Jackson's 5 month pictures

Jackson had his 5 month pictures done today and it was a breeze! He was in a great mood and made it very stress-free for us to get these done. We think the results are great! He's getting very big and learning new sounds to make every day. He rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time on Christmas day, which was very exciting since he has so much mass to move! He spends his days eating, smiling, and babbling at Grace. What a life!

Uncle Ty Finally Visits!

Uncle Ty (Abi's brother) has been a bit busy for the last 8 years and hasn't been able to come visit in Maryland but he and Grandma BB (Abi's mom) were able to come for a short visit the second weekend of December! We had a blast showing Tyler around Baltimore and Washington D.C. since he had never been here before, and of course, the kids were very excited he was here!

Okay, Uncle Ty was forced to feed Jackson and he took to it like a pro!

We took a quick trip down to D.C. and wound up being there until after dark, which actually wound up being perfect since everything was lit up for Christmas! Beautiful...

A bit blurry, but Grace was being a ham for the camera and I couldn't resist posting this picture!

Ty finally got to meet our weiner, Gertie. He kept saying "Weiner DOG" which was promptly echoed with Grace saying "Weiner BABY!" (a few of Ty's friends know what this is about, but...once upon a time there was this other weiner dog named Chelsea...)


Grace was very impressed with Tyler's guitar skills, and Jackson was loving it too!

Grandma BB was getting lovin' from Jackson...he was giving her kissy faces and laughing! He sure does love the ladies!

Merry Christmas 2008!

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! We have had such a wonderful year this year, adding to our family and seeing Grace blossom into a fantastic big sister! Jackson is doing great and growing like a weed, and Grace learns new things every day. Jackson and Grace were very excited for Santa to visit, and they both really liked their toys!
Grace got a brand new big girl bike from Santa! She was VERY excited because it's pink AND Disney Princesses! She had outgrown her first "big kid" bike and Santa decided that a 16" bike would be perfect for all the bike rides daddy wants to take this spring when Jackson is big enough to put in the bike carriage. She went out and rode it already today since the weather was nice here, and although she still has her training wheels on it, she's doing great!

Christmas Eve checking out the NORAD Santa Tracker online...what a neat thing they do!

Grace was especially excited because she got a personal phone call from Santa himself! He told her he knew she had been a good girl and was a good big sister to her new baby brother, and told her that she needed to go straight to bed or he would have to skip our house. I swear I've never seen a kid fall asleep so fast in all my life! She was very pleased when she got up this morning!

Jackson 4 months old!

Jackson is already four months old and he's getting so big! Grace is a wonderful big sister to her "little buddy" and is always very quick to find his pacifier or sing to him. We took him to the doctor yesterday for his 4 month appointment and he's a whopping 16lbs, 12oz and 27.75" long! That puts him in the 85th percentile for weight and off the charts for height! He also did very well with shots, and only cried for the 4th shot! (my brave little man!)

Jackson 3 Months (and change...)

Jackson is already 3 1/2 months old, but we got these pics done last weekend. He's so big! Last check he was 14lbs, 14oz, and that was almost three weeks ago, so I'm sure he's getting close to 16lbs! He's very comfortably wearing 6-9 month size clothes already, and he loves to eat! Just yesterday he kinda laughed for the first time, and he's started playing with his feet. He also adores his big sister and smiles every time he sees her. She's still smitten with him, too, so it's a good time all around!
Chunky little man! I couldn't resist putting him in this plaid shirt, since he fits in it now! (It's 6-12 month size from Old Navy...I can't believe it fits!)

I couldn't resist putting this little hat on Jackson since we didn't bring his costume for pictures. His next official appointment is in about three weeks, and I'll be sure to post new stats then.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone! We had a good time this year, since Grace is really old enough to enjoy trick-or-treating without being too shy to say it! (and the free candy is a pretty good motivator to a 4 year old!)

Jackson was our little baby dragon, and Grace was Sleeping Cutie (we know, it's Sleeping Beauty, but Grace insisted for so long that it was Sleeping Cutie that it just stuck). We went to the Jordan's house for the festivities and Grace got to go out with her best buddy, Trinity. (by the way, she was also dressed as Sleeping Beauty).

Family shot! Grace as Sleeping Cutie, Jackson as a baby dragon, and me as a roarin' 40's girl. Steve would have been in this shot but he was off scaring the pants off the kids in the community center haunted house. A big thanks to Charlotte and Claire Melgard (Grace's BIG GIRL cousins) for sending so much awesome Sleeping Cutie stuff our way! It was a huge hit!

Ponies Gone Wild...

We went camping this weekend at Frontier Town in Ocean City. It was perfect weather! While we were out that way, Grace decided she wanted to see the wild ponies at Assateague Island. We went out and found a few ponies. At first they were just looking around in the dunes, not bothering anyone and not in anyone's campsite. THEN they decided they wanted a snack. We just happened to be at the right place at the right time, because these guys first knocked over these poor people's dry box on the table, then stomped their tent! The tent ripped wide open and this horse decided to knock over the cooler in search of a snack. He knew EXACTLY what he was doing, and was very deliberate when looking for the cooler as if they do this to a lot of campers.
I thought it would be really neat to stay out at this campground until I saw this! After seeing the horses fight over the bag of chips they found and trash this campsite, I think I'm just fine with seeing them but not sleeping in their stomping grounds!

My daughter, the diva...

So we went to Target last night, which is a frequent trip for this family. I found a really cute plaid dress that I fell in love with and decided to buy. I got home and Steve wanted me to try it on so he could see it, and so I did. I asked Grace what she thought of my new dress and she says "I love it! It's just mmm mmm mmm mmm, ting!" I just had to walk away laughing because it sounded so silly!

Grace has my 6...

So I've finally done it. I'm officially a soccer mom. That's right, I now drive a minivan. We bought a Nissan Quest and traded in the Murano. And the sad thing is I love it! So we're driving home from the dealership, kids in the car, and Steve decides to call me a soccer mom. My precious daughter, who is figuring out that her daddy teases me all the time, comes to my defense immediately with "you are NOT a SUCKER mom, Mommy!" I love that child!

Jackson's 2 month stats

Jackson had his two month doctor appointment today, and as I suspected he's HUGE! He's 13lbs 14oz and 24" long. That puts him in the 90th percentile for weight and the 83rd percentile for height. What a big boy! He's the same size now as Grace was when she was 4 months old. No wonder nothing fits him! He did very well with his four shots today, but I'll wait and see if he gets a fever or gets really cranky tomorrow! I hope he doesn't...poor little guy! At least he has enough chunk on his thighs to not have the injections go right into his bones!

Jackson at 2 months

I can't believe our little man is already two months old! I took him to get some pics taken yesterday, and he did pretty well. The photographer couldn't believe how big he is! He has his next doc appointment next week, so I will post his latest stats as soon as I have them!
He is such a happy baby, and I'm still reluctant to go back to work in a week and a half! I can't believe I've been home with him for two months already. Time really does fly with kids, and it's going even faster this time!
This picture was hard to get because he kept trying to snuggle the teddy bears! He just loves things that are soft texture...he's such a snuggle bug!

Grace and Jackson

Grace loves her little brother! He is quickly getting big! I'm not too sure what he weighs or how long he is right now, since he hasn't had his official 2 month checkup yet, but he will be two months old in two days! Time has flown. I'm not really ready to go back to work, but all good things must come to an end I suppose, and it'll be nice to have some adult interaction again! Jackson smiles a ton now, but he hasn't quite figured out what he thinks of the camera yet. If he's anything like his sister he'll be hamming it up in no time!
Grace was happy to pose with her little buddy as long as she could have a popsickle afterwards!

We're in!

Well, we finally got the call on Wednesday...we've got a slot at the CDC! No, not the center for disease control, but the child development center on Ft. Meade! Jackson has been on the wait list since the day I got the positive pregnancy test (literally) and he's going to be in the same center as Grace is! This is very exciting, as off-base daycare around here is around $1600 a month...way too much money! The other exciting this about his placement there is the other kids that will be in his room. Grace has been at this center since she was 10 weeks old, and has been in the same room as Trinity and Danasia, her best buddies, since the center opened. Trinity's little sister, Faith, and Danasia's little brother, Dominic, are also together in the same room and that's the room that Jackson has been assigned to! So not only have our first kids been together, our second kids will all be together, too. This is great because we all already know each other and can keep each other informed about what's going on in the class! Woot!

Jackson's first trip to the beach...kinda...

Jackson liked his first trip to the beach, although it was at dusk. We were going to head down to Swansboro (North Carolina) where Steve's family lives for the long weekend anyway, but we got a call on Friday morning that Steve's dad had a mini stroke and was in the hospital. Luckily he's doing very well with his recovery so far. He didn't lose any movement ability in his body, thank goodness, and his speech is getting better every day. We spent the first few days driving back and forth from Swansboro to Wilmington (about an hour and a half away), so we didn't get a chance to take Grace to the beach until the day before we came home. To bring Jackson with us to the beach we decided to wait until later in the day so it wouldn't be so hot! Grace didn't get to make sand castles like she wanted to, but she had a good time anyway. Grace has a very strong sense of self-preservation, so she kept running away from the shore break...probably a good thing since tropical storm Hanna was on the way in and the surf was getting kinda high! There were also some pretty bad rip currents out there, so it was better that we went so late...
Doug got to see his grandson for the first time while he was still in the hospital. It was love at first sight for both Jackson and Papa! Jackson is the only boy in the family that will carry on our last name, since Brock and Darren have their dad's last name. That makes him quite popular around here!

Little Broc was very excited to meet his Uncle Jackson. Yep, his uncle. For those that can't figure that out, you don't know our family. Anyway, Broc was very sweet with the baby all weekend and kept giving him kisses! That's good news since he has a new brother or sister on the way in January! Doug came home from the hospital on Tuesday, and after the doctor told him he needed to be more active and walk more, he was motivated to start right away! Steve and Doug walked back and forth on the road between houses on the farm several times, and Doug is doing really well. I hear he's doing even better now that he has shoes that don't rub his toes!

Shots for the kids and doctor visits...

Jackson had his 1 month shots last Friday, and he was already weighing in at 10lbs 11oz and 23" long! Considering he was 8lbs 8.5oz when he was born, he's doing pretty well with weight gain! The doctor told us he's in the 93rd percentile for stature (height) and the 75th for weight. No doubt his weight will catch up soon the way he's eating!

Grace had her 4 year physical and vaccinations on Tuesday, and she was SO BRAVE! Monday night we saw a commercial for the new Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning movie, and she started asking if she could get that movie. I told her if she was really brave for her shots, she could get the movie. She replied "that's ok, Mommy, I don't want the movie." Too smart for her own good. I guess she decided that if she had to get shots to get the movie, she didn't want the movie that badly...anyway, she did get 4 shots and didn't even cry! Now she's done until she's 11...

While we were at the doctor for Grace, Steve decided to weigh Jackson again just to see how much he'd gained in 4 days. His weight as of Tuesday was 11lbs 10oz, which means he's gained almost a full pound in 4 days! I knew he was hitting a growth spurt judging from the way he's been eating for the last few days, but holy cow! What a big man! Oh, and Grace is now 41 1/4 inches tall and weighs 40lbs. She's had a huge growth spurt since last year, but only weighs a few pounds more!

Jackson's first "official" bath

Although this was a while ago (a few weeks), I didn't have a chance to post these pics until now. Jackson had his first official bath and he has decided that he LOVES bathtime! Even if he's crying before the bath, as soon as his little cheeky buns hit the water he calms down and starts to coo..I'm so glad he likes the water, because that would be a bit trying if he freaked out every time I had to bathe him! He's been a really good baby so far, and he's growing like a weed!

Grace's 4th Birthday Party

We celebrated Grace's 4th birthday about a month late because her little brother was due so close to her actual birthday. The festivities were held at a place called "Pump It Up" here in Elkridge. This place is an indoor, all moon-bounce place...it was a blast! Grace loved it and her friends all seemed to have a great time. It was nice for us, too, since we didn't have to do any cleaning!
Grace, Trinity, and Molly (buddies from school)
The party gang! Karson, Xander, Columbia, Sammie, Gracie, Trinity, Isabelle, Jacob, and Luke! (not pictured is Molly, who was too shy to jump in the picture, and Faith, who did NOT like to bounce!)
Steve and Grace raced through the course as a finale...Grace won!
Grace was embarassed when she realized that everyone was looking at her and singing to her! She was so cute! We can't believe she's already 4 years old...it goes way too fast!

Jackson 1 month

Jackson went for his 1 month checkup yesterday and we were surprised to learn that he's already 10lbs 11oz and 23 inches long! He's gained 2lbs 2oz and 2 inches in the last month...what a big guy!

Welcome Jackson Charles Stanley!

Our little boy, Jackson Charles, joined us on Grace's 4th birthday, July 18th. I was brought in for an induction at 6pm, expecting to be administered Cervadil overnight and then started on Pitocin in the morning of the 19th, but after about 20 min. of Cervadil the baby's heartrate was way too high, so they stopped that. Then I started having contractions on my own about every minute or two, but every time I had a contraction, the baby's heart rate dropped, so they decided to do an emergency c-section at around 9:45pm on the 18th. Jackson was born at 10:57pm on the 18th, and weighed in at 8lbs 8.5oz and was 21" long. He's a happy baby and loves to eat, and as of yesterday he's already surpassed his birth weight (at 11 days old) and weighs 8lbs 10oz already! (he had dropped to 7lbs 14oz before being released from the hospital at 4 days old)
Here are some pics!
Only a few minutes old here...not happy about being cold! Steve was able to cut his umbilical cord while they finished my surgery.
First time I saw him once he was cleaned up! This is the only thing I really remember after they delivered him because they had me on narcotics almost as soon as he was delivered to control the shaking!
Gracie is SMITTEN with her little brother! She is super sweet with him, and calls him "little guy" and "her little buddy"...
Grace was holding Jackson and I couldn't resist taking a picture of their feet together! Grace's feet are a child's size 10.5-11 right now, and they still look so big compared to her little brothers! (although his feet are huge for being a newborn!)
Jackson did very well on his ride home from the hospital. He likes being in the car and sleeps well while we're driving. Now if I could just get him to sleep at night instead of during the day!