More zoo fun with our little friend Avery a few weeks ago
Jackson reading TO daddy! Grandma Linda has been teaching Jackson to read the Bob books. He does a good job!
I have been venturing downtown on my lunch break recently to visit the Kansas City Public Library. It is absolutely beautiful-- and what's not to love about a city block of book spines of all the classics??
Swinging!! (notice the big girl swing!?)-- And the Carolina Tarheel shirt-- well, Belle says "there's chocolate on the foot!"
Belle spent some time up with my parents last week I got to spend some time with Jackson. We had so much fun!! I kept thinking about how I could blog about it, but ultimately, there just aren't words to express how neat it was to just hang out and have awesome quality time with my son doing the things he loves-- games, puzzles, reading, snuggles, and lots of conversation!
I taught him how to play Slap Jack and War. He loves it!
We also played Cooties a couple of times. This is my picture of the cooties and a cutie! :)
Belle is always quite the helper when we box up items at Aldi....
Glass doors-- the best way to play water guns with the kids!
Belle and our little friend Yooli on a wagon ride! :)
And today, I volunteered at the HUGE Convoy of Hope event up in KC. People could come to get groceries, new shoes, clothing, hair cuts, family portraits, and more. Lunch was served and there was a great big kid area with inflatables and face painting... and all of it was free! It was such a great event for our city. I volunteered with friends Caren and Jeanette in the Breast Cancer Awareness Tent!
It’s not often that I purchase a book. I have to really, really want the book and it has to be special. We enjoy going to the library and I always get new books to read {there’s a certain comfort in know that no matter how much the kids enjoy a book and we read it over and over— in 28 days the book will be due and I’ll be done!}. But while at the library on Monday, a certain book on the shelf caught my eye and as soon as I picked it up, I knew I’d end up buying a copy. It’s a book called Jackson’s Blanket by Nancy Cote.
We’ve read it at least ten times since we checked it out on Monday. Every time we finish, he asks to read it again. And we certainly can’t read it without Jackson’s blankets snuggled up close!
It starts out:
Jackson loves his blanket all fuzzy, soft and worn. He’s had that little blanket since the day that he was born.
He takes it to his grandma’s house, he takes it out to play. To the doctor’s, on vacation, it’s with him night and day.
Jackson wears it as a cape, he uses it to slide. To carry toys, a place where he can hide.
It was seriously so surreal to read this book that describes MY Jackson and his blanket so precisely!! It’s like Nancy Cote wrote this book for us! {The book is written for a boy named Jackson Gleason; how crazy that it’s so close to our name too!}.
I decided to look through all of my pictures last night and I just enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share the story of OUR Jackson’s blanket!
Jackson has had his blanket since before he was born! I received it as a gift at a baby shower. I promise you that it’s so fuzzy and soft—Derek took a break from looking through the gifts to snuggle with it himself!
And as he got a little bigger, he loved sleeping with his blanket.
Around ten months, it totally dawned on me how much he really loved his blanket. Whenever he would see it, he’d fall head first into snuggle with it, like in this little video clip.
So, I rushed to Target to pick up another one. It’s not the exact same, but it’s from the same line. You can see it here as Jackson celebrates his first birthday—blanket it tow!
…or a place to hide {like when I woke Jackson up early to make it to a doctor’s appointment at Children’s Mercy}
Back when I’d rock Jackson to sleep each night, he would contemplate if he wanted the blanket on my shoulder for him to lay his head on, or if he wanted it wrapped around his back. And he’s really particular that the soft side be touching his skin. He still carries his blanket out of bed each morning and we’ll snuggle.
Jackson fell asleep right next to the blanket book last night.
And I kid you not… this is how we found Jackson when we woke up this morning. Blankets: required; Clothes: optional.
Now, the only problem is this—the Jackson in the book ends up finding a kitten who he shares his blanket with. Our Jackson is now asking for a cat. I tried getting him to pretend with several different stuffed animals, but his reply, “No, I want a REAL kitten!” Oh geez…
{and seriously, Jackson seems so big after looking at all those pictures of him as a baby!! How did it happen so quickly?!”}
Saturday was such a super fun day for me! I totally got to meet Meg Cabot- my very favorite author! My friend, Audrey, called a couple of weeks ago to tell me she was coming in town on a book tour and I had been looking forward to it ever since. It was Audrey who got me hooked on Meg after insisting I read The Princess Diaries series* five years ago and I have been a fan ever since! The series inspired the name Mia for our kitten (she was just too tiny to be named Fat Louie) and I always recommend it to friends!!
(source: www.megcabot.com)
*Yes, there really are books, ten actually. Laugh out Loud greatness!! The movie is based on the first book, but the second movie has nothing to do with the series (and that actually annoys Mia as you read about it in the later books). You really should read the books. I loved the movie, but it totally doesn't capture the hilarity of Mia's diary entries.
Audrey and I met up at Panera before going to the venue, which is only to be expected as it was the location for our old book club meetings (before our lives got so super crazy) and where I was first introduced to Meg! Yes, after meeting her, I feel that we are close enough to be on a first-name basis. I mean, she wrote my name when she autographed my book! We both brought our favorite book to get signed in addition to the one included in our event ticket. Audrey's pick: Avalon High. My pick: Size 12 is Not Fat.
It was way cool to hear Meg speak. As she shared about some of the events in her life-- I totally felt that I already knew her because she's revealed a lot of it in the characters she's created. She didn't even have to outright say this experience inspired this book or that experience inspired that character. It was as she talked about her parents being professors I was thinking, "that really sounds familiar. Oh! That was from Avalon High!" And as she spoke about the grossness of her mom dating her teacher, it was exactly the same expression Princess Mia exhibits when it happens to her. And... she's an artist! How cool!
Audrey and me with Meg Cabot!!!
(We may or may not have been the only twenty-something fans,
but we will never be too old for young adult fiction!)
If it is at all possible, I love Meg even more after going to her book signing on Saturday! She is as entertaining and funny in person as she is in her books. Great personality. I seriously want to be her BFF. And she had the cutest shoes!
Book club resumes this month. And our book to read is, of course, Abandon by Meg Cabot!
This was book club in 2007. We'd each take turns picking a book, meet at Panera, and talk (at least a little bit) about the book. We'd stay at Panera until we were the last ones there and every once in awhile we'd make a trip to Barnes and Noble or to watch a movie that was made about a book we'd already read.
Kristin, me, Audrey, and Jessica
(reading Twilight before it was the cool thing to do)
Kristin got married and moved out to Washington State where she does cool things like go to the Olympics and travels all sorts of cool places. Audrey graduated with her Master's and has begun working on her Doctorate, all while teaching and coaching volleyball. Jessica already had Tobin at this point, but then had another baby boy- raised them both while her husband served in Iraq, then had another baby boy and will be on her own again while hubby goes through FBI training. Meanwhile, I've started graduate school, became a mommy, and went from working full time outside of the home to full time inside the home. (Am I the boring one or what?!?) Needless to say, we can hardly find a time that works for everyone to get together.
My 2010 book club is vastly different.
We eat macaroni and cheese instead of Panera. We don't read books like The Devil Wears Prada, My Sister's Keeper, or A Total Waste of Makeup. Instead, we read books more along the lines of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round, and Hop on Pop. And we don't read them just once, but over and over and over and over and over.... you get the point. All I can say is thank goodness for the library so I can switch up the books I have on hand. But we have fun. I love reading them books and I think it is so great that they are so interested being read to. I can't wait for the Summer Reading Program! So this what I call Book Club: The Next Generation.
David, Chacey, and Jackson diving into
some new books I picked up at the library yesterday.
I am open to any recommendations of must-read books for me or the kiddos? The kids books must be board books, and if you have to ask why- you clearly haven't met my son. I do have to say that I love, love, love the Sparkle and Shine Noah's Ark book, enough that I am tempted to just buy a copy! Let me know of any suggestions!
We are off to a good start for this new year. In the past couple weeks, we've been able to hang out with our friends after a busy holiday season and we've gotten a chance catch up with some college friends who have come to town-- Our friends Scott and Jenny who were here in Kansas City visiting her family, our friend Hannah who just returned from a semester of missions in Africa, my roommate, Casie, from college who was up here anxiously awaiting the arrival of her niece, and an old high school friend, Cassie, came to meet Jackson last weekend. I really do love catching up and visiting with old friends and I appreciate that they don't judge my messy house when they stop by! And even though we sometimes only get the chance to talk and visit maybe only once or a few times each year, I love that we can just pick up where we left off.
My only "resolution" for the new year is to pick up reading again. In the two prior years, I would read so much in my spare time, finishing a few books each month. Well, I did actually read my textbooks for my classes this year, but those don't really count. I do realize that I have more obligation than I once had, but I can spend less time watching television and on the computer. I'd love to hear suggestions of books to add to my list for the year!
Jackson is just growing so fast. I swear that one night I put him to bed with chicken legs and then the next morning he had rolls on those thighs! Last week was a sleeping nightmare, but he has gone back into sleeping in the bassinet with only the occasional wake up in the night. Dad is almost finished with the crib. I hope Jackson makes a smooth transition into sleeping somewhere new.
He loves to smile these days and I think he has realized that his (left) hand is always there and might possibly belong to him and he likes to suck on it when his pacifier falls out. I've started using the front carrier more these days whether it be when I am trying to get things done around the house or walking around the grocery store. He enjoys looking around and being mobile. We went for a walk in the park last Friday when it was SO nice outside. I think I enjoyed it more than he did as he slept the whole time.
We spent the 4th of July up at my parent's house in Kearney and Derek's parents, Brad & Mary, came too. It was really nice to get to spend it with both of our families together. We played in the pool, played the Wii, ate burgers, and did fireworks. It was good. I miss not seeing Dad at work every day! I try to call and catch up with him periodically though.
Last weekend, we went up to watch the Free Friday Night Flick at Crown Center with friends. I like just being outside and watching a movie, though the camp chair is only so comfortable. We watched the Monte Python and the Holy Grail. Interesting movie. I met with my book club friends this week and that was so enjoyable! Things have been so busy with one having a baby and then me starting school and I'm really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. I've been in a reading rut and I hate it. I am really looking forward to the last book of the Twilight series that comes out on August 2nd. I am anxious to see how it all works out! And I am very anxious for the first book to come out in theaters in November. Which also reminds me that I am excited to see the new Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants that comes out soon. We have friends coming up to visit on Friday so we are going to head out to the Royals game for Fireworks friday and buck night! In a few weeks, we are headed out to a T-bones game too.
Derek's been working on his motorcycle with his dad each weekend and driving it around more and more often. It's nice that it gets such good gas mileage. Once he beings to drive it to work, I'll probably end up driving his car a bit more since it gets about 10 miles more per gallon.
A friend of ours got us to watch Veronica Mars and we both got really into it! And let me tell you that it is so hard to focus on school work when you would rather be making your way through the seasons! I didn't really expect to like it much, but I think it's pretty good. Derek just thinks Kristen Bell is cute, and she is. One of Meg Cabot's (author of Princess Diaries and other chick lit) books, Queen of Babble, is being made into a movie and she is Lizzie, so I am pretty excited to see that too.
So even with work and school, I have had a great chance to enjoy the summer and have some fun! I know my posts are long, but I hardly ever post, so I have so much to say! Hopefully next time I won't wait so long.
