Uh Oh!!

So I know it's been a little while since I've blogged, but the last 2 weeks have been anything but exciting, valentine's day and all, and I'll explain that later. First I wanted to write about mine and Jack's new hobbie: bike rides! I've been taking a spin class at the U of O this term, desperately trying to get by body back into shape before the next little addition to our fam comes along and destroys it again, and it's been really fun! The teacher is awesome and I always come out of that class just dripping sweat and feeling so much better already! The problem, however, is that the class is only monday and wednesday nights. John has been real good about coming home from school and watching Jack the other days of the week as well so that I can at least go running or work out at the rec center, but lately he's had a ton of projects and papers due. So, awhile ago we borrowed the Grahams old bike seat that has to be about 20 years old. A couple of weeks ago, we hooked it up to the bike just to see if it was even possible. It actually turned out to be pretty solid and stays on real good. The only thing that worries me are the straps- the barely even keep Jack in there, so John is gonna make some new ones soon. For the past few weeks though, when the sun has actually shown itself for an hour or two during the day, and even though it's still freezing, I've taken Jack out for rides to the park! He throws a fit when I put his helmet on, but once we get going, he stops crying and starts giggling and talking away! He loves it! It's fun and a great workout for me. Here's a funny story about something that happened just the other day on our bike adventure:

I get Jack all bundled up and locked into the seat, put his helmet on and surprisingly he doesn't really throw a fit. So I hop on and start riding towards the park. Jack is babbling away back there and then starts saying, Uh oh! Uh oh! over and over. I think, wow he's in such a great mood today and then proceed to say uh oh back to him, thinking he just wants to be silly. We get to the park and when I go to take him out of his seat, I notice, he's missing a shoe!! I think back and realize that Jack usually only says uh oh when something falls or he throws something. I remembered where we were at when he started saying it, so after letting him play on the swings and slide, we head on back the same way we came. I looked all over and could not find his shoe. The next day, after Kellen, the little boy I watch, left I decided to take Jack to the park again. We rode the same way, and to my amazement I found his shoe! It was just sitting on the curb in front of someones house! I couldn't believe we found it. That was lucky, and I learned my lesson.... the next time Jack starts saying uh oh, uh oh, I'll be sure to stop and make sure he's got both shoes on and all other clothing items!



*Valentine's Day-



So the week of valentine's day, Jack was really sick. He had croup(barking cough), a high fever and an ear infection all at once. The poor guy was miserable, which resulted in his sleep schedule being thrown off, which also resulted in our sleep being very little. On top of that, John had 2 midterms that week, a paper due Friday, and a huge accounting project due the next Monday. Before all this happened we had planned to switch nights babysitting with another young couple with a baby in our ward, but since Jack was sick we had to cancel. So we didn't get to do much for the big V-day, but by the weekend Jack was feeling well enough that we did get to go out to dinner at Red Robin as a family. Jack loved that of course because they have an endless supply of his 2 favorite things: fries with sauce to dip them into, and balloons. I think I decided this year that I am not really a fan of Valentine's Day- it could be that it's cursed for John & I ( we haven't had a good one yet together, something always comes up to ruin it!) or it could be that I am lucky enough to have a hubbie and crazy little boy that show me everyday, not just once a year, how much they love me. They do this by being the most loving, supporting and helpful husband and dad, and the most creative, loving and silly son. I really do love my boys!



You know Jack is really not feeling good
when he takes his blanky and just lays on the floor

Just some random pictures.....

I just thought I'd put some random pictures of Jackson up, mainly for my family to see what everyday life is like with the Jacksonator. Hope you enjoy them!

eating some spaghetti, which is

definitely better on your head

Sumo wrestling with Dad

trying on his buddy Kellen's scarf

getting ready to go for a swim

and watching the Ducks beat the

Beavers in bball while eating some apples

Snow Day?!?!?!

So this past sunday, as we were waking up to start getting ready for church, we got a phone call from someone in the ward saying not to worry about having to do the sunday school lesson because all meetings were cancelled. Confused and not sure I heard him right I looked outside and was surprised to see a ton of snow! (a lot for Eugene at least). It was pretty exciting and fun, although weird not to go to church. John and I have both lived in Rexburg, ID and John went on his mission to Wisconsin and never had chuch cancelled. We figured it was because no one is used to snow here and the roads get pretty icy, especially in the hills where a lot of people from our ward live. So, we put Jack's snow boots, hat, coat and gloves on him and let him loose in our little courtyard at our complex. He had so much fun. At one point, he thought it was fun to find a fresh patch of snow and sit right in it, and then find another fresh patch and do the same thing over and over. And once we taught him how to make and throw a snowball he was unstoppable! It was like Buddy from the movie Elf. When we finally got cold and decided to go inside, Jackson cried because he wanted to stay our there all day! Here's some more pictures of the action:

I can do it all by myself!

Over the Christmas vacation, Jackson decided that he is a big boy and does not need to be fed by anyone because he can do it all by himself. If you try to feed him, he will either not open his mouth or spit the food out, but if you give him the spoon/fork and put the bowl or plate in front of him he gets really excited. The problem is, he is not very accurate yet! It takes him forever to get the food on the fork or spoon and then into his mouth without dropping it on the floor. When he gets frustrated with that, he just picks up the bowl or plate and eats right out of it! So pretty much most of his food ends up on the outside of his body instead of in his body. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

yummy yogurt and peaches!

Good thing he loves to take lots of baths!

A White Christmas

Christmas week was very relaxing and a ton of fun! The Saturday before, we drove up to Redmond, Oregon which is about 30 mins. from Bend and stayed at this really nice Resort called Eagle Crest. It is an absolutely gorgeous area. After driving up in scary, slick roads and even putting on chains in the dark, we made it, but were sad to see no snow at all there at the resort! But, we woke up Monday morning, Christmas Eve, to a blanket of snow! It was so pretty and so exciting! We got Jack all dressed up in his snow clothes and let him go out on the deck and play with it.... which he loved! I swear that boy never gets cold. At home, he would play outside in the rain, stomping around getting wet all day if I let him.

Christmas day there was still snow everywhere, and so, having grown up in California and having spent my first two Christmases in CA with my family, I had my first white Christmas ever! Jackson was super spoiled and got a ton of fun toys and clothes including a big tonka dump truck, superman pj's (cape included) legos, stickers, and the cutest ABC book with family pictures that my super awesome sister-in-law, Christi, made. The rest of the week we went swimming, sat in the hot tub on our deck, did lots of shopping in Bend, played some serious monopoly, relaxed and watched some movies, watched Nick play Guitar Hero for about 3 hours straight, played some hard core tennis, and all the girls got to get pedicures! It was very fun and relaxing. On the way home on Friday, we stopped at Willamette Pass and went snowboarding, which was a ton of fun (Thanks to my super sweet mother-in-law and Mrs. Preggo, Christi, watching Jackson for us)! It was a great week and a ton of fun to be all together..... we were way excited that Nick, Christi and Reagan got to come from Vegas and we already miss them a ton!!

Jack and his best buddy, his Aunt Heather

Family picture by the river after church

Jack, with Reagan in the back on her sweet new Radio Flyer

Superman helping me open present and load the

wrapping paper in his new dump truck

My little superhero

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