Grandpa Tony Visit

Grandpa Tony made the trip out this weekend to visit us.  We had a really nice time!  We only get to see him once every year or two so the visit was too short.  He left this morning and we all miss him.

Three generations:

Waiting for pony ride at Strawberry Festival.

 Checking out the bunnies.

 Jackson on Ariel the pony, he really enjoyed it.

He was such a big boy getting on this ride, but after it started going up a sheer panic came over his face.  I felt so sorry for the little guy.  He was a big boy though and didn't cry, but when he got off he said he really wanted to cry because he was so afraid, poor kid!

 2nd ride of the day was more his style, loved this one.

 We watch some racing on TV so he thought this one was super cool.

 Daddy was able to ride the Crazy Bus ride with him.

 4 wheeling!

 He enjoyed the banana boat ride too. 

 Mikey the cat getting some lovin.

 About to eat a giant cheeseburger.

 3 generations! 

 This picture makes me smile.

 Jackson finally talked Grandpa into playing hockey.  Then he said that Grandpa was "asleep" when playing because he was just letting him score too easily.

 Scarecrow boy.

 Milking a cow!

 We may have to get this boy horse back riding lessons.

 Trying to pet the pig, but the pig wasn't interested.

 Checking out the old tractors.

Very thankful that Grandpa came to visit.  Come back more often, we all miss you!!!

Spring Program

Last Friday Jackson had his annual spring program at school.  He had been practicing around the house for a couple of weeks, air guitar and all!  They sang Butterfly, Butterfly; Little Baby Ducklings; A Song of Springtime; and Rockin' Robin.  Of course, if you ask this Momma he was the star of the show! 
After the program, the school hosted a Mother's Day lunch.  Jackson and I went and had some good Mommy/Son time.  I didn't expect it to be so full in the room, apparently over 200 people RSVP'd and this is a small school?!?  We had some Chic Fila and cookies and I met a couple of his buddies. 
For Mother's Day, Jackson had been working on a craft at school all week.  He made a bird house for me that is really cute.  He wants to put it outside in a tree and I am secretly hoping he forgets because I want to keep it inside.  The class also did a recipe book of their Mothers favorite recipes.  This is what Jackson said:

My Mom's Perfect Pizza

She puts it in the oven. She buys it at the store. She cooks it on hot for 2 minutes. Then we eat it!

I love my Mom because she tucks me in!

Very sweet of him, even though I have probably never put a store bought pizza in the oven in my life!  Store bought pizza is a Daddy thing.  The two of them always get into an interesting conversation about toppings (specifically pepperoni).

Otherwise we have been keeping busy lately.  We traded in my little sporty Volvo for a minivan.  I thought I would miss my car but actually really like the Van.  Jackson LOVES the van, he likes the space and thinks the doors are super cool.  He has dreams of filling it up with Hockey equipment!! 

We are also looking forward to going on vacation in around 9 weeks with a group of folks that also adopted from Russia, many from our region!  We are close with a couple of families that we hope to spend a lot of time with on the trip.  It is a Disney cruise so Jackson is pretty pumped about it.

We are also all still getting adjusted to our new family addition.  Jackson is so proud of Alex and is very patient and gentle with her.  We have only had 1 meltdown to speak of in almost 5 weeks, otherwise it couldn't be going any more smoothly.  At night, Jackson is quick to say "Daddy take the baby so Mommy and me can snuggle". We make sure that he gets a lot of one on one time, because he so deserves it.  Eventually I would like to schedule a weekly Mommy/Son date night or Daddy/Son night out.  I think we would all enjoy that.

Photo's below, enjoy :)

Jackson selected bowling for his reward activty recently.

Jackson started skating lessons last weekend.  He seems to have a natural talent on the ice.

My Mothers Day birdhouse!!

 Recipe book Jacksons class made for Mothers Day.

Introducing Jackson's little sister!

Sleeping beauty:

A few minutes old:

 Jackson's first meeting, he was smitten!

The gift Alex gave him when she was born:

 

Tired Mommy and very interested little boy:

 First time Jackson held his baby sister:

 My favorite picture:

 1st day home:

Jackson's baby sister, Alexandria Elizabeth Curran, was born on 4/13/13 at 7:20pm.  She weighed in at 7 lbs, 10 ounces and was 21" long.
Today, she is 3 weeks old and we can say that Jackson is an excellent big brother.  He is very protective of her, and is very proud.  He wants anyone to know this is HIS sister and he wants to show her off.  He is good at diapers and holding her.  He also likes to help buckle her into her car seat.
We have had some adjustment time here, but overall it has gone as expected.  We are a happy, healthy, family of 4!!!