Happy St. Patty's Day!

I dressed my little leprechaun in green today to be sure he didn't get pinched. He was so thankful he even agreed to a mini photo shoot in our backyard.

So glad I finally captured a non "cheese!" face! You know, the one where their face is all squished up and eyes almost closed:)

He looks so old to me these days...maybe it's those long legs...

or the fact that he's potty trained now! Yes, you heard it here, folks. No more diapers!

Now we can go to the park and not have to worry about bringing a diaper bag. So nice! Jackson was so proud of himself for making friends with this turtle. We've been discussing friends and strangers recently. He told me that the turtle who jumped in the water when we walked up must have been a stranger. Maybe so, J man, maybe so!

This one was definitely a friend, though. Check out how close it let Jackson get to him. We really enjoyed our spring day outside and look forward to many more this season.

Fireman/Poolman

Bet we're the only house around town that can claim to have a fireman/poolman as a resident! This morning as Jackson was getting dressed, he decided to put on his new fireman coat.

Then we came downstairs and let the dogs out in the backyard. Right after we walked out, Jackson said "The pool has a lot of dirt in it...I'll clean it off!" and ran off to get the pool brush.

He immediately began scrubbing the pool steps. Have you ever seen such a cheerful pool boy?!

Good work, J man! Good work.

Full Moon

When I was at the end of my pregnancy with Jackson my cleaning lady told me to check out the calendar and see when the next full moon was. According to her, this would be when I would go into labor. I followed her direction and saw that the next one was coming on February 16th, but since that was over 2 weeks before my due date, I totally dismissed it. A few more weeks rolled by and I went to celebrate a friends birthday downtown...a friend who was born on February 16th. I'd felt fine all day, came home that night and my water broke shortly thereafter.

Jackson was born the morning of February 17th. Yay!!

Needless to say, after that experience, I am now a believer in the "full moon" theory. So today I was casually looking at the paper and for some reason the next full moon caught my eye. Wanna guess when that will be? March 29! My 30th birthday!! I can handle going into labor that night, but let's hope that Lila waits until after midnight to make her debut. I so want her to have her own separate birthday.

The only difference...

between men and boys...

is the size of their toys!

"We can go to town...

but baby if you'd rather...

I'll take you for a ride on my big green tractor."

Jackson is so excited that he now has his own big green tractor! He loves that song by Jason Aldean and asks to hear it all the time. Today he got to really ride his new toy and had a blast.

Baby Shower Bliss

This past weekend my sweet friends gave me and Lila a baby shower. It was so nice and really got me that much more excited about being able to finally meet her in a few weeks!

I am so lucky to be blessed with such great friends.

Lila got so many adorable presents...like this embroidered bib

and precious hot pink miniature tutu. Thanks, Dale!

She also got this awesome Bevo hooded towel from one of my college roommates.

Thanks, Carol! Maybe she'll decide to check out Austin one day, too.

Gigi gave me this beautiful diaper bag--it's so pretty I'm kind of afraid to put baby stuff in it! I'm sure I'll get over that, though. I had been searching high and low for one that I really liked and now that search is over. Thanks, Gigi.

Miss Lila also got this big hot pink and black tutu--ha! I see many photo shoots in her future.

Thank you so much to everyone who came to celebrate with me. I love all of you and can't wait until Lila is able to meet y'all.

3 year check-up

Jackson went to his 3 year check-up this past Monday. We have a new pediatrician and both of us are big fans. He did so good! I was such a proud Mom. He has grown up so much this past year and is really fun to be around...most of the time! He's got a fantastic personality, but can be a bit shy around people he doesn't know. Once he warms up, though, there's no holding him back. He is very excited about the upcoming arrival of his baby sister and we can't wait to see how he will be with her. He promises me that he will "rock her, hold her, feed her, sing to her and lay down on the floor with her." So sweet. Let's just hope he doesn't try to carry her somewhere...I can totally see that one coming!

Here are his stats:
Weight: 35 lbs (75th %)
Height: 39.5 inches (90 - 95%)
Blood Pressure: 84/52 (they said this was perfect...who knew?)
Memory: Excellent--the kid has an unbelievable memory. It's seriously better than mine sometimes:)
ABCs: Knows almost all of them
Numbers: Can count to 15 with only 1 or 2 mistakes
Colors: Knows them all but sometimes confuses orange/yellow and brown/black
Shapes: Identified a circle, x, rectangle and triangle for the doc
Potty training: Coming along! We have made great progress in this area recently. The only issue now is getting him to go when I'm not there. He'll do it at school, but otherwise, I must be present! Hopefully we'll get this mastered BEFORE Lila gets here.