Just like Dad

Jackson is following in his father's footsteps. This weekend he had two firsts...

Wearing Dad's cowboy boots

Which he thought was so funny, except for the fact that he couldn't walk anywhere in them,

and riding a motorcycle. This was a toy motorcycle at Peter Piper Pizza last weekend.

Here is the real deal. Jackson's dad got one this weekend and is in heaven.

"Oh my" is all I can really say.

Jackson did think it was very cool, though, and especially liked all the gadgets on it. I think it'll be a while before he ever rides on one. Thank goodness they don't make baby seats that attach to them or my child might be in danger of being taken for a zip around the neighborhood:)

I've been tagged!

My friend Taylor has tagged me, so I'm being a good sport and playing along. It's a fun little way to learn some things about your friends. Here's the info on me...most of it y'all probably already know, some of it, maybe not. Hope it's fun to read:)


4 jobs I've had:
Office Coordinator at AppleOne (In Austin right after I graduated from college)
Catering Manager of the McInturff Conference Center (At UMC in Lubbock)
Assistant Director of Food & Nutrition at UMC
House Manager (my current position that I somehow work at the most and get paid the least!)

4 Movies I've seen more than once:
What About Bob? (possibly the funniest movie I've ever seen--if you ever need a quote from it, I'm your gal)

Father of the Bride, parts 1 and 2. (Steve Martin and Martin Short are so, so funny)

Dirty Dancing (surely everyone knows the greatness of this movie...I think my friends and I could watch it every week)

Top Gun (just two words...volleyball scene--I mean, does it get any hotter?)

4 Places I've lived:
Sachse, TX
Austin, TX
Lubbock, TX
Garland, TX

4 TV Shows I watch:
The Bachelor--gotta love this show. I have watched every single season and even though I am mostly disappointed at the end of every one, it still reels me in the next time! I really think he's going to propose to Chelsea...I know everyone else thinks it's Shayne, we'll just have to wait and see!

American Idol--David Cook all the way! He's been my fave since the beginning

ER--even though the whole cast has changed multiple times, this is still a really great show.

30 Rock--Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan are genius in it. If you haven't seen it yet, you really should give it a try.

4 Places I've been:
Grand Cayman Islands--learned to scuba dive there and swam with the sting rays...both were amazing

Paris, France--the most romantic place I've ever been. Sitting in front of the Eiffel Tower at night when it lights up is unreal.

Bellagio, Italy--so unbelievably picturesque. It's on Lake Como (yes, we did spot George Clooney's villa!) and the little towns are so adorable.

Interlaken, Switzerland--my favorite city EVER!! The whole time I felt like we were walking in a postcard. Everywhere we turned was beyond gorgeous. The mountains right next to the bluest lake I've ever seen were breathtaking. I must, must, must go back there one day:)

4 Favorite Foods:
My mother-in-law's scrumptious Coke Cake...it's pure chocolate heaven
Campisi's pizza--I mean, does pizza really get any better?
Burger Street's greasy cheeseburgers--the only way to have a hamburger...the more grease, the better:)
Anything breakfast related...cinnamon rolls are a big fave, but so are waffles, pancakes...it's all so very tasty

4 Places I'd like to visit:
The mediterranean
Hawaii
The Seychelles
Germany/Austria...I love castles and they've got a ton of them

4 Things I look forward to in the next year:
Going to Hawaii for our 5 year anniversary
Visiting friends in Charleston for Labor Day weekend
Teaching Jackson to swim this summer
Going to our 10 year High School Reunion. Hard to believe it's been that long, but then again, we are 28 now! That's dangerously close to 30!!

4 Friends I'm tagging:
Monica Martinez
Bethany Denning
Marcy Parker
Hayley Eoff


Have a great weekend!

Mack Daddy Hays

Jackson has always been partial to cute little girls, but he really showed his skills with the ladies today. We went to Peter Piper Pizza for his friend Cason's second birthday party. Out of the blue, Jackson just decided to attach himself to one of Cason's relatives. Her name is Faith, she is 4 years old (yes, 3 years older than him) and my son was completely smitten with her. The pictures really speak for themselves...

This is how I found Jackson. Such a sweet little boy, giving Miss Faith a good hug.

When she tries to back away, though, Jackson really doesn't want to let go!

Faith gives in and decides to humor him a little while longer. Awww:)

Then all of a sudden Jackson decides that both of them need to go somewhere. Logically, he grabs her shirt, not her hands, to take her to this new place.

He tried the pulling for a little bit, then decided that pushing her would work better! Look at how he's grinning...who really knows what goes on in his head sometimes. He was really happy with the whole situation, though. Too cute:)

Sweet Cousins

Jackson and his cousin have known each other for all of 6 days now, but they have progressed tremendously! Here's Jackson checking out Madison the first night they met.

The first day Jackson didn't even realize that Madison was a real, live baby. The second day, though, she started crying when we went to visit her at the hospital and that tipped him off. I was trying to change her diaper and since she doesn't like to get out of her blankets, this was not a popular decision. Jackson was in the other room, but as soon as he heard her crying he came running. He started crying and wrapped both arms around my leg! It was quite a scene.

We've been to visit them a few times since they came home from the hospital. The first time, Jackson did not like me getting anywhere near Madison. One time I was walking over to hand someone a bottle to feed her and he got in between us, pushed my shoulder and grunted. I think the grunt meant ,"Whoa! What do you think you're doing, Missy?" A little later that night, I was holding her while sitting on the couch. Jackson climbed up me, wrapped both arms around my neck and got his point across very effectively..."this is MY mommy!"

Yesterday was so much better, though! He even kind of gave her a kiss. It was really sweet. He tried to touch her gently, and that didn't so much work out, but he no longer went crazy every time I touched her. I am so excited! Now maybe we can be more of a help, rather than a hinderance, when we go visit:) Yay, Jackson!

Miss Madison Reese is here!

Madison Reese arrived yesterday morning at 10:13 am. Colleen went into the hospital at 10:00 the night before to be induced. When she got to the hospital, though, she found out that she was already in labor...she was dilated to 5 1/2 cm and was having contractions 3 minutes apart! Obviously, the contractions weren't too bad yet! My mom called me a little before midnight and told me I should probably go ahead and come since things were progressing much faster than anyone anticipated. We were up there all night and Miss Madison just didn't feel like it was quite time. She arrived the next morning, but made the delivery very easy on her mama. My sister only pushed for 23 mintues! She was amazing. Without further fanfare....here is my precious neice.

Madison was 7 lbs 5 oz, 19 3/4 inches long. She has a full head of brown hair and a dimple on each side, just like Colleen. She's doing great and only gets upset when you unwrap her from the blankets. She likes to be toasty and warm!

Aunt Crystal right after Madison arrived yesterday morning.

Uncle Jared with Jackson and Madison. Doesn't he look so good with two little ones?! I think so, but we're still not going to jump into anything just yet!

We were all wondering what Jackson's reaction would be to Madison. I don't think that he even knew she was a real person since he never heard her make a peep. Maybe he'll figure things out today when we go visit!


Jackson and Madison with Colleen. My sister looks SO much like my mom in this picture! Jackson looks HUGE compared to his tiny little cousin.

Little Evel Knievel

Jackson has turned into quite the little daredevil the past few days. I know that a trip to the ER is definitely in our future, I'm just hoping for the best at this point! He loves to climb on anything, especially things that are unsteady. It all started last week when he drug his high chair tray over to the living room and set it on the floor. He then stood on top of it and tried to "surf." This was really funny because he happened to be wearing a polo, shorts and sandals, so he totally looked like a little surfer dude. Anyway, now he has graduated to much more substantial heights. Just take a look at his antics from this morning...

"Surfing" in the rocking chair.

When I tell him to sit down, this is as far as he will go--the squat position. Then it's right back up again!

Moving on over to scale the zebra chair. He actually fell off of this yesterday, but it doesn't seem to be registering with him today. Oh my, I really thought that made an impression.

Climbing from our leather living room chair onto a small end table. Pretty pleased with himself, as you can tell.

Then over to the other (much less stable) end table. He did this yesterday, too, and almost gave me a heart attack! Notice he's still got that huge smile on his face. Hopefully he'll find something else that makes him this happy and we can move on to less dangerous things. Jackson, for my sake, please stop being so crazy!!

Time to Celebrate

These past few weeks have been SUPER DUPER busy. I honestly do not think we could have packed anything else into them! The festivities all started on Thursday, March 27th, when my sweet husband took me to see Chris Rock. It was my birthday present from him and we had a great time. The next night we celebrated with our families at Carrabbas and had some seriously delicious food. A few of the waitors even serenaded me with Happy Birthday in Italian...at least that's what they said they were singing! It's not like any of us would have known the difference:)


Jackson got his first taste of ordering off the menu at Carrabbas. He was so funny. I turned my head for maybe 2 seconds and looked back to see him shoving half a grilled chicken breast into his mouth! The look on his face was like "what? I'm hungry, lady!"


Here he is back at our house--we all got to have some Champagne cake and I opened presents. Thank you Mom, Dad, Jared, Jackson, Warren , Meme, Aunt Ruth, Colleen and Trey for a great night.

The next night was my actual birthday--I am now officially in my late twenties!! The big 28. We went to Mi Cocina, celebrated with friends, and drank some very good Mambo Taxis:)

The next day was my sister's baby shower. She's due in a few weeks, but will probably have the baby by Monday. I'll keep everyone posted. The shower was really nice and we got some good pictures of the three Raines girls out back.

Onto the next weekend--Jenny and Dusty's big wedding. Here's us at The Iron Cactus with The Pointers and soon-to-be Webbs. The rehearsal dinner was fantastic--very yummy fajitas and such a neat restaurant.

Jared and me at the reception, and yes, I did do the airbrush tan! It was my first time, and I must admit I was a little apprehensive, but I'm so glad it turned out well. Way to go, babe, on matching my dress. (He claims it was an accident, but I think he secretly planned it)

Mom and Dad came out for the festivities, too. Doesn't my mom look so good?! She's a hot little number! Dad, you're a lucky man, but you probably already knew that.

We all had SUCH a good time at the wedding. All of us, even our husbands, danced till we couldn't dance any more! It was a lot of fun celebrating with such great friends. Hard to believe I've known Jenny since we were five and all of us girls have been friends since 9th grade. Love you girls!