Fun with Friends!

Sorry for the late post, but I got a cold last week and the cold + 6 months pregnant + working, and I was out for the count! I had some old pictures that I never posted, so I thought I would get them out! This first picture is Jackson with his new big boy bike! Unfortunately, his old bike, seen next to him, made too many trips to the beach and completely rusted. It was also too small for him so we upgraded! I was a little nervous about getting him a bigger bike so we went to a bike store where he could give it a test drive. He road it like a champ with ease, so we bought it for him!

Jackson and some of his buddies went to this place called DACkids. We had never been there before and Jackson loved it! It is a huge sandbox with a pirate theme. There is a large playground with pirate flags etc, little houses with fish tanks, and pirate ship jumpy houses. They had the best time!!

Checking out the fish.

Jackson loved loading the guns and shooting at the flags!

Best buds!

Jackson with a couple of his stuffed friends. The animal on the left is known as "Baby" at our house. This was Greg's first stuffed animal and Jackson named him "Baby." Jackson LOVES Baby! He sleeps with Baby everynight and carries him all over the house. Sometimes Baby gets sad and needs a kiss from mommy and sometimes Baby gets a boo boo and needs a band aid. I hope Jackson is as sweet to his new baby brother as he is to Baby!!




Not only has Jackson had a lot of fun with friends, but so did mommy! For my 34th birthday, some friends and I decided to go all out and take a limo to see Wicked at the Fox! We had the best time and the show was absolutely amazing!!

Pictures of Greg and I wouldn't be the same without Greg's facial expressions!








We also had a birthday party this past weekend. Jackson's dear friend Sam turned 4 and had his party at Champion Kids. We are no strangers to this party venue, as this is where Jackson has had all of his birthday parties! This is Jackson and Aidan waiting to play the parachute game!

Jackson and the birthday boy. They both have a deep love for Buzz Lightyear and Jackson was admiring his shirt!








Zip line! I really can't believe my son did this. If you remember from Jackson's parties, there is a large foam pit. Well, for the zip line, the hold you until right before the foam pit and let go! Jackson's flew over the pit and landed right in the center. The boy has no fear!!!!

Since school has started, Jackson has really gotten into the painting again. Here he is painting Thomas. He had so much fun mixing the colors to make new colors!

Welcome Cooler Weather!!

The summer has ended which means preschool has begun and we have welcomed the cooler morning and evening temperatures! This first picture is a little late, but it is Jackson before his first day of preschool. Jackson is attending First United Methodist this year and absolutely loves it! It is such a difference between the tears we had to deal with the beginning of last year and the joy we have this year! Jackson is lucky in that his best bud, Aidan, is in his class and he loves his teachers Mrs Julie and Miss April. I think this has really helped! If you look back on the blog you can see his picture from his first day last year. It is amazing how much he has grown! He looks so much more like a little boy now!! As far as news for Jackson, we have restarted the potty training and he is doing great! We have had zero pee pee accidents and had our first successful poo poo in the potty yesterday! The M&Ms were no longer a motivator, so I decided to buy some "poo poo prizes." Jackson is really into Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear, so I bought a few toys and told him that each time he went poo poo in the potty, he got to pick one out. As soon as he saw them, he ran to the bathroom to try to go poo poo. Unfortunatley, he couldn't go at that time, but last evening, we had success. He picked out his poo poo prize very proudly! Now we just have to see if it sticks! We have also successfully moved Jackson into his big boy room! He has slept the last 3 nights and naps in his room and so far he loves it! I aso have to write down this story, so one day when he is older, I can look back and remember it. Jackson is really into directions and has mastered right hand and left hand. Whenever we go somewhere, he will ask "Which way?". We will then tell him right (he holds up his right hand), left (he holds up his left hand) or straight. The other day he said "Mommy, I have a right hand and a left hand. Where is my straight hand?. It was just too cute!! On another note, I am 21 weeks pregnant today and we had our big anatomy scan. The new baby received an A+ and is a healthy little boy! We can't wait to see him in just a few short months!!

Jackson decided to get in a quick work out before we left :)

Since we have had cooler temperatures, we decided to head to the zoo! We have missed going to the zoo this summer because it was just too hot!! The first thing Jackson wanted to do was pet the animals. He is so much braver now!!

Our trip to the zoo would not be complete without a train ride!

And of course, the carousel! Jackson absolutely loved riding up and down and around and around!







We actually had a day of rain in Atlanta, so Jackson got all decked out in his rain gear!!

This 9/11 marked the 10th anniversary of the tragic terrorist attack on our country. Marietta decided to commemorate it by placing 3000 flags in the Kennesaw battlefield representing each person that lost their life on the that tragic day. The pictures really don't do it justice. It was both breathtaking and humbling all at the same time.










Waving with the flags.

Looking at that sweet face and the flags behind him, and I cannot help but think how precious life is. Life truly is a gift from God that should be treasured each day.







Our beautiful family. I am so thankful for all my boys and love them all so much!!

Asheville, North Carolina!

We just got back from a wonderful weekend in Asheville, North Carolina. One of my best friends, Jennifer, whom I lived with during medical school, got married there. We were lucky enough, to have Noni and Granddaddy make the trip with us to help watch Jackson while I was engaged in my bridesmaid duties. Jackson had the best time with Noni and Granddaddy! He had so much fun, that he wanted nothing to do with mommy and daddy!! He slept with Noni and Granddaddy each night and often wouldn't even allow Greg or I into "their" room. Jackson had so much fun swimming in the pool and hottub, playing on a splashpad, watching the festival performers in Asheville, and exploring the mountains. Finally, no visit to Asheville would be complete without a visit to the Biltmore. Jackson loved visiting the castle and looked all over for the prince and princess! We had so much fun, that we decided to stay an extra night so we could spend another day exploring the beautiful grounds. This first picture is of us at the Grove Park Inn. It is a beautiful hotel with extraordinary views. We were able to enjoy breakfast there and go on an adventure (as Jackson likes to call it) through tunnels and water falls.

Tiny little water fall!

Jackson with Noni and Granddady at the waterfall. It was quite a hike up and down stairs to get there, but well worth it in the end!

Mommy and Daddy all dressed up for the wedding! Jackson even made an appearance to congratulate the bride!

Visit to the Biltmore! It is truly breathtaking and we had the best time visiting the castle!

Waiting to get into the castle!

Jackson loves school buses! He was so excited when he saw the school buses shuttling people to the house. The bus driver was kind enough to give Jackon his own private ride around the grounds. He loved it!








Getting off his first bus ride!

Jackson's favorite area at the Biltmore was by far the farm. He loved all the equipment and especially petting all the animals.








Tractor ride!







Trying to catch a chicken.

So brave!







Petting a baby chicken.








Giddy up horsie!

Another tractor! Thank you Noni and Granddaddy for helping take care of Jackson on our Asheville adventure. He had the best time and can't wait until our next adventure!!

The Week of Parties!!

We had quite the party week! It all started with my dear friend Sonali's wedding. She had a traditional Indian wedding, which meant the festivities began on Thursday and didn't end until Saturday at Midnight! She made such a beautiful bride and we had a great time at all of her events. We also had sweet Mary and James' pirate and princess birthday party! Jackson was so excited to dress up as a pirate. He kept saying "Arrgh Matey" and "Ahoy!". We then ended the weekend with our gender cake party. This was a compromise between Greg and I because I didn't want to know the sex of the this baby, and Greg really did. So, we went to the ultrasound and the ultrasound tech wrote down on a piece of paper whether it was a boy or girl. Jackson and I left, and she told Greg. Surprisingly, Greg kept a pretty good poker face and never spilled the beans! I then took the paper to Publix, and they made a cake that was iced inside pink for a girl and blue for a boy. We had all of her friends over for the cutting. Each person wore pink or blue depending on what they thought it was. I really was so much fun and Jackson loved playing with all of his friends!

My sweet pirate!

3 pirate boys playing in the pink princess tent!

Pirates munching on their lunch before the parade to the pool!

The cutest pirate with the prettiest princess. Happy Birthday sweet Mary!! I also must say Happy Birthday to pirate James!!







And now for the gender cake party! The theme was "Blue or Pink what do you think?"

Team Blue







And more of team blue...

Team pink. Much smaller than team blue...hmmmmm. I have to give a shout out to dear Joe, who wore pink for the first time. Thanks for trying Joe!









Anxiously awaiting the cut!








It's BLUE!

We are so excited to have a little brother for Jackson! We know they are going to be the best of friends. Thank you to all of our friends and family for helping us celebrate such a special moment. To the ones out of town who couldn't make it, you were missed!! Also a very big THANK YOU to Gloria and Madeline for helping plan such a spectacular party. I would have never pulled it off with you! Love you much!

Trip to Kiawah!

We just got back from a wonderful mini-vacation with Noni and Granddaddy in Kiawah. Jackson had such an amazing time! He absolutely loves to swim in both the ocean and the pool. His fearlessness never ceases to amaze me. From riding his bike all the way to the beach to boogy boarding waves, he is definately all boy!

Here Jackson is with his new lifejacket. He is ready to hit the waves! We did have one problem with the ocean....Jackson likes to dive into the water and swim and didn't realize the salt water would burn his eyes. We quickly remedied that problem by getting Jackson his first pair of goggles. Mommy's pair were green tye died and quickly did not meet the approval of daddy, so the next day, Daddy bought him some blue competition goggles. He loved wearing them!

I just can't get enough of this face!!

Jackson and Granddaddy building a sandcastle. Granddaddy makes the best sandcastles!

Ahhh....Jackson just loves his Noni so much! One night, we decided to pick up some pizza and eat it at the beach. There was a wonderful cooling ocean breeze and so much fun!

Tickles from Noni!








Family shot.

After dinner, we decided to stroll along the beach. We got some really great pics this night!







My little dare devil....always climbing!

Nightime beach shot.






Jackson found the moon!

Another family shot!

Running from the waves.

Always jumping!

Silly Noni and Jackson. I jsut love this shot of them!

Jackson loves looking at the moon, so we had to get a shot with it.

This is our caravan to the beach. Daddy loads everything up and mommy and Jackson follow closely behind!

We made it!

Getting ready to catch a wave!

Hold on tight!

Yaaay! By the end, Jackson was really good at it and would ride all the way into the shore. It was quite impressive to watch if I do say so myself :)

Believe it or not, Grandaddy even got in on the action!

Showing Greg how to get it done!

And of course, no trip to the beach would be complete without a visit with Gigi!

Thanks again Noni and Granddaddy for a wonderful trip! We can't wait until our next visit!