Almost Halloween!

Jackson has recently discovered dressing up. He really, really is into it right now. So, of course, I have to indulge him since I never thought he'd be ok with such weird stuff touching him.

So far, we have a "Menja" (which is a ninja), Dash Incredible, Darth Vader, Spiderman - the red one, not the black one because he said the black one might scare the other kids, and look what we got today - is this not the cutest thing EVER??

Stitch:

The Pumpkin Patch

Jackson went on his first ever field trip... can you believe it - he's already old enough for field trips?!! And, he went there on a bus, without a car seat... (you KNOW that gave me anxiety, but I got over it...)

I went along as a chaperone and we all had a great time. There was a hay ride, these little houses for the kids to play in, and of course, they all got to choose a pumpkin. I, on the other hand, got to meet Jackson's girlfriend, Kaitlynn, who is quite the cutie!!

This is on the bus

They had to find objects hidden in corn kernels.

And this is Jackson and Kaitlynn playing in the little houses.

Almost Parker Time!

So, as I realize it is almost time for baby Parker to make an appearance, I realize I am not as ready as I thought, but I'm no where near as stressed as I should be! Parker's room is not done - it still has the border from Jackson's room up, eh, no biggie - I'll get to it! The valances aren't here yet, but thanks to a good friend (love ya', Tracy - you rock!) they are coming! At least clothes and diapers are washed... mostly. I am waiting for some diaper covers, I am in the process of Spring Cleaning in the Fall - we need to condense... I have to throw a lot away and I just can't. I MAY need this stuff one day...

Today, we went on a field trip with Jackson's school, my big boy rode a bus - a school bus - with no seat belts or car seats... and I didn't die of anxiety! I'll post pictures later!

A Smoky Mountain Vacation

We just got back from an amazing vacation! We went to a cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN and it was so much fun. Our family plus my mom, my sister, and my niece Darby as well as my cousin Amanda, her husband Adam, their kids Cole and Kendal, and my aunt Leona all went down - it was a blast! We rode Go Karts every day and night and Jackson and Darby loved that, Cole didn't care much for it, but he still had fun. We saw sharks and sting rays at the aquarium, played video games on the arcade game in the cabin, went to the mountains and even saw a real bear - in the wild!!

Bath time is more fun when it's in a Jacuzzi!

GoKarts

Mountains

The Aquarium

Jackson's favorite from the aquarium:

A little swimming:

Playing the game:

Darby got Maracas in Cherokee... what were we thinking??

They loved these rides almost as much as the go karts, and they were much cheaper!

Here's baby Kendal watching the Go Kart riding

The day our family went on the Nature Drive... we saw cabins from frontier days, an awesome spring, climbed a mountain, oh yeah, and saw a bear right outside the car window!!

And, the ride home was peaceful...

So, it's a ...

BOY!!!

We are ecstatic to add more blue to our house and Jackson is so excited that he gets to teach his baby brother how to pee standing up!

Here are a few pictures, they're not amazing, but he looks like Jax did!

And, a boy shot...

Number 2 Child

As of right now, we're not sure if the new baby is a girl or a boy. Ben and Jackson say girl, I'm not sure yet... I'd love a girl to play dress up with, to shop for, and hello, the frills and ruffles? Yes, please! But, I also love being a boy mom and would love for Jackson to have a brother... so, either way, I'm just happy that we're having a baby - this time took a little longer than last time and I was just shocked when I saw those 2 lines!!

I'm going to post my pregnancy ticker here so you can all keep up with where we are in the pregnancy - we are currently right at halfway... hard to believe, huh??



And, because everyone always wants to know names, if it is a girl, her name is decided - she will be Delaney Elisabeth. If it's a boy, my current fave is Nolan Parker. Ben likes Sebastian Parker, and Jackson's top pick is Peter Parker Spiderman. (Yeah, he doesn't really get a vote, except we decided on Parker because he chose it. My child will not be named Spiderman!)

So, here's our new blog...

I didn't think it was fair to just have a "Baby Jack" blog if we were having a new baby, so I have decided to make a brand new blog and will be posting updates at least once a week. (In fairness, I'm human, I could screw that up.)

You'll find all our coolest info and updates here... and if I run out of family stuff, I'll just start babbling about any old thing... if you have suggestions, let me know. I'll be posting pictures and stories, as well as our BIG announcement on Wednesday... (it's ultrasound day!) I plan to also share some random Momma knowledge I have because i realized I spend a lot of time reading and researching, I should share the knowledge... maybe!