My Jackson

This little guy...

has been cracking me up lately. Well, he always does, but he has had some funny things to say to me this week. I wanted to post them because I feel that they capture his little personality. On Sunday I wore a green strapless dress to church. We drove into the parking lot and Jackson suddenly says, "Mommy! You're naked!" I laughed and told him he was silly and that I was not naked, and had on a dress. He persisted with, "You are naked on your back." J and I are both laughing at him and he says, "Mommy, you can't be naked in church!"

On Monday we went to the Gap and were looking for the Batman shirt in a toddler size. He has been wanting this t-shirt and I told him that we would get it. They did not have it in the store, but had Superman. He decided that he wanted the Superman shirt instead. J has a Superman t-shirt - that was his childhood hero :) so Jackson wanted to be like daddy. I explained to him that I would get that one, but that meant that he would not be getting the Batman one, so he really needed to decide which he really wanted. Being the negotiator that he is, he started trying to make a deal with me. I repeated myself that he had to choose one. (the Gap sales people are laughing at this debate) He thinks for a minute and says, "I will get the Superman one here, and I will get the Batman one on-line." On-line?? What 3 year old talks about things being on-line? We cracked up and then he told me that Superman was also ok, because I would be buying him the Batman costume for Halloween.

Many times over the past few weeks he stops to tell me, "Mommy, I sure do love you. You are the best mommy." It does not get any better than that to hear your baby say those words to you.

I am so in love with this little boy. God has blessed me so much with him and I could not be more thankful. We have had some rough weeks lately, but this past one has been full of funny, sweet moments. The 3's are a big challenge, but also so wonderful because the level of understanding that he has is growing so much and the conversations that we have are so special. I want to put a book on his head and keep him little forever!

The "army inch"

**update 9/4 - she is now getting up on her knees and starting to rock back and forth!

We've got an inchworm on our hands...

Ella is thinking that she needs to crawl. I, on the other hand, am not so sure about this. I am ok with her sitting, in one place, for a while longer. I remember when Jackson started crawling and how much my world changed! If you have been to my house, you know why this is a little bit stressful for me! She started out sort of inching her way - backwards. I had never seen this before and it was very funny to me! As of this afternoon, she is doing what I am calling the "army inch." This is in between an inch worm and an army crawl. I give it a week and she will be a full blown crawler. Exciting and sad all at the same time. My baby is getting big :(

First day of school

Jackson started school on Thursday. He is in the frog class this year and is very excited! He was mainly concerned with making sure that his friends were in the same class. I counted and there are 9 of the same kids that were in the bunny class last year. J and I had meet the teacher last Monday and then I took Jackson to meet them on Tuesday. He really seems to like them and I think they are going to be great. When I took him on Thursday morning he started to walk into his classroom without even giving me a kiss :( I gently reminded him that mommy needed some love before leaving him for the day. He walked right in, put away his backpack and nap mat and went to playing! He had a great first day back and we are very excited about a new year and all that he will learn and the fun times ahead.


Sleepy eyes!


"I don't want to take a picture and smile, Mommy!!"


Maybe a little one??


There it is!


My sweet boy


Jackson & Ms. F


Busy playing

Ella & the lollipop

Ella tasted her first lollipop last week. She loved it and as you can tell by the last picture, she was not happy with mommy when I took it away!

7 months

Ella bean turned 7 months old on Monday! What a doll baby we have, although she does have quite a bit of sass to her...baby girl loves to be held! I can't complain, there will be a day that she does not want us to hold her all of the time. I love hearing her in the morning when she wakes up and talks in her bed and seeing her sweet face light up when she sees us. What a great way to start my day! She is so happy and such a giggle box! She thinks Jackson is hilarious and he keeps her *entertained (see below) constantly. Some of my favorite moments are when we are driving in the car and I hear her start to giggle at him. He says the silliest words to her and she laughs as though she knows what he is saying and it is the funniest thing she has ever heard. "Nucka-doodle" is a favorite, and no, I do not have a clue where that came from. She gets bashful when people talk to her and she lays her head down on my shoulder and grins. It is so sweet! She is babbling and has figured out how to make noises when she sticks her hand to her mouth and moves it up and down. She is growing like a champ and loving eating solids. Bananas are her favorite, just like her bubba. She gets really excited when she sees her bottle or her food. And she screams when you take it from her when she is done (she is an Irons, what can she say?) She is not crawling yet, but is getting very close. She is starting to move from sitting up to her belly and is trying to push up. She has 3 teeth now, 2 on the bottom and one on the top...and not in the middle. I noticed that she was itching her gums and so I went to feel in there and felt a new tooth. I quickly realized that it was not one of the top middle teeth, but one of the ones to the left of where her big teeth will be. A fang. My beautiful baby girl is getting a fang! Her YaYa had the nerve to say to me, "At least she is getting it in time for Halloween!" Not funny to me. I am just praying that the others come in. Quickly.

Ella is a wonderful baby and we thank God for her everyday. She is such a blessing to our family and it is hard to remember what life was like without her. We love you Ella!






*Entertained. Be careful when using this word with a 3 year old. One evening I was folding clothes in the laundry room so I had Ella in her jumper in the doorway. Jackson was playing in his room and she started to fuss. I was almost finished so I asked Jackson to "keep Ella entertained" for a few minutes while I finished up. I heard him talking to her and then I heard, "WHEEEE! WHEEEE!" Mind you, I was a mere 4 feet away from her. I turned around and Jackson has a hold of the jumper as high as his little hands could reach and he is swinging her back and forth as hard as he can (this is not an exaggeration). It horrified me and I squealed and he quickly realized this was not a good idea. I lunged to stop her and both of their eyes were wide as saucers. Jackson immediately starts saying, "Sorry mommy, sorry mommy. I probably should not do that." Probably not.

The last days of summer...

I am amazed that the summer is almost over! It has flown by and I can't believe school is starting next week. We have been enjoying the cooler weather and rain that we have had. Here are some pics from the past few weeks.

Heston came to play. Ella had her first wagon ride with Heston and he and Jackson "played golf." They were so cute...Jackson was telling Heston how to hit the ball and they were quite serious about the whole thing. They have the sweetest relationship, just like brothers! Heston is also very fond of Ella. He is very gentle with her and loves to give her kisses. I love this last picture :)








Last Friday we went to play at Lane's house with Milam and Sam. Sam was playing with the grocery cart the bulk of the time and Jackson and Milam were into the cars. It has been so much fun over the past few years to experience motherhood with Sara and Lane and it is very exciting that so many of our other college friends are becoming mommies!






On Wednesday, Jazen's crew and Carlien's crew came to play. Clayton is starting Kindergarten on Monday :( and this was his last time to get together for playgroup. Jackson and I made a cupcake cake in the shape of a school bus and J decorated it all by himself. He was very proud. The Irons bakery is coming soon :) Clayton did not even know what it was when he saw it! Coop prefered to keep his hands clean and put his face in the plate to eat his cake! We had such a nice day and it was actually sunny for a little while and the boys all played in the sandbox and ended up in the bath because they were covered in sand. We love Clayton so much and are sad that he will not be with us on our weekly get togethers, but so proud of him for what a big boy he has become!






**Can someone please mark this day in history that J, Micah and Clayton are all sitting, playing a game, and not arguing??




I don't have pictures, but my friend Chrissy and I took Elliott and Jackson to Sunshine Glaze for an art class. They decorated cookies and made playdough. They LOVED it and we will be taking them back again in the fall. If you are looking for a fun, different activity for your kids, this a great thing to do. We went to Chick-fil-A afterwards to eat and play and when we were leaving, Jackson was yelling, "I love you Elliott!" to her out of the car. As they were walking off, he said, "Elliott, I have to tell you something!" They did not hear him, so I asked him what he wanted to tell her. He smiled, and whispered, "I pooped on the big potty." It was so funny. He never ceases to amaze me with his randomness. I love it, he keeps me on my toes.

We have also been spending a lot of time at home with just the 3 of us. The rain has kept us in, and we have just been going so much that we have needed some down time at home. It has been great, although we did get cabin fever and had to get out today for an outing to YaYa and Heston's. Heston is coming to spend the night tomorrow so we are very excited and can't wait to spend time with him!

Pirate Jackson and Princess Ella

Jackson is very much into playing pirates and so we spend many hours as Pirate Jackson, Pirate Daddy, Pirate Mommy, and Princess Ella. He likes to keep E involved by putting her in the ship (tent) and when she squeals, that means that there is a pirate ship coming towards us. His Nanny gave him a treasure chest that he keeps filled with treasure at all times. He is so funny and can be entertained for hours with this. We went to the library last week and checked out 3 pirate books and a Pirate Dora DVD. It is really neat to see him using his imagination...what an imagination he has!! I am having a little bit of a hard time with how big he is getting and how much he is changing. He is no longer baby, or even toddler. Just boy. All boy! I love this little guy so much and he blesses me so much everyday. Even on the hard days (the 3's are a bit challenging :)) when I put him in bed at night, I am so full of love for him. I want to always remember our days at home, playing pirates, cars, puzzles, snuggling, whatever it is, just being together.

Princess Ella & Pirate Jackson in the ship


The treasure chest


The ship went down