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?

Little Bell Pepper for a Little Guy

We enjoyed another vegetable from our garden this evening. We had a bell pepper that remained the same size for almost a month now. Rather than wishing it would grow bigger, we went ahead and picked it. Tonight I was planning to make stuffed peppers anyway so I just stuffed the mini bell pepper and used it for Jackson's plate. It was just his size. Can't let anything go to waste right?

Fond Memories

This past Thursday Michael's grandmother went home to be with the Lord. She was diagnosed with cancer earlier this summer but the Lord decided He was ready for her to come home to be with him this week. Michael & I have often spoken of how blessed we are that Jackson's great-grandparents are a part of his life. We have no doubt that Jackson will always be able to recall great memories of his Great-Grandmother Wall. While we'll miss seeing Grandmother here, we know that she is finally at home and we will see her there someday.

(this picture was taken June 23...Grandmother with her 4 great-grandchildren)

Mini Reunion

A couple of weekends ago, Michael took Jackson down to visit his family in Houston and I went to have a girls weekend with old friends from college. About 20 of us who were all in the same sorority got together for dinner and fellowship. Afterwards, 11 of us stayed the night in Grapevine and hit Grapevine Mills the next day. Despite the crowds of people during tax-free weekend, we had a great time and enjoyed catching up. It's amazing how much has changed in 8 years (since college graduation)....we laughed about how we get excited over sales at the Children's Place and we all have our clocks set for Sonic Happy Hour. We all agreed that we're in a different place now but it's a good place.

(Crazy that 5 out of the 20 of us are pregnant in this picture! I can't even begin to count the number of kids there are between all of us.)

The brave ones who hit Grapevine Mills on tax-free weekend!

More Dancing

Jackson has a little Elmo book that plays various songs when you press the buttons. He loves to press them and try to sing some of the words and dance. This afternoon he was dancing and singing to his book without knowing I was watching. As soon as I got out the camera, he shut down. Wouldn't you know it? I did catch a little of it though.

Fruits (or Vegetables) of our Labor

Some of you have kept up with our first garden. In May we planted 2 beefsteak tomato plants, one grape tomato plant, one squash plant, and one bell pepper plant with great hopes of not having to buy tomatoes, bell peppers, or squash all summer. Above you will see the fruits of our labor....no, not the pretty tomato in the bowl, not the great looking grape tomatoes in the container, but one piddly squash. Sure we had about 4 grape tomatoes earlier in the summer but they didn't make it in the house after Jackson found them on the vine. All that labor for one squash. We'll see what the remainder of the summer/fall brings us. There's always next year right?

Fast Midland Trip

Last weekend my parents were going to be in Midland for a few days so I decided to brave the road and take a mini road trip with Jackson. We drove down on Thursday and drove back on Saturday. It was a quick trip but we got to see my parents, my Mammaw, and my niece Emily. It was well worth the drive. Below are a few pictures. One of the highlights was our walk over to the garden that the residents of Manor Park (the retirement community Mammaw lives in) have. They grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables and allow any of the residents to pick the produce and take it home. When we got there, most of the stuff had been picked (apparently they come out at dawn and pick their produce) but I did find a really pretty red bell pepper. I let Jackson hold it and before we knew it, he was eating it like an apple. His face was red from all the juice. He LOVED it.

Why not?

This morning Jackson & I had a lot of errands to run so I thought we'd start off by going to the park and letting him get some energy out. We were in Frisco so we went to the Frisco Commons Park. I forgot about Jackson's hatred of dirty feet and had him in sandals so the park full of sand and wood chips was not any fun for him. Luckily Frisco Commons Park has a lot of green grass and plenty of other places to play other than the playground. Anyway, we walked down to the globe water feature and the fun began. Jackson started off by just putting his hands in the water but before long, he was ALL in! Why not I thought? I always have an extra pair of clothes and a towel in the car so there was nothing holding us back. I did feel bad for the poor mom that was watching us with her little girl all nicely sitting at the picnic table. When we started to walk off, they were walking down. Last I heard of their conversation before we got too far away, the little girl was begging her mom to take her shoes off so she could play in the water...hee hee hee.

What it would be like...

I've always wondered what Michael's mom went through when she raised Marc & Michael. Two one year olds...two two year olds...two three year olds. It makes me tired thinking about it. Last Monday, I got a small taste of it. Jackson and I kept Brady all day while his dad worked and his mommy was out of town. Brady is just 5 months younger than Jackson. The whole day they were running and into all the toys we had. I finally got them outside hoping that the pool and sprinkler would help burn some energy. By the time lunch came, all of us were ready for a nap. Below are a few pictures I was able to snap in between all the running. We had a great day but I must say that I am glad I only have one 2 year old little boy...not two!

Mrs. Kristi Turned 40!

Last Monday, I got to spend the evening with Miss Sarah because mommy was throwing a suprise party for Mrs. Kristi. (Mrs. Kristi is turning 40!) To tell you how much I love Miss Sarah....mommy walked out of the house with a 3 layer cake and I was ok because I got to stay and play with Miss Sarah!

We took a lot of pictures with Miss Sarah's camera. This was a fun one with the two of us.

This was the cake that mommy walked out of the house with. I LOVE cake and tried to take a bite right out of it but mommy caught me.

Here's Mrs. Karen, Mrs. Kristi, and mommy.

Mickey Mouse Backpack

Ms. Wanda and her family went to Mickey's house last week. They were determined to bring me back a Mickey Mouse backpack and wound up searching high and low. This backpack is a special find. I can't wait to use it when I go back to Preschool Pals in the fall. Thank you Ms. Wanda! I love it!

Crazy Mower

I know it looks like I'm pushing a baby walker but it's actually my mower. I mow the patio all the time. Tonight I decided that I needed my shades on while I mow because that's how daddy does it.

Summer Heat

What do you do on days that it is supposed to be 102 degrees? You go outside and play in the water....at 9am. Yep, we were outside already in the water by 9am. Daddy was mowing the yard so mommy & I played in the back. We had to get out and play early because by noon, even if you're in the water, it's just too hot to be outside.

Color Me Mine

I know it's been a few weeks since our last post. We've been busy busy busy. Mommy was at Kids Kamp last all last week. Nana Jo & Grampa came to my house to stay with me while daddy worked. If you want to see pictures of what I did with them, you'll have to check out their blog.

Today mommy & I went to paint pottery. We did a piece a few weeks ago but mommy forgot to take pictures. We'll post a picture of the finished project. It was a lot of fun (& cheap too!...the painting fee on Mondays for preschoolers is only $1).

Happy 4th of July

To celebrate the 4th of July, mommy, daddy, & I met up with the Darwins and went to Frisco Freedom Fest. It was a lot of fun! We walked around and saw the firemen and policemen. We even got to pet a real cow. In the end, it was the fireworks that I liked best.

Mr. Safety Jr.

This is from mommy:

One of my favorite ways to describe Michael is "Mr. Safety". Because of his line of work, he tends to have a mind for safety. Tonight Michael was at work and Jackson was driving his Little Tykes Police Coupe around the house. He stopped, got out of the car, and walked over to me with a serious look on his face. He said, "Where is my seat belt?" Only Michael's child would ask for a seat belt in his toy car. I hope I gave a suitable answer by saying that I don't know where his seat belt is because we all know that anytime we're in the car, we must wear our seat belt. Maybe I should take this up with Little Tykes?

Rainforest

Today mommy took me over to the Rosemeade Rainforest. It is a HUGE splash park with a lazy river and a few water slides. I went down a little slide once but then preferred just to run around in the water and get splashed by the other kids. There were a few squirt guns that I had a lot of fun playing with. I don't think the people I squirted were having as much fun as I was but hey...if you're going to be at a splash park, shouldn't you expect to get a little wet?