The Big 2!!!

I posted about Jackson turning 2, but I never shared the events of the day or more importantly, his cake!

Jackson's 2nd birthday brought a mix of emotions for me. It was so amazing to watch him in awe of how much he's grown - not just since birth, but over the past year as well. Birthdays really put things into perspective sometimes, and it's good to reflect back on the year and make wishes for the next year to come.

This day was bittersweet because my baby was another year older, but it also marked one year since I last saw my Grandma. Her dying wish was to see Jackson on his first birthday, and she not so peacefully passed days after. The last night I saw her was on his birthday. We ate cake around her bed and celebrated that she made it through her first great-grandson's year of life.

And on the same weekend that we moved her stuff out of her apartment, one year later we moved into our new home...it makes me wonder what we'll be doing next year! Hopefully, no moving is required:)

I digress. Jackson's actual birthday was a great day. We skipped a party and just celebrated as our little family. Our final walk through at the new house was the early evening of his birthday, which meant that we got a late start to his celebration. I don't think he knew the difference though as he ran wild through the game section of his favorite restaurant and scarfed down his favorite grilled cheese sandwich in town:)

After dinner, we went back to my mom's house and sang happy birthday. Jackson blew out his candles, and I made many wishes for my sweet boy! He loved every bite of his ice cream cake and was serious about it not being taken away from him - in true terrible two style:)

Jackson got lots of cool gifts for his birthday - a basketball hoop and four-wheeler, and bubbles and new books and some of his favorite cars character toys.

Happy "2" Jackson Christopher!

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Drop-off meltdowns suck

Sorry the title of this post is pretty lame, but it is what it is - sucky!

Jackson is doing well at his new school.  He comes home with sweet projects and drawings.  His vocabulary triples almost every day.  And he's eating some really great food and is "the best napper in the class". 

However, dropping him off every morning is pure torture.  The first week was great.  Mr. dropped him off and he waved bye like such a big boy.  Weeks 2 and 3 result in Jackson clinging on to either one of us for dear life and screaming at the top of his lungs.  His teacher literally has to peel him off of us while we run away. 

I know that he settles down and has a great day minutes after we leave.  But, hearing his screams when I get in my car to leave just plain sucks! I hate starting my day this way, it just breaks my heart.

We've been dropping Jackson off for child care since January, so this is not a new concept to him.  I'm pretty sure Jackson just hates the fact that he has to share with 11 other kids and isn't as spoiled as he has been...guess time will tell!

At least picking him is a completely different story.  He beams from ear to ear and can't jump into my arms fast enough - it almost makes me forget how sucky my day started, almost.

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My new office

I'm not sure whether this is my office-closet or my closet-office? Either way, I'm pretty happy with the new work space I created over the weekend.

Our new house has tons of storage and closet space, which I'm sure will fill up as we grow into the house. Until then, I'm enjoying the minimalist look I have going on!

The walk-in closet in our room (actually in our bathroom) is huge. And we certainly don't have enough clothes to fill all of the hanging racks, or the additional closet that is in our bedroom. We have a linen closet in our bathroom, so I was really at a loss as to what to do with this extra space in our room.

Mr. had to work Saturday, so Jackson and I made a little trip to Pottery Barn and it hit me! There in the corner of the store was this perfect little chair calling my name. It was the perfect size and height to fit under one of the shelves in the extra closet, and I decided to make the closet my little office!

As soon as we got home, the transformation started. First I moved the filing cabinet from the extra bedroom closet to the floor of the new office. Then I used storage bins to organize my camera equipment and chargers. I forgot to pick up a desk organizer, so I decided to use mason jars instead. I think it turned out so cute, and the best part - all I have to do is close the closet doors and it's put away from sight!

I guess I'll be blogging from the closet now:)

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Morning with Jack

Mr. has been out of town since Wednesday morning for work, leaving me a single momma for a couple of days while trying to work, not kill our new sod, and manage the completion of our punch list.

While I did manage to get cable hooked up, window treatments installed, trash picked-up, keep my job, and almost all of our punch list items taken care of - I may or may not have lost my shit a time or two. Especially when I realized that two rows of our sod is in fact dead, like brown dried up straw, dead.

Jackson must have sensed the stress in the house and decided to add a little excited to my morning! 

Caption should read:

Single momma for the week leaves son on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Club to finish getting ready for work and finds this :30 seconds later!

Not photographed: Action Jackson rocking in his rocking chair (on top of the couch) and cracking himself up with his ingenious idea.

Also not photographed: The meltdown said toddler threw when his momma took his rocker off the couch, as if his momma was off her rocker for not appreciating the ingenious idea!

Mr. please hurry home and make sure we have lots of mommy juice, you can never have enough:)

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St. John's Post 4: The Last Days

All good things must come to an end, and the end of our vacation sadly came way too fast! We certainly lost track of days while playing on the beach, sipping frozen drinks and reading a few good books. Before we knew it we were down to our last days, but certainly made the best of them!

We successfully visited every beach on our must see list. The day after our sailing adventure we went to Trunk Bay. The snorkeling wasn't as great at this beach, but the water and sand made up for that! We literally sat on the beach until the mosquitoes tried to eat us alive, which happened at about 4PM everyday.

After the beach we all went home and showered for a nice dinner out at Waterfront Bistro. Of course, since we were all dressed up, I had to get a family picture before we left. I think this is my new favorite picture, hands down:)

Dinner was pretty good, but I certainly wouldn't recommend the restaurant. The menu was very limited and pretty pricey. However, the drinks and atmosphere were awesome!

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The next day was our last beach day so we were sure to get an early start.  We still had 3 beaches left on our list and were determined to see them all! First on our list was Caneel Bay.  The resort was beautiful and wild donkeys roamed the beach.  

We easily could have spent the day at that beach, but had to make ourselves leave in enough time to check out Hawksnest Bay.  Unfortunately, the "no-see-ums" bugs were terrible by the time we got there.  So, we played in the water and snapped a few pictures before heading to The Westin.  

The beach at the Westin wasn't much to see, but the pool was awesome.   Jackson and Amelia took long naps on the pool chairs while we swam drank more frozens:)

After our beach packed day, we made one last stop before heading back to the house to clean up for our night out.  This stop was a special stop for me...my loving Mr. took me to Jewels to pick out a new pretty for our anniversary! They had a lot of pieces from my new favorite designer, Marco Bicego, so  I came home with an exclusive Caribbean necklace! Love:)

Our last night was so fun and came to an end way too fast.  We laughed and enjoyed a nice evening at Banana Deck before heading home to pack everything up.  I love my family so much, I wish everyday was a vacation with them at the beach!

We spent our final day shopping in St. Thomas before flying back home.  Thankfully, our travel home was much less eventful then getting there!

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Home Sweet Home!!!

I can't believe that I'm finally saying this, but we are finally moved in to our new home!!!

We weren't sure when closing would be, which was beyond stressful for planning and coordinating the move.  Jackson woke up Friday morning with a little fever (I hate teething) so he needed to be kept home from school.  I stayed home with him, which ended up working out pretty good when we found out at noon that we'd be able to close at 4PM that day.  Since Jackson wasn't sick, were able to get a lot done during the day in preparation for closing and the big move!

My dad flew down for the weekend, so he was able to watch Jackson while I got coolers of water and beer packed and loaded up on snacks for my helpful movers:)

While Mr. and I were at closing, my dad and step-dad picked up a U-haul moving van and went to our storage unit to start loading.  I'm beyond blessed with these two guys.  I have two of the most generous and selfless dads in the world!

After Mr. and I signed about a thousand pieces of paper, we picked up my mom and dropped Jackson off to Felicia (our old nanny), and headed to our new house! Felicia was in town for the weekend, so she watched Jackson for us and they kept each other quite entertained:) I miss that girl so much!

From Friday night through Sunday night, we literally busted our asses and got completely moved in.  Every box has been unpacked.  Almost every picture and mirror has been hung.  And the guys even managed to completely floor the attic - in the oppressive Louisiana heat! My step-dad put his leg through the attic a couple of weeks ago, so the flooring was pretty necessary. 

We have a list of stuff still to do, like getting new bar stools, candles, and putting out our picture frames - but, we're home and it sure is sweet!!!

Family room looking into kitchen

Family room and foyer, hall to bedrooms

Kitchen into dinning room (my patio umbrella is some kinda messed up!)

Bar in corner of dinning room

Dinning room - I am using my console/sofa table as a buffet and love it!

Outside covered patio

Outside patio (this space needs some work still. still need a tv and mini fridge for out here)

Addition to the covered patio, outside eating area

Master bedroom

Jackson's room

Jackson's bathroom

Guest bedroom

The 4th bedroom is pretty much empty, so I didn't take a picture and the master bath and 3rd bathroom are really hard to get a good picture of.  But, we're ready for visitors and glad to be home:)

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St. John's Post 3: The Big Surprise

On our third day on the island, my parents announced that we were to be packed and in our Jeeps ready to go at 8AM. We were told that we would be gone for the entire day, and that we needed to pack the baby swing, one pack'n'play, and Jackson's life vest.

So, like the good children we are, we packed everything up and anxiously awaited the big surprise...

And a big surprise it was!  Just when we thought that this vacation couldn't possibly get any better, a 42ft. sailboat with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms - big enough for 20 people, pulled up to the dock.  Hello Snubadu and yummy rum drinks just for us, for the entire day!

We had no plan for the day besides sailing away in paradise and snorkeling in places only accessible by boat.  Captain Joe took us to some amazing places and we saw some incredible fish and coral.  I missed it, but a few of us even spotted a couple of sea turtles and sting rays!

Jackson started off a little unsure of the boat, and like the airplane, never quite grasped the concept that he was actual on one.  He took a little snooze with his cousin and woke up in a much better mood after lunch.

  I can't even begin to tell you how many times a thing of puff's saved the day on this trip!

I think this last photo says it all, what a day!!!

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