Susie gets Jackson to eat FOOD! YAY!

Thank goodness for Susie. I've been having problems getting Jackson to eat food! He just wants to nurse, and he's almost nine months! I started trying with the baby oatmeal at the end of four months, but he just hasn't wanted any part of it. I even tried giving him fruit instead of vegetables! He literally cried when I'd try to feed him food...cry and purse his lips shut so tightly that nothing was going in! Until Susie came over. I explained my dilemma. Evidently, she had the same problem with her second baby. Ahhhh, validation! Because Noah was NOTHING like that----he ate baby oatmeal, baby food, anything right away! She said, "Oh, he just doesn't want that crap food. Have you given him the real stuff?" Huh? That's allowed? Anyway, she fed him some bread, some mandarin orange, and plenty of other stuff....and he ate it just fine! He just wanted real food! So, sure enough, I tried it! He ate food! Hooray! Thank you SUSIE!

Laughing Brothers

I love this picture of Noah & Jackson laughing. It's so amazing to see how much the love each other already! Noah is very protective of his baby brother. If Jackson is fussing, Noah is quick to say, "Here, Baby Jackson. Here's a toy for you," or "It's o.k. Baby. I'm here." When I need a diversion to keep our wiggly baby still when I change his diaper, Noah will come over and sing "You Are My Sunshine" to Jackson, or he'll say, "A boo boo boo, Jackson!" (Something Mommy does to be silly). There's nothing better than hearing the sweet laughter of your children. Nothing better.

Jackson 8 month pictures

Sweet Baby Jackson~ 8 months old~

Look at those delicious legs!

This shirt was an old shirt that my mother, possibly my Grandpa Kreger, too wore.  When Grandma Kreger died, it was given to me. I love that Jackson is wearing it for this picture.

Jackson at 8 months is pulling up, crawling all over, smiling, laughing, and taking everything in. He's still nursing, wants NOTHING to do with babyfood; in fact, he'll purse his lips shut and cry if I try to feed him babyfood. He sleeps through the night after getting one late night "dream feed" before Mommy goes to sleep. He loves his Mommy, Daddy, and his Noah. And we love him right back!

Grammie Cuts Noah's Hair

Grammie cut Noah's hair again when she was here for her visit. What a special gift. I want Noah to always remember that his Grammie gave him his very first haircut...and any after that we could get! It is one of the many ways she shows her love. Just for old-time sake, I thought I'd share two pictures...the 1st is Grammie cutting Noah's hair now, July 2011...the picture below is from when Grammie cut Noah's hair for the first time, in April 2010. It's fun to look back.

Happy Birthday Grammie!

Happy Birthday Grammie! Grammie came for a visit this weekend and today we celebrated her birthday. I was supposed to be working, but I just couldn't stand not doing something to show Grammie how special she is. I don't ever want her to think she's not high on our list, because she is such an integral part of our family. So, instead of working, I sneakily made a banner and cupcake toppers and fun decorations for a little surprise birthday with the boys before she traveled back home. And I'm so glad I did. She loved the pictures of the boys and felt special. And in the big scope of my life, I'll be MUCH happier that I spent my time commemorating her special day, rather than writing reports. Happy Birthday, sweet Grammie! Now....I'm off to write reports. It's going to be a long night!

Grammie Visits!

Grammie came for a fun visit this weekend! Noah had SO MUCH FUN playing with Grammie! They swam, played blocks, ate birthday cake, went for a ride in Grammie's new car. And of course, Grammie cut Noah's hair! If only she lived closer...Love you Grammie!

Noah's incredible memory!

Tonight I had to go by BHC just for a minute, so we all piled in my Pilot for the quick trip. On the way, Noah started pointing, and said, "Oh, look Mommy! There's the vomit store! The vomit store!" Michael & I looked at each other and both said, "Did he just say vomit store?" Sure enough...Noah was pointing to this one office building we had to pull over at once when Noah vomited. How he remembers things like that I'll never know! The vomit store! I'm sure the owner of the office building would love that advertising!

Jackson pulls up for the 1st time!

Well, he did it! Jackson is officially pulling-up! Pulling up and crawling all over the place! And we just THOUGHT we were busy before! Now it's a whole new game! He was so proud to get up...and not long after he did, he was acting like he'd been pulling up his whole little life! The cute picture in his crib is how I was greeted when I walked in his room after his nap. What a happy fella! Have I mentioned that I just LOVE this kid? I SURE DO!

Michael's Gopher Obsession

This is very, very Caddy Shack, and ridiculous, if you ask me, but I will share nonetheless. My husband is chronically aggravated by a gopher (or gophers) that dig in our yard and leave mounds of dirt everywhere. It bothers me, but not like it bothers Michael. Michael will literally walk to the front door window every morning to see what the gophers have done the night before. There have even been times when he has stood right over their mound while they are digging up dirt...and then plunge whatever sharp object he has inside the hole...only to learn that the gopher got away. Well, his latest brilliant idea was to firecracker the gopher. Yes. You read that right. He literally stuck leftover Roman candle fireworks in the gopher hole and lit the hole up. Sparks flew. Needless to say, the gopher was only briefly amused...before he started digging up holes at twice his usual rate...almost to spite Michael. Noah said, "Daddy scared me with that loud noise." Amusing, isn't it?

Jackson so close to pulling-up

My Jackson is SO CLOSE to pulling up all on his own!! Just a little more uuumph in those delicious thighs & he'll be up!

Bath Time

The boys just love taking a bath together...and it's so cute to watch them. I just love the smell of sweetly-cleaned children. Their soft skin...that Johnson's baby lotion smell. Ahhhhh.

Noah's Thong, thong, thong, thong, thong...

I must say...I love Noah's spirit! He's so enthusiastic and free-spirited...so much so, that he is all-too-happy to swim in the buff...of course he still has to wear his floatie. Nice thong, babe. I hope you never lose your amazing spirit.

Dragon Dress-Up

Does this costume look familiar, Christine? It should! This is one of the many items of clothing that you generously gave to us last year. At the time, I thought that it would be several seasons before Noah could fit into Joseph's old clothes. But, my son is huge, and I've been so thankful to have Joseph's hand-me-downs! We're already wearing them! And Noah LOVED the purple dragon costume! Thank you!

Sweet Jackson

Sweet Jackson. I took a couple pics of my sweet Jackson out on the bench tonight. I'm just amazed at my youngest son. He is SO sweet natured. I just can't get enough of him. I love watching him view and discover everything for the first time. He just takes it all in. He is love. He is such a blessing. I love you, Baby Boy.

Noah Dress-Up

Noah, Noah, Noah. What can I say about this kid? A LOT! He has such an infectious spirit. I hope he NEVER loses his spirit! And he has such a sense of individuality, already! He knows what he wants, and he's not afraid to tell you about it. I guess he's a lot like me in a lot of ways. Today, he decided that he'd dress up in some old Halloween costumes we found in his closet. He never even wore the giraffe costume before today. I think I got it for a bargain at Sam's or something, and bought it as a back-up. It was so small today, that Noah kept pulling it out of his ever-precious booty! It shows how much he's grown in less than a year, though! Time flies, doesn't it?

Brothers Bath-Time

Both the boys are sick right now with some bizarre summer cold. Let's just say, that if snot were gold...I'd be a millionaire. Because the constant snot-wiping irritates their poor little noses, I thought we'd bathe them so the warm water could help a bit. I don't know if it did or not, but the boys had a blast.