The Jackson 4

4 Months of Catching Up

2011-11-06T19:45:00.008-06:00

Well, since I last posted, Elliot has turned 3 and Charleigh had turned 7 months. Elliot is sounding out words and if you give her a word she will tell you what it starts with. Charleigh is already crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything! She is just 7 months! She is trying to keep up with sister. Here are a few pictures from the last 7 months...

Elliot's B-Day party at First Baptist Church (they have a fun play area)

Ready for some cupcakes!

Happy Girl!

Charleigh and Daddy

Sisters and best friends

Charleigh's baby dedication at church

Repunzel

Char, Tristan, and Elle

The Bunny

Sweet Girls

And here is a video of Charleigh pulling up...

Vacation!

2011-07-05T13:23:00.005-05:00

We have been very busy in the last month. We moved into our new house and went on vacation. On Father's Day weekend, we headed down to DFW to introduce Charleigh to our friends. We love living close to our families, but we really miss our friends in Keller, so it was really great to spend time with everyone. We went to the zoo and a Ranger game and had a great time. The girls were awesome travelers! Here is our trip summed up in pictures...

Char hanging at the hotel

Elliot and Brenley

The guys!

The girls!

Elliot and her favorite animals...Giraffes!

Mommy and Elli being elephants

Excited for the train!

Elliot and Daddy on the train

Charleigh waiting while Elli and Daddy ride the train

Family picture at the zoo

The Briscoes and the Jacksons

Sweet friends

Watching some baseball

Enjoying the ballpark

Headed home after a fun vacation!

Elliot also just celebrated her 3rd birthday and we will put pictures up of that soon.

Charleigh Jo is Here!

2011-04-20T22:41:00.008-05:00

Charleigh Jo is here! She was born at 10:23 am on Monday, April 4th. She was 6 lb 11 oz and 19.5 in long. Now, for the quick birth story...

Jennie decided to pick up one more shift on Sunday, April 3rd, so she started her shift at 6:30 pm and started feeling labor pains shortly there after. Her patient had to get a C-section so she worked that surgery while breathing through contractions and then at about 1:30 am they sent her home. She came home and showered and grabbed her bags, while we called Nonni to come over to stay with Elliot. Then we headed to the hospital. Her water broke at about 5:30 am and she delivered at 10:30 ish. So, Jennie worked literally until up until Charleigh was born. They were joking that she was the only person to have been on the clock the same day that she delivered!

We have been home for two weeks and everyone is doing great! Elliot is really sweet to her and is a great helper around the house. Here are a couple of pictures from the last two weeks.

The first time that Elliot and Charleigh met

The first time that Mommy and Daddy met Charleigh

Elliot being silly!

Mommy before she delivered. Thanks to Holly for decorating the room!

Three beautiful girls!

This is Elliot a few days after being born

This is Charleigh. Very similar!

Sisters!

Mommy and her girls

Elliot happy to have a permanent play mate!

First bath at home

Sweet Girl!

Sorry Charleigh!

2011-03-30T23:12:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that the last time I blogged was before Christmas! With Elliot we were blogging like crazy before she was born, but we have not been as good with Charleigh. Oh well, sorry sweet girl...

On that note, Charleigh will be here within the week! The latest she will come will be April 7th, but hopefully she will come on her own before that. Elliot keeps saying that it will be April 2nd, so we will see! Elliot is so excited to meet Charleigh and we can't wait to see them together! I will be better about blogging once she gets here, I promise!

Now for the update on Elliot. She is ridiculously smart and amazes us everyday with what she says and what she is able to do. She can recognize every letter and can count to 40. Her vocabulary is off the charts. She always talks in complete sentences and she uses big words that make us laugh. When we go see Jennie at work and look at the babies she always says "Those babies are adore-able!" and she will say "Dad you're embarrasin' me!" It is really funny. She has such a fun and ornery personality. She loves playing doctor and calls me Dr. Daddy and brings me patients (her stuffed animals) to see with what she calls a look-a-scope (an old stethoscope of Mommy's). We got her a little doctor kit and she knows all about blood pressure and shots. We asked her what smart means and she said, "It means you're right" and if we ask her where she learned something she says "I just learned it up." I'm sure that she is doing a lot of other funny stuff that I am forgetting so those of you that are around her alot feel free to add to the list in the comments. Here are a few pictures to hold everyone over until Charleigh gets here. T-minus 7 days and counting!

My very favorite picture taken by Uncle RyRy on her trip to Houston. It captures her personality perfectly!

Making a snow angel

Daddy and Elliot making a snow man. We waited a little long to get out and play, so our snow man ended up being a little small.

Relaxing and being cute!

We got out the baby stuff for Charleigh and Elliot found her old tub and calls it her boat.

Merry Christmas! (And Baby Info)

2010-12-24T15:13:00.006-06:00

Merry Christmas! We are getting ready for the last Christmas with just three of us. Elliot is really excited about Christmas this year. She can't wait for Santa to come and has already asked us some tough questions like how Santa gets in the house! She is so smart. She loves to sing Christmas carols and can sing all of the words to Jingle Bells, Santa Clause is Coming to Town, and a few others (including Feliz Navidad). We hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas! As our present to you, here are some pictures! Scroll down for baby news!

Elliot loves to make "castles" with blankets for her and her friends to hang out in.

We had a gender revealing party...

And it's another girl! Her name is going to be Charleigh Jo Jackson! Elliot is so sweet when she talks about her. She is going to be a great big sister.

Skinny Jeans!

Dress up day!

Merry Christmas!

Here is a train that Elliot made with her friends...

Well, that is all from here. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love, the Jackson's

Go Rangers and Other Awesome News!

2010-10-24T19:49:00.012-05:00

A lot has happened since my last post, but the coolest thing is the Texas Rangers playoff run. I would like to say that it has been fun, it has, but it is also very stressful! I am so happy that the Rangers have made it to the World Series. There are a lot of great people that work there and deserve to be a part of something like this. A lot of people have asked me how I feel about the Rangers going to the World Series a year after I left, and honestly, I couldn't be happier for the following reasons: 1) this wouldn't have happened if I would have stayed (I keep telling myself this) 2) I have gotten to spend a lot more time with Elliot than I would have if I still worked there, especially since the playoffs cause you to work long hours 3) I would have had to work every game instead of getting to enjoy them 4) I still have many great friends that work there, which allow me great benefits, like playoff tickets! (I got to attend ALDS Game 3, ALCS Game 2, and I will be going to World Series Game 3). So while it would be nice to get a World Series ring, I know that I am in the right place and I know that I am still part of the Rangers' family.

ALDS Game 3 vs. Tampa Bay

ALCS Game 2 vs. New York

The Game 2 crew (Ryan, Chad, Wes, and Jordan) I don't know why the flash didn't work.

The siblings at Game 2

I have also created a little Ranger fan. Elliot can name about half the roster, but her favorite is the manager, Wash. He is the only one that she can identify every time on TV, she will say, "There's Wash!" If fact, one night when the game was on, I was trying to get her to brush her teeth. She didn't want to, then she saw Wash on TV and I told her, "Wash wants you to brush your teeth." and she said, "OK!" And she let me brush her teeth. Talk about a motivator!

She has stayed up for the last two celebrations and she loves to watch them get excited. She asks tons of questions too. The other day she was playing in the living room when someone said "Cliff Lee" on TV and she stopped and said "Cliff Lee! Go Rangers!"

Here is a video of Elliot talking about the Rangers. She says she likes Wash, Vlad, Mike, and Josh, then she kind of loses her train of thought. I think you can understand everything after that. After she says "Win the World Series!" she goes into 'play mode' and starts talking about a game she was playing before we started recording. Her imagination is awesome!

As you can see in the video, Elliot is in big girl panties! She decided she wanted to start potty training at the end of August and she picked it up very quickly. She hasn't had very many accidents, and even though we put a diaper on her at night, it is dry 9 times out of 10 when she wakes up. And, we really wanted her out of diapers because....

Baby #2 is on the way! Our due date is April 6 and we are very excited! Elliot is also excited about being a big sister and she says she is going to ask God for a sister. She talks to Mommy's belly too! It is so sweet.

Elliot's Birthday Party

2010-08-03T22:58:00.004-05:00

I know that this is a month late, but I have been busy trying to get my teaching certification and find a job. The good news is that I have completed one and almost done with the other. I have a job teaching 7th grade math at the school that is a mile from our house. I am very excited, but nervous at the same time. However, with that said, I envision my life getting very busy once school starts, so blogging my continue to be sporadic. I will try to put some pictures up when I can.

Elliot's Birthday Party was a huge success. She was a little sad when it was over, but she has handled it well. Here are some pictures from the big day!

Here is Elliot out side in her birthday outfit. Note the Minnie-style bow!

Elliot's Birthday Cake

Jennie took care of all of the decorations and did a great job. Elliot loved all of the streamers and balloons.

Ready to open presents!

Elliot opening presents

Close-up of Elliot's Cake

It rained during her party, but Nonni and Pops got her rain boots and a rain jacket, so she got to try them out immediately. She went out and stomped in the puddles.

Here she is looking for the insy-winsy spider that is "up the water spout."

This is Elliot on July 4th.

She loves to wear her rain boots all of the time. She will just wear them around the house. It is very cute...

I Don't Know

2010-06-22T21:44:00.002-05:00

Here is a video of Elliot reading a book to Elmo. It features my new favorite phrase, which is "I don't know." She says it when you ask her a question that she doesn't know, oddly enough... It is really cute. You can also tell in the video how excited she is for her birthday. We sing Happy Birthday at least 50 times a day and she always ends blowing the candles out. She will be ready on July 2nd!

23 months...

2010-06-10T15:29:00.004-05:00

Elliot is 23 months old and she is so big! She is talking (and singing) really clearly now. Her hair is getting really long. She has molars in on the top and bottom (her teeth come in slow!). She is really into doing everything herself. She loves orange juice (we have to hide it so she won't see it in the fridge). She still loves outside, but she is afraid of bugs. Such a girl!

She loves to sing. She is a little songbird that always has a song in her heart. Her setlist varies every day, but it usually consists of "Jesus Loves Me" "ABC's" and "Old MacDonald". She even made up a new song this week about her water wings for the pool. It goes,

Water Wings

Water, Water, Water Wings.

She made it up all on her own! I will try to record all of her songs (like a concert) and put it up here, but we all know how good at blogging I have been lately.

She is also talking a ton. Her new thing is "What (or Who) is missing?" If it is just Daddy and Elliot in the car she says, "Who we missing?" And I'll say "I don't know, Who?" And she'll say "Mommy!" Or when she is doing one of her puzzles and she is missing a piece she will ask what's missing. You get the picture, it is really cute.

She also said "Love you Mommy" to Jennie last week spontaneously. It was the first time that she said it first.

She is obsessed with her birthday. You ask her when it is and she says July 2nd. She is always singing Happy Birthday and making pretend cakes for us that we have to blow the candles out on. I'm afraid she is going to be crushed when her birthday is over.

She is very proud of her name and doesn't want you to call her anything else. If you say, "Are you a silly girl?" She'll say, "No, I Ellie Grace Jackson!"

Elliot and Daddy always have cuddle time after her baths. And then she runs around the house like a "naked bird"! She will ask, "I run naked bird?"

We took her to her first movie at the theatre (the new Shrek) and she was good...until her snacks ran out. Then she got pretty bored. It was pretty funny when Shrek said something, then the theatre was quiet and she said, "Oh Shrek..." Need to work on those movie manners.

Here she is in her chair just being cute...
Starting to work on that swing a little early! Looks like we got a switch hitter on our hands. Don't worry, I only make her practice for 2 hours in the morning and an hour after her nap...

She loves swimming, water, and anything that has to do with outside. Here she is in her little pool for the back yard. She loves going to the park so much that she would go everyday no matter the weather. We have to tell her the reasons why she can't go, so now, when we drive by the park she says, "Too winy (windy), Too cold" even it isn't windy or cold!

Easter Pictures

2010-04-29T12:15:00.005-05:00

I know it is a month late, but here are our Easter pics. Saturday night we colored eggs and Sunday after church we had some family over for an Easter Egg Hunt for Elliot. She had a blast!

Play Park!!!!

2010-04-09T15:20:00.002-05:00

Elliot's favorite thing to do is play outside and now that it is getting warmer, we find ourselves outside quite a bit. We live about a block away from a park and she loves to go and play on the toys and the swings. She calls it "play park" and she is always asking us if we can go to "play park". I was able to get it on video, so here is my interview with Elliot about what she likes to do at the park...

Quick aside, whenever she wants us to do something (or to get her something), she grabs our hand and pulls us and says "Tum on Daddy" (Come on Daddy) and walks us to where she wants us to go. It is so cute and I'm trying to get her to say it at the end of this video. But she doesn't really cooperate...

Elliot's 20 and 1/2 Months Update

2010-03-16T14:27:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the long delay in between postings. I wish I could say that there was a reason, but there isn't. So, without further ado, here is Elliot's 20 1/2 months update!

Allow me a few paragraphs to brag...

Elliot is really smart. She picks up on the smallest things that she hears just once and we are always looking at each other saying "Did you teach her that?". A few days ago she started saying "Tunnel!" every time we would drive under an underpass or pull in to get gas. After many phone calls trying to figure out where she learned it, we found out that Nonni had mentioned it to her once. Want another cute story? I thought so... Jennie went to San Antonio for a sister's weekend. She left Thursday night and was coming back on Sunday night. On Sunday morning, we were backing out of the garage to go to church and Elliot was being really fussy and here is how our conversation went...

Daddy: "What's wrong Ellie?"

Elliot: "Sad."

Daddy: "Why are you sad?"

Elliot: "Mommy."

Daddy: "Do you miss Mommy?"

Elliot (in a sad voice): "Yes."

I couldn't believe the processing level that had just taken place. I know what you are thinking and yes, she is a genius! I'm kidding, it is just fun to watch her absorb all of this information and then spit it back out.

She is always talking. The last time we went to the dr., they asked if she had a 25 word vocabulary. 25?? Try 200, and I'm not kidding (if someone would like to challenge me on this, I am sure I could produce at least 200 words that she is able to use in conversation). She is putting together sentences. Lately it is "I see _____" and "Come on Daddy" (when she wants me to go somewhere or get her a snack). My least favorite is "Get up Daddy!", but Elliot, it is still dark outside!

When she is not talking, she is singing (and it might be the other way around!). She knows many songs from beginning to end, like Jesus Loves Me, ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, Baby Bumble Bee, Theme songs to her favorite shows (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora, Elmo's World), Old MacDonald and there are more that I am forgetting. She loves to sing!

She LOVES going outside and if you plan on taking her outside, you better block off at least an hour. This summer is going to be very fun! Elliot is very tall and has gotten to the point where she can reach door handles. Right now she likes to make sure that all doors are closed, more to show off that she can do it than anything else. She loves to run and jump and climb! And she has such a funny little sense of humor. She is a lot of fun!

One of the things that she might be a little behind in is playing with kids her own age. I think she thinks that she is 3 or 4 because that is how old the kids are at Pammy's house (where she goes a couple of times a week). She doesn't know what to do with kid's her own age so she is very reserved. We probably need to schedule some play dates!

She is so much fun and growing up so fast. Here are a few pictures and I will try to be better about updating...

This is either a silly face or her trying to make a fish face, I'm not sure...

Getting ready to go to the park! Notice B and Blank Blank (her paci and blanket). They go everywhere with us and she can't have one without the other.

Maybe the cutest picture ever?

Going to church (Aunt Ash made the bows she is wearing"...

Bath fun!

Finally, here is a video of Elliot at the park. I had gone to DFW for the weekend, so Mommy and Ellie went to the park to play!

The Shell Game

2010-01-21T22:38:00.004-06:00

I think that it is every parent's responsibility to prepare their children for many different situations that they may face in life. In the event that Elliot is in New York City and has run out of money, we are teaching her a survival skill that will hopefully help her get by. That's right, we are teaching her the Shell Game... Here is more Christmas family fun, as Uncle RyRy hides her little toy Pluto under different cups. I love her excited dance that she does. I can't tell if she likes being the center of attention. What do you think?

ABC's & 123's

2010-01-20T21:32:00.007-06:00

Elliot loves to sing. She has a couple of favorite songs, but her favorite by far is the alphabet song. She can sing it all the way through and she sings it all the time! Here she is singing it during the holidays. She also counts to 20 in this video. It isn't her best effort (she was a little distratcted), we are so proud! The next couple of days I will post more videos. So stay tuned...

The Last Two Months

2009-12-19T00:08:00.008-06:00

Well, we are settled in Amarillo. We have moved into our house and unpacked all of the boxes. The last two months have been a little crazy. Jennie started working nights, which we are still adjusting to, and Jordan got a part time job at the Amarillo Civic Center. It isn't much, but it cures "cabin fever"! Jordan has a couple of full time job leads and we should know more after the first of the year. Elliot is getting really big. She loves snowmen and she is excited for Christmas. She has such a sweet spirit, but she also has an attitude as well. I will try to post a video of her in the next couple of days. The trick is getting her to not act cheesy when she sees the camera. We aren't sending Christmas cards out this year b/c it has been a little hectic, so we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Here are some pictures to catch you up on what we have been doing...

Pretty girl

On Halloween we went out to the corn maze. Elliot liked seeing the animals they had out there.

Elliot on Halloween, she was a little Cowboy's cheerleader. Note the Elmo bucket

Playing a little football on Thanksgiving. A Jackson tradition.

Uncle RyRy on the other side of the camera for once...

I snowed the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so we got Elliot bundled up to go out and play. She wasn't a big fan of the snow though.

Out of order pictures... Here is the face she makes when she sees the camera. It is hard to get a good picture of her.

Silly face again... Her teeth are finally coming in.

Family picture in the snow

The front of our house

I love this picture...

Big girl eats breakfast at her table now.

Elliot helping Daddy decorate the tree. Every morning she makes us plug in the tree so she can say, "Ohhh pretty!"

This will have to do for our Christmas card this year!

Merry Christmas!

The Rumor's Are True...

2009-11-06T17:47:00.005-06:00

We are headed back to Amarillo...

Which is why there hasn't been a lot of updates on the blog. The last month has been busy. Mommy and Elliot moved up to Amarillo in the middle of October so that she could start her new job at Northwest Hospital. Daddy visited on the weekends and today was his last day with the Rangers. Plan A is for him to get certified to teach. The house is sold and now we just have to move all our belongings. We are really excited for this new phase of our life.

Elliot is able to put sentences together and tell us when she has to "poo poo" and has successfully gone in her little potty! The success rate is 10% at best, but it is still really early and this is driven by her not us, so we are taking it really slow. She has more teeth coming in, so she shouldn't be Dracula for much longer. She loves Mickey Mouse ClubHouse and Baby Praise. She is such a sweet mommy to her little babies. She has been such a trooper during this transition. She is an amazing little girl and we are so blessed to have her. It has been really hard on Dad to just have weekend visits, but that is about to end really soon!

Anytime she sees a camera, she says "cheese" instead of closing her eyes or looking away, so we are getting some good pictures! She is so full of personality...

Elliot at 15 months

2009-10-17T12:32:00.002-05:00

Elliot is getting really big. At 15 months she is talking alot, almost stringing sentences together. Her vocabulary is huge. However, she is getting a little attitude, which we are trying to get a handle on! Here is a video of her showing off. She can do her animal sounds and identify her body parts. She is tons of fun!

U2 Concert

2009-10-17T12:16:00.003-05:00

Mommy and Daddy headed out to the U2 concert on 10/12. It was a great show and lots of fun!

Their "spaceship" stage

The screen expanded down, it was cool!

The Edge, Bono, and Adam

The Edge making a rare visit to our side of the stage.

Here is an awesome acoustic version of Stuck in a Moment with just Bono and The Edge.

Elliot's First Cowboys' Game

2009-09-19T10:46:00.003-05:00

We were lucky enough to get free tickets to the Cowboy's first preseason game, so we packed Elliot up and away we went. We had a lot of fun taking Elliot to her first game. The new stadium is incredible!

Elliot in Austin

2009-09-19T10:18:00.006-05:00

In need of getting some professional pictures taken of Elliot, we packed up for a day trip to Austin to visit Uncle RyRy and Aunt B! We had a blast and the pictures are awesome! Here are a few samples...

Thanks Uncle RyRy! As always the pictures are incredible!

First Haircut

2009-09-19T10:08:00.005-05:00

This happened a while ago, but we are just getting around to updating, in fact, it might already be time for another one. Elliot was so good!

Walk This Way

2009-08-12T23:25:00.002-05:00

Elliot has been walking for a couple weeks now... Here is the proof!

Courtesy Laughter

2009-07-28T22:48:00.004-05:00

Elliot is working on her courtesy laughing in case she finds herself in a socially awkward situation...

Happy 1st Birthday!

2009-07-27T21:04:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it, but Elliot is one! It has been both a long year and a fast year, all at the same time. She is such a big girl now! She is walking (video to come later this week), she is talking up a storm and she has such an awesome personality. She is so much fun! She is 50th percentile in weight, 90th in height, and 95th in head size (that explains why she is so smart!). She is just now getting her first teeth and it hasn't been too much trouble, so hopefully it will be relatively pain free...

We decided to have her birthday party in Amarillo, close to most of our family. Aunt Bubz and Uncle Dub were great hosts. Elliot was a bit under the weather the day before but she was a real trooper for party time. Thank you to everyone who sent a card or a gift, she was very blessed!

Here are some party pics from our camera...

Elliot and Daddy starting to open presents

Elliot checking out her new book (she loves books!)

Another cool present!

Pretty Girl

Here she is wearing her B-Day tutu and party hat

Not too sure what to think of this cake thing...

I guess I'll try it...

Yummm!!!

I could get used to this!

We will try to update more this week. We have more vacation pictures and some walking and laughing videos that we will post. Hope everyone has a great week!

Summer Time

2009-06-18T21:16:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that Elliot's birthday is only a couple of weeks away. It has been so fun to watch her turn into a little person with a funny personality! She is so fun to play with...

Since summer has officially hit, we have been taking advantage of the neighborhood pool. She LOVES the water and cries when it is time to get out. She is a little water bug!

Elliot playing in the only cabinet we let her in

Chillin' like a villain

Little Swimmer

This last weekend we packed up and headed to Satin, TX for Aunt Ashlan's wedding. It was so much fun and nice to be out in the middle of nowhere with friends and family. It was a beautiful wedding and we are so proud and excited for Ashlan and Bryan. Uncle RyRy took the pictures so I'm sure his blog will be updated soon! Elliot was a flower girl and was able to walk down the aisle with the help of her shopping cart!

She is so big!

Extreme Close-Up

Elliot likes to read!

2009-05-20T21:35:00.002-05:00

Here is Elliot reading Daddy a story.

Mother's Day

2009-05-19T21:58:00.004-05:00

As Elliot and I (Daddy) were looking at our planners a couple of months ago, we both had Sunday, May 10th circled as a day that we wanted to make extra special for Mommy. So we hatched a big plan to make it the best day ever. We went to church Saturday night so that we could let Mommy sleep in on Sunday morning. Daddy got up with Elliot and Mommy slept... And slept, and then slept some more. I think it was around 10:30 - 11 that she finally found her way out of the bed room. We got around and headed to Southlake Town Square and Sunshine Glaze. Elliot and I decided that we needed to let Mommy tap into her inner artist and have some fun painting pottery.

Here is Mommy painting!

Elliot and Daddy watching...

After we were done painting, we headed to the center of the Town Square and to the fountain. Elliot loved the fountain! She loves her bath and loves water and she had a blast. We even let her put her hand in one of the fountains. She was soaked, but she loved it!

Check out my tennies

Happy Mother's Day Mommy!

Sweet Girl

Elliot putting her hand in the fountain and getting really wet

Her wet little face

After the fountain, we hit up a few stores, including Janie and Jack ($$$). Mommy loves this store, Daddy, not so much... We found some cute birthday outfits, so now she will be stylin' for her first birthday.

Who is that movie star?

After we got back from shopping, we gave Mommy her present... It was a Shark Steam Mop! Now, if you think that Jennie was sad to get a mop on Mother's Day, then you don't know Jennie, she spent Sunday night playing with her new mop and mopping the kitchen! It was a special day for Jennie and Elliot and I were glad that we got to share it with her! We love you Mommy!

Now, here are some random fun pictures...

Holla!

Standing up all by herself!

Silly Face

Having fun playing!

2009-05-08T20:01:00.005-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of months. From Elliot's Baby Dedication in February, to a trip to Amarillo in March, and Easter in April, with some cute pictures thrown in...

Elliot practicing standing up

This Easter Egg is yummy!

Elliot in her Easter dress

Sorry this picture is out of order, but this is of her Dedication at church in February.

Back to Easter... Check out her Easter present. Elliot's first baseball glove!

Pretty Girl

Crazy Girl

We went to Amarillo in March just in time for Mia to be born!

More Amarillo pics, Elliot being sweet with a teddy bear.

Big Girl

2009-05-07T19:41:00.005-05:00

Elliot is getting really big and really mobile. Here is a video to show just how big she has gotten. She has an extensive bag of tricks that we tried to get her to show you, but she wasn't really interested. She can't know that she is being recorded, if she does, she just hams it up. So enjoy the video, more pictures (and possibly another video coming tomorrow).

So Sorry...

2009-04-21T22:10:00.004-05:00

That we haven't updated in a while. As most of you know, my job revolves around a certain baseball team whose season just started a couple of weeks ago, so we haven't felt up to blogging. Plus, we have been crazy busy with work and company. But the Rangers are on the road (and just took down Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays tonight!), so I will try to catch up on blogging this week.

Here is a quick update on how big our little girl has gotten...

She is 9 and 1/2 months! At her 9 month check up she was 50th percentile in height and weight. She goes to bed at 7 pm and wakes up at 7 am. Mommy and Daddy love that last sentence...

She is crawling now. Uncle Ryan (who posted some Elliot pics on his blog) was here this weekend and he described her technique as "ninja style" because she stays low so she can sneak up on people. She hasn't mastered the crawling on all fours yet, but she is a fast little army crawler...

She is also pulling up and one of Mommy's diamond earrings almost made an interesting gastrointestinal journey. She left them on the coffee table thinking they were safe, only to turn around and see Elliot pulled up on the coffee table with said earring in hand. We also had to lower the crib so she wouldn't fall out. (See why we can't blog! We are too busy putting the house on lock down...)

She is compiling a bag of tricks... Waving bye-bye, blowing kisses, and trying to copy our voice inflections. She also makes a "cute face" and it gets laughs, so of course it continues. I will try to capture some of these things so you can see them.

Until then, here are some pictures from today... Can't get more up-to-date than that!

Bath Time!

Our little girl is turning blonde!

Extreme Close Up

Little Ninja

Fun Stuff

2009-03-15T20:53:00.005-05:00

Haven't had the time or energy to do the dedication blog, so here is some fun quick hit pictures and a video...

A Day in the Park

2009-03-12T20:24:00.006-05:00

On Sunday, the sun was out, the weather was nice, so we decided to pack up and walk to the park. Mommy and Daddy packed a lunch and then packed up the baby and were off to the park. Having finally figured out how to play music in our awesome jogging stroller, we hooked up the ipod turned on some tunes and started out on the 1/2 mile walk to the park. Here are some pictures of what happened once we got there...

Elliot getting her first opportunity to sit on burning hot rubber...

She seemed fine with it...

Daddy and Elliot

Mommy and Elliot

Elliot's first trip down the slide

After a hard day of playing, it was time to head home...

Just after we started walking home, this is what we found in the stroller.

Poor little lamb, all tuckered out...

So as you can see, it was a fun family day and we were all worn out by the time it was over. We are looking forward to summer time so we can walk to the pool and work on our tans!

Tomorrow we will post pictures from Elliot's dedication at church...

Cute Pictures

2009-03-11T20:30:00.004-05:00

We have tons of pictures that we need to post, so we will be updating daily for the next couple of days. Today we have some sweet pictures from one of Elliot and Mommy's girl days. We are also working on crawling. She will get up on her hands and knees, but she won't move once she is there. However, she does roll all over the place!

Daddy's favorite picture!

Back by popular demand.... A Picture Story (starring Elliot Grace Jackson)

Daddy: "Hey Elliot, Guess what... We are going to the park!"

Elliot: "I get to go to the park? No Way!"

Elliot: "Oh Daddy, You are so silly! Stop joking around..."

Daddy: "No, I'm serious... We are going to the park!"

Elliot: (screamed with excitement)"WHOO HOO!!!!"

Elliot: "Point me to the park! Oh yeah, I can't crawl yet..."

Tune in tomorrow for The Jackson Family Park Adventure!!!

Daddy's Valentine

2009-03-03T20:38:00.004-06:00

Here are the Valentine's pictures that we promised. We will be posting pictures of Elliot's dedication and videos of her laughing in the coming days. Elliot is doing really well! She is laughing a lot and her little personality is starting to come out. She has a fake laugh that is really funny. She has gotten on a great schedule and she is sleeping through the night. Mommy and Daddy are very happy about that.

Burning off some energy!

2009-02-18T19:01:00.009-06:00

Elliot has taken down RSV! You can tell she is feeling better and we got the camera out a few nights ago to document it. She has started to do a hybrid scoot/army crawl. She lays on one shoulder, sticks the other arm out as far as she can and then pushes with her feet. We have a few videos that show it. We also have one of her jumping her little heart out in her "bouncy"! Enjoy!

We will post some of her Valentine's pictures in the next couple of days.

R to the S to the V

2009-02-13T21:43:00.005-06:00

That is what we are dealing with... She started wheezing today, so Jennie took her back to the doctor (thanks Angie!) where she was diagnosed with RSV. So now it is breathing treatments and antibiotics. She has been a trooper though all of this, but we are ready for it to be over. Here are a few pictures from today (yes, the second one is from today, sometimes I don't think she knows she is sick!).

Here is little Maverick getting ready for the Highway to the Danger Zone...

Hey guys, am I supposed to be sick or something?

Day Four - Doctor's Office

2009-02-12T21:39:00.002-06:00

Elliot has an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection. Jennie stayed home from work with her today and basically had to hold her all day. Then tonight she threw up all over both of us and she still has a fever. This week of blogging Elliot's life didn't really go as planned as she is the sickest that she has ever been. I think we will take a break for a couple days and see if that turns things around for us. Call us if you want an update and please keep praying for her.

Day 3 - Sick Baby

2009-02-11T22:09:00.004-06:00

Last night was pretty long. It seemed like she woke up every two hours. She couldn't breathe very well and so she was very restless. We headed off to Ms. Angie's house with the agreement that Mom would leave work early if she got worse. Elliot had a good day with her friends and she never got any worse, so Daddy picked her up after work. Once we got home you could tell that she didn't feel very well. She just moaned. It was so sad, but cute at the same time (see video below). When Mom got home she gave Elliot a steam bath to try to loosen up her lungs. No such luck.... And she has a fever around 100, so it looks like it will be another long night... We will see what tomorrow holds. Please pray that she gets better!

***In response to the question in the comments from yesterday, she loves the shopping cart, which the carrot is a part of. She just loves everything about it. We can't wait until she can push it around.***

Elliot's first steam bath

Day Two - Sitting up and Spitting up

2009-02-10T20:44:00.006-06:00

First off, Daddy is feeling much better. Elliot, however, still can't shake her little cold. She is coughing and you can hear the mucus rattling around in her little lungs. It is so sad... At one point she was trying to cough up mucus and in turn, threw up her whole bottle (thus the second half of the title)! Fun times... We are preparing for a long night...

But that didn't keep her from having another fun day with Mommy! They played all day, which is good b/c Mommy is back to work for the next two days. Below are some pictures of their day together.

Elliot needed a bath after the bottle incident!

Eating a plastic carrot and playing with her shopping cart. She loves that thing!

And finally, what you have all been waiting for... The big girl sitting up! She can also wave too, and she does it a little bit here, but hopefully we will be able to catch her doing it better. Thanks for stopping by, we will be back tomorrow with tales from Ms. Angie's house!

Day One - All Grown Up

2009-02-09T20:54:00.006-06:00

Daddy and Elliot both have a cold, so the update will be a little shorter tonight.

Today was a girl's day, as Elliot and Mommy got to hang out all day together. She is getting so big! She can sit up on her own and wave (we will get to that later in the week). She is also rolling all over the place. Here are some pictures from the past couple weeks, along with some from today.

Elliot eating a teething biscuit

Mommy and Elliot before church

Elliot playing hide and seek in her hamper

OH MY GOODNESS!

Nap time with her booty in the air

Tune in tomorrow to see how well she is sitting up on her own!

Coming Soon...

2009-02-08T21:18:00.003-06:00

The purpose of this blog is to keep people up-t0-date that can't see Elliot on a regular basis. We have been doing a terrible job, so to reward your patience, you will be treated to "A Week in the Life of Elliot"! Starting tomorrow, we will update the blog every day for a week. She has lots of new tricks and she can't wait to share them with you!

More Christmas Pictures, Courtesy of Ryan Jackson Photography

2009-01-18T19:35:00.006-06:00

Here are some pictures that Uncle Ry Ry took at Christmas. As always, if you would like to inquire about his services, please check out his blog.

And We're Back.....

2009-01-09T15:40:00.005-06:00

Elliot's first Christmas was a lot of fun. Before we packed up to head to Amarillo, we had a small family Christmas at our house. Elliot got her "Santa" present about 2 months ago, so we just gave her a couple of small things.

The tip of the iceberg!

We arrived in Amarillo on the Sunday before Christmas to sub freezing temperatures. No fun! But in true A-town fashion, it warmed up in time for Christmas. We spent Christmas day at the Jackson household. We had 22 people in the house at one time. Yikes!!

Elliot tearing into a present at Nonni and Pops

Cute family picture...

On the 26th, we had the Allen family Christmas. Or day two of Operation: Spoil Elliot! It was lots of fun, and wrapped up with a mean game of Cranium (which Jennie and I won!).

Elliot taking on a present at Bunny's house

Of course, on the day we left to come back home, the weather turned again. This time it was Elliot's first snow! I'm not sure she knew what was going on, but she did know it was cold.

Who needs a coat when you have this kickin' hat and mittens?

Elliot rockin her new stylish boots

Elliot did roll over a few times while we were in Amarillo (once sans clothes and diaper). But since we have been home she has been rolling over more often and is even sitting up on her own (kind of).

Getting a little wobbly here guys...

Timber!!!

Elliot playing in her new bath tub with her Elmo fishing rod

Elliot has also started to eat food. Mom is even making some for her. Here is a picture of Elliot in her new high chair (she got lots of new things) and enjoying some squash.

Really enjoying it...

So that is the latest updates, we will try to be better about posting. Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Tis the Season...

2008-12-18T14:00:00.005-06:00

Hello all of you Jackson 3 blog followers! Sorry we haven't updated the blog in a while, it's not that we have been really busy, we are just kind of lazy. If Elliot is asleep we are just chilling out or asleep as well, and blogging definitely falls below picking up the house or any other chores that we have to do (OCD!!). However, I did want to catch everyone up on what has gone on the past couple of weeks.

The big news is that Elliot got her frenulum (piece of skin under her tongue) clipped on Friday. (for more answers on why we did this, please consult Jennie as I don't think she wants it broadcast over the web.) She recovered like a champ and by Friday afternoon she was going to town in her jumper (I think it was harder on Mom and Dad). Saturday, Jennie tried to venture out to the mall with Elliot while Dad worked. Not such a great idea as Elliot started running a fever while she was there. Saturday night the fever was still there so we took her to the Pediatric Urgent Care Center to make sure that her tongue wasn't infected. Tongue, no.... Ear, yes... So Elliot has her first ear infection under her belt! She was a little fussy on Sunday during Dad and Daughter football day, but not too bad considering minor surgery with an ear infection on top! Now, she is doing great!

We are headed to the frigid plains of the Texas Panhandle for Christmas. We are looking forward to seeing everyone. She always seems to do new things in Amarillo (holding off for the grandparents, I guess), so hopefully we can master rolling over (back to front) while we are there.

We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and we will be sure to take lots of pictures.

Love,

Jordan, Jennie, and Elliot

Giggling Baby and Christmas Trees

2008-12-02T20:42:00.006-06:00

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mommy had to work, so Elliot and Daddy packed up and headed over to have Thanksgiving with our good friends Amy and Andrew and their family. And, yes, we brought plenty of left overs home to Mom!

The rest of the weekend, we took it pretty easy. We did motivate ourselves to decorate for Christmas though (we missed you Sammy Christmas, but you are always in our hearts!). We made a bold decision to leave the fake tree in the attic and on Sunday we headed out to the forrest (aka Lowes) to find our Christmas tree. Below are some pictures of the finished product! Also, check out the video at the bottom of the blog. We had to do the sneaky camera angle b/c she would get distracted when she saw the camera.

Elliot and Emory enjoying Thanksgiving together!

Thug Life!

2008-11-25T23:16:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving! If you see these two in a dark alley you better turn and run!

Going to the Chapel...

2008-11-22T21:22:00.007-06:00

We have had a pretty busy last couple of weeks. First off, we wanted to say congratulations to Elizabeth and Wesley. It was a beautiful wedding and everyone had a great time!

We headed up to Amarillo last week for the big day. It was a crazy couple of days as Jennie helped get everything perfect for the big day. While there were some close calls, everything went off without a hitch on the big day. Here are some pictures from the reception and the wedding.

Jennie and Berkeley (w/ Mia)

Daddy and Elliot partying the night away. She still has some lessons to learn about being more lady-like!

Bunny and Nonni trying to get Elliot to go to sleep.

The Ryan Jackson photography team. We will post some of their pictures when they are ready.

Uncle Thomas holding Elliot

Elliot is getting so big and finally growing out of her fussy phase. All the hard work that we have put in over the last four plus months is starting to pay off! She is a lot of fun and she is a very happy baby. She is 13 lbs and 24 inches long. She has started eating cereal every night before bed. At first it was very messy (see below), but now she has this "eating with a spoon" thing down. Everyday it seems like she is doing something new. She is even starting to put herself to sleep at night. So thanks for the prayers and support! Here are some pictures from before we left town. We decided to give Elliot an early Christmas present. She still is a little small for it, but she is starting to get the hang of it.

I'm a big girl! Daddy get out of the way! I'm trying to watch the game...

I'm so pretty!

Here is Elliot trying to sit in her Bumbo chair. Again, watching TV.

Here is her first cereal experience. She is a lot better at it now!

Elliot's First Halloween!

2008-10-31T20:23:00.007-05:00

We are not big on Halloween, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get Elliot dressed up in a cute costume. We thought it would be weird to "trick or treat" with her since it would just be a shameless attempt to show her off, and we would have to be the ones asking for candy, so we just got her dressed up and took pictures. The outfit was really hot and it shed really bad, so we have white fuzzies everywhere! Including all in her mouth since she likes to eat everything! Here are some pictures from Elliot's first Halloween!

This is her natural hair style, it isn't part of a costume! We call it the "Aftershock" since it looks like she just got electrocuted...

Elliot as a sweet bunny!

She even had a little tail

What's up Doc?

Sleepy bunny....

The costume was a little big as you can see it fit Mommy (kind of)! So we might have a little bunny again next year...

Picture Catch Up - Amarillo Trip

2008-10-30T22:30:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures from our Amarillo trip. Elliot got plenty of attention and was the life of the party!

Elliot taking it all in!

Aunt Missa came and visited the weekend before we left town.

Somebody needs a nap!

Elliot loves her cousin Malachi

"If I have to get in the car again, I think I'll go crazy!"

Elliot and Minnow (forgot to turn the picture...Sorry...)

Bunny having fun with Elliot

Elliot and Papa

Papa talking to Elliot

No Visual Evidence

2008-10-18T19:20:00.005-05:00

Last weekend we made our much anticipated trip to Amarillo and Elliot did awesome! We left Thursday morning and she slept for 3 hours until we woke her up to feed her, then she went back to sleep for the rest of the trip. And on Sunday when we came home, it was the exact same. I feared a screaming baby for long stretches between towns, but, thankfully, it didn't happen. We had a lot of fun seeing friends and family and we would have loved to show you some pictures, however, in our haste to hit the road, we left our camera behind... So you will just have to take our word that we went as we have no visual evidence to support it!

On a side note, I couldn't be prouder of my siblings, especially when they team up on a project. Ryan took Ashlan's engagement pictures (which you can see here.) last weekend and did an awesome job (like always). It is still hard for me to believe that my little sister is getting married... I feel so old! I love you guys!

Elliot is getting big! She is fitting into her 3 month outfits, she is starting to "talk" and her neck is getting stronger so she is holding her head up more. The last one makes her look like a bobble head and she reminds me of David Gray when he sings. That is a very obscure reference so I included a video of him singing (since we don't have anything else to show you!).

And here is my favorite David Gray song (Lately) just for fun (lots of bobble head action around the 3:00 minute mark), it is long so I don't blame you if you don't stick with it...

Bedtime Story

2008-09-24T21:54:00.005-05:00

Today we told Elliot we would be taking a special trip in a few weeks. She pondered what this could mean and where we were going........

We told her we wouldn't be riding on the big airplane this time, and she wondered how we were going to get there and still was curious about where we were going.......

Elliot was shocked to hear we would be driving for over 6 hours to reach our destination!!!!!

But then we told her we were going to Amarillo to see Aunt Bubzees, Uncle Dub, Aunt Missa, Aunt "B", Aunt Jamie, Uncle Thomas, cousin Malachi, Minnow, Mema, Aunt Pam, Dofey, Stephie, and lots more friends!!!!

And...........BUNNY, NONNI, and POPS!!!!!! Yeah!!!!! Elliot could not hide her excitement.....

Elliot can't wait to get to Amarillo to see everyone, but all this excitement wore her out. Sweet dreams little baby.

More pics......

Pig Tails!

2008-09-23T23:36:00.004-05:00

We tried to do something with Elliot's crazy hair and the results are below... Pig tails! We thought we got better pictures, so, sorry you can't see her face.

Another Hair Experiment. The Birthday Candle!

Nonni and Pops came to visit this weekend and here is Pops burping Elliot. He has his own distinct style, but it works...

Ten Bears in the Bed and the Little One Said...

2008-09-23T23:16:00.005-05:00

Rollover!

Getting Bigger!

2008-09-11T21:15:00.007-05:00

Sorry it has been so long! Here are some more pictures. As you can see, she took in her first Ranger game! She is getting so big and smiling a lot more.

Two Major Oversites

2008-08-29T09:49:00.003-05:00

It's inevitable that when you are trying to pack a lot of information into a post, you are going to leave some stuff out. But the stuff you leave out should be small stuff, not big news like this...

First off, congratulations to my sister Ashlan who is now engaged! Jennie and I couldn't be happier for you and Bryan and we are excited to welcome Bryan into our family. We love you guys and can't wait to see what the future holds.

And the second news is Jennie's best friend Berkeley is pregnant! We are so happy for you and we are praying that it is a boy! We know that you are going to be awesome parents and it will be so much fun to watch our kids grow up together.

So, sorry for leaving that out, but on the bright side you got your own post out of it!

Have you ever seen so much HAIR?

2008-08-28T20:21:00.005-05:00

Get Comfortable...

2008-08-28T14:11:00.006-05:00

This is going to be a long one...

A lot has happened since we last blogged, so let's just take it from the top...

(I will be doing a second post of just pictures shortly)

First off, and this probably deserves it's own post, Helen Elliott (Jennie's grandmother) passed away on August 12th. It was the most peaceful funeral that I have ever been too. She had mentioned to us that she was ready to go, so we are sad that she isn't here any more, but we are happy that she is in a better place (that sounds so cliche and doesn't begin to do justice to where she is).

On that note, you may notice Helen's last name... Yes, Elliot is named after her. When we decided to go with Elliot, we had a peace about it, but since it is such a rare name for a girl (not to mention a boy's name), there was still part of me that was wondering if we were doing the right thing. Well, during Grandma's funeral, I got complete confirmation. Since we were pregnant we have been praying over Elliot and for specific character traits, mainly a servant's heart, compassion for others, a laid back attitude, and to do God's will for her life, to name a few. It was awesome to hear how Grandma Elliott taught 2nd grade Sunday School for 35 years! And that she was always asking what she could do to help out at church. If that isn't a servant's heart, I don't know what is. I just felt during the funeral that naming our daughter Elliot was exactly what we were supposed to do and it was a very peaceful feeling. We love you Grandma and we miss you! We are so glad that Elliot is named after you!

Jennie and Elliot took their first plane ride as Mother and Daughter to Amarillo so that Elliot could meet all of our friends and family that haven't had a chance to come down. Flying out of Dallas was an adventure to say the least, but once they got there they had a great time visiting everyone. I think Elliot misses Bunny, Nonni, and Pops already!

When the girls are away, the boys will play! I thought that I would get to catch up on sleep while they were out of town. Quite the opposite! It was the busiest weekend that I have had in quite some time. Ryan, Dad, and Uncle PJ all came in town for the weekend and after dropping off Jen and Elliot at the airport we headed over to our Fantasy Football Draft! Once again, the Air Jordans look like a team to be reckoned with. From the draft we went to Dallas for the Dave Matthews Concert (more on this below). That got us home on Saturday night around 1:00 am. On Sunday, I drove to Haskell, TX for Grandma's funeral and found out 2 hours into my 2 hour and 30 minute drive that Ryan had left his keys in my car, making his return trip to Austin very difficult. Once I got back in town, I picked up Dad and PJ and went to take Ryan his keys, we then picked up a bite to eat, helped Ashlan unload her car, then checked out The Dark Knight on the IMAX screen.....at 10:30 pm. So we didn't get home on Sunday night until 2:00 am. Monday it was back to work, which included a game that night. Getting home around 10 pm, I then had to straighten up the house from "Boy's Weekend" in preparation for Jennie and Elliot to come back. I think I got less sleep that weekend than I have had since Elliot was born. It was fun though...

We spent last week trying to catch up from our busy previous weekend, but last night we were ready to break out of the house for a big "date night"! We had Ashlan baby sit and after over explaining everything to her, we set out for the Tom Petty concert. We caught the train over to the AAC and got settled into our seats. It was one of the most fun nights we have had in while. The people watching was fun, we were making each other laugh all night, the Petty show was awesome (especially the sing alongs on Free Fallin and Learning to Fly), the train ride home was an adventure as we were treated to continuous drunk conversations going on all around us (including a couple that didn't stop talking from when they got on the train, to when they got off. Luckily they weren't sitting across from us.). All in all, it was a really fun night and nice to get away just the two of us, however, we did find ourselves missing Elliot quite a bit.

Another big bit of news is that we got Elliot's daycare situation squared away! It was a tremendous stress relief, not to mention answer to prayer. Jennie goes back to work two days a week at the end of September, and now we have somewhere to take her while Jennie is at work. Thanks Angie!!

So that is what we have been up to in the past month. Sorry for the lack of post updates, but hopefully once the baseball season ends we will be able to post more often. I hope you like the updated look as well. I figured that it was time to switch to pink!

A quick aside... The Dave Matthews Band lost one of their founding members last week. LeRoi Moore (saxophone player) died of complications from an ATV accident in June. This has been my favorite band since I was in 8th grade and I have been going to see them live for 10 years. To be honest, if I had to rank my favorite band members from 1-5, LeRoi would have come in 4th or 5th, but I found myself missing him during this last concert. Since his accident they have had a fill in playing with the band, thinking that he would eventually came back. Unfortunately that won't happen. He was a really cool guy that will be missed. He wore sunglasses to combat stage fright, and sometimes during a show he would take them off and that made you feel good because it was like we made him feel comfortable enough not to hide behind his glasses. I loved those rare treats. It was also fun to listen to his solos to see what Wizard of Oz reference or TV theme song he was going to try to sneak in. I will miss that. Below is an example of that. LeRoi, you will be sorely missed. If you run into Helen Elliot, please play "How Great Thou Art" or "Amazing Grace" on your saxophone for her.

The Yankee's Are Gone... And an Unorthodox Lullaby

2008-08-08T21:58:00.002-05:00

I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that the Yankees have left town! Their fans are not easy to deal with and, to make matters worse, they were the last four games of an 11 game homestand. I am very tired, and am glad to have the weekend to recharge.

A quick update on the home front...

Thanks for all of the support regarding our last post. I can say that things have gotten better, but there are still difficult times to be sure. Elliot is eating and sleeping well and we can officially rule out colic! Jennie had an appointment with a lactation specialist earlier this week and they gave her a lot of good pointers and really boosted her confidence. So, thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. They are working and we are learning how to be parents!

There are still times when she is fussy and if you happened to have a hidden microphone in our house, you more than likely will hear the following lyrics coming from either one of us...

She's a good girl, loves her momma

Loves Jesus, and America too

She's a good girl, crazy about Elvis

Loves horses, and her daddy too

(I took some creative liberties with that last line, cause we don't want to think about boyfriends!)

It is an originally a Tom Petty song, but we sing the new John Mayer version which we can't enough of. I have lots of thoughts on John Mayer, but that is for another blog. Here is his version of Free Fallin'. I love this song... Enjoy!

Parenting - Adrenaline + Monotony = Hard Work

2008-07-29T20:49:00.003-05:00

Well, the adrenaline has worn off, and the reality of being parents is setting in. After all of the bragging that we did about Elliot's temperament, she has hit a fussy phase. It is part upset tummy, part wanting to be held, which adds up to no fun. Throw in the fact that the Rangers just started their longest home stand of the year (and first one since I went back to work) and this has been a trying week. We are in the process of implementing a feed/wake/sleep schedule which she is doing pretty good at, but the crux of the plan is letting them cry themselves to sleep. Unfortunately, Mom and Dad's nerves are pretty shot by 2 a.m. and the plan goes right out the window and we are trying everything just to get her to sleep so we can sleep! Take last night, for example, Jennie stayed up with her until midnight, and after feeding her, tried to lay her down, and Elliot wasn't having it. Of course I was already dead asleep and was in no mood to let her cry herself to sleep, so I go pick her up and do my patented "Walk Laps Around the House" which is always a sure fire way to get her to go to sleep...

Not last night... We tried everything from the swing, to our bed, to rocking her, and nothing was working... Finally at 2 am, we put in a Scrubs dvd and sat on the couch and laughed at the stupidist jokes because we were so simpled out! I can't remember how it happened, (I'm pretty sure I was holding her), but we got her to go to sleep. It was awesome. You are really searching for any moral victory you can get your hands on.

We are reading the Baby Wise book that many of our friends have recommended and have just come across the colic section. It can show up in between the 2nd and 4th week (Elliot is 4 weeks tomorrow), so that might be the problem, but if it is, I think it is just a minor case.

I don't say all of this for any one to feel sorry for us. I think young parents are conditioned to say how great it is, but you don't hear many own up to how hard it is. Maybe they feel like people will think that they don't love their baby. I don't know... It is awesome and we love her a lot, but we also really like sleep and getting out of the house on a whim. It is hard to just change your whole life at the drop of a hat, but you do it. We couldn't do it unless we were a great team.

So to sum it all up, we love being parents, but it is a lot different and a lot harder than our previous life was. That isn't a bad thing, it is an honest thing...

Pray that it isn't colic and pray that she gets in a good routine. Thanks for all of the support and thanks to our parents for putting up with us as newborns! We have a whole new respect for you!

Picture Catch Up

2008-07-24T22:04:00.003-05:00

Here are some cute pictures. Bath time has been a lot more successful as you will see and Jennie made me a beautiful cake for my birthday! Enjoy!

Bath Time!!

2008-07-17T19:26:00.003-05:00

We gave Elliot her first bath a couple of days ago, and let's just say, it didn't got well.... There was screaming and crying, the water may have been a little on the cold side because we didn't want it to be too hot. I don't think she liked it very much. We have video evidence to back this up, but I haven't figured out the art of transferring video from my video camera to the computer. Oh well, it is probably for the best unless you love to hear the cries of a newborn...

A couple days later I hear that another bath was attempted by Jennie, Melissa, and Bunny while I was at work and that this bath was much more successful. It even included splashing and playing in the water. I haven't seen anything to confirm this, so I will have to just take their word for it. Although, when I came home, she did smell very clean... So maybe it is true...

Here are some post bath pictures from the first bath. I think she was glad to be out of there!

Ninja Wars

2008-07-12T20:41:00.002-05:00

It is time for the One Week at Home Report. Yes, it is hard to believe that we have been home for a little over a week. Things have been pretty smooth so far. But, we have encountered something interesting these past couple of days...

Elliot has super strong legs which has made diaper changing and swaddling some what difficult. I call her my little ninja because she seems to be able to kick out of anything. (Quick aside: Jennie wants everyone to know that Elliot seems to be a fan of playing tricks on Daddy. She waits until I have taken her dirty diaper off, then I am greeted by a surprise fountain with nothing to protect myself! Jennie finds this very funny because it hasn't happened to her...yet...) And we're back... So, after we feed and change her diaper, we swaddle her. My little ninja likes to kick out of her swaddle. Little does she know that Mommy and Daddy have been trained in the art of ninja swaddling! Thus, a war has been waged. We use intense focus each time we swaddle to try to make it perfect, and she tries her best to kick out of it. Let the games begin!

Now, I know what some of you are thinking... Why are you swaddling her, it is obvious that she doesn't like it since she kicks out of it. Not true my friend... Each time she uses her ninja skills to break the swaddle, she is fussy and uncomfortable until we fix it for her. I think it is a case of her not knowing her own strength (did I mention she has freakishly strong legs?). So, if you ever wondered who would win in a battle between a Ninja Baby and Ninja Swaddlers, give round one to the baby, but we will rebound, and we will be victorious!

Stay tuned, as we will post pictures from her first bath soon!

Recapping the Big Day

2008-07-08T17:14:00.006-05:00

It has been a very busy week, but at the same time it has been incredible. We are kind of getting into a routine of eat, sleep, diaper/outfit change, repeat...

Here is how the big day went down!

We made it to the hospital at 7 am. All of Jennie's work friends were excited to see us. They had our room all ready with a sweet poster on the door that they had all signed. For those of you that don't know, we delivered at the hospital where Jennie is a labor and delivery nurse, so we got the royal treatment to say the least. After getting checked in, they started Jennie's IV and Dr. Livingston came around 9 am and broke her water. The contractions got a little more intense after that and at 10:30 she got her epidural.

This is Jennie after the epidural (first four pictures are courtesy of Ryan Jackson Photography)...

Our delivery room

Jennie's belly

The excited parents!

After the epidural, things started to slow down..... She stayed at 4 cm from 11 am to 4 pm. We were getting kind of worried since she wasn't progressing very quickly. But at 4 she was 6 cm, then at 5:30 she was complete. Then we "labored down" for an hour. That is one of many inside L & D terms that I learned during this experience. It means that even though you are ready to push, you just wait it out for a little bit so you don't have to push as long. Well, at 6:30 we got ready to push. I was very nervous because I was the only person in the room that doesn't do this for a living! It was way less stressful than I thought it would be. The epidural makes life very easy. Jennie pushed for almost 30 minutes and at 6:54 pm she was born! It was an awesome experiance to see her and to watch them put her on Jennie's chest. It was a really special moment. Here are some pictures from right after the birth. Thanks to Lisa for taking the pictures...

Our first family photo

Here she is posing as she gets weighed. Jazz hands!

It was a really special day for all of us. The hospital stay was as nice as a hospital stay can be. The whole staff really showered their love on Jennie and Elliot while we were there. It was awesome to see how much she is loved.

The first night was interesting. We kept her in the room with us and tried to get some sleep (yeah right). It wasn't so bad, as the excitement and adrenaline were enough to get us through. I can't brag enough about how good of a baby she is. She eats like a champion every two hours, she doesn't cry very often, she sleeps good. I don't want to jinx it, but so far, she is an awesome baby. We went for her doctor's appointment today and they didn't have to do the jaundice blood work because she looked so good! Also, she is almost back at her birth weight so they said we could skip the 2 week appointment! Nice work Elliot!

We have had so much support from friends and family and we are so thankful to everyone! We are utterly and truly blessed! Here are a few more pictures....

Another family photo back at home

Mommy and Elliot taking a well deserved nap!

Our little alert Elliot trying to get the camera!

Elliot Grace

2008-07-04T16:15:00.003-05:00

She is here and we are home. I will posted a longer blog with pictures in a few days, once we get settled in. Here are a few pictures to tide you over! She was born at 6:54 on July 2nd. She was 6 lbs 7 oz and 20.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing awesome! Elliot is a breast feeding machine! She is such a good baby, we are truly blessed! Plus, look how beautiful she is!

A quick note to my daughter

2008-06-30T20:00:00.002-05:00

I can't wait for you to get here. I can't wait to see you for the first time. I can't wait to see the first time that Mommy holds you (you are extra special to Mommy, you will learn why in time). I can't wait to bring you home. I can't wait to change your diaper (at 10 pm, 12 am, 2 am, 4 am, 6 am, and so on...). I can't wait to watch you sleep. I can't wait to show you off. I can't wait to see your little personality. I can't wait to see you smile. I can't wait to hear you laugh. I can't wait to tickle you so much that you laugh uncontrollably. I can't wait to be called Daddy. I can't wait to be overtaken by pink. I can't wait to protect you when you are scared. I can't wait to read you your favorite book. I can't wait to see you dance. I can't wait to have tea parties with you. I can't wait to watch the Rangers with you. I can't wait for you to fall asleep on me. I can't wait to carry you to your bed. I can't wait to teach you all kinds of cool things. I can't wait to play fun games together. I can't wait to teach you about all the different sports. I can't wait to take you to church. I can't wait to tell you about Jesus. I can't wait to go on "daddy dates" with you. I can't wait to teach you to ride a bike. I can't wait to hold you. I can't wait to hug you. I can't wait to kiss you. But most of all... I can't wait for you to get here. Did I mention why?

I love you so much!

Love,

Daddy

MVP

2008-06-29T10:06:00.004-05:00

Most Valuable Pregnant Person. I keep telling Jennie she is the MVP because she has been incredible during this pregnancy. I have heard horror stories about emotions, bedrest, cravings, etc. and she has done an awesome job. Of course she asks for her feet to be rubbed, she has talked me into picking up dinner, and there have been some emotional times, (she's not a robot) but I guess I was expecting worse. She is still working, today is her last day, and yesterday she was planting flowers! I just want to let everyone know how proud I am of her and what an awesome job she has done. I know she is going to carry this over into labor and motherhood and win the Most Valuable Triple Crown (Pregnancy, Labor and Delivery, and Mommy). Below is my beautiful wife and mother-to-be before our date night. And yes, she looks that good at 38 weeks. I love you!

We did get to go on our last pre-parenthood date night last night (even though the threat of rain and me getting called into work had us a little nervous). We had a really fun day, we got donuts for breakfast, came home and did yard work, hit the pool, got all cleaned up and then went on our date. We went to Olive Garden and then went to see Wall-E. It was a great day.

Alas.... The 26th has come and gone...

2008-06-27T09:17:00.002-05:00

Well, if you remember a few posts back we were hoping for the 26th to be the day that Elliot came. That didn't happen, but in a funny way, we are kind of glad. We are very structured, so we like to have a plan and having her induction date helps that. And we are really taking advantage of our last pre-parenthood days together. We will both be sleeping in this weekend, we will probably hit the pool on Saturday, and that night we are going to go on our final "date night" without a little one. So it is kind of nice that we can enjoy these things together as we get ready for the next chapter of our lives. Thanks for praying, but as a great song writer once said, "Some of God's greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers."

And, yes, I just quoted Garth Brooks...

That Must Be A Family Name...

2008-06-25T20:48:00.002-05:00

We are inside of a week! Elliot could come at anytime, but if she doesn't come on her own, we will get the process started on July 2nd. A week from today!

We are naming our daughter Elliot Grace and we have gotten some very interesting reactions to say the least. Elliot means 'the Lord is my God' and it is Jennie's mom's maiden name. It is also the name of a girl character on our favorite TV show "Scrubs", but we aren't naming her after that. We liked the name and watching Scrubs did give us the guts to pull the trigger. We had it picked out before we knew what we were having and we just knew that we were going to have a boy and we wouldn't get to use that name. We want her to have a unique name and we realize that people are going to think that she is a boy. We weighed these challenges and figured that she will have no problem overcoming them.

Now, on to the reactions of some people...

We get two basic reactions.

1) "Do you have a name picked out?"

"Elliot Grace"

"So, you are going to call her Elli."

Thank you for not coming right out and saying that you dislike it so much that we will obviously call her something else! When we first started telling people, we would proactively say, "Her name is Elliot, but we will probably call her Elli." We were afraid that people wouldn't like it since it was so different. But after a while we realized that we needed to stand behind the name if we believed in it. And we do. So now we answer back, "No, I think we will call her Elliot." Which as we just told you, is her name...

2) "Do you have a name picked out?"

"Elliot Grace"

"Oh, is that a family name?"

Now, our answer is yes because that is the truth, but after so many people asked that question I realized what they were saying. You obviously are being forced to name her Elliot because it has been passed down through the family because no one would pick that name on their own.

Is this a little overly dramatic? Yes. I guess I am already in protective Dad mode. Not everyone is going to like it (I wish they would hide it better), that is what makes it unique. We recently spoke with two separate people that told us that they knew female Elliots and that gave us peace and confirmation. We love her name and we are so in love with her. We can't wait to hold her!

And if you are having trouble with her name, go watch a couple episodes of Scrubs!

Seven days! (or less...)

Happy Birthday Uncle Ry Ry

2008-06-24T19:33:00.004-05:00

I thought I would give some birthday props to my little brother. He is always posting birthday messages on his blog, so I thought I would return the favor (even though it is a day late!). I know you were hoping that Elliot would come on your birthday, but it looks like she wants to have a day all to herself!

Happy 24th Birthday! We love you! You are going to be an awesome uncle.

Greatest Hits

2008-06-19T23:44:00.003-05:00

I am sitting at the computer listening to the new Coldplay album, and contemplating the big change that is about to happen (less than two weeks out, but that isn't what this blog is about). So far (about halfway in) it is really good and I definitely recommend it if you are into that sort of thing. It is called Viva la Vida, check it out...

Listening to music and thinking about becoming a parent has caused me to reflect on some of my childhood memories. I don't have many memories of watching TV (besides some cartoons), a lot of my favorite memories revolve around listening to music. I can remember sitting in our living room and Dad playing Huey Lewis and the News and Simon & Garfunkel on the record player. Yes, I am old enough to remember record players. I loved looking at the album cases and singing and dancing along to the songs. I can also remember when CD's came out and the Tears for Fears CD that Dad brought home. Sowing the Seeds of Love is still a jam! This is definitely something that I am going to carry on. I can't wait to introduce Elliot to Dave Matthews Band and Coldplay along with the Beatles, James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, etc. (sorry Dad, I think I'll leave out Huey Lewis, though I will teach her that it is 'Hip to be Square'!) Thanks Mom and Dad! I am eternally grateful!

These are the kinds of things I think about as the nervousness builds. The Waiting is the Hardest Part.... Oh yeah, add Tom Petty to the list too!

Get out your calendars

2008-06-17T22:27:00.002-05:00

After talking with Dr. Livingston, we have picked an induction date. Elliot will come no later than July 2nd! However, she can come earlier, and that is what we are hoping for. We want her to surprise us and we have been giving her pep talks that echo that. We would like her to come on June 26th for a number of selfish reasons so be praying that she obeys her parents.

We also want to give a quick shout out to Jennie's sister Elizabeth who just got engaged this weekend. We are so happy for you and Wesley! We love you guys!

Stay tuned, as news is sure to come fast and furious now...

Update....as the time draws near...

2008-06-11T13:25:00.002-05:00

I am starting this post with a quick note about blogging... I think that most of you know that I, Jordan, write the blogs. However, reading all of our friends blogs it seems that blogging is VERY housewife intensive. That puts me in interesting company. I feel like I should be writing about sports or something, or that I should turn over the blogging to Jennie. But, as anyone that has e-mailed her knows, this would not be in the best interest of all of you that long for information about us. Jennie and computers aren't really a match made in heaven, she can surf the internet, but that is about as far as her interest goes. She should have been born decades earlier b/c she doesn't need computers and her life is much simpler for it! It was my idea to start the blog, but at the time I didn't realize that I would have to turn in my "Man" card at the same time. Maybe it is helping me get ready for all of the "girly" things that are about to be a stable of my life. Oh well, I enjoy it, even if that places me squarely in the housewife club! Now, on to the rest of the blog...

Here we go... It is starting to get real. Her room is ready, all the necessities are bought, everything is assembled, all we need is a baby. And that is where reality sets in... It is hard to believe that we might not get out of June as just a couple. It has been a few weeks since the last update, so I thought I would bring everyone up to speed on what we have been doing.

Jennie goes to the doctor once a week now. Everything looks good, so there isn't a lot of new news on that front, we are just waiting for something to happen. She also had a work shower last week. Thanks to all of her work friends, we pretty much got everything else that we needed and yesterday we went and used our gift cards to get everything else. So, her room is ready, complete with video monitor, the Pack'n Play is set up next to our bed, bottles are washed and in the cabinet, so we are ready.

Jennie is healthy, she is just tired of being pregnant. She thinks that Elliot is coming in June, I think it will be July, so we will see. Anyone else have any guesses?

On Monday night we went to an Infant Care class. It was very interesting and beneficial, as I am now able to swaddle, bathe, change a diaper, and many other things, at least on a doll. I assume the degree of difficulty will sharply increase with a real baby, but for now I like to think that I am an expert (and yes, I fully expect to be humbled).

So, that is what is going on in our lives! Since time is short we will try to update more often, especially with nursery pictures.

A shower, A baseball game, A concert, and A dr.'s appt.

2008-05-22T20:58:00.005-05:00

We had a very busy weekend. Jennie's best friend came to visit and they had a fun "Girl's Weekend" full of shopping and talking and movie watching. Saturday morning was our Keller baby shower and we got more great stuff. Thanks to everyone that came and a special thanks to everyone that helped put it together. Here are some pictures...

Saturday night, we went to the Ranger game and watched them destroy the Astros again. After the game we stuck around for the Robert Earl Keen Concert. It was a lot of fun and Berkeley ended up getting her picture taken with Kevin Millwood (Ranger pitcher that was sitting right next to us). She has the picture on her camera, so hopefully she will send it to us so we can post it. More pictures from the game and concert...

We had another Dr.'s appointment on Tuesday. The sonogram is measuring Elliot at 4 lbs. 9 oz. That sounded big to us, but it is only in the 48th percentile. Still we are hoping that she decides to come a little early. We don't want an 8 lb baby! Yikes!! We have 7 more weeks to go until our due date. Start the countdown!

Finally, a quick shout out to our new nephew Thomas Malachi Allen. He was born Friday, May 16th! He came a little early, but him and his parents are home and doing great.

A-Town Shower!

2008-05-08T21:31:00.002-05:00

We headed up to Amarillo last weekend for our hometown baby shower. It was really good to see everybody and we got a lot of really great stuff. Thanks to Elizabeth for hosting the shower at her new house! And thanks to all the hostesses (Aunt Barbara, Berkeley, and Brandy) for making it such a wonderful experience. It was perfect! Thanks to everyone that came and thanks for all of our awesome gifts! Elliot is going to love them! Below are the shower pictures. As you can see, it was lots of fun! Notice Jennie's mom is living up to her "grandma name" (Bunny) in some of the pictures!

Thanks again to everyone that helped out! We love you guys! Bring on the Keller Shower!!

Playing Catch-Up

2008-04-29T22:37:00.008-05:00

We have spent the last two weekends trying to get the nursery ready. First, Elliot's Uncle Ryan and Aunt Brittnye came up from Austin to visit (and bring Elliot's bedding), so we put them to work! They, along with our friends Matt and Sam, helped paint, hang curtain rods and shelves, and do a little yard work. We had a lot of fun and we celebrated with a big diner at Babe's.

Uncle Ryan taking care of the trim

Ryan acting silly with the curtain rod

Brittnye and Jennie painting away!

Sam, Matt, Jordan, and Ryan

Nursery Picture #1 (lots of books)

Nursery Picture #2

I hope Elliot likes birds!

Bedding Picture #1

Bedding Picture #2

Nursery Picture #3 (look close to see the polka dots!)

So, as you can see, we have worked very hard and the nursery is almost done. Now all we need is a baby! 2 months to go!

This weekend we are heading up to Amarillo for our Amarillo Baby Shower. We will post pictures of that next week. Have a good week!

Elliot's Big Debut...Kind of...

2008-04-16T18:39:00.009-05:00

It feels like we lead off every blog post with an apology for not updating more often. But the Rangers first home stand is finally over, amid Opening Day, a rain out, a double header, and a pre game concert, we weren't able to update the blog. So, with all of that behind us, we should be able to put new stuff up.

Today was a big day for us as it was our 4D appointment. A 4D is basically a live action movie of Elliot in Mommy's tummy. We prayed and prayed that she would keep her hands down so that we could see her face. Our prayers were answered... However, the placenta was anterior with means that it is on the front of the uterus. Where do you take 4D pictures you ask?? That's right, the front of the uterus... So we were able to get some pictures and movie clips, but it had to be taken through the placenta which gave us some distorted (horror movie-like) pictures. So, no, Elliot doesn't have a disfigured face, her poor face is pressed up against the placenta! You can get a decent idea of what she looks like, with a little imagination. You can see her lips (Daddy's) and her nose (Mommy's?), but other than that, it will remain a mystery... Joe the sonographer measured her and said that she weighed 2 lbs 7 oz, which is a little bit bigger than we were expecting... Hopefully she doesn't keep up t

his pace or she comes early, or else we could be looking at an 8 pound baby! Yikes!

Two of the videos are face shots and two are feet/leg shots (with a random hand thrown in there). Without further ado, here is our shy daughter, hiding behind the placenta... Enjoy...

Jennie has been eyeing a picture for the nursery and we finally got it today. She is very excited.

Drop it like it's hot!

2008-04-01T19:28:00.007-05:00

I hope you all have been enjoying the Flight of the Conchords! There is more where that came from, but I won't bore you with that for now.

You may be wondering what the title of the blog post means....

Well, after much deliberation. We have decided to drop the last "t" off of Elliot's name. We think that it looks more feminine and it give's it more of an original and distinct feel. So, I'm sorry if you are in the process of monogramming something, we will understand if it is too late. So, our daughter's official name is.... Elliot Grace Jackson!

We traveled up to A-town for Easter to see our families. We were having a great time until Jennie got sick on Saturday night... Oh well, it was still nice to see everyone! Highlights included watching Sandy "work" at the Cheer Texas building, hitting up Furr's Cafeteria, seeing Berks and Jaden, bowling, and eating at the Amarillo Club. Here are some pictures of Easter Weekend...

Thomas, Wes, and Jordan in their model pose!

Elizabeth, Melissa, Mom, Jennie, and Jamie

Elliot's Handsome Dad and Beautiful Mom

The whole clan after dinner at the Amarillo Club

Jennie and Aunt Melissa holding Elliot

Start of the Baseball Season = Minimal Blog Updates

2008-03-27T23:53:00.002-05:00

We have been very busy with the start of the baseball season less than two weeks away, so we haven't been able to update this blog as often as we would like. This weekend we will update with pictures from our Amarillo trip and our completed bedroom and we will also squeeze in some news about the third member of our family. Until then, here is a funny song for something new to look at. I put it up here b/c it has the same name as my wife (though spelled incorrectly) and because I think it is funny. It is a little quirky, so it may not be for everyone...

Anyways, thanks for all of your comments we love to hear from everyone...

Jenny - Flight of the Conchords

Elliott Takes Over the Blog!

2008-03-16T17:13:00.010-05:00

Hey Everyone! My name is Elliott and I can't wait to meet all of you! I have been following along and reading this blog along with everyone else and it is driving me crazy that my parents don't update this blog very often. I mean, how many times can you watch a baby bite his brother's finger? Alright, we get it, it's cute, now can we get an update about ME please! Well, I guess if you want some thing done, you have to do it yourself!

Well, this has been a very busy weekend. I can't tell you how many times I have heard this conversation between my Mommy and Daddy:
Mommy: "I really want to get Elliott's room cleaned out, it is stressing me out!"
Daddy: "OK."
Mommy: "I really want to get the wall in our room painted, it is stressing me out!"
Daddy: "Let's plan a time to do it."

Daddy, can't you see that you are stressing Mommy out? It is really messing with the mellow vibe I've got going on in here. Just get everything done already. They can't hear me, so I try to get my point across with kicks to Mommy's belly!

This weekend it finally happened! Mommy and Daddy got in gear and got a lot of stuff done. First, on Friday night, they cleaned out my room. My room was being used as a storage/catch all room. But now, it just has my stuff in it!

With that out of the way, it was time for some rest. They were going to need it, as Saturday was very busy. We got up early Saturday and started running errands. We picked up my crib, but the box would not fit in Mommy's car. So, Mommy had a good idea to take everything out of the big box and stack it in separately. It worked, and we were off to run the rest of our errands.

When we got home, the first thing that Mommy and Daddy did was get their room ready to paint the wall behind their bed. Mommy was really wanting to get this done. She was saying something about not being able to do stuff for themselves once I get here. I'm not sure what she was talking about. Mommy and Daddy worked really hard painting and it looks really pretty. Here are a couple of pictures!

While the paint was drying Daddy headed off to put my crib together! Here are some pictures of him working hard!

He found the directions!

I think my parents may be OCD!

Almost done!

My Crib is finished! Good job Daddy!

After getting the crib done is was time to get ready to visit Sam and Mandy to celebrate Sam's Birthday! Before we went Daddy took a picture of me and Mommy!

Let's go eat Kabobs!

As you can see, it was a very busy (but productive) day! We were very tired, especially since me and Mommy had to get up at 5:30 to go to work! While Daddy slept in until 11! Oh well, that will end soon enough, right around June or July. Get your rest now Daddy!

Can't wait to meet everyone!

Love,

Elliott

Youtube Video of the Week

2008-03-10T19:13:00.002-05:00

This week's video comes courtesy of Elliott's Aunt Ashlan. She found it on youtube and sent it to us. Not only will Elliott be reciting Star Wars, she will now be speaking with a British accent!

"Char-ley, that really hurt!"

Have a good week! Peace!

Elliott's Room and other interesting stuff

2008-03-05T17:49:00.005-06:00

We had another doctor's appointment today. Everything looks good! We are 22 weeks which is more that half way! So with that in mind it is time to start thinking about getting Elliott's room ready. We have been cleaning out her bedroom and this weekend we bought her a crib and a dresser/changing table. It should be here next week. We have also been looking at paint colors and fabrics. Below are the fabric swatches and paint that we are going with. It will be very cheery!

This weekend, Jennie's friend and co-worker had her baby and Jennie got to help with the delivery! Her name is Mia and she was 5 lbs and 10 oz. Here is a picture of her...

And like I said, we are 22 weeks and here is an updated picture of Jennie's belly!

Finally, please pray for our friend's Sam and Mandy and their family. Mandy's brother Richard and his wife Jennifer tragically lost their four month old daughter Lilly on Monday. Please pray for God's peace and comfort for their family in this very difficult time.

Elliott has a lot to live up to!

2008-02-28T23:49:00.002-06:00

Ok, I found this on Youtube and it gives me a goal to shoot for when Elli is born. It is a 3 year old little girl talking about Star Wars. Needless to say, it is AWESOME!!!

If you don't think I'm making her watch Star Wars until she can recite the story line, you're crazy... Or maybe I'm crazy...

Oh well, Happy Friday!

Picture Time

2008-02-22T21:16:00.009-06:00

Well... We tried... We finally got around to posting pictures. I don't know if our doctor doesn't have the capability to put the pictures on a disk, or if we are supposed to ask, but all we have are the printouts that they give you. We also don't have a scanner, so that makes it hard to put them on the blog. So I took them to work and scanned them and e-mailed them to myself, so the quality isn't that great. Hopefully we will have better pictures next time. As for us, Jennie has been battling a sore back. It isn't pregnancy related, but it has not been fun for the last couple of days. So, without further ado... Here is Elliott at 18 weeks...

Here are two pictures of her sucking her thumb. If you look really close, you can see all of her fingers on her hand!

The top picture is a shot of her face. You can kind of make out eyes and a nose. The bottom one confirms she is a girl. You can't see anything, which is how we know she is a girl!

Elliott is Healthy!

2008-02-18T18:46:00.002-06:00

Well, I am tired of seeing the previous post each time I login, so it is time for some positive news! Last week we got great news. All of the blood work that Jennie did came back negative. So it appears that Baby Elliott is healthy! Now, the tests aren't 100% accurate, but they are pretty close. We are just happy that everything came back negative. Now Jennie can sleep a little easier, at least for two hours, until she has to get up to go to the bathroom!

Now, I know that each post ends this way, but I promise we will put pictures up soon. So please keep checking back. Also, thanks for all the feed back we have gotten about the blog. It is nice to know that people are reading it! We will try to be more consistent with our updates.

Have a great week!

The Reality of the Corporate World

2008-02-12T22:43:00.002-06:00

This blog is going to be really boring if we just wait for pregnancy news before we update it, so I decided that we would open it up a little more and not just focus on the latest doctor's visit. It is hard for Jennie and I to pull back the curtain on our lives, as we are probably the most guarded, private people that I can think of (this blog aside!). We really don't let people get too close, which is something we need to work on. Maybe this blog will act as a pseudo-therapy source. All under the guise of our baby. Also, I have always enjoyed writing, ever since AP English in high school, but I've never found the proper outlet for it. Well, Hello Blog!

I have gotten to see first hand the cruel hand of Corporate Life this week. Thankfully, I am shielded from most aspects of Corporate Life since I work in sports. I don't have to deal with quarters, buzz words, or any of the corporate jargon that has taken over the business world. However, one piece of business speak managed to sneak into the Texas Rangers organization this week... Streamline...

This is a fancy way to say "lay-offs," which is a fancy way to say that people are getting fired. Now, thank goodness, my job isn't in jeopardy. But we had to let someone from our department go, and that was true for pretty much every department in the organization. One of the people let go in the sales department was someone that I worked very closely with, and in turn I will be taking over some of his responsibilities. And, to add a degree of difficulty, this is the start of our busiest time so the learning curve will be quick and not real forgiving. I am not complaining. I just feel bad for the people that came to work yesterday with a job and left at lunch without one. It was an eye-opener to say the least...

I am looking forward to the challenge. God only gives you what you can handle right?

One positive note, the Ryan Express has pulled into the ballpark. That's right, Nolan Ryan is my new boss (in a round-about way). I haven't officially met him yet, but I did get to shake his hand as I walked into his press conference. Hopefully he will restore a little credibility that we have lacked in recent years...

I know we promised sonogram pictures. We will try to get them up in the next couple of days. Have a great week! Peace...

Sonogram Day!

2008-02-09T12:58:00.000-06:00

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. We are still trying to get the hang of this blogging think. We will try to do better. (Ok Melissa, does that make you feel better?)

Well we went in for an "official" sonogram yesterday. I say "official" because this one was actually done by a doctor, not Jennie playing around at work! It was fun because we got to go into the room with the big flat screen TV. The last couple of times we have gone in, that machine wasn't working, so we had to settle for the back up machine. It looked like we were headed for the back up machine again when, at the last second, Joe the sonographer changed his mind and took us to the big screen! It was awesome! He pointed out the four chamber heart, both kidneys, the spine, the rib cage, and confirmed that it was a girl... We got lots of cute pictures. She was putting her hand in her mouth again. We will try to put some up later.

After Elliott's debut on the big screen, we went in and talked to Dr. Livingston (He brought us cookies! The perks of being a VIP.). He answered all of our questions and talked to us about genetic testing. Basically, the sono looked perfect, but that only catches 65% of potential problems, so we have to get blood taken from Jennie to make sure everything else checks out. It is extremely more complicated than that, but that is the basic idea. It was very interesting. Jennie got her blood drawn and then it was off to Burger King to boost up that blood sugar! It was a fun day!

It's A Girl!!

2008-02-01T22:16:00.000-06:00

Well we did it... We finally decided to get a blog. Now I know what you are thinking, "Why do you guys need a blog?" I wondered this as well, but then we got the wonderful news that we were pregnant, and then we found out that we were having a little girl, and we thought, what better way to keep all of our family and friends up-to-date on the pregnancy and our new baby than by documenting our lives through a blog. Plus, we refuse to get on MySpace!

Now, on to the big news... It's a girl! And she already has a name, it is Elliott Grace Jackson. We are so happy! We are at the 17 week mark and she is about 7 inches long. Mom can feel her moving and kicking already, so we might have our hands full! Every time we look at her on the sono machine (which is a lot because Jennie has unlimited access at work) she is sucking her thumb (as you can see in the picture to the left) and swimming around. It is so cute!

Now we start the process of shopping for the nursery. It is a little more involved than we originally thought, not to mention expensive, but it is very exciting at the same time! We haven't picked colors or anything, we are just shopping around, trying to get ideas.

Well, thanks for stopping by to check out our blog. We can't wait to share our journey with all of you!