Muscles

The boys were showing off their muscles and I thought I would share. (The pictures of Jackson are a little blurry... he was running back and forth. I was lucky just to get him semi-centered in the frame.)

Jackson is growing by leaps and bounds every day. It's so much fun to be a part of the discovery process as he figures out the world around him. As you can see, Parker LOVES having a constant buddy to hang out with!! And we both agree that Jackson is starting to take on a few more of Parker's features and expressions.

SillySoldier Boys!

I spent 7 hours doing homework. I had 8 papers to write and couldn't push it back another day. So... Parker played with Jackson while I locked myself in the den to meet all of my deadlines. These pictures do not tell half of the story, but they're pretty cute! (I told them to smile, but Parker told me that they were soldiers, so they had to be serious. You can see him trying hard not to smile in one of them.) The two of them were hilarious... they came up with all sorts of "games" to play. All I could hear from the den was giggling and more giggling. It felt SO good when I finally finished at 8:00pm. It will be nice when I don't have to do homework anymore! Just 2 more quarters... yea!

Announcement: Coming soon... in August 2008!

Parker and I are so excited to be expecting our second baby in August of this year! Our projected due date is August 11th, but we'll see what happens. We will find out if our baby is a boy or a girl around the end of March/beginning of April and then the real planning will begin! So far... Grandma Breshears thinks the baby is a girl, Grandma Ussery thinks the baby is a boy, and Parker is absolutely certain that it's a girl. As for me, I have no idea. I don't have any hunches or feelings one way or the other. Part of me thinks it would be awfully convenient to have another boy because we already have boy clothes. However, besides clothes, almost everything we have is pretty non-gender specific. I did that on purpose. Either way I am excited to hold a baby that doesn't weigh 25 pounds--I'm starting to feel it in my back... this will be a great adventure! There are days when I try so hard to "get a feeling" one way or the other. I'll get super excited about having another boy and imagining how much fun he and Jackson would have together. Then, I think it would be so much fun for him to have a little sister and to dress her up. But... still no feelings, just thoughts. I am SO excited either way. I just want to find out yesterday if it's a boy or a girl. Having 2 children to chase after and take care of will sure be different from just one, but we can hardly wait! And I am beyond curious to see how Jackson will react to being a big brother and to watch their relationship develop over the next couple of years. This is a very exciting time in our lives as we get ready to finally finish school and get semi-settled wherever Parker gets hired on and welcome another little one into our family!!



I'm feeling pretty good and have a decent amount of energy and just into the second trimester. There are days where I still feel sick to my stomach and NOTHING sounds good (or smells good) to eat. I just figure it's a good diet plan for now. My portions haven't changed at all. I am SO happy that I am in my second pregnancy and still have not thrown up!! (I HATE throwing up!) And I am just loving spending time with Jackson and watching him develop and change over time... he is SO much FUN!!

Mommy's Boys

I was finishing some homework and finally turned off the light in the den around 11:00pm. Everything in the house was quiet, but Jackson's light was still on and Parker wasn't in our room. I called him from the den, but didn't hear a response. I glanced in Jackson's room and there they were... all snuggly... puppy and all. They were both so tired! I tried to wake Parker up and he started speaking some language that I've never heard before. Then, I told him it was time to go to bed and he started speaking really loudly to Jackson - who was sound asleep, in the same foreign language. Finally, I took Jackson from his arms and tucked him into bed. Then, I coaxed Parker into our room. It was pretty funny and I got a cute Father/Son picture out of it!

La Grande Birthday Party

We decided to have a little birthday party in La Grande when we got back into town... with our friends here. It was fun to get together and to see everyone after being gone for a month.

And Jackson had so much fun playing with his friends again. It's WAY better now that he can chase after them on foot, rather than speed-crawling after them! I think he has evened up the playing field!

Ussery Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history - Pedigree

1st Birthday party!

Jackson was still taking a nap when everyone came over. He was so tired, I just couldn't keep him up any longer. Finally, he woke up and was super sleepy during the present-opening part of his party.

I didn't get any smiley pictures because he was still trying to wake up and then overwhelmed with everyone looking at him. He did, however, love his presents. Of course, Maddie loved them too and they learned to compromise and share the rest of the day.

1st Birthday cake...

At first, Jackson just stared at the cake and everyone singing to him. But it didn't take him long to taste the frosting and decide that he liked it.

Then, he just kept grabbing more of the cake and licking/biting what he could off of his hands.

Finally, the smiles came... although he was pretty serious about eating his cake.

One Year Old (on December 31, 2007)

I knew that since I haven't spent hardly anything on Jackson's pictures so far, I wanted to get good, professional photos taken for his "one-year old pictures".

We went to Kiddie Kandids because they do such a great job with the kids are you're not broke when you leave. Jackson was a perfect little boy. With outfit changes and Maddie jumping in for a cousin cowboy/girl pose, the whole sitting took about 30 minutes. I think that's pretty good! The photographer was so impressed at how easy it was to get him to smile and get a perfect shot. Needless to say, Parker and I were beaming with pride... and grateful that we were able to time his nap schedule just right for that afternoon!

More One Year Old pics...

These are the last two. The only hard part about this photo shoot was they all turned out so good... I couldn't decide. So, I just got a few of each.

Cousins... Maddie & Jackson were dressed from head to toe (including Maddie's pink "neigh, neigh belt) in cowboy attire. They were hilarious. It was definitely trickier getting a good pose with two in the picture rather than one - more coordinating involved.

Baby Jackson's First Christmas!!!

I can't believe it's Christmastime already! Last year at this time, I was wanting to hold Jackson - outside of my body - so badly! This year, it was so much fun to watch him enjoy opening and playing with his presents.

He and Maddie have had so much fun playing together while we have been visiting! I can't believe he'll be 1 year old in just a few days!!

More Christmas Morning Pics...

Here are a couple more pictures. Christmas sure was different for Parker and I this year. It was so much more fun watching Jackson enjoy Christmas!! Being a parent is awesome!

First Santa Pictures!

First Christmas means first Santa pictures!! My Mom was so good growing up... I have not missed a year yet with Santa - (except one Christmas in Brasil). Anyway, I was excited to start this tradition with Jackson. They turned out pretty cute! We took one of just Maddie and Jackson first, then our traditional "family Santa picture" with all of the kids. I think those of us who are technically adults are going to get kicked out soon because we hardly fit in the picture anymore. Plus, Santa just gets lost underneath all of us. It was fun to dress the kids up, though and go downtown Seattle and then out to dinner to the Spaghetti Factory - another annual Christmas tradition that we love and look forward to!

Christmas Ship in Seattle

We took some pictures on the Christmas ship... the Argosy Cruise ships go out on Lake Washington every Christmas season and tour around, stopping at ports where there are crowds of people waiting for us to come. On the main ship - The Spirit of Seattle - there is a different choir each evening. Their music is "speakered" onto the other 3 ships and then to the ports when we stop. It's a fun evening and very relaxed. We've been doing it every year and look forward to the annual tradition!

Early Christmas in Portland

We were in Portland before Christmas this year (we trade off every other year between Seattle and Portland). Anyway, Jackson worked really hard on opening up his gifts. It took him a really long time because he would pull off these tiny pieces of wrapping paper. Finally, he got it!
Yea!! A baby grand piano! Jackson played the piano all day, everyday after he opened it.

Daddy's 24!!

This blog is usually all about Jackson because he is the cutest of the three of us and Parker & I are pretty boring in comparison. However, I had to post a few pictures and say: HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY, Parker!!! We love you!

"Helping" Daddy with Christmas Tree Lights

Jackson has been fascinated with lights (and ceiling fans) since he was born. So... Christmas lights were the ultimate entertainment for him! He would get all tangled up in them (right after Daddy had untangled a strand) and then giggle with excitement because they were all around him and he couldn't "get away". It was really funny to watch (I think those videos are on Snapfish).