• When I say, "Do you understand me?" he replies by saying "Yes Man."
• He uses the word "shark" interchangeably with "sharp". Is that too shark for me?
• In Jackson's world you pay for something and you get whatever you want. One night when we couldn't see the moon, he asked if I could pay for the moon so he could look at it from his window. He also asked for money the other day so that he could buy cookies for Daddy. 
• Jackson is exploring using emotion words and he doesn't always get it right. Sitting at Dairy Queen a few weeks ago, he is delighting in his ice cream and proclaims, "I'm upset" in the most matter of fact sort of tone. He was convinced he was upset, but we were convinced otherwise. This morning, Jackson was talking to Derek on the phone and he proclaimed, "but you just made me mad!" in the sweetest little voice. Ha. No idea. 
• Also speaking to Daddy-- the other day, the two were wrestling around when Jackson stops and gets so serious. He gives Derek a big hug and says, "I'm so glad you're here" in the sweetest, affectionate voice. He really meant it!
• I have convinced Jackson that because I am the mommy I can kiss him whenever I want (and I do). He loves to run while I tackle him to give some kisses. But when he doesn't want a kiss, he say's "You're not my mommy" because he knows he can't say, "don't kiss me/you can't kiss me". 
• We drove by the an amusement park the other day and he says, pointing to a roller coaster, "I want to ride that so I can go AHHHHHH!!" I told him that needs to get taller before he can ride a roller coaster and he has asked me every day if he is tall enough yet. Once, he sat up higher in his chair and asked if that made him tall enough. 

Sometimes Derek and I just lay in bed and laugh about all of the funny things that Jackson comes up with. We love this kid. Derek keeps asking when Belle is going to talk. I definitely look forward to hearing her interpretations of the world around her, but once she starts talking too my ears are never ever going to get a break!!

The family bed

After Derek left for training in July, I remember commenting that our king sized bed just felt so big and lonely sleeping in it by myself. When I was anticipating Derek coming home knowing I wouldn't have to sleep alone anymore, this isn't what I had in mind. Refer to Exhibit A. Our bed has become the family bed. And it's not something that Derek and I are all that thrilled about. In fact, if I could comfortably sleep in Jackson's little bed, I would sleep in his room. Truthfully, I'd probably have more room in his toddler bed than I currently have sharing our king sized bed!

Exhibit A

This is one of the different variations of how the bed sharing takes place. I cuddle Belle because the spoiled sweet little thing goes through phases of only sleeping when held. But on the rare occassion that she does allow me to put her down and give my arm a rest, I can put her in the corner of the pillows and go back to the middle to make sure she doesn't get rolled on or smothered with blankets or pillows. Then every night at varying times Jackson makes his way to our bed. And when we take him back to his bed, it's only a matter of time before he's back again. And of course,there are pillows on the other parts of both sides to prevent child-falling-off disasters. Since I generally have Belle, he goes to Daddy's side. Jackson sleeping style is as follows: on top of you or on top of pillow (as pictured above).

There are of course several variations of the sleep arrangement with special consideration to avoid having Jackson and Belle not sleeping next to each other because I'm fairly certain Belle wouldn't make it out alive.  There are times though when Jackson's on my side, in the middle, or just all over the bed actually. Derek woke up two mornings ago in what he called a kid sandwich. He was squished in between both of them and he couldn't get out until I moved one!

That leave Derek and I with about as much room as a twin bed would offer. There's room to lay straight and that's about it. Sooooo not comfy.

I came upon this comic in the interwebs this week. I totally laughed outloud. 

I went to my 6 week post-partum check up yesterday and she didn't happen to mention this form of birth control. I guess she didn't have to! And hey, this method doesn't even require a co-pay! Derek and I don't plans for another child anytime soon... and these kids must feel the same way!

(I do realize that we could insist on having no kids in our bed, but that involves battles that occur in the overnight hours. Once we can get Belle on fewer, or none, nighttime feedings we may have the energy to make her sleep in her bassinet. And also take Jackson back to his bed several times and deal with the screaming that ensues. But for now we will take the greater amounts of uncomfortable sleep than the lesser amount of comfortable sleep. Though, I will still complain.)

He's Home!!

For some of you, this is old news... but I realized that I never actually posted that Derek is back home. Like, home for good! It's actually been a little over two weeks and it's been simply fabulous! And also the reason for my complete social-network-neglection lately! We've been spending time together as a family and we've even gotten the chance to go on a few dates! We've gotten stuff done around the house and we've been out and about around town!

Derek and I at the top of Liberty Memorial overlooking Kansas City

We celebrated Derek's 27th birthday with family, friends, and cake!

Derek's been loving, cuddling, and soaking up the sweetness of our cute daughter.

 And he's been making sure Jackson gets out his energy in ways that don't leave our house in disarray... like rock wall climbing!

It is SO good to have our family back together. It just feels like this is just the way it's meant to be! 

Derek's been able to spend the past two weeks at home with us (minus two weekends he's had to report for Guard duty) and it's been great to have all that time with him! But he starts back at work on Monday; he's not particularly enthusiastic about it either. Wouldn't it just be great if we could somehow get paid for spending time together as a family so he wouldn't have to work!? Like in a non-train-wreck-Gosselin-family sort of way? Though, after spending a long nine (kidless) months with the army, he may actually be looking forward to a calm, quiet atmosphere several hours a day because goodness knows our house is anything but either of those two things!

Work, play, and the list

We spent a lot of today getting stuff done around the house. Derek got up early and mowed- Jackson helped. He also cleaned out the gutters, which are less than six months old and already had little sprouts growing in them. Ugh. This evening we cleared out several boxes and organized some of the stuff we still haven't unpacked.

Jackson had a playdate with his friend Kate yesterday. He was less interested in sitting and playing with her than he was in running around into the neighbors yard. Oh well. Isn't her little strawberry swimsuit just so cute? Someday I will have my own little dress-up doll daughter, fingers crossed!

I've been working on the list. The Power of Attorney is put together and ready for us to sign and the will is almost done too (we just have to sit down and make our 'picks'). I put a call into the lawyer whose office was down the hall from when I worked with my dad and it literally took maybe five minutes. And he offered to do it at no cost. What a blessing! So I've crossed out two things on the list, but we've now decided to try to finish the basement before Derek leaves, too-- two steps forward, one (major) step back. At least it's progress!

Falling Down

Jackson really outdid himself with his latest boo-boo. Between a fight with the concrete and his forehead, the concrete definitely won. Considering he's had three major falls on concrete in the past five days, I'd say he's looking pretty good.

In other "falling down" news-- Jackson loves to play Ring around the Rosie and is so dramatic about falling down. This is what the kids want to do all day. I have considered purchasing a CD with this tune, so I don't have to sing it over, and over, and over, and over.....

Isn't is super cute how signs and asks "more, more" each time??

Let's face it....

.... this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing.
(a quote borrowed from Iron Man)

But it is rather humorous. It's just a little reminder of how much they pick up on the things you do! Next time, I'll try to make sure a more many kind of deodorant is within arms reach.

The coffee table

So when you break the glass in the Mommy's coffee table...

It's okay... it's kind of like having a basketball hoop.

It's fun to look for things that you've throw in the hole...

And when you reach as far as you can to get the ball that you dropped...

You might just fall in. Which is kind of fun too.

Sugar and Spice

... and everything nice- that's what girls are made of.

I love my rough and tough little boy, but I pray that I will get just one (and only one) sweet little girl in future offspring! God, are you listening?? This cutie patootie is cuddling with me as I type. Don't be jealous because this is what I do for a job.

It is quite possible that I hope for a little girl for all the wrong reasons- more or less a real-life dress-doll. Little girl stuff is just way too cute.  Did you catch the sparkly jeans?? Do you see these shoes?

I have to admit that I appreciate the days when her daddy gets her ready so I get to do her hair (that's just not a dad thing, ya know). Furthermore, I must admit that I do pigtails when I get the chance despite knowing that her daddy thinks they are kinda goofy, but little girls are made for pigtails. Check out this diva outfit!

And just so Jackson won't be jealous- I'll be sure to include a picture of the handsome little man:

And here is a short video clip of David from when he spent the night last week. Derek has been practicing his push-ups for his upcoming drill this weekend. David noticed and decided to join in. Derek told him to get on his hands and toes and then I instructed him to then touch his nose on the ground. He goes from his toes, to his knees, bends down to touch his nose, then back to his toes... it was too cute to see him follow Derek's every move.

Deanna Rose Farmstead

Yesterday was opening day for Deanna Rose Farmstead. The weather was BEAUTIFUL and Elizabeth (Chacey's mom) had the day off work, so we loaded up the kids and headed out to visit the animals. This is some of the best, free fun to be had in Kansas City.

We found the chickens first

Stopped to play at the playground for a bit

Jackson walked right up to the calves and couldn't get enough...

...until he found the Mama cow and tried to climb in.

We paused to play on the tractor

Then we went to visit the baby goats. Jackson had to go make friends with every single goat in the pen. He literally waved "hi" to them all.

I don't know why this picture turned out so bright- but you can still see Jackson hugging two goats at once.

 

Chacey felt a little differently about the goats. So she decided to let Jackson pet the goat, while she petted Jackson. That works, right?

We visited some older goats next. It took a bit of convincing that the pellets were food for the goats- not for Jackson. But he got the hang of it.

We made our way to look at the bison, the long-horned steer, and the ducks. He just enjoyed taking in all the sights.

Lastly, we stop by the waterfall on our way out.

We all had so much fun.When we went last fall, Jackson was 10 months old and a little shy with the animals. This time, he had no problem walking up to pet the animals-- he was in little boy heaven. Seeing him having so much fun is my favorite part of being a mommy.

Larry the Home Depot Guy

Today I took two one-year-olds into Home Depot to buy some grass seed and fertilizer. Since they didn't have any double-seater-stroller-race-car available, I put both kiddos in the basket of a normal cart and headed to garden department. Things were fine until we were in the same spot for too long (choosing a type of grass- who knew there were so many!?) and Jackson got bored and Chacey was just super tired. Did I mention it was nap time?

So, Larry the Home Depot guy, comes over to ask if I had need help. Not only does this man have answers to all my questions about grass and fertilizer and the basics of getting grass to grow--if it's called Tall Fescue does it mean that it grows taller faster and needs mowed more often? (answer, no)-- but he was so helpful and patient with me as I had to interrupt the conversation constantly to attend to my child who had already put one leg out of the cart in efforts to climb out. Larry the Home Depot guy even continuously picked up my keys off the floor as Jackson kept throwing out of the cart while I held Chacey who had pretty much fallen asleep in my arms.

Then went to find a big cart, loaded up the grass (a mixed blend if you're curious) and the fertalizer. He walked it to the cash register, scanned the items himself, and then followed me out to load it all in my car. Then, he even waited for me to get the kids buckled in so he could return both carts.

Talk about customer service! Since it is so easy to focus on complaining sometimes, I just wanted to take a quick moment and focus how a great employee made a dreadful task so much easier!

One a completely different note, this is Jackson's black eye. He fell last night and hit the coffee table- he went to bed with a scratch and woke up with a black eye.

God made dirt, it won't hurt

Spring is here so we can finally start getting some work done on our yard. I cannot wait to have grass instead of a mud pit for a yard! Yesterday afternoon our top soil was delivered and the kids watched in amazement as the "tuck" emptied the dirt in a massive heap in our front yard. Of course Jackson wanted to check it out. My first thought was, "heck, no!" but then decided, "why not?" So I brought the kids inside to change into some play clothes and we headed back out to the pile of dirt.

It is very interesting to me how these two are so different despite being in the same environment a lot of the time. Jackson is 100% boy and Chacey 100% girly. Give them the same activity, and they will each participate in a different way. Example, playing in the dirt- Jackson was into climbing and throwing dirt while Chacey was content to sit still and break apart the clumps into smaller pieces.

Jackson thought he'd see if the dirt was tasty and dove right in. But then he realized he didn't like it, so he tried to wipe it out. Except that he was using his dirty hands, which kept putting more in his mouth. Regardless, he was having too much fun to care. On the other hand, Chacey merely took a quick taste and was pretty uninterested and went back to breaking up clumps of dirt.

Here is a short clip of Jackson's fun in the dirt