Hallelujah!

We have some good news to share with everyone.....we have found childcare!! :) Just when we were about to give up we finally found something that works out so well that we know it was just meant to be. Here's the story:

We were very discouraged on the daycare front so we began looking for nanny shares and a nanny. We had found a family to share with and had just interviewed a nanny. Needless to say, we weren't too thrilled with the nanny as she wasn't quite what we were expecting. She showed up to our house (after I had to contact her about 3 times about meeting) with stretched out earlobes and a tongue ring. Not that there is anything wrong with either of those but it kind of threw us for a loop as it was NOT what we were expecting. She had lots of experience (about 11 years) but for some reason we just weren't thrilled with the idea of having her watch Jackson. Oh yeah, on top of watching 2 4-month-olds she was also going to bring along her 4 1/2 year old son. We were just about to go ahead with the situation as we couldn't seem to find anything else when a friend of ours mentioned that they were heading in to a daycare in downtown Seattle for a tour as they had openings. Of course we called first thing the next morning and, sure enough, they had 5 spaces available. We couldn't believe our luck....we went in that afternoon for a tour and signed our enrollment papers. And the best part of it all is that the daycare is about 3 blocks away from my office so I can go see Jackson everyday! They have an open door policy so I'll be there at least once a day to give him one of his feedings.

Things couldn't have worked out better. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for this to turn out right! We're so thrilled!

He's rolling!!

Jackson had his first "official" roll over this past weekend on Saturday! We're so excited since most of the time when he does tummy time he just lays there with his head buried in the floor and his arms straight out to the side and screams at the top of his lungs. It's quite a sight and he makes it fairly obvious that he HATES tummy time. So we were quite excited to see him finally push himself over on to his back. Who knows when it may happen again......be looking for video!!

Jackson right after he rolled over - you can tell he's really happy!

Baby toots!

So Jackson is probably just about the gasiest guy I know. He MUST get that from his father. Jackson can entertain us for quite a while with some of his flatulence. I know it's gross to talk about but I find it interesting how we are entertained by this....as if Brady and I were 12-year-old boys or something. Oh wait, Brady IS a 12-year-old boy! So this explains why he finds it so entertaining but not so much why I do. Just goes to show that once you have a kid you find EVERYTHING they do entertaining! :)

Bumbo.

Jackson is finally big enough (and strong enough) to fit in his Bumbo seat. This has really helped me as he LOVES to sit up straight. I can now put him in the Bumbo and have him sit right next to me as I get ready in the mornings. He's so darn cute...I'm not biased or anything!

Seattle sees the sun!

This weekend has been absolutely gorgeous! We actually saw the sun for 2 days in a row!! This prompted Brady and I to take the family for a walk around Green Lake today. It was beautiful and just the right temperature - Champ really enjoyed getting out and seeing the many people at the lake. Jackson also got to wear his sunglasses for the first time!

Jackson and I walking the lake! :)

This weekend we were also able to have a fun evening with Brady's cousin Jimmy and his wife Jenny. We had a great dinner together - Jackson really enjoyed reading the dessert menu!

Jackson choosing his dessert of choice.

And, even though Jimmy fully admitted that he STILL hasn't visited our blog yet, I am still putting the picture of him and Jenny with Jackson up just because it's so darn cute. I can't punish Jenny for Jimmy's mistakes.

Peoples Look-alike Meter

I recently came across this really cool tool that allows you to input pictures of mom, dad, and baby to see who baby looks most like! I thought it would be fun to try out....here are the results!

Looks like Jackson is 50/50 mom and dad.....this made me happy since most of the time I hear that he looks just like dad! :) Part of me must be in there, too!

So frustrating.....

So, we still haven't found anything for Jackson in regards to care when I head back to work. I feel like I'm trying all of these different resources only to be turned down at every opportunity. I just want to be able to take my baby to a place where I know that he'll be safe and have a good time....ideally, I'd just like to stay home so that I can assure that he's getting the kind of care I'd like for him to have. Too bad we had such big eyes when we purchased our house! I can't help but think of all the "what-if's" at this juncture in my life. What if we had bought a cheaper house....what if we had stayed in Chicago.....what if my job paid me more.....what if Brady's job paid him more??? If any one of these factors were different would I have been able to stay home with my son? It's so expensive to put him in daycare (even more expensive for a nanny which is most likely the route we'll have to take if we can't find a solution soon) sometimes I wonder if it's even worth it for me to go back to work at all.

On a positive note, Jackson is getting cuter by the day. He's really talking a lot and is staying up for longer periods which has been a lot of fun for us. He's also starting to get into a schedule, taking his last bottle of the night between 9 and 9:30 and sleeping for anywhere from 6 to 9 hours a night....I know, we're VERY lucky! He's been a dream!