I Need More Than A Weekend

-To catch up after a full week. It wasn't a bad week, but Brian was on call and worked late almost everynight. I met Emily and Huntley for dinner one night, had Bunco another, dead battery one morning (Brian's car), asthma issues (Brian), and parent teacher conference 3 mornings this week. Thankfully the weather was beautiful this week and Jackson and I were able to play outside every night!

Sometimes life is rough even when you're 1 and a half!

-To get as far ahead as I would like at school. I am an over achiever and I would to have my lesson plans done for the whole year NOW! Just not happening!

-To catch up on sleep!

-To do all the things on my Fall fun list (we already did one this morning and hopefully more this weekend and next)

-To do all the random acts of kindness I want to do for people.

-To organize and go through my fall clothes. I broke out my brown boots this week and it was glorious!

-To really spend time with my husband. Since this past week I barely saw him due to the fact he worked so much and slept downstaris in the chair to help with his breathing. All though we should be able to to go on some "date nights" as his parents are flying in today!

Weekends should at least be THREE days, don't you think?

19 Months

Dear Jackson,

Why does 19 months seem so much older to me than 18 months? Maybe it is because now you are closer to turning 2 than just being 1. It just doesn't seem possible that this much time has past since you were born.

This last month you have really started talking more. You repeat almost everything we say and catche us off guard when you says things we didn't even know you knew. Some of my favorite things that come out of your mouth are "This fun!", "Where daddy?", "Me nook", "Fell down", "It hurt", "Brush teeth." Your voice is so sweet and I have been trying to take more video so I will be able to look back and remember what you sounded like.

You are very tall for your age, I wonder where you gets that from! I picked you up from daycare the other day and realized how much taller you are than the 13 month old and 3 year old!

You LOVE your daddy! Just so you know this one is bitter sweet for me. I am so thankful you have an awesome dad that you adore. But, I will admit it hurts a little bit when I get you up in the morning or pick you up from daycare and the first thing you say is "Where Daddy?" I know you love me but daddy has a special place in your heart.

You were a bit of a picker eater this last month than in the past. I think you may be getting your molars. You still love you some fruit and crackers! If you won't eat anything else you will always eat those things. You also ate carrots for the first time in a long time.

You are a sweet, sweet boy but do throw a good fit when you don't get what you want! You do a great job picking up your toys at home and daycare, setting the table with daddy for dinner, throwing your trash away, and bringing mommy and daddy their shoes. When you wake up in the morning you quietly get out of bed, climb up in the rocking chair in your room, cover up with a blanket, and read your books! We are working with you to be more patient:)

You are such a good reader! You love to read your books to daddy and me in the morning and at night. You also love to read your books in the car and have books read to you.

The park is your favorite place on Earth! You would spend the whole day here if we let you. However you do not like getting shocked, we learned that today!

Jackson, I learn so much from your life and love you more each day! I pray daily daily for you and also for me that I am and will be a Godly role model for you and be the mom that you need me to be!

I love you Jackson Oliver!

Love, Mommy

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...

of our Saturday!

The Good:
-An early morning bike ride and stop at the park that required pants and sweatshirts
-Finshing a couple weeks of lesson plans

-Sonic happy hour

-Getting Jackson's 18 month pictures back and finding a bunch of frames 75% off, now just have to find a place to hang them all

-Making one of my favorite chicken casseroles

-Nightime walk to put Jackson alseep and time spent talking with Brian

-Relaxing on the couch with my love


The Bad:

-Hours spent at the dentist for Brian and me

-The money spent at the dentist

-Jackson drawing on our couch with pen


And the Ugly...really, really ugly:

-Brian's canker sore (Sorry honey hope it gets better soon!)

In with the New

I am typing this post from my brand new laptop that Brian surprised me with!
My old laptop has been on the kaputiz (sp?) for some time now. However, just this last week my laptop would not turn on. I freaked out as I did not have everything backed up. Oh about 40 minutes later it mysteriously powered up! I quickly saved every picture and lesson plan to our external hard drive. The last week I have been waiting anywhere from 40 minutes to a hour and half for my laptop to turn on. Last weekend we went and looked around for computers. I am very cheap and didn't see anything I liked that fit my "budget". Brian kept trying to talk me in to just buying a one, but my dad in me said "it still works you don't need a new one!"

Brian knew I wasn't going to cave so he took it upon himself to buy me one that fit all of his standards. He justified it to me saying "you need it for work, you don't want to lose your lesson plans you spent so long on." So, now I have a much nicer and probably more expensive laptop than if I would just have picked one out last weekend. It is a nice change to type with a keyboard that is not missing buttons!

Brian's birthday is in 23 days and it seems to me I better come up with something grand for him. I guess I should start thinking and planning NOW!

I LOVE my boys (and my new laptop, thanks Brian)!!

Silly Boy

We took full advantage of the beautiful fall weather and played at the park for a long time tonight. Jackson was in his prime element!

His laugh is music to our ears! It has to be the sweetest sound ever!

-Sidenote: Jackson is running a very low grade fever. Please pray it is just teething and that he feels 100% in the morning.

It's Not About Me

Last week in Sunday school class Becky talked about serving your spouse and putting thier needs first. Her saying was, "It's not about me, it's about you, and it's about HIM!" I love it!

I will share a few things that Brian did for me so far this weekend that spoke to my heart and definitely fit Becky's saying.

Friday I came home to a clean house and I mean spic-and-span! I thanked him and said, "I will just have to wash the sheets sometime thi weekend." Brian responds, "They are in the dryer." Awe, I love that I didn't have to spend this morning cleaning and that I got to sleep in clean sheets last night. He also rented a Last Song, which I have been wanting to see, for us to watch once Jackson went to sleep. During the whole movie I laid on him and he rubbed my hair, just like when we were dating:)

This morning Brian let me sleep in. He got up and took Jackson to the park (I didn't even know they were gone). I woke up to my boys standing over me with a Non-fat vanilla latte and he even went back to get another one when the first one was lacking vanilla. What a great start to my morning!

Now don't get me wrong this isn't a once in a blue moon thing for Brian. He does a great job of living out "It's not about me, it's about you, and it's about HIM!" on a daily basis.

Brian thanks for loving and serving me each and every day!

A Glimpse into the Future?

Jackson LOVES to be outside and he LOVES balls. However, he does not swing a bat or golf club the right way. He would just rather karate chop the ball!

Brian trying to show Jackson how to do it. Our neighbor down the street has 3 boys and is outside coaching the 2 older ones almost everynight and he is hardcore! One night we heard him and thought nothing of it until we rode by on our bikes and he was outside with his 3 year old. I think that is a bit young to be that hard on a kid. I have a feeling Jackson will want to be in sports as he get older. I pray we make it fun for him, that it teaches him good sportmanship, and that we are not the crazy parents!
I can't help but wonder what sport he will like best and if he will be a stud at them all like his daddy.

I have a feeling before we know it we will be sitting in the stands watching Jackson play soccer, baseball, football, and/or basketball and when that happens...

I will be his biggest fan!