4th of July in Memphis

Friday, July 1st
We headed to Memphis for the 2nd year in a row to celebrate the 4th of July with our best friends Keith, Courtney and their precious girl Maggie Lynn! They are always awesome hosts...we always fill our time together with lots of laughs, yummy food, hanging out and movies! I've added A LOT of pictures and I'm breaking down our time there by day. The picture of above is right before we left. Last year, Jack was awful in the car. He has improved a lot but it's not without everyone putting forth effort to keep him happy. We are very thankful for Praise Baby, snacks, music and his sister Allie!

Saturday, July 2nd
We had planned to get up and go to the zoo in the morning, but we had a hard time getting everyone ready and happy. Jack had to lay down for a morning nap (he hasn't done that in months) and ML was tired too. So, then we decided that we would go swimming after lunch at a friends pool that was close by. We had so much fun...and the pool and area around it was awesome. Allie got to improve on her swimming and jumping in skills, Jack played in the water and our "men" acted like boys! Fun, fun, fun! We ended our day with naps and yummy food.

Everything is better with snack cup in hand!

I'm pretty sure this is the only picture I got of Jarod...priceless!

Sunday, July 2nd
We went to church on Sunday and then over to Keith's parents house for a yummy cook out lunch...hamburgers, guacamole, watermelon, baked beans and of course dessert! Then we headed back to the house and we all took naps. The boys were running in a 5k that night at 7. Courtney and I decided to opt out of dragging grumpy kids in the horrible heat. We just lounged around and hung out with the kids.

Allie and Maggie Lynn

Jack LOVES him some Maggie Lynn! He was so excited to hold her, hug her and kiss her. Sometimes she wasn't sure what to think about it. They are 9 months apart in age...Jack looks like a GIANT next to her:)

Monday, July 4th
We had again talked about going to the zoo, but I thought it would be horribly crowded so instead we headed off to Shelby Farms (huge park) and checked out their very cool new park. It is not your traditional park which made it so much fun! We had fun playing, then had a picnic lunch which seemed to help put everyone in good moods, then we went and slid down these awesome slides! I had not had that much fun in a long time. We got some great videos of us all going down and laughing...really so much fun!
After the park, we went home for naps and the grown ups had time without the kids. Then the men and the kids went to buy fireworks and food to cook. The guys grilled out and Jack and Allie played in the sprinkler. Jack was not a fan of the sprinkler and instead splashed in ML's pool. He thought it was okay. The water was really cold and it wasn't very hot outside (strange). After dinner we had a dance party and waited for it to get dark. Once it was dark enough, we headed outside to shoot fireworks. Jack and ML did really well until the boys shot off something incredibly loud that none of us were prepared for. After that, he sat in my lap and never moved or made a sound (not like him at all). All through the neighborhood, people were shooting fireworks so we go to see a good show!

These swings were awesome!

Love this picture...notice how tan my child is? Crazy!

ML and her sweet mommy

Jack loves to watch you cook so Keith obliged

Sweet ML was tuckered out and missed most of the excitement

Me and my sweeties...both were exhausted!

Tuesday, July 5th
We headed home early that morning. We are so glad we were able to go and see our dear friends and spend time with them. They will hopefully be heading this way in November!

Jack is 15 Months

Hard to believe Jack is already 15 months old and he is changing so much every day...I'm so glad I get to be around every day now to witness it all (the good and the bad)!
I love that Jack is learning, understanding and talking a lot, but I do not like what comes with this age-frustration and horrible tantrums! This has got to be my least favorite phase ( I remember not liking it with Allie). The problem is, he is learning more and more every day and although he has added a ton of new words to his vocabulary, he still cannot communicate as quickly as he would like to. So, instead, he screams, yells, pushes things over, hits, bites, pinches, scratches...it sounds like he is mean, but really he is the sweetest boy who when he gets frustrated he doesn't know any other way to express himself! It's a battle everyday to help him learn the error of his ways...and there are days I want to give up or give in, but I don't. I know in a couple of months time it will get better and he will be in a new challenging phase!

Jack has LOTS of personality...he really is a ham-bone! When out in public, he likes to wave at everyone, give them a cheesy grin (that says, "how can you not think I'm adorable?") and enjoys making people laugh-whether it's making silly faces, almost standing on his head or just being a goof ball!

He is also a busy-body...he gets into everything, stands on everything and climbs on everything! He has recently learned to climb up on my couch, so we are learning the safe way to get down, b/c he has fallen head first once or twice before I could catch him. He likes to be as loud as possible, the louder the better!

Things he knows or can say:
*body parts-nose, eyes, head, ears, feet, toes, mouth, belly button-likes to find your belly button too! (98% of the time)
*can tell me that he has pooped (this is recent...I ask and he says poo poo and points to his bottom)
*puts his hands up when we ask where something or someone is
*understand simple directions
*can open some doors (he is tall)
*give hugs
*blow kisses
*words-mommy, daddy, Mimi, Poppy (sounds like puppy), puppy, help, please, thank you, more, hot, Allie, cracker, water, milk, apple,shoes, baby,water, ba ball (basketball), mouth, waffle (keep in mind some of the words are perfect but we know what he is saying), uh oh, bye-bye, hi, no,amen
*animal sounds-he recognizes several animals and can tell you their sound: moo, quack, baa, bark for a dog, hoot for an owl, monkey noise, tries to growl for a bear, makes a fish face (hilarious), snort for a pig
*right now, he will attempt to say whatever word you are trying to teach him...it's pretty funny. A couple of weeks ago, he wouldn't!

A Few other things I want to remember:
*favorite song right now-Happy and You Know It; he likes to say Amen!
*favorite fruit-watermelon, although he will eat any fruit you give him!
*he is attached to his puppy, actually he sleeps with two!
*loves going to Hawaiian Falls
*loves messing up his sister's room and playing with her toys
*still in size 4 diapers, but I think I'm going to buy size 5 soon
*wears size 6 shoe
*2T clothes
*not the best nap taker (I'm lucky if it's 1 1/2hrs)
*daddy's boy
*has lots of new teeth...I think he has 12 or 13 total (a few of them are molars)
*loves being naked or to have some piece of clothing not his body
*still not great in the car, although has made progress over the last week or so

15 Month Stats
30.2 lbs. (97%) this is with clothes and a diaper on
33 in. tall (97%)
Yes, it's not a shocker that Jack is big...he started that way and has never slowed down! Doc said if he continues on this pattern he could be 6'2 or 6'3 when he is in high school! For those of you who do not know, my dad is 6'4 and my oldest brother is 6'8.

Not the best picture in the world, but if you look close, his friend puppy is eating breakfast with him!

Pre-K Graduate

I just realized when I was going through pictures that I had not blogged about Allie's Pre-K graduation! It's hard to believe that my first born has finished Pre-K and will start Kinder in the fall...where did the time go? She loved Pre-K and learned a lot and made a lot of sweet friends that she will miss. For their program, they sang lots of sweet songs, a favorite being Rockin' Robin! They ended with "I'm Proud to be an American", which brought tears to my eyes. Her teachers put together this awesome book filled with pictures and activities they did throughout the year. It was neat to see how much they had changed!

Love her more than words!

Allie loves her daddy and she loves him even more that he doesn't have a beard anymore:)

Allie and her BFF Mallory...they go church together, so they will still see each other just not every day:(

Ms. Vera and Ms. Sonya

Allie and Jack

I was always worried that Allie and Jack would not have a close relationship because of the 4 year age gap between them...boy was I wrong! Allie is an AMAZING big sister. She loves her big brother and tries so hard to help him, teach him and she does an even better job of putting his needs before her own (most of the time and with a little prompting). Jack fills in his shoes as the little brother quite well...he is great at driving her nuts, messing up her room and taking her things away from her; BUT he is also great at giving her sweet hugs and kisses just because he wants to. I hope as they grow up they realize how special their bond is and how awesome it is for them to have each other!
Enjoy more great pics from Jenn!

This picture makes me giggle...we had a hard time getting Jack to sit still (imagine that) and Allie was getting a little bored!

Our attempt at getting them to hug:)

This is the view we saw a lot that day of Jack!

The A-train is Here!!!

The A-train has started in Denton County! For those of you who do not know, Jarod works for Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA). He is VP of Bus Operations and he started working for them as an intern. When he first started there (6 years ago) is when there was discussion about having a train that runs from Denton and connects to Carrollton's Green Line (DART). It's hard to believe that the day is finally here (today)! It's also amazing that Jarod has been a part of the process from the very beginning (he is the only employee still there when this first started). Jarod and his fellow employees have been working so hard to make this happen...especially over the last several weeks. They have been working a lot of long hours and their families have not seen much of them and will not see much of them for the next 2 weeks, but we all know it's worth it in the long run!

This past Saturday, they had their grand opening and we were able to ride the train to all of the stations (there are 5). There was a lot going on that day! My parents came with the kids and myself to join in the fun. We started at the Hebron Station and were some of the 1st passengers to ride the train. We took the train all the way up to Denton. That is where the main facility (that Jarod helped design) is. The station in Denton was absolutely packed!!! We took a bus to go eat at Fuzzy's. We were all cranky and hungry. The kids were exhausted. It was such a hot and windy day but we all survived! I could not have made it through the day without my wonderful parents! Jack is such a handful right now and does not like not being able to roam where ever he pleases! We rode one of Jarod's buses (as Allie likes to call them) back to Lewisville where we started. We are so glad that we got to be a part of such a special day!

Ready to ride

He was much happier when he didn't have to sit in someones lap

Looking out the window

Last night (Father's Day) there was still some work to be done, so after a dinner with my family, Jarod, the kids and myself went up to the office to help. The kids enjoyed entertaining themselves with hard hats, vests, vacuum cleaners, boxes and running around everywhere!

This picture was taken with my phone, which explains the quality!

Jack's 1 Year Pictures

Here is my handsome little boy! I just love this picture (above) of Jack. I know he isn't smiling, but it just makes my heart melt when I see it. I get this look a lot from him! When I look at all of the pictures Jenn captured of Jack, I realize how big my boy is getting and how much he is changing. He is at what I like to call a "very challenging" phase:) He knows and understands so much, but has such a hard time communicating exactly what it is he wants to say or wants us to do. He has several words, but just not quite enough yet! Jack is either the happiest and funniest little guy or he is the unhappiest little boy and he will let you know when he is not happy! We definitely have way more happy moments that unhappy...thank goodness! Thanks again to Jenn for capturing such sweet pictures of my little boy. My next post will be a few pictures of both my sweeties!

This is another look I get from him..."like how can you be upset with sweet little me"!

I had to throw this picture in because Jack never sits still! We got a lot of pictures of him of his backside!

Love his 3-toothed grin...his 4th tooth is actually coming in but you can't see it. Actually he has 5 new teeth slowly making their way in!

Mr. Serious or Mr. Cool?