The First Trick-Or-Treat

Yes, Jackson is probably too young for candy. We took him trick-or-treating anyway. He got lots of candy and we're going to let him eat it. He's just too cute, and that's just what happens. Getting ready to leave for trick-or-treating. You can tell by the look on his face that he has no idea what was about to happen. The stroller didn't last long. He wanted to walk and pick out his own candy at each stop.

These are our friends that we went with. They have twin boys a few months younger than Jackson. They dressed as monkeys. Jackson and Austin (one of their boys) had a lot of fun playing with eachothers costumes. Tails and elephant trunks are quite fascinating to toddlers.

Like I said, we're letting him eat some of the candy. I'm sure we'll help him with it, but he worked hard for that candy. Plus he is really cute when he gets excited about candy.

It's in his blood

Today I found Jackson sprawled out on the floor tinkering with his tiny toy motorcycle. He reminded me of his dad/uncles/grandpas, the way they are always spread out all over the garage working on the dirtbikes. I suppose it's inevitable.

He always gets excited when he realizes he's doing something interesting enough to make me get the camera out. He likes to show off.

Autumn in Seattle

Have I mentioned how gorgeous Seattle is in the Fall? When you drive along the freeway just outside of Seattle, you can't even see buildings. The freeway is completely surrounded by thick trees. They are a mix of evergreen trees and then a variety of other trees. So right now it is dark deep green alternating with orange, red, and yellow. Beautiful. Yesterday Jackson and I went on a camera walk around our apartment to look at the leaves.

Look, Mom, I found a leaf.

Sleeping Problems

Babies sleep funny. I keep thinking at some point, Jackson will realize that he is too long to sleep sideways in his bed, and he'll turn the normal way, but it hasn't happened yet. And he always pulls the blanket off of his body and covers his face with it. Maybe he needs darker curtains in his room?

On a side note, does anyone have any great tips for difficulty sleeping? Ever since I stopped working (and therefore stopped being so overwhelmed that I fell over dead every night at 10pm) I have gone back to having a really hard time sleeping. I'd love suggestions.

Sick days

Jackson has been sick the last few days so we have been a little out of it. The poor little guy just laid on the recliner and watched Disney movies. But he's feeling better today and hopefully will have all of his energy back tomorrow. Here's a few recent pictures.

This is his favorite hide out. He sits behind the curtains looking out the back door. I try to open the curtains so he can see, but he just closes them again.

Just cute. His smile is starting to look more grown up.

Red Heads and Missionaries

Today in church, I noticed that one of the boys passing the sacrament had red hair the same color as my brother. No big deal. But then, he came and sat down next to the lady we were sharing a bench with, and he looked so much like Kevin. He even made the same faces. There were 3 expressions he made that were honestly exactly like Kevin. And you know who absolutely loved him? Jackson! I found out that his name was Spencer, and he played with Jackson for all of sacrament meeting. I know it is a silly response, but I kept crying because it kind of felt like Kevin was sitting right there next to me playing with Jackson. I had to stop looking at his face so I could keep myself under control.

Jackson has 2 amazing uncles on missions that he has not met yet. Alex is in Jamaica and Kevin is in Canada and they are both coming home in a few short months. I know that coming home is always hard on the missionaries, but we are so excited to welcome them back. Jackson cannot wait to meet them and finally get to play with his amazing uncles! I hope someday Jackson grows up to be just like them.

New School Clothes

Okay, so he isn't technically in school yet. But he did need new clothes because he's getting bigger and there was a Carter's Outlet in San Diego, so we kind of stocked up. Who can pass up $2 pants and $6 outfits. At least I resisted the $10 puffy vest. I decided I couldn't put him though that quite yet. I'm guessing those aren't very comfy on an active toddler. Anyway, here's my favorite of his new outfits (and the only one that already fits him.) I love his little smirk. This is why he gets a little spoiled. And yes, that's the Xbox controller. He doesn't actually play it, he just pretends to.

Learning to Stay Home

Back in Idaho, I was counting down to the day I would be done with work and stay home with Jackson all day every day. It is definately taking a lot more adjusting than I thought it would, but I think I'm getting used to it. I've learned that I need to have a schedule, and plan with a to-do list, even though the list rarely gets done. Anyway, here's some random pictures of the things that fill my days now. Various projects... the other day I decided to let Jackson do some coloring, but the crayons dissappeared during the move, so I got out my oil pastels. They would be easier to color with anyway, right? So I plopped Jackson down with some paper in the middle of our white carpet. Rookie mistake! He colored on the paper for a few seconds, and then realized that the carpet was much more exciting to color on because Mommy starts yelling. Thank goodness for the giant stash of Sol-U-Mel I saved up before leaving Melaleuca. So we moved to the brown rug for our coloring. But then Jackson decided the pastels were better for eating than coloring. So maybe he's still too young for coloring? The dreaded toy disaster. I've been advised to put away most of the toys and just give him a few toys each day, but I keep thinking that seems like so much work to find somewhere to pack up all the toys and store them (we have no space), but after several weeks of cleaning this up every day, maybe it would be worth it. The messes in the high chair. And thank goodness to Safeway for having toy cars on the front of the grocery carts. When we make the trip to Winco, I really miss those little cars, because apparently Jackson does not enjoy grocery shopping. (Tyler actually took this picture and I didn't know he was doing it, but it shows the car carts quite nicely. Simply genious.)

San Diego

Jackson had his first trip to the beach. We flew down to San Diego for a week to visit my family while Tyler was busy in school. It was so much fun to see them and Jackson loved everything, especially the aquarium. He didn't really seem scared of the water at all. He walked right out there and then held very still while the waves moved around him.

I couldn't get any picutres of him looking at the camera because he was so distracted by everything around him, but this is kind of a funny serious expression. It looks like it should be a DVD cover for an action/adventure movie where Jackson is an FBI agent or something.

The giant whale fountain at the aquarium.

The tide pools at the aquarium. Jackson was much more concerned about splashing than looking at the little creatures in the water.

He was so cute at the aquarium. He would point at every fish that swam past him and then make sure we all saw what he was looking at by making little chirping sounds as he pointed.

And the cutest thing at the beach was Jackson chasing the birds. Apparently, he was not very threatening to them, because the birds would never fly away. They just calmly walked around while Jackson chased them.

Entertainment Recommendations

I just finished reading Dan Brown's new book, The Lost Symbol, the sequal to Da Vinci Code. I would definately recommend it. I didn't find it quite as gripping as his other books, which is why it took me and entire week to read it, instead of the usual 2 days for a Dan Brown. It was very interesting though and there are a few big suprises along the way. And it wasn't hard on Freemasons (or Mormons) like some people suspected. In fact, it actually kind of defends them. Anyway, enough babble. Great book. Read it. Last night, Tyler and I watched Stranger than Fiction. We saw it a couple of times when it first came out, but haven't seen it since. I forgot how much I LOVE this movie. If anyone hasn't seen it, rent it and watch it this weekend! It's probably in my top 5 movies of all time.

Just Chillin'

He looks so grown up...

Washington 16, USC 13

Well, we finally decided to buy season tickets for UW football, and after today's game we decided it was absolutely worth it. We live across the street from the stadium, so it was just too hard to listen to the games and not be there. What an exciting game!

Jackson was a trooper and absolutely loved the game, except that it went right through naptime, so he fell asleep for halftime and the 3rd quarter. He woke up just in time for the exciting finish. Then, of course, we had to run out on the field. (once again... we're mature adults with a baby, I promise) Tyler ran onto the field with Jackson, and then security slammed the gate shut before I could get through, but eventually they gave up and just let everyone on the field, so we got some great pictures and a cute video. Jackson was the little mascot for the student section. Everyone was taking his picture and giving him fist bumps.

This was a crazy fan that climbed up on the goal post. Security quickly helped him down.

Early Halloween

Yesterday I bought Jackson's Halloween costume. It's early, but I saw it and just couldn't resist. Then I had him try it on and got the greatest picture ever! Now I just need to teach him to make elephant noises.

The Landons

This weekend Tyler's sister and her family visited us. They have a new little baby and it was so fun to have them with us for a few days. We had a great time exploring Seattle and getting to spend time with family. Thanks for a great weekend, Randi, Brevic, and Madden!

Jackson was enjoying his view of the water. He kept pointing to show us where it was at.

This is a panoramic picture that Tyler took with his phone. You'll notice that Jackson is in it twice and Brevic is in it 5 times. Kind of fun.

While they were here, they got Jackson a present. He looks pretty cute in his purple huskie shirt. You could tell he thought we was really cool when he was wearing it.

We had so much fun this weekend. We really miss everyone and love visitors anytime!