Christmas

Jax figured out how to turn the lights on the tree on.

Me almost at 35 weeks

Growing up my family didn't do stockings - we had Santa boots. I wanted to keep the tradition so I made these for our family.

Christmas was wonderful. I first have to tell about Christmas Eve. The Garner's go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast every Christmas Eve, so ever since Dan and I started dating, I did this with them. We were so excited when we saw that Lubbock had a Cracker Barrel too so we kept the tradition going here in Texas. We woke up Christmas Eve morning and went to breakfast. We were SOOO excited when we saw that it was snowing! It doesn't snow much in Lubbock - but the fact that the 2nd snow of winter was on Christmas Eve made it feel more like Christmas to me! Breakfast was delicious! Jaxon really enjoyed his pancakes and he thought it was fun to "drink" the syrup (don't worry - the bottle wasn't open).

The unopened syrup bottle

Trying to drink it haha

My boys

Me and my handsome little guy

When we got home we watched a Christmas movie, played, then Jaxon went down for his nap and Dan and I finished wrapping gifts and started on the Christmas Eve dinner. We decided that since we couldn't go anywhere - we would make dinner special so we made Turkey and mashed potatoes with other delicious stuff. It was so yummy! After dinner we did our Christmas Eve things which consisted of opening the Koch shirts my grandparents sent us, the "P.J's" my parents gave us, and trying to read a Christmas story. The story didn't go so well - Jax didn't want to sit and listen to it - but it was fun anyway. Then after Jax went to bed Dan and I put out all our presents, and the presents my parents brought and the Garners sent and watched a Christmas movie and went to bed.

Watching a Christmas movie

Opening the Koch T-shirts... wonder what color they will be???

Yeah...blue!

Christmas morning Jax got up at his usual time of 7:15ish so I went out to see if Santa came and start filming while Dan went and got Jax. When Jax came out and saw his boot and stocking on the couch and all the presents around the tree - we thought for sure he would be so excited to start opening them... well he wasn't. He saw the the box of cereal he got as part of his boot and all he wanted to do was eat the cereal. HAHA - so we took a break, and ate cereal. He didn't really care about opening gifts - as soon as he would open one he just wanted to play with it or keep playing with a toy he had previously opened so after a while Dan and I just opened all our gifts while Jax played and then we helped him finish opening his. The last present we brought out was from my parents and we knew we had to keep it hidden until the end because once he saw it he wouldn't care about anything else... and we were right - as soon as Dan rolled his little "bike" out he dropped his other toys - yelled "BIKE" and didn't want to do anything but ride the bike. He got spoiled that is for sure - but what can you expect? He is the only grandchild on BOTH sides and our only child right now so its hard not to go a little crazy haha - but next year my parents will have 3 Grandkids and Jax will have a little sister so maybe it will be different.

All the presents except for what Santa brought

I am realizing now the downfall to having a camera that is our picture camera and our video camera... I recorded pretty much all of Christmas so I couldn't take any pictures during it. So we have a super long video of the entire thing - but only a couple of pictures at the end I took of Jax and his stuff. I didn't even get a family picture of all of us in our matching outfits :( boo. So I will remember this for next year and do pictures at the beginning of the family and then start recording.

Jaxon's gifts - we couldn't get him to get off the bike or hold still for the pictures so this is the best one we got haha 

Dan got an ipad, headphones, shirts, slippers, and a calendar I made for him of our family.
I got a sewing machine, Cricut, jewelry, scarf, hat, perfume, mani/pedi certificate, and a certificate for a professional to come deep clean before the baby comes hehe.
Jaxon got, a dinosaur train and all the characters, thomas the train - train tracks and trains, the tag reader and 5 books to go with it, markers and coloring pads, food/dishes for his little play kitchen, puzzles, activity dice, a car track with battery powered cars that go on it, dinosaurs, a bike, remote control car, and some other books.

I think that's all haha. We were very spoiled and blessed to have such a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas

This is such a wonderful time of year. It's hard sometimes not to get caught up in gifts and the excitement of it all, but I hope we can all take time to remember what this time of year truly represents and should remind us of... our Savior. I have a quote up in my house that I love, it says

"The magic of Christmas is not in the presents, it's in HIS presence." 

May we all remember our Savior and his birth! Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Grandma and Papa came - Jaxon met Santa

This past weekend we were so lucky to have my parents come visit. My mom has been here before but my dad hasn't so it was very nice to get to have them both here. With the arrival of baby girl garner fast approaching, we (well I) am not allowed to travel so we obviously are not able to go see our families for Christmas this year which was sad - but having my parents come made things better. They got here on Saturday and we gave them a tour of the Texas Tech Campus - showed them the temple and other things around Lubbock, and went to a nice Stake dinner that night. Sunday we all went to church, and then just had a nice relaxing day here at the house playing with Jaxon, talking, laughing, the guys talking politics which my mom and I finished my Christmas for the families. Monday we went to the mall so Jaxon could see Santa (which I will talk more about in a sec) - did some shopping - then my parents stayed with Jaxon so Dan and I could do a lunch date consisting of lunch and a movie (Sherlock Holmes 2) then my mom and I did a little more shopping - we all went out to dinner - and then watched a Christmas movie (Scrooge - my families tradition). Tuesday they woke up and had to drive back to San Antonio for my dad's company Christmas party so it was a short but VERY sweet visit. Jax was sooooo sad to see them leave, as were Dan and I. He loves them so much and it was so hard to see them go but my mom will be coming back when our baby arrives so that will be nice to have her here again!

I of coarse didn't take any pictures :( my mom did though so as soon as I get them from her I will have to post them - we got some pretty funny ones of Jax that is for sure!

Jaxon met Santa:
Jaxon knows who Santa is and he will say "ho ho ho" and pretend like he is Santa so I thought he was going to do just fine sitting on his lap. We talked about what he would tell Santa he wanted for Christmas (dinosaurs and trains) and he would get so excited to tell him. Well while in line he kept yelling "no Santa" so my mom and I explained it was all ok and had him watch some other kids get on his lap, smile for the picture, tell him what they wanted - and he seemed like he would be ok. NOPE - as soon as I tried to walk away he started crying. Who is this little boy? Jaxon is not afraid of strangers and goes up and will talk to pretty much anyone (which isn't good I know - we are working on it) so I thought he would be fine talking to someone he gets so excited about. Luckily - the people who built Santa's mall "workshop" put a VERY large chair so Santa suggested I sit with Jaxon on the chair which I did and we were able to get a picture and Jaxon was able to somewhat tell Santa what he wanted. The Santa at the South Plains Mall was actually a REALLY good one. All his facial hair was real and he was just the sweetest cutest man. I thought it was a little weird he wasn't in the normal Santa outfit (the red coat and stuff) but he was great! I will scan in the picture (horrid of me) so you can all see Jaxon's somewhat happy face while meeting Santa for the first time. Not exactly how I imagined it would go - but memorable and pretty funny none the less!

Listening to the spirit

Right now I am so grateful for the spirit, here is why:
-Found out we were pregnant on June 1, 2011 in Utah
-Saw my Dr. in Utah (Dr. Brown) for my first 3 visits - everything looked great to deliver just like I did with Jaxon.
-Came back to Lubbock and found a Family/OB Dr and started care with her - was told everything was not great, would need a C-section and lots of other weird things
-Kept feeling weird about the entire situation but did nothing about it
-FINALLY followed the prompting of the spirit at 34 weeks, called my doctor in Utah, told her everything and was told to go find a new doctor immediately.
-Despite many doctors saying they wouldn't see me because of how far along I was - found an experienced OBGYN, had an appointment and was told the same things my Utah Dr. had told me. Everything was fine and I can deliver vaginally.

My C-section was scheduled with the other doctor for January 19th. If I would not have followed the promptings of the spirit, I would have had an unnecessary C-section. I know there are worse things in the world than that, but I just feel so blessed to have the spirit in my life to guide and direct me. I feel so at peace now which I never did with the idea of having a C-section and now I know why.... I didn't need one.

Do I feel dumb for not following the promptings sooner? YES - Did I learn my lesson? YES

***Note - the Dr. I WAS seeing here in Lubbock is a fine doctor, she is young and mainly does family practice so she is not as experienced in OB. I have kept her name out of all of my posts so as not to make her look bad. I know a couple other people she has delivered and everything went perfect with them - for me she was just not a good fit.

"I'm Horney".... You're WHAT???

When Jaxon was hungry he used to say  "I want to eat" or he would go get something out of the fridge or pantry. But the other day he came up to me and said, "mom - I'm hungry" BUT it didn't sound like hungry at all - it sounded just like "mom - I'm horney". OH MY GOODNESS. I was like WHAT did you just say Jax? And he repeated it and I still didn't know he was saying hungry so I was trying to figure out WHERE ON EARTH he would have heard that word! Then he said I want yogurt and I realized what he was trying to say. Because I laughed so hard about it - he kept repeating it over and over again. Obviously I had him say it for Dan when he got home from school and we had a laugh about it, but needless to say, I am trying to get him to say either "I'm starving" or just stick with "I want to eat". Lets hope he is never hungry and tells me about it when we are with other people. LOL.

Christmas Traditions

When Dan and I got married,  because of the closeness of both of our families - we were able to do a lot of fun Holiday things with both families and continue doing the traditions we had grown up with. Last year we went back to Utah for Christmas and got to continue doing all of that. This year with sweet baby Addison coming in January we are staying in Lubbock, so Dan and I decided that since we are officially having our OWN Christmas and Jaxon is getting older and can understand more - we should start some of our own traditions. The problem is... WHAT?

Some of the traditions we grew up with that we are planning on keeping are:
*Going to Breakfast on Christmas Eve Morning at Cracker Barrel (Dan's family)
*Opening a present on Christmas Eve (always matching/coordinating PJ's to wear) (Lisa's Family)
*Reading a Christmas story as a family before going to bed on Christmas eve (Both Families)
*Having a HUGE yummy breakfast Christmas Day (Both Families)

That's it - how sad! So you can see why we need more! Normally we did a lot of other things but they were things in Utah so since we are not there we need to figure out things we can do here in Lubbock as well as just things at home that can be done anywhere.

Some things we have talked about are:
1) Going to see Santa (now that we have a child - (almost children) this is obviously something that will be fun)
2) Doing something with the 12 days of Christmas - ANY IDEAS ABOUT THIS?

What are some traditions you do with your family?

So very thankful

So very thankful for my little, yet growing family. Addison has been kicking as I type this and I can't begin to describe how grateful I am for the miracle of bringing children into this world. I know there are so many women out there who ache to have children and are unable to do so and my heart breaks for them. So I want to make sure I express my gratitude for the blessing I have had to be able to have children. Here is the most current picture of my family - taken on 11/29/11 - just 52 days before our little baby girl joins our family. Can't wait to meet, hold, and cherish her.

I am also so very thankful for a husband who is working so hard to provide a good life for us. We sure do miss him around here - he goes to school early - comes home to eat dinner and spend about 30 mins with us - then goes back to school until late. Even though it is hard at times, I am very grateful for the opportunity Dan has to attend Law School and get an education is something he is passionate about. It will be great when finals are over to have him around for a month or so of NO SCHOOL!

Thanksgiving in San Antonio

This year we decided that since we couldn't make it to Utah to visit our families for Thanksgiving, we would go to San Antonio and visit Dan's Aunt and Uncle. We were lucky that Dan's Grandma (Betty RAE - who we are naming Addison RAE after) was going to be flying in from Utah to spend Thanksgiving with them too so we would get to spend time with her as well! We left Tuesday after Dan got out of class and drove there. The drive was great, other than the 40 mile detour we took because we were lost haha. Thank goodness there was a random house on the side of the road out in the middle of nowhere with a friendly cowboy and his wife sitting out on their porch that we were able to stop at and ask for directions. LOL. Jaxon didn't get out of the car once and he did GREAT! I on the other hand had to stop 3 times in the 6 1/2 hours for potty breaks HEHE! Wednesday morning Dan had the opportunity to go golfing at a really nice coarse with his aunt and uncle and some one of their friends. They had a great time and I'm so glad Dan was able to take a break, relax, and do something he loves. While they were golfing Jaxon, Grandma, and I were able to spend the morning together having fun! We took Jax to a park later that day and just spent a nice relaxing day together! Thanksgiving was great! We had a wonderful dinner and we took Jax to the park again to play after dinner. Friday Dan went golfing again with his uncle and some of his uncles friends at this coarse that you have to know a member of to get in and it cost $150 to play (luckily Dan didn't have to pay thanks to the generosity of those he was playing with) but that should tell you it was a pretty nice coarse! While he was doing that Jaxon and I went to the Witte Museum in San Antonio. It was such a fun place! Jaxon loved it and of coarse love all the dinosaur stuff they had there! Saturday morning we went to the Zoo. We woke up and it was raining but the forecast said it would stop by mid morning so we decided to still go - we are so glad we did because by the time we got there, it was overcast and a little chilly, but not raining. We basically had the zoo to ourselves. By the time we were leaving the sun was coming out and it was clearing up so a TON of people were showing up. It seriously was perfect timing! Then after Jaxon's nap we went to the Alamo and the Riverwalk. It was windy and a little chilly - but that didn't stop us. The River Walk had lights up for Christmas and was really pretty! We played games and night and got to spend a lot of time talking, laughing, relaxing, and enjoying having a vacation from some of the stresses of life (aka finals). We are so grateful to Dan's aunt and uncle for letting us stay with them and taking such good care of us while we were there! Here are a few pictures of the trip!

This is my favorite picture! I love Jax's face! I know he looks scared but he is actually REALLY excited because the Tiger just walked out of  his little cave. Jaxon LOVES tigers :)  

This was us trying to get a family picture. Jax finally agreed to say cheese and smile when we told him he could have a sucker if he did. LOL! And I know - I really need chapstick.

The Alamo

Couldn't resist taking a picture of this VERY Texas Christmas tree right by the Alamo!

The River Walk

Some of the beautiful lights along the River Walk - the picture doesn't do it justice! 

Again - I have been so bad at taking pictures - I am so glad I got the few that I did to document our trip! Does anyone else have this problem? What do you do to remind yourself or make sure you get your camera out and snap the shot?!

Gratitude

I had another doctor appointment today. Baby Girl Garner is doing well - heart beat was strong and she is measuring great! It was decided after my appointment today that a C-section is the way I will need to go. I am finally at peace with it and I have to admit I am a little excited that I will know the exact day she is going to come. Right now it will either be January 19th or 20th. The doctor is checking the schedule and will see what will work. The 20th would be PERFECT for us because it's a Friday and Dan doesn't have school on Friday's next semester and then he would be able to help me that weekend since he won't have school and then my mom will fly in late Sunday night to be here to help when Dan goes back to school on Monday! So hopefully the 20th will work for the doctor!!! I am already dilated though, so she might come earlier than that ... who knows!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving that I will post more about later with pictures! I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for my little-growing family. I have felt so overwhelmed with gratitude the past week and don't even know how to adequately put it into words. I am also so grateful for the amazing family I was born into and the wonderful family I married into. I can't believe how blessed Dan, Jaxon, baby girl, and I are to be surrounded by such amazing people who love and support us constantly. And last but NOT least - I am grateful for the opportunity we have to be here in Lubbock Texas right now while Dan attends Law School. How blessed we are that he is able to get this education and that we are here with such wonderful, amazing, and loving people. It is going to be so hard to leave here and I NEVER thought I would say that. I have grown to love Lubbock (mostly the people and friends here), but it is going to be so hard to leave.

"You Pretty Mama"

Today after Jaxon and I took Dan to school, we were cuddling on the couch (this is VERY rare - Jaxon usually won't cuddle) trying to get warm because it is a cold/foggy/rainy day in Lubbock today, and Jaxon put his hand on my cheek, "stroked" my face a few times and said "you pretty mama". Obviously this just melted my heart! I took this picture shortly after to document exactly what my little boy looked like at the time he said this haha. He is still in his Dino jammies, has a little bit of pen on his face from drawing, and has some weird hair from waking up not too long before that - but isn't he just adorable?!

Last Friday I got a knock at the door and was handed the most beautiful arrangement of flowers! White lily's with orange and red roses and a very sweet card from Dan. It was such a perfect day already because I was able to see Baby Girl Garner - but this just made it even better! Thank you sweetheart!

Jaxon has been staying in his bed the past 3 days for naps and during the night. I hope this is permanent! Early one morning I was trying to document this big event haha and the flash on the camera woke Jax up. He wasn't too happy as you can see LOL. But isn't he cute in his bed? And yes - that is a binky in his mouth - he will be 2 1/2 next month and he still sleeps with a binky. Judge all you want - I am fine with it!

30 week Ultrasound (pictures of Baby Girl Garner)

Today I got to go have an ultra sound of my sweet baby! It was so fun to see her again! Yes she is definitely a girl! When I asked the tech to confirm the gender, she said, "I hope they told you it's a girl" haha - YES they did! They were able to get a few pictures of her face but because of her position, it was hard. Here is what we know about Baby Girl Garner as of right now...

-She is 3lbs 3oz (45%)

-She is a thumb-sucker haha - her hand was in her mouth basically the entire appointment

-She doesn't like when the ultrasound wand is over her feet (she kicked every time)

-She is head down and her head is "snuggled" in my pelvic and hip bones (no wonder they hurt)

-She has big lips (or so it looks like - the one time she took her hand out of her mouth the tech was able to get a 3D pulled up of her for a second and her lips look big - those come from Dan haha)

-She has a strong heartbeat and is growing well

I still have the bleed they saw at my 20 week appointment - but it hasn't gotten any bigger which is good. The tech can't say any more than that since she isn't my Dr. - but I'm sure its fine - it doesn't seem like its that big of a deal. :) 

I am so excited to meet this sweet baby girl in January

30 Week Doctor Appt - not a great appointment

I had my "30 week" doctor appointment yesterday (11/15). I was 2 days away from being 30 weeks, but you have to do your diabetes test between 28-30 weeks and it HAS to be done BEFORE 30 weeks haha, so I just did my appt 2 days before and killed 2 birds with 1 stone. That orange drink is nasty and I almost threw up - I probably would have but then I would have had to drink it again, and the idea of that made me use all of my will power to keep it down haha. Luckily the results came back and I don't have it. WAHOO!

The rest of my appt was disappointing. This is the second time I actually saw MY doctor. I saw her when she was 36 weeks pregnant, then she had her baby before I got back in, then she took time off (understandable) and so I have been seeing her nurse practitioner (who is great, but because she isn't my dr - would say or suggest things, but say I need to talk to the dr about it). Because my blog is not private right now - I don't want to go into all the details, so I will just bullet point what happened.

-My dr. didn't take notes from our first visit when we went over ALL the details from my previous labor so I had to remind her about everything.

-We had a Q&A about C-section vs. Vaginal delivery for my situation and the answers were discouraging

-Because she doesn't feel comfortable performing C-section's V-back (I guess that's how you say it) - if she does the C-section for me, I will have to have C-sections for the rest of my kids (which I would probably do anyway because of my situation - but I guess I liked the idea of having the option)

-Found out that the ultra sound tech wanted to see me back for another ultra sound at 26 weeks to follow up with something they found during the 20 week ultrasound (my doctor missed that before and JUST saw it so I obviously didn't go to any appointment) - VERY FRUSTRATED ABOUT THIS

-Even though I asked the doctor what they found, she jumped around the question and just made sure they got me in ASAP - would that make you nervous? It did me a little! 

The confidence I had in my doctor after the first appointment has diminished. During my first appointment, she was so tentative and was asking a lot of questions, listening to my answers, giving suggestions, all that - but I guess she forgot to write it all down which I didn't know about until yesterday so it was like that first appointment never really happened. 

Good news out of all of this - I get to have another ultra sound on Friday and get to see my baby. I did call the ultra sound tech's office to find out what they saw since my dr wouldn't tell me and they said the baby is totally fine, they found something with me that they wanted to have the dr check and they wanted to follow up with at 26 weeks or before, so its obviously not serious - but still - they found a bleed which to me sounds like it could affect the baby or something, maybe not - but I'm just bugged that I was not told about this and that it was overlooked. 

Where is Dr. Brown when I need her. I miss you Dr. Brown!!!

Do I look for another doctor - or just stick it out with this one? I can't trust how I'm feeling because I am pregnant and over emotional haha - what would you do?

Third Trimester

So I have been in my third trimester for a couple of weeks now - today I am 29 weeks. Things are going well. My last dr. appt I saw the nurse practitioner because my dr was out of the office and she kept telling me how low the baby was and asked if I had to pee a lot. HAHA - yes I do and I KNOW the baby is low - I can feel all the pressure - but thanks for confirming it LOL. I am actually worried for when the baby drops - um... where is she going to go? I don't think she can get any lower!!! The good thing is - because of my incredibly short torso, I don't look like I'm carrying low, I look pretty normal - just big. People ask me when I am due and when I tell them the end of January they are usually shocked. No big deal though - that was the same reaction I got with Jax and I feel like I'm bigger with this one since it's my second haha.

I have been pretty tired - but THANK GOODNESS Jaxon is napping again so I nap too! I am up every morning by 7:30 at the latest (when Jax gets up) then I take at least an hour nap in the day (most the time longer depending on Jaxon's nap) and I am still super tired by 9 haha.

I feel hungry all the time and crave anything with sugar (very different than my pregnancy with Jaxon). It takes A LOT of self control to not go crazy -but having Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas during this time of my pregnancy is not a good thing! I am not bragging when I say this and I will tell you why in a second, but I haven't gained any weight with this pregnancy yet thank goodness. This is not bragging because I started this pregnancy MUCH heavier than a normal person should be - so I didn't need to gain any weight. I'm sure I will - I gained the most with Jax at the end so I'm sure at my doctors appointment next week I will start to see weight gain - but I don't ever weigh myself, I let the dr. do it - I eat when I'm hungry and I usually eat what I want unless it is an excessive amount of sugar and I know me and the baby DO NOT need that. So don't worry, I'm not one of those girls who obsess about my weight while I'm pregnant - I believe to eat when you are hungry and that is what I do!

Baby girl moves a lot and she ALWAYS moves when I lay down to go to sleep! I love feeling that right before I go to bed. Speaking of bed - I have had to sleep on the couch a few times because the bed is getting too uncomfortable lol, but I have been toughing it out as long as I can.

Next week I will go in for a dr appt 2 days before I am officially 30 weeks. My dr's office does an ultrasound between 30 and 32 weeks so I'm not sure if they will do one then or wait - but I hope they do - I love seeing our baby! Life is good!

Yes Sir

Ahhh kids.....

A while ago a police show preview was on and a cop was running pointing a gun at someone and yelling "stop right there" Jax does that now. I haven't gotten him any guns so he uses the hose attachment from the vacuum and runs around yelling "stop right there". I have been working with him all day and I'm happy to report that he now says, "stop please" while pointing his gun. LOL.

Today he told me to spank the lotion because he didn't want me to put it on him after his bath. Seriously? He talks about spanking a lot now, probably because we threaten it often. We don't do it often, just threaten, but apparently we are doing it too much if he wants to spank lotion. We need to re-evaluate that for sure.

Last night Jaxon, Dan, and I were all playing before Jax went to bed. It became clean up time so we started cleaning up. Dan asked Jaxon, "Jaxon - can you go pick up the toy over there?" Jaxon replied "YES SIR" and saluted Dan. Dan and I looked at each other and started laughing. I asked Dan if he taught Jax that and he said no - and asked if I had. I didn't either so we started trying to think where he would have learned that and we realized it was probably from the little soldiers on Toy Story. HAHA.

Jaxon is starting to copy and mimic A LOT of stuff now so we have to be very careful what we let him see and what we say. Gotta love the things kids pick up on and say!

FOSSILS

On Saturday when we had the JRCLS over, the kids went into the backyard to play. They first played swords using sticks. Then they decided to make those sticks into "shovels" and they started using them to dig. They were over on the side of our backyard where the previous owner had a dog run (which part of it is still up since it is cemented in and we can't get it out haha). While digging one of the boys sticks hit something hard and he started moving the dirt off. He yelled "wow what is it?" so all the kids ran over to see what he found. Jaxon got so excited and yelled "FOSSILS"!!! He was seriously so excited about it. Obviously it was not a fossil - it was a chunk of cement but seeing how excited Jax got was so funny and it gave me so many ideas of fun things we can do!

I am thankful for...

Today was a fun day! The J. Ruben Clark Law Society members came over to our house today to watch the Texas Tech v. Texas football game and we all had a great time. Lots of kids running around, yummy pizza, and good conversations! After everyone left, Jax napped, Dan and I relaxed for a little bit and then we headed to a park for a birthday party for 2 of Jaxon's friends!

One of Jaxon's friends Dad's is a photographer and had his super nice camera there and was taking pictures - he got these darling ones of Jaxon playing. I am so jealous of his camera! Look at how amazing and "crisp" these pictures are and he was just snapping them as the kids played. My pictures never look this good. Oh well - I guess that is the difference between my ok camera and his AMAZING one. OR it could be the difference between the operators of the camera LOL.

Swinging - Yes in the baby swing because he can go super high and not fall off lol

He wanted daddy to push him because I didn't do it right LOL

Running

Jumping

 Jax just being our fun, energetic, little boy. LOVE YOU LITTLE MONKEY! I am so thankful you are in my life... or should I say I am so thankful you ARE my life haha :) 

Fall Fun

 I have to apologize to myself. I have been SOOO bad with pictures and I'm so sad about it. When I remember to take the camera, I am busy with Jax so I don't take it out to get pictures. So sorry for the lack of pictures and how crappy they are - some were done with my phone so I at least had SOMETHING. I am really trying to do better though!

I love fall! This year went a little different than I had hoped because Dan was doing some law school competitions that kept him at school until around 9:30-10:00pm each night so the days I had planned on us going to the pumpkin patch as a family didn't work out. So Jaxon and I went with our friends the Barry's and picked out 2 pumpkins and decided to wait until Dan could go with us to go pick out the 3rd pumpkin. We drove to the pumpkin patch we went to last year and ALL THE PUMPKINS WERE GONE! They had everything cleaned up! I couldn't believe it - we went a few days before Halloween so I figured they would still have them but no luck! Oh well - good thing we picked out the 2 earlier! I was just sad we didn't get our annual pumpkin patch family picture :(

Jaxon with his buddy Ryker

Also - I have seen these darling candy corn sugar cookies that I wanted to try - they were kind of a lot of work - but they turned out really cute. I know Halloween is over today - but if you want to try them - click HERE to go to the blog where I got the instructions from! 

Dan and I took Jaxon to pick out his Halloween costume. I thought he would either choose a cowboy, Buzz Lightyear, or dinosaur. When we got there we found a cute cowboy costume and buzz costume but no dinosaur. All Jax kept saying the entire time was dinosaur so we kept walking around to see if there was anything. Then Jax yelled "tail" and pointed down, he was pointing to a green tail that looked like a dinosaur tail - so I dug a little deeper and found this hat thing that might be a dinosaur hat. Jax got so excited and wanted to put it on. He wouldn't take it off the rest of the time we were shopping - he wears it every day. I was lucky to find some PJ's that have a dino on them and are similar coloring so it looks ok - lol - but this is what I get for letting my almost 2 1/2 year old pick out his costume. OH WELL - he LOVES it and that is the important thing! 

On Friday the 28th the Science Center here had a Halloween Carnival for little kids so of coarse we went! We went last year but Jax was so young that he didn't understand how to do the games, so this year was a lot more fun! He actually stood in line and played the games and got excited to get his prize. They have also been remodeling the kids space since the beginning of this year and they FINALLY had a sneak preview of it!!! Its officially opening tomorrow, November 1st! Jax loved it! They have a music room, a "vet" area where kids can play and learn about animals, they have a store they can shop in, a water area, a news area, all sorts of stuff! So it was great to get to go play in there too! 

He got hot and took his dinosaur hat off so he just looked like a kid in PJ's haha

I had my baby shower on the 29th and it was such a blast. The girls who threw it did a GREAT job and I got spoiled. So many cute clothes - bows/flowers, this little girl is going to be the cutest dressed girl ever haha! My friend Audrey did almost ALL the food and it was delicious MEXICAN! Yummy!!! We played some fun games that I have never played before - there were baby items presented to us and we had to guess how much they cost. I have purchased basically all the items before, but I didn't even get ONE right haha. The other game was baby food jars were passed around that had the labels taken off of them and we had to smell/taste the food and guess what kind it was. Sadly, I actually did pretty good at that game! I feel so lucky to have such good friends here in Lubbock, and a couple of girls that came haven't even met me - they just go to school with Dan and love Dan so they came to show their support. It was a great day and shower! THANKS EVERYONE! 

Delicious food that I remembered to get a picture of AFTER we ate LOL.

Opening gifts

Opening gifts

Yesterday, Sunday October 30th, the Law School had a Halloween Carnival that they open to up to everyone! I didn't know that until we showed up - I was thinking it was just for the students and their families, but it was such a blast! They had booths set up all over that had games and prizes for the kids! Jaxon got a little scared when he saw some of the scarier costumes with masks and stuff, but other than that we had a great time! After that we came home and carved our pumpkins. Jax didn't like touching the pumpkin guts like I thought he would - he just wanted to play with his cars instead - so Dan and I carved the pumpkins and I think they turned out great!

Law school Halloween Carnival looking for a game

Hard at work carving his pumpkin

Trying to get him to touch inside the pumpkin

Finished product - Lisa Spider, Dan Dragon

What Jax did while we carved pumpkins haha