Visitors, visitors & more visitors

Over the last couple of months we have had a ton of visitors. Most of them came out because we needed a babysitter for Jackson. Yep you read that correctly we don't have anyone out here that we trust with our child so we have family fly out here from WI. It seems crazy but in reality it usually is cheaper for us to do it that way instead of paying for daycare for the week.

In May the Man's sister Faith and her daughter Dahlia were awesome enough to drop everything on very short notice and stay with us for 2 weeks when the Man started his new job and was training on days. Having them out here was really nice. It was Jackson and Dahlia's first time meeting....Jack is 7 months older than Dahlia. Jack acted super protective over Dahlia, every time she would cry or fuss he would go by her and start pointing and yelling at one of us to come and help her out.  I'm hoping this means he will be an awesome big brother like I had already hoped and thought he would.

The day that Faith & Dahlia left the Man's Mom arrived. She came to watch Jack for the last week that the Man was working days. Jackson loved having her out here as always.

After she left we had about a week before our next visitor arrived. The Man had to go on a 2 week det for the Navy Reserves. My cousin Kelly was kind enough to come out for those two weeks and watch Jack.

We are very grateful for the people that were able to come out and help us over the last couple of months. We really don't know what we would have done without them. And trust me we are working on trying to find at least someone that can watch Jack once and awhile out here that won't cost us my entire paycheck.

After Kelly left and the Man got home from being gone for 2 weeks, we had 2 weeks to ourselves again. My Dad then arrived with his girlfriend and her two kids. They were here for 5 days and mostly did touristy things on their own and just used our place to eat, sleep and shower. They actually just left yesterday. did you notice how fast May to July just happened! We were able to celebrate 4th of July with them which turned out to be one of the nicest days they were here. We went to the Nationals vs. Brewers that morning and then back to downtown D.C. for fireworks that night. It was extremely hot all day long but Jackson was a trooper and napped in between the two events and ended up staying awake till midnight!!! Jackson LOVED the fireworks and was grinning from ear to ear the entire time. I will post pictures from the 4th later, I'm tired and lazy and thinking about having some popcorn....sorry that means this post will be ending and pictures will have to wait!

Long time coming

So life happened and blogging didn't for a long time...sorry, kind of

Here is some of what happened and hopefully maybe if I get a huge burst of energy I will go into more depth on some of these events in other posts.

~ My Dad came to visit the end of February/beginning of March. It was awesome to have him here. He helped a ton with Jackson and even watched him so the Man and I could go on a little date!

~ The Man joined a geek club at school....apparently our schedules weren't busy enough so he thought we should add another thing to the agenda.  In all reality I am really happy that he joined this club, he loves it and it gives him some time to himself that isn't work or school, its just fun.

~ The Man was scheduled to go on a 1 week det for Navy Reserves. He has to do 2 weeks every year. After finding out he was going about 3-4 weeks before he was suppose to leave and getting lucky enough that the Man's Mom could come out and watch Jack so I didn't have to take a weeks worth of vacation to sit at home with the little man. Two days before he was suppose to leave that changed and now he is going for 2 weeks in the beginning of June. And that's life in the military

~ Like I said above my Mother-In-Law was a saint and took off of work to come out in the middle of March and watch Jackson with very short notice. Even though the Man didn't end up leaving it was amazing having her out here. She helped did all of our laundry for us and also agreed to watch Jack so we could have another little date!

~ Easter happened! Jackson's technically 2nd Easter, last year he came home from the hospital Easter Sunday. The Man had to work, Jackson had a cold, and I ended up getting one of the worst flu's ever that night. Jackson loved his Easter basket and didn't mind that we didn't end up having a special meal or anything else.

~ We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary! We didn't do anything to special but the Man did have off of work so we were able to have an at home date night together after Jackson went to bed and it was perfect!

~ Jackson had his 1st birthday!!!!! Yep that's right we have a toddler in our house now.  The Man had drill on his birthday so Jack and I spent the day together playing and just hanging out. When the Man got home we did cake & presents. It was simple but I don't think Jack minded.

~ Family Vacation!!! The Man and I both took a couple days off of work and headed to the ocean this past week. We rented a fully furnished condo for 2 nights...it was incredibly relaxing! The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Jackson wouldn't have gotten sick.

Well that pretty much summarizes all the extra things that happened in my life besides the normal work, baby, husband, house duties.  I am hopeful that I will get at least some pictures up from some of these events but bare with me since my Mom arrives on Friday and I have a huge work thing happening next week.

BLW Awesomeness!

The Man and I were just talking last week about how glad we both are that we decided to give baby-led weaning, BLW, a chance. I really can't imagine doing it any other way.  I have babysat a lot of babies that were fed jarred/pureed baby food and in my opinion BLW is way easier and makes a lot more sense.

Jackson is an amazing eater.  The kid can shovel it in and frankly I have no idea where it all goes...ok thats a lie since he is now in 12 month clothing and has the energy of a wild beast. The Man and I are pretty impressed with how well, how much and the way he eats. He doesn't eat the skins on pretty much any food. Yesterday he ate an entire pear himself and would spit out the peeling.  Green beans he turns into straws because he sucks the insides out and spits out the outside.  He also doesn't eat the peelings of grape tomatoes or apples.  Clementines we give to him peeled but then he only eats the flesh of it and spits the other part out.

Going out to eat is a breeze.  Jackson sits in the high chair and we share our food with him.  When Josiah's parents were here last month we went to Olive Garden.  Jackson ate the following: some dehydrated pears, a few pieces of lettuce, 3 tomatoes, 1 breadstick, 2 lasagna frittas, a couple pieces of chicken & noodles from my alfredo and a piece of cheese ravioli. Granted there was a huge mess on the floor and on him but he enjoyed every minute of eating all that delicious food.  When we go out to eat and make a huge mess like that we usually tip our waiter/waitress a little extra :) No ones food ended up cold because they had to entertain or feed the baby and Jackson was all smiles and giggles at the table because he was included in what everyone else was doing....it was FANTASTIC!

I haven't been very good at posting about our journey but there hasn't been a whole lot to talk about. Everything is going so well.  We don't buy baby food. We do buy way more fruits and veggies than before but that is good for all of us, not just Jack. Meal times are no big deal in our household, 9 times out of 10 Jackson is eating what we are at the same time as us. He has even started 'talking' to us during meal times.

Enjoying an apple

Blueberry muffin for breakfast

He is pretty excited about this muffin! 

What was left of the muffin after the beast was done 

Sometimes if he plays his cards right he gets to have a snack in the living room in his chair...this is either an apple or a pear for a morning snack/late breakfast

He LOVED the cucumber, raspberries, yogurt crisp bar & rice cake breakfast!

 Chicken, red pepper, strawberries & carrot rice cakes for supper...yum!

I really need to work on getting pictures of meals other than breakfast. The only food we have found that he really doesn't like is broccoli.  We keep giving it to him in different ways hoping that pretty soon he will start to like it but so far its a no go.

Out with 2012 and in with 2013

Since it is already 2013 and I have been pretty awful at blogging this past year I thought I would do a little recap of 2012 to send it on its way and bring in 2013

January:

~ the Man came home from being deployed overseas for 5 1/2 months

~ Rented an apartment online without ever looking at it or the neighborhood it was in scary stuff that ended up turning out really well for us!

February:

~ booked a moving truck & packed up all of our stuff to move across the country

~ drove from California to Maryland in 4 days at 34 weeks pregnant

~ the Man became apart of the Navy Reserves instead of reenlisting as active duty Navy

March:

~ Started my job in its new location I kept my same job but transferred from CA to MD, so different people to work with

~ the Man got enrolled in college for the summer

~ We bought a new car

~ the Man found a job

~ the moving truck delivered all of our stuff

April:

~ Celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary well kind of, we had planned on going out to eat and to the movies a couple days later but I decided that our new apartment was a disaster and not ready for a baby to come home to yet so we stayed home that night and then I ended up going into labor

~ Welcomed the most amazing little boy into our lives

~ My mom came out and visited and met Jackson for the first time

May:

~ the Man's parents came out and visited and met Jackson

~ My dad & sister drove out to visit us and deliver a few things from WI

~ the Man started his college classes

June:

~ Celebrated my 27th birthday with a visit from two amazing friends! Still can't believe you pulled off that surprise

~ My maternity leave ended

~ Nicki came out to babysit for a couple weeks until the Man and I were on opposite shifts

July:

~ the Man switched from days to 2nd shift

~ the Man finished up his summer college classes

~ Jackson started to laugh and smile when he thought things were funny not just when he was sleeping

August:

~ Took a vacation to Wisconsin

~ Jackson's first plane ride

~ Jackson was baptized

~ Celebrated the Man's 26th birthday with friends in WI

September:

~ the Man started the fall semester of college

~ the Man switched to working 3rd shift

~ We took Jackson to his first baseball game, the Brewers played the Nationals

October:

~ Jackson and I flew to WI by ourselves

~ Celebrated my Mom & Bill's wedding

~ Jackson turned 6 months

~ Jackson's bottom 2 teeth popped threw

~ Jackson started to eat real food

~ Jackson started to crawl and with that get into EVERYTHING

~ Took Jackson trick-or-treating for the first time

November:

~ Celebrated Thanksgiving with new friends in MD

~ Jackson started pulling up on furniture and moving around it

~ Welcomed our niece Dahlia to the family we cannot wait to meet her!

December:

~ the Man finished the fall semester of college

~ we celebrated our first Christmas as a family of 3

~ the Man's parents came out and visited for Christmas

~ ended up signing a lease at our current apartment for another year
~ Jackson's 3rd tooth popped threw

I know that I probably missed a ton of milestone's and things that have happened this past year.  Overall 2012 was a pretty amazing year filled with tons of ups and a few downs.  I know both Josiah & I are looking forward to see what 2013 has in store for us and our family.

Happy New Year to all of you and your family's. Here's to family, faith, love and new adventures & opportunities in 2013!

Visitors, visitors & more visitors

Since the little man was born we have been fortunate enough to have our parents & my sister visit.  Thankfully they weren't all at the same time...that would have been a little much.  And next week our friend Megan is visiting! Since I have had some pretty word heavy posts thought I would share some pictures from when my Mom, Josiah's parents and my Dad & Nicki were all here....it might be photo overload!

 my Mom & Jackson

 my Mom bought Jackson a pig that you tickle and it sings and his ears wiggle....its pretty funny!

Josiah's parents & Jackson 

my Dad & Jackson

reenacting The Lion King

Josiah & my Mom on our first ever Metro ride

At the Smithsonian National Space & Air Museum

Notice the baby not in the stroller...he preferred to be carried whenever he wasn't sleeping :(

At the capital

Josiah's Dad & Jackson

Just meeting for the first time!

First time using my new ring sling, shielding baby from the sun with the "tail" part

my Dad touching the top of the Washington Monument

Nicki at the World War II Memorial

Getting some last minute snuggles before leaving

Not sure what exactly happened but not all the pictures are in the right order but you get the picture.  Lots of fun stuff happening here!! 

36 Weeks!

Now that we have internet and a little down time from getting use to our new place I can fill everyone in on some details.

Lets just get down to the details!

The Scoop:

Weeks Pregnant ~ 36 weeks, day 3 according to my doctor back in Fresno; 35 weeks, day 6 according to my due date....so needless to say I'm not sure!

Normally I would now put the size of the baby, baby's weight & my weight but honestly I have NO idea what the baby's weight is at and where my weight is at....hopefully I will find that info out soon!

What's New ~ Some how we managed not to have a baby in a random state on our drive across the country...I don't think anyone realizes how excited we were about that!  It seems as we get closer to the big D-day I have been getting more uncomfortable and restless...I am really hoping once we have a real bed and not an air mattress that this will change.  The heartburn is still there and Tums are one of my best friends at the moment.

Purchased Items ~ Now that we are in our new location we have purchased a few more things.  We bought everything for the baby's bathroom. We also bought a rug & a little nightlight/lamp for his room.  And since we can't/aren't having a baby shower my Mom bought all of the baby's bedding for us and the Man's parents bought the baby's crib!!  So we are super lucky and grateful for that!!  I am sure there will be some major purchasing going on as we have only 4 weeks to go and still have lots of things that we need!

Bump Pic ~

Explanation of Names

I have had a few different people ask where or how we came up with the 2 girl & 2 boy names.  I know I gave a slight explanation for most of them but I decided to recap all of the names on our list.

Jackson Henry: The middle name is after the Man's father, he is already an amazing father & grandfather and I know the Man would love to have a son like his dad.  Now the name Jackson is a little more confusing so bare with me. It is after my Grandpa Jake I know what your thinking, you just said his name is Jake.  Well his real name was John but we always called him Jake.  Now my grandpa's brothers & sisters apparently always called him Jack  who knew Jake & Jack were short for John!  Since I already have a cousin Jacob and I feel like every boy that is named John is really naughty, the Man and I decided that we really like the name Jack.  Jack then turned into Jackson and I am sure we will call him Jack for short if our baby gets the name Jackson Henry.

Josiah David:  This name is a little easier to explain.  The baby would be completely named after the Man.  I would love for our baby to have his name.  I do struggle with what we would call the baby then because I feel it could be slightly confusing having two Josiahs.  And I have a fear that people would call our son Jo for short and that would drive me crazy...I do not like the name Jo at all and would NEVER want people to call our baby Jo ok that last part might have been a little over the deep end but deal with it

Harper Marjorie: Again another easy name to explain.  There is no meaning or reason behind the name Harper besides the fact that the Man and I both really love the name.  Now the middle  name Marjorie is after both of my grandma's.  They are both kind, amazing, strong women and I would love to have a daughter take away qualities from both of these women.

Scout Marjorie: I already explained the middle name under Harper so I won't repeat myself again.  This is the name that people have the most questions about.  I have loved the name Scout since I was in high school and read the book To Kill A Mockingbird.  Scout is the little girl in the book and I always thought to myself that I would want a daughter to be just like her.  So since it has been a couple years since I have read the book I plan on rereading it if we are having a girl I will just put the cliff notes on here about her character sorry its so long!

Scout is a very unusual little girl, both in her own qualities and in her social position. She is unusually intelligent (she learns to read before beginning school), unusually confident (she fights boys without fear), unusually thoughtful (she worries about the essential goodness and evil of mankind), and unusually good (she always acts with the best intentions). In terms of her social identity, she is unusual for being a tomboy in the prim and proper Southern world of Maycomb.

One quickly realizes when reading To Kill a Mockingbird that Scout is who she is because of the way Atticus has raised her. He has nurtured her mind, conscience, and individuality without bogging her down in fussy social hypocrisies and notions of propriety. While most girls in Scout’s position would be wearing dresses and learning manners, Scout, thanks to Atticus’s hands-off parenting style, wears overalls and learns to climb trees with Jem and Dill. She does not always grasp social niceties (she tells her teacher that one of her fellow students is too poor to pay her back for lunch), and human behavior often baffles her (as when one of her teachers criticizes Hitler’s prejudice against Jews while indulging in her own prejudice against blacks), but Atticus’s protection of Scout from hypocrisy and social pressure has rendered her open, forthright, and well meaning.

At the beginning of the novel, Scout is an innocent, good-hearted five-year-old child who has no experience with the evils of the world. As the novel progresses, Scout has her first contact with evil in the form of racial prejudice, and the basic development of her character is governed by the question of whether she will emerge from that contact with her conscience and optimism intact or whether she will be bruised, hurt, or destroyed like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Thanks to Atticus’s wisdom, Scout learns that though humanity has a great capacity for evil, it also has a great capacity for good, and that the evil can often be mitigated if one approaches others with an outlook of sympathy and understanding. Scout’s development into a person capable of assuming that outlook marks the culmination of the novel and indicates that, whatever evil she encounters, she will retain her conscience without becoming cynical or jaded. Though she is still a child at the end of the book, Scout’s perspective on life develops from that of an innocent child into that of a near grown-up. 

Picture Time

It has been awhile since I posted something that had pictures with it, so here is a post with a bunch of different pictures from my trip back to WI in August.

One person I ALWAYS make sure I see when I am home....G-ma and I

We took a trip to our local zoo, not much at the zoo but I did get this picture with my niece and nephew :)

The Bride and I while bar hopping

The Bride & Groom

The In-Laws took some time for a picture at the wedding reception