The latest and greatest from Crystal, Jared, Jackson, Lila & Cameron!
Every morning I get to read just a tad of the newspaper. Jackson often likes to look at a section and check out the latest happenings in Dallas. Now, Jackson was just reading the Metro section, but I can't find him all of a sudden. Where could he be?
There he is!
Jackson was in a great mood all day long. This kid was such a wiggly worm, though, that it was really challenging to take his picture. This is the best fam shot we got:)
Jackson and Madison with their Gigi
Jackson is teething right now, hence the fingers in the mouth, but I love the big bow in Miss Madison's hair!
Jackson got to visit with his Uncle Andrew
and hang out with his Uncle Scott, too. What a fun day!
It's very snowy at the North Pole!
Our Santa Excursion group
After a little lunch, we went down to the play area. Jackson had such a good time there. We might just have to go back sometime soon. Mama does like to shop:)
Love that smile:)
Here they are at the beginning of the afternoon. Jackson had so much fun pushing Madison in the jumperoo and she LOVED it...just look at that huge grin on her face! The difficulty came when I decided that I would try and get them both down for their afternoon naps. I somehow got Madison to sleep first by just rocking her in J's room. As soon as I tried to lay her down, though, she woke right up and looked at me like, "what exactly are you trying to do?" Then I decided to take both of them for a car ride. As I suspected, Jackson fell asleep before we got half way down the street. This was encouraging, so I drove around a little bit longer, just to ensure he was good and asleep. We came back home and I got him out of the car first, but before I got him all the way into his crib he woke up. At this point I was starting to get a little bit flustered! Now Madison was screaming in the car and Jackson was hollering b/c he wanted out of the crib. Arghhh! After about another half hour of rocking Madison and getting her back to sleep, Jackson decided to start making noise (why he wasn't asleep by now was beyond me). I didn't want him to wake her up, so I went over to his crib. He started whining and asking to be held, so I had no choice but to pick him up, too. And that's how I got myself into this conundrum...
After about 30 more minutes of rocking both of them, they both fell asleep! Only problem with that is that I was stuck in the chair. My mom did come back and rescue me. Hallelujah! My right arm (the one under the 30 pound child) was completely asleep. 
and then moved indoors for a little more domestic flare.
Jackson really loves playing in the kitchens...hmmm, maybe a future chef? Wouldn't that be nice:)
We attempted to let all the big kids make their own cookies. It began with them sitting down and putting on aprons.
That lasted about 2.7 seconds and the apron came off! Jackson was the only kid that flat out rejected the apron. 
Some of the kiddos were really trying to roll out the cookie dough and use the cute little cookie cutters. Jackson pretty much said no thanks to the entire process. Oh well, his mama sure liked the delicious finished products--icing, sprinkles and all!
Jackson and I made signs (ok, so I really made them and Jackson mostly hollered at me b/c all he wanted to do was mess with the tape...he even crawled up onto the kitchen table when I put the tape in the middle of it. Who knew scotch tape was that much fun?) Here he is practicing holding the sign for Grandma.
He did so good for the real thing! He actually held his sign for at least 30 minutes while we waited for Grandma. Now that's dedication!
Yay Shelley!
