Nap time, schmap time

At 2:10 this afternoon, Jackson fell asleep. It was right on cue for his normal nap. Every other day this week he has slept for 3 hours (I know, I'm very lucky!) but that was not the case today. At 2:25 he woke up and even though I laid down with him and pretended to be asleep for the next 35 minutes, he was done. After chasing after the little booger for the next hour, we decided to take a family trip to the park. I'm so glad we did...who needs naps anyway?

Jackson telling his dad, "Hi." It was so funny because he says it like an older englishman.

Us going down the big slide. It did get a little out of control on the way down--the slide is really high--but we recovered nicely.

He insisted that I, too, go inside the tunnel:)

Swinging on daddy's lap

Swinging all by himself. We were impressed...he held on really tightly and didn't come close to falling out, although you do have to be ready when he wants to get down. Not much warning!

First lesson on how to climb a rock wall

Ta Da! Great success!

Oh what a night!

Miss Madison (my sweet neice) spent the night with us. Actually she came over yesterday afternoon while Jackson was taking a nap. When he woke up and heard her downstairs he got so excited. "Madden" as he calls her is really one of his favorite people.

He likes her so much that he even let her hop on

and go for a ride with Trigger.

After a good dinner, it was time for a bath. Both cousins LOVE their bath time and were all smiles:)

Madison got such a kick out of Jackson splashing water like a mad man!

This morning we went to get Miss Madison and she was all smiles again. I put Jackson in the crib with her just for fun. Look how much bigger he is than her!

Jackson and Trigger

And the winner is...Trigger! Jackson has absolutely LOVED having his new horse since Christmas. He rides Trigger every day and enjoys every second.

Sometimes he's satisfied for Trigger to do a nice gallop.

Other times he gets Trigger going so fast that he almost gets bucked off! Whoa, boy...slow it down!

But he always makes a smooth recovery and gets Trigger to come to a nice stop. I think they are going to be great friends:)

Ringin' in the new year

Jared and I hosted a party on New Year's Eve. We had such a good time with everyone and really enjoyed ringing in the new year with all our friends. We played a few games; drinko (formerly known as plinko) and catch phrase were big hits. We had so much fun hanging out with the gang. Here are a few pics from the night.

Me and my hubby:)

Our special guests of the night were Kelly and Danny. We met them when we moved to Lubbock and always have fun catching up whenever we get together.

Group Shot



Taylor getting a little help from Jenny during her turn at karaoke.

Happy 2009!

Santa Claus came to town

They say that Christmas really is "for the kids" and I completely understand why now. Jackson has been so excited about Santa and Santa came through in a big way this year. We went to church on Christmas Eve with my family. The service was really good and Jackson was even better. Jared and I sat in amazement for an hour and 15 minutes as Jackson sat in "big church" and didn't make a peep. After church, we had dinner at Gigi and Boom's house and then got to open some presents.

Jackson was really good that night, but he did NOT want to take a picture with his sweet parents!! Guess he still is only 22 months old:)

Gigi and Jackson with me and Madison.

Such a great smile...love those dimples:)

The second present Jackson opened was a cookie jar. It was such a big hit that he didn't want to open anything else for the rest of the night! Whenever I'd hand him a present, he'd shake his head no and say, "Cookie!"

Santa worked very hard to put this Rock and Roll Pony together for Jackson. Good thing it was such a big hit!

Jackson's favorite presents from us were his belt and boots. Hmmm...think that has anything to do with him wanting to be just like daddy?

Playing on a toy from Gigi while wearing his new cowboy boots

We went over to the Hays' for dinner on Christmas night. Here's Jackson driving his new car from his Uncle Scott and Uncle Drew.

He got so excited about this that he ran into the Christmas tree and tipped over the car!! A minor crash, but it sure was funny.

After the car scare, he decided it was much safer to play with his new train set. Mamaw is showing him that his new Thomas the Train is also a flashlight...

BONUS!

The last toy of the night was the tried and true Sit and Spin. Jackson went in many a circle on this toy and loved every second of it.

One last pic of the gang before we all went home that night.

Thank you Gigi, Boom, Meme, Madison, Mamaw, Poppy, Scott, Andrew, Carolyn, Pa, Amy and Chris for a wonderful Christmas.

Happy Belated Birthday, Mamaw!

This is a little bit late, but better late than never. Last Saturday was Mamaw's (Jackson's grandma's new name) birthday. The whole gang was in town and we went out to dinner to celebrate.

Before dinner, Jackson helped Mamaw open her presents.

Then we all took a family photo for the Hays Christmas card. Don't worry, most of the group did change clothes before we went out, so we weren't the weird family in all white:) We had such a great time at Brio...if you haven't been there yet, check in out.

Merry Christmas

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day. Jackson certainly had the Christmas spirit. We had such a good time celebrating with both families.

Whenever he saw Santa or heard anyone say the word he hollered, "Ho Ho Ho!" He loves his Santa hat, too:)