I've been meaning to post this for a while, but I hadn't gotten a chance to take photos. Finally, today's the day!

About a month ago, we traded in the Bug for a more family-friendly car.

Introducing my new car!
A Subaru Outback

I'm pretty happy with it thus far. It rides really nicely, gets great gas mileage, has quite a bit of storage in the back, and has plenty of room in the backseat.

Trey made me very happy by opting for the premium model which is the only model in which they have leather seats. I think we'll be very happy with the leather seats once the child is throwing a sippy cup of something across the backseat. Another thing I have that I didn't know if I'd like or not is bluetooth, but it's actually really great. It's nice to talk on the phone wirelessly in the car. I like the look of the inside overall - functional yet sleek.


Baby boy even already has his new digs ready to go in the backseat. And plenty of room for it too! We didn't have to put the seats way forward to fit the seat in there which we did have to do with other cars. I think he'll love to ride in the car, not that he has any other choice in vehicle. I figure if I like it, he'll love it! Well... maybe.

Showered with Love

My mom's bridge club that she's been a part of for the past twenty plus years threw me a wonderful shower last Sunday. These ladies always do a fantastic job and are the sweetest people!

It's hard to see, but they had blocks out that spelled out "Baby Boy Jackson".

The food was delicious! They let me take home a bunch of left over cupcakes. They were wonderful for a whole week!

Me and all the hostesses.


My mom and I with my cousin Megan and Aunt Susie.
They are so awesome! They drove in from Oklahoma City that morning for the shower and then drove back. It was so fun to see them!

Frances came with her daughter, Melissa, and granddaughter, Victoria. Frances has been in my life for a long time and has basically been like a grandmother to John and I. It's always fun to see Frances!

Of course, Susan was there. It wouldn't have been the same with out her!

One of the most special things I've ever received I got at this shower.
My mom made this christening gown for me to use when we christen not just this child but all of them. It has lace trimmings from her wedding dress and my mother-in-law's wedding dress. It's absolutely beautiful!! It's something that will definitely be passed down for future generations. I'm extremely lucky to have such a thoughtful and talented mom! I told her I need to learn to sew so I can do things like that also. I think she needs to open up a business doing gowns and other things like that after she retires!

The very next day my school threw me a shower, and it was so nice and fun! I'm going to miss all of these people after I leave. They are all wonderful, heartfelt women!

They had pictures of Trey and I on all the tables, a great spread of food, mini-red velvet cupcakes, and balloons! It was a great set up. They even made me a diaper tower!

Here's all the hostesses and the diaper tower one of them made. I've loved working with these ladies, and they've been too good to me!

I had one other shower that was thrown by some girlfriends that I've met here in Dallas. My greatest friend, Amy, introduced me to most of them and we're in a book club together. The shower was mostly my RISD friends that I've met along the way and then sorority sisters. I, unfortunately, don't have pictures to share because I didn't take them. Amy sent me some, but they're on a kodak gallery right now which will not let me save them to my computer, only order. After she gets back from Florence (how nice!), I'll get some of those and put pictures up of that shower. I will say, it was tons of fun to be with friends that day! And Ashlee Gibson makes THE BEST cake balls ever! So yummy!!

I had such a good time at all my showers, but I will say, I was ready to be done. It's taken a lot of time to sort through things, wash the clothes, and get the thank you notes out in a timely manner. It's been my second job! I appreciate all of the kindness- I feel extremely fortunate! I don't know how I'm so lucky to have all these wonderful people around me! I appreciate all of the love and support!



*I apologize for the pictures being small. They're all from my mom's camera and they were shrunk in the emailing process, and I'm too lazy to figure out how to return them to their normal glory. I figured it would work.*

4 Years

Trey and I just celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary!

Every year we treat ourselves to a nice dinner, and this year we tried something a little different. We went to a restaurant in Deep Ellum called Local. It was a quaint place that had about as many customers as tables and had a cool 50's/modern/sleek feel to it. They're big thing was they cook in-season food that's found locally. Trey found it somehow and I was very impressed. I had a beef tenderloin that was delicious! I enjoyed every bit. Trey had a lamb shank that looked delicious, as well. We topped the dinner off with an apple tart. Yum! I can't wait to go back when I can enjoy a nice glass of wine!

This is after dinner- not a great pic but it'll do!


I decided I'm tired of posting pics of me that look hideous, so I'm including a walk down memory lane to make me feel that I can be cute again!
This is last year's dinner at Stephen Pyle's. Mmm.. look at that decadent cake and notice the wonderful glass of wine. I can't wait until I look like that (hopefully) and can enjoy that again!!

I looked for pictures of year 2 in Las Vegas and year 1 at Abacus, but we didn't take any pictures. Shame one us.

Yea for four years of wedded bliss! I look forward to many more anniversary dinner with my love!

35 Weeks

At this photo, I'm 35.5 weeks along. Yikes!
First off, I feel like I look HUGE in this picture. I thought I looked a little better, but maybe the photo tells the truth.
At this point:

• He's moving constantly which is a good thing, but sometimes it's a little awkward. We're starting to share a little too much space. Sometimes his movements are almost violent. He's definitely stronger than before!
  
• He still tends to be right up under my ribs, so I don't think he's moving down very quickly. I can definitely feel the shortness in breath at this point.
• He's sometimes on the right side now, but not as much as before. I think he's too big to be more on one side than the other now.
• He's had the hiccups! It's a strange feeling for sure. It's kind of a neat feeling at first, but then it gets a little annoying.
• I'm feeling more tired than anything. It's hard work lugging around an extra person. I've had to learn to slow down and listen to when my body needs a break. I'm usually a go-go person who hates to slow down, but I definitely feel it if I push too much.
• My feet have started swelling just a bit. It's not anything big, but I can tell the difference, and I don't like it. I just feel lucky I haven't swelled any more.
• I get achy and crampy sometimes. I don't know how I'll be able to handle getting much bigger, but I guess I'll just take it one day at a time.
• I do feel lucky that I'm not overall horribly uncomfortable. I can still take it. I don't know how I'll feel in a couple of weeks, but I'm hanging in there for now.

It's weird to think that maybe by the end of this month we'll have a baby! I think we're both ready, but a little nervous, for him to finally be here. I'm excited to see what he looks like (which I predict that he'll look just like Trey). I'm not looking forward to the lack of sleep because I already feel run down and tired- I'm not excited about feeling worse than this. I know that won't last forever, though, and at least we'll have him here.

We're waiting on one piece of furniture and then I'll post pictures of the nursery in its entirety. Right now, KC is definitely the family member who is enjoying the room the most. She's breaking it in for the baby :)

Yea for the last month of pregnancy. Pretty soon I can say, "when I was pregnant". That'll be a good feeling :) I'm excited to post pictures of our actual baby and not just his stuff!

I did it!

One of the things I've been stressing about is whether or not to work next year. It took me a long time to let go of my working identity. I've put a lot of effort into getting to the place I'm at in the district, and it was hard to think that I may not do that any longer. It's a huge part of who I am, so it's almost like I had to spend time slowly letting that part of my identity go for the time being.

But... I finally did it. I went and told my principal last week that I wouldn't be coming back next year. I'm very at peace with the decision and excited about the adventure to come. It's a little scary to reinvent myself, but I think after giving myself time to adjust, it'll be great. I feel very lucky that I even have the opportunity to do this.

The other big decision I made was stepping out on a limb and buying some cloth diapers! I feel like it's going to be a huge undertaking that's going to take a lot of commitment, but I'm just going to do it one step at a time. I figure that since I'm not going back to work, it'll be a project that I can undertake and, hopefully, it'll go ok.

We bought two kinds from this very interesting little store in Dallas. They were so helpful, and I would recommend them to anyone!

The first kind I bought is the all-in-one. We bought a couple of the bumgenius line. These will also fit up to 30 lbs, so even though they're more expensive they should last for a long time.

All the snaps is what gives it the ability to be small or big.
Sorry about including KC's foot in this one. She wouldn't move!

Here's the inside. It really functions just like a regular diaper, but you have to wash and dry it.

The second type we got is regular cloth diapers that have been around forever, but now they have diaper covers that are easier to maintain. The diaper cover has a special lining, so it can be put into the washer and dryer. They also are multiple sizes. The one we got can go up to 16 lbs.

Again, you use the snaps to resize it.
These covers only have to be washed after every 3rd or 4th wet diaper. Of course, a dirty diaper is a different story. We bought 12 cloth diapers that just fold into this cover.

We'll obviously expand our stash as we get more into this, but the lady said this would be good to start with. I registered for more bumgenius ones at Target, so hopefully, we'll get a few more of those!

High School Friends Baby Shower

I have some wonderful high school friends who threw me a shower. Sarah and Ashley hosted it at Ashley's house. They've been great friends for a long time, so I was really excited about it!

The first thing we did was decorate bibs. We had to let our creative juices flow! It was very fun, and it'll be great to use those bibs in the future!
Katie and I after we finished our decorating.
All the girls brought a book to go with their gifts which was really fun! I will say that we now have a great supply of books.

When Sarah had her daughter, Zanna, we gave her a bookshelf with jungle animals on it. Then, when Ashley had her son, Jack, we gave her the same bookshelf. Now, my son has the same bookshelf!
Here it is full of all the books.
Here's the side of it.

Camille, Sarah, Katie, Kellyn, Me, and Ashley
Here's all, well most, of my high school friends!
Thanks, girls! I had a fabulous time and love you all!

Snow Day Numero Dos

Snow Day 2!

Amazingly, we had off AGAIN, and this time Trey decided to stay at home and work, so the first thing I did was make us breakfast!

It was a bowl full of goodness: scrambled eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, sauteed onions, and cheese. We could have made a taco out of it, but we didn't have any tortillas, but it was still very yummy.

Here's Trey's snow day 'office'.
I tried my hardest not to bother him and keep the TV low. It's hard to have another person in your house you'd like to talk to, but you really have to pretend isn't there. I'm kind of glad he doesn't work from home- I know I'd bother him way too much.

After that, the day got super lazy. I did do my yoga and cleaned our bathroom, but otherwise, I spent a lot of time browsing the internet, watching TV, reading a book. I will have to say I'm enjoying this time of forced laziness. Life has been so hectic lately, and I hadn't really been feeling 100% for about two weeks, so in all honesty these snow days have been just what I needed.

KC has also been very lazy. You'd think with her fur coat, she'd be warmer than us, but this is how I found her on the couch.
Where's the kitten?
There she is!

She literally laid swaddled up in that blanket the entire evening.

Now, I'm on to Snow Day Numero Tres! I'm not thinking there will be much of an update about this one. I think laziness will reign supreme. I may try to venture out for some lunch later just to break up the day. I know I will definitely not have lazy days for years to come here in a bit, so I'm really trying just to enjoy it and take advantage of this time by myself. I am beginning to wonder if we get Snow Day Numero Cuatro- I may have trouble with that, but we'll see!