Jackson visits Santa

Since the real Santa comes to Quail Springs Mall every year, we headed out to have a visit. I swear if he changes places I'll hunt him down!! I didn't care for the staff at all this year but Santa was great!! At first we thought AJ was going to walk over to him but once he realized he was getting closer, he stopped dead in his tracks. I figured when I handed him off he would freak out and scream but he didn't. It was kind of a non-event. He just stared at him in wonderment! We didn't get a cry but we also didn't get a smile! Oh well, it was fun anyway for his second Santa visit.

 What a difference a year makes!

Thanksgiving 2011

I want to begin my Thanksgiving post by saying it has been such a blessing to stay home with Jackson and watch him grow like a weed. He is so smart and is doing certain things babies a few months older than him are doing. He learns so fast.  I was a bit nervous I was going to have to go back to work when Chris lost his job in August. I never thought that would happen in a million years so I was floored when he showed up at Julie's house where I was babysitting to tell me the terrible news. I honestly thought he was joking because how could it possibly be true! Over the next weeks we enjoyed having Dada home to play with us but it was also stressful when he was sending out so many resumes and not having many interviews. Luckily Diversified Construction called him in for an interview in September, when I was feeling all hope was lost, and gave him and offer on the spot. Since he would be taking a salary cut, he explained he would have to talk with me about it. Once he got home, they called back to sweeten the deal and he accepted right away. His job is mostly the same but now he has to estimate and bid his own jobs and there is an opportunity for bonuses which is wonderful. I think it's a great incentive for employees to do their best. So far he likes his new job and responsibilities. Needless to say, other than our health, that's the biggest thing we are thankful for this year. We will be able to continue keeping Jackson at home, it just came with a little hiccup in the road. Many thanks to my sweet and hard working husband for allowing me to stay home with our boy. It means to world to me.

Per our usual Thanksgiving plans, we began the day at my Aunt Janice and Uncle David's house. Jackson ate like a pig and do did I. I don't think I've ever had so much to eat in my life and we still had another feast to go to. We had a great time chatting with the family. This would be the last time we saw Susie, Jonathan and Luke for a while since they were all moving to California (Susie and Luke had been there for a while now). We also had a chance to talk with Austin about his upcoming mission trip to Ethiopia over Christmas break.

Around 2, we headed over to Jim & Arlynda's for our second Thanksgiving dinner. I was excited Grandma and Grandpa Bright were there since we don't get to see them much. I had a fun time making Indi laugh. We are so thankful we got to welcome our newest niece into the world in July. She is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. She has a smile that lights up the whole room. I'm Excited for Jackson to have a cousin play mate so close in age. They will end up being in the same grade which blows my mind! I hope they become fast friends and remain close in the years to come. I love Jim and Grandpa Bright smiling in this video of Indi laughing. So sweet!

After dinner, we headed to Utica Square for our annual gathering at Lights On. This was our 10th time to go. The first time was in 2001 and it was just Chris and I joining Tonya and Anil. Now there's 10 of us!! This was the first time Jackson got to see the lights come on since we had a terrible parking issue last year and were 5 minutes too late.

We also went to visit PB Kids and play with all the toys. We were very disappointed that Clancy the bear was already gone. Maybe we'll catch him next year. Jackson had a fun time playing with the train set with Nana & Papa, playing catch with Papa and also playing with the kitchen set. Might we have a Top Chef in our midst??! After Lights On, we went back to Nana & Papa's to have some pie...yeah, like we needed it. Then it was off to Graham's for bed. What a day!

On Saturday, we drove back to Edmond sans baby to meet Ryan and Toni for the OU game. The weather was miserable and we sure didn't dress warm enough. The game was at 11 and the rain and wind were nearly unbearable. We made the most of it and had a good time, goosebumps and all. After the game, we strolled around a few shops at Campus Corner. That night we went to dinner at Red Rock and had drinks at BJ's. They had to leave early the next morning as they got word Dylan wasn't feeling well. We had a wonderful time and hope to do it again soon. This was the first time we had left AJ overnight and he did great staying with Graham but I was sure happy to hug and kiss on him Sunday evening.

Sunday afternoon, we got all dressed up to attend the Oklahoma Nutcracker in Norman and watch Sandhya dance as a mouse in the first act. She did a wonderful job and we were so proud of her to be part of such a great ballet. Afterward, we met my mom to pick up Jackson and headed to a celebratory dinner at Hideaway for Sandhya. I even found this sweet note in my jacket pocket from Toni. So sweet!!

We sure had quite the eventful Thanksgiving weekend with all the friends and family we love so dearly and are so thankful to share in our lives.

Much Ado About Broken Arrow {Nov 2011}

On the 16th, my mom drove to Edmond to pick me up so I could go back to Tulsa early. The next day was my brother's 16th birthday! I can't believe he is growing up so fast and I was excited to be able to see him on his actual birthday. He decided he wanted steak for dinner so we took him out to Texas Roadhouse. Jackson even had his first taste of red meat. Yum! Michael got a special birthday wish from the staff and they even had him sit on a saddle! He was a good sport. It was quite funny. He also got his braces off earlier that day so he was all smiles!! YEE HAW!

After we got home, my mom brought out Michael's old baby slide for Jackson to play on. I'm so glad she hung onto it all these years. He loved it immediately. It took him about 10 tries before he understood how to climb up and sit with his feet in front of him. He probably went down 50 times! Needless to say, he slept very well that night.

On Friday, we got a chance to visit with my Great Aunt Ledema. She drove in from Springfield to catch a flight to Denver to see her daughter. We brought lunch over to my Nana's house. Jackson slept through lunch in his car seat. I couldn't believe it. We had a wonderful time chatting and playing with Jackson once he woke up. And now that Jackson is tall enough, he had his first measurement added to Nana's growth chart! It will be fun to watch him grow compared to all the cousins in our family.

On Saturday, we went to my dad's house for lots of birthday celebrations. Since we were unable to celebrate Fall birthdays, we had 5 at once. Jackson's 1st, Michael's 16th, Chris, Teri and my Grandmother. There was lots of cake! My dad grilled chicken and Teri made baked asparagus. I always try asparagus because everyone else likes it so much and this was the first time I actually liked it. Maybe I should get the recipe. Usually, my serving ends up on Chris' plate. After dinner, we opened presents. Jackson got a lot of great toys including more awesome books to add to his collection, a corn popper, a chatter phone, the Leap Frog Discovery House, and some Tospy Tumblers, just to name a few! This boy is not lacking in the toy department, that's for sure!

We had such a fun weekend in BA celebrating birthdays and catching up with family.

Let Them Eat Cake!!

So I've been thinking about Jackson's party since June. Pretty much since we went to Dylan's 1st birthday. I've thrown around about a dozen themes and could never stick with one. I mean, how hard could it be!! I'm sure I made a bigger deal out of it than I should have but this is a very special birthday and I wanted it to be great.

Happy 1st Birthday Jackson!

I cannot believe our sweet baby is 1 year old today. How can this possibly be? It absolutely amazes us how much he's grown and all the things he can do. Plus he has quite the personality to boot. We just love him so very much and I hope he knows that. We are so blessed to have had the opportunity for me to stay home with him. I can't imagine not being with him every second of the day. And of course, you know me, I went to his room at 4:23 in the morning so I could take a picture. One year. Wow!

Happy Birthday sweet baby Jackson! Mommy and Daddy love you so so much.

Happy Halloween

Jackson was a cow for Halloween. Could you expect anything less from me??! I had posed the question on Facebook to see what others thought he should dress up as and got a few really good ideas. My top two were a cow and a sock monkey. My friend Julie in Arizona has a sweet little girl about 10 months older than Jackson who had been a cow for her first Halloween. Come to find out, Julie has the same obsession for cows as I do! Glad I'm not the only one. ;) So she offered to mail us her costume. How sweet! I couldn't believe how cute the costume was when it came. I tried it on AJ immediately. It was perfect!! He was the most adorable cow I'd ever seen.

So Halloween night, we ran across the street to Auntie Na and Uncle Ro's so AJ could do his first trick-or-treating. It was so cute. He loved digging his hand in for candy. We snapped a few shots and went back home to pass out our goodies.

Jackson loved being on the porch waiting for the little (and big) kids to come to the door. Everyone thought it was so cute. Once the traffic slowed down, we stayed inside and he started hiding his candy in his secret drawer. At one point, we noticed he had some red drool...he had broken into some M&M's!! So there was his first taste of candy! Sneaky little guy!

We had such a fun Halloween with our little moo cow. I wonder what he'll be next year. Winnie the Pooh perhaps...my mom still has Uncle Miguel's costume. What fun!!