Car Shopping

For the last couple weeks, we've been doing some car shopping. My car's service engine soon light has been on for several months now and we've had it checked out and it came back as being the transmission. The last guy that tested it said it could cost us anywhere from around $700 to $4000 depending on the problem. Since its a 2005 with 150,000 miles on it, we think its probably just best to trade it in.

We are wanting an SUV that gets good gas mileage. I drive around 30-45 minutes to work and back every day, so gas mileage is important to us. I also want slightly more space than what I have now with my Pontiac Vibe. 

We've test driven 8 SUV's.

Kia Sportage: 22/32 mpg

Kia Sorento: 21/29 mpg

Mazda CX-5: 26/35 mpg

GMC  Terrain: 22/32 mpg

Honda CRV: 23/31 mpg

Chevy Equinox 22/32 mpg

Hyundai Tucson 22/30 mpg

Ford Escape 22/31 mpg

There were certain things I liked about all of them, so its so hard to make a decision.

So in the next few weeks we have to make a decision on which car will work best for us. I would love any reviews you all might have. We can use all the help we get as we want to make a good decision.

Jackson's 42 Week Pictures!

Jackson is 42 weeks old now! Only 10 more weeks until he turns 1 year old! I can't believe we are that close to one already! :-( Time is going by way too fast!

I don't have much to report this week. He's walking all over the place and getting into everything! We have baby proofed the house by putting in the electrical outlet protectors and we've always had gates up to keep him in whatever room we want him to be in. I've had to take down almost all the pictures that I had sitting out in our living room because he is so tall that he can reach the top of our entertainment center and the end table. :-(

He tried a few new foods over the weekend, some small bites of grilled chicken and a couple bites of licorice. He loved both of course!

He's got his 2 top front teeth all the way through now and seems to be a little happier. I'm hoping we'll get a teething break for a while. 

He slept all the way through the night last night!! He went to sleep at around 9 and didn't wake up until around 6:15 this morning. I gave him a bottle and then he fell back asleep until around 9 this morning!! This would be a perfect sleep schedule for us. Oh how I hope it continues (but I'm not getting my hopes up for that). I have a feeling he's been sleeping better the last couple of nights because the teething pain has subsided for now. :-)

Saturday, Jackson started giving me hugs! He's never really done that before. He'll give kisses from time to time, but never hugs! Its the sweetest thing EVER! He comes over to you and lays his head on your leg or if you're down on the floor he'll lay his head on your shoulder and even say awww! It melts my heart! I just love this little boy of mine so much!

My Papa's 75th Birthday Party

Last Saturday we celebrated my Papa Reg's 75th Birthday. We had a party at Hatfield and McCoys Restaurant for both him and his twin brother Ronald. :-) You would never know he was 75 as he's in such great health! I'm so thankful for my Papa Reg and love him so much. Here are a few pictures from the party. :-)

My Papa on the left and his twin brother Ronald on the right. :-)

The cakes.

My Papa opening his gifts.

Family at the party.

My Papa's 7 grand-kids and 3 great grand-kids.

A few pictures of my Dad with his grand-kids.

We had a great time celebrating with my Papa Reg and his brother Ronald. :-)

Jackson's Favorite Things

These are just a few things Jackson is loving right now. Its so cute to see how much he likes certain things at such a young age.

Of course, he loves birthday cake. We give him little bites of our cake at birthday parties and he loves it!

He's gotten really attached to a blanket. It doesn't really matter what blanket, just as long as he has one.

Playtime.

He's just started to have an interest in books recently. I'm going to have to get him some more.

Sips of Papa's soda! 

Veggie Straws are a favorite snack of Jackson's.

Now that he can walk, he wants nothing more than to be down and walking around.

He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Wonder Pets, and Backyardigans!

I'm linking up with...

Jackson's 41 Week Pictures!

Jackson is 41 weeks old and doing great. He's walking all around, even getting back up from the floor if he falls down. He used to have to crawl over to something to pull himself back up, but now he's able to get back up from the floor. With him being able to do this, there's not much crawling going on anymore. 

He just got his 6th tooth in this week. He's had 3 on the bottom for a while, but recently got another bottom tooth and he also got his 2 top front teeth within the last week or so.

He's been jabbering a lot lately, which is really cute. He mostly says dada, but he walks around and jabbers all the time now. 

His sleep patterns are a little off right now because of teething. I think he's trying to get the teeth on either side of his top front teeth as well. I really hope after those come in, he gets a little break. Poor baby. :-(

Otherwise, he's doing great!

Embrace the Camera

Linking up with Emily at The Anderson Crew

Embrace the Camera is where you'll take a picture of YOU with your kids, spouse, friends, etc. The point of embrace the camera is to get in front of the camera and to document a bit of yourself.

My husband was out of town last night on business, so Jackson and I spent the evening together, just the 2 of us! He's teething some, so he was a little crabby at first, but after a bottle and some Advil, he seemed to feel much better. I was able to get him to sit with me for a few seconds, just long enough to snap a few pictures, before he was back up and playing again. ☺ Now that he's walking, he's constantly on the move.

Now its your turn!

Wordless Wednesday

I thought this would be a great "Wordless Wednesday" picture. Jackson loves to look out of our glass screen door. ☺

That same day, I got this really cute picture of him smiling so sweet.

I hope you're having a great Wednesday.

I'm linking up for Wordless Wednesday at Live and Love Out Loud and at Jenni From the Blog.