Sleeping Baby

Jackson napped in his crib for the first time!  I know he will need to transition to his own room soon, I am just not ready.  But, in order to get him used to the crib, he will start napping in the nursery.  Ryan installed the video monitor and it is so cool to be able to see what's going on in the crib.  Sweet sleeping baby, for thirty minutes at least.  

Jackson loves to be swaddled, but he is getting so big.  He is also rolling over now in the cradle.  We try to swaddle him with one arm out and when he rolls over the blanket unwinds.  Sometimes he wakes up looking like he's been to a wild toga party.  So I bought this sleep sack.  Tessa wore a similar one and I remember thinking it was a great invention.  Now at bedtime he's a soft, snuggly bag of love.   

In other news, Jackson is on his first round of Amoxicillin.  He has a low grade fever and congestion.  The pediatrician says it is bronchitis.  Poor little guy!

Easter

Jackson's first Easter was a lot of fun.  I bought the kids matching Easter baskets and took a picture of Jackson inside of his.  I had to take this picture early because Jackson is growing so fast.  I was afraid he wouldn't fit if I actually waited until Easter.  I love his bunny ears and his blue eyes. 

We were all up early and snapped a few pictures before going to church.  I'm so excited that my clothes fit again.  We left Jackson in the nursery for the first hour and then took him with us to service the second hour.  I can't say I heard much of the message.      

After church, we talked to Nanny & Pa and then went to G&G's house for a late lunch. 

My mom did a beautiful job wrapping the Easter baskets.  I may delegate this job every year!  Tessa can hardly wait to dig in to her goodies. 

Tessa helped by opening Jackson's basket for him.  

Jackson is getting old enough to actually play with his toys.  I am amazed at how quickly he is changing.  This ball toy was a huge hit.

 Tessa was very proud of the eggs that she died with Daddy. 

Ryan and Jackson napped in the rocking chair which made me laugh.  We still aren't getting much sleep.  Happy Easter!



Gamma's Birthday

My mom's birthday fell on Easter this year, so we celebrated the night before her actual birthday.  We went out to dinner downtown and Jackson slept through most of the meal.  It was delightful.   

The, we headed back to our house for dessert and champagne.  My daughter has almost as big a sweet tooth as my mother.  These two had their fill of cake and icing. 

Then we put on Pandora and danced the night away.  We played oldies from my parent's high school days.  They sang along as we danced around the living room.  Tessa was in hog heaven. 

Jackson got a kick out of all the excitement too.  We let Tessa take a few twirls around the dance floor with him.  She loves her baby brother so much. 

I think my mom had a pretty good birthday, we sure enjoyed it.  Happy Birthday Gamma!

Easter Egg Hunt

Our Sunday School had it's annual Easter Egg Hunt the week before Easter.  Billy and Vicki have a great yard where the kids can run and play.  At the start of the egg hunt, Tessa is still finishing a strawberry that she snagged off the buffet table.

This little guy was obviously not ready to hunt eggs.  Miss Tobie is always happy to hold Jackson and give us a little break.  

Tessa proudly showed us the eggs that she found.  I think there were only about five in her bucket.  That's ok, she'll find lots of eggs at my mom's house next week.  

Billy grilled for us and we ate outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  The kids played and the grown-ups had a chance to relax and chat.  Look at Tessa's smile, she has lost so many teeth!  It's just another way she is growing up on me.      

Soccer Season Finale

Soccer season is over and the jury is still out on how Tessa liked it.  But she sure looked cute while she was out there and she had fun.  Here are a few action shots of her on the field.     

Tessa is not particularly aggressive.  She would much rather encourage a friend or cheer for her team than charge into the middle of a group of girls fighting over the ball.  I get that, I don't think I would want to get into the fray either.  I only asked that she try hard and pay attention to the coach which, for the most part, she did. 

At the little awards ceremony, Coach Tim complemented Tessa on her good attitude and sweet smile.  He said he loved coaching her because she was always happy.  That's just one of the many reasons I love being her mom, she's such a sweet and happy kid. 

I am personally relieved the season is over.  We are, perhaps, a little overextended with ballet, tumbling, speech, soccer and a newborn.  Tessa loves to be busy, but this schedule might be a little too busy.  



Three Months Old

I don't know where the time has gone!  All of a sudden, this big boy is three months old.  He is sweet and snuggly and loves to be held.  He now weighs 15 pounds and measures 26 inches long.  He is so handsome.    

He's not only big, but strong too.  Look at this head control!  When he's on his play mat he tries so hard to roll from back to front.  He has long since mastered rolling from front to back. 

Such a happy little face!  I love our nighttime routine of taking a bath, putting on jammies, reading stories in my bed and then snuggling together.

The last part of our routine is tucking in Tessa.  We all go to her bedroom, I lay Jackson in her arms and we say our nighttime prayers together.  This is usually my favorite part of the day.  Seeing my two children cuddled together and listening to Tessa pray to God brings tears to my eyes.  Although sometimes we are late getting to Tessa to bed and Jackson is doing his loudest hungry cry.  Then I don't hear much of her prayers.  But most nights, it's a sweet time I treasure.       

We then all take turns kissing Tessa good night.  There is an order to this process, Brother, Momma, Anabelle and then Daddy is last.  We have pared down the nighttime routine because it was getting a little out of hand.  It used to include kissing stuffed animals, applying Band-aids, checking under the bed, closing doors, taking fake medicine called "water medicine" and so on.  Tessa is not actually sleeping in this picture but since I was taking photos this night, she pretended she was sleeping.  In reality, she sleeps with the covers all the way over her head and every stuffed animal she owns, plus a few books, stuffed under the blankets with her.