The last 10 minutes

Sometimes I feel like I live with a crazy, wild man. His name is Jackson and he is ALL boy! I decided to document the last 10 minutes of activity in our house this morning. Here's Jackson with his new tunnel. We played in one at a neighbor's house the other day and he loved it, so of course, I went to Target and got one for our house.

He's checking it out from the side

Thought that was a little boring, so he decided to tackle it instead.


Crawled through it a time or two...

Then began lifting it into the air like it was a huge slinky. Notice the "grrr" look on his face. It's appropriate that he's wearing his little dinosaur pj's this morning.

This is how I found him after I walked less than 10 steps to get the camera--he's so proud of himself. He recently began climbing on things, but usually doesn't stand up. "Oh my" is all I can say to this new trick. I'm in such trouble...

At least he knows how to get down correctly--I'm waiting for him to try to dive off, though. It'll come soon, I'm sure.

Back to the tunnel--he was crawling towards me at this point--very pleased that he "got me."

Moving on to the next toy--he no longer enjoys regular play with toys. He'd much rather see if he can move or shove them over. He does this with the stroller, chairs, vacuum cleaner...etc. After he knocked over this toy a few times he moved on.

Which brings us into the closet under the stairs, where he went next. Jackson now goes in there on a regular basis. Not because there are lots of toys...

But because the real fun can be had playing with our nice, new vacuum cleaner! He LOVES this thing, y'all! It's extreme love, that's for sure. The other day he played with it for 45 minutes. I didn't say a word to him, he just pushed it all around the house, took off the attachments, opened up the compartment that holds the bag, pushed it over on its side, whatever he could think to do, he did.

I'm worn out just trying to document his antics. If you're wondering where he is right now, no worries, he's contained in his crib. He was playing nicely in the closet for a little while, but then I found him chewing on the vacuum cleaner cord, so that had to end. I put him on his little train and gave him a ride thinking that would entertain him for the 10 minutes or so that I wanted to work on this post, but alas, it only worked for 20 seconds. He marched out of the study and into the dining room and began pulling out all kinds of candles and such from a hutch. So, I had to resort to the crib--all I can say is thank GOODNESS he hasn't figured out how to get out of it...yet!!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful day with your family. We sure did! We began the day by all three of us going to church. This was quite the monumental outing, being that Jackson has never been to a nursery or anything of the sort. I was so nervous that we'd be paged within the first two minutes and I'd have to miss the whole sermon! He did GREAT, though. As far as we could tell he just played the whole hour and didn't even miss us--this is such a big break-through! Way to go, little man:) After church and a nap for Jackson, we headed over to my in-laws for a delicious lunch. I was in charge of dessert.

Here's me with one of the two bunny cakes I made for the day. I got the idea from a friend's mom (thanks, Diane and Stephanie) and was so excited that both cakes turned out good. I must confess, I felt a little like Martha Stewart:)

The three of us in the Hays' backyard.

Jackson playing with some spoons and sitting on his Great Grandpa Hays' lap.

Jackson and Jared looking for eggs in the backyard. Most of the time Jackson insisted on carrying the basket, even though it was pretty big and spilled a lot. He got the hang of the hunt very quickly and was soon searching the yard for more eggs to put in his basket.

After another nap, we went over to my parents' house for dinner. They had some very fun toys waiting for Jackson. Here he is with one of his favorites--the Batman Fourwheeler. He drove it all around their house--I couldn't believe it, he was a little Mario Andretti. We can't wait to go back and let him ride it again:) Thanks Gran Gran and Boom Paw!

Crazy Busy!

A VERY busy weekend! We had a really good, but jam-packed weekend. It started off on Saturday with going to our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. It was much more than a hunt, though, and everyone had so much fun.

Jackson all dressed up. I love this outfit--he's such a little stud muffin:)

Jared's parents came to join in the fun with us. Here's all of us right before the big hunt.

Jackson working hard to get some eggs. I must say, the hunt went much faster than I anticipated. I had to basically scurry around real fast and pick up eggs to put right in front of Jackson. Otherwise, we would probably have left empty-handed. We ended up getting 7 eggs--way to go, little man!

Who knew that a petting zoo would also be at the Easter festival?! It was so cute--Jackson got to pet a pot belly pig, goats, a sheep, a rabbit and some precious baby ducks.

They also had pony rides!! Jackson did awesome--he rode the horse one-handed and absolutely loved it. Such the little buckaroo:)

After the hunt, lunch and a nap, we went to a birthday party for one of Jackson's friends. Happy Birthday Hunter! Here's Jackson with his dad, our friend Price, and his youngest, Teagan. Notice Jackson has a firm grip on a small vacuum cleaner. He found this in their kitchen and wouldn't turn it loose for at least half an hour!




After the birthday party, Taylor and I met up with the girls for our friend Jenny's bachelorette party. We had dinner at Mattito's and then went to the Ghost Bar. Everyone had a great time and surprisingly Taylor and I lasted until about midnight. After our crazy day, I was very impressed! The next morning, my aunt and cousin from California came over to visit--they got to meet Jackson and it was so good to get to visit for a little while. After that I hosted our high school reunion planning meeting. Needless to say, this next weekend I don't want to do anything but relax and celebrate Easter:)

Corona Love

Our son has had a long standing love affair with all bottles and cans. Here's a picture from this past summer and then there's a video from last week.

The first time Jackson tried to tap the Rockies.

Jared was drinking a beer the other night and Jackson decided he wanted in on some of the action. Jackson has ALWAYS been fascinated by any kind of bottle or can. By fascinated, I mean he goes crazy if you don't let him hold it the instant he notices it. If I am checking out at the grocery store and the clerk hands me a Red Bull, he absolutely MUST get to hold it. He holds it while we leave the store, as he gets buckled into his car seat and all the way home. If I dare take it away, my sweet little boy turns into a crazy very quickly. He loves to put the cold can on his gums--maybe after he's done teething this obsession will go away--I sure hope so! In the meantime, videos like this are hilarious. He is one funny little cat!

Fill the cup!

Drew Barrymore was on Oprah the other day and donated $1 million to the World Food Program. She is supporting them in their Fill the Cup campaign and spoke so highly of this organization that I decided to check it out for myself. I looked at their website and am very impressed. It only takes $15 to feed 10 children for a week! Isn't that AMAZING? A big reason this campaign really spoke to my heart was the fact that it is helping children. Now that I have a child of my own, I am especially gripped by things that affect little ones. We are all so fortunate that we don't have to ever think about going hungry or missing a meal. I hope that you will at least go to the website, http://www.wfp.org/, read what they are all about and hopefully decide to donate as well. Please pass along this information to everyone you know. Have a wonderful day!

Hooray for Spring!

Oh how I love daylight savings time and weather in the 70s. It seriously puts me in such a good mood. I have no idea how it being lighter for longer in the evenings makes such a difference, but it really does. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that since it's been really nice outside and is still light, I can take Jackson for a walk or to the park in the evenings. It sure helps pass the time until Jared comes home. We went to Brekenridge Park yesterday afternoon with some friends. We stayed for a little over an hour--it was so nice! Jackson had fun on the swing and enjoyed playing with his friend Sasha's toy shovel. I love the sunshine, especially when it's not hot enough to make you sweat:) Anyway, for all of you who are able...get outside and enjoy yourself. If you live around here, give us a call. Jackson and I are always up for some outdoor fun. We're off to The Little Gym now for our weekly class.

While I was cooking...

Jackson recently discovered that he is tall enough to reach the door handles in our house. Oh my, how this has expanded his world. As if he wasn't already into enough things, he really is now, and I have to be on my toes even more. Trust me when I say that it is NEVER boring at the Hays Household!

Here's Jackson trying to open the front door--the only reason he's not succeeding is because the top lock is locked.

Here's what a normal night in my kitchen looks like--as I cook, Jackson takes out all the pots and pans, pot holders and every cookbook he can find! Needless to say, after dinner there is more to clean up than just the dishes:) He's happy while he's doing it, so at least that's a plus, and he's really not hurting anything. A few nights ago, though, we entered into a new phase...

I'll call it the "oh my goodness...you did what?!" phase. I was making spaghetti and standing on the other side of the island. I saw Jackson go into the pantry, so went after him and saw that he had found a box of Corn Flakes. (The only reason I even have this cereal is because I needed them for a recipe...anyway, the box was pretty much full.) I thought he could play with the box and not hurt himself, so I let him have it. What I did NOT anticipate was him opening the box and dumping it out EVERYWHERE!! Just as I said, "Jackson, I don't think you need to open the corn flakes," I heard them spilling all over him.

He was completely covered in the cereal and sat there for a minute just admiring his work! My mouth and eyes were wide open as I stared in disbelief. Then he picked up a corn flake, put it in his mouth and said ,"mmmm," with a big ol' grin on his face! This made me laugh out loud and then Jared walked in the door. I was so glad he got to see Jackson's handiwork. The dogs even got in on the fun and helped "clean up" the corn flakes, so everyone was happy. Pretty cute, I must admit.

First set of clubs!

Jackson got his first set of golf clubs in the mail yesterday. They were a birthday present from one of Jared's college friends and are just about the cutest things ever. Thanks, Ramy!

As you can see, Jackson loves his new clubs. He didn't put them down for at least two hours after they arrived yesterday. Sometimes he would just sit down and wave them in the air,

other times he would walk all around the house carrying both clubs. Surprisingly enough, he didn't ever hit anything with them! I was shocked, actually:)

After dinner last night, Jackson had his first golf lesson. He really liked to practice putting with his dad. They were both grinning from ear to ear--so cute!

Here's Jackson with his miniature golf bag over his shoulder. The set has two clubs and three balls. He wouldn't keep the bag on his shoulder without me making him. He really prefered to just throw it off!

First thing this morning, what was Jackson doing? Carrying his clubs around the house again, of course! Great birthday present, Ramy! Way to go:)

Bath Time, Fun Time

This was my attempt at a mini-photo shoot this morning with Jackson. He did pretty good at the beginning...

smiling really big for the camera...

then he started to dig around in the flower pot and our photo shoot came to an abrupt end! He's just so darn cute, though, it doesn't really matter.

Jared and I both love this shirt--thanks, Target! Seriously, does Target not have the best kids clothes at the best price? I am always so impressed by the selection:)

Here's a video we shot during Jackson's bathtime a few weeks ago. I sneezed and he thought it was so funny, he just kept laughing really hard. It was so cute that Jared ran and got the camera to capture the rest of the hilariousness. Enjoy!