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!

Baby James Baptism and the Best Show on Earth!

What a wonderful and busy weekend! It all started with the baptism of sweet baby James! We had a wondeful, intimate celebration that couldn't have been more perfect. James, as usual, was a little angel. Jackson, on the other hand, was all over the place! Thank goodness it was just a baptismal ceremony and not a full mass!! At one point, Austin saved the day by grabbing Jackson before he took a dive into the baptismal water! Thanks Austin!! Maura and Austin are going to be first time parents in just a few short weeks and are going to be great! This first picture is James after the baptism, so happy!!

The priest allowed all the children to touch the holy water. In hindsite, that began the downfall. All Jackson wanted to do was touch the water.

The big moment! James wasn't too excited about it, but quickly recovered.

Two peas in a pod!

The three cutest kids in the world!

The proud Godparents!

Family shot.

The happy family of 4!







The wonderful cookies that we got to enjoy after the event. I think Greg must have had 70% of them.

The next day we went with our good friends Angie and Andrew and their children, Payton and Aidan, to the circus! We had a great time and the kids absolutely loved it! Jackson's favorite part was of course, the train and the motorcycles.








Mezmerized!

My sweet boy!

Best friends!

Barnum and Bailey sure know what they are doing as they schedule the show from 11-1 with an intermission at noon. Therefore, the mom's were on a mission to get food for some hungry kids. Lemonade, popcorn, hotdogs and cotton candy wasn't cheap, but made some children very happy!

We love the circus!

As far as other things with Jackson, his latest cute phrase was after I sneezed he said "Bless you mommy." Loved it! He also can sing all the words to some songs including Twinkle, Twinkle. And, he started saying the alphabet. Unfortunately, he starts with QRSTUVWXYZ. Somehow we have skipped the beginning of the alphabet! That is all for now! Next weekend we have Jackson's 2 year photos, so pray this beautiful weather continues!!

Happy Valentine's Day and Sea World!

Happy Valentine's Day! We just got back from a wonderful trip to Orlando, Florida. We had an amazing time!! The main reason for the trip was to help Greg's long time friend, Andrew, renovate some property that he bought. While they renovated, we got to play! We spent the first day at Sea World. Jacksonloved it! He got to pet a dolphin and stingray and loved the Shamu Show. The house was filled with kids and Jackson had so much fun playing with all of them. Surprisingly, despite having 5 kids in the house, we all left unscathed. His best friend of the weekend was definately Sarah. She is the same age as Jackson and they were two peas in a pod. They have similar personalities and loved to be in eachother's faces the entire time. They would feed eachother, scream in eachother's faces, and run around the house after eachother. Unfortunately, I only got a few pictures from our trip because as soon as we got there, our camera died. Boo! We had a great visit and can't wait to see them all again next month for the River Run! As far as Valentine's Day, I spent a wonderful, relaxing day with my two favorite boys. Jackson and I made Daddy a heart shaped cookie cake to show him how much we love him. Jackson did such a good job putting on the sprinkles and was excellent at eating icing! Jackson was so excited when Daddy got home that he ran out after him and yelled "Happy Cake Day Daddy!" He couldn't quite get Valentine's out. It was so cute!!

Look at the cake I made you daddy! Unfortunately, Jackson could not contain his excitement and had to taste the icing.

OOOOOH! Candy!!!

Posing with his new Thomas movie.

Valentine frog from daddy! Jackson kept hopping around saying "Ribbit!"

One of only a couple pics that I got from our trip to Florida. This is as we entered SeaWorld!

Jackson loved to push Sarah around the park in the stroller.

Posing with the penguins. And then....my camera died :( Next trip I will make sure my camera is fully charged.

This last picture is what happens when you let a 2 year old pick out his pajamas. He insisted on wearing his car shorts over his football pjs.

Family Trip to the Aquarium!

Unfortunately, this weekend wasn't as warm and sunny as last weekend, so we decided to take Jackson to the Georgia Acquarium. Jackon was very excited to see the fish and kept saying he wanted to see a blue and yellow fish. He also couldn't wait to see Nemo. Going to the aquarium! Jackson loves to walk along every concrete wall he comes to. He loves to practice his balance beam act! As far as a Jackson update, he continues to expand his vocabularly daily. Some of my new favorite phrases are "EEEW, yucky!", which I now here all to often when I try to get him to eat different foods. Also a favorite "Emma poop. EEEW. Stinky!" Poor Emma. He has also added shapes to his vocabularly. He now correctly identifies and names a circle, square, triangle, heart, and star. We are still working on our numbers. He is very good with 1, 2, 3, but then you never know which number is going to come next! He is also starting to pick up some of the alphabet. We leave for sunny Orlando on Thursday so hopefully next week will have some fun action shots!

Staring in awe at all the fish.

Jackson saying "Hi!" to the penguins. One of Jackson's favorite episodes of Diego is when they have to rescue the penguin named Pepito. He was very excited to see them and got to crawl in a tunnel and peak his head up right next them!

Oooooh! Look at the big whale shark!

There's a blue and yellow fish!

I just like Jackson's pose in this picture. There was a diver in the tank feeding the fish and everytime he would wave at Jackson, he would turn and run away. It was so funny!

Look at all these fish!!

Jackson is really into horsey rides, which you will see in the next photo, flying through the air, and walking with his feet on your feet. Again Daddy!!

Giddy Up Horsie! Notice the clown on Greg's left hand. There are three favorite toys right now...the clown, duck and Elmo. Whatever Jackson does, one of them is following. When Jackson gets his diaper changed, so does the duck, clown or Elmo. Same thing for brushing teeth, eating, and brushing teeth.

I am not sure how we got to this point. We started off with just 2 blankets and now we have accumulated to every blanket in the house. He must sleep with at least 10 blankets at night now!

Hugs for the duck!

Jackson insisted that the duck sit in the bumbo next to him while he watched some cartoons while mommy got ready. Too funny! Jackson is always making us laugh!!