I am behind putting up my photos: / But here they are! By week 18, I could feel Stella moving but this little man I have not felt so much. There have been a few times I think I have felt him (I am sure it was him) but it has not been that “oh my gosh” I can feel the baby moving. COME ON LIL MAN start dancing! Our last doctor visit he was not moving because he was sleeping. Every time I saw Stella she was a jumping machine so they already seem to be very different. Getting excited to meet him. We still have a lot to do before he arrives – room, babymoon, family vacay, and a NAME (ugh). It took us awhile to decide on Stella and we went through a few names before actually deciding. Looking back at some of the names we almost used makes me think – “what were we thinking?” Stella is the perfect name for her and it fits her personality.  I know he will eventually get a name but I wish it wasn’t so gosh darn difficult.

Week 16

My belly is definitely bigger with this one than with Stella. However, my doctor warned be about this since it is my 2nd and we didn’t wait to let my stomach muscles come together and get stronger. However, I am not gaining weight as quickly as I did with Stella: ) That could be because I have not eaten a bag of Oreos everyday or made a trip to the mall just for a chocolate chip cookie.

Week 17 & 18

Somehow I missed week 17…boo! I thought these pictures would be much easier to take weekly but somehow it has been difficult to find a good time each week. O well, at least I am getting most of the growing belly.

Blogging Love,

Stella turned 8 months old on St. Patty’s Day! Where has the time gone and how has my little “Star” gotten to be so big! My heart grows every day with love for her. When I look at her I find myself thinking what did I do right in this world to deserve her. I really feel so blessed to be her mommy!

8 Months Pictures

Month 7 has been fun! It really does get more fun every month! This last month she has really been working on trying to crawl. She gets around the room but it is by pushing backwards. She  can’t quite figure out how to get her knees underneath her so she does a lot of push-ups trying. The last three nights she has been found on her tummy in the mornings. This morning Joe found her on all fours rocking back and forth. It is just a matter of time before our life changes and we are chasing her around the house. I was also surprised this morning when I left her on her stomach and ran out to the garage to grab something and when I came back into the house she was sitting up. It also looks like the crib is being lowered this week for that just in case sitting up and then pulling up.

Stella loves Rumer and Lola. Lola doesn’t have anything to do with her but Rumer loves her! Rumer especially loves her now that she is eating snacks: ) Stella loves to share with Rumer – a few licks from Stella and then a few from Rumer and then back in Stella’s mouth. They are going to be best buddies!

I also love when Stella is tired and drinking her milk she loves to play/pull on her hair or play with her feet. When she is tired and your not in a place conducive  for going to sleep she likes to bury her head in your chest and then do a little wiggle. If you decide to pick her up she will use you as a bouncer. All this is to keep her awake!

We still only have 2 teeth and I don’t see any coming in. Believe me, this does not affect what she can eat! A few things she ate this month – Salmon, artichoke, pickle, and a chocolate chip cookie.

On St. Patty’s Day we had a friend, her husband and baby come over to have a little cookout. Also our neighbors stopped by as well. I didn’t get many pictures but I got some of Stella and Ally playing.

Yes, the men have the babies: ) We were enjoying our wine (or in my case non-alcoholic beer) and girl talk inside!

All the older people in my family are amazed at all the parties we have nowadays. They all let me know that even just 10 or 15 years ago you had one wedding shower and one baby shower. Now we have couples showers, Stock the Bar parties, Gender Reveals, Sprinkles and Babymoons. Usually when I mention one of these words, I have to repeat it and then explain it! Since I love to plan things and have parties, I am excited that there are all these new reasons to celebrate!

This go around I wanted to have a gender reveal party. For those of you that are like my family members, I will explain the gender reveal party. Basically, you go to the doctor and not look at the sonogram. They write down in an envelope what the sex of the baby is and you take that envelope to (the bakery, store, party store, etc) and they complete your present with either pink or blue. For example, I took a box to a party store and told them to fill the box with either pink or blue balloons with Stella. Some people do a cake and the icing is pink or blue. We opted to do an outfit with this one. Anyhow, we went to the doctor on Friday, March 1 and Joe and I did a great job of not peeking in the envelope. I am so glad we didn’t because it was such a sweet surprise to share with friends and family! Our party was on Sunday the 3rd so we had to wait two whole days to find out. Our theme was a “gorgeous lil lady” or “handsome lil fella” with lips or mustache to represent them. The great thing about party planning these days is…..ETSY!! I bought all the invitations and decor from etsy. All you do is print it out, cut it and put it up: ) Simple as that! I must say that if you have a baby shower, birthday or gender reveal you must visit the shop LePartieSugar. Her stuff is amazing!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LePartieSugar?ref=seller_info

Here are the pics of our surprise!

Get your vote on! The kit comes with ballots, stickers, labels, sign and banner!
Yum yum!!

Trying to hurry and open the package…what is inside?? Pink or blue??

It’s blue polk-a-dots! It’s a boy!! We are really surprised!

All of our friends and family…we even skyped family

Joe was still skeptical so he had to check out the sono…it is definitely a BOY!
The winners…they guessed boy!

Blogging Love,

February 24, 2013 is an important day for us as a family. We dedicated Stella to the Lord which means we plan to raise her in a loving, Christian home.  I mentioned in an earlier post that our church is doing a series on “Building Relationships.”  The sermon today was basically about being a parent. Which was perfect sermon for us to take notes on how to do our best in raising Stella in a Godly home. The statement that really hit home for me was “exposure to truth does not change your child’s life.” There is a difference in taking your kids to church and raising your kids in a Christian home. Just because you go to church does not mean that they are being raised in a Christian home. The reason I bring this up is because I have heard from people in the past  say  they wished they would have taken their child to church more and maybe their child would not be in their current not-so-good situation. However, there is more to just taking your child to church.  Instead, your goal as a parent must be to shepherd the heart of your child and not their hands. Teach your child so that their heart understands. Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord and lastly train your child to live like Jesus. They must see these things done at home and the parents must show their child what it looks like to live like Jesus.

Every family gets to pick out a verse to dedicate to their child. The verse we chose I think fits perfectly with the sermon.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on you children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Just like the sermon this verse says you must teach your children about the Lord more than on Sunday but it must be lived out everyday in your home.

Stella received a bible from the church and a letter that she is to open on the day that she accepts Christ as her savior. They gave me a copy of the letter and I thought I would share it because it is so sweet. It brought tears to my eyes that one day I will be able to give her that letter.

Blogging Love,

Stella has a surprise!

I had to add this picture because I just love her smile and rolls. She looks super excited to be a big sister! I have no doubt that she will be a great big sister and will have an amazing bond with her sibling. Can’t wait to find out if she is going to have a brother or a sister!

Now on to the important question. Was this planned? Is it a surprise? Actually, no! We knew what we were doing: ) We knew we wanted more than one kid and even a possibility of 3 so why not keep it going.

Basically, we are back to where this blog started…weekly pictures!  I wanted to do something different, not as time consuming and pictures that I could include Stella. I thought it would be fun to see her grow as my belly grows!

I have pictures of week 12 and week 14 but somehow missed a week in the middle: /

I now have a lot to keep up with blogging. I want to keep up with my weekly pictures, Stella’s monthly pictures and just random things that happens in the Jackson family. Let’s see if I can keep up. So far I have not done a great job so that is my goal to get better…maybe even a daily post!

Blogging Love,

Be prepared for many posts that are a few months late. I haven’t posted anything since October: ( I am definitely behind and need to play catch up! I thought I would start by posting Stella’s monthly picture. You can see how much she has grown! It is truly amazing how much they change each month. Every month I always think this month is the best. It truly does get better each month.

4 Months

Stella weighed 15.5 lbs. and was 25 1/2 inches long. She is definitely growing! She loves to eat! She is a happy baby and enjoys talking more than most. I guess that means she is my daughter!  She starting to get interested in toys but not as much as other babies I have seen. Instead of toys going into her mouth it is mainly her hands.  She is drooling all over the place and would compare her to a Mastiff: ) She is still my great little sleeper and sleeping almost through the night! YAY!

She still loves being on the go! This month we went to New York City. She loves being outside and looking around. In the next few posts I will post more about New York.

5 Months

I’m not quite sure how much she weighs or her length since we go to the Dr. every two months. I guess I could weigh her myself or I guess I can just wait until next month. This month she got her two bottom teeth. That was a rough few weeks! We have also introduced her to food. I tried the cereal/oatmeal route but with both thought that was boring so just went straight to the yummy stuff. I started with some of the organic baby foods like Plum Organics, Ella’s Kitchen, etc… but then started making my own. It really is easy and she is an amazing eater! We eat a lot of the same things which is fun!  We have also had a few rough weeks with sleeping. I am not sure if it is the introduction to food, the new teeth, not eating enough, etc…but I do know that Joe and I are very tired! However, no matter how tired you are when you go get her early in the morning and she smiles and talks to you, you forget how tired you are. This month we celebrated her first Christmas and New Years and even took her first trip to Kentucky. Again, all this will come in later posts. She is now really interested in toys and puts them in her mouth. She is also starting to sit on her own. We are hoping that by her six month photo shoot she can do some sitting on her own: )

6 Months

Stella now weighs 17.2 lbs.  She went from 90th% in weight to 75th%. I am thinking that might also explain why she is not sleeping through the night and our happy baby seems a little more fussier during the day. I am just not producing enough milk anymore and need to start supplementing with formula. I felt really guilty about doing this. I know so many babies that are on formula and are healthy and smart but I am sad to be giving her formula. I am trying not to be too hard on myself because I fed her for 6.5 months and still am going to continue feeding her but she just needs extra. She eats just about anything – avacado, yogurt, sweet potatoes, broccoli, asparagus, strawberries, mango, potatoes, kale, eggs, etc… You get the point! She loves to eat! We are also trying a sippy cup. She likes it but also gets frustrated that it doesn’t quite work the way she likes. She is sitting great on her own and VERY interested in playing with toys. Everything goes into her mouth and she is still drooling like a Mastiff. We are now back to sleeping like a baby: )

7 Months

Since she just turned 7 months I will have to update more on this month later.

Blogging Love,

Valentine’s Day – people either love it or despise it! I love that it is a day to show your love to someone. We should do that every day but I think there should be a special day to celebrate that love. This year, I have a special little Valentine and I am so thankful for her. But, I am also most thankful that I have such a loving husband to celebrate this day with and and 60 more. Our church is doing a series Building Relationships and they showed this video which is perfect for today. It is such a beautiful, sweet video. It brought me to tears in church – especially “Love Always Protects” – which affects me because I am pregnant. I love that love can be so sweet!

Here is the link to the video – “Love Life” – I highly recommend watching it!

http://www.sermonspice.com/product/52456/love-life

Here is another quick video I also like that is about LOVE. I think this one is important because I think so many people don’t understand what LOVE really is all about. They think it is the butterflies in your stomach, the romantic movie, or the sweet song that you hear, but it is NOT and NOT even close. Love is an action that you decide to make everyday…even on days that you don’t feel like it…even on the very worst of days. It is a DECISION to love that person and SACRIFICE and GIVE yourself completely to them no matter what!

http://www.sermonspice.com/product/52673/love-comes-to-life

This was Stella’s first Valentine’s Day so we obviously had to take some pictures! Today was a fun, relaxing day. The weather was beautiful and went on a lunch date with our G-Pa. We went to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants.

Here are some of pictures of my sweet lil Valentine! I think being a mom can capture what LOVE is really all about!

Blogging Love,

For those of you that know me know that I LOVE to dress up! I wish every party would be a costume party! Since I enjoy costumes and themes so much it only makes sense that I would also LOVE halloween. When I was growing up, I was not allowed to participate in anything Halloween. I say, “boo” to that! Halloween does not have to be about scary/gross/satanic things but can instead can be a fun time to spend with your family and meet your fellow neighbors while passing out candy.

I am going to enjoy doing family themes every year and I am going to do them as long as I can. I’m hoping Stella will go along with it just so she can see her dad in costume. Once she decides to start doing her own thing (princess: ) then it looks like her daddy will be off the hook wearing a costume. I am hoping that her knowing this will keep her from wanting to be anything Disney for a long, long time.

This year, I wanted Stella to be a lobster so I went with a theme around her costume. As you can see, I am a chef, Rumer is a corn on the cob and Joe is the one who enjoys eating it all!

Stella was able to attend her first birthday party. The best part about it being her first one is it is also a dress up party: ) I am super excited about that! I also feel like we are getting good use out of her Halloween costume. It was Jake’s 3rd  birthday party. I can’t believe he is 3! It just seems like the other day we were at his 1st birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKE!

After the birthday party, we headed to downtown Dallas to visit the new Klyde Warren Park. One of the reasons we were sad about moving from The Glasshouse was because we didn’t want to miss living next to this park. It is a very neat little addition to the Dallas area. However, I don’t think it is worth living in downtown just to be near it. I think a 5 to 10 minute drive will be just fine. Stella had a great time being outside! Click on the link below to watch the slideshow of our weekend!

October 2013-Medium

On Sunday, I spent the day with my mom and grandmother. We took Stella to the Dallas Arboretum and took pictures with pumpkins. I don’t know who thought of this idea but everyone does it! I think the entire city of Dallas had our great idea and headed to the pumpkin patch to take pictures. Afterwards, we headed to the house to watch the yearly Halloween parade in our neighborhood. One of my favorite pictures of the weekend is the one below. It is a picture of the 4 of use watching the parade. The neat part of the picture is the blanket we are using to keep warm was made by Stella’s great-great grandmother, nanny. So she was with us in spirit – 5 generations: )

I thought I would share some of the things that we love around the Jackson household.

1. Fisher Price play gym

First, Stella LOVES this Fisher Price piano play gym!! She just laughs and talks to herself. It allows some time for me to make breakfast or do some cleaning around the house. I mentioned in a previous post that my cousins baby girl loved it too and she stopped on her way home to get one. It is a lifesaver! What is really neat is you can place the toys on the ground for tummy time and the piano will sit up for when they are sitting. This will be used for a while in our household and definitely worth the $50 I paid for it.

2. Ergo Carrier

I also have the Moby wrap which I love! I love the Moby because it is super cozy for Stella. It feels all cozy and she can’t help but fall asleep. If you are having trouble getting a baby to sleep this wrap will do wonders! Once you learn how to wrap it, it is super easy! However, it is much easier when out and about to use the Ergo Carrier. So, I use the Moby at home and the Ergo out and about. You have to use an infant insert with the Ergo until they are six months. Once we don’t have to use the insert, I think I will like this even more!

3. NoseFrida

Okay, okay. I know what you are thinking…eeewww gross! Well, with all the colds and allergies that little ones have you have to help them clear their nose. This thing works great! When your baby cannot breathe you will do almost anything to help them. Don’t worry it has a long tube and a filter. You will not be eating any of your baby’s boogies!