Pump It Up!

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays Pump It Up has times alloted especially for toddlers (6 yrs. and younger). We decided to hit the first session so that the kids could take naps after we finished. Unfortunately, Jackson was about asleep by the time we arrived. He didn't have very much fun at first. However, by the end, he was begging to go down the big slides again and again and again... clapping and waving after each time!

More fun at Pump It Up!

More pictures from Pump It Up!

Just a couple more...

By the end of our session, Jackson was laughing so hard and going down all by himself!

Pump It Up Video... SO FUN!!

Okay, I sound a little over-excited in the background, but the kids were having so much fun and I was thrilled that Jackson was finally awake enough to enjoy himself!

Happy Birthday to Mike (and to all!)

We celebrated Mike's birthday at Ipanema in downtown Seattle. It's a Brasilian Restaurant that overlooks the water. You pay for the view, but the food is SO worth it! Parker and I enjoyed remembering memories of Brasil and speaking Portugues with the waiters. Yum!

Easter Morning!

Jackson's 2nd Easter was quite a contrast from last year. I can't believe how much he has changed already! We are having so much fun together! Jackson enjoyed digging through his Easter basket and finding chocolate, jammies, and even a new book!

Cute Easter Kids

We took advantage of our kids in their Easter outfits before we ate so that they were clean still. (As soon as the food was ready, the clothes came off.) There is not enough room on this post for all of the cute pics, so I will have more to follow.

Cute Easter Kids (cont.)

More of Jackson & Maddie. They have so much fun playing together!


Jackson with Daddy on Easter Sunday
Jackson's first Easter Egg Hunt... he was so funny. He knew there was something in the eggs because he had to shake every one of them. So, he would throw them across the room... they would break open and he would go after the chocolate loot! I had to be quick to keep up with him.

Opening Easter Gifts...

After extended family had gone home, Grandma brought out MORE Easter gifts for Jackson & Maddie. They were so excited to open their fun gifts from Grandma & Grandpa Breshears and Auntie Heather! The bubbles were an especially big hit. I will try to add a video that I took later.

Easter Bubbles Video

The kids just LOVED chasing and catching the bubbles!

Easter Prep in Seattle

We decided to spend part of our Spring Break away from home, visiting family this year. We drove to Seattle Friday afternoon and began Easter preparations the next day (after a long, hard day of shopping for PINK).
Jackson didn't really get into the egg decorating... he was more curious about the dye than anything else, which was a little dangerous. Still, we had a good time and were successful in decorating all of the hard-boiled eggs!


Maddie wanted to dance with Parker, so we found some good "dancin' music" on the computer and she was cracking up!

Climbing...

Jackson has discovered how much fun he can have with the help of a "stool". I finally caught him on camera today. He put the container that we store his wooden train set in at the foot of his toy cupboard and voila! He can now reach the heater (which I unplugged, don't worry) and flick the little moon pull to turn the lamp on. Pretty funny.
(Also notice the remnants of chocolate chip cookie on his face. He thinks this is one of the main food groups. I am trying my best to convince him otherwise, but it's tough!)

EXPECTING: A GIRL!! August 11, 2008

One of each! How exciting!! Parker has been celebrating all morning... he was right after all. He has been claiming since we found out that we were expecting our second child that he KNOWS it is a girl. Anyway, now we know and can begin our collection of PINK and LAVENDER clothes, blankets, burp cloths, etc. And a little dress for her blessing! So many things to think about. The most difficult part right now is choosing a name. If it was a boy, we knew exactly the first and middle name without any doubt. Girl names have always been difficult for me. We have about 4 or 5 that we both like, but I keep going back and forth. I am lucky to have a husband who is so patient! Time will tell... eventually we will have to decide on just one. I am going to try to upload the pictures of the baby's hand and little feet that they took on the ultrasound today. Also, they got a couple of videos, so hopefully I will be able to get those on. They are of her little bottom, legs, and feet... one of them she is kicking, but I think she's a little camera-shy because she stopped moving when the lady began the recording. It's fun to see anyway. The lady who did our ultrasound made several comments about how well I did losing my weight from Jackson and how small I was. That made me feel good because I feel like I'm growing a little every single day! I guess with each child, it's easier for your skin to stretch out. One thing is for sure... I will have to actually work out after this baby is born. With Jackson the majority of the 17 pounds that I gained came off with his birth and his little home inside of me. However, I didn't work on my stomach at all. I am lucky to only have 2 small stretch marks around my belly button, so that isn't an issue, but now that I am gaining with this one, I can see where working your abs definitely can pay off. Okay, probably more than you wanted to know, but hey, you can quit reading whenever you want, right? WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY GIRL!!!

Baby Girl Ultrasound Video

I hope this video works!! You can see the little bottom, legs, and feet kicking

Baby Girl Ultrasound Video #2

3 days to know...

We went to the doctor today... I am 19 1/2 weeks along in my pregnancy. Everything looks and sounds great. Baby's heart rate was 146 and I have officially gained 2 more pounds since my appointment 4 weeks ago. I am gaining a little faster than I did with Jackson, but still in normal clothes and normal appetite. My tummy is beginning to grow and I can feel baby kicking more and more lately. I still have a ton of energy, which is a blessing as this school quarter comes to an exciting end! (Whew! We made it through another one... only two more to go!!) The most exciting news... just 3 more days to learn if we will be welcoming a little boy or little girl this summer!

Teething... again!

About a week ago, I looked inside Jackson's mouth and noticed that he had FOUR teeth popping through at the same time. He has had his main 8 teeth (incisors on top and on bottom) for a while, but now he is working on his eye teeth or "cuspid" (the pointy ones) and the "first primary molar" (next to the cuspid) on both sides on the top. How exciting! Besides his bronchiolitis and awful colds that we have managed to get, these new teeth help to explain his bi-polar behavior lately! I have been trying to get a picture of the inside of his mouth, but he hates it, so this is the best I could find to explain.

Jackson & Maddie = Cousin Fun!!

We finally convinced Tiffany to take a weekend and bring Maddie down to play with Jackson. They are 7 1/2 months apart in age... so she is obviously a little ahead of him developmentally. However, he is a quick learner and she is a good teacher.
They had only walked in the door 20 minutes previously when she taught him the word "MINE". He even shakes his hand when he says it. Yeah, we're pretty excited about that one!
He says something that sounds like Maddie and learned that girls do not like to have their hair pulled... so he used that tactic any time she tried to take his toys or didn't like what she was doing. I imagine nursery may be a different experience from now on.
They both held their own and overall had a really good time with each other.

More Photo Shoot with Jackson & Maddie