Turkey Bowl in Portland!

I can't believe that I didn't get any pictures of Jackson's first Thanksgiving... but I didn't. I guess I was too busy feeding him and trying not to make a mess, that I forgot to grab my camera. However, I did take pictures at the Turkey Bowl that morning. Here are some picures of Jackson with Grandma Ussery and one of Parker playing his heart out. I think they all had a really good time.

Random at home

More peanut butter and jelly... Jackson can't seem to get enough these days. And I think he's pretty funny when he is all messy in his high chair.

He is SO close to full-fledged walking! Jackson already takes a few steps by himself, but then realizes he's walking alone and sits down. He just doesn't think he can do it yet. Silly boy! It sure is fun to watch him try over and over.

Everything Puppy...

Jackson LOVES puppies!! He loves Puppy... the little black and white TY animal that he carries EVERYWHERE with him; he loved his Halloween costume; he loves his live puppies who live in our backyard - Charlie & Duke; and all of his other stuffed animal puppies.

Grandma bought this puppy coat for him and we think it's pretty cute on him (okay, we think about everything is cute on Jackson... we're slightly biased). Anyway, we had gotten back from somewhere today - can't remember where - and he didn't want me to take off his coat. So, I got some pictures of him playing in his room, coat and all.

John Deere

I love pictures like this one. This morning, Jackson was just playing intently in his room. He is usually such an independent little guy. There are definitely times (it seems more and more lately) that he wants me to hold him or not leave the room (makes it tough when I need to go to the bathroom) - but usually only when he is really tired or teething or doesn't feel well.

Baby Beethoven

One of Jackson's most favorite "toys" is our piano. He LOVES music!! He loves listening to music and making music. He especially loves it when I let him sit on my lap and we both play together.

Playing with Grandma

Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Christian, and Uncle Josh came to visit for a weekend. They came to be a part of Senior Night/the High School Homecoming football game. We all had a great time and even celebrated Grandpa's birthday a couple of days early.

First Halloween!

Parker brought Jackson up to campus because the girls in my class wanted to see his costume. They pretty much smothered him... but he likes it.

Then, that afternoon, we went downtown to trick or treat. The city blocks off a few of the main streets and all of the businesses give out candy.
It's kind of nice for the younger kids who are used to an earlier bedtime because you can go downtown early, while it's still light outside, then be home for other trick or treaters.

Halloween (continued)...

After trick or treating downtown, we stopped at our friends' house to see their new baby, Greg (only a couple of days old). We took pictures together of the boys' first Halloween.
Then, we went to the church. Families had signed up to decorate rooms. It was fun to go door-to-door (from classroom to classroom) and see how each one was decorated. It was also nice to be indoors because it was already freezing outside and we could let Jackson go ahead of us without worrying.

He was pretty darn cute in his little puppy costume. I thought this was an appropriate choice, since he LOVES puppies - live ones and stuffed. I think he had a great Halloween.

Just hangin' around

We were out walking today and stopped at a park to let Jackson swing for a while and the dogs run around. He was giggling and giggling until I got the camera. Then he got kind of serious.

I managed to get some cute ones, even though he wasn't showing his big, toothy grin. Jackson LOVES to swing. He didn't want to get out, but didn't throw a fit either. We have been pretty lucky with that so far... tomorrow is Halloween and Jackson will officially be 10 months old!

On the Go...

Jackson is trying so hard to walk. He pulls himself up onto everything and takes a few steps, but just doesn't have the confidence to walk across the room yet. Of course, Puppy goes everywhere with him. Usually, he puts Puppy's ears in his mouth, then he can use both of his hands for other things. It's pretty funny how attached he is to that little dog. Anyway, I don't think it will be much longer before he is walking alone. He is really getting more coordinated and balanced each day. It is so much fun to watch his progress!

Autumn photo shoot...

We (actually, I) finally got around to raking all of our leaves in the front yard... they were everywhere! I couldn't resist taking some fun Autumn pictures of Jackson with the leaves and our pumpkins. However, we had already carved all of our pumpkins. He quickly discovered that the lid was removeable... that was about the end of the photo shoot.
It was also SO funny to watch his face scrunch up when he felt the leaves... he's so funny about different/new textures! There are too many to narrow down (I always think they're all cute), so I'm going to have to add another post... (you can only put up to 5 pictures on each posting).

More Autumn Leaves and PB & J...

Here are some more... plus Jackson's favorite sandwich, (which my sister, Tiffany, thinks is hilarious because those are our initials... PB & J, Parker, Brooklynn, Jackson... ha, ha, ha... no, we didn't plan that).

Pictures on Campus

We were taking our usual walk today... we usually go through/across EOU campus to get to one of the neighborhood parks. I took some pictures of Jackson while we were there. I just love the Aspens! Anyway, I didn't do a great job of getting good angles, but Jackson was super smiley!

Wearing Daddy's Hat

Parker thinks it's so funny to put his dirty baseball hat on Jackson. Actually, Jackson thinks it's pretty funny too. Another photo combination to tell another story. We are getting excited for Jackson's first Halloween and are really enjoying the changing leaves outside!

Mommy's Cowboys

Jackson was all dressed up in his Wrangler 20X jeans, cowboy boots, Wrangler shirt, and hat. Of course, that's Parker's usual attire, so we took a "cowboy" picture together.