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. :)

Jackson is into all kinds of crazy antics lately. I can't even think where to start but I love the age he is in. He is such a busy body and moves from one thing to the next. He likes having mommy or daddy near him at all times and will run from room to room looking for us. If mommy and daddy are both home then he usually bounces back and forth between the two of us. Jackson doesn't much enjoy playing with others and just likes to do his own thing, although he loves to be around other kids.

His favorite things in the world are his paci, his mono, yogurt, fruit snacks and his crocs, He has gotten really hooked on his paci lately and we are trying to work up the strength to wean him. Right now we are just trying to limit his access to paci.

Jackson loves to play in water but only if he can stand and play alone. He doesn't really like regular pools because he doesn't like us holding him or wearing his life jacket. On our recent camping trip, he did sit in a tube and float down the river with us which I was very proud of. He loves the rain and calls other water rain sometimes. He gets really happy when the wind blows a lot and will squeal and put both hands on his head/hair.

Jackson repeats basically anything he hears. He says things like, "it's gross, wow, woe, ok, ready, please, messy, wash (or washy), more, up, open, down, close, door, bye bye, hi, outside, water, rain.." He knows most of his body parts and can say them too. He can repeat colors. It is hilarious when he tries to say Spanish words because they are more of a tongue twister for him. He can say verde, azul, and mono. He seems to have a preference for green lately. He likes a green spoon to eat his yogurt with and lately when eating veggie straws he will only eat the green ones. He knows a lot of animal sounds and his favorite seems to be duck because he loves to say "quack quack." He also loves to watch the video "5 Little Ducks." He also loves dogs and will bark if he hears a dog barking.

Jackson has figured out how to buckle everything. He buckles his car seat, his high chair, his camping chair, his life jacket, and daddy's backpack. He tries to buckle his swing but that is a lot harder. He will constantly ask us to "open" the buckles so he can snap them shut over and over. Jackson loves to close doors and he loves to be scared. It is so funny hiding or jumping out at him to make him scream. He also likes to scare us and runs around yelling, "Boo!"

Recently, Jackson was playing in the bathroom and closing the door telling mommy bye bye as I was sitting in the hallway. We played for a while and then Jackson locked the door. No matter what I tried I could not open the door with the key or with a screwdriver. I even took the handle off but the lock was still engaged. To make a long story short, I called 911 and they sent the fire department with the huge truck and all. The men quickly got the door open and Jackson had a bathroom drawer open so it blocked them from getting in. Once they shut that he saw all of the strangers, got scared and shut the door again and it was still locked. So they had to open the door again.

I felt so stupid but the men were so nice and let us see the tuck and even let Jackson and I sit in the firetruck and pretend to drive. I felt so dumb but I was glad it was something minor. I knew I could have broken the door down but I was afraid it would have hurt Jackson. Anyway, it made for an exciting day to say the least.

Other exciting news is we found out on the 25th of June that we are having another BOY!! We are so excited and hope Jackson and his brother will be the best of friends. That day also marks 4 years from the time we got engaged. Time flies. On the 26th Jon turned 29. What an old man!

And the craziest news as all is that I was called to be an early morning seminary teacher this fall. Yes I will have a toddler and be pregnant/have a newborn. Yes I hate mornings. It should be an adventure to say the least!

I promise to upload pictures soon.

Baby Moon Round 2

A few weeks ago, Jon and I headed into the mountains for our second babymoon. We did a babymoon when I was pregnant with Jackson too, and plan to do a babymoon with each pregnancy. It was really nice to get away but I missed Jackson a lot. We only went away for 1 night since Jackson is still so little, and we weren't sure how he would do. My mom came up a day early so Jackson could get used to her before we left. He took to her immediately and they were best buds. The first night she was there, Jon made chimichangas. While I was grating the cheese, Jackson became upset and didn't want a piece of cheese or the package when I tried giving it to him. Then, he took the block from my hand and began munching on it. I had to take it away after he at a ton of it. Of course, he threw a fit. He loves cheese!

The next day, Jon worked a half day while I packed and got ready. We left early in the afternoon and headed up. We checked into the hotel and then headed downtown to go to the General Store and to eat. We were not too impressed with the town, so after shopping  a bit, we headed to another place nearby that was WAY better. It was less hippie/college student/homeless looking and more quaint and family friendly. We ate at a restaurant that we had gone to with my parents 4 years ago when we were engaged. The food was great and the live entertainment was even better. We sat outside where they had a live folk band playing. They band even had a little girl play the violin for them, she was so cute!

The next morning we drove to some waterfalls to hopefully swim and hike some but they were impossible to find. After almost giving up, we found the falls but it was a crazy walk to them. I had on the worst water shoes- ones I have had since college. My toes were falling out of them and they were in shreds basically. I'm not sure how but probably between my shoes, being pregnant, and being afraid of seeing a snake, I fell off the narrow trail and fell a few feet down into the water, which was shallow, rocky, and moving some. The trail was narrow and overgrown so maybe that is why I fell. But I knew I was falling and yelled out to Jon and then he heard me fall and yelled out to me. I was totally fine and landed on my feet but it scared us both. It sounds so dramatic typing it but it wasn't that bad. Anyway, it was too cold to swim and the terrain was just too rough for what I was wearing so we headed back after finally seeing the falls. Oh well, it was still fun.

We headed to Panera and then did some shopping before heading home. I was SO excited to see Jackson again!! It was such a nice get away and Jon and I were able to have fun and laugh and enjoy life without responsibilities for 24 hours. It was a wonderful date!! Thanks Grandma Kay for letting us get away and taking such good care of our little guy!

Jackson and his hunk of cheese 

pinching grandma

We had the best time ever swinging on some swings after dinner and ice cream. Jon was being crazy funny and snapping all kinds of photos. This mother and daughter watched us and laughed, It was one of the most fun nights of my life. 

a picture from while we were gone

Grandma took Jackson swimming in his pool

After we got home, I let Jackson eat a popsicle and he LOVED it!! I was so happy to see my boy again!

Kentucky Trip

Last week, we meet up with my parents and headed to Kentucky. Jackson did great in the car but hardly slept at all. Although, on the way to meet up with my parents, he was crying and yelling "all done!" But once we met up with them he was happy. We stopped at a nasty Burger King on the way there and it is a wonder that we didn't all get food poisoning. We got in around 11 that night and quickly went to bed. 

The next day we met up with my grandparents and then throughout the day different family members joined us as they arrived in town. We of course had to go to Meijer where my grandpa introduced me as his wife (This is so typical of him). My mom kept talking about wanting to go eat "hot browns," which is apparently a famous Kentucky food. Jon and I giggled every time this was brought up. Does this not sound like a word to describe poop?! Anyway, we ate our hot brown at "The Cafe" and it was good but not amazing.

Dinner that night was Culvers but Jon and I got Qdoba To Go so we could get Jackson to bed at a decent time. We put Jackson to bed and ended up watching Forensic Files which was fun since we don't ever watch tv. 

The next day (Saturday) we had a family get together at my cousin Amy's house. I didn't know most of the people because a lot of them are step-family. It was hot but fun. There was even a dog named Jackson.

The next day was Sunday, Father's Day. I surprised Jon with a few simple things and then we went to church. After church we had a good nap and had lunch at the hotel with family. We then headed to my Aunt Janie's house for fishing, games, and more food. It was hot out but a good time. 

Monday we went to a Science Center with the kids and had a good lunch at Las Aztecas. Then, we had a nap and hung out with everyone and said most of our goodbyes after dinner.

Tuesday we toured the Louisville Slugger Museum while we waited for mom to get her new hair style done by Carol. We ate at Chik Fil A and then headed home. Jackson fussed some but did ok with all of the distractions. Once Jon and I got to our car he screamed almost the whole way home and of course fell asleep about 5 minutes from home. He was SO happy to be home and smiled and laughed as we laid him on the floor to change him for bed. We got home around 9:30 which is pretty good but way late for Jackson. He hardly slept at all in the car so he was definitely ready for bed.

We had a great trip and it was so good to see family, My grandpa's memory is fading but he still is very aware of who I am and is still as funny as ever. He likes to pretend to be confused or pretend to be falling down which keeps things interesting. 

Jackson loving on Aunt Carol

Fishing on Father's Day- he forgot it was a Sunday because he doesn't fish on Sunday.

My Uncle David would cast for my Grandpa and Grandpa would slowly reel it in. It was cute to see them fishing together

with cousin Trista

channeling his inner astronaut at the science center

Braxton with his Mamoo Carol

Wind Tunnel- My cousin Jarin with Jackson, Ryleigh, and Braxton

Me, Jon, and Jackson at some weird reflective thing in the city

his very own bowl for chips and salsa- he loved it!

Jackson with my Aunt Lisa and cousin Gabby, cousin Caleb in the background

walking to lunch- Aunt Carol, Grandpa, Gabby, Ryleigh, Braxton, Jarin

Gabby and Gramps

Hot Brown!

dancing in the rain

Jackson learned how to snap his own buckle!

Jackson ate this whole bowl of black beans

Our last day in town, Jon, Jackson, Dad, and I toured the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. It was really cool!

Hall of Famers- Tony La Russa coached the Cardinals!

Jackson kept hugging on the fake Babe Ruth, notice his baseball romper

look at that baby bump!

Cardinals in first!

On the way home, my dad let Jackson play at the rest stop, it was so cute!

Amish store