Beach Baby

We had a great Memorial Day weekend in VA Beach, remembering those who serve our country and enjoying the fabulous weather. We got to visit with Jonathan's cousin Erin and her boyfriend Kevin, who are in from Mass after finishing school (graduation for Erin, entering 4th year for Kevin).  They are super busy and we were so lucky to catch them for a few days.  They bring so much laugher and excitement wherever they go! 

Jackson enjoyed his first two days at the beach, getting a few bites of sand, toes in the ocean and a few brief rays of sun. He was neither excited or mad to be at the beach, mostly curious. What an intense sensory experience....new textures, the loud roar of the ocean, seagulls, lots of people. We are excited to spend many more days at the ocean front. All are welcome to join us! We have a tent that could comfortably sit 6 adults or allow 4 adults to take a nap.  It looked like a quick pop-up beach tent on Amazon, so we were mislead by advertising and now have much more tent than we expected. A blessing, I guess? As long as I can set it up single-handedly.  

Kevin, Erin, Granddad and Grandmother Beth

Jackson has turned Beth and Matt into beach-goers!

Granddad lets Jackson get his toes in the ocean (it was pretty cold)

Day 1 of a life at the beach

Dad and Jackson

Jackson's and his bud Sofi enjoy the warm water in the baby pool

6 years

We got married?!

Yes, 6 years ago we tied the knot in Springfield, VA after several years of dating and a 13 month engagement. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday and sometimes it feels like we've known each other forever. Jonathan is still my best friend and we continue to love how are are growing together more and more each year.

The afternoon of our anniversary our friends Clint and Sally came in from Richmond for a wedding in VA Beach. We were thrilled to see them and to finally meet their 15 month old daughter, Bellamy, in person. She is so sweet and very smart, entertaining us with her many new words!  Jackson and Bellamy played so well together. She taught him all about sharing and he tried to pull her hair :) She loved our toy boxes and pulled out each toy one by one. It's fun to see someone who is a few months older than Jackson and realize what we have to look forward to. We love where Jackson is now but are excited for what's to come (and now know that we have much more child-proofing to do!)

We got all dolled up for our anniversary because we never have a chance to look really nice now. I put on such a 'fancy' dress that our server though we were going to a wedding or something really big deal. Nope, just out for a night on the town.  We went to Empire on Granby, which is a tapas place that has a huge list of martinis and we enjoyed a "loudmouth martini" and a "french martini".  I am not one for taking pictures of food or drink but I have all these friends who blog about food and I've been inspired. Plus we never get frou-frou drinks like that and had to commemorate the experience.  We walked next door to Snappers, our favorite local fish place where Jonathan had fried oysters with grilled cajun tomatoes and I had crab cakes with hushpuppies.  It was so nice to enjoy each other's company over a nice dinner, not having to worry about Jackson grabbing all of the food and utensils.  

We forgot to take a picture of us while we were out so this was the best we could do :)

Eating Strawberries

The other day at the strawberry field, Jackson got a quick lick of a strawberry but he got his first real taste this week. Here is a quick view of what happened.

I think I am excited about strawberries...Not sure what is on that spoon coming at me....

hahahaha that's our boy :)

Friends and Family

Well, it's been a while! Jackson and I are finally back in Norfolk after spending 6 days in Springfield with my parents. I took my Dry Needling review course and exam to finish my certification, which consisted of 5 days of class in Bethesda, MD. I left the house each day at 6:30am and returned at 7pm.  That meant lots of quality time for Pop Pop and Jackson! They spent the majority of the day together,  with some helpful assistance from Grandmom in the mornings and evenings.  Jackson met my piano teacher, Mrs. Murray who gave him his first piano lesson! He loved playing the bass keys with his feet.  Even though I missed seeing her, it means so much to me that she was able to meet him as she played such an important role in my life. I also realized that I truly am glad to be working part-time, not full-time. It was so difficult to be away from Jackson for so long.  

Mom and dad just got back from a week trip to Las Vegas for mom's work and they got Jackson a onesie that says, "My dad is my PAPArazi".  Instead, I think they should have gotten him a onesie that says, "What happens at Pop Pop's stays at Pop Pop's".  Jackson, who recently started eating solids, enjoyed his first tastes of a Chick-Fil-A Banana Pie milkshake and a Berry Smoothie from McD's.  He LOVED them. Guess he's going to have a sweet tooth like me :) Now that we are back at home I think Jackson is bored with me but I am sure that Grandmom and Pop Pop are trying to catch up on some sleep after a fun but exhausting week!  

Here are a few other happenings from the past weeks:

Jackson looks so cute in overalls that  Jonathan wore when he was 6 months old. Hard to believe that my handsome husband was that little 29.5 years ago! 

I got to take a long walk around the Norfolk Botanical Gardens with Laura when she was 39 weeks pregnant. She delivered her first baby, Brooke right after Mother's day. They are doing great and Jackson is excited to have yet another lady in his life!

Can't you just feel the excitement?

We went to Greekfest with Kaitlin and Ray, who are also expecting a baby as well! We are super excited about little baby Robb.  We enjoy gyros, calamari and a dessert that is basically dense doughnuts covered in honey. We really are responsible parents despite the beer and honey in close proximity to Jackson :) He desperately wanted both of them!

Here is Jackson rolling out his tight thigh muscles. Maybe we'll have a runner or physical therapist in our future?

And here is Jackson's bud Sofi. Val came over to take Jackson's pictures the other week for her own practice but what a treat for us! We got amazing pictures of Jackson (to share in another post) and the two kids got to play a little. After staring at each other they started to hold, and eat, hands.  

Shameless plug

I thought we would never be these parents who entered Jackson in a photo contest, but alas, we are those parents. We think he is super cute...of course we do, we are his parents! We would love for everyone to vote for his picture for the winner of this week. You can vote on your smart phones and computers (on every web browser you have) every day until the 20th.  Please feel free to share the link or paste on your Facebook wall!

http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/1302298

Strawberries and other adventures

Jackson here! My friend Ellie does her own posts and she is only 4 months old and a super good blogger so I thought I would try my hand at it too :)  Life as a 6.5 month old is super fun! I get packages from my aunts and uncles all the time! Uncle Matt and Aunt Chase sent me a cute polo shirt to match my swim trunks. It fits me perfectly. Cousin Riley sent me an awesome package the other night. I helped dad open it because it was wrapped really well. Riley made me a fishbowl with 8 swimming fish in it. They tasted great but mom took it away from me and hung it on my bedroom door so I can't eat the fish, but now we count them every time we walk into my room. They got me some cute outfits that are perfect for the beach...one has a shark on it! 

This is my best buddy, Lincoln. He is not supposed to come on the carpet but he usually does anyways. It's a good thing we have lots of blankets to cover the dirty, hairy carpet from where Lincoln lays on it when I'm not standing guard!  I really want to crawl so I can pet him more but I can't seem to coordinate my legs and arms. I think mom and dad are really glad that I stay in one place for now. They have been childproofing the house. Don't they know that I'll still find some trouble to get into? ;)

I had such a great time with mom, Chelle, and Val at the Ghent United Methodist Preschool Consignment sale a few months ago. Mom got me this super cute outfit. I don't really like shoes or socks but I wanted to make her happy and kept them on for the picture.  

On Friday morning, mom and dad took me all the way out to Pungo to go strawberry picking! I took an hour nap in the car on the way there so I was ready to pick some berries when we finally got there.  I loved hanging out with dad in the bjorn, walking up and down the rows looking for the best berries. I saw some horses for the first time and got my first bug bite also. It doesn't seem to hurt, it's just kinda red.

I was too quick for dad and managed to eat my first strawberry today! Mom caught me red handed.

I think my dad is pretty awesome. He has a deep voice that sounds really neat and I am mesmerized when he sings to me.  He makes up the silliest songs!  I hope I grow up to be like him!

Oh, and i've been kinda fussy lately and not going to sleep like I should. Well, it's because I got my first tooth today! It's on the bottom row and it is really neat.  I'm not giving mom a big toothy grin for pictures yet...but stay tuned for one! 

Green Peas

It has been an adventure in solid food land. There are so many books out there about how to do things that I am ignoring most of them and going with my gut. Sometimes that is going well and sometimes is going horribly! Jackson is a huge fan of oatmeal, sweet potatoes and rice cereal. Our doctor says that as long as Jackson is getting iron through the cereals, the rest is just practice.  He is doing well with a spoon and even opens his mouth to eat things now! He wanted to hold the spoon for this morning's oatmeal. Good thing I did not have to go to work in my nice clothes today

Last week, we tried green peas.  He was very excited at the thought of a new food...

But didn't think they tasted so great

 Here is Jackson excitedly eating sweet potatoes (well, I am not really sure who is more excited in this picture) with Granddad Byrne.

After another epic fail (squash), we are pressing on with avocados, bananas and apples in the near future.