April 2016

On the way home from school one day

Working on some stuff on my computer for Jackson's birthday party and these silly boys are distracting me!

My new favorite breakfast. Jackson calls it an openface. Toast with avocade, fried egg, bacon and siracha

Jimmy and I got to sneak away and watch the final day of the Master's Golf Tournament.

I had to snap a picture of him talking on the phone to Nana. He was all smiles.

At Mumford & Sons concert. What an incredible show!

We invited some friends over to grill out and the kids were so excited about their ice cream cones for dessert

Jackson has been building lots of houses with his Lincoln Logs.

My sweet sweet Annabelle snuggling me while I'm trying to make Jackson's birthday invites

We've had this kinetic sand for a while but honestly it made such a mess inside I hated to get it out for the boys to play with. I decided one day they could do it outside on the deck and it was fabulous! I didn't even care if they dropped any or made a big mess. I could clean it up much easier out there! Jackson was making snowmen.

After tennis lessons one day my friend Ryann took the kids to get an early dinner. Storms started rolling in and within about 5 min of this picture she texted me saying it was pouring on them!

I have such amazing friends! While Ryann takes Jackson to tennis, Kylie took Camden to swim lessons. He and Torsten go to the same instructor so it was convenient!

Jackson snuggled and slept in bed with us one night :)

We finally got a bed for the basement and I was busy picking out bedding and such! Still need a headboard and side tables but its a start.

Planted my garden and I am excited to see how things grow this year

Cucumbers and pole beans

Watermelons and Pumpkins

Mini Pumpkins and carrots

Another day with daddy another nap in the car for Jackson! He seems to always fall asleep with Jimmy in the Jeep or the BMW.

Ready for swim lessons!

End of the season doughnuts

Despite this face he really did enjoy the doughnut!

Jackson's 5th Birthday!

Jackson turns 5 years old!? How has the time gone by so quickly? I feel like I just had him and snuggled my little tiny newborn in the hospital. We were making cupcakes for him to take to school. He was very opinionated that he wanted white cake with green icing.

My taste tester

And then this one. He chose to eat fruit rather than tasting the frosting! He might have had one lick but quickly handed the spatula back to me.

His "cheese" face!

Not the best and they would not get green! I put many drops of green food coloring in but they stayed a pale pastel green. So that's what he took!

Jimmy had big ideas of what he wanted to get Jackson this year... a remote control car. But not just any remote control car. He got the mack daddy one from the hobby store. A little pricey and way more fragile than a kid version! Jackson loved it and was so excited to drive it that morning before school. We quickly realized that this wasn't going to be a toy he could play with on his own. It goes almost 30mph! So Jimmy took him that afternoon to pick out his own new (kid-friendly) remote control car. And poor Jimmy had to drive the big fancy one. Maybe it was all just a ploy so he could get a new toy too! Ha!

Jackson requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and also the green ice cream dessert. We had Gigi and Uncle John over too.

Camden chose a cupcake

And this lucky 5 year old had some of each!

The next day Nana and Papa arrived also bringing with them his birthday present...a new bike! He needed to move up to a bigger size and since he just learned to ride it without training wheels it seemed like a great time to get a new bike! He loved it and was so very excited.

At his 5 year checkup he was 44 lbs 4 oz (74%) and 44.5 inches tall (81%). His BMI is 15 (59%). He passed the vision screening and hearing screening with flying colors. He had to get a couple vaccines but then he won't be due for any more vaccines until age 11 I think so he was happy about that!

Jackson has been consistently going to speech therapy since he was about 2 1/2. He has made so much progress and works very hard to make sure he says the correct sounds. After age 3 we were eligible to get speech therapy through Fulton County. There happened to be 3 kids at his preschool who all qualified for services so starting last fall we left CHOA and a therapist would come to his preschool and help all 3 kids.

Jackson is such a fantastic eater! He is so adventurous and will try most anything. He loves to eat yogurt, cereal, oatmeal or waffles for breakfast and daddy's fried or scrambled eggs. He says his are better than mine! He doesn't drink much milk anymore but will sometimes ask for a cup in the morning. He loves peanut butter and honey sandwiches and also loves turkey, ham or chicken salad sandwiches. He eats lots of fruits with his meals or for snacks during the day. His favorite dinners are my meatballs, poppyseed chicken, tacos, bbq, fried shrimp and pizza (always pepperoni and mushroom!). He'll try most anything I give him including different kids of fish, pork, smoked salmon and more. We almost always all eat dinner together unless Jimmy or I have tennis or plans one night. The boys both love to have a little scoop of ice cream or a popsicle after dinner. Jackson drinks lots of water during the day and an occasional juice.

Jackson has always had amazing hand eye coordination and continues to hit tennis balls and baseballs right out of the air and golf balls right off the tee. He definitely has the potential to be a great athlete if that's something he wants to do. We try not to push him but rather let him follow his interests. We did a couple seasons of baseball and he recently started tennis lessons.We just want him to have fun and find something he loves to do. We might continue tennis for now and might do some golf lessons later. I think he's ready to take a break from baseball and he's never had much interest in soccer.

We love to read books and Jackson does a great job writing his name and other words I spell out for him. He recognizes letters but doesn't try to sound words out by himself. He memorizes many books we read so he knows the story. I'm not sure how much he looks at the words or maybe just the pictures which is fine. He'll read when it all clicks! We limit TV time to just a couple shows a day and only really use phones or ipads when we are traveling. I'd much rather them be playing.

I know I have mentioned this before but he has the best memory! He is so observant to whats around him, where we go and the route we take and listens to everything we or anybody says and remembers it! You can't keep much from this boy!

I can't believe how fast the years are going by! He is such a little boy now. He's lost all that baby fat and looks so grown up. He likes to pick out his own clothes. He wears mostly 4T or 5T shirts and 4T shorts and pants. He's got a skinny little waist! However pants and jeans wind up being too short on him. He's wearing size 12.5 shoes.

We are so proud of the boy you are becoming Jackson! Always be you and always follow your dreams!

Love, Mommy and Daddy