Birthday, Jackson style

Jackson had a very big day yesterday, to say the least. He went to school from 9 - 2, where he got to celebrate with his friends and eat cupcakes. After school, I picked him up and we continued a day filled with Jackson-friendly adventures. First, we went to the carwash.

The kid loves it and mama's car was really dirty.

Then we headed on over to Collin Creek Mall to ride the train. Gigi went with us and while this was the only item on our agenda at the mall, we ended up finding lots of fun things to do. Jackson saw the Disney store and promptly led Gigi into it. He came out with two stuffed animals; Woody from Toy Story and Donald Duck. After a little shopping for him at The Children's place we couldn't resist picking up some cookies at The Great American Cookie Co.

On our way back home, we picked up Maddie from school and then headed over to Gigi's for some swing set fun. These two little rugrats had a blast running all over their big backyard, climbing and sliding.

A little while later we met both sets of grandparents at Chuck E Cheese. Here's Madison enjoying the balloon ride.

Jackson insisted on hopping up onstage with Chuck E.

Then it was time to get down to business. He loves the "water game" and was so serious while showing his daddy how to play it.

On to one of J's other loves...cheese pizza!

And then of course, the big cupcake with candles. Notice how Maddie is licking her lips! She can't wait to get to that dessert!

Gigi and Memaw both got in on the party hat fun, too. That tongue's still hanging out!

But alas, the birthday boy didn't want chocolate cake, so he switched over to the white cupcakes that I brought! After dessert, he got to open some really cool presents. Of course, he wanted to take them all out of the boxes AT Chuck E Cheese. We convinced him it was best to wait till we got home:)

And that's just what we did the minute we walked in the door. His dad and I got him this guitar and microphone. They were quite the duo on their stage!

Thanks fam for celebrating with us. We can't wait for the big party on Saturday!

Happy Birthday, Jackson!

It's hard to believe that my sweet little baby boy is already three years old!! Time has seriously started to fly by. My mom always said it would once I had kids...and boy was she right.

Three years ago today at 8:26 am, this precious angel came into our lives.

Look at him now! We love you Jackson and can't wait to celebrate your birthday tonight at Chuck E Cheese!

Baby Lila - 31 week pics

The whole fam went to see Miss Lila's sweet little face today. We had so much fun watching her on the 4D sonogram! Here's what she looks like inside my belly...

and here's the side shot of the belly.

She's definitely been growing!

Sweet baby taking a nap

Something must have been funny:)

Puckering up those cute little lips and opening her eyes!

Hiding behind her hand

Almost got her whole face here

Smiling sweetly

"Whew! I'm all tuckered out from this photo shoot."

We can't wait to meet you, Lila Grace!

Really big snowman and some sledding

I could hardly believe it myself, but Jared actually didn't have to go to work today. His office only closes if DISD does, so when I saw that info on the news last night I got so excited. We had such a great day together and I tried to catch the highlights. It seriously felt like a dreamland and we soaked up all the fun we could with the beautiful snow.

After Jackson saw his daddy put on ski goggles, he insisted on doing the same. His head is so big, they pretty much fit!

Jackson's request for the day was for us to make a "really, really, really big snowman." Now, he didn't say anything about him participating in that! Jackson was content to eat some snow...

while his daddy worked hard at that big snowman! I thought Jared was about to fall over before he set this down.

Jackson did come around after he finished his appetizer of snow and began "helping" a little bit.

Ta Da! I was so impressed.

After lunch we got word that lots of people were sledding down the big hill at our neighborhood firestation. Of course we had to go check it out. We thought Jackson would just love it. Not so much...at least not at first. It took quite a bit of coaxing just to get him to sit on the sled!

I trapsed all the way down the hill with the hope that Jackson would sled down it towards me.

After a few more deliberating moments, they were off!

Great success! He loved it!

We all enjoyed just being outside...

and even got a special treat when these horses went galloping by!

Before it was time to go home, J went back to his favorite winter activity--snow eating.

What a fun day!

Snow Day!

Hooray for our winter wonderland today! Jackson and I have been admiring the beautiful snowfall all day. This morning we got all bundled up and went out to play in it for a little bit.

Jackson taking his first steps in the snow.

Wow! This is so cool, mom!

I love snow days!

This afternoon we went back out and made two snowmen. I think the last time I got to do this was when I was about 4 years old. Seriously--it's been 26 years! Jackson insisted that we get our snowmen some hats and scarves. We could only find one weather-resistant scarf, but we did get them both hats. It was Jackson's idea to have them wear Happy New Year top hats! Our snowmen like to style.

Pa Hays and Roxie's wedding

This past Saturday the Hays crew headed over to Fort Worth for Pa's wedding. We are all so excited that he reconnected with such a great lady.

Jackson got all dressed up and sported his blue tie for the wedding.

Of course, he had to get in some last minute mopping before it began.

The wedding was so sweet and they really could not have looked any happier.

"I now pronouce you husband and wife."

After the wedding, we went to a reception at the Olive Garden, where Roxie still works. Amazing!

Congratulations, Pa and Roxie!

We love San Diego

Jared and I took a very fun little trip to San Diego this past weekend. We both enjoyed it so much and are already looking forward to taking Jackson and Lila back with us in a few years.

Sunset from the hotel beach bar

It really was breathtaking

Another cool thing was getting to watch the fighter jets--Jared really was in hog heaven.

We started off our days by taking walks along the beach.

We really tried to just take it easy, but we did go on a few little excursions. Here we are about to set sail on this huge sailboat in order to go whale watching.

Coming back into the San Diego Harbor--we actually saw 4 whales! It was so cool!

Touring an old Russian Submarine--tight quarters to say the least!

Jared steering the ship they used to film Master and Commander.

After our big day at sea, we stopped by the store on the way back to the hotel. We really loved hangin' out on our balcony. Bet you can guess what one of us got to do:)

The next day we went up to La Jolla. Here we are at Seal Beach.

The La Jolla coastline was so pretty.

Our last night we ate at this fantastic hawaiian seafood place right on the water. It overlooked the San Diego Harbor and was just amazing. Our trip could not have gone any better. We can't wait to go back!