Date Night

I Since I'm always posting about the kids, I had to include something that the grownups did for a change! David and I got to have a date night last night- the first one we've had in a while. We went out with some friends to dinner at Connor's Steakhouse at Bridge Street, then on to see the new movie Fireproof at The Monaco . Both were really good. The makers of the movie are a group from a Baptist church in the Atlanta area; previous movies are Facing the Giants and FlyWheel. All of the movies have a good message to them, and the acting/production has gotten better with every movie. Up until Fireproof, they haven't used "real" actors- they use people from the church. Kirk Cameron approached them about being in this movie and he was the only "real" actor in it. Anyway, it was very good, so go see it when you have the chance! We had a really great time on our date, and decided that we have got to find a way to make date night happen more often!

P.S. Thanks Aunt Wendy and Uncle Scott for keeping the kids so we could have a night out and thanks Noah and Jackson for being good so that maybe we can do it again sometime!

Kids for McCain

We finally got a McCain/Palin sign for the yard this week, so I had to get our little Republicans to pose for a picture. Maybe if I send it on to the McCain campaign they'll make it to a brochure or something- don't think they could find any cuter advertisers! By that way, Noah's wearing a long sleeve flannel shirt because it was Johnny Appleseed day at school and he had to look the part.

Caged Animal?

What happens when we decide to have a "lazy" day at home and not really do anything? The five year old gets a little bored and decides to turn himself into a tiger. He used a marker on his face for whiskers and a black ink pen over his arms and legs to make tiger stripes. Gotta give him credit for creativity I guess, but scrubbing off all those black stripes wasn't real easy!

Little Debbie Thief

So I again find myself posting about Jackson and his love of food, but this was too cute. Thursday morning (after he had already eaten breakfast), he got into the kitchen cabinets and pulled out Noah's lunchbox. Inside was a Marshmellow Supreme Little Debbie. Somehow he managed to rip the package open and help himself. By the time I found him, this is what I saw- notice the wad of marshmellow in his hand and the few crumbs left on the floor. Other than that, he had eaten the whole thing!

A New Food to Love

Okay- so I know you've barely heard from me this month, and this is my third post tonight. The whole family's been sick off and on for the last two weeks, so I haven't been able to get much done. I decided to go ahead and get everything posted that I've been meaning to while I'm on a role. Anyway- as you can see, Jackson has found another food to love. Or should I say another food not to dislike, since there's really nothing out there that he won't eat- edible or not. He tried to eat my grocery list at WalMart today- it has a bite mark out of the corner. I made spaghetti the other night, and even though he's had pasta in several other forms (he can pretty much eat his weight in mac & cheese), he really had fun slurping the spaghetti noodles up. It was pretty cute.

Congratulations to David!!

Please join me in a BIG congratulations to David- He is now the Program Director for Huntsville Hospital MedFlight!!! He has been doing the work involved with this position for a while now, but he's now been officially promoted. This is an opportunity he never really thought would be there for him, but when it came along, he was very glad to step up to the plate. David has worked very hard to get to where he is today. He started out as a part-time flight nurse for MedFlight 11 years ago, and through several twists and turns along the way, became the Chief Flight Nurse/Medical Manager for them. The Program Director position is the next step up, and actually the highest management position for the program here in Huntsville. Anywhere up beyond here would be a regional corporate position. Needless to say, I am very proud of him and the work he has accomplished to get where he is. It has not been an easy road at times, but David truly loves the industry of medical transport and has basically gone beyond of his dreams of what he thought he would accomplish. Congratulations David! I love you and am very proud of you. Thank you for working so hard for our family. We know that you'll do a great in your new role.

Trip to the Dentist

Both kids got to go to the dentist this week. It was a little early for Jackson to go, but he has a couple of little spots on his two bottom middle teeth we wanted to get checked out. They both did really good. Noah was a little nervous as he always is before going, but was a real big boy and let them clean, floss and xray his teeth. He decided the dentist was pretty cool when he got to go to the treasure chest twice! By the time we left, he said "Can we go back to the dentist?" He got a good report- no cavities, and for now, no worries. According to his xrays, there's not gonna be enough room for all his permanent teeth when they start coming in, but we'll worry about that when the time comes.

Jackson did really well too- they didn't clean his or anything, just took a look at all 8 of his teeth. He's working on #9-one of the top molars, and the dentist said he could feel the other molars about to come through, too. Dr. Marc also concurred that Jackson is a little ahead of schedule on his mouthful of teeth. He shouldn't be getting these molars until after his first birthday, but he did say that he'll get a little break after these before the next ones start. (Thank goodness- I'm hoping that "break" occurs next month during our Disney World trip!) He also said that the spots he has were nothing to worry about- just a little abnormality in the enamel and will have no impact on his permanent teeth.

So- all is well for now. Two kids with great sets of pearly whites!

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture- they took a Polaroid shot as a "souvenir" and by the time I scanned it in, it's pretty blurry.

Willy's Back!

If you've been reading our blog since we started it, you may remember when Willy the whale came to stay with us last February (at least I think it was February!). Anyway, Willy the whale lives at Noah's preschool class, and all the kids get to take turns having him spend the weekend at home with them. This weekend is Noah's turn to have Willy again. He was so excited because he was the first one to get to bring Willy home. Willy is supposed to go everywhere we go, and Noah's job is to take care of Willy and try to show him a good time while he's our guest. On Monday, Willy will return to school, along with his journal that we'll keep to let the other kids know what Willy was up to all weekend. We're glad to have you Willy- hope you have fun with Noah this weekend!!

11 Months Old!

Yeahhhh for Jackson! He's 11 months old today! He's doing his latest trick here- clapping his hands whenever we say yeah Jackson! He loves clapping and playing patty cake. Today I was watching a little bit of the RNC that I missed last night, and when John McCain came out and everybody on tv started clapping, Jackson joined right in. At least he knows who to vote for. (No, Heather, your sweet little nephew is NOT a democrat. Sorry- as soon as we can locate a little McCain/Palin T-shirt, he'll have one!)
Our little man is growing right up on us. I guess I need to start planning for the big one year party now! He really is getting so big. I went through some clothes today trying to see where we stand on fall clothes. He's bigger than Noah was at this age, but since Noah's birthday is in July, I thought we might be right on target for Jackson to wear most of what Noah wore his first fall/winter. Some of it will fit, but there's several things he's already too big for. He's not chubby at all anymore, but he's really tall. We'll be in good shape for pants and jeans, thanks to Rebekah's hand me downs, we just need to things to go with them.
I'm anxious to see how the next month goes to see if he's going to start walking! He doesn't seem in much of a hurry right now. I have noticed that he's started to let go of things that he's holding on to occasionally, then when he realizes that there's nothing holding him up, he'll sit right down. Noah didn't walk until just after his first birthday, so we'll see. He has started saying a few more things- DaDa, ball, book, bubble (not completely clear of course, but mommy can tell what he's talking about!).
Happy Birthday Jackson! We love you!!