J's First Visit to the Dentist!

Yesterday, Jackson had his much awaited for DENTIST appointment!  J and I had talked about it pretty extensively beforehand so there would be no surprises or anything.  I told him that HE got to go with mommy to see the dentist, but Ethan had to stay home with Daddy cuz he wasn't big enough to go... so he felt pretty big and special.  I was proud of how excited he was, despite all that I had warned him about.

J loved the waiting room and all the fun toys and TV's and stuff to do.

 Our hygienist was Vicky and she was incredible w/ J... She put on Lion King on the TV for him to watch and he was a cool cucumber up on that table!  She cleaned his teeth and flossed them...

 

Jackson loved Dr. Rhodes - and I did too.  He gave us a good news - J's teeth look healthy and the spacing between his teeth looks good.  I asked a lot of questions - J has some red gums... He said it's not too bad but asked if J is a mouth breather.  Oh yes - he is, definitely.  He actually snores - pretty badly.  Our pediatrician had given us Flonase for it and told us to use a humidifier with his Claritin.. He suggested we just keep that up in hopes that it will correct it.  I'm a little less optimistic since Ryan was a very bad snorer until he had his tonsils out in college.   We'll see. He did say that J needs to be brushing 2 times a day - and flossing once a day.  We also need to keep practicing spitting and as soon as he gets that down, we need to move to regular toothpaste.  Otherwise, the doc had nothing but good things to say about Jackson's teeth.  I'm over-the-top proud of my boy.  

He was so brave and trusting - I'm just SO SO proud of him!

A Rainy Painty Day

boooo boooo.

Ethan is at that stage... The dreaded stage. The stage that he falls down all the time - that he always falls INTO something - and always hurts himself.  It's practically daily.  On Friday, after an already rough week, I watched Ethan trip - fall directly into the window sill on his chin.  It took my breath away - he fell so hard.  SO hard.  He instantly started screaming, and for the second time with him, I saw lots of blood.  He cut his chin on the sill but his biggest injury was his little tongue - which it looked like he bit down very hard on.  It was black and swollen pretty quick.  He wouldn't leave the bandaid on his chin, but got lots of cuddles from mommy the rest of the day.  I will tell ya - having boys is NOT for the faint of heart.  Let's just say I rearranged furniture, again.

A Strong Engine for Papa!

So I told Jackson that I wanted him to draw a picture for Ryan's dad.  I actually took a picture of this because I'm so impressed with his drawing - this is James, the #5 train (The only thing I drew for him on here was the "5.")  He said he wanted to draw James for Papa cuz James is so "strong" and it would "make Papa feel much better."  How precious is that!?  I think when it comes to trains, there's nothing Jackson can't do.

This is NOT Jackson.

He WAS our first boy, ya know.

Hobbes, that is.  And he still thinks he's "one of the boys."  I came home for yoga Wednesday night and this is what I found sitting on the couch.  Pretty adorable, I know.

Jackson Tales, Story #1

At night, after we read books and climb in bed and say our prayers, Jackson loves for us to tell him a "story about thomas."  So we make up some story - and I can't speak for Ryan, but I usually try to tell a story that has a good lesson... like sharing, or not bullying or teasing or pushing, etc.  

This was Jackson's story to me the other day... word for word (I videotaped it).  Usually, they are even more detailed than this but I think he was thrown off by the video camera.  :)

"The next morning, James and Thomas come out of the sheds but the Troublesome Trucks were being naughty.  Then, James bashed them like this, "BONK BONK!!!" And Thomas bashed them so hard that he messed up his boiler. "NOOOOOOO!!!!" Then, James got it and put it back in Thomas's boiler for him.
And then Thomas said "Thank you."
"You're welcome.  And now don't bash it so hard again."
"OK."
The End."

I know, best story you've ever heard.  Let's just say, we may make this a theme.  Sometimes, he tells me stories that are so detailed and specific, that I'm so mad I didn't record it and save it forever.  I'll try to capture more "Jackson Stories" and blog them for the future.

look who found the paper towels.

Oh Brother.

Toy Story Toes.

Lots of Birthdays...

We've had a lot of birthday parties the last few weeks.  I need another fridge.

Ben and Jack Turn ONE!

Sunday, Ethan's 2 best friends had their 1st Birthday!  Ben and Jack are officially a year old, and that calls for a big celebration!  We did just that!  Happy Birthday boys!

Mike and Shelly!

Our good friends Mike and Shelly drove up from Dallas to visit this weekend!  We had so much fun!  When Ryan and I lived in Dallas, Ryan worked with Mike at Sears and then again at Ben E Keith, so they became best friends.  Every year, Mike and Ryan go on a special golf trip in Michigan and then they try to golf a few other times a year.  This year, in February, they went to Palm Beach to golf and then in July, they hit Wisconsin and Michigan.  We are so fortunate to have stayed such good friends with them even though we moved away.  They are truly awesome, awesome friends!

Destin, Day 7 (Friday, August 26)

Our last full day in Destin.  Time for funny faces and dress up with flip flops! Sadly, it was also the day Bonnie's flight left.. we were sad to see her go!

 

 

At Sunset, I decided to go out and get some more pics and Emily took a few of all of us.  This trip was exactly what we needed.  We had fun with friends, but more importantly, we had fun as a family.  These 3 people mean the entire world to me.  Blessings, the perfect name for this place.

Before bed, we let the kids goof off one last time before we all started packing up our bags in preparation for our big drives the next morning. I love these happy faces so much!!

Goodbye Destin!