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!