Birth Day!

As you can see, my man turned 31 today, and although we had a special lunch (grilled ribs and corn, watermelon, and cheesecake, yum!!) and gift (actually, I re-gifted the same present I gave him last year that he never used - a gift certificate for a massage....I'm about to use that thing myself!) we were pretty busy with church in the morning and a church potluck in the evening, where we spent about 2 hours laughing through a high-stakes game of "Minute to Win It" with our new church family.  If you aren't aware, our church, Hope Community Church, is joining with Rainbow Hills Baptist Church to become one big happy family :) we hope. :)  We hope that we'll be able to reach our mutual neighborhood better together and we're really looking forward to our future.

More to the point however, I just want to say that I have the most loving, funny, handsome, and God-fearing husband in the world!  I can't wait to see what God will use him to do in his next 31 years.  Please enjoy the following pics courtesy of Josh's dad.....I think somebody has a little look-alike in Jackie!

Speaking of Jackie, it was her 18 month birthday today.  Listen, if anyone ever tells you that toddlers are no fun, don't believe them.  I have been enjoying her more all the time, tantrums and all.  Jackie seemed to be going through a bit of an identity crisis lately...we would point at pictures of Daddy: "Who is that?" "Daddy!"  Point at a picture of Mommy...."And who's that?" "Gaddy!"  Hmmmm.....  "Where's Mommy?" Big smile, and she points at herself!  We've since come to the conclusion that "Gaddy" is "Jackie", but who knows anymore....Anyhow, now she makes a point to call me "Moomoe" and will stick her finger up her nose if asked to point to Jackie. It's all so complicated!

Jack Jack and Bear Bear 

She loooves to be like us!

On the walking front, Josh and I will usually spend about 20 minutes a night sitting across from each other in the living room, forcing Jackie to walk between us.  She usually lunges and staggers and giggles her way from one parent to the other, where she receives muchos smoochies for making it.  She doesn't seem too interested in taking steps outside this time, however.  Sigh....  Huge plus though: she will now walk holding on to one of my hands instead of two!

Painted her toenails....I couldn't resist

Toes!

Classic Jackie pose :)

She is certainly intent on communicating with us, however...Unless we repeat the word she is saying, it will be shouted constantly: "Star! Star, star, star, star, star!!"  "Ok Jackie, star."  "Yeah...  Wheel, wheel, wheelwheelwheelwheel!!!!!"  I love the talking, though, seriously.  It's so great to be able to teach her all the things I've been saving up!

What are you doing in the back seat, Mommy?

Big girl!

17 months

Two months ago, I had a baby who would occasionally say "ba" ("ball"), and today my toddler asked me, "s'dat?" ("what's that?").  She has really come a long way with communication.  Last month, she learned the signs for  "please", "more", "all done" and "thank you".  And we made one up for "star". :)  If you aren't aware, using sign language with young children has been a sort of trend lately, and one I'm really liking - they really can communicate ideas with signs long before they can say the actual words.  And if all else fails, some well-timed whining or excited wiggling usually get her point across.  She is undergoing a little language explosion, though, and can now say more words than I can keep track of.  We're learning our animals....sometimes she says the correct name, but usually it's "Moooo!!!!" or "Cockadoodledoooooo!" or something like that.  And our modes of transportation: "Aaaaiiiieeee!" (airplane) "Mo!" (motorcycle) and "Cah!" (car).  She will do the motions for her favorite songs: "The Eensy Weensy Spider", "Old MacDonald", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Patty Cake".  She's really starting to pick up on more social norms too: she has learned to put her finger to her lips and whisper "shhhh", blow kisses, and knock on doors to be let in.

Copying Daddy...who is becoming her new hero!

Someone misses the baby stage!

Little cheeser!

Getting really good at coloring

What is that disgusting thing on Daddy's upper lip?

I think she really believes she's dressing herself when she does this

Expressing some emotion

Signing "more"

We have long suspected that Jackie has the ability to walk but is holding out on us...so we tricked her into walking from a friend into my outstretched arms, at which point she took 3 steps.  Ever cautious, though, she insists on holding on to our hands while walking.  It's a real exercise in patience some days when I feel like she has the ability to be walking but is too afraid to do so....this is where accepting your child's personality comes into play.  Her "wounded spider crawl", as we like to call it, is now quite speedy, but I can tell she's growing tired of dragging her poor right leg behind her and would like to be running with the other kids.  Then our lives really will change!

This is how we spend many of our days

This has been a favorite spot (at a friend's house)

A girl and her horse

We have been extremely busy with activities with friends lately, and it's made me realize how thankful I am for the variety and number of friends God has blessed us with after being in San Antonio a little over a year.  There's nothing we like better than a playdate...and this is where one gleans all kinds of useful knowledge that mommy and daddy have been hiding - how to jump on a bed, how to push someone around who's smaller than you, and how great chocolate tastes.  Friends are the best!

Two little couch potatoes

Playdate!

My first piano student has been a sweet friend to Jackie

Checking out videos of puppies and laughing babies with Daddy

Full Bloom

Texas bluebonnets are our state flower, and apparently it's illegal to go tromping through them, so please don't turn me in to the authorities!  We couldn't resist getting a few this year.  Happy April!

Trust me when I say this was not a comfortable location to be kneeling down!

Life is so sad!!

That's better!

Happy Easter 2013!

There are almost no pictures of Jackie right now that aren't blurry from her moving, have her sucking her thumb, or are basically close-ups of her while she tries to grab my camera....still, I think she's kinda cute!  We hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  Our church met at the park and had a potluck afterward.  And then all three of us got to take a nap - a true Easter blessing/miracle.

God Bless Texas

It was cold in Austin! 

Winter in Texas is the perfect time to get out of the house, so we were excited to take some time off for a weekend in Austin, the capitol of our fine state.  Our dear friends from Virginia Beach, Jordan and Wes, met up with us in between their sessions at the Verge Conference for church leaders that was held in Austin over the weekend.  This was our first time in Austin, but it felt like a little slice of home in the middle of Texas to us west-coasters....welcome all ye bearded, patchouli scented, baby wearing, liberal hipster, fair trade promoting, dreadlock sporting,  coffee drinking hippies...."Keep Austin Weird" is the unofficial motto of the city, and it certainly reminded me of Portland.  But with a Texas twist.  At one point we witnessed two flatbed trailers full of men dressed as cowboys driving past.  The people were friendly, there were families everywhere, and the city was clean. We had a great time, especially at the farmer’s market that was open on Saturday.   We taste-tested tamales and tacos, listened to French music, and were serenaded by both banjo playing and an ode to Texas Independence Day, which happened to be Saturday – a celebration of Texas’ independence from Mexico...even though it is now dependent on the United States.  Oh, Texas. 

In the meantime, Jack Jack turned 15 months.  This has been a fun month full of lots of growth, and I’m starting to feel more like that mom you always see running after her toddler in the movies.  She’s still not walking, but she can really move with that one-legged crawl.  While we were in Austin, she figured out how to climb down the stairs (we spent about an hour going up and down stairs in the parking garage), kissed several doggies on the lips, and successfully pointed to her ears and feet when prompted during our car ride home.  She’s starting to parrot us a little when we talk, so we’re going to have to watch it….  New words added to her vocabulary include “box” and “wow”.  Her favorite things to do are take baths (she is really into this right now and can spend over an hour filling up measuring cups under the faucet and drinking water from them); cruising around and grabbing things off couches, bookshelves, and chairs; opening and closing containers; and taking things out of boxes or bins and putting them back in.  If those aren’t all a recipe for disaster, I don’t know what is!  

Look at them cheeks!

She loves to be around other kids, especially at church, where she gets to play with play-dough, eat snacks, color, and listen to stories with the big kids.  She loves going to the playground and climbing all the steps to the top of the play area.  Usually she’ll just sit at the top of the jungle gym, walk around a little holding onto the edge of the wall, and generally get in the way of everyone trying to walk by until I coax her down the slide, but it’s great entertainment.  

Fun on the playground at Sea World

We just finished out last music class session, and it was cool to see how she’s changed since we started at 7 months old, when she would only sit in my lap and suck her thumb.  Now she’s grabbing instruments, crawling around to other mommies, waving and clapping her hands.  And sometimes sitting in my lap sucking her thumb….  

Always with the thumb

Playing in mommy's bed

15 months!

Walking with Daddy!

12-14 months

Here are just a few of the things Jackie has started doing in the last 2 months:

• Crawling backwards (her version of the crawl, or scoot, I guess)
• Going from lying on her back to sitting (yes, you read that correctly - most kids can figure it out months sooner, but our little one has taken her time!)
• Pulling up on couches and other objects
• Bending down and picking things up while holding onto something
• Cruising (walking while holding onto furniture)
• Climbing steps

And some things she's "working on" at the moment:

• Brushing her teeth (mommy still has to do a double-check!)
• Putting on shoes and socks
• Using a fork (looks like we may have a lefty on our hands?)
• Combing her hair
• Coloring
• Turning on the TV using the remote control
• Doing puzzles
• Identifying body parts (she's figured out "nose" and "belly" so far)
• Sorting shapes (she can fit them into the holes but has to be shown which hole to use)
• Building Mega Block towers (she tears them down just fine)
• Turning light switches off and on

Mega Blocks

New toys from my birthday!

Jackie has been reveling in her new abilities.  Her idea of the perfect day is to be placed on the couch where the grown-ups are sitting (can't figure out how to climb up yet, unless we put her little toy steps next to it), where she can spend more than an hour crawling back and forth over mommy and daddy's laps, throwing herself onto pillows in hopes that we'll tickle her, standing up against the back cushions, rolling around, lying down and sitting up again, leaning over the arms, and generally grabbing anything she can reach from her perch.  She hardly ever stops moving, but when she does, she loves to pull Mega Blocks apart and put them back together...open the tin holding the coasters, dump them out, and put them back in...rifle through a book...pull tissues out of the box and proceed to tear them into pieces, put a piece in her mouth, then remember she's not supposed to do that and hand it to mommy.....forget that....she's on the move again, back to the other side of the couch!  Are you exhausted yet?  It's not surprising she's thinned out...and she's also getting taller.

My couch!

Jackie decided this month that she was done taking two naps a day, so it's proving to be a little more challenging to fill the time around her one afternoon nap.  Mommy and Jackie have been making good use of the park, the gym, the library, the grocery store, visits with friends, our music class, and whatever other activities we can find.  She is going to bed extra early at the moment (6:30!) to make up for the lost sleep.

I'm jealous

Trying out Mommy's glasses at the park

Lots of falling asleep in the car at the moment

There is a significant amount of whining going on at our house these days.  I think Jackie is starting to realize how much she CAN'T do and is starting to assert some of that toddler independence.  Plus, it kind of stinks when you can't talk....YOU try it for a day (I know Josh couldn't)!  She'll surprise us sometimes with some words she's been saving up: "Hi Da!" (Hi Dad)  "Bye bye Gah!" (Bye bye Uncle Graham) "All done!" (Get me out of this high chair!) "Uh oh!" (You knocked my cup over, Mom!) "Mama no!" (Stop wiping my face off!) and a whole bunch of words we can't figure out yet.  Our new favorite: she has taken to calling Daddy "Josh!"

Snacking with Daddy

Mommy and me

Sneaking a sip of coffee!

All in all, it's a sweet time of life.  We're enjoying seeing more of our girl's personality come out and her awareness of the world.  It's still easy to make her laugh, and we know it won't be this way forever.  Everything she learns is exciting, and we're looking forward to seeing what's next!

My dirndl from Aunt Amanda!

Goodbye, 2012!!

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!  We are ringing in the new year in the comfort of our home, but it's no reason we can't look fantastic!