Ducks Don't Wear Socks

That's the name of one of the books we have checked out from the library right now. And when we went to Longview Lake yesterday, it was determined that it's true- ducks don't wear socks!

We went to the lake with our friend Amanda to feed the fish.

(the whole time we were looking at the fish and their big, nasty mouths, I couldn't help but think of the Trouty Mouth song from Glee. Poor Sam!)

He was totally getting into throwing the food 

as far out as possible.

He just couldn't stop checking out the fish!

Jackson and Amanda! Aren't they just super cute?!

You know you want to say it, so just go ahead... 

Awww!!!

We played with Amanda last week too! Belle played the role of real-life baby doll and she loved all of the
attention. It's a win-win for both girls!

Our friends are just so much fun (and cute)!

The Brother/Sister Bond

The first few days of the youngest sibling's life are the critical foundation to what will forever be the brother/sister bond.

Jackson definitely loves his little sister. 

Sometimes, he's a little rough in expressing his love. Like, when he grabs Belle by her head to plant a kiss on her forehead. But his intentions are good!

And, Belle isn't too young to be unimpressed by her big brother's antics!

Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day. To quote a blog friend, "I love LOVE!" It's a super fun time to just let the people in your life know that they are loved. And it's not even just about having a significant other because honestly, maybe sadly enough, Derek and I just sent a couple of mushy emails to each other and that was the extent of our Valentine's celebration this year! (We do have a pizza tradition that we will make sure to fit in sometime over the next weekend-- somewhere between having a baby and him going back to Army duty 2 days later... we'll make it work!). Regardless, we still had plenty of Valentine's Day fun!

Jackson worked hard on a Valentine's card for Daddy the other day. We mailed it at the perfect time- Derek received it today!!

Jackson also has a very important message for Daddy too!

Elizabeth and I decided last week that because neither of us get the opportunity to spend this romantic holiday with our husbands, that we should let Jackson and Chacey celebrate together. After all, they are total BFF's and miss getting to see each other every day!

We met at McDonald's. The kids sat up at the bar all by themselves (we wanted to give them privacy). 

Jackson made Chacey a card that simply had the letter "W" on the inside. That really is Chacey's favorite letter, no joke. We have a book that she used to turn the page and point out every "W" with excitement. He also made her a fruit loop necklace, but it only had about 7 fruit loops because then he got distracted quickly. It was pure joy for each of them to realize that they could eat the cereal off their necklaces!

Lastly, they played. At this point, Jackson wasn't a very good date and took off to climb and play without Chacey. She's not much for climbing and being around the hoards of other children. Jackson on the other hand was sliding down the slide before I even realized he had entered the tunnel! 

They hugged goodnight and each said, "I love you."

Aww.....

Down at the lake

We were invited to the lake this weekend by some awesome friends. Here's a recap:

The beautiful sunset view from the boat

Chillin' in the boat, eating lots of junk food!!

Taking some time to jump out of the boat for a swim in the middle of the lake!

And Julie had tons-o-fun tubing for the first time

Jackson got to spend some quality time with his Grandma and Grandpa while I had a wonderful relaxing weekend with friends. Not only did we enjoy the water, but we stayed up late watching movies, eating wonderful food cooked by HanNah, and cracked ourselves up at the dinner table. Julie even got herself her very first American boyfriend... of the completely smitten five-year-old type. Boy, does he have it bad!!

Summer is almost over... school starts in one week! If only someone would tell the sun to give it a rest. We have a forecast with 100 degree temps in the forecast all week. UGH!

 

Bits and Peices

I may or may not be procrastinating my paper on neurogenesis in the hippocampus while posting this blog.

I have practically exhausted my word typing limit for the day, so that I just have a few random pics and a cute video to share from earlier this week.

Sweet Puppy Love- how they go from annoying each other to insisting on being right next to each other- I can never understand.

Okay, so they make bibs these really cool bibs that have pockets that collect food- however, Jackson would rather wear it as a cape so it loses it's functionality.

But take a look at the floor- I am quite sure that even if the bib/cape was functional, there is no way it could have helped with this mess.

 We had a playdate with Kalei and Braxton at McDonalds on Friday. Jackson's been good with taking bites, I just gave him half a chicken sandwich. I turned my attention to play with the baby and turned around to see this.

Jackson loves playing basketball. He has a smaller hoop in the basement that he can reach on his own, but we have to push this hoop up to the landing. He had already been shooting hoops for about 10 minutes, so he was beginning to lose interest- especially when he found he could see his reflection in the door as he jumped.

First Words and Love Sick

Just over the 15 month mark, Jackson began speaking his first words. Last Friday he said circle, octagon, and juice. (I consider his first words as words that I hadn't been prompting him to say. He has long been saying Mama, Dada, and HanNah when you say them over and over to him.) In the past week, he has added a couple of words to his vocabulary including fish and ball, and now Chacey.

I found him this morning pacing in his crib- back and forth, back and forth- saying "Ch-cy, Ch-cy, Ch-cy" over and over again and we practically jumped out of my arms when he saw her playing in the family room. He has followed her all day. When she went down for a nap, he stood outside the door point in saying "Ch-cy, ch-cy." At lunch time, he didn't want to eat before Chacey was seated and eating next to him. I'm not sure what has come over him- it's almost as if Cupid made a visit to our house last night and made our 15 month old boy love sick! And Elizabeth, Chacey's mom, told me that last night Chacey went to find her coat and was ready to head out the door to visit "Yackson". I guess Cupid made a visit to her house, as well.

At the rate these two are going (see previous post) I would not be surprised in anyway if they end up married by kindergarten. Oh well, at least we only have to pay for the rehearsal dinner, which if it were up to him would be Goldfish and whole milk. I think we could handle that.

Young Love

In January, I started watching another little girl, Chacey, full time. Cute as a button. 2 months younger than Jackson. Half his size. She is a funny kid and plays well with Jackson. Expect the past week and a half, Jackson and Chacey annoyed each other to no end. Neither wanted to be around, share a lap, or even looked at by the other. They were both recovering from being sick and I was about ready to pull my hair out.

Until today... and then the affections wouldn't stop coming! It started when Jackson decided to give Chacey a hug (though it came across more of tackle) nnd it was the longest hug ever. Then, I had to explain to Jackson that it isn't polite to go around and looking up Chacey's shirt- even if he is only looking for her belly button. Later in the afternoon, when they were both on my lap, they decided to hold hands. Seriously. I am not making this up. But nothing surprised me more than when Jackson was laying on the floor, Chacey leaned over and gave Jackson a big, very slobbery kiss on the forehead. Not once, but three times. And Jackson loved it! He giggled.

I'm sure glad they overcame the playing-hard-to-get game. Though, I am hoping that this is not a sign of what the next 18 years will be like!  Sure it's cute when he's 15 months, but not so much when girls will start kissing him for real! Poor kid. He's just too cute for his own good.

Jackson and Chacey playing this afternoon

My Valentine

I have a new Valentine this year. He has taught me more about love than I could ever have imagined. He melts my heart each time he smiles at me. I love learning about him every day (like how he hates when things cover his eyes-- like when a shirt goes over his head) and watching him grow. He is becoming "chatterbox" these days and he has is beginning to use his hands and play with toys. I love the way he looks at me and how he calms down when I sing him a song. God has blessed us so much by giving us Jackson-- I just love him so much! :)