Robin Hood at the Renaissance Festival

This year was Jack's first experience with the Renaissance Festival. Grammie and Papa took us as a special birthday treat for Jack. He had so much fun bungee jumping(well, sort of) and throwing tomatoes at the heckling tomato man(he landed more tomatoes than the adults and was a better heckler too). After going to the petting zoo, climbing a trick ladder and eating a roasted turkey leg, it was time to take our little Robin Hood home. Thanks Grammie and Papa for such a wonderful day!

Animal Attraction

The Phoenix Zoo is one of our favorite places, especially when the weather is 70 degrees and breezy. The animals seem to appreciate the weather too because they were out and ready to play. Jack rode the carousel, had a couple camel rides and even got to pose for a picture with a female baboon who seems to adore children(she always comes to the glass and sits by Jack when we visit). Check out the grins on Jack's face...enough said.

Cowboy Boots for the Cowboy Kid

Jack's birthday wish this year was to have his very own pair of "real" cowboy boots from Saba's Western Wear. In January, we went and picked them out and decided what size he would need. He was positively giddy with anticipation and couldn't wait to get them for his birthday. On February 12, 2010 at 6:30 am, Jack got his wish! We woke our little cowboy up to give him a special gift. He was overjoyed! You see, Jack has always had an infatuation with boots starting before he was 2. He wore my "highstyle" boots until he got a pair of his own. Bittersweet for mom(the highstyle are now retired), but an exciting new phase for our little man.

Lollipop Lollipop!

For Jack's birthday this year, I made these really fun lollipop cupcakes for his preschool class. The kids loved them and I had a blast making them!

Fabulous Funny FOUR!

This February, our baby turned 4. As many of you know, each year I try to take some simple headshots of Jackson around his birthday to remember how beautiful he was each year on the day of his birth. I love the range of emotions children show in just a few minutes. From silly to solemn to adorably happy...I couldn't pick a favorite, so here are the best shots of the day.

Heaven on Four Wheels

In January, Jack and I visited our dear friends, Janie and Rhett, out at their farm. Rhett got a new junior quad for Christmas(nevermind that they weren't even 4 yet!) and Jack was in love. Janie was nice enough to let Jack give it a try while I tried to pretend to be calm. He rode it like a pro and has talked about it every since. Where did my baby go? If I blink, we will be at the DMV and he will be asking to borrow my car on Saturday night.

Oops, we did it again!

So, January was an eventful month. I went back to work, hired a nanny, fired a nanny, got Jack enrolled in a new school(AGAIN) and found out that we are pregnant! I have to admit after 4 years of being at home with Jackson and not having a lot of luck in the fertility department, I was pretty surprised( and more than a little panicked) when I found out that we were unexpectedly expecting. I hadn't been feeling like myself, but I didn't give it another thought since there was so much change on the horizon and we were just coming off of the holidays and I was nursing a broken foot....best we can figure is that our anniversary was a celebration indeed. I am sure that will totally gross this child out when they are 12! I realized I was over a week late, drove immediately to Walgreens for a pregnancy test, borrowed their powder room and barely finished peeing when the line was a hot, bright, neon, in your face, here I am mom PINK! I made the mad dash to my car, sped over to Bryan's store to give him the news. What a day....wish my scanner was working so I could share the pics of the tiny beating heart we saw on the ultrasound. We will be welcoming a baby on September 18, 2010.

The Dolly Steamboat

Bryan took Jack on the Dolly Steamboat the beginning of the year. They had a great time watching the ducks and mountain goats while riding the steamboat through the blooming canyon. I am so glad that I married a man who takes pride in doing fun things with our son. Jack is such a lucky boy!

Christmas 2009(including costume changes)

Santa brought Jack a treasure chest full of costumes this year and boy did we all have fun playing with them. We had a wonderful day spending time with family and enjoying the glow of the Christmas tree while watching Jack play cowboy, ninja, charlie chaplin, etc. As usual, there was too much food, too many presents and just enough love! Hope your Christmas was as theatrical as ours.