I'm Thinking...

... I may start writing again. Either here, or on my other blog, I'm not sure which yet. I'd like to do a little journaling about my weight-loss journey... that might be better on the other site. And I guess I'll keep stories about Mac and family life here, in this blog.

Well, getting right down to it... I found out today that Mac somehow figured out how to erase all the game files on our Super Paper Mario Wii game!! Grr. He's now grounded from playing Wii games until further notice. >:\ He keeps asking to play. And I keep reminding him why he can't. He says "Okay." but I don't think he really gets it. Thankful that daddy is home now and can keep him distracted by playing cars and trains with him in his room. :)

Also, Mac still says 'lettow' for the word 'yellow'... he's actually said it that way for as long as I can remember. It's kinda cute. Well... until he wants the big 'lettow' item and I hand him the little red item. Yeah, it can get confusing... but he'll learn it eventually. Although, it's kinda funny that he can say the letter 'W' with no problems but he can't say 'yellow'.

I think we've gained a family member since I've last written. We now have a dog. Her name is Luci. She's about 14 months old and is FULL of energy! When we walk in the front door, sometimes we'll yell, "Luuuciii, I'm home!" ;) And lately, Mac will randomly say, "I love Luci!" It's cute. And he's never seen the show!

Some fun things we've done this summer:
1) Gone to the park. (Several times!)
2) Played in our little pool in the backyard. (Luci especially loves that!)
3) Saw Madagascar 3 in 3D at the theater. (Mac slept through half of it!)
4) Went bowling.
5) Stood under a Fire Truck sprinkler.
6) Played with friends: Nathan and Shaelyn
7) Played under the card table tent that G'ma Jackson made!

Some things Mac likes:
1) Puzzles
2) Coloring
3) Thomas the Train
4) Spongebob Squarepants
5) Taking pictures
6) Cars (The movies and the toys)
7) Superheros (i.e. Spiderman, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Panther, Green Lantern, Batman, etc.)
8) VeggieTales (Although, he's been listening to music cd's more than watching the movies lately.)
9) Mario Bros games

We're not sure whether he'll be Thomas for Halloween again this year, or if he'll go with Mario, or Bob the Tomato... it's a toss-up... but we'll get it figured out. :)

Weather has been quite hot this summer. High 90's and even into the 100's for several days! There have been fires all around us, so it's been smokey too. Yuck. But we're surviving. Autumn is on it's way! Can't wait!

Another Tuesday...

I've been focusing all my energy on getting caught up these last few weeks... I figured it was about time to post something a little more current. :)

Let me just start off by saying: Daylight Savings Time is killing me this year! I don't know why either. Oh wait. I suppose it could have something to do with the fact that, a) I committed to singing a special at church on the very Sunday DST occurred - so I had to show up there super early, and b) I also committed to watching my friend's kiddos the first part of this week - which means gettin' my booty outta bed at least an hour and a half earlier (i.e. TWO hours and a half earlier) than I normally would have. All while keeping the same night-time hours. Not a good plan when "springing ahead." Oh. And just so we're clear on this: I did not lose my hour - I would never be that careless. It was stolen from me!! Not to be returned until October... or is it November?... this year. *sigh*

But I digress.

In other news: We've decided that Mac should start using his own bed for nap time. Today was Day #1 in fact. Ever since we made the decision to transition him from sleeping-with-mom-and-dad to sleeping-in-his-big-boy-bed at night, it's been great! Well. There were a couple of kinks to work through in the beginning. (e.g. He'd wiggle his little self right out of bed and onto the floor which makes for quite an abrupt and thoroughly rude awakening. [p.s. Those toddler bed-guard contraptions are a life-saver! And sleep-saver!]) But for nap times, I would just put him on our bed since it's big and comfy... and then I could nap with him if I so desired. Aaaannnd... Let's face it. Most of the time, I desired. :) And, until recently, that's been just fine. Naps in our room, night-time in his room. No problems. But within the last couple of evenings he has started crying if we walk in the direction of his room and not ours at night. Then he'll point to our room and say, "That way, that way, that way!" And his volume becomes increasingly louder if we set him in his bed and say goodnight. In essence, he's cried himself to sleep these last few nights and I don't like it. Not one bit! So. All that to say: My hope is that he'll understand that all sleeping is to be done in his own bed from now on. GASP! Even when he's sick? Oh, don't make me answer that right now. I don't kn... Yes. Ok? Yes, even when he's sick. *sob* Although I reserve the right to re-open that topic for discussion at a later date...

My Last Post...

... was in APRIL??? I can't even believe it's been that long ago! Talk about slackin'! So, here's the deal-ee-oh: I really just have to get pictures on here, STAT! Especially since I've almost lost them, TWICE!! Luckily, the computer repair place we go to has been able to retrieve them regardless of viruses and crashed hard drives! We've been so fortunate! When our sad old hard drive crashed, I thought all my pics were toast! And we're talkin' Mac's whole first year and a half of life!! That would not be good. We even have an external hard drive... I really need to transfer all my picture files to it! Sure would save me a LOT of heartache! Ok, so... I'll be a picture-uploadin' fool for the next few days. I may comment on some but the majority will most likely be photo-only posts. Enjoy! And off I goooooo.....

Our Day.

**As I work on getting caught up on 8 months worth of writer's block, there may be several posts that are primarily pictures only... with perhaps a comment here or there. Unless there's a major event that I can give a more detailed account of.** :)

Here are a few pictures from today:



Eek! This was crawling around my sliding glass door! *shiver!*




Mac's just chillin' on the recliner.





Havin' fun with daddy's "new" hat. :)



Life... N' Stuff .

I have been slacking on my blogging entries, yes, it's true... But I have good reason these days! I have been chasing after a fast-walking 1-year-old! I realize that it doesn't take much speed on my part since he's not quite running yet. There are, however, obstacles. Toys galore tend to get strewn about this house on a daily, nay, hourly basis! And now that he is upright and can reach the 2nd- and 3rd-from-the-bottom shelves, I've had to find new homes for some knick-knacks, CDs, DVDs, books, etc. He gets quite proud of himself if he reaches something from the desk or table top and he's developed a new game: Pull Several Things Down And Take Off With One Thing While Mom Is Picking Up The Rest. It's a fairly long title so we shorten it to: The Pull And Run game. Or the other game: Tear A Piece Of Paper And Watch Mom Come Running (or "Tear And Watch")! It could be any piece of paper, mind you. If I'm in another room and I hear something tearing, I come a-runnin'. It's most likely the bulletin from church last Sunday... but Brent's got shelves and shelves of books so I've always got to make sure.

Anyway, I'd like to get "caught up" on my blogging again but I'm sure that's easier said than done. I'm afraid the majority of my "catch-up" entries will most likely be pictures only. With maybe a caption or two here and there. I know, I know... you're all just crying about that, aren't you? None of this witty banter to look forward to. Just pictures. Boo hoo. :D Because I'd like to focus on the present-day achievements. If Mac does something funny or scary... or if he uses a new sign (yes, we're learning sign language) or just scrapes his knee for the 1st time... ideally, I'd like to sit down and write about it "in the moment." I'm realizing that the longer I wait to write about it, the harder it is to remember exactly what happened. Welp, time to get crackin'!

p.s. Yeah, this entry was started on February 20. I just finished it today!!

Pheasant?

Saw this in the yard today. The pictures look phoggy because I took 'em through the window. Didn't want to scare off our new phriend. ;)

Oops! Looks like we scared him off after all. :)

Another Monday...

Just a few pics from today:

Cutie pie. By the way, we're lovin' the sliding glass door! Lots more light coming through... makes things brighter!

Sweet boy.

Found some new dishes for Mac at Target today. I may try to incorporate this design into his bedroom décor! So cute!

Couldn't even wait for his bed... Tired boy! :)

I also took a few more pictures of our place today... wanted to show the progress we've made with unpacking and getting things in place. Take a look here. We found out we have both colors of Bleeding Heart flowers in our front walk. So pretty.

Goofy Guys!

Mac has recently decided to use his new mini card table as a fort. And today, daddy decided to join him under there. Awesome fun! :D

Helping Pack

Well. I had been looking all over for that lime juice! That's one of the fun items that Mac would pull out of the fridge... not because you could hear it slosh around when shaken, but because there turned out to be a bit of a leak in the lid and Mac loved sucking on that sour juice! I'm not sure from whom Mac inherited his propensity for all things sour... ;D (*cough* me.) He loves it though. And even gets mad when I take it away!

So this morning, as I was trying to decide where to start, I thought I'd have a look inside an open box that was on the floor to see what had already been packed in it. I found quite the treasure! Not only did I find the lime juice... I found a book, a hand-held video game, a plushy Piglet, a fire truck, Mary & one of the Wise Men, and a couple other miscellaneous toys.

Now, I'm not sure if these were the select few that made the cut or not. But whether these were the keepers or the tossers made no difference in the long run. Either way, it made for a great picture! And I'm sure Mac was proud of his "packing" accomplishments! What a great little helper!

Sunday.

A relaxing day. A little bit of packing. A little bit of sleeping. It's all good. :)


At this point we don't even know yet if we're really moving... but we've got so much to pack, we thought we'd at least get started by packing the non-essentials. I'm sure we've got our work cut out for us!

Packing is hard work. Time for a much-needed break. :)

Yay For Snow.

It hasn't been an overly cold or wet (i.e. snowy) winter and I'm afraid the summer may get quite dry if we don't get some more precipitation soon! So I say "Yay!" for any rain or snow we do receive! Bring it on!

Startin' Early

Takin' after daddy with the video games already??? :D

Open Up & Say: Ahhhh

I'm not sure what "Dr. Mac" is looking for inside daddy's mouth... I think things in there are just interesting to a 1-year-old. :) And I suppose a PEZ dispenser works just as well as a tongue depressor...?? ;D

Someone In...

... Roseburg, Oregon Loves Me! Hmm. I wonder who that could be? :) When we looked in Mac's drawer for an outfit today, we came across this! And now he's big enough to fit into it! Yay! So, G'ma and G'pa Jackson (and Aunt Shawna), this one is for you!

Cousin L.J. Turns 11

His birthday is actually on the 19th but we got to celebrate today. He invited a couple of friends over but his siblings alone make a pretty full house! :) It was fun. And I'm pretty sure he had a good time too.

Pushing My Buttons

Mac learned something new today. He learned that when you push certain buttons, you can make things turn on and off. Like... the little red dot next to the power button on the tv. Great. :\ This could be fun...

Wednesday.

First up: play time. Sometimes I think he'd rather play with the plastic tote more than the toys that go in there! Of course, when tipped upside-down, it makes for a good climbing bench. ;) I guess there really is proof of having played with the toys that go inside the tote, however, since they're all over my floor. :D

Next up: getting a big, fat lip after falling, no, diving face-first onto the hard wood floor! OUCH!! His first fat lip. He cried and cried. It bled and bled. And bled, and bled, and bled... And bled. Mommy was nervous and called the doctor. Apparently, lip lacerations tend to bleed a lot! Tried to get Mac to suck on a cold wet wash rag. No such luck. He didn't want anything to do with that. Had him drink a little bit of cool water. Drinking is a hard thing to do with a fat lip. It got a little slobbery. I finally just gave him a dose of Tylenol to help with swelling and pain. Talk about a hard day! I hope that doesn't happen again anytime soon! In fact, never would be just fine with me.

Mission: Impossible?

Nah. It shouldn't be. It's just a stroller, after all! Right??

Well, that's what I thought before I dumped all 83 pieces out onto the floor! Some assembly required?? How about: Let's face it, you're going to have to put this whole thing together by yourself!?!

Ok then. Let's get started. Hmm... so maybe there are just 9 pieces (+nuts and bolts), but it seemed a little daunting, nonetheless. ;)

First, attach the locking rear brake system.

One wheel down, two to go...

Second wheel connected. This isn't so bad after all. :)

Whoops. I spoke too soon! That front wheel was a bugger! But I got it on there. I think the fact that it swivelled made it harder to deal with.

Now for that front fender... Lookin' good!

Here's Mac's tray.

And the little steering wheel he gets to have fun with. The little horn even beeps. :)

Now for mom's tray. This goes at the top of the stroller. And even has a hidden compartment.

ALL DONE!!! :)

Mary

I'm sorry to say... I think she spent the night in the cold, dark refrigerator. All by herself. Well, unless you can count the company of some random food items. And, really. Have you tried making conversation with Capers? It's rather one-sided.

I looked all over for her. I really did! I was beginning to lose all hope of finding Mary, the mother of Jesus, from our new little Veggie Tale nativity set...

Looking back, I probably should've known. Everytime I open the fridge, there's Mac, grabbing at either the Fish Oil Capsules, the Capers, or the Deli Mustard. Mostly it's the Fish Oil he's after. (They make sound when you shake the bottle!)

Well, this time, he made a trade. Apparently, he must've had Mary in his hand and wouldn't have been able to grab what he was truly after unless he set her down. So, he made the switch.

Sneaky little guy. I didn't even realize...

But, this morning, when I opened the fridge to grab some milk for my cereal, here's what I saw:

Sippin' & Shakin'

When we got home from going out to eat today, Mac decided that he was in charge of the soda pop cup. There wasn't much left in there so we just let him hang onto it. About the time he got to the bottom, and nothing but slurp was coming out, he'd shake that thing up like there was no tomorrow! Ha!! Maybe he figured if he shook it, more liquid would somehow magically appear, I don't know. But it was the funniest thing to watch! :D