Belly Picture

We did not take many pictures this week. I guess its because of the work being done at our house. Jackson and I usually try to go somewhere in the morning and the afternoon just to get away from it :) It hasn't been too bad, but we will still be glad when it is over :)

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I have had requests for a belly shot...so I am providing :) I apologize that I am looking kind of rough...but I guess its the reality these days :)

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Jackson, Dillan, and I

Goofing around :)
Dillan Cade Louis :) Yes, my belly is big for only being 19 weeks :)

Jackson

For the last 2 weeks, I have tried to attach videos without success. I have talked to other bloggers who are having the same problem, but if anyone finds the solution...please let me know :)

Baby update & more

We are so thankful that we got to see the precious little one to be this week! I had a sonogram on Tuesday and everything looked great! Our little one looked perfect! We also got to find out that we have been blessed with another baby boy! And he put on quite the show!!! I am not sure if its because one of my friends told me to be sure and drink a coke ahead of time or if it is naturally who this little guy is going to be :) At first he was all snuggled up against my bladder :) Apparently that is his sweet spot :) He had his little hands by his face and his feet were tucked under him with his little rear in the air! Then he started moving around and rubbing his eyes and eventually he was trying to do flips! He was pushing off with his legs and stretching out! He was really fun to watch! Wow...God is truly amazing!!!! The miracle of life is incredible!!!! We are beyond excited! Jackson and this little guy will have so much fun together...especially since they will be so close in age.

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We have also decided on a name! The contenders were Hudson James Louis, Dillan Alexander Louis, and Dillan Cade Louis. I know it sounds crazy, but once I saw him I knew that he was a Dillan! Luckily Walt agrees...so Dillan Cade Louis it is!!!! Side note...Walt will probably call him D.C. because he is a fan of nicknames :) I might call him that on occasion, but will mostly call him Dillan and will definitely introduce him as Dillan.

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We started some work on our house this week. So Jackson and I have had "company" during the days...very noisy company :) Not sure how long these projects will take...maybe a few weeks / a month? I will post before and after pictures when we are done!

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In Jackson news, we have begun the transition from milk out of a bottle to milk out of a sippy cup. We would have done it sooner (i.e. when he turned one), but he got sick right after his birthday, then I didn't want to start the transition over Christmas, and then he got sick after Christmas...so we are doing it now. Jackson is a champ at drinking water out of a sippy cup, but is not a fan of drinking milk out of a sippy cup. We have also began the process of eliminating drinking milk before bedtime and we are working through some sleep issues. We have tried all of the subtle / ease into it approaches, but those aren't working. So yesterday we began a more hard core approach :( Every child is different and unfortunately it seems that this is the best approach for Jackson. Hopefully we will have some success this week!

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We had a day earlier in the week where the weather wasn't too bad. This was quite the improvement from last week's ice & snow. So Jackson took full advantage :)

Jackson loves his little red wagon. He runs around pulling it behind him. In fact, he was going so fast one of the wheels came off :)
Our cute boy!

Up close :)

Hey momma!

Our little guy is getting big!

What?...me, mischevious?...never :)

Playing under the kitchen table

Playing in the leaves with Daddy and having so much fun :)

Love this pic!

Jackson is lucky to have such a wonderful daddy!

Random, but Jackson got another haircut this week. It will be interesting to see what happens with his hair. He has blond patches and it looks like his hair might have some curl to it.

Snowed In

We were snowed / iced in Monday through Wednesday. So Jackson got to play in his first snow. It was a lot of fun having Walt around. Another plus is that Walt has the amazing ability to help Jackson go back to sleep when he wakes up from his nap. So he actually gets a decent nap on the days that Walt is home.

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Walt & Jackson about to go out in the snow. I love my boys!

Jackson taking it all in :)
I love his sweet little face!

A picture of the front of our house

Look closely to see Jackson and the snow falling. He looks so tiny!

A view of the walkway to our front door

We actually got Jackson to wear gloves!

A failed attempt at sledding...it wasn't slick enough

Jackson holding a pointy icicle...Walt's idea...not mine :)

Jackson "hanging" out

Here is a video of Jackson playing in the snow. He thought it was hilarious when Walt would throw snow balls...especially at me :) He had a lot of fun!

Jackson playing the piano with his Daddy...I love his laugh & the sheer joy on his face!

In other news, a little over a week ago I had a doctor's appointment and got to hear the heart beat of our precious baby to be! The heart rate was in the 160s. I feel like I am eating more during this pregnancy and that my belly is bigger...hmmm...guess that is cause & effect :) We are super excited because we get to see this precious baby on Tuesday. So in a little over 36 hours we will be able to lay eyes on this little one! So excited! And if the baby cooperates, we will find out if it is a boy or a girl! But we are just anxious to see the baby and hear that all is well! We will keep you posted!

Doctor visits, random facts, & videos

As I mentioned in my last post, Jackson seemed to pick up something on the end of our trip. We went to the doctor on Monday and they said it was either strep throat or a virus...everything is almost always a virus :) His strep test came back negative and so we just waited it out :) He stopped running fever on Wednesday, but he was still an unhappy and grumpy little boy on Thursday and Friday. So we made one last trip to the doctor's office on Friday afternoon to make sure nothing else was going on before the weekend began. We left with a prescription with orders to take if things didn't get better or got worse. Fortunately, thanks to some quality time with Daddy and his ability to come up with new & exciting things to do...our grumpiness improved and Jackson seems to be feeling better.

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See below for pictures of fun time with Daddy (i.e. Walt turns out all the lights and strapped a head lamp on Jackson). Jackson thought it was awesome!!!! Now why doesn't mommy come up with things like this :)

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I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!

So proud of himself :)
Playing by the light of his head lamp :)
Playing with mommy's keys. He managed to set the alarm to the house. I quickly turned it off...otherwise we would have had the great pleasure of hearing the super loud siren go off :) Note to self for future...maybe Jackson shouldn't play with mommy's keys :)

About to go outside with Daddy. I don't know how he does it, but he can handle the cold! He will come in from outside and his little hands will be so red...he refuses to wear mittens...I guess they interfere with his playing :)

Random tidbits about Jackson:

* He loves balls, cars, stuffed animals, books, and playing outside

* He still isn't a big eater, but I think its because he would rather be playing

* At night, when it is time for him to go to bed, we ask him if he is ready to go "night-night" and he will run and kiss Walt and then run to me to put him to bed...he does a similar thing at nap time

* He loves playing with his basketball goal. He will "make a basket" and throw the ball to Walt or I to make a basket.

* He recently got a soccer ball and he caught on pretty quick. It's fun to watch him concentrate on kicking it.

* We have not tried crayons yet because I think me telling him constantly not to put them in his mouth would negate any associated fun, but he does have a magna doodle that he has started to draw on. He still uses both hands when drawing, eating, throwing, etc....so the jury is still out if he is right handed or left handed

* He has started "dancing" to music...I use the term loosely :) See below for video.

* He made my day over Christmas. I went shopping with my mom & sisters and was probably gone longer than I have ever been (he stayed behind with Walt). I was probably gone 5-6 hours and when I walked in the door he couldn't get to me fast enough and for the next few minutes he proceeded to hug, kiss, and love on me! Walt gets a version of this everyday when he gets home from work, so it was nice for me to experience it :) Fortunately, Jackson is a very loving boy and he gives me hugs and kisses throughout the day, but it was fun to see him so excited to see me!

In the previous post, you saw pictures of Jackson's "deer encounter". Here is video :)

Jackson "dancing"

Christmas, etc.

This post is completely unorganized. I am not sure what happened and I am unable to fix it without starting over. So please forgive the craziness. The pictures are all over the place! This is a family picture from Christmas Eve.

Here are a few pictures of Jackson playing in my parents yard. This was the day we flew in...so needless to say he was glad to not be contained in a plane or car!

Jackson had a busy 2 weeks! We flew to Texas for Christmas and Jackson had a big time! These next few pictures are out of order. They are from this last weekend. Jackson must have picked up something during our trip...he started coughing & sneezing & has a runny nose. He is also running fever, but I still managed to get a few cute pictures :)

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Jackson "hamming" it up :)

Jackson helping Daddy in the yard...before he started running fever
This wasn't a clear picture, but I thought it was cute

Ok, I think the rest of the pictures are in some kind of order. Jackson and I flew in on the 20th and Walt flew in on the 23rd. My parents picked us up from the airport and we met a few people at Chik fil a. My friend, Emily, and her little boy, Sam, and my friend, Kelly (pictured below). Emily & Sam left before I thought to get a picture :(

Jackson discovered magnets at my parents house. We have a stainless steel fridge and therefore don't have anything to put magnets on, but he loved them. Don't ask me why he didn't have any clothes on...I can't remember :)

He also had fun playing with my dad (aka Papa)

All of his cousins were amazingly sweet to him and doted on him and played with him.

I confirmed what I already suspected. Jackson prefers men. He would go to any of the men in our families without reservation. He made the women work harder :) Although everyone quickly realized all they had to do to get Jackson to come to them was to ask him if he wanted to go outside. Kind of scary, but he will go to anyone who asks him if he wants to go outside. So he was quite spoiled. Everyone would take him outside at the drop of a hat. He loves being outside. He would stay out there forever...despite the cold. On many occasions he outlasted the older children :)

Santa pajamas

Santa hat

Sweet boy on Christmas Eve

I love this expression...I wonder what he is thinking :)

My sister, Michelle, and I...notice the baby bump...kind of hard to miss...especially since my nephew, Benjamin, is pointing at it :)

My sister, Meredith, and her family were in Tyler attending their Christmas Eve service. Walt and Jackson were going to go to the Palestine Christmas Eve service, but Jackson was really tired and we didn't think he was going to make it. So they stayed behind.

This is what Santa left for Jackson

Jackson LOVED everything that Santa brought him. I was so impressed. He played with every single thing and was focused on his Santa pile and not his cousins!

After he played with the toys from Santa, it was time to open the gifts from family.

Jackson loved opening up gifts and playing with his toys

Jackson & his first (any maybe last) deer hunt :) My nephews got this blow up deer from Santa and Jackson was so funny. His natural instincts were to attack. Notice the progression...the pictures aren't that clear, but you get the idea :)

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The "stare down"

Going in for the money shot!

Picking it up

Taking his spoils to his Daddy

Our happy boy

Cousin picture

Jackson & I

Family Picture

Sister Picture

On the 27th we drove to Arlington to see Walt's family. I must have lost steam because I don't have many pictures :(

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Jackson playing with his cousins.

Opening gifts with Walt's family...this is the only picture because Jackson went to bed right after this picture. He was wiped out from his fun-filled day! So he opened his gift the next day!

Walt's parents have this small roller coaster. It makes me very nervous, but Walt assured me that it was safe. Plus, he had already put Jackson on it while I wasn't around and Jackson loved it! So here goes! Doesn't he look so small!!!!

Ready to go...

I know this picture isn't clear, but you can imagine how fast he was going!!!!! Like I said, makes me nervous!

Jackson and his cousin, Margaret. They were really interested in taking the picture! I got a better picture, but I guess I attached the wrong one...oh well...this probably better shows their true feelings about the picture!

Believe it or not, I have a ton of pictures that I didn't attach. I had lots of pictures of both of our family members, but in the end...I picked mostly pictures of Jackson...guilty!!!

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I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and pray that God blesses you in the New Year!