Christmas in Ruston, LA

We had several Christmases this year, so I thought I'd break up the posts a little...

Our first Christmas celebration was at home, which you've already seen in a previous post. Our second celebration was in Ruston, LA with my family. Since Jackson still goes to bed so early, we got to Ruston early so my grandparents could visit with him a little. He had so much fun opening his presents with his Great Grandmother and playing outside with my dad, AKA Pop.

We even managed to get a quick family shot before he crashed.

After we got Jackson to sleep we had an incredible meal and a great time visiting with the rest of my family that was able to come this year. There are more pics of everything in the album, and there's more Christmas fun to come.

Thanksgiving

It took a little longer than expected to get these pictures posted, but they are finally here. We had a very busy but wonderful Thanksgiving. We made our way to Shreveport on Wednesday. I spent the afternoon doing a little shopping at some of my favorite local places while Ross took Jackson to the park.

Thursday we headed to Ruston. We were able to spend a few minutes with Heath, Barbara, and Carter before going to my Grandmother and Granddaddy's house for a delicious Thanksgiving lunch where almost my entire family joined us this year. It was so wonderful to see everyone! I didn't do a very good job of getting pictures of the adults, but I got quite a few of the kiddos. Jackson LOVES my grandparents' wagon, so he spent a lot of time having the bigger kids and some adults pull him around. He also made an attempt to pull the wagon himself but didn't get very far.

Friday we made our way to Austin to meet our precious little nephew, Mitchell. I posted a few pics in the last post, but there are many more in the album. Jackson loved meeting his new cousin and playing at a nearby park.

There weren't any baby swings at this park, so he really looked like a big boy on these swings!

He also had a great time hanging out with his Uncle Philip.

We even managed to get pics of each of us with Jackson for once!

After a full day in Austin on Saturday, we made our way home on Sunday and picked up our Christmas tree. Let the decorating begin!

While He Was Gone...

While Ross was busy in Korea, Jackson and I dealt with some ups and downs, which were expected since Ross was out of town. The day Ross left was the day Jackson had a fever of 103 and was found to have an ear infection on top of the flu! With Jackson being sick that Friday and Monday being Columbus Day, we enjoyed a 4 day weekend together. Once the medicine kicked in he seemed like his usual, happy self.

We had a short work/school week because Jackson and I headed to Ruston, LA on Thursday for LA Tech's Homecoming Weekend festivities. My mom graciously volunteered to drive to Houston and make the trip with us to help entertain Jackson on the 5.5 hour drive.

Friday was a big day for me. Aside from my usual Industrial Engineering Advisory Board meetings, I was honored as Louisiana Tech University's Young Alumnus of the Year.

Since Ross was in Korea and wasn't able to join us, a lot of our family and friends came to support me. I had to give a short thank you speech in front of a crowd that we're guessing was between 200-300 people. There were 7 other people recognized as well, the Disitinguished Alumnus of the Year and an alumnus of the year from each college. It was a really nice ceremony, and I made it through my speech!

After the ceremony I was asked to speak to the engineering students, so we talked about NASA and what flight control is all about. Then we wrapped up our advisory board meeting with mock interviews for the students who wanted a little practice. When I got back to my grandparents house that evening, Jackson was sick again! This time with a stomach bug that fortunately only lasted the day.

Saturday was LA Tech's Homecoming game, which they won! My cousin, Meg, and I made it to the tailgating events along with Jackson and my parents just before the game started, so we managed to catch a few friends and check out the Eco Car our friend, Heath, has helped oversee. Jackson loved honking it's horn!

We also had a great time hanging out at my Grandparents' house. There are lots of pictures from the weekend in our album, but here are a few more to enjoy now.

Fun Weekend

Just a quick post to let everyone know we had a fun weekend in Louisiana. We were there for advisory board meetings at LA Tech, and got to spend some quality time with our friends, Heath and Barbara, and their son, Carter. We also got to wish both of our mom's a Happy Mother's Day in person and let them spend a little time with Jackson. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the weekend. There are more in the album.

Carter as Superman.

Me and Carter hanging out.

Jackson "riding" the tricycle.

Jackson and Carter playing on the slides at the park.

Other pics from the park.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a Happy Mother's Day!

Celebrate Good Times!

We had a whirl wind of fun this weekend. We celebrated our friend Carter's 2nd b-day on Saturday, which was the main reason for a trip to Shreveport and Ruston, LA. We didn't make it through the entire party because Jackson needed a nap, but everyone was having a great time, which you can tell from the pictures in the album. Carter and his parents, Barbara and Heath, are basically family. We love every moment we get to spend with them! Here's a pic with Barbara from the party.

We also got to visit with all of our grandparents this weekend, which is a rare treat. We mostly see them around Christmas and Thanksgiving, so Easter weekend was a bonus! Ross' grandparents and Uncle Alan were enjoying some Easter festivities when we arrived. There was a woman playing the piano and leading the group in song. All of the ladies had on beautiful Easter bonnets.

We don't have any pictures from the visit with my dad's parents, but we definitely enjoyed the visit!

My mom's parents had a fish fry Saturday evening, and it was delicious!!! My cousin Stephanie and her family were also in town this weekend, so all of the boys had fun playing outside. Andrew and Jackson are about a week apart in age, so they had fun digging through a bucket of toys while Adam found Easter eggs.

There are a lot more pics in the album from this weekend, but I'll leave you with a few of my favorites.

Jackson with my parents, Nana and Pop.

Ross' Grandmother

Jackson's 2nd cousin, Andrew.

Last, but certainly not least, my grandmother and Jackson!

Oh yeah...Jackson's 10 months old now! I can't believe it!

6 Christmases, 3 Sicknesses, and 1 New Years Later...

Christmas is normally a busy time of year for us, but this year proved to be a real challenge. We were very much looking forward to Jackson's first Christmas, but the Monday before we found ourselves at the doctor's office with Jackson debating whether or not we should travel with a sick kiddo. He'd been running a fever all weekend and had an awful cough and runny nose. Turns out he had bronchiolitis and got his first round of antibiotics.

With medicine in hand, we headed to Shreveport on Tuesday. During the trip I quickly realized I was coming down with something too, but Christmas must go on!

Christmas Eve was spent with my Grandmother and Granddaddy and family. Jackson had fun hanging out with his 2nd cousins, Adam and Andrew. He was asleep before we started opening presents, but he got lots of love and attention despite being sick. He was quite the trooper. Despite feeling bad and running a fever he hardly ever complained.

We had fun watching Adam open his gifts and help us open ours. There are lots of pics in the album, but Adam opening his kaleidoscope was one of my favorite memories from this Christmas. Of course, he had no idea what it was, so it was fun watching him figure it out!

Andrew is such a cutie! I've never seen such big beautiful eyes on a baby before!

Christmas morning we woke up at my parents house, exchanged gifts, and had fun watching Jackson open more presents. It was pretty funny to see him sitting around in his diaper and new cowboy boots while he reached for bows and shiny paper.

By that point I was pretty miserable. There's not much you can take while you're nursing, so I just tried to keep going...Next stop was Ross' parents' house where we had brunch with family and opened more presents. Ross' Uncle Ronnie and his kiddos, Jessie and Jordan, were my heroes that day because they left in the middle of everything to get me some Tylenol to try to help bring my fever down. Jackson was the center of attention and adorable as always!

Jackson and I both got a good nap that afternoon before heading over to Ronnie and Laura's for more good family time, which rounded out our Christmas day, but not the last of our Christmas celebrations!

The next day I finally broke down and called my doctor who graciously called in a prescription for me since we were out of town. We picked up my antibiotics on the way to Ruston where we celebrated with my Dad's family.

I have 3 boy cousins on my Dad's side of the family, and one of them got married this summer (on Jackson's due date!), which meant I wasn't the only girl granddaughter this year! Not only were David and Rachel there, but John brought his girlfriend, Sarah, too! It took every ounce of energy I had to visit with everyone, but it was so much fun.

David and Rachel moved to Kansas City this year where he's going to dental school and she's working as a preschool teacher. John finished law school and is preparing for the bar exam, and Ben is busy working on his mechanical engineering degree. They are an amazing group, and I love getting to see them. They were wonderful with Jackson too, which you can see in the album.

Here's my Aunt Kathy meeting Jackson for the first time! I hope we can do as good of a job with him as she and Uncle Mike have done with their boys!

The next morning I finally broke down and decided I either needed to go to the ER or take some medicine, which meant stopping nursing for a while. I opted to take some medicine for a few days in hopes of feeling better for our next trip to Leakey. Of course, by that time Ross was starting to feel bad too. We got one good day of rest before we hit the road again, and it certainly helped!

When we got to Leakey we had our final Christmas celebration for this year with Ross' sister and brother-in-law. By this time you could tell that Jackson was feeling better, and we were so glad! He loved all of his toys and getting to hang out with his Aunt Leslie and Uncle Philip!

We spent several days in Leakey hanging out, riding on the ranch, and celebrating the New Year with family and friends. Philip got a Wii for Christmas, so everyone went bowling in the living room on New Year's Eve. It was a blast!

Jackson got spoiled over the two week break, so we're working on getting back into a more normal routine today. I started nursing again a couple of days ago only to discover that Jackson has learned to bite with his new teeth! He finds it hilarious...not so funny to me though!

We had a wonderful time with everyone, but we are exhausted and so glad to be home. Now it's time to get in gear for a new year! We can't wait to see all that 2009 holds. We hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!