Happy 1st Father's Day Dellas!

Dellas didn't even realize today was Father's Day until I told him :-P Typical Del. Unfortunately, I hurt my back really bad last week so my plans to make it more special didn't quite happen. However, he proved even more how great of a daddy and hubby he is by stepping up and working short hours for 3 days to take care of me and Jaxson.
So tonight we went out to dinner to somewhere we've never been, The Rock Wood Fired Pizza; he even let me take a few pics beforehand!

1st Father's Day w his little boy

We love you Del and appreciate EVERYTHING you do for our family!

Top 500!

Jaxson made it into the Top 500 which is Round 2 of the Cutest Kid contest this week. I should've posted this earlier since there's already been 3 days of voting but I've been a little out of commission. Anyway, there's still today and tomorrow to get 10 votes in each day, so if you haven't been voting then get going! :) and thanks to everyone who has been voting!

Jaxson | 2013 Cutest Kid Contest

Jaxson Needs Everyone's Help!

Hey All! I entered Jaxson into a "Cutest Kid Contest" and Round 1 of voting is Today thru Saturday the 8th. Then if he makes the top 500 he moves on to Round 2 and so forth. I think you have to make a log in  (which can be a down side) BUT you can use it to go back EVERY DAY and vote another 10 times!!
So, PLEASE go show your support for my cutest baby!!

Jaxson | 2013 Cutest Kid Contest

Thanks in advance for your help!!

By Request...

I got a request tonight for more pictures of Jaxson ;-) I've been meaning to post a few from recently anyway so no better time like the present.
The video is Jax eating a week or so ago. He's become quite the opinionated eater, as in he expresses his opinion between bites!

 

Jax with his new CAT dump truck

Can't wait for the weather to warm back up again because Jax and I sure LOVED getting outside everyday; even if it was to just sit in the backyard. We definitely got teased with about 10 days of 75-85 degree weather earlier this month but now we're setting record lows for our highs (about 52) and back to rain (which our yard was in need of.)

Enjoying the beautiful weather a couple wks ago

Also, he has about outgrown his infant seat (by length, not weight) so it was time to get a new one. It's been an adjustment because I can't just tote him around in his seat during my errands. It is kind of fun to have him hanging out with me (he likes to hold the grocery list. and by hold I mean eat) but I just have to make sure I time my errands right so I have a well fed and "napped" baby :)

In his new ride

Mom's shopping buddy

Alright, that's bout all I have to post. Hope that holds everyone over ;-)

Many Changes

I have been meaning to find the time to get an update done but a lot has happened over the last month that I kept putting it off. But there's not better time than while you're sick and don't have energy to do much else!
Mom Clark came up from San Diego for 4 days to visit Jaxson. She hadn't seen him since January so he had changed a lot from 9 weeks to 6 months! She allowed me the use of her nice camera to take some fun 6 month shots of Jax. It took us majority of one day to get good ones between naps and feedings, but it was worth it.

Precious all snuggled in Gma Great C's blanket

 

No longer fits inside dad's hard hat :)

 

Checkin' out dad's work boots

 

We didn't do a whole lot but play with Jaxson, take walks and run a few errands but we had a relaxing quick visit with her.
Just a couple of days after she left we noticed our 3.5 yr old dog, Oakley, that I'm sure many of you know, stopped eating his food - or would only pick at it. A vet gave me advice over the phone to try and get him to eat so I tried that for a day but he couldn't keep much down. The next day I took him in and in general he seemed fine but they ran a blood test to check his kidney values. (Some back story: when we took him in to get him neutered as a puppy they noticed his kidney values were a little high but just advised us to watch for certain signs of kidney disease. We didn't seem to see any big changes in him over the years so never got him re-tested until now). It took a day to get the results and sure enough, his kidneys were failing. By this time it was too late to do anything so I made him as comfortable as possible until Dellas could get home that afternoon. Del took him for one last walk (in the pouring rain) then took him in and stayed with him until he was asleep.
Looking back there were some signs we theoretically should have picked up on but since he had the disease probably from birth it was easy to think it was normal. Even if we had figured it out sooner, there is no cure for kidney disease so, in a way, I'm glad it happened quickly instead of worrying about a sick dog for who knows how long. Just insanely rare for such a young dog to suffer that.
It's been rough on us to let go of our fur baby after only 3.5 yrs but we LOVED every minute with Oakley. As my mom pointed out, although it may sound silly, we think he prepared us to be parents in many ways.

Pic Di took the wk she was here - days before he got sick

Alright time to change the subject! A couple weeks ago my Mom, Jaxson and I drove over to Spokane, WA for my sister's baby shower. It was a nice long weekend visiting her and helping with some baby stuff. Can't wait to meet this little girl in July!!

Me with the mommy-to-be

For you Mom Clark - the 12mo outfit you brought fits!

Alright and onto the topic I'm sure is most interesting...Jaxson. He'll be 7 months old in 3 days!! I never posted his 6 month facts so I guess now's the time...
*18lbs 6 oz (75th percentile) and 28.5 in long (off the chart, haha)
*Now has both bottom front teeth (will try and get a picture of his toothy grin soon)
*Sitting up unassisted for long periods of time
*Rolling from back to tummy - and now tummy to back again (he stopped for a couple of months)
*Wearing 9-12 month clothes
*Pushing himself up off his tummy and moves side to side to get to toys
*LOVES to stand and jump - his favorite thing is the jumper toy Mom Clark got for him
*Definitely becoming a busy boy...it's hard to keep him still in my lap for very long

Took this video this morning...I can no longer expect him to be in the same spot as I left him!

I think that's about it for now. I'll try to keep more updated but it seems like everything always happens at once and time gets away!

Big Change

In my last post I mentioned that we've been thinking about moving but that it was frustrating finding a good place....well I found one and we've already moved!
Right before I went to Spokane I called on a place in Maple Valley (half hr south of where we were) but the guy wasn't very excited about us having a dog. He was having an open house while I was out of town and told me to call him when I got back. I thought for sure it'd be rented before I could get home but after a couple of back and forth phone conversations he had decided to allow Oakley AND lowered the rent $50/month :) So i took a look last Wednesday night, i told him we'd take it on Thursday and we started moving in on Friday! My family totally stepped up immediately to help which was SO great! First thing Friday morning my mom was here helping pack, Saturday morning she came back with my dad and his trailer in toe, and Sunday my sister (who now lives 5 mins away!!) took Jaxson for us while Del and I made trips and cleaned the old place. Couldn't have done it without their help!!
It was definitely bittersweet to leave our place in Issaquah. It wasn't hard to leave the place itself but our location and landlord; She kept crying when we were doing the exit walk thru! But nevertheless we are finally in a single family home (not duplex) with easily double or triple the yard space and 300 more square feet plus a two car garage again! We feel like we're back in our Meridian home in a way so that's made it very easy to settle in :) Only major downside is Del's commute has about doubled...but he was willing to take that hit for a more comfortable place to live and watch Jaxson learn to crawl and walk in!

I'll post better pictures in the near future but here are a few...It's still a work in progress as we've only been in for a week!

Bad pic, but the house

Main living room

Dining

2nd living room

Guest Bath

Master Bath

Busy Bees!

It's been another busy month for Jaxson (and me.) First we (including Del) spent 4 days in New Meadows, ID to enjoy some fun in the snow before winter ends then the day after we came home Aunt Marissa flew in for a whole week to finally meet the little guy! We had a great time shopping, relaxing and playing with Jaxson all week :) We miss her and hope it's not TOO long before we see her again!

The day after Ris left Jaxson and I flew out to Arizona with Grammy Vance! We spent 4 days in Phoenix visiting my aunt, uncle and cousins in the area. We caught a Mariner's spring training game too and enjoyed every minute we had in the sunshine! The weather was a perfect 75-80 degrees until the morning we flew out so it was wonderful!

Gramma enjoying time with her boy

 Now we're back home for just 1 week (which is now almost up) until Jax and I are planning on heading over to Spokane so that he can meet his last and final uncle! This week has been good getting him back on a little routine of good naps, more solids and lots of play time!

He's a pretty tough kid when it comes to getting laughs out but every now and then he gives us some good ones.

When Aunt Ris was here I bought him a Johnny Jump Up and he's slowly but surely learning to have fun in it!

Just in the past week or two he is mastering grabbing at anything in front of him so it's more and more fun to watch him play and interact with us and his toys. He likes to try and help me feed him now too.

After our trip to Spokane we're home for awhile! Or at least we have nothing booked/scheduled/planned. I have been looking more and more at the possibility of moving to a bigger or at least a more space-efficient house but it's hard! Rentals move so quickly in this area and it's rare to come across a decent home (as opposed to a condo or apartment.) So who knows, maybe my time will soon be consumed with moving.