Blessed

Words can't even begin to describe how thankful I am this year. We have been blessed ten times over with our little turkey. I thank my lucky stars everyday!


We had a very busy and really fun Thanksgiving. We spent the day at the Vann Family Cabin with J's Family and my parents. We had tons of food and lots of little kiddos to play with. My Dad brought Jackson a sled he made him. We pulled Jackson and his cousin Naomi around the living room in it and it was too cute! Now we just need snow!


On Friday braved the crowds and went to the Macy's Day X Mas parade downtown. It was very fun and I think might need to become a tradition! We also managed to get our tree and get the house decorated (thanks to my Mom) and we had Jimmy's Mom over for dinner on Saturday. I think Jackson is still recovering from all the commotion, he has slept for 14 hours the past two nights and taken long naps. If only I could do the same!

Wow, I know everyone is thinking this but I feel like Christmas is tomorrow. Now that Thanksgiving has passed Christmas is so soon and we are so busy between now and then it is going to be here before we know it! I'm hoping we can get to see Santa this weekend. I'm excited to introduce Jackson to him for the first time :-). For now he just likes to look at the tree and the lights!

A great invention

This little thing is fabulous! They have it at Babies R Us and for any of you mams out there worried about their little one choking before they are old enough to eat chunky food this thing is perfect. It also entertains Jackson for a good 1/2 hour while he munches on it. I've put banana and frozen mango in it and he gets most of it out and works at it for quite a while. I highly recommend it!

We're in trouble

Jackson is already macking on the ladies. We are in big trouble when he's in high school! This weekend Jackson tried to put the moves on Nevaeh, my friend Mary's little girl. She is a year older than Jack but they are almost the same size! They are too cute together!

In other news Jackson weighed 18lbs 9.5oz at his appt last week and for anyone out there who was worried he also got the regular and the swine flu shot! I was a little skeptical but the pediatrician convinced me it was the right thing to do. Now at least I don't have to worry about him getting really sick with the flu.

Dear Jackson

Yesterday was your six month birthday and you are so much fun right now. You've become Mr. Personality lately and you keep us laughing all the time with your drama. If we happen to forget that this is Jack's world and we are just living in it, you let us know. You would like to have our constant, unabiding attention at all times and you'd prefer if we were giving you this attention while you are being held. Good thing we are pretty much obsessed with all things Jack but I'm not sure how this is going to work out for your future. I don't look forward to the day when you realize the Earth revolves around the Sun (and not our Son). But, for now we relish in giving you constant attention and snuggling with you every minute we can.

You are fabulous little eater and love meal time. Mommy loves feeding you but I could do without the constant stench coming from your bum area. Your Dad and I will never look at sweet potatoes the same! We've entered a whole new world with solid food poo.

You've recently really found your voice and you have a shrill, shriek that you like to do all the time. It sounds somewhat like a baboon. Hopefully you find a new sound to make soon! You have also started to become more mobile. You aren't crawling yet but you can scoot around on your stomach and sit for quite a while by yourself. Mommy and Daddy aren't looking forward to Jack proofing the house. You can stay stationary for a little while longer if you want :-). So for now Jackson Ray you are the sweetest, most handsome, funniest baby your Mom and Dad have ever seen. I am in complete denial about how big you are getting. Please, I'm begging...take your time. Mommy needs you to be her sweet, immobile, snugly, squishy baby for a little while longer.

Love,

Your Mommy

Adventures in Baby Food Making

Little baby J is a very healthy little eater! He loves meal time and scarfs down his food so quickly. It's actually really cute, he opens his little mouth and I shovel it in! Right now we are doing 2 meals a day. At breakfast he has oatmeal and a fruit (banana, applesauce or pear) and at dinner he has veggies (so far sweet potato, green beans, peas or avocado). With the exception of applesauce I've been making all of his food and it has been really easy and I think it ends up being cheaper in the long run. In between his meals Jackson is still nursing about 4-5 times a day. No wonder he is almost in 12 month clothes! For any of you mama's out there thinking of doing this, here is what has worked for me so far.

I buy frozen peas and green beans and fresh sweet potato, avocado, pears and banana. I have a little Cuisinart that is perfect for mashing the banana, avocado and pears in. It's super easy and I just do it before I feed him. For the veggies I find the blender works well and I've been doing big batches and freezing it in baggies. I just pull a baggie out every few days and stick in the fridge and we always have some ready to go. Here's the process for the peas and sweet potatoes...

Steam the peas for a few minutes in water and then add the peas and some of the extra water they steamed in to the blender and puree adding more liquid if needed.

Aren't the pretty?

Chop peeled sweet potatoes into big chucks and boil until soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes to the blender with some of the liquid they boiled in and puree adding more liquid until they are smooth and the right consistency.


I bag them all in Ziplocs and stick them in the freezer.

This is what happens when Daddy feeds you your banana and oatmeal!

My pudgy little Doughboy

Sorry for the tardiness of our Halloween pics. Jackson is working on getting over his first cold and it's been a long week. We lucked out and the cold never produced a fever or turned into anything worse than a cough and lots of snot but it did make for a crabby baby for a couple of days.

On Halloween we made the rounds and showed Jackson off in his little dough boy costume. We were gone most of the day and he was such a good with no nap all day. We ended up spending the evening with friends and had tons of fun with the other little kiddos.

Without further ado...the cutest Dough Boy ever!

Hi Friend...what happened to our clothes?

Buds

Tristan the frog

Uncle Joe & Cousin Tristan