The Final Stretch

I can't believe we are almost ready for the baby! I am 37 weeks and 4 days today! We are in that phase where it really could be any minute now, but you just never know. I feel sore and tired but I know it could be worse. I am starting to get more excited and less nervous overall. Emotionally I am more crazy this pregnancy. I don't think I was hormonal last time because I was busy and working full-time but being home alone with Jackson all day leaves me feeling lonely and over thinking everything. I'm just trying to stay busy, rest when I can, and enjoy my time with Jackson. He is so well behaved and good most of the time. He brings me so much joy and keeps me laughing constantly. Daylight savings has him waking up at 4 so that has been extra fun. Yesterday he was up at 4 with poop everywhere. There is no better way to start your day. :) But we need to start getting used to losing sleep so it's all good.

I have been terrible at uploading belly pics. I will do that one of these days. 

Halloween

I was afraid Halloween was going to be a bit of a bust this year. The ward trunk or treat didn't start until 6:30, Jackson's bedtime. I figured I would play it by ear and see how he was the night of. And because I was playing it by ear, I never committed to any costumes. Well as of course would happen, Jackson was crazy tired that night and was super ready for bed by 6 if not before. I was feeling worn out so the idea of staying home and relaxing was sounding more and more appealing. So Jon went to the ward party solo on Friday.

Saturday was pretty busy and I had a hard day so I wasn't sure about going trick or treating but I kept getting really excited about it. I wanted to trick or treat at friends' houses but I knew they would be out with their own kids. My mom suggested that we go to a couple of the empty nesters houses nearby and that was a great idea. We threw together a last minute costume and dinner and headed out early. We probably did 5 houses total and then drove to the home of the people I used to babysit for but they were already gone. So we headed home and Jackson fell asleep within a few minutes. It was barely 630. We love our little early bird. I'm so glad we were able to go for even a little bit, I had so much fun! I can't believe Jackson actually wore a hat and costume. We are at the beginning of a long era of trick or treating from here on out I guess.

4 Years

Last week, Jon and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. I can't believe how short of time we have known each other and been married. It is so hard to remember life any other way than with him. I can't believe we also have almost 2 kids. Words cannot describe what a good husband and father Jon is. He works tirelessly to met our needs and take care of us. He is so patient and thoughtful. I could go on and on but I won't. 

Since our anniversary was on a Thursday we did a family date that night. We went and got ice cream and went and played at the park. Then, I got an awesome gel nail pedicure since I can barely reach my toes. On Friday we went it to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then went to Bed Bath and Beyond and Target. It was so nice to get out, just the 2 of us. We were home by about 830 because I was tired and sore, but we didn't want to stay out late anyway. I am so grateful every day for Jon, he is the best!

Countdown

With his bestie Austin who is 4 months older

With his nursery buddies 

He is really into showers lately and refuses to do a regular old bath. Sometimes he sneaks in with me.

Ninja baby

Pretending to wipe

I am officially 34 weeks and 4 days pregnant now. It is crazy to think I only have around 6 week left. Time is flying by which in some ways I am grateful for. I am excited to not be pregnant and sore anymore. But man oh man I am not ready to have 2 babies! I am not ready but I am also excited! I wish time would slow down because Jackson is growing up so fast. He is becoming more of a boy and less of a baby. My love for him grows everyday, he is such a gift from Heavenly Father.

This pregnancy has been so similar to my first. I was nauseous and sick in the beginning but have felt great since that died down. Now as I near the end I am sore but it's mostly just my back and sometimes my feet and legs. I haven't had too much insomnia yet and hope I dont. I have been so tired this pregnancy. I try to always nap when Jackson does so I can make it through the day. My feet and hands are starting to swell some, so my wedding ring is off for now. :( I have started feeling a little sick again but it's mostly when I overeat.

Now on to the little man. Jackson is seriously so perceptive. I'm not sure how but he knows some of his letters (Y, H, B, D, K, U,  and maybe some others). He calls letters OP's which is the cutest thing ever. He also is able to count to 10 (with help) and recognize all the numbers by sight except Zero. At Wal Mart he has started yelling out all of the checkout stand numbers as we are leaving. I was baffled that he knew them all! He is still so into busses, trains, trucks, etc...  He is strange like his dad and eats weird concoctions. So far he has done wheat thins dipped in milk, goldfish crackers dipped in water, and chips dipped in yogurt. He has developed 2 favorite shirts and 1 favorite pair of shorts. Every other outfit is usually a struggle to put on. And he still wears his crocs everyday, and everywhere. He had a great milestone on Saturday when he pooped in the tub for the first time. It was so nasty and I was so glad Jon was home and is a saint because I was gagging so much. I hate to end on that note so how about some photos?!

The picture above and below are 2 different days and 2 different parks but the same outfit. That is his favorite outfit. He calls the shirt yellow even though he know his colors pretty well. The shorts are some black mesh ones Jon's sister Amanda sent before Jackson was born.

Saturday: Boy's Hike

On Saturday, Janet went to a stake women's conference for most of the day so Jackson and I decided to go hiking at South Mountains. I know a lot of locals who are really into the out doors who hate South Mountains, but I really love the park. It is the closest (other than Crowder's Mountain), it has a trout stream, a beautiful waterfall, and a lot of fun back country trails to explore if you want more of a hike. J-man and I hiked the falls loop to keep it simple and we had so much fun! When I told him that we were hiking, he kept saying "hike" all the time. I let him do as much walking as he wanted which ended up being about 3/4 of a mile-ish. He was being so good and so fun: he did a great job following the trail and leading the way, he loved looking at the rocks on the trail, the leaves, and the flowers along the way. At one point he stopped and pointed to his ears and said "hear." I think that was the first time that he noticed the sound of the creek. We talked about everything that we saw and heard, and he kept marching on. Around a mile and a half in he started needing help getting over the big steps, the rocks, and the roots so he held on to my hands. Finally it got to a point where the steps were as big as him almost, so he wanted up. I threw him in the backpack and we kept going. He really was such a trooper and I can't wait to go with him again!

In the visitor's center.

He basically ran the whole way.

Pushing me away so he can get back to the creek.

Throwing a leaf over a big boulder.

He would say "step" each time he had to step up.

The bridge over the top of the falls. 

Playing in the water by the parking lot after our hike.

Pacifiers are Gone plus pictures!

We commenced operation, "No More Pacis" yesterday. Jon has been saying it was time and I knew he was right but I just didn't want to yet. I had anxiety about it and I didn't want there to be another sign that my baby is growing up. So we planned on doing it a couple times and something always came up- sickness, traveling, or there was one time where we just had a really rough week with Jackson and I told Jon I didn't have the strength to do it that weekend. Of course we always plan for a weekend because then I can have Jon home to help. :)

Anyway, Jon kept saying Labor Day weekend was our time and I knew it was time because Jackson has become so much more attached lately. He would ask for the paci a lot throughout the day and it was too hard to fight him on it so a lot of times we gave in. I wanted to wait until I was finished babysitting the girls because their 3 year old still has a paci so I knew that would make it hard for Jackson to get rid of it if we were around her. I am done babysitting, for now I think, so it was time. So yesterday Jon took Jackson with him to Wal-Mart while I got my hair cut. Jackson was allowed to pick out a motorcycle toy and they took that home to use in an exchange. When I got back, Jon gathered up all the pacis and we explained to Jackson that paci was going to go bye-bye and would be all gone. Jackson had a paci in his mouth at the time and very willingly handed it over in exchange for the motorcycle, or "cyscle" as he calls it. We even had Jackson help throw them away and then Jon took the trash out.

We had somewhat prepared Jackson by telling him a few days ahead of time that paci would be going bye bye soon. But I am totally amazed at how well he has done. Jon and I prayed a lot for him to be comforted and to do well. I know it sounds silly but we didn't want Jackson to feel punished and didn't want him to just cry and be miserable for several days. There is nothing worse than seeing your kid suffer. So Jackson was fine all day long Saturday and would happily tell us paci was all gone after he would ask for it, and he hardly asked for it at all. Saturday night was a little rough and Jackson had to cry for about 25 minutes to go to sleep. He ended up sleeping through the night until 5 which is when he wakes up anyway. He woke up once briefly during the night but went right back to sleep. We woke up in shock that we had survived the night without the paci. It went so well.

Jackson woke up happy and after asking for paci and being told it was all gone he was fine. He did wonderful all day long. We anticipated church being rough but he did so well. He fussed some about paci in sacrament but he also was upset about not being able to play with beads that a girl next to us had. We had to take him out twice but it wasn't bad. He went to nursery where his friend still had a paci but Jackson did awesome. He cried for a little bit and then stayed in nursery the whole time. After church he fussed a tiny bit when it was time to nap but not bad at all. He just chews on mono when he wants his paci. He did great all day and went to bed amazingly well. He fussed a little but didn't even cry, just whined for mommy a tad. We are so shocked and so proud of Jackson. He is so perceptive and understands so well. Our prayers have been answered and I am so grateful this hasn't been as torturous as I thought it would be. I know it is a silly and small thing but for us it felt like a big hard thing for us. I know that God loves us and hears and answers our prayers, even the small ones.

How about some pictures from our summer?!

the pacis and the motorcycle

my favorite face of all time

Jon's favorite picture- we were playing in the rain and got soaked after this

The last picture I have of him with a paci from Friday. Also holding his first worm that he picked up as soon as I showed it to him.

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Oh where do I even begin? I am 6 months pregnant now and about 28 weeks. I am starting to feel baby boy move more and more. I feel great overall but I am sore, tired, and of course uncomfortable. I had the big glucose test last Thursday. I feel like I am a little bigger than I was with Jackson at this point so I am a little worried about how uncomfortable I will be, come November.

Jackson is really clingy but such a happy boy. He just loves to be with us and involved in everything we do. I love it and try to cherish it, although it does get hard at times. He loves being with mom or dad or both at all times. He wants "up" in our arms a lot and loves to read books with us. If we are sitting or laying down he will give us his hand to try to pull us up and say "up" repeatedly. If I leave the room for a second he yells out "play! play!" over and over. It is so sweet. He still loves to read and is really into Dr. Seuss type stuff lately. He will run up to us with a book and say "read, read, read." He is in that stage where he repeats things over and over. He talks really well and has the sweetest voice.

 He is into all things cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles etc... He has little videos he likes to watch on youtube with different car and bus songs. He is OBSESSED with The Wheels on the Bus. We play with buses, we watch youtube videos with buses that sing Wheels on the Bus, and we sing Wheels on the Bus. He knows the song so well. Now that school has started and we see buses a lot he goes nuts. He seriously loves buses.

 He also likes to climb on the futon, stand up, shake his finger and say "no more, no more." (As in, no more monkeys jumping on the bed.) It is the cutest, especially a few weeks ago in his raspy sick voice. He and I had colds for a week or two and it was pretty annoying. Jackson can sat pretty much  say any word he wants. He is so observant we have to be careful what we say and do, he picks up on everything. Jackson constantly asks for candy by holding his finger up by the side of his head and says "one" repeatedly. He knows if he gets anything sweet it is usually just one piece so he likes to ask for "one" a lot. I think he used to think candy was called "one"but now he knows the word candy. He is really into popsicles and popcorn too. He asks for popsicles all day long, especially after nap time. I think he prefers that to drinking now so I have to ration them. Speaking of which, he is like me and doesn't drink milk. He doesn't even like juice. He is just all about water.

When we tickle Jackson he will say "I know" over and over again as he laughs. He used to say this when he was upset but now he says it when he is tickled. I think he got this from me because I used to say softly, "I know" as a way to soothe him. It is hilarious when he says it while being tickled. Jackson loves to take baths and showers. He showers with me a lot now, it is just easier than trying to keep him occupied. He loves his bath crayons and loves bubble baths. He loves to color and play with markers. He also LOVES Legos lately- not baby block Legos but real ones. I get nervous because he still puts things in his mouth but is getting a lot better with them. He also loves hats and points them out wherever he sees them. He won't wear one though, he hates wearing hats. He loves the Lego guy and his hat though.

Today, Jon said that as he was fixing Jackson's hair, Jackson asked for Mono's hair to be fixed. I thought that was so adorable and so smart. Mono is Jackson's monkey/blanket/rattle thing he has slept with since being a baby. Speaking of which, he is very attached to Mono and Paci right now and the Paci is going to go bye bye soon, we hope. I am in denial because he loves it so much but it will be better to do it before the baby comes I think. I am sad to think of my boy growing up though.

Jon is back to school full force and is in his last year of grad school and internship as well. He is in Young Men's and I am finally released from Primary. I was in there for 4 years! I am sad but ready for a change. I was supposed to teach early morning seminary but now I will be just teaching Home Study which takes a TON of stress off of me. I also have been babysitting part time since February and am going to stop that in about a week. It has been a good experience and great money but it is hard on my pregnant body and I am ready to have one less thing to do. I feel like we need to lessen our stress load as we prepare for baby boy and for Jon's busiest year of school yet. We are all happy and healthy and loving life!

This is so long and probably boring but I am trying to document all I can for our journals. Pictures someday soon, I promise. :)