Jackson's First Carnival

Last month, a small town near where I grew up, was having a carnival. Jackson had never been to a carnival so we decided to take him and see how he liked the rides !! My Mother-In-Law came along too and helped out with Avery so that we could ride some of the rides with Jackson. We weren't entirely sure how he would like the rides, but we were so happy to see that he LOVED them!! 

For the first ride, he rode the cars that went around and around and up and down. I tried sitting in the same seat as him and he told me I was too big and I needed to move! Ha. So I sat behind him and we soon realized he didn't need me there at all. He loved it. He was laughing the entire time.

We decided he could ride the next ride by himself. The next ride was a similar ride but with space ships instead of cars. He ended up riding with another little girl who needed a partner to ride with. They were so cute and he had a blast!! We were beginning to see that we may need to go buy a few more tickets. :-)

Next we rode the Bears that were similar to the old barrel ride where you spin it around as it goes around and around. Jake and I rode with him since he couldn't ride it alone. Once again, he laughed the entire time. 

Here's a little video. At one point you hear him say, "this sun" which means this is fun! Ha.

I also took him through a "Fun House" and then we put him on the last of the kiddie rides called the Frog Hopper. I was a little nervous about this ride because it seemed like it might be a little scary for him. They take them up and then drop them over and over again. Jake insisted though and I'm glad he did because Jackson loved it! He was raising his hands and laughing the whole time. He loved it so much we let  him ride it twice. I think he might have been one of the smallest kids on the ride.

I got a little video of him on this ride too. :-)

After that, we went and got some carnival food and then we stood in line to ride the ferris wheel with him. 

 

It was the perfect way to end a perfect evening. The weather that night was gorgeous. We really couldn't have asked for a better night. We all had a GREAT time!!

Jackson and Avery's First 11 Weeks {A Comparison}

I thought it would be fun to look back at Jackson's first year weekly pictures that I took of him and see how they compared to the ones I've been taking of Avery. While I don't think they really look alike, I do think there are a few similarities. What do you think?

Can't Take My Eyes Off of You!

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much

At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

Pardon the way that I stare
There's nothing else to compare
The sight of you leaves me weak
There are no words left to speak

But if you feel like I feel
Please let me know that it's real
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

I love you, baby, and if it's quite alright
I need you, baby, to warm a lonely night
I love you, baby, trust in me when I say
Oh, pretty baby, don't bring me down, I pray
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby, let me love you

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much

 

At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive 

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

I love you, baby, and if it's quite alright
I need you, baby, to warm a lonely night
I love you, baby, trust in me when I say
Oh, pretty baby, don't bring me down, I pray
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
Oh, pretty baby, trust in me when I say

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life!! It's been a wonderful 7 years full of fun memories. Here's to the rest of our lives and many more fun memories together!

Lyrics to Our Song: The Four Seasons - Can't Take My Eyes Off of You

Pictures: A picture from each summer we've been married.

Our Anniversary Weekend

This afternoon, Jake and I are headed to The Lake of the Ozarks for a little 7 Year Anniversary getaway!! While I'll miss my sweet babies terribly, I am really looking forward to a short little trip to the lake just the 2 of us. It's been since 2012 that we took a trip alone, so it's well overdue. 

We are staying at the Lodge of 4 Seasons for two nights and will head home on Sunday afternoon.

  We plan to do a little shopping while we're there, spend some time on the strip, rent a boat and go to dinner at the Blue Heron. :-) Back in 2001, the year we started dating, we went with some friends to the Lake of the Ozarks and we had a very nice dinner at the Blue Heron, so it will be fun to go back now after 13 years of being together. :-)

(Jake and I at the Blue Heron in 2001, during our first year of dating.)

It's so hard to believe that we've been a couple for 13 years this month and have been married for 7 of those years! While no marriage is perfect, I love Jake so much and appreciate all he does for our family. He goes to work every day, cooks dinner, takes care of the yard, does the grocery shopping, takes care of our finances and helps with the laundry! He's a great father to our two sweet kiddos and a loving and caring husband! I am so blessed to be married to my best friend!

Avery's Dedication

 We had Avery dedicated to the Lord on June 1, 2014. Our pastor, who dedicated me 33 years ago, performed Avery's dedication as well. :-) It was a special day, and we were blessed to be surrounded by our family and church friends.

(Our church does not have good lighting and the carpet is bright red, which makes taking nice pictures very hard. So I just transferred all of these pictures to black and white.)

Our Pastor praying over Avery.

 22 years ago, when my Aunt Karla and Uncle Mark had their first son, Travis, they received a dedication outfit as a gift from a woman in our church. They later, had another son, Tyler, who also wore the same outfit to be dedicated. When my sister had Landon 7 years ago, he wore the outfit as well and then Jackson and Mason wore it 2 years ago. I debated on weather to get Avery a dress to wear since she's a girl, but ultimately decided it was fitting for her to wear the outfit as well and I'm so glad I did. I made it look a little more girly by having her wear a big white headband. :-)  This is a picture of all the boys, and Avery, who have worn the outfit.

My Papa Reg holding Avery.

My immediate family.

Jake, Avery and I with Jake's Mom.

Jake and Avery with Jake's brothers.

Avery with her Grandma and Maw Maw. :-) 

My sweet Avery after being dedicated to the Lord.

 

The cousins on my side of the family. :-) 

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." 1 Samuel 1:27-28

Explore St. Louis: Cahokia Mounds

Last month, my Sister, Mom and I took the kids to Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville, IL. We grew up in the town right next door and my sister actually lives in Collinsville now. We had been to the mounds as kids, but had never taken any of our kids there, so we thought it would be something cool for them to see, especially Landon, who is 7. 

Here is a little snipit from wikipedia about Cahokia Mounds:

"Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site[1], located in the Saint Louis Metro East region of Illinois, was home to the largest prehistoric city north of Mexico. The city was occupied for seven centuries as the American Indians here farmed, traded, created art, studied the sun, and built massive earthen mounds. Between 15,000 and 20,000 people lived at Cahokia when it reached its peak 800 years ago. Today, Cahokia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can walk the grounds where the Indians walked, climb to the top of a 100 ft (30 m) mound, and visit a world-class museum to learn more about life in this part of America before Columbus."

My mom stayed at the museum with Avery, while my sister and I took the kids all the way up the 154 steps, to the top of the Mound. Here are a few pictures from our little hike.

Walking the path from the parking lot to the mound.

 

Heading up Monks Mound!

The beautiful view of the city of St. Louis from the top of the mound.

The boys taking it all in.

My sister's boys, Landon and Mason.

Jackson exploring the top of the mound.

Jackson and I at the top.

The boys exploring.

 A view of the stairs from the top of the mound. You can see the landing, and then there is another set of stairs down that path to the road.

My sister with her two boys and the baby she babysits for.

Jackson and I climbing down the stairs.

There is also a Cake at Cahokia Mounds, so we had to get a picture with it too. :-)

It was a fun day and I think the kids really enjoyed it.

Jackson Lately

On June 20th, Jackson turned 32 months old. He's growing up so fast, it's just so hard to believe! He is so much fun right now! I just love all of the funny things he says and some of the things he knows and remembers just blows my mind! He can test my patience for sure, but the good definitely outweighs the bad.

He can now sing his ABC's, with a little help! It is so adorable! I really need to get it on video, but the one time I tried, he wouldn't sing it, of course! Some other favorite songs he likes to sing are 5 Little Monkeys, If You're Happy and You Know It, Row Row Row Your Boat, The DJ Shuffle Song, The Summer Song from Frozen and "Happy" by Pharrell Williams! He loves to sing and tries to sing any songs he hears, especially on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

A couple of weeks ago, after being around my nephews who call me by my actual name, Jackson started calling me Mimi (aka Amy, Ha.) Then after hearing me call Jake by his actual name, Jackson started calling his daddy "Blake" (aka Jake). He also has called me "Mom" a few times lately after being around older kids who say Mom instead of Mommy. I quickly corrected him and said no, it's mommy. :-) I'm not ready to be "Mom" yet. 

Jackson has some super funny ways of saying things that I don't want to forget. These are his latest creations:

"Feavy" for Heavy

"Bopcorn on the Cob" for Popcorn

"Light Light Bug" for Lightening Bug

"Fia" for his cousin Sophia

He used to say "Yeah Yeah" for Yes, but just in the last week or so he started saying Yes, not yeah but yes. Ha.

A couple other funny things he's said lately:

My mom was sitting outside with him and they saw an airplane in the sky, so she asked him if he had ridden on a big airplane (knowing he did back in January when we went to Phoenix), and he said yes. So she asked him where he went on the airplane and he said "Let me think" while tapping his finger on the side of his head! I have no idea where he picked up on that one. Ha.

He's also said, after hearing birds chirping outside, "What's that Sound" while holding his hand up to his ear! Not sure where he got that one from either. Ha.

After going to Pizza Hut with my parents for dinner one night, he spotted a Pizza Hut from a distance while driving with us and shouted excitedly, "Pizza Hut". He knew it was a Pizza Hut just from seeing the sign and remembered going there with my parents.

One last thing to mention about Jackson lately is, he loves riding carnival rides. We took him to his first carnival a couple weeks ago and he LOVED the rides! He had so much fun there, so we took him to Six Flags and he rode all the kiddie rides plus any adult rides he was tall enough for. We also took him to a carnival last week and he rode every ride he was tall enough for and wanted to ride the ones he wasn't tall enough for. I'm so thrilled that he isn't scared and loves rides!

Likes: Playing with and collecting cars from the Disney movie Cars, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the movie Bolt, playing at the park, carnival rides, pizza, cinnamon rolls and oreos.

Dislikes: Pasta of any kind (crazy kid), naptime, having his picture taken and diaper changes.

 Jackson, you are so much fun and your Daddy and I just love you to pieces! You amaze me every day with the things you know and remember! You are such a blessing and joy and I can't thank God enough for allowing me to be  your Mommy!