3 Months

Well, I lost Jackson's 3 month post a while ago, and unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to redo it.  And then time just decided to FLY by!  Everyone always says "they grow up so quickly" and "cherish every moment when they're little, because you'll turn around and they're graduating."  Well, turns out they're right.  I blinked and I have a 6 month old!!  I'm really trying to cherish all of the little moments and the time I have to just sit with Jackson on my lap, because I know soon he'll be on the move, and won't want to sit in Mommy's lap anymore.

So in order to catch up, I'm going to do a series of picture posts.  This is Month 3 - we went to visit Baby Connor, my cousin's little boy that was born 4 weeks after Jackson.  Remember that when you see the pictures and notice that Connor and Jackson are the same size!  Connor is a BIG Boy! :)

Blogger is being weird, so I'm going to go ahead and post this now...To be continued....

Sad Day

Tomorrow will be One Year since the most unimaginable tragedy changed a dear friend's life forever.  Read what I wrote about it here.  Today her husband posted a picture on Facebook, and that is what is causing me to stop in the middle of my work day and write a blog post.  He posted a picture, stating that one year ago today was his last Heavy Squat work out with his son.  The picture is of him (Squatting, of course), with Lil Leo in his exersaucer next to him.  They are both going about their day like any other, and knowing now what happened the very next day makes me study the picture more. Lil Leo is looking happy as a clam, just playing while his Daddy is lifting weights, and I can't imagine what God must have been thinking in that moment, knowing that He would call this little boy to a higher need the next day, with no warning to his parents.

Since then they have given birth to a beautiful baby Girl, and I know that her big brother is helping take care of her.  My friends continue to be one of the most loving, wholesome, faithful families I know, and I still don't understand why they have to endure such heartache, even now. 

Something no one knew then was I had just found out I was pregnant about a week before I got the phone call that this had happened.  That was part of the reason why I didn't attend his memorial.  I couldn't handle it.  I would have been an absolute wreck.  And now that I have a precious gift of my own, my heart aches even more this year.  We have taken so many pictures with Jackson, and carried on our days just the same as the one before - just like Leo doing Heavy Squats with his son.  I can't even begin to imagine if all of a sudden my baby boy was gone tomorrow.  I shed tears as I look at that picture, and as I write this, for one of the happiest boys who touched so many lives.  I will definitely hug on my Boy a little tighter tonight.

So once again, if you are a faithful person, please join me in praying for this family.  This week will be hard - his passing tomorrow, and what would have been his 2nd birthday on the 19th.  I still cannot begin to express the sorrow I feel for them, but also the awe I have in their faith and their ability to place one foot in front of the other to get to this point.  God bless the Seitz and Oberpriller families.

Well, Crap!

So, I've been working on Jackson's 3 month post for a little while, but I'll admit it's probably been 2 weeks since I've been on blogger to look at it.  So, I log in this morning to finish it - so I can then start his 4 month post :)  But what do I find?  The draft of his 3 month post is GONE!  I don't know if it was the Blogger upgrade or what happened, but I have officially lost it.  Talk about frustrated - it was a long post with lots of pictures!  Oh well, I suppose I'll start it over....

2 Months - First Shots!

I know I'm a little behind, but I figured I'd make Jackson's 2 month post. I covered Denton and Laura's wedding already, and then we spent the rest of 4th of July weekend with our friends!  It was most of their first times to meet Jackson.  It was also really great to see our buds again. 

We've also just had a lot of fun hanging out at home!  Marc has fun making Jackson look like Mother Theresa in his towel after bathtime, and he also started smiling at 2 months.  I got a great shot of Jackson smiling at Marc:

Nana and Paw Paw also came to visit again - it was the first time they had seen Jackson since the week after he was born.  They had a good time playing, and taking in how much he has changed!

I also got a fancy new DSLR camera for my birthday from Marc, so I've had fun learning how to use it.  Marc's sister told me a photographer friend of hers had taken some pictures of a baby's feet with Mom and Dad's rings on the toes.  I played around for a while and finally got a good one - I'm very proud of myself!

We've been having a lot of fun, and this little guy makes us so happy every day.  His inability to focus also makes us laugh a lot!!

As you can tell, the Newborn clothes are getting a bit small!  We also went up to a size 1 diaper just after his 2 month birthday.  Here are his 2 month chair pictures:

And 2 months also means a checkup, with his first shots!  Everything went well at the doctor's office, and our chunky monkey is definitely growing!  He was 23 inches long, and weighed in a 11lb 3oz.  He did really well with his shots - he screamed as the needle went in and cried while she was giving them, but as soon as I picked him up he stopped crying, and then fell asleep in the car seat on the walk out to the car.  He stayed very sleepy the rest of the day - I had to wake him up to feed him!  And Mommy and Daddy did well with the shots too - the only tears shed were Jackson's :)  Here he is with his war wounds bandaged up:

That's all for now - I'll post the next month soon!

Denton and Laura

The weekend of July 2 we got together with Marc's family in Austin to celebrate the Marriage of Marc's cousin Denton and Laura.  We got the chance to get to know Laura better over Thanksgiving last year, and I got to know Denton better.  They are a great couple that are a lot like us - we can't wait to spend more time with them!

Needless to say, this was our first trip away with the Little Man!  I had to make a huge list of what to pack so that we wouldn't forget anything, LOL.  And then, of course, Jackson decided to have a fussy day on Friday, and Marc had a bad day at work, so the beginning of the drive was not too fun.  There was also lovely holiday weekend traffic, so it took us just over an hour and a half to get to Waco, a drive that usually takes right at an hour.  I pulled into a Whataburger, Marc flew out of the car to get us some food, and I sat there in the back of the parking lot and nursed Jackson.  Once we all had some food on our bellies, traffic had lightened up a bit and Jackson fell asleep.  The rest of the drive was just fine!  We got in late Friday night, so we just said hello to Marc's mom and turned in.  The next day we just got to hang out with Marc's Mom, his Sister, and our nephew most of the day (our neice was a flower girl, so she was off getting her hair done and doing girly things before the wedding).  Marc's mom brought us a handmade gift for Jackson:

And, proud Noni got to feed him a bottle:

It nice to just have some down time to spend with the family.

Then, we headed to the wedding.  Jackson got to get dressed up for the occasion:

And, I'll tell ya, this is how you prepare for an outdoor wedding in July in Texas:

Ha Ha!  Marc found those cute little shades at Academy, along with some personal mister fans that we took to keep Jackson cool throughout the night.  Speaking of Jackson, he did absolutely wonderful!  He slept all evening, with the exception of waking up to eat, and that was about it! He sleeps well when he's warm (which is why I can't swaddle him during the day), so I guess 90 degree heat keeps him cozy!

So this post is supposed to be about the wedding, so let's get to it!  The wedding was beautiful, Laura wore an antique gown with a lace overlay, and just when she got to the end of the aisle, a little gust of wind came off the lake and blew up her veil - it was absolutely breathtaking.  Denton had a little quiver to his lip as Laura came down the aisle, and Laura cried during her vows.  Then, we headed in for the reception.  In addition to beer and wine, there was a specialty drink made for the couple.  Laura's was a blueberry martini - it was yummy, but I only drank about half of mine, since I am a cheap drunk these days and a Blue Moon was calling my name. :)  Denton's drink was an Old Fashioned - a whiskey drink with grenadine.  

Check out this gown!

And we were all excited to get dressed up and have some fun!  Here's Marc's sister and her kids - we missed her husband, but the life of an Oil Man is not his own.

The first two generations of the family - Marc's Mom, his Grandmother, and his Uncle (Father of the Groom):

Mamie and all of her Great Grandchildren:

And hey, Marc and I clean up pretty nice too!

I also got a chance to play with my new DSLR camera, and took some pictures of the first thing that had Laura's new name on it - her placecard at dinner!

After dinner, we headed outside for dancing.  Here are some pictures of the Newlyweds at their first dance, with Mamie watching:

Overall, we had a great time, and it was a beautiful wedding set on the lake in Austin!  Thank you, Denton and Laura, for letting us share in this celebration with you - here's to many years of happiness!!

Jackson's First Month and Mama turns 30!!

Well, we've been having a lot of fun around here!!  Jackson is now 6 weeks old - he's starting to be more alert and awake during the day, and we're getting to play and interact with him.  He keeps looking like he wants to smile - I know it'll come any day now!

I was able to find some pictures of me, so here's Jackson at 1 Week:

And Mama at 1 Week:

Jackson 2 Weeks:

And Mama at 2 Weeks:

Yes, that is a NON Maternity shirt!  I still can't believe how fast the weight just fell off.  And I know most of you don't want to hear that, but it was really surprsing to me.  At Jackson's 2 week Doctor's appointment, I got on the scale and had lost 18 pounds!  I guess there really is something to be said about breastfeeding. 

We've had a lot of visitors around here.  Of course, Nana and PawPaw were here when we came home from the hospital, and Noni came up the next weekend.  My Bestie Allison came to visit too, and then we had a little time to ourselves. 

Then, Mama's Cousins came:

 And then Aunt Dawn came to visit.  Surprisingly, I don't have any pictures of her with him- probably because we used her fancy camera all week to take pics of the little dude.

The next week, Aunt Tisha and Dylan and Macey came to visit, and also to babysit for My 30th Birthday!

Yes, I turned 30!  Last summer we had talked about big plans to go to Vegas and party it up, but then, Jackson came along.  I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present!!  He has truly blessed my life and I am so ecstatic every day that I get to spend time with him and watch him grow.  I did have a good birthday though - Marc came home early from work and made us reservations as a surprise to me.  We left for dinner and ended up at the Oceanaire - a restaurant we first went to in Boston, and found out last summer that there is one here in Dallas!  It was a wonderful birthday dinner - we got personalized menus at the restaurant that said "Happy 30th Birthday from the Oceanaire" across the top.  And we had babysitters, so we enjoyed our first time out, just the 2 of us.  We also got to get dressed up :)  This picture was taken with my present from Marc - a new Canon DSLR Camera!  Now I just need to learn how to use it!

And like I said, I'm glad I've gotten to spend so much time with this cutie patootie, practicing his tummy time:

What a busy month!  As I go through pictures, I just keep finding more to post!  Marc also had his first Father's Day!  This was a special day for Marc - he hasn't had any contact with his father in over 25 years, so he was really looking forward to it this year.  Here is how he spent his morning:

 And overall, I think he had a great day!

Are you tired of reading yet??  Well, as I have blog-stalked all of my friends that have kids, I decided to continue with the trend of Chair Pictures.  SO, here are Jackson's First Month pictures (Thanks to the help of my sister and her fancy camera)!

Well, I think that is all for my pictures.  This weekend Marc's cousin is getting married in Austin, so we're going for our first trip!  Wish us luck!  I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures of Jackson getting to meet his Great Grandmother and the rest of the extended family.  Until next time!