And we’re back!

It seems like forever before this blog gets updated…sorry ’bout that.  We are in the midst of selling all of our stuff and our house, so, it’s been a teensy (or is it tinsy?) bit busy…hopefully, there will be an update soon on our official timetable made by THE Will Jackson towards the beginning of August.  Me and the girls are really enjoying our time together this summer and have done a number of things….sleep in, eat, nap, play in the pool, eat, art time, eat, read, go to the zoo, go to church, eat….how many times a day do they eat?  It’s been great and there is more adventure yet to come, I’m sure…

We celebrated 4th of July weekend with my folks and had a nice, relaxing weekend…we haven’t had that in a long time…so, before the real madness, that is the month of July, starts, we wanted to veg out and chill w/ some family.  Oh, I wanted to share about a book I am reading, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers…..WHOA.  Can’t put it down to save my life….I’m not a big book reader, repeat, I cannot stand reading…..but I really love this book.  It’s based on the Hosea/Gomer story in the Bible and I strongly encourage you to run out and buy it….go ahead!   I’d love to chat about it…it has captured me in 2 ways…1.  Just being so thankful that the Lord is a loving God that will always come after His people and 2. Thankful that my husband would do the same.  Now, don’t get any cheeky ideas, I’m not into that kind of business that Will would have to run out after me….but I am so grateful for a man who would if he had to.
Will has been….well, I’m not really sure….oh yes, he sprained his ankle a couple of weeks ago, so, I have been tending to him 🙂  He is projected to resume athletics in 2 more weeks…and get ready for his work’s golf tourney at the end of the month…

Which leads me to some very exciting weekends coming up!  We are planning on heading down to Knoxville one of the last weekends in July to see some friends and to see Mahaney’s namesake.  CJ Mahaney and his family will be preaching at the Alexander’s church and this is the man who we have named our 2nd kiddo after.  He (& his family) have been so influential Will and my faith journey and we just love him.  Granted, we don’t know him on a really personal level, we still have been affected by his love for Jesus.  Check out a little bit about him here.  Don’t you just love his squinty eyes when he smiles??  He is truly a hoot!
Also, my dear friends Anna and Taiter are planning a trip at the end of July to see us!  I can’t tell you how much this makes my heart leap.  It’s been a year since the triple threat has been reunited and I’m totally looking forward to the late nights, many laughs and hilarious stories we will share.  Too bad they’ll have to see me acting like the “mommy”….Stay tuned folks….

Busy bees…

Ok, so, since my (Beth) birthday, we’ve been on the move!  We’ve been to Disney World and the 2010 Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando, FL, celebrated Daddy’s Day and back to my ‘ol college roots, Florence, SC for a dear friend’s wedding.   Maddie’s continuing to grow and learn more signs (yes, we’re teaching her sign language so there’s more signing and less whining) and words (she’s got momma, dadda, ball ball, dog dog, bubble, la la for banana so far).  Mahaney is growing too!  I can feel her kicking away all throughout the day and I’m actually starting to show (now that I’m 24 weeks pregnant!).  The summer is half way over and I cannot believe that school will start in the 2nd week of August.  Man. 

To be perfectly honest, at first, I was kind of nervous about being home with Boo all day everyday after being home only part time, but I really do love it.  We’ve been too busy for me to be bored or to be puzzled on what to do with a 16 mo old.  Ha!  Maddie’s discovered bubbles, coloring with crayons, reading books, where her tummy and facial features are, and funny faces with Daddy.  I have another confession, I ALWAYS said that I would never take my kids under the age of 7 to the Magic Kingdom (the happiest place on earth and possibly, my favorite place on earth).  But I have been proven wrong yet again.  It was great!  We got there a little after it opened and she walked around, soaked all of the sites in, rode fun rides, took 2 short naps on the stroller….we had a blast!  I would totally take her and Mahaney when they’re younger b/c they can’t point and say they want everything in the stores we go in to cool off.  Ha!  Anyone up for going in Jan or Feb?  hahaha….

Our baby girl is 1 year old!

One year ago today, our life changed forever.  At 6:19 am, Maddie made her appearance to this world with nary a cry.  Her little eyes were just wide open as she was taking it all in.  And here 1 year later, she is still just the same.  Everywhere we go, her eyes are just so big as she surveys the sights and sounds of a new place. 

She loves to walk around and follow us wherever we go.  While she still has no teeth, she is learning to eat some table foods.  Rice is the newest addition to the menu, and that’s a good thing considering our future destination!  She’s got “dada” down; we are working on getting her to say “mama” when she’s not crying.  We’ve also noticed that Maddie likes to dance now . . . music or none!  I think both Beth and I will take credit for this one.

As I think back over this past year, it’s been such a joy.  Learning to be a dad is something that’s had its challenges but has been worth it all.  Having Beth for a wife has made these challenges much easier as she has continually helped make our home an easy place to learn.  She has been great at keeping both Maddie and I fed with some good food at great prices thanks to her couponing skills! 

One year down, many more to go.  I can’t wait!  Happy Birthday Maddie!

Maddie’s first BIG snow!

I (Beth) will write and post more pics later, but wanted to give you a couple of cute pics from this morning’s first big snow in Louisville. Maddie wasn’t too sure of it after she plopped her bare hands (I had mittens on her, but she took them off) right into the 2″ of snow we had at the time. We a “Randy” from A Christmas Story moment after I got all her gear on. ha! I gotta run, but enjoy these two beauts!

Maddie’s 1st Christmas

 . . . 4 days w/ family, 3 christmas parties, 2 exhausted parents, and a trunk with no room to spare.

We had a great time with almost every family member this past weekend.  Maddie now has clothes and toys to last her at least through the summer if not longer!  We are very thankful for our families and how they take care of us when we are home. 

We’ve got most all of our pics posted over at Flickr.  Check out the Christmas album here!

Maddie meets her new friends

Madison had an extremely busy weekend getting to meet all sorts of new friends.  First, she got to meet Asher on Friday.  They had a great time playing with each other (as best they could) and even went to visit Krispy Kreme for the first time.  Then that night she got to meet Jamie, who was only 1 day old.  Then on Sunday she got to meet Savannah at church.  In fact, she was so excited about meeting everyone that last night she decided she didn’t want to sleep and wanted to play some more!  So, Beth and I had the joy of “playing” with Maddie from around 2:30 ish in the morning until sometime later when Beth finally got her to go back to sleep.

Anyway, with the exception of last night, she has been great.  She is getting almost 6 hours of sleep each night and seems to be getting bigger.   She is starting to figure out how to keep her head up which is fun to watch.  What’s funny is that some people think she is so big and others think she is so small (usually happens when I am holding her).  We have posted some more pics over at our flickr page.  Enjoy!

Winter Fun 2009

Ice, then snow, then ice, then snow = Lots of fun at the Jackson house.  Beth was out of school all week; Southern’s closed all week.  Unfortunately, many in L’ville are w/o power due to all the power lines down, but thankfully the Jackson’s (as of lunch on Thursday) still have power. 

We got a new camera from our Summit gift card which we took out to grab some shots of the ice and snow.  The thing about the freezing rain we had is that it coats every single branch and limb as it freezes creating these cool looking trees (see pic).  Yet under the weight of this ice, many of the tree branches were snapping and falling onto cars, houses, and power lines creating lots of damage.  This morning I was reminded of how sin from a distance can look really awesome, but yet as we fall into temptation that same sin coats all of our being trying to cause us to break under the guilt and pressure.  Now when the sun comes out, the ice begins to melt releasing the tree from this weight.  How much also does our burden of guilt go away when we let the true Son into our lives?  Completely.

Here are some more pics from the day.  You can see them all at our Flickr page. 

  This is me doing my best John Piper impersonation (see here)

 

 

 

 

 

  Fun creative shot by my beautiful creative wife

Happy Anniversay Beth!

3 years ago today, I married the most wonderful girl in the world.  However as we celebrate our anniversary, Beth is in Louisville and I am on an airplane flying home from my mission trip.  Getting married on New Year’s Eve was fun, but it has made for some interesting anniversaries. . .

• 1st – We were moving out of our apartment and into our house.
• 2nd – We went out to eat; Beth got sick and then slept for about 60 hours straight.

So, I think that next year I owe you, Beth, something special for our anniversary.  Maybe we can see if the grandparents wouldn’t mind watching Maddie for a few days . . .

Anyway, I love you so much Beth.  I have loved every minute of these past 3 years and am looking forward to so many more.

Happy Anniversary!

Will J

And the verdict is…

…we’re having a baby girl!!  We got a clear picture of the little girl parts and we even saw her sucking her thumb!  It’s the most precious thing I’ve (Beth) have ever seen!  The ultrasound experience was the sweetest experience I have ever had and I look forward to many more w/ Madison “Maddie” Anne Jackson as well as with her poppa Will 🙂  She is developing wonderfully and through this fun time in our lives, I am constantly reminded of how amazing God is and how awesome His creation process is!  There’s no way He would let the process proceed from the goo to the zoo to you!  Cheesy, I know….

So, check out the Flikr page for 3 more ultrasound pics – even the one that shows that she’s a little girl 🙂

Happy Halloween! (Happy Reformation Day!)

Today is probably my wife’s favorite holiday because we get to dress up in creative costumes and decorate for Fall.  She loves fall as well because of the cool weather and changing colors in the trees.  Last night we went on our date night up to Hillcrest to see all the houses which go way overboard in Halloween decorating . . . but it was still pretty cool to see some of the ideas.  Then we headed over to the Pie Kitchen for dessert and then to Krispy Kreme to buy 2 Pumpkin shaped donuts to enjoy for a good Halloween Breakfast!

Every year we usually dress up twice.  Last weekend we had our 2nd annual Costume Party.  This year’s theme was Nursery Rhymes, and we went as Jack and Jill . . . . after they fell down the hill.  Yet, somehow it looks like Jack took the brunt of the fall?  You can see more pics of the fun at our Flikr page on the right side of the screen.  My fav was little Miss Muffett and her spider.

Then tonight we are heading to church for Trunk or Treat where we will be Mr. Green and Mrs. White in the Library with the rope and the knife.  HA!  Stay tuned for more pictures to come . . .