Beach Trip!

Last weekend we had our first trip of the season to Kiawah! We always go this time of year, so Greg and I can celebrate our anniversary. Noni and Grandaddy watch Jackson and we head to town, go out to dinner, and stay at the Sanctuary. That is the hotel we stayed at the night we got married. We had the best time! Jackson absolutely loved the beach! He definately has a little Yankee blood in him because the cooler weather and freezing ocean couldn't stop him! He ran into the water with no fear as if he was just at the beach yesterday. This year he also really enjoyed the sand and making sand castles. We can't wait for our next beach trip!! We saw a couple of alligators in a pond along the golfcourse and Jackson wanted to go feed him grass. Greg told him that he couldn't feed the alligators because they would bite him. After that he kept looking up at me and saying "Mommy, the alligators will bite you!" It was so funny!! Of course, Noni had tons of new toys for Jackson to play with including a new Thomas bike. Jackson had the best time and loved spending time with his Noni and Granddaddy!! This first picture is for Glo....Jackson running on the pier toward the beach.

Water!

This is how we started the beach morning. Pants rolled up and fully clothed.

And a few minutes later.....yes we were those parents with a naked toddler running along the beach. At one point, Jackson took his diaper off as well. That is where I had to drawn the line and let him know we were not in Europe!

OOOH! It's cold!!

Jackson really enjoyed playing with sand toys this trip. He kept trying to take this truck out into the water and didn't understand why it kept going back to the shore.

Building a sandcastle with Noni and Granddaddy! Granddaddy makes the best sand castles!!

Getting water for the river.

Driving his truck up the castle.

Jackson had so much fun trying to chase this poor bird. If you look closely, you can see him taking off.

Looking for seashells to decorate his castle.

That shell goes right here.

He is all boy! Playing with a live starfish.

Flying with Noni!

Come on daddy. This way!

This lion that Jackson is carrying apparently was Uncle Brad's. Jackson loved it and took it everywhere. This is him raoring like a lion. He really wanted to take it into the water with him. Noni tried to trick him and hid it under her shirt and said the lion ran away to Noni's house because he doesn't like the water. What does Jackson do? "I go get him" and off he ran! We finally had to give in and let him have it.

Trying to soak up a few rays.

Lunch at the marina! This is the best place for Jackson because he can run around and look at the boats until the food comes.

The last day we went and visited GiGi at her house. In order to warm Jackson up, she gave him his favorite....M&Ms. MMMMMM! M&Ms!

Getting an M&M from GiGi. It didn't take long for Jackson to warm up to her.

Hugs bye for GiGi.

Bye Bye Granddaddy! I have to mention that Noni was not able to be with us the last day because she had to go to work. Jackson was not happy about this at all! As soon as he woke up, he asked where Noni was. Then as we were driving to see GiGi, he thought we were going to see Noni. Then, when we pulled into our house, he asked if we were going to Noni's house. I think we are going to be making another trip to the beach soon!!

Spring is Here!

Spring has arrived and appears to be here to stay! We have loved the warmer weather and been spending lots of time outside on our play pad. Jackson loves to play with his train and cars on the pad. We have some old blocks of wood from the fence that we use to make different tunnels for the trains to go through. Jackson's favorite tunnel is mommy's legs. He will "buy" a ticket and then insert it into my shoe. My legs lift and the train passes through! Jackson loves it, but mommy's legs get tired! We also had a wonderful visit this weekend Noni and Granddaddy this weekend. They came to help Uncle Brad with Mary and James while Kiera was in Louiseville for her sister's shower. Jackson had so much fun playing with Noni and Granddaddy and can't wait to see them next weekend at the beach! I am so excited to take Jackson to the beach this year and see if he remembers it. I think he is going to love the waves and playing in the sand. Jackson's 2 year photoshoot was a huge success. To see his photos, you can go to agrgallery.com/slideshows/jackson2yr. If that doesn't work, she posted some on her blog at agrgallery.com. Enjoy!

After a year of having this item, Jackson finally will ride his motorcycle. He loves it! He goes forward and backwards like a pro!

Jackson is in a "I hate wearing shoes phase". He used to have to put his shoes on as soon as he woke up in the morning and now he wants nothing to do with it. Here he is starting the process of taking them off.

Don't take my picture mommy! Jackson has a new favorite word...Now! Everything is "I want a drink now!, I want a snack now!" I must add that the word now has the most inflection. We are working on nicer ways to ask for things.

Trying to steal the ball from daddy!

Not only are chopsticks fun to eat with, but they also make wonderful drums!

Again, Again!

Granddaddy and Jackson walking to lunch. Somehow this is the only picture I took of the weekend! I will have to make up for it next weekend!

Best Toddler Party Ever!

Last weekend we went to Jackson's best friend Aidan's 2nd birthday party. It was the best toddler party we have been to yet! It was a farm theme with hayrides and a petting zoo filled with baby animals. There were pigs, sheep, goats, bunnies, chickens, ducks, roosters and more. Jackson really had the best time. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful for the outdoor event. Angie, Aidan's mom, is an architect/interior designer and went all out on the farm theme. We had haystacks for chairs, a wheelbarrel held the farm house goodie bags, and of course, our cupcake collaboration! I made 36 fondant farm animals for the top of the cupcakes. It took a long time, but was well worth it in the end! The cupcakes were so cute and delicious! They took me 12+ hours to make and the kids 30 seconds to eat! As far as new things in Jackson's world, his biggest accomplishment is that he can spell his name. It is so cute and each night before he goes to bed, he loves to point to the letters of his name on the wall and spell it out. Jackson definately remembers everything! We are very excited for our visit with Noni and Granddaddy this weekend. The last time they visited, Grandaddy bought a new car. As soon as we told Jackson that Noni and Granddaddy were coming to visit, he said "In Grandaddy's new car?" We couldn't believe he remembered that! Here are the pics from the party. The first picture is Jackson in his cowboy boots waiting to go to the farm party!

12 horses, 12 cows, and 12 pigs later.....the finished product!

The cupcake display!

Jackson waiting to pet the animals. He couldn't wait to hold the bunny! He also really liked the little black piglet and really wanted to hold him. Unfortunately, he did not like to be held and would squeal louder than anything I have ever heard when anyone attempted to touch him.

Feeding the goat. The little goats were so hungry, they would jump out of the pen to get to the food.

My little cowboy!

Once Jackson found the candy bowl, it was very hard to get him to do anything else!

Feeding the bunny.

This was the best party ever mommy!

Jackson was watching the pig eat a little too closely :)

Trip to the Zoo!

Well, Atlanta decided to tease us with early spring weather. It has been a little chilly this week, but despite that fact, we decided to head to the zoo. It may have been cold, but it was the best trip we have had to the zoo yet. We got to see them feel the elephants, saw the lion run around, saw the black rhino run around, got to touch a snake, and was right next to the zebra and gorillas. This first picture is of Jackson, Payton, and Aidan watching the zebras eat. At one point, I did think Jackson was going to climb all the way over the fence and really get up close and personal with the zebras!

2 monkeys climbing on gorillas!

Having a snack while the panda had a snack. We actually got to see the tiny baby Panda on this trip.  He was so little and cute! 







A trip to the zoo would not be complete without a ride on the choo choo!






Carousel!








Petting zoo! This was the first time that Jackson actually really wanted to brush the animals. He was so excited.






Brushing the goats!

We were so excited to get to have a sleepover with Mary and James this weekend. Jackson LOVES Mary and James and was so excited when he found out that they were going to spend the night. This was Mary and Jackson sitting on Thomas watching Nemo. They kept looking at eachother and screaming. It was too funny!

Rocking on the rocking horse.

All 3 babies playing with the building blocks. It was so cute to watch Mary and Jackson help James. So sweet!

Growing up too fast!!

Where has my baby gone? It seems like yesterday Jackson was all swaddled up in my arms, and now he is a little boy with a personality larger than life and a mind of his own! He is just so funny and the is always making us laugh. For example, this weekend we had Jackson's 2 year photos. I was trying to figure out what to put him in, so I layed an outfit out on our bed for Greg to look at. Well, I should have asked Jackson's opinion! He looked at the outfit and said "Awww, cute! I like it!" It was so funny!! Then, we were playing out on his pad and Jackson came over to me and said " I love my mommy. You are a good boy" Jackson has really started counting recently and loves to count everything. He can count to 11 very well, but after that he gets a little lost. He is still obsessed with Thomas the train! It wasn't for Thomas the train, I don't think we would have gotten any good 2 year shots! Hopefully, Alicia will have some preview pictures on her blog soon. I will keep you posted!

Jackson decided that he wanted to play inside his diaper box Unfortunately, he was way too big for it and quickly destroyed the entire box!

Jackson has really started getting into dancing lately. This picture is of Jackson dancing on our bed to Daddy's music on the ipad. He was so excited!

We were getting some toys down to give to Baby James, and of course, Jackson had to try this toy one more time before he could give it up. Everytime we talk about Baby James, Jackson will whisper "Shhhh, Baby James go night night" you only have to say something to Jackson once, and he will never forget it!

Jackson's new bike! He is still learning to peddle, but gets better every day! By the way, once he really starts riding a bike, he will be wearing a helmet!

Jackson sitting on his playpad with his trains. He could spend hours chugging the trains all around. Thank you daddy for all the trouble you went through to give me this great place to play safely!

Pull ups! Jackson's strength never ceases to amaze me. Pound for pound, he has got to be the strongest toddler!

You are an amazing little boy Jackson, and Mommy and Daddy love you so much!