Family Photos... sort of

Today was nice and not overly sunny, so we decided to head up to campus and take some self-portraits. It didn't go very well. I wasn't expecting anything professional looking, but it ended up being so frustrating. It turns out that taking pictures with a tripod, a self-timer, and a toddler is basically impossible. Especially if that toddler trips and gets a fat lip after the 2nd picture. My 2 favorite pictures didn't turn out because of Jackson eyes being closed and the picture being out of focus, which are both impossible to control without being behind the camera. And none of them are properly exposed, which is my fault, although it's still hard to control when you aren't behind the camera. Oh well, live and learn. Anyway, here's the ones that turned out okay.

Whale Watching

After how excited Jackson got about Shamu at Sea World, we decided to take him on a whale-watching tour. The whales were a lot more difficult to spot, and they didn't do any fancy tricks, but it was still fun to spend an afternoon out on the water. Jackson got bored with trying to spot whales, but he enjoyed exploring the boat anyway.

Some silly pose that Tyler came up with. Jackson loves being his little side-kick.

Enjoying the view from the docks It was really cold. This hat was my present from Tyler's Peru trip.

Finding hiding spots on the boat was way more exciting than waiting for whales to pop up.

I love his giggling smile

The only picture from the day of all 3 of us. Taking a self-photo with a DSLR doesn't work very well, but Tyler always insists.

Blankets, Jam, Play Dough, Easter

Easter was a lot of fun this year. We invited 3 families to join us for a big Easter dinner. It was the biggest group I've ever prepared a holiday meal for, but it was great. Everyone brought delicious food. Our apartment was a little cramped, but the kids had so much fun together. It's nice to have good friends when you have to spend holidays away from family.

Jackson at the Easter Egg Hunt for UW Family Housing. He was in heaven. Enjoying the Easter package from Grandma Trish. No, I couldn't get him to put the Peep down and smile for a picture. Great-Grandma Boyd also sent an awesome Easter package. Jackson is so spoiled :) Baby Stuff:

I'm starting to feel like myself again. It's nice to have a little energy and be able to feel excited about this little baby boy, instead of spending every day worrying, which is what I did the first 4 months. We were thrilled with our ultrasound results. I healthy little boy is exactly what we were hoping for :) We've been clearing out Jackson's room. He has been sleeping in a queen bed, which he loves, but it just didn't allow a lot of space for a baby crib in the same room, so we sold his bed and we've been shopping for a bunkbed. We've also been going through tiny little Jackson clothes to get them ready for baby #2. It's been an exciting couple of weeks and I'm starting to feel a little more prepared.

To add to the excitement, my friend Robin made an adorable baby blanket. It was so sweet of her and I absolutely love it! It's baby #2's first possession, since most of his stuff will be inherited from Jackson.

The other day, Jackson said, "Mom, I have something really cool to show you. It's beautiful!" He ran into my room, found this blanket, and brought it to me. Sometimes he spreads the blanket over my tummy and says that his little brother is cold. The other day, I found him watching TV with his arm around the blanket, but it wasn't like he was using the blanket. It was like he was protecting it for his brother or something. He's so cute and SO EXCITED! It's fun to have him understand and be so involved.

The last few months, I have been feeling a little discouraged about myself as a mother. I'm sure part of it came from being too sick to do very much. And part of it came from the fact that I'm just not a natural stay-at-home-mom and sometimes I worry that I'm failing. So a few weeks ago, when I was finally feeling energetic again, I decided to do some of the "typical mom stuff" that I don't always make time for.

Jackson helped me make strawberry jam. He was really good at sneaking strawberry bites and dipping his fingers in the sugar everytime I turned around. (Also, notice the 3 little tupperwares on the counter? That's the homemade play dough I made. Jackson has become obsessed with playdough. He will sit and play for at least an hour. His favorite shape to make is a snow ball. He's pretty good at making them)

We also dyed easter eggs (the Tuesday AFTER Easter). It was a little late, but we still had fun.