Sweet Memories

Since I found out I was pregnant, I have been quite emotional about my time with Jackson.  There are times when it's just J and I that I sit and cry with him.  Especially lately,  he has been so sweet.  I think of how it won't just be he and I anymore.  I also worry about how baby brother will take away my time with him.  Being an only child, it's hard for me to imagine not giving my undivided attention to Jackson.  Don't get me wrong I am super excited about Bennett, and I look forward to watching the brother bond and friendship form in the coming years.  It still doesn't make me a little weepy at times thinking about how I won't be able to spend time just with J anymore. 

Over the last few days, J and I have had some good one on one time.

Friday we spent the whole day together.  We didn't even leave the house.  We played and did stuff around the house.  Plus, J had a really runny nose, so he wasn't feeling 100%.  It was a good day to just hang out at home.  Again, something we've done a lot over the last 3 years, but I know this special time is coming to an end.

I love all of these, but this last one is great because it's both my boys in the picture!!!

 

Saturday mornings have also become J and Mommy time.  Aaron is gone all morning tutoring, so we usually just hang out in our pjs and play.  Sidenote:  J is still obsessed with Christmas.  We still sing his 4 favorite songs ALL the time!!!  And we watch Rudolph.  Specifically, the Misfits song!!! He loves that song!!!

 

Then, yesterday we had another Mommy/J day.  Other than meeting RaRa for lunch,  another common occurrence on these days!!!  We spent the day at home.  But because it was so beautiful outside, we went to the park after our lunch date with RaRa.  We spent an hour swinging and climbing around the playground. 

 

Such sweet little memories that have become such a big part of my life, I am cherishing even more now before Bennett gets here!!!

 

 

 

 

Birthday Weekend

This past weekend we continued celebrating Aaron's birthday.  Like I've said before, birthdays are big deals in our family. 

On Saturday afternoon, my parents watched J, again!!! Yep.  They're amazing!!!

This gave Aaron and I sometime to do our own things.  I ran errands, and Aaron chose to go for a run.  The weather has been beautiful, so he decided to take advantage while little old me decided to go to Babies 'R Us and Target to get some more things for Baby Bennett. 

I had made reservations at Bob's Chop and Steakhouse in downtown Fort Worth.  We had never been to this place before, but it was Aaron's choice.

I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was.

 

Birthday Boy!!!

 

Our amazing dessert- Peanut Butter Brownie Sundae!!!

It was too die for!!!

 

On Sunday after church, my mom had us over for lunch to celebrate Aaron's birthday as well.  She made him a delicious shrimp and rice dish with asparagus.   It was so good!!!  Then, for something different she went to Nothing Bundt Cakes and got Aaron a cake.  She got the cake of the month that had caramel and pecans in it.  Pretty appropriate seeing as Aaron's other favorite dessert flavor besides strawberries is caramel. 

 

I love how Nothing Bundt cakes decorate their cakes!!!

 Blowing out the candles!!!

 



 

J is really getting into the whole birthday thing!!!  He loves blowing out candles.  We had some leftover cake last night, and he thought we needed more candles.  I guess he has a point.  It is a birthday cake. 

 

We finished off our weekend with our Financial Peace University class at church.  My parent again watch J, so we can attend.  After our class, we headed back to my parents to get J.  My dad had gotten Subway sandwiches, so we stayed and ate.  And as usual, J cried when we had to leave.  He loves RaRa and GPa's.  What's not to love!!!  It's his Nirvana!!! 

 

 

Aaron's Birthday

Aaron turned 35 on Thursday.
Birthdays are special days to me!!!  My mom has always made a big deal out of birthdays, so I naturally do that with my family, too.

I had Aaron pick his meal of choice.  No surprise he chose spaghetti and meatballs.  Aaron isn't much of a birthday cake kind of a guy.  He's more into strawberries and cream!!!

This is one of Aaron's favorite pies I make.  It's so easy and super delicious!!!

Aaron and I had a really nice dinner while J watched some Bob the Builder in the living room.  J had just had ice cream from Sonic with RaRa, so I knew better than to even attempt food. 

 

Love my boys!!!

Happy Birthday Aaron!!!  We love you!!!

Baby Bennett at Sonic

On Thursday, I went for my final sonogram before Bennett arrives.  I had mentioned a few days earlier to J that maybe he could go see Baby Bennett on the sonogram.  J picked up on the sonogram part and immediately thought I was saying Sonic.  It was the cutest thing!!!  J kept saying, "Baby Bennett at Sonic!"

Thankfully, my mom picked J up from school as usual on Thursday and met me at my sonogram.  I didn't get any pics at the sonogram.  I am kicking myself because J was too cute!!!  So I asked my mom to snap a few pics of him when she took him to Sonic afterwards.  There was no not getting ice cream at Sonic!!!

 

Stats on Bennett:  He is looking great!!!  Projected weight as of now is 6.4!!!  And we have 4 weeks until the due date!!!  All in all, everything looks good!  He is head down and in position to make his arrival.  Because J was 10 days early, I am thinking he might arrive around Feb. 12,  but we shall see.  If you ask me at the end of each day, I will tell you I think he is coming right now. 

Lost January

I came across so more photos from earlier this month.  J has gotten really bad at deleting photos from my phone.  Later, when I go to my photo stream, I see them again.  Well, that happened so here are some more things we've been up to lately.

J got this remote control car from Uncle Tony and Aunt Holly for Christmas.  It took us a while to get the right kind of battery, but when we finally did, he has been playing with it so much!!! He loves it!!!

I have been hearing about essential oils a lot lately.  I have been talking about getting some and a diffuser and trying them out.  For Christmas, my mom got me the diffuser and a bottle of Thieves.  I've been turning it on and diffusing it in our living room a lot.  I LOVE it!!!  Our house smells like a spa, and I like to think it is purifying our air from all the junk going around.  In fact, tonight for the first time I applied a drop of oil to each of J's feet.   He has had a really runny nose the last two days, so I am hoping it will help.  Lots of moms seem to swear by it.

 

I found another bump photo I took on Jan. 7th.  Like I said in a previous post, I haven't been good about taking pics. I would have been 33 weeks.

As a part of mission organization, I got Aaron over the door shoe storage.  So far it's working well.  It's keeping Aaron's shoes off the floor of his closet leaving room for his boxes of comic books and guitar that needed a new home.

 

A couple of Saturdays ago, Aaron came home from his morning of tutoring suggesting Babe's for lunch.  We hadn't been in FOREVER, and it was soooooo GOOD!!!  We have figured out that you can eat really good for pretty inexpensive.  We get one order of chicken tenders and split it among us.  Then, because they bring extra helping of sides and biscuits, there is always plenty.

 

The last two weeks J has been the Star of the Week in his class at school.  His teacher sent home instructions to make a poster about J to share in class.  I know this is just the first of many projects I will do!!!

 

A sweet new couple at our church invited a bunch of us with boys the same age over on the Monday night of the College Championship game.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with other young couples our age and let our boys play.  Of course, I might be a little biased but I think J is the cutest boy in this picture.

 

We met up with my cousins, Tim and Stacy, for dinner to chat and finally exchange our Christmas gifts.  We came home, and J wanted to try out the new toy they got him.  He was laughing and laughing at it!!!

 

 

Babymoon

This past weekend Aaron and I had our babymoon.  I think we did one before we had J, but I honestly don't remember.  It's weird how more meaningful these times together are once you have children.

Because Aaron tutors every Saturday morning now, we opted to have our weekend start after lunch on Saturday.  We met my parents for lunch and J went home with them. 

After running a few errands, Aaron and I went and saw the movie, American Sniper.  I don't get to many movies anymore, but I am so glad I made it to this one.  It was amazing!!!

After the movie, we went to dinner and then went home to watch some more Friday Night Lights.

 

Aaron and I started this series a few weeks ago on Netflix, and we are kind of addicted to it.  We are already through Season 1 and into Season 2.

 

 

On Sunday morning, we slept in a bit and went to church close by.

 

 

 

Then, we headed to Dallas to stay the night at the W Hotel in Victory Plaza.  We used some of our credit card points to stay the night.

 

 

 

 

We relaxed the hotel lounge before walking to dinner.  I don't know if this counts as a craving, but I have been craving soft drinks like Coke.  I know they are horrible for you, and I don't usually drink them all that often (maybe a couple of times a week), but lately I have wanted one every single day.  Anyway, I had a Coke and snacked on some of their spicy popcorn.

 

 

 

We had pizza at this place just down from the hotel.  Supposedly, USA Today said it was the best pizza in Texas.  NOT!!!  It was okay but not spectacular.   Then, we went back to the room and rented a movie and ordered room service desserts.  It was fabulous!!!

 

 

 

The hotel had this mat at the entrance to the elevators.  They change them out throughout the day to say Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening.  How fun!!!

This is the only pic we got of the two of us. 

 

And here I am at 35 weeks!!!  Where has the time gone?  We will be meeting Bennett before we know it!

 

After hotel breakfast, we headed back to reality.  My parents brought J home around 1:30, which gave us time to get home and get a few things done- like laundry and a pot of chili on the stove.  It was such a nice weekend!!!  Knowing J was having a great time with RaRa and GPa made it so much easier, too.  Anytime J is with them, I don't worry one bit.  If he can't be with me, the next best thing is my parents!!!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 









January so far...

This month is flying by...
I am in full on panic mode.  As of Sunday, I am 35 weeks.  For most that would mean I would have 5 weeks.  Because J came at 38.5 weeks, I have 3 weeks, but after the last two nights I am thinking it could be any day.  Seriously, I feel like I could pop!!!

Here's what we've been up to...

The first Saturday of the month we went to the mall to do our Christmas returns.  J entertained himself in front of the mirror while Aaron returned some items at Macy's.

 

Then, we headed to Dillard's for Aaron to exchange something else.  J and I wandered around again.  We came upon some Texas Longhorn apparel.  As soon as J saw it, he said, "Longhorns Hook 'em"  I sent my dad this pic and told him he would be proud that his teaching is rubbing off on J.

 

Of course, before leaving the mall, we had to get a Great American cookie.  And yes, J picked the cookie with the bright fluorescent pink icing!!!

 

Later on after J's nap, we headed out to use a gift card for dinner at one of our favs, Mijo's.  We arrived at the location by our house to find it closed.  We were so sad!!!  Before J, we went to Mijo's once a week for dinner.  Because we had a gift card and were craving it, we headed to the location about 15 minutes away instead.

We finished our evening with yogurt at our favorite place, Yummilicious.  Again, we hadn't been there in forever.  It was so good!!!

 

I honestly haven't taken that many pictures this month, but we have definitely been busy.  I have been in full on get ready for Baby Brother mode.  His room is finally cleaned out.  I have been organizing like crazy and planning J's 3rd birthday party.  I still don't feel ready for him to make his debut yet.  I still have too much to do.  With a 2 year old, it's hard to get everything done sometimes.  Thankfully, my parents are amazing and help me out so much!!! I seriously couldn't do it without them.  They take J off my hands some here and there so I can get some much needed things done.

 

 

This is Bennett's room.  A blank canvas.  I already have his bedding from Pottery Barn.  Since I took this picture, I bought a rug at Target, and my mom ordered curtains I had seen at Pottery Barn.  It will be far from completed when Bennett arrives, but I have a vision.  I am super excited about the look I am going for with this room. 

 

 

I have also really been soaking up my time with my boy.  Just when I think Jackson can't get any sweeter, he does just that.  He gets sweeter.  I am more positive than ever that he is going to be the best big brother.  Right now, he is constantly kissing my belly.  He talks about what he's going to teach him.  He will say Baby Bennett will like playing with...  It really is the sweetest thing.

 

Here's a pic of me at 32 weeks.  I really have been horrible at taking bump pics.