Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

Thanksgiving weekend we went with the Grahams out in Glide to get a Christmas tree! It was my first time ever actually going to a tree farm and cutting down our very own tree. Back in California growing up we either got our tree from the Home Depot parking lot, or from the Boy Scouts- who have their trees shipped down from none other than Oregon of course. It was a ton of fun and a really neat experience, even though we just got a little baby tree for our little apartment. Jackson sure had a ton of fun too! I can't wait to do it again next year!

Mommy's Little Helper

Lately Jack is way into mimicing everything I do, especially household chores. Here's some picture to illustrate just how much he loves to mimic. He got a little broom and vacume as two of his birthday presents and they are by far his favorite things ever.

Baking

Brushing his teeth with mommy & daddy's toothbrushes

Doing the dishes

Sweeping the floor

Vacuming

Birthday Cake Fun

Here's some pictures of the little guy digging in to his b-ball cake we made him since he loves balls. He had a very fun birthday! We celebrated with the Grahams a little while ago by singing and eating cake, then saturday we took him to the pet store since he loves animals, and toToys R Us to get some birthday presents- a kid sized broom, The Jungle Book dvd, and some blocks. Yesterday, on his b-day he got to go to lunch with mommy, and we sang happy birthday again with cupcakes and then daddy (John) set up the tent and sleeping bags for him, which he absolutely loved! He kept running from one end to the other in it, giggling like crazy. It was a fun birthday for Jack and he is lucky to have so many people who love him! Thanks for all the toys and phone calls from everyone!

Happy 1st Birthday Jackson!!

I can't believe we have a one year old!! It seems like just yesterday John and I were in good ole' Rexburg freezing our tails off, dating and talking about marriage. Now we really are married and have a little 1 yr. old boy! Crazy! But at the same time, I can't image and really remember much about life before Jack. One year ago today, we went to the hospital here in Eugene after three miserable and sleepless days of labor and 4 hours later we had a healthy 7 lb. 8 oz. baby boy! This past year has been busy, stressful and tons of fun all at once! Here's what Jack is up to now at 1 yr. old:

• He's walking like a big boy and barely ever crawls anymore
  


• He loves balls (his first word besides mamma and dadda was ball) and has at least 10 of them in various sizes and colors. He also loves to dunk his ball on his little tikes hoop that Grandma Sue got for him, and claps for himself after every basket
  


• He loves to mimic mommy like brushing his hair, trying to put blush on the top of his head with mommy's blush brush, and his favorite- sweeping the floor with his own kid sized broom



• He LOVES dogs and pretty much all animals- he has a ton of fun at the pet store
  


• His favorite foods are black beans, corn, fishies, and ice cream



• He loves to give mommy & daddy hugs and kisses and high fives



• His favorite songs are "If your happy and you know it...", "Patty Cake", and "The wheels on the bus"



• He has 8 full teeth



• He loves to open doors and run outside, even if it's pooring rain



• He loves to play with his buddy Kellen
  

We sure love our little guy! Happy Birthday Jack Jack!!

Finally, a picture from Halloween!

I know, I know. It's a little late, but here it is! A picture of my cute little Captain Jack the pirate on Halloween. He looked way cute! Thanks for the costume mom!

Yay for Daddy!

Guess what?? John got a job!! Yay! It's for Pricewater House Coopers in Portland! It's one of the best companies to work for in Accounting. We are absolutely thrilled! It is a huge blessing and we are so so grateful. They called tonight and said that everyone that met John really liked him a lot and that they would love to have him join the team. Sorry, I just have to brag because I am sooooo proud of him! He didn't think he had a chance, but I knew they wouldn't be able to resist that cute smile of his! hehe :) John graduates in June and will take the CPA exam that summer (which they will pay for as well as the review classes... yes!), and then the job starts in September! So we will still be here in Eugene for a little while longer and then on to Portland! Wahoo! I love my hubbie!

Jackson in his business attire

...more pictures from the patch

So for some reason when I posted the blog about the pumpking patch our computer would only work for one picture, so I thought I'd just post some more here because we did get some more pictures than just that one of the little guy from that day, so here they are!

I like this little baby one- it's just my size!

Pumpkin Patch!

Last weekend we took Jack to the pumpkin patch, and he absolutely loved it! It was a little bit chilly, mainly because it was also super windy, but it wasn't raining so we were excited about that. We got to take a tractor ride out to the patch and Jackson just clapped his hands and yelled, "yeah!" (his favorite word he says when he is excited) over and over again on the ride out. When we got to the patch he kept walking up to big pumpkins and putting his arms around them, thinking he could actually pick them up! I guess he didn't realize how heavy they are. He finally found a real cute baby pumpkin just his size that he loved and we took it back with us. He was really sad when we had to leave the patch. But back at the front of the farm there were some sheep and goats that you could pet and feed. I brought Jack over to them just to see if he would be too afraid of them or if he would like them. He walked right up to the cage, stuck his hand right through the opening in the fence and pet them! He loved them. He kept giggling and yelling, "Ba!" at them. At one point, one of the sheep stuck his head out of an opening and Jack stuck his tongue out and tried to give it a kiss! It was so gross, yet so funny at the same time. He just had a blast with those animals! We ended the day with a huge and super yummy carmel apple that John and I shared, and that was when we realized that life is good! :) It was a fun day at the pumpkin patch! We can't wait til next year to go again..... maybe next year Jack will try to ride the sheep :)

Jack's New Trick

Here's some pictures of my little destroyer in action practicing his new trick of opening the bathroom door, unrolling the whole role of toilet paper and going for the toilet. He's a handful!

Jack and the Pumpkin

So Jackson and I were at Target the other day cruising up and down the Halloween isle, looking at all the cute decorations I would love to buy if we just had lots of money to blow since, as many of you already know, Halloween is my favorite holiday. As we were walking along, we came across an isle that was basically just rows and rows filled with the classic plastic pumpkin trick or treat bowl. I know Jack is still pretty young to go trick or treating, but since he loves to go through my drawer of plastic containers and mixing bowls, I thought he might like a pumpkin. I picked it up and handed it to him, and little did I know I would never again see my son without his beloved pumpkin attached to his hand. Yes, he LOVES it. I had to have the guy at the cashier counter use his little gun that stretches out to scan it while Jack was holding on to it in order to avoid an embarrassing screaming meltdown from the little guy. The whole car ride home I could hear him talking into the pumpkin loving the way it made his voice echo. It was so cute. At home, he played with it, ate with it while sitting in his high chair, took a bath with it, and only could I pry it away when he was fast asleep! I have never seen my child happier and more entertained, meaning it was a good day for me! Thank goodness for plastic pumpkins!
I also have to add a little thank you here to my mom for the Halloween package she sent for Jackson. He loves the ball, the pumpkin flashlight and all the books. And the super cute trick or treat bag you made is my personal favorite! You are the best grandma and mom ever! It is always a ton of fun to get packages in the mail. Thanks! We love you!

Look Who's Walking!

Yep, the day I was so excited for, yet dreaded at the same time has finally arrived. Jackson is walking! Just this last week around the middle of the week he took about 10 steps and we were sooo excited. The next day he wasn't really into it anymore even though we tried and tried to get him to walk to us. Then, all of a sudden he decided he really does want to walk. Yesterday at church Jack was standing up next to me and I was holding his hand while talking to someone. All of a sudden, he lets go of my hand and walks right out of the chapel into the foyer like he had been walking for months! All of the rest of the day he would just take off! We went to a student ward potluck for dinner and there were a bunch of kids running around playing. Jackson got excited and started walking after them to go play all excited. He is still very slow at it and he walks with his hand straight up in the air, but he is doing it! His record now is over 30 steps in a row. And along with that, last night he figured out how to walk up to our door, stand on his tippy toes and pull down the handle and then use his other hand to open the door! Looks like we have some more baby proofing to do! Luckily our front door has a deadbolt up high that he can't reach, but he loves to open the bathroom door and head straight for the toilet! He is getting to be a ton of fun, but also very active and into everything! He is also saying more words now: ball, momma, dadda, yeah, and just the other day I got him to say poppa! Gotta love that kid :)

Fall Is Coming!

I love that in Oregon, there really are seasons. Don't get me wrong, I love the year round sunshine in southern cali., but I never realized until I moved up here to Eugene what I had been missing by the changing seasons. The weather is already starting to cool off and it's getting more and more fall like everyday. I love seeing the leaves change colors and then fall off and cover the entire ground here. It makes me wish I was a kid again so that I had an excuse to run and jump into those big piles of leaves since I never had the chance growing up. Another reason why I am excited for fall to be here is that it is getting closer and closer to one of my favorite holidays, Halloween! I love all the decorations, costumes, carving pumpkins, cooking pumpkin muffins, bars and pies and I especially love all the CANDY!! I am so excited to have Jackson this year because now I have an excuse to go trick-or-treating and since he is still too young to eat most of the candy, I guess I will just have to eat all of his for him! We haven't gotten his costume yet, but I think he is going to be a pirate... captain Jack. Oh, and about the picture- it was the only one I could find that showed all the leaves on the ground from last year.... boy am I glad I am not 8 months pregnant right now. :) Have a happy Fall everyone!

Who Does Jack look like more?

Say Cheese!

Jack wanted to show everyone all his teeth! He has 7 now and is working on his 8th! Good for him.... not so fun for mommy and daddy. ( I am not a real big fan of teething). But it sure makes for a cute smile!

My Little Destroyer

YES, we are alive! I know, I know...... I am the world's worst blogger. I haven't posted anything for months, and well, besides the fact that I hate our computer because it is the slowest thing in the whole world, I don't really have a good excuse. Oh, I'm not that great with blogging yet either and only know how to put on a new post because that is what John showed me how to do. ANYWAYS, so here's the update: John is looking forward to his last year of school-he starts in 2 weeks. By next June we are planning on him having a degree in accounting and a good job somewhere along the west cost (cross your fingers for that one). I have been super busy with managing our apartment complex dealing with signing leases, moving people out, making sure apartments are getting cleaned, and now the new tenants are moving in for the school year. I am looking forward to winter because October- March is when things with the apartment slow down by like 95%!! On top of managing I have been watching Kellen every now and then during the summer. Kellen is 14 months old and loves to climb, so him and Jackson together keep me constantly busy and on my toes. That brings us to my new little crazy destroyer, JACKSON.

Jack is just about 10 months old now and into EVERYTHING! He crawls around everywhere and stands up on everything. He took his first steps just the other day! (He took 3 steps from John to me, twice now) He is still a little bit away from really walking, but we were pretty excited to see him trying! His favorite things to do are:

1) Take off all the books on the book shelf

2.) Take all the silverware out of the dishwasher while mommy is doing dishes and then climb in the dishwasher

3.) Eat bubbles and play with toys in the bathtub- he is like a little frog... he just loves the water!

4.) Rub all his food into his hair

5.) Play patty cake and laugh histerically before mommy even gets to the tickle part

6.)His new favorite- stand up on the toilet and splash in the water (gross i know! he's quick... i try to stop him as fast as i can!)

7.) Swing on the swings

8.) Say dadada and scream (happily) over and over again, especially during sacrament and relief society

............... and lots more things. He is just getting sooo big. At his 9 month appointment we found out that he as officially grown 10 inches since he was born! The nurse says that the usually do that at 12 months or after. He is still in the 95th percentile for height, and is 50th for weight. He's just gonna have to be a basketball star and play for the Oregon Ducks!

Speaking of the Ducks......GO DUCKS!!!!!! That's right. We won our first game against Houston, and then creamed Michigan 39-7, and on saturday we are going to beat Fresno State too! We are way excited because John and I get to go to the game!! John and Jeff stood in line for 2 hours monday morning to get tickets. It will be my first game at Autzen stadium.... can't wait!

Jack's Intro. to Solid Foods

Jackson is a starving boy, and since he hasn't been a very good nurser since he started teething, we decided to introduce him to solid foods. We gave him some baby rice cereal, and at first he made a super sour face, but by the end he started liking it. He is a growing baby! He's rolled over from his front to his back and his back to his tummy now. He's getting more and more fun everyday. This past weekend we went up to Glide to visit John's parents, which was a fun little break for us, and Jackson just loves his Aunt Heather (John's 11 year old sister). He kept giggling and smiling at her the whole time. It was very cute. We took him swimming while we were there and discovered that we have a little fish for a baby..... well with his high pitched screaming it's more of like a little baby orcha. We dunked him under the water a couple of times to see how he would react and to get him used to it, and he just came up blinking with no complains! He's a kicker and a slasher too! He's definitely gonna be a great athlete! He's a good little guy and we sure love him lots!

Jackson

Just a little update of the little guy: Jack is doing great! He's been a little bit cranky lately, but we found out after taking him to the doctor's office that he is teething! It's rare for a 3 month old to already be teething, but it can definitely happen. On his lower gums you can see a little white dot. I can't believe he'd already getting teeth! Crazy. Besides that he is doing well. He just keeps growing and is starting to do more and more. He talks (just blabbering to himself) all the time now, and smiles at everyone who starts talking to him. He's already becoming a little lady's man. :) His hair is growing longer and thicker on top, but it's not really growing in the back of his head where his bald spot is, so it looks pretty funny from the back angle. He's starting to sleep 8-10 hours at night, which is sooooo nice. He loves his blanky, and for some reason he always pulls it over his head when he sleeps. We can't tell if he just likes the feel of it on his face or if he just really likes the dark! Even after he falls asleep I will go and pull it down off his face, and 5 mins. later when I go check on him again.... he's pulled it back up, in his sleep! He's a silly, but good baby, and we love him! Oh, and don't forget to scroll all the way to the bottom of this page because there are pictures down there also that are easily missed. And that's our Jackson Jeffrey update!

Jack's New Crib

This week we finally bought Jack a crib! We set it all up this morning, and I have to say, it looks good! Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Baron (my, Steph's, grandparents) we were able to buy a very nice, sturdy crib that will hopefully last us through all of our kids. And thank you, mom, for getting us the very cute bumper, sheets, quilt and whole crib set that is just soooo cute! It made the crib look super cute, and Jack loves it! We are very excited to have it and are grateful to have such kind, loving and supportive family. Thanks again to all those who helped us with the crib!

Go Ducks!!

Saturday was a great day! John's parents came up to Eugene to watch Jack and Reagan (our niece) so that Nick & Christi (John's older brother & his wife) and John and I could go to the Duck's basketball game. It was their last game of the season, senior night, and it also was against our biggest rivals, the Oregon State Beavers. And of course, we kicked their butts! We beat them 70-49..... by 21 points! It was a very fun game and season. Aaron Brooks finished as the top scorer in the PAC 10 with an average of 18 points per game. We're sure gonna miss him next year. The stadium where the Duck's play, Mac court, aka The Pitt, is a block away..... we could walk to the game in 5 mins. It's a lot of fun living right by campus, and we are looking forward to track season now. Hopefully the Duck's will keep playing really well in the tournament! Go Ducks!

Jack's New Bubble Chair

Jack got a present the other day in the mail from Tina Ogden.... it's called a Bumba chair, but we like to call it his little bubble chair. It is the sweetest seat. I'm not exactly sure what it's really made of, but it's something like a soft foamy type material that's hard, but soft at the same time so that it forms to his body in a way. We love it because Jack can sit up in it all by himself! And he loves it too! It makes him look like such a big boy. Reagan, my niece (John's older brother's daughter), that I watch during the day who is 10 months old, also loves it. I put her in it when I feed her baby food and she digs it. So this explains all the pictures of Jack on here in his little blue chair! If you have a baby 3 months- 2 years old, you've got to get a Bumba chair. They are the best! Thanks Sister Ogden!

Temple Trip

Hello! Yesterday we got to go to the temple!! It felt so great to be able to go since we haven't been able to since Steph was about 8 months pregnant. John's younger brother, Jeff, is dating a really sweet girl, Shelene, who offered to drive up with us to the temple and watch Jackson while we went through the temple. It was a very nice day, and we went out to lunch at CPK afterwards, which was a real treat. The only CPK in all of Oregon just so happens to be about 5 mins. away from the temple, and we LOVE CPK, so that was lots of fun. Has anyone ever tried the Orange Chicken lettuce wraps appetizer there?? We tried them for the first time yesterday and discovered that they are sooo good! After we got home from Portland we watched the Duck's b-ball game, and they played awesome and beat the University of Washington..... so it was a great day!! Life is good!

The Captain and the crew

Things here in Oregon are flying along! Its a beautiful day outside, sunny and green, which means that Spring is on its way! Something we've been waiting for ever since summer turned to fall. Jack is putting all of his energies into getting bigger, and Steph is putting all of her energies into getting smaller- "Into getting rid of the baby fat that is" (says Steph). I'm just plugging along with the whole school and work thing.
Jack has taken a liking to the bath tub where he spends his bedtime prep splashing and smiling. It's great for all of us because he gets so tuckered out that he sleeps all night long! Last night he crashed at 10:30 and didn't wake up till six in the morning. Way to go kid! We just hope that he keeps this up!
Steph and I were released from the nursery, but we continue to serve as the singing time people. We're excited because we've grown to love our nursery kids, and now we get to continue spending time with them without having to worry about what to do with captain Jack.