Saturday morning...

This morning Justin kissed me goodbye at 5:30am to go up to Sunrise ski resort to get in an afternoon of skiing. Jackson woke up at 7:50am, roaring to go. I woke up to the sounds of giggles and laughter and "Mommy, mommy out"...when I went into his room he was standing in his "tented crib" smiling from ear to ear. I took him out and pulled him into our bed for a few more minutes of snuggle time and some Saturday morning cartoons.
Papa came over to fix the chair railing that Jackson pulled at so much that it pulled away from the wall and snapped. This happened a good 8 months ago but with how crazy our life is we have not had an opportunity to fix it. Thank goodness it was a quick and easy fix. Dad and I laughed and commented on why hadn't we done it sooner. We are in the process of getting ready to transform Jackson's "baby room" in to a "big boy room" so this was one of the 1st steps in getting it ready.
Jackson was thrilled to have Papa over and wanted to help every step of the way. Papa let Jackson carry the smaller tool box up the stairs to his room and you could just tell that Jackson was in heaven. He loves his Papa soooo much its quite humorous. After we were finished with the chair railing repair dad invited Jackson and I to go down and visit Moms grave. I have not been since late in the fall last year. Its hard to go now with it getting dark earlier and by the time I am off of work its just too late, and I must admit I in a way have just not been able to get myself to go. Now with Jackson talking soooo much about MomMom I did not really know what to expect when we got there. He loves to talk about "Angel MomMom" and always tells her that he misses her at night.
I want him to go to the grave and know that is where her "physical body" remains however she is in heaven with Jesus watching down on us. I want him to always know that we can talk to her whenever and where ever we are. It helps me to talk to her at night either when I am driving home from the cdc with Jackson or after we say our prayers and tuck Jackson in bed. I know that she must be sooo thrilled to see how much he has grown and how much he loves his Papa.
It was a beautiful 65 degrees out with a nice afternoon breeze. Jackson ran up to the grave where Ashley was already sitting and said hello to MomMom. Then he was off running around smelling all the other fake flowers on other grave sites. Ashley commented on how sunny it was and that Jackson should have brought his sunglasses. He looked up at Aunt Ashley and Papa and said...." and my soccer ball". We all had a good laugh as he is sooo honest. So basically he thinks that it would be appropriate to bring his soccer ball next time we go and see MomMom...we will see about that Mr Jackson!
He enjoyed running around the open grassy area playing with all the flags on the other grave sites and playing with the chain that divides the cemetery. He took a long walk with Papa and looked at some of the surrounding sites around Moms. When it was time to go we told him to say goodbye. He was a few sites away from Mom's,  he walked up to a few that had bundles of flowers, spread the flowers apart and said, " bye MomMom, miss you" we laughed as he did it to a few random ones. We explained to Jackson that those were not MomMom's and pointed out which one was hers. He again walked up to hers and kindly spread the spring arrangement that Grandma and Betty had place and again said "bye MomMom, miss you" and blew her a kiss. I am not sure what Ashley and Dad thought, but I am sure it warmed their heart to finally see how Jackson talks about MomMom and how it seems like he truly still knows what an angel she is. I asked Jackson where MomMom was, as I want to make sure that he does not think she is not under some iron grave stone, he thought for a minute and said..." MomMom with Jesus" Ashley and Dad both praised Jackson for the correct answer.
As I quietly told Mom good bye and that I loved her and missed her beyond possible measure we packed up our chairs and blankets and headed to the car. Jackson kissed Aunt Ashley goodbye before she headed back out to Goodyear. I put Jackson in his seat and we ourselves got ready to head home. As Ashley drove off Dad, Jackson and I were getting ready to leave behind her in Dad's truck and Jackson yells something from the back seat that I could not understand. Dad and I looked at each other and Jackson said it again. We finally made out that he was saying "catch her, catch her" we laughed as we figured out that he wanted Papa to drive faster and catch Ashley as she drove off.
What a beautiful time we shared with Mom today, I do look forward to doing it more often.

So in closing..."MomMom, we miss you and love you and next time Jack and I come, maybe we will bring his soccer ball so you can see just how good he is at kicking the ball. I love you..."

Auntie Ashley & Jackson

As you can see Jackson was not in the mood for the camera...at all today.

He was closing his eyes on purpose...

"Burr, Mommy Jack's cold"

This was a wonderful weekend. We were able to escape to the cabin for an afternoon to play in the snow! I told Jackson Friday night that we would be going up with Papa, Daddy, Aunt Shannon and Baby Suri on Saturday to see the cabin and play in the snow. You should have seen his face...it lit up and his smile was ear to ear. He looked at me and said " Burr, Mommy Jack's cold." I just laughed as I could see his excitement and looked forward to seeing him actually play in the snow.

We left our house at 8am, stopped for the morning MUST...coffee from dutch brothers and then headed up to Papa's. Jackson would not stop talking about "Papa's snow..." That is all he said pretty much up until the moment we arrived in Forest Lakes. Once getting to Papa's house we transfered our car to Papa's truck (as Jackson calls it) and then headed up the hill.

We got to the snow around 11am. Jackson was amazed at all the white stuff. Justin and I got Jackson in his "snow gear" (thanks to Melissa letting me borrow Trenton's snow gear) We had him bundled like Chirstmas story...he could hardly walk, it was precious. Justin thought it was a little overboard...

Jackson enjoyed playing in the snow and sharing in Suri's 1st snow experience. She was bundled just like Jackson however you could not tell as much as she wasn't trying to walk around.

The purpose of the trip was to go up and of course play in the snow and get Papa's quad and trailer for his weekend hunting trips. We were able to get on the lot and get the quad out of the shed and hook up the trailer with no problems. Thank you to Colleen who scheduled someone to come in and clear the driveway!

After we got the trailer cleared off Daddy and Jackson were able to build a snowman. Jackson had a blast UNTIL his little hands got frozen from playing in the snow. I thought to myself, "Burr Mommy Jack's really cold now!" After playing for a little while and after nearly freezing the little man's hands off we loaded up Papa's truck and headed back down to the valley. Jackson and Suri were amazing for the long hours in the car (Suri more so than Jackson).

Weekends like this are the kinds of weekends I live for. The house cleaning can wait, the laundry will be there on Monday night and the rest of the weekend household chores will be pushed back to the next weekend.

I have the best family and I am sooo excited for Jackson and Suri to grow up together and remember the memories we make and look back on them and laugh.

Here are some of our photos from our snow day...

Miss Suri Rose...ALWAYS styling !!!

Jacksons 1st first steps in the snow...he fell over!

Shannon and Suri Rose

He spent a lot of time on the ground...UNTIL he got use to his "cabin feet" and was comfortable with walking in all his gear and on slick snow!

Aunt Shannon, Jackson and Suri Rose

"Cheesy Mom"

Finally a Photo of Jackson and ME...Mommy

"Lets go for a quad ride Papa...PLEASE"

Aunt Lindsay and Suri

pRiCeLeSs...Does not get better than this little face...

Papa and Jackson working hard to find the trailer bottom.I think Papa was more of the one working, however Jackson liked to pretend to help.

"my turn, my turn..."

"...Eat WHITE snow only Boys!!!"

Buddies

Snuggle Time

Skinny Momma Shannon and Suri Rose...Wish I could say I looked this great 3 months post baby!

Way to go Shanny ;-)

Papa...working hard while we play... and take numerous photos!

Jackson and Daddy working on the trailer some more

Justin, you will thank me for this photo some day...there WILL come a day that you look back on this photo and say..."see honey, Look I did too have a waist!" ;-) PROMISE, everyone does at some point!

Looks like all the hard work made someone HOT...Nothing new, hes ALWAYS hot!

Jackson and Daddy

Working hard

BeSt bUdDiEs...forever!

There is always time for JUICE TIME!!!!

My little juice monster.

LOVE this photo, SNOT and all ;-)

can you tell someone is having FUN?!?!

uh-oh...

"all fall down..." one of Jackson's new sayings!

Snowman Hayes in progress...what should we name him?...or HeR?!?!?!

Mommy is ALWAYS out numbered!

Snowball fight!!!!!!!!!!!

Jackson running after Mommy...of course Mommy takes photos and does NOT put down the camera!

Daddy doing the finishing touches...

Meet "Punk Rock Hayes!"

Hayes Family 2011

Kissing Punk Rock Hayes goodbye...

Jackson NOT wanting to get in the truck to go home, even with PURPLE frozen hands, he wanted to play in the snow more... :-( Sorry little Man.

Suri, is it hard being THIS beautiful?!?!?!

As you can see through all the photos this was the best weekend ever. Does not get better than, family, snow, photos and memories that will last a life time...I love you Jackson Ryan. PLEASE slow down and STOP growing so fast, you too Suri!!! ;-)

I love you to the moon and back...

Once again another busy weekend.
Friday I was still off from work with Jackson due to a little stomach bug he must have caught. I was happy to spend the time at home with him and was looking forward to tackling a few of the household chores I had been putting off. I was able to clean the house and organize some random piles and toys all with Jackson's help. I was excited to finally organize all of the toys under the stairs and get them all together. Jackson acted like it was Christmas again seeing all the toys that were tossed into the closet under the stairs unattended to for some time.


Friday evening we all headed up to Papa's house for dinner. Aunt Ashley, Uncle Don, Aunt Shannon, Zijah, Cousin Suri, Great Grandma, BETTY, Papa, Justin, Jackson and I were all together as a family for a pizza dinner. It was quite the treat to have Betty here in AZ. Jackson was sooooo excited to see her and welcomed her with a HUGE hug. Betty will be here to escape the Colorado snow, freezing weather AND to keep Grandma company for 3 weeks. We are always excited to see Betty come and sad when she leaves.


Saturday, Trenton, Melissa, Jackson and I were able to get out and enjoy the unseasonable warm AZ weather at Cashman park. Jackson and Trenton play together great and enjoyed the swings, playground , slide and playing tee ball together. Melissa and I enjoyed catching up on life outside of USAA, talking and going on a long walk with the boys in their strollers. We did not even realize that we had been at the park for almost 3 hours! After our visit to the park, Melissa and I were happy to visit Desert Ridge to spend MONEY on the boys at Children's Place, we sure do love a good deal and love it when we both take advantage of it and giggle about how this purchase is for sure going to be the straw that breaks the camels back and our husbands are going to leave us for spending MORE money. (FYI to date we are both still married...)
Later that evening Jackson and I headed over to the Zapoticzny house to help prepare and decorate cookies for Olivia's 1st birthday. Jackson and Sofia had a great time playing together with the bubble gun and eating Popsicles due to Jackson falling and busting open his lip :-( Still when I ask him if he had fun at Sofia's house he reminds me that he hurt his lip.
Sunday Justin, Jackson and I went over to the Zap household again to participate in the festivities for Olivia's 1st birthday. "Cute as a bug and sweet as can bee" was the theme! There was a lot of friends and family there; majority USAA employees. It was great to catch up with everyone and their families OUTSIDE of the USAA grounds. Jackson had a great time and was exhausted by the time we got home.


Tonight when I picked Jackson up from school I told him that we had a few places to go before going home. I wanted to go to ToysRUs to use some of my rewards gift points, and to get the normal; diapers, wipes, etc. On the way to ToysRUs Jackson and I were singing songs... (per his request, I would rather NOT make him suffer and listen to my singing). Lately he tells me to turn the radio off and tells me which song he wants to sing. It is usually one of his favorite songs... "I see the moon", "You are my Sunshine", followed by..."You are my Jackson" same tune as you are my sunshine just substitute sunshine for Jackson, the "ABC" song and "Twinkle, Twinkle".


Jackson once again amazes me with how much he picks up on and remembers. While singing "I see the moon" Jackson yells from the back seat, "Mommy Mommy, NO...sing  I see the CIRCLE moon". Before I was able to finish the song he was already on the 2nd verse and yelling ..."over the ocean over the sea"... I had to laugh and smile up above as I know that mom was watching down and getting a chuckle herself.


Jackson has a little bit of a lisp when he speaks. Dr said it is nothing to be worried about (nothing mechanical...in the way of needing to have his tongue clipped or anything) just need to help him with his pronunciation. The most obvious speech issue is when he says, "Yes", well more like "wess". I have been working with him and having him watch Mommy when I say the word "Yes". Since that has not been working I decided to emphasise the YAYAYAYAYAes in Yes. Jackson has fun with this and has said on a few occasions "YAYAYAYAes mommy, wess". Some times there is no "wess" that follows. This evening on the way to ToysRUs I stopped at McDonalds and asked him if he wanted chicken nuggets, he responded to me with "NONONO NO Mommy, No"...pretty sure Jackson you have NO down just fine without the "NONONO NO".

...this blog entry Jackson, is just ONE more of the many many reasons why I love you to the moon and back. I love you Love, Mommy xoxoxo

Fun at the park- 1/16/11

Getting ready for bed...bath and then brushing teeth. I love that you can see he was waiving in this photo, we sent it to Justin as he was not home yet before Jackson hit the sack.

"Good night Mom Mom...miss you"

Yesterday I got a call from the CDC (child development center) telling me that I needed to come and get Jackson due to two "yucky, runny diapers". He was not feeling very well and must have had some stomach bug. I picked him up at 10:30am and headed home. I was looking forward to relaxing with him and snuggling my sick little man. We hung out together before I laid him down for a nap. While he napped I made over 3 dozen butter yums for Dana's daughters 1st birthday party which is on Sunday.
After Jackson woke up we ran a few errons and then came back home for dinner, a bath and then bed time.  Justin is working 4 days a week 10 hour shifts, so unfortunately he does not usually get home until after 8:30pm or 9pm. This allows for Mommy and Jackson time which I love, however I do miss family evenings together.
After bath time, our new night time routine is laying in Mommy and Daddy's bed and reading a Thomas the train book that his Great Grandpa got him for Chirstmas. It is very similar to the "Where is Waldo" books...I ask Jackson to find certain things on each page and he does! He has quite the memory and is very good at it. Sometimes, I admit I get lazy and don't ask him to find everything I usually do...yet he reminds me what I forgot!
After we went through the book 2 times, I turned off the lights and told Jackson it was time for bed. He did not fight this at all, he was tired.
While we were laying in bed he was doing his normal "good night mommy" and kissing my face all over. All the lights were off in the room, however there was light coming in from the hallway light. I could see his little face and his eyes getting heavy. Before he fell asleep Jackson looked up at the ceiling and whispered "Good night MomMom, Miss you" and put his hand to his mouth and kissed it and blew it up to the ceiling. I am sure you know what state this put me in...I had tears rolling down my face quicker than I ever thought possible. I could not believe that he would say this or do this on his own. Yet so incredibly proud and honored by my little man.
I told him that MomMom was very happy that he remembered to tell her good night and that she was watching over him. He just looked at me and said "Mommy ok, Mommy ok?" Oooo how I love this boy.
I am sooo happy that he still remembers MomMom, it warms my heart and makes me soooo happy, however still whenever he talks about her the tears just roll down my face.

So after I pulled it together, we said our prayers. While he was thanking Jesus for his family and friends Eta (our chocolate lab) started to snore. Jackson sat up and yelled..."Zoie, Eta...hush it" I burst into laugher ... even though we were praying. It was sooo funny, almost like he was upset that the loud snoring that Eta is famous for was interrupting his prayers to Jesus. Funny that whenever he goes to yell at either one of the dogs he says both of their names. I am guessing I need to start being more cautious of what I say to my hairy 4 legged girls... 

Soon after prayers were done, Jackson pulled the covers over both of our heads...he snuggled right up next to me and whispered "Night Mommy" and dozed off into la la land and was soon snoring himself...

Parties, Shopping & HOT AIR BALLOONS!!!!

What a weekend...why is it that the 2 days you wait ALL week for fly by so incredibly fast? Maybe it is because we pack the weekends sooooo full!
It started Saturday with a birthday party for Jackson's friend, Ian. It was at Little Gym in Cave Creek, a great place for kiddos to run around and burn off all their energy. He had a lot of fun, however Jackson was not happy that the birthday was for someone else. Jackson kept saying "Happy Birthday Jack, not Ian" It was kind of funny to watch him when everyone sang the happy birthday song, when it ended with Happy Birthday Ian and not Jack, you could tell he was confused.
After the party we headed over to costco and looked at the furniture they have in hopes we could find a good deal for Jackson's bedroom. Its getting to the point where we are going to have to transition into a big boy bed and out of the crib/tent. Jackson started to climb out of the crib before he was two. So me not being ready to give up nap time and him staying in his bed, I sent Justin out one Tuesday (his day off) in search of a "tent" to cage him in!!! Jackson loves his tent however he is getting too big for a crib. Costco has a full size bed with a dresser, nightstand and bookshelf. We are in the process of trying to figure out how we want to do the bedroom as his room is not that big and that is a lot of furniture.

After costco we went up to Papa's house and had dinner with Papa, Great Grandma, Amalia and Tarja before we headed up to Cave Creek for the hot air balloon festival. It was super crowded but a lot of fun. Justin and I were looking forward to seeing Jackson with these "giants" and see how Jackson reacted to being right there next to them. He was amazed on the size of them once we arrived. I think the fire shooting up the balloons caught him a little off guard as he held on to our hand very tight when the fire would fire up.
There we met up with some of our friends and their kids; The Zap family with Sofia and Olivia and the Ordell family with Jacksons BEST buddy, Trenton. It was so much fun watching Jackson and Trenton run around all bundled up and dancing to the music. The Herndon brothers were playing live and the music was loud. It was a very lively crowd, even Papa was dancing! It made me smile to see my dad and grandma out there enjoying themselves and having a good time. Grandma was most excited to stand feet from Ray Herndon and listen to him sing our family favorite song..."Ordinary" we named it this however he sold the song to Kenny Chesney and it is named something different. Dad said listening to them sing reminded him of nights back 20 years ago or so when they would go up to Handle Bar J and listen to the Herndon Brothers sing live. I know if was a hard night for dad with all the memories of mom, however he seemed to really enjoy himself.
The best part of the night was the sky divers...Papa held Jackson as we stared up in the sky looking for the plane that would release 4 parachuters. It was for sure a sight to see. They had each parachuter lite up with flares and lights so we could track them as they "skated" thru the air. I over heard Papa promising Jackson that in a few years once Jackson gets bigger that Papa was going to take him to do that. I am not too sure about that, however I didnt want to burst is "parachute" so I let him THINK that some day I will allow my boys to jump from an airplane!

Here are some photos from the festival, you can see how much fun Papa and Jackson were having together!

CHEESY...

Papa and Jackson Cave Creek Hot Air

Balloon Festival 2011

We are not sure what got into Jackson

But he started kssing Papa non stop right

before the skydivers came...He even grabbed

Papa's face and held it tight as he kissed

him. Papa was laughing sooo hard!

Looking up at the sky for the

skydivers...

I love these boys...

Finally Papa got to kiss Jackson....

There Jackson goes again grabbing and kissing Papa,

I can almost hear Papa and Jackson still giggling when

I see this photo...priceless!

Well...its that time again, when you are dead beat from running around all weekend but dreading going back to work for another week. 

Jackson Ryan, I love you and I had soooo much fun with weekend and I loved making more memories with you. You my son have my WHOLE heart for your WHOLE life, Mommy loves you.