Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so much fun this year!  Obviously, Jackson had no idea what was going on, but I loved dressing him up and showing him off, and thankfully, Ben was a pretty good sport about the whole thing.

Earlier this week, we had our Stroller Strides Halloween Party.  One of the instructors invited all of us over to her house one morning and encouraged both moms and kids to dress up.  Jackson wore his pumpkin costume, and I went as his farmer.  We all brought a breakfast item to share and had a great time hanging out -- although we agreed that parties aren't quite as relaxing as they used to be since everybody there had at least one kid to tend to.  

Jackson and I have been going to Stroller Strides pretty regularly for the past couple of months now and have really enjoyed getting to know all of the other moms and kids.  We tried to take a group picture with some of the babies around Jackson's age, but as you can see, the babies weren't really feeling it -- although Jackson was actually having a great time chewing on the tip of the witch's hat, which is also the reason that you can't see his poor face. ;)

While I was at work this week, Jackson had some Halloween fun with my mom, too.  She took him on a walk to see all of the Halloween decorations in her neighborhood, and although he didn't really care about the pumpkins, she said that he was really into this skeleton.  I'm not sure if it's the camera angle or the fact that he's sitting next to a skeleton, but my baby looks huge!

Today was Halloween.  We invited my mom and Ben's parents over for dinner so that they could see Jackson in his costume, and then Ben and I took Jackson trick-or-treating.

We went to just a few houses to say "hi" to the neighbors that we've met so far and to introduce ourselves to the others.  Jackson had a great time being carried around the neighborhood as opposed to riding around in the stroller like he usually does.

He loved seeing all of the other kids dressed up...

...and he really liked all of the decorations, too.

This past weekend, we went over to a neighbor's house for homemade ice cream, and while we were there, Jackson reached out to go to a lady that we had never met before, and as soon as he was in her arms, he leaned over and gave her a big kiss on the lips.  We were completely shocked since he had never done this with anyone before {not even us!}, but as the lady said, "he must know a grandmother when he sees one."  We had promised her that we would stop by, and she was so excited to see her "boyfriend" as she calls him.  She and her husband had quite the assortment of treats.

She gave Jackson a glow stick, and he loved it.

And as if trick-or-treating weren't enough fun, we also found a baby frog hopping across the sidewalk on the way back to our house.  You can't tell from this picture, but Jackson loved that frog.  He is definitely all boy!

Group shots with a baby and a husband who doesn't like pictures is not the easiest.

Love. This. Kid.

Jackson was pretty worn out after a very fun-filled evening, but I just had to get one last picture of him in his Halloween bib from G {the one that we found in her house when she was sick}.

 Happy Halloween from our family to yours!

Jackson {9 months}

Dear Munchkin -- I'm a few days late, but you are now 9 months old.

I wanted to wait until the weekend to take your monthly pictures.  You are in constant motion these days, so I knew I would get better pictures if I was able to have your dad's help, but then you were attacked by mosquitoes {they are so bad right now because of the rain}, so I wanted your bites to fade a little first.  Unfortunately though, they're taking much longer to fade than I had hoped, so I figured I better snap some pictures because you'll be 10 months before I know it.

Every month I try to find the perfect words to describe how much I love being your mom so that you will one day know exactly how I feel at this very point in time.  Putting a love like this into words is hard though -- because I don't just love you.  I love everything about my life even more because of you.

Your dad and I are closer now than we've ever been before, and I've really enjoyed getting to see a whole new side of him.  He's always been sweet, gentle, and fun, but when it comes to you, he takes those qualities to the max.  I also have a whole new appreciation for your grandparents and everything that they've ever done for us -- both when we were growing up and even now.  Our church, our friends, everything that Austin has to offer -- I love it all even more now that you're here, and even the simplest of days spent at home are that much more fun because of you.

You really are growing up so fast.  In some ways, it makes me sad to think that you are no longer my tiny baby that lies calmly in my arms, but in other ways, these times are so much more fun.  You now army crawl all over the house and have realized that if you lean over, we'll put you down and that if you crawl over to us, we'll pick you up.  Feeding you, burping you, clothing you, and changing your diaper is not nearly as easy at it used to be, and all of these tasks somewhat resemble that of a wrestling match.  All I gotta say is that it's a good thing you're cute. ;)

You love to give us eskimo kisses, click your tongue, and touch/point to everything with your one little finger.  You love to grunt and rub your fist {or one of our shoulders} in our mouth while saying "ahhh...", and this month, you also learned to "Whoop!" {or your own version of it} while watching an Aggie football game on TV.

I love you, Munchkin, and I am so incredibly proud of every single one of your accomplishments.  Thank you for making my life so much richer.  I love being your mom.

Love,

Momma

{9 MONTH STATS}

Measurements:

• Weight: 23 pounds 6 ounces
• Length: 29 inches

Sizes:

• Clothes: 18 months
• Diapers: size 4
• Shoes: size 4

Eating:  Everyone that sees you comments on what a good eater you must be, and that's the case when it comes to nursing/bottles, but unfortunately, you still don't like solids all that much.  You still nurse or take a bottle 5-6 times a day {every 3 hours or so}, and we still give you 3 tablespoons of cereal in your bottles twice a day for the iron, too.  I'd like to try to get you to take less milk and more food, but considering you're still not a huge fan, that's a lot easier said than done.  These days, we try to feed you two meals {once in the afternoon and once in the evening}, which mainly consist of baby purees or soft pieces of fruit and veggies.  You still only take just a few bites and will only eat it if you're really hungry though.  This month, you've tried a few new foods, and your favorites have been Cheerios {I'm pretty sure you would live off of these if we let you}, tomatoes, corn, and plain yogurt mixed with apple puree.

Sleeping:  As crazy as it sounds, you finally are on somewhat of a schedule.  It varies a little bit depending on whether or not you're with me or your Mimi, but that's mostly because I have to get you up earlier on the days that I work.  On the days that you're home with me, you wake up at around 5:00 or 6:00 to eat and will usually drink an entire 9-ounce bottle.  Although you're usually in a great mood, I can tell that you're not really ready to get up for the day, so as soon as I feed you, I put you back to bed, and you sleep till around 8:00.  As for naps, you still take two of those -- one from around 11:00 to 1:00 and then another from around 3:00 to 5:00.  You still go to bed at about 7:30, and thankfully you still go down so easily -- for both naps and at bedtime.  We lay you down, turn on your lamb, give you your puppy lovey, and that's it.  You talk to yourself and roll around a little bit, but you hardly ever fuss.

Likes:

• Waking up in the morning or from a nap -- we let you lay in there for a few minutes, and you just roll around a talk to yourself
• Sleeping with your Puppy Lovey
• When we come into your room to get you from your crib and when we walk out of your room after sleeping and/or a diaper change
• Playing with all of your toys in your play area and on your foam mat
• Army crawling all over the house -- if I shut our bedroom door and put up a baby gate between the living room and kitchen, everything is baby-proofed.
• Picking on Annie and Amos {especially Annie} when they are trying to sleep in their crates
• Being out and about -- whether it's Stroller Strides, running errands, or meeting up with friends/family, we try to get out at least once a day because otherwise you get bored
• Going on walks around the neighborhood in your stroller
• Eating Cheerios
• Drinking water out of a sippy cup or our water bottles/cups
• Touching everything with your one little finger {with both your left and right hand}
• Giving us eskimo kisses -- but only when you want to and not on request

Dislikes:

• Being laid down on the changing table -- you are constantly trying to turn over, grab things that are above your head, and drop things onto the floor
• Being strapped into your highchair -- I try to have the food ready so that I can start offering you things right away because you fuss up until that point {and sometimes even after that if you're not very hungry}
• Being strapped into your car seat -- I usually try to have something new for you to play with while riding in your car seat whether it's a toy that you haven't seen in awhile, an empty water botlle, or some other random thing from around the house
• Being put in your crib if you're not ready to go down {which is very rare and usually only happens if you're past due on your nap or bedtime} -- you grunt and thrust your hips up off the mattress in protest
• Having your face wiped after meals or in the bathtub

Feeling Blessed

There's something about driving around on a beautiful day with my precious baby boy babbling {and grunting and growling} in the backseat that makes me realize just how completely blessed I am.  I honestly have too many blessings to even begin to count them all, but here are just a few of the thoughts running through my head these days.

• I have a son who is both healthy and completely adorable, who puts a smile on my face every single day, who makes me so incredibly proud, and who has turned my world upside down.
• I have a husband who supports me in everything that I do, who works super hard so that I don't have to, who never forgets to tell me how beautiful I look, and who truly is my best friend.
• I have a family {both sides!} that would do anything for us, that loves our baby just as much if not more than we do, and that is close {both physically and relationship-ly speaking}.
• I have so many wonderful friends, and although I don't get to see them nearly as often as I would like to, they remain close regardless.
• I have an employer that allows me to work part-time and have flexible hours.
• And on top of having a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and good health...I love the layout and location of our new house; my closets are literally overflowing and in need of a good cleaning; and my body is finally starting to somewhat resemble what it did before I had Jackson.

Seriously -- how did I get so lucky?  Life is good.  VERY good.

Here are some of the things we've been up to this past week.

Hanging out in the office parking garage waiting for Mimi and watching all of the cars.

Mastering the pincer grasp while eating dinner with mom and dad.

No meal is complete without dessert {a.k.a. an ice cube in his mesh feeder}.

He touches everything with just one finger these days.  It's so funny!

Before we bought our house, we found out during the inspection that the sliding glass door was made of non-tempered glass.  The inspector recommended that we replace it for safety reasons -- especially since we have a baby and pets, so on Tuesday, we had it replaced.  I originally wanted to replace it with something exactly like it, but after finding out that it would be a super expensive custom door because of its size, we ended up replacing it with a regular size sliding glass door and filling the rest in with glass panels.

Before

 During

After

I also took Jackson to his 9-month well-check appointment, and despite the fact that it ended up being when he usually goes down for a nap {things have changed since I made the appointment 3 months ago}, he did great.  He started fussing towards the end, and I was doing my best to ask all of the questions that I had prepared -- which mostly centered around his eating and my concern with getting him to eat 3 meals a day like it says online in addition to all of the times that he nurses or takes a bottle.  I had "first time mom" written all over me.  Thankfully, Dr. Dawson said that I was doing a great job and that I should probably stop reading so much -- haha.

Playing with the paper was the ONLY thing that would make him happy.

He was just making sure that the nurses knew that this paper was used.  He's such a good little helper. ;)

A picture in his new fleece PJ's -- that only lasted for all of a couple nights.  Come back, cold weather!

My mom was out of town for a few days, so Jackson spent the day with Ben on Wednesday.   They went to a meeting in Bastrop, one at the office in Round Rock, and they even went to check out the bike trailers at REI.

There was some normal baby stuff thrown in there, too -- like eating and napping.

He looks like such a big kid to me here.  I think it's the jeans and the fact that his diaper looks like it could be boxers sticking out.

When I got home from work, they greeted me at the door with a bag of frozen okra on Jackson's head.  It turns out Ben was trying to score extra points by cleaning the house while I was on my way home from work and set Jackson on the bed while dusting one of the nightstands.  Unfortunately, he crawled off, and just as he was about to hit the wood floor, Ben grabbed him and tried to yank him back up, but he ended up hitting even harder.  Thankfully he had stopped crying by the time I got home and seemed perfectly fine.  Ben, on the other hand, was still a little upset.

Oh, and if you're wondering what the crazy hair is all about, it apparently looked like that when he woke up from his afternoon nap.  I asked that same question. ;)

 Goodnight, sweet boy.

Ben will use any excuse to go back in and see Jackson while he's sleeping, so of course, the bump warranted a couple of visits.  Apparently the video monitor wasn't enough. ;)

On Thursday, we went to Stroller Strides.

Jackson fell asleep in the car on the way home, so since it was so cool out, I decided to leave him in the car with both the car door and garage door {the one leading into the house, not outside} open so that I could hear him when he woke up.  I'm not sure if that makes me a bad mom or a genius, but either way, I got an 1.5+ hour nap out of it.  And to top it off, he woke up super happy!

Again with the one finger.

And a little game of roll the pumpkin...

...all over house.  Seriously, this is the best dollar that I've ever spent!

Baby's 1st obstacle course.

When Ben got home from work, we walked to Phil's Ice House for dinner.  Eating out is not quite as relaxing as it used to be -- we fed Jackson while we waited for our food, and then he played with plastic spoons and condiment cups {a.k.a. dropped them on the ground} while we ate our burgers.  I wouldn't have it any other way though. :)

This week, we ventured out a little with Jackson's food a little and tried both string cheese and toast.  He liked both, but he didn't necessarily love them.  He gummed them a little bit, played with them for a little while longer, and then eventually dropped them over the side of the highchair.  I'm trying to teach him "all done" in sign language but dropping it over the edge of the highchair is still his preferred way of communicating that he doesn't want anymore.

Aunt Holly and Uncle Nelson came over to watch Jackson so that we could sneak away for Tiffany's surprise birthday party, but we didn't stay out too late because we knew our little guy would be up bright and early the next morning.

 Breakfast at Galaxy Cafe.

 Getting my oil changed.

Later that afternoon, we walked over to Gullet Elementary for their fall carnival.  It was such a beautiful day, and there were so many people there.  Most of the booths were geared towards kids older than 9 months {shocker, huh?}, but we had a great time walking around, and Jackson loved watching all of the little kids run around.

He also had fun staring at all of the animals in the petting zoo.

They had goats, a turtle, a pony, a baby pig, and chickens...

...but the ducks were by far his favorite.  I have a feeling it was because they were the loudest and fastest {they were running from all of the kids that were chasing them}, but he could not take his eyes off of them.

Just taking it all it -- and teething at the same time.  This boy is quite the multitasker. ;)

After finding the ticket table, I bought a few tickets so that I could take him inside the fence and get a little closer.  He was pretty serious the whole time that we were in there, but he was so sweet with the animals and would either gently pat them or just touch them with his pointer finger.

While we were there, we also stopped at the playground, and Jackson and I did a little swinging.  It's so fun to think that Jackson will be at that school and playing on that playground in just 5 short years.

Before we left, we needed to find something else to spend our tickets on, so we stopped by the concessions and picked up some popcorn and some cotton candy.  It's embarrassing to admit it, but I'm pretty sure I was just as excited as the other little girls about the edible glitter.

We also bought Jackson a water bottle, and of course, he was super happy about that.

Overall, I'd say baby's 1st carnival was a success!

Nothing makes me happier than this sweet baby's grin.

Seriously, life just doesn't get any better than this!