8's

My fantastic sister-in-law, Christi who just had a birthday yesterday (Happy Birthday!!! Wish we could have been there to celebrate with you!) tagged me with this tag so here it goes:

8 T.V. Shows I love to watch:

1. The Office (who doesn't love it!) 

2. Survivor

3. Wipeout (the big balls are hilarious)
4. The Amazing Race
5. Lost
6. Extreme Makeover Home Edition

7. What Not to Wear
8. Duck's Football and Angels Baseball (Angels are gonna win it all this year!)

8 things that happened yesterday:
1. Drove down to our old ward in Eugene

2. Jeff & Shalene (John's brother and wife) blessed their new baby girl, Summer Grace
3. I got to hold Summer!
4. Ate some good food and hung out with family afterwards

5. Had some of Sue's super yummy pumpkin cake roll for dessert
6. Stopped by John's grandparents for a visit

7. Said goodbye to everyone and drove back home (about 2 hour drive)

8. Watched The Amazing Race and went to bed!

8 favorite places to eat
1. California Pizza Kitchen

2. In'n'Out (mmm.... animal style fries!)

3. Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill
4. Ruby's on the pier at Huntington Beach
5. Don Jose's (mexican food)
6. Outback

7. IHOP (stuffed french toast with strawberry topping is my favorite meal ever!)
8. Red Robin

8 things I am looking forward to: 
1. Finally getting to hold Baron and having him here
2. Going down to Glide this weekend to relax and watch Conference

3. Halloween!!!
4. Thanksgiving- all the yummy food and having the Grahams all together again! (so excited to see Nick and Christi and their girls! yeah!)

5. Having this baby!! (i have been getting a little impatient lately to have him here finally)

6. Listening to Christmas music, looking at Christmas lights and all the holiday decorations and food!

7. John being done with the CPA
8. One day owning our own house with a backyard!

8 things on my wish list:
1. New couches and a comfy recliner like Nick and Christi's
2. For Baron to have a smooth birth and for him to be nice and healthy
3. Animal Fries and a burger from In'n'out right now

4. A Bob double jogging stroller with a swivel wheel

5. A backyard for the boys to play
6. For my family to come visit us up here

7. To be able to just relax this Christmas and enjoy our new little addition to our family 

8. For Nick and Christi to move back to Oregon! 

Now 8 people that I tag:
Shannon, Amy Pringle( i need some kind of update from you!), Lindsay, Brooke, Hayley, and anyone else that wants to!

That's it for the tag! As you can see we had a fun day yesterday down in Eugene.  Jackson especially had fun running around with all the kids and playing with his 2 of his favorite people, Aunt Heather and Uncle Jeff.  On the way home he kept saying, "Heather, Where are you?" It was a fun day and we were exhausted by the time we got home.  Here's a picture of John and Jack when we got home reading stories together...... Jack was seriously falling asleep on John even though it was only like 7...... i just think its a cute picture :)

 

Oh What's in a Name

So I thought since I have confused a couple of people with the new baby's name that I would explain to everyone what the plan is.  We have decided to keep with the tradition and use family maiden names (both Jackson and Jeffrey are maiden names on John's side of the family). So, we are going to call this little one going crazy inside of me,           Baron James Graham.  (for those who don't know, Baron is my maiden name, and James is a family name). We both like that, like Jack, it is a solid boy name.  And hopefully if we ever have a girl she will one day want to keep the tradition alive- I think Graham could be a good first name!  But it only works of course if you marry someone with a last name that could be used as a first, so if she meets someone with a crazy last name, she just might have to dump him! hehe :)

As for an update, Jackson' still got a nasty runny nose that he felt ever so kind to share with John- i haven't gotten it yet, but you never know.  John is studying for the CPA.  Baby Baron has been making my stomach sore from moving around so much (he is definitely going to be another strong baby like Jackson was- who got that from his dad, says Sue, John's mom).  I met my Laurel class at church yesterday and they all seem really fun and excited, so I am looking forward to working with them!  It was so cute- the YW president introduced me yesterday to them and they gave me a welcome necklace with the YW symbol and made me tell them a little about myself.  I think this new calling is going to be a ton of fun!  But that is pretty much all that is up with us lately..... nothing too exciting!

Hospital Outfit Found!

Most people probably don't care, but I actually really hate the beanies they put on newborns in the hospital.  They are always pink, blue and white stripped so it can be for a boy or girl and I just think they are too girly and ugly for a boy!  But it's really hard to find just a simple beanie for a boy that is small enough.  With Jackson I lucked out and found the cutest little blue puppy dog beanie.  I still have it, but I want Baron to have his own pictures and some of his own stuff so he doesn't always have to be just like his brother.  So I have been looking for awhile for a new beanie and outfit for the picture and going home for him- something simple and comfy yet cute, and it seems like all I find are ugly Winnie-the-pooh ones.  But 2 days ago I finally found a cute little outfit, matching beanie and also a matching blanket, which is a bonus! I know it's cheesy and shouldn't be that big of a deal, but I am pretty excited.  There were actually 2 outfits that came together that both match, but I think I like the stripped one a little more than the blue one because it matches the beanie even more.  What do you think??

Stripes or Blue Outfit?

and here's Jackson's hospital picture- sorry it's not that great. Its a picture of a picture, but hopefully you can still see his cute little beanie :)

I found Baron's outfit, blanket and beanie just at the local target when I went the other day to get some vapor bath soap and vick's baby rub for Jackson who came down with a nasty cold and fever randomly this week.  He is pretty miserable.  While we were at target though, he did the funniest thing.  He hates riding in the cart, and usually does pretty good at staying by me walking because he knows that if he runs away or throws a fit he will get put into the cart.  He loves walking beside me and pointing out every Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Train he sees whether its on a band aid box, soap bottle, sheets, etc.   Well when we went the other day, I was putting our stuff up onto the conveyor belt when all of a sudden this little hand reaches up and puts this onto it:

I can't believe he is already trying to sneak stuff in at the store! We used to do that all the time to my mom at the grocery store because she would never buy junk food.  And since I am a nice mom and had pity on the little sicky (and since it was actually a $3 bubble bath container), i caved in and bought the car.  He hasn't put it down since and has even slept with it- and yes, i emptied out the soap into another container before letting him play and sleep with it. 

French Toast Anyone???

So, I always have been a pretty vivid dreamer, but when I am pregnant my dreams can sometimes get really crazy.  I remember when I was pregnant with Jackson I would wake up every morning and tell John the craziest stories about what I dreamed.  With this pregnancy, it hasn't been as wild- I think mainly because I don't sleep as deeply anymore.  But a couple of nights ago I had the funniest dream, and John said that it was so good I needed to blog about it.  In my dream, I was pregnant still, and was walking around the seminary classes in the morning, making french toast for everyone.  The best part was that I was cooking the french toast not on a frying pan, but on my preggo belly! I would dip the bread in the sauce, lift up my cute maternity shirt, put the bread on my hott belly, put my shirt down, walk around and ask people if they wanted another piece, lift my shirt up and flip the piece to the other side, put my shirt back down, and then take the piece off when it was done and put it on a plate and hand it to whomever was waiting for a piece.  And this was totally normal to everyone!  So random.  I do not know where my dreams come from sometimes.  Gotta love them! 

I don't know if anyone has noticed from the tracker on the side, but I have less than 100 days to go with this pregnancy! Wahoo!! Can't wait for this active little boy to get here!

And since my sister has been asking for one, here's a current preggo belly picture- and it's not that great, but it's all I got for now.  I'm usually the one taking the picture, not the one in it, so enjoy my big 'ole belly and I will try to get a better one for ya Shan.

Here's Jack and I during half time of the Duck's game- he is clearly upset by how poorly we were playing, but luckily we pulled it together enough to win the game. Go Ducks!

$2 Tuesdays

We discovered the coolest thing yesterday...... on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, the zoo costs only $2!! And kids 2 and under are still free! So yesterday we rode the max into town to give Daddy his lunch since he forgot it, said hi to him since we haven't gotten to see him much lately, then stopped at the zoo on the way back home! Jackson loves riding the max.  He just gets so excited and keeps saying choo choo over and over again.  When we got to the zoo, the lady at the ticket counter asked if we drove or took the max- then she said that if you ride the max its $1 off, so we ended up paying $4.75 for an all day max pass (which is way cheaper than parking and gas costs), and $1 for the zoo! $5.75 total for a super fun day! Jackson of course loved the zoo again and was running down the ramps from one thing to another.  The fishies were definitely the favorite this time. He kept calling the little turtles, Dudes- which is because he is obsessed recently with Nemo.  We also saw one of the big elephants, but decided to skip the 2 hour line to see the new baby elephant. I'm just not that patient and neither is Jackson.  I think we'll live.  I wish I had more pictures to post from the zoo, but of course I left the camera at home..... I seem to be good at doing that :(  Here's another picture and video from the first time though:

On the zoo train-

I have no idea why he is making this face in this video- i think he thinks he's too cool for the camera now

and some examples of how he has to always line up his cars

Here's some more videos of things Jack has been up to lately. 

Riding Daddy's longboard through the kitchen

And here's a video of what i mentioned in the previous post- Jack getting in his blocks for his sprint- something he learned and did on his own from watching the olympics.  Seriously, we never showed him or told him to do it. He just started doing it and it cracks us up. And sorry the video is sideways- it won't rotate on iphoto on our computer, or at least i can't figure out how to do it.  Here it is anyways:

The Zoo and a Jackson Update

 Jackson and I went to the Portland Zoo Friday, and he absolutely loved running around and seeing all the animals.  The elephants were his favorite animal to see, but i think his very favorite part of the trip was the train ride.  He was soooooo excited and just kept saying, "choo choo!" over and over.  He is really into trains lately, and loves to go meet Daddy at the Max- the city transportation one- when he gets home from work at night.  I only have a few pictures from the zoo, mainly because Jackson decided not to ever look at me or smile when the camera was out, but here's a few:

Other than the zoo, I have really enjoyed being able to spend so much time with Jackson now.  It is so nice to be able to play with him without tenants needed attention every second of the day.  It's also been nice to be able to take him to the park during the day, or walk through the nature park together or just run errands whenever we want.  And Jackson is becoming such a little boy, and also my little copy cat and helper.  Because I write in this more than his journal and because I plan on getting it made into a book one day, here's some of his favorite things to do right now:

* Play with his cars and trucks (especially his Lightning McQueen car) all day long

*Bath time with his "fishies" as he calls them- all his little sharks, dolphines, shamus, turtles, etc. that my mom got him when we went to Sea World

*Watching the trash man every Thursday morning without fail from our kitchen window

*Watches Cars and Finding Nemo

*He is suddenly really into reading books, which I love because up until now, he would never sit still long enough for me to read to him no matter how much i tried

*Rubbing my belly while saying, "Baby"

*Standing and sitting on Daddy's skateboards/longboards and riding them through the kitchen

*Doing laps around the kitchen island with his big tonka truck

*Getting down like he is in his blocks and saying, "Ready, Set, Go!"- he really enjoyed watching the olympics and paid real good attention.  The sprinters were his favorite.

*Making a pile of pillows and laundry, climbing onto the step stool and yelling jump while he jumps up and lands on his bum on the pile

*Swinging on the swings at the park

*Throwing the clothes from the washer into the dryer as I hand them to him and then slamming the door shut

*Picking up Dad at the Max station and watching the "Choo Choo's"

*Playing Ring Around the Rosie (a new favorite thanks to the Jensens)

He sure is fun to have around, and though I am super excited to add another little boy to the craziness in December, I am really starting realize that we only have so much more time with just us.  It makes me want to make the most of everyday together.  It has gotten really hard lately though to be patient for this next little boy to be here, mainly because it seems like everyone else is having their babies now, and because this little boy inside of me has suddenly gotten crazy lately.  Last night as I was trying to fall asleep in bed he was seriously like doing flips and turns like he was in the middle of a swimming race! He seems to always be on the move now, which means that he is most likely going to be just as active and crazy as Jackson! Looking forward to the good, but crazy times!

watching the trash man

lining up his cars