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.

Sugar and Spice

Just before the man with the big red suit arrived this year, Jack and I busied ourselves in the kitchen making our annual batch of gingerbread men. This is my most favorite time during the Christmas season. The kitchen is warm and my boy and I are busy kneading and rolling and punching out our delicious little men. I love watching Jack's little hands carefully decorate the cookies with frosting and sprinkles, raisins and tiny red hots. Each year we use my Grandma's cookie cutters and Bryan's Grandma's rolling pin to lovingly produce our sweet and spicy gingerbread. It reminds of me of all that has passed and all that will be. I am so blessed to be Jack's mom and to be able to share this time with him using the tools of the women who came before me. I hope one day my grandchildren will be doing the same thing with him and remembering me.

Jack and Diane...oops, Shivena

Our neighbors have a delightful little girl, Shivena, that comes over to play with Jackson. Way back in December(yes, I know, I haven't been very good at blogging lately)she stayed the day with us while her mommy worked. The kids had a great time watching movies and scarfing popcorn, swinging outside and making pizza! There was giggling, dancing, hugging, fighting and screaming....lots of it. Here are a few pictures of our day together. Hope you can feel the fun!