Lake Day

Jackson and I both enjoyed having our dads here last week. Phil had to work Monday thru Wednesday and my dad did so much to help out around the house. He really put a dent in Phil's honey-do list. Thanks, Dad! We miss you already!

On Thursday my mom stayed home with Emmett so Phil, Dad, Jackson and I could take a day trip to a nearby lake to hike a little bit. We actually didn't do as much hiking as we had hoped because the mosquitoes were scary bad, but we (read: Jackson) did enjoy the lake quite a bit! Here are some pictures from that trip and the beginning of the week...

J just loves to ride around the neighborhood in the Jeep...

He is really into throwing things right now. He spins around a few times to wind up and then lets whatever he's holding fly. Here he is in mid-spin...

He also discovered his new favorite pastime... throwing rocks in a lake.

A friend gave us this backpack and it is the best thing ever. J loved it and Phil said it didn't hurt his back at all.

After our mini-hike I wanted to take off my shoes and socks and wade in the lake. As soon as I did, J followed me in with his boots and jeans on. So we changed him into Crocs and shorts and watched in amazement at how much he loved walking in and out of the water. My dad and I had taken him to a wading pool in town the day before and you would not believe the drama king Jackson was about not wanting to be in the pool. For some reason he loved this lake, though!

He kept getting deeper...


... and deeper...


... and deeper... (here he's trying to pick up a big rock from the bottom of the lake)...

... until he was completely soaked.


Then we decided to just be those people with the baby in a saggy diaper. He was having too much fun to keep those wet denim shorts on!

We should have brought his swim trunks, but who knew he would like a cold lake with waves and a rocky bottom when he hated a lukewarm, shallow pool?

Two!

Jackson had his 2nd birthday party on Saturday. We had it at a park near our house and the weather was perfect. I really didn't expect many people to come, since a bunch of people from our squadron are over in Boise right now and it seems that people are always really busy during the summer, but we actually had a great turnout.

The party's theme was Curious George, because Jackson is completely obsessed with George right now. As soon as he wakes up in the morning he starts shouting, "George! George!" and hands the remote to whomever is closest in hopes of getting us to play one of the ten or so recorded Curious George cartoons that we have on our TV. He absolutely loves George.

Since my mom is here visiting and is a huge help with the boys, I was able to bake a double-layer sheet cake from scratch and decorate it with George's face. I was pretty proud of that cake... I did not expect it to turn out like it did!


Here's a pre-party picture of Mommy and her boys. It's a good thing we took this before the party, because none of us was looking too great afterwards. It's almost impossible these days to get Jackson to sit still and smile at the camera. So frustrating!

Daddy manning the grill at the park...

Jackson was a complete mess about 15 minutes into the party. Since it was his day, I tried not to freak out and let him get as messy as he wanted. He was having a great time walking around squeezing and drinking juice from a juice box and eating Cheetos (his favorite) and Sunchips straight out of the bag. Of course, his fingers, face, and shirt got completely covered in orange and sticky apple juice. He hardly ever gets chips and never drinks juice, so I tried not to think about the mess and just let him enjoy himself. :)

Some party guests eating lunch...

Here are some pics of us singing "Happy Birthday" to J. He was a little embarrassed at first with everyone looking at him and held his hat over his face. I guess he's not used to being the center of attention with so many people around! :)

It pained me a bit to cut into that monkey face, but it had to be done!

The party started around 11:30 and by 1:00 most of the kids were at or near meltdown point. It was funny because it was almost like we flicked a switch or something - 1:00 hit and the kids were done!

My dad flew into town right as the party was ending and had to eat lunch by himself. I'm sure he enjoyed the peace and quiet, though.

Here are the men chillin' at the house after the party and some naps... it was a fun day! We had the party a week earlier than J's actual birthday mostly because so many people are gone for the 4th of July, but the real reason for me is so that we can have cake twice! Chocolate cake is on the menu for his real birthday. :)

And yes, they're watching Curious George on TV in these pictures...

Remember the Time...

You cannot imagine my scream of delight when I opened a present at my 6th (or was it 7th?) birthday party and found this inside:

Oh, how I loved that album and MJ himself. I had a poster of him on my wall for the next year or so and I remember gazing at the pictures inside that album cover countless times (loved the one of him with the tiger cub), as well as trying to memorize the lyrics to the songs. Weren't the lyrics printed on the paper wrapping that that held the record itself, or on a paper insert that went into the pocket with the record? Gosh, that was so long ago! The ending part of Thriller (where the man in the creepy voice comes on and talks about dead people) used to scare me, so I wouldn't always play that part. I don't know what happened to my copy of that record (probably sold at a garage sale for 25 cents or something), but I'll always remember receiving it and how much I enjoyed it. I also remember buying the cassette tape of MJ's album "Bad" a few years later and being just as delighted with that. I don't know where that tape went, either, but I bought his "HIStory" CD in college and all of his great songs are on there.

I know MJ was an odd person, but I sure loved his music (still do) and am sad about his passing.

Just a Few New Pics

Just wanted to share these cute pictures of the boys. We were getting ready to leave to pick my mom up from the airport and they both actually sat still and let me take their picture! Oh, how I love them so much! I look at these pictures and just can't believe how blessed we are.

J didn't want the flash to hurt Emmett's eyes. :) Either that, or he was pinching his nose. Probably the latter.

I love how Emmett is looking so sweetly at his big brother in this one. I think they are going to be great buddies in a few months.

Here's my little man with his sun-kissed white boy summer skin. He has quite a farmer's tan going on - he even has a "Croc-line" on his feet from wearing his Crocs outside all the time. He loves to take the pillows off of this chair and climb up and hang out in it. I think it makes him feel grown up. He is such a sweetheart.

Can you believe this gorgeous rainbow that was behind our house the other day? It was the thickest one I've ever seen. So pretty behind the mountain, too.

Emmett had his two-month checkup today. He is 23 inches long and weighs 14 pounds. MUCH bigger than Jackson was at two months. I hope he never outgrows his big bro! :) Doctor says he's doing great. He's a healthy and happy boy!

Here are both boys (Emmett first, then Jackson) at two months... do you think they favor at all?

We Love Boppy

We were so lucky to have my sister, Becky, be able to visit us for almost 2 weeks. I loved having her here and being able to spend so much time with her and Jackson really loved being with her, too. She would take him outside all the time to blow bubbles or swing and he just ate that up. We even got him to say her name... well, we got a close version of her name at least. He calls her "Boppy". This video was taken right before naptime, so he's a little grumpy, but we liked it anyway. He loves to watch the videos we take on the camera... that's what he's trying to do at the end of this one.



Beck and I bought J this bubble-blowing lawnmower the other day. The bubble-blowing part doesn't work so well, but he loves pushing it around the lawn and down the sidewalk. He especially loves chasing the dogs with it. Hank is quick enough to get out of his way, and J just cracks up when he does. I have since made him stop chasing Heidi, because she just stands there and gets run over and I feel bad.



Becky and I did tackle a few projects, but we also had some fun, too. Phil surprised us and came home last weekend (that's another story - I thought he might be coming home, but he totally threw me off track and fooled me. Just when I thought for sure that he wasn't coming, he burst into Emmett's room as I was putting him to bed. I was SO happy and surprised! He is the best.) and offered to watch the kids all day on Saturday so Becky and I could go to Medford and do some shopping by ourselves. It was the.best.day. I really love my kiddos, but I hadn't had a break from them at all for two weeks, so it was really nice to be able to go out on my own with Becky. We got venti Starbucks' coffees and totally savored them, took our time at stores browsing and trying on clothes and shoes - it was awesome! I've always loved shopping, but I really appreciate getting to go by myself much more now that I have two kiddos.

I got a babysitter this past Tuesday so that B and I could go get pedicures together before she left. Emmett was a little rough on the sitter, but that's why I pay her, right? I gave her a little bit extra for the trouble.

Oh, I'm going to miss my sister so much!! It is SO terribly hard to live out here so far from my family. I never thought I would miss them all like I do. I actually got to spend an extra night with B because her plane was delayed from here to San Francisco because of weather. She would have missed her connection in SF so she took another flight that left in the morning. She avoided an all-night red-eye flight, but ended up having a 7-hour layover in Portland and spending the night in the Orlando airport because she got in too late to take the shuttle back to Ocala. Yuck. I hope the trip was worth all of that hassle! I hate having to be at the mercy of the stupid airlines in order to see my family. It stinks.

Love you so much, Beck!! We already miss you! Thank you for coming to be with us and for all of your help with the boys and the house!