Jackie, C.J. & Jackson

Jackson's 1st Birthday!

2012-02-08T09:41:00.000-08:00

CJ and I both can't believe that it has been a whole year since this little guy came into our life. How blessed we are to have him here and have the opportunity to raise him in the gospel. We truly have been blessed from having Jackson and we just love him to pieces.

We started out his birthday with giving him his present from us on Monday night so that he could play with it all day on Tuesday. This way CJ would be able to see his reaction to it. We got him a learning/music table. I brought it out to the family room and Jackson got this huge smile on his face and was so excited. He absolutely loved it and he walks around the whole thing over and over so he can play with all the toys. It is so funny to watch him.

When CJ and I went to Zurchers they had some really cute birthday things. We decided to do a Mickey Birthday. We bought really cute decorations and a Mickey cake pan that I was going to attempt to make. I am not crafty and have never decorated a cake before, but I really wanted to try. I make cupcakes also just in case my cake didn't turn out as well as I was hoping. I have to say that I am very proud of myself. It took me an hour to make the frosting, color it and frost the cake. It turned out awesome! All I did was use a cake decorating tip and made little stars around the whole thing.

We had both of our families over for dinner. There were around 30 people and not everyone was able to come. Our house was packed! We had taco soup and chicken noodle soup, rolls and salad. It was so yummy! After dinner we opened presents and Jackson was spoiled. He got a car race track and lots of reverent books from Grandma Connie, a basketball hoop from Cory, July and kids, a dump truck from Kimmy, Scott and kids, two Cars cars from Ryan, Amber and kids and a box of graham crackers from Kelly. He sure does have a lot of people who love him!

Playing on the boxes was definitely one of the highlights of the night...

After presents we did cake and ice cream. Jackson was getting a little anxious sitting in his high chair and he hates bibs so he didn't like that I had put one on him either. We sang Happy Birthday and he got even more upset while we sang. I put the Mickey cake on his tray so he could dig in. He definitely took his time. He stuck his fingers in it and licked them and decided that it tasted pretty good. He would only get the frosting and eat it. I broke off a piece of the cake and put it in his mouth and he spit it out. After a minute or two he took a chunk out of the cake and threw it on the floor. What a good boy he is...

He liked his cake, but didn't eat too much of it and was wanting to get out of the high chair after about five minutes. He looked funny with all the black on him. We wiped him up as best we could and stuck him in the bath.

After the bath, Kelly was holding him in the kitchen with his towel wrapped around him and he spit up quite a bit and it was all black! It was gross looking. I was worried he would have a tummy ache that night, but he slept fine. I was so grateful!

Jackson had a great 1st Birthday and is so very blessed to have so many people come help us celebrate. Jackson is very lucky to be growing up with so much family around. All I can say is we have the best family in the world!!

January 2012 and Lots of Pictures of Jackson

2012-02-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

We didn't do a ton of things in January. Just hung out a lot hoping for warmer weather. CJ started traveling for his work and it is no fun. He was gone a total of a week and a half. Jackson and I were able to play with lots of family and even had a sleep over at Grandpa and Grandma Johnson's house. The first time CJ was gone, it was a full week. When he got back Jackson wasn't really sure if he wanted anything to do with Daddy. I think he was mad at him for leaving for so long. After about a day he was fine.

Jackson also got sick for the first time. He had a fever of 100, he had diarrhea and he was getting one of his front teeth. It took a full week for him to get back to his regular happy self. He just wanted to be held all the time. It was the saddest thing to just watch him be miserable. He wouldn't play much. He didn't cry a whole lot which I was happy for. He still slept great. The first couple of days he wouldn't eat anything, just drink water. Then he would eat baby food, but no bottle and then he would finally eat, but not as much as he used to. He had at least one bath everyday for that week because he just seemed to be happier when he was in there and plus he leaked out of his diaper quite a few times. And to top it off I got sick with a fever and threw up. It wasn't a good week, but mine only lasted a day.

Here is a bunch of pictures of my Sweet Jackson!

Jackson falls asleep in the funniest positions now. In this picture he has his left leg bent like he is sitting Indian style and the other one bent like he is kneeling. I think to myself "How is that even comfortable that he could fall asleep like that." Another day he was asleep on his back and had his right leg crossed over his left while his left leg was bent up. It is a good thing he is so flexible!

I had to put this picture up because he looks exactly like me when I was little. I will have to see if I can scan mine in and post it. I just started laughing when I saw this.

I didn't think Jackson knew how to open up the wipes, but apparently I was very wrong! I was in the kitchen and when I came back over to him he had pulled out the whole container of wipes and had them in a nice pile next to him. I thought it was so cute! I am okay with those kind of messed, not bigger ones though...

Jackson always does this with his tongue. He will stick it out while he plays. I think it is so cute!

Jackson loves to snuggle his blankie. He will lay on it and roll all over with it and he thinks it is the greatest thing. He likes to bite it too so when he comes up from laying down he usually has it hanging from his mouth.

Cory and July let us borrow Cooper's toy truck and Jackson loves it. The seat goes up so he can stand behind it and push it while he walks. He did it the first time, but after that he just grabs the side and pushes it while he crawls. He thought it was really fun when we put the seat down and had him sit on it while we pushed him. He laughed and laughed.

CJ's work has season tickets to the Jazz and they pass them around to the employees. CJ got tickets for the Kings game. The seats were awesome. We sat on the second row right behind the basket. The tickets came with dinner and free snacks at half time. The dinner was really good and it seemed so fancy. This was the game that Jimmer was going to be playing so I guess it was a big deal. It was funny because a lot of the fans had Jimmer jerseys on and were cheering louder for Jimmer when he made shots then they were for the Jazz. We didn't take our camera so we have no pictures of us there, but we are famous now because our family saw us on tv! The two blow up sticks that Jackson has were underneath our seats when we sat down. So we brought a bunch home and gave them to our nieces and nephews. Jackson was smart and started banging them together. He thought it was pretty cool. We had a great time at the game and it was so fun to go on a date.

This is Jackson's scrunchy face. He has started doing this all the time now. It makes CJ and I laugh every time. It reminds us of his cousin Kenzley who would do it when she was in distress or wanted something. At first Jackson only did it when he wanted something. He would point and scrunch his face. Now he does it for everything! He has the funniest expressions now.

He has started giving crusty looks. He will just stare at you with this ornery look for a long time. Don't be sad if he does it to you, he does it to everyone. He just needs to warm up first.

Jackson hasn't really gotten into anything. He will open his dresser drawers and only go in the bathroom if CJ or I are in there. He doesn't wander in there to explore which I am grateful for! He saw me get in the cupboard Saturday morning and pull out the griddle so he wanted to see what else was in there. He loved playing with the pitchers and cups.

Jackson is getting so big and he still loves the bath. He will stand up and crawl all over while in there. It scares me because one of these days he is going to fall and really get hurt!

Christmas Weekend

2011-12-27T10:22:00.001-08:00

We started the Christmas weekend with the Vincent Party on the 23rd. It is so much fun to see everyone on CJ's side. The family is growing every year. Last year I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with Jackson. It is so strange to think of how fast time goes by! We have it now at Great Grandpa Vincent's church. We had a good dinner and afterwards the great grandsons dressed as shepherds and the great granddaughters put halos on to be angels while Uncle Doug read the story of Jesus's birth. We always take white elephant gifts so we played that game after. It is a fun night to just hang out with everyone.

Every year Santa Clause comes to visit. This was Jackson's first time meeting Santa and he did not like him very much. It was so sad to watch his face, but at the same time it was so funny. We were able to record it and he started reaching for me after about 5 seconds. He was done. At least we got some cute pictures though!

We drew names between the grandkids on CJ's side so after visiting with Santa we went and exchanged our gifts since everyone couldn't get together the next day. Cohen had Jackson and got him a Little People Animal Train. Jackson loves it!!

Jackson didn't care about opening the present. He just liked to hit the box. I even tore a little of the paper so that he could grab it and tear the rest, but he wasn't interested in that. Next year I think he will be a little more excited about opening gifts.

On Christmas Eve we went over to Connie's house for lunch with Cory, July and their family. The kids got their gifts from Grandma Connie and we just hung out and played for a couple hours. Jackson got a shirt, sweater, book and car from Grandma Connie and he got Buzz Lightyear jammies from Cory and family.

CJ's family has the tradition to sing happy birthday to Baby Jesus every year. Connie made cupcakes for everyone and put a baby on them and used frosting to make a blanket for him. She put two candy canes on it to make a stable. They turned out really cute. After we sang we headed to my parents house to make dinner and get ready for our Christmas Eve Party.

We were very busy when we got to my Mom's house. We had to make the Christmas Eve sandwiches, 7 layer dip, oreo balls dipped in white chocolate (Mmmmm!), ham, clam chowder and clean the house! We were still working when everybody got there, but then it went by faster. This year we had Tim, Ashli and kids, Matt, Holly and kids, Scott, Kristy and kids and Kelly! Needless to say we had a full house! We had a ton of food and yummy desserts so we were all sick after dinner, but of course you have to continue snacking! That is what the holidays are really about, right?

After dinner we relaxed for a little bit before we headed into the living room for our entertainment. We sang songs and played the chimes. We had so much fun! Our family goes a little crazy for Christmas Eve, but I think all the in-laws are used to it be now! Every year we end with reading the story of Jesus's birth from the scriptures and we sing the songs that go with them. It is a great way to end the evening and remind us what Christmas is really about. I am so grateful for a family who taught me about the gospel and the blessings that come from it and will continue to teach my children about it also. As long as Christ is the center of our home, we will never have to worry about a thing. He will take care of us, comfort us and guide us to what is best for our family. I love this time of year and just wish that it lasted a little longer.

We wanted to start the tradition of our kids getting new pajamas on Christmas Eve, so we got Jackson the cutest jammies. They say "Best gift ever." He was getting tired so we thought we would open them up so we could put them on him and he could relax.

After our very exciting evening, some people got very tired...

Then Jackson got his second wind and was all over the place! He loved playing with the presents under the tree and watching the train go around.

Christmas Day!

On Christmas CJ and I got up and ready for church earlier so we wouldn't be in a rush to make it on time. Jackson woke up about 8:20 so we hurried and fed him so we could open presents.

Jackson loved pulling out the stuff in his stocking. It was so cute to watch him! I can't imagine what next year will be like. He got two cars and Mickey Mouse Club House movie.

Jackson loves his two cars. He loves anything with wheels that he can push around. I get so excited that he loves something so much. He also got a ball popper dinosaur, a new church outfit and socks. CJ got new golf clubs that he went and bought himself, but he is so excited to finally be able to use them. I told him he couldn't use them until after Christmas. CJ also got a new A's hat, shorts and a shirt. I got a new vacuum that I am very excited for. It was needed very badly, the one I have is my Grandma's old one. I also got a couple movies and a marble statue of Christ. It will go right on my piano, it is so beautiful.

We had a great morning and when we were done we headed to church. Jackson stayed in his jammies so we could be on time! It was a great Sacrament of the story of Jesus's birth and beautiful songs by the primary and choir. After church we went to Cory and July's with Connie for breakfast. We were able to see what the kids got and they were so excited! Little kids at Christmas time is the best!

Later that day we had Connie over for dinner. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls and corn. It was my very first turkey that I have cooked. Connie helped me since I had never done it before and because I wasn't at all excited when the packaging said to "prepare" the turkey. Gross! It wasn't nearly as difficult as I was expecting though and it was delicious. The rest of the day we hung out and then went to Holly's to play for a little bit. My parents and Kelly were there and we played some games. Jackson was very tired from having two very late nights in a row so we left around seven so we could put him to bed. It was a very fun and relaxing day.

CJ's Dad was in town for Christmas this year so we went over to Mark's parents house for dinner on the 26th. Cory and his family and Candice and her family were there too. We had a nice turkey and ham dinner and afterwards the grandkids were given gifts. Jackson got a cute animal book. We played bingo with white elephant gifts then had a delicious peppermint ice cream pie for dessert. It was a nice evening spent with family.

Needless to say we had a great Christmas Holiday. We loved spending so much time with our families and are very sad that it is all over.

Thanksgiving and Fun in December!

2011-12-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

We have really slacked this past month on posting. So.... For Thanksgiving it was our turn to go to CJ's Mom's house. Cory, July and kids and Dallas, Candice and kids were there. It was a lot of fun hanging out with everybody and after a delicious dinner we played a couple games. For dessert I made an apple pie. My first attempt and I have to say it turned out pretty good! Jackson loves to watch kids, so he had a lot of fun watching his cousins run around and playing. It was Jackson's first Thanksgiving and I think his favorite thing he ate was mashed potatoes. We can't give him a ton of real food just yet because he spits it all up afterwards.

We left Connie's house around 7:30. We weren't planning on going to my Mom's house, but everyone was still there so we headed out there to play for a little bit. We hung out with everyone and ate more pie! We got a great game of Fudge going. That is a family favorite which we play just about every time the family gets together.

My Cute Daddy with his favorite Grandson!

Everyone at my Mom's just hanging out!

On the 5th, we went to Zoo Lights with Cory and his family and Connie. Jackson had a bad cough so we decided to leave him with Holly while CJ and I went. Not very nice of us I guess, but we sure had fun! It was a freezing night, but we were all bundled up and there were heaters throughout the zoo. We started off by seeing Santa and his reindeer. He could only bring Comet and Vixen with him. We wrote letters to Santa, put them in the mail and then Cayman and Cooper were able to sit on his lap. He was the cutest Santa and took his time with the kids.

I was really amazed at all the lights at the zoo. They do a great job and CJ and I really had fun walking around! We turned into little kids running around looking at the lights. You don't go there to see the animals. We were only able to see a couple, but the lights were worth it. The carousel was open so July, Cayman, Cooper and I went on it.

After the zoo we went to The Spaghetti Factory at Trolley Square and got dinner and yummy hot chocolate. It was a very fun night with CJ's family, maybe next year Jackson will be able to go!

It was my birthday that next Sunday so some of my family and Connie were able to come over for dinner. I was making chalupas for everyone. It is meat and beans that you put on top of chips or tortillas. They are so good and I have been wanting them for a very long time. We have church at nine and the first couple of hours it has to boil on the stove. I thought that checking it after Sacrament would be okay. CJ went home to check on it and when he came back to church he stunk so bad because it had burned. I sent him home with Jackson because he seriously smelled and I felt bad for those sitting around us. When I got home from church, it was ruined. It tasted burnt, our house smelled. I started to get a little panicky because I had no idea what I was going to fix for everybody to eat. Holly came to the rescue and we were still able to use everything we had for the chalupas, but we had Mexican Haystacks instead.

My nephew Beckett just loves to have me hold him when I am around. I will try to put him down for a minute and then he sits there with his arms up asking me to hold him. I don't mind it at all. He is such a cutie! And I love that he loves me!

Connie made a delicious chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting for my birthday cake. She made cute Mickey Mouse heads on it because she knows I love Disney!

Even though I ruined dinner and cried over it, it turned out to be a great day with family. Who could ask for anything more!

We Hope you are Tangled in the Christmas Spirit Too

2011-12-15T16:06:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS

P.S. This was going to be our Christmas card but we didn't quite get around to printing them off. So Merry Christmas!

CJ's 30th Birthday

2011-11-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

I threw C.J. a surprise birthday party because he turned the BIG 30! I can't believe that he is that old. We had it at my sister Holly's house because I knew it would be easier then having it at my house. Trying to get him out of the house and have someone come over and set up and get everything ready would have just been too much work and I knew I could get him to Holly's easily. It was a hit!! He had no idea. For those of you who know C.J., know that he can be pretty nosey. He goes through my phone, looks up my emails so I knew this was going to be very difficult and that I couldn't have much contact with anyone. Holly was awesome in helping out and kept everything at her house. I wouldn't have been able to pull this off without her. I went over to Holly's house on Friday and we made lots of food for dinner and got everything decorated. It looked awesome! It was very tricky trying to do this stuff and shop for all the things I needed. I had to ignore a few phone calls from C.J. and blame it on me sleeping.

I had called C.J. at work to tell him that we were going to dinner with Holly, Matt and Kelly that night. He was so busy at work that day so he was a little irritated when I called. I thought "Perfect" he really has no idea. He got home from work later then usual that night and we weren't supposed to be at Holly's until 6:30. Jackson usually goes to bed around 7, so C.J. asked if he should just stay home, bathe Jackson since it was bath night and put him to bed on time instead of keeping him up late. I thought to myself "He knows!" I tried to play it cool and not get flustered. I told him he could do whatever he wanted, then asked "You are really going to ditch me for dinner?" So he got ready and we headed over. He drove so slow that I thought for sure he knew, but he didn't!

Here is everyone waiting for us to show up. Lots of family and good friends came to help us celebrate.

C.J. is kind of bad with reactions. He will admit he is, but he looked pretty surprised.

Poor Jackson got scared when everyone yelled surprise and were blowing their horns. Our neighbors little boy who is just two months younger then Jackson got scared too. We had two very sad babies.

I had lots of things for C.J. to wear! It was fun having him put it all on. He is such a good sport!

Sweet Bailey and Scotty

Jackson with his favorite person, next to C.J. and I of course. Although, sometimes Jackson doesn't seem to really care if we are there or not when Matt has him.

We had delicious food for dinner. We had chili, potato and chicken noodle soups. Rolls, bread sticks and salad. A big thanks to those who helped with the food!

C.J. doesn't really like cake so Holly made him an apple pie. Everyone else got cake and ice cream.

All the cute kids just hanging out wanting some cake and ice cream.

After dinner I had a few questions so everyone could get to know C.J. a little better. I asked a question and people had to guess the answer.

Jackson got a taste of cake from Aunt Kimmy. I think he liked it!

We pulled it off! It turned out to be a great night and C.J. had a lot of fun. We have the best families and friends and that just topped it off being able to spend time with all of them.

9 Months Old

2011-11-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

Jackson turned 9 Months Old on Monday. He is getting so big! We went to the doctor on Wednesday and here are his stats:

Height: 26.74 In.

(this isn't right though, at his last appt. he was 27 1/2 inches)

Weight: 18 lbs. 11.6 oz.

Head: 44.5 cm

He didn't gain a whole lot of weight from his 6 month appt, so the doctor asked me to take it in a month and call him. Jackson has been spitting up a ton. It seems like everything he ate, he was spitting up. The last couple of weeks he has done so much better. I am hoping that he will gain some more weight now. The pictures in this post is CJ's and my attempt to do a photo shoot. It is more difficult then I thought. He doesn't sit still!

Jackson is in size 3 diapers and wearing 6-12 month, and 18 month clothes. It really depends on where the clothes come from. They definitely do not fit the same even if they say the same size.

Jackson isn't crawling yet. When he is on his stomach though, he will turn himself around and push himself backwards. He is getting better about being on his tummy. He still prefers to sit and scoot on his bum. He is definitely in no hurry to crawl. He hasn't pulled himself up on anything to stand, but he gets up on his knees.

Jackson finally got his first tooth! It is the bottom left. I was so excited when I felt it. I had to hold Jackson down so I could see it. He kept getting his tongue in the way. I hope that the others come in soon.

Jackson loves to eat anything. He has learned to spit out his binki when he wants something. I would get a spoonful of food and hold it out to him and he would just smile with his binki and I would have to pull it out.

He can hold is own bottle now too. It is so cute. He has figured out that if he lets go then it falls and he gets mad. It is funny to watch him. He loves being in control of it. He will pull it out and turn it in his hands and then shove it in his mouth like he hasn't eaten in days.

He is very entertaining. I watch him all day long. He jabbers and squeals a lot. He loves to bounce up and down on his knees. He always smiles and he laughs at anything. He is the happiest baby. Jackson's favorite person his my brother-in-law Matt. He reaches for Matt anytime he sees him and gets so excited. He doesn't even want me when Matt is around.

Jackson goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 and sleeps until 8:00. He takes two naps a day around 10:00 and 1:00.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T09:32:00.001-07:00

We started the Halloween Festivities this year with our ward Trunk or Treat on Friday night. CJ had to do his work party so I took Jackson over and met up with Cory and July. There were games, donuts and apple cider. It was a lot of fun to see all the cute neighborhood kids dressed up. Jackson was a dragon and the cutest little dragon at that! CJ was going to be a knight and I was going to be a damsel in distress, but we slacked on finding costumes this year.

I must have worn Jackson out from all the excitement because on the short walk home he fell asleep. Grandma Connie came over after to see Jackson all dressed up. I was really surprised that he didn't even try to take his costume off, especially the head part.

On Halloween, we went to my Mom's house. I usually help her make donuts which are to die for! But this year we decided to do taquitos. We haven't had those for years so it was a delicious treat! My sister Holly and her family, Kelly, Uncle Gary, Aunt Susan and my cousin Becky and her family all came over for dinner. It was a party!

My Cute Mama frying up the taquitos

Ah, the finished product. The sauce is my Grandpa Chalk's recipe and it is sooo good. I could eat these everyday! They are a lot of work though, no wonder we only have them every five years!

The kids were ready to head out so we put Jackson in his outfit so we could go. We went around with Holly's kids and Becky's kids, but we only took Jackson to the houses that we wanted to visit. It is fun saying hi to my old neighbors. I grew up in the best neighborhood!

Lauren (Daisy Duck), Jackson, CJ, Brooke (unicorn) and Jacob (baseball player)

Becky's cute kids. Sheriff Wyatt and Colton the Pumpkin

Here we are trick or treating at Lori Hanson's house. She even gave Jackson an M&M so he could learn what Halloween is all about. He sucked on it for a minute and then spit it out. At least he got a little taste.

Visiting Uncle Gary's house

My cute little dragon

Jackson loved chewing on the wrappers. He just thought it was so much fun!

I guess I should have opened it for him so he at least could have tasted something good instead of just the wrapper. Oh well! He still loved it.

High School Musical Party

2011-10-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

When CJ and I were waiting for our house to be built I promised my three nieces that we would have a High School Musical Party once we moved in and were settled. Lauren has never forgotten about it and has asked multiple times when we were going to have it. I felt horrible! Three years later we finally had our party with the much needed assistance of Kelly! We had it at my Mom's house. There was Holly, Camille, Lauren, Brooke, Kelly, Kimmy, Hannah, Bailey and me!

Here we are doing the HSM jump. It was fun! Kelly and I made the sign behind us. You can't read it, but it says High School Musical Party. We decorated the house in a luau theme. For those of you who haven't seen the second one, Sharpay does a luau, hula dance number. There wasn't any HSM decorations anymore, the time has passed so we had to choose different decorations. But it all came together very nicely. Unfortunately, the next picture is the only one I have of our fun decorations.

Kelly and I welcomed everyone to our party and gave everyone leis before they entered into the oh so festive family room. For treats we had coconut drinks, cookies, eclairs, popcorn and candy. Needless to say, we were all ill when the night was over. We took a break after the first movie to eat dinner and color some HSM pages. After the second one, we went for a walk around the circle tooting our horns. We danced and sang through all three movies. Kelly and I even did a special performance of the Princess Tiki song that our party was themed after.

We all had a ton of fun hanging out and just being crazy. A big thanks to CJ who took care of my sweet Jackson so that I could fully participate in the festivities! I love you Honey!

Utah game and Sundance

2011-10-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went and watched the game with Grandpa and Grandma Vincent. We love going to their house and especially love watching the Utah games with Grandpa. He worked on the sidelines for the University of Utah for 50 years, I think. It is fun to spend time with them and I love that Jackson can get to know his great grandparents. My grandparents have passed away so I am glad that Jackson has CJ's.

Jackson just chillin' with Great Grandpa

Jackson wasn't too sure at first when Grandma took him, but he warmed up fast

After the Utah game, we met our good friends Tyler and Jen at Sundance. C.J. and I had never been there before and it was really fun. I didn't know what to expect, but it was a lot smaller then what I thought it would be. It was beautiful though. We ate at the deli and looked through the store. They had some cute things, but they were all very expensive. It was fun to just hang out with Ty, Jen and Eliza. They were gone all Summer so it was fun to see them.

We rode the ski lift up to the top of the mountain and back down. Jackson was getting a little anxious on the ride up and he wouldn't drink his bottle so we started feeding him baby food. People who were coming down thought it was really funny.

We hopped off at the top and walked around for a minute and took some pictures. The leaves colors were amazing. It was nice to be out in the fresh air. I will be sad when it gets to be too cold outside and we will be cooped up all winter.

Tyler was taking our pictures and Jackson spit up so while we cleaned him up, he still posed for the pictures. He is so cute!

8 (1/2) Months

2011-10-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

I have been terrible at updating our blog lately. I didn't do a 7 months post, but here Jackson is at 8 1/2 months. He is always happy and smiling. He has been like that since he was born. He is such a good baby and we just love him!

He loves this turtle. He always chews on his head. It is his favorite bath toy and he holds onto it when he gets out. He still loves his bath and we let him play for a while before we wash him.

He eats baby food and formula now. I have dried up so I have to give him formula. We tried regular formula and he spit up a ton so we tried low-lactose and he was a little better but not much improvement. Now I am trying soy. He does pretty good, but still not great. Soy and any formula really, smells terrible. I hate the smell of his spit up now, it makes me gag. He is not that sweet smelling baby he was before. I just make sure I smell him lots after his baths. He loves food though! I wish that he would get teeth so that I could give him more real food. He wants everything I am eating.

So, no teeth yet. There have been a couple times I thought he was teething, but every time I stuck my finger in his mouth I didn't feel anything. He slobbers a ton so I guess I will never know when they are really coming in.

Jackson is still in size 3 diapers and wears 6-9 and 12 month clothes. He is getting so big and long. His pants are 12 months, his little big belly just can't squeeze into anything smaller.

He still takes two good naps everyday and sometimes he will take a third nap for about an hour. He snuggles with his blanket when he is tired. It is the cutest thing. When I lay him down to sleep, if I grab his blankie from him so I can cover him, he will flip on his back and look at me. As soon as it is in his grasp, he grabs it and rolls on his side. He loves it, it is a comfort for him. I smile every time he does it. He is a binki and blanket boy and I love it!

He has rolled over from his back to his stomach twice, but he doesn't roll over at all anymore. He gets really upset when he is on his tummy and when he falls on his back, he just lays there and still plays.

Jackson scoots around on his bum. He hasn't figured out the crawling thing yet. He likes to get up on his knees and sometimes he will just face plant it. He is getting better about staying on his hands and knees for a couple seconds before he slips to his stomach. Maybe in a month he will start crawling. It is so exciting to see him try so hard though.

Jackson is more clingy now then he used to be. He would sometimes reach for people, but now if CJ or I are holding him he just sits there and stares at whoever is trying to get him. A couple times he has pulled away from people who have tried to grab him and has even started crying when someone looks at him. It is the funniest thing, but he is getting better about that. At least I know he loves CJ and I.

We were over at C.J.'s moms house and her dog breathes really loud from asthma. He came running over to us while we were sitting on the couch and was jumping around our feet. Jackson looked at him and started screaming. It was the saddest thing. He got scared from that dumb dog.

Holly was watching Jackson and grabbed a big stuffed toy giraffe and showed it to Jackson, he looked at it and started screaming. She put it down and thought that she startled him with it. So she slowly brought it up so he could see it and screamed again. He was afraid of that giraffe.

I love that he will tilt his head and rest it on my face. It only lasts for a couple seconds, but it makes my heart jump when he does it. He is so sweet.

C.J. said Jackson looked like an old man with this hat on. I think he just looks adorable. Okay, maybe he looks like an old man a little bit, but a cute one!

Here is Jackson's first pair of sunglasses. Only 99 cents from Gymboree! I couldn't pass them up when they were that cheap. I have been wanting to get him some for a couple of weeks. He looks so cute with them on!

Unfortunately, he just likes to eat them. I guess we will work on getting him to leave them on his head.

Girls Weekend in St. George

2011-10-18T17:17:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago was my Annual Girls Weekend in St. George with the girls on my Dad's side of the family. We always go to Tuacahn and this year we saw The Little Mermaid. It was AMAZING! They did such a good job putting it together and the production of the whole thing was just awesome. We all loved it. This year there was a total of 20 of us and we stayed in this awesome house that we all had our own beds. There was a theatre room, indoor pool, outdoor pool and hot tub, volleyball court, and a half basketball court. The house was three floors and huge! Six bathrooms, and lots of bedrooms. There were two orphanages, at least that is what we called them, two long rooms with lots of beds.

I took Jackson with me. He is just too little to be away from Mom, especially for that long. He was so good, as usual. The first night he had a hard time. I think because he was not in his bed, but the other two he slept great!

Me, Becky, Ursula, Liz and Kelly

My family is just awesome. Here is 16 of the girls doing synchronized swimming. I was laughing so hard! For them to get everyone doing the same actions, they probably practiced for a good 20 minutes and their "routine" was probably 10 seconds long. I have the best family. We always have so much fun together and are just goofy. I look forward to this every year. There are so many people who are shocked to find out that we spend three days together. They say they could never do that with their family, that it would just be terrible. I think that is so sad. I am grateful for my family and the time we are able to spend together. I love you all!

Game Day

2011-09-17T22:58:00.000-07:00

Before I get into pictures of the game, here is how we found Jackson this morning. He is now spinning around in the crib. He loves his blankie at night. He is the cutest kid ever.

Dallas came up and painted a big U in my yard and Cory's yard. They look awesome and he did an even better job on his yard. Thanks Dallas for putting this lasting memory in our yard.
Jackie thought she would be funny and wear a BYU shirt and stand inside my U. Little did she know the joke would be on her later on. She was taking care of Jackson when the game was 24-10 and came back a little later and was a little shocked that it was 47-10.
Candice shoving her off the U.
Jackson playing with our neighbors boy Owen. Jackson and Owen are 2 of 5 boys born on our street this year. Can't wait until they can all play together.
And this is how the game went for us . . . . . . .
GO UTES!

UTAH-USC

2011-09-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had to go to the Inaugural PAC-12 football game, since it had the University of Utah playing in it. We made a guys weekend out of it. Ryan and I left Thursday afternoon and got to Ventura at midnight. We stayed with our friends Spenny and Nellie. Friday morning I visited my old work and had fun talking to some friends.

Afterwards Ryan and I spent the day walking around the outlets and walking around on the beach. That night we had great Grilled Pizza, and then Ryan, Spenny, and I all went bowling. We had a great time.

Saturday morning we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Monica. We rented some bikes and rode down to Venice Beach. Cory met us at the Pier and we went to lunch and then headed to the game.

I've now been to BYU, Utah St, Arizona St, University of Oregon, UCLA, and Notre Dame, by far I think this weekend was the best game day experience. We had a great time walking around campus and seeing all the tailgaters. We took pictures in front of the Coliseum and then headed to our seats.

We had great seats and everyone around us were really nice. The USC fans were great before, during, and after the game.
The band for USC was awesome and they played music non stop. After a while their fight song got a little much. The only complaint about the game was the cheerleader that screamed non stop into his microphone Beat the Utes. I think it was the only cheer he did.
From opening kickoff to the blocked field goal as time expired, the game was great. We went through many emotions but even though the Utes lost, I am so glad we went and couldn't be happier with the experience.
We had beautiful weather the whole game and the whole weekend.

Can't wait for future PAC 12 road trips.

Cottrell Family Pictures

2011-09-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

We did family pictures with CJ's family last month. We went to Wheeler Farm and we got some great shots. Our neighbor took the pictures and did an awesome job. They really turned out so good and now we finally have a nice family picture hanging in our home. It only took us six months after Jackson being born for us to get one taken. I hope we do better in the future.

This was really funny watching them "laughing" for pictures. Goofy!

I absolutely love this picture of all the boys. What a good lookin' bunch!

Cute Girls

My Darling Little Boy!

6 Months Old

2011-08-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

My Little Guy is now 6 1/2 months old. I can't believe how big he is getting. We went and got his pictures taken at Foto Fly and they did a great job. We took a Utah football, of course for CJ and a Teddy Bear that my sister Kelly gave us to use for props. Jackson did great for the first twenty minutes and then we put him on his stomach and he didn't like that very much. After that he was just very sad and would cry when we put him down. It didn't help that he was completely exhausted. Even though he got upset, we still got great pictures of him!! He really did so good for it being nap time.

Jacksons stats are:

Height: 27 1/2 in.

Weight: 17 lbs. 3 oz.

Head: 43 cm

We have tried baby food now and Jackson doesn't seem to like it at all. We started with vegetables and he would gag on all of them. It was so funny to watch, but then very sad. We started with sweet potatoes, didn't like that. Then we tried green beans, squash and carrots. He actually threw up when we gave him carrots. I felt so bad. I thought maybe we would try some fruit. Tried apples, he didn't like it. Then I tried oatmeal with mixed fruit and he liked it the first time. Second time he took a couple bites and the third time he wouldn't even open his mouth. My sister mashed up bananas and he loved that. I am thinking he might not like the texture of baby food. I really have no idea! He just wants real food. He always gobbles that up when I give him some. So far he has had a gingersnap cookie (thanks to Uncle Matt), a lick of a cheeto (thanks to Aunt Kimmy), bananas, bread and french fries. They were In-N-Out french fries so they are way healthier then other ones, right? That is what I am telling my self to make me feel better about giving him some.

Jackson is in size three diapers still. With the new baby food in his belly, it is making his diapers not so pleasant anymore. Now that he sits up, when he does go poop it has no where to go but up. Not liking that so much. He is in 6-9 month clothes. Some of the shirts are still a little big on him. When we put him in t-shirts he looks like a little boy, not my baby. I am loving being able to stay home with him and watch him grow and change everyday.

Jackson goes to bed between 8-9. He is getting better about sleeping through the night. Sometimes we still have to sneak in and give him his binki. He is getting up around six to eat and then goes back to sleep for a couple hours. He still takes great naps twice a day and a little short one in the evening.

Jackson loves to snuggle with a blanket or something soft when he is going to bed. He will pull the blanket up to his face and sometimes rub his nose on it. It is so cute. Sometimes when he is having a hard time going to sleep, I will hold him with the blanket and he pulls it to his face. After a minute he is ready to lay down and will go right to sleep.

Jackson hasn't rolled over from his back to stomach yet. He turns on his side, but just can't seem to flip his body all the way over. He doesn't roll over at all anymore. He just gets mad when we put him on his stomach now. We don't put him on his stomach a ton which means he will never learn to crawl! That is what I want, my little boy to stay exactly like he is. As much as I would really love for that to happen, it probably wouldn't be good for my little guy. So we leave him there crying for a little bit, but then I just feel too bad and pick him up.

Jackson loves to listen to music. If we are watching tv and music starts playing, he stops playing with his toys and watches the tv. He likes to have songs sung to him too. I wills sing to him when I put him down for bed at night. The other day my mom was singing him songs and he loved it, he just starred at her.

Jackson jabbers a ton. I love listening to him. My favorite is when we are in the car and he just talks and talks. I have a mirror in the back seat so I can watch him while he talks. He has said da-da a lot, but of course he doesn't know who or what a da-da is. Sometimes he will just let out a screech while he talks. I could listen to him all day.

You always have to have a screaming pictures, right? It was sad to watch, but this is one of my favorites from the whole shoot.

First Tub Bath and Other Fun Things

2011-08-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

I love my two boys! They are so handsome all dressed up for church.

We put Jackson in the tub for the first time. He is way too big for his tub. His legs and feet hang over the edge now. He loved it! He splashed all over the place and loved playing with his Mickey and Pluto toys that Grandma Connie got for him.

Jackson loves to sit in his high chair. We are so lucky to have family that lets us borrow things!!

Whenever Cooper and Cayman see Jackson they want to hold him. It is so funny to watch when Cooper has him. Jackson looks just as big as Cooper. Cooper has to look around Jackson's head to be able to see in front of him. I love it. Jackson loves his cousins. He always smiles so big when he sees them.

I went to the Zoo with Kimmy, Hannah and Bailey and we loved it. The Elephant show was with Zuri and she was so cute. She did fun tricks and then they put all the elephants together. They are fun to watch and one of my favorite things to see at the zoo.

We went for a ride on the carousel and it was Jackson's first time. He was so funny to watch. He would get a big smile and then have a worried look. After a little bit he started holding onto the pole. It was so cute and it made him look like such a big boy. I am sad he is growing up so fast.

Two little babies so tired after a long day at the zoo.

Johnson Family Reunion 2011

2011-07-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

Every other year my immediate family gets together for a couple days. This year we were at my parents house. My brother Dustin came up from Texas late Sunday night and we were able to go to dinner with his cute family on Monday. It was so fun to see them! We don't get to see them nearly enough. Here we are eating at The Pie.

Kelly, Tim and I were in charge of planning it this year and it all came together so well. Our reunion started Thursday night with dinner. We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas Eve sandwiches and Christmas Eve cookies. It was all so delicious. Having this only once a year is just not enough. Kelly and I spent all day in the kitchen on Thursday making the sandwiches and cookies, but it was all worth it. Everyone loved it!

Bailey and Jackson, they just love each other

After dinner, the kids made t-shirts and cup holders. We do t-shirts every time and the kids love it. They paint them, color on them and then they go around getting everyone to sign their shirt. It is so fun to have this tradition and the kids wear them all the time. The boys went to a late night of Thor and the rest of us played games until they got home.

After breakfast on Friday we went to Wheeler Farm to get family pictures done. This will be the last year for a long time that we will have everyone together. By the next reunion, we will have two boys on missions. I can't believe that I have nephews that old. We will miss them dearly, but are so proud of them that they have made that decision to go. I know they will be able to do so much good work for the church.

Looking at our family pictures and how much our family has grown has made me realize how lucky I am to have such wonderful parents and such a good family. My parents have so much to be grateful for. They raised us kids to be strong in the gospel, to rely on the Lord in all things, to stay close together as a family no matter what and so much more. I really am so lucky to have such a good family. We are always there for each other and we love each other no matter what. I look at how my parents started with 7 kids and now they have 13 kids and 24 1/2 grandkids all with such strong testimonies. We are truly blessed to have a unified family. I love my Mom and Dad so much and am grateful for all that they have done for me.

Grandpa and Grandma with all 24 grandkids

After pictures we headed home for lunch and started our service projects. The girls made burp cloths and two baby blankets for a women's shelter. The boys helped Grandpa with things that he needed done around the house.

The boys helped wash the trailer, fix the grass around the fruit trees, paint the swing set and a dresser, and put together a saw holder.

My brother Scott wanted a turn to feed Jackson his cereal. What a good brother to help out his baby sister. I love the face that Jackson is making.
"Why are YOU feeding me?"

My sister Holly and I were in charge of Minute to Win it games. I am missing all the pictures from this, but it was hilarious watching everyone. In the game below you had to put vaseline on your nose and stick cotton balls to your nose and carry them across the lawn and put them on a plate. Some of the cotton balls just didn't want to come off.

Friday evening we celebrated all of the July birthdays with cake and homemade ice cream. It was delicious.

After we had cake and ice cream, my Dad gave a little Family Home Evening Lesson around the camp fire. It is so great for all of us to hear my Dad bear testimony of the gospel and the importance of family. He did such a good job. I have the best Daddy!

Afterwards we roasted smores and starbursts. Everyone was so ill from all the junk that night, but it was so fun! The boys stayed up to watch Iron Man and everyone else went to bed. We needed to rest a little to get through the next day!

On Saturday we went to Classic Roller Skating. We rented out the rink so it was just us and it was awesome. We had so much fun. The little kids tried to skate, but it was too hard so they got scooters to ride around. I think that is the smartest ideas we have ever come up with. Everyone absolutely loved it and it was something that everyone could do. This was by far the highlight of the whole reunion.

We liked to make one person do all the work, it was so much easier for the rest of us to just hang on while we were being pulled.

We only had a few injuries... A lot of people fell down actually. One person would fall and someone would start laughing and then they would fall. It was human dominoes. Later they pulled out a ramp for people to go off of. Some were brave and tried it, but most of us liked to keep it safe and just skate around and watch.

We did the hokie pokie and the bird dance. The DJ lady who was doing it said that we were the most energetic group that she had ever hosted. That is my fam, always having a good time.

Sad to say that after skating, my brother Dustin and his family had to start heading back to Texas. We were all very sad to see them leave as it would be a whole two years before we see them again.

Cute cousins had so much fun together and sweet Ben and Andrew were so upset that they had to go.

We all lined up in the circle to say good bye as they drove away

This is a priceless picture of Bailey and Jackson. It is so sweet that they are holding hands! They will be best buds forever.

Saturday afternoon we did the Ding Dong Olympics. Kelly made signs for each family of where they are from. We had them set up around the backyard and each kid had to run with the torch from their sign to the next sign and pass the torch off.

We were separated into four teams and we had to come up with team names and a little cheer.

The Snowflakes

Flynn Riders

The Vectors

The Knee-kickers

We kicked off the Olympics with a three legged race...

This is the orange game that you have to hold an orange with your chin and pass it off

Pie Eating Contest

Transfer a life-saver using a spaghetti noodle to each player on your team

We had four people from each team and each person had to hammer in a nail into the piece of wood.
Bubble gum blowing contest

At the end of all the games there was a tie. So the Knee-Kickers and Flynn Riders had to do a tie breaker. C.J. and Payden were doing so well...

They didn't quite make it, but it was fun to watch!

The Vectors with their Silver Medals. Oh Ya! Everyone got medals and the color of ribbon showed what place you took. They were ding dongs tied to the end of the ribbons.

The Flynn Riders with their smolders...

Morgan and Camille taking such good care of Jackson

Saturday night we watched Tangled on a giant projector screen in the backyard. It was so much fun! I think the only way to watch a movie is outside on the lawn. I don't know why, it just makes it so much better.

To end the reunion we all went to church with my parents to our home ward on Sunday. I love going back to the home ward. It is so fun to see everyone and my parents were so excited to have almost everyone there. (We missed you Dustin and family) It isn't very often that we have that opportunity so we have to take advantage of it when we can. The whole weekend was an absolute success and I have the best family in the world.

A Weekend of Firsts: Rice Cereal and Swimming!

2011-07-23T17:17:00.001-07:00

Jackson had a very adventurous weekend! We thought we would try some rice cereal at night to see if that would help him start sleeping through the night. It was very messy, but so fun to try. I went with the directions on the box for babys first try and it was really runny so it didn't help him sleep through the night. He did really well eating off the spoon though, he ate quite a bit. We will keep trying!

We both had to hold his hands down. He kept trying to get the bowl and then he would stick his hand in his mouth and we had to pull it out and shove the spoon in there. Then he would grab the spoon and not let go. It was a lot of effort trying to hold him down. He is a strong boy. He was making us laugh so hard.

I had to move the bowl so Jackson couldn't grab it so I put it on the counter. Next thing I know it was all over me and the counter. Jackson had kicked it over with his foot. Little Stinker!

Our fun friends Ryan and Amber invited us to go swimming with them at Amber's parents house. The water was so warm and perfect for Jackson. It was his first time and he loved it. It took him a while before he learned that he could splash in the water. He just chilled while we held him, but once he realized he could, he splashed the rest of the time. It was so fun to watch him play in the water. Our little guy is getting so big. I wish he would just freeze where he is now and not get any bigger.

Jackson loved watching Logan and Luke play in the water. They made him smile.

Even though we had woken Jackson up from his nap to go swimming and he didn't eat until an hour later then he usually does, he was still a happy boy. We have been so blessed with a good baby.

Harry Potter

2011-07-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

My brother Tim and his wife Ashli have been to most of the midnight shows when the Harry Potter movies would come out. CJ and I went to the sixth one and we swore we would never do it again. We got home around 3:30 am and then had to get up for work. Not fun. So when Tim called to see if we wanted to go to the last Harry Potter, the last midnight show that he was going to go to, we HAD to see how it all ends, the last big hoop la, of course we were going to say no! For some reason we decided to go. It was probably the last midnight show we will ever go to, so why not? We hung out at my mom's until 11:45 pm and then left. My mom was nice enough to let us all have a sleepover and to watch the little ones while we went to the movie. We got home close to 3 and poor CJ had to get up and go to work, but he didn't have the 30 minute drive so that was nice. Little Jackson slept in late that morning so I was able to catch up on some sleep. It was actually a lot of fun and I am glad that we went. Life just wouldn't be that exciting unless you do crazy stuff like this, right?

Ashli's nephew had a death eater mask, wand and Harry glasses so we all took turns playing with them. CJ just had so much fun casting spells on Wyatt.

Jackson really just wanted to eat the glasses, he didn't really like them on his face.

STUPIFY!

Ashli always makes a yummy treat for the midnight shows. This time she made butter beer. It tasted like butterscotch. It was too bad. Ashli said the butter beer at Universals in Florida was much better, but I thought she did a great job making it.

Cheers!

5 Months Old

2011-07-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

My Baby is growing way too fast. I always have to add a ton of pictures because he is just so stinkin' cute and makes the cutest faces.

Weight: 15 1/2 lbs.

Height: 25 3/4 in.

At five months, Jackson is sitting up pretty good. He leans forward a little sometimes and can usually sit for a while before he falls over. He gets excited when he is sitting up and able to look around.

He holds onto things a lot better. If you hold it out for him, he will grab it from you. He reaches for whatever you have in your hand now, it makes it a lot more difficult to do things while holding him.

He still doesn't sleep through the night. He has been waking up an extra feeding again. He goes to sleep around 9:30 pm and wakes up between 1-2 and 4-5 and then is up at 8. This past week I have been trying to get him back to sleep in the night without feeding him. When I hear him stirring I hurry and give him his binki and he usually falls back to sleep. He takes awesome naps though so I can still catch up on my sleep. He takes a nap at 10 for 1 1/2-2 hours and then again at 1 for the same length of time. He will fall asleep later in the day, but that isn't a set nap time.

Jackson is in 6-9 month clothes and even wears some 12 month clothes. He is getting pretty chunky and I can't do up some of his 6 month pants because they are too tight. He is in size 3 diapers. He has been for about three weeks now. When I could hear him talking in the morning, I would go into his room and pick him up only to find that he had pooped all the way up his back and his sheet was soaked. After finding these lovely surprises multiple times and having poop up to his arm pits almost every time he was going poop during the day, I decided to save the rest of the two diapers and just move on to the threes. I am very happy I did. He now only as about three onsies that are not stained yellow.

We are borrowing this toy saucer from our neighbors and Jackson really likes it. He will sit in it for quite a while before he gets upset. He is slowly learning how to play with all the toys on it. There are about two things that he plays with now.

Jackson loves to stand up, he would rather do that then sit. He loves to bounce up and down also. He will do that forever. You will sit him down on your lap and he will straighten his body so you can pull him up to stand.

Jackson loves his Daddy. When CJ gets home from work and starts talking, Jackson will turn his head all over the place until he finds his Dad. It is so cute. If he is not facing him, he will keep turning his head to see CJ. Even if I am trying to get Jackson to eat and he hears his Dad, he will stop eating and find him. He will hang his head upside down to see CJ and sit like that forever.

Hanging his head upside down has become a new thing that Jackson really likes to do. He will be lounging on my lap and hang his head down. I will start to tickle his face and he loves it. He just hangs out like that until I pull him up. I keep thinking all the blood is rushing to his head, this can't be good to do this so I pull him up and then he goes right back down.

Jackson has rolled over multiple times, but now when we put him on his stomach he is happy for a minute and then gets mad. He won't roll over, he just lays there until I roll him over. Usually after that he is fine. He will only roll over when he is laying happily on his tummy.

Friends

2011-07-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

Natalie Wall, Allison Dame, Sara Howarth, Debbie Perkins and me

I have to just brag about how awesome my friends are. We have stayed in touch since High School and every time we get together it is as if no time has gone by at all. We pick up right where we left off. On Saturday we had a BBQ at Debbie's house. I wanted to get a picture of everyone, but didn't pull out the camera until only the girls were left. Minus Sarah Karl, we missed her. Natalie and Bretton live in Mississippi now and are here for a month so we had to get together before they left us again.

In high school we would get together every single weekend, there were six of us girls and five boys. We had so much fun just hanging out. And now some are married, some have kids and we still love seeing each other. The girls get together at least six times a year for birthdays and we usually get together with the boys once a year. I really think that if we weren't together every weekend in high school we wouldn't get together still. I love it though and am so grateful that I have the friends I do.

Zoo...Again, 4th of July, Toesies, and Sitting up!

2011-07-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo again! This time with Holly, Tyler, Brooke and Jacob! The kids had such an awesome time and so did we! Things are always more enjoyable when it is free. We will go many more times this Summer. This time we were able to see Zuri. She is cute and fun to watch.

Tyler, Holly, Brooke and Jacob taking a ride on the train

My Little Angel sleeping. Looking at all the animals must really wear him out.

For the 4th of July we hung out all day. We had been at a family reunion for my family all weekend in Star Valley, Wy so it was nice to just relax. We sat outside for a while and our little guy sat up! We were so excited. I sat him up and he stayed like that for quite a while. I was so shocked that he sat up that long. Needless to say, we are proud parents! Jackson is getting so big and we can't believe it.

Jackson and I just hanging out and enjoying the warm weather

Our neighbors Dad bought $300 worth of fireworks so we and all our neighbors headed to the circle to watch as they were lit off. They were awesome! I thought for sure someones house was going to catch on fire. They had aerial ones that made me a little nervous, but no harm came to anyone or anything. It was a very fun night hanging out with our fun neighbors. I love our street, we have so much fun together.

Jackson discovered his toes on July 3! It is so fun to watch him hold on to them. I was wondering when he was going to notice he had feet he could play with. I love his big grin!

We went for a walk and Jackson stayed awake the entire time and then as soon as we came into the house he decided to fall asleep. I love my Little Chunks!

4 Months

2011-06-12T12:48:00.001-07:00

I can't believe how big my Jackson is getting. He is changing and getting more fun everyday. He had his 4 month check up on Friday. His stats are:

Weight: 15 lbs. 6 oz.

Height: 25 1/2 in.

Head: 41.9 cm

He is growing great and getting even bigger cheeks and thighs! My Father likes to call me a Jersey Cow. I guess that is a true statement since I produce milk and my baby is getting fat off of it. That is what you get when your Dad grew up on a farm.

Jackson is doing a great job holding up his head. He pretty much has that down. He will follow me around the room when I get up. He will stretch his neck as far as it will go to see me. I love it! He loves to sit in his bumbo chair. I will put him on the counter while I do the dishes and he loves being up high with me.

He has rolled over from his stomach to his back 4 times. The first time we were at Aunt Holly's house. I was so excited that he did it twice in a row, but so sad that I didn't have my camera or the video camera for his first time. CJ and I were able to record it later though.

Jackson is really good at spitting. If you do it to him, he does it back. It is so cute. Even if you are about a foot away from him, you can feel the wetness from it. He does it all day long, along with his jibber jabbering. He loves to talk and squeal all day.

He is getting good at grabbing and holding onto toys now and he will put those straight in his mouth. He just loves to eat all things.

He slobbers a TON! Since he eats his hands all the time, he constantly has slobber all over his hands and his shirt. We had thought he was teething because I could see two white spots on his lower gum, but nothing has happened so far.

Jackson has been a little stinker though and loves to suck on his thumb. He will really suck on any finger he can get in his mouth. Sometimes it is two, sometimes even three fingers in there at once. The thumb is his main choice though. I will take his thumb out of his mouth and put in the binki. He spits the binki right out and in goes the thumb. I had laid him down for bed and he was fussing and then it was quiet so I went to check on him and this is how I had found him. I think it is absolutely adorable now, but I just don't want him to do it when he gets older. Not sure how that will work out. When he goes to sleep he likes his binki, or thumb, but he has to have something to hold on to. Usually it is his blanket, you put that in his sweet little hands and he dozes off within minutes. He is such a GOOD baby!

Jackson loves to stand on your lap and jump up and down. He is not too fond of sitting, he would rather move around. We tried putting him in the jumper and he wasn't so sure about it at first, but after a while he started moving his legs and decided it wasn't that bad. He liked it for a while and then got upset. We will have to keep trying it. Once he gets used to it, I think he will love it.

Jackson has very distinct eyebrows, at least that is what I have been told. He is very expressive with them and you don't have to see the rest of his face to see if he is smiling or sad, those sweet brows tell it all! He gets it from his Grandpa Johnson. It is a good thing we named him after him, it was meant to be.

We love nap time. Sometimes I like to just sit and hold him instead of laying him down. I know I can't do anything productive while I hold him, but one day he will be to big for me to do this so I have to do it now while I can.

Hogle Zoo

2011-06-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

Holly and I went to the zoo last week and it was so much fun! We had fun looking at all the animals and just hanging out. I bought this cute little hat for Jackson so the top of his head wouldn't burn from the lack of hair! He got sick of sitting in the stroller so this helped protect him while we carried him around. Here we are on the train.

This gorilla was hilarious. We were laughing so hard! Here he is just chillin' in his little corner taking a nap. This is exactly how Jackson sleeps, I laughed when I saw him.

Then he woke up and moved his giant sized finger right to his nostril and picked it. You can kind of see it in the picture below. We were all laughing and grossed out. Then he moved that finger directly to his mouth. Gross! It must have tasted good because he did this about 10 more times. He must have thought that he got it pretty clean because then he proceeded to the next nostril and did the exact same thing. He did it for so long, everyone around was just laughing hysterically.

I turned to all the little kids watching and said, "Children, that is how you clean your nose!" The parents laughed and kids just sat there and said, "Eeww!" It was great!

He turned and just stared at all of us watching him. I love how he put his legs up on the wall. He was just like a human hanging out.

I think I pretty much measure up to the size of the male gorilla.....

Holly is pretty darn close...

Jackson didn't care about any of the animals of course. He had no idea what he was looking at. When we saw these monkeys though, he followed them a couple times. I was so excited! I told Holly "He saw his first monkey!" Yes, I know I am goofy and obviously a first time Mom when I get that excited over something so silly. But it was cute, so there!

I told Holly I needed a picture of her and Jackson with an animal so the animal that she picked was the rooster that was wandering around the zoo. You can see it in the distance. Silly Holly. I love the zoo!! And will go many more times this Summer!

3 Months Old

2011-05-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my Little Man is 3 months old already. It has gone by way too fast. I love spending time with him and watching him change everyday. He is so fun to talk to and he has started giggling. It is so cute. We got a video camera and he will be giggling, talking, or squealing and I will hurry and turn on the video camera and as soon as he sees it, he stops whatever he is doing. It makes me laugh, but also frustrates me because I can't get anything caught on camera! I can get him to talk after a while of coaxing.

Jackson loves to eat his hands now. He does it ALL the time and he even sucks on his thumb sometimes. It is very cute, but I don't want a thumb sucker so I always stick in the binki.

We tried feeding him with a bottle a couple times and it is quite the chore. He screams and gets so upset. I feel so bad, but after about 40 minutes he finally drank it. I don't like hearing him scream like that so I haven't tried it again.

He still doesn't sleep through the night. He usually gets up only once to eat, but this past week he has been getting up twice. I sure hope this is just a phase that he will quickly out grow!

Stats this month:

Weight: 13 pounds

Height: 23 1/2 inches

Here are some cute tubby pictures

He loves watching himself in the mirror while getting a bath

Just some cute pictures..

Bailey was blessed on May 1. Here are the little cuties hanging out.

After Bailey's blessing we went to visit Great Grandpa and Grandma Vincent. They are so cute with Jackson and I love that they live so close that he is able to spend time with them. I didn't have that opportunity when I was little and didn't know my own grandparents that well. C.J.'s grandparents have become my own and have treated me so well from the moment I met them. I love them and cherish every moment with them. I keep telling them they better live to be 100. I want them around for a very long time.
My handsome matching boys

Cute Great Grandpa talking with Jackson. I love that Jackson is just staring at him.

Great Grandma Vincent, C.J. and Jackson

Timmy's little boy Wyatt turned 4 on May 5th. It is tradition to go to the zoo on his birthday. So Jackson and I met them there. Not that Jackson really cared, but it was fun to go hang out with the cute Johnsons and I LOVE the zoo! We didn't see too many animals because we got there late, but it was still fun!
Beckett and Timmy

Wyatt, Tim and Ashli looking at some animal..... I can't remember what it was!

Jackson's first ride on the train. He didn't really like it at first so I just covered him with the blanket and then he was fine.

Just chillin' in the stroller

Mother's Day

2011-05-13T15:45:00.001-07:00

I had my first Mother's Day this year and sad to say, it wasn't much different then any other day. It was nice to spend the day with my cute hubby and my precious Little Man. We went over to C.J's Moms house for dinner and hung out a while. Then we came home and just relaxed and enjoyed being together. I love my family!

The Cottrell Girls and their adorable children!

July, Connie, Candice

Cooper, Cayman, Kenzley, Cohen

Finally.... a nice picture with Grandma Connie and the grandkids

Cooper, Cayman, Connie, Jackson, Kenzley and Cohen

C.J., Jackson, Candice, and Dallas

Cory and July

Happy 5th Anniversary

2011-05-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

5 years ago today, Jackie made me the luckiest guy ever! What an amazing and adventurous 5 years it has been. Can't wait for what the future will bring with my beautiful bride.

Kauai Trip

2011-05-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

I spent the last week in Kauai with some guys from work. I have the most wonderful wife that allowed me to go on this guys trip. The background to the story is the company I work for does a lot of charity work and we try to raise a lot of money for charity. Back in December they were doing a silent auction with different things being auctioned off from lunch with certain people, extra vacation days, some prizes, etc ...... but the big thing was a trip to Kauai to stay at a condo for a week. One of the leaders of our company offered his condo for a week. A few of us from work put in what we thought was a low bid and didn't think we would win, but we ended up winning. Jackie was so awesome to let me go with us having our brand new baby. Here are some pictures from the trip.

This is the patio of the condo. We had the most amazing view of the ocean and the sunset every night. Every night I just slept off the patio and listened to the waves all night and watched the amazingly bright stars all night. The condo was a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom good size place. It could easily sleep 10 people.
This was a view of the sunrise the first morning. We had great weather the whole time. It never rained during the day. A couple of the nights we had big rain storms, but the storms only happened during the night.
I took pictures every night of the sunsets. Here are a couple of pictures.
Every night the sunsets were just a little bit different.
Here we are chilling at the condo, watching some NBA playoffs in between our adventures.
The first morning we were there we headed down to the beach right below the condo. We were down there just after sunrise and snorkeled around this beach for a couple of hours. There was a lot of coral here and tons of fish.
Jake and Ed down on the beach. Jake found this sweet seashell.
We went down to this beach a few times. We spent most days either snorkeling or boogie boarding. We took a guide book with us that showed us all these different beaches and things to explore.
The great thing about this beach was there was hardly anyone ever there. We basically had this whole beach to ourselves.
Not only did we do a lot of exploring we did a lot of eating. This was one of our most favorite places to eat called Kalypso's. Jake and Jared went deep sea fishing and caught 3 huge fish. They took their tuna fish to a local restaurant so they could use it as sushi. The sushi chef even prepared some sushi for us from that fish they caught. I tried sushi for the first time. It was pretty good.
This was probably our most favorite beach. It was called Tunnels Beach. We spent hours and hours here snorkeling. We went back there more than once. The only beach we only went to twice other than the beach right below our condo.
In the guide book it told us about this place Kipu Falls, we decided to visit it and found this little trail to walk down. As we were walking down that trail, I couldn't believe there was going to be a waterfall in this area.
We come around the corner and the waterfall and pond just appear. If you look closely you can see the rope swing and see the ladder to get to the top where that guy is at in the water.
Here is the stream leading to the waterfalls.
Here is the rope swing. I will have to try to post videos of us swinging on the rope swing. It was quite high and I was nervous going the first time. It was a lot of fun.
After going on the rope swing 3 times I decided to jump off of the waterfall. That was actually less scary than the rope swing. This place was a lot of fun and the water was so refreshing.
Here we are at Tunnels beach again. I did my best to stay in the shade when I wasn't in the ocean swimming or snorkeling. I made it through the whole week without getting sunburned.
Kauai was so green and beautiful.
Jared and I went and played golf one evening. We didn't get there in time to play 18, so we were only able to play 9 but they let us play the 9 that went by the ocean. It was the most beautiful course. Amazing views from every hole. Here I am putting for birdie on a 3 par after hitting over a part of the ocean. Needless to say I missed the birdie putt, and the par putt, and settled for a bogey.
Here I am hitting into a sand trap down by the green. If you look closely you can see the ocean in the background.
Jared and I.
We finished right before the sunset. Our last day there, Jared and I went golfing again down by the airport. That course was amazing as well. It didn't have the ocean holes as they were remodeling the ocean holes while they added enough holes to make another 9. I played really well there, but was pretty inconsistent.
As we were hiking down to an area called Queen's Bath, this was a little waterfall along the trail.
Here was the sign as we got to the entrance of Queen's Bath. Needless to say this sign didn't make us want to get in.
As the waves hit these lava rocks, they would make the biggest splashes.
They call it Queen's Bath because the waves hit the Lava Rocks and then leave water in certain sections where you can swim. I ended up getting in one that I thought was safe enough as there were 10 other people in it. Well there was a big wave set that hit the rocks as I was in there and made the pool area a big tidal wave pool and I was knocked back and cut my left on the lava rock. I got out as soon as I could get back to the edge. The ocean is amazingly strong.
One day we headed down to the south side of the island as we stayed on the North side. The south side was less green, seemed less humid, and was way drier. We spent hours boogie and body surfing in the waves. We swam with turtles at this beach. They were every where.
We next headed up to the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. It was so beautiful. It was hard to believe that this would be there.
Mike, Jake, and Jared.

This was Hanalei bay and went and watched the sunrise my last day there. One of the local surfer girls said this is where the girl from Soul Surfer lost her arm. I guess she was there all week surfing. I watched the surfers for a while but couldn't see her. I will have to look up her story online and see exactly what part she was at.
This was a place called Secret Beach. We asked one guy for directions to here and he refused to tell us. The waves were so big that I didn't dare go in. Jared went in and a surfer swam in and told him to get out of the water unless he wanted to be swept back out into the ocean. He said it wasn't a place to swim.
Here are some more pictures from the last morning.
We had a great time and did a ton of exploring of the island. I wished I would have taken more pictures. I'm thankful that my wife was so willing to let me go and experience such a fun and relaxing week. Kauai would be an awesome place to live!!!

Easter 2011

2011-05-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

Jackson and I spent Easter at my Mom's house this year because C.J. got an awesome deal on a trip to Hawaii that he took with some guys from work. I know you are all thinking what a kind, loving, wonderful wife I must be to let my husband spend a whole week in paradise and leave me and our 2 1/2 month old son home. Well it is true! What can I say..... Ha! I'm just kidding. He really did get a good deal on the trip and it was just too soon to take little Jackson on such a long trip so it became a guy trip.

It was really fun to spend the week with my Mom, Dad and Kelly. I liked not having to stay at home alone. We were able to just hang out and Tim and Ashli even came to play and have a sleepover. Grandpa even got to help bath Jackson. It was so cute. I wish I had a picture of it.

Here we are Easter morning

This is what the Easter Bunny brought Jackson and I. Jackson just loved his BYU onesies and I loved having See's Candy! Unfortunately I think that is what made Jackson cry for the next 24 hours so I wasn't able to finish my chocolates. I was very sad.
When we went to get C.J. from the airport on Saturday, I dressed Jackson in his BYU onesie. C.J. was so excited to see his son in blue! After Jackson spit up all over his onesie though C.J. decided to make things even and dressed him in a Utah one.

C.J. did Easter for us before he left on his trip. I was so excited because I got a video camera! I have been wanting one for a while and my sweet Hubby got it for me. I am so lucky that my husband spoils me and takes such good care of me!

Jackson got Cars pajamas, toy cars, play phone and teether toys. I know he will love it all when he can play with his new toys.

These next pictures are just some of my cute Little Boy

I love these next two because it shows how chunky he is getting. I love his fat cheeks, fat legs, the cute dimples on his fat little hands, his cute bum and his growing belly!

I think he has cute lips too. I was trying to get a picture of him blowing bubbles, but I never could get a good one.

Cute Grandpa Johnson just loves his favorite grandson. Shhh...... don't tell the other kids Jackson is his favorite!

Red/White Game

2011-04-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a great day, first warm non-rainy day we have had in a while. I was able to do some yard work, hang outside most the day, and even watch some football. This is what greeted us as we arrived to the stadium. Pretty excited about this. The home schedule this year is going to be a lot of fun.

The logo is already on the field as well!
The only touchdown of the day. The Red team won 7 to 0. Needless to say the Utes won.
It was nice just sitting in the sun and watching football.
Cayman and our neighbor Luke enjoyed playing at the game.
Go Utes!

Blessing Day

2011-04-11T14:27:00.001-07:00

On April 10th C.J. blessed our Little Jackson. It was a perfect day and C.J. did an amazing job. I wouldn't have changed one thing. Jackson is always so good and hardly ever cries. We were worried that the one time we really didn't want him to cry, he was going to. We didn't hear a peep out of him. My baby is perfect! After sacrament, we came to our house for delicious food and to spend time with our families.

Poor Connie wanted a nice picture with all the grandkids. I have never heard so much crying and screaming before! It made me laugh so hard that the kids were having none of it.

Needless to say, she didn't get one

Cottrell Family

Johnson Family

My niece Cayman and Jackson

Grandpa Terry, Grandma Jane, Jackson and Wyatt

My niece Brooke and me

My brother Scotty. This is what we all wanted to do after we ate.

C.J. and Timmy

Me and Scott

Kyle, Timmy, Ashli, Beckett

My nephews Jed and Jake

Timmy's little boy Beckett just loves Jackson and is so fascinated with him. He spent probably 15 minutes just staring at him and loving him. It was so cute. As the time went on he got more brave and wanted to hold him and hug him. Before he would just stare from a safe distance.

2 Months

2011-04-09T19:17:00.001-07:00

Our Little Jackson is now two months old! I can't believe how fast time is going by. I enjoy Jackson more and more each day. He is changing so much. He goes to bed between 10:00 and 10:30 pm and only wakes up one time to eat in the night. Usually around 3 or 4 and then sleeps until 7.

Jackson has started "talking." It is so fun to hear him make the cutest noises. I will talk to him and it is like he is answering me. I wish I knew what he was saying. He probably thinks I am just crazy when I talk to him. Some of the noises he makes really does sound like cooing. When I have read that babies coo, I thought that they don't really do that. But it is the cutest sound. He makes this screeching noise that sounds like it comes from his throat. I don't know how to describe it, but it makes me laugh every time he does it.

He smiles a ton now too. He recognizes my voice and will smile when I talk to him. He does it with C.J. as well. It is so cute! He has two dimples that you can see only when he smiles or is crying. I love them!

When Jackson was born he looked like he had gray eyes. Now they look blue. My sister Kelly keeps saying that Jackson is going to have blue eyes. C.J. has brown and I have brownish green eyes. I guess we have to keep waiting to see what they really end up being.

Jackson loves his bath time. He is always so content just sitting in the tub, he stares at himself in the mirror. The only bad thing is, he gets really upset when we have to dress him. He usually whimpers and then it turns into a full fledged scream. It makes me so sad.

He has had the baby acne and cradle cap pretty bad all over his head and it is finally clearing up! I am so excited. I know it never bothered Jackson, but it bothered me and I felt so bad for him. Of course he has been cute through it all, but I am glad that it is clearing up.

Jackson used to get the hiccups ALL the time. At first he would get them after almost every feeding and we couldn't lay him down while he had them because he would spit up. Now he gets them maybe every other day. I am so glad he doesn't get them as often. He is just so little and his whole body convulses when he gets them.

We went to the doctor on the April 7th, here are his new stats:

Weight: 12 lbs. 3.6 oz.

Height: 22 3/4 inches

Head: 15.35 inches

Within seconds he went from this:
to this...
and back to this. It was the funniest thing. Oh I just love him!

He always smells so good after he has a bath! He is getting chubby!

I have been trying to get a really good picture of Jackson smiling so I can show off his cute dimples, but every time I take a picture I miss it. Here are some of my attempts.

1942.81 Miles Later......

2011-03-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

That isn't the exact amount of miles traveled in a week, but it is pretty darn close. We decided it would be fun to go to California to my cousin Amy's wedding. My Mom and Kelly went in my Mom's car and C.J., Jackson and me in ours. We left on Thursday March 24 and drove to my sister Jodi's house in Vegas. Jackson slept all the way to Cedar City before we needed to stop and feed him. He was sooo good! We ate dinner while I fed him at Cafe Rio and then we continued our way to my sisters house to spend the night. We were able to hang out with them for a little bit before heading off to bed. We got up and Jodi joined our caravan. We stopped in Barstow to feed Jackson and then continued on our way to our hotel. Jackson once again slept the entire time and we had to wake him up to feed him.

My Cute Cousin Amy and I
Here is Amy and Chris coming out of the Newport Temple. I was able to go to the sealing while C.J. stayed with Jackson outside. It was an amazing sealing. The sealer did a wonderful job. It is a blessing to be able to go to sealings to be reminded of the importance of going to the temple and the blessings we can receive.

This is my cousin Emily's daughter Heidi and Jackson

We took pictures while we waited for Amy and Chris to come out

The reception was beautiful and the food was delicious! It was so fun seeing all the cousins on my Mom's side. We don't get together nearly enough. We always have so much fun. We are a loud bunch when we are together. We kept getting in trouble in the waiting room at the temple because we were too loud.
Amy and Chris doing their first dance
My cousin Kallen's daughter London. Everyone says that we look alike. I have to say we are pretty darn cute!

We were able to go to Downtown Disney while we were there. It was a lot of fun and I was so sad that we didn't get to go into the park. Next time for sure! Here are a couple pictures of us in the Lego Store.

Phew...... Stinky

Our wonderful friends Spenny and Nellie came and hung out with C.J. while I was in the temple. After taking pictures at the temple we were able to go to lunch with them. We miss them so much. Whenever we go visit California we miss it and wonder why we moved.
Logan, Jackson and Nellie
Nellie and Jackson
Logan and Jackson

Saturday night we stayed at my Aunt Renee's house. C.J. and I headed off to bed while everyone stayed up and had fun. Having a baby makes you tired... I feel old. Sunday we got up and had to go to our favorite restaurant before we headed home. We went to Los Golondrinas and I had an amazing carnitas burrito. Really people, if you are ever in Laguna Niguel please go there. You will never be the same. After stuffing ourselves, we headed back to Jodi's. We only had to stop in Baker so Jackson could eat. It was nice to have plenty of time to relax on Sunday with the cute Yates Family. I haven't seen them for so long and it was fun to spend time with them. And they were so excited to meet Little Jackson for the first time!
Brock, Jodi, Madison, Morgan and Doug
Sydnee and Payden
Brock and Luci
Morgan, Haley, My Mom and Jackson

We got home Monday from California and while we were gone my Dad's brother Dennis died from very poor health. So on Tuesday I headed to Star Valley, Wyoming with my Mom, Kelly and Tim to go to the funeral. I fed Jackson at Tim's house and then he made it the whole way without needing to be fed. I seriously have the best baby ever. Wednesday morning we went to the viewing and the funeral. My cousin Shane talked, he is the Sheriff of Star Valley and has gotten to know Uncle Dennis well since living there. He gave a great talk and I learned a lot of things about my Uncle. My cousin Annette gave the his life history. My Uncle scared my when I was younger. He seemed so mean and ornery. But as I got older, I wasn't scared of him anymore and I would go talk to him and give him a hug. I learned that throughout his life he was an extremely generous man and was always thinking of others. He loved his family very much and was a very sweet man despite the rough edges on the outside.

They have about 10 feet of snow still up there and it was freezing!! When we went to the cemetery, we were lucky enough to park right next to the plot so I left Jackson in the car and stood right outside it so I could hear my Dad give the dedication prayer and watch the Army do their salute.
After the Graveside Dedication, we went back to the church and had lunch. Here is a couple pictures of my cute Cousins. I just love them all. It was so fun to spend time with my family on both sides in one week.
Kelly, Tricia Tate, LaRae Schreiber, Annette Cassity, Jamie Hudson, Liz Hall

Me, Misty Sanderson, Holly, Becky Taylor
Randy Tate, Brandon Southwick, Kirk Johnson, Blake Johnson, Scott Johnson, Shane Johnson

We headed home after the lunch and once again Jackson was perfect. He made it all the way to my mom's house. I fed him and finished the drive home. I have been so blessed with such a good baby. He was perfect this week and especially for being in his car seat for so many hours. He made the two trips so much better and more enjoyable for me.

Hangin' with Family

2011-03-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

Every third Sunday my family gets together for dinner at my mom's house. Here are some pictures of us hanging out!

Sweet Little Jackson and Bailey. Born just one week apart.

My sister Holly, Bailey, Jackson and my brother Scott
We love getting together and having fun! I have the best family ever!

Mothers

2011-03-13T14:22:00.001-07:00

When we got home from the hospital on 2/9, my mom was there five minutes after we got home. My sister had called her and told her to come over and I am so glad she did. I had been fine all day long, even from the day we had Jackson I was....lets say emotionally stable. It wasn't until that night that I started bawling and I didn't know why. Was it the sudden fear of taking care of this little guy? This baby who was 100% dependent on me? I had never taken care of a baby before. I had never spent all day and all night nursing, nurturing, comforting a tiny human being before. Was I going to be able to handle all of this? My mom seeing that I was distraught, said she would stay the night with us if I wanted her too and I jumped at that opportunity and said yes! My crying ceased a while later...

There is something about having your own baby that brings to light the wonderful truth that is sometimes hidden about Mothers. My mom and I had always gotten along. We have had our differences of course. I was a smart alec growing up, disrespectful sometimes. Probably most of the time, but my mom has always been supportive and loved me for the pain that I was. I now understand why. There is a bond that comes with having a child. Not only have I bonded with my baby and will continue to do so throughout the coming years, but a new bond has started with my mom. I don't know what it was, but I had this overwhelming need to have her with me while I adjusted to motherhood. I now understand that when my mom told me no or gave advice that wasn't wanted, it was only because she wanted the best for me and it was because she cared so much about me. I understand this unconditional love that grows for your child. How you would do anything to see them happy. It kills you inside to see them upset for whatever matter. When I would cry, my mom would feel terrible that I was having such a hard time adjusting to this new routine and would tell me it was going to be okay. That I could handle this and that this is the greatest blessing in the world to have a child of God in your home.

My mom slept in the spare bedroom with Jackson in the pack n' play. When he would wake up to eat, she would bring him to me and stay up with me while I fed Jackson. She would in turn send me back to bed when I was finished, she would burp him and stay up with him until he fell back asleep. She thoroughly enjoyed those awakenings in the middle of the night. She would laugh at the faces Jackson would make and tell him how cute he was. "I just love him!" I would sit there half asleep, frustrated that he wasn't eating or he wasn't burping between sides. Not understanding how in the world she could possibly be so chipper in the middle of the night! She would go to work in the morning and come back in the afternoon. She made sure I was eating enough to provide for my little guy. She would make me breakfast every morning and make dinner every night. She would make me take naps. She would hold Jackson when he was fussy and I was getting overwhelmed. She spent three weeks with us total and I couldn't have asked for anything more. It was comforting to know that I have a mom who is there for me whenever I need her and is so willing to help.

Mothers don't get the recognition they deserve nearly enough. Mothers are patient, kind, loving, understanding and so much more. I am so grateful for my Mom who raised me the way she did and for being there to help me when I needed it the most. I love you Mom!

One Month Old!

2011-03-13T13:23:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that our Little Guy is already 1 month! It is crazy to think how fast the time as gone by already. He has changed so much since he was born. We didn't post his stats from his doctor's appointments so here they are:

Two Weeks

8 lbs. 1 oz.

21 inches

One Month

9 lbs. 12 oz.

21 inches

Jackson has been eating great and getting chunky!! I love kissing his cheeks now. They are filling out and he is getting bigger legs too. I had told CJ that I want a fat baby and it looks like I will be getting one as long as he continues to eat great! Yeah for fatness!

During the night he does pretty well. We usually feed him between 10-11 pm, between 1-2 and between 4-5. Last night he went for 4 hours. It was lovely! We love Little Jackson and are so glad that he joined our family. This is the beginning to an exciting, new adventure.

Love those cheeks!

Doing tummy time with Daddy. He didn't even cry!

For Christmas, my sister-in-law July gave us a certificate to get Jackson's pictures done at our neighbors house who started up her own photography business. Here are some of the pictures that we took.

Jackson got upset while we were taking pictures so I was trying to calm him down and my neighbor took some of me holding him. Awe......

I love this picture. Jackson always has his little legs crossed. It is just the cutest thing.

3 Weeks so far

2011-02-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Jackson so far. It was one of the first times he was able to keep his eyes open for a long time. He is starting to become more alert every day. We went to his two week appointment and he had put on over a pound from when we left the hospital. So he is now just over 8 pounds.

Today we went over to my Grandparents house. My Mom ended up being there too. We took a four generation picture with my wonderful grandparents and Mom. I owe so much to all of three of them.
Grandpa was funny and wanted to know why Jackie wasn't in the first picture, so we took another one with all of us.
On Friday, Jackie was able to spend the day with Kimmy, Hannah, Bailey, Holly, and Kelly. It is fun for Jackie to have her sisters all near where they can spend time together. Our little niece Hannah was so excited to hold Jackson.
Kimmy and Scott had their second baby girl Bailey on Feb 1st. So Jackson and Bailey are a week a part. So fun to have a cousin close to Jackson in age. Bailey had been in the NICU for three weeks, but is out now and doing well. I can't wait to meet her. I didn't get home from work in time to see them.
Just hanging out together, both wide awake.
Here is Jackson just after getting home from his first Doctor's appointment. He did great at the appointment.
Little Jackson getting one of his sponge bathes. Jackson has been such a joy and we have such a calm baby so far. He is eating great, sleeping great, and doesn't cry all that much. We sure lucked out with this little guy.

Jackson is home

2011-02-12T14:12:00.000-08:00

We were able to bring Jackson home on Wednesday afternoon. It has been great so far. It can be trying at times, and then you will just watch him sleep so peacefully. He makes cute faces and whenever he cries you can see his little dimples and it makes you laugh.

Jackie's Mom has been spending the night with us and it has been such a help. We have been able to get a fair amount of sleep.
We have had lots of visitors, but we need to get better at taking pictures.
Tim came over after class one night and his wife and family came too.
Little Wyatt was so happy to meet his new cousin. My sister and brother have been over to visit but I didn't get pictures. I am a slacker.
Grandma Connie was here this morning. It's funny that we have no pictures of Jackie and I with Jackson. We will have to be better.
Ryan, Amber, Luke, and Logan visited as well. Our neighbors and July have been wonderful and brought meals every night so far. We have great family and friends.

Baby Jackson is HERE

2011-02-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

Last shot of Jackie being pregnant, this is at 38 weeks and a few days.

At 4 am on February 7th Jackie woke up and thought maybe her water broke. She cleaned up and went to bed and then around 5 am she had the same problem. We decided to get up and get ready. We took our time and ate breakfast and got everything put together and then headed to the hospital and got here around 7 am. They checked Jackie and her water had broke, but it was more of just a leak. A good amount was coming out though. They told us we would be staying for good. Our Doctor was just finishing a C-section and stopped by after and ruptured the rest of the water sac.
The waiting game then began. Jackie did awesome and was amazing handling her contractions. About one o'clock she had an epidural. She didn't even flench. She handled it so well. Jackie rested for the next little bit and then around 4:25 pm the nurses came in and Jackie started to push. I held one leg and really just watched as Jackie did a great job pushing. They called the Doctor and he came at about 4:45 pm and had Jackie push, and then he said well he's ready and Jackie pushed at her next contraction and the Doctor pulled him right out. He was a screamer. It was very emotional to see him and hear him scream. Jackie held him for a brief moment while they checked him and then they took him and I watched as they weighed him and all that fun stuff. They gave him back to Jackie and little Jackson was born at 4:50 pm and weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and is 19.5 inches long. So that is his story. Mom and baby are doing really well so far and haven't had too much problems. We got some good rest last night. The Nursery nurse was someone I grew up with and was very helpful as well. Here are some pictures..........
Just after he came out and Jackie was able to hold him for the first time. Mom and baby did so great during the labor. It was so quick.
Little guy getting measured
Our first family picture.
Jackie holding Jackson just after they finished checking him, weighing him, and cleaning him off a little better.
Grandma Connie holding her 5th grandchild.
Grandpa and Grandma Johnson holding their 24th grandkid.
Aunt Kelly.
Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Vincent were nice enough to stop by on the way home from Hardware Ranch to see their 30th great grandchild.
As Jackie would say, Cute Grandpa . . . . . .
Cayman was so excited to come and hold her new cousin. Look at his little tongue. The nurses keep calling him a tongue sucker. It's funny to watch.
Aunt July with Jackson. Cory and Cooper were here too, but didn't get a picture of them.
Just unwrapping him to get his first bath.
Can't quite tell in this picture, but his hair is a little blonde with mostly brown hair. It was a little curly.
Did not like the bath.
Streeeeeeeetch ..........
Cousin Camille with the little guy. Aunt Holly came too and brought me dinner. Thank you to family for all of your love and support. Jackie is doing awesome and we are so happy to have Jackson here.

Week 34

2011-01-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

These pictures are definitely not the best, but we haven't taken pictures of my belly for a very long time. Here I am at 34 weeks. At my appointment a week ago I had gained a total of 24 pounds. We measured me all the way around and I was 40 1/2 inches. That seems so big! I can't believe that I only have 6 weeks left. I am due February 17. I really feel like this whole pregnancy has gone by way too fast. I don't think it has dragged on at all. I really have been enjoying it so far. The only problems I have really had are pains on the right side of my ribs and some back pain. But I feel really good so hopefully that doesn't change anytime soon.

This week I have had more people who come into my work on a regular basis notice that I am pregnant then I have the whole pregnancy. Or so it feels like. They will ask me if I am expecting and they will say they had no idea. It just makes me laugh because I felt I have had a baby bump for quite a while. But I am reminded almost daily that I am not very big for being due next month. I take after my mom. She never got that big when she was pregnant. People say I am lucky so as long as I can still put on my own shoes, I am happy!

The effects of having a baby are all ready changing what we can do and he isn't even here yet! There have been a couple trips that we have wanted to take this summer with friends and because of our Little One we aren't able to go. It is okay of course, we are both very excited to start our family. We can't wait to meet our little guy.

Christmas Weekend

2010-12-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

We started the Christmas weekend off with the annual Vincent Party. We had a really large turn out. It was fun to see everyone. We always do a white elephant gift exchange and I ended up with this awesome Christmas Sweater.
Uncle Doug ended up with a nice one as well, so we had to model them.
Here is Jackie and I with Santa, aka Grandpa. Grandpa used to visit the hospitals as Santa, and my Aunt's and Uncle's were the Elves. They would also go to lots of Christmas parties. This will probably be the last year he does it and it was great to have a picture with him.
Here is our family with Santa. We took a huge group picture with everyone as well. I will have to see if I can get a copy of it.
Christmas Eve we spent at my Mom's with everyone in my family. Here are the grand kids reading a Christmas Story with Grandma.
Here is Jackie and baby Jackson with one of his gifts. Jackson was spoiled and he isn't officially here yet.
Here is Cohen and Cayman blowing out the candles on the cake that my Mom does for Jesus every year.
Here are Cory, Cayman, July, and Cooper.
Cayman helping Grandma open one of her gifts. Candice and Cohen watching as well.
Cooper and Kenzley playing with Cooper's new car track toy.
Jackie still has a small belly, but it will sure to be getting bigger in the next few weeks as we are in the final two months. It was pretty crazy to think that this will be our last Christmas without kids. I'm sure next year will be even more special and fun having a little guy to watch open presents and yes I know he will only be nine months by next Christmas.
Christmas day Jackie and I woke up late taking advantage of our extra sleep. We cooked breakfast and opened gifts. We then watched Elf and just relaxed all morning. We headed over to my brother's to see how their Christmas morning was. After that we headed over to Jackie's sisters Holly's house and spent the rest of the afternoon there. All of her family that lives in Utah came over and he we had a house full. Only her parents were missing because they are visiting her brother Dustin in Dallas. We had a fun afternoon hanging out, playing games, talking, and eating.
We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you all had a great one as well.

Baby Crafts and Other Stuff

2010-11-28T18:08:00.001-08:00

After a lot of looking and searching for crib bedding, I decided to be adventurous and make my own. Those of you who know me at all, know that I am the least crafty person you will ever meet. After three hours of being at the fabric store trying to decide what fabric to use and with the wonderful help of my sisters Kelly and Holly and my cousin Lizzy we were able to make a quilt and a bed skirt. Below is the quilt. I sewed the squares together and the cream border around it. I was so proud of myself and so was everyone else! Lizzy helped with the border of the quilt and the actual quilting part of it using one of those nifty machines that does all the work for you. Holly made the bed skirt and I just hemmed the bottom of it. They both turned out very cute and I am so proud that I actually helped with it. We are still working on the bumper pad so that will be coming later.

Our next craft that we wanted to do was our baby's name in blocks with cute paper on them. We have decided on the name Jackson and I am hoping that it doesn't change once our little one arrives. C.J. stained the blocks, I cut out the paper and we both mod podged the paper on the blocks. We want to find a shelf to put them on, so we are on the lookout.

We wanted to find a really comfy chair for me to be able to nurse in and hold the baby in. According to C.J. it will be my bed once the baby arrives. Ha! He is so funny. We found this chair and we both really liked it so we decided it would be a good purchase and something that will last us hopefully through all our children. It is really comfy and I can't wait to rock Little Jackson in it.

Go Utes!

2010-11-27T20:53:00.000-08:00

Today was the big rivalry game and it did not disappoint. What a crazy win. I took my nephew Jacob who is a huge college football fan. Not sure he has decided which team he wants to root for yet. He picks different teams each week. He did pick Utah today and for his first rivalry game experience, he sure went to a great one.

So sad the season is already over, it will be a long 9 or 10 months until next season when we join the PAC 12. GO UTES!

Happy Birthday Honey Bun!

2010-11-23T19:20:00.000-08:00

It was CJ's birthday on the 14th. He turned 29, he is getting up there! He was flying home most of the day from the Utah game in Notre Dame. He got home around 3 and I was still at church. When I got home we had a lovely dinner and then had CJ's family over for cake and ice cream. It was a lot of fun hanging out with everyone.

I love you Honey, and I am so glad that you are mine. I am glad that you were so persistent while we were dating. I couldn't have asked for a better husband and friend. You do such a good job taking care of me and I know you will be the best dad for our son. We have had a wonderful life so far and there is only more wonderful things to come. I love you!

CJ, Dallas, Kenzley, Cohen, Candice and Connie

Disney on Ice

2010-11-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

While CJ was in Chicago for the weekend to watch the Utah game, I had received two free tickets for Disney on Ice for Saturday night. I asked my niece Cayman to go with me. She was so excited to go! When I picked her up, she was all ready to go in her Ariel Costume. We started our date night out with eating at Gateway for dinner. After eating at McDonald's we made our way over to the Energy Solutions Arena.

This is us waiting for the show to begin

The show was Mickey and Minnie's Magical Adventure. They had Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch and Peter Pan. It was a lot of fun to watch and Cayman enjoyed every minute of it. She was was so funny to watch. She screamed when Ursula came out and Captain Hook. She would clap and sing with the songs. After it was over, she said she didn't like the Monkey with the blue bum. For those who don't know, that is Rafiki from Lion King. It was a very fun night and I am glad that Cayman was my date.

Notre Dame and Chicago

2010-11-14T14:07:00.000-08:00

On Friday morning Jackie dropped me off at the airport bright and early. I met my friend Jake and we were off to Chicago. For some reason we had a lay over in Long Beach. Our plane ended up not arriving for some reason and they had to fly another plane to LB for us. We were at that airport for over 5 hours. By the time we arrived in Chicago it was already 8 at night. We just went to the sports bar at the hotel and watched another amazing Jazz come back. We had some great food as well.

Saturday morning we woke up early and it was a good thing we did. I had always wanted to see Wrigley Field. We stopped by there and took some pictures. It was awesome. It's just in the middle of a neighborhood and has tons of sports bars surrounding it. I really wish it would have been baseball season so I could have watched the Cubs.

Standing out front of the stadium.
Statue of Ernie Banks who is known as "Mr Cub."
Here is the back of the stadium.
If you look close enough you can see the bleachers that are on top of an apartment building across the street.
The view just behind left field. Have to love their old school scoreboard.
Next we started on our drive to Notre Dame Stadium. On the way we passed Soldier Field where the Bears play and Comiskey Park where the White Sox play. After finally finding a place to park, we headed toward the stadium. Here is my buddy Jake in front of "Touchdown Jesus."
Here is me in front of the famous stadium. It was such a cool atmosphere. It's what the people in South Bend live for. It was an once in a lifetime experience. The people were great for the most part and there were tons of Utah fans.
Here is another picture of the famous building.
In front of one of the statues of one of their famous coaches.
I thought these were cool, they had them all over. They are replicas of their national championship rings. We both ate a Brat hot dog and they headed for our seats.
We got inside and had amazing seats. We were just above the players tunnel. After the ND touchdown in the second half we almost caught the extra point ball. The guy that caught it, gave the ball back and since he did, they let him down on the field. He was so excited.
It was awesome that everything was for the most part old. They have the original wood bleachers from 1930. No video jumbo tron. Just this scoreboard below. I do have to say that the ND band was amazing and were a lot of fun to watch.
Here are some pictures of the Utah section. The guys behind us said it was probably the biggest visitor crowd they had ever seen at a ND game. Ute fans were everywhere. Before the rain started and everyone put on ponchos, there was even more red in the stands.
I couldn't even fit the whole Utah section in one shot and then the rest of us fans were scattered through out. Before the game one guy remarked, isn't this our (ND) home game.
Sadly though, the game did not go Utah's way. Things just never got going for us. Oh well though, it was such a cool game day experience that even with our loss, the trip was way worth it.
Picture of the ND sideline.
Picture of Chicago on the way home. The clouds were amazing. This was my view for quite some time.
What a fun trip!

Pictures from Halloween

2010-11-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

I meant to post these pictures last week, but I am just getting around to it today. Here are some pictures of me and some co-workers through out the day.

It was a fun day at work. We had trick or treaters that night and had a great turn out.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-29T06:46:00.000-07:00