Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down - #4

So many ups this week, I'll have to limit it to the best of the best! I would say that is a good problem to have!
UP:

• Just got home from a fabulous baby shower that my wonderful friend, Tanessa, hosted for me and two other girls in the squadron that are due around the same time I am. Now Kennedy is all set on clothes and diapers! We really are blessed to have generous friends. I'm just ready for her to make her arrival so I can start using all this fun, girly stuff!

Jackson surveying all the diapers for Kennedy!

• Pinkie & Pa (Mike's parents) came to visit this week. Jackson and I had a blast! It's so much fun having family around and having things to look forward to that distract us from the fact that Mike isn't here. They also got JP a prize - his first 'bike'! Jackson has been obsessed with bikes recently and this one is perfect for him. It converts from a rocking bike to a push bike and then an independent bike once he learns how to pedal. He's been in heaven ever since. Pinkie and I put it together, so Daddy is gonna have to do some work on it when he gets home (the handle bars are held on by duct tape right now!).

Pinkie pushing Jackson on his new bike!

• Jackson's first day of Mother's Day Out was a great success. He seemed to do really well despite being the youngest in his class. It was great to have a day to get yard and house work done without having a little one to tend to. He also slept 12 hours that night and took a 2 1/2 hour nap the next day. I could definitely get used to this!

Down:

• I feel like a failure on my motherly duties because I didn't get a picture of Jackson on his 'first day of school.' It's not for lack of trying...Jackson knew we were leaving and wouldn't stop fussing when I wasn't opening the door and when he got home from school he was pretty wound up and wanted to play with every toy he owned. Maybe I'll be able to get a quick picture next week.
• As mentioned last week, I am really enjoying some online shopping. Most recently I've been shopping a lot on Zulily which has a lot of merchandise for women and children at very good prices. Unfortunately, in order to give you such good prices you have to wait a REALLY long time before getting your purchase. Example, my first purchase was made on Aug. 7th and I still haven't received it -ugh! It's hard because I'm used to shopping and getting that instant gratification. Guess this will be a good challenge to gain some patience.

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down - #3

I guess I should print a retraction to my down from last week. Turns out Texas A&M is not going to the SEC after all! More rivalry fun in store for the future!

UP:

• Amen for generosity and hand-me-downs! As you can see Kennedy isn't even born yet and her wardrobe already takes up an entire closet. Not to mention the countless pairs of socks, shoes, and night gowns that you can't see in the picture. Our friend Amber gave us a ton of the cutest clothes that were her daughter's and the rest of the clothes were provided by MiMi (my Mom) and Pinkie (Mike's Mom)! Also this week, Jackson inherited a new lot of fun toys from our friend Tanessa. It's definitely helped keep him entertained!

• We enrolled Jackson in a Mother's Day Out program this week. His first day is next Wednesday. I think it will be really good for him to have a change of pace once a week and play with other kids his age. The best part about it is that it is Christian based so all the circle times and meal times involve prayer! It will also be great for me to have a day to run errands, schedule doctor appointments, and spend some one on one time with Kennedy after she arrives. It has actually been a lot of fun shopping for lunch boxes and school stuff!

Down:

• I think I may have become addicted to online shopping - yikes! It's just so much easier living this far out of town (town being Boise, there really isn't any shopping in Mtn. Home), with a little one, and my dwindling lack of energy to shop online. Plus you save a lot of money, not to mention gas!  I just hope my husband doesn't flip out when he sees a change in our credit card bill. All the purchases are economical and mostly for gifts. I guess you could also call it retail therapy since I don't have him around to fill up more of my time! It's also helped get a head start on Christmas shopping; I'm not sure how easy that will be with a toddler and newborn in tow!

Some Pics from this week:

Jackson learning about colors with play-doh

Our friend Amanda was generous enough to have us over for dinner. She has a huge grapevine in the backyard and the kids helped her pick grapes. Jackson had a great time playing with our friend Krista's daughter, Baylor, too!

I'm pretty sure they were eating more than they were helping!

Here I am, 30 weeks along. Only 9 more to go before we meet Kennedy!

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down - #2

Up:

• It has been a full month since Jackson started sleeping in the "big boy" queen size bed! So far it has been very successful. He only fell off the bed once (oops), but I think I remedied that with the addition of a body pillow at the end of the bed. He has continued to nap in the crib though. I thought that would work best since we have company coming in a couple of weeks and again when Kennedy is born and he'll have to sleep in the crib during those nights. Hopefully that doesn't completely confuse him. 
• The base provides this fabulous service called Give Parents a Break for deployed spouses. They provide free childcare one Saturday a month while your spouse is deployed. We've only gotten to take advantage of it in July and Aug. because we were gone or with family the other months. Jackson loves getting to play with other kids his age and it is a great way for me to get a lot done at once. He did get brutally attacked yesterday though (another kid bit him on the nose - poor guy), but it didn't seem to taint his experience.

Down:

• Stomach bug - yuck! Twice during this pregnancy, and of course since Mike's been gone, I've had the stomach bug. Luckily this week it was a much milder form than I had back in April and Jackson didn't get it, but it's still no fun.
• I'm sure you all heard the news this week that Texas A&M is leaving the Big XII and heading to the SEC. This is so sad for me because of the history and rivalries of this team. My Dad and sister both went to A&M so it has always been fun to give them hell during football season when Tech is playing them. That will be no more. Too bad UT has to ruin everything for everyone by trying to dominate. You can read my husbands thoughts about all of this below! He's pretty opinionated :)

Here are a few pics from this week...

Jackson with his blankie, affectionately known as "Ma"!

Jackson loves being outside. It's amazing how a little $8 pool can keep a kid happy/busy for hours!

Love Jackson's facial expression in this one!

Mike's Thoughts:

A) I think A&M will have a much more difficult time in the SEC.  I envision them having a tough time breaking .500 every year.  I don't know where A&M is pumping all of this sunshine thinking they belong in the SEC.  They had a decent season last year, but look at their recent history (9-4, 6-7, 4-8, 7-6, 9-4, 5-6, 7-5, 4-8, 6-6).  That's 57-54 over the last 10 years for those of you keeping score at home.  I think they're ready for Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas every year though...not to mention the SEC East.

B) At least they're getting away from UT.  I hate UT.  And, A&M would be going to a conference with equal revenue sharing.  I think that's the only way to go these days based on the SEC, Big 10 and Pac 12 approach.  They're going to a greener pasture(farming pun not intended yet well played), but I think it will hurt not having any of their historic rivalries go along with them with the exception of Arkansas.

What do I think Tech should do?  It's funny you should ask.

And I answer: We've all seen The Titanic.  We know what happened to Leo after he "never let go."  The ship is sinking.  Get the F out!  The conference isn't going to last like this.  I have little to no confidence in the Big XII-2 or 3, and everyone who remains will be at the mercy of UT. 

I wish Tech would band together with OU, Ok St., and Boise to make a case for the Pac 16 superconference.  It makes sense, it's possible, and it would be an awesome conference.  The icing on top of the cake will be UT stuck without a conference and licking their wounds visible to all Americans who purchase the super deluxe premium overdrive sports channel package from their cable provider and accidentally find themselves tuned into to channel 666.  If the NFL network isn't on most cable provider's standard packages, I doubt they'll be interested in an all burnt orange all the time network.  I do think that midnight jams with old buttertooth has a place on some network somewhere though.  That, or maybe they can have a thirty minute segment where he reads stories to children.  Move over Kunta.  There's a new reading rainbow, and it's burnt orange with a hint of buttery yellow. 

Missouri can join the Big 10.  Baylor can follow TCU into the Big East.  Iowa State, KU and K State can do whatever it is that they do.  I don't care.

Let UT shower in their money, arrogance and loneliness.

Another option would be UT taking the place of Boise in the Pac 16.  It could happen, but I'd rather them just go independent so I don't have to look at them.

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down - #1

The idea for this weekly post came from my childhood. When I was little, after we said nighttime prayers, we would all tell the good thing and bad thing that happened to us that day. If we had a bad day, it was a really good way to focus on the positives and sometimes we didn't have any bad things. I definitely plan on continuing this tradition when my kids are old enough!

UP:

• We can officially say that it is less than two months until Mike comes home! I can't believe it! It really has been hard without him. It helped being home with my parents for a couple of months and with Mike's family for almost two weeks, but since we've come home from our travels, time is not passing as quickly. Well I should say, the days go by VERY slowly, but the weeks seem to go by fast. At any rate, the end is in sight!
• I'm sure that I am biased on this one, but my Jackson boy is one smart kiddo! I think each day he learns 5-10 new words and now he is starting to connect dots between all sorts of concepts. For example, we were reading Brown Bear and were on the page with the blue horse. Jackson runs over and grabs his little Humpty Dumpty book, turns to the page that says, "all the king's horses," points and says "horse" then says "nay." I was super impressed!
• The hardest task each week is going to church with an active toddler. It normally wouldn't be so bad, but our church is under renovation and the cry room is closed. The only place to go with a fussy little one is outside. Not to mention that the a/c has been either turned off or barely working which makes mass hard for this insulated Mama! We switched mass times and have been going on Saturday night which works out much better. The up to this is that for the past two weeks Jackson has done really well! It's good to know that he can make it through mass without a tantrum and had the cry room not been closed, I probably never would have discovered it!

Down:

• Insomnia! I am having the hardest time getting sleep at night these days. I go to bed at a decent hour, but baby Kennedy doesn't seem to get the memo that it's bedtime. I can't find a comfortable position to sleep in where she is not doing acrobatics in my belly. Then once I finally get sleep for about an hour, I have to get up and go to the bathroom. Then I'm dragging the next morning/day and can't seem to get motivated to get around. To top it off, I've never been a napper unless I'm sick. I've tried multiple times to nap while Jackson naps during the day to "catch up" on lost sleep, but to no avail. Please pray for better sleep!
• Jackson is to the point that he understands right from wrong. In fact, when he does something he shouldn't he comes up to me, shakes his finger, and says, "no, no, no." Then he leads you right to whatever he did that he wasn't supposed to. However, when it comes to disciplining him, the kid does NOT listen. I tell him not to do something dozens of times over and he still goes back and does it again. I've resorted to time outs in the high chair facing the wall. Hopefully he will get the idea and start listening soon. The other issue is keeping a straight face because some of the time it is just so hilarious, I can't help but laugh!

In other news - Mike sent this to us in an e-mail this week and I thought I'd share it with everyone. Thankfully Mike is not growing a mustache like everyone else in the squadron! Here is what he said in the e-mail:

They're doing a USO tour out here right now, and Karl Malone and David Blaine (magician/illusionist) wanted to come out and see the jets.  It was pretty awesome.  I got to shake Karl Malone's hand a take a picture with him.  I didn't shake David Blaine's hand, because I saw him do some "tricks" and was quite sure that he's possessed.  They both got to sign a bomb and thought it was cool.  They were really down to earth guys, and you could tell that they were having a good time.  Jon Stewart is out here as well, but he wasn't able to make it over to see the jets.

Inaugural Post

After much procrastination and contemplation I've decided to join the blogging family. Most of my photo postings and news is broadcast on Facebook. I figure this will be a more intimate way to share with my family and friends and good for those that still don't have Facebook accounts. Also feeling some pressure with both my sister-in-laws having cute and creative blogs about their family life The Hefferly Household and The Asmussen Family/Sweetheart-n- Sunshine. In keeping with the trend they have set, I plan on doing a weekly post. I'll try to post Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down on Sunday to replay our weekly ups and downs.

To get everyone up to speed, Mike is currently deployed to Afghanistan and is expected home sometime around the end of September. It has been difficult not having him here to participate in the everyday things we once took for granted. We are so lucky to be able to Skype or talk on the phone with him on a regular basis though. Our son, Jackson, turned 1 in April and is growing like crazy. Everyday is a new learning experience for him and it is so neat to see his transition from baby to toddler! We are expecting our second child, Kennedy Olivia, on October 19. Between chasing after Jackson, squadron functions, attempting some sewing and craft projects and the fatigue of pregnancy, I've managed to stay pretty busy during Mike's absence. I have a whole new respect for single parents and can't wait until Mike gets home and can share in the joys of parenting again!

I hope you will all tune in to our weekly posts and this will help us all stay better connected. Here are some recent pics/video of Jackson:

Jackson brushing his teeth; it's his new favorite activity. Every time he passes the bathroom he points and says "teeth brush," so cute!

First time trying a fudge pop! I think he liked it!