Party for Uncle Jim and Aunt Rita

Uncle Jim finally tied the knot a couple of months ago! Jackson officially has an "Aunt Rita" now! They had a party to celebrate and we made the trip down to be part of the fun. The family is fairly spread out demographically, so its always a special occasion when everyone can get together.

The Curran family, all the kids officially spoken for
The happy couple, congrats guys

Jackson and Daddy cutting a rug

Jackson and Mama at the party

Jackson dancing with the fam. He was such a Daddy's boy that night

Nana and Papa dancing

Jackson dancing with his cousins

A rare photo of the 3 of us

Jackson and his cousins

Mommy and Jackson dancing

Jackson showing off his Mickey Mouse pin

Jackson and Mama

Pit stop on the drive, Bill found this cool Flintstones car

3 year well visit

Jackson had his 3 year well visit last week. All is well, he continues to grow and is now 28 lbs and 37" tall. He also just graduated to a size NINE shoe! It seems every other week his shoe size increases.
He officially has a Mickey Mouse bathroom now. He is pretty impressed, and goes in often to check it out. I still need to add a couple things to make it perfect.
Jackson has also been in a big boy bed since July 11th. The first night was a no-go, but since then he has had no major issues (just the normal routine of not wanting to go to bed). Daddy and Jack took down the crib last weekend and put it in the shed. It just makes him look so grown up to me. I have the emotional combination of being proud, and also being sad (yes, I know that sounds weird).
I also think that Bill and I have both officially agreed that Jack is ready for a brother. With that said, there is just no way that is in the cards financially right now, so it just is impossible. I have been mourning this realization that he will not have a sibling for some time, and actually am tearing up thinking about it so I will stop. Luckily, Bill is a big kid so Jackson can use him as a sibling :)
Tomorrow Bill goes to work, and Jack and I will have Mommy-Son day. I am trying to come up with something genius to do. Tonight, Bill and Jackson will grill out and we will stay in. Bill grills out once a week, and I really enjoy watching them in the yard.
We hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Jackson is 3 years old today! We have basically had a month long celebration for him, although today makes it official. We met him 2 years ago this month, and decided to become a family of 3. It just seems like we have always been together, and God made us all whole.

Last weekend we went to Knoxville, and celebrated with the Curran side of the family. We ended up having his party at the Hilton on the patio, and it worked out well. Lots of fenced in space to run around. Jackson was able to see all of his cousins, and really enjoyed himself. He is an avid Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan, so that was the theme this year (last year it was Thomas the Train).

Daddy and Jackson being silly last night while having cake and ice cream.





Lawnmower gift from cousin Emily - this was a favorite!

Opening the lawnmower.

Opening up a gift from Uncle Jim and Aunt Rita.

Running 2 cool cars from Nana and Papa.

Opening gifts from cousins Megan, Katie and Amanda.

Remote control Zamboni from Grandma Sherri - another favorite!

Mickey Mouse t-shirt from Mommy and Daddy (he loves Mickey Mouse!).

Opening a Mickey Mouse Doctors kit. He has checked our health a lot lately, including the pets.

Fun with a Mickeyballoon.

Blowing out the candles! Happy #3!

Looking pretty cool in my Mickey ears!

The Curran group.

Baseball game with Daddy

Today is the last day of Jacks summer vacation. He has had a big time over the last 9 days! Daddy took him today and they went to a minor league baseball game. Last year, Jackson was not very interested in baseball (he is more of a fast paced hockey guy), but today he enjoyed it. At one point, the announcer had announced a player by the last name of "Johnson", and Jack yelled, "no me Jackson!". I guess he is paying attention!

Right now, my boys are playing catch in the living room. The bigger boy is trying to teach the smaller boy proper throwing techniques. Gotta love em!

Next weekend, we hope to travel to Tennessee for a party for "Uncle Jim". He was just married, and all of Bill's family will be there. Also, it is Jackson's birthday the following weekend, so we would love to get him a cake so his 4 cousins could be a part of the celebration. The two dates are too close together to not take advantage of. He is really in to Mickey Mouse right now, last year it was Thomas the train. I assume someone can make a Mickey Mouse cake, right???

Big boy bed?

Yesterday before Daddy left for work, he pulled Jacks big boy bed out of the storage building. As you can see, Jackson enjoyed cleaning it. He turns 3 in a couple weeks, and although he hasn't shown signs of moving out of his crib, I feel super guilty that we should try to make the transition soon.


We put his bed by the crib and he insisted that the mattress go on it immediately! He did enjoy reading to Monkey on the big boy bed. He kept telling Monkey "see my big boy bed Monkey??"

Last night, Bill attempted to let him sleep in it for the first night. Needless to say, the score is big boy bed = 0, crib = 1. He was pretty distraught about the situation to say the least. I think we will just leave both beds in the room so he can start to get comfortable with the bed and eventually transition over. Everything we have done so far, we have done very, very, s...l....o...w...., so why not this as well?! No rush I guess. To be continued.....

A new vacuum = Jackson is in LOVE

2011 has been a rough year on our appliances. The stove broke, the washing machine broke, the dryer broke, the refrigerator is making funny noises, the hot water heater exploded, the dishwasher is on its last leg and Jack's beloved vacuum finally died. I got online and did some research on the 'best vacuums for the money', and read a lot of reviews before Jack and I went to make our new purchase. We had a 15% off coupon and $40 credit at the store, so we got this (ugly gold) beauty fairly cheap. It took me about a month of drooling over the cool Dyson vacuums to realize that we really couldn't afford one - but a girl has dreams. I digress....
So Jackson helped me pick out this one, and he was really excited to go and buy it. We even made up a song "Were going to go buy a vacuum, were going to go buy a vacuum". When we got home, it was in what seemed to be a million pieces (probably like 10 pieces, but who is counting?), so we put it together. Jack kept jumping up and down singing the song and squealing like it was Christmas morning! Ha!

"Mama me vacuum all by myself"

I think I will pull this attachment off and see if Mama can put it back on AGAIN.

Love at first site!

Reward for being good during the haircut

Chuck E Cheese's! Jack has officially started saying "money Mommy", and holding out his hand. If I do not respond to his liking, he physically takes it out of my pocket. He knows how to put the money in the game - and isn't even playing that it has to be done right NOW. We ended up winning enough tickets for a couple tattoos!

This game shakes the poo out of you, the verdict is still out on if he liked it or not.
Action shot! Throwing balls at flies for tickets.

Waving to his fans from the carousel.

This hydraulic truck scared him for a minute, but he ended up really liking it.

Po-po alert!

Talking on the phone to Chuck E Cheese.

What a ham! Loves that mouse!

First professional haircut

Jackson finally got an official haircut from someone other than Mommy. We went to a kid friendly salon, and it started off kind of rough.

It began like this (panic and tears).
Getting a little better because he was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Getting a lot better, with only an occasional panic. He is very serious for a toddler.

The end, a lollipop as a reward. What a good job!

Isn't he a handsome young man??? Let's not mention that the red lollipop ended up all over Mommy's car and on his shirt, hands and even in his hair!

Summer vacation - LOTS of pictures!

Jackson and I had a lot of fun in Missouri! Overall, he was an angel, in spite of the time change, running around & schedule change. Daddy stayed home due to starting a new job recently, so J and I had some good bonding time and we both enjoyed ourselves.

Jack posing for a picture with Uncle Mark and 1st cousin Sofia. Sofia kept pulling his hair and face! He really loves her, he pets her like a puppy and gives her a lot of kisses.

Jackson is playing with my best friend April's son - Chase. They had a good time.

Riding the 4-wheeler with Grandpa Tony in the yard.

Nothing like a Zamboni and school bus toy on the plane to keep us busy!

A little more distraction - coloring with monkey on the plane.

Jackson and Monkey finally feel asleep on flight #4. They were both tired from our trip.

Jackson is learning how to use the camera. He took this picture of monkey and the plane during our wait (rather artistic don't you think???).

Trying to take the camera away from me in the airport.

Looking cheesy!!!

Uncle Mark took us to this man made lake in Missouri.

Admiring the view at the lake. It was peaceful down there.

Uncle Mark took us to see some animals. Jackson liked the Mama and babies.

This buffalo was right beside us, made me a little nervous.

Uncle Mark feeding the Zebra some left over Delta snacks I had in my purse.

Mommy - son time at the creek that I played at when I was a kid.

Throwing some rocks.

1st time seeing fireworks (note the hands over the ears). He enjoyed hanging out with Lauren and Chase, my buddy April's 2 kids.

Hiding behind a sheep that Grandma Louise gave him.

Jackson and Grandma Sherri,

Jackson and 2nd cousin Conner playing "Cowboy Pirates"!