Summer List

I can not be more excited that summer is finally here (well almost, no more students in the classroom at least)! Not only do we have a busy summer with wedding activities, but there is also a lot to accomplish before we welcome our baby girl into our family.

It already seems like the "to do" list is two long for the time that we have. It worries me because although I want it all complete, its secondary to spending a fun summer with Jackson, the last with him as an only child. 

I've been compiling a list of activities to do & places to go, here is what we have...

Activities:

Have a picnic lunch

Make clown face ice cream sundaes 

Fly a kite

Sponge balls

Paint a bird house

Water balloon toss

Try tee ball

Have a car wash for J's Cozy Coup

Sidewalk chalk pictures
Take pictures at the red barn

Popsicles on the front porch
Sprinkler in the backyard

Places to go:

Dunes

Naperville Beach/Pool

Splash Pads

Butterfly House

Farm for horses

Zoo 

Library to complete reading program

As said by J

Teacher Books

Jackson has recently loved to play teacher with some books to lead circle time:
"You don't read them Mommy, their my teacher books."

He holds it up to show..."Look."

Turns to a page with a penguin on it..."Grandpa's favorite."

Turns to a page with flowers on it..."Mommy's tulips."

"Shhhhh! Stop talking! Stop talking guys."

My Phone

Reaches in his pretend back pocket, "I don't have my phone."

Your Name
During a circle time session:
J: "What's your name?"
Me: "Mom"
J, smiling: "Danielle?"
Me, laughing: "Yes" [when did he learn that?]
J: "What's my name?"
Me: "Jackson"
J, swaying arms as if in song: "Danielle and Jackson"

Marching Band

After seeing parade, I asked J "Did you like seeing the bands?"
J:  "Yeah"
Me:  "Do you want to be in a band when your older?"
J:  "Yeah"
Me: "What instrument do you want to play?"
J:  Thinks about it for a moment..."Music!"

Whole Foods

Leaving to run errands, J asked from the back seat "We go to whole foods?"
Me: "Yeah we are"
J:  "I eat there!"

Pretty Mommy

While I was trying on maxi dresses, J said "You look pretty Mommy....like Cinderella"

Our Garden

Our garden is planted! This week my dad, Jackson and I spent two after schools planting the plants we had for our garden. We still have a few seeds we want to plant but we are also running out of room!

I am renting a garden plot through the park district and am so excited to continually take Jackson there to take care of the plants and pick the food when its ready! We planned out and planted tomatos, green peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, jalapenos, habeneros, spicy oregano, egg plant, zuccini, and kale. We still hope to plant at least some flowers ("for mommy" as Jackson says) and pumpkin seeds.  

Jackson goes in spurts of helping and exploring. His imagination gets going and he finds rocks, plays with the shovel or tries to mimic what Grandpa or myself is doing. He helped rake and pick weeds at the beginning then would push dirt into a hole after a plant was in and even put one in the hole on his own. He loves to be involved and asks a lot of questions. 

Today he was very interested in the measure stick my dad made, asking what number each one on it was. He gets dirty and is bothered by it for a little bit but then brushes his hands off on his shirt and moves on. It is so sweet to hear him get excited about going to the garden, understand what some of the tools are and show care for the plants that we had planted. A special thanks to my dad for all his hard work on aspects of the garden that pregnant me and toddler Jackson cant do well.

Can't wait till we are eating the fresh veggies!

Little Moments, Big Memories

Birthday Rock Cake

My dad's birthday was the beginning of May. I kept talking about it to Jackson. I helped him make a card and he helped me to make cupcakes. For a while whenever I mentioned it, he would say "no, my birthday." Well, the morning before my dad's birthday when he came to watch Jackson I got him out of bed early and told him we were going to say Happy Birthday to Grandpa. He immediately started singing. We restarted the song when we got downstairs but he was so proud to sing it to him.

The best part of this day happened while I was at school though. Jackson was playing with rocks and sand toys. He put a bunch of rocks in the sifter for a "rock cake" and gave it to Grandpa while singing Happy Birthday again. He did it all on his own, unprompted and extremely adorable.  

"Whats that sound?"

Jackson recently started asking "what's that sound?" whenever he hears a different noise. He stops what he is doing and looks around, very concerned about the unfamiliar sound. From music on the radio to the dishwasher running or a truck outside, he notices a lot more and is so curious what it all is. 

Baby Stroller

My mom bought a little kids baby stroller from a friends garage sale. The intention was she would bring it to her place and save it for next summer for baby girl. Well, Jackson fell in love with it, immediately putting his lamb or giraffe in it. He would push him around and then stop, pick up the toy and say "you ok giraffee?" while putting him on his shoulder and cuddling him. The tone in his voice was full of care and concern.



Too early, not tired

Jackson had a busy day with Grandpa and barely napped. Ever since I was home from work he was uninterested in anything but the iPad, had tired eyes, and quick to cry. So dinner and bath were done before 6:00 and after some books (and some tears for no more iPad) I laid him down and said good night just before 6:30. As soon as I said good night he asked where his dad was. Connecting that he wasn't home yet Jackson immediately said "It's too early. Im not tired." I couldn't help but smile. He continued, "I go back downstairs, it's too early. Im not tired."

I took him downstairs and sure enough he was in a great, playful mood till he crashed hard at 8.

Little Man in the backseat

"You worry me Giraffee"

We were driving home and Jackson had his giraffe with him. He had been talking to himself (and the giraffe) for a while when I heard something that caught my attention. "You worry me Giraffee" He asked if he was ok, said it again then asked if giraffe had dirty diapers. My heart just melted that this two year old is saying he worries about his giraffe. I'm sure I have said it to him before, but not that often...at least I don't think so.

"I don't know"
Jackson will ponder questions you ask him, often with a head tilt or a "hmmm." But recently, he started to respond with a genuine "I don't know" when he doesn't have an answer. It rolls off his tongue with such innocence and curiosity. It is truly amazing to watch him grow up!

Baby Girl - 23 Weeks

23 Weeks:

Gender: 20 week ultrasound officially confirmed its a GIRL

Clothing: mostly all maternity :(

Belly Button: popped out a few weeks ago, definitely can be seen through my tighter shirts

Movement: She loves to kick in the late evening when I finally sit down on the couch for a little while. Jackson felt her kick for the first time yesterday. She was dancing all around so I put his little hand on my belly and sure enough, right away she kicked. He just looked up at me then quickly took his hand off.

Food cravings: my appetite has slowed down considerably from the first 16 weeks or so. Much more of a sweet tooth with this girl. Always in the mood for nachos or quesadillas. Addicted to LaCroix sparkling water. 

 Missing: Not being able to have Jackson snuggle on my lap for bed time reading and being able to let him jump all over me and goof around are very hard to get used to and make me sad. And I really wish I could do a sit-up and have a glass of red wine.

Girly Purchases: Baby girl has a few headbands stacked up in her brothers room! Loving my very first purchase from this Etsy shop. I can't wait to try it on her!

Nursery/Toddler Room Transition: Almost non existent at this point. The closet is the first battle; Baby girl took over one drawer of the stacker already and I was able to clean a few more of my husband and I's stuff out of the one side of the closet. But....we have a ways to go.

I did make a sweet find of an old, small wooden dresser that I cant wait to repaint and fix up!

The One Thing

When I first heard "The One Thing" off Shakira's new album the words just hit me. It was as if they were written just for me. 

It's almost Mother's Day and I couldn't be more happy to be celebrating it again as this kids mom. 

Life has felt more complete, more purposeful, and genuinely more happy since adding on the most important role of my life two years ago. 

Any mistake I made before seems to only matter because it lead me here. The mistakes I continue to make juggling work and motherhood will be ok. I may mess up things for me in effort to do my best for him. It'll be fine, cause I got it right when I had him. 

Check out the song. Mothers, enjoy your upcoming day!