Friday, December 7, 2012

Catch Up, Part II

Cute little dragon
 
The pumpkin Ryan and I carved. Every year, I choose the template and Ryan carves. It is a great arrangement, and is probably why most of the pumpkins we carve have cats in them.
 
We took Jackson to a pumpkin patch, and he loved crawling all over the huge--size of a 1 year old child--pumpkins. He also loved the animals and tractor.


Although, he wasn't so sure about the hay ride.
 
 
 
1st Haircut
Jackson's first haircut was a success and looong overdue. I finally got Ryan into a chokehold and forced him to cut Jackson's hair. I was too scared to do it myself. It looked great! We gave the little tyke watermelon to munch on, and he didn't care one bit!
 
 During:
 
After. 
 Handsome boy. And he chose the bib himself.
Just kidding.
 
Our Claim to Fame
Ryan and I went to the BYU football game here at Georgia Tech. My parents were very kind and watched Jackson for us. We met up with Jennifer and her dad and got to sit in AWESOME seats!!!! These awesome seats just happened to be surrounded by Georgia Tech fans. We may have gotten yelled at a few times, and some mean man called Jennifer "Giggles", but it was still fun! For the most part, everyone was nice, even the lady who left early and told us that she hoped this wasn't the only "Mormon win" if we know what she means. (This was before the elections.)


After the game, we ran like monkies down the bleachers to watch the players go back to the locker room. Jennifer and her dad were calling after the football players to come give us high-fives. "Riley! Riley, You're a babe! Yeahhh!"  it worked, and we got to high-five most of the players. Then they started saying, "Camera man, you're awesome! Yeah!!!!!" The camera man came over and pointed the camera at us.
 

 
Afterwards, I said to Jennifer, "Wouldn't it be funny if we were on tv? We're not really that big of football fans...."
 
But I guess we are good pretenders because not only were we on tv....
 
We were also in the Deseret News.

#Winning

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Catch Up

I am giving myself 15 minutes to blog. I am hopelessly behind, but the house is a disaster waiting to be cleaned. And the dishes don't clean themselves. Too bad I can't sing a princess song and have the birds clean it for me. We have a ladybug infestation, so they can help too. (On a side note, having a ladybug infestation is way better than having spiders, fruit flies, and ants. All of which Ryan and I have experienced at some point in our marriage. Ladybugs are pretty slow, and Lily loves killing them, so it works!)

Did you know that Jackson, my mom, and I went to Texas in September? Because we did. We got to see my sister Lisa and her cute family.

There was some book reading.

 
Popsicle trying.

 
Brain freezes.

 
Chickens.

 
And feeding of deer. Nbd.

 
Oh, and let's not forget flirting.
(Too bad Kaelyn is afraid of babies.)
 
 
It was a fun trip. Jackson loved hanging out with kids kinda his age.

We also celebrated Halloween. Jackson was supposed to be Charlie Brown, but that unfortunately did not happen. (I may or may not have sent his costume to Utah by accident.) So instead, he was a FIRE BREATHING DRAGON!

Blogger is being slow, so you will get a pic next time. Instead, here is Jackson carving a pumpkin for the first time. Don't let his face fool you, he loved it! Getting dirty and slimy is right up his alley.


My little dragon trick or treated at 3 different houses. He even carried his own Halloween bag like a champ, although he didn't understand why people were sticking bowls of candy in his face. Mommy and Daddy were nice enough to eat his candy for him the next day.

Well, housecleaning time. Yay. And FYI, Jackson has been sick with the flu since Thursday. He started feeling better yesterday, but has since broken out in hives and has had bad abdominal pain due to a milk allergy. The poor boy has been miserable for nearly a week  and will hardly let me put him down--hence why the house is a disaster.

On a side note: We ran out of formula yesterday, so I had to put Jackson in the car and venture to the grocery store. It was probably a good thing because we didn't even have a can of corn or milk for cold cereal. As I was loading the groceries into the car, a nice older man probably noticed my disheveled appearance (picture crazy hair, mismatching clothes, and no makeup), and without question loaded the rest of the groceries into my car and took the cart for me. It was a welcomed act of kindness. He told me that you never know--one day he might need help and he hopes there will be someone to help him then. Thank you, kind stranger. You made my day.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

12 Months = 1 year!

Somebody turned 1 last week...

It was Jackson!!!

He is getting so old.
Does that mean I'm getting old?...Don't answer that.

"No, Mom! Why do you make me do this?!"

I am behind on blogging. Halloween, first haircut, and birthday party posts to come...pinky promise.

In the meantime...

Here are some fun and exciting facts about 12 month old Jackson!

--Can points at things now. This has helped our communication so much! Now when he wants something, he'll just point at it. He also gives high-fives, claps, and pretends to talk on the phone.

--Unfortunetly, Jackson doesn't quite understand the concept of high-fives only being for hands. He loves to give my face high-fives too.



--Has gotten quite feisty lately and has a little 'tude as we like to call it (attitude). If we take him away from something he really wants to do or try to change his diaper when he's not in the mood, he will definetly let us know.

--Jackson is quite the thinker. He loves to study the buckles on Ryan's backpack and can easily play with them for 20 minutes. He also examines the screws on chairs and loves to turn on and off the light with the controller.

This video doesn't portray it very well, but it's the best one that I have. Please notice how he doesn't like the song that's playing and switches it. Too funny!



I also love this picture:
"What's Daddy doing?"

--Jackson's starting to stand up by himself, and when he does, he starts to celebrate and falls down. He can also walk like a pro with his walker.



--I sometime yell at the cat and point my finger at her when she bites Jackson. Occasionlly I will find Jackson pointing his finger at the cat and yelling, "Aro nanana ma ma ba." You tell her, Jackson. Unfortunetly, when I was taking him out of the bath yesterday, he did the same to me. Little rascal. I need to watch what I do these days.

--Loves to pull out the plug in his bath. He then scrambles to plug it again before all the water drains out. He thinks this is the greatest game ever...until all the water in his bath is gone.


--Favorite foods: strawberries, split pea soup, and smoothies

--Nicknames: Jack Jack, Jacksie, Jackie, Jax, Baby

--Loves to be chased--he crawls away so fast giggling like a hyena, but then can't help but turn around and watch you!


--Jackson is a big flirt. He'll flash his dimples at any girl he sees. People have told me multiple times what a flirt he is and that "he's already got it!"

 
And to end this lovely post, here is a video of Jackson with the birthday card his grandma, Nauna, gave him. He loves it! (Warning: Scantily-clad baby.This was right after bathtime, so we were lucky he even had a diaper on!)
 

 


Thursday, November 8, 2012

Dancing Baby

Jackson has been busting out the dance moves lately.

Proof:



His signature move is him swinging his arms around. You can see it in the first couple seconds of this video.



He loves the push car he got for his birthday. He also loves his new Elmo shirt. I catch him looking down at it sometimes. He pokes Elmo in the eyes and mouth and thinks it's so funny. Silly boy.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Our Law School Decision

As many of you know, Ryan and I struggled with our decision on where to go to law school. Ryan is a smarty pants and got into a multitude of schools.  The first school he heard back from was the University of Georgia, which he got accepted into. We were happy and eager to learn more about this university.


Ryan then received a letter saying he got into the University of Washington, his #1 choice and his stretch. He was really excited about this possibility, even calling me at work to share the good news. Thoughts of Georgia flew out the window, and I have to admit, I was torn between feeling a little disappointed and ecstatic.



A couple weeks went by, and Ryan heard back from his close second, Emory University. They had wait listed him. Bummer.


So at this point in time, it seemed like our decision would be obvious. I started telling people that we were going to move to Washington and was mentally preparing myself for the change.

However, things didn't quite click into place as I thought they would. We found out that Ryan would qualify for instate tuition in Georgia, but we weren't sure if he would for Washington. (kinda weird, right? Seeing as he is from Washington, not Georgia!). Ryan (and his mom!) had to get together a multitude of forms and documents proving why he was a Washington resident. During this time, Georgia sent Ryan a letter offering him a scholarship!

Ryan spent hours searching statistics, calculating expenses, and looking at cost of living. Georgia would be cheaper, and I would be closer to my family. He told me he was starting to learn towards Georgia, and I didn't believe him for the longest time.



The deadline for putting down a deposit was approaching and we weren't sure what to do. A week before Georgia's deadline, Washington offered Ryan a scholarship as well. I'm not sure if law schools can see eachother's offers, but right after Georgia offered Ryan a bigger scholarship.

More researching, more calculating, more uncertainty.

We decided through thought and prayer to visit each respective school. We went to Georgia and looked around. Ryan sometimes has a hard time with the south and extremely southern people. Don't get me wrong, we love us some southern charm, but camoflauge trucks, signs that say the South Will Rise Again, and confederate flags ain't really our cup o' tea. There was a lot of that in Athens. There were some really nice places too. University of Georgia had a lot of southern charm.


After leaving Athens, I knew Ryan wasn't happy with what he saw. We placed the deposit anyway, since it was only $50. In my head, I knew we weren't going to go there.

 A week later, we went and saw University of Washington. It was more of Ryan's style--sleek, urban, upscale (thanks to Bill Gates!). It was beautiful, plus my brother and sister-in-law live in Seattle! I left thinking this was a done deal. However, something was off. Ryan didn't think it was a right fit for the family. Not ready to give up on his dream school, Ryan decided he needed more time to think and placed a hefty deposit to save him a spot at the University of Washington.


People would ask where we were going all the time. I didn't know what to tell them. At this point, I told Ryan that I would support him 100% no matter what he chose.

Schools can see if you place more than one deposit. The second deposit was approaching fast for Georgia, and Ryan still hadn't paid it. They really wanted him, so they upped the scholarship one more time, an offer that Ryan couldn't refuse. Also, newer statistics came out, and Georgia looked better than Washington. So Ryan placed a second deposit on Georgia and pretty much had his mind made up at that point.

Seeing Ryan paying a second deposit, Washington emailed asking him to withdraw from either Washington or Georgia saying that he cannot hold a seat at two schools.

Goodbye Washington.

I felt really guilty. I felt like I took away Ryan's hopes and dreams of going to the University of Washington. If it weren't for me, he would be going there and would be one happy law school student skipping from one class to the next. He assured me that it was better for the family to go to Georgia. We would not go into as much debt and would have better job prospects afterwards.

But, it still didn't feel like we were going there.

 

During all this, Ryan decided that he was going to retake the LSAT to see if he could significantly increase his score. If he did, he would wait a year and apply to higher ranked schools. So, now that I knew we were going to Georgia, I wasn't sure anymore. There was still a chance we could go somewhere else.

As time went on, more and more people would ask where we were going, and I still had to say I wasn't sure.

While we were waiting for his score, it was getting really, really late to get an apartment in Athens. Ryan was pretty sure he did the same on his LSAT, so we flew back to Georgia to apartment hunt. We were expecting to get his LSAT score sometime during that visit and wanted to be able to sign a housing contract.

We found the perfect apartment, and I was getting really excited to live there. I was worried that while we waited for the LSAT score some other family was going to snatch up our apartment.


We decided to go ahead and sign the contract. Luckily, the landlords were going on vacation that weekend, and said they would email us the rental contract. We just needed to read it over, sign it, and then mail it back. Perfect. We would wait until Monday and then do it after we saw Ryan's score.

Monday rolled around. Ryan got his score and decided to stick with Georgia. I checked my email, no contract. The next day, same thing. I was nervous something had happened to our new little home, so I texted the lady. She replied saying she needed to change some things in the contract, but she would send it soon.

The next day, Ryan got an unexpected phone call. The dean of Emory called telling Ryan he got off the waitlist. He was accepted! Ryan kind of laughed, thinking the tuition was going to be too expensive, so we wouldn't be able to go anyway. The dean continued, explaining that they were aware Ryan was planning on going to Georgia, but since Emory really wanted him (and even had an environmental law program), they were willing to offer Ryan a scholarship to compete with Georgia's. Ryan hung up, and we talked about it.

Right about this time, our landlord sent us the rental agreement. Good thing they hadn't sent it sooner! That same day, we went and visited Emory, and it just felt right. It was a cross between University of Washington and University of Georgia. It was everything we wanted--better school, better job prospects, environmental law classes. Plus I would only be 20 minutes from friends and family.



It finally felt right.

Looking back on this whole bumpy ride, I am deeply grateful to be able to see Heavenly Father's hand through this entire journey. During the process, I felt like a yo-yo, thinking we were going one place, then something would happen, and then we would change our mind, and then something else would happen and so on and so forth. At the time, I was frustrated, but now I am grateful.

If we did not have to decide between Georgia and Washington, we would not have placed a deposit on Washington. If we hadn't of placed a deposit on Washington, we would not have received as high of a scholarship at Georgia. If we had not received that scholarship, Emory would not have given us a scholarship in order to compete with Georgia, thus making it so we could not afford the tuition. But everything happened the way it was supposed to, enabling us to be where we are now.

Also, if Ryan hadn't of retaken the LSAT, we would have gotten an apartment in Athens sooner. Or if our landlord didn't take so long writing up the contract, we would've been stuck trying to sell it to someone else. I still kind of feel bad about leading them on...but we have even better "landlords" now. :)


So that's why neither University of Washington nor University of Georgia felt right.

Now almost 3 months later, I am happy with our choice and although it was a hard journey, it was worth it.

 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

11 Months

Baby Boy is 11 months old!

What a cutie!
 

Fun Facts about 11 month old Jackson:
 
--In Ryan's words, Jackson "has feelings now!" He is a sensitive boy. If you tell him to stop or yell at the kitty for biting Jackson (he doesn't know we are talking to the kitty and not him), he will get sad. The other day, Ryan was changing a dirty diaper and told him, "No! Don't touch!" and grabbed Jackson's hand. Jackson stuck out his quivering lip and crocodile tears started seeping out of the corners of his eyes. It was the saddest and cutest thing I have ever seen.
 
--Eats all sorts of foods now--bread, chicken, smoothies, tortillas, potatoes, noodles, blueberry muffins, Cheerios, etc. He also eats a graham cracker every morning. He knows this and expects it. He also knows to go under his highchair to find stray food if I haven't swept that day.
 
-Jackson's a little stinker. He gets into all sorts of trouble now, especially pulling down the toilet paper! He loves to tear it up into tiny little pieces. He also loves to turn on the bathtub water by himself. This makes me nervous, so I always watch him like a hawk when he goes near a bathroom.
 
 
 
--Starting to walk along furniture
 
 
--Throws his head back when he laughs
 
--Understands the words touch, kitty, mama, dada, no, Jackson, and "come mama" (come to mama). He likes to babble back at you like you're holding a conversation with him. He also grunts and growls.
 
--When Jackson gets excited, he rears up like a horse. He also can run crawl. He sometimes goes so fast he falls on his face.
 

 

 
--Loves when I clean. He follows me around and tries to be my little helper.
 
-- Starting to climb up stairs. He made it up 5 stairs one time.
 
--Understands reactions. For instance, lately he's been saying, "Ah!" and then I'll copy him. He thinks it's so fun. He'll do it over and over again just to see me copy him.
 
--Has his first official church outfit. 


 
I see this sight every day:
 
Love my little boy!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

A Late Night Football Snack

We don't have cable tv here in our new condo. It hasn't been that big of deal because Ryan and I just watch shows on Hulu. However, the one thing that is hard on Ryan is not being able to watch college football. Lucky for him (and unlucky for me errr just kidding, Ryan!), our condo community has a club house with a theater room and free HD DirecTv. Ryan was practically drooling the first time he turned on the TV.

So lately, Ryan has been going downstairs to watch his weekly BYU football game until 2 in the morning. It's hard to live on the east coast sometimes.

One day, Ryan, Jackson and I went down there to walk around a little and get some fresh air. We walked past the advertisement table and Ryan picked up a flier that had some kind of teddy graham shaped cookies attached to it.

"What is this?" he asked me.

I looked closer and saw that the ad was for a local dog grooming pet spa. It also had little doggy prints on it for decoration.

"I'm pretty sure they're dog treats."

"That's what I thought! They tasted gross and stale!"

"You tried them!?"

Apparently when Ryan was watching football, he had gotten hungry sometime between 10 pm to 2 am and found a bag of teddy grahams on the table. It was dark, so he couldn't see the little doggy prints on the advertisement. He opened the bag and ate a cookie or two. After coming to the conclusion that they tasted stale, he tried another bag with no luck.

He hadn't realized they were dog food until the morning.

I, of course, think this is hilarious as I picture Ryan snacking on dog treats in the middle of the night. I think it's safe to say that doggy treats are not a good midnight football snack.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Jackson's Prediction

Well friends, it's the last day of Jackson week. I hope you enjoyed it!

This last video is Jackson's prediction of this year's presidential election. Ryan compared him to Paul the Octopus. Guess we'll have to wait and see if Jackson is correct! (Please notice the clicking sound Jackson makes with his tongue when he's crawling. Now that he has discovered this new trick, he does it all the time!)



Is this considered brain washing?


Presidential debate

 
Jackson got really into it.
 

Friday, September 14, 2012

Cat vs Baby

I heard Jackson laughing, and when I went around the table to see what was so funny, both the cat and Jackson just stared back at me. I left them alone and a few seconds later Jackson started laughing again. I kinda felt like I was missing out on something! Then I saw this.

Part I


Part II


The funny thing is, if I got closer they would both stop and act like nothing happened. Silly kids.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Crawling Machine


Proof that Mr. Jackson can actually crawl! (This was taken a couple weeks ago.)




Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Don't Play with Your Food!

Jackson is starting to learn that he can hold his bottle. He doesn't like to actually feed himself, he just likes to play with it! I don't mind too much though because I like that special time where I can hold my little boy while I feed him.


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Funny Kitty

I feel like we should entitle this week Jackson Week, kinda like Shark Week. What do you think?

As I have said before, Jackson loves the cat. She keeps him entertained pretty much all day long. She got fixed 2 weeks ago and was gone the whole day. Poor Jackson was so bored.

Luckily for him (and I guess her too), it was a quick  recovery, and they were back to playing in no time.


Monday, September 10, 2012

Taste and Feel

Jackson loves touch and feel books although he does it a little differently than most....

(Sorry the filming is crazy! I need 3 hands!)


Sunday, September 9, 2012

Balloons are Fun!




And here's proof that Jackson ate a french fry. (Doesn't Jackson look good in pink? We were at Grandma's house, and she has an abundance of girly bibs.)


Saturday, September 8, 2012

10 Months

Someone is 10 months old!! Double digits!!

 
(Please pretend he is not wearing the same outfit he wore in his 9 month picture...)


What he thinks about his monthly block pictures.

I may or may not have looked at all the old blog posts of Jackson on this blog. Mommy nostalgia. It's crazy to think 10 months ago he was only a little pip squeak....


10 month old Jackson facts:

--I feel like he is a LOT smarter now. Less of a baby and more of a little boy. He has his own opinions and feelings. He has learned that he can throw tantrums...oh boy.


--Has tried apricot baby food as well as mixed vegetables, fruit, and meat combos. Also eats real finger food like cheese, turkey, snack puffs, yogurt dots, baby cheetos, watermelon, and peaches. Grandpa gave him his first french fry too. Oh and don't forget Pepsi.

--Speaking of food, he has decided he doesn't really like baby food anymore.He likes real people food! It is such a hassle to convince him to eat it. We have to give him a toy to distract him, let him touch and play with the food (super messy!), or let him feed us...




--Can drink out of a sippy cup

--Pulls himself up on his feet





--Starting to wear 18 month clothes

--Is becoming more adventurous and starting to crawl around at church. He also has a "girlfriend" we see every week that steals his toys and makes him cry. He really likes her though.

--Loves to cuddle. He will come up to me and lay his head on my lap. He also loves to cuddle pillows and blankets.

--Loves loves loves the cat. He pretty much chases her around all day. Not sure he loves BEING a cat though.


Did I mention he can play the saxophone?


Sometimes.


Proof:



And because I have about a million more videos to post, I will post a video a day this coming week....so get excited! (probably proof that I need to update my blog more!)