Waiting for the Airplane

By the end of the day Saturday, we were all exhausted and ready to get back to Dallas. It is never easy waiting on the airplane when all you want to do is get home. Jackson was tired (hence the blanket and thumb in the mouth) but still excited about flying on the plane again. These are some pictures of him watching for the plane at the airport in Lubbock. I remember sitting in the same place waiting for the planes when I was little. Funny how he enjoys the same thing.

We Walked to D'Feet ALS

This past weekend we travelled to Lubbock to participate in the Walk to D'Feet ALS. All of my dad's immediate family and even some of his cousins and extended family participated in the walk. We were a pretty big group.

The walk was 3 miles (so they said...it felt a little longer). We all started off together but wound up breaking away as the walk went on. Jackson did good by riding in his stroller most of the way. Since he rode, we were able to come in #28, #29, & #30. All in all it was a fun time to be together with family. I recommend it for anyone who has lost a family member to a disease like ALS, cancer, or Alzheimer's.

Is it a baby Boy Umbrella or a baby Girl Umbrella?

Well, we have to wait no longer. We finally know whether baby Umbrella is a boy or a girl. The woman doing the ultrasound this morning was the sweetest lady ever. She knew we wanted to know the sex of the baby and kept going back down there until the little one finally let us take a peak. It was neat because as she was looking and taking pictures for the doctor, she explained every little thing to us. It's amazing what they can tell from a baby less than 1 lb and only half way to term. She looked at the baby's lips to check for a cleft palate (no cleft palate), she looked at the space around the baby's brain, she counted bones in the legs and arms, she even counted fingers and toes. I'm very grateful (& humbled) to say everything checked out great. It was reassuring to have her explain everything to us (that didn't happen with the doctor who delivered Jackson). Anyway....after the baby finally decided to uncross its legs....we saw (& might I say SAW VERY CLEARLY) that we are having a baby BOY! That's right, I am going to remain the only female in the house and I am thrilled. No names as of now. We'll stick with Umbrella until a more appropriate name is agreed on.

Camera Found!!

My camera has been found. It was sitting on floor next to a doll house in the Special Needs Classroom. Not sure how it got on the floor next to a doll house but at least it has been found!

These pictures were from last week. Jackson has decided it is much more fun to climb all over the police car rather than drive in it. He has even found a way to dunk the basketball. His new phrase is "I'm on the highest mountain" whenever he's standing up on something tall. Too funny!

Beautiful Sights....Without a Camera

Last night we went to the Plano Balloon Festival. We'd love to show you great pictures but we didn't have a camera. Somehow yesterday while we were up at the church, I misplaced my camera. I'm hopeful that we'll find it but right now we are without. It stinks!

Without pictures, I'll have to try to just explain what we saw last night. It was amazing. We arrived after the evening balloon launch but we did get to see all the balloons in the air over the park. After eating some incredibly fattening food (corn dogs, turkey legs, ice cream, etc) we settled in on the grass to watch the balloon glow. There were probably 20 balloons (nothing compared to what the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta has I'm sure) and some of them were even special shapes. We saw a tree with birds, a huge daisy, a panda, and a dinosaur. Once the balloon glow started, Jackson was in awe. He'd help do the count-down to "All Burn" and "Twinkle Burn". When we thought is was about over, the announcer said that since the weather was perfect (which is was) and the pilots were agreeable, they'd open the field and let everyone walk amongst the balloons. This is when we really wished we had our camera. It was the most surreal experience. It would be dark all around and then they'd do the glow and the area would just light up. You could even feel the heat from all the balloons. If you ever get a chance to go to this, you need to go. Jackson loved it and we all had a blast.

(If you'd like to see a few pictures, we each have some in our phones but that's all the proof we have of the evening.)

What a toddler thinks....

The other night Michael and I were playing with Jackson and we decided to see what he thinks. We've had the discussion of "What's in mommy's belly?" and he appropriately responds "a baby" but we thought we'd take it a step further. We'll be finding out the sex of the baby on Tuesday so we decided to ask Jackson what he thought we should name the baby. Immediately, without any hesitation, he said, "Umbrella". When asked about the middle name, he said "Big One". So we'll introduce you to Umbrella Big One Wall!

Thinking this was a one time shot, we asked him again last night what we should name the baby. Again his response was "Umbrella". Until we have a name for the baby, we'll refer to he/she as "Umbrella"... we could do "Umbi" for short. Funny!

Happy Birthday Grampa & Mammaw!

While some recognize 9/11 as the day we were terrorized on our own soil, we have been celebrating on 9/11 for longer than I've been alive...and longer than my dad has been alive. My dad (Grampa) and his mom (my Mammaw) were both born on 9/11. So...Happy Birthday to Grampa & Mammaw!

How do you know your child loves Mickey Mouse?

Jackson was playing with the checkers and noticed that he made "Mickey Mouse". He was so excited he started to build Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse out of checkers.

Playing Checkers

Jackson has found his way into our game cabinet. Checkers was the game of the day today. We'll see what he finds to play tomorrow.

Future Mexican Train Player?