Christmas is OVER... I was ready for it to end, but now that it is all settled, I am sad that all that preparation ended in a few short hours. We spent the holiday in Postville, it was wonderful to see everyone, but the weather really put a damper in visits. Jackson had a great time with his grandpa and grandma Moore and Uncle Wally!!

The best part of Christmas was watching Jackson get excited about all the activities. He ate with exuberance, opened presents like a pro, and showed apperciation for each and every gift he was given. Every box was opened with help from the 17 month old, Jman and he was an EXPERT unwrapper!!

Christmas Eve @ Grandma Moore's

Christmas Day

Jackson is an entertainer... this is his routine... he puts his hands together throws them up and down 3-8 times saying... ba, ba, ba each time then throws his hands up saying AHH! Then he laughs hysterically! We all love it!

Deleted

So, I had a whole bunch of pictures from Halloween until Thanksgiving... Jackson somehow deleted the ENTIRE card. You have to push about 5 buttons for our camera to delete... he did it. Sigh, hopefully we will get some more good pictures soon!!

Jackson's 2nd Thanksgiving

This year we were in Bettendorf for Thanksgiving. It is very nice to be able to be home for the holidays and not trapsing all over the countryside. We had a very nice meal with my parents and brother and his fiance, Jenny. We ate lots of yummy food... even though the meat thermometer broke and kept saying the turkey was getting COLDER... it all turned out yummy!!

Jackson ate a little bit of the dinner... he is really only interested in eating pasta and bananas these days... but he like the sweet potatoes and stuffing. He wouldn't eat the squash, potatoes, or turkey... he also loved apple and pumpkin pie and especially the whipped cream (mostly when Grandpa was squirting it into his mouth). He was a very happy little boy! He hung out with Jenny most of the day, sitting on her lap and wanting her to play with him. Very cute!

I am getting terrible about pictures these days... I need to take more. But as soon as I take out the camera Jackson attacks it and it's hard to get a good one of him. I'll post some pictures soon.

Happy Black Friday Shopping!!

Moving

Well, it's out there... we are moving. Not until this summer (late summer if I have anything to say about it), but we are leaving the QCA. We are headed to Northeast Iowa... Waukon to be exact.

Why on earth would we leave? Well, Andy was offered a great position with Farm Bureau... something we couldn't pass up. So, we are headed to NE Iowa. We are lucky, we know people there, since Andy is from Postville... but it will be a change. I am going to stay home and take care of Jackson and any future children we might have. Which I am VERY excited about. But we will be far away from my family and friends. Hopefully, everyone will come to visit us a lot!

Jackson and his cousins- Thalia, Sari, and Arielle. He loved playing with the girls!

Smores

Jackson had his first smores experience last weekend! It was fun and messy! :)

Sand baby

Jackson had a fun a few weekends ago in the sand... just getting it up now!! Enjoy!

Elmo

Jackson and I went with our friends Heather and Mia to see Elmo Goes Green, at the Adler Theatre. He had a BALL! He sat on my lap the whole time just starring at the stage! He was dancing, too! I had my hand in front of his face once to take a picture and he pulled it down so quickly! It was awesome!!

Uncle Lynn

On Saturday we recieved some bad, no awful news. My uncle (my dad's brother), Lynn, had been killed in an accident. He was driving his trike (a motorcycle with 3 wheels) when a deer hit him and broke his neck immediately. It was a huge shock to everyone. At 52, he was invincible.

Although it has been almost 2 years since I had seen my uncle last, due to pregnancy and new baby, I still feel an empty hole in my chest. He was a man that loved life. He was happy, laughing, and loving. He rarely had a bad word to say about anyone and never took anything in life too seriously.

He always called me "Emmy", everytime. I never remember him calling me by my given name. When we were in Wisconsin visiting our grandparents, Uncle Lynn always came to breakfast. I remember his closeness with my grandparents and how much he loved them and took care of them. His love for the outdoors was another thing I will remember. While with Uncle Lynn we never were just sitting around watching TV, we were doing/planning something outside. His love for Old Milwakee beer was another attribute of his. He always brought his own Old Mill if he thought there might not be any. The love of his trikes will never be forgotten and the fact that he ended his life here on earth while riding one seems fitting. His brothers were his best friends. He spent a couple of days a week with Uncle Lyle and made time to spend with my dad as often as he came up to visit. They were outdoors men- with a project or activity always on the agenda. Lastly, his devotion to his daughter, Laurali. In every moment he was doing things to make her life the best that he could.

He was a loving and compassionate man who will be greatly missed by all that knew him. I know in my heart that right now he is in Heaven with his parents wishing we would all move on, laugh, and have fun until we meet him there.

if you smell rotten milk...

Check your car seat, because your child probably spilled a lot there!! Jackson is on whole milk only recently, but it definitely has a different smell when it's expired from breast milk! Icky! My car reeks and it's because of him taking a bottle in the car seat (or sippy cup).

Today, we received our "big boy" car seat! I took apart the infant car seat already and I am going to be installing that big boy asap! I am sick of Jackson arching his back and crying every time I put him in his seat. Hopefully this will alleviate that problem!

AntsAntsAntsAnts

I am so sick of ants. The little teeny ones that sworm onto everything. My kitchen has them everywhere... we spray and they go away for 5 days and then they are back again. We have a pest control company and it has helped... but they still come back.

This evening I came home and found they had invaded my refridgerator. I spent the last 2 hours cleaning out my refridge. My kitty has to be locked in the basement, because the spray will hurt her. Poor kitty kat.

Not only are they all over my kitchen, I feel like I have them in my hair and crawling on me. They are not crawling on me, but I still feel like it.

Tomorrow will be better. No ants?!?!

First Birthday

Last Saturday (July 11) we had a birthday party for Jackson's first birthday! It was a blast and we had lots of friends and family come to celebrate with us! Jackson had a great day: wagon rides, birthday cake, lots of great presents, a bump on the head, and to end the day... puking on mommy. It was a fun and memorable event!

Relief...

I got so much accomplished today that I think this party might go off without a hitch... although my husband will be trying my patience tomorrow when he goes golfing in the morning with his grandpa and dad. They had better be home by 11am. That's all I am saying, because I have to go pick up the cake by 11:30am.

I was so lucky this week!!! First, I got back Jackson's 1st year photos last week and ordered 2 large prints. They came in on Wednesday and I was able to get 1 of them framed by THURSDAY!! I went to The Woodland Gallery in the Village of East Davenport, they always do a great job and of course, they were quick! Andy even got all of our pictures hung up in the living room/dining room this afternoon. It looks great, even if I do say so myself!!!

Secondly, I ordered a picture book from the Camera Corner (free because I had bought a camera there last year) and when I went to order it, they were in the process of doing a change in their equipment... so it looked unlikely that it would be done in time for the party... the guy from Camera Corner called at 6:18pm today and I was able to go pick it up this evening!!!

Everything just comes together. I need to just have faith that it will all be great!!!

Pre-Party Stress

Okay, so instead of working on my stuff for the party tomorrow I am writing a post for my blog. However, I feel the need to vent and my husband is at work, baby is asleep...

1. Jack-man is taking a nap, got fussy at 2:20pm... this is a problem because his party starts tomorrow AT 2:00pm.

2. I have a pile of pictures I want to hang up, but can't do it on my own.

3. Rain, it rained all day and I haven't gotten my outside work done due to it.

4. Because of #1, I don't have the groceries I need to finish my to-do list.

5. In-laws are coming into town, but not until 8pm, sigh. That's a bit late when you have a munchkin that goes to bed between 8 and 8:30pm.

6. Baby has been up at crack of dawn for last 2 days... I am sleep deprived (more than usual).

I am now taking a few deep breaths and sending a little prayer that everything will work out.

Bumps

Jackson is having a rough few days.... his bumps keep getting more and more frequent. Yesterday, he re-bumped his forehead in EXACTLY the same spot as Sunday. Now there is a much bigger goose egg. I love that he is learning to walk, but couldn't he be like girls and NOT fall?

First Shiner

Jackson recieved his first shiner on the 4th of July... luckily it didn't turn black and blue, but his face is just a mess! He fell 3 times on the 4th and ended up with hurts all over his face, the cat scratched him when he pulled her tail, then the next day he fell again and bumped his forehead. Good thing he's learning to walk, otherwise we might be in some trouble! :)

Happy First 4th of July, Jackson!

Today officially marks Jackson's very last- first Holiday! Next week is his 1st birthday and now we have been through the holiday calendar! We were going to go out on the boat, but the weather is just cruddy! So instead we headed to the Bettendorf Parade and brought our tent so we could stay a little dry. We went with the Hansels, my brother Michael, his friends Craid, Amy, and Jim. It was a fun time!It was just a steady rain all morning and hasn't quit yet!

1st birthday pictures

Last Friday we had professional pictures taken by Giraffe Photography in the Village of East Davenport. It was a quick session, but so many of the pictures turned out great! We bought the rights to the pictures so we can do what we want with them... I wish we had done this for the last year... outdoor pictures are just so much better and a professional has so many cool things that they can do to the pictures. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Favorite Things for the day

1. My baby boy and husband
2. Air Conditioning... I am so glad I didn't live in the olden days
3. My brother finishing my fans
4. Stroller Strides- those girls keep me entertained and in shape
5. Cold water (for above reason and it's like 90 degrees outside)
6. Summer time naps
7. All beef hotdogs on the grill- fast and yummy
8. Internet on my cellphone- what did I do without it?
9. Sleeping baby
10. Time to relax and not worry about work
11. Books on tape
12. It's 8:30pm and I can go to bed and do the housework in the morning

I am so thankful for the wonderful life we have! We couldn't be more blessed with a perfect baby, home, and family!

Playtime

Jackson and I have been having a lot of fun the last 2 days! We have gone to Stroller Strides, played on our playset, and laughed a lot! I love being home with Jackson. I have so much fun with him even when he is whining.

Our road is still having a lot of work done on it. They fianlly laid the cement the other day and it's 10 days at least before they will open our road. That stinks, cause we have to trek across people's yards to get to our car. Jackson loves to watch all the men and the trucks along the road.

Things Jackson does now that he is almost 1...

*when he wants to go outside he goes to the door and hits the window... if I don't move fast enough he cries until we go outside.
*he stands up a lot now and plays while standing
*he can walk a lot, but still wants us to help him sometimes
*he fell today while walking to the stairs and got a big goose egg on his forehead
*he loves to splash in the sink when we wash his hands

Andy & Ashley's Shower

This weekend we had a fun time with friends in New Albin, Iowa! We threw a couple's shower for Andy and Ashley. Their wedding is July 25-- we are excited to celebrate with them! Here are a few pictures of our fun times!!

The Happy Couple

Girls


Ashley and I

The whole Group

Houston, we have a WALKER!!

Last night Jackson officially walked for the first time!!! He has been taking "teeny" steps inbetween parents... but last night he walked across the rug in his room from Andy to me and back again taking 5-8 steps!!! I know it's not good now that he is a "walker", but I am so proud!! he's only 10 months old!!! What a big boy!! I will take some video tonight and try to upload it.

Wedding Fun

This past weekend the Moore Family (extended, too) headed to Des Moines for the wedding of Ryan and Dani (Andy's cousin Ryan). We had a great time with family and dancing! Even Jackson got to go to the wedding. He had his FIRST ever babysitter while there.


Jackson eating his first cookie, he took it right out of my hand and stuffed it in his mouth! Uncle Wally did Jackson's hair, he wanted it out of his face. :)

Beth, Me, Lindsey

The Moore Boys and their ladies

Jackson Loves to hide under things these days. Here he is in the closet at our hotel.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great weekend... too bad it's Thursday before I get up pictures of the little guy! We had a really good time on the beach on the Mississippi and spending time with family and friends! Jackson LOVES boating!

Jackson playing in the Mississippi, like father like son!

He's a happy baby as long as he is in the water!

Jackson in his "cage" on the beach

Uncle Michael and Jackson playing on the beach

Look I can stand on my own! But I'm scared!!

8 days left...

I don't count today, because it's already started, but we have 8 days left of school. We are down to single digits, people, it's GREAT! I don't have a whole lot to do... just grade a few big tests, but I can get those done here lickety split. It's now about getting through the next 2 weeks without going crazy!

I am so excited to spend time with Jackson. He will be 1 year old on July 11... I just can't believe how fast this wonderful year has gone. He has taught me so much about myself and has made me want to be a better person every day. When I see his little toothy smile (#5 & 36 are coming in), my heart literally MELTS. I didn't get to see him much yesterday due to an appointment and a VBS meeting and I really was sad. I love holding him, listening to him laugh, and even putting him to bed although that's become a bit of a struggle.

I should get back to grading those tests I was talking about. 8 more days....

Beautiful Saturday Morning

It looks like it is going to be a beautiful start to the Memorial Day weekend! This morning it is 59 degrees and looking like the rain is going to miss us!! WooHooo! That means we can go boating!!!

This will be Jackson's first extended boating experience. We are headed out after his morning nap. Hopefully, he will enjoy it and it won't stress me out, too much! We have his life jacket, swim suit, and tons of sunscreen!!

I will post pictures after our adventure!!!

10 Months Old

Today was Jackson's 10 month birthday! WOW! The time has flown by!

I entered this photo in the BabyTalk cutest baby contest. It is cuter than a lot of the pictures up (in my opinion).

Jackson and his favorite toy... it makes a LOT of noise!

Construction Inside and Out

The Moore Household has been under construction for the last 2 weeks...inside and out! Inside, we had the whole main floor painted as well as 2 bedrooms upstairs. Then over the weekend we had tile installed in the kitchen and will be having carpet installed by the end of next week. Our house is coming together!! We have been living out of the basement the last two weeks. It's been a bit of a mess and quite stressful for me to deal with! However, I will enjoy it all being done!

Outside road work has begun on Belmont Road. Our front yard has been torn up a bit... 2 Mondays in a row there was no access to our driveway during the day. They have moved on a bit and we can get to our driveway... although it's a one way road!!

Here are some pictures of Jackson and the construction.

Updating list... don't have anything to cross off completely yet, but I do have some dates in mind. I think I need to keep up with this list a lot more. Last year I was able to do 80% of my list. This year I was really specific! A couple items have carried over due to money, not lack of me doing things! :)

1. Have inside of house painted (done by May 7)-done

2. New floor in kitchen {done by end of May... hopefully!}- done

3. New floor in living room {by end of May... hopefully!}- done
4. hang up pictures after having house painted

5. Organize basement closet and get rid of a LOT of stuff!

6. Finish Jackson's first year scrapbook by his first birthday

7. Make Jackson's first birthday invites

8. Hang up Andy's hunting wallpaper

9. Get bids on siding

10. Take 3 hours of continuing education credit {AEA online class this summer}

11. Get new siding

12. Scrapbooks caught up

13. pictures into albums

14. Read 3 books on my want to read list: Riding the Bus with my sister, and 2 others

15. Research parental involvement in schools and how to make it affect student performance {AEA online class}

16. Take Spooky to the vet for 1 year visit

17. Plant planters for the front yard {Have the planter... now for the clean up}

18. Go on a vacation with Andy- no baby, no wedding, just for fun!

19. Take Jackson to a state he hasn't been to yet (he's been to Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia, Iowa)

20. Get to pre-pregnancy weight (thanks to stroller strides, I think I can do this)

21. Wean off of nursing, this will be a little tougher than it sounds.... {starting May 11} - done

22. Visit Des Moines and all my friends there (and all the new little babies, too) {going May 30}

23. Scrapbook the rest of pregancy book

24. Go on a bike ride with family

25. Write a letter to my son for his first birthday (and get Andy to do one)

26. Make up something creative to do for Jackson's first birthday memrobillia..

27. Continue to make Andy's lunches 4/5 days a week

28. Plant/maintain backyard gardens {starting May 2}

29. Do something for myself WITHOUT Jackson

1:15 AM

It's 1:15 AM and I am up. This is not a positive thing. I am NOT a morning person when I do get a good night's rest... I'm crabby when I get woken up a million times in the night and have to take care of a sick baby all by myself. Feel sorry for me, because my husband is in Las Vegas having a good ole time with his friends for 4 days... I on the other hand am taking care of a sick baby. Jackson spiked a 103.9 fever yesterday afternoon. After IB pro. it went down to 99.7 for the rest of the evening. It stinks to be home alone with him and know that he will just keep waking up all night....

I decided at 1:10 this morning that I would still take him to his scheduled Doc appointment at 12:15pm. He is scheduled to have tubes put in on Monday and I am worried that if he has an infection or this fever they won't do it! So maybe if it's his ears we can get that taken care of and the tubes can still go in as planned.

I am going to bed... sleep? We'll see.

Finally Spring

Today was a WONDERFUL day! Although it rained in the middle of the day, we had a great day together as a family.

This morning we went to 8am church. We got to hear Alissa sing and of course she was awesome! We then dropped off Andy's bowling balls for his trip this week. Drove around a bit in Riverdale to look at houses... it was fun! Andy went to bowl a couple of games while Jackson napped. After that... we took a walk to Grandma and Grandpa Lauritsen's house. It was fun for us and it was beautiful outside! Finally, Uncle Michael and Aunt Jenny came over to have dinner with us.

Jackson had a fun time playing with them. When Michael is around, Jackson just lights up! But he is now a very tired little munchkin man.

It has helped my mood so much to have a little sunshine! I hope it can hold out! :) Tomorrow, I take Jackson to his ENT appointment. I am hoping to get some answers and a possible cure for the ear infections.

Old McDonald

Jackson has a favorite song and he sings along to it!! He loves it when we sing Old McDonald Had a Farm! He "sings" along at the Ei-ei-o part of the song. It's darn adorable!!

29 Things to do while 29

I started this when I was 28... I did a pretty good job on the list, though I need to be more specific...



1. Have inside of house painted (starting April 27)

2. New floor in kitchen

3. New floor in living room

4. hang up pictures after having house painted

5. Organize basement closet and get rid of a LOT of stuff!

6. Finish Jackson's first year scrapbook by his first birthday

7. Make Jackson's first birthday invites

8. Hang up Andy's hunting wallpaper

9. Get bids on siding

10. Take 3 hours of continuing education credit

11. Get new siding

12. Scrapbooks caught up

13. pictures into albums

14. Read 3 books on my want to read list: Riding the Bus with my sister, and 2 others

15. Research parental involvement in schools and how to make it affect student performance

16. Take Spooky to the vet for 1 year visit

17. Plant planters for the front yard

18. Go on a vacation with Andy- no baby, no wedding, just for fun!

19. Take Jackson to a state he hasn't been to yet (he's been to Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia, Iowa)

20. Get to pre-pregnancy weight (thanks to stroller strides, I think I can do this)

21. Wean off of nursing, this will be a little tougher than it sounds....

22. Visit Des Moines and all my friends there (and all the new little babies, too)

23. Scrapbook the rest of pregancy book

24. Go on a bike ride with family

25. Write a letter to my son for his first birthday (and get Andy to do one)

26. Make up something creative to do for Jackson's first birthday memrobillia..

27. Continue to make Andy's lunches 4/5 days a week

28. Plant/maintain backyard gardens

29. Do something for myself WITHOUT Jackson

Turning 29...

Today I officially have entered the last year of my 20s. Year 28 of my life had been the best year yet, I can't wait to see what the next year will offer! Last night we celebrated by having a few friends and my family over for dinner. It was nice and relaxing (especially when everyone was home by 9). I spent today finishing "Breaking Dawn", the 4th book in the Twilight saga. I really hope there are no vampires... Now I am waiting for the baby to wake up so we can head to my mom and dad's for dinner. :)

More Vampires

I am starting the 4th and final Twilight series book... sigh, I haven't read this much in ages! I remember now how much I adore reading! I will have to make a point to read more, because I love getting into a good book and not being able to put it down. It gives me an rush and I love it!

Jackson is napping, so maybe I'll open up "Breaking Dawn" and read a chapter or two....

Jackson and cousin Aubrey

We survived another "first" holiday with our little guy. He had a great time over the weekend with his grandma and grandpa and playing with his cousin, Aubrey. We also had a great time hanging with some old friends! We had a grill out and went out a bit with some of Andy's high school friends. We all brought our kids and had fun watching them play! All these little boys are going to be TROUBLE one day!!

Ashton (Joel and Tara Monroe) Aidon and Gavin (Travis and Sarah Feickert) and Jackson (Andy and Emily Moore)

Vampires

I have begun reading the Twilight series. It's addicting!! I finished Twilight last night. I was actually a little freaked out towards the end and it being pitch-black outside and all I wondered about the REAL existence of Vampires and such... I DON'T believe in monsters, but it is a very convincing book! I hope that my mom has finished with the 2nd book in the series so I can begin it this weekend! I have stayed up a little too late, but it's worth it to finally read a GOOD book. :)

It's all downhill from here...

The first week back at school after spring break was really good! My students were AWESOME! Maybe it's that I was well rested and had been with Jackson a lot or maybe it was just they have finally figured out we have stuff to do and if we get it all done... they get to do more fun stuff!!!

I have a few more papers to grade then I can head home for the weekend. It's fourth quarter now and "it's all downhill from here"!

Spring Break is almost over

Sigh, spring break is almost over. I will definately miss being home with Jackson for the next 9 weeks. Then it's summer!!! That I can't wait for.

We have had a very eventful break. With Jackson's illness, Stroller Strides, and family time we have kept ourselves very busy!

Andy's family is coming into town tonight. His parents will be here and it will be nice to have them around! Andy is excited to get his garage cleaned up with his Dad's help. Jackson will have lots of fun playing with his grandparents and I know my MIL will get a lot of great pictures of him!!! I have been bad about taking pictures lately! Get into a routine and kind of forget!!!

Back to laundry and making enchiladas for the fam!

Shots and more shots

Jackson is still a sick little boy. He has double ear infections (pulsing and red according to the doctor) and bronchial spasams. So Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week we spent time at the doctor's office. Each day getting a shot of a very strong antibiotic. This has made him very cranky. To fix the bronchial spasams we have had to give him an oral steriod 2x a day (it's grape flavored and it makes me want to vomit) and 3-4x per day give him breathing treatments. It is sooo much fun!

He has been a big sleeper lately, too. Today he fell asleep at 10:30 and is just staring to wake up at 12:45, maybe he will be skipping his 1pm nap, today! Hopefully, he will sleep better tonight. The poor little guy wakes up screaming 2-3 times. Partly due to his ear infections. It's been tons of fun!

This is the last 2 days of our spring break and we are making the most of it! Staying home and getting some cleaning done and other things off the to-do list!! Lots left to accomplish, it's a never ending list!

Jackson and the Easter Bunny

Jackson and his Postville Vet Clinic hat

Jackson had a great time meeting the Easter Bunny!