Jayson gets married

James brother, Jayson married his other half on September 1st in the Seattle, WA temple.  It was so exciting to be there for them, and they really are a perfect match for each other.  It's also exciting to have another married couple in the family on James' side- another member of my team (the In-laws).  They had a reception that night at a beautiful country club, and I was so glad to pitch in and help set up.  It was quite the undertaking.  I arranged all of the paper tissue chandeliers, hung the smaller paper tissue strands on the big mirror behind the buffet, and drew the tree for their "guest book."  I was glad to help and everything turned out so beautiful and was a very fun night.  

 

James and the groomsmen- minus Jeff. 

The cute couple. 

They had a really cool photo booth there, which was lots of fun.

The next weekend my mother-in-law, Alisa hosted an open house reception in California, which I helped extensively for.  Pictures of that fun night and all of the cute details to follow soon.

First Day of School!

Today was finally the day that Ben went back to school.  This kid has been wanting to go back to school since school ended.  He would ask all the time, "when is summer vacation going to end?"  Weird kid, right.  Of course preschool is practically a big play date with all of his friends, several days a week, so of course he missed it.  Not that he had any shortage of fun play dates with friends over the summer.  It makes me so happy that he loves school so much.  I really think it's due to his preschool's philosophy that it's through play that small children learn.  They are very unrestrictive and allow the children to decide how they spend their free time there, and also let the children shape the curriculum by extending lesson plans when the kids are really interested in a topic, and quickly nixing others that aren't so well received.  I think it's a great way to get kids to love to learn and to love school.  At least it's working for Ben.  He was so excited he woke up extra early and eagerly ate up his breakfast and got ready to go.
Of course I had to take the traditional porch first day of school pose.

 Here he is reunited with his best buddies from last year (although him and Beau spent several days a week together this summer.)

And this is the pose that I took on the first and last day of school last year.  Wow what a difference a year has made.

He walked right into the classroom, hugged his teacher, and waved goodbye.  Last year I had to stay with him through circle time for the first couple of weeks.  He didn't divulge too much information to me about his first day, but did tell me that he . . .

• and his friends played "hot lava" in the sandbox. 
• there are some new kids in his class, but he doesn't know their names yet. 
• they had pretzels, yogurt, strawberries, and blueberries for snack. 
• and he didn't do the art project today because he was "so busy."  

Two of the families from our church started their children at the school, so Ben's two little worlds have officially collided.  He always classified his friends as "church friends" or "school friends."  It's going to be great having so many familiar faces at school this year.  Plus the added bonus is that me and one of the other mom's are going to swap sitting for the babies while we are working at the preschool.  Jackson (7.5 months) and Jasmine (5 months) are going to be fun watching grow throughout the school year.  

What we've been up to this summer

We enjoyed a few outdoor movies, 

and one in the car. 

 Tried some new sports.

And participated in some long-loved ones.

 Had lots of play dates with friends.  Ben even attended a week-long summer day camp!  Which he loved.

 Spent time with family.

 Swam of course.

Conducted some experiments. 

Soup clouds.  

 Spent a fun day at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

 And another great day in the city.

 Took advantage of a free festival or two around town.

 

 And just enjoyed some plain-old down time.

It was a great summer but I sure am ready for cooler days and Ben going back to school (which day has finally come tomorrow!!- he's so excited, and me too).

Ben Says

First of all I must note that Ben talks non stop.  It can be very exhausting sometimes let me tell you. He is constantly asking me questions, if James and I are talking he HAS to know what we are talking about, he doesn't accept I don't know as an answer, and I could go on and on.  In all of his daily talking he says something that is just so darn hilarious everyday and I need to do a better job recording them down.  I read on a friend's blog that she keeps a little journal out on her kitchen counter and brings it with her to quickly write down something funny her children said.  Her husband even started a twitter account featuring the funny things their kids say.  To begin my effort to do a better job to record some of the things that Ben says I thought I would start off with a few things I can remember right now.

• I overheard him playing in his room the other day and heard him exclaim (although I don't know in what context) "OMG!"  I asked him if he knew what it meant and he said no but he heard it on Jessie (a Disney channel show).  
• Ben kept kicking a little toy further and further away from Jackson one day while Jackson was adamantly trying to crawl after it.  I told him not to do that and he said "why, he never gives up." 
• If I do something or don't do something which he considers not to be very motherly (i.e. ignoring his requests to play with him because I'm busy), he will ask me "what kind of mommy are you?!"
• And if I do something silly, like forget something (which is all the time), but not necessarily mother-related, he'll ask me "what kind of lady are you?" 
• I bought Jackson a couple shirt bibs today (so he can't take them off), and had one on him tonight while feeding him dinner.  Ben looked at it and said "I love bananas?"(the bib has a heart and then a picture of a banana on it, so he put two and two together- he can't actually read yet).  And then said, "Really?  Really, mom?"  I cracked up.  Why you ask?  Because earlier today I gave Jackson a small bite of a banana and he made the craziest face and then completely spit it all out, and Ben was a witness to this.  Now do you get why his comment is so funny?! 
• James and I seriously laugh almost every night reflecting on something funny that Ben said that day, but of course my mind is blank for now.  I'll fill more in as they come to me.  

Ben kept saying "yo!" while rocking this hat at his Uncle Jay's wedding reception. 

Seven Months

Since Jackson is already seven and a half months old, I better update you on his seven month of life.  Oh what can I say about my Jacky boy.  He's still adorable.  And he's still the best dang baby ever.  He loves to eat now.  He downs three 4 oz. jars of Earth's Best baby food per day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus is drinking around 24 oz. a day.  The homemade baby food didn't really pan out.  He wasn't liking my creations all that much and they were often going to waste anyway, so the cost savings weren't really there.  Plus I love the simple, organic ingredients in Earth's Best food.  Plus Babies 'R Us carries them in packs of twelve in about six different varieties.  I am so proud that he likes everything I give him.  I am such a picky eater and honestly hate that about me, so it makes me very proud of my children when they enjoy healthy foods.  Ben is also a pretty fantastic eater and is really into the idea of vegetables helping him grow.  Jackson absolutely refuses to wear a bib and pulls them off the moment I put them on (I need to pick up a few of those shirt bibs that you slide over their neck).  So he usually eats in just a diaper.  Although he's really not too messy of an eater.  He did discover the fun in blowing raspberries while eating yesterday and completely ignored me when I said, "no, Jackson Thomas" very firmly.  Oh well.  I made it clear to Ben that we do NOT encourage that behavior by laughing at Jacky or doing it back to him.  Ben went on a timeout today for doing just that!

I no longer need to pack the pillows around him while sitting because he has become much more sturdy.  It cracks me up seeing him sitting up playing with his toys.  He's such a big boy already.  His favorite toy is one of Ben's old ones.  The classic pop up toy, which features five animals that pop up when you press or twist various buttons.  He can't pop them up yet but loves to close them all once they're up.  He does not move on to another toy or task until all five of those animals are back down.  And sometimes this is a tricky task for him as he tends to get his little fingers stuck while trying to close them.

Jacky also loves that he gets to sit up in the bath with brother now too.  I don't have him sit all by himself in the bath yet; I'm much too nervous for that.  He sits in a little bath chair I picked up from Wal Mart.  I love that I don't have to worry about him slipping and hitting his head.  I actually get a few small things done during bath time every night because I know he is very safe and secure, especially with big brother watching over him.  And he loves that he can splash and catch a bath toy or two as they go floating by his chair.  Ben likes that he can rinse the shampoo out of baby brother's hair.  Jackson doesn't cry ever when we dump water on his head, but does always make a little gasp noise as the water runs down his face and his eyes get really wide.

He's just such an easy going happy baby.  Except if he's hungry, then watch out.  He can go from just crying to screaming, hopping mad if he's hungry and he thinks I am delaying getting him a bottle (i.e. when I hand him off to daddy- he doesn't get that I'm doing that so I can make him a bottle).  But he's seriously almost always smiling his goofy little smile.  His Papa Mike even gave him the nickname "smiling Jack" after spending a long weekend in Tahoe with him.  My grandma, the boys' Nana always says that he is such a good baby that even she could watch him.  And my father-in-law often tells James that he is the best baby he has ever known.  And it's so, so true.  I feel blessed every day to have Jackson.  Of course I would feel just as blessed and in love with him even if he were a "difficult" baby.  But I just feel really lucky perhaps is a better word, that my baby just so happens to be a very content, happy baby.  And he makes all of us more happy and content too.  Because when you look at him you just can't help but smile because "smiling Jack" is certainly smiling back at you.

And since I'm late with this of course, even bigger changes have occurred since he turned seven months.  Let's just say, he's on the move . . .