Saturday, January 19, 2013
BLW
Normally Jackson's meals don't look so pretty and organized but we just got back from the commissary so we have lots of options for him. The Man and I decided to have frozen pizza so this is what Jackson is having: banana, blueberries, grape tomatoes, carrots & leftover taco meat.
Friday, January 18, 2013
2013 Goals
I know I haven't posted about Christmas yet but I wanted to get into New Years. I haven't ever been very good at New Year's resolutions. I am more of the goal kind of person. Last year's goals included things like: find a place to live in MD, manage to drive across the country and not have a baby, have a happy healthy baby and so on. This year's goals are not so focused on moving & the baby and more focused on our entire family.
Goal #1
- Save $$$$ in our savings account, so that someday we can buy a house. whether that is here or somewhere else in the U.S.
Goal #2
- Go to New York City for Jackson's 1st birthday. Living so far away from our friends and family means that Jackson doesn't really get a birthday party. We thought this would be a way to make his day/birthday week more special than every other day of the year. We will also get to do something special for our anniversary since it is 3 days before Jack's birthday. This isn't going to be a long trip just a night or two but none the less it's still a trip.
Goal #3
- Make it back to Wisconsin as a family at least once. The Man doesn't get much vacation and has school and reserves so this will actually be a little more difficult than people may think. It is very important to us that Jackson knows his family and our friends.
Goal #4
- Go camping in Ohio (half way between our friends & us) with a bunch of our friends this June. We have been talking about doing a group trip or something for a couple years now. This year I am really hoping that it actually happens.
Goal #5
- Save an additional $6,000 - $7,000 for a trip to Switzerland in January 2014. The Man is half Swiss and a Swiss citizen. He has always wanted to visit Switzerland. Since we don't live near family that would be able to watch Jackson for a week or longer and we do not know when/if we will be living closer to family in the next years to come. So I proposed to the Man that we try and go in a year since Jackson will be under 2 and will fly for free. If we save up all this extra $$$$ the only way we will not be going is if I am pregnant or just had a baby...which neither is being planned since both of us really want to go to Switzerland! If we don't go next January it could be another 5-10 years before we will be able to go again, so we look at it as we have to seize this opportunity to take Jackson and make a memory we will tell him about.
So there are our BIG goals for 2013. We also have other goals that probably don't seem so big but are just as important like: raise a super happy healthy little boy, love each other every day more than the day before, be better people and so on.
Goal #1
- Save $$$$ in our savings account, so that someday we can buy a house. whether that is here or somewhere else in the U.S.
Goal #2
- Go to New York City for Jackson's 1st birthday. Living so far away from our friends and family means that Jackson doesn't really get a birthday party. We thought this would be a way to make his day/birthday week more special than every other day of the year. We will also get to do something special for our anniversary since it is 3 days before Jack's birthday. This isn't going to be a long trip just a night or two but none the less it's still a trip.
Goal #3
- Make it back to Wisconsin as a family at least once. The Man doesn't get much vacation and has school and reserves so this will actually be a little more difficult than people may think. It is very important to us that Jackson knows his family and our friends.
Goal #4
- Go camping in Ohio (half way between our friends & us) with a bunch of our friends this June. We have been talking about doing a group trip or something for a couple years now. This year I am really hoping that it actually happens.
Goal #5
- Save an additional $6,000 - $7,000 for a trip to Switzerland in January 2014. The Man is half Swiss and a Swiss citizen. He has always wanted to visit Switzerland. Since we don't live near family that would be able to watch Jackson for a week or longer and we do not know when/if we will be living closer to family in the next years to come. So I proposed to the Man that we try and go in a year since Jackson will be under 2 and will fly for free. If we save up all this extra $$$$ the only way we will not be going is if I am pregnant or just had a baby...which neither is being planned since both of us really want to go to Switzerland! If we don't go next January it could be another 5-10 years before we will be able to go again, so we look at it as we have to seize this opportunity to take Jackson and make a memory we will tell him about.
So there are our BIG goals for 2013. We also have other goals that probably don't seem so big but are just as important like: raise a super happy healthy little boy, love each other every day more than the day before, be better people and so on.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Ikea Needs Wants
Today Jackson and I took an impromptu trip to Ikea for some wooden spice racks that we paint and use as bookshelves in his room. They have been out of stock for quite some time now so when I saw online that they had 86 available I wasn't willing to risk waiting till later this week to go. I ended up buying 8 of them...I don't think we are going to put them all up right now but this way we hopefully won't run into the same situation with us in need of more and Ikea out of stock for months! I didn't get anything there but I did spot a lot of things that I would love to have in my home for Jackson. I'm hoping that by posting them on here I will remember them for his 1st birthday and maybe a couple them will actually end up in our house :)
So there were a few more things that I liked but I figured you already got the picture. I love wooden toys for Jackson and Ikea now has a few nice ones. A couple of the things might be a little more on the girl side but maybe someday we will have another baby and be blessed to have a little girl.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
9 months!!
I probably say this every time but Holy Cow Jackson is already 9 months old!! I really do not know where the time as gone. Everyday I am so thankful to have this little guy in my life. He makes bad days good and good days great.
We haven't had his 9 month well check yet I actually haven't even scheduled it oops! so I don't have an accurate weight & height. Jack currently has 3 teeth sticking through, the 3rd popped through Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. He has mastered walking around the furniture and going from the coffee table to the couch. He even gets brave and stands for a split second without holding anything before falling or grabbing something. For Christmas he received a wooden push walker and he has pretty much mastered that. He does get a little confused when he runs into a wall or something and it no longer moves...he usually stands there and looks around like "Hey people I think this thing is broke or something" and then falls down and crawls to a different toy. He is way more verbal than I think he has ever been before and somethings are actually sounding like words. We are pretty sure he has been saying Hi for a few months not that he knows when to say it or what it means. He loves to 'help' with whatever we are doing, whether its laundry, dishes, taking out the trash or putting groceries away....and let me tell you he is a BIG help already ;) He loves to read books! We let him pick out what book or books to be read at bedtime and every night he gets so excited about it. He gets on these kicks where he chooses the same book every single day, multiple times a day for weeks and then he will all of sudden just pick a different one. Right now we read "Pat the Bunny" and "Moo, Baa, LaLaLa" multiple times a day. One of his other favorite things is boxes...this kid goes crazy for boxes. Lucky for him I get a lot of packages sent to me for work so there is usually no shortage of boxes at this house!
Here are afew lot of pictures from the past month!
We haven't had his 9 month well check yet I actually haven't even scheduled it oops! so I don't have an accurate weight & height. Jack currently has 3 teeth sticking through, the 3rd popped through Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. He has mastered walking around the furniture and going from the coffee table to the couch. He even gets brave and stands for a split second without holding anything before falling or grabbing something. For Christmas he received a wooden push walker and he has pretty much mastered that. He does get a little confused when he runs into a wall or something and it no longer moves...he usually stands there and looks around like "Hey people I think this thing is broke or something" and then falls down and crawls to a different toy. He is way more verbal than I think he has ever been before and somethings are actually sounding like words. We are pretty sure he has been saying Hi for a few months not that he knows when to say it or what it means. He loves to 'help' with whatever we are doing, whether its laundry, dishes, taking out the trash or putting groceries away....and let me tell you he is a BIG help already ;) He loves to read books! We let him pick out what book or books to be read at bedtime and every night he gets so excited about it. He gets on these kicks where he chooses the same book every single day, multiple times a day for weeks and then he will all of sudden just pick a different one. Right now we read "Pat the Bunny" and "Moo, Baa, LaLaLa" multiple times a day. One of his other favorite things is boxes...this kid goes crazy for boxes. Lucky for him I get a lot of packages sent to me for work so there is usually no shortage of boxes at this house!
Here are a
New tooth!
His 1st bubble bath
Helping Dad by reading the instructions to him
I'm so smart I can read this book upside down :)
He has NO fear!
Me: "Jackson give me big smiles" This is the look he gave me!
So the Man and I are attempting to take Jackson's 9 month pictures ourselves. Here is a preview that I took with my phone.
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
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.
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.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Walk this way...
Jackson is getting the hang of his Melissa and Doug walker that we got him for Christmas. He gets a little distracted and sometimes needs us to push it head for him but he does walk/dance with it for a little while.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
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
~ 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!
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