It's a Girl!

So, as it turns out, Jackson's intuition is great! We are having a baby girl! I'm super-excited to have one of each. Jake says he and Jackson are running away to Mexico. Unfortunately, all the outfits I so painstakingly made sure were stored away in totes (freshly laundered with no stains!) will probably not be used again. Oh well! Onto a new adventure! This, of course, also means redoing the nursery (which is a lot of work, but sooooo fun for me!). One of the ultrasound pics was so adorable. She looked like she was waving at us, so we told Jackson his baby sister was waving at him. I love it because Jackson's first ultrasound picture was such a pose too--he was all kicked back with his hands clasped behind his neck, just like a man on the couch watching football! Baby Girl looks like she's on parade already! Oh boy!

Boy or Girl?

So tomorrow we go in for our ultrasound to see if this baby is a boy or a girl. The baby has been moving a LOT, so hopefully that will be the case tomorrow and will be helpful. Jackson has been telling us the entire time that he thinks it's a baby girl, and Jake thinks it's a girl, but I honestly don't have a feeling one way or the other this time. With Jackson, I was pretty sure the whole time that he was a boy. So, since Jackson has been making predictions, Jake is picking him up tomorrow and bringing him with us to the appointment so he can be involved as well. I am really excited to find out so we can start preparing and maybe settle on a name??? We have two girl names picked out that we both love, but we are totally stuck on boy names this time. Which is funny, because with Jackson, we immediately decided on the name Jackson and both loved it, but couldn't agree on girl names. I think we pretty much just used the one top name on both our lists with Jackson and now we are out of picks...so any helpful suggestions would be most welcomed! Especially boy names (if necessary!). I will try to post tomorrow for the update! Stay tuned....

YAY FOR GOOD WEATHER!

I am so thankful that spring has finally arrived. We have green grass (well, the backyard anyhow, it seems we will be replanting or sodding the front since our dog wore off all the grass), leaves on the trees and flowers (and, unfortunately, dandelions) blossoming and WARM WEATHER--YAY! Jackson is loving being outdoors (as are we) and I'm anxious to start many new projects (most will have to wait until school is out, but that's only a couple more weeks--I can't wait!). I will add photos of the new projects as they are accomplished (don't hold your breath, though...). Softball season is in full swing (with two games down so far and nice weather for both!), school is almost done for the year, and with a little luck as far as weather goes, I will have my planters and pots and hanging baskets done within a couple of weeks! So, just so I don't lose sight of my motivation on the afore-mentioned projects, I thought I would make a little list of my goals for the next month.

***Repaint bathroom and buy new rugs (that seems to be a spring thing for me every year)
***Repaint all the bedroom furniture and sand it to look "aged"
***Finish buying new bedding for our bedroom (just a coverlet and shams is all I'm down to)
***Plant flowers in pots, tomatoes, cilantro and green onions, and buy hanging baskets
***Replant front yard (a project for Jake, really, not me ;) )
***Dig a new fire pit in the backyard (another one for Jake's list, really, but it's my idea, so it can be on my list, right?)
***Help my mom finish painting the playhouse for Jackson (er, I mean, the "hunting lodge")
***Hang more hooks for jackets and bags in the back room (maybe at this point I should have two lists--Jake's list and my list)
***And...depending on if our next child will be a boy or a girl (which we find out in a couple of weeks), redo Jackson's room.
***Re-stain the cedar lawn furniture

Now that I have posted this list into cyberspace, it's permanent and out there for all the world to see, so I really hope I soon will have pictures to show proof that I actually am doing it all! This must be the second trimester ambition and energy kick, right? Or maybe it's just that spring is finally here...

Easter 2010

We had a great Easter this year, much better than last! Last year Jackson was just a little over a year old and got his first illness-croup. He was okay in the morning, but by the time Easter dinner was over, he was really struggling to breathe and was coughing like crazy. By 8 'clock p.m. we had him in the ER doing a breathing treatment and receiving steroid shots. It was so scary! Luckily, that was the only time Jackson has ever been sick so far! Last year we also were one minute late to the Saturday Easter egg hunt and totally missed it. So, this year we planned better and Jackson got to enjoy everything.

The weekend before Easter my mom had to dye 6 dozen eggs for the church Easter egg hunt, so instead of dying eggs here and making my mom do 6 dozen on her own, Jackson and I just went over there to dye eggs. He had a lot of fun for about the first dozen, then grew bored waiting for them each time, so he went off and played while my mom and I finished them. We let him add the stickers later.

Getting ready for the Easter egg hunt! I was about to turn him loose!

There were cute little toys and prizes all over with the eggs, but all Jackson wanted was eggs. He was very focused!

Proud of his stash!

My Aunt Teresa and cousin Emma came down from Boise for the weekend as well, so Jackson and Emma had a blast together, as usual! Here they are showing off their baskets. While Jackson could only seem to focus on eggs, Emma was very focused on a certain prize, then went for the eggs!

A little cousin-ly love at the breakfast.

Jackson made a haul this year! He got a tricycle, some books and little matchbox cars, and a backpack full of fishing gear! There was a little bit of chocolate as well, but I'm pretty sure I enjoyed that before Jackson got to it! ;)

Ready to go fishing!

Easter morning pic before church (and Jackson was not cooperating, but we had to at least try!)

And...my handsome boys! Cute smiles on both of them!

HAPPY EASTER!