Thanksgiving 2011 Part 1: Seattle

This Thanksgiving we flew to Washington to catch up with some of our siblings that we don't get to see that often. Brian's brother Tadlee's family consists of 6 kids and they live in Moses Lake, his sister Lynn and her family of 2 boys and one girl on the way live in Seattle, and my sister Kimberly and her family of one boy and one girl also live in Seattle. We were so lucky to be able to see so many wonderful people and I really am so thankful for such wonderful examples in my life. After leaving I felt like I took bits and pieces of each of their parenting styles and Brian and I are trying to be better parents because of the example our older siblings have set. Here are some pictures of our time in Seattle, enjoy!

Lynn and Scott took us to the Science museum and Jackson had fun riding cars...

Going on the slide...

Shooting targets with water...

and playing in the music room!

Brian and I love going to big cities just to see the really cool architecture

There was a butterfly room that was really pretty, I'm just shocked Jackson didn't kill any of them!

I love the face Jackson's making in this picture, its his "I'm concentrating on something" face... Or his "I'm pooping" face.

My little Mozart in the making :)

Sammy loved giving Jackson hugs the whole time it was SO cute! Luckily Jackson's quite the hugger himself so he didn't mind one bit!

While in Seattle, we stayed at my sister Kim's house for a few days. While there we got to go see Breaking Dawn together which was SO fun because all the girls in my family are huge Twilight fans, but I think Kim really takes the cake on being the biggest fan. I got to take pictures of my sister's beautiful family, but I'm not putting any up because I plan on putting them up on my photography blog so keep an eye out for those :)

Mom's Birthday Week (or Two)

Because I have the most loving husband in the world, and because I'm the luckiest girl in the world, my birthday basically lasted for 2 weeks this year :) It started out with a weekend trip to good old Disneyland with my dad where we met up with my sister and her family. Needless to say, we had a LOT of fun there!

I like to think that I don't always look as haggard as I do in these pictures...

The next weekend Brian surprised me with tickets to one of our favorite bands Death Cab for Cutie! They are SO talented and its just really good music, so if you're looking for a great band and haven't heard of them, check them out. He got us a suite at a really nice hotel right on the water where we stayed with our good friends Wes and Lindsay!

View from our hotel in Ventura. This is why we live in California.

Never mind the fact that I'm completely out of focus

And that Sunday on my actual birthday, Brian served me breakfast in bed with these cute litle heart shaped pancakes :) Lucky me!

In Which I Cram the Last Few Months Into One Blog Post....

Okay, so I basically feel like a horrible mom. I've been so motivated to get my photography blog up and running that I haven't posted anything about Jackson in... well... let's just say forever. As always, he is just our pride and joy and basically the best thing in our lives. I can't imagine a more cuddly little boy! Whether its mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, or just a random stranger on the street, Jackson will run up to you and hug you and make you feel like the most important person in the world! While I'm standing in front of the sink doing dishes he'll run up to me, push me away from the sink, give my legs a big hug and a big ol' "Ahhhh", then run away and continue playing with toys. While cuddling on the couch watching Shrek his favorite movie EVER, he'll suddenly climb on top of me and give me a big hug, then calmly sit back down next to me with his hands folded in his lap. When dad gets home the second he hears the doors clicking as dad is unlocking the doors Jackson gives a huge gasp and runs to the door and gives dad a big old hug out of pure joy. Jackson also sleeps like a champ and usually sleeps from 7:30 pm to 7:30 am.

He's quite the little chatterbox (as anybody who has spent more than 5 minutes with him will tell you), but mostly its just jibberish. He'll walk around the house sounding like he's speaking Chinese, but the funny thing is that it sounds like he's actually talking to you! For example, he knows the right inflections to use in his voice to make his jibberish sound like a question. So he'll be chatting away then look up at you and make his voice go higher to ask a question, then immediately nod his head and look down as if you had answered his question perfectly :) He also knows when YOU are asking a question and will say "Uh-huh!" and nod his head in agreement. He does know a lot of words (the pediatrician said above the average 17 month old) like:

"Thank you!" (his favorite that he uses at the appropriate time like when you hand him something) "Uh-oh!" "Uh-huh!" "No" "Mom" "Dad" "Papa" (meaning grandpa) "More" "Amen" (this one is rare but he has said it after we say prayers, but usually he thinks that prayer time is a game) "Ow" "Bye-bye" "Hi!" "Hello" "Catch" "Ball" "WOW" (he really elongates each letter on this one) "Hot" and "Yay!". He also says "Quack quack quack" and makes the hand movements of a duck because of the song 3 Little Ducks, and he know the hand movements to Popcorn Popping. When we're eating dinner he always sees us blowing on his food so he'll even do that now :)

He's the biggest climber/adventurer of a boy I've ever met. By about 14 months he was already running around and climbing on top of everything!!! We have found him on top of the:
-Stove
-Kitchen table
-Piano
-End tables
-Coffee table (and he actually broke through the glass in it, luckily he didn't have a scratch on him but it was still the scariest thing)
-Our bed
-Our sewing table

Here are some recent pictures of the cute boy :)

Jackson LOVES watching Shrek, its his favorite movie! It also helps that mom doesn't mind listening to it, because any movie he watches I basically have memorized because I also have to listen to them! As soon as we turn it on he instantly has the cutest little smile on his face! This is a candid picture of him watching Shrek.

Jackson got to see a couple horses up close and personal for the first time the other day at the beach. He was so fascinated by them but didn't want to get close without holding onto mommy.

Mom caught Dad and Jackson watching Chicken Run one Sunday morning, I fell like this face is oddly familiar.....

LOVE

Last night Brian and I headed to Cambria for a picnic dinner and some playtime in the park with Jackson. On the way home, we decided to let each other know all the things we love about the other person. I know the reasons why we fell in love, but we've each changed so much over the past 3 1/2 years, and so has our relationship. It was important to step back and remind ourselves the reasons why we love each other and the new ways our relationship has gained depth. We spent the whole 45 minute drive back into Paso listing off everything we could think of. We made sure to not use the word "like", but we constantly said "love".

If you haven't done this lately with your husband, I highly recommend it. I also recommend going through old engagement, wedding, and maternity photos. Its good for you, I promise :)