18 months & Fish

Jackson had his 18 month checkup on Friday. I still can't believe he's already 18 months old. It feels like just yesterday he was born as I can still remember his birth so vividly. Although, I can't believe Haley is 3 1/2 either! She is still my baby girl :) Well, Jackson did great at his appt. He had 1 shot and only cried when the nurse held down his legs. He passed all his tests with flying colors. The dr. did say he has a Still's heart murmur but they are common and nothing to worry about. I believe Haley had one of those too.

Here are his 18 month stats:

Height: 32.25 inches - 46%

Weight - 25lbs 4 oz - 40%

Head: 19.02 inches - 64%

He's looking great!!

On Friday Matt's parents and brother arrived for a pre-summer visit. The kids are very excited to have Grandma and Grandpa here. Jackson is a little timid around Uncle Michael but he's warming up. Haley, on the other hand, jumps all over Michael. I know he loves it!

Since the kids love the water so much Matt and I bought them a cheapy sprinkler to run around in.

Jackson was checking it out...

Daddy had to show them what to do

Jackson is getting up some courage

Getting closer....

Haley ran into the pool but Jackson couldn't escape Daddy!

Dad! That wasn't so much fun. I'll come way over here so you can't get me

Well, the sprinker was a bust so far. The kids wanted the real thing and jumped in the pool with Daddy. Jackson is getting the hang of swimming working on his kicking.

Haley and Jackson showing off their swimming skills

Daddy taking both the kids for a jump. They loved it!

Again Daddy!!!!!!!

Haley jumping to Daddy. She had so much fun.

Jackson got up enough courage to "jump" off the board too. Grandpa helping him walk to the end

1,2,3 Jump!!

That was fun, AGAIN.

A short video from my phone of Jackson swimming.

Fun day at the zoo

Wow, two posts in one weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect the weekend so we decided to take full advantage. First things first. Before we got on our adventures Grandma, Uncle John and Uncle Nathan stopped by to pick up Cade, who we had been dog sitting for a week. The kids miss their Uncles who are in college tons!

First they ganged up on John to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom...

Then Jackson escaped and went to play with Uncle Nathan

But Haley wasn't giving up on Uncle John yet. She told me the other day how she thought Uncle John was "so handsome". I agree!

The kids had a blast with the quick visit and can't wait to go to Grandma's to spend more time with their Uncles and Grandma too!

Today we decided to take the kids to the zoo to enjoy the beautiful weather. One nice advantage to having a membership is we can pop in for a few hours and not have to cram the entire zoo into one day. So today we hit up the Giraffes first just in time for their feeding.
You can't tell from her face but Haley was sooooo excited to feed the giraffes.

Jackson was too holding on to his feeding ticket like a big boy.

First up was Haley feeding the big guy. She is a pro.

Then she went over to feed the baby. It was funny since the big one tried to take the lettuce again. There are a few real baby giraffes too in the exhibit but they aren't big enough for the feedings.

After Haley was done with her 3 pieces it was Jackson's turn. He was cautious but did good.

Here giraffe giraffe.

Jackson wasn't too sure what to think but he kept saying giraffe as we were leaving. I love the new exhibit!

After checking out the chimps, which are always entertaining, we headed over to the playground and petting zoo. Then we popped into the prairie dogs and look at that pretty one I found...

And then there was three. One wasn't so happy...

Looks like Jackson is on Haley's shoulders :)

Silly Haley making faces

After a fun few hours at the zoo we decided to take a paddle boat ride at the lake outside. Haley was ready to go!

Jackson, well, not so much. He hated the life jacket, to say the least. He finally calmed down a little when we were in the boat but he is not a fan of life jackets.

We had a great time on the water. Wouldn't you know the camera battery died so we didn't capture any pictures . Great weekend to go along with the great weather!!!! Have a good week.

Mother's Day 2011

Where to even begin. I really do try to update the blog more but life just gets in the way. Let's start with Mother's Day weekend. Matt finished a sprint triathlon and we are very proud of him! GO DADDY! Now every time we pass the park where the finish line is Haley informs us that's where daddy ran his race. Jackson was proud of daddy on the bike. Of course bike is one of his favorite words these days, along with ball, balloon, bottle, baby, anything that starts with a "b"!

Mother's Day was awesome, best one yet. I have so much to be thankful for and feel very blessed to have my two beautiful, healthy kids and wonder husband. I was treated to breakfast made by Daddy, followed by church and then an afternoon at Grandma's capped off with steak dinner! YUM YUM. I got a certificate for a full day at the spa from the kids. Can't wait to cash that in! But the best present of all was the hand print bouquet by Haley and the fingerprint heart by Jackson. I love my babies :)

Other then those two big events a couple of weeks ago, life is just life. Here are a few memorable stories from the past weeks.

Sibling love:

Haley and I were on the way to the mall while Jackson and Matt were going to Little Gym. A song comes on and Haley says, "I miss my brother. This is Jackson's favorite song". Oh how I love to hear that!

Getting old:

Haley asked me how old I was. I told her and her response, "Oh my goodness!!!" Really?? She cracks me up.

Everyday sayings:

Jackson is trying so hard to talk and really mimic what you say. We have a ball handing from a string in the garage so I don't pull forward too far. Everyday we boop the ball it with the car while pulling in and now he says "boop ball" once we touch it.

Little fish:

Jackson amazed us with his swimming ability. He is going to be just like Haley! He was swimming from one side of the spa to the next the other week out of the blue. He still has a long way to go but this guy is a fish. They obviously get that from Daddy.

And now the recap in pictures...

Jackson giggling as Daddy swam by

Haley getting ready for a swim with Daddy

Jackson swimming

Analyzing where he is going to swim to next

Mother's Day in grandma's pool.

Did you see me Mom?

Our teething machine...

What are you looking at Daddy? Yes, this is goooood!

Yum Yum Yum. And as Jackson says, "that's good".