My Handsome Men

How am I such a lucky girl?? These boys are so wonderful to me! Our friends the Myers had us over for Mother's Day and took these awesome pictures. Not only are they both amazingly handsome--they are SOOO happy~ and that brings extra joy to my life.

Medical School Acceptance at Texas A&M!!!!

 What a day to celebrate! After much prayer, fasting, working, and more prayer, we felt so blessed to receive a call from the Texas A&M admissions committee inviting Michael to join this year's class! We are so grateful for this miracle and for the opening of a new chapter in our lives! 

Michael chose this cool Greek/Mediterranean deli for lunch to celebrate his acceptance. We're SO happy!

Mother's Day

 Michael was is always so sweet to me! He packed a yummy breakfast (do you see the peanut butter? He knows well that breakfast must include peanut butter to be considered yummy) and we went to a beautiful new park nearby. He made me a great card and we watched Mormon Messages about motherhood. I just love being with my adorable husband and baby!

I thought of how truly grateful I am to be a mother and to have such a tender and happy son. He brings me so much joy every day! He is so ticklish now and I LOVE the way he just laughs and laughs when we tickle him. He's my best buddy!

A few of Jackson's Favorite Things

 Jackson LOVES his new high chair! Michael actually spotted it at a garage sale while he was running the 1/2 marathon! He yelled out that we would come back for it, and indeed we did! Jackson loves the independence it gives him, as well as the height! As you can see...he's still devouring the mangoes!

Jackson loves to help with the laundry!  He gets a sweet ride in the dirty clothes basket, we listen to fun music, and he gets to hear funny stories about all the clothes--where they came from, where they've been worn, how long we've had them...

Jackson loves to relax! And what a comfy headrest the wooden basket must be....
He really put himself into this position. Now that he rolls around so much, we often find him rolled on top of several toys--and he just keeps playing like he doesn't even notice the bulging objects beneath him!

As you can see, even though I made him the sweet ribbon bracelet, he's still obsessed with sucking on the single green ribbon. Cracks me up every time!

4th Annual HendeRUN!!!!

 We had our first FULL participant this year! Our friend Tyson Traveller ran the entire 1/2 Marathon with us! His amazing wife was kind enough to watch Jackson during the race.

The morning was cold and windy...but we enjoyed it anyway!

I love the creative finish lines that Michael always designs :) Our Camry marked the end of our long race!

Our friend Joseph McWhirter ran the last 2 miles with Michael, and he and his wife Erica joined us and the Travellers for our traditional post-race pancake breakfast! Michael made AWESOME banana pancakes with Coach's Oats...so delicious.

As always, this was such a fun event to put together and work towards as a family. We trained hard and reached our goals!

How to Use Every Last Morsel of a Mango

I love to eat mangoes. I just get so sad that it's so difficult to get all the goodness off that massive seed! I never knew that Jackson would solve that problem so simply! He gnawed for a good 20 minutes and sucked off every possible bit of flavor that might've been clinging to that seed. He didn't want pureed mango in a jar, but he went crazy over eating right off the fruit like mommy. Fortunately, this mango experience combined with his recent fetish for Cheerios has helped me realize the key to getting Jackson to eat solids--he just likes his independence! He doesn't want mommy spoon feeding him--he wants to use his own hands and he wants to eat the same foods that we're having. Apparently he prefers chunky over puree!

Samplings of Jackson

 Jackson is now an amazing 8 months old! I'm a happy mom because he still hasn't explored the realm of crawling and moving all over the place...As you can see in this picture, he plays with all of his toys until he accidentally pushes them all beyond his "reachable" radius. Hilarious to us, but sad for him. :)  The saddest part, however, is when he DOES reach for the farthest strewn toy and does a faceplant into another toy. Ouch. Sometime all too soon he'll figure it all out and be reaching all over the whole house for my toys instead of his. Watch out, mom!

 Jackson likes to wear sweet potatoes as lipstick instead of eating them. Ridiculous. And these are delicious, homemade sweet potatoes! I even sampled them myself. Michael also agrees they're tasty. Jackson used to gobble them up...but lately the only thing he's consuming very well is momma's milk. I'm guessing it's a phase? This too shall pass.

When we were at church with my sister in Dallas, Jackson was a very tired boy and thus not so happy. That is, until we discovered a magical green ribbon that entertained him for almost an hour; he sucked it to the point of absolute saturation. An idea was born in my head for a bracelet covered in many colorful ribbons that he could suck to his hearts' content. Miracle of miracles, I actually made it yesterday, and he LIKES it!!! Score!