Our little singer!

We're having a.....

Well, today I went in for my twelve week ultrasound (the down syndrome test) and we were surprised to hear the tech say "Wow, this baby is big, it is too big for the test".  So, I asked her how far along I was.  I have been thinking for the past couple of weeks that I am actually farther along than we calculated....well, come to find out I am actually fifteen weeks, not 12! So, our baby is due on September 24th and we were so excited to learn that we are having a.............baby boy!! YAY!  Jackson gets a little baby brother to play with and teach how to be a stinker!!  We are so excited and can't wait to meet our little Charlie! 

HAPPY EASTER!

Sporting his new Easter clothes!  Very nice dude! I love the boat shoes (daddy just had to have those!) 
Do ya think he could be smiling any harder?  
Bubbles and balloons! (see below) 
Waking up to fun surprises from the Easter bunny!
And of course, ignoring all the cool new toys and going straight for the balloons!  

Over endulged?????

We normally don't buy Jackson toys and things on a regular basis, however, I can't understand when a holiday comes up the Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus feels like they have to spoil the kid!  We took a shopping trip together (Matt, Jack, and myself) and while walking thru Wal Mart I started collecting little $2 things for Jack's Easter basket; a puzzle, a couple of matchbox cars, a little golden book, and finally I couldn't resist the play dough set that had a bunch of tools and stuff.  So, with all of that I felt he had PLENTY to fill his basket (not to mention all the candy.) Well, Matt made one more trip to the store to pick up balloons, and on the way he got Jackson a bubble blowing machine and a cool trick motorcycle.  My goodness, this kid is spoiled!  
So, Jackson awoke to a bunch of bubbles flying and balloons on the floor.  I have to say that it took him probably half the morning to actually get to his new toys.  Those balloons entertained the boy for quite a long time.  Finally, he wanted to get to the play dough and I sat down with him at the table and ended up playing with all the cool tools a lot longer than he did! HMMM.....go figure, next year, he's just getting balloons Easter Bunny!
In awe of the bubbles.  Oh and I must tell you, Jackson picked up on the game Sukimako quite quickly! For those of you who don't know what that is, well, it is a silly game that Matt and his brothers made up when they were little having to do with balloons.  Matt informed me today that the #1 rule of Sukimako is THERE ARE NO RULES!  So, whatever that means, Matt was just happy to see it passed down to his son.  
Finally, going thru his basket.  He would look at the stuff in it, but did not want to open it.  
Telling me about the balloon he was holding!!  (Oh yeah, daddy also got him a soccer ball!)  

The Ward Easter Party

Our ward, along with two or three other wards, were responsible for putting on the annual neighborhood Easter party.  It was crazy, there were SO many people there.  But it was a lot of fun.  They had a cage of little bunnies for the kids to look at.  
They had a bunch of games for the kids to play.  Jackson tried and tried to make a basket, and didn't do it.
So, he got smart and took the ball up to the hoop and did a slam dunk.  Finally, after getting his candy for cheating, he threw the ball one last time and he made it!  
This game was very complicated.  You actually had to pick up an egg with a plastic spoon.  It took a lot of concentration and focus!  And he did it! It is funny to think back a year ago when we were in Syracuse, NY.  The Easter party there was held indoors because it was still about 20 degrees below zero! Well, not really, but it was freezing, and I remember Jackson all bundled up going after the eggs and he tripped and went face first into a pine cone! He had that battle wound for quite awhile!  But it was nice to be able to be outside this year for our Easter party! 

The Egg Hunt Begins

A very rare shot of my boy and me!  
They separated the little kids from the big kids, thank goodness!  So they had us go over to some of the neighborhood houses for our egg hunt.  They started out with well over 100 eggs on the grass and in the flower beds, and before we knew it they were all gone!  But Jack got his fair share.  
After the little kids hunt, we double dipped and headed over to the huge basin that was covered in eggs for the big kids.  Jackson ran down the hill and started collecting more eggs!  
He had quite the collection when he had finished.  

Easter Party!

Today one of our play groups met at a park for a very fun Easter party!  Jackson had a blast despite the heat. There was good food, egg dying (which we chose not to participate in) and lots of fun games! 
Collecting the eggs!  He caught on quickly to this fun game. Once he realized there were Jelly beans inside he didn't make as much progress collecting.  

Testing out the goods!  
And of course, he had to play with the balloons!

Easter Fun

The highlight of the party was this balloon.  Balloon's are the best invention ever!
This is my kid running far away from me.  Every time I got close to catching him I would hear his little giggle and he would bolt!  I was not excited to chase after him to say the least.
This is my kid running towards me, I had to pull the old "Jackson the fly is going to get you" trick and he turned right around and headed toward me as fast as he could!  Hey, I am not the only mom who uses such trickery to get their kids to comply!  Other moms were bribing their kids with candy!
More balloon fun!

A day at the Children's Museum!

Today we met up with one of our mother's groups at he children's museum.  This is one of Jack's favorite places to go.  
As soon as Jackson started to feel comfortable enough he would run down this ramp as fast as he could screeching as loud as he could!  At one point he scared a little girl with his high pitched scream.  I was just glad I could finally pry him off my leg and that he was running around having fun.  
Playing with the puzzle

Fun at the Museum

He had the fireman hat on backwards, it makes it look like a cowboy hat.
Just going for a drive.
We spent probably the first hour on the slide.  It took him about 10 minutes to be able to leave my side, but once he was brave enough, he ran around that place like he was a wild monkey!  
Behind this little wall there was a ramp that Jackson would run up to get to the slide.  Every time he ran by I would yell his name through this little hole and he would poke his head through and cheese it!  

Children's Museum

These shapes kept Jackson busy for quite a while.  He kept pulling them off and piling them up and then putting them back on the wall.

Once again we can see the "conversation pose" that Jack strikes when he is talking with someone he doesn't know.  Jackson cornered this poor kid and kept saying to him, "Daddy's at work, well, daddy's at work."  The kid just looked at him like he was crazy! 
Making a four leaf clover.  He loves to color.

A trip back in time: The Renaissance Festival

Well, this morning Matt convinced me to go to the Renaissance Festival.  I wasn't too excited about going, but I am so glad we did.  It turned out to be such a fun day!  
Besides seeing WAY to many weird people dressed up in medieval clothing and talking in strange accents,  we got to see a jousting tournament, which Jackson loved. He thought the horses were very cool.  It was very entertaining.  
By this time in the day Jackson was so tired, but he did such a good job sitting through the tournament.  (Not to mention the fact that the sun was beating down on us! It was so stinkin' hot! I don't know how I am going to survive the summer!)  
A happy boy. 
This lady was our cheerleader.  Our Knight ended up winning!  It was pretty cool.  We didn't stay though for the "battle to the death".  We were surprised that Jackson wasn't screaming in this picture!  

A trip back in time continued: Big Scary Animals!

They had elephant, camel, and llama rides.  We asked Jack if he wanted to ride and he shook his head really hard saying "no, no, no". After the third time asking, we finally got the hint! He didn't want to ride! 

A trip back in time continued: Petting Zoo

It's kind of funny how this kid is deathly afraid of flies, but he had no problem putting his had up to the goat's mouth! 

"Are ya getting this mom?"
Nice ducks
What a sweet little lamb!