Walking...

I know - it's been forever since I've posted anything! I apologize but my new position at work has been keeping me VERY busy. Jackson, Brady and I will be hitting the slopes with my family the week after Christmas so I'm very excited about having a week of vacation! Brady will join us on 12/30 so at least he'll get a few days of skiing in.

Anyway, on to much more exciting news....Jackson has started walking! He walked holding our hands for months and months but we could never get him to do it on his own. He was fighting a double ear infection all of October and November so I think that had something to do with it - could have been throwing off his equilibrium or something. Brady was playing with him with a ball one day while they waited for me to finish working (it was an 8 o'clock evening....like I said, I've been busy!) and he kept walking to Brady with the ball in hand. I got to see it the following day and ever since then he's just been getting better and better at it. It all started a couple of weeks ago so he's had some time to perfect it. We like to call him Frankenbaby because (at the beginning, especially) he would walk with his arms straight out and very stiff legged and he looked like Frankenstein! :) We're such nice parents!

Hope this post finds you all doing well - Merry early Christmas from the Peoples family! :)

One!

I can't believe it. My baby boy has turned one! It was such a bittersweet day for me. I am so excited to see Jackson grow and learn but can't help but miss the days when he was first born. That tiny baby was so dependent on us for everything and now he's getting to be so independent that he doesn't want our help with anything it seems. Everyday he is changing and learning or doing something new. So much has changed in this past year but most definitely for the better. We can't imagine what our lives would be like with out our sweet baby boy. We have been so blessed with such a wonderful son and look forward to watching him learn and grow for many, many years to come! We love you, Jackson!

Jackson still in the hospital! Only a day old!

Jackson enjoying his first birthday cake.

Labor Day Weekend 2009 - Orcas Island

This year we headed to Orcas Island with Jenny and Jimmy for Labor Day weekend. They purchased a cabin rental at an auction and we gracious enough to invite us along! It was a very small cabin and we were very cozy. Add to that that we had no tv, phone, or internet on the first weekend of college football and it made for an interesting weekend. But we survived being disconnected from the rest of the world and realized that it was actually kind of nice. Brady and Jimmy headed into town to watch the games at a bar while Jenny and I shopped (our favorite past time aside from getting pedicures!). We had fun in the evenings by playing games like Yahtzee and hearts. All in all, it was a great weekend. Jackson also had his first boat ride on the ferry over to the island. Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend as well!

My first boat ride!

The whole fam...

Having fun on the boat.

Playing at the cabin.

Yes, we're still alive!

Hello everyone! I know it's been forever but life gets crazy with a baby in the house! I don't have any pictures to share today but thought I could at least update you all on some of the things that have been going on for the past month or so. Where to begin......?

Jackson turned 10 months this past Saturday. He celebrated by having his first bottle of formula. A pretty sad day for mom as I was hoping to continue nursing until he was 1 year but the supply was getting low and I figured it was better to try it out at home than to send him to daycare with a bottle of formula that he'd never had before. He took some of it (only about an ounce and a half) without question but then exhaustion got the better of him and all he wanted to do was sleep. I think it was probably more difficult for me than for him - he didn't seem to even notice! I'm still pumping and giving him all the breastmilk I can but don't know how much longer I can keep up with him. So far he's only had 2 bottles of formula since Saturday and hopefully we'll only have to give it to him sparingly over the next couple of months.

Jackson is now all over the place! He crawls everywhere and pulls himself up on everything! He's waving hello and goodbye and we're working on clapping. He LOVES his finger foods!! I tried to feed him the stage 3 baby foods and he would just spit everything out. I don't think he liked being fed "chunky food" on a spoon. He'd much rather pick it up and put it in his mouth himself! Because Jackson is now basically eating the same dinner that Brady and I are, we've been forced to actually eat dinner at a decent hour (we can't wait until after Jackson falls asleep anymore....) as well as eat something fairly healthy! These don't sound like too horrible of compromises! :) It's also nice for all 3 of us to sit at the table and talk about our day instead of Brady and I just vegging out in front of the TV. :) Since our venture in table foods, Jackson has really been packing on the pounds. As you may recall, at his last appointment we were told to try and get a little more meat on his bones (he was only in the 3rd percentile for his age for weight) and it feels like he's already gained a couple of pounds. Hopefully we'll get a good report at his 1-year check up.

Other than that, things have been moving along at lightning speed. I can't believe it's August already! One of our best friends got married last weekend so Brady was in Denver for that and another one of our great friends gets married this weekend so we'll be in Illinois for that one! We're excited to have a short getaway - we're skipping over to Chicago for a couple of nights to visit some of our other wonderful friends before we head back to Seattle. Can't wait for my friend to get married and see everyone...and Chicago.....and the FOOD!! Hopefully I'll have some great pictures of our trip! Until next time.....

Wading pool.

We have a pretty cool little wading pool just a block away from our house. It's crawling with little kids all throughout the summer so we're pretty excited that we have a valid reason to take advantage of it's close proximity to it this year. We headed to the wading pool a couple of weekends ago with our friends and their daughter. She is only a day older than Jackson - they are best buds! Here are some pics of the fun they had together!

We're not so sure about this pool thing!

Ok, I'm starting to warm up to this!


Now I'm having fun!

Gone campin'.

We took our first family camping trip over the 4th of July weekend to Salmon la Sac in Roslyn, WA. We went with friends from our parenting group so we ended up being quite the attraction at the campground. In total, there were 6 babies all within a month of each other! I'm sure the people at the campsites surrounding us were regretting their decision to go camping after our crew arrived! We had a blast while we were there. We went for a hike as well as checked out the river and did some very cold swimming. A good time was had by all (except probably the 2 families that left a day early....their babies did NOT have a very good first night.) Now if only I could get rid of all my bug bites!

The car was packed so tight that Champ had to ride on Brady's lap on the way to Corey and Jim's!

Hanging out with Dad!

Ready to go for a hike!


Dad's such a good hiker that he put me to sleep!

A view of the river from our hike.

Some of our hiking buddies.

Playing in the Pack 'N Play at the campsite.

Hangin' out with my friend, Lily.

Milestones.

Jackson is becoming such a big boy! I noticed on Saturday under the bright, florescent lights at Target that Jackson has officially cut his second tooth. Only a month behind the first one but it's here now! Jackson also learned how to pull himself up on Saturday. At first, he was pulling himself up on me and I could move my arms around to accomodate and "help" him on his journey up. But just yesterday, he figured out how to pull himself up on one of his favorite toys! I'll try to post the video soon! And so it begins....... Wish us luck! :)

Jackson laughs.

Here's a video that we took about a month ago of Jackson laughing in his exercauser. I've been meaning to download it for a while but lost our USB cable and just got a new one. There is nothing sweeter in the world than a baby laughing!

A day in the park.

We went to the park today with Jenny and Jimmy! They brought their good camera so we got some great pics of Jackson. Here are a few of our favorites!

First time on the swings!

"Hey Mom, this is pretty fun!"

"I'm so cute...."

Jackson and his best buddy, Champ.

Taking a walk with Mom.

Look at those pretty blue eyes and gorgeous lashes - what a lucky boy!

Finally, time for a nap! What an exhausting day!!

Mother's day.

My wonderful hubby planned a great trip to Portland for my first "official" Mother's Day. The weather was beautiful (which can be a rarity here in the NW) and we spent Saturday walking around the city and enjoying the outdoors. Then I got my "gift" which was exactly what I requested....a couple of hours of shopping to myself with an extra discount at Nordstrom and NO sales tax! I scored some pretty great pieces!! Then, on Sunday before we left to head back to Seattle, we enjoyed a very nice brunch...just the 3 of us. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend.

Sometimes I still can't believe that I can celebrate Mother's Day in any way other than celebrating for my own mom. These past 7 months have flown by and I have loved every minute of it....from the grins, giggles, and coos even to the sleepless nights. I wouldn't trade anything in this world for my fabulous little boy. He is my definition of sunshine! To all the lovely mothers in my life, I hope you all had a fantastic day and I am so happy that I have joined your ranks!

Teeth!

Jackson has been quite fussy the past week or so and on Sunday when I was out running errands with my mom we found out why! I had been checking for teeth fairly regularly as he's been drooling a ton (not that that is any different from any other time) and has just not quite been himself. Guess I hadn't checked yet on Sunday when Jackson opened wide and my mom said, "Is that a tooth in there?" Sure enough, it was! One of his lower front teeth has just started poking through his gums and it's pretty obvious that the second lower front tooth is soon to follow! We've been having some rough nights this week so we're hoping that the second tooth pokes through soon so we can all get a good night's sleep!

Exersaucer fun!

Jackson has been in the best mood the past couple of days!! He's really starting to enjoy some of his more complex toys, such as the exersaucer. Here are some pictures of him having a blast entertaining himself!

First haircut.

Jackson had his first professional haircut on Saturday. We were told a few times that his haircut a la Mommy was pretty crummy and he's got his 6 month pictures this weekend so we figured we'd clean him up before then. We got him into the taxi cab chair, got his smock on, and he was doing great!

Getting ready for our first haircut! :)

Aren't I handsome!! Who says I need a haircut?!?

Then came the water squirter. It was all downhill from there. The stylist spritzed some water on his head to do the cut and all we got were screams afterward.

I DO NOT like water squirted on my head!!

We had to move out of the taxi cab and he had to sit on Mommy's lap for the remainder of the cut. Other than the crying, all else went well.

Ok, I'm starting to calm down now.....

He walked away with quite the handsome do and is all ready for his pictures this weekend! Those stylists should get a medal for working with those screaming kids....I've never seen a haircut done so quickly in my life! Thanks to Megan!!

Finished product....who would have known I could have come out looking even MORE handsome than before?!?

Happy 1/2 birthday!

Jackson turned 6 months old last week. I know I say this every time I post, but I just can't believe how quickly he's growing up! We had his doctor's appointment on Friday and he's weighing in at 15lbs and is 26 1/4" long. He's in the 50th percentile for height and dropped to the 10th percentile for weight. The doctor didn't seem concerned so I guess I won't be either! Everything else went well at his checkup and his doctor said that he's a very healthy boy. He got 3 shots which made us both sad...I'll be glad when he doesn't have to get those every couple of months anymore. Will post pictures soon!

Rollie-pollie!

So Jackson truly has become a mobile child. On Saturday he learned how to roll from his back to his stomach. Now he just rolls all the way across the room! Back to stomach to back to stomach....it's pretty amusing to watch! :) Although, now I can no longer leave him alone on the floor for a quick second to get something done because who knows where he could end up! Makes my life a little more difficult but it's all worth it just to watch this little boy grow up and to have him in our lives!

Cereal, cereal, everywhere!

Jackson had his first taste of something other than mom's milk on his Uncle Ryan's birthday - 3.14.09. He absolutely LOVED it! He was very in to opening his mouth for the spoon and did a pretty good job for a 5 month old. We tried to keep things pretty neat but, of course, it never stays that way (especially with the tongue reflex all babies have at this age...just pushing things out instead of back to swallow).

All last week I kept trying to give him rice cereal at dinner and he just wasn't nearly as interested as he was the first couple of days that he had it. So, on Sunday, I decided to try oatmeal cereal instead. Man, I thought he loved the rice cereal....this kid canEAT oatmeal cereal. Every time I've fed it to him he's eaten the ENTIRE thing! This week we're hoping to move on to solids. I got apples, pears, sweet potatoes, peas, and bananas this past weekend so we can start trying some new things. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up!

Yum, yum! This sure is good!! :)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hope everyone is having an excellent St. Patty's day! Jackson celebrated by wearing his green. My favorite part of the outfit is the socks!

5 months

Well, February is over and today Jackson turned 5 months old! I can't believe how quickly time has flown. He's now rolling over, laughing, playing with his feet, and trying to sit up. He's such a big boy! I can't wait to see what the next month will bring - we're planning on trying rice cereal this month which I'm sure will be interesting.

HAWAII!!

Our trip to Hawaii was a blast! Jackson was an absolute angel throughout the travel process. We flew from Seattle to Honolulu to Kona and went back the same route. On the puddle jumper between Honolulu and Kona we didn't hear a peep out of him. For the longer flight we had one small breakdown each direction that lasted not more than a couple of minutes. All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better behaved infant on the plane.

We just made it through security at Seatac Airport! Man, was that an adventure!

Jackson on his first airplane ride! :)

I'm pretty sure that just about everyone that worked at the hotel knew Jackson's name. We were famous! Ok, we weren't, but Jackson was. One of the concierges gave Jackson a green gecko that is now his favorite toy. He'll spit out his pacifier in order to put it in his mouth. It's so cute...it's the first toy that he's shown a real interest in.

Boy, did I have an exhausting day hanging out at the pool! It's tiring being so popular!

Too cool for school! :)

We did a whole lot of nothing while we were there. The first couple of days my parents rented a cabana and we spent all day lounging there. The rest of the time we spent our days at the pool chasing the shade. We couldn't have asked for a better trip - thanks Mimi and Papa!

Mom's favorite pic....

Jackson's first week at daycare

Ok, so I know I've been off the blog for a while but we've been trying to get used to our new lifestyle. Last week was Jackson's first full week at daycare and man, was it hard. His first day his teachers said that he was pretty fussy and he held my finger the entire way home....he would not let it go for anything! It was obvious that he was missing his mommy big time. His mommy missed him big time, too! The further we got into the week the better he did and the more he got used to his new surroundings. He still has a tough time every once in a while but not as bad as the first day. I think that I am having a much harder time adjusting than he is and am still desperate to find a way to stay home with him. Hopefully we'll come up with something soon! At least, for now, he's only 3 blocks away and I continue to go visit during my lunch and give him one of his feedings - the highlight of every day!

Jackson's 4 month stats.

Just wanted to update you all on how Jackson did at the doctor's this week. He got 2 shots and an oral medication so he wasn't in a great mood for about 24 hours but did much better than when he got his shots at 2 months. He weighed in at 13lbs, 7oz and was 25 1/4" long. He's a tall, skinny little boy. We're getting ready for our first trip on an airplane (to Hawaii!) so keep us in your prayers that we have a smooth flight! It's gonna be a long one! I'll try to update soon about how my first day back to work was but may be off the blog for the next week since we'll be on vacation. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures though! There will be a lot for firsts for Jackson, I'm sure.

Jackson turns 4 months!

I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday I was waking Brady up at 4am telling him I was having contractions. And here we are today celebrating Jackson's 4 month birthday. I know, kind of cheesy to celebrate by month but you kind of have to when they are this young since they change so quickly.....most of you are moms and completely understand where I'm coming from. As most of you all also know, I head back to work this Wednesday and, of course, am dreading it. The only positive thing I can think of is that it's only for 3 days and then we leave on Saturday for our vacation to Hawaii....I can't wait for the sun and to be able to spend all day once again with my baby boy.

Happy 4 month birthday, Jackson!

Another first for us happened this weekend as well - Jackson got his first haircut courtesy of mom. He was a pretty good client and only fussed toward the end...I was probably taking too long but I wanted to make sure that I didn't cut him! Here are a few pics of the process.