Oh boy!!

What a great week! We have had so much fun playing outside and enjoying the beautiful spring weather!! We had a wonderful visit with Andrew, Greg's high school friend. Whenever Andrew comes into town, there always needs to be a project. The project this time was leveling part of our yard and preparing it for sod. 18 tons of dirt later, we are ready to lay the sod next week! Since it was spring break, Andrew got the pleasure of watching Jackson one morning, while Greg and I went to work. Jackson had the best time and that night said "I love my Andrew. He is my buddy." It was so funny!! We are really getting excited for Easter. We are going to spend the holiday with my family and can't wait to see Aunt Sarah, Uncle Mike, Katie, and Nathan! Jackson is so excited to go on Easter egg hunts and to get candy from the Easter bunny! This first picture was an Easter bunny that Jackson got a little early. Delicious!!

Jackson and daddy putting together his Percy puzzle.

I love chocolate!!

Here is the massive pile of dirt that was delivered to our house. Jackson had the best time running up and down the dirt mountain!

King of the mountain!!

I made it mommy!

Running down the mountain. After we finished playing in the dirt, we got to put our feet in the kitchen sink to wash them off. Jackson thought that was quite a treat, and it turned quickly into a splashing game! Once he realized he got to wash his feet it they got dirty, he was quick to run right back out to dirt mountain. He would run up and down it and say "Let's wash our feet".

One of Jackson's favorite things to do.....run!

I think we may have a future soccer player!

GOAL!!! (He certainly has the dramatic role of the game mastered)

GOAL!!!

This last picture is Jackson showing me the ant that he had crawling on his arm. He kept picking them up and saying "OOOH".

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 :)