We've Been Busy!

Right before Jackson's birthday we decided we were going to put our house on the market. So we took lots of stuff out and got our house ready, and about 2 1/2 weeks ago we put it on the market. We've had 15 or 16 showings since then (I was so thankful we had that many but, oh my, it is a lot of work! We had one almost every day so I don't think I've ever cleaned my house this much! ) and a few days ago we finalized negotations with a couple, so our house is sold! Woo hoo! We're in our 7 day option period so I'm just praying everything goes ok with the inspection so we can feel like our house really is sold.

We went and looked at houses this weekend and found one we want to bid on. So I'm also hoping that one doesn't sell before we can put a bid on it! We're moving to get a little bit closer to Ryan's work, and to get a little more space for us. It's maybe an additional 10-15 minutes away from my parents and sister.

If all goes as planned, we'll be moving out of this house on Oct 21, I can hardly believe it! So anyway, life has been busy around here cleaning, leaving the house, cleaning, leaving the house, etc.. Sounds like fun, huh? :)



This is a very random assortment of pictures (a LOT of pictures) so I can finally catch up this blog!



I woke up one morning to see the boys playing together. It was so cute until I realized they were playing swords. Just what you want to see your 1 year old playing!

Cooper and I made granola last week. We had a few rainy days and I was trying to find something for us to do. I got the recipe from this blog: http://joyfuljohnsons.blogspot.com/2010/08/good-food-thats-good-for-you.html

Cooper doesn't love it but I think it's pretty tasty, and filling which is always good!

Jackson is liking reading more and more. I of course love this. He doesn't always sit nicely with me and read, but I've found him a few times now sitting and looking at books by himself.

The boys like playing "jail." Here they are in jail, and Jackson's trying to push Cooper OUT of jail. The fights are going to start, I can just tell!

Swinging on a big boy swing!

Cooper learned how to twist the swing around and then twirl around really fast. He loves it!

Cooper is going to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween this year. He LOVES him. SO here he is "flying" in the costume.

Of course you have to push the lazer before you fly!

Another new favorite of Cooper's are the "silly bands." He pretends they give him super powers or something. It's hilarious. I love this picture of him, so perfect with his expressive face!

Cooper's been putting on his shorts and underwear by himself for a long time, but shirts are harder for him. Here he put on his shirt by himself, and I thought it was so funny! (I'm sure you can tell it's backwards :))

Jackson's starting to like the baby swing finally!

For a few days here the weather was a little cooler so we could enjoy playing outside! Of course now it's back up to miserable (and humid for even more fun!)

Ben and Cooper. This reminded me of a picture I took of them last year, except they were naked and eating together.

Another rainy day activity. We put whipped cream on a cookie sheet and practiced writing letters. That lasted about 5 minutes until he started doing this.

I thought Jackson could kind of "paint" with the whipped cream. He pretty much just sat and ate it. My kids have a sweet tooth like me!

The boys both hugging their favorite animals.

Jackson hugging his favorite brother!

Look mom, no hands! Jackson is starting to walk! He can walk up to three or four feet, but still prefers mostly to crawl.

He loves pushing around toys and walking behind them.

Just a cute pic of Cooper (I love his big smile!)

The color's funky but I like this one of the two boys.

Playing peek-a-boo

Posing for the camera

My little baby, or I guess, toddler!

Playing in the crib, a favorite thing to do

I had to put this picture on the blog (I fuzzed out body parts :)) Have you ever seen a bigger belly? This was right after he ate a HUGE dinner. He was sticking his belly out and it looks so kissable! My parents babysat him on this day and discovered that he loved being squirted by a huge water gun. He'd stand up all by himself and let my mom and dad squirt him over and over. He'd open his mouth really wide and get all excited. It was hilarious.

Waiting to get squirted

I'll end this post on a hug!

Jackson's Birthday Party!

Here's an extremely long post about Jackson's birthday party!

The invitation.

The decorations...

I had a kind of "candy bar" going on where the kids (and adults, although it was mostly the kids :) could scoop candy into their little bags.

Laura made both the cake and the smash cake. Didn't she do an amazing job? I LOVED them both and it helped out so much. It takes hours to make a cake look this cute.

The Guests:

Our family

My Aunt Amy and Uncle Jim came down along with their kids Evan and Emma. My Uncle Ross also came down. It was so nice having so much family there for the party!

Gma and Gpa with their grandkids!

Ryan's brother Chris and mom Katie came down as well for the party! It was also wonderful having them there with us to celebrate.I didn't have many activities planned for the party, but the kids blew bubbles and threw water balloons outside for awhile.

and helped themselves to candy.
Jackson tried so hard to reach the balloons!

He also got a hug from cousin Emma.

I'd say his favorite thing once again was the cake. I love this picture of Cooper stealing a lick!

After cake I had to give him a quick bath, and then it was on to presents! Jackson got lots of great presents but wasn't interested in much, although the ribbons were fascinating him!

I'd say this was his favorite present. A big stuffed dog we named "Brownie." He LOVES to hug him.

And that's it! He's now one! So hard to believe. He has 9 teeth and is working on at least three more. He signs more and is sometimes signing please. He'll copy some animal sounds and sometimes wave bye bye. He just started taking independent steps by himself! He loves to dance and play with Cooper. He is such a happy boy and is definitely a mama's boy which I of course love! We love our baby Jackson!!!

Cake, cake, and more cake!

The highlight of Jackson's birthday party (for him) was most definitely the cake!! He was a lucky boy because he got cake on his actual birthday TWICE, and then on his birthday party day. These are the cake pictures from his actual birthday. Just to warn you, I took probably close to 75 pictures of him eating cake so this is a post of just cake pictures. I was slightly obsessed with him eating the cake and how cute he was :)


This is his very first cake. During the day on his birthday my Aunt Amy, Uncle Jim, and Uncle Ross were in town, along with my cousins Evan and Emma. We all (along with Laura and mom and the kids) went to a splash park near my house, then came back for lunch and cake. I'll post pictures from the splash park later-we had lots of fun there! Anyway, on to the cake!

Checking out the cake
He wasn't too sure about it at first. He decided to give me a taste.

Then I helped him out by giving him a taste.

After that there was no stopping him! I've never seen a more serious cake eater. He put his head down and just dug in! I think he would have eaten the entire cake had I let him. (By the way, he's wearing the b-day hat from Cooper's first birthday :) Slightly silly looking but I thought it was fun that they both wore it.

YUMMY!

I love cake!

Messy hands!
Even messier.

All done!

When Ryan got home from work we did another cake! Jackson is trying to help blow out the candle.

Cooper is so nicely helping his brother out with the cake.

I can't believe i get cake twice in one day!

This was his reaction when we took the cake away to cut him a piece.

Cooper even helped clean him off! (After this Cooper licked his finger..nice..eating cake off his brother's face! He'll love this story later in life!)

Stay tuned, I'll post MORE cake pictures from his birthday party soon! I bet you'll be on the edge of your seats waiting! :)