Catching Up!

i have no idea where to even begin. as you can see i've been quite the SLACKER! Now that i've joined the ranks of the unemployed and am lovin' every minute of being a stay at home mommy, i've really got no excuse!

first things first, i am happy to publicly post that i am pregnant again AND i've just hit the honeymoom period of every pregnancy "the second trimester". i still require naps here and there, but the morning sickness is GONE. this time around it was quite awful and knocked me off my feet for a good 7 weeks!

second, Thanksgiving was fabulous with a trip to blowing rock with the family. we cut down our 10 foot Christmas tree, strapped it on the Acadia and headed home before we left the mountains. Christmas was a blast as well, with my parents coming into town and Parker enjoying his actual presents this year, more than the paper and boxes. all in all, the holidays were great and we are blessed!

on the horizon for 2009, i am busy nesting like a crazy woman in preparation for number 2--due july. my house WILL BE super organized by then! i've also started studying photography more and have been learning some new stuff on my camera, so stay tuned for some photog posts. i need to get back into the sewing groove as well as i've got some super-cute items i want to make.

update on the little guy, parker's doing great. he has literally EXPLODED with words. he learns multiple new words every day and speaks in sentences, although i usually have no idea what he is saying. he enjoys going to gymboree every week where he can run around, tumble, climd and slide. i am counting down the days until spring will be here! although i am thankful for the dusting of snow we got today--it is a rarity here in charlotte!

hopefully i will do better posting more regularly this year--it's one of my goals, so we'll see how well i do. take care.

18 Months

my little boy turned 18 months this week. as i visited a friend in the hospital after having her baby girl tuesday, it seemed like just yesterday i was there meeting parker for the first time. the memories of the day are some of my most cherished treasures. parker was so quiet and still those first few days in the hospital. little did i know that it wouldn't be before long when he would use his sweet little face to manipulate getting something that he wanted.

today parker is all boy. he LOVES exploring, trying new things, problem solving, climbing, jumping, and his mommy :-) up until now, parker's been pretty split between favoring both me and brandon, but lately, he tends to want me ALL THE TIME.

here are some things parker can do now:

~wipe his nose/face
~flush the toilet, over and over again!
~put toilet paper and other select items in the toilet
~Jump in place and spin in cirlces
~kick a ball
~ say mommy, daddy, juice, dog, kitty, no, shoes, potty, cheese, milk, whoa, ball, bye-bye, hi, and his FAVORITE mine
~squeals when you take something away from him that he wants
~puts his hand on his bottom when he needs his diaper changed
~follows directions--sits in chair to get shoes on, lays on floor to get diaper changed, puts things away when asked
~runs away when he has something he's not allowed to have
~ and my absolute favorite--puckers up and gives the best kisses and hugs. he truly has a sensitive loving heart and i just pray he stays that way

thank you God for giving me the greatest blessing in the world!

weekend recap thus far

this weekend has been fabulous! first, i didn't have to work thursday or friday (i'm not normally supposed to anyway but it's been a bit crazy at work lately) so i was able to begin some new projects.

project #1 = painting the master bedroom chocolate, status = one wall down :-(

project #2 = learning to sew, status = 2 completed projects!

project #3 = date night with hubby, status = harpers, shopping at south park, ice cream and free babysitters TOTAL SUCCESS!!!!

i'm so excited about this sewing stuff. my parents have been in town and my mom has taught me some basics. i was able to accomplish a pair of pajama pants and a new blankie for parker. my next project is this super cute boutique-ish bib and then I should be able to master what i've been dying to make--this uber cute boutique outfit. now i just need a little girl to make it for!

updates on the little man--parker's been doing great. he's become quite a little helper as he likes to imitate a lot. he'll put things away on his little shelf. he'll wipe his face, nose as well as the table, floor, etc. he talks in many complete sentences i just wish i could translate. no clue what he is saying, but he really is saying something! and this boy has a lot to say! he's been great at following directions too like go get your shoes on, or go wash your hands. i recently bought parker his very own potty. i realize we're still a little ways off from beginning any official potty training, but i wanted to get him something so he could be familiar with it, plus he LOVES the elmo potty training video and i think he's really started to make the connection. the other day i asked him if he needed to "make stinkys" and he went and sat on his potty (pants and diapers on of course) and then took some tp and pretended to wipe himself. not too shabby since i certainly haven't taught him that!

that's all for now, i'm going to cuddle up, read a good book, and go to bed!

happy halloween!

happy halloween! this is parker's 2nd halloween and again we celebrated by going to the neighborhood halloween parade. this year there were A LOT more kids. at first parker was a little overwhelmed and just stood there and stared at all the excitement, then he was on the move exploring everything. he even went to the apple cider table and attempted to help himself to a cup, which of course ended up all over his costume. anyway, enjoy some pics of this little monkey!



halloween "day" outfit--check out the Vans!

little monkey!


heading to the parade!

checking out my goody bag with lawson

up to some monkey business

me and neighbor cammy

mommy's sweet little monkey!

pumpkin patch

today was a blast! after finishing, yes FINISHING clearing out our backyard (i can't believe the day is here a year and a half later!), we headed to the pumpkin patch. parker had a blast runing through the pumpkins and also loved the hayride with a pit stop at the petting zoo. at the end of the ride, parker got to pick out his very own pumpkin, which he cried when we took it away to put in the car. DRAMA. here are some pics from the adventure.....enjoy!

on a mission....

assessing the situation......

very focused on lifting this big guy!

driving the tractor

picking out a parker-sized pumpkin

pitter patter

so today on my afternoon off from work, parker and i hit up the mall, specifically "stride rite" shoe store. parker was just starting to outgrow his size 3 "soos" (shoes), or so i had thought so i figured we'd pick out some new ones for fall. once i picked out a lovely pair of $50 "soos", the sales lady measured his feet. my little munchkin is now apparently a SIZE 6!!! and i've been cramming his poor little tooties into size 3's (with socks i might add) for how long now?!?!??! mom of the year, folks, that's me :-)

so to make myself feel a little better, we continued on with my therapy shopping and went to "Children's Place" where i bought parker some winter gear AND the cutest little pea coat. pics to come when it finally cools down here.

more about the little guy.....parker is "talking" a lot these days. he will have whole conversations and even "performances" with hand gestures etc. i'm pretty sure he thinks he's on stage half the time, i mean the world does revolve around him you know! some of my favorites things he says are "soos" (shoes) and "shooshos" (cheerios). we think it's adorable, but hopefully he'll be able to figure out his "Sh" and "Ch" sounds eventually. parker has also become super loving. he's always been really cuddly, but ever since he's become a true toddler and walking, he just doesn't have the time to cuddle, but lately in the midst of his play, exploration, etc. he'll stop and come over and give me a quick hug and then move on to the next adventure. yes my heart melts each time!

funny face

so the other day parker was looking super-cute so i decided to snap a few photos. well the little decided that this was a full blown photo shoot and decided to come up with some poses on his own. where this came from, i have no idea!


here they are in sequential order:


fish face




super cheese


silly boy


seriously i have no idea where this came from.....daddy? we're off to go for a walk!

Fall Cleaning

i don't know what it is, but i've been super-productive today. i cleaned out the spare bedroom, the garage and put away all of parker's old outgrown clothes. AND i went running! i'm trying to keep up my exercise regimen of 4 days per week. back to the cleaning though--i love being productive. i hate messes and love to be organized, but sometimes i procrastinate just because i don't know how/where to start. i've learned that you just need to get started and it will all work out. of course it has helped having the parents here to help out with entertaining the little munchkin (especially since he had several meltdowns today for some reason) and for an extra set of hands. my dad gets bored easily, so i love it when they come to visit because i have all sorts of "projects" for him to work on around the house. this time it was installing blinds in the formal living room and dining room~thanks dad!

i'm also SUPER excited about my early christmas present--a second fridge for the garage! oh how i have waited for this moment. now i can hit up Sams and stock up on meat, produce, milk, beer for hubs, etc. with the little man, things just seem to get lost in our fridge right now and i'm constantly rearranging to make things fit. thursday--problem solved!

ps--parker's latest cute "thing", blowing kisses, except he's only got the first part down. he successfully puts his hand to his mouth and blows, but the "release" part never happens and eventually he puts his hand up so i can kiss it. i don't care how he does it, my heart melts every time!

the "naughty" corner

so we've recently implemented the "naughty" corner with parker. this is how it all goes down: parker doesn't listen to me and continues to play with my decorations, throw his dinner on the floor, etc. so we go and put him in the corner on the dog bed (this just happens to be the new spot for the dog bed but it works great as it gives more boundaries to the corner area). his initial reaction is pure drama of course but then parker proceeds to try and ever so sneaky leave the area and laughs every time i try and take a peek at him to make sure he has not left the dog bed. this is where the fun begins. all the while he's giggling hysterically and i'm trying not to laugh and to completely ignore him as i know he's just trying to get my attention afterall. so now my punishment has turned into a game. after what seems like forever (for all of us involved) but is really maybe 60 seconds, i go and stoop down to his eye level (yes I watch supernanny!) and say in my calm, stern, mommy voice why i put him in the corner and about halfway through my "lecture" parker gives me a hug and of course my heart melts and its all over. bottom line, i have no idea just how much he gets with this whole corner thing, but i do think some of it is sinking in. good news is i usually get a good hug out of it!

recap of the weekend, we had our first annual block party. parker got to check out the police car and fire engine and of course constantly kept us on our toes as he would not sit still one minute! this morning we made our now "weekly" trip to the pediatricians office after noticing some suspect spots on parker's arms and legs which seemed to multiply each day. chicken pox? apparently not. instead its either bug bites or some sort of weird virus i can't pronounce and don't need to be worried about which means parker goes to school tomorrow and i go to work :-(

by the way, i neglected to post about our dog bailey and all the fun we had with her last weekend. seriously, between the dogs and the munchkin, SOMETHING is always keeping us on our toes! after puking all last friday night, we decided to take bailey into the animal hospital saturday morning. she went in for xrays and turns out she swallowed a small ball of some sort. $1600 later we have a dog with 30 some staples in her stomach and a half digested golf ball. the fun never ends!

progress

we've made progress this week on our backyard! for those of you that don't know, we have a decent size backyard, however right now it's not exactly user-friendly. you see we have this gigantic hill just beyond our deck, fondly called "the green monster". up the hill, we have another 70 x 35 feet of woods. the plan is to cut out the hill to gain an additional 70 x 15 feet area and put in a retaining wall with stairs leading to the woods. this is quite the project both money-wise and time-wise. i'm proud to say that step number 1 was completed this week~yay!!! we had to have several very tall trees removed that were either dead or hazardous. these needed to be cut down before we dig out the hill since they were growing where we plan to dig. we weren't too excited about spending so much money to have the trees removed, BUT it turns out that we got to keep the mulch from our trees which ended up being an entire truckload of mulch worht about $600! so now we're working on clearing out the woods and putting the mulch down. it's making the area so much more usable and parker loves exploring the woods! i'm excited because i feel so much more comfortable with him playing in the area since i can see if there are any critters or snakes, etc. one step down, and many more to go. next step~the big dig!

MIA

ok, so i realize i've been a bit MIA, but here's the deal. this week has been INSANE. i've had 3 events for work, all which i was working on down to the wire to get our marketing materials in order. in addition, parker is sick with yet another cold and came down with a double ear infection and 104 fever which meant no daycare this week and of course the now weekly trip to the pediatrician's office! and then yesterday, i started getting a cold as well. needless to say, i'm exhausted and can't wait for the weekend! according to my pediatrician, i should get used to parker being sick now that he's in "school". apparently, i should plan on parker being sick ONCE A MONTH for the next year YIKES! i have no idea how i'm going to manager my work and parker being sick, but i guess i'll figure it out. at first i was wondering how on earth i would use all of my PTO time, but now it's pretty clear. don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining about my job at all. i actually LOVE my job. it is so perfect for me, especially since i typically only work mon-wed, and then i get to be a stay-at-home mom the rest of the week. plus i've been able to meet some incredible people that i never would have the opportunity to meet otherwise! and last night i even had the chance to attend a small event for Pat McCrory at an awesome house! after hearing Pat speak, you need to vote for him--he's fabulous!

hopefully i'll be more regular with my postings next week when i'm not running around like a crazy woman, but in the meantime enjoy some photos i like to call "the lollipop seriers"

Boating Adventures!

this weekend we were invited to go boating with some of our friends from the neighborhood on lake wylie. some of you may not know, but we have been blessed to live just a few miles from a very large lake! parker had a blast both on the boat and in the water! thanks jamie and mason and janna and travis for sharing your boats with us!

little miss mollie

pre puppy cut

i can see!


little miss mollie is my first "baby". she was my birthday present two and a half years ago and she has been nothing less than a "bundle of joy" ever since.......literally! she truly just cannot control herself--the energy must escape somehow, i.e. if she can't jump on you she's squealing with delight. anyways, she recently got her first "puppy cut" so i thought i'd share some pics of her first professional cut too :-)

smitten

so y'all know how i'm a wannabe photographer, well my day finally arrived where my most favorite photographer came to the palisades and did our first family photo shoot. sharon is ridiculous with her gift, and i mean that in the most complimentary way :-) she has such an eye for some perfect shots and can make anything come to life! you can check out a few of our pics at:

http://smittenphotography.typepad.com/smitten_photography/2008/08/she-loved-it.html

and to check out some of her other stuff, be sure to search her blog while you are there. i am proud to say that i stalk her blog quite often, and apparently i'm just one of many....enjoy!

Thankful Thursdays

Ok, so my friend Jeanette started "Thankful Thursdays" on her blog, so I'm going to continue the trend:

I'm thankful for....

1) for my hubby and little munchkin

2) that every Wednesday is a Friday for me--I have the best job ever!

3) for Sharon and her ridiculous ability to take the most gorgeous photos http://www.smittenphotography.com/ (photos coming soon!)

4) for "my girls" who are always praying for me!

5) for balloons to make Parker smile, even when he is sad

My First Haircut

this is a little late making it to the blog, but a week ago i took parker to get his first haircut at pigtails and crewcuts where my little baby turned into a big boy with a few snips! he LOVED it! he especially liked sitting in his "airplane" chair and cried whenever I took him out of it. Nonetheless, we left on a dramatic note! Enjoy some pics......

ps-see "the mullet"??? that pic is pre-haircut. i had been cutting his hair (and doing a pretty good job i must admit) until this last little "trim". somehow with ONE cut i managed to create a mullet, hence our trip to pigtails and crewcuts.

and please bear with me with the formatting--i can't seem to figure out the layout.........

Why?

I've been procrastinating starting a blog because I was worried I wouldn't have much to talk about. Now it seems like this blog may have a greater purpose than I originally intended. This morning after some complications and a doctor's visit confirming the worst, I lost my little peanut "Baby J". Most of you did not know that I was even pregnant or that I've been trying to get pregnant now for quite some time.

My heart is so heavy right now as I write this. I contemplated even posting a blog entry (especially as it's only my 2nd entry) but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I needed to do it. You see, so many times we all wonder WHY? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is it that a God, a FATHER who loves us so much can allow such a terrible thing to happen. We all have our WHY's??? Unfortunately, I don't have any answers for you.......YET. But I will, one day, and I'll slap my forehead and say "aaaahhhh I get it now!". As I drove to the doctor's office this morning, part of me felt that I should drive faster so that I could get there in time to DO SOMETHING and fix the situation. Like I could stop what was happening. The other part of me just wanted to slow down and avoid a confirmation of what I alreay knew in my heart. I felt so torn. Here I was, with all of my motherly instinct and wisdom wanting to control the situation and only do the best I could for my unborn child, but ultimately I knew that I really wasn't the one in control.

As I left the doctor's office, with Parker in tow flirting with all the nurses, my saddened heart could only help but smile. I thank God every day for my little boy. What a blessing he is and I am so thankful to have him! It has been a tough, tought day though. I can't help but think that I lost a child today. MY child. My child that I will never get to meet here on this earth. It really hurts. Big time. The thought of starting all over again is daunting. But I am confident in the fact that the Lord, MY Father, truly has good plans for me. How could I ever say such a thing when looking at the events of today that seems impossible? With Faith, I focus on not what's right in front of me, but on the not knowing of what's being orchestrated behind the scenes.

"I know what I am doing. I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."
~Message Jeremiah 29:11-13

I used to have a really hard time in believing what the Bible said. Yes, in theory it all sounded good, but it was written SO MANY years ago!!! How could it ever apply to me and my life today? Over the past five years, I have really just taken the time to study the Bible and the more I learn, the more I realize just how important this information truly is. I encourage you to spend some time reading it--I think you will be pleasantly surprised about what you find.

So what now? What's next? I don't know. I just try to find peace in a situation I so badly want to control and plan, but know that I simply can't. I try so hard to make MY PLAN work according to MY TIMING. You see, I'm a planner. I need to know what is going on when, well in advance. It's just not playing out that way lately. The funny thing is, that while I'm so busy making plans for my life, I'm missing out on all the things God is trying to bless me with! When it all comes down to it, I'd much rather choose what God has in store for me, I'm pretty sure He knows what He is doing. In the meantime, I'll rest in knowing that God is working on something much greater than I could have ever imagined. I just need to be patient :-)

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day."
~Habakuk 2:3

Thanks for listening.........

~J, thanks for posting these verses recently. I had no idea that they would be speaking directly to me!

Super Cute

Ok so I have a confession to make. I am OBSESSED with super cute stuff. You know boutique items with great fabrics and monogramming. Well now to add to my obsession, I have a new website www.mythirtyone.com/ejackson. I have never seen such cute, inexpensive, high-quality gifts before so naturally I had to jump at the opportunity. Check out the fall line and let me know what you think.

And for all of you mom's with little girls, check my friend's webiste http://www.sarabethbows.blogspot.com/

Oh yeah, welcome to my blog! How's that for a first entry :-)